SIA Collaboration in the Gig Economy Conference

On September 21-22, nextSource had the opportunity to proudly sponsor the inaugural Collaboration in the Gig Economy Conference, held by the Staffing Industry Analysts. Collaboration was more than just a buzzword filling up the title of this conference—it was integral to the spirit of the attendees. Too often, buyers and sellers are pitted against one another, but the structure of this event turned the tables, so to speak, and enabled the buyers to receive feedback on past challenges, successes and overall experiences. Here are some of nextSource’s favorite takeaways from the conference.

“What’s in it for We.” The transformation of business relationships.

Kate Vitasek, author, educator, business consultant and CEO of Vested Inc. really set the tone on opening morning with a session focused on the transformation of business relationships through a simple shift in mindset from a “What’s in it for Me” to a “What’s in it for We” attitude. Cheryl Tracz, a member of the nextSource team in attendance, Director of Supplier Partnerships and a published author was particularly inspired by this presentation. This led her to investigate further into Vitasek’s published works, including The Vested Outsourcing Manual and A Guide for Creating Successful Business and Outsourcing Agreements in order to understand how nextSource might be able to apply such effective strategies to its relationships with current and future staffing partners. Relationship-building is central to nextSource’s vision of advancing the way the world—and particularly its clients—connect with talent.

An example of this commitment can be identified in nextSource team’s responses to questions from other attendees at the conference. For example, nextSource was asked how the existing supply chain of staffing partners may react to an organization preparing to deploy a direct recruitment, private label recruiting practice. Then they were asked about nextSource’s achievements with clients as it pertains to staff augmentation spend misclassified into a statement of work. Because of the breadth of experience across the team in attendance, nextSource was able to respond with the various solutions