How the HR Scorecard can Help Gig Economy Firms to Manage Freelancers Better

How the HR Scorecard Helps Gig Economy Firms

It is usually thought and understood that the HR Scorecard is useful to only those firms in the manufacturing and services sectors. However, there are uses for the HR Scorecard in the Gig Economy or the Freelancing Economy firms as well.

These relate to how such firms can use the HR Scorecard to optimize their operations and to manage freelancers better. For instance, Gig Economy firms can maximize the ROI or the Return on Investment from Freelancers by measuring their productivity and tallying them against the costs that are incurred on them.

To take an example, suppose firms such as Uber and Upwork spend 1000 Dollars on recruitment and training costs of their freelancers. Now, if the costs incurred this way have to be recovered along with profits, then the HR Scorecard can help by aligning the returns from such costs against the objectives of the firms.

Aligning Organizational Objectives with HR Objectives

Talking about objectives, it is also the case that Gig Economy firms can measure the benefits of hiring freelancers and then aligning them with the strategic objectives that their leadership desires. Indeed, the fact that the existential question as to whether the Gig Economy firms ought to be in business in the first place can be answered by using the HR Scorecard.

In other words, because such firms typically report only their freelancers as the primary asset or the only asset, the HR Scorecard can indeed help such firms determine whether they ought to remain in business or not.

The fact that the HR Scorecard is all about aligning the Strategic Objectives of firms with their HR Objectives is reason enough for Gig Economy firms to use the HR Scorecard effectively and efficiently to determine whether they are fulfilling such objectives.

Optimization of Processes and Efficiencies

Apart from this, the HR Scorecard can also help Gig Economy firms to optimize their processes better wherein they measure the efficiency of their operations and tally them against the strategic objectives.

Indeed, considering the fact that the HR Scorecard is used to determine whether the “fit” between the organizational strategies and the HR Strategies means that Gig Economy firms can benefit from using the HR Scorecard due to the primacy of Human Resources in the operations of such firms.

While this is also true of the Services sector firms such as Software and Financial Services, it is also the case that Gig Economy firms can use the HR Scorecard to their advantage.

For instance, since freelancers make up the business model of Gig Economy firms, the HR Scorecard helps such firms to actualize more efficient management of their human resources in a manner that is consistent with their larger organizational objectives.

Anticipating Future Risks and Challenges

Having said that, it is also the case that Gig Economy firms can benefit from using the HR Scorecard to anticipate future risks and challenges. Indeed, this can be done in a manner in which such firms can understand how future risks arise and how to combat them accordingly.

For instance, if the organizational objective is to know how the future unfolds for such Gig Economy firms, then the HR Scorecard can be of help in stacking up how the present scenario is and how such scenarios can be extrapolated into the future to determine the strategic direction of such firms and whether they are proceeding in ways that would ensure sustained success even in the future.

Using the HR Scorecard with Big Data and AI

Further, using the HR Scorecard in conjunction with technology can be of immense benefit to Gig Economy firms. For instance, using Big Data and AI or Artificial Intelligence tools, the Gig Economy firms can anticipate future risks and determine whether they are doing enough to be prepared for the future.

Apart from this, the HR Scorecard can also help Gig Economy firms in understanding the present as well as looking backward to the past to determine whether they give clues and insights into the future challenges. Indeed, both Big Data and AI used in conjunction with the HR Scorecard can benefit the Gig Economy firms to map their strategic direction accordingly.

The HR Scorecard is first and foremost a tool that aligns the HR Function with the larger organizational strategic objectives. Thus, the HR Scorecard helps in understanding whether the human resources in firms are optimized and whether they are being used efficiently.

Gig Economy firms that thrive on using human resources can then align both their organizational objectives as well as measure the efficiency of the human resources against their bottom line imperatives.

Moreover, Gig Economy firms thrive on efficiencies from the economies of scale and the synergies from the integration of disparate and discrete organizational processes. Using the HR Scorecard would thus help such firms by spreading the costs against the scale and by integrating their various functions and processes.

Conclusion

Lastly, the HR Scorecard is extremely useful to any firm and in particular, the Gig Economy firms since they can now use the same implement those changes that are beneficial to such firms and to discard obsolete and outdated processes.

Indeed, the fact that redundancies can be eliminated or reduced is one reason why the HR Scorecard does help the Gig Economy firms to optimize their processes and to make them efficient.

To conclude, the future of work is freelancing and this means that we are going to see more Gig Economy firms and hence, business leaders would be well advised to use the HR Scorecard to their and their organization’s benefit.