eight-hour days in an office, for the most part, with some evolved
companies looking at remote work,” said Brian Peña, senior vice
president of Contingent Workforce Strategies. “But there are doz-ens
and dozens of ways in which people can be engaged to get
work done and often those new modes of working are going to be
more desirable.”
It’s no longer about what needs to get done, but about finding
the best way to do it and determining the best resources.
“You have to challenge all of your preconceived notions about
how you see projects being successful in your company,” said Peña.
“If you’re expecting in 10 years to have a large number of your
people sitting in offices from nine to five, that’s just not going to
work. The gig economy strategy is not just about ‘Do I use a temp
from Adecco or Manpower?’ It’s about, ‘Okay, what’s the best way
to get this done amongst the variable resources available to me to
accomplish the task?’ It’s no longer the war for humans, but the
war for outcomes.”
IS YOUR ORGANIZATION READY?
To lay the groundwork for a varied talent ecosystem – one that
can offer equal support to contingent workers – Human Capital
Trends 2018 by Deloitte recommends that organizations extend
their existing talent management strategy to all workers. The
report suggests HR teams work with legal professionals and IT
to make sure contract, gig, freelance and all non-traditional work-ers
have clear performance goals, secure ways to communicate and
adequate training and support.
Human Capital Trends 2018 also says that organizations should
provide contingent workers with the same onboarding and devel-opment
opportunities as other employees. The report notes:
“Perhaps because organizations fear these workers will become
categorized as ‘full-time employees,’ nearly half of the HR respon-dents
to our survey (46 per cent) say they are not involved in
onboarding alternative workers, and more than half (55 per cent)
do not support training for this population.” The report sug-gests
most employers are currently treating alternative workers as
unskilled labour, rather than the professionals they are.
The Deloitte report also suggests organizations consider ensur-ing
incentive programs cover the entire range of workers, including
contingents. As with traditional workers, HR can consider what
skills and capabilities these workers might want to develop, how
they’ll be measured and so on, all in the name of improved perfor-mance
and a better experience, too.
Contingent workers, just like traditional workers, become
ambassadors for an organization.
“When non-traditional workers go to social events or indus-try
events and say where they work, they don’t say they work for
Adecco or Manpower, they’ll name your company,” said Peña.
“They’re your brand emissaries just like anyone else.”
SCREENING AND TRACKING
Contingent workers likely have access to data, communication
channels, customers, partners and even financial information, so it
makes sense they should undergo the same rigorous screening and
consideration given to permanent employees. However, accord-ing
to a 2017 report by the U.S.-based Sterling Talent Solutions,
cover feature
only 30 per cent of survey respondents did any screening at all on
their contingent workforce, compared to 89 per cent who perform
checks on full-time salaried employees.
Frequently, though, contingent workers are hired quickly (that
is, after all, one key advantage of freelancers). That need for
speed can preclude an organization from carrying out its typical,
thorough screening process. Third parties, including staffing orga-nizations,
can help fill this need. A reputable staffing company will
have already thoroughly screened and assessed any potential hires,
so a suitable candidate can be brought on without delay. Human
Capital Trends 2018 recommends that HR stay involved in selec-tion
decisions, though, and engage in the cultural, skills and other
forms of assessments used for full-time employees.
When using a third-party company, keep in mind that all staff-ing
firms are not equal.
“An increasing number of so-called temp agencies share the
temp category with Association of Canadian Search, Employment
and Staffing Services (ACSESS) members and other established
staffing firms, but their legal compliance, as well as their pro-fessional,
ethical and safety standards are a sharp contrast,” said
Mary McIninch, executive director, Government Relations with
ACSESS. “They often prey on vulnerable, unskilled workers, who
they randomly select, give marginal – if any – training and minimal
support.” Once placed, these companies have negligible interest in
each worker’s success. “Single owners may run several fly-by-night
operations that hide behind slight variations of familiar company
ahasoft2000 / 123RF Stock Photo
SO YOU WANT
TO FREELANCE?
Brie Reynolds, senior career specialist at FlexJobs, notes
that HR professionals make up the third-largest group of
freelance specialists. That supply reflects high demand:
At press time, for example, there were 3,664 HR-related
freelance jobs posted on the flexjobs.com site, for such
roles as:
• HR generalists
• HR operations administrators
• HR systems analysts
• HR managers
• Payroll manager
“Recruiting, too, is a very big area for freelance HR
professionals,” said Reynolds. “We see a lot of specialization
in that field, with postings for technical recruiters, IT
recruiters, merchandizing recruiters and so on.”
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ MAY 2018 ❚ 21
