Karl Whelpdale was tapped by Mars to replace a decentralized contingent labor process with a global CW program spanning 70 countries — all while ensuring that the CEO, stakeholders, HR, and audit and risk teams work together to ensure the program fulfils what they and Mars need.

Previously, contingent labor was managed on a regional basis, which created inconsistencies for the global organization and category — “all the things you would expect,” says the contingent workforce global category leader. Since he joined in January 2020, he and his team conducted an internal and outside examination to best understand what Mars needs of its contingent workforce, which represents a sizeable portion of the company’s overall workforce, and what best practices, models and services would provide that needed improvement.

“Once fully deployed, we will have a watch-tower view of all talent by the end of 2022,” Whelpdale says. “The global deployment of this program will create an ecosphere, where we will have all our contingent workforce, requirements, requisitions, mapping within.”

He and his team are also dedicated to ensuring the evolved CW business processes make it easier for Mars to bring contingent workers into the full and flexible talent landscape, not just supplementary to it. “Where we look at talent holistically, is it an associate, is it a freelancer, is it a temporary worker, based upon the need of the business and the task at hand.”

Ultimately, he envisions the day when they will look back and think: “How did we ever do without this program?”