New "Voice of the Workplace" Pulse from Waggl and Next Concept HR Association Indicates that Gig Workers Command Respect -- But There is Still Room for Improvement

SAN FRANCISCO, and SAUSALITO, Calif., March 13, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Waggl, the leading platform for real-time feedback powered by Employee Voice, in partnership with the Next Concept HR Association (NCHRA), today released new Voice of the Workplace research on the topic of "Amplifying Employee Voice in the Gig Economy."

Using Waggl's crowdsourced platform, thousands of HR professionals from organizations of all sizes, including attendees of HR West 2019, were invited to participate in the pulse from January 25-March 13, 2019. In aggregate, 67 percent of respondents said that their organizations currently hire independent contractors or freelancers to perform work on an on-demand basis, and 64 percent claimed that their organizations clearly articulate their values and mission to on-demand employees. A full 74 percent of respondents agreed with the following statement: "My organization listens to the voice of its workers, including on-demand employees, and takes action in response to their concerns and requests."

However, in Government/Military organizations, only 33 percent felt their organizations did a good job of clearly articulating values and mission. And in mid-size corporations with 5,000-20,000 employees, only 40 percent of participants agreed that their organizations listen to the voices of all workers and take action in response to their concerns, in comparison with 81 percent at small/startup corporations with fewer than 5,000 employees.

"The Gig Economy is not just about Uber drivers, artists and bartenders anymore – many of these workers have highly specialized skills and an impressive breadth and depth of knowledge," said Greg Morton, CEO, Next Concept HR Association. "Rather than marginalizing on-demand workers, perhaps it's time to embrace this trend for what it actually represents – an opportunity to infuse corporate culture with new learning and ideas, higher engagement and fresh energy."

The Gig Economy consists of a broad continuum of on-demand workers, ranging from moonlighters and temp workers to independent contractors, contingency workers, freelancers, consultants and entrepreneurs. According to the 2017 Deloitte's Global Human Capital Trends study, 51 percent of global executives surveyed said their organizations plan to increase the use of flexible and independent workers in the next three to five years. A 2014 study commissioned by the Freelancers Union indicated that 53 million Americans are independent workers -- about 34 percent of the total workforce. This number is expected to balloon to 50 percent by 2020.

NCHRA and Waggl also posed the open-ended question, "What is your biggest concern related to working with an on-demand workforce?" Crowdsourced responses were distilled into a ranked list. Here are the top five responses:

• "Regulations."
• "Lack of consistency, particularly for those in direct contact with our clients. I worry that turnover reflects poorly on our organization, even though the on-demand workers we've hired to help keep pace with workload were intended to only be there temporarily."
• "Biggest concern is their availability to scale, based on our needs for their service."
• "Availability when we need them."
• "Replacing livable wage jobs with benefits with 'gigs' that do not provide a dependable income source to the workers."

Waggl is a real-time, transparent Employee Voice platform that goes beyond measurement to catalyze authentic dialogue and alignment around critical business topics: Employee Engagement, Culture Building, Internal Transformations, and Operational Excellence. Waggl elevates Employee Voice to deliver actionable insight, fresh perspective, and tangible knowledge to leaders and teams.

"In the current business climate, technology allows people to find work easily and complete it from anywhere they want, on their own terms and schedule," said Alex Kinnebrew, Head of Strategy and Acting CMO, Waggl. "In this era, much of the best talent has elected to work on-demand – it's a very different dynamic than that of the past, in which freelancers went out on their own only out of necessity. On-demand workers often come with a better diversified skill set and a wealth of valuable knowledge that their employers need to tap into. In order to fully activate on-demand workers as a resource, it's critical that they have a voice, and that the organization listens and takes actions in response to their concerns."

For additional information, please visit Waggl and NCHRA.

About Next Concept HR Association
Next Concept HR Association (NCHRA) is the second-largest HR association in the country and has been advancing organizations through human resources since 1960. Delivering over 100 programs annually, the association is dedicated to connecting human resources professionals with practice resources, leading-edge training, legal and legislative developments, quality service providers, and each other—forming career-long networks and partnerships. For more information visit http://www.nchra.org.

About Waggl
Waggl is the voice of people at work. Not a survey, not simply data -- Waggl is a real-time, transparent Employee Voice platform that goes beyond measurement. Waggl catalyzes authentic dialogue and alignment around critical business topics to help organizations bolster agility, resilience and retention. Waggl works by elevating Employee Voice to deliver actionable insight, fresh perspective, and tangible knowledge to leaders and teams. People thrive when you engage their voices to make a difference. Waggl is the most powerful Employee Voice platform used by HR and Executive leaders today. With a seasoned Executive Team and premiere customers including Paychex, Mayo Clinic, Boeing Company, and CenturyLink, Waggl is helping leading enterprises harness the collective intelligence of their people. For more information, please visit https://www.waggl.com/.

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