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The Elephant in the Landscape

Work is often not 100% synonymous with “fun” for most people, but when the right talent is connected with the right occupation…it changes the game. According to the Association for Talent Development, the right “fit” for a job is one of the top factors that encourages a happy workplace, along with ethics, appreciation, and achievement. But how simple is it to match talent to a specific job?

Securing the talent needed for productivity and growth remains a challenge, but the methods behind work procurement have evolved.

Around 300 B.C., the first known large-scale organization of “work” was observed. During that time, the development of unique skillsets was born from necessity and influenced by both available resources and engagement of said resources. Work was organized based on a person’s abilities, and we didn’t have wide ranging labor classifications.  Form followed function, one might say.

During the 1800s and 1900s, the focus shifted as employer/employee relationships crystallized, and employers sought different kinds of resources to mitigate business risks and costs. With the industrial revolution, we saw the formation of unions, and freelancers, independent contractors, and temporary workers found footholds in the modernizing workforce. We saw function following form.

Today, advancing technology (together with other factors such as unemployment rates, talent shortages, millennial preferences, and healthcare/retirement packages) continues to evolve the talent landscape.  That evolution is bringing us back to a world in which form can follow function.  Technology is allowing companies to more readily align direct staff through RPO, contract employees through staffing companies, ICs and freelancers via management systems, and even SOW vendors.

But there is an elephant in the talent landscape. The elephant is the operational implication.  How does a company organize—and even harmonize—all of these processes across historically separately-owned HR and Procurement functions?

Total talent management organizes the workforce landscape. It manages the needs of both HR/Talent Acquisition and Procurement and provides tools to meet each party’s needs more effectively. TTM provides:

  • Faster, greater access to talent
  • Amplified cost savings/quality
  • Unification of processes and goals
  • Consolidation of points of contact
  • Increased compliance controls
  • Heightened economies of scale

Change is here, and we have a brave new world of talent.  Already, forward-thinking organizations are seeking to purchase not only contract labor through their successful MSPs, but also independent contractors, SOW vendors, and direct employees. They are making choices based not on resource type, but quality and cost. The right partner—who is consultative, strategic and technologically savvy—is critical to driving sustainable results… #functionoverform