The increasing need for contract or ad hoc skills in business and the emergence of the ‘millennial’ employee has forced a change in Human Capital Management (HCM). Today, claim experts, the onus is on decision makers to ensure that their HR and payroll solutions are adapted accordingly and can facilitate the level of flexibility now required.

The ‘millennial’ employee is one who has a different mindset when it comes to traditional working hours. It is a scenario that has become more of a reality across industries because of the increasing need for work/life balance.

Millennials think differently about issues such as work hours and flexibility. The advent of mobile technology, the prevalent use of personal devices in the workspace, and smart devices that offer increased capacity for employees to access and acquire company data has all influenced and help entrench the mindset.

There is a greater reliance by businesses upon contract or ad hoc skills sets to complete jobs or projects that do not require full-time resources. This trend is being driven by the need for cost saving measures and to maintain productivity levels.

In a volatile economic climate businesses are compelled to ‘do more with less’ and relieve pressure on existing resources, be more agile and strategic in approach when it comes to applying these resources.

The challenge for businesses is to match the right skills with the right job in order to ensure that delivery is in line with requirements and productivity is not adversely affected.

For example, it would be of little use to a business to have someone working on a flexi-time basis if the people who are required to help complete tasks and need to be engaged with are on a different working schedule. It defeats the object and leads to communication breakdown and misaligned goals.

The right solution

Technology that can offer the required flexibility to allow for workplace planning and scheduling is sought after. The solution has to be equal to the demands of this new breed of worker, including variable working hours, billing options and ad-hoc working arrangements.

Ultimately the business has to ensure that jobs are done by the right people at the right time with the correct collaboration.

Prospective solutions have to be able to ensure that planning and scheduling is not only completed accurately, but that it is done in compliance with tax and other legislation.

If the entry/core system allows for planning and scheduling, then recording actual work time against the schedule or plan can easily be converted (integrated) into pay, which results in compliance – taxed accordingly, other statutory amounts being correctly deducted and provided for.

James McKerrell is the CEO of CRS Technologies.