Deep and agile tech for the evolving and growing extended workforce

Guest blog by: Christopher J. Dwyer, Senior Vice President of Research at Ardent Partners and the Managing Director of the Future of Work Exchange

Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange have pegged the extended workforce as comprising 47% of the average company’s total talent, a number that is sure to grow even higher when our 2022 “State of the Market” research study is published this summer.

Given the state of the labor market and continued economic uncertainty, the next six months could (and probably will) bring an increased utilization of extended talent, mainly due to the influx of workers that have entered the contingent arena after months of a Great Resignation-fueled dissonance with existing workforce structures.

If that 47% penetration rate soon becomes 50% (or higher), businesses won’t just desire advanced technology to manage the many intricacies of the extended workforce, they’ll require it in the face of increasing complexities around the engagement, facilitation, management, and integration of this evolving workforce.

Here’s why the extended workforce requires deep, agile technology to not only effectively manage this growing segment of talent but to also maximize its impact and influence on getting work done:

• Complexity abounds from both the client and workforce perspectives. Today’s businesses are not simple frameworks with light technology, but rather intricate structures with many solutions that all power various facets of the greater organization. A company’s contingent workforce automation should not hinder configuration across the spectrum of business processes, but truly add value to its talent technology stack without disrupting the flow of candidates and hiring initiatives. Too, the depth of knowledge behind the technology is also a crucial factor that cannot be ignored: businesses are often tied to a three-to-five-year window with their provider; it makes absolute sense that an experienced services team understand the long-term objectives of the organization’s staffing strategies and take into account how these may evolve in the months and years ahead.
• Globality is more than just language and currency. One of the major reasons why it can be tough to implement a global extended workforce program is that it requires a series of heavy-duty strategies that traverse beyond adapting a platform to a new language and currency. The team behind the technology must be well-versed in local cultures, as well as regulatory policies and labor guidelines, to ensure a smooth implementation. This level of expertise is critical in order for the workforce management system to succeed and thrive.
• Flexibility must cascade through business operations and their workforce management technology. Just because we’re living in a digital world does not mean that human-led services aren’t as important as they once were. Technology in this industry, especially as it pertains to aspects like the extended workforce, direct sourcing, analytics, intelligence, etc., touches all pieces of the greater organization. Self-service reconfigurability has always been a benchmark, however, not all businesses desire to execute the heavy lifting themselves. And, on the other side, some enterprises require the full ability to customize the tool without assistance. It is absolutely critical that today’s extended workforce platforms remain flexible not just in the solutions they offer, but how those solutions are deployed and can be altered in tune with the major transformations of the talent market.

Thank you to Christopher Dwyer for stopping by the Beeline blog. Be sure to check out more from him at The Future of Work Exchange.

To learn more about how technology can help you better manage your extended workforce, book a demo with Beeline today and follow us on LinkedIn.