A joint report from Staffing Industry Analysts and ERE Media noted the median usage of non-employed workers by companies is 16%, but for the heaviest users nearly half their talent comes from non-employed workers. The report “Total Talent Management – Towards an Integrated Strategy for the Employed and Non-Employed Workforce,” outlines a new holistic and proactive model for talent acquisition and management in today’s environment where organizations increasingly utilize a wide range of talent types. The most common categories of non-employed workers were temporary workers and independent contractors, consultant, and freelancers. 

According to the report, less than half of the organizations surveyed had a good understanding of their employees’ motivation, skills and productivity, and 20% to 30% don't know how many workers they have, the number of open positions or total labor costs. Additionally, while organizations generally believe they should try harder to motivate employees, they’re more indifferent about motivating non-employed workers, with only 10% to 20% making significant efforts to motivate their non-employed workers.

The total talent management concept integrates a full range of talent sources, from traditional employees to a variety of non-employee workers including temporary workers, independent contractors/consultants/freelancers, volunteers, outsourced resources, as well as non-human options such as robots, drones and cognitive computing applications.

“The concept of total talent management is in its infancy with only a few leading-edge examples of practical implementation,” said Barry Asin, president at Staffing Industry Analysts. “But as more companies adopt this strategy, instead of making sourcing decisions in silos, they’ll be able to tap into the full range of available talent resources, both employed and non-employed. By using a properly managed blended workforce, companies will be better able to optimize competitive performance to meet spikes or reductions in demand as well as balance labor costs and workforce agility.”

A total talent management approach enables organizations to address the key aspects of their workforces by:

• Identifying the type of workers needed and in what ratio to maximize productivity/cost-effectiveness.
• Determining who is doing work on behalf of the organization and the reputational and legal risks to which the organization is exposed.
• Measuring the real cost of various workers and optimal pay and benefits.
• Integrating contingent and other non-employed workers with an employed workforce.
• Developing training and career paths for workers of all types.
• Motivating and engaging all those doing work on behalf of the organization.
• Addressing skills shortages.

“The time is right for total talent management to address workforce challenges and HR leaders, partnering with procurement, should drive the evolution of a TTM approach,” said ERE Media President and CEO Ron Mester. “The adoption of Total Talent Management is going to take time and work, but those companies with the vision and competence to drive TTM forward will reap a clear, competitive advantage.”

View the full report here.

The TTM report was based, in part, on a survey conducted in January 2015 and sent to a global database of 47,000. Full responses came from 628 executives and suppliers of HR and recruitment products and services.