Post-pandemic, many professionals are opting to be self-employed for the many benefits that freelancing offers:

• Freedom to choose projects and coworkers

• More high-quality, intellectually challenging work for their clients
• Efficiently spending time on client’s work and not on office politics
• Financial gains and reduced pay gaps

Independent consulting requires not only the right level of experience to become a credible and trusted advisor, but also the right mindset to deal with the challenges of uncertainty.

Research found that most satisfied and successful independent consultants have cultivated three capabilities to deal with the unique challenges of working in the gig economy:

• Proactivity
• Psychological resilience
• Mental agility

Read more: Are You Ready to Go Freelance

At Vandos Consulting we are helping companies reap the benefits of diverse and inclusive workplaces by creating cultures that seeks and celebrates difference. As a trusted talent partner, we help our clients to attract, retain, and engage talented people who represent myriad identities and help to ensure that everyone has equal access to growth opportunities. Below are 9 books that we recommend on the topic of diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Blindspot – Mahzarin R. Banaji, Anthony G. Greenwald

Inclusion – Jennifer Brown

How to Be an Inclusive Leader – Jennifer Brown

Subtle Acts of Exclusion – Tiffany Jana, Michael Baran

Inclusify – Stefanie Johnson

The Culture Map – Erin Meyer

The Leader’s Guide to Unconscious Bias – Pamela Fuller, Mark Murphy, Anne Chow

Diversity in the Workplace – Bärí A. Williams

We’re All in This Together – Mike Robbins

Companies worldwide are struggling to attract and retain highly skilled workers.

Research conducted by Dr. Bradford Smart, author of Topgrading, shows that the estimated cost of a bad hire can range between 5 to 27 times the candidate’s annual salary.

Companies who apply skills-based hiring have stated benefits such as:

• being able to tap into a broader, more diverse pool of talented individuals
• a more efficient hiring process, resulting in faster ‘time-to-hire’
• decrease in job advertising expenses and less time spent on training

Article: Why Skill-based Hiring Is On The Rise – Forbes

Recently, McKinsey conducted its latest CEO Excellence Survey, to take the pulse of leading CEOs’ evolving priorities and the actions they’re taking in response.

The surveyed CEOs indicated that they feel the time has come to refocus on employee performance, after several years of focusing more on helping employees weather the pandemic and other challenges. As Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has told his company’s employees, workers should prepare to have their “performances graded more intensely.” While this will be uncomfortable for some, the best CEOs believe that talented employees are by and large welcoming of such a stance.

Top CEOs are also expecting their employees to spend more time in the office or with customers in 2023. They believe that doing so is ultimately good for both employees and customers as it benefits mentorship, community, innovation and purpose in the workplace.

Article: CEO Excellence Survey – McKinsey, March 2023