3 fundamental elements to a contingent workforce program

Posted by: Joel Capperella

As expected, last week’s CWS Summit offered valuable insight and information into how attendees can make early decisions about a managed staffing program, how to expand an existing program, and how to distribute a program globally.

However, there was one glaring misalignment that became clear over the two-day event. A key element necessary for a successful managed staffing program went unaddressed: How should professional staffing suppliers, vendor management technologies, or managed staffing programs be advancing the success and integration of the contingent workforce?

Regardless of whether or not a company has a managed program guiding its use of professional staffing services, it must address three fundamentals to ensure its temporary talent is well positioned to advance the goals and objectives of the organization. These are brand, reflection, and community.

Brand. Employment brand matters, especially when a sizable contingent workforce is concerned.

One thing that is too frequently understated when it comes to procuring staffing services is that it is not a commodity of any sort. The service is ultimately about people. People that will be contributing to your organization, almost like a surrogate employee.

As people, they will almost certainly share their experiences dealing with the company’s employment cycle. Cost savings cannot be prioritized in a way that dehumanizes the employment process for temporary professionals.

Professional staffing services providers must be able to articulate, with specificity, the processes for helping to develop and protect the employment brand, as it concerns the temporary and non-employee segments of the workforce.

Reflection. Having a strategy for protecting your employment brand is not enough. The process must be reflected in the way that talent is recruited.

At every stage of candidate sourcing, selection, and on-boarding, professional staffing services providers (whether through a managed program or direct to their clients) must naturally and seamlessly weave in the company’s employment brand. Candidates need to feel connected to the job and gain a sense for the employment culture.

Community. Is your professional staffing services provider or managed staffing provider simply collecting resumes, or are they building engaged and extended communities of shared talent? And if it claims it is doing the latter, how is it sustaining those communities? How is it connecting and engaging with them?

Engagement cannot focus solely on a specific job opening at a moment in time. Rather, it must champion the advancement of the similar goals and objectives held by those within the talent community.

Focusing on brand, ensuring it is reflected in processes, and developing aligned talent communities is one of the most strategic benefits that can be gained from a well-managed staffing program.

The question you must ask is, “Am I getting this from my program?” If the answer is no, or if you are unsure, it is time to have a conversation with those serving your contingent needs.