A couple of weeks ago I let you know about the launch of the Open Assembly Collective which, essentially is a community of CEOs, Harvard Scholars, and executive level leaders who are passionate about and share the common goal of changing the paradigm and mindset of how people work. Our focus is to co-create and build the foundation for the future of work. We want to help companies learn how to tap the talent of the gig economy to save time, money, and resources.
One of the things I’ve learned through this collaboration is that sometimes companies are tapping into this new way of working without C-Suite awareness. The on-demand talent networks that aggregate communities of gig workers tell us that up to 70 percent or more of their engagement with companies happens at the director level or lower, rather than as a top-down directive from the C-Suite.
This is a missed opportunity for company leadership, and something worth looking into. It could be smart business to formalize the process of working with the gig economy, if this is happening within your organization. Here are some of the benefits.
Assess Business Needs
If multiple teams are tapping into the gig economy at your company, this is a business indicator that’s important to know about. Are teams tasked with realistic goals? Are teams understaffed? Could gig workers be utilized as a formal way to get things done as the company scales and grows?
Regain Control
Acknowledging and endorsing the gig economy as an acceptable tool and creating a formal method to tap it can help an organization lead, rather than chase, what’s happening. This will allow you to track activities and results, know how overall budgets are impacted, measure team productivity accurately, and get real ROI numbers.
Decrease Costs
Using the workers available through an on-demand talent network increases efficiency and saves money for a company. Consolidating disparate crowdsourcing efforts within a company could lead to additional cost savings. For example, the company could begin to pay for and work through one account with talent network platform, rather than holding multiple accounts with the same platform.
Improve Access to Talent
Teams can access additional on-demand talent networks by pooling resources that individual budget holders may not have been able to afford. This widens access to talent and enables existing teams to be more productive. Creating awareness between teams that others at the company are tapping the gig economy could also lead to conversation and further problem-solving collaboration. Some companies use these platforms to tap wider talent internally, as well as externally, and are delighted when they can cut across organizational silos and find the solution to their problem was no more than 300 feet away.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on Forbes.
