How to navigate the rising need for a contingent workforce

However, managing them efficiently poses challenges due to administrative complexities and strategic risks. In this blog we're exploring how SAP Fieldglass can support organisations in delivering total workforce management, by enabling the seamless recruitment and management  of external workers.  

Contingent workers, also known as contract workers or casual workers, have been instrumental players within the business world for a long time. In fact, it’s not uncommon for an organisation’s workforce to be composed of upwards of 30%-50% of contingent workers.

That’s because, in a world where businesses must stay resilient to survive, skills gaps and absence coverage can be filled quickly and efficiently with temporary cover. This is particularly true within the energy sector, which must ramp up its reliance on a contingent workforce in order to meet looming net zero deadlines.

With a staggering 14 million new roles needing to be filled to support the rapid scaling of operations relating to the energy transition, organisations are increasing their dependency upon contingent workers. Offering the flexibility and expertise required to temporarily close the widening green skills gap that threatens to delay the net zero road map, its the perfect solution. 

What’s more, contingent workers also bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to the energy sector - a necessity in today's quickly evolving world.

By leveraging contingent workers, organisations in the energy sector can ultimately enhance their agility, productivity, and competitiveness - keeping momentum on track without any major disruptions to daily operations. 

The challenge?

Though contingent workers are set to play a vital role in the future of the energy sector, managing these workers can prove challenging if organisations are not adequately equipped. With temporary workers, organisations face an increased volume of administrative and HR tasks relating to the recruitment, performance management, payment and off-boarding of these employees. 

Many companies struggle with the fall-out of fragmented engagement that results from a lack of visibility during the recruitment process. With contingent workers being employed on an as-and-when basis, it often falls to individual hiring managers to execute the process, which can lead to differences in spend and a lack of compliance difficulties.  

In addition to these operational challenges, organisations also face strategic risks when relying on a contingent workforce due to a lack of visibility into the skills, capabilities, and performance of their flexible workers. Not only can this cause problems for organisations wanting to align their talent strategy with their business objectives, but they may miss out on opportunities to attract, retain, and develop the best talent in a highly competitive market.

To effectively recruit the right workers, track performance,and successfully manage a contingent workforce, organisations need to implement an approach that delivers total workforce management.

Delivering total workforce management

In a nutshell, total workforce management means having comprehensive visbility of both internal and external employees, in one place. To do this, organisations must remove the siloes that exist between the two types of employees. But, how?

SAP Fieldglass offers an innovative, cloud-based solution for Contingent Workforce Management, designed to seamlessly integrate with your existing tech stack to help manage the complete lifecycle of your contingent workforce. 

As a global leader in external workforce management, the solution provides organisations with a comprehensive view of both employees and contingent workers to enable seamless, scalable and compliant workforce management.

Here's a few quick wins:

From sourcing top-qualified candidates through to talent pools and advanced comparison tools, through to managing your external workforce with easy onboarding, timesheet tracking, payments, and simplified offboarding, SAP Fieldglass offers everything you need to initiate, engage, manage, and complete all projects with contingent workers in one, centralised location.

What’s more, you can rest assured knowing that your processes are managed safely and securely thanks to strict background checks, accurate and compliant invoices and unified data that’s integrated with your existing ERP solution. 

For next-level agility with quick and easy access to a global network of contingent workers, explore SAP Fieldglass with Delaware today.