According to the ADP Research Institute, the number of independent contractors in the U.S. increased by 6 million between 2010 and 2019. And that was before the Coronavirus pandemic. Today as organizations respond to the pandemic’s economic impact and an uncertain future, the “gig worker” trend continues to accelerate.
According to a global survey by McKinsey & Co, 70% of executives said they expect to use more temporary workers and contractors on site by 2022. Research by Gartner revealed that in response to the COVID-19 crisis, 32% of organizations are replacing full-time employees with contingent workers as a cost-saving measure.
In times of economic uncertainty, contingent workers are a precious source of on-demand talent that organizations can easily scale up or down as needed. The key to maximizing the output of a contingent workforce is understanding what drives them, which is what eSkill’s behavioral assessment tests do. When organizations use eSkill’s behavioral assessments, they gain a nuanced, data-based view of what makes workers tick.
Develop a Data-Rich Workforce Strategy
Contract workers present opportunities for new levels of scalability and flexibility for organizations but also pose unique challenges. Adding contract workers to the mix reshapes workforce dynamics and raises new management and engagement issues. While these workers traditionally fell outside of a company’s human resources (HR) strategy, the gig economy’s rapid expansion is changing that.
As organizations adopt new workforce models in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the conversation is changing within organizations and one of the topics is how HR managers should deal with contract workers. As HR professionals seek to understand and develop strategies that address contingent workers, behavioral assessments become an essential tool. By using behavioral assessment tests, organizations can:
eSkill’s behavioral assessments provide a framework for understanding an individual’s workplace behaviors. HR professionals can now predict with accuracy how workers will behave in given situations and can make informed decisions using that information. Behavioral testing, combined with eSkill’s job-relevant skills tests, offers organizations a comprehensive picture of each worker’s potential.
Bridge the Skills Gaps with Contract Workers
On average, one in six workers in an organization is a contract worker. Although contract workers are a significant part of most organizations’ workforce, companies typically lack a systematic way of evaluating and tracking them. As the appeal of using contract workers continues to grow, HR departments must develop a data-driven approach to uncovering and unleashing the potential of their talent.
Organizations can evaluate their current workforce to identify existing talent gaps using eSkill’s behavioral assessment tests and customizable job-based skills tests. By tracking and assessing skill sets and behavioral characteristics of contractors as well, HR teams can fill internal talent gaps with contingent workers.
Ready a Pool of Workers
There are many reasons why organizations should establish a pool of talented contract workers. As businesses begin to recover from the pandemic, new financial constraints may mean having a pool of contingent workers they can tap into as needed makes more sense than hiring full-time employees. An organization may begin to grow too rapidly to hire and develop full-time employees, yet need workers immediately. Or, as the COVID-19 crisis has proven, an organization may require the flexibility a contingent workforce offers so they can expand and contract as the market needs dictate.
Regardless of the reason, recruiting and assessing a pool of contract workers prepares organizations for an uncertain future. Tracking the behavioral characteristics, specialized skills, and knowledge of these workers gives HR the data-driven insights they need to fill temporary vacancies, recommend temporary-to-permanent hires, or assign gig workers to specific tasks or projects.
Measure the Competencies that Matter Most
eSkill has the most extensive test library in the assessment industry with over 1,000 job-based and subject-based tests and thousands of single-topic modules. eSkill’s user-friendly platform makes it easy to evaluate and quantify the behavioral characteristics, skills, and knowledge that matter to your organization.
eSkill’s dedicated U.S.-based Client Success Managers provide unlimited support and training. The expert staff assists HR professionals in selecting and customizing assessments that match their organization’s unique hiring needs and can demonstrate how easy it is to map the competencies of contract workers as well as your existing workforce.
Whenever organizations administer assessments for candidate selection, they must ensure that the tests are a valid and reliable indicator of job success to comply with employment testing laws and guidelines. With a nearly 20-year record of perfect Equal Employment Opportunity Commission compliance and no litigation, eSkill provides organizations with a legally-defensible testing platform.
eSkill’s behavioral assessments and customizable skills tests enable organizations to build resilient operating models capable of sustaining long-term success and predict the performance potential of contract workers with accuracy. Learn more about the benefits of using eSkill’s behavioral assessments and customizable skills tests to identify talented contractors quickly.
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