[Editor’s Note: Over the next several weeks, the Future of Work Exchange will unveil its “21 for 2021” list of key solution providers that are shaping the Future of Work through innovative technology, progressive functionality, and overall impact on the evolving world of talent and work. We will be sharing those providers here on CPO Rising as well. Up today: Utmost.]

The Background:

The contingent workforce has been growing in both size and impact over the last several years, now comprising 47% of the average company’s total talent and showing no signs of slowing down. The concepts of the “agile workforce” and the “extended workforce,” two terms used frequently in our industry, represent the relative evolution of the contingent workforce in regard to its ability to foster dynamic means of getting work done.

Now also referred to colloquially as the “extended workforce,” this wide-scoping range of on-demand talent is defined by the Future of Work Exchange as the natural evolution of the contingent workforce and reflects the agility driven by contractors, freelancers, gig workers, talent pool candidates, professional services, and other forms of non-employee talent. The extended workforce is enabled by advancements in talent acquisition, such as direct sourcing, talent pools, digital and on-demand staffing, and talent marketplaces.

With extended talent comprising nearly half of the global workforce, it is now critical for businesses to drive deep “total talent intelligence” into how these workers are situated in addition to pushing HR-led best practices into the world of contingent workforce management (CWM).

Enter Utmost.

Why They Were Selected:

Utmost was originally designed as a progressive workforce management platform for Workday users, however, in a short amount of time, the company has proven that it has the global expertise, innovative tools, and next-generation functionality to be a true catalyst for extended workforce management.

Utmost’s total talent intelligence offering is considered a market-leading attribute of the platform, with a global dashboard that enables real-time visibility into the many dynamics of the extended workforce, including the makeup of non-employee talent within any given region, project/work status, compliance and risk mitigation measures, and more. Utmost’s forward-thinking way of approaching the burgeoning agile workforce has allowed its users to effectively execute traditional contingent labor operations with a solid backbone of deep talent intelligence for superior decision-making.

In Their Own Words:

Utmost Extended Workforce System is a talent-focused, next-evolution of vendor management software. We are a single, global platform built to manage and engage all classifications of workers — that’s one system, one set of integrations, one single source of truth. Our worker-centric solution allows organizations to manage and engage external resources as they do their employee human capital — with full control and visibility of individuals, skills, and spend.

Built exclusively for Workday customers, Utmost allows enterprises to track, report, source, and manage spend for all categories of the extended workforce, regardless of worker classification (i.e., contractor, project-based worker, outsourced worker, freelancer, independent contractor, etc.), whether employee or non-employee. Our investment, road map, and product strategy were built with Workday customers in mind, and we extend that experience across everyone who works for or with an organization. This allows companies to manage all talent for optimal business outcomes in a scalable way.

The Outlook:

Utmost may be a relatively young organization (founded in 2018), however, their consistent valve of innovation has thrust them firmly into the discussion of today’s top workforce management platforms. It latest feature, Front Door, is a fully-agile and end-to-end solution that optimizes the talent engagement process while guiding hiring managers to best-aligned candidate fit for the project, task, or role at hand. For Workday customers, Front Door represents an opportunity to find, engage, and source total talent through an optimized channel that serves as a single point of entry for new requests.

Utmost has a bright future ahead as it continues to offer innovative tools and technology to the workforce management solutions market. As more and more businesses bring a human capital and HR focus to the world of extended workforce management, Utmost’s wide-scoping range of functionality will help it thrive in these evolving times.

[Editor’s Note: Join Chris and the Utmost team for an exclusive webcast next month, “Five Things Every HR Executive Should Include in 2022 Planning.”]

Tagged in: Christopher Dwyer, CWM, Extended Workforce, Future of Work, Future of Work Exchange, Key Providers 2021, Total Talent