Essential Takeaways from the CWS Summit 2017

This year’s Contingent Workforce Strategies (CWS) Summit—put on by Staffing Industry Analysts—was held in Dallas, TX on September 11th and 12th. At the event, our teams unveiled our brand’s refreshed look and feel, which evolved from Superior Workforce Solutions, Inc. to Broadleaf Results, Inc. The news of our new identity surely created buzz around the exhibit hall and people were exited to hear our story. Many conference goers commented on how well-timed our brand release was, with it occurring just two weeks prior to CWS. At our booth, we had an old-fashioned candy station, which became a popular stop for attendees with a sweet tooth!

One of the things we appreciate most about CWS is the connections…including with so many attendees who brought a variety of perspectives on industry topics and themes. One of the biggest takeaways from the event was that most companies—in our highly commoditized market—are in need of far more strategic solutions that better address their broad workforce concerns, and they are open to improving their overall total talent management. The majority of companies still have a lot of room for improvement/enhancement, regardless of their current talent landscapes.

A few key areas that companies seem to be challenged with include:

  • Capturing rogue spend
  • Developing a global strategy
  • Standardizing across regions/business units, etc.
  • Optimizing processes across all productivity channels and worker types

SOW vendor management continues to capture a lot of interest, but gaining support from Procurement and other stakeholders remains challenging for many organizations. In order to continue the conversation with key decision-makers around SOW, they must demonstrate a clearly defined business case that includes a well-articulated value proposition and an accurately prepared financial benefit.

Another theme we noticed throughout the Summit was the thirst for direct sourcing, self-sourcing, and alumni programs. These “threats” impact staffing suppliers as more companies begin to engage in exploration of these talent engagement strategies, which will be the next area to drive hard dollar savings within the contingent workforce space.

All in all, CWS was a major success for Broadleaf as we celebrated the launch of our new brand and broke bread with so many wonderful attendees. And a special thanks to all who came to celebrate with us at the House of Blues!

Check out the photos from the event: