A 9-5 employee working in an office is no longer the norm. Companies today are more than ever turning to freelancers, contractors, and specialist agencies to remain agile and competitive. In fact, a 2022 analysis revealed that nearly one in five tech job postings on LinkedIn were aimed at contractors, tripling from two years ago. As this transition picks up pace, if you are managing these distributed talents by hand right now, disaster is sure to come. This is when you really need a strong Consultant Management System to change the way companies structure, follow, and improve their external talent.
If your business is still using spreadsheets and email chains to manage contractors, you’re probably falling behind. Here’s why: if you haven’t digitised the process of onboarding new staff, it’s now not just “nice to have”, it is an absolute imperative for modern growth.
The Clear Benefits of External Workforce Management Systems
Deploying a dedicated solution to manage your external workforce has immediate benefits from day one and goes far beyond “cleanliness is next to godliness.” That in effect transforms how you find and deploy talent.
- Increased Efficiency and Cost Saving: If you take out the human element from such mundane activities as onboarding or invoicing, your team can shift its concentration away from busywork and toward strategy. You stay ahead of overages by keeping a close eye on the current rates and hours, as they’re being used.
- Freedom of Specialized Expertise: You have access to a broader market when you’re not restricted by geography and long-term headcount limits. This is so you can instantly plug in particular skill gaps with high-quality practitioners.
- Scalability and Flexibility: Things change in markets. A great system provides you the flexibility to add and subtract from your workforce on a moment’s notice, so that you have the resources you need at any given time.
Overcoming Common Challenges
The advantages are clear, but managing an outside labor force is not without its challenges. Unstructured procedures can result in compliance exposures and disparate workflows.
Quality Control and Communication
In the absence of a central platform, instructions go missing, and quality standards differ. An integrated system also guarantees each contractor is invited to the same briefs, guidelines, and feedback loops. It is an ultimate source of truth, and it gets everyone on the page for the project’s intention.
Cultural Fit and Onboarding
It’s difficult to bring outsiders into your company culture. From the start, a digital onboarding experience helps contractors know who you are and what’s important to you. Enter the realm of your Client Relationship Partner, whether a person or implemented as functionality within your practice management program; it’s how you close that Talent-to-People divide to keep partners and talent solutions working effectively with one another.
Key Features of an Effective System
All management tools are not equal. To really ensure your operation is future-proofed alone, seek a system that has these specific capabilities:
- Single source of truth: searchable repository with all external partners, including skills, certification, and reverse perf reviews.
- Contract and Compliance Management: Automation to store contracts, track expiration dates, and ensure all workers are meeting regulatory requirements (think insurance and tax forms).
- Mobile Accessibility: Because your staff isn’t stationary, neither should be your management tool. Seek systems with powerful apps that let contractors record time and managers approve tasks from anywhere.
The ROI of Workforce Management Systems
For technology, that means there must be an R.O.I. The numbers are on the side of automation in workforce management.
| Metric | Average Before Implementation | Average After Implementation | Improvement |
| Time to Onboard | 18–25 Days | 5–8 Days | 68% Faster |
| Invoice Processing | 7–10 Days | 2–3 Days | 72% Faster |
| Budget Variance | 15–22% | 3–7% | 70% Improvement |
| Project Delays | 23% | 6% | 74% Reduction |
Data source: Coruzant Technologies, Consultant Management System Analysis
Why You Need to Act Now
The work of the future is flexible, distributed, and digital. Trying to control a modern workforce with medieval technology not only slows you down, but it stunts your growth. With an External Workforce Management System, you’ve got the visibility, compliance, and speed you need to be competitive.
Administrative chaos need not stymie our growth. In fact, we must assess what we do now for our CDM to provide passing on the spot and think about how finding the “right” tools can help us become a more agile, effective team.
