Global Survey Reveals Four Priorities for Connecting Workforce Strategies to Business Outcomes

Companies must get creative to keep up with trends influencing how work gets done

HANOVER, Md., January 30, 2020 – Allegis Group, the global leader in talent solutions, has released a new report, “Connecting Talent Potential to Business Outcomes.” The report finds companies are struggling to drive change and stay ahead when it comes to engaging workers and achieving goals in competitive, innovative markets. For companies, the challenge begins with how they connect with people and resources. According to Allegis Group’s recent, global survey of 1,800 HR and business decision-makers and 2,000 workers:

  • 79 percent of surveyed decision-makers believe it is more difficult to attract and retain talent with critical skills than it was three years ago.
  • Most believe the inability to effectively secure talent could impact core business capabilities, resulting in compromises in operations and service delivery (cited as an issue by 84 percent), limitations on business growth and profitability (84 percent) and obstacles to innovation (77 percent).
  • Nearly half (49 percent) say it is harder today to determine what talent and technology resources are needed to accomplish key goals, projects and initiatives than it was three years ago. 
  • Most workers (87 percent) agree employers need to do a better job of providing resources and technologies to best attract job seekers and retain employees.

“Companies have more talent engagement and resource options than ever before. And, more workers have unprecedented flexibility for how, where and when they do their jobs,” says Allegis Group President Andy Hilger. “For organizations committed to evolving their approaches to engaging workers and resources to achieve outcomes, there is a tremendous opportunity to realize a competitive advantage. Allegis Group companies have always been dedicated to helping clients lead in their markets, so we’re pleased to be able to share what we’ve learned about the leading trends in today’s business environment of rapid change and innovation.”

 

Strategies to Succeed in a Changing Global Talent Marketplace

Despite the challenges that come with heavy competition and rapid change, companies and workers enjoy opportunities to transform the way work gets done. Allegis Group’s research and global survey find these opportunities give rise to four fundamental trends that are changing how companies connect with workers and achieve outcomes.

 

  • Pressure mounts to balance technology and the human touch: Companies see the human factor as a major influence on their ability to attract and retain workers, and they are looking to apply technology to improve the personal aspects of the job. Fifty-eight percent of global HR and business decision-makers cite the push to humanize the talent experience as a priority to improve talent attraction, productivity and retention. 
  • The growing, strategic role of outsourced services: With a rising dependence on specialized skills and functions, the use of outsourced services as a way to leverage talent to get work done is increasing steadily. Among global HR and business decision-makers, 45 percent consider outsourcing more often today compared to three years ago as an alternative to direct hiring. 
  • A fragmented workforce makes it difficult to engage all talent types: Today’s professionals increasingly embrace engagements as contractors, freelancers, consultants or other types of flexible projects. Yet, only 28 percent of global HR and business decision-makers can access employees, potential candidates, contractors, freelancers, workforce suppliers and services partners on one system.
  • The influence of the changing regulatory environment: Among global HR and business decision-makers, 59 percent say changing regulations over the past three years have made it more difficult to secure flexible talent. As a result, 34 percent have added staff on legal, compliance or risk teams, and 27 percent experience slower decision-making due to legal reviews.

The Global Landscape: Shared Challenges for Business and Talent

The report also features an appendix with regional perspectives and statistics from North America, APAC and EMEA. With roughly 1,000 of 1,800 decision-makers surveyed stemming from North America, sentiment in the region underscores the trending issues facing companies around the world. Survey results for APAC and EMEA reveal general alignment with global trends along with some region-specific highlights.

In APAC, companies are balancing higher skills demands and more paths to talent. Particularly, global decision-makers experience:

 

  • More trouble with workforce strategy: Decision-makers in APAC are more likely to have difficulty determining what talent and technology resources are needed to accomplish key goals, projects and initiatives (a problem cited by 60 percent of APAC respondents versus 48 percent in EMEA and 45 percent in North America).
  • More inclination to use outsourced services: Companies are more likely to say they will grow their use of services over the next two years (an intention cited by 75 percent of APAC companies compared to 46 percent in EMEA and 47 percent in North America).
  • More investment in compliance: APAC respondents are more likely to invest in resources and technology associated with worker classification over the next two years (cited by 57 percent of APAC decision-makers versus 32 percent in EMEA and 34 percent in North America). Also, they are more likely to plan on using a talent solutions partner to support their compliance efforts in the same timeframe (54 percent in APAC versus 25 percent in EMEA and 33 percent in North America)
  • More use of market data: Decision-makers are more likely (42 percent in APAC versus 22 percent in EMEA and 25 percent in North America) to draw on detailed, current data that tracks pay rates by location, skills and available talent supply.

In EMEA, regulatory and market issues force resilient workforce strategies. Notable highlights include:

 

  • A need to improve the worker experience: Companies in EMEA were less likely (40 percent versus 58 percent in APAC and 47 percent in North America) to have a strategic approach in place to improve the worker and candidate experience.
  • An opportunity to optimize outsourced services: EMEA decision-makers are more likely (44 percent versus 36 percent in APAC and 35 percent in North America) to say that procurement or HR has some visibility and management of services to track costs but with limited strategic input. Only 24 percent say they manage a significant portion of services through a centralized strategy (40 percent in APAC and 29 percent in North America).
  • A focus on and need to advance a total talent strategy: Companies are less likely to say they can access any worker type, including employees or flexible workers, through a single platform (22 percent in EMEA versus 38 percent in APAC and 27 percent in North America). At the same time, slightly more EMEA decision-makers say they are working toward a total talent capability (54 percent versus 50 percent in APAC and 50 percent in North America).
  • A struggle with compliance demands: More decision-makers in EMEA (62 percent) agree that changing regulations over the past three years have made it more difficult to secure flexible talent than in North America (51 percent).

 

Get the Report

“Organizations have enormous potential to create value and improve careers, but the ability to translate that potential into tangible results depends on how they tackle these trends,” says Hilger. “As companies tackle issues such as talent scarcity with creative approaches to achieving results, their competitors are doing the same. Smart organizations stay ahead by committing to developing the people, technologies and processes that adapt quickly to changing demands.”


Get a free copy of Allegis Group’s “Connecting Talent Potential to Business Outcomes” to better understand four trends influencing how companies engage talent and get work done at https://www.allegisgroup.com/en/insights/workforce-challenges.

 

About Allegis Group

As the global leader in talent solutions, we take pride in what we do, connecting great people to great opportunities, helping businesses win and careers soar. Today, with $13.4 billion in revenues and 500+ global locations, Allegis Group and its network of specialized companies provide a full suite of complementary talent solutions that solves nearly every workforce challenge to empower business success while consistently delivering an unsurpassed quality experience. Our companies include AerotekTEKsystemsAston CarterAllegis Global SolutionsMajor, Lindsey & AfricaAllegis PartnersMarketSourceEASiThe Stamford Group; and Getting Hired. Learn more at www.AllegisGroup.com.


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