Have you ever wondered why in recent years successful collaborative business models such as BlabaCar, Cabify, AirBnb, Glovo, Wework, etc. have proliferated?
Simple: nowadays consumers are not looking for a means of transportation, a home, tourist accommodation or office property, but a solution to their problems of transportation, mobility, new lifestyles linked to leisure or tourism and even to their work regime and schedules.
The sharing economy is recent, but it was not born yesterday, and it has already had time to evolve from an initial model based on sharing, as a pure exchange of products or services, to one in which the search for efficiency guides the consumer’s entire decision-making process.
From the perspective that guides the gradual adoption of sharing models such as mobility (carpooling, motorcycle and bikesharing), work (coworking spaces), multiservices (home, car, repair of consumer goods, etc.), accelerated by the effect of the pandemic in the last year, access to proven talent in a ‘flexible’ way is already emerging as another alternative that helps to combat the problems and imbalances of the business environment.
Does sharing expertise and talent fit into these models? Without a doubt. The ‘renting’ of senior knowledge is not only a viable option among others, but a real solution to endemic problems of SMEs and startups, such as the lack of resources, of specialized knowledge within the company and of an external and, therefore, more objective, strategic and accurate vision of the real day-to-day problems of a business.
When a company faces challenges such as renewal, change management, growth or internationalization, a generational changeover or even a merger/acquisition process, it comes up against enormous barriers. To overcome them, it needs that expert and detached vision, the action of third parties who are able to fit all the necessary pieces into a reliable, executable, measurable strategic plan…
In Spain, there are currently more than 400 companies operating in the sharing economy, placing our country at the top of the European Union. 57% of Spaniards have used some service of this type, according to the study ‘Monographic on the collaborative economy’ prepared by the association of manufacturers and distributors (Aecoc) on data from 2018. Companies in the sector are grouped in associations such as Sharing Spain and several success stories have emerged that have reached million-dollar valuations and are spreading to other countries.
And a new wave is hovering, on this occasion, over the labor market, in which several factors have blown up the traditional system of company-worker or supply-demand relations.
The last throes of the previous economic crisis, the current labor reform, the aging of the country’s productive force, the difficulties for young people to access the labor market, added to the dizzying and rapid adaptation of many sectors and markets to the new economy dictated by the pandemic, have radically transformed the landscape.
Junior workers want to change companies every 2 years, if not opt for digital/labor nomadism or directly for the freelance option; senior workers have discovered that teleworking has been the spigot that has opened the way to the imposition of family reconciliation policies that traditional companies had been reluctant to facilitate until now; and many have also opened their eyes to the options of becoming ‘independent professionals’ or ‘owners of their own time’ by valuing their personal brand and expertise to develop their career autonomously…
And among the latter, there is a high percentage of professionals with several decades of experience and positions of responsibility behind them who seek to enjoy working again without yokes or heavy ties, for the satisfaction of helping other companies to solve problems that have passed through their desks a thousand and one times. They are professionals who have occupied the top management and strategic areas of medium and large companies, multinationals and prestigious consulting firms. A regiment, a battalion of ‘solvers’, whom now companies specializing in senior talent have placed in their ranks and are willing to collaborate, to share accumulated experience so that others prosper and everyone wins.
Yes, it is not only possible to share talent and experience in a win-win situation where everything fits together. It is the ‘forbidden’ dream of any entrepreneur: to acquire proven talent only to cover needs in a flexible way, on a pay-per-use basis and with a time horizon without extra workloads. Hiring one or more professionals to design, assist, guide and execute the necessary changes to solve your problems from a perspective that combines experience, a sense of reality and the ability to place and maintain focus on a strategic plan that guides the process towards success.
If you want to learn more about this ‘Senior Talent Rental’ model, visit www.talensen.com
