Hashlist: Re-inventing the engagement model for external talent resources

Traditionally, the automotive industry development model has worked in a waterfall. An Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) has a requirement that is given to a Tier 1 Supplier. The Tier 1 then delivers the project by engaging several large automotive consultant firms.

The automotive consultant firms then turn to large IT firms to get the talent they need. The talents are permanently employed at large IT firms and work through a “Body Leasing Model” .

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The problems with the old “Body Leasing Model”

The “Body Leasing Model” has become outdated when the landscape has changed due to:

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1. Shorter development lifecycles: Previously, new cars were built and delivered as a large, independent project. Today, Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs) are connected across models, updated continually, and require continuous software maintenance.
2. New talent demands: Most of the large Tier1s, Automotive Engineering Firms, and IT firms have challenges with transforming their workforce to software-first to match the industry’s needs.
3. Talent preferences: Instead of spending their entire career inside one large company, the best of today’s tech talent choose to work as independent contractors, hopping between interesting projects and companies.

The biggest drawbacks of the traditional Body Leasing Model are:

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1. The large IT firm is directly responsible for the end client’s sensitive data through many layers through the waterfall, causing significant information security risks
2. The processes are slow, and requirements have to go through several layers before reaching the end worker that implements them
3. A small and stagnant talent pool. If the requested talent resources are not available or in large enough numbers, projects are delayed and not delivered

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Something more agile is needed. That is where Hashlist comes in.

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Hashlist takes a bottom-up approach by starting with the individual talent. We call it the “Hashlist Resource Hiring Model”.

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The Hashlist Resource Hiring Model

Through the Hashlist Resourcing Model, instead of contracting a single firm for a large project, the end client can flexibly form a team of independent IT contractors interested in delivering a specific project. When the project is done, they can flexibly reorganize the team whenever needed to match the next project.

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The benefits of the Hashlist Resource Hiring Model are the following:

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1. Sensitive end-client data stays directly between the final worker and the end client without changing hands through many partners
2. Forming teams and adapting it to new projects is easier, and projects are delivered faster
3. The end client can directly access a global pool of independent contractors instead of relying on the employees of a single IT firm.
4. Talents are happier and earn more thanks to working on projects they actually are interested in with less middlemen in the process

What about responsibility and liability?

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When it comes to Project Data and Instructions, the end client must make sure that the chain of responsibility remains unbroken.

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While a traditional IT firm instruct talents, and oversees a project, they also take responsibility and liability for the project’s results.

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However, a changing landscape of dealing with individual external contractors requires a new model for dealing with Project Data and Instructions.

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At Hashlist we have innovated a new model where the responsibility is shared in a way where Hashlist guarantees payroll & HR compliancy, while the end client gets to instruct and share project data with external contractors just as if they were the firm’s internal employees.

This way, the Project Data and Instructions are never shared with any middleman other than the end worker that delivers the project.

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A better way forward

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We believe the Hashlist Resource Hiring Model is a big step forward for the entire industry to deliver projects faster, and for talents to be happier and earn more.

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However, change at a fundamental level takes time, and doesn’t happen overnight. 

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In the end, the firms that adapt a better talent resourcing model will have an edge over those resistant to change.

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