Honoring the CW Program Game Changers

The year was 2006. We referred to the crowd as the pioneers. They were the contingent workforce management trailblazers attending SIA’s second annual CWS Summit in Dallas. As our President Barry Asin remarked, there weren’t any actual covered wagons or visible campfires. But change — and excitement — was in the air.

Fast forward to 2018. We’ve had 13 CWS Summit events in the US so far. Next week we have our ninth CWS Summit in London, with more than 530 people set to attend. Enthusiasm from our ecosystem for the growing field is still palpable. In SIA’s 2017 Workforce Solutions Buyer Survey, companies reported that contingent workers comprised a median 20% of their workforce and an average of 21% of their workforce. These levels are substantially higher than the median 10% and average 14% reported in our 2010 Buyer Survey. A different mix of respondents may account for some of that change, but it is also due to the growing influence that contingent workforce programs have had in elevating the value of the flexible workforces to the bottom line.

To say the contingent workforce management profession has come a long way would be an understatement. To honor the profession — as well as those in it including the individuals who built it — SIA is introducing the Contingent Workforce Program Game Changers list.

Those late to the game may not know that contingent workforce management didn’t exist as we now know it. The pioneers, the game changers, were at the forefront of the changing world of work that involved contingents. Many struggled with rogue spend, still more worked hard on their C-suite to recognize the importance of this field in the boardroom, others were one-man shows administering the program with the help of manual systems and processes — fewer vendor management systems or managed services programs to be seen.

And it has since been established that contingent workforce management is now a profession. The numbers have it. Just consider our most recent CWS Summit, held last Fall in Dallas. More than 70 attendees represented global contingent workforce programs of more than $500 million in spend; 50-plus administered programs between $300-$500 million. Another 110 participants presided over CW agendas of between $100-300 million, while 131 more handled programs of between $50 and $100 million. Adoption of vendor management systems and managed service are a rule rather than the exception.

The Contingent Workforce Program Game Changers list gives credit where it’s due. To qualify, you would have to be directly employed within the buyer enterprise organization. For example: You could be a VP of HR sponsoring the program, an individual in the finance department responsible for program compliance, head of talent acquisition accountable for managing the contingent workforce or a procurement guru whose team handles the staff augmentation and statement-of-work contracts.

While we encourage individuals to nominate themselves or their peers for consideration, we welcome nominations from all quarters of the ecosystem. We encourage providers to submit client candidates whom they feel demonstrate true innovation and authentic partnership.

The Nomination

The nomination must include:

  • Nominee’s name, job title, company, email address, phone number
  • A brief description of the program, including scope and mission statement if available.
  • A short paragraph (approximately 250 words) explaining what this person has done that makes him or her worthy of inclusion. Include quantifiable data where possible. For example: “Manages a $XXX million program for the last three years. Her last initiative resulted in cost savings of $XXX or adopting a new model that resulted in X% increase of a temp-to-perm conversion rate.”
  • The nominating party’s name and contact information

Please email the nominations to editor@staffingindustry.com.

Deadline for nominations is July 31. The list will be featured in SIA’s Contingent Workforce Strategies 3.0 e-newsletter as well as online.

(To be considered for the list, the nominee MUST be a W-2 employee or regional equivalent of the buyer/enterprise organization. Consultants on assignment or MSP/VMS program office personnel are not eligible.)

Subadhra Sriram

Subadhra Sriram
Subadhra Sriram is Staffing Industry Analysts' editor and publisher, media products. She can be reached at SSriram (at) staffingindustry (dot) com.

Subadhra Sriram

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