The global contingent workforce is evolving. Organisations are facing new challenges around how they engage, manage and maintain that workforce. There’s a growing need for Managed Service Provision to evolve and step up at a strategic level. They need to prioritise workforce planning. Move with agility. Above all, they need to offer flexible services that wrap around clients’ shifting needs.
A new generation of total talent solution providers are answering this call. But for traditional MSPs, the clock is ticking. Will they be able to adapt, or continue to bury their heads in the sand?
An evolving workforce
Employers now need to attract (and keep) candidates who have changing expectations and aspirations. Contingent workers want to work more flexibly, more remotely, and manage their work-life balance in a way that suits them.
As the number of global contingent workers grows, candidates are just as likely to be a fractional CEO or leader as they are to be a part of the low-paid gig economy. Armed with specialist skills and a broad range of experience, these workers now have access to a global client base through remote working – which is encouraging more and more professionals to take the leap into self-employment.
Forward-thinking organisations understand how valuable these workers are. Not only do contingent staff allow businesses to control recruitment costs more effectively, but also bring highly specialised candidates into play to fill skills gaps and complete project work more easily.
As competition for contingent workers increases, organisations will need more innovation from their talent solutions provider to stay ahead of the curve.
Globally, the contingent labour market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 9.6%, reaching $455 billion.
Staffing Industry Analysts
Traditional Managed Service Provision is too slow to keep up
As organisations shift their focus, MSPs must shift too. But many providers are struggling to change at the pace that the market requires. Some have become complacent, while others have failed to adapt their service offerings around clients’ individual needs. Managed Service Providers need to deliver innovation, to work in partnership, to align with business needs and to help build the talent model that supports future growth.
The reality is that many MSPs fall short in key areas:
Lack of focus on candidate experiences: Because traditional MSPs are often transactional, there’s little room to develop meaningful candidate experiences that set organisations apart. They often prioritise processes over engagement, which hinders their ability to attract high-quality talent.
Scalability issues: Today’s MSPs need to be able to scale their services up or down to meet client demands. But many simply don’t have the agility needed to adapt. Providers end up relying on old systems, processes and supply chains instead of focusing their efforts on continual improvement.
Lack of data-driven insights: A lack of comprehensive data across the recruitment funnel hampers decision-making. Traditional MSPs can struggle to produce real-time hiring data for their clients, which impacts everything from diversity and inclusion efforts to growth prospects.
A new model for Managed Service Provision?
More agile MSPs know how to adapt – fast. They engage with organisations at a strategic level, tailor their services in a changing market, and innovate to overcome barriers to attracting and retaining talent.
The best providers can deliver:
Flexible recruitment strategies
As more professionals prioritise the flexibility and autonomy of contingent work, forward-thinking MSPs are refining their strategies to engage and retain diverse talent pools. They manage cost, compliance and remove the risk of misclassification; they ensure talent solutions align with your business goals; and they can reduce the overall spend on contingent workers by driving direct fulfilment more effectively.
Strategic workforce planning
Today’s MSPs need to know how to handle unpredictable market dynamics and talent shortages in both the long and short term. Through detailed workforce planning, quality providers will work alongside your organisation to craft flexible solutions that deliver the right talent at the right time.
Quality experiences for candidates
Today’s contingent workers want more than a transactional relationship through an agency. They want short-term, purposeful projects that leave a lasting impact. The best MSPs will be able to empower these workers through personalised attraction, onboarding and relationship building to help organisations stay competitive.
Elevated employer branding
Organisations can actively improve talent attraction and build effective talent communities when they invest in strong employer branding. A modern MSP will be able to help you create a compelling Contingent Value Proposition (CVP) that not only aligns with your company’s mission, values, and culture, but also appeals to candidates’ changing expectations.
People analytics
Forward-thinking MSPs know how to utilise data effectively. Quality MSPs will be able to use real-time analytics to assess the quality of your contingent hires, the diversity of hires, and where to find the talent needed to help your organisation grow. This data will then be turned into actionable insights that inform your decision-making.
Companies that leverage data in hiring decisions are 2.5 times more likely to improve their talent acquisition outcomes.
Conclusion
Will organisations stick or twist with their current MSP? The answer lies in a provider’s ability to offer modern, bespoke solutions that keep their business competitive.
At a time when the contingent workforce is changing and growing, the market is welcoming a new influx of MSPs that offer new ways of thinking. More providers mean more choice, and less obligation to use traditional partners than no longer hit the mark.
MSPs that are capable of bringing flexible strategies, workforce planning, candidate experiences, employer branding and analytics into the fold will be the ones in high demand – now and in the future.
