Right Technology, Right Skills, Right Fit

Today, 18 percent of IT workers are self-employed, and this number is growing by 7 percent annually compared to 5.5 percent for the rest of the independent workforce, according to research presented by Patrick Thibodeau in a recent article on Computerworld. This accelerated growth in IT is being driven by the need for the right skills to match a rapidly changing technology landscape. Independent experts fill temporary project needs and help a business avoid a commitment to fixed-cost employees when long-term growth is uncertain. Midsize businesses in particular are sensitive to fixed commitments while the economic recovery remains tentative and talent in emerging areas such as data science is commanding high prices for permanent positions.

Right Talent, Right Time

Independent workers bring the right skills to IT in less time than a permanent employee drawn from a significantly larger geographic talent pool. Talent alone does not guarantee value for a business. Successful integration with existing IT professionals and the ability to forge relationships with business users or external clients remain outstanding challenges for both independent and permanent employees. The use of independent talent, however, minimizes the inherent risk by allowing the business to end a contract with minimal penalty and to contract anew with an alternative resource.

Midsize organizations benefit greatly from access to independent workers when the resource requirements are often less than full time. Individual projects do not have to be delayed while waiting for these needs to be filled across multiple projects. Each project can acquire the right skills at the right time instead of sharing potentially generalist skills.

Team from Talent

The ability to rapidly integrate these outsiders into the organization with minimal friction is necessary to generate return on their skills. Independent workers are likely to bring their own technology, and businesses with comprehensive bring-your-own-device (BYOD), wireless and remote access policies in place are prepared for the variety of technologies that may be brought. Identifying access requirements through data governance policies ensures that the independent worker is able to view relevant materials without exposing internal documentation to the security risks of external email or public cloud tools.

Employing social business technology such as wikis, instant messaging, online meetings and collaboration work space integrate the independent expert with the business and facilitate remote work if necessary. Midsize businesses with budgetary constraints can also avoid maintaining idle permanent office space by accommodating mobile workers with remote social tools when face-to-face interactions are not required all the time. An independent worker can integrate more easily with existing teams as needed when the business is familiar with social business technologies and flexible collaboration.

The right skills from independent workers are available to businesses of all sizes. A business that has positioned itself for social collaboration is more likely to gain value from this expanding pool of talent that fits with midsize business needs.

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

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Right Technology, Right Skills, Right Fit