SIA’s analysts and the CWS Council advisory team have conversations with managers of major contingent workforce programs daily, helping them work through ongoing program concerns as well as the significant challenges wrought by the pandemic. They provide — through CWS 3.0 — their insights to help program managers keep their organizations compliant and competitive.
Here is a look back at the significant topics of interest to program owners in 2022, including insights provided.
Driving SOW adoption. Contingent workforce programs that are set up to deliver staff augmentation services have had limited success in reining in statement-of-work spend. That may be due to a lack of understanding of what SOW really is, wrote Peter Reagan in an April article that highlighted some key areas of complexity to consider when bringing outsourcing into your contingent workforce program.
The future of hybrid MSPs then and now. Five years ago, Reagan predicted the rise of the hybrid managed services program. Now, as data indicates that a growing percentage of companies are at least seriously considering moving to an internally managed program, Reagan foresees a hybrid of functions and processes run internally versus those managed by an external service provider.
Program tune-up. Net Promoter Scores for vendor management systems and managed service programs have been trending downward, as evidenced by SIA’s Workforce Solutions Buyer Survey. Frank Enriquez, senior manager of contingent workforce strategies and research, provided insight on what you can do to reverse this trend and boost your program.
Ten common mistakes CW leaders make. Just as important as what contingent program managers should do to ensure their programs evolve and improve are actions to avoid, Enriquez wrote in a February article that examined 10 common mistakes that can hurt program success. Avoiding these issues is a good starting point toward progress and improvement within the contingent workforce ecosystem.
Avoiding trouble in no-poaching language. Stephen Clancy, SIA’s senior director, contingent workforce strategies, knowledge and research, walked us through the 2021 indictment of a procurement professional and the severe repercussions they could face. Serving as a warning to others in the contingent workforce ecosystem, the case highlighted the need to conduct a thorough review of your program’s agreements for any no-poach clauses that could be illegal.
SOW solution providers. Statement-of-work solution providers come in all shapes and sizes. While each type has its place, management poses distinct challenges to the program. In this September article, Clancy described four types of SOW providers and how utilizing technology can help program managers govern them with consistency and flexibility in order to keep business operations running smoothly.
Going internal. While configuring contingent workforce practices, organizations must consider whether to partner with a managed service provider or to take on these responsibilities themselves, wrote Chris Paden, SIA’s senior director of contingent workforce strategies and research. While many enterprise organizations utilize an MSP, a number are reevaluating and configuring their own internal teams and services to take their contingent workforce programs to the next level.
Moving closer to total talent. As workers and companies alike are re-evaluating how they engage with each other, total talent management seems finally to be coming into fruition after years of hype — but the solution is not one-size-fits-all, Paden warned. Implementing changes to be more dynamic about your talent populations requires collaboration and cooperation across talent channels and can become another stepping stone to total talent.
SIA’s staffing forecast. SIA’s semi-yearly staffing forecast can help programs evaluate and benchmark their operations using data appropriate for the areas in which they operate. See our analysts’ May predictions about industry growth, challenges, regional fluctuations and more. The forecast report, updated in September, is available to both CWS Council members and SIA corporate members.
Revisiting vendor neutrality. Vendor neutrality was once the mark of a sophisticated program, ensuring a level playing field for suppliers while delivering quality talent in a timely and cost-effective fashion. But does neutrality still serve the greater good in today’s business landscape? Lisa Fox, SIA’s director of strategic solutions and a former MSP manager, explored that idea in this article from August.
Optimizing your supplier buckets. Keeping your contingent workforce program’s suppliers engaged and motivated should be your top priority. Grouping your providers by their strengths will lead to more business for them and increase their focus on you. Fox demonstrated how to approach this task in this April article.
New trends in pay transparency. Many US states are enacting legislation to create pay transparency. SIA’s legal and regulatory research director, Fiona Coombe, in October explored the most recent rules coming out of California, which dramatically expanded the scope of potential employers covered as well as their pay data reporting obligations.
Joint employment tests. The overlap between tests to determine employment status and joint employer status can be confusing. Coombe discussed two court cases — one from California and the other from Massachusetts — that drew clear lines distinguishing between joint employer versus independent contractor classification analysis.
