Over the past few years, enterprises have relied upon a variety of strategies to enhance business processes and gain a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. Automation of key processes and access to new technologies and services are aspects that have companies achieve astounding gains in the pursuit of business success. However, there is one broad concept that has helped the average organization not only generate value in the short-term, but also help build a long-term path of victory.

The notion of “Big Data” originally had many enterprises rolling their eyes during the turn of the decade. After all, many new ideas crop up on a consistent basis, and barely any of these fresh strategies end up being a long-term “savior” in the eyes of the modern business. However, the analytical prowess of Big Data has proven to be a formidable concept that is continuing to drive true value across many enterprises functions…particularly contingent workforce management (CWM).

Ardent’s State of Contingent Workforce Management research report identified analytics, business intelligence, and Big Data as one of several foundational strategies (alongside total talent management) in the future of CWM. Today’s CPO Rising article identifies three capabilities in the Big Data arena that matter now…and well into the future of contract talent management.

• The ability to view contingent labor spending in real-time against corporate budgets. Data is often a “nice to have” in regards to many corporate functions, serving as a supporting strategy. In the world of CWM, real-time data is a “must have.” With so many units leveraging contract talent (in all of its forms, from temporary workers to contractors to consultants to professional services), it is critical for executives to understand, in real-time, how contingent workforce spending stacks up against predetermined budgets. Every dollar at the average organization is often scrutinized, and with contingent labor growing at a rapid clip, intelligence regarding organizational spending on projects that utilize contract talent can go quite far in long-term financial budgeting and planning.
• Supplier performance evaluations. Suppliers of talent require different standards than other supplier types; thus, it is imperative that CWM program execs entail the power of Big Data to accurately gauge the true performance of contractors, consultancies and professional service on a multifaceted scale. Items such as performance against milestones / delivery dates and adherence to predetermined budgets represent a balance between cost and quality.
• Capabilities to forecast the utilization of contract talent. An unheralded benefit of analytics and reporting isn’t just the ability to view valuable data in real-time…it’s the ability to generate intelligence regarding the future of the greater organization. Leveraging analytics to drive intelligence into the future utilization of contract talent can help align resources, better schedule critical enterprise projects and paint a vivid picture of budgetary attributes.

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Tagged in: Ardent Partners Research, Christopher Dwyer, Complex Categories, Contingent Workforce, People, Performance, Suppliers, Technology