It has been a busy conference season already! We have been in Miami for two Procurement conferences and our team is headed to two more conferences next week — one of them being the CWS Summit Europe. This is the premier conference for HR and Procurement professionals from Europe’s leading organizations — attendees are looking for the latest advancements in contingent workforce management technology and the best practices to help accelerate their programs. For those HR and Procurement professionals looking to discuss contingent labor management strategies and/or to see the future of Vendor Management Software (VMS) be sure to stop by PRO’s booth #4 or schedule a private demo of our VMS, Wand. Our team is looking forward to connecting! PRO was also invited to host a roundtable session on Artificial Intelligence and Global Trends from 11:30am – 12:45pm on Tuesday, March 26.  Seats are first come, first serve, so don’t miss out on one of the industry’s most sought after topics. Hope to see you there! If you cannot make the show, we would be happy to schedule a time to discuss or to provide you with a demo of our VMS, Wand. If you or a member of your team would benefit from a further discussion on how PRO is helping companies implement winning contingent workforce management programs globally, please contact a PRO representative at 800.291.1099 or email at info@prounlimited.com.   Disclaimer: The content in this blog post is for informational purposes only and cannot be construed as specific legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice. The blog post reflects the opinion of PRO Unlimited and is not to be construed as legal solutions and positions. Contact an attorney for specific advice and guidance for specific issues or questions.

With ProcureCon Indirect East just days away, the PRO team is excitedly preparing to connect with fellow senior procurement practitioners in Amelia Island, FL, from March 25 to 27. An industry-leading event of almost 20 years, this conference is an opportunity to participate in interactive, peer-led sessions and to see the latest in contingent workforce technology advancements. ProcureCon has tapped PRO to lead one of its thought leadership sessions. Please join us on March 25 at 3:10 pm to uncover the “3 Key Contingent Workforce Management Trends for 2019”. In this session, attendees will learn about the latest trends and insights that will help accelerate the success of  a company’s contingent workforce program including: Artificial Intelligence and advancements within Vendor Management Software (VMS) technology help drive smarter, more data-driven sourcing decisions Optimized self-sourcing strategies that leading organizations use to drive ongoing, sustainable cost savings Emerging technologies and analytics that transform Professional Services and SOW spend management Also, please find us at booth #109. We will be speaking about the future of VMS and showing a demonstration of our VMS, Wand. We look forward to meeting you in person! Not able to attend the conference, but interested in learning more? We would be happy to schedule a demo. If you or a member of your team would benefit from a further discussion on how PRO is helping companies implement winning contingent workforce management programs globally, please contact a PRO representative at 800.291.1099 or email at info@prounlimited.com.   Disclaimer: The content in this blog post is for informational purposes only and cannot be construed as specific legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice. The blog post reflects the opinion of PRO Unlimited and is not to be construed as legal solutions and positions. Contact an attorney for specific advice and guidance for specific issues or questions.

PRO has just been named the winner of the 2019 National Customer Service Association (NCSA) All-Stars Award for Service Organization of the Year (large business)!  NCSA is a membership organization that is the ultimate provider of customer service education, development and support services in the United States. It presents this annual award to the organization that consistently maintains a focused culture of service excellence and awarded PRO for its services in this category. Out of all the companies that submitted, the 2019 judging panel recognized PRO’s Managed Services Program (MSP) and Strategy, Analytics and Metrics (SAM) team for going above and beyond the normal line of duty for its clients — staying true to the company’s mission, and consistently providing excellent service. We not only help large organizations around the world manage, source and track its non-employee workforces, but we continuously work behind the scenes for each client. We also help discover and present comprehensive industry insights and make client-specific workforce planning recommendations based on data, trends, market conditions and competitive research. This enables organizations to address the costs, risks and quality issues associated with managing contingent labor. We could not be more pleased to be honored for this award! Check out the full release here! If you’re interested in learning more about how PRO is helping organizations implement winning contingent workforce programs globally, please contact a PRO representative at 800.291.1099 or email PRO at info@prounlimited.com.   Disclaimer: The content in this blog post is for informational purposes only and cannot be construed as specific legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice. The blog post reflects the opinion of PRO Unlimited and is not to be construed as legal solutions and positions. Contact an attorney for specific advice and guidance for specific issues or questions.

Americas Procurement Congress 2019 is just days away and the PRO Unlimited team is looking forward to meeting with our fellow procurement professionals in Miami, FL from March 14th to 15th. As the contingent workforce continues to grow in size and complexity, procurement professionals and organizations are faced with increasing challenges to drive ongoing cost savings, improving process efficiency, and turning unstructured data and analytics into actionable business strategies. Learn about this and other trends and insights that can help accelerate the success of your contingent workforce program by stopping by our booth (#20) to speak with a PRO rep. We look forward to meeting you in person! Not able to attend the conference, but interested in learning more –contact us at info@prounlimited.com or via phone at 800.291.1099.   Disclaimer: The content in this blog post is for informational purposes only and cannot be construed as specific legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice. The blog post reflects the opinion of PRO Unlimited and is not to be construed as legal solutions and positions. Contact an attorney for specific advice and guidance for specific issues or questions.

Once again, PRO’s experts in the following departments: Legal, HR, Contractor Compliance Services, Immigration, and Client Payroll Operations have published this quarter’s U.S. and Global Regulatory Newsletters. These are meant to provide a learning and informational opportunity for those professionals wanting to stay on top of the latest regulatory topics here in the U.S. and around the world. In this quarter’s edition, we highlight the following topics: S. Independent Contractor Compliance, Employment Law, Immigration and Payroll Global trends and events in Hungary, Australia, Romania, Taiwan, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Mexico and Singapore Readers can take a deeper dive in each of these sections and find much more detail, including: The legislative conflict over determining employment status using the “ABC” test Continued expansion of information-sharing efforts between state and federal agencies A high-profile case of misclassified independent contractors State-specific decisions on inclusion, workplace harassment, regulating employees’ personal affairs, transgender stereotyping A return to a broader definition of “independent contractor” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) H-1B vase case reforms and Labor Condition Application Form updates Changes and updates to overtime work increases, post-termination payout requirements, pension contribution increases, and tax-free allowances on the global stage Multi-country minimum wage increases Employment Act changes that impact half a million employees in Singapore Brexit and Good Work Plan 2018 updates, and more Download your copies of the full newsletters. If you’re interested in learning more about how PRO is helping organizations implement winning contingent workforce programs globally, please contact a PRO representative at 800.291.1099 or email PRO at info@prounlimited.com. Disclaimer: The content in this blog post is for informational purposes only and cannot be construed as specific legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice. The blog post reflects the opinion of PRO Unlimited and is not to be construed as legal solutions and positions. Contact an attorney for specific advice and guidance for specific issues or questions.

Across industries, workers are using mobile devices to improve effectiveness. According to one recent study, employees see a 34 percent increase in efficiency by using smartphones at work, including significant upticks in work quality, collaboration, speed of innovation and productivity. At staffing agencies, perhaps even more than most businesses, speed of execution and decision-making is critical to success. For example, account managers and recruiters are constantly racing the competition to fill job requisitions. Of course, given that new requests from top clients don’t always wait until they’re conveniently seated at their desks, having mobile access to this information can help ensure a timely response. But historically, suppliers haven’t had access to a mobile app that would enable them to tackle such tasks. This is just one reason that PRO Unlimited built the Wand Mobile Supplier App, the industry’s first mobile app created specifically for account managers, recruiters, sourcers and billing specialists. (Read the official press release.) In this blog post, we’ll look at five ways that mobile helps suppliers increase their effectiveness. 1) Staying on top of tasks. Email is an essential work communication tool, but the reality is that the average worker receives more than 120 emails a day, roughly 50 percent of which are spam. As a result, open rates hover around 20 percent. In contrast, open rates for SMS messages stand at roughly 98 percent. In addition, it takes the average person 90 minutes to respond to an email, but only 90 seconds to respond to an SMS. Put another way, receiving mobile push notifications about important work tasks in addition to emails helps ensure that you see and respond to these items in a timely fashion. For staffing agency team members, this means having access to a native mobile app, where they can choose to receive push notifications regarding specific work tasks such as interview coordination, job requests and expense review. These notifications can help ensure they act quickly and ultimately increase productivity, especially if new requests are displayed immediately upon opening the app. 2) Scheduling candidate interviews. One recent study reported that the average employee spends more than one day a week in meetings. Another report stated that middle managers spend about 35 percent of an average day in meetings, while upper managers are in meetings more than 50 percent of the average day. With calendars already so booked, it’s easy to see how coordinating a candidate interview can be challenging, with availability shifting by the minute – and at all times of the day. This is why mobile access can be so helpful in enabling recruiters and sourcers to schedule interviews with just a few easy swipes and taps, helping ensure they’re getting candidates in front of clients as quickly as possible. 3) Tracking job requests. As outlined in the intro to this post, new and urgent job requests can hit suppliers’ desks at all hours. The ability to access these requests via mobile device anytime and anywhere helps ensure account managers are always

The PRO Unlimited team is looking forward to traveling to Miami, Florida on March 5th for HCI’s 2019 People Analytics & Workforce Planning Conference. The conference will share how high-performing organizations are balancing the need for shorter, more agile workforce planning cycles with long-term talent strategy. From building a people analytics dream team, to applying insights to business-relevant talent issues throughout the employee lifecycle, you will learn to enable data-based decision making at your organization. Will we see you there to discuss these topics and more? If you’d like to connect with us, you can find us at our tabletop while at the conference. We look forward to meeting you in person! Not able to attend the conference, but interested in learning more? We would be happy to schedule a meeting with you by contracting a PRO representative at 800.291.1099 or email at info@prounlimited.com. Disclaimer: The content in this blog post is for informational purposes only and cannot be construed as specific legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice. The blog post reflects the opinion of PRO Unlimited and is not to be construed as legal solutions and positions. Contact an attorney for specific advice and guidance for specific issues or questions.

The business of consulting firms has always been based on providing highly skilled, specialized personnel to drive their clients’ success. Yet, while these firms have always dealt in delivering people as their product, the competitive nature of the market has led them to seek new and innovative ways to streamline operations and gain visibility into their contingent workforce. One global management consulting firm realized the challenges it was facing would not be resolved without a solution that would optimize its contingent workforce management. Without a viable solution in place, this firm experienced a decentralized infrastructure, undeveloped internal processes and tools across independently managed global offices, minimal visibility into workforce activities, and more. This consulting firm chose the vendor-neutral and integrated Managed Service Provider (MSP) and Vendor Management Software (VMS) model to start their journey toward total contingent workforce management. By choosing this approach over other MSP-staffing aligned models, this firm is achieving successes in several areas: Program Growth: Implemented a VMS across 106 suppliers in 17 countries Visibility: Enabled global access to contingent workforce activity across offices Process Rationalization: Transitioned all external workers off internal timekeeping tool and on to a VMS Governance: Performed 100 one-on-one hiring manager meetings to support streamlined consistent processes Compliance and Qualified Talent: Conducted screening of approximately 100 consultants across global locations Download the case study to find out more about the successes that this global consulting firm achieved by partnering with PRO. If you’re interested in learning more about how PRO is helping organizations implement winning contingent workforce programs globally, please contact a PRO representative at 800.291.1099 or email at info@prounlimited.com.   Disclaimer: The content in this blog post is for informational purposes only and cannot be construed as specific legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice. The blog post reflects the opinion of PRO Unlimited and is not to be construed as legal solutions and positions. Contact an attorney for specific advice and guidance for specific issues or questions.

With influence from competitors and technology at an all-time high, finding the right talent at the right time for your business is more challenging than ever. Discover the advantages you can gain by using business intelligence (BI) tools in your contingent resource planning strategy in our latest piece with Forbes, featuring PRO Unlimited’s Ted Sergott, EVP of Product Development. Gaining visibility across your workforce, including contingent and full-time workers, to achieve total talent management can help you make smarter decisions — by driving cost savings and program efficiencies. BI tools translate vital workforce data into actionable visualizations that illuminate highlight important insights, including supply and demand, and worker details. By embracing business intelligence-based tools and optimizing your resource planning strategy, you realize the following benefits: Understanding supply and demand opportunities on a global scale Leveraging your existing talent pool to reapply them to open positions Building your talent network by enabling workers to stay engaged Releasing workers using an understanding of their performance and other external factors The clear advantages you gain by applying BI tools to your resource planning strategy should not be overlooked, but taking the right steps toward choosing a vendor to suite your needs can be challenging. To find out more about the benefits and the questions you should ask when selecting the BI tools that are right for you, read the full Forbes article here. If you’re interested in learning more about how PRO is helping organizations implement winning contingent workforce programs globally, please contact a PRO representative at 800.291.1099 or email at info@prounlimited.com.   Disclaimer: The content in this blog post is for informational purposes only and cannot be construed as specific legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice. The blog post reflects the opinion of PRO Unlimited and is not to be construed as legal solutions and positions. Contact an attorney for specific advice and guidance for specific issues or questions.

In the latest of HR.com’s Talent Acquisition Excellence ePublication, PRO Unlimited’s EVP of Product Development, Ted Sergott discusses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on contingent labor management. As 74% of employers claim they’ve hired the wrong person for a position, losing an average of nearly $15,000 on every bad hire, there is an immense need for new and innovative technology that can support an altogether better sourcing process. In fact, nearly 3 in 4 business leaders consider AI a “business advantage” that will be fundamental to their future operations. The adoption of AI into contingent workforce management is just beginning and it will enable organizations to make smarter hiring decisions through a combination of machine learning, predictive analytics and augmented reality to increase efficiency, reduce operational costs, grow revenue and improve talent quality. While AI is a broad and well-known topic across organizations and industries, there are four areas of focus for contingent workforce management: Embedded Intelligence Adaptive job assessments Social and behavioral mining Augmented reality Combined with human expertise, AI promises to enable faster, more efficient decision-making for a more optimized sourcing process that will drive cost savings and improve the end user experience. With the right organizational support, the strategic use of AI could lead to greater hiring successes and a deeper understanding of the workforce. To learn more about AI’s impact on contingent labor management, read the full article here. If you’re interested in learning more about how PRO is helping organizations implement winning contingent workforce programs globally, please contact a PRO representative at 800.291.1099 or email at info@prounlimited.com.   Disclaimer: The content in this blog post is for informational purposes only and cannot be construed as specific legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice. The blog post reflects the opinion of PRO Unlimited and is not to be construed as legal solutions and positions. Contact an attorney for specific advice and guidance for specific issues or questions.