Contract Talent Management

Welcome to the Contract Talent Management blog. In this spot, we'll talk about the contract and contingent workforce, including trends, tools, technologies and strategies to manage the contract workforce better.

Recession or not, the contract component of the workforce is important and becoming more so. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, four out of five organizations in the United States use contract talent. Contract talent already accounts for more than thirty percent of the country's workforce and is growing at almost three times the rate of the traditional workforce. Some experts predict that the contingent workforce (broadly defined) will grow to 50% of the US workforce within a few years.

As contract work becomes a more popular choice among all age groups in the workforce (especially Generation X and early Baby Boomers) and as its importance to the overall economy grows, it is becoming critical for organizations to have a contract talent strategy and plan. To succeed today, most organizations depend on their ability to attract the contract talent they need . To succeed in future, organizations will need to do so at the right price, in the right numbers and in alignment with corporate objectives. Unfortunately this is not yet the case in most companies.

In most organizations, HR and Talent Management professionals are either peripherally involved in contract talent management or not involved at all. This is the case in spite of the size and importance of the contract workforce. Even though most organizations agree that they use contract and contingent workers more for their critical skills than for cost, and most organizations report that their contract workforce consists mostly of professionals and other skilled workers, HR controls the process in fewer than half of US organizations (according to research conducted for this RPA in late 2008).

HR and TM professionals remain the custodians of competency and skills management, quality of hire measures, regulatory compliance information, market rates for various talent and the best sources for talent acquisition, to name just a few. To achieve volume, quality, performance and compliance in a contract talent management program then, HR and TM must be involved.

In this blog, and in our Contract Talent Research Practice Area, we will explore these issues in depth. We hope that you will participate as well with your comments, including your challenges and success stories.