Workforce Ecosystems (Management on the Cutting Edge)
Elizabeth J. Altman, David Kiron, Jeff Schwartz & Robin Jones
A practical framework for leaders to recognize, define, and orchestrate workforce ecosystems—interdependent networks of employees, external contributors, partners, complementors, and technologies—to reach strategic goals.
Drawing on a multiyear MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte research program—dozens of executive interviews and global surveys of thousands of managers—Workforce Ecosystems argues that the very definition of 'the workforce' has changed. Most companies now depend on a complex mix of employees, contractors, gig workers, professional service firms, subcontractors, complementors, and even technologies (bots and automation) to create value. The book introduces the concept of a workforce ecosystem as a structure of internal and external actors working toward individual and collective goals with interdependencies and complementarities, and offers a concrete orchestration framework spanning leadership approaches, integration architectures, technology enablers, and management practices. It shows leaders how to move from controlling employees to orchestrating diverse contributors, how to integrate siloed functions (HR, procurement, IT, legal, finance), how to deploy enabling technologies, and how to attract, develop, and align interests across the extended workforce—while wrestling with the ethical and social responsibilities this expansive view creates. Filled with cases from Novartis, Applause, Walmart, NASA, Roche, Unilever, and more, it equips leaders with the right questions to ask in a domain where best practices don't yet exist.
The model it argues
A framework-causal model in which design levers (leadership approaches, integration architectures, technology enablers, management practices) and contextual conditions (ecosystem comprehensiveness, community, coordination) shape psychological and behavioral states (relinquishing control, interest alignment, inclusion) that drive outcomes (strategic goal attainment, talent access/retention, workforce flexibility, social responsibility performance).
Key ideas
- Workforce Ecosystem Comprehensiveness
- How extensive an organization's workforce ecosystem is in its dependence on and engagement with external contributors and complementors beyond employees.
- Workforce Ecosystem Community
- The degree of community, shared identity, relationships, and belonging cultivated among internal and external contributors.
- Workforce Ecosystem Coordination
- The extent to which the organization controls and governs its ecosystem internally (cross-functional integration) and externally (control over contributors).
- Leadership Approaches
- The behaviors and mindsets leaders adopt to orchestrate rather than control workforce ecosystems.
- Integration Architectures
- How distinct functions and external relationships are coordinated through centralized, cross-functional structures.
- Technology Enablers
- The portfolio and integration of technologies enabling orchestration across five roles.
- Management Practices
- Practices for accessing, developing, and aligning interests of contributors beyond the employee life cycle.
- Relinquishing Direct Control
- The leadership state of moving from direct control to influence and empowerment while retaining accountability.