Aug 16

The pond is only so big…….

By Wendy Linden Contingent Workforce Management, Managed Service Programs, Recruitment No Comments »

As we compiled this past month’s ugliest and hottest jobs data, from across our clients’ market experiences, a theme began to repeat itself. In multiple places, supply could not meet demand but in very different types of locations. As dissimilar as the customers were in these various locations, and the talent needed, (for example, one being high level IT in Silicon Valley and one being short term call center talent in rural North Carolina), the question was the same, ……

……..What can be done to find more talent in a challenged, talent marketplace?

The first call to action/reaction in these situations is to bring in more suppliers to deliver the sort-after talent. Its not a bad strategy, but it is a short sighted one. Additional, new suppliers will in assence drive their recruiting engines at the same talent pool that existing suppliers are already focused on.  A few more fishing poles in the pond doesn’t necessarily guarantee a bigger catch of the day.

So what’s the answer?

You have the have the best fishing lure in the pond, and the ability and willingness to cast far and wide to other types of pools of talent in the locale.

The client examples mentioned above couldn’t be more different. The high cost of living in Silicon Valley coupled with a long recession saw local talent forced to relocate to more affordable areas of the state and country. As the demand of Silicon Valley companies for IT and Engineering talent started to uptick, the required talent supply to draw upon wasn’t available locally in the same numbers.  In North Carolina, locale played a part; so did the prospect of the call center moving from the area. Low pay wage and stringent background and credit checks were also responsible for shrinking the available talent pool greatly.

Talent challenges like these need to have companies and the staffing program partners employ creative strategies of attracting contingent talent in the same manner they would go to employ their full time staff. Flex time, virtual opportunities (technology enables us to grab some levels of talent from anywhere); drawing upon resources that have left the work force (retirees, full time mothers) or those looking for a way to enter it (college student interns, change of career professionals) and offering them even part time opportunities as a way to cast the lure into these new ponds of talent opportunity.

Developing a joint training program with a staffing partner, especially in the technical arena, can entice professionals looking to learn a newer, hot technology, while developing the resources needed by the client.

But sometimes the best lure is the green one with Benjamin Franklin’s face right in the middle. Occasionally pay rate increases are necessary in drawing talent; but other valuable enticements can be part of any program. Signing bonuses, completion bonuses, performance and attendance rewards in monetary or goods add to levels of attracting and retaining talent. Sometimes it’s just the question of how above and beyond a company will go in creative solutions that have you catching fish out of the pond all day long.

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Jul 23

That will be 25 cents please….

By Wendy Linden Contingent Workforce Management, Global Talent Acquisition, Managed Service Programs, Recruitment No Comments »

In early June, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) propose a fee, tariff and/or tax on every 800 number call place in the United States that is routed to a foreign country/off shored call center. Furthermore, his proposed law would require companies to alert the consumer that the call they have placed is being routed to another country and identify the country in which the call is being transferred.

“If we want to put a stop to the outsourcing of American jobs, then we need to provide incentives for American Companies to keep American jobs here,” Schumer was recently quoted in a recent AP article about the proposed transaction tax.

A lot of the buzz on this law is whether it is logical or not; how comprehensively it would be implemented; whether the intended effect of offshore call centers coming back onshore will actually occur or if the “fee” will just be passed on to consumers in the form of price increases. It seems opinion is divided across the political spectrum.

Regardless of one’s “red” or “blue” beliefs, this law may pass, or one similar down the road. Proactive planning needs to be considered with customers who offshore call/contact center/help desk business as to what action to take if/when a statute like this passes.

Clearly, there will be some increased level of staffing needed in the United States should this law pass; the labor arbitrage advantages and cost savings of off shoring will be diminished by the level of fee imposed and how companies have decided how to counter it. The effect may truly be the movement of offshore to onshore and recruitment and staffing efforts have to be prepare for that as quickly as a customer may want to flip that switch. Others have mentioned the use of a level 1 type contact center in the US, (live agent, internet chat or automation have all been mentioned) to resolve the call here first before they would move overseas to more skilled resources.

Dialogue is already happening within organizations that may be facing this call transaction fee. We have to make sure as a staffing provider and Managed Service Provider partner; we are part of those conversations and have solutions at the ready to what could be a fast changing landscape.

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Jul 23

SourceRight Solutions in the News…with SourcingEdge and SourceRight Advisor

By Rebecca Callahan Contingent Workforce Management, Global Talent Acquisition, Managed Service Programs, Recruitment, Recruitment Process Outsourcing No Comments »

As organizations are becoming more sophisticated in sourcing talent and demanding better results from their sourcing strategies, SourceRight Solutions is reinforcing their commitment to providing workforce management innovations by offering greater transparency on contingent workforce trends and providing an exclusive edge in a highly competitive environment. 

SourceRight, recently announced the launch of SourcingEdge, a proprietary candidate sourcing methodology that is designed to help talent acquisition outsourcing clients gain a competitive edge in identifying the best and brightest talent from active and passive candidate pools. The SourcingEdge Career Networking Hub provides clients with rich talent pools; gives candidate access to thousands of job opportunities; provides career resources to aid in career searches; among other advantages.

SourceRight has also launched SourceRight Advisor for talent acquisition programs, a workforce analytics and thought leadership solution that draws on the company’s experience, aggregate business information, knowledge and scale to help businesses develop better-informed strategies to optimize their services and workforce management spend.  SourceRight advisor will deliver specialized expertise and guidance including policy, compliance, change management, market intelligence and supplier relations.

The launch of SourcingEdge and SourceRight Advisor is the next phase of the company’s commitment to continuously revolutionizing recruitment strategies and services for today’s emerging workforce population.

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Jul 22

Think Big Picture….

By Mary Anderson Contingent Workforce Management, Managed Service Programs, Recruitment No Comments »

When looking at a Managed Service Program and its supplier base, the high importance level of a strong partnership between these two entities, as they support a common client, is both logical and critical.  So it is really critical to “Think Big Picture” beyond who is your MSP solution provider….you also have to understand the caliber of suppliers and the state of the actual supplier partnerships the MSP provider brings with them.

Many times, a supplier in one common client may be found in multiple client accounts of MSP providers. Occasionally, a top performing supplier with the ability to provide the quality talent a customer needs may only be found in one client.  MSP Supplier participation lists at customer locations typically have been “built” by absorbing the current supplier base already on the ground at a client. Unfortunately though, you can get some great suppliers included in a new MSP solution, you can also get some not so good. You can, and often do, get the good, the bad and the ugly.

But what if a MSP provider already knows all about the bad and the ugly supplier characters out there in the marketplace?  Giving a new client the ability to avoid bad and ugly choices or changing those choices in a new MSP engagement? What if, through a stringent screening and qualification process, the supplier with the most competitive rates, the strongest ability in staffing capabilities and the best reach for a particular client geographic coverage areas walk in with the MSP provider?

A triangular benefit occurs: The MSP provider smoothly implementing a supplier program with companies familiar with its processes; suppliers gaining a new client to their portfolio they know they have the ability to support; and, a client that gets a seamless transition in supporting their contingent hiring!

Furthermore, a stronger and longer lasting partnership between MSP supplier and its supplier partners develops outside of just an individual client, with acknowledgement and reward tied together by a long-term partnership focused on the clients’ needs and requirements.  Leading Japanese business organizations have, for decades, managed successful long-term, high quality partnerships thru what is know as “keiretsu”.  Maybe a little of this long-term partnership philosophy needs to be the standard operating practice delivered by solutions in the MSP industry today.  And clients need to more deeply evaluate the “keiretsu” depth of the MSP’s supplier partnerships.

Think Big Picture…..The MSP solution is only as good as the partnership management capability of your MSP provider and the caliber of suppliers willing to do business with them, long-term.

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Jun 24

Don’t Forget the Importance of Supplier Satisfaction in a Successful MSP Engagement…

By Wendy Linden Contingent Workforce Management, Managed Service Programs, Recruitment No Comments »

Recently, Staffing Industry Analysts rolled out its 2010 VMS/MSP Buyer and Supplier Satisfaction Survey, seeking a brief “Net Promoter Score (NPS)” opinion and rating of VMS/MSP solution providers like SourceRight Solutions and its competitors. Now, many will automatically focus on what the buyers thought; who had the most customer responses; and, were buyer satisfaction levels a high or low rating on the quality of services provided. After all, the customer is the most critical satisfaction perspective in any business transaction, right?

What may be a more telling result from this industry satisfaction research however is the NPS satisfaction opinion of the staffing suppliers who participate and support MSP engagements. For any participating supplier, there is certainly an advantage of having access to a known volume of customer spend with managed competition. This is true regardless of the MSP models/engagements, though admittedly, some models can provided more attractive returns than others for a supplier.

For sure, the surveyed buyers will definitely be focusing on the overall quality of their MSP program/engagement, which would include supplier delivery performance to predefined service level agreements and other metrics. But when a supplier is rating the quality of a MSP engagement, what might be the business perspective of their opinion?

Opportunity. Fair Access. Participation Levels. Efficient, Managable Process. Profitability. And, equally important, a Collaborative Partnership.  An MSP program cannot succeed without the strength of some “highly satisfied” supplier partnerships that support a mutual MSP customer. Suppliers may be similar in staffing service offerings, but every organization is unique in its history, experience, capability, business operations and point of view. MSPs need to engage their staffing supplier community beyond the required SLAs and KPIs. Ideas for process and program refinement, improvement and optimization come from open lines of communication and a shared, common interest to provide the highest levels of quality services to exceed a client’s staffing needs and requirements.

So look for SIA’s announcement of their 2010 VMS MSP Buyer Satisfaction Survey results in the next month or so, but carefully review the accompanying Staffing Supplier satisfaction results to get the complete picture of industry leading MSP program/engagement performance.

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Jun 10

SourceRight Advisor MarketTrends Bulletin: Shorter Term Contracts Leveraged for Cost Control & Savings

By Wendy Linden Contingent Workforce Management, Managed Service Programs, Recruitment, SourceRight Advisor Bulletins No Comments »

Our top trend this month: Shorter term contracts, specifically in the Professional and IT space.

This trend has emerged because of clients’ cost control needs and requirements; which allows access to higher dollar talent over a shorter period of time, primarily focusing on critical projects with priority budget allocations. Since most contingent talent is still presently in great supply, it’s working. This short term contract engagement strategy provides important financial management flexibility to support any uneven economic business cycles in the near-term.

But as the market continues to turn and more budgets constraints are relaxed, demand will start to dictate whether this strategy remains a viable option. When the business environment turns more active/competitive, those organizations with longer term projects will always be able to capture more of the supply of available, high quality, talent.

Other important emerging trends:

  • Social Media boom in the workplace, driven primarily by business organizations, is producing lots of project work for content and design development.
  • Small/local staffing companies are aggressively vying to partner with big MSP players, who are becoming strategic “Channel Masters” of significant volumes of spend in the staffing industry
  • Increases in industrial spend (SFN Group has seen a 26% increase recently in this space)
  • H1-B restriction for companies who received TARP funds spurring growth in outsourcing suppliers
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Jun 09

SourceRight Advisor MSP Bulletin: Ugliest & Hottest Jobs in America

By Wendy Linden Contingent Workforce Management, Managed Service Programs, Recruitment, SourceRight Advisor Bulletins, Ugliest & Hottest Jobs No Comments »

Ugliest Job in America, June 2010

Application Developers in the state of California.

California employers are being forced to confront an interesting workforce anomaly when trying to hire application development talent contingently:  Unemployment pay is a better deal.  Pay rates have dropped everywhere in response to the recent recession. They have not yet trended upwards; Hence, unemployed application development talent in the state are not being lured back to work. The current contingent pay is lower, the contract lengths are shorter, and they would have to give up their unemployment pay and benefits….not an attractive deal for application development talent.

Runner-ups this month:

  • Welders
  • Material handlers
  • Producers/Animation Motion Graphic Artists
  • Websphere Portal Architects

Hottest Jobs in America, June 2010

Contingent worker titles with the highest demand, based on employer feedback.

  • Engineering Designer and Drafters
  • Buyers in Procurement departments
  • Credit and Collections talent
  • Recruiters
  • Senior JAVA Developers

Full time worker titles, based on job postings from Wanted.com

  • RNs
  • Retail Sales Managers/Supervisors
  • Retail Salespersons
  • Systems Analyst (IT)
  • Customer Service Representative

 

Data Source: An aggregation of SourceRight Solutions MSP client engagement activity

Definition: “Ugliest Job” category is defined as the most difficult to fill position with the “Hottest Jobs” category being positions with the highest demand.  A job position can be defined as both simultaneously.

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Jun 07

SourceRight Solutions in the Global News…

By Rebecca Callahan Contingent Workforce Management, Global Talent Acquisition, Managed Service Programs, Recruitment Process Outsourcing No Comments »

Increasing globalization is driving the need for RPO and MSP providers to broaden their geographic reach, while maintaining consistent delivery of high quality services.  In response to this growing business requirement, in March, Hays plc and SourceRight Solutions announced a strategic alliance to provide global outsourced workforce management services.  Now, Hays and SourceRight have taken the next step of broadening our combined reach by introducing WorldSource Talent Acquisition Outsourcing Solutions.

WorldSource is designed to manage and integrate worldwide Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Managed Service Provider (MSP) programs, while improving the global recruiting and resourcing experience for all stakeholders.  WorldSource has the capabilities to leverage strategic talent acquisition teams of more than 4,500 recruiters across 900 offices in 29 countries to attract and hire the world’s top talent.

Also, SourceRight is announcing the expansion of its MSP offerings to help the world’s top organizations maximize the value of their contingent workforces. See “SourceRight Expands MSP Offerings and Leadership Team” at link: http://bit.ly/cTRGLa

SourceRight’s enhanced talent acquisition capabilities takes our MSP solutions to the next level – a scalable outsourcing model that provides flexible configuration options, global program management oversight, optimized supplier management and client decision support analytics.

Our enhanced MSP solutions are designed to control costs and minimize compliance risks through streamlined processes and infrastructure, access to a global preferred supplier network, and improved supplier performance and client spend with timely insight to strategic market trends data.

As current pressures from the challenging economic climate force businesses to adopt recruitment strategies that adapt quickly to fast changing market conditions, these recent announcements provide further evidence of our commitment to our value proposition of helping large, global organizations maximize the value of their blended workforces.

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