Big companies must look to Hollywood聽if they want聽a foolproof formula聽for聽harnessing top talent.
Pat Lynes, CEO and founder of London-based Sullivan & Stanley The Change Society, helps deliver strategic change teams into companies and works with the likes of Liverpool FC.
In his聽new book ‘The Interim Revolution’ he argues that leaving behind the idea of a traditional workforce聽benefits both the company and the workers.
鈥淭he ‘interim revolution’ is the senior end of knowledge workers, so it鈥檇 be the ‘knowledge gig’ or ‘executive gig’ economy, who have decided they want to leave the permanent world and start operating their skills on a gig-by-gig basis,鈥� he told 老九品茶Cloud.
鈥淎ll the best people are leaving in droves to run their own businesses and use their IP and experience to do mini consulting gigs.
鈥淚 believed in it so much I left a board director position to build a company that could harness the power of that talent drain.鈥�
Parachuting top talent into businesses helps them future-proof for a digital age, and Lynes believes that to survive in the new working era leaders need to ask themselves what they really need to run their business.
鈥淎sk 鈥榟ow can I become more lean and agile?鈥� and then contract up and down in accordance to market trends,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t happens in construction and oil聽and gas 鈥� it鈥檚 a good way of coping with fluctuating market conditions. Don鈥檛 ignore what鈥檚 happening now 鈥� the future of work will be gig-based.鈥�
Working with these top five per cent leaders and associates, Lynes believes that businesses must look to Hollywood for advice on how to manage this shift.
鈥淭he best people in Hollywood come together to shoot a great movie,鈥� he said.
鈥淐ompanies will handpick the best director, producer, production staff and actresses etc. because it鈥檚 a big project and they want a great outcome but they don鈥檛 want to carry the costs of a huge bloated Hollywood studio system.
鈥淔rom the 1940s to 1970s Hollywood was run by massive studios and now it鈥檚 an interwoven network of small companies, superstars, organisations and freelancers coming together to produce the best outcome then disperse.鈥�
Although Lynes sees top talent 鈥榝leeing鈥� into the gig economy, he acknowledges that in the longer term this way of working won鈥檛 suit everyone.
鈥淭he permanent side of things is never going to change because running their own company and building their own network isn鈥檛 for everyone,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 part of the reason I set S&S up, to help with that, but the newer companies coming through who are really successful treat staff like cross-functioning teams that are put together for an outcome then moved onto other projects.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more outcome-focused than time-focused and lots of companies are starting to do unlimited holiday and bringing in a learning and development culture for staff.鈥�
This means that in the short-to-medium terms leaders mustn鈥檛 overlook the gig economy because it can help them stay nimble and act like a start-up but in the long term they need to ask what they are doing with their talent says Lynes.
鈥淎re you set up to host top five per cent talent and what are you doing to make them want to stay with you?,鈥� he asked.
鈥淚f you haven鈥檛 given much of the newer generation something new in six months they just switch off.
鈥淲e set up S&S to give companies an alternative to management consulting firms because their model isn鈥檛 set up for creating this blend of core skills and a learning culture.
鈥淭he newer generations won鈥檛 think twice about voting with their feet.鈥�