Editor’s note: Today’s article is a preview of next week’s exclusive webinar with Ardent Partners analysts Andrew Bartolini and Christopher J. Dwyer. The event, sponsored by Beeline, focuses on the world of complex spend management and the evolving role of procurement in managing contingent labor. Click here to register for Tuesday’s webinar (start time: 2pm Eastern). You won’t want to miss this event!

The world of complex spend management isn’t always easy to navigate. When procurement and finance executives think of complex spend categories, such as business travel, marketing / events, or contingent labor / non-employee workers, there’s typically a bit of hesitation. These categories of spend aren’t approached or managed like other areas within the average organization; no, these areas are called “complex” for a variety of reasons, such as:

• Complex spend categories often encompass a significant portion of the average enterprise’s total budget. A category like business travel can cost the average company nearly 12% (or more) of its annual budget…and it continues to grow each year in size and impact.
• Nearly all of the bigger complex spend categories (contingent labor, business travel, meetings and events, etc.) often require their own specific sets of capabilities, competencies, and solutions. Meetings and events need solutions that can facilitate supplier management, spend management, social media management, and marketing capabilities. Other categories (such as contingent labor) require technologies that can perform a variety of functions.
• These complex spend categories may all involve procurement at some level from a spend and supplier management perspective, however, the bottom-line is that collaboration is a fundamental means for successfully gaining visibility into the categories and effectively managing them. Business travel and expense management can be definitively managed by the CFO and the finance team, but procurement’s expertise is often a prerequisite for Best-in-Class performance.

On Tuesday, Ardent Partners and Beeline will dive into the world of complex spend management to uncover best practices in contingent workforce management. Also known as non-traditional talent or the non-employee workforce (other terms utilized to describe this category include the “flex economy” and the “extended workforce”), contingent labor represents perhaps the most intricate of today’s complex spend categories, and certainly acquiesces with the bullets above.

CPO Rising and Ardent Partners encourage you to attend this complimentary webinar (Tuesday, February 17 at 2pm Eastern) and learn:

• Why this category has become so complex over the past few years.
• The best practices in use by the world’s top-performing enterprises to effectively manage non-employee talent.
• How Vendor Management System (VMS) facilitates the capabilities of today’s contingent workforce management program, and;
• Recommendations on how to not only enhance your contingent workforce management program, but guidance on how procurement professionals can play more of an active role in managing this truly intricate spend category.

Click here to register for the event, and we look forward to seeing you there!

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Your Guidebook to Contingent Workforce Management, Part III: Expanding the CWM Framework

Contingent Workforce Management Responsibility, Part II: HR

Tagged in: Ardent Partners Research, CFO, Christopher Dwyer, Complex Categories, Contingent Workforce, Events, Finance, People, Process, Solution Providers, Strategy, Technology