Short but interesting article on how business is responding to the rise of sovereign professionals by using this new, highly skilled and flexible workforce to power more agile and innovative business models.
This idea has been bubbling around for a few years. Back in 2012, Andrew Burke‘s research showed how freelancers contributed to both agility and innovation within firms (The Role of Freelancers in the 21st Century British Economy). Burke is now Dean of Trinity Business School and Chairman of the Centre for Research on Self-Employment.
Of course, the Irish management writer Charles Handy foresaw all this in his 1990s books The Empty Raincoat (1995) and The Age of Unreason (2002). The ideas, however, finally seem to be gaining critical mass and traction with larger businesses.
In the last couple of years, Accenture have identified the move as one of the key trends in their annual Technology Vision:
- Technology Vision 2016, Trend : Liquid Workforce
- Technology Vision 2017, Trend 3, Workforce Marketplace
Firms like MeasureMatch (a client of mine) are appearing to answer the need for reliable, responsive marketplaces to match buyers with the sovereign professional suppliers.
It’s an exciting time to be a sovereign professional.
