Despite economic uncertainty, finding high-quality talent is still a top priority for business leaders across industries. This is especially true for the corporate strategy function, which has been pushed to develop innovative and creative strategies amid unprecedented disruption. 

Think about it. 

When the pandemic first hit, teams had to think quickly and figure out how to best engage with customers in the digital and remote world. After the acute effects of the pandemic subsided, corporate strategy teams were once again tasked with identifying how to deliver value and fortifying business portfolios through M&As, digital transformation, and new product innovations. 

Now teams are being asked to do more with less in an environment where change can happen at a moment's notice. Rather than focus on leveraging external sources to drive growth, corporate strategy teams are

• Reevaluating their business units
• Looking for ways to optimize the operational structure to drive results
• Undergoing change management initiatives to ensure the success of digital transformations and the adoption of new technologies

Through it all, business leaders like you have been navigating a historically tight labor market that has made it increasingly difficult to attain the necessary skills to execute these initiatives. While many have relied on traditional talent acquisition models to fulfill their needs, others have explored an alternative approach: on-demand talent acquisition.

The Role of On-Demand Talent Acquisition in Finding Corporate Strategy Talent

Executing mission-critical initiatives that can drive immediate bottom line results requires moving quickly and with agility. If you're like most enterprise companies, you simply don't have the time and luxury to wait an average of two months or more to fill a role. Move too slowly to capitalize on an opportunity, and you can quickly lose your competitive advantage. 

But more than time being a contributing factor for finding talent fast, the other side of this issue is finding skilled talent to quickly lead strategic initiatives. This is where the on-demand talent acquisition model has come in to fill the gap left by traditional hiring models. 

In a business environment where agility is key in driving success, platforms like Graphite are uniquely positioned to resolve talent pipeline challenges by enabling you to scale your teams as business needs evolve. With the addition of independent corporate strategy experts, you can build flexible teams, set long-term strategies by building a bench of highly skilled experts you can consistently rely on, and respond to unanticipated shifts in the market. 

As CEOs predict talent shortages to continue for the foreseeable future, business leaders must reevaluate their talent acquisition strategies — leveraging solutions like Graphite to drive success in an ever-evolving environment. 

How 4 Companies Are Using On-Demand Corporate Strategy Expertise 

The value of leveraging an independent resource cannot be stated enough. Beyond addressing an immediate need on your corporate strategy team, using independent talent can enable you to drive cost savings, accelerate speed to market, and drive innovation. 

More importantly, talent on a platform like Graphite boasts 12-15 years of experience on average and come from illustrious backgrounds working at Big Four and MBB consulting firms. 

But like most things, seeing how other companies leverage corporate strategy expertise gives you a better view of what's possible. To that end, here is a look at how four enterprise companies are addressing their immediate needs with independent talent

Company 1: Setting the Business Up for Success with an ERM Framework 

An enterprise risk management (ERM) framework is a useful tool in helping organizations identify future risks. When executed well, it provides companies with a roadmap for proactively addressing issues that mitigates risk. So when this multinational investment bank decided to undertake a business transformation project, it realized it had a bandwidth issue. 

The bank wanted to quickly expedite the creation of the ERM framework to move forward with the business transformation project, but doing so would require someone to sift through a vast amount of data. Rather than have its core risk management team focus on this, the bank decided to offset the workload by hiring an independent expert on Graphite. 

Through the platform, the bank was able to onboard a risk management assessment expert with over nine years of experience as a compliance and data strategy leader at companies like S&P Global, Barclays, and Accenture. The bank was able to meet its objective quickly by having the independent consultant review and synthesize the data while also rolling out and developing the framework itself. 

Company 2: Expanding Global Presence Through New Product Launch 

NEC is a Fortune 1000 information and communications technology company. After seeing a pressing opportunity to launch an innovative new solution on behalf of its customers, the company wanted to use this moment to expand its global presence. 

The company soon found bandwidth constraints and a desire to move quickly impacted their ability to kickstart the project. Instead of letting a long time-to-hire process impact its ability to capture this opportunity, the company decided to explore using an on-demand talent acquisition solution. 

Through Graphite’s platform, the company was able to source an experienced interim analytics solutions architect with consulting credentials from AT&T and GE Healthcare to successfully deliver the solution architecture. 

Once onboarded, the independent consultant created a use case framework and template, listed the preliminary use cases for the new product, and conducted field interviews with partners and prospective customers to get a clearer view. The expert could develop and deliver the solution architecture on time with that information. 

Company 3: Expediting the Launch of a New Drug with On-Demand Talent 

A worldwide drug manufacturer was planning to bring new medications for head and neck and colorectal cancer to market. Due to its blockbuster potential as a treatment, the manufacturer wanted to launch the new drug in five months. Given the expedited timeline and the lack of in-house expertise to drive a brand marketing campaign, the manufacturer decided to onboard an independent project manager with product marketing expertise. 

After working with Graphite, the manufacturer was able to source an experienced project manager with a strong track record of driving large-scale product launches at Fortune 500 life science companies and consulting firms such as Accenture, Slalom Consulting, and Q5. 

Because of the independent consultant’s experience, the manufacturer was able to attain its goal of launching the new drug in five months. 

Company 4: Standardizing the Medical Affairs Function 

With the role of medical affairs rising to prominence over the years, especially after the pandemic, this clinical-stage gene therapy company decided it was time to revamp its medical affairs department to keep up with the accelerated pace of medical innovations. 

As the new medical affairs leader stepped in to lead the office, it became clear that additional help would be needed to develop a certified medical affairs unit that could successfully bridge the research and commercial side of the business.

To ensure the success of this initiative, the company wanted to engage an expert with extensive experience in setting up a medical affairs department. So the company decided to onboard an independent consultant on Graphite with over 10 years of experience in medical affairs.

Making Independent Corporate Strategy Talent Work for You 

From reconfiguring business and operating models to undertaking new initiatives to keep up with shifting consumer preferences, understanding how to leverage alternative talent acquisition strategies will be key to navigating uncertainty today and tomorrow. 

One way to create more resilience while keeping up with the pace of change is by investing in an on-demand talent acquisition platform that can help you capture future value today, accelerate innovation, and improve business outcomes. With a flexible workforce model, you can better align corporate strategies with emerging market trends, consumer demands, and employee expectations. 

To learn how you can get started with on-demand talent acquisition today, connect with one of our Account Executives to explore the possibilities. 

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