Services are an increasing percentage of spend in many companies, and they take different forms contractually. Contingent workforce includes hourly workers completing tasks or fulfilling roles, while service procurement is made up of companies and individuals working towards Statement of Work (SOW) driven objectives. Either way, procurement has to collaborate with HR to effectively and efficiently manage the outcomes. 

In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Jack Quarles. Jack is the Vice President of Services Procurement at Brightfield and the author of three bestselling books including ‘Expensive Sentences: Debunking the Common Myths that Derail Decisions and Sabotage Success.’ He has experience with talent optimization and cost reduction and has firsthand procurement experience working as the Director of Corporate Procurement at Sallie Mae and consulting to numerous Fortune 100 and mid-tier companies.

In this conversation, Jack shares his insider’s point of view on the considerations associated with successful services management:

What the typical HR/procurement relationship is like and what performance metric(s) ultimately drive Human Resources like savings drives procurement

The challenges associated with properly documenting the objectives and/or requirements of a services procurement SOW

Whether the soft skills or cultural fit of the individual(s) in contingent workforce and SOW-based services are as much of a consideration as they would be in a direct hire situation