Workforce Management – Where to Start
Where do you start when building the business case for Workforce Management? Often, the first challenge is simply understanding the workforce you already have. A practical place to start is…
Over the past few weeks I’ve had some telling conversations with customers that made me reflect on the last few years in our industry. Certain topics keep resurfacing — and one of the loudest right now is Statement of Work (SOW).
VMS providers, MSPs, and Procurement professionals are all talking about it again. But why now?
And yet, in reality, adoption has been patchy at best. Some organisations have succeeded, but often only within one department or geography — not enterprise-wide.
For a while, SOW went quiet and the noise shifted to Direct Sourcing (as if it were brand new). Technology and AI certainly enhanced the experience for hiring managers, candidates, and operators, but let’s be honest — Direct Sourcing has existed for years.
Now as far as the noise about SOW goes, as Victoria Wood might have said, “it’s back… with a right vengeance!”
The Problem with the Current Conversation
What concerns me is how much of the current commentary on LinkedIn and elsewhere lacks depth. Services Procurement is complex. It can’t be simplified into neat soundbites, and it can’t be run like contingent workforce management.
To borrow from my current house renovation: I wouldn’t want my decorator giving me plumbing advice, or my carpenter advising on wiring – or worse, attempting to do it! They may have seen it done, but they haven’t done it. The same applies in our industry: not everyone promoting SOW know-how actually knows how!
What We’re Seeing with Customers
o From countless conversations, a few truths stand out:
· Customers don’t call it SOW — it’s Services Procurement. The reality is, it is messy:
o Business
• Services spend normally has Executive visibility due to either linked to revenue or operation change activities
• It’s normally urgent, and sometimes comes with an escalation to get it solved ASAP
• Decision and engagement sometimes has already happened before Procurement are engaged
o Procurement
• Services Categories and Sub Categories can be fragmented (Procurement align to their stakeholder business requirements based upon what they need)
• Try to influence, but need a seat at the business table to do this
• Have limited resources, and do what they can with what they have. (Unfortunately, they always seem to be a target do to the nature of the job “cost out” initiatives…)
o Operations
• Self Service templates are created to support the business but may lack guidance and oversite (leading to poorly created documentation and in worst cases misclassification)
• Sometimes different BUs apply different policies and controls .
• Sometimes the business may accept supplier terms without negotiations.
• Some SoWs miss critical components, creating project risk.
o Legal
• Legal may put in a framework, but only for legal components (Commercial components sit either with Procurement or the business)
• Focuses on contract language, but depending on order of precedence, a SOW may unwind that legal framework
• If a SOW is poorly drafted or mis-managed, all liability moves back to the business (the whole premise of Services Procurement is to move that responsibility to the Supplier)
• More focus from Tax authorities, and organisations are starting to get directly fined due to incorrect worker classification
o Delivery
You don’t get what you thought you were buying:
§ McKinsey & Company found that 70% of digital transformations do not meet expectations – resulting in wasted investment and unrealised value.
§ Forbes and various industry reviews report that up to 84% of digital initiatives fail, making successful transformation the exception rather than the norm.
Now, all this isn’t new, but we are now seeing more organisations taking interest in the topic:
Why Experience Matters
Having run a Professional Services business and successfully sold SOW modules in my VMS days, I thought I had a solid grasp of this space. But working alongside @Scott , who has delivered services procurement transformation at scale, has been eye-opening.
When Procurement leaders sit across from Scott, the difference is clear:
Watching customers absorb his advice and real-world examples is telling — you can see the “lightbulb” moments. That’s the difference between having knowledge and having done it.
Beyond “Chasing the SOW”
Much of what I see online feels more like chasing revenue than solving problems. Services Procurement can’t be a cookie-cutter approach. It isn’t “just like contingent”. It requires:
This is where experience counts.
A Call to Action
If you’re in Procurement or HR and want to:
…then we should talk.
Start with our Right Sizing Survey. It takes just 5 minutes, is free, and will give you an initial view of where Services Procurement sits within your broader workforce programme. At the very least, it will spark internal discussions.
We’re also hosting a Services Procurement event in October/November (limited seats available). Topics include:
📩 DM me or email hello@workforcetiger.com for details.
