Introduced in the U.S. staffing market in the early 90s, MSPs were a way for organizations to manage third-party suppliers and reduce outsourcing expenses. VMS platforms emerged when MPS providers realized they needed technology to support the implementation of their processes. 

The role of an MSP has evolved, becoming a strategic partner for day-to-day contingent workforce management and long-term strategic planning. Combining the power of a modern VMS with expertise of an MSP enables businesses to gain the significant insights they need to expedite growth, improve process efficiencies, perform quality evaluations and improve outcomes.

Both solutions are well-established in the staffing industry. According to Staffing Industry Analysts’ 2020 Workforce Solutions Buyer Survey, 88% of responding organizations have a VMS in place and 66% have an external MSP.  

A strong MSP/VMS program modernizes an organization’s contingent workforce management by bringing a solid understanding of industry best practices that incorporate ethics, impartiality, compliance, and data security, balancing the needs of businesses, suppliers, and candidates. 

Unlike traditional hiring models, a hiring marketplace integrated into a VMS solution unifies the hiring ecosystem. It simplifies access to talent across skillsets, geographies, cultures, and diversities without the need to navigate through disjointed talent sources like external supplier pools, internal pools, social media, and multiple job boards. It also eliminates the need for recruiters to manually source and submit candidates through various applications.

With an integrated VMS and hiring marketplace solution, businesses can manage their incumbent suppliers (and easily add new ones) in the VMS while accessing a diverse candidate list through the hiring marketplace. And now that all the hiring data is in a single location, businesses can easily track KPIs like time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, total recruiting spend, and staffing vendor performance. Program managers are more efficient because navigating through various systems to effectively manage their supplier relationships is no longer required. 

Candidates benefit, too. They are inserted right into the VMS pipeline so all of the shortlisting, assessments, interviews and other requests are managed efficiently, with full visibility and transparency. They can even update their own profiles directly, which enables better decision making, faster hires, and superior outcomes – for everyone involved. 

A crucial benefit of having an integrated hiring solution is the ability to secure all contingent hiring-related data in one place. A unified, ecosystem-based solution to govern contingent hiring facilitates easy access to current data and reporting that ensures better decisions because of reduced guesswork, smoother workflows, better budget management, and better performance.

Millennials, now one of the most closely watched and influential generations of talent entering the professional ranks, are also the most racially and ethnically diverse group in today’s workforce. A large majority of Millennials, 71 percent, appreciate the influence other cultures exert on the American way of life. That’s nearly 10 percent more than the outgoing Boomer generation.

Globalization contributes to rapid growth in industries, increased outsourcing and a need for multicultural savvy. Where the number of Boomers resulted from high birth rates, the presence of Millennials is fueled by immigration. This is important because the demographics of the nation are shifting to encompass unparalleled levels of diversity.

By 2050, according to estimates, the Hispanic population will grow by 167 percent, with Asians following close behind at 142 percent. Millennials, as progressive global citizens with a fondness for eclectic cultural qualities, will foster acculturation for the companies they serve through much needed language skills, attitudes, experiences and perspectives. And the benefits of having this true workforce diversity are enormous.

Prosperix VMS Network’s candidate dashboard offers a host of functionality to give candidates more control during their hiring journey. Candidates can create and manage their profile, view matched jobs, modify their resume, apply to positions, accept interviews, collaborate with recruiters, and view the status for each position to which they have applied — all within the same hiring platform.  

With the ability to choose which positions they would like to be considered for, candidates can self-select based on what aligns best with their values, career, and interests. Consequently, you have a greater likelihood of hiring engaged employees who are motivated to work for your business.

Our candidate dashboard also enables a digital right-to-represent process which, besides preventing duplicate submissions, gives candidates more say in their search. If two or more recruiters submit the same candidate for an open position, the candidate receives an alert to select which recruiter they would like to work with for that position, giving them full control over their representation.

Countless organizations continue to center their recruitment efforts on Millennials and Zoomers, likely because there’s a lot these generations of talent have to offer. They have in-demand STEM skills, are perhaps the most technologically savvy group of candidates on the market, possess drive and gumption, long to contribute to innovation, and bring fresh perspectives to the industries they support. And undeniably, the fact remains that they are young.

But do they have the leadership skills necessary for future business growth? Organizations across nearly all industries say they are confronting a leadership drought, which they worry could hinder their progress. Even though this started a few years ago, this issue is still imperative. Millennials and Zoomers aren’t lacking the characteristics or determination to become tomorrow’s great leaders, they’re lacking the experience.

In an increasingly competitive and fast-paced labor market, we believe that nobody should be overlooking the potential that mature candidates bring to the conference table. Here are some of the top reasons why seasoned talent, if strategically positioned, can become any company’s ace in the hole.

The good news is that once you know about your own hidden biases, you can take steps to correct them with knowledge and training. This means that you won’t always be affected by them, or, if you are, at least to a lesser extent. What exactly are these biases that might be affecting your hiring decisions? Listed below are some of the more prevalent ones:

1. Confirmation bias: Confirmation bias means you only take in information that confirms your beliefs and ignore everything else. It also means you don’t look for details or under the surface since you believe your first impression. If you see a well-dressed candidate or resume or both, and you think that means they are a good candidate, then you will ignore anything negative about them after that. This generally means that you form your opinion, positive or negative, based on one detail (like from a resume) and simply see everything as confirming that opinion or as unimportant if contrary.

2. Affinity bias: This is where you identify with a candidate based on a similar or likable trait, so you act warmer towards them during the interview and speak better of them afterward. There was no fundamental basis for this warmth, just a feeling, which is subjective and can hurt other candidates.

3. Similarity bias (Ingroup bias): Similarity bias means you want to hire those most like you (same group interests or hobbies, etc.). While this is a great way to make friends, it’s not a successful tactic for hiring the best, unless they are applying for your job. You need to remember that most jobs have different competencies and, on top of that, you want diversity in the workplace. 

4. Projection bias: You believe that others share your own goals, beliefs, etc., and so you think they’d be suitable for the company you are hiring for. But people have their own priorities and goals that have nothing to do with you and yours, so assuming this just leads to confusion and disappointment.

5. Halo effect: The halo effect is where you think that since the person is good at A, they will also be good at B, C, and D. But you need to see if they have the requisite skills and not judge the candidate based on one trait.

6. Pitchfork effect: This is the opposite of the halo effect where you see or hear something negative and then assume all of the candidate’s other traits are negative too. For example, during an interview, if the candidate answers the first couple of questions badly, you think they’ll answer everything that way and assume they’re not qualified for the job.

7. Status quo bias: The status quo bias is where you like everything the way it is and want it to stay that way. There are two sides to this coin: a) You are only looking for past experience to find a good candidate, which means you miss out on someone just entering the field, but who could be perfect. This means you keep focusing on those already in the field while ignoring fresh talent.  Alternatively, if you are filling a previously held position by someone you liked, you’ll try to get a carbon copy of them in the next hire, which adds internal blinders to your search for the best candidate.

8. Nonverbal bias/Effective Heuristic: This is where you judge a candidate’s ability to do the job based on a superficial trait like tattoos or body weight. However, a one-dimensional characteristic doesn’t mean you can perform a full analysis to see if they are qualified. (It’s also dangerous on legal grounds, beware.) For example, if you think CEOs should be tall, then you will discount anyone shorter than your assumed cut-off height.

9. Expectation Anchor: If you are convinced that an earlier candidate was the best for the job,  you don’t consider any of the later candidates even while still conducting interviews.

10. Contrast effect: The contrast effect happens when you see a ton of resumes or interviews in a row, and so you start to compare how they are to the previous candidates, even though you should be comparing individual skills and experiences to the job posting only.

11. Conformity bias: This bias is where, if you form a different opinion than the rest of a group, you’re more likely to change your mind to agree with them. This can be seen as the “Majority rules” idea or the “Mob mentality” that happens when a group of people form and one idea takes hold even when not everyone agrees with it.

 There are quite a few biases you need to be aware of which makes hiring an even more difficult process. As, you don’t even realize that you might be missing out on the best candidates when you believe your first impressions and take things at face value.