How to Increase Direct Sourcing Program Adoption

Direct sourcing often has a positive impact on enterprises. It allows managers to source talent internally rather than having to rely on a third-party gatekeeper like a staffing company to fill talent needs. When you set up a direct sourcing program, it is important to have buy-in from all relevant parts of your organization to ensure that the program and processes are followed.

If you’re considering using or starting to use a direct sourcing strategy for contingent talent acquisition at your company, you’re bound to get a lot of questions from fellow managers, staff, and company leadership. Here are  important areas to be aware of and knowledgeable in when seeking organizational buy-in for the concept of direct sourcing.

Benefits of Direct Sourcing

At its core, direct sourcing can help businesses produce better data and reports to shape future decisions. It helps to reduce time-to-fill, ensure compliant engagements, and save costs. Addressing these benefits can help you build a business case for direct sourcing and lead conversations with company executives.

Cost savings

From a cost perspective, direct sourcing can actually help avoid unnecessary costs by providing centralized management and visibility into contingent talent spend. Without this visibility, managers may turn to third parties or their own networks to find talent which can power rogue spending. Also, because many third-party platforms and companies are not designed to handle enterprise-level compliance, engaging talent in these ways can lead to misclassification risk.

Cost savings can be gained through strategies that include flexibility in talent acquisition, the ability to bring most recruiter functions in-house, and reducing the overhead costs of recruiting and payroll management. When managers are able to build a consolidated pool of vetted talent that the rest of the company can leverage and share across departments, it becomes easy to engage talent on demand and procure specialized skills for high-touch projects.

Increased efficiency

Ideally, a direct sourcing strategy will be supported by a larger contingent worker compliance program as well as technology, such as a freelance marketplace. These technology platforms connect talent with projects. Contingent workers can search for and apply to available opportunities. Managers can then evaluate and select the person they want to engage. These technology platforms can also help to automate onboarding, payment, and engagement documentation, creating a more positive experience for both managers and talent.

Buy-In and Adoption

After reviewing the benefits, go through the following steps to ensure organization-wide adoption.

1. Identify the type of talent you need

A skills assessment is an excellent way to pinpoint the type of talent your direct sourcing program will focus on. This will let you think about how the concept of direct sourcing will fit into your company’s existing talent acquisition strategy and what will need to be customized to meet your company’s needs and future goals.

2. Identify a champion

If your company is ready to proceed with implementing a direct sourcing strategy, make sure you have a dedicated sponsor or champion for the program within your organization.

3. Build a business case

Build your business case by discerning associated costs, researching vendors, and setting goals with stakeholders.

4. Educate

Begin a campaign to educate managers about direct sourcing to build a strong foundation for internal adoption. Continually solicit feedback to help the strategy grow and evolve with your organization’s needs.

Check out our direct sourcing guide to learn about aspects of building a successful program.