Managing a contingent workforce program is complex. It requires the planning, creation and implementation of a highly-strategic, company-wide, program that ensures your business receives maximum ROI.
Most organizations, especially those with smaller contingent workforce volumes, simply don’t have the resources, contingent expertise or know-how to implement an effective program. Instead, they rely on fragmented processes and departmental management methods that lead to rogue costs, poorer-than-expected workforce quality and below-par staffing agency partnerships.
That’s why a successful contingent workforce program is critical. But how do organizations address this when they are being under-served by their existing contingent workforce management program?
Companies have three options. They either invest in the resources required to manage their program in-house with a vendor management system to underpin it, they outsource the management of their contingent workforce (or certain components of it) to a third-party with expertise in the contingent category or they continue to do nothing and struggle with rogue spend and poor-quality talent acquisition.
With that in mind, what is best for your organization? In this blog we take a look at the different types of outsourced contingent workforce management solutions that your business can consider and whether outsourcing is right for your company.
What are the types of contingent workforce outsourcing?
To improve contingent workforce management and help implement an effective program, organizations have a range of outsourced models to consider that range from purely tactical to highly strategic.
Here are a few of the top contingent workforce outsourcing options:
◾ Supplier Consolidation Services
Supplier Consolidation is designed for organizations that don’t want to outsource their entire contingent workforce program, but want to alleviate the burden of some of the tactical elements associated with it. In a Supplier Consolidation model, a third-party will take on the complex paperwork and processes associated with managing a company’s contingent workforce program - consolidating all vendors so the business has just one point of contact, has a third party ensure compliance, on and offboarding of vendors and resources, centralized time entry and approval and one invoice for their entire contingent workforce program. Unlike the strategic MSP program, a supplier consolidation program is completely tactical.
◾ MSP Lite
MSP Lite is designed for businesses that need assistance managing their contingent workforce without the complexities of a full MSP implementation. MSP lite providers work with their own network of pre-approved staffing agencies to fulfill a company’s contingent workforce requirements, managing the vendors on the company’s behalf but without the complex process flows, integrations and manager engagement that would be involved with an MSP program.
◾ Managed Service Provider
A Managed Service Provider, often referred to as an MSP, is an outsourced expert that will take on the responsibility of a company’s entire contingent workforce program. The MSP will implement a strategic contingent workforce program for the business, alleviating the burden of managing a contingent workforce in-house by taking on the responsibilities of the entire “req-to-check” process including interacting with managers, vendors, managing the open role distribution, flow of resumes, interview scheduling, onboarding workers and staffing agencies, offboarding, billing, and analyzing program performance metrics.
Is contingent workforce outsourcing right for you?
It can be tempting to manage a contingent workforce in-house, but it’s far from easy. It requires every department and hiring manager across your organization being on the same wavelength, and recording data accurately, in regards to engaging staffing agencies and sourcing contingent workers.
For a contingent workforce program to be successful, the right technology, repeatable and standardized process, centralized management, and company-wide buy-in are needed. Without all of this, businesses will suffer from rogue spend, inefficient processes and poor contingent workforce quality that seriously impacts their program ROI.
If your business doesn’t have the resources, time or expertise in the contingent category to implement an effective contingent workforce program, then contingent workforce outsourcing will be highly beneficial.
And that doesn’t mean you need to implement a complete MSP program. Options are scalable. The solution you need will depend on your company’s specific needs and capabilities. You can outsource processes that are as tactile or as strategic as you need.
Interested in learning more about whether contingent workforce outsourcing is right for you, and how it can benefit your business? Get in touch with the Contrax team of contingent workforce management specialists today. We would love to help.
