Indirect costs

Spend outside what is easily tracked can account for a significant portion of the contingent workforce budget. Dedicated managers can account for their time, but what about the hours spent by hiring managers, procurement, legal and other functions when acquiring talent? Vetting suppliers, prolonged hiring times, high turnover, informal training can all add up. Other indirect costs related to workforce administration, shift scheduling and prolonged fill times should be considered.

One important consideration that requires significant resources is regulatory compliance. Whether you dedicate internal personnel or rely on an external partner to check your hiring practices adhere to local and national laws, don’t underestimate the amount of time and expertise required, especially as regulatory agencies increasingly impose rules on independent contracting. Also, communication with suppliers regarding compliance and other matters should be an important checklist item when expanding your contingent workforce.

Businesses that proactively examine these expenditures will likely have more success identifying gaps and inconsistencies with their workforce management efforts, leading to cost savings and output gains. However, do they have the internal expertise to accomplish this effectively? And can they continuously undertake these analysis to support a sustained contingent workforce program?

Companies that can budget and devote resources are sure to accomplish this, but it takes commitment, change management and executive support to do so. Many organizations are self-sufficient in building a world-class contingent talent workforce, but be aware of the level of internal resources required.

The alternative is seeking out the services of an external partner who can lend expertise, implement process excellence and provide technology guidance. Turnkey solutions can help companies quickly reach their desired state and spend practices, leading to compliant utilization of flexible labor and minimized costs. More importantly, an external partner has extensive experience with organizations like yours so a proven templated approach can be applied. This leads to predictable and desired results.

Should you embrace an external solution, begin with a baseline against which your contingent workforce costs are compared. This will help you develop clear metrics that can be used to structure a continuous improvement process that not only controls spend but also improve time to hire, candidate quality and overall outcomes.

What model is best for your business? There are a number of options, including an inhouse service provider, a managed service program or payrolled offerings. Choosing the optimal one requires some investigation on your part but you may find providers offering insights on what you may or may not need. The important part to remember is that you undertake a thorough assessment and compare each solution point by point to determine the best fit.

If you would like to learn more about how to reduce your contingent workforce costs, you can download our guide below.

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