The world of workforce and staffing is undergoing tremendous changes. The talent landscape is shifting as Boomers age out of the workforce while Millennials and Gen Z are coming to the fore. The latter generations hold different priorities about the nature of work. In particular, who, where, when, and how it should get done. 

Apart from this seismic shit, on the organizational side, many companies are facing the challenge of finding the right talent. In particular, we are talking about software, tech, and professional service companies that need to fill a growing skills gap. With this in mind, there’s been a rise in talent-on-demand. But what is it and how should it be leveraged to benefit your organization? We take a closer look. 

What is talent-on-demand?

Before we get into what talent-on-demand actually is and consists of, it’s worth noting that there have been some tremendous shifts in the labor force around the world. It started with the Covid-19 pandemic and the hybrid workforce, it shifted to the Great Resignation in North America, and today, we have major discord between the talent demands and the talent supply. 

One way of addressing this challenge is through talent-on-demand. But what exactly is it?

Talent-on-demand has been described in several ways. According to some, it involves highly skilled independent contractors or professionals offering their services to companies on an ad hoc or limited time basis. It steers away from rigid recruitment models and offers organizations much greater flexibility in terms of sourcing talent. 

As such, we have non-payroll workers that include positions such as temporary workers, freelancers, independent contractors, day laborers, gig workers, and contractors, to name a few. These “members of staff” only work as and when needed. They can be sourced either independently or through agencies or platforms that connect them with organizations that they can perform work or projects for. 

These on-demand employees not only bring with them the skills and knowledge that are necessary to carry out certain professional tasks or projects. They also enable companies to quickly and efficiently source the right talent for the right piece of the puzzle in their employment set up so that there’s greater efficiency and flexibility while ensuring increased output and productivity. But what are some of the other benefits of sourcing talent-on-demand. Let’s explore in more detail below. 

What are the benefits of talent-on-demand?

Because of the great shift toward talent-on-demand by many organizations, there are benefits of this practice for both the hired staff and for the companies themselves. 

For the on-demand staff, benefits may include:

• The freedom to choose who you work for and at what rates and levels of work
• Flexibility in terms of work location as work from home or hybrid work is becoming more commonplace
• The ability to use your specialized skills in niche industries
• Flexibility in terms of work-life balance
• It’s great for introverts and those who may be considered a “lone wolf” who prefers to work independently
• It does not require a significant commitment of time to the employer who sources your skills
• You can work for a corporation in any part of the world without problems related to time zones

As for companies and organizations, sourcing talent-on-demand brings a wide range of perks as well. These include some of the following:

• Flexibility in terms of scheduling: your projects will be on-track for completion even if your internal team doesn’t possess the necessary skills to get the job done. This means that when you hire outside talent, your project will proceed smoothly as opposed to facing bottlenecks.
• Fewer risks in terms of hiring: hiring comes with multiple risks. You may think you’ve sourced the right person after a series of interviews and offered them an employment contract only to find that they are not, in fact, well-suited to your work culture. It’s difficult to reposition or even to eliminate such staff from your team and the costs associated are great as well.

• Accommodate changing production needs: production needs can and do change and with this comes the need for new talent on board to help you meet your production challenges. An experienced outsider can really contribute positively to your production project as opposed to someone in your internal team, who may simply not have the skills or knowledge to do so. This is also a great way to help accelerate the delivery of output, making your business leaner and more productive. 

• Test to see if they’ll make a good permanent hire: and if you want to test out whether the on-demand talent is a good fit for your organization and company culture, hiring them for a short period of time is sufficient for you to determine whether they’ll fit in and contribute or otherwise. 

• It enables you to level-up the quality of your talent: by bringing in outside experts, you are supplementing and not diminishing the quality of your workforce. As such, it’s not about replacing your traditional workers but rather, creating a hybrid workforce characterized by the introduction of specialized skills and knowledge to your organization.

• Protect your employees from burnout: by hiring freelancers or contractors to help on certain projects, overworked teams will feel that they are not alone and the fresh perspective and new talent can help address issues of burnout during extensive and intensive internal projects. 
• Using a third-party on-demand provider improves cost-effectiveness: in particular, your payroll and recruiting responsibilities will be lower as there will be no long-term, fixed commitment to hiring on a permanent basis but rather on an ad hoc basis as and when you need it. This affords you much greater flexibility than hiring permanent staff. It is also a much quicker way to source talent as opposed to traditional methods. 

The bottom line

Talent-on-demand is a great way of mitigating risks and achieving greater organizational flexibility in uncertain times. And when it comes to where to source your talent, we at StorsenDigital have the answer. The Talents section on our website links you to a wide pool of talent in IT and business development, among many other critical organizational areas that many may struggle to fill. 

There, you’ll be able to see at a quick glance the affordable prices for the talent’s services and more about what you can expect from them. Let your business be guided by the right recruitment strategies so that you don’t bottleneck your operations. Choose talent-on-demand as your recruitment process of choice and let us help you with every step on your journey ahead.