The Rise of Freelance & Online Talent Platforms

Fifty-six percent of organizations plan to use online talent platforms to support their human resources efforts. This is according to Catalant Technologies, which offers just such a platform.

This is one of the key takeaways of a new report from Ardent Partners. “The State of Contingent Workforce Management 2017-2018” was underwritten by Catalant.

Another report statistic is that 71 percent of those surveyed want to be more workforce agile. This is important given the growing reliance on independent contractors and other non-employees, Catalant notes. (Indeed, an October 2016 Forbes article says that freelancers make up 35 percent of the U.S. workforce.)

"The way we work is changing," said Rob Biederman, co-founder and CEO of Catalant. "Companies that apply agile ways of working and are able to match the right skill-set to the right project at the right time regardless of whether the talent sits inside or outside of their organization are the ones that will be successful in this future of work."

The use of freelance workers is indeed on the increase. So is the adoption of workforce management and optimization solutions that allow for ease of scheduling, more efficient use of human resources, and even the ability for people to set and swap their own schedules. Such platforms can be particularly useful in call center environments.

This is all part of a larger trend involving the adoption of online human capital management, or HCM, solutions.

“Only a decade ago HR systems were designed primarily to help HR professionals do their jobs,” Josh Bersin, principal and founder of Bersin by Deloitte (News - Alert), wrote in the Perspective 2015 white paper. “HR management systems, applicant tracking systems, learning management systems, and most payroll and benefits applications were created to streamline the work of HR administration, improve record-keeping, and help redesign HR processes. Although employees were considered the end users of these systems, they typically used them as little as possible, and mainly as replacements for the paper forms developed by HR.”

Today, he continued, we live in a radically different environment in which many HR applications are tools for employees first. For example, learning management systems allow employees to access articles, videos, and tools at their leisure to solve problems, learn new things, and interact with experts. Talent acquisition systems now enable applicants to apply for jobs via their mobile devices and let managers do interviews with them via video. Self-assessment, scheduling, staff collaboration, and much more are now also features of some HR software solutions. And, increasingly, these capabilities are available to employees, managers, and HR staff members not only via their desktop computers, but also on their mobile phones.

For employees, these new solutions can result in higher user adoption and employee engagement. For employers, they can save time, save money, and reduce employee churn, which itself saves time and money. Empowering employees with the tools they need to do their jobs may increase job satisfaction. That’s important, as studies show that employee disengagement costs American companies $450-550 billion annually, according to Gallup.

Edited by Mandi Nowitz