According to the U.S. Government and Accountability Office, approximately 40% of America's workforce now qualifies as contingent workers.  This change in the way people prefer to work is evidenced by the change in Talent Acquisition tactics across organizations.  With a persistent War for Talent, many organizations across industries have increased their use of contingent labor in order to remain competitive. Yet as employers' contingent labor programs grow in size and scope, engagement of contingent labor can become more complex.  Do you know what's undermining your engagement of contingent labor?

Road Blocks to Successfully Engaging Contingent Labor and What You Can Do to Overcome Them

When organizations use contingent labor, their success is largely determined by their ability to engage qualified candidates. Is your contingent labor program challenged by these engagement road blocks? Do you know the solution to these challenges?

• Challenge: Lack of access to qualified candidates. Often, contingent labor programs are managed by hiring managers.  They often only maintain relationships with one or two staffing suppliers.  This can lead to limited access to qualified candidates. With limited candidates, employers may not achieve their desired goals in using contingent labor. 

  Solution: Partner with a vendor neutral managed service provider. Lack of access can be remedied by using a vendor neutral managed service provider to manage supplier relationships, the engagement process, and program efficiency. These experts in contingent workforce management maintain relationships with a variety of suppliers, increasing the talent pools from which employers are able to select qualified candidates. Additional benefits such as increased diversity and alignment with cost reduction or risk mitigation strategies can also be gained by partnering with these experts. 

• Challenge: Difficult processes to engage new contingent labor.  When the process for obtaining contingent labor is difficult, engagement may be low.  Hiring managers may not know where to obtain qualified candidates, approvals, or cost centers to tie them to.

  Solution: Use VMS technology to streamline engagement processes. Using VMS technology can make the engagement of contingent labor more efficient, enhancing transparency and communication with suppliers. Using this technology, hiring managers are able to log in to submit a requisition that all of their suppliers see.  These suppliers then submit candidates for consideration, evaluation and engagement. This makes the engagement process easy and transparent to everyone involved,enhancing employers' ability to engage contingent labor. Within the VMS technology, applying approvals and cost centers is similarly easy, making the process easier for hiring managers and enhancing Procurement's ability to maintain visibility across the supply chain. 

• Challenge: Lack of budgetary alignment.  Many contingent labor programs become very costly.  When costs swell, this can challenge an employer's ability to further engage contingent labor.  Rogue spend can further surprise an organization that is counting on obtaining enough contingent labor to accomplish their goals.

  Solution: Use market rate intelligence to engage contingent labor at reduced costs.  When employers use strategic analytics such as market rate intelligence, they can significantly reduce contingent labor program costs. By partnering with a vendor neutral managed service provider, employers are able to select qualified candidates at better rates.  This information can be used to negotiate better with suppliers and can further enhance statement of work (SOW) programs as well. 

There are a variety of intelligent workforce solutions that employers may use to improve their engagement of contingent labor.  By implementing these suggestions, employers are better able to secure the contingent labor they need to achieve program goals.