We're experiencing a dramatic shift in the make-up of the workforce, notably the rapid growth of the contingent workforce. More people want a greater level of flexibility and mobility in their career than ever before, so it has been forecast, that in the US alone, contingent employees will account for 40% of the total workforce by 2020, and this is a trend happening across the world.

As a growing percentage of your total procurement spend is going towards contingent workers, you're going to need better ways to manage your organization's temporary or contingent labor population.

To manage this shift, organizations are looking to outsource the management of their contingent workforce by using Managed Service Providers (MSP).

What are the key advantages of using an MSP?

An MSP can assist and optimize your use of contingent labor by providing the necessary strategy and support to increase efficiency, reduce risk, boost visibility, provide quality and deliver cost savings.

This allows the MSP to help unlock the full potential of this increasingly influential section of the workforce by:

• Increasing visibility and business intelligence
• Optimizing the supply base
• Enhancing workforce quality and fulfillment
• Delivering savings through active cost management
• Providing superior business intelligence
• Improving processes and automation
• Mitigating risk and increasing contract compliance

Internal management of the contingent workforce

The rise of the contingent workforce has resulted in some debate as to who is best placed internally within your organization to manage them. Is it HR, procurement or the hiring managers? In reality, we have found the best approach is a collaborative one, with each area bringing their respective strengths to the table to help their organization make the best decisions for the management of contingent employees.

To achieve this, an MSP program can be set up as a center of excellence in order to transcend this by providing clearly defined services, support, and advantages for each of these groups. Additionally, an MSP will help in managing the key strategies and expectations of other key stakeholders groups, notably the c-suite and finance.

What key questions can you ask in order to pave the way towards building the business case for an MSP for your organization?

By answering these questions, you can get an indication as to whether your organization is in a position to start exploring the benefits of working with an MSP.

• Do you lack visibility on your current contingent labor spend?
• Is your supply base poorly optimized to deliver the best possible value and results?
• Are you concerned your contingent workforce may not be fully compliant with corporate policy or government legislation?
• Are you unsure if your current suppliers provide the best-suited candidates for the roles you need to fill?

If the answers to these questions are yes, then your organization may be ready to start finding out more about how an MSP can bring specific benefits to your business.

If you're considering building a business case to partner with an MSP, then we can help build your approach to secure the much needed executive support.

About HCMWorks

We are a contingent workforce service provider helping organizations gain better access to talent through the use of independent contractors, consultants, temporary workers, freelancers and other non-payrolled employees. We provide the expertise, the technology, and processes to help you reduce your workforce costs, mitigate against misclassification and co-employment risks, and increase the efficiency and timeliness of your contingent recruitment process. Read more about what our clients say about us here.