Improve Vendor Connections with an MSP for Staff Augmentation

Last updated Dec 20, 2024  |  Published on Aug 11, 2023
by Todd Taber
Woman looking at talent on a computer within her MSP for Staff Augmentation

Choosing to partner with a Managed Services Provider (MSP) for Staff Augmentation brings a number of benefits to public-sector organizations. Across the country, public and private universities, state and local government, and quasi-governmental agencies are discovering that choosing the right MSP for Staff Augmentation not only reduces administrative burdens and boosts program compliance, but it can also help strengthen relationships with new and existing vendors serving the public sector. 

By educating and empowering the vendor community, an MSP ultimately strengthens the types of candidates or Statement of Work responses public-sector organizations receive. This benefits all stakeholders. This blog highlights how choosing an MSP for your organization’s staff augmentation needs can improve communication and compliance among your vendor community. 

MSPs Standardize Processes 

Without an MSP, different departments and agencies within the same locality or university system may have different workflows for finding, hiring, and training temporary talent. Under an MSP program, these processes are standardized, which greatly facilitates vendor participation in any program.  

By standardizing processes across departments and agencies, MSP programs enable vendors to understand a client’s specific hiring procedures, policies, and compliance mandates. Instead of adapting a new approach to every department and agency within an organization, vendors have one standardized workflow to follow, improving almost every aspect of their work, including compliance, risk reduction, and better temporary resources for every assignment. 

In-Depth Reporting Helps Vendors Excel 

Under an MSP program, the MSP provides regular reporting to all program stakeholders. This includes state and local government clients, program sponsors, hiring managers, and vendors alike. This reporting is often customized to fit each participant’s specific data reporting needs and includes analysis of performance and engagement within the program.  

With timely, relevant data reporting, vendors can improve their overall engagement with the program and be sure to adhere to the public-sector client’s compliance mandates. What’s more, the MSP can use this reporting as a baseline to coach the vendor and track improvement throughout the duration of the contract.  

Proactive Communication Energizes Vendors 

The strongest MSPs prioritize clear communication to all stakeholders in the program, including the vendor community. During implementation of the Managed Service Provider program for Staff Augmentation, the MSP works with the public-sector client to establish the cadence and method of program-wide communications for the vendor community. MSPs who own their own Vendor Management Systems (VMSs) can also set up customer vendor notifications directly in the VMS. These notifications alert vendors about new job requisitions they can respond to, program announcements, security updates, and other critical topics to help vendors engage most effectively. 

MSPs Bolster Diversity and Minority Participation 

You can work with your MSP to ensure diverse vendors and consultants have the opportunity to succeed within the staff augmentation program. Many MSP clients opt to have an open vendor network, where all requisitions are released to all eligible staffing vendors at once. This approach means all vendors in the network have the opportunity to bid on any applicable open requisition.  

Some MSP clients opt to have a tiered vendor system. Here Tier 1 vendors receive open requisitions first. In some programs, Tier 1 vendors include small and/or minority-owned staffing vendors. This approach ensures these organizations, which may not have had the same opportunities as larger competitors previously, have the ability to research a requisition and find a stellar candidate for placement.  

Working with an MSP for Staff Augmentation enables public-sector organizations to explore a range of options to bolster participation from small and diverse staffing vendors. 

MSPs Want Vendors to Succeed 

The strongest MSPs are committed to successful engagement from all program participants. These include the public-sector stakeholder, the temporary resources on assignment, and the vendor network supporting the program. One great benefit an MSP program delivers is transforming an organization’s existing relationships with vendors, bringing them new clarity and purpose with each requisition.  

MSPs also coordinate ongoing training for the vendor community. These training sessions are not only an opportunity to review client compliance mandates with vendors, but also to coach vendors to grow their businesses through the MSP program. When vendors are engaged and researching requisitions and recruiting talented temporary resources, all program participants win.  

If you’d like to learn more about our MSP for Staff Augmentation services, contact Knowledge Services today.