Co-CEOs Patrick Petitti and Rob Biederman, say the Gig Economy model allows people to choose the work they do rather than being tied to a single job and will become mainstream for office workers within a decade– Business Insider
This year has been unique and has changed all aspects of our professional, personal, and emotional lives. However, with the chaos and uncertainty, comes an opportunity to grow, readapt, and realign to the ‘new normal’. What matters is how one looks at a challenge, and we decided to make the most of it. Our people are our strength, and ensuring that our talent adapts to change, will equip them to be future-ready.
Amid crisis, the HR sector needs to recognize that the Gig Economy is the future, and this model can provide us with a flexible working environment to deliver the best to our clients. HR can play a huge role in helping organizations prepare for this model and should equip teams with the relevant tools to run their own individual gigs/practices. As HR professionals, we take pride in empowering our people and it is important for us to give them the freedom to spread their wings and soar.
The gig economy professionals prefer autonomy, purpose, and the ability to connect to the bigger picture. They are extremely passionate, and this passion is often the driver of their professional choices. Needless to say, having these workers as part of the organization is extremely advantageous to the entire professional ecosystem.
Few elements that an HR professional should focus on while implementing this model:
- Leadership Alignment: It is imperative to have the leadership on board to initiate an organisational shift. In theory, today’s most effective strategic workforce plans enable both core and contingent workers to plug into an organisational structure that matches a business’ real-time needs. To transition to the gig economy model, HR should identify a few roles that can adapt to the gig economy structure, and these roles should be considered while crafting the workforce strategy. In order to leverage gig talent as a key aspect of the workforce, both HR and the Business leaders should work together to execute this strategy efficiently.
- Employee Value Proposition: It is key that an employer should showcase the things that they are doing differently to attract and retain the talent within the organization. Policies such as flexible work timings, work-from-home, new parents having the flexibility to work from home for a larger duration, amongst others, should be highlighted. This entire work arrangement can help the organization tap the local and global talent pool and give greater autonomy to the gig workers.
- Adoption of new technology for efficiency: Technology is the present and the future. It is important that organizations adopt the latest HR Management systems to streamline and automate daily HR processes such as recruiting, onboarding, and managing exits. This will reduce the turnaround time of all the HR processes.
- Talent Management: A detailed understanding of the gig economy can help organizations integrate policies and processes into company strategy and structure. Building a culture that embraces gig workers, allows organizations to benefit from new and innovative ideas, and build a sense of affiliation. HR must design a holistic & inclusive system to ensure effective talent management for gig workers. Every gig worker should understand their role, responsibility, and contribution to the organization’s overall business goals. We need to look at a more outcome-based performance evaluation process, that can be implemented monthly or quarterly. Emphasis should be given on continuous feedback so that the opportunity area(s) of the gig worker is quickly addressed. This culture will foster empowerment, commitment, passion, and positivity
- Creating an environment that boosts creativity: Clients are looking for new ways of doing the same old work. The gig workers can bring new ways of working, brainstorm, think and come up with innovative solutions. Allowing different teams to acquire new skills and equip them to be able to provide more integrated and holistic services to their clients, is key.
