17 June 2022

A Breakdown of the Top Contingent Workforce Management Solutions

Wayne Burgess
Wayne Burgess

When it comes to Contingent Workforce Management programs, many organizations don’t have a strategic process implemented into their organizations. How do you make sure you have a strategic program in place? And what are the different contingent workforce management solutions on the market today? 

Why a Strategic Process for Contingent Workforce Management is Important

Many businesses manage their contingent workers and staffing agencies using inefficient processes like manual spreadsheets, Share-Point-like websites, or even worse, they store contingent workforce data across emails. 

But this is a completely ineffective way of managing a contingent workforce.

Without a company-wide contingent workforce program in place, businesses suffer from a complete lack of visibility and control over their contingent workforce, with no insight into where contingent workers are being hired from and how much staffing agencies are being paid by hiring managers. This results in rogue spend running rampant through the program and below-standard contingent workforce quality. 

To mitigate risk and maximize ROI, a contingent workforce management program must be planned, designed and implemented for the specific requirements and goals of your organization - keeping your entire team aligned with the same objective.

In-house management solutions

When done right, managing a contingent workforce program in house gives an organization the opportunity to truly focus on its business and workforce goals, company culture, and the ability to gain complete control over its contingent workforce. 

To do this successfully, companies that manage their contingent workforce program in house must implement a strategy that gives their procurement or HR team the technology, time and processes needed to manage the contingent workforce. 

The key to internal contingent workforce management is the implementation of a vendor management system.

Vendor management system

A vendor management system, also known as VMS software or just VMS, is a software platform that acts as a mechanism for organization to facilitate all of the processes associated with managing a contingent workforce program. 

A VMS centralizes and automates all contingent workforce management processes in one place, so that your contingent workforce management program becomes a company-wide strategy for all hiring managers to follow. 

The use of vendor management software will give your business complete visibility and control over its contingent workforce management program, so that you can ensure hiring managers are paying standardized vendor rates and you can track staffing agency performance metrics to ensure they are helping your business achieve its workforce goals.

While in previous years vendor management systems were largely designed for enterprise organizations with huge contingent workforce spend, there is now VMS software that is specifically designed to provide ROI for all companies, regardless of their spend level.   

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Third-party management solutions

Managing a contingent workforce program in-house isn’t the right option for all companies, and some will instead look to third-parties for expert help. There are a few different outsourced programs in which a third-party will manage the contingent workforce on a company’s behalf.

Some of the most common outsourced contingent workforce management solutions include:

Managed Service Provider (MSP)

A managed service provider, known as an MSP for short, is a third-party provider with expertise in contingent workforce management and managing staffing agencies. Companies can outsource the responsibility of their contingent workforce management program to an MSP.

An MSP will take on all responsibilities related to managing the company’s contingent workforce, from setting up the program, interacting with staffing agencies, sourcing contingent workers, onboarding, offboarding, billing and much more.

The biggest benefit of working with an MSP is to alleviate the burden of contingent workforce management, transferring it from the company’s internal team to the third-party provider. 

Master Vendor 

Similar to an MSP, a master vendor (or prime vendor) acts as a single point of contact for all contingent workforce requirements. Businesses work with a master vendor, which then works with its own network of pre-approved staffing agencies to fulfill the company’s workforce requirements. 

It’s essentially a step down from an MSP program. The master vendor still fulfills all contingent workforce requirements on behalf of a business, but they do so within the process flows, customized solutions and full strategic implementation of an MSP program. 

A master vendor's primary role is to assume responsibility for supplying contingent staffing to the business. Interested in learning more about how a vendor management system can help your team set up a strategic contingent workforce management program that delivers results?

Interested in learning more about Vendor Management Solutions?

Whether you are looking for a new VMS Solution, or just getting started, we are here to help.  See how easy Conexis is to use by taking a quick 2 minute Self-Guided Tour.  Contact Us for a Free No-Obligation Consultation to discuss your workforce challenges (and get immediate actionable insights) or Book a Personal Demo Today! 

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Wayne Burgess

Wayne Burgess

Wayne Burgess is the President of Conexis, a technology company focused on helping organizations get control of their Contingent workforce.

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