According to research, 40 percent of external workers say “this isjust what I'm doing right now.” They may go on to become internalworkers if the right opportunity comes along. (Image:Shutterstock)

Employers and their HR departments are shifting their talent management strategy to be more agile andscalable by investing more heavily in contract workers,freelancers, independent consultants–aka, gig workers.

What employers and HR fail to realize, however, is that workersengage in these arrangements for many of the same reasons as theemployer: they like the flexibility and freedom to go theirseparate ways after the job is done.

This is just one key takeaway from a newresearch study examining the external workforce, undertaken bythe Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and SAPSuccessFactors, released at the recent SHRM Conference in LasVegas.

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“We've broadened the umbrella to include not just gig workers,but freelancers, contractors, independent consultants,” saidAlexander Alanso, SHRM's chief knowledge officer. “We estimate thatthere are somewhere between 16 million and 57 million workers whofit this model. How do we engage this workforce and what are themyths that exist out there?”

Well, for starters, stop looking down on their career choice asinferior. “Managers in particular believe that ultimatelyindividuals that are a part of the external workforce are on thehunt for a bigger job or can't find a job,” Alanso said. Inreality, external workers are often seeking more control over theircareer and schedule.

“External worker” is also not a life sentence. According to theresearch, 40 percent of external workers say “this is just what I'mdoing right now.” They may go on to become internal workers if theright opportunity comes along, and in fact, nine in 10 HR pros saythey're likely to convert external workers to permanent employees.On the flip side, internal workers may opt to set out on their ownat any time.

“It's much more of a fluid workforce of people vacillatingbetween external and internal employment,” said Autumn Krauss,principal scientist, Human Capital Management Research at SAPSuccessFactors. “We need to be building better talent managementpractices to facilitate those transitions.”

The external workforce is expected to continue growing, and HRprofessionals who aren't already incorporating these roles intotheir policies, procedures and even company culture have a lot ofcatching up to do. According to the study, 40 percent of HRprofessionals say that their external workers are managed by acombination of departments, and 20 percent said they're not even atthe table.

“As this workforce continues to grow, HR needs to be an advocatefor all people inside the business,” Krauss said. “We've got a verydiverse sample of people wanting different things and havingdifferent experiences. We need to identify the different types ofexternal workers and their different motives.”

In addition, this growing segment is driving a need for moreformalized practices and procedures. “Onboarding is a criticalfirst step,” Krauss said. “They don't need to be the same as forinternal employees. Companies need to figure out what is the fitfor purpose experience.”

In the end, companies would do well to invest in their externalworkforce as they would their internal workers as the line betweenthe two becomes increasingly blurred. “When we asked them what themost important factor in a positive experience: being thanked andgetting another contract,” Krauss said. “Sounds a lot like what aninternal employee would want.”

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