Tomorrow evening, trick-or-treaters around the world will descend upon their neighborhoods in the great pursuit of candy (or the Great Pumpkin, for those of us that believe in that sort of thing…). For others, Halloween is a time to embrace the more frightening forms of art, from horror movies (the ultimate of which, of course, is 1978’s aptly-titled Halloween) to classic horror fiction novels (The Shining, perhaps?).
In the business world, the closest things we have to Halloween fright-fests are “scary” scenarios related to core functions and programs. Previous CPO Rising articles on the topic of contingent workforce management painted the progression of this industry, showing that the “future of work” is a real and current concept that is actively transforming the way talent is found, engaged, sourced, and ultimately managed.
So, in honor of tomorrow’s fun holiday, here are three “scary” contingent workforce management scenarios that, from a business perspective, are truly frightening:
- A lapse in labor or contractor compliance…and the negative ramifications that can (and will) follow. Today’s on-demand talent world means that freelancers, contractors, and independent workers are more easily sourced than they were in the past. However, many organizations often forget about the compliance ramifications if the relationships between the business and its independent talent are deemed to fall more in line with those of traditional workers. Responsibility for back taxes, benefits, social security, etc. can amount to millions of dollars, not to mention class action lawsuits and the notoriety of being one of “those” businesses that fumbled its management of independent talent. A truly scary scenario, indeed.
- A general lack of visibility into, well, everything concerning CWM. Visibility, according to the 2015-2016 edition of the State of Contingent Workforce Management research study (more info on this report, including how to download it, will be unveiled next week), is one of the prime concerns for today’s businesses in regards to contingent workforce management. Suppliers, talent quality, status of projects, spend, etc.; today’s CWM programs rely on “360-degree” visibility in order to maximize the benefits of non-employee talent and ensure that aspects such as budgets and compliance are adhered to. A lack of visibility? A frightening scenario that leaves business executives without the foresight to not only not understand non-employee talent’s true impact on the greater organization, but also the status of key initiatives and projects linked to that talent.
- Poor quality of non-employee talent. The “flex” or “gig” economy dictates that more and more talented individuals are heading towards the freelance route, choosing to eschew traditional employment to build their personal brand. What this means for businesses is that, everyday, more and more unique skillsets are hitting the market. While this is a positive development, talent engagement capabilities can be lacking in most organizations, which can ultimately result in a “mismatch” of talent and the projects they were hired to drive or support. There’s no worse feeling of dread for a business than knowing that a critical project has or is about to fail due to the wrong talent tapped to support it.
Ardent Partners would like to wish our readers a safe and happy Halloween. And, for those organizations that would like to avoid the “scary” CWM scenarios detailed above, stay tuned next week for more information about Ardent’s new State of Contingent Workforce Management research study.
(And don’t forget to join me this coming Tuesday (November 3) at 1pm Eastern for a webinar (hosted and sponsored by DCR Workforce) that will discuss the findings from the new research report).
RELATED ARTICLES
Upcoming Webinar: The State of Contingent Workforce Management
The Future of Work is Here (Part II)
The Future of Work Is Here (Part I)
Contingent Workforce Myths…Debunked
The Great SOW Debate, and Why Companies Can’t Ignore This Critical Aspect of CWM
