Imagine a consultant telling a C-level executive in 2019 that huge swaths of their company could transition to remote work with only a few days’ notice, they would experience a productivity boost after an adjustment period, and many of those workers would not want to return to the office. The consultant’s contract likely wouldn’t be renewed. Even so, surveys conducted independently by both authors indicate this is an accurate description of the remote work evolution for many firms. The forced experiment with remote work over the past two years has shown some organizations the upside of approaches to work they would never have otherwise considered. It also showed workers that they aren’t as locked into the traditional, in-office 9-5 at one company as they might have thought. For both, there’s no going back.
Remote Work Has Opened the Door to a New Approach to Hiring
Companies have drastically changed the way they work, but hybrid and remote work aren’t the end of the story. Firms should consider the flexible or open talent model: project-based or temporary work that is staffed with workers who are not permanently attached to a company. There are a few situations where it makes particular sense to use open talent, such as when: 1) insiders cannot be redeployed easily, 2) outsiders are less expensive than hiring a new insider or paying overtime to existing ones, 3) highly specialized skills are needed and they are not available internally, or 4) returns on exceptional solutions are high. Companies should consider the level of firm-specific knowledge required for a project, whether it’s recurring, and the integration costs of incorporating work from an open talent solution into the larger organization. Open talent can offer companies flexibility and access to talent and resources traditional hiring models can’t provide. And as more workers opt for flexibility in their careers, there’s significant potential for this model.
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