Navigating the Talent Shift

By 2020, 40 percent of the workforce won’t want to be your employee. That means managers and executives have to forget the traditional methods to acquire talent and revise the perception that “talent” is only full-time employees.

Navigating the Talent Shift, introduces you to SPEED^TM: a fast and flexible talent strategy that shows you how to access the 65 million people that make up the on-demand, specialized talent pool. This book explains how to:

Stop spending months searching for talent
Have a team of on-demand talent at your fingertips
Exponentially expand your talent pool
Test ideas and change direction fast to stay competitive and drive innovation
Reduce severance and layoffs
Bring a fresh perspective with strategic doers on your team
Do more with less
Navigating the Talent Shift will show you and your team how to tap into an on-demand workforce, while providing you with the talent you need to be nimble and successful

“Lisa Hufford is on point with her explanations and guidance for the future of work. As a working mom in the tech sector and former female entrepreneur, I’ve seen firsthand the importance of understanding and embracing a flexible work force so that businesses can capitalize on the on-demand economy.”

—Caitlin Angeloff, Head of Global Social Strategy & Operations, DocuSign

“Lisa Hufford addresses a firm’s most critical imperative—how to assemble teams with the right talent at the right time to ensure the best outcomes. The SPEED^TM process provides leaders with concrete steps for integrating contractors with fulltime employees. A must read for anyone leading strategic initiatives.”

—Scott Dawson, Dean, Orfalea College of Business, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Chapter Summaries

1. Navigating the Shifts in the On-Demand Workplace

The workforce shift that’s driven by a changing global business environment, a highly competitive marketplace that features hyper-specialization, project-based work, and a talent pool that aspires to–and indeed demands–flexibility. A variety of economic, technological and cultural factors drives this dynamic shift. The chapter examines three major trends that have converged to shape where we are: the coming of age of millennials, the Baby Boomers’ impact on the workforce, and the trend that will impact about 40 percent of U.S. workers by 2020, the freelance “1099 economy.”

2. The Changing Face of Talent

This chapter delves deeper into the changing face of talent with a focus on the critical things talent wants. On-demand talent works in a variety of different industries and companies, while taking on many roles. Talent values flexibility; high value work and problem solving; autonomy and respect; and to make a difference.

3. The Speed Solution

Introduces the book’s centerpiece: the SPEED^TM talent strategy that enables managers to build flexible, project-based teams that get results. SPEED provides an agile and flexible framework for building on-demand teams and it also provides the ability to adapt to unanticipated business changes.

4. Build Your On-Demand Team

This chapter provides a deep-dive into using the SPEED^TM strategy, which encompasses the best practices that I have learned, observed and implemented in hundreds of projects with every type of cost, management and operational situation.

5. Overcoming Roadblocks and Perceptions

Described are some common roadblocks that companies may encounter when integrating SPEED^TM within their organizations, and how to overcome them. I see roadblocks every day — whether it is mindset, organizational, structural, procedural, or political — and they can all be resolved.

The final three chapters feature real-world stories that show how companies have creatively used on-demand talent to drive innovation, control costs and get results.

6. A Start-up within a Corporation
7. An Innovative Idea that Launched a $100 Million Business
8. Orchestrating a Global Transformation with On-Demand Experts