Nearly a decade ago, Spherion began tracking historical changes in America s workforce. From taking control of their careers and the rise of free agency to the increasing emphasis on work/life balance, a growing group of U.S. workers - dubbed emergent workers by Spherion - has developed very different motivations, attitudes and beliefs about work.
While this change in beliefs can be threatening to corporations accustomed to employee loyalty, it has nonetheless meshed well with new corporate needs. For just as employees are looking for flexibility in their jobs and work schedules, corporations are seeking greater flexibility in their cost and workforce structures through the increased use of contingent workers.
A group of companies - what Spherion calls emergent employers - are proving to be the role models in taking advantage of these trends, adjusting their thinking about employment management and becoming as emergent as their employees. These companies find it easier and more cost-effective to use remote, mobile and contingent workforces, employed for specific projects and time periods. Emergent employers workforce strategies are grounded in a deep understanding of what motivates their workers and how to structure the workforce to achieve the best balance between mission-critical and mission-supportive roles.
Recent studies show that becoming an emergent employer is a good business decision as well. According to a study by the University of Southern California, companies utilizing best HR practices had a 60% higher return on sales and a 20% higher return on investment and assets. In addition, a Lehigh University study showed that companies comprised of at least 10% contingent workers realize better financial and share price growth.
Unfortunately, many companies today have not embraced an emergent approach to workforce management and are caught in a downward cycle of retrenchment and reassessment that leads inevitably to spiraling turnover expenses.
Vital to deploying a workforce strategically is to understand the makeup of the current workforce and compare that to future needs. With that focus, companies can identify gaps and create an organizational roadmap to use in developing workforce models that specify skill types and volume, resource requirements and ratios of management to staff.
ACHIEVING A BALANCE OF EMPLOYED & SUPPLIED TALENT
The key to building a stable workforce structure, which can weather economic highs and lows, is achieving the right balance of employed and supplied talent. Employed talentare full- and part-time employees who make up the permanent staffand are typically a greater percentage of a business workforce than supplied talent - the contingent, temporary, contract and outsourced workers who supplement the core workforce.
With the right mix of talent, a company has the flexibility to staff up or down without resorting to drastic layoffs. Unfortunately, too few business leaders have a clear understanding of exactly who their employees are. To catapult your organization into the emergent camp, follow the best practices outlined below.
Define Core Functions. Each business segment must be evaluated and its activities divided into core and non-core functions. Once this process is complete, the organization has a detailed inventory of the core activities that must be managed by employed talent and those that are non-core and can be managed by supplied staff.
Evaluate Structure. After core and non-core functions are defined, the next step is to evaluate current workforce alignment. Are there employed workers dedicated entirely to non-core functions? Would dedicating flexible talent to those activities reduce costs and allow the business to focus employed talent on revenue-driving initiatives?
Create a Cushion of Flexibility. Once mission-critical and mission-supportive activities have been identified, emergent organizations can then focus on programs for "employed" talent in mission-critical functions while working with an outside expert to supply mission-supportive talent.
Even companies that understand the power of utilizing a contingent workforce for supplied talent remain challenged when it comes to finding the right people, bringing them onboard, providing the proper training and making sure they are assimilated and developed for optimal effectiveness. These are tasks most companies are not set up to handle.
As a result, many companies have turned to staffing and recruitment firms to provide employment solutions that help them structure, acquire and manage their workforce for maximum productivity and profitability. When the HR department can focus on strategic imperatives because service providers are focused on fulfilling the strategic mandates defined by the corporation, that corporation can control the overall costs of hiring and enhance the revenue potential inherent in having the right employee in the right place at the right time.
Richard Lamond is the Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN). He can be contacted at 954-308-7600 or via email dicklamond@spherion.com. More information on Spherion is available online at www.spherion.com.
