Imagine filling your talent gap with resource that has been expertly trained to deliver the skills your business needs. With no training costs, and no recruitment, onboarding, pastoral care or mentorship required. 

It may sound too good to be true – but it can be done. 

In this conversation, our CEO Norma Gillespie and our Global Head of Workforce Consultancy Jessica Holt discuss the service she heads up, as well as the benefits that Workforce Consultancy models present for businesses.

 What is the Workforce Consultancy model?

Resource Solutions’ Workforce Consultancy service was created to help organisations bridge the talent gap between their permanent and contingent workforces. 

The war for talent means organisations are looking for both early careers talent and more experienced, agile consultants. But managing this fluid peripheral workforce can be complicated. There’s training and pastoral care to consider, as well as regulatory and compliance issues. Businesses have to remain compliant with legislation such as IR35 and Agency Workers Regulation, and need assurance that contingent workers have up-to-date skills and the capability to deliver value to the organisation.

Workforce Consultancy gives businesses access to a pool of consultants who are maintained as permanent staff by Resource Solutions, who are then deployed to our clients on a contingent basis. It’s a flexible way to access skills. We can provide entry-level talent through to experienced accredited professionals – from specific individuals to whole teams or entire functions. 

We immerse our consultants in our structured learning pathway and capability frameworks, giving assurance and governance that they will deliver once they’re deployed to our customers. 

In the current climate, retention, engagement, and the wellbeing of our consultants is key. Our employees enjoy a flexible range of benefits, and we manage performance, ongoing development and welfare via our dedicated Service Managers and Practice Leads. This means organisations can take advantage of a highly engaged future workforce delivering business-critical skills in a fast, agile, and hassle-free way.

What are the business benefits of Workforce Consultancy? 

Workforce Consultancy gives businesses access to flexible, professional talent, as well as early careers candidates who can be trained specifically to meet the business’ skills requirements. In a way, it’s a try-before-you-buy service. After 12 months there’s the option to permanently employ the talented consultants you’ve been working with.

With the additional welfare, pastoral, and professional development provided to our consultants, retention and engagement is high. And, with the potential for people to be deployed to your organisation over long periods, there’s a smaller risk of them slipping away to work for your competitors.

Since salaries are paid by Resource Solutions, businesses make a meaningful cost saving compared to regular consultancy day rates – an average of 15% based on contractor day rates, with some businesses saving as much as 27%. In addition, co-employment and regulatory risks are mitigated.

Our Workforce Consultancy model also attracts diverse individuals, which in turn helps diversify talent at your organisation.

Can you guide us through the process, step by step?

We’d usually start with an audit where we look at existing routes to talent and workforce management, so we can mitigate risk and uncover cost efficiencies. We then set about attracting candidates who are aligned to the business’ talent requirements, and assess suitability based on a framework agreed with each organisation.

We then onboard them as our own staff, put them through any relevant training – which can range from a few days to several weeks – and deploy them to our clients.

Once they’re in-post, we provide a comprehensive wrap-around service including welfare management and ongoing development through our Academy.

Our aim is to develop a specific pool of talent aligned to the needs of the individual business. This offers a huge benefit in that workers – if and when you take up the option to transition them to your permanent staff – have market-benchmarked capabilities that have been tried out on a contingent basis first. It’s also good for them as it enables a fully engaged and informed choice to join your team.

Looking to fill your organisation’s talent gap in a fast, agile, and hassle-free way? 

Resource Solutions’ Workforce Consultancy service kicked off in the UK two years ago and has since branched out to Ireland and North America. Click here to learn more about our Workforce Consultancy solutions.

Connect with Jessica Holt on LinkedIn