Unless you’ve been hiding in that blanket fort in your lounge, the chances are you’ve already heard about the ‘great resignation’, or the mass exodus of talented people looking for new opportunities.

It’s driven by a few things; thawing recruitment freezes, people being ready for a new challenge, increased market confidence, certain industries opening up again, and of course, people escaping companies or leaders who are mandating a return into the office … the list goes on.

Understandably, this shift is putting pressure on teams as they work with reduced headcount, compete fiercely to recruit, spend time onboarding new colleagues, and not to mention current lockdown challenges. Phew.

What we’re hearing from leaders is that this perfect storm is emphasising the four reasons why on-demand talent (you know… freelancers, independent consultants, professional gig talent and corporate escapees) are such a powerful part of the modern talent ecosystem.

4 reasons why talent ecosystems need on-demand talent

1. Capability: You need something you don’t have

• Need: You know the expectations of your employees have changed, the market is moving quickly and it’s important that you stay competitive on the salary front. It’s time to do an overhaul of your remuneration and benefits strategy but you don’t have the expertise within the team (either due to team size or vacancy).
• Solution: Werkling matches you to on-demand talent with the specialist skills and depth of experience you need. Werkling Talent jump in and review your current strategy, tap into external benchmarks, make a series of recommendations and deliver the solution.

2. Capacity: You need more of what you have

• Need: It’s approaching a peak time of year with your biggest seasonal campaign only weeks away. Your external comms team is at full capacity. Usually you rely on a PR agency but budgets are tight and the cost is getting increasingly hard to justify. You are concerned about delivering the program of work but also about burning out your team.
• Solution: Werkling matches you to on-demand talent with inhouse experience and fantastic reputations. These two highly experienced PR guns both work part time through the peak period, embedding themselves within the internal team. It goes so well that you maintain the relationship and they become an ongoing extension of our team.

3. Urgency: You need something right away

• Need: Yikes! The board are meeting in four days and have decided they want an update on the latest customer research, with insights and recommendations pulled out from an extensive data set. Your strategy team need an extra pair of hands, stat.
• Solution: Werkling matches you to known, trusted and available on-demand talent. They have worked with this type of data, for this type of audience, with this type of super squeezy timeframe many times before. Total professionals, they step in, wrap their arms around it and … Make. It. Happen.

4. Fluidity: You need something temporarily, for a certain time

• Need: Your graduate program needs a refresh so that it’s suitable for a hybrid work environment. You don’t need a grad guru all the time… just now. After that it can be managed by the talent and learning teams as BAU. Hmm… what to do. It’s not a full time role, its really even a job… it’s the outcome you need
• Solution: Werkling matches you to on-demand talent who scope and deliver the immediate outcome. You agree to the key milestones, consultation process and timelines, the Werkling talent delivers and hands it over to your team who are totally onboard.

Do any of these sound familiar? Do they all sound familiar…?

Tapping into different work models

We know the way that leaders design and resource work is quickly evolving, and as we stand on the brink of the great resignation those who have been resistant will be left with very little option but to tap into different work models. With changing talent preferences and an increased need for organisational agility, there is no question that on-demand talent is a driving force in the modern talent ecosystem.

If you have capability or capacity gaps, or urgent or fluid demands and deadlines in your team, say #hellowerkling and let’s talk.