In the constantly shifting and evolving world of work, the contingent workforce plays a key role in helping organizations to remain agile and competitive. But the successful deployment of a contingent workforce relies on creating an effective contingent workforce strategy. In this article, I discuss how to build a clear, actionable and measurable contingent workforce strategy in the face of a crisis.

The Changing Nature of the Contingent Workforce

Employer reliance on the contingent workforce has been growing over the past decade. Economic crises, the Covid-19 pandemic and (in the UK) Brexit have all played a significant role in the rising prominence of temporary workers. In fact, research suggests temporary workers make up at least one-fifth of the workforce in the majority of UK companies.

Other trends have led to a greater reliance on contingent workers, including worker shortages owing to an ageing population. In addition, evolving technology and the preferences of millennials and younger professionals have increased the demand for flexible working patterns. Employers around the world have responded, with 65% of company leaders saying they intend to increase their use of contingent workers.

Take a look below at seven key components of a resilient contingent workforce strategy:

Clear Planning and Risk Management

The first step toward a robust and effective contingent workforce strategy involves planning. This could involve auditing your organization’s skills portfolio, evaluating economic trends, and reviewing financial forecasts. You’ll also want to assess the regulatory climate to ensure compliance around contracts, taxes, benefits, and insurance.

Tapping Into Diverse Talent Pools

Finding a deep and varied pool of talent sources can help you source the most suitable talent when the need arises, with the minimum of fuss. A diverse talent pool and varied hiring sources for contingent workers can help you to hire quickly and effectively when necessary.

Thorough and Robust On-Boarding

Integrating freelancers and temporary employees into the workforce quickly and efficiently is crucial to minimizing disruption. A well-considered onboarding strategy can help contingent workers understand what’s required of them, adapt to company culture and form effective relationships with colleagues. This should lead to greater efficiency and productivity as well as lower attrition rates for contingent workers.

Effective Use of Technology

Make the best use of the technology available to successfully manage your contingent workforce. Talent pool management systems and workforce management platforms can help with plenty of the everyday logistics. In addition, project management systems can help you to handle the challenges of remote or disparate teams. It’s also crucial to be aware of emerging technological trends, particularly the impact of AI on working practices and agile management.

An Open Approach to Flexible Working

Developing a clearly defined policy on remote working can play a key role in the success of your contingent worker strategy. Flexible working is one of the key attractions for employees shifting to a freelance working arrangement, so remote working arrangements can immediately widen your potential talent pool.

Investing for the Long Term

It can be extremely valuable to invest in your most reliable and effective contingent workers to ensure they’re ready to serve you when required. This means offering generous pay and benefits as well as training to equip freelancers with the tools they need to succeed. Integrate contingent workers into teams and ensuring they receive adequate support and management to succeed.

Monitoring and Evaluation

It’s critical to identify your objectives, define KPIs, set timeframes for evaluation and gather and analyze data to show whether your strategy is working. Think carefully about what you want your contingent worker strategy to achieve. When facing a crisis, it’s necessary to be ready with a contingent workforce strategy that you’re confident will bring results.