The transition to greater remote/hybrid working practices is driving significant change in how many organisations are engaging with contingent workers.
Although, as a business, you may opt to continue to retain contingent labour on time and materials contracts this is, for some, a more antiquated way of working, with one in three C-suite execs expressing plans to move to an outcome-based model.
The driving ideology behind an outcome-based change delivery model is that service providers are tasked with delivering tangible outcomes rather than just providing a resource for a period of time.
In effect, you and your service provider would jointly agree and approve specific outcomes that are both measurable and attainable; and are designed to guarantee your change project’s success. These include delivering projects to agreed milestone dates, and breaking down these milestones into individual deliverables, whilst adhering to acceptance criteria that confirms the specifics that must be completed.
The nature of remote/hybrid working lends itself to outcomes rather than output (time) based resource.
As such, the service dynamic is considered a win-win – you get the outcomes you require and only pay for the completion of a task, and service providers know precisely what is expected of them.
A degree of risk is carried by the service provider as it will have estimated times for completion. However, whether a job is completed early or late, the amount you pay does not change.
Businesses that that have shifted from a traditional contingent labour model to achieve their change delivery objectives to an outcome-based model way of working tend to demonstrate improved speed and efficiency, enhanced innovation, and improved ROI.
To provide some food for thought, we have compiled a list outlining seven key benefits of using an outcome-based delivery model to achieve successful change delivery in today’s remote/hybrid workplace:
1. In the traditional model of engaging with contingent labour on time and materials contracts, you own the service delivery. As a result, the onus of service success lies with you. In an outcome-based model, the service provider owns the delivery, technology and resources required, and provides the service until the pre-agreed outcome is achieved. As a result, you retain ownership, whilst the provider increases their accountability for the project’s success.
2. Detailing requirements at the offset, integrating the service provider into discovery and planning, create more accurate estimates, increases efficiency, and improves project delivery.
3. The service provider’s team works in partnership with you to ensure progress towards the outcome. This vastly reduces the amount of time you spend managing individual resources.
4. Outcome-based service providers will offer you a high touch service including clear cadence on review points, governance around raising risks, issues, and dependencies, and a common-sense approach to change control, all underpinned by technology that offers everyone complete transparency.
5. The focus of an outcome-based delivery model is on achieving results. The focus is on the ‘what’ and ‘when’ an outcome is delivered. ‘How’ remains important, but is the responsibility of the provider.
6. Allows you the customer to focus on expected outcomes and results, as well as budgets and costs, which leads to more clarity around the value of your work.
7. People working on an outcome-based model can work from anywhere and set their own working time/schedules which encourages job satisfaction, motivation, innovation, and productivity.