The increasingly scarce labour market for contingent workforce is raising concerns. It makes it harder for suppliers to fill vacancies and additionally the external workforce turnover is increasing. All this prompts organisations to explore non-traditional staffing channels to find contingent workers. One of those channels is direct sourcing of contingent workers, which is gradually becoming a part of the recruitment strategy.
More and more companies are actively introducing direct sourcing methods for hiring contingent workers, or are planning to do so in the near future. But what is direct sourcing and what are the benefits?
What is direct sourcing?
Direct sourcing, also known as “direct fulfilment,” is a way for organisations to recruit and deploy contingent workers without going through third-party suppliers. Companies often use a branded recruitment channel for direct sourcing. They can develop this channel on their own or with the help of one of their strategic partners.
This approach offers a more agile and talent-centric model of engaging with temporary workers. Especially when the organisational brand is positively and well known in the labour market, this recruitment channel can piggyback on the EVP (Employee Value Proposition) developed for the recruitment of perm staff. At the same time, companies can realise possible cost savings or cost avoidance through this direct approach.
Benefits of direct sourcing?
It may seem time-consuming to create an extra recruitment channel. But direct sourcing can benefit your organisation and can often be done via an external partner. If you don’t want to run this process completely in-house you can have your managed services provider (MSP) include direct sourcing into their contingent workforce strategy.
Possible benefits will depend on many factors and will differ per company.
They can consist of:
- Broader access to talent; candidates can join directly and participate in broader talent pools including other contingent worker populations like self-employed, gig workers, etc.
- Effective use of a strong company brand; more on-brand recruitment and more control over brand-specific messaging than through the traditional supplier model.
- Shorter ‘time to hire’; in some cases, direct sourcing can lead to shorter ‘time to interview’ and ‘time to hire’.
- More positive candidate experience; when it’s efficient and of good quality, direct communication can improve a more personalised and positive candidate journey for potential candidates
- Cost savings; by being less dependent on the supplier channels direct sourcing can lower ‘cost per hire’.
How to build a direct sourcing strategy
There’s no one-size-fits-all methodology that works across all companies. Your direct sourcing strategy will depend on your situation and must be integrated into your overall contingent workforce strategy to make sure it is not set up in isolation.
On the other hand, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, as service providers and direct sourcing platforms provide all the knowledge and benefits of direct sourcing.
Conclusion
If well considered and integrated into the overall strategy, direct sourcing can add value to your contingent workforce strategy and will allow you to take advantage of the benefits mentioned above. With direct sourcing for contingent workers still in the early stages of adoption in most European labour markets, there is also an opportunity to stand out from your company’s direct competitors in this scarce labour market.
Could you use support designing your direct sourcing strategy? Or would you like a review of your current approach? Please feel free to reach out.
About the author
Ron Bosma is Managing Partner at TalentIn. With more than 30 years in the industry, his expertise helps organisations build and execute their workforce strategy, making sure that what is designed can be implemented.
TalentIn has extensive national and international experience in developing and improving strategies for the recruitment of your permanent and temporary staff including the underlying technologies. We know how these strategies can be designed and implemented successfully. We advise, but can also provide practical support. Are you interested? Please contact us for an appointment without obligation via www.talentin.eu, info@talentin.eu or +31103075422.
