Cost and visibility are the main drivers of blended workforce solutions.
 

By The Editors
 
 
Given the shifts in workforce demographics and the demand for innovation and global growth, organizations need to be able to paint a complete picture of current and future talent needs. As a result, total talent acquisition—the identification, attraction, and hiring of both permanent and contingent labor—is becoming a strategic endeavor.
 
 
In conjunction with the recent study, 2012 Workforce 360 Report, Randstad joined forces with research firm Aberdeen to explore the impact of total talent acquisition on organizational growth and performance. The findings, described here, are based on data collected between May and June 2012 through the company’s benchmarked performance of more than 644,000 companies.
 

As evidenced by the results from the 2012 Workforce 360 Report, the ability to integrate a hiring strategy to include all types of employment contracts is imperative to today’s companies and their future financial success.
 
 
Historically, organizations have invested in multiple outsourcing providers to help manage their recruitment process, including recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) providers for full-time employees and managed services providers (MSP) for contingent labor. Today, a blended, integrated approach is a possibility through a single provider for both full-time and contingent hiring.
 
 
Aberdeen’s 2012 Total Talent Acquisition survey identified several key drivers in this shift to total talent acquisition, including reducing costs, improving visibility to attract quality talent, and increasing productivity. These drivers influence not only recruitment efforts but organizational growth. If organizations understand the cost benefits of an integrated workforce and have a clear view of their permanent and contingent labor, they are better equipped to make smarter business decisions around recruiting and retaining talent.
 
 
Identifying and acquiring top-level talent, whether full-time employees (FTEs) or project-based resources, involves a series of processes that doesn’t always have cost or visibility as top-of-mind factors. Instead, these processes are only concerned with the end result of overall organizational enhancement. A total talent acquisition strategy executes these processes in such a way that pay rates, utilization of internal resources, and cost of recruitment efforts do not shatter greater objectives. Program executives must leverage total talent acquisition advancements to optimize their spending on all talent initiatives and gain a better understanding of their entire talent pool as a means of improving quality hires.
 
 
Given the benefits of a blended approach to talent, why do organizations still struggle to connect the dots between permanent and contingent hiring? What are the steps necessary to implement an integrated approach to talent acquisition? How can organizations achieve results? Aberdeen’s research identified three critical actions necessary to launch a total talent acquisition strategy: collaboration, strategy, and technology.
 
 
Foster collaboration between key internal units. A blended approach to recruitment outsourcing requires organizations to consider the key decision makers involved in the process. The key decision makers will vary for each organization depending on size and geography, but for most organizations this will require collaboration between HR, procurement, and the business. A total talent acquisition strategy needs a shared set of objectives between these groups as well as a continuous communication strategy for recruiting total talent. Fifty-four percent of organizations identified collaboration as a top strategy in enhancing total talent acquisition.
 
 
Define a formal strategy. A total talent acquisition strategy should document existing processes and future goals based on the internal and external marketplace. Organizations must plan for how total talent acquisition is resourced, introduced, and supported. Developing a comprehensive plan — a strategy for 48 percent of organizations— enables companies to design foundational practices in the context of long-term goals.
Invest in technology as a program enhancer. Forty-three percent of organizations are automating key processes of total talent acquisition in order to overcome today’s pressures.
 

Aberdeen’s research also found that there has been a rise in analytics within contract talent management programs. So why are organizations turning to this strategy for managing both contract and traditional talent?
 
 
Talent is often spread across global locations and divisions. Analytics can uncover regional or talent specific data and link this intelligence into the head program executive for superior business planning.
 
 
Professional services, now considered an integral component of the contingent workforce umbrella, are often tied to SOW agreements and similar contracts. Analytics can help collect valuable information regarding supplier performance and compare it to milestones and delivery dates. Executives can utilize this intelligence before making talent decisions.
Custom, drill-down analysis and tracking of ongoing and forecasted trends within traditional and contract talent enables organizations to garner valuable intelligence about suppliers, usage, or effectiveness. Tracking ongoing and forecasted trends improves overall budgeting and financial resource planning for future projects that will use contract talent.
 

Tags: MSP / Contingent Labor, Talent Acquisition

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