Independent Contractors: The Talent Imperative for the "New Normal" Project Economy

Although contract talent -- including independent contractors, temporary workers, Statement of Work consultants and other contingent labor categories -- was important to organizations before the Great Recession, all indicators point to the role of this segment of the workforce as being more critical than ever before.

And as the strategic importance of properly using independent contractors grows, organizations that use them are looking for increasingly better ways of managing them.

But how can organizations make all the moving parts of contract talent management fit together?

The answer seems to be getting clearer: whether the goal is to reduce the risks of coemployment and misclassication, or to win better visibility over this spend category, businesses are turning to third party specialists for expertise and enriched perspectives.

A new research paper published this week by the Human Capital Institude, incorporating research drawn from 224 different organizations, agrees:

Organizations that use Contract Talent Management-specific tools, systems, and programs such as Managed Service Providers (MSP's), Vendor Management Systems (VMS') and Independent Contractor Engagement Specialists (ICES') are more effective in leveraging Contract Talent and mitigating the related risks.

In fact, according to the fine print in the report, organizations that use an ICES, MSP, and/or VMS are nearly twice as effective in mitigating the risks associated with Contract Talent, including such challenging problems as 1099 compliance and coemployment concerns.

But don't take our word for it -- here's the full text of this groundbreaking report:

Contract Talent: An Imperative for Talent Management for the New Normal

How does your organization handle maintaining 1099 compliance? Are you ready for the changing independent contractor legislation and heightened risk of wage and hour lawsuits?