MSP case study: apparel company accesses the contingent talent it needs while reducing costs.
New strategy helps the company hire the support it needs to keep up with seasonal peaks
client
an American clothing companychallenges
Given high competition, the company was challenged in hiring contingent talent to support operations during seasonal peaks, while seeking greater cost savings in its talent acquisition program.solution
A managed services program (MSP), delivered by Randstad Sourceright, including market insights to manage suppliers, understand market rates and help find the right talent was implemented.key results
The company has saved more than $1 million, while achieving 100% fulfillment with more than 500 placements in one year and a hiring manager NPS score that is nine times the industry average.
a contingent talent strategy in need of mending
Like many businesses, this American clothing company quickly adapted to support the large shift to e-commerce during the height of the pandemic. But two years later, it saw the need to ramp up on-site hiring across its corporate headquarters in San Francisco and four distribution centers around the country. In seeking to fill these positions — ranging from light industrial warehouse roles to administrative, clerical, IT, financial and business professional positions, and even models for its global line launch events — the company faced significant challenges.
For one, it needed greater agility to ensure it engaged enough support staff to keep up with the traditional seasonal peaks of the apparel industry: Black Friday, the holiday season and back to school to name a few. But a strong consumer brand and widespread recognition aren’t always enough to attract talent. This was especially true for its four distribution centers, each located near other retailer warehouses. Without the necessary insight into current market rates, the company struggled to offer competitive pay to attract talent to its open positions.
In addition to assistance in hiring for seasonal spikes, the company also recognized the opportunity to streamline its use of contingent talent suppliers, while driving process and cost efficiencies.
stitching together a new plan
To meet its dual goals of gaining greater agility to staff up for seasonal peaks while optimizing costs, the organization implemented a managed services program (MSP), delivered by Randstad Sourceright. The MSP was selected due to its solution-oriented services, strong supplier population, market insights and global presence, which would be instrumental in delivering improvements.
Through the MSP, the company accessed vital market intelligence to help it better attract and retain qualified contingent talent. For instance, with key insights into specific rates for the apparel industry and innovative recruiting strategies, the company could offer more competitive pay packages. It also gained greater intelligence on where its talent comes from and where they go when they leave — critical insights to help it be more competitive in engaging talent for its distribution centers.
Additionally, apparel company worked with Randstad Sourceright to find a new vendor management system to help its hiring managers become more self-sufficient and in control of their individual hiring needs and budgets, ultimately selecting Fieldglass.
Through managed services, the company uncovered several strategies to create meaningful cost savings without reducing quality. These include renegotiating rates with suppliers, switching from bill rates to pay rates, and offering tenure discounts and renewal rebates. And with Randstad Sourceright’s TalentRadar people analytics tool, human capital leaders can project monthly labor spend and contrast it in real time with actual spend, empowering them to make informed spending choices in a dynamic market.
a tailored approach to get right-fit talent
Overall, the MSP has resulted in significant improvements in the apparel company’s contingent workforce strategy. The new approach has empowered the company to recruit more competitively across its locations; last year, the company achieved 100% fulfillment with more than 500 placements across technical, creative and professional positions.
The MSP has also enabled the company to benefit from more visible data and program metrics, to help identify the right sources and techniques to acquire the right talent. And with the various cost savings measures in place, the company has reduced its annual contingent talent spend by more than $1 million since the start of the program.
The company’s hiring managers are also extremely satisfied with the quality of talent and overall process, and with having greater control. They gave the program an NPS score of 50 — nine times higher than the average for the apparel industry.
While originally challenged by the need to hire contingent talent to support seasonal peaks, the MSP empowers the company to easily scale up as needed through a simple, streamlined and cost-effective process.