The phrase “Blended workforce” has become the most important addition in almost every organization worldwide. HR departments have seen it as an efficient solution to managing flexible and ever-changing staffing needs.
Before the onset of the pandemic, many companies typically relied on a permanent onsite workforce. While beneficial to some, it created a disadvantage to companies that were constantly looking for new talent to improve their output.
The emergence of a blended workforce means that firms are now better placed to create an employee pool possessing varied skillsets. Such a pool can comprise temporary, contract, and permanent workers working under a single roof.
How to Manage a Blended Workforce
According to a recent survey by PwC, 77 percent of CEOs have had a challenging time finding the right talent to fill in gaps within their organizations in the past year. The main problem lies in finding talent having the right skills.
A blended workforce has emerged as the solution to solving the existing talent gap. Companies using this kind of workforce are at liberty to hire workers from freelance platforms and assign them contract work on an ongoing basis.
With time, the companies will build a freelancer pool that they can call on whenever they have a talent gap within their workforce. But, how do they manage the freelancers without causing friction with their existing workers?
Communicate Frequently, Cleary, and Empathetically
Savvy HR professionals have already begun prioritizing communication to guide the workforce on how they can work remotely. As some employees begin to go back to the office, communication with the workforce will become more important than ever before.
Depending on the company location, the available teams may have to operate following different schedules, making it necessary for those in charge to communicate clearly.
Remember, not all employees know how to behave during a global pandemic. Many of these will look up to HR for guidance on what to do. Therefore, how management communicates and how it does so is as important as what it says. Leadership needs to show empathy for what the employees are going through, which means practicing humanity, and always being understanding.
Every communique management sends out must be tailored to the employees' specific needs. For example, the communication should reflect local health guidelines and should inform them whether to work onsite, remotely, or a combination of both. It’s a type of communication that will require HR departments to adopt a multi-thronged approach. The approach should focus on delivering a positive experience for the entire workforce, regardless of whether they’re working onsite or remotely.
When communicating, you should make sure that all the employees know:
- How to obtain location-specific updates and information related to remote work guidelines, office re-openings, and stay-at-home policies.
- Available HR resources and policies for dealing with stress and anxiety that may arise due to staying indoors for prolonged durations.
- The company’s plan to prioritize its workforce's safety, health, and productivity while ensuring that its operations don’t get affected.
Learn to Use the Blended Workforce as an Advantage, Rather than a Tactic
HR departments must learn to view the blended workforce as a strategic capability instead of a tactic. The workforce can assist in strengthening the organization, provided that those concerned have laid out a well-designed plan.
Management should begin by creating a strategy that can help it leverage the benefits of having a blended workforce. They will need to identify the problem areas, including the existing resource gaps that should be filled.
They can use any of the following three business strategies to align the blended workforce to their company vision:
- Incremental:
Organization relies on existing personnel and only hires freelance workers whenever they need additional help.
- Strategic:
Company relies on external talent for strategic reasons, e.g., when handling specific projects
- Transformational:
The firm works hand in hand with the external talent to develop a vision for the firm. Their relationship will end when the project comes to an end.
There’s a need to create a strong partnership with the talent pools to support onboarding, the company vision, and the measurement and management of company talent. HR should strive to develop a collaborative culture and which gels well with external talent.
Promote Mental Health and General Wellness in the Face of Anxiety and Depression
As the general public adapts to the new way of life and work, HR departments should remember that everyone is going through a particularly stressful time. Most employees are having a hard time leaving their fears at home.
HR managers and leaders should do their best to address the fears being experienced by their people. Some of these fears revolve around their safety and other health concerns.
They need to find a way to balance their well-being without overlooking any group of employees. For example, the stresses being experienced by onsite workers are different from those of remote workers. The former is mainly concerned about physical safety, while the latter is concerned with at-home anxiety and region-specific COVID-19 spikes.
All these fears are real and valid and shouldn’t be overlooked. Leaders need to prioritize communication related to wellness programs that can help the workforce care for its physical and emotional health.
If possible, consider arranging for guest speakers to share tips and information on wellness techniques the employees can use to stay calm. Relaxation techniques could also assist in preventing employee burnout which can result in reduced productivity levels.
Conclusion
It has become impossible to ignore the need to use agile talent and a blended workforce regularly. Technological advancements have made it easier for HR managers to utilize and collaborate with independent and freelance talent.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that companies need to use agile talent and a blended workforce for improved productivity. It’s a trend that most companies will need to adopt in the near future as normalcy resumes.It’s high time that organizations started embracing a blended workforce to meet their talent needs while transforming their organizational outlook. HR departments can manage these
Latest posts by Martin Desmond (see all)
- How HR Departments Can Manage a Blended Workforce - December 28, 2021
