Today’s businesses must face more competition from competing firms and impress a consumer that is more knowledgeable than it has ever been before. This means that employing the right staff, as well as being agile enough to adapt to change, is essential for any business looking to thrive in the 21st Century.

Companies must now find the right resources to fill their talent gaps or fall behind in the race to provide not only a superior product and service, but also a second-to-none customer experience.

For this reason, companies are turning towards the ever-growing contingent workforce. This vast labor pool is giving large businesses access on-demand talent, helping them to hire workers with specialized skills, cut costs and hit their annual revenue goals.

However, the management of contingent workers is complex and most companies cannot successfully implement this without expert help. For that reason, many organizations are turning to the help of managed service providers (MSPs) when it comes to their contingent workforce strategy.

What exactly is a managed service provider?

A managed service provider is a non-customer facing organization that handles various operational and back-end tasks that are critical to the results of your business, helping you to both cut costs and drive growth.

An MSP develops specific programs that bring strategic value to your organization, all while operating as an external arm of your business.

Managed service providers typically offer services within these areas of your business:

• Information technology
• Payroll
• Workforce management and contingent workforce management
• Human resources
• Contract management and compliance
• Vendor management
• Procurement and sourcing

How can an MSP help your contingent workforce program?

A managed service provider that offers a contingent workforce management program will have expert knowledge when it comes to the complexities and intricacies associated with managing this often disparate workforce.

In fact, most companies who make use of the contingent workforce do so ineffectively, using inefficient and fragmented hiring techniques that are often spread across multiple departments, divisions and locations within their organization.

By partnering with an MSP that is specialized in the contingent workforce, such as HCMWorks, your organization will gain access to expert knowledge in compliance, talent acquisition, onboarding, payment, offboarding and everything inbetween.

So, why should your business outsource its contingent workforce management?

According to an Ardent Partner’s report, titled The State of Contingent Workforce Management 2017-2018: The Convergence of Talent, Technology, and the Future of Work, 73 per cent of “best-in-class” contingent labor management programs rely on an MSP program.

Taking advantage and strategically partnering with an MSP will open your business up to new capabilities and expertise, while avoiding the additional cost of having to manage a contingent workforce program in-house.

Essentially, an MSP will work as a center of excellence for your business, helping your organization to overcome obstacles related to the contingent workforce and guiding you to become more efficient at the same time.

Stay tuned for our second blog, An Introduction to Managed Service Providers (Part 2), in which we will discuss some of the benefits an MSP can have both for your business and your contingent workforce management program.

Can’t wait? If you want to learn more about MSPs and how they can benefit your company right now, get in touch with us today and we would be more than happy to share some further information with you.