Most organizations have evolved separate processes for managing different workforce categories. HR manages employees; procurement manages contractors and outsourced services; individual line managers manage freelancers; sometimes a separate vendor management office manages agency relationships. The result is fragmented visibility into total workforce capacity, inconsistent standards across worker categories, duplicate sourcing efforts, and missed opportunities to deploy capability efficiently across the boundary between employee and non-employee work.
Total talent management collapses these silos into a single workforce planning, sourcing, and management discipline. The same skills inventory spans employees and the contractor pool; the same sourcing channels and assessment standards apply across worker categories where appropriate; the same total-cost view informs decisions about whether to hire, contract, or outsource specific work. Mature implementations require shared technology (a unified workforce management platform), shared governance (typically an integrated talent acquisition function with both employee and contingent specialisms), and aligned executive sponsorship across HR and procurement.
Key Points: Total Talent Management
- Unified planning across worker categories: Permanent employees, contractors, freelancers, gig workers, and outsourced services planned as one workforce.
- Breaks down HR-procurement silos: Workers traditionally split between HR (employees) and procurement (contractors) managed under one strategy.
- Shared skills inventory: Same skill taxonomy spans employee and contingent populations.
- Total-cost decision making: Hire-vs-contract-vs-outsource decisions made on full economic comparison rather than budget category.
- Requires shared technology and governance: Mature implementations involve unified workforce management platforms and integrated function leadership.
How Total Talent Management Works in Treegarden
Total Talent Management in Treegarden
Treegarden’s contingent workforce module operates alongside the core ATS, supporting the requisition, screening, onboarding, and management of contractor and contingent talent with the same skills taxonomy and structured selection discipline used for permanent employees - the foundation total talent management requires.
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Related HR Glossary Terms
Frequently Asked Questions About Total Talent Management
Three structural barriers: (1) organisational - HR and procurement report through different leadership lines and have different budgets, success metrics, and cultures; (2) regulatory - employee and contractor classifications carry different legal obligations that have historically argued for separation; (3) technology - the platforms supporting employee and contingent workforce management have been distinct, with limited interoperability. The barriers are weakening as workforce composition shifts (contingent share of total workforce has grown from ~15% in 2010 to ~30%+ in 2025) and integrated platforms mature.
Direct hourly cost of contractors is typically 1.3-2x the hourly equivalent of employees in the same role - reflecting overhead, profit margin, and the lack of benefits/PTO/training investment. Total economic cost is more complex: contractors offer flexibility (no termination cost), reduced ramp time for short engagements (specialists already at full productivity), and avoided benefits cost. Employees offer lower hourly cost, accumulated company-specific knowledge, and stronger long-term productivity. Total talent management decisions require full-cost comparison rather than headline rate comparison.
Recruiting traditionally focused exclusively on employee hires often expands scope to include contingent sourcing and selection - sometimes through a unified talent acquisition function, sometimes through a recruiting team that operates in close partnership with procurement’s contingent workforce specialists. Required new capabilities include vendor management, statement-of-work scoping, IR35/AB5 compliance (in UK and California respectively), and the analytical work to make hire-vs-contract-vs-outsource decisions on a project-by-project basis.
Mature implementations typically combine: (1) a unified workforce management platform that serves both employee and contingent populations - vendors include SAP Fieldglass, Beeline, Workday VNDLY, and Coupa Contingent; (2) an integrated skills inventory that spans both populations; (3) an ATS that handles employee recruitment alongside contingent requisitions; (4) analytics platforms that combine workforce data across both populations for unified planning and reporting. Building this stack typically requires 18-36 months of integration work.