Several weeks ago TalentWave announced the launch of our Talent Community solution. This is a technology enabled service that helps our client companies to curate a community of independent workers who are already known to the organization. When coupled with TalentWave’s comprehensive engagement layer, Talent Community creates a powerful end-to-end solution for engaging non-employee workers that we believe has the power to transform how work gets done.
Starting at the annual Staffing Industry Analysts CWS conference in Las Vegas, and in the subsequent weeks, I’ve had dozens of conversations and live demos with clients, prospects, and ecosystem partners sharing our vision and demonstrating the practical application of TalentWave’s Talent Community. In their enthusiasm, some have called it a revolutionary solution that will enable enterprise clients to directly harness the power of the independent workforce without the risk, or the time and expense of contracting through a complex supply chain.
To that end, like many a nascent revolution, I thought this one might benefit from a manifesto that spells out the positioning and clarifies the value of a Talent Community.
Since we’re focused on enabling enterprise clients to safely and effectively work with independent workers, you could call this a “Declaration of Independents.” Here it is:
The Talent Community Manifesto
We believe…
…Work is increasingly becoming project based, with traditional FTE roles unbundled into more discrete deliverables that can be executed by subject matter experts.
…The best contractor is a known contractor.
…Time-to-fill is an important metric for clients, but it is meaningless if the wrong worker is placed on a project. Time-to-productivity is much more impactful to the enterprise, and it is driven by known workers who are familiar with the company and can quickly deliver results.
…Flexibility is a critically important factor for both independent workers and the organizations that engage them on projects.
…Driven by a number of demographic, psychographic, and firmographic trends, the independent workforce will continue to grow, reaching 40% (or more) of the total US workforce by the year 2020.
…Independent workers, and the companies that want to engage them, want a simple, safe, effective solution that helps them both get what they want—contractors want to provide their services, clients want to get projects done.
…Enterprise buyers of talent are increasingly concerned about proper worker engagement in order to mitigate the growing risks of worker misclassification and co-employment.
…As more organizations embrace Total Talent Management strategies, they will increasingly direct source independent workers through their internal networks, versus outside recruiters or agencies. Building a Talent Community is the foundation to achieve this goal.
Conclusion
So there you have it, a manifesto that spells out the core beliefs behind TalentWave’s Talent Community. While it might not be revolutionary, it most certainly is innovative and will prove to be very strategic for those organizations who realize they need to attract and retain talent across the workforce spectrum—from full time employee to independent contractor—and everything in between.
To learn more about TalentWave’s unique Talent Community solution visit our solution page, download the Talent Community whitepaper, or feel free to contact us for a personal consultation and demo.