Staffing Industry Analysts’ CWS Summit is the one time a year that many contingent-workforce managers have the opportunity to consider their nonemployee workforce in a different light and are exposed to other options to overcoming their program management challenges. This past year has seen radical change in technology and services. You have so much more access to talent than a few years ago, and in many cases, you need much less human interaction in the acquisition process. The CWS Summit [1] brings new ideas and providers to one place. Attendees have the opportunity to speak with new providers and long-standing providers, most of which have a new bag of tricks to discuss.
At the end of the day, a CW program is only as good as its suppliers’ ability to deliver people with the right skill levels when as needed. The new Collaboration in the Gig Economy [1] conference, which directly follows the CWS Summit, explores the affect the enterprise buyer has on its supply chain’s ability to delivering the highest quality talent to your organization. It makes sense to collaborate with your supply chain and gain a better understanding of how your processes and guidelines affect their ability and desire to provide you with their best talent. This event is focused on supply chain optimization, where you will walk away with a different appreciation for what happens once you need a resource to meet your end user/client need.
In addition, there is a track on the human cloud, which will explain what it is and how varied the services from human cloud companies are, so you can decide what is the best fit your organization. The advancements in recruitment with artificial intelligence and machine learning will change the way we work. These providers represent a whole new way of putting people to work, which is likely to dominate as the millennials become the majority in the workforce.
The Collaboration in the Gig Economy event provides the opportunity to network with peers and discuss the pros and cons associated with adopting some of the changes as well as the risk of not moving forward with change. To get the most out of both of these events over the four days of learning and power-networking, consider these tips to walk away with new ideas, contacts to follow up with and action plans that you can implement easily when you return.
- Take a good look at your program and list the top three challenges that you would like to overcome, such as program adoption, skill shortages, risk mitigation or management of statement-of-work business.
- Discuss the challenges with two to three peers and providers looking for things you can do to progress quickly as well and provide you the spring board you need to begin more of the heavy lifting to overcome the challenge.
- Make it a point to learn something new from a sponsor/provider and from a peer. Don’t underestimate how finding out something you were not previously aware can create enough open space in your mind to look at the possibilities that could result from change and give you a bit more sparkle when you look to sell the idea internally.
- Gain a clear understanding of how data analytics might help you gain an understanding of your program.
- Regardless of where you are in your journey, find someone else whose program is similar to yours from a program maturity or industry standpoint and compare challenges and solutions. Together, find someone with a bigger and/or more mature program and ask for some tips on how they overcame challenges along the way and what they would do differently. They may feel “admired” and good about helping out a fellow warrior.
- Lastly, whether you are a veteran in the business or new to your role, meet one person who is there for the first time and show them around a bit. Help them choose which sessions to attend and help them get invited to sponsor events so they are included. Get to these events, make the most out of your time, make some new friends and have fun! We look forward to seeing again around the same time next year too!