Today our CEO Praneeth Patlola was joined at World Staffing Summit by Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of PRO Unlimited, and industry expert, Andrew Karpie as they looked back on the evolution in the management of contingent workers and they looked forward in how platforms, data, and technology is driving our contingent workforce industry at lightning speed. The event really made me take a step back and think about those of us who’ve been around this space for years (and years) and the fact that we’ve seen so much incredible transformations and that was just the beginning. It amazes me to see how technology alone has evolved and how it’s rapidly changing each day. It’s not just technology changing though, it’s also the mindsets, goals, and strategies of hiring managers, procurement leaders, HR, and the most important factor in all of this; the candidates.
The intersection of technology and people
Data, machine learning, AI, direct sourcing, blockchain, platforms. Some here, some coming, some here today in one form but quickly changing. All of this technology (and more) is and will be developed to speed processes, streamline and eliminate manual tasks, and make better business and people decisions. Incredible technology will touch each one of us in the industry and our customers and their workers.
What is data all about?
When we look at the power of data it’s daunting to consider how to harness it, what to do with it, and where the heck to get it. Data used to be from just the VMS, which is super valuable but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Now we have data from complementary solutions like direct sourcing platforms and entire partner ecosystems with data of all types. We also have external market data like rates, employment stats, hiring data, and the list goes on. And we need to think about the candidate data such as skills, history, interests, and diversity. This candidate data needs be holistic and include your known talent; employees, contractors, retirees, alumni and also unknown and passive talent that come from public talent marketplaces, job boards, social media and more. There are incredible amounts of data so what we need to do leverage platforms that speak to each other in order to gather and combine it to use it as a business outcome driver, intelligence driver, and prediction driver. The questions we can answer when leveraging data correctly includes….
Am I optimized to get the best talent in the marketplace?
Who am I competing against for talent?
Should I hire somebody in my city or should I expand my reach and find global talent?
What if I didn’t have to sift through hundreds of resumes but instead had the top 5 who have the right skills, the right cultural fit, and the most chances for success?
Where and how can I increase the diversity of my talent pool?
Are my candidates having an amazing experience from the very first time they learn about a job opportunity throughout their engagement and offboarding?
Am I overlooking contingent workers who would be an amazing fit for full-time job opportunities?
Is there really any chance of finding this uniquely skilled candidate any where in the world?
With the right data and the right platforms that can manage it we can answer these questions. Are we there yet? Not entirely, but there are many of these that can be answered. And more is definitely coming.
The partnership angle
I am as passionate about tech as I am about partnerships so it should be no surprise that partnerships are part of this. There is zero chance any one platform or services provider in the HR tech space will be able to address all of the complexities of data and automate all processes of talent attraction, talent engagement, and talent management. It will take multiple platforms integrating workflows and exchanging data, and services providers as well coming together in an ecosystem that will deliver us the future of work.
And that is looking into the crystal ball.
