Skillful solution: Fieldglass supports all types of human capital acquisition
By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 2/22/2008 8:54:00 AM
The transfer of work to lower-cost locations and the outsourcing of projects—combined with the expected loss of older, experienced workers—is cause for a more disciplined approach to managing the acquisition of human capital. The Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms this worker shortage—projecting more than 40 percent of the labor force, that is, approximately 62 million workers—will be age 45 or older this year, forcing companies to reevaluate workforce composition.
Fieldglass, a services procurement software provider for global enterprises, has released what it says is the first unified technology platform for acquiring all forms of human capital, including contingent workers, service providers, and direct hires. The addition of a recruitment solution to InSite 5.0 will allow companies greater control and visibility into the types of human capital being used to accomplish particular tasks. Such flexibility will be vital as global trends create pressure to optimize how work is completed.
The recruitment solution, which complements InSite’s existing modules for managing contingent workers and service providers, allows companies to acquire full and part-time employees, directly source specialized contingent labor, and better leverage known talent pools such as retirees and alumni.
The complex processes and regulatory considerations for acquiring and managing contingent workers and service providers are well supported by InSite’s comprehensive technology platform. This makes Fieldglass well-equipped to address the increasingly similar requirements for acquiring direct hires.
“At GlaxoSmithKline we strive to optimize our workforce mix through processes and technologies that allow us to make sound, strategic decisions. With varying forms of ongoing and project-based work requirements and the constantly changing talent market, it is not a simple task for global companies like ours to determine the right combination of contingent, outsourced, project, and full-time workers,” says Brian Bules, director of recruitment and alliances for GlaxoSmithKline. “Fieldglass continues to demonstrate a shared vision for the future of this space—a holistic but streamlined approach that allows companies to more effectively act upon workforce needs based on what the talent marketplace offers.”
The recruitment solution can be managed by in-house recruiters or recruitment process outsourcers, providing companies with greater program management flexibility. Companies can communicate current or future openings for full-time, part-time and contingent positions through configurable internal and public-facing career sites and submit to external job boards through the same administrative desktop.
Solution functionality allows companies to search, identify and track worker profiles maintained in a comprehensive repository, or “talent pool.” Recruiters can quickly match qualified candidates to job postings, or vice versa, regardless of a worker’s previously-used capacity. Additionally, the tagging feature allows recruiters to associate keywords to a candidate to act as dynamic, searchable folders for later retrieval. This is especially helpful for companies that want to take better advantage of talent resources with prior experience, such as interns, alumni and retirees, saving time during the sourcing process and reducing costs associated with onboarding and training.
“Current-generation solutions force companies to acquire and manage each segment of their human capital through separate applications, namely a Vendor Management System and an Applicant Tracking System. We find there’s an emerging market demand for a single platform to manage the sourcing of contingent labor, service providers, and employees,” says Jai Shekhawat, CEO, Fieldglass. “The holistic approach, delivered through InSite 5.0, allows for better matching of the work being requested to the appropriate resource type, and eases user training and adoption by providing hiring managers with a single integrated requisition as the starting point.”
