5 Most Important Questions to Ask Around Your Contingent Workforce Metrics

1) Who is Your Target Audience?

As you define your target audience, consider everyone within your organization. If this is a significant portion of the workforce that requires substantial investment, key decision-makers greatly benefit from being informed about it. These might include executives, managers and other stakeholders who are responsible for strategic planning and resource allocation. Typical business functions involved include: Talent Acquisition, Human Resources, Procurement, IT, Legal/Compliance, and key buyers of contingent labor. Remember: As your program continues to mature and grow in sophistication, securing buy-in from these stakeholders will be critical to expanding program scope and successes, and capturing and sharing these metrics should be key to these efforts.

Also, keep in mind that transparency in being clear with the intention of these initiatives and establishing clear communication around them will also go a long way in fostering trust within your workforce and will have a positive impact on the worker experience. 

2) How are you going to measure the data? 

After creating your different audience segments, it’s time to delve into the data points that are the most significant for each:

• Start by assessing the metrics you currently utilize for your full-time workforce.
• Determine which ones are relevant to carry over, and identify any additional metrics that specifically pertain to your contingent workers.
• If you have existing data on your extended workforce, incorporate that as well.

Collaborating with a strategic partner from your contingent workforce management team can assist in this exercise, since they can identify blind spots or gaps to support your measurement strategy. Another approach is to survey your leadership and inquire about what they need to gain insights. You may also utilize a Vendor Management System (VMS) to help automate data capture, streamline processes and enhance visibility. It is also a best practice to have any partners involved in the contingent workforce (such as a Managed Services Provider (MSP), Employer of Record or Direct-Sourcing partner, etc.) provide input into how they measure data across their client programs.

Prior to aggregating the data, consider the context surrounding each metric and question the reasons behind measuring it. How does it impact the business overall? What action will this data point drive? Why would the audience be interested? Although there are numerous data points you could measure, their usefulness depends on understanding why they matter. Utilize benchmarks alongside internal data to establish the appropriate targets for each metric.

3) Where is the data located?   

Once you have refined your desired list of data points, identify the sources of this data and determine if there are any possible gaps in the data collection or reporting process. Understand how frequently each data point is updated and how different data elements complement each other. If you’re using pay and talent intelligence tools or any other TA and HR technology, explore these systems too.

Additionally, it is crucial to prioritize workforce intelligence for your contingent talent. If you don’t have this capability yet, invest in a tool that consolidates and centralizes that data, such as a VMS.

You’ll also want to research and consider how AI-powered capabilities might help you better understand and harness the data. Ideally, the goal is to centralize all data sources as much as possible, increase accessibility to the data, and ensure it is actionable. 

4) How will your data be presented?   

Consider how to communicate your goals, metrics and strategy to each audience and determine the right cadence to do so. This might involve some experimentation to identify what resonates best, incorporating feedback and refining accordingly.

Once your data is streamlined this will be much less challenging, allowing you to establish a repeatable process for sharing information and providing the appropriate level of visibility to different teams and stakeholders. Maintaining an ongoing line of communication between your team as the owner of strategy and the rest of the organization is essential, in addition to covering goal progression.

See why streamlining contingent workforce management is critical to program success in our blog.  

5) How will the data inform and refine your CWM strategy?  

Having the right data at your fingertips will help ensure you are building an effective contingent workforce management strategy and will inform several crucial components, including:

• Contingent worker acquisition and talent retention

Looking at data on time-to-fill, how satisfied workers are with the organization, what turnover rates look like across departments and teams, among others, will help refine strategy to attract and retain the best contingent talent available.

• Determining workforce planning

Data is crucial to effectively address current and future workforce needs. The contingent workforce is a critical component within most organization’s talent strategy, that in many cases makes up over half of all talent within a company. Analyzing the metrics on the skill sets within the organization, for example, can help determine where to upskill or redeploy, and promote internally to save on costs, as well as identify skill gaps. Looking at metrics on worker availability and assignment requirements will also help in future planning. (Learn about the ways leveraging five-star data can drive cost savings and capitalize on worker quality in our white paper.)

• Mitigating compliance risk

Having accurate data on the contingent workforce will help ensure compliance with laws and regulations. To better minimize risk around co-employment, pay equity, and others, many organizations choose to partner with an Employer of Record (EOR), which also provides payroll and benefits to workers behalf of the company. (Grab our Comprehensive EOR guide here.)

Getting started with gaining a full and accurate view into contingent workforce data can come with obstacles. But investing in the right combination of technology, partnerships, vendors and know-how will go a long way toward increasing workforce visibility, bolstering program strategy, attracting top talent, driving material cost savings, and aligning the contingent workforce with overall business objectives.

Learn more about unlocking the complete potential of your extended workforce when you download our quick start guide. 

Disclaimer: The content in this blog post is for informational purposes only and cannot be construed as specific legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice. The blog post reflects the opinion of Magnit and is not to be construed as legal solutions and positions. Contact an attorney for specific advice and guidance for specific issues or questions.