What ‘workforce pixelation’ means for recruiters
With the onset of the recession, recruiters are being asked to broaden their scope of activity, with an emphasis on business development. This aims to maximise resources and support company objectives despite increasingly limited budgets.?
But is this shift in working practices unique to recruitment? Or is it part of a wider trend? And if so, what does it mean for the future of recruitment?
Well, to answer the first two questions: this extension of workers’ remits in terms of their daily tasks isn’t just happening in recruitment; it’s happening everywhere. And there’s a name for it: ‘workforce pixelation’. As for the remaining question: I will answer that further down in this article, which will more broadly discuss:
What is workforce pixelation?
Now, if you’re not familiar with the term workforce pixelation, it is the practice of dividing the workforce into smaller, specialised groups based on specific skills, experience, and knowledge.
Much in the same way that graphics can be broken down into pixels, each workforce is deconstructed into smaller parts, whether that’s sub-divisions, teams, employees, or even individualised projects and tasks.
As HR analyst and expert Josh Bersin explains, “The word ‘pixelated’ means ‘you can see the pixels’ – and this is exactly what the workforce is now like. Every individual in every different type of work is a mini ‘workforce’, each with its own way of doing business.”
Workforce pixelation represents a fundamental shift in the way businesses are structured. The large corporate behemoths that we’re used to seeing are being reorganised and restructured into smaller, flatter organisations, all while traditional jobs are being deconstructed. In recent years IBM , GE and Toshiba have all split into two or more smaller companies.
Why is workforce pixelation becoming more commonplace?
Workforce pixelation is growing in popularity among businesses because it enables greater agility. The devolved management and increased autonomy it facilitates enable companies to move faster and make decisions more efficiently. This is because they aren’t restricted by the traditional departmental structures that can slow up response times. And with business budgets being squeezed, speed and agility are essential.
Workplace pixelation is also helping businesses navigate other challenges, too. The Great Resignation continues to impact employers’ capacities to secure the talent they need to execute business priorities. But by deconstructing jobs into small projects or tasks, they can make it easier to find candidates internally who can do the work.
Pixelation of the workforce in this way has been likened to an internal gig economy. Existing workers are empowered to pick up tasks and adopt roles that traditionally wouldn’t be part of their remit. This has the benefit of enabling businesses to respond to needs more quickly. It also has the additional advantage of providing workers with a wide range of experiential and personal development opportunities beyond their typical day-to-day. The result is a workforce with a more diverse range of skills and employers that are able to benefit from that.?
Speaking of the gig economy, workforce pixelation has had an impact there, too. And you can imagine how; once a business breaks down a project into constituent tasks, it’s easy for freelancers or contractors to get involved. As part of their restructuring, companies have utilised freelancers in ever-greater numbers to achieve more agility and flexibility.
As this study by MBO Partners states, “Enterprises now recognise freelancers as an imperative part of their strategic growth agenda and a competitive workforce edge.” Figures from that same study reflect this statement – they show that the number of full-time freelancers in the US has grown from 38.2 million in 2020 to 64.6 million in 2022.
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How does workforce pixelation affect a recruiter’s day-to-day?
As I mentioned at the top of this article, workforce pixelation is happening in recruitment, too. Aside from their usual tasks – attracting and engaging top talent and building relationships with them, persuading them to apply for a job, and closing the deal by securing their acceptance of a job offer – recruiters are now being required to support business development efforts. As we move deeper into a recession, identifying and building new business opportunities is fast becoming the priority of many agencies.
At the beginning of the week, I created a LinkedIn poll that asked the recruiters in my network about their biggest challenges. And *spoiler alert* it’s looking as though ‘attracting new clients’ is going to be the one most commonly identified. So that likely means recruiters will continue to operate as de facto salespeople for their agencies, at least for the short-to-medium term.
How this will look in a recruiter’s day-to-day will largely vary. But what is certain is that they will be required to leverage their expertise and network to help identify new business opportunities, build relationships with potential clients, and support the growth of the agency. More broadly, recruiters might support sales activities in the following ways:
This is, of course, if they’re not doing all of these already – which is highly likely.
What does workforce pixelation mean for the way recruiters fill roles?
The trend of workforce pixelation is affecting the way recruiters fill roles by creating a more complex and competitive talent landscape. The result is an increased demand for specialised skills and knowledge in a variety of fields. Therefore recruiters must be more proactive and strategic in their sourcing and recruitment efforts. They must develop a deep understanding of the specific skills, experience, and knowledge that are required for each project and the unique needs of each client.
Recruiters will likely see a change in the roles they are recruiting for. Instead of creating full-time roles with endless lists of skills and responsibilities, clients may break down the outputs into discrete tasks and workstreams that need to be completed. And this will guide the way they ask recruiters to find the relevant talent.
There could also be an impact on the volume of roles recruiters are required to hire for. With the pixelated approach, employers could opt to look within their organisation or enlist the services of a freelancer. Think about the driving forces behind that explosion in the number of full-time freelancers in the US over the past two years as an indicator of this.
Additionally, the trend towards workforce pixelation is likely to drive an increased focus on employer branding , as companies look to differentiate themselves and appeal to highly specialised talent pools. Recruiters will need to play a key role in helping their organisations or their clients create and promote a strong, compelling, and attractive employer brand, and in finding creative and effective ways to reach and engage with potential candidates.
Conclusion
Overall, the trend towards workforce pixelation is likely to require recruiters to become even more knowledgeable, creative, and proactive in their efforts to attract and secure top talent. And there will be an increased imperative for them to divert some of their efforts towards the business development side of things as well.?
As for the direction of travel for this trend, recruitment expert and brain behind Recruitment Brainfood Hung Lee rates it as the fourth most important hiring trend for 2023. And he predicts that the frequency of workforce pixelation will increase by 200% over the next 12 months. So, recruiters: you should expect to be broadening, deepening and sharpening your sales skills for the foreseeable.
Former top performing Account Executive that now helps SaaS/Tech/Service Provider businesses hire top performing Account Executives (amongst other GTM roles ??)
1 年Its a really interesting topic, agreed that the ability to win new clients is going to be key for a lot of agencies this year. Same can be said for SaaS/tech businesses I think, sales folk that have the ability/tools to thrive with outbound activity will perform before than those who rely heavily on inbound.