Introduction:
With technology, business climate, and workforces changing at break-neck speed, more and more companies are turning to temporary workers to keep their workforces skilled and resourced while minimizing costs. Effective recruiting partners help these businesses fill in any gaps in the short term, but this partnership also sets them up for long-term success by creating valuable connections and training opportunities with highly skilled, high-demand talent.
And more companies are willing to invest in the right recruiting partner that understands their unique needs as well as the nuances of highly skilled roles to find well-suited candidates. After all, the cost of a bad hire, even temporary ones, are well understood by now.
Self-employed workers in the United States are expected to reach 42 million, and Gartner recently reported that “32% of organizations are replacing full-time employees with contingent workers as a cost-saving measure.” The rise in the remote workforce has enabled more gig workers to find work than ever before, and increased automation and new technology creates an ever-growing influx of new skills needed to compete in today’s economy.
The nation’s largest provider of shared communications infrastructure (“end client”) hired a global recruitment outsourcing specialist to help them gain visibility into and better manage their contingent labor. Since the end client’s needs would be very unique and fulfilling their workforce needs would be that much more complex and critical, the outsourced recruitment specialist knew to tag in HNM Systems.
Challenges & Goals
By partnering with HNM Systems to meet the end client’s contingent staffing needs, the outsourced recruitment specialist was looking to maximize cost savings by streamlining contingent labor management for their end client. Their goal for HNM’s turnkey project management service was to support managers in their interactions with suppliers, streamline the contingency recruitment process using a vendor management system (VMS) tool, and provide greater visibility into compliance with tools such as scorecards and supplier audits.
A complex and highly skilled environment also means complex needs when it comes to staffing. HNM Systems’ turnkey solution focused on facilitating relationships with managers to gain understanding of their needs so job postings communicated goals and objectives clearly.
HNM Client’s goals were to optimize contingent staffing through:
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Turnkey project management services to support managers in their interactions with suppliers.
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Vendor Management System (VMS) implementation to streamline recruitment and compliance tracking.
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Scorecards and supplier audits to improve visibility into workforce performance.
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Targeted training and process improvements to enhance workforce integration and efficiency.
HNM Systems focused on building strong relationships with hiring managers to ensure job postings accurately communicated goals and objectives. Additionally, they worked to improve the onboarding process to eliminate inefficiencies caused by incomplete procedures.
Solutions
Small Steps To Success: The contract being focused on contingent roles meant that metrics mattered a great deal when evaluating progress. Success was measured by fill rate consistency, candidate quality, and placement terminations, both in the first 30 days and overall. They also monitored the reasons behind those terminations, whether due to assignments being completed successfully, insufficient candidate performance, or behavioral issues, for example.
The complexity of filling such highly skilled roles presented challenges in particular when working with suppliers, when it came to compliance and training. But gaining access to highly specialized skills was not the only need. Effectively managing the integration of contingent workers had historically proven to be a challenge when onboarding materials weren’t adequately completed and subsequently procedures weren’t followed, creating inefficiencies and errors.
The nuances of the end customer’s workflow required more intentional, targeted training for effective communication, especially when engaging suppliers. Managers also received coaching on how to improve performance and reduce costs by making small adjustments like introducing intake calls, clarifying expectations (e.g., submitting timesheets and expenses), and double-checking for understanding.
The Right People For The Job: With so many adjustments and process improvements to manage, the ease of working with HNM Systems was a relief for the outsourced recruitment specialist. They reported that HNM helped them understand the how the contingent labor was used, so that they could submit the best possible candidate to achieve their client’s goals and objectives.
There was no compromising for the end client when it came to candidates that came from HNM. Whether it was following procedures or having the right skills and experience, the quality of candidates coupled with a reliable, competitive rates set HNM above the rest. In the past, the global recruitment specialist had seen other suppliers marking up their candidates 50%-60%, which wasn’t sustainable.
The secret is in HNM’s ability to know the work, the customer, and the person when filling a role. HNM understands the necessity of matching skill set with culture and seems to know and understand the culture for each of their customers, so they submit candidates that really fit
Outcomes
HNM Systems’ strategic staffing approach delivered measurable results:
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34+ successful placements within one year.
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100% retention rate in candidate performance.
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Top-3 ranking among 90 suppliers.
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Competitive, sustainable pricing, avoiding high markup rates seen with other suppliers.
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Improved efficiency and compliance, reducing onboarding errors and workforce inefficiencies.
Success was evaluated through:
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Fill rate consistency, ensuring all roles were quickly and effectively filled.
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Candidate quality assessments, measuring both technical fit and cultural alignment.
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Placement termination tracking, analyzing reasons for turnover to refine hiring strategies.
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Process improvements, such as intake calls, expectation setting, and performance coaching.
Conclusion
With so many adjustments and process improvements to manage, the ease of working with HNM Systems was a relief for the outsourced recruitment specialist. They reported that HNM helped them understand how contingent labor was used, so that they could submit the best possible candidates to achieve their client’s goals and objectives.
The partnership with HNM Systems resulted in more than 34 placements in 1-year period, and HNM was a top-3 favorite out of 90 suppliers. Even better, HNM’s client has enjoyed 100% retention rate in term of candidate performance. Avoiding the headache and even the wasted resources of filling roles repeatedly was a win, but the types of roles driving revenue made HNM’s success even more impressive. The end client reported that HNM’s turnkey construction, project management, and engineering services delivered a solution for their customer which drove revenue. In this partnership, it truly was the case that dollars saved also meant dollars earned.
Looking for a smarter way to optimize workforce management? HNM Systems delivers staffing solutions that enhance efficiency, compliance, and cost savings.
