Ep. 99: Allen Larson, President and Chief Talent Officer of Civilized Rebellion: Staffing 101

Leaders, to deeply understand the current freelance economy, we must understand the origins of innovation first introduced by the staffing industry. Robert Half is one of the staffing industries leading firms that used technology early to revolutionize how they hired internally. This is where Allen comes in. He is a former Director at Robert Half and has extensive experience both in Staffing firms and client side. Key Learnings that I had from the staffing side: Robert Half focused on contingent talent, since contingent talent creates high margin, residual income rather than a block commission for each new permanent hire. Contingent talent was typically full time, with 6 week to 6 month contracts. Robert Half and other staffing firms both recruit and manage, unlike freelance marketplaces that typically put the recruiting and managing responsibilities on the hiring manager. This foundation naturally leads to the discussion on freelance, specifically how technology has unlocked the business case for a direct sourced freelance workforce rather than traditional contingent talent channels. This approach along with freelance management systems, rather than applicant tracking systems (which ATS's aren't wrong, they just don't serve the increasing freelance workforce), can achieve cost savings that turn a cost center into a profit generating center. Key learnings for you here: Direct Freelance sourcing drives at least 24% cost savings, amounting to an average margin of $24/hr with each hire. A managed freelance workforce can be used to increase company valuation. Automation in new technology can slash onboarding times that further reduce manual administrative hours and costs. We'll close this episode out by diving into the technical side of what's wrong with the current contingent talent landscape, which one word can describe it all...complexity. Specifically, there are up to 5 stakeholders traditionally required for one freelance hire...the staffing firm, the MSP, the client, the compliance/EOR provider, and most important, the talent. Direct sourcing and the right FMS can cut that ratio to 1:1. Human Cloud clients find a visual of this in your portal. Enjoy everyone!