Dive Brief:

• According to an Ardent Partners study focused on contingent worker management, 95% of organizations consider their contingent workforce to be vital to overall business success and growth, and nearly 70% expect to increase it.
• With that said, only 51% of all external labor and services spend is formally accounted for in corporate planning, budgeting and forecasting, say paricipants.
• The annual "State of Contingent Workforce Management" study, underwritten in part by Fieldglass, Inc., an SAP company, also points to the need for strategic management when it comes to contingent workforces.

Dive Insight:

The study notes that Vendor Management Systems solutions are the true "nexus" of contingent workforce management because they help enable key intelligence capabilities and support innovation.

Also, the report notes that employers with "Best-in-Class" programs exhibit four basic characteristics: leverage data to achieve real-time visibility into their workforce; excel in core capabilities such as the standardization of day-to-day operations; use technology to adhere to strict compliance standards; and display a total talent vision, utilizing a holistic process to manage all workers.

Rob Brimm, president, Fieldglass, says that as business cycles tighten, competition stiffens and globalization pressures increase, employers must leverage talent as a critical differentiating factor. "Companies that are leading the way today take a holistic view of work and the best way to get it done, regardless of whether that's through a full-time employee, contractor or a project team," he says.