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Key Providers for 2022: Talent Solutions TAPFIN

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Background:

The Future of Work dictates one main measure: enterprises must evolve alongside specific global factors or fail to thrive in an increasingly-dynamic business arena. The world of talent and work has certainly played a major role in this progression, with many attributes of workforce management, talent acquisition, and talent engagement forcing businesses to reimagine the ways they find, source, and manage their candidates and workers.

Today, businesses require robust solutions that enable them with the proper tools and strategies to tackle this new world of work; “traditional solutions” are no longer considered as such, with Managed Service Providers (MSP) evolving in parallel to the ecosystem around them by providing deeper offerings such as direct sourcing, DE&I support, advanced services procurement, and next-generation talent acquisition.

Enter Talent Solutions TAPFIN.

Why They Were Selected:

Powered by staffing giant Manpower Group and driven by over 40 years of industry-leading success, Talent Solutions TAPFIN has long been a dominant player in the workforce management landscape. Its robust blend of contingent workforce/MSP, RPO, and Right Management offerings positions the company as a leader in the extended workforce industry.

The solution’s innovative PowerSuite technology stack allows the company to effectively blend its Best-in-Class offerings, while TAPFIN’s powerful IntelliReach analytics portal and data visualizer converges artificial intelligence-led data with various third-party sources (client, suppliers, market, etc. data) to provide customers with scenario-building and predictive analytics capabilities.

An early dynamo in the direct sourcing space, Talent Solutions TAPFIN also offers robust services and technology in this arena through the PowerSuite stack and a comprehensive ecosystem of top direct sourcing platforms.

In Their Own Words:

ManpowerGroup® (NYSE: MAN), the leading global workforce solutions company, helps organizations transform in a fast-changing world of work by sourcing, assessing, developing and managing the talent that enables them to win. We develop innovative solutions for hundreds of thousands of organizations every year, providing them with skilled talent while finding meaningful, sustainable employment for millions of people across a wide range of industries and skills. Our expert family of brands – Manpower, Experis, and Talent Solutions – creates substantially more value for candidates and clients across more than 75 countries and territories and has done so for over 70 years. We are recognized consistently for our diversity – as a best place to work for Women, Inclusion, Equality, and Disability and in 2022 ManpowerGroup was named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the 13th year – all confirming our position as the brand of choice for in-demand talent.

Talent Solutions TAPFIN brings together our RPO, TAPFIN, and Right Management offerings to deliver technology-enabled, innovative workforce solutions to our clients. Our integrated solutions provide end-to-end, data-driven solutions for talent attraction, acquisition, development and upskilling, and retention at scale.

The Outlook:

Talent Solutions TAPFIN is a pioneer in two distinct senses: 1) it is still considered an original powerhouse MSP-led organization that was one of the first distinct managed service leaders in the market decades ago, and, 2) it has evolved its offerings in such a way that it is a true, Future of Work-oriented MSP that can provide innovative value to the modern business in many meaningful ways.

TAPFIN was one of the first MSPs to go to market with a remote work offering when the COVID-19 pandemic hit; in today’s frenetic world of work, the ability for an MSP to blend remote and hybrid work support into the fabric of its core solutions (such as how users engage, source, onboard, and track remote candidates) is a pure differentiator.

In addition to the aforementioned offerings, other attributes of Talent Solutions TAPFIN’s arsenal such as its advanced services procurement offering (which blends internal expertise and vested partnership approaches to boost negotiation power and enhance supplier relationships) and embedded DE&I prove that the solution is the ideal complement to a Future of Work-led business world.

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Key Providers for 2022: Magnit

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Background:

In addition to the many accelerants brought about by the Future of Work movement over the past few years, there has been another evolution that has been steadily aligning itself alongside the greater transformation of work, talent, and business leadership: the full-on progression of Managed Service Provider (MSP) and Vendor Management System (VMS) solutions and their parallel advancements with the fluid concepts of work optimization.

Enterprises today require advanced solutions that can not only transform the way they find, engage, source, and manage talent, but also technology that positions them to not only survive, but truly thrive as the business arena continues to evolve at a rapid clip.

Enter Magnit.

Why They Were Selected:

Over the past two years, Magnit (formerly PRO Unlimited) has redefined the “MSP” and “VMS” acronyms by introducing its Integrated Workforce Management Platform, an end-to-end platform that addresses the critical elements of contingent workforce management as well as services procurement, SOW management, direct sourcing, next-generation analytics, and intelligence-led service offerings.

When the solution rebranded to Magnit just two months ago, it represented a culmination of aggressive market activity that has coalesced into one of the market’s most robust workforce management providers. Through major industry acquisitions (WillHire, GRI, Workforce Logiq), unique partnerships (eightfold, Ceridian, etc.), and new product launches (Direct Source PRO, NorthStar, etc.), Magnit has reinvented the role of workforce technology within the Future of Work movement…and now has become a frictionless source of end-to-end automation and innovation.

In Their Own Words:

Magnit™ is a global leader and pioneer in contingent workforce management. Our industry-leading Integrated Workforce Management (IWM) Platform is supported by 30+ years of innovation, modern software, proven expertise, and world-class data and intelligence. It enables companies to optimize talent and diversity goals while achieving operational and financial success. With Magnit, companies can adapt quickly to the evolution of work to grow their extended workforce with greater agility, transparency, and speed. Visit magnitglobal.com.

The Outlook:

Two years ago, when the company was still known as PRO Unlimited, CEO Kevin Akeroyd laid out a firm vision for the solution’s future: become a true workforce management technology platform that could serve as a seamless foundation of automation and high-touch managed services for an evolving world of work.

Magnit has realized that bold vision and then some: the solution is a market leader that excels in several arenas, including driving real workforce agility, providing total talent intelligence, redefining talent acquisition, emboldening the power of advanced services procurement, and establishing a core foundation of dynamic functionality and white-glove service. The company has become a Best-in-Class center of transformation for key elements of the modern workforce, particularly direct sourcing, world-class data, and vigorous analytics that can drive strategic value.

The Future of Work movement is a progressive set of ideals that represents the convergence of technological and essential accelerants that have forever changed the way businesses get work done. Magnit is a true reflection of these transcendent advancements, serving as a quintessential platform for today’s revolutionary world of work and talent.

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Key Providers for 2022: Opptly

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Background:

Omni-channel talent acquisition has become a powerful way for enterprises to thrive in today’s evolving world of work. Businesses have realized, especially with a Great Resignation-fueled backdrop, that top-tier talent is not always available in a localized fashion or even through the traditional outlets that have carried the organization’s staffing requirements for years (or decades).

Talent communities, talent marketplaces, and talent pools, in addition to direct sourcing, have become critical elements of the new world of work and talent. Not only do businesses require the ability to directly-source talent by transforming their operations into internal recruiting agencies, but they also need to leverage its workplace culture, employer brand, and other organizational attributes to attract the best-fit talent and expertise. And, they require a true convergence of artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, next-level direct sourcing technology, and robust data science to get there.

Enter Opptly.

Why They Were Selected:

Talent decisions in 2022 are more important than they ever were before, as businesses continue to rely on their workforce as a key competitive differentiator in an increasingly-shifting and globalized corporate arena. Thus, it has become critical that enterprise hiring be founded on deep data and true talent intelligence in order to execute talent acquisition strategies that blend speed, quality, and alignment.

Opptly has become one of the industry’s leading direct sourcing and talent solutions due to its proprietary artificial intelligence-led offerings that catalyze next-generation hiring outcomes through its powerful AI-fueled fueled functionality, a frictionless user experience, and a candidate-centric nexus. With its foundation as a digital staffing solution (dating back to its days as Genesys Talent), Opptly’s wide range of differentiated direct sourcing offerings, particularly its unique blend of talent community development tech and its own expansive talent network, has enabled the company to become a Best-in-Class platform in the workforce solutions market.

In Their Own Words:

Opptly has modernized the way hiring companies and job seekers connect. When the workforce industry needed a solution that could accelerate and improve the talent acquisition process, Opptly built one. Our proprietary AI platform leverages best-in-class data science, skills focus, search and match, AI/machine learning, and neural network models to provide a direct sourcing solution that removes friction between talent and work and makes optimal hiring matches.

Opptly helps companies win in an intensely competitive market for talent by offering the broadest reach and seamless user experience along with advanced search capabilities. Going beyond simple semantics, our AI uses skills-based and success profile matching while filtering for workstyles such as contingent, permanent, remote, or in-office work. Together with our curation partners, we deliver optimally-matched talent within an AI platform that enriches the hiring experience.

With Opptly, clients can enhance and grow their private talent communities or engage Opptly’s talent communities for immediate access to millions of candidates. Clients that want to achieve the widest possible reach choose to access both. For today’s job seekers, there’s Opptly.Connect™, an intuitive app that delivers targeted work opportunities, all within a user experience that matches today’s direct-connect technologies.

Opptly was built by some of the sharpest minds in workforce solutions. Seeded by our ever-expanding talent communities, our proprietary AI enables innovative use cases, including career progression and data enrichment, military predictor and other specialty skills models, supply and demand analytics, and targeted sourcing initiatives. Visit Opptly.ai.

The Outlook:

Opptly represents the future of talent acquisition and recruitment technology. The company’s commitment to dynamic candidate data and intelligence is an indicator that Opptly’s next-generation technology will be incredibly crucial to businesses as they continue to traverse a volatile labor market and uncertain economic conditions. With seamless integrations into existing hiring strategies and technology, Opptly has the potential to permeate true total talent management into the spectrum of workforce initiatives.

The Opptly platform has been designed to represent the Future of Work movement; its leading-edge AI and candidate intelligence functionality position the solution to drive dynamic value to a market that requires real-time data, total talent acquisition capabilities, and a harmonious user experience to transform the way talent is engaged and hired.

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Key Providers for 2022: GreenLight.ai

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Background:

Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research has found that the utilization of digital staffing, talent marketplaces, and alternative talent channels has increased by nearly 800% over the past five years, a surefire representation of how the “omni-channel talent experience” has revolutionized the way businesses find, engage, and source their external talent.

While the overall penetration of talent acquisition via these channels has experienced a stratospheric rise, the flip side to this level of innovation is that businesses still require robust onboarding, payroll, and compliance automation to ensure that the extended workforce delivers on its true value without the threat of labor risks.

Enter GreenLight.ai.

Why They Were Selected:

Payrolling, compliance and risk mitigation, and onboarding technology is not a new concept within the world of contingent workforce management. However, as businesses began to scale their extended talent programs in the wake of a pandemic, disruption via market events, and other activity that has been transforming the modern enterprise over the past few years, there has been an enhanced need for innovative platforms that technologically “align” with the digital staffing, direct sourcing, and talent marketplace solutions for maximum compliance and visibility.

GreenLight.ai has revolutionized the ways that VMS, direct sourcing, ATS, and digital staffing platforms deliver a real omni-channel experience while also providing a central “system of truth” that can be relied upon as the utilization of freelance talent continues to grow in the wake of a looming economic recession and continued ramifications from both the COVID-19 pandemic and unrest across the globe.

In Their Own Words:

GreenLight.ai is the first contractor payroll and compliance provider designed for the Future of Work, used by some of the world’s leading enterprises and most disruptive talent technologies to easily onboard and pay their extended workforce. With an API-first strategy, GreenLight seamlessly integrates with VMS, ATS, and Direct Sourcing programs, while providing embedded connections for benefits, insurance, and background checks.

GreenLight focuses on a positive user experience, speed, visibility, and ease of integration that provides protection and indemnification options while removing the complexity of determining worker classification. Designed in conjunction with leading labor lawyers and tax experts, GreenLight’s platform has been dubbed ‘the world’s most intelligent classification engine’ and has compliance in its DNA. GreenLight also serves as the Employer or Agent of Record in over 120 countries, with intuitive and AI-driven processes that have workers onboarded in minutes.

Uniquely, GreenLight’s platform highlights the importance of focusing on the needs of the contractors, providing tools and benefits that enable them to thrive as independent workers – while ensuring our clients attract and retain the best freelance talent. It’s why the best digital staffing platforms private label our technology, and the reason GreenLight is the partner of choice for socially-conscious, forward-thinking contingent workforce programs.

The Outlook:

The adoption of digital staffing platforms and related solutions (particularly direct sourcing and talent marketplaces) has created a vacuum in which business leaders must delicately balance the need for top-tier talent with the necessary rigor to maintain compliance and mitigate misclassification risks. GreenLight.ai has been, for years, known as the one of the most powerful and intuitive solutions for offering just that…with an added “Future of Work touch” that separates its technology from the rest of the pack.

GreenLight.ai’s innovative range of offerings has proven to transform the way both businesses themselves and their core omni-channel talent platforms optimize the hiring, usage, and candidate experience of freelance talent. As Future of Work-era accelerants continue to shift the dynamics in the world of extended workforce management, GreenLight.ai will continue its long track record of providing Best-in-Class automation, integration, speed, visibility, and end-to-end protection against misclassification risks.

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Key Providers for 2022: Beeline

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Background:

Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research has found that nearly 65% of businesses plan to adopt extended workforce management technology by 2024, an idea that signals the natural evolution of contingent workforce management (CWM) into something more expansive and dynamic. Of course, when nearly half (47.5%) of the average organization’s total talent is considered “non-employee,” there needs to be some level of innovation in how businesses tackle their growing extended workforce.

The advent of extended workforce platforms, which meld Vendor Management System (VMS) functionality with progressive HR, talent acquisition, and contingent workforce management functionality, has been a powerful facilitator of control, visibility, and, most importantly, a better candidate experience.

Enter Beeline.

Why They Were Selected:

In the traditional world of VMS technology, it was typically rare to see “talent” prioritized as much as cost savings or compliance. However, as the business arena changed and the evolution of talent began, enterprises required their technology to become candidate-centric models.

Beeline is a platform defined by innovation. Over its tenure as the largest independent provider of VMS technology, the company was a forerunner for Future of Work elements such as direct sourcing, workforce intelligence, and advanced, AI-fueled talent analytics. Today, 18 months after introducing its extended workforce offering, Beeline has become a talent-centric solution that is tailored for the next generation of workforce management solutions.

In Their Own Words:

Beeline powers the future of work with the world’s first extended workforce platform. Our intelligence-driven, cloud-based platform manages more than 30 million contingent, shift-based, project-based, and independent workers and enables total talent visibility into the entire workforce.

As the pioneer of vendor management systems (VMS), Beeline understands the Future of Work is fueled by technology that enables the limitless potential of every business and every individual. Our AI-powered software delivers insights and tools needed to manage the modern world of work. 

With the most seasoned team of contingent workforce solution professionals around the world, we help businesses across more than 120 countries meet their most critical talent needs. To learn more, visit www.beeline.com.

The Outlook:

Beeline’s acquisition by Stone Point Capital earlier this year was just a precursor to the platform expanding its overall reach, with a recent move to snatch up Utmost a clear indicator that the company is all-in on capturing the essence of the Future of Work movement. Beeline has considerable runway due to its robust suite of offerings, one of the most powerful instances of AI-fueled analytics in the space, the industry’s deepest ecosystem, and an overall commitment to a talent-centric technology model that is very much aligned with the direction of the market as its continues to evolve.

Beeline represents the next great generation of not just workforce technology, but also people technology. It is an idyllic and innovative platform that enables flexibility, insights, and true business agility. The company’s core offerings are deep and expansive, touching all facets of the transformative world of work and talent: services procurement, SOW management, candidate experience enhancement, recruitment, direct sourcing, global worker intelligence, and extended workforce management. And, as the industry moves closer and closer to achieving real “total talent management,” it will be solutions like Beeline that pave the way.

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Key Providers for 2022: Worksome

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Background:

The extended workforce, according to Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research, comprises over 47% of the average organization’s total talent. This is a far cry from even the beginning the decade, when the contingent workforce was a smaller portion of enterprise talent.

One of the hallmarks of the modern extended workforce is the dynamic makeup of this type of labor, heralded by businesses being enabled with an omni-channel experience that traverses beyond staffing suppliers and agencies. Freelancers, independent contractors, and gig workers all encompass the powerful skills and expertise represented by non-employee talent, and, not all of these workers are managed correctly, accounted for, or engaged seamlessly in today’s volatile business climate.

Enter Worksome.

Why They Were Selected:

The Future of Work Exchange colloquially uses the phrase “digital staffing” to define a wide array of solutions that don’t fit neatly into traditional workforce technology (such as MSP or VMS). Digital staffing platforms typically offer VMS-like functionality with additional “flavors” that make them appealing for businesses that need specialty offerings for initiatives related to freelancer management, direct sourcing, digital recruitment, and more.

In a very, very short amount of time, Worksome has grown from a Freelancer Management System (FMS) with a talent marketplace foundation to an agile workforce management platform that offers end-to-end functionality for HR, extended workforce management, compliance and risk mitigation (particularly worker classification), workforce intelligence, etc.

In Their Own Words:

Worksome is the new standard in external workforce management, providing a faster, more agile way for companies to work with freelancers and contractors–with less admin, less risk, and a better experience for everyone–trusted by 1,500+ companies worldwide. Worksome offers streamlined administrative operations so businesses can find, contract and pay external workers in one click, while giving the insights needed to continuously optimize external workforce operations. With Worksome’s award-winning compliance solution, customers benefit from built-in background checks, instant worker classification, and automated contracts – as well as automated payments and integrated billing to ensure efficiency. Visit www.worksome.com for more information.

The Outlook:

This summer, Worksome reported 3x year-over-year growth, proving that the solution has become a true player in the extended workforce management technology market. And, with the recent news that the platform has expanded into seven new markets, including Germany, France, Australia, Singapore, Canada, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates, Worksome is positioned for even bigger things in the months and years ahead.

The utilization of freelancers and independent contractors has grown considerably, especially in a business arena that demands workforce agility, top-tier skillsets, and on-demand access to Best-in-Class talent. Worksome’s powerful functionality enables progressive, end-to-end automation for all facets of freelancer and contractor management while improving the overall candidate experience for these types of non-employee workers. As an “all-in-one FMS” solution, Worksome is built for the Future of Work era. As more and more enterprises require real-time visibility into the deeper elements of their workforce, aim to engage and source external workers much more quickly, and crave the necessary automation to handle both tactical and strategic workforce management processes, Worksome will continue to shine as a robust platform that provides dynamic value.

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Supporting the Future of Work Through Innovative Technology

Direct SourcingGeneral InsightsHRSolution ProvidersTalentTechnology and Innovation by John Yuva on

One of the defining characteristics of the Future of Work is digitization. Enterprises are now operating with more remote and hybrid workplaces. Thus, technology is imperative to a cohesive and efficient workforce. What this means for the individual employee is more daily immersion in various technological platforms and solutions. Upskilling will be a critical aspect for workers as they harness more advanced technologies to communicate, collaborate, and execute their roles.

Digital employee experience (DEX) is a term that describes how effective workers are in using digital tools. DEX is a growing area of interest as companies adopt a plethora of digital tools to augment their dispersed workforces. Companies want to ensure the tools they have integrated into the workplace are intuitive and enhance worker productivity.

Tom Haak, director at the HR Trend Institute, says, “Technology offers enormous opportunities to improve the life of people in and around organizations. In HR, the focus is still too much on control and process improvement, not enough on really improving the employee experience.”

Today, with remote and in-person workers, enterprises must bridge those two environments and focus on technologies that both attract and retain workers regardless of where they work. Technology that supports the Future of Work comes in a variety of forms. Often, artificial intelligence (AI) permeates many digital solutions, providing automated processes and data outputs for better workforce decision-making.

Throughout the remainder of the year, the Future of Work Exchange will be highlighting several technologies from blockchain to e-wallets, and how they impact Future of Work strategies. However, the following are technologies that business leaders and employees are using now and, in the future, to enhance the DEX and drive workplace efficiency and community.

Communication and collaboration. The COVID-19 pandemic put communication and collaboration to the ultimate test. Enterprises and employees experienced first-hand the potential of digital communication as they grew accustomed to using Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. These platforms proved that remote work could, in fact, be accomplished with the same productive and strategic outcomes as in-person work models. It is one of the major reasons why remote and hybrid workforce options were embraced by enterprises post-pandemic.

There are several communication and collaborative tools to serve the enterprise and its remote and in-person workforce. Basecamp provides both a communication and collaborative platform to keep projects on schedule and lines of communication open. Trello also makes project management run smoothly regardless of where an employee is based.

Beyond these more common collaborative solutions, companies are utilizing chatbots for internal use for collaborative purposes and employee support. ServiceNOW, for example, offers its Virtual Agent solution to bring people to the same collaborative workspace or provide answers to employee questions.

Another evolving collaborative offering is the virtual whiteboard for use during company and team meetings. Companies such as Miro, MURAL, and Stormboard provide effective tools for diagramming and presenting in real time.

Big data (predictive and people analytics). Volumes of data flood enterprises from a variety of sources. For HR and other business leaders, big data is crucial to their Future of Work strategies, generating analytics across the talent acquisition and talent management landscape. Predictive analytics, for example, will grow as a key component of direct sourcing initiatives to curate a pipeline of potential job candidates.

According to a post on the Future of Work Exchange (FOWX), “While predictive analytics are not commonplace today, soon, a majority of enterprises will look to scenario-building as a way to enhance overall talent intelligence. Predictive analytics, in this realm, will augment the organization’s overall knowledge of its in-house skills as well as the expertise available externally (across all talent communities, including talent pools).”

Where predictive analytics will help prepare the enterprise for its future talent needs, people analytics are necessary to understand how employees are embracing digital tools and applications. Are shared applications being utilized by the workforce? Is there participation in virtual workspaces? What are employee sentiments around an enterprise’s digital transformation? People analytics help answer these questions and provide key insights into employee productivity, well-being, and digital adoption.

Virtual reality. In a previous post, FOWX explored the possibilities of the metaverse. Virtual reality will stretch the limits of employee interaction and community. Virtual workspaces where employee avatars can converse and strategize are likely to come to fruition in the coming years. It levels the playing field for remote and in-person employees by creating a setting for everyone regardless of location.

Artificial intelligence is also a major piece of the virtual reality offering. Currently, employees can create an avatar to complete repetitive tasks using AI or communicate with customers to answer product questions. As technology advances, the potential influence of virtual reality on the Future of Work will only increase. Today’s chatbots are just the beginning of how enterprises can leverage the virtual world and bridge humans with AI.

Just as the Future of Work evolves, so too will the technologies that support it. There are dozens of software applications on the horizon to benefit business leaders and their employees. Explore the options and how they align with your workforce strategy.

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Beeline to Acquire Utmost: Extended Workforce Tech as a Future of Work Nexus

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

When Stone Point Capital acquired Vendor Management System (VMS) giant and extended workforce platform Beeline back in the spring, CEO Doug Leeby alluded to the fact that the transaction and new ownership would allow the most mature independent provider of VMS technology to be more active and more aggressive in the software acquisition market.

Today, that first domino fell for Beeline, as they have announced plans to acquire fellow extended workforce solution provider, Utmost.

Utmost, founded in 2018, became a growing force in the VMS solutions market over the past couple of years due to its progressive and strategic approach towards extended workforce management and the convergence of HR- and procurement-led functionality, buoyed by its dynamic technology architecture. The Utmost platform boasts a wealth of innovative modules, including an omni-channel talent sourcing solution (“Front Door”), Global Workforce Intelligence (enabling true total talent intelligence), a reimagined services procurement tool, and a burgeoning talent technology ecosystem. For Beeline, this represents a robust opportunity to capture small- and mid-sized extended and contingent workforce programs by tapping into the unique nature of Utmost’s progressive functionality.

“The Future of Work is built on the technology that delivers on the evolution of talent engagement, talent acquisition, and talent management,” said Doug Leeby, CEO of Beeline. “Bringing Utmost’s innovative offerings into the Beeline umbrella of solutions will complement our extended workforce technology and provide our clients with even more value as they optimize they ways they get work done.”

Utmost’s hallmarks, including its ease-of-use automation, frictionless integrations, and quick implementations, will enable Beeline with the ability to tap into the small- and mid-sized markets by offering a nimble foundation of offerings that link directly with these organizations’ key pain points. “Companies in the mid-market require more agile solutions at a lower cost with enhanced access points,” said Leeby. “Beeline is a fantastic “work engine” with massive functionality; Utmost will help us meet the evolving needs of this specific market while keeping our main vision in scope with the ways talent and work are evolving.”

At the center of this major market acquisition are the core constituents of the new world of work: the HR, procurement, and talent acquisition executives that run extended and contingent workforce programs, the suppliers and partners that fulfill their needs for skillsets and expertise, and the talent that drives it all.

“Acquiring Utmost is a representation of the future of extended workforce management technology,” said Colleen Tiner, Beeline’s SVP Strategy. “The transformation of both platforms has been highly complementary from business and functionality perspectives. Combining our market experience with Utmost’s solutions will help Beeline to provide Future of Work-oriented and talent-centric technology to our clients and the market.”

Tiner added that one major result of the acquisition is harnessing the power of Utmost’s strong onboarding and provisioning workflows, as well as the solution’s unique services, and bringing those into Beeline’s extended workforce platform.

Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange analysis of the acquisition:

  • While there are several redundancies in functionality, the Utmost acquisition represents a way for Beeline to continue doing what is best known for: innovating. There were many logical acquisition targets for Beeline in the wake of Stone Point Capital’s purchase of the company earlier this year, including direct sourcing platforms and specialist solutions (such as AI-fueled software), however, the company chose to go big with the Utmost move. The core of this acquisition is actually quite simple: it will allow Beeline to continue its long track record of being a pioneer and innovator while expanding its existing scope of Best-in-Class extended workforce management technology.
  • “Total Talent Intelligence” becomes “Global Workforce Intelligence.” In the 2022 VMS Technology Advisor, we wrote: “Utmost offers the market’s deepest total talent intelligence through agile and dynamic dashboards that present users with the ability to pinpoint (with regional- and location-specific accuracy) the makeup of FTEs, contingent workers, professional services, independent contractors, etc. and make decisions and take action in real-time (i.e., anomalies regarding compliance, etc.).” Beeline will expand the realm of total talent intelligence through its powerful analytics, AI, and machine learning capabilities to bring its clients “Global Workforce Intelligence,” taking TTI a step or two further.
  • Beeline will have a clear pathway into the HR and talent acquisition markets. Contingent workforce management has never been a pure procurement play, but there was a time when the function dominated how the extended workforce was ultimately managed. Today, as the world of work and talent becomes more candidate-centric, technology platforms must place workers at the center of their models. The Utmost acquisition enables Beeline with crucial HR intellectual property and functionality, not to mention Utmost’s expected influence on Beeline’s greater product roadmap. The infusion of HR-oriented functionality into Beeline’s array of offerings, combined with a global workforce intelligence play that will surely draw the attention of C-suite leaders, make this deal a groundbreaking one for the industry.
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Key Providers for 2022: Prosperix

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Background:

The world of talent and work is on an upward trajectory, with a vast majority of businesses actively anticipating the adoption of revolutionary strategies, platforms, and solutions to truly optimize the way they get work done. According to Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research, not only do 72% of enterprises expect to implement a “total talent acquisition” strategy before 2024, but 76% of businesses also anticipate extending HR- and talent-acquisition-like competencies and experiences into their extended workforce management programs within the next 18 months.

What does this mean? Enterprises across the globe crave innovation from their workforce management technology and services, essentially requiring an extra edge of progressive functionality that can transform contingent workforce programs into initiatives that resemble the Future of Work in terms of candidate experience, hiring manager experience, direct sourcing, talent intelligence, etc. In essence, what the business arena needs now is automation that enables agility, scalability, and flexibility.

Enter Prosperix.

Why They Were Selected:

During its near-decade run as Crowdstaffing, the solution now known as Prosperix revolutionized the technological concepts behind digital staffing, direct sourcing, and workforce management. Under the Prosperix brand, the company is doing the same with the Future of Work. Prosperix is known for its innovative VMS Network approach to Vendor Management System (VMS) technology and dedication to enhancing both the candidate and hiring manager experiences.

Prosperix’s unique approach to the talent acquisition and workforce management technology market is further enhanced by the arrival of its new, bundled service offering, Prosperix Xponential. The idyllic blend of tactical and strategic elements of Xponential provide businesses with the necessary power to manage all facets of today’s dynamic workforce, from talent engagement and the candidate experience to managed services, payrolling, and access to the solution’s deep network of candidates and suppliers.

In Their Own Words:

Prosperix is accelerating innovation in hiring and workforce management, enabling every business to build an extraordinary workforce. Our end-to-end software incorporates network effects, automates processes, and simplifies human interactions, while delivering actionable insights and improved outcomes. With our best-in-class solutions, we fuel our client’s biggest dreams by elevating human, workforce, and business prosperity.

Prosperix’s innovations, including the industry’s first (and patent-pending) VMS network and the newest addition, Prosperix Xponential, are garnering attention and giving clients the ability to achieve exponential scalability, agility, resilience, and business outcomes. We serve clients from a wide range of industries such as financial services, insurance, technology, entertainment, and utilities. They engage tens of thousands of contingent workers in professional and non-professional roles including IT, marketing, sales, finance, HR, customer support, manufacturing, and healthcare technology.

Founded in 2012 in Silicon Valley by CEO Sunil Bagai, our company has evolved into one of the industry’s leading technology providers, but with a significant difference – we focus on the combination of technology and people to build a prosperous ecosystem. By balancing the needs of businesses, suppliers, and workers, we help every client establish and maintain a high-quality workforce that meets current and future hiring needs. Visit www.prosperix.com for more information.

The Outlook:

When the company announced its rebrand last year, the main focus was on the “prosperity” of workers and the businesses that employed them. The innovative approach was certainly a progressive marker of where the world of work was heading, as two-plus years removed from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, enterprises find themselves requiring fresh ways of attracting, engaging, and managing talent from various sources, whilst realizing that a talent acquisition and HR focus was the ideal means in leveraging today’s evolving workforce to truly thrive during challenging times.

Prosperix’s VMS Network is a Best-in-Class platform that effectively serves as an agile convergence of digital staffing technology and next-generation VMS functionality. The amalgamation of direct sourcing, candidate experience management, end-to-end contingent workforce management, and digital staffing, combined with the newly-bundled Xponential offering, position Prosperix as a powerful platform that represents the very best of Future of Work-era technology.

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Upwork’s Work Without Limits: HR Builds Bridges Across the Organization

EventsSolution Providers by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Upwork, a global talent and work platform, recently held its Work Without Limits summit as an in-person and streaming event in Chicago The main stage was filled with customer and enterprise presenters, including Upwork’s Tony Buffum, vice president of HR Client Strategy, who served as moderator for the panel titled, “HR: Building Bridges Across the Organization.” Joining Buffum to discuss how HR leaders are earning trust, building awareness, and gaining alignment with key business partners to drive business results, was a panel that included:

  • Zoë Harte, Chief People Officer at Upwork.
  • David Harris, SVP of HR for PepsiCo.
  • Sarah Harse, Global Category Leader for HR Services and Professional Education, Johnson & Johnson.

The panel discussion covered a variety of topics. However, a central theme was HR’s cross-functional collaboration in executing the enterprise’s talent strategy. This article explores several areas around that theme. While HR is looked upon by the enterprise to drive talent and other critical initiatives, it cannot do this alone. There must be a partnership across the entire business with other functions like procurement, finance, legal, marketing, engineering, and the like.

Responsibility Lies With Everyone

When it comes to the role of sourcing and identifying talent, who is ultimately responsible? This was the opening question that Buffum posed to the panel. Harte believes everybody is responsible for bringing exceptional talent to drive the business initiatives that are the priorities for the organization. “HR has a powerful role in that. And so do the people managers and so does procurement. We all must do it together to be successful,” she said.

Responding with a procurement perspective, Harse says in the past the function took the upfront role of sourcing, finding the channel, putting it in place, and ensuring it operated. However, that’s not enough anymore.

“Just having the channel available is not enough to really solve the challenges that are ahead for our people leaders. The more we can do to partner with our HR counterparts, our finance counterparts, or our legal counterparts to connect those dots and really think about each of us having a unique role to play — with the hiring manager at the center helping to navigate all these different channels we have available — is really critical,” Harse said.

The audience at Upwork’s Work Without Limits event listens in to insights regarding the evolving world of work and talent. (Photo credit: Upwork)

Communication Is the Cornerstone

Because several business units contribute to the identification of talent sources, cross-functional collaboration is imperative. Harris described this process at PepsiCo, which included partnerships with finance (always a major role within large companies), procurement (to ensure all the contracts and partnerships are in place), and the internal talent acquisition team (securing the available people when and where they’re needed).

Of course, such collaboration couldn’t occur without effective communication. What projects are underway and the associated strategies? What are the different metrics or objectives among the functional lines? Harte says each individual team may be working toward different metrics. However, the role of the leader is to take a step back and look at the overall objectives they’re working toward. Knowing the business mission enables everyone to work together.

“It’s then easier to see how you can merge your objectives and key results together to ensure you’re making good compromises,” said Harse. “Communicate and really have a conversation about that so people understand the give and take of everyone involved. You’ll be able to find alignment and come to some level of agreement.”

Commit to Early Engagement

However, even the best-laid plans and communication can pose challenges. Harse spoke about her own experiences in procurement working through problem areas cross functionally and where opportunities exist to work toward a better goal. She said a common pitfall is the last-minute rush that can occur when a project is tossed over the wall to another function. Because both functions have not been on that journey together, there’s a lack of understanding around the purpose of the project and the work that’s been put into it.

For the individual or team suddenly holding the project, there’s a lack of alignment in terms of priority regardless of the urgency involved. Harse said much of the issue can be resolved with better early collaboration during the ideation phase.

“We have a number of subject matter experts across all our large organizations who can bring significant value to the table. Procurement shouldn’t be viewed at the table as simply the purchasing or supply chain person, but rather the beneficiary of these strategies as well,” said Harse.

She adds that the greatest learning coming into a new role supporting HR is that everyone can identify with the need for talent access. All are people leaders who understand the challenge of filling the seats to get the work done.

“It’s easy to get people on board with that message if you bring them in early and start to engage with legal and finance counterparts at the beginning of the journey to bring down some of those barriers that inevitably come up. This is crucial for those unique relationships we want to build to really be successful,” Harse explains.

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