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With the UK’s ever-fragmenting
workforce, together with fluctuations
in demand for many businesses and
the recovering economic climate,
companies must be flexible in order to
stay ahead of the game. Businesses
must be able to increase and decrease
capacity, with the ebb and flow of the
markets.
Whilst there has been a recent blip
in UK employment figures, with
employment down 67,000 – the
first fall for more than two years – all
other Office for National Statistics
(ONS) findings prove that temporary
working is rapidly on the rise in many
businesses, across all sectors. ONS’
April 2015 Labour Market report
details that 1.64 million people are in
temporary work; with 21.9% citing their
reason to be in a temporary position to
be simply because they do not want a
permanent job.
The term ‘temporary working’ can be
interpreted in many different ways. A
temporary worker for instance, might
be someone who is self-employed and
so therefore choosing to work on a
freelance basis. Equally, a temporary
worker could be an Interim Finance
Manager or Assessor for a transport
business, working full-time but on a
project basis. The reality is that we
are moving away from the common
stereotype that a ‘temp’ is someone
employed by an agency, working in a
blue collar role. Whilst many temps do
indeed work in these types of roles, it
is erroneous to conclude that all 1.64
million fall under this category.
In light of this, it appears that the days
of HR disciplines only applying to the
permanently employed workforce are
fading fast. One key discipline which is
set fair to change as a consequence is
recruitment.
For organisations that have not
historically engaged an ‘Outsourcing
Process Model’, they are beginning to
realise the business benefits of working
with an outsourcing partner who can
provide recruitment solutions, relieve
the associated administrative burden
and monitor compliance and regulatory
changes. Put simply, a partner to act as
the intermediary, managing the whole
process on their behalf.
Indeed, the trend for on-demand
outsourcing is gathering momentum
as quickly as the traditional siloed
approach is diminishing. An interesting
question has already started to arise
around the DNA of the enterprise best
suited to deliver a blended solution,
rather than the traditional approaches
of direct and indirect sourcing that are
heavily reliant on robust processes,
procedures of governance and
validation that the supply chain is
working in a compliant fashion.
As a neutral vendor expert, with a
managed spend of £650 million and
working with just under 100 blue chip
clients and 2,500 recruitment agencies,
de Poel delivers contingent managed
services, placing 40,000 temporary
workers a week. Due to this, de Poel
One Source clients have access to an
extensive talent pool, comprising of high
quality candidates retained by agencies
that compete on quality of service.
We understand the critical requirement
to fulfil roles – or a large number of roles
– within an extremely tight timescale
and as a response, offer a service where
clients need to make only one call or
place a booking via our website.
This is a particular pressure over peak
trading times, such as Christmas, or an
unforeseen spike in product demand.
Running alongside the time constraints
that hiring a workforce brings –
administration and the need to keep
abreast of compliance and regulatory
requirements – the on-demand
outsourcing model has become popular,
as Operations and Hiring Managers are
freed up to focus on their high demand
workload.
Conclusively, on-demand outsourcing
holds benefits for all sectors, because
of its ability to reap diverse sources of
material and labour supply. Under this
strategy, the driving motivation is the
desire for business diversification and
quality, and it is here where a business
can truly develop its competitive edge.
On-Demand
Outsourcing
By Keith Poole, Operations Director of de Poel One Source.
12
Logistics Business Magazine | September 2015
Recruitment