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Managed service providers (MSPs) have evolved beyond the traditional role of transactional service providers. Initially, MSP provided outsourced IT services to companies lacking internal resources, addressing any IT issues that may arise. However, MSPs nowadays are increasingly transformational, especially when it comes to contingent workforce. Data-driven decision-making is now possible across all facets of contingent worker management, supply chain programmes, and even strategic workforce management.
MSPs have now become an effective way to manage contingent workers, and more and more companies are developing their global MSP programmes to keep up with the ever-changing business landscape.
What does a Managed Service Provider (MSP) do?
A managed service provider (MSP) is a third-party company that specialises in providing business-critical services to other organisations. These services include supporting your IT infrastructure, from networking and security to cloud computing.
When it comes to contingent staffing, MSPs handle sourcing, hiring, onboarding, and management of your company’s contingent workforce, acting like a strategic partner for your overall contingent talent strategy. Aside from that, MSP allows you to make talent strategy decisions based on tangible data that it can provide, from contingent worker spend, talent channels to even supply chain performance.
Here are other services that an MSP can do for your organisation:
- Sourcing, vetting, and engaging contractors in a compliant manner.
- Reviewing supplier contracts and negotiating better rates.
- Building candidate pools.
- Advising on labour market trends.
- Providing workforce analytics and insights.
- Introducing new vendors.
Generally, the types of MSP are the following:
Vendor-neutral MSP: In this model, the MSP provider doesn’t prioritise any one supplier but engages pre-vetted talent from whichever one offers the best price or conditions. This type of MSP model allows you to access a more diverse talent pool.
Master vendor MSP: Under this MSP model, the MSP provider prioritises a single, primary supplier when sourcing talent. The supplier is usually the MSP itself or the staffing agency affiliated with it. They may still engage with other suppliers if their primary vendor can’t provide the workers you need.
Hybrid MSP: This type of MSP model takes elements of both vendor-neutral and master-vendor MSP, providing flexibility to organisations as their staffing needs change over time.
As the world of work evolves, a new breed of MSP providers is emerging; many are outside of staffing-legacy industries, offering a wealth of lateral expertise and innovation to support companies with their talent needs.
New sourcing and flexible solutions are on the rise, like CXC’s MSP services. These innovative providers deliver better leverage from sourcing networks, helping to improve ROI and contract talent quality.
Benefits of a Managed Service Provider (MSP)
Demonstrating the benefits of MSPs beyond the first year and the traditional metrics of ‘cost’ and ‘compliance’ is on the rise. Here are some benefits MSPs provide for your organisation:
Flexibility and scalability
One of the competitive advantages of using an MSP is the flexibility over your workforce. Whether you need a temporary employee, independent contractors, SoWs, or freelancers, MSP can fulfil all your contingent hiring needs, even on a short notice. Integration of perm and contingent worker talent pools points to a winning total talent strategy, and a better overall solution across your entire workforce. With MSP, you can scale at speed and ensure you have the necessary talent in place to support your business growth.
Greater access to high-quality talent
MSP is no longer the sole domain of big business; medium-sized organisations are recognising the benefits of MSP and are now increasingly onboard, especially with the fierce competition for skilled talent. Utilising an MSP opens the door to new vendors and suppliers that can provide pre-vetted candidates for your open positions. This saves you the trouble of searching for qualified candidates on more conventional sourcing sites, whilst expanding your access to a broader talent pool of qualified candidates.
Mitigate compliance risks.
With ‘compliance’ and ‘cost containment’ the key metrics for success, organisations are now embedding MSPs into their culture to enable the inclusion of today’s complex networks of talent sources and contract worker classifications. MSPs are placing specialists in charge of compliance, whilst contractor engagement and management specialists focus on strategic business drivers. This development allows modern-day teams to focus on other important aspects of the business, whilst the MSP follows best practices to ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
Why use a managed service provider (MSP)?
A good MSP provider understands the need to align talent strategy goals to achieve:
Total talent management, leveraging all talent pools
Partnering with an MSP gives you access to a vast network of highly skilled professionals. This means you can quickly and compliantly source the talent you need to fill resourcing gaps.
Inclusion of more contingent worker classifications
An MSP can help bring different contingent worker classifications for a more diverse and inclusive workforce. This contributes to your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, creating a stronger and more dynamic team.
Synergy between HR, procurement, and business units
An MSP can offer a centralised system that allows your internal teams to have greater visibility over your contingent workforce, reducing the risk of rogue hiring and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations.
Process optimisation through leveraging technology
An MSP provider can offer technology tools and platforms to streamline processes and automate repetitive tasks, freeing up your HR and recruitment teams to work on other important aspects of the business.
Insights into the true cost of output and ROI of contingent workforce
An MSP can provide data analysis and reporting, allowing you to gain visibility into the financial impact and effectiveness of your contingent workforce. This helps you with your resource allocation, budgeting, and overall business strategy.
Predictive contingent workforce analytics
A dependable MSP provider can offer predictive contingent workforce analytics to provide insights into future talent trends and demands. With this, you can leverage these insights to identify and attract talent before the competition.
Better pricing and synergy
Utilising an MSP means leveraging their expertise and extensive experience to introduce you to new vendors and negotiate better deals with the ones you have. This helps you reduce staffing costs and ultimately maximise cost savings.
Enhance your MSP engagement with CXC
As your organisation navigate the shifting business and talent landscape, an MSP has become a game-changer for businesses looking to enhance their contingent workforce programme. Partnering with a trusted MSP provider gives you the flexibility to adjust your contingent talent strategies, allowing you to capture opportunities for growth.
At CXC, we understand that every organisation has unique requirements when it comes to managing a contingent workforce. That’s why our modular, à la carte MSP solution enables you to choose the level of support you need across the following:
- Sourcing
- Engagement and payment
- Supply chain management
- Compliance
Within these areas, we provide a wide range of services, including multi-channel sourcing, supplier management, and comprehensive support for worker onboarding, offboarding, and performance management. Moreover, our robust compliance check service enables you to hire contingent workers with confidence, mitigating potential risks for your business.
With CXC, you have the flexibility to decide whether to entrust us with your entire supply chain or choose the specific services where you need support.
Now is the time to embrace innovative and flexible solutions for your contingent workforce. Let CXC be your strategic partner to achieve global success. Our team of risk and compliance experts is ready to guide you and meet your specific needs. Get in touch with us today to build a tailored contingent workforce programme that drives business growth.
