Talent management in a project-based workforce

2. Engagement
Having found your talented people during pre-engagement, you now need to get down to the business of working with them. The engagement phase is when risk mitigation comes into play and during this time the workforce needs to be engaged and managed within a regulatory framework that can often be complex and an inhibitor for business.

The engagement process is a specialist area. Whether you take on employees, independent contractors, professionals with an ABN, or individuals on a visa-based engagement, they need to be correctly and seamlessly administered.

The process demands an understanding of the contingent worker DNA. These workers demand flexibility, maximum income, and to be treated with a respect that both acknowledges and augments their professional and lifestyle requirements.

On an ongoing basis, organisations will need to constantly work hard to attract, retain and remunerate their workforce. Every organisation wants to be the workplace of choice among its peers. However, organisations need to develop their own value proposition and create a point of difference to attract and retain the best talent. At the same time, management will need to seriously consider how they can become the workplace of choice for all workers, whether, permanent or contingent.

Increasingly, technology will be a critical element in supporting rapid engagement and if deployed successfully can boost productivity through process efficiency in meeting the changing needs of both the organisation and its workforce.

Visibility of spend will also remain essential throughout the engagement process.

3. Post-engagement
Post-engagement focuses on talent management. This is when the organisation needs the surety of uninterrupted business.

Good analytics and reporting become important for monitoring performance. Management needs visibility across the entire workforce—both contingent and permanent—to ensure thorough and effective workforce planning.

The organisation also needs to develop best practices to deal with workforce challenges that extend to areas such as:

• Talent transfer across the business: the ability to have visibility within an organisation to transfer key talent from one project to another. Availability is key in this process.
• Scheduling to ensure certainty of work.
• Offboarding and outplacement as contract/employment come to their inevitable conclusion.

Each of these three phases functions in tandem over a long period of time. All should be viewed collectively and their impact on subsequent phases understood. This is where a formal strategy and input from across the business can help.

Technology is another important enabler. Each phase should be connected elegantly using workforce solutions to deliver best reach, best talent, best process and best outcomes for all in the supply chain.

While the idea of a blended workforce heralds significant change for many organisations, it is an approach ideally suited to our current competitive and uncertain times. The business case for using contingent and permanent employees is well documented. With holistic management and a keen view to the entire supply chain, a blended workforce will readily deliver cost, flexibility and agility benefits for the business.

Request your free copy of the whitepaper ‘Blended Workforces: A Strategic Weapon for Corporate Success’ by emailing Entity Solutions.