RPO Archives - The Future of Work Exchange

How Next-Generation MSPs Will Transform Total Talent Management

Contingent Workforce Talent Acquisition Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 11/06/2023

For the past decade (plus), total talent management has often been akin to chasing a mirage in the business landscape—a tantalizing concept that’s been discussed widely, but rarely (very rarely) seen in its entirety within global organizations. While we’ve occasionally encountered fragments of total talent programs in a few enterprises, and observed specific facets of these endeavors, like total talent acquisition and procurement and HR collaboration, being embraced by forward-thinking workforce management solutions (and enterprise programs), the full realization of this concept has remained an elusive pursuit.

Total talent intelligence serves as the foundational bedrock of comprehensive talent management, drawing a wealth of invaluable insights from the combined workforce of both full-time employees and non-employees. This multifaceted approach hinges on the seamless integration of data originating from diverse sources, including Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), Vendor Management Systems (VMS), Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), Freelancer Management Systems (FMS), and an array of analogous platforms like direct sourcing, digital staffing, etc. This comprehensive data synthesis empowers organizations with unprecedented depth and clarity into their entire talent pool, ushering in a new era of data-driven workforce management.

In the current workforce landscape, a significant transformation is underway. With nearly half of the average organization’s workforce composed of contingent talent, the concept of total talent intelligence has emerged as an indispensable cornerstone in shaping workforce management strategies for 2024 and beyond. Among the driving forces of this evolution are Managed Service Providers (MSPs), poised to assume pivotal roles as the epicenters of total talent intelligence.

MSPs are uniquely positioned to harness the potential of total talent intelligence and, in doing so, offer enhanced value to their clients and contingent workforce management (CWM) programs. Equipped with an arsenal of capabilities including direct sourcing, services procurement, Statement of Work (SOW) management, and independent contractor administration, along with a nearly 25%-to-30% crossover for existing clients who utilize MSPs for Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), today’s MSPs boast real-time access to rich data on the entirety of the workforce.

And, there’s an additional, critical attribute of today’s MSPs that position these solutions to make a greater push for total talent intelligence: many modern, leading Managed Service Providers have fully-integrated and self-service analytics portals that not only provide user programs with real-time data concerning contingent workforce utilization, labor market rates, talent utilization, skills gaps, etc., but also a next-generation swatch of intelligence that is pulled from myriad systems (aforementioned above) that can, yes, you guessed it…get us ever-so-closer to true total talent intelligence.

Leading MSPs, such as Magnit, Talent Solutions TAPFIN, Guidant Global, KellyOCG, AMS, HireGenics, Atrium, Randstad, and eTeam, represent the next generation of workforce management solutions that will reimagine and transform the very definition of total talent management.

As we steer towards the horizon of 2024, MSPs find themselves in a compelling juncture, standing at the precipice of the workforce management paradigm’s evolution. The time is ripe for them to grasp the essence of total talent management, and the gateway to this transformation is through the conduit of total talent intelligence.

The ultimate goal of total talent intelligence, and the true manifestation of total talent management, is the ability to respond with agility to ever-changing talent demands based on a profound understanding of the entire workforce.

MSPs are well-positioned to embody this essence and lead the charge as the linchpins of genuine total talent intelligence. By embracing this role, they become instrumental in shaping the future of workforce management, propelling organizations toward a new frontier of data-driven, agile, and highly effective talent acquisition and management. As the landscape continues to evolve, this evolution will be integral in defining the success and sustainability of organizations in the Future of Work era and beyond.

A New Era of Innovation: Inside the Workforce Technology Revolution (Part Two)

Contingent Workforce Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 07/26/2023

Last week, the Future of Work Exchange featured a discussion about the technological revolution happening within the greater world of talent and work. In a world combining economic uncertainty, a candidate-centric focus, and continued evolutionary change in a post-pandemic business landscape, an organization’s workforce solution reliance is often what sets it apart from the competition.

Today, we focus on perhaps the most mature of all workforce solutions: Managed Service Providers (MSPs).

Expansive MSP Offerings

The MSP model has experienced it all: the beginnings of contingent workforce management, the economic ups and downs, several “great recessions,” a pandemic, and so much more. If there was a workforce solution best suited for a topsy-turvy business arena based on knowledge and experience alone, it would be the Managed Service Provider.

While MSPs have long held the throne of maturity regarding services-oriented workforce offerings, today’s providers barely resemble their humble beginnings decades ago. Let’s explore four of them.

Magnit

Providers like Magnit represent an ideal evolution of the MSP model. The organization, formerly known as PRO Unlimited, underwent a progression over the past several years that not only saw the firm update its name and brand, but also turbocharge its offerings to reflect the dynamic world of work and talent. Over the past three years specifically, Magnit revolutionized direct sourcing, introduced powerful and end-to-end workforce management concepts, reinvigorated services procurement, and adopted a “platform” approach towards extended workforce management through its innovative MSP and Vendor Management System (VMS) blend of technology.

Talent Solutions TAPFIN

Talent Solutions TAPFIN (part of the Manpower Group) has long delivered extensive value to the CWM arena via its continuous innovation and decades-long commitment to furthering the art of talent management. What sets Talent Solutions TAPFIN apart from its MSP brethren is its focus on “talent sustainability,” a concept that the Future of Work Exchange has trailblazed for several years. In a candidate-centric, talent-oriented business arena in which deep skillsets are table stakes, Talent Solutions TAPFIN’s delivery of “net-zero” strategies, ecosystem enablement, and self-sustaining sources of top-tier talent (via programs like direct sourcing and digital staffing) are must-haves in today’s post-pandemic world.

Pontoon

Although the MSP model has long been services-oriented, the technological realm should never be out of reach for these solutions given the Future of Work-led corporate market we work (and live) in today. Pontoon, part of the Adecco Group, is the rare MSP that places technology at the core of its principal offerings. Pontoon is known for its digitally-centric slew of managed services, RPO solutions (called “RXO” to reflect an experience-driven offering that is one of the strongest recruitment-led offerings in the MSP arena), and services procurement tools. And the solution backs up its total talent messaging with robust delivery models that blend direct sourcing, recruitment augmentation, and offerings that dynamically align contingent workforce and permanent hiring strategies.

Guidant Global

Guidant Global, part of the Impellam Group, is an end-to-end workforce solutions provider that has, for many years, driven excellence across the spectrum of contingent and traditional talent management via its reliance on a multifaceted array of services, tools, and unique strategic approaches. Guidant Global was an early pioneer in direct sourcing, owing its success to an elegance across its recruitment-led offerings, commitment to enhancing client brands, and true workforce scalability. In today’s frenetic, globalized, and Future of Work-led enterprise arena, Guidant continues to lead with powerful services procurement and SOW management solutions (one of the strongest in the MSP market), a commanding arrangement of contingent workforce solutions, a strong commitment to the candidate experience, and analytics-led total talent management offerings that effectively bridge the gap between spend management and people management.

Stay tuned for the next article in our feature series on the workforce technology revolution.

Key Providers for 2022: Talent Solutions TAPFIN

Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 12/02/2022

The Background:

The Future of Work dictates one main measure: enterprises must evolve alongside specific global factors or fail to thrive in an increasingly-dynamic business arena. The world of talent and work has certainly played a major role in this progression, with many attributes of workforce management, talent acquisition, and talent engagement forcing businesses to reimagine the ways they find, source, and manage their candidates and workers.

Today, businesses require robust solutions that enable them with the proper tools and strategies to tackle this new world of work; “traditional solutions” are no longer considered as such, with Managed Service Providers (MSP) evolving in parallel to the ecosystem around them by providing deeper offerings such as direct sourcing, DE&I support, advanced services procurement, and next-generation talent acquisition.

Enter Talent Solutions TAPFIN.

Why They Were Selected:

Powered by staffing giant Manpower Group and driven by over 40 years of industry-leading success, Talent Solutions TAPFIN has long been a dominant player in the workforce management landscape. Its robust blend of contingent workforce/MSP, RPO, and Right Management offerings positions the company as a leader in the extended workforce industry.

The solution’s innovative PowerSuite technology stack allows the company to effectively blend its Best-in-Class offerings, while TAPFIN’s powerful IntelliReach analytics portal and data visualizer converges artificial intelligence-led data with various third-party sources (client, suppliers, market, etc. data) to provide customers with scenario-building and predictive analytics capabilities.

An early dynamo in the direct sourcing space, Talent Solutions TAPFIN also offers robust services and technology in this arena through the PowerSuite stack and a comprehensive ecosystem of top direct sourcing platforms.

In Their Own Words:

ManpowerGroup® (NYSE: MAN), the leading global workforce solutions company, helps organizations transform in a fast-changing world of work by sourcing, assessing, developing and managing the talent that enables them to win. We develop innovative solutions for hundreds of thousands of organizations every year, providing them with skilled talent while finding meaningful, sustainable employment for millions of people across a wide range of industries and skills. Our expert family of brands – Manpower, Experis, and Talent Solutions – creates substantially more value for candidates and clients across more than 75 countries and territories and has done so for over 70 years. We are recognized consistently for our diversity – as a best place to work for Women, Inclusion, Equality, and Disability and in 2022 ManpowerGroup was named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the 13th year – all confirming our position as the brand of choice for in-demand talent.

Talent Solutions TAPFIN brings together our RPO, TAPFIN, and Right Management offerings to deliver technology-enabled, innovative workforce solutions to our clients. Our integrated solutions provide end-to-end, data-driven solutions for talent attraction, acquisition, development and upskilling, and retention at scale.

The Outlook:

Talent Solutions TAPFIN is a pioneer in two distinct senses: 1) it is still considered an original powerhouse MSP-led organization that was one of the first distinct managed service leaders in the market decades ago, and, 2) it has evolved its offerings in such a way that it is a true, Future of Work-oriented MSP that can provide innovative value to the modern business in many meaningful ways.

TAPFIN was one of the first MSPs to go to market with a remote work offering when the COVID-19 pandemic hit; in today’s frenetic world of work, the ability for an MSP to blend remote and hybrid work support into the fabric of its core solutions (such as how users engage, source, onboard, and track remote candidates) is a pure differentiator.

In addition to the aforementioned offerings, other attributes of Talent Solutions TAPFIN’s arsenal such as its advanced services procurement offering (which blends internal expertise and vested partnership approaches to boost negotiation power and enhance supplier relationships) and embedded DE&I prove that the solution is the ideal complement to a Future of Work-led business world.