The Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) 15th annual Contingent Workforce Strategies (CWS) Summit, held September 9-10 in San Diego, hosted over 550 attendees and featured a bustling exhibit hall and animated roundtable discussions, as well as inspirational keynotes and informative breakout sessions. This innovative conference was designed to elevate workforce solutions professionals and empower them to take their contingent labor programs to the next level.
The VectorVMS booth was busy with networking activities and demonstrations. We enjoyed making new connections and catching up with long-time clients and partners. Our team was very excited to talk about our new company vision as our own brand under Learning Technologies Group. We had many exciting demos in the booth, including demonstrations of our newly launching mobile application.
Over 50 key topics were covered in the Roundtable Discussions. Participants chose three table topics to discuss with peers during this fast-paced 90-minute session. The discussions were facilitated by peer leaders, and ranged from market trends and sector specialization to service categories and a number of other important business issues. VectorVMS’ own Jay Grissom, Manager, SMS Program Management, led the roundtable discussions on Meaningful Analytics and Reporting. Jay’s discussions centered around the most useful standard reports as well as the importance of tailoring reports for your company. Meaningful analytics and reporting are critical to maintaining visibility into program spend as well as tracking efficiency and ensuring candidate compliance.
The opening keynote was delivered by Peter Reagan, Sr. Director, CWS & Research, CCWP, SOW Management Expert from Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA). Peter detailed some of the latest developments in the workforce solutions ecosystem and how the trends of yesterday might evolve into the reality of tomorrow. Mr. Reagan stated that the growing contingent workforce will become more strategic in its support of organizational profitability and market competitiveness, meaning that enterprises will have to continually evolve their contingent workforce strategy in the face of shifting world events. I attended several interesting and informative breakout sessions. Some highlights and key takeaways are below.
Digital transformation is changing how organizations operate and deliver value to customers. In this presentation, US technology pioneer Accenture shared how it chose to evolve its contingent workforce management (CWM) program with the help of a new vendor management system (VMS) solution provider. Some key takeaways and helpful tips from this session include:
More and more organizations are recognizing the strategic value in the non-employee workforce. As the war on talent continues to wage on, organizations are looking to alternative technologies to augment their VMS to attract more talent and increase efficiencies. In this session, program managers shared their best practices on how to use technology to supplement your VMS. Highlights:
KEY ANALYST TIP: Know your organization. While all these fancy buzzwords and technologies are flying around, do not force yourself into using them. If you aren’t ready, do not negatively impact user experience with over-complication.
Presented by Acro Service Corporation, “What is an MSLP? How an MSP for Learning and Development can Drive Additional Cost Savings Using VMS Technology” focused on training and compliance for contingent labor. Companies have exponentially increased their Learning and Development (L&D) programs that train workers for compliance or to address gaps in college curriculums. Estimates show that Fortune 500 companies spend greater than $25 million per year creating content or outsourcing to vendors. Yet this spend is not being fully tracked through a VMS. This session talked about managing learning from the Managed Service Provider (MSP) perspective but also sparked some ideas from the technology side of the house as well. Highlights:
In today’s fast-paced, total talent global labor market, companies must rely on data and analytics to direct their contingent workforce programs. In the breakout session entitled “Into the Future: How Data Science, Machine Learning and AI Can Answer Puzzling Contingent Workforce Questions and Uncover Undiscovered Value”, Salema Rice, Chief Data Officer, GRI presented new ways to uncover what’s happening on many levels within your program and how to use that information to create value. Highlights:
As contingent workforce (CW) programs continue to evolve, the scope and services needed by clients have changed. VMS providers have responded by enhancing the capabilities of their technology offerings. However, sometimes CW programs are not always able to benefit from new features the VMS has to offer. As a program manager, what’s the best route forward: update your existing technology or start fresh? Highlights:
Taylor Ramchandani – VP of Strategy
Taylor Ramchandani is responsible for the management and strategic planning of the VectorVMS vendor management system. Taylor is committed to client satisfaction and to ensuring VectorVMS technology meets the current and future needs of clients and managed service providers (MSPs). She uses market research and in-depth industry experience to create products and services that make extended workforce management efficient and intuitive. Taylor oversees product development, marketing, and business partnerships for VectorVMS and is responsible for driving innovation for contingent workforce management. Connect with her on LinkedIn.