Why Every Enterprise Needs a Chief Work Officer — Bruce Morton on The Human Cloud Podcast
Bruce Morton, Co-Founder of Growth Capital and former Allegis Global Solutions leader, shares why enterprises need to start with the work — not the talent — and how the Chief Work Officer role could transform workforce strategy.
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Bruce Morton shares insights on workforce strategy and the future of how enterprises get work done, drawing on 45 years in the industry.
Why Every Enterprise Needs a Chief Work Officer
After 45 years in workforce management — including building Allegis Global Solutions into a global powerhouse — Bruce Morton has a thesis that challenges how every enterprise thinks about talent: stop starting with the people. Start with the work.
Morton, who just launched Growth Capital with partners Chad Lane and Andrew Grant (yes, over Super Bowl weekend), argues that the absence of a Chief Work Officer at the board level is one of the biggest blind spots in enterprise strategy today. The role would sit at the intersection of the CPO, CRO, CHRO, and CFO — making decisions about how work gets done before anyone starts hiring.
"It blows my mind that the Chief Work Officer isn't a thing yet," Morton says. "You need someone who starts with the work — what are we building, where should it sit, should it be AI, human, or hybrid — and then figures out the talent."
Work Deconstruction: The Step Most Companies Skip
Morton is blunt about skills-based hiring, the approach that consumed the workforce industry for the past two years: it's a "tiny piece of the puzzle." His argument is that without first deconstructing the work into tasks, skills-based hiring creates a fundamental mismatch.
"If you haven't deconstructed the work, you're mismatching when you hire on skills. You need to deconstruct the work into tasks. Task by task — can this be done purely by AI? Is it a human being augmented with AI? Or is it purely human-centric?" — Bruce Morton
The sequence matters: deconstruct the work, fractionalize it into tasks, determine the optimal delivery model for each task, and only then match talent. Most companies are trying to start at the talent matching step — which is why their workforce strategies feel misaligned.
The Hollywood Model for Enterprise Work
Morton has been making his Hollywood analogy for decades, and it resonates more today than ever. Every person involved in making a movie — except a handful of stars — is a contractor. They assemble for a project, create something, and move on to the next one.
"Projectize everything. Fractionalize it. Bring a group of people together, make some magic, and move on. If an organization thought that way, the question becomes: what's the best way to get this done?" — Bruce Morton
The film industry solved workforce agility long before enterprises started talking about it. Technology — especially post-COVID remote infrastructure — now makes this model applicable to every industry. The barrier isn't capability. It's mindset.
The Race to Be the Orchestrator
Morton identifies what he calls "the race to be the orchestrator" as the defining competitive dynamic in the workforce industry. Whether you're a VMS, MSP, consulting firm, or talent marketplace, the winners will be those who move up the value chain from transactional staffing to strategic workforce advisory.
"Our industry struggles to get into the boardroom. We don't have the right logo. They see you as a staffing company. But we have the knowledge and experience to really help influence how enterprises get work done. I just hope our industry steps up." — Bruce Morton
The consulting firms are already positioning for this, but Morton believes the workforce industry has deeper expertise. The question is whether it can earn the credibility to have those board-level conversations.
The Bottom Line
The workforce industry is at an inflection point. AI is compressing teams, fractionalization is redefining how work gets allocated, and enterprises are looking for strategic partners — not just vendors. Morton's message is clear: start with the work, not the talent. The companies and solutions that internalize this will capture the next decade of enterprise workforce spend.
About Bruce Morton
Bruce Morton is Co-Founder of Growth Capital, a consulting firm advising organizations on workforce strategy, channel development, and growth. He previously spent decades at Allegis Global Solutions and has over 45 years of experience in the workforce management industry.
Listen to the full episode: Human Cloud Podcast on Spotify
This article was adapted from the Human Cloud Podcast. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
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