Introduction
A contingent MSP often talks about reducing costs. However, not all of them walk the talk. The marketplace for contingent talent continues to evolve and significant cost-savings are being made by employers who are ready to engage in direct-to-talent relationship and brand building.
How is the marketplace evolving?
Evidently, there is global growth in contingent working. People in many types of roles are able to work remotely, build global client lists and manage their work-life balance accordingly. As a result, there are more contingent workers on the market than ever before.
This accelerated growth in contingent working is both an opportunity and a challenge for employers. The opportunity is clear. More available talent should make it easier to find the skills you need, to meet the evolving needs of the business, and to build real agility into your recruitment model during uncertain times.
What is a direct-to-talent model?
Direct to talent is also called direct sourcing or direct fulfilment. The aim is to enable organisations to identify, engage and acquire contingent labour directly, without going through a supplier. Furthermore, by building a strong direct-to-talent channel as part of their contingent workforce solution, organisations are able to reduce their reliance on recruitment agencies and therefore reduce their costs. Organisations with an established contingent workforce solution, run by an Managed Service Provider, expect around 85% of their roles to be filled through the direct-to-talent channel. The remaining number will be filled by a preferred supplier list of specialist agencies.
What are the benefits of a direct-to-talent model?
Organisations that build a strong direct-to-talent channel see a number of benefits as part of their contingent workforce solution.
Building a stronger employer reputation
Your direct-to-talent channel creates more opportunities to build your employer brand, whether through attraction campaigns, nurture and keep-warm communications, or face-to-face conversations.
Creating better candidate experience
Contingent workers want to be able to find work easily and build their own relationships with employers. An MSP that can build a robust direct-to-talent channel, as well as ensuring compliance, is the basis for the best contingent worker experiences.
Reducing costs
Some MSPs can become complacent. If the direct-to-talent channel is neglected, there is an increasing reliance on the supply chain and costs begin to rise. But, if your Managed Service Provider is set up to build direct relationships with talent, they can keep on driving those costs down while they continue to attract better quality candidates.
Building your own talent communities
Relying on agencies to supply contingent workers often means drawing on talent pools that other employers also have access to. Building your own direct-to-talent channel means being able to build talent communities of contingent workers that nobody else can reach easily.
Faster time to hire
Direct access to the best available talent means faster time-to-hire. In a market where there is increasing competition and a shortage of skills in some areas, faster time-to-hire can make the difference between acquiring the skills you need and missing out.
What should a direct-to-talent channel look like?
For some MSPs, a direct-to-talent channel means placing job listings on job boards and hoping candidates find them. However, this strategy has never been less likely to work than in the current market.
Contingent workers are looking for a different kind of relationship with employers. A direct-to-talent channel should go beyond job listings and include brand awareness campaigns across social media. For instance, by targeting contingent workers specifically through campaigns, employers are able to build talent communities and nurture those relationships to ensure that the best talent can be matched quickly to new opportunities.
Finding the right technology platform to build your talent communities is a vital component in building your direct-to-talent strategy. Every step in your talent supply chain should be connected by an integrated tech stack that ensures visibility and compliance.
Conclusion
Therefore, organisations working with a contingent MSP that can build a direct-to-talent strategy will benefit from being able to reach out proactively to talent, rather than waiting for roles which need to be filled reactively. The opportunity to be proactive demands a culture of continuous improvement. Are the attraction campaigns fully optimised? Are we gathering the right data? Do we have enough candidates in our talent communities and are the latest opportunities visible? Are we connecting the right talent to the right openings, quickly enough?
Being able to build a proactive, direct-to-talent strategy is only one part of the solution. After that, the challenge then is to maintain it, grow it and continually reduce costs.
If you require any support in reducing costs associated with building your contingent talent pool, get in touch with us and we can help you!
