Issue link: https://insights.randstadsourceright.com/i/724758
WHITE PAPER | 7 taking action What can you do to start bringing a total talent vision to life? The answer centers around three distinct areas. • Refocus on talent quality and tapping into new talent pools. As non-employee populations grow, efficiency and cost cutting is no longer enough. The focus needs to shift to ensuring quality, best-match talent. • Rethink strategy across employees, contingent workers and SOW talent. Not many companies are very intentional about their mix of employees, contingent workers, contractors and SOW workers, despite these arrangements collectively accounting for their greatest annual category of spend. The thinking must shift from "How can I have a body here quickly and with the least hassle?" to "What is the best way to accomplish this work?" A contingent or non-traditional method should be considered. For some companies, this is a major transformation. • Bring innovation, technology and continuous improvement into talent processes. Identify who is responsible for driving talent innovation and continuous improvement. Some companies rely solely on their IT and HRIS function, but given the pace of change, most of these corporate functions cannot keep up. Look for external partners to bring innovation and advice. start now, start focused, start smart. Consider the outcomes of the integrated talent management strategy. Better talent drives business success, and an effective talent strategy must be built on quality, best-match talent, as opposed to just efficiency and cost cutting. As the non-employee population grows, there will be a need to rethink the managing, onboarding and engagement of talent beyond the traditional employee base. Even in complex, sophisticated companies, HR and procurement have owned the categories of flexible worker and traditional employee separately, with little communication or overarching strategy. The total talent approach may lead to a complete transformation that covers all worker categories. It may also be executed in small steps. This could include re- assessing your future workforce mix against future needs, or better sharing of talent pools to fill full-time and contingent opportunities. It could also focus on leveraging technology to deliver data and insight that spans the workforce. The options are numerous. The challenge is to prioritize, based on business need. You may embrace the total talent vision today and feel that your organization is ready to start. Perhaps you are not ready to embrace the full vision, but realize that some change is needed to address the issues you face. In either case, now is the time to start asking questions, to assess where you are today and prepare for a future where the way people work will never be the same. In either case, waiting is no longer an option. Now is the time to start the total talent conversation.