A great (and bankrupt) business person once offered this insightful query: “Am I running my business, or is it running me? Or, am I just running around?” Do some intense navel-gazing at your management of contingent labor (or lack thereof), whether outsourced to a Managed Service Provider (MSP) or not, and be viciously honest - [...]
When talking about smaller, highly transactional blue/pink collar MSPs, some of the ‘rules’ of the vendor neutrality myth don’t apply. I understand that the term ‘vendor neutral’ is quite nuanced – but sometimes it implies things that simply aren’t true. Yes, it could mean that the MSP isn’t a supplier in the program or it [...]
Why choose to have no MSP/VMS for your contingent labor program? Here are 11 reasons in no particular order: 1. You prefer all aspects of your business be unmanaged. You thrive on chaos and confusion and would suffer a panic attack if things were under control. 2. You consider managing staffing suppliers and processes to [...]
I was recently reminded of the difference between theorists and practitioners. Although both roles and beneficial to human and business advancement, we must be able to differentiate between the two and determine which voice we need to hear most clearly, given our circumstances. The Theorists Candidly, I love listening to theorists. Whether it is the [...]
MSPs were originally designed for massive users of contingent labor in the Professional/Technical (PT) space. Although some providers have evolved and learned to create more Light Industrial (LI) friendly solutions, many have been unable to successfully adapt despite the huge need in this space. But why is this? Many MSPs don’t do light industrial staffing, [...]
Have you ever watched an MSP rapidly collapse or slowly waste away? Of course you have! And, whether it was a quick or gradual death, an autopsy is needed. As opposed to doing a fishbone analysis or a ‘5 Whys’ root cause examination, a few observations might be helpful. Some are clear – others are [...]
To say that staffing MSPs have evolved over the last 10-15 years is an understatement. However, they have seen the most change and maturation in the last 5 years – as the economy and the labor market have changed MSPs have adapted their priorities out of necessity. The basic ones remained the same, but the [...]
Yes, the title of this article is an actual MSP philosophy for a large staffing company. And, even if this is not a viable strategy, it’s often the sentiment with staffing companies who are forced to adapt to the changing landscape of talent acquisition, especially shifts in the contingent workforce management space. But not terribly [...]
Based loosely on reality, this is an exchange between a grotesquely large, out of touch, disengaged MSP and a small supplier whose client has just announced its move to outsource the management of its contingent workforce: MSP: Hi, I’m Betty Black-Widow with ABC MSP. How are you? Supplier: Good. You? MSP: What’s your name again? [...]
What does an MSP do? The MSP (Master Service Provider) is a company that manages the contingent labor program for their client and holds the contracts with the staffing vendors. It measures the staffing suppliers’ performance against Service Level Agreements (SLAs), typically consisting of time-to-fill, fill rate, rate card compliance, and quality metrics. The [...]
