During the Great Recession of 2008-2009, the two heavyweights of the contingent workforce management (CWM) solutions arena, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Vendor Management Systems (VMS), became (even more than they were previously) true extensions of the “perfect storm” of the CWM revolution. As businesses scaled up their staffing efforts to meet the complex requirements of economic recovery, these solutions provided a valuable gateway to effectively managing this increased influx of non-employee talent by providing supplier optimization, cost savings enhancement, greater talent quality control, and trusted guidance within workforce planning.

The COVID-19 pandemic did not accelerate the utilization of contingent talent, but rather reinforced its deep impact within modern business. Never before in corporate history did businesses have to seesaw between scaling up-and-down regarding their staffing based on public health concerns compounded by a “shocked” global economy. As businesses, hiring managers, and executive leaders move into a year buoyed by hope and optimism, they realize that they not only have to adapt to a “next normal” corporate environment, but also better optimize their utilization of talent in such a way to achieve workforce agility and dexterity.

Global workforce solutions provider Alexander Mann Solutions this week announced not only its rebranding to simply “AMS,” but also a new vision for the new world of work.

“We recognize that today’s workforce needs to be boundless and global, where a mix of permanent and contingent employees seamlessly blend and evolve to meet the shifting demands of the business,” said Nicky Hancock, Americas Managing Director for AMS. “As AMS, our renewed vision is a promise to equip our clients to achieve True Workforce Dexterity so they can anticipate and adapt fast in the face of continuous change.”

AMS has long been known for its strengths across numerous workforce management arenas, particularly Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Branded Direct Sourcing, and other key solutions. The company plans to integrate the concept of “Workforce Dexterity” into the greater AMS solutions suite by focusing on four core principles: fluidity, diversity, resiliency, and differentiation.

“We’re proud of our legacy as a global leader within workforce management,” AMS CEO David Leigh stated during a briefing last week. “We want to build on that elegance and shape new critical [workforce management] elements without losing the features of our solution that have enabled historic success. Our clients, customers, partners, and today’s business environment require that “next level” of innovation and change.”

AMS’ overall vision for “workforce dexterity” revolves around several key facets of workforce optimization, including:

• Deploying talent in an optimal way (“workforce optimization”). Leigh stated during last week’s briefing that talent acquisition is “part of a continuum” and required a more dynamic approach than traditional strategies. “It’s about building, reshaping, and optimizing,” as talent acquisition is “just a start” to optimizing the workforce.
• Embracing the critical, progressive features of today’s talent. Aspects like diversity and inclusion, the candidate/talent experience, and the notions of reskilling and upskilling all are now-standard elements of the contemporary world of talent, forcing businesses to focus on more than just talent acquisition and cost savings as candidate behavior continues to shift in the months ahead.
• Blending talent expertise and proven technology with innovation. The concept behind “Workforce Dexterity” is founded on the ability for AMS to blend the elegance of its traditional workforce solutions with cutting-edge innovation to help businesses optimize the best-fit alignment between FTEs and non-employee talent. By applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to workforce management, AMS can help its customers develop a “boundless and global” workforce much faster than ever before. (During last week’s briefing, the AMS team also discussed how this powerful, algorithm-based approach will help business leaders better understand how to develop agile talent strategies on multiple levels, including accounting for workers’ careers and ambitions, their perceptions of enterprise brands and culture, etc.)

The “new” AMS solution will double down on progressive concepts, as well, such as total workforce management and pushing the boundaries of digital optimization. In addition, one of its core strengths, its Branded Direct Sourcing solution, will certainly be a key differentiator as AMS continues to build out its vision for the new world of work.

Tagged in: Christopher Dwyer, Complex Categories, Contingent Workforce, People, Solution Providers, Strategy, Technology