Managing Talent Pipelines in the Future of Work

William R. Kerr; Joseph B.  Fuller; Manjari  Raman; Carl  Kreitzberg

Case | HBS Case Collection | May 2019

Managing Talent Pipelines in the Future of Work

by William R. Kerr, Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman and Carl Kreitzberg

Abstract

In the face of a rapidly-changing economy, organizations that wish to compete in the future of work must develop strategies for acquiring, retaining, and developing talent for their organizations. This primer reviews the major trends shaping jobs, workplaces, and worker demographics. It then discusses many of the largest weaknesses in traditional talent management systems. The case then closes by describing how firms can create "talent management pipelines." In this framework, firms' core asset - talent - is subjected to the same quality-management procedures that revolutionized global supply chain practices in the 20th century.

Keywords: future of work; Talent and Talent Management; Experience and Expertise; Demographics; Labor; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Quality; Supply Chain;

Language: English

Format: Print

27 pages

Educators

Citation:

Kerr, William R., Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, and Carl Kreitzberg. "Managing Talent Pipelines in the Future of Work." Harvard Business School Case 819-131, May 2019.

Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2019 (Revised October 2019)

Google: To TVC or Not to TVC?

William R. Kerr, Carl Kreitzberg, William R. Kerr and Carl Kreitzberg

In late 2018, evidence emerged that many of Google’s temporary help agency workers, vendors, and independent contractors (“TVCs”) were unhappy with the company. TVCs, who reportedly made up 49.95% of Google’s 170,000 person global workforce, had raised concerns of mistreatment, citing instances of pay inequity, social exclusion, and physical endangerment. “Flexible” workers, such as TVCs, were often seen as a key cog for Silicon Valley’s IT companies: they made workforces scalable, they helped firms get access to specialized knowledge for temporary projects, and they boosted innovation by creating “knowledge spillovers” between firms. But, at the same time, many onlookers worried that flexible work arrangements were aggravating social inequality and making more jobs precarious. Google employees, major media outlets, and politicians demanded that the company change its policies on TVCs. One suggestion was that Google convert all of its TVCs to full-time status by early 2020. As tensions reportedly escalated between Google’s workforce and its management team, some began to wonder if Google was still an employer of choice.

Keywords: workforce; independent contractors; labor; talent management; Silicon Valley; google; employee attitude; Employee compensation; employee engagement; future of work; innovation; Innovation and Management; innovation and strategy; inequality; talent acquisition; Labor; Talent and Talent Management; Technological Innovation; Employees; Innovation and Management; Human Resources; Information Technology Industry; United States; San Francisco;

Citation:

Kerr, William R., and Carl Kreitzberg. "Google: To TVC or Not to TVC?" Harvard Business School Case 820-048, September 2019. (Revised October 2019.) View Details

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