An On-Demand World
While conversations around the future of work have been popular over the last few years, such debates have been merely academic until now. The impact of COVID-19 has brought into sharp relief the need to understand how the employer-employee relationship is being renegotiated and how this new relationship can be leveraged to the advantage of both parties. New technologies have enabled dispersed workforces to become a material reality, which in turn has granted organizations access to new sources of talent unbound by geographic or temporal limitations. Consequently, the era of the on-demand workforce has very much arrived. We can understand this on-demand workforce to be a pool of contractors and freelancers who can be leaned on to execute particular projects. This era will present multiple opportunities for organizations, especially start-ups and high-growth organizations attempting to navigate the fallout of COVID-19. Here are a few of the main reasons why companies should engage with an on-demand workforce:
An ability to broaden service offerings
Access to a collection of individuals/organizations based globally rather than locally or regionally allows organizations to widen their service offerings considerably. The correlated ability to engage this talent on a project-by-project basis means you can potentially be all things to all people. When your company encounters a challenge that your in-house capacities cannot manage, you can merely lean on an on-demand resource to easily clear the hurdle for you whatever form it may take.
Reduce fixed payroll overheads
A major challenge associated with the economic slowdown due to COVID-19, or the ‘Pandession’, has been paying staff while economic activities have been reduced to null. Utilizing an on-demand workforce eliminates this problem entirely. Workers who are engaged on a project-by-project basis are, by definition, only compensated when there is a crucial demand for their skills. Organizations can then forecast their expenses in a drastically different way, tying payroll to projects rather than to headcount.
Enable surge capacity
As your organization grows you will require different skill sets to those your founder group or small team has. In some cases, access to these skills may be required imminently as you land a new client engagement or need to upgrade a product. Running a traditional recruitment campaign to find the skills and experience you require may be too slow if you are to capitalize on the opportunity presented to you. Using on-demand employees, however, allows you to react immediately to opportunities and challenges. If you have developed relationships with such individuals onboarding will be minimal, allowing your surge employees to integrate into your team seamlessly. You get the benefits associated with an experienced employee without the time intensive recruitment process.
On-demand workforces are only set to grow, as offices remain closed and working from home becomes desirable for employees. As workers feel the benefits of such flexible working arrangements, so too can your organization. For the reasons above, and many more given the specific circumstances of your business and industry, engaging with on-demand employees will come to define the future of work and become the basis for success of numerous organizations.