Blended Workforce

What Is a Blended Workforce?

An organization with a blended workforce has hired employees under multiple work arrangements. These may include a mix of:

• Part-time
• Full-time
• Remote
• Temporary
• Seasonal
• Contract
• Permanent

As the pandemic reshaped the modern workforce, 70% of HR teams expected to create blended workforce policies moving forward.

How Should Employers Structure a Blended Workforce?

Many employers combine permanent and temporary staff or those in the office and remote for maximum efficiency.

The types of employees in your organization’s blended workforce will likely depend on your industry and goals.

For example, some roles are easily filled by long-term independent contractors: IT support, accountants, or graphic designers, to name a few.

Other roles are best suited for on-demand workers: farmworkers, sales associates, receptionists, and more. Some industries, such as healthcare or hospitality, are heavily dependent on location and in-person services.

What Are the Benefits of a Blended Workforce?

A blended workforce provides benefits both to employers and employees.

Many employers enjoy the following advantages:

• Being able to scale up or downsize the workforce quickly
• Staying flexible in response to work demands
• Having access to a skilled workforce
• Saving money by not having to offer benefits to all employees

For employees, especially those who don’t work full-time, the benefits include the following:

• A flexible working schedule
• More independence in choice of employer and type of work
• Diverse working conditions and relationships

What Are the Disadvantages of a Blended Workforce?

One potential disadvantage of a blended workforce for both employers and employees is disengagement. Employers may worry that nontraditional employees will feel left out because they aren’t involved in the normal day-to-day and typically receive less support.

However, recent surveys show remote work may not affect average engagement levels: 38% of hybrid and remote employees reported being engaged at work. In contrast, 34% of on-site, remote-capable employees and 29% of non-remote-capable employees reported being engaged.

Communication is the key to keeping remote and hybrid workers engaged. Employees who said they received meaningful feedback from a supervisor in the last week are four times more likely to be engaged at work.

Creativity may also be affected by the blended workforce. One recent study found that in-person pairs collaborate more effectively, generating more creative ideas when compared with virtual pairs.

When Should Employers Use a Blended Workforce?

Employers should use a blended workforce when the benefits of doing so outweigh the disadvantages. If you’re dealing with these concerns, you should consider a blended workforce:

• The scale of work to be done often or systematically fluctuates.
• Offering employee benefits to a full-time workforce is unaffordable.
• You need temporary access to specific skills (e.g., hiring an organizational consultant for several months).

Here are more specific examples of when employers could use a blended workforce:

• Seasonal work: The workload increases during expected times, like tax season, summer vacation, harvest time, or the winter holidays.
• Immediate needs: A highly skilled position needs to be filled immediately, such as when a construction equipment operator calls in sick.
• Temporary needs: You need to temporarily fill a vacant spot while recruiting a new candidate, like when you’re looking for a permanent front desk receptionist.
• Overflowing workload: You need extra help for a one-time project with a fast-approaching deadline.
• Eclectic skill set: You need someone with very specific skills, such as an engineering technical writer who can speak both Mandarin and Cantonese.

What Are the Unique Needs of Employees in a Blended Workforce?

Employees’ unique needs in a blended workforce have mostly to do with training, communication, and engagement.

While the traditional workforce typically has ready access to these opportunities, employees in a blended workforce may need special accommodations:

• Training: When a nontraditional worker is hired, employers can easily forget to give them all the training required to do their job well.
• Communication: When an employee isn’t in the office full-time, the chances are high that they’ll miss out on much-needed information if a consistent effort isn’t made to keep them in the loop in real time.
• Engagement: While nontraditional employees may come and go depending on need and availability, they should feel a real sense of engagement at work — they are still key team members and should be involved and recognized as such.

How to Foster Employee Engagement in a Blended Workforce

Employers need to make sure that they’re engaging all employees, whether remote or in person, full- or part-time, independent or contingent.

Focus on the most rewarding aspects of work to keep employees engaged:

• Development
• Purpose
• Positive relationships
• Regular positive feedback

As an employer, you can take these specific steps:

• Onboard and train all employees on your values and culture
• Set up effective communication with remote employees
• Create an inclusive recognition and reward system for all employees
• Offer the benefits that matter the most to employees

A blended workforce can be a real benefit to your bottom line and help your business grow. However, you must make sure temporary and part-time employees feel like they’re part of the team. Focus on communication, culture, and recognition to make your entire workforce thrive.