by Charlotte Gurney
The work involved in creating and managing a contingent workforce for your business can feel like a heavy burden. Yes, there are significant advantages to being able to access this kind of flexible, cost effective, on-demand talent - but the management element can be a challenge. That’s why working with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) is such a smart move - bring in the professionals and you’ll be able to enjoy all the benefits including the cost savings in minimizing downtime which potentially can cost just under £4,000 a minute of average which is why working with an MSP* offers such a return.
● Avoiding costly deviations from policies and guidelines. The key here is the consistency that can be provided by an MSP, which will enable you to avoid situations where some managers are engaging suppliers outside of the costs and terms that have been agreed internally. An MSP can also provide accurate insights so that you’re offering a competitive deal without being overly influenced by what suppliers want.
● Ensuring accuracy with invoicing. Mistakes on billing documentation can be costly - and will often go unnoticed in busy finance teams, either due to overwhelm or a lack of knowledge of what should be on the document. When you work with an MSP, templates and a rigorous invoicing process ensure that this doesn’t happen.
● Transparency and accuracy in job classification to save on overspend. The major advantage of this is transparency when it comes to where your budget is allocated, by date, job category or role. When your job classifications are aligned with market rates, and accurately benchmarked, you’ll find it much easier to ensure that there is no overspend happening with respect to your contingent workforce.
● Improving the efficiency of contingent workforce management. It is estimated that 30% of procurement spend is attributed to contingent workers and shows no sign of abating as 60% of firms expect to hire more temps / freelancers within the next 3 years according to a study by Gartner**. An MSP can have an influence in many different ways when it comes to efficiency. That could be, for example, swiftly filling a role so that operations are not affected by staff shortages or creating a quick shortlist of ideal potential candidates to streamline existing recruitment processes. An MSP can also significantly improve the chances of finding the right people first time round so that recruitment costs aren’t being wasted.
● Monitoring activity to avoid waste. This could be something as simple as highlighting an area where there is a large overtime charge and creating additional resources for the business to manage workload in a more cost-effective way. Or it could be negotiating more effective discounts with suppliers or aligning fees throughout the business so that waste isn’t happening as a result of inconsistent charging.
● Removing the burden of workforce management from internal teams. It can be incredibly time consuming to manage a contingent workforce and it doesn’t make financial sense for this to fall to permanent staff who could be adding more value elsewhere. Working with an MSP means handing this to the experts, a team much more able to drive cost-effectiveness and efficiency at all levels.
From minimizing wasted spend to optimizing the way a contingent workforce is managed, these are just some of the ways in which an MSP can help your organization save on costs.
Volt’s Global Managed Services Provider (MSP) programs provides you with the tools, insights and expertise your organization needs to improve talent quality and reduce risks. If you would like to talk to Volt, the experts in addressing workforce challenges, get in touch.
*Gartner; https://blogs.gartner.com/andrew-lerner/2014/07/16/the-cost-of-downtime/
**Gartner; study https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/insights/employee-engagement-performance/employee-value-proposition