Independent, HR on-demand talent is an essential workforce supplement to today’s talent market. It allows businesses to break big work down into bite-sized projects or ‘atoms’ as coined by Adam Grant on his podcast ‘WorkLife’.

These atoms can be tackled fast with the specialized level and depth of expertise.

Why is this important to me as a business?

The Future of business, it’s people, and how work gets done has a new normal.

You need your business and especially your people strategy to have a digital mind-set, relentless focus on the customer, enabling technologies, and simplified, nimble ways of working, with a focus on positive business outcomes.

People practices and HR main reason for being is to deliver on business outcomes, keep this in mind.

With an entrepreneurial approach to business, you will be swimming through constant change. Disruption is constantly affecting your business and your people with increasing demands from customers, constant productivity pressure from competitors, and threats from unexpected entrants to their markets.

You need sound exponential HR practices to navigate the route to exponential growth. Your HR practices should drive tangible work outcomes.

1. Present you with dynamic and digital ways of working
2. Provide you access to exponential HR professionals
3. Augment your workforce
4. and help you work in an adaptable, agile manner.

Turn disruption into opportunity.

In times of uncertainty, you should be asking the following questions as a business.

• How can HR help me turn disruption into opportunity for a sustainable business performance?
• How to find the non-conventional HR practitioners with an exponential approach to HR?

Finding the right level of HR talent when needed, and at fair price to help you grow and manage your business exponentially, could be a challenge but not a myth anymore.

In order to hit the ground running earlier than the competition, think on-demand HR. This  talent can be reached out to, on-demand, without having to build up a huge internal HR department and break the bank.

HR on-demand can help you move from one priority to the next in a flexible way, grow exponentially in many smart ways, while staying lean.

On-demand has changed how we live, how we move, how we eat and how we travel.

Let on-demand change how your run your business.

Taking a step back however, it is essential to first evaluate your on-demand HR needs early on to ensure a successful project outcome.

A focused HR on-demand search.

Here are 6 questions to ask yourself before you begin your next on-demand talent search.

1. What kind of HR expertise am I looking for?

Independent HR talent ranges from highly focused specialists to generalist superstars. The first step in finding the perfect talent is defining the skills you need to get the job done. One Circle offers on-demand access to specialist HR talent in all areas of expertise built around the Employee Experience Cycle:

1. Strategy Development
2. Organisational Design
3. Talent Acquisition
4. Learning and Development
5. Performance Management
6. Talent Management
7. Leadership Development
8. Total Rewards
9. Agile HR

2. Is industry experience a contributing factor to the success of my project?

Are you looking for someone with experience in a specific industry? Or perhaps you’d like to “borrow” ideas and experience that are more common in an industry outside of your space? One Circle provides you access to HR talent from a wide range of work experiences and industry backgrounds, including:

1. Consulting
2. Consumer goods
3. Financial services
4. Healthcare
5. Hospitality and leisure
6. Industrial goods
7. Insurance
8. Non-profit and government
9. Retail
10. Services
11. Mining, Oil and gas, Energy
12. Technology

3. What qualities are important for me in my talent?

Work style is an important component to a project success. Are there any specific personality traits you prefer your Independent Consultant to have? Some common talent types include:

Work style is an important component to a project success. Are there any specific personality traits you prefer your Independent Consultant to have? Some common talent types include:

4. Do I have any specialist accreditation requirement?

Does your project require any niche skills or professional certifications? Define them upfront to screen for the most qualified consultants. For example:

• SPHR, PHR, SHRM, or GRP
• Scrum or Agile
• Certifications specific to certain programs or platforms e.g. SAP Payroll, Success Factors, Workday.

5. What is the time commitment required?

Is the project a simple one that can be finished in one intervention or will it take longer and therefore requires to be split into milestones? How soon do you need to get started? Do you have a hard deadline, or will the project live for as long as it takes to get the work done? Nail down the answers to these questions early on, so that everyone is on the same page before the work begins.

6. What is my budget?

With the wide range in independent consultant rates, based on specific area, level and depth of expertise, it can be difficult to know how much a specific consultant intervention will cost before you get to the negotiating phase. But it’s still important to have an idea of your total budget upfront to realistically evaluate talent proposals. You can also negotiate other factors such as time commitment and deliverables to get the talent you want at the price you need.

One Circle provides you with access to a calculator in your client dashboard, accessible after you sign up as a client and create your company profile. This should assist you to compare the illustrative cost of a traditional consultant for the same project.

READY TO GET STARTED?

You’re in a great place to begin your talent search if you can answer these 6 questions—but we know how difficult that can be.

Take your time to have clarity on the exact budget, timeframe, or talent expertise you need. If you need to talk, drop us a line to see if we can help.

Post a project today  at no cost and let’s see where this take us.