CWS 3.0: December 23, 2014

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Program stagnation? Study, compare and then adopt qualitative measures

The world of contingent workforce management seems to have two primary types of CW managers and programs. On the one hand are managers who are truly visionary, driving their organizations forward and confronting the inevitable obstacles with tenacity creativity — and most importantly, integrity. On the other hand, we have somewhat of a crisis in confidence with a camp of CW managers who met their initial goals and have plateaued. They are unsure of how to proceed, what that next step for their programs should be. How do we overcome this disparity in our industry?

To get stagnant programs and our industry to the next level, we should not just study our direct competitors. Rather, I believe we need to look to other industries, operations and practices for inspiration when building a strategic plans. But before you start comparing your organization to any other, you need take a good hard look at your own. 

Introspection

Taking a good, in-depth look at your organization means moving beyond spend analyses — which are table stakes — and into more qualitative measures. For example, in addition to knowing where your pockets of use are, ask why those areas use contingent labor and under what conditions do they consider a contingent successful. What are the natures of the supplier relationships in place? Are they long-standing and collegial or transactional and autocratic? Or maybe it’s a little of both. Each country, region and site you operate in will have its own unique culture, and what defines the success or failure is going to be specific to that particular pocket. Simply put, don’t be limited by studying spend alone. 

The second element you need to consider when evaluating your organization is less obvious and requires you to move outside your comfort zone, because even the most intractable program issues can be found by looking outside of contingent labor. So ask yourself what other initiatives within your company have succeeded and why. For example, do you have a travel program? Most companies do, and they can be compared with the contingent workforce program in many ways: the reliance on technology, the vast number of internal clients, the value of transparency and positive supply relationships, for starters. Many providers look to the travel industry as a roadmap for where contingent workforce will be going. But comparisons don’t stop there.

What about small package freight? Logistics is incredibly complicated and process disciplines abound. Maybe there’s a workflow that leverages your provider’s SaaS technology and your ERP system? For communications strategies an unused inspiration lies in company benefits plans. During annual enrollment, for example, is a regimented communication strategy. Why not leverage those plans and platforms to manage change communications for your contingent workforce program?

These are just a few examples of seemingly unrelated areas that can help shed light on the state of your program. Don’t limit yourself to what your competitors are doing. Consider the successes that lie within your own organization and outside of your industry entirely. By doing so, you’ll find faster adoption and easier implementation which is all that matters.