Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/316485
[ 9 ] MAY 2014 | www.hrotoday.com systems (VMS) help clients flexibly adapt their labor needs to market changes. No longer is MSP merely an administrative process—it has become an embedded part of a company's holistic talent strategy. Not just for large organizations, either. Many midsize companies now find urgent reasons to people their ranks with contingent workers, increasing the demand for MSP. Take the case of Orbital Sciences Corp. An industry leader in the design and manufacture of small and medium-class space and rocket systems for government and private applications, Orbital's workforce echoes the epochal changes that have redrawn the human capital map. Since 2005, the Dulles, Va.-based company has partnered with Superior Workforce Solutions to provide traditional staff augmentation services like direct hires and payroll. Today, there is much more to this pivotal relationship. Orbital is an early adopter of an integrated workforce solution closely tied to its strategic talent objectives. This includes SOW (statement of work) non-employees brought in for a specific project, as well as the occasional independent contractor and both full-time and temporary hires. But SOW recruitment is where Orbital is making great strategic headway, borrowing niche talent to fill a particular void or provide a specialized skill, albeit temporarily. Elizabeth Mashakas, Orbital Sciences senior director of recruiting, provided a recent example of SOW involving Boeing Corp. "We are the proverbial 'rocket scientists' here—we make rockets," she says. "If we're building a dozen spacecraft in a given year that are all using the same antenna, strategically we need skilled scientists and engineers to design and develop the antenna. But, once the antenna is developed, we've now got a lot of specialized people not doing a whole lot. It makes little sense to have such individuals as full-time employees. What we decided to do instead was turn to Superior to borrow these people for us." Boeing provided the employee loan via a SOW agreement. "They had the people we needed, who just so happened were underemployed at the time," Mashakas says. "Superior ensures the usual non-competes and NDAs (non-disclosure agreements). We pay Boeing for this talent, who continue to be employed and paid by them. We get what we need, Boeing gets a nice revenue flow, and the engineers apply their knowledge productively." It's a rare win times three proposition, one not possible without an MSP firm in the middle. Says Mashakas, "A flexible workforce is also a strategic one." Total Workforce Solutions The days of solely full-time employees are long behind us. Contingent labor is king, according to a 2014 study by workforce solutions research and advisory firm Ardent Partners, which states that the contingent workforce will grow almost 30 percent in the next three years. "With that type of growth ahead, enterprises will experience a higher concentration of contract talent being linked to critical corporate projects and initiatives," says Christopher Dwyer, Ardent Partners research director and vice president, operations. "The modern organization, whether it be an SMB or a large enterprise, relies on contingent labor to meet core goals and objectives." Companies that fail to adopt blended workforces will increasingly be viewed as antiquated remnants of the 20th century. Dwyer says that Orbital Science's example is increasingly the norm at sophisticated enterprises, because of the strategic talent objectives it fulfills. "Enterprises are increasingly seeking out specific skillsets for critical corporate projects," he adds. "Most often, this highest- level talent is only available on a contract basis. Contingent labor touches nearly every function within the modern enterprise today, from finance to IT to HR to operations to procurement. It's embedded deep into nearly every aspect of many organizations' core projects." Contingent Labor Contingent labor is king, according to a 2014 study by workforce solutions research and advisory firm Ardent Partners, which states that the contingent workforce will grow almost 30 percent in the next three years.