24 November 2021

Should You Manage Your Contingent Workforce Program Internally?

Wayne Burgess
Wayne Burgess

Businesses are hiring more externally-sourced workers (such as freelancers, temps and contractors) than ever before, yet they’re still struggling to manage the entire process effectively. 

There are a couple of options that can help, but it comes down to one main question: “Which is the right option for your business? In-house contingent workforce management or outsourcing.”

To help your business decide which is the right option, in this blog we take a look at some of the challenges associated with contingent workforce management and what the different in-house Vs. outsourced contingent workforce management options are.

What are the challenges of managing a contingent workforce program?

The main challenge with any contingent workforce program is that most companies that manage it internally are doing so without the proper expertise, technologies and processes to gain visibility into program performance. 

In fact, most companies are using fragmented processes and manual spreadsheets, with no company-wide approach to standardize the entire program. This leads to rogue spending and a complete lack of visibility into what hiring managers are doing, how much they are paying and how staffing agencies are performing. 

This results in businesses having no insight into how much money their program costs, how much money they are wasting due to poor hiring practices and inefficient processes, and why they are failing to acquire top talent.

What are your options when it comes to managing your contingent workforce?

To address these challenges, companies have two options. They can either outsource the management of their program to a third-party with expertise in the contingent workforce category or they can invest in a vendor management system (VMS) to improve how they manage the program in-house.

Here are the top two options most businesses turn to when it comes to improving their contingent workforce management program.

Vendor management software: A vendor management system, also known as a VMS or VMS software, is a software that automates and centralizes all of the processes associated with the procurement and management of contingent workers internally. This not only improves all processes associated with your contingent workforce management program, but it also gives insights into program performance that help reduce costs and improve talent quality.

MSP: A managed services provider (MSP) is an outsourced partner that manages either all, or part of, your organization's externally-sourced workforce program. This method is a way of outsourcing your contingent workforce program to an industry expert - alleviating your own team from the burden of managing contingent workers and staffing agencies. 

Is in-house contingent workforce management right for you?

While businesses can realize great results by outsourcing their contingent workforce program to an MSP, internally-managed programs are proving to be the right choice for many companies. 

This is particularly true for companies with smaller volumes of contingent workers, where the expense of outsourcing their program to an MSP is just too high. 

Managing your contingent workforce management program in-house gives your organization the opportunity to truly focus on its business goals, corporate culture and the ability to gain complete control over its externally-sourced workforce.

The key, however, is to implement a vendor management system.

The right VMS software will help your business monitor and track vendor performance, gain complete visibility of your workforce, automate the end-to-end processes of managing your contingent workers and staffing agencies, ensure contingent workforce compliance and consolidate your vendors (and program) into one centralized location.

Interested in learning more about Vendor Management Systems?

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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