CWS 3.0: December 23, 2014

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Is your MSP transactional or trusted? Why it matters to your program

A common remark from procurement and HR leaders who have an outside managed service provider running part or all of their contingent workforce program is: “We work well with our MSP(s), however we feel they are focused only on transactions and not looking at the bigger picture.” In other words, a target-based culture formed around service-level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) has dominated to the point where strategic planning and leadership is drowned out of the conversation between vendor and the client.

Not surprisingly, many MSP vendors will point out the SLAs and KPIs were put in place by the client in the first place and the MSPs job is to respect these, respect the contract and get the job done. And while this may be correct, any “trusted adviser” will tell you, there’s a big difference between being right and being helpful.

What’s a “trusted adviser?” A trusted adviser is someone who seems to understand client needs effortlessly, someone a client can depend on. Trusted advisors help a client see things from a fresh perspective, don’t try to force things onto clients, help them think things through, don’t substitute their own judgement for the judgement of the client, challenge assumptions, have superior communication skills and consider long-term relationships more important than immediate issues.

In short, a trusted adviser knows how to establish a client relationship, build it, gain keep that trust as a supplier of services to the client. For sure, trusted advisers respect SLAs and KPIs; after all, without keeping score, we’re only practicing. But they also know that energy, enthusiasm, drive and a clearly demonstrated ability and willingness to help cannot be measured by SLAs and KPIs alone. They see the bigger picture, recognize the importance of long-term client relationship building, are prepared to make an investment in the relationship and demonstrate their ability to communicate, guide, assist and deal with client needs as if they were their own.

Hey, where’s my innovation? Clients respect and admire those vendors that really care and demonstrate it with effort well beyond the transactional level. And it has to be authentic, part of their professional DNA. Added to this is the need to demonstrate superior creativity and innovation, listen to issues and create innovative solution strategies that seek ways to create better client value. In other words, clients are looking for SLAs, KPIs, DNA and innovation.

Innovation in the MSP marketplace, it could be argued, is overdue. Many programs are maturing and so are the procurement and HR professionals running them — many more are CCWP Certified, and some are questioning the added value of outsourcing the management of their program to an MSP vendor, with the simple rationale that they could achieve at least the same results themselves and really care about the results.

For MSPs to build better relationships and become preferred suppliers and trusted advisers they will need to look at how their products and services make a positive strategic, business and financial impact on their clients. They will need to articulate and demonstrate innovative and working solutions that drive better workforce utilisation; better workforce demand management; a higher concentration of talent acquisition knowledge; a freeing up of resources to manage strategic talent management issues and deliver the client better competitive differentiation and higher worker engagement.

Where does your MSP stand?