The Future of HR: Embracing AI and Contingent Workforce Strategies

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, driven by the accelerating pace of technological change, evolving employee preferences, and shifting economic conditions, HR leaders face numerous challenges in securing and managing talent. 

At the heart of this transformation lies the contingent workforce - a critical and growing component of many organisations' talent strategies. In this comprehensive article, we delve into the insights shared by Joao Martires, the COO of YunoJuno, at London’s HR Technologies Expo, as he explores the current challenges HR leaders are facing and the emerging trends shaping the future of work.

Current HR Challenges

When it comes to managing their contingent workforce, HR leaders and talent acquisition teams are grappling with 3 primary areas of concern:

1. Technology: Integrating AI and process automation, whilst leveraging data insights for workforce planning
2. Performance: Meeting increasing talent demands with reduced budgets and shorter time-to-hire expectations
3. Process: Streamlining and integrating various systems and processes for increased efficiency 

These challenges are further underscored by recent statistics (Gartner, 2024):

• 83% of HR leaders struggle to secure talent with necessary skills 
• 57% acknowledge that skills gaps directly impact corporate performance
• 76% feel overwhelmed by growing job responsibilities

These statistics alone highlight the urgent need for a holistic, human-led technology solution alongside a strategic approach to contingent workforce management. 

The Complexity of Contingent Workforce Management

Managing a contingent workforce involves a multifaceted process and without the support of technology-driven solutions, HR teams can quickly become overburdened and struggle to maintain efficiency across all the processes required. 

Typically, these include: 

1. Sourcing
2. Global worker onboarding
3. Bookings and contracts 
4. Approvals 
5. PSL and Supplier Management 
6. Compliance & Classification
7. Global payments
8. Reporting 
9. Insights and benchmarking

To drastically simplify these processes and remove ever growing pressures from internal teams, HR and Talent professionals must leverage technology and end-to-end solutions like those offered by YunoJuno.

3 Emerging HR Trends 

Generative AI and Automation

It’s of no surprise that generative AI is set to play a crucial role in organisational success in the imminent future, with 76% of HR leaders believing it will be instrumental. 

When it comes to integrating generative AI and automation, Joao emphasised the importance of organisations evaluating use cases and aligning the implementation of generative AI and automation with their strategic objectives. 

He outlined 3 significant benefits of leveraging these transformative technologies:

1. Amplifying and augmenting human capabilities: by automating repetitive tasks, generative AI can free up HR professionals to focus on more strategic, creative, and value-adding activities, ultimately boosting job satisfaction and organisational productivity.
2. Enhancing collaboration and communication: generative AI can streamline administrative tasks, such as candidate screening and onboarding, allowing HR leaders and talent acquisition teams to spend more time building meaningful relationships with both employees and contingent workers.
3. Accelerating decision-making through predictive capabilities: By making predictive analytics more accessible to HR users, generative AI can provide crucial insights to inform workforce planning and strategic decision-making.

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Watch the full video here

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The Rise of Skills-Based Hiring

Hiring has become a key operational challenge, causing employers to reevaluate requirements, and shift towards skill-focused hiring models. Joao explained that as jobs and roles continue to evolve, skills-based hiring will become (and is becoming) increasingly crucial. By breaking down roles into their constituent skills, organisations can better anticipate future talent needs, allowing organisations to be more agile and responsive to changing market demands.

Hiring freelancers and contractors based on their specialism, flexibility and adaptability, is increasingly becoming the leading approach for businesses. It's a smart way to make sure you're getting the best person for the job, while also ensuring the diversity, equity and inclusion agenda remains at the focus.

Moving away from role-based hiring, skills-based approaches offer several advantages:

• Enhanced project outcomes through better skill-matching
• Better equipped to adapt to fluctuating talent demands
• Increased diversity by reducing human bias

Competitive Advantages with Flexible and Responsive Workforces

‍As the demand for freelancer and contractor services increases, it's expected that highly skilled flexible talent will deliver a step change in efficiency and productivity to companies looking to boost their competitive advantage.

Joao continued to highlight the growing trend of companies leveraging more contingent and flexible workforce models to respond to market and economic challenges. He emphasised the strategic benefits of maintaining a blended workforce that includes both permanent and flexible workers, as it enables organisations to de-risk their operations and adapt to shifting business needs.

• Adaptability to market dynamics and technological advancements
• Strategic approach to talent acquisition
• Risk mitigation in various economic conditions

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YunoJuno's Technology

YunoJuno is the all-in-one solution to find, hire, manage and pay contractors globally. Built as an all-in-one Freelancer Management System with direct sourcing included and plug-in options, we take the work and risk out of working with contractors.

Combining a freelance management system with an elite marketplace of 100,000+ industry vetted contractors and an on-hand delivery team, we help reduce costs, hiring times and protect against misclassification. With integrated tools and automation, you can accurately classify workers quickly, compliantly and on a global scale.

Some YunoJuno case studies that highlight this impact:

1. Havas: Streamlined hiring and onboarding, resulting in £26,000 monthly savings
2. Gousto: 100% worker classification coverage over 150+ countries
3. PepsiCo: Decreased time-to-hire by 75% and achieved 90% fulfilment rates within 24 hours

Key Takeaways for HR Leaders

Joao brought the discussion to an end by outlining the key takeaways for HR leaders and Talent Acquisition professionals:

1. The importance of skills-based hiring: By understanding an organisation's skills landscape, HR leaders can better fulfil talent needs with strategic hiring, leading to improved project outcomes and greater value. 
2. The increased need for strategic contingent workforce management programs: As the demand for flexible and responsive workforces grows, HR leaders must develop and implement comprehensive contingent workforce management strategies to maintain a competitive edge.
3. The advantage of leveraging flexible workforce models: Incorporating a blended workforce of permanent and flexible workers enables organisations to de-risk their operations, adapt to economic conditions, and respond to fluctuating talent demands.

As the business world continues to evolve, HR leaders must stay ahead of the curve by embracing new technologies, adopting flexible workforce strategies, and focusing on skills-based hiring. By doing so, organisations can unlock new levels of agility, innovation, and competitive advantage. HR leaders who proactively adapt to these emerging trends will be positioned to drive success in an increasingly competitive landscape.

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