As more companies trade out traditional HR systems for innovative HR technology, the integration of talent acquisition and talent management functions is becoming more present and necessary. This connectivity through HR tech is bridging human resource functions like never before, leaving employers left to wonder what does that mean for my hiring strategy? The answer: a transformation of what we think of as employment. Take a look…

Contingent vs. Permanent
Past recruitment strategies were far more siloed. The traditional permanent structures dictated a high-stress recruitment model in which companies were pressured to discover the best of the best quickly with hopes of hiring a skilled employee who stayed the long haul. The method made for complete devastation when said employee lost their footing or moved on. On the other hand, contingency hiring looked more like a test run or a temporary business agreement, meaning businesses are counting down to the days a skilled, well-suited employee leaves.

Both methods still have merit. A permanent employee is a chance to build a solid succession plan and a predictable, high-functioning team, and contingent employees bring a unique set of skills to temporary projects. These employees generally spark innovation as they see your company through a far different lens than those who have been ingrained within the organization for an extended period. So how can companies build a workforce with the best of both worlds?

The permanent employee is nothing new. Its longevity is reason enough for businesses to model their employment structure after the permanent employee. The specific business expertise of an employee who has been with an organization for years isn’t something to build upon, especially within legacy companies who have longstanding reputations. There are still many employees who aspire to work up the ranks, garnering executive titles over extensive miscellaneous experience. However, the workforce is shifting, bringing employees who are far more interested in flexing their work schedule around their passions opposed to previous generations who appreciated clocking in and out. Additionally, today’s professional wants to spread their experience over many industries and channels, lowering the average employment tenure to three times less than generations before.

Contingent workers make up about 26% of the entire workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That number is expected to grow 23% by 2020, which is an additional 631,000 temporary jobs being added to the workforce. As more than 80% of large corporations plan to take advantage of this increasing contingent segment in the coming years, we’re seeing an evolution in the way contingent and permanent employees are recruited. No longer is temporary and permanent recruitment siloed, as technology and business demands a new path to be paved in workforce management.

Shifting Your Organization to a Hybrid Recruitment Strategy
Grasping the workforce, understanding the market and adapting technology is only a step in knowing what’s right for an organization. Creating a hybrid strategy that blends both contingent and permanent employees opens the door to the benefits of both workers. A hybrid model can be achieved with the help of integrated staffing solutions to broaden employee skillsets for the established team, welcome more diverse workers and lower payroll costs all without damaging succession plans. Of course, welcoming both comes with its challenges. Technology will be a necessary evil as it provides means of connection, but still houses separations. The legality of welcoming temporary workers into sensitive business conversations poses additional obstacles as well.

Recruiting this diverse workforce is a challenge in itself. Staffing agencies that source names and provide lists of possible fits only scratch the surface in a hybrid model. Instead, companies will need access to a more complete view of the employee, digging farther than a resume and interview. Finding a staffing agency that provides expertise on both contingent and permanent hiring will become less luxury and more necessity.

Look for strategic staffing agencies with integrated staffing solutions like recruitment process outsourcing services, HR consulting, executive placement and innovative value-adds like corporate wellness programs to benefit your workforce most effectively. 

This article originally featured on the Vector Talent "Talent Talk" blog.