Strategic Workforce Optimization with Work 4D

What if there was a better way to solve talent challenges—while reducing costs by up to 40%? There is. Learn more about our Work 4D approach.

What if there was a better way to solve talent challenges—while reducing costs by up to 40%? There is. Learn more about our Work 4D approach.

The pandemic changed the labor landscape, creating an unprecedented talent deficit that may only get worse. By one projection, there could be 85 million open roles across the globe by 2030.

Companies must change how they think about different types of talent and the work best aligned to those groups. This requires a new workforce framework comprised of contingent, outsourced, and/or near/offshore talent, in addition to employees and automation.  

That’s where our Strategic Workforce Optimization with Work 4D offering comes into play. 

We combine proprietary talent analytics with a multidisciplinary lens—including industry, human capital, operational productivity, and outsourcing expertise—to determine which of the four types of talent (employees, contractors, outsourcing, automation) is the most appropriate and cost-effective talent mix for your specific activities within your operations. We’ll look at best practices in operating models and specific benchmarks. Then, together, we’ll bring that framework to fruition. 

We’ve seen companies that optimize work to talent type save 30% to 40%, often millions, and even generate revenue when they cannot find the talent, a critical competitive advantage. But this isn’t just about cost. By balancing cost, risk, employee experience, and service quality across all talent channels, your organization can focus on growth—even in the most challenging markets. 

Results You Can Expect

  • $600M of estimated savings over 5 years
  • $35M in savings achieved in the first year
  • $100M+ in savings per year through rate reductions 
  • 60%+ reduced time-to value 
  • Increase employee satisfaction, engagement, productivity, and retention 
  • Eliminate critical skill gaps that slow down your speed to market 
  • Adapt quickly to changing market conditionsscale down in slow periods, while keeping employees in critical roles and retaining critical knowledge; and maintain full capacity during growth periods by filling roles with contingent and outsourced labor  
  • Reduce risk by employing proven practices for governing contingent and outsourced work 
  • Greater understanding of key roles to fill and better resource options for those open roles 

What We Offer

Analyze your current workforce   

What’s holding your organization back today? That’s what our 4-week assessment will find. We dig into areas such as organization structure, work activities, technology, and performance metrics. Our proprietary technology assets, databases, and methodologies power this analysis using an individualized talent optimization framework—looking at where you stand today with respect to each of the 4-dimensions of talent:


  • Employees—including turnover, recruiting, engagement, productivity, and costs 
  • Contractors—including location, cost per role, and staffing effectiveness 
  • Outsourcing—including contracts, service levels, and rates 
  • Automation—including process mapping and workflow analysis 

Design a new workforce framework with optimal flexibility and value now and into the future 

What are the best opportunities for reinventing your workforce? We’ll work with you to explore  the right framework—with an emphasis on quantifying the value of each potential move. We compare your current operations with benchmarks and develop recommendations for each talent option. Together, our teams will test our workforce optimization solutions against your business objectives, create an optimal talent mix for targeted business processes, and design a plan for reskilling and upskilling current employees. You can continue to leverage the framework for optimization long after we are gone, flexing with any changing market conditions.

Deliver your future workforce framework and help you achieve goals

Do you have the resources and expertise to turn a great framework on paper into real results? We are ready to assist here, as well. We start by creating a practical roadmap—prioritizing delivery of new talent options based on factors such as ease/difficulty of implementation and time to value.  

We’ll help you win organization buy-in for change and create capabilities for managing a four-pronged workforce. And, as needs require, we’ll bring in specialized expertise in areas such as managed services/outsourcing vendor selection and negotiation, contract optimization, process improvement, automation, and change management. Stay ahead of competitors using a workforce optimization framework that creates informed solutions to optimize talent.

Want to learn more?