How a flexible hiring model can help you obtain and retain talent while leveraging the power of teams
The Great Resignation has sent a very clear message to employers: people are not afraid to quit. And they’re voting with their feet.
In 2021, 47.4 million U.S. workers left their jobs. Meanwhile, layoffs hit a record low of 1.2 million in December. They haven’t moved much since. And there is no shortage of work: Job openings are pushing a record high of 11 million.
Traditional employment agreements are breaking under the force of these new changes. To handle these rippling effects, companies must re-evaluate how to obtain and retain talent.
Organizations must adapt. The key, we believe, is becoming more flexible than ever to keep pace with a new era focused on the employee experience.
Workers Want More Personalized and Flexible Work
Even before the pandemic, a variety of forces have been pushing organizations toward more flexible work models. The pandemic accelerated that eventuality. It normalized alternative work agreements. The data lays it out plainly:
- 83% of workers would prefer a hybrid work model in the future. (1.1)
- 74% of U.S. companies are using or plan to implement a permanent hybrid work model. (1.1)
- 54% of employees say they’d leave their current job for one that provides more flexibility, especially in the area of remote work. (1.1)
- 69% of Gen Z is not satisfied with their work-life balance. Nor are 63% of Baby Boomers, 55% of Gen X, and 48% of Millennials. (2.1)
- A whopping 83% of all American workers would prefer a four-day workweek. (2.1)
- 22% of employees said that they left their job within a year because they didn’t find it meaningful. (3.1)
- Job satisfaction is the lowest it’s been in 20 years. More than 33% of millennials and younger generations indicate they aren’t satisfied with their jobs. (3.1)
It appears this trend is not a wave that can be waited out — the tide continues to rise. By 2025 millennials and younger are expected to make up almost two-thirds of the workforce and already make up a majority of it today: (Below 4.1)
In some ways, the pandemic gave younger generations the bargaining power they needed to see their preferred working styles adopted more broadly. Younger generations are flocking to alternative work methods that satisfy their desire for flexibility and purpose.
To top things off, markets are becoming more complex and moving faster than ever. In 1996 the average company lifespan was 31.7 years. In 2020 that is now 21.4 years and by 2028 it is projected to hit 15.7 years. (5.1)
So what’s an employer or recruiter to do?
Crisis or Opportunity
Viewed from one lens, this time is certainly difficult for organizations. But where there is a crisis, there is also great opportunity. In the coming years, organizations with an agile work culture are positioned to thrive.
In his 2015 book “Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World,” General Stanley McChrystal says the goal for organizations should be to move from “efficiency to sustained organizational adaptability”:
“Efficiency is necessary but no longer sufficient to be a successful organization. It worked in the twentieth century, but it is now quickly overwhelmed by the speed and exaggerated impact of small players, such as . . . start-ups and viral trends. Management models based on planning and predicting instead of resilient adaptation to changing circumstances are no longer suited to today’s challenges. Organizations must be networked, not siloed, in order to succeed . . . This requires dramatic shifts in mental and organizational models, as well as sustained efforts on the part of leadership to create the environment for such a change.”
The environment has changed. The Collaboration Economy will facilitate both the abundant growth and extinction of species of organizations. To survive, some efficiency must be laid at the altar of adaptability.
What An “Agile Mindset” Means for Organizations
Agile organizations stay light on assets and employees. They take extreme care in determining their organizational structure and design by determining their core competencies that require their continued involvement and depth of experience. They understand traditional employment contracts outside of that core create an organizational weight that struggles to move with the speed that modern markets demand.
By hiring proven packaged teams they remove this burden and are better able to focus on their core competencies. This allows them to completely shift and adapt on a project-by-project basis while maintaining access to nearly unlimited resources when needed. This agility might feel like chaos, but it isn’t.
Unlike the Gig Economy or traditional staffing, the Collaboration Economy provides you with highly functional teams specialized to fit your project needs. Perhaps counterintuitively, this more flexible structure can help you to find and retain the talent you will need to succeed.
There’s an old mantra for loving relationships that can apply to what we’re getting at here: “if you love them let them go.” The Agile Employer understands that a more fluid employment model can actually help to strengthen the relationships they have with the teams doing the work. And under this new model, when a project is completed and the team leaves, they are never truly gone.
To illustrate this idea a bit further, let’s offer up another big recent change for organizations: Cloud computing. The cloud provided a wealth of benefits to IT organizations and startups across the world, bringing flexibility and reducing costs. In a similar way, the Collaboration Economy functions as the cloud did, but for human workers. It can help reduce costs such as office space, equipment, and the incentive to use existing resources that are a poor fit for project needs. Instead, you can use lower-cost teams for lower-cost problems and higher-cost teams for higher-cost problems. Then, scale as necessary.
Teams Are the Fundamental Unit of Productivity
In most businesses, the real return on investment isn’t ever the result of a single individual contributor. Quality results on complex projects demand high-performing teams to deliver true value. A battle rages on: management fights to slow ongoing turnover and to maintain good team dynamics. A revolving door of team members often leads to mediocre results. Meanwhile, a fluid talent arrangement would actually allow for those all-star, outperforming teams to stay together. When the circumstances are right, they can continue to deliver value.
Leveraging talent at the team level — instead of trying to continually re-create it with individuals — enables businesses to execute their strategies in a way never before possible.
nKipo enables you to wield the collaboration economy to outperform your industry by giving you access to limitless quality talent for a reasonable cost — any time you need it. Compared to traditional hiring, proven teams are capable of providing higher quality, lower costs, and faster delivery. You’ll be capable of adapting and specializing your workforce to ever-changing market and project needs.
No more playing Social Jenga — our term for managing a complex mixture of personalities — to try and build compatible teams. No more acting as the go-between for a bunch of independent contractors. Hire proven and packaged teams without the overhead costs.
Let nKipo help you overcome the talent crisis. Become an Agile Employer poised for the future!
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