The Inside Gig

Instead of recruiting externally to fill skill gaps, companies should learn to recognize and leverage the talent they have within.

Technology brings disruption to all sectors of the workforce. However, human resource (HR) departments continue to use traditional, outdated tools and policies to recruit and oversee the company workforce. Leaders must consider new approaches to meet the challenges of an environment that continually presents new technologies and demands new skills of workers.

Employees bring previous experiences and outside interests to a job. Job titles alone don’t reflect the full range of their skills. For example, an employee who studied engineering but now works in marketing will retain relevant expertise that could benefit the company. Yet, many companies assign jobs based solely on people’s current job profiles. Freelance platforms, by contrast, list candidates’ skills and talents so that companies can match them to specific projects. By adopting a similar approach, companies can replicate the gig economy internally.

Six core principles underpin the Inside Gig talent model which helps organizations use existing...