The Open Talent Economy

A major result of digital transformation is the elimination of many traditional jobs and the rise of tech-based employment with an expanded use of freelancers. This transformation of employment can put current leaders in the position of having to eliminate their own positions for the betterment of the overall organization.

Studies warn us that an automation apocalypse is possible, with many lower (and higher-level) jobs being at risk. A McKinsey & Company study found that about 30% of tasks in 60% of occupations could be automated and multiple studies suggest that tens of millions of current jobs could be replaced by robots.

While this disruption of employment can be threatening, it can also be liberating when it provides an opportunity to move away from a less efficient, siloed, product-focused organization. The future of work will provide the freedom to scale workforce according to changes in demand and the modernization of back and front offices.

It will also allow for the restructuring of a workforce based on needed skills, putting the burden on the organization to reskill or rehire talent based on specific needs going forward. The result is a total democratization of human resource capacity. To address this need there are digital tools that can match current resource needs with internal talent and talent in the marketplace.

The Open Talent Economy gives employers the power to choose when and who they employ, with workers having the power to choose when they work and in what capacity. The Open Talent Economy is facilitated by the democratization of capacity with workforce deployment occurring seamlessly.

Futurist Faith Popcorn says that employees in the future will have to become as agile as possible and have many forms of talent that they can provide the economy. In the future, she says, we’ll all have seven or eight jobs, with the average adult working for a number of companies simultaneously rather than working for one big corporation.

I’ve seen the disruption of employment first hand when I moved from traditional banking into the world of digital. One of my big surprises was the comfort that some of the most progressive leaders had with the concept of eliminating their own jobs.

The head of operations of the Asian bank where I worked for over 3 years told me that his job was to ‘design for ‘no operations’. His statement took me by surprise at first, before I realized how religiously that concept could be implemented and how much it could benefit both the customers and employees. 

The goal was that everyone was to work towards a goal that no new product could be implemented unless it was completely automated – with no manual intervention.

As opposed to being threatening or to rigid, it motivated people to come up with new technologies and solutions that made the initially impossible task, possible.

The ‘designing for no operations’ concept was delivered in two dimensions. First was the non-disputable rule for new products. But, there was also a list of the most manual legacy processes that were scheduled to convert to the ‘no operations’ structure every year.

Because this was an ongoing process, and the natural turnover in operations in the banking industry was around 15% per annum, the transformation did not require layoffs or employee frustration. To the contrary, workers soon realized a tremendous opportunity to become part of a project with a future. It allowed them to learn new skills and acquire new talents that would become an integral part of the digital organization.

The challenge is that change is not easy and is many times resisted … especially in the banking industry. Employees who see no future or career progression from their current jobs could find themselves at the edge of extinction unless they take advantage of retraining or repositioning options.

The foundation of the Open Talent Economy starts with the customer experience expectations, as their desire for a digital journey to replace their legacy paper-based one becomes impossible to ignore. The solution may be achieved by co-designing the solutions with the consumer, testing the prototypes of the new process, and experimenting with the new ways of delivering an improved experience.

The potential upside of this evolution is enormous. Employees who had previously not had much direct consumer interaction want to become owners of the new design and feel accountable for it. Employees also realize that actively participating in such a transformation can result in an elevation of their jobs to the next level. Finally, employees get excited with their new roles, as repetitive work is done through automation and more creative and innovative opportunities become available.

Case Study: Know Your Customer Process

A good example of a reimagined process could be the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement. Traditionally, KYC processes involve Operations, Legal and Compliance departments who have regulated rules that can’t be compromised.

In a digital organization, the new rules could include: 1) to be digital only 2) to collect no signatures 3) to be 100% paperless 4) to have no traditional contact center engagement and 5) to ‘design for no operations’. With such boundaries, the team needs to use their creativity (supported with the latest technology) to come up with solutions that are meeting all five criteria and fulfill the customer expectations.

In order to deliver on such promise, some banks use a network of ecosystem partners where they install biometric devices to verify their customers’ identity. These partners are usually connected with a database of biometric data that verifies the consumer before an account is opened.

 Another way of doing this verification is via mobile phone SMS verification, provided that the same phone/ SIM/number has been used at the initial biometric registration. The entire process takes less than a few seconds. After the consumer puts a finger on the biometric device, the customer receives an SMS with an account opening confirmation. This new process is an ultimate example of ‘designing for no operations’, while providing an extreme value to a customer.

In every financial institution, there are multiple legacy processes that are taking a lot of time and manual effort to fulfill. From the opening of a new deposit account, the application for a loan or even the reporting of a lost or stolen card can (and should) be simplified, eliminating all manual processes.

But that is not enough. The new process flow must be able to be handled using only one channel (mobile device, desktop computer, etc.) or flow seamlessly between channels without the need to restart. If a consumer has a problem with the process, a customer service agent (or chatbot) can help alleviate the challenges.

These new processes will result in the elimination or redistribution of jobs and roles. That doesn’t mean that the worker is not needed, however. Instead, the organization should be proactively involved in retraining and providing personal development options that will retain those who want to be part of the digital organization. Because in the end, it will be cheaper to keep an existing happy employee than to find another worker in the marketplace.