Issue link: https://insights.randstadsourceright.com/i/789951
3 integrated MSP: the foundation of total talent. For a growing organization, the main challenge to adopting talent best practices is a lack of internal resources to support sophisticated technologies or processes. A solutions provider can provide a great advantage in this area. With internal resources at a premium, the company can rely on a partner with the ability to provide complete and seamless talent support. An approach that brings these advantages to a mid-sized company is a type of managed services program (MSP). This may be surprising to some, as MSP solutions are often considered the domain of large companies — but the value of MSP applies to smaller organizations as well. Consider the basics. An MSP solution is built on the idea that organizations are often challenged to manage how they engage contingent workers and their suppliers. An enterprise may have hundreds of different suppliers, each managed through separate departments and hiring managers who request talent on an as-needed basis. Often, each department has little insight as to what others are doing. As a result, the company may pay different rates for the same talent, miss out on available workers, prolong vacancies and even open themselves to risk without a consistent process to help ensure regulatory compliance. An MSP program brings objective, expert third-party management into the picture. The MSP account team is dedicated to managing the contingent workforce supply chain with efficiency and transparency, while preserving the relationships that the company has forged with its most valued suppliers. The program is typically supported with advanced vendor management system (VMS) technology, utilizing the client's VMS or bringing the provider's system into the relationship. In most MSPs, companies experience significant cost savings, particularly during the first two years of the relationship. This is due to timely management of talent demand, emphasis on high-performing suppliers and rate rationalization as contingent workers are paid at consistent levels across the company. Beyond initial savings, the MSP delivers significant and ongoing value by maintaining visibility across the flexible talent supply, achieving a level of predictability that addresses future demand and helps to deliver a positive experience for the workers involved. Finally, one of the most important aspects of a quality MSP partner is that the solutions are not limited to contingent workforce suppliers. The most advanced MSP providers today are experts in managing all flexible talent types. This includes freelancers and statement of work (SOW) and other contractors. Even as many companies engage these workers directly through the human cloud, otherwise known as freelancer management systems (FMS), the management of the platform through the MSP improves visibility into supply and demand across the entire flexible workforce.