Why You Should Partner with a Contingent Workforce MSP

An increasing number of organizations are turning to the contingent workforce to improve their flexibility, agility and talent acquisition, in what is becoming an increasingly competitive market.

As the use of contingent workers increases, there’s a growing number of organizations that are hiring non-employee workers despite not having the expertise, resources or time to implement an effective contingent workforce management strategy.

Contingent workforce management is complex. It’s no surprise that most companies, especially those with smaller volumes of contingent workers, aren’t equipped with the resources, expertise and infrastructure required to optimize the ROI they receive from their contingent workforce. 

That’s why you should consider partnering with a managed services provider (MSP).

In this blog we take a quick look at what an MSP actually is, and dive into five reasons why partnering with one will help your organization streamline its contingent workforce management program and positively change your bottom line.

What is a contingent workforce MSP?

A contingent workforce managed services provider is an outsourced partner that manages either all, or part of, a company’s contingent workforce program. An MSP is typically responsible for the entire management of the program, from sourcing staffing agencies, procurement, workforce planning, standardizing rates and processes, as well as onboarding contingent workers. 

If preferred, an MSP can take over just part of a company’s contingent workforce management program instead of a full MSP implementation. 

With expertise in the contingent category, a managed services provider is able to set up processes and advanced technologies (such as a Vendor Management System) that allow a business to strategically manage their contingent workforce program and maximize results. 

Why your business should consider partnering with a contingent workforce MSP

Cost efficiency is one of the leading goals for any organization. The more efficient and cost-effective your processes are, the better your bottom line is and the higher profit margins your business has. 

When it comes to staffing, there’s a huge amount of unexpected costs. This is particularly true when it comes to your contingent workforce management program, which, when not managed properly, will lead to a lack of standardized rates for vendors, compliance costs, inefficient processes and poor vendor decisions. 

Working with an MSP will enable your business to improve its efficiencies and access soft savings that all add up to a significant amount of money. An MSP will make sure that you’re not overpaying in your program, and that you’re realizing your expected ROI from your contingent workforce program.

A contingent workforce program is complex. It involves a huge amount of data from both contingent workers, and the staffing agencies that you work with to source those workers. It can be easy for that data to get out of hand, resulting in hidden costs and fragmented processes across your hiring managers.

An MSP will ensure that your business is able to optimize those vendors. That means ensuring you work with the right vendors depending on your staffing requirements, making sure you are paying the market rate for talent (and that those rates are standardized across all departments in your business), as well as measuring vendor performance to ensure they are helping your organization reach its goals. 

There are two forms of risk within a contingent workforce. Firstly, the risk that comes with managing a growing list of vendors, and, secondly, the compliance risks associated with hiring non-employee workers. 

An MSP will mitigate these risks by ensuring your staffing agencies are managed effectively, paid correctly and that they are performing as expected, as well as making sure that all workers comply with all local and national employment regulations. 

Managing a contingent workforce is complex, and not having an effective program in place will lead to inefficiencies across your organization. When this happens, hiring managers use their own manual spreadsheets to manage contingent workers, resulting in a lack of standardization across your entire program.

An MSP will eliminate inefficiencies in your contingent workforce program. By setting your business up with a seamless contingent workforce management program, your organization will develop productive end-to-end processes for your entire non-employee workforce - that includes designing your overall contingent workforce strategy, sourcing vendors, onboarding workers, managing your staffing agencies, implementing effective contingent workforce workflows and so much more.

Any operational process that your organization runs must bring ROI to the business. When it comes to contingent workforce management, it’s crucial that you're working with the right staffing agencies to fulfill your workforce requirements, that you have complete visibility into how much you’re spending and that you're bringing workers into your business when needed.

MSPs are able to provide valuable insights and analytics that show you how your contingent workforce program is performing, and what you can change to improve that performance. That includes data such as measuring staffing agency performance, analytics around hires (such as turnover and time-to-fill), as well as spend analysis. 

Want to learn more about how an MSP can transform your organization’s contingent workforce management strategy? Book a meeting with Contrax today. Our team of contingent workforce specialists would love to answer any questions that you may have.