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For more and more companies today, their total workforce is made up of
a variety of workers, including those known as flexible workers.
As this flexible workforce grows and evolves,
companies have a business imperative to better understand this key strategic element
of their overall labor force.
In this video, we're going to talk about who is included in the flexible workforce,
why companies might choose to use flexible workers and what's required for a company
to effectively manage these workers.
According to a 2012 Aberdeen report, 26% or nearly 1 out of every 4 workers
in the average organization are part of the flexible workforce.
The flexible workforce has been growing in recent years due to a variety of factors including:
economic uncertainty, skill shortages and individuals choosing alternative methods to
enter the workforce.
The flexible workforce is commonly segmented into 3 main categories:
Independent contractors, contingent staffing, and outsourcing.
Contingent staffing is what you probably think of as classic temporary labor
or staff augmentation.
Companies use two types of contingent staffing workers: professional contractors and temporary labor.
Companies generally work with labor suppliers, known as staffing agencies, to obtain these
types of contingent workers.
Outsourcing is where companies typically spend the most money simply because
so many types of engagements fall under this broad category.
Strategic outsourcing describes staffing initiatives that produce a result or output,
and drive revenue growth for the company.
Non-strategic outsourcing would be where outside firms are contracted to handle functions that
are not core to a company's business.
Independent contractors typically represents the smallest part of a company's
flexible workforce. These are usually specialized workers with specific skills that
are hard to find or replicate.
Companies can use a software tool known as a vendor management system (VMS) to help manage
these three categories of flexible workers. A VMS can provide transparency, efficiency
and detailed metrics on a company's flexible workforce, while integrating
with a company's existing HRIS, ERP or eProcurment software.
Simply put, a VMS automates the hiring of flexible workers. VMS software is often a
web-based application that helps to recruit and manage flexible workers through their
lifecycle with the company - from requisition through time entry and billing.
VMS tools can provide significant improvements
in reporting and analytics capabilities that are much more powerful and cost-effective
compared to manual systems and processes.
Who actually operates the VMS? In some companies, it's a managed service provider,
in other cases, a vendor on premise, and in still others, it's an internal vendor management office.
But let's go back to the importance of VMS.
According to another Aberdeen statistic, only about 23% of companies manage all three
categories of their flexible workforce with a single centralized program.
Without centralized management, companies can experience
a range of problems in managing their flexible workforce,
and lack the visibility to make the best use of flexible workers.
If a business doesn't know who is in their flexible workforce, where they are in the company,
what jobs they're doing or if they have the right number of them,
it's impossible to effectively manage strategic initiatives such as
cost control, operational efficiency, compliance and quality.
By working closely with each client and delivering quality service and support, Beeline can insure
that a company's flexible workforce policies & procedures are managed
consistently across the enterprise.
Thanks for watching and have a great day!