- Contingent Workforce Strategies 3.0 - https://cwstrategies.staffingindustry.com -

Datamining: Provide customization, show value

With any business function, it comes down to proving value, the “What’s in it for me?” And that’s typically done with data and metrics. Contingent workforce programs are no exception. Internal stakeholders need to see how their program adoption and compliance benefits them and the organization as a whole. For the supplier, what do they gain for their participation, especially when you’re asking for savings measures and the like? With a little legwork, you can quantify the value the program delivers and the return on investment for the organization and the suppliers.

Internal stakeholders. For the internal stakeholder, the VMS dashboard can provide information the stakeholder finds most important. But don’t assume all stakeholders value the same data or metrics. It is not beneficial to report on stats that the stakeholder could care less about. As a matter of fact, providing meaningless data could hurt the program’s value instead of enhancing it. Perhaps one manager wants to see the number of contingent workers and current spend, while another only really needs to see open requisitions and interviews scheduled. Having access to this information without having to pull reports and wade through unnecessary data can be a definite value and a time-saver for the internal stakeholder. So take the time to meet with the internal stakeholders and offer to create their customized dashboard.

If you do not currently have customized dashboards or reports for your stakeholders, work with your MSP and or your VMS provider to understand what types of reports or metrics other clients utilize and what the system can provide. Identify a few internal stakeholders that you can partner with to get this program offering underway. Share what type of data is available but more importantly how they can use it. Work with them to create their customized dashboard. Check in periodically and ask for examples of how the reports have provided insight or value. Use these examples to get other stakeholders to create their dashboards and to sell the program value to leadership.

Suppliers. Scorecards are not new to suppliers. Most CW programs will have monthly or quarterly business reviews with their suppliers where they review the service-level agreements and key performance indicators to which they are holding the supplier accountable, such as the number of candidate submittals, interviews conducted and placements made. Although these metrics are important, you may have other data that would provide additional value to the suppliers or to their own internal stakeholders. At the end of your next supplier review, ask what other data or metrics the supplier would like the program office to provide. What would they find valuable and why? Understanding what is important to them can provide insight to how they define their value both as a supplier but also internally as an organization.

There are a few points to remember:

  1. Providing continuous value is critical for every CW program.
  2. Data and metrics are powerful.
  3. Not every stakeholder values the same data and metrics — customization is important.
  4. Suppliers need to show value internally to their stakeholders — providing them data to do that is critical.
  5. Reports and dashboards can be changed as stakeholders’ needs and company business objectives evolve.

Most important, it’s not worth tracking or reporting the data if you are not going to act on it or do anything with it. So get started.

print