Reskilling, Upskilling and Contingent Workforce Management – You need a Managed Service Partner, not simply a Managed Service Provider

Author: Kate Farrell

In a hyper-competitive talent market, reskilling and upskilling existing workers alongside the strategic engagement of contingent talent is a proven pathway to success. However, organisations will need clear visibility over their total workforce, expert talent intelligence, and the guidance of a committed Managed Service Partner to overcome the many obstacles that stand in their way.

The good news is that despite a talent shortage that stands at a 17 year high, with 80% of surveyed UK organisations stating difficulties in filling roles, businesses across the nation and in almost every sector are reporting a buoyant hiring outlook heading into Q3, continuing a robust demand for talent that has grown 8% quarter over quarter.

The bad news is, heady optimism alone will not solve the talent crunch, as more than one million jobs remain vacant, empowered workers are placing new demands on employers, and global competition for highly-skilled workers is draining the UK talent pool. These are embedded issues – deep-rooted problems which indicate that businesses expecting to meet their goals via a recruitment-only strategy will likely be disappointed, and that reskilling and upskilling existing employees and making greater use of a contingent workforce are the viable options in the current talent market. However, even this proven strategy can run into problems, as there are myriad issues to overcome.

The challenges are varied and endemic.

Reskilling and upskilling an organisation’s workforce to achieve greater productivity per employee makes good business sense in any economic market, but when the labour pool is tight and recruitment costs are rising, it can make the difference between black or red ink on the bottom line.

The same philosophy applies to contingent workforce deployment; bringing in highly skilled short-term labour to plug gaps in an organisation’s skills inventory, or to fulfil a specific project need, is a sound operational tactic when productivity is the measure of success. Organisations that can successfully combine outcome-based skills training with appropriate use of contingent labour may achieve a Goldilocks result, where reskilled employees and the services of short-term consultants and freelance talent can deliver a boost to productivity and maintain a competitive edge. However, this happy result is only possible if businesses can get past the barriers in their path:

• Reskilling and upskilling are excellent strategies to achieve a stronger, more resilient, and advanced workforce, but to achieve measurable success, organisations must adopt a 360˚ perspective. This means driving an outcome-based programme, where training is conducted to achieve a specific goal, (such as creating a new pool of data analysts), drawing in a diverse range of candidates to achieve richer programme results, and driving a mindset of learning that enables candidates to easily adapt. To achieve these goals, businesses must work with a training partner who can quickly shape and re-shape programmes to meet the shifting needs of the business and a variety of trainee cohorts.
• Getting the best results and value for money from contingent talent requires advance planning, strict budget control, and accurate organisational and market intelligence to pinpoint what and when contingent talent is needed. Businesses that lack these abilities will typically have difficulty predicting and planning their future talent demand, leaving them scrambling to engage support at the last minute – usually with limited success and almost always at increased cost.
• Stretched management resources can make it difficult for businesses to measure the performance and productivity of employees – issues that can impact an organisation’s ability to identify or predict what resources and training are required to boost essential worker qualities.
• Poor data and low visibility of talent needs to meet long-term organisational goals often leads to missed business opportunities and can give advantage to competitors.
• Lack of expertise and knowing how to embrace DEIB in talent strategies when engaging contingent workers can expose the organisation to contractual or regulatory liability and impact an organisation’s culture and Employee Value Proposition (EVP), which is one of the ways that companies make themselves a desirable place to work for prospective talent and how they retain them in a competitive job market.
• Many businesses are unknowingly failing to achieve maximum value from their existing Managed Service Provider (MSP). They cannot guarantee that their MSP is delivering the highest performance and meeting the organisation’s current and most importantly, future objectives.

Fortunately, as difficult, and as deep-seated many of these challenges are, solutions are available.

Meeting the challenges with intelligence-led solutions.

Overcoming the talent issues discussed above boils down to one thing: Expert knowledge is key.

• The most important task of any Managed Service Provider is to connect the client to the talent they need when they need it. Accurate talent intelligence and a talent attraction strategy to reach contingent workers are essential to predict talent shortages and plug skills gaps.
• An MSP with proven expertise in sourcing, deploying, and managing contingent workers, SOWs and suppliers can achieve better value for money from procuring / sourcing talent than many organisations can achieve on their own or via a neutral vend solution.
• Studies have shown that the more diverse a workforce is, the more successful it is, with potential productivity gains of up to 35%. MSPs who have sufficient experience, knowledge, and labour supply to deliver and manage a diverse contingent workforce and supply chain can provide a major boost to an organisation’s output.
• Working with an MSP who can deliver beyond the basic service, providing workforce solutions experts that ensure the objectives of the MSP match the challenges the business faces, can significantly increase the value of reskilling programmes and the use of contingent labour.

Securing this rich mix of market intelligence, strong management skills, and access to ready talent from a single Managed Service Provider can be a challenge in itself. Unless you know where to look…

Securing a workforce knowledge partnership – TAPFIN – your Managed Service Partner.

Part of the global ManpowerGroup family, TAPFIN have been helping organisations to accelerate their business performance for more than 20 years. Not just a managed service provider, we are the largest, most respected Managed Service Partner in the UK. We support business productivity and performance by nurturing and finding the best talent businesses need today, while also helping organisations to anticipate future talent demands in a complex and unpredictable business environment.

Our solutions are smart and targeted, because they’re based on insights gathered from your organisation and its leadership. This ensures we implement strategies and solutions that align with your company’s culture, values, vision, and objectives. Implementation based on insights delivers measurable results that set you up for long-term success.

The TAPFIN Managed Service Partner performance promise includes:

• Expert understanding of client talent challenges.
• Market leading sourcing innovation and specialisation.
• Deep knowledge of contingent workforce management, workforce planning, direct and supplier sourcing. As part of this service, our proprietary IntelliReach Portal provides the most comprehensive suite of products to help organisations to plan, manage and optimise their talent strategy and performance on a global, regional, and local level.
• Tailored training and development programmes and partners to achieve reskilling and upskilling success.
• Leveraging client Vendor Management System (VMS) for maximum impact
• Investment, development, design, and deployment of engagement strategies to secure contingent workers from a broad range of markets, industries, communication platforms and channels.
• Alternative workforce solutions – including SOW, talent pooling, and direct sourcing.

Unlike other MSPs, who typically provide generic, single-source solutions for short-term support, TAPFIN is a true Managed Service Partner. We work with you for the long-term, ensuring your organisation secures the most effective workforce solutions to meet your goals now and for the future.

To find out more about TAPFIN, and how our solutions can help you to overcome the current talent shortage and build a future-proofed and more productive workforce, please contact us for a confidential discussion today.