Can You Afford Unqualified Talent?

Posted by Brooke Lester on Aug 30, 2023 12:22 PM

coworkers shaking hands

The business environment continues to evolve following the global pandemic, making skilled-talent acquisition and cost-effective hiring difficult for many organizations. In a still-tight labor market, it’s no surprise that some 77% of employers report having difficulty filling open roles, according to Manpower. At the same time, however, hiring anyone willing to take a job at your company can backfire.

Introducing managed services, the ultimate solution to effectively and efficiently fill positions while eliminating the risks and costs commonly associated with talent acquisition. Discover the multitude of benefits that come with embracing managed services.

The Growing Complexity of Skills

Technological advancements of the past few years have led to a rise in the need for specialized skills among workers. Increasingly, jobs require levels of technical acuity they didn’t require just a decade ago.

And there is more demand than supply of a diverse array of intricate capabilities in nascent fields, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and data analytics.

So those in charge of bringing new team members into their organization have likely found that traditional methods of skill acquisition and recruitment no longer work as well as they used to. This fact necessitates a total reevaluation of hiring practices. Businesses that don’t modernize their talent acquisition strategy to align with new expertise risk getting left behind by their competitors.

To ensure that your company keeps pace, explore more innovative approaches to recruitment, including skills-based assessments, remote collaboration and continuous learning initiatives.

The Hidden Costs of Unqualified Talent

Hiring unqualified or mismatched talent can bring with it risks and significant costs. The Department of Labor puts the average price of a “bad hire” at approximately 30% of the person’s first-year earnings. When you consider an EDI specialist earns an average salary of $81,000, not including benefits, that’s a cost to your business of more than $24,000. 

When individuals lack the skills or experience necessary for a role, your projects become vulnerable to mistakes, delays and substandard outcomes. People who are not really up to their jobs are likely to struggle to meet standards and project requirements, which could lead to decreased efficiency. This is likely to cut your company’s overall productivity and burden the individual’s colleagues, since they’ll be the ones called on to make up for the inadequacies.

Choosing the wrong hire can also disrupt team cohesion and impede effective collaboration elsewhere in the company. The time and resources you invest in onboarding and training someone who isn’t right for a role or your company can strain budgets and divert attention from important initiatives. What’s more, less-than-ideal work output – particularly of the client-facing variety – can damage your organization’s reputation in the industry.

Then there are the ‘hidden’ costs that are often the result of bad hires. High attrition rates are likely to mean you’re constantly recruiting and training, both of which are costly and pull time and effort away from other work in the company.

To mitigate these risks, do your homework when looking at a potential hire. Meticulous candidate assessment, thorough skills verification and an honest cultural-fit evaluation are all essential to making sure you’ve picked someone who will be an asset to your company in their chosen role. By focusing on aligning talent with job requirements and company objectives, you can minimize potential negative impacts on your business.

The Rise of Managed Services

coworkers working on a computer-min

Managed services are a cost-effective alternative to bringing on full-time employees with specialized expertise. By giving you access to a pool of expert professionals without requiring the financial commitment necessary for full-time hires, managed services let you have your cake and eat it, too.

Using managed services means your firm doesn’t bear the financial burden of recruitment, onboarding and training. And it allows you to pick what you need a la carte; for example, you may choose to outsource specific functions to a managed services company that has the expertise to take them on. This means you save on overhead such as benefits, office space and infrastructure, while ensuring that the skills you need are readily available.

Managed services also give you scalability and flexibility. Instead of paying for a 40-hour-a-week team all the time, even on projects that require less work, your company can increase or decrease its engagement with a provider according to workload. This saves you significantly during slow periods and minimizes both overstaffing and underutilization of resources, boosting your efficiency.

The Value Proposition of Managed Services

Managed services give you a wide array of advantages over traditional hiring. The first is, as mentioned, a large pool of experienced professionals with the precise skills that you need. Managed service providers can curate an entire network of experts, granting you access to talent you might not otherwise have found or been able to afford. This can accelerate project timelines, boost your productivity and improve your output.

Managed services save your company money, too. Engaging an MSP instead of using traditional hires can reduce your in-house costs by 30% to 40%, according to Cisco. That’s because the provider is tapping into a workforce of already proficient people, eliminating the need for expensive and time-consuming training. You can use the money you would have spent on upskilling a new employee on projects that produce revenue.

MSPs also play an important role in talent acquisition. When you leave the recruitment and candidate assessment and vetting to them, they can streamline the process of matching skills with company needs. And because it’s their business to keep two firm fingers on the pulse of emerging trends, they’ll help ensure that your business stays agile and competitive as your industry changes.

Choosing the Right Managed Service Provider

As you evaluate managed service providers, focus on thoroughly researching each one and doing your due diligence. Start by assessing each MSP’s track record, client testimonials and sector reputation. Seek out one that has a proven history of delivering consistently solid results and being able to adapt to changing client needs.

Remember to look specifically at the potential provider’s expertise in your domain. Engaging trusted, long-time players in the MSP arena, such as Remedi, means you get a team that understands and is capable of addressing industry-specific challenges. These providers are well-equipped to offer you the bespoke solutions your company needs to succeed.

Conclusion

Skilled talent acquisition and cost-effective hiring are likely to continue to challenge businesses everywhere for some time. Managed services offer solutions to both problems by efficiently filling positions and sidestepping the risks associated with traditional hiring.

The increased demand for complex, nuanced skills calls has further complicated the recruiting and hiring landscape, making engagement with a top managed services provider that understands your unique business challenges – such as Remedi – even more of a no-brainer. Investing in the right MSP means investing in your own company for the long haul.

Struggling to source & retain tech talent?