AgileOne

On June 23, 1885 Andrew Carnegie delivered the commencement speech at Currey Commercial College in Pittsburgh, PA. The American industrialist was at the height of his success in the steel industry, but already focused upon his legacy. Carnegie, often called one of America’s ‘builders’, was also deeply philanthropic and as willing to distribute advice, as he was eager to donate his amassed wealth.

On that warm summer day, as the US was emerging from a three-year recession, and only days after the Statue of Liberty arrived in the NY harbor, it was advice that Carnegie chose to share with the eager graduates who were preparing for life in what was called the Gilded Age of the US economy. Gilded for it’s wealth, but also gilded for it’s thinly veiled success on top layers on instability. Conventional wisdom of the day was summarized through the expression, “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket”. Diversity was taught, much as it is today, in investing, career ventures and in business engagements. By spreading your interests across many fields, it was recommended, you would be less likely to fail—for as one endeavor may falter, another was as likely to flourish.

And while this may be true, Carnegie argued, that even in the most successful case, by applying the ‘eggs in many baskets’ strategy, the net sum is always zero. He believed, we believe, that a strategy predicated solely on risk avoidance, is not a strategy driven toward growth. He told those young minds to focus! To concentrate! To put all of your eggs in one basket, and guard that basket. The illustration that he created with his words was simple, “if you have one basket, you can hold it with both hands in front of you, and your eyes will be firmly fixed upon it. If you have two baskets,while each can be in a hand at your side, you can only dedicate half of your attention to each.” And if you hold three baskets, he contended “one must be on your head, out of sight and a distraction to all others”. Soon, the Great Depression proved his point, as the US economy released both baskets from her hands to try and catch the basket falling from her head.

We are a complete workforce management company, with all of the tools, expertise and technologies under one roof

Why is this lesson important today, and why is it powerful advice to HR Executives? We are in an age not thinly veiled on instability, but our people are our most valuable asset. And the way that they work is changing rapidly. Your growth strategy has to include multiple worker engagements; contingent labor, contractors, gig-workers, full-and part-time employees, as well as consultants—this is understood. It is also understood that many companies are delivering technologies and services to administer elements of our changing workforce—pieces of the pie, or as Carnegie would suggest… Many small baskets of solutions. There is only one company, however, that is delivering all of the technologies and services to manage an organization’s workforce. One basket including; technologies: AccelerationVMS, AccelerationSOW, AccelerationICC, AccelerationATS, GigSource and Acceleration Talent Communities; as well as services: MSP, RPO, Talent Community development, Payrolling Services and Alumni Solutions.

“We are a complete workforce management company, with all of the tools, expertise and technologies under one roof,” says AgileOne Chief Sales Officer Stacie Habegger.

AgileOne delivers singular solutions for companies—and they do that well, but their true value is in delivering total talent. That is where the nearly 40-year-old company stands alone. Nobody can rally the elements of total talent management like AgileOne, and no provider can align those same components for an ‘eggs in one basket’ solution where the sum is greater than it’s parts.

Back to Carnegie, his Steel Company continued to thrive throughout The Great Depression and he sold his business interests for $250 million—making him the richest man in the world, and affording him the opportunity to empty his basket, one egg at a time—be it wealth or knowledge—for the greater good of mankind. And if we know one thing about Andrew Carnegie, we know that had workforce solutions been a function of his day, he would’ve chosen AgileOne to protect that basket.