I’ve have supported Human Resources (HR) my entire career. Graduating college in the midst of the dot-com boom…and the internet was still a novelty. At that time, many companies didn’t have a career site, and the only way to get into a company was from an external recruiter or at a job fair. Directly from college, I was placed by a temp agency into an HR role, at one of the most innovative companies in the world.
My role, within this groundbreaking company, was to scan paper resumes. There were 1000’s a day. Sometimes it was fun, like the time we received a shoe with a note that said “…just trying to get my foot in the door.” But mostly, it was monotonous and time consuming.
That was almost 30 years ago…and today not having a career site and scanning heaps of paper resumes daily….is inconceivable.
A recent US report shows growth with every workforce sector except full-time workers[1]. And half of the workforce will be part-time or contingent by 2027[2].
It underscores the importance of having a strategy which manages the entire workforce. SAP is leading the next major evolution for HR: Total Workforce Management. HR’s next evolution is visibility and management beyond your employees, to include your external workers, using SAP Fieldglass and SAP SuccessFactors, that is Total Workforce Management.
The objections that we heard a few years ago, about why HR isn't ready for the services that SAP Fieldglass provides (Contingent Workforce Management and Services Procurements solutions) are lessening. Today we are engaging in conversations about how HR and Procurement can collaborate in managing the workforce.
Procurement is inherently collaborative, working with internal operations and external partners daily. However, according to an Economist Impact survey in early 2023[3] it shows that procurement teams often experience friction or misalignment, leading to poorer outcomes.
Notably, the 2023 report indicates a perception mismatch concerning the relative responsibility of HR and procurement, with nearly half of respondents thinking that HR is responsible for managing the external workforce, while 29% say procurement is responsible. The mismatch extends when you look at companies of different sizes. Among leaders of midmarket companies, 50% say HR should own an external workforce strategy, compared to 28% who chose procurement. However, among large enterprise leaders, the margin was much slimmer, 41%-39% in favor of HR.[4]
The second act of my career includes me supporting Procurement for the past six years, so I have firsthand experience understanding the unique organizational dynamics for both HR and Procurement. Just as it’s difficult to imagine a room full of papers that needs to be scanned, I believe that in the near future it will be incredible to not have a Total Workforce Management strategy.
The time is now and it’s a significant opportunity for HR and Procurement to collaborate closely in developing and sustaining a comprehensive Total Workforce strategy. Watch the demo video.
[1] Statista
[2] HBR.org
[3] 2023 Economist Impact survey sponsored by SAP, “Decoding confidence in the procurement function”
[4] Why External Workforces Need an HR-Procurement Collaboration
