July 21, 2021 INSIDE THE MODERN WORKFORCE PART 2: Blending Crowd into a Traditional Talent ecosystem

A new concept of work emerged during the pandemic. Bedrooms became offices, meetings became moments to check in with colleagues, and the idea of “work” became less constrained. We’re primed for the next step. Now is the time to form resilient infrastructure that can flex and respond to whatever comes next. That means building a blended workforce: FTEs, skilled contractors, and on-demand (crowd) talent working in harmony.

To help you get there, learn from other leaders who have done it. Our new Ebook: Inside the Modern Workforce takes you inside 5 different companies and divisions. In our companion blog series, we’re shining a spotlight on three of those leaders:

• Part 1 featured Michael Vollmer, General Manager, Interactive Experience and Apple Practice at Wipro
• Part 2 today focuses on Paul Hlivko, Chief Experience Officer & Chief Technology Officer at Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield

Leveraging an all in talent strategy to be resilient

For Paul Hlivko, on-demand talent is a powerful amplifier. “When the crowd is woven in, and it’s given to the teams as something they could use to amplify and increase pace, increase speed, and increase experimentation,” he says, “that’s really powerful.” 

The program Hlivko pioneered at Wellmark centers in the technology division and is run almost entirely through Topcoder. The program is both a development team and enterprise API shared service called Wellmark as a Service, or WaaS, available to internal stakeholders across the company. Thanks to the enthusiasm and approachability of two crowd evangelists Hlivko installed (Dan McCready and Luke Faeth), the program is popular.

Highlights and insights

Over 24 months, Wellmark has executed over 25 projects with Topcoder. Across Wellmark, five different investments and product teams leverage the crowd services with oversight and support from McCready and Faeth. The initial top-down support needed from Hlivko (he picked the first projects) shifted to a dispersed program. All teams are self-identifying and policing and this has been an effective way to scale.

Breakthrough moments that made the program successful:

• Realizing that the value of team members can grow exponentially if you empower them with outside talent
• Relying on on-demand talent as part of a pandemic-proof, all-in talent strategy 
• Spotting the internal superstars who were leaning into the model and evangelizing it 

Ultimate impact: Hlivko was able to innovate within a traditional business model by leveraging on-demand talent 

“This is the only labor during the pandemic that had no impact for me.” —Paul Hlivko

Download the 5 Stories to pick up more strategies for success and scale in building your own blended workforce.

INSIDE THE MODERN WORKFORCE EBOOK SEE YOURSELF IN THESE 5 LEADERS. GET THEIR HYBRID WORKFORCE STRATEGIES.

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