At one point or another, almost every company will have gaps in their workforce that need to be filled. Unfortunately, due to either labor shortages, unexpected changes in production, or an expansion of labor duties, it’s often difficult to fill these gaps in a timely manner, leading most companies to turn to temp agencies. 

While temp agencies can provide short-term solutions, more often than not, outsourcing labor in this manner comes with significant risks. As most temp agencies offer relatively low hourly wages, limited benefits, and minimal training, temp workers are often disgruntled, unprepared, and underpaid for the job. In the end, outsourcing tends to lead to more workforce turnover, putting companies right back at the drawing board.

To combat this issue and provide a safer alternative to temp agencies, LACOSTA offers our Insourced Managed Labor Solutions. As opposed to the complete outsourcing of your labor to temp workers, insourced managed labor combines the benefits of outsourcing for extra labor with the quality and supervision of a self-sourced workforce.

This article will examine some of the best benefits of Workforce Insourcing and how it compares to traditional methods of supplemental workforces.

Insourcing vs. Outsourcing

The process of filling out your workforce requires balancing labor costs against productivity and quality control. While there is some overlap in these categories, finding the perfect solution to all of your problems can seem impossible. In short, it’s no easy task! 

To help you get started on the decision-making process, let’s go over what’s involved in insourcing and outsourcing and why insourcing can be the better choice.

Outsourcing 

Outsourcing can have slightly nuanced definitions across industries, but in general, outsourcing involves assigning tasks or labor to an outside source, particularly in place of internal sources. As you can see, this is the business model of temp agencies, and in some cases, it can be a great solution to many issues a company can run into.

In particular, outsourcing services are well equipped to handle the assignment of a project or self-contained work task. Outsourcing project-based work makes sense for a company, as it is short-term, temporary, and the extra labor will be a great help to increase production. Outside of these projects, however, outsourcing can easily fall short.

Workforce Insourcing

Traditionally, insourcing refers to finding an internal solution to work that would have previously been contracted out. In other words, it is usually the exact opposite of outsourcing, relying on existing team members to complete work in-house. 

In contrast, workforce insourcing, also called managed insourcing, finds the balance between traditional insourcing and outsourcing. Rather than unskilled, under-compensated workers, workforce insourcing brings in skilled workers and onsite management for the workers. 

Benefits

The workforce insourcing model comes with several benefits, from work quality to general business function. We’ll go over some of the most significant advantages to help you sort out the pros and cons involved. 

Skilled Labor

One of the most significant issues with traditional outsourcing is the inconsistency that can sometimes come with temporary employees. Most commonly, temp agencies can only offer average wages without the promise of training or supervision. This leads to unskilled or unprepared workers that can hinder the progress of your company. 

With workforce insourcing, all the employees brought on are full-time employees, with benefits and the proper skill set for the job at hand. This not only reduces the turnover that often comes with temporary workers, but it can also reduce the number of workers needed in the first place. 

Human Resource Help

When there is a constant flow of temp workers in and out of your company, the burden of training often lands squarely on your HR or Production department. Unfortunately, over time, this slows down the capabilities of HR to handle other business functions that may be more important and decreases productivity in the production department

With workforce insourcing, the workers coming in are skilled and receive training from the provided onsite managers. This frees up more of the HR department to focus on the more essential aspects of their job and ensures consistent productivity in production.

The Big Picture

Outsourcing is an excellent solution for many temporary projects and short-term goals, but to get better help in the long run, you should turn to workforce insourcing instead. A managed workforce team will be prepared to fill any labor gaps effectively and for the long term. 

Each employee within the insource services model is fully employed, with competitive compensation and opportunities for advancement, meaning there is a high retention rate of these employees. Without having to worry about turnovers in employment or daily labor management, you can reduce costs of labor and focus your energy on different areas.

Work Quality 

With managed insourcing, you can ensure your labor is done correctly, both reducing the amount of labor needed and the mistakes and accidents that happen on the job. Rather than a constantly fluctuating workforce that can lead to rushed jobs or inadequately trained employees, managed insourcing is the definition of cost-saving skilled labor.

Flexibility

One of the main draws of outsourcing is the ability to grow or shrink your workforce as needed, giving you great flexibility on the products and services you’re able to offer. Managed insourcing offers the same level of flexibility at a much higher quality. 

This is because your company can still scale up or down depending on the project without affecting any of the core staff involved. When a project is outsourced, all of the labor involved happens outside your company’s scope. With managed insourced labor, however, the core of your team stays untouched, but they receive additional help when needed. It is the perfect solution for a consistent, healthy workplace in need of extra labor.

LACOSTA 

We’re very proud of our managed labor solutions, and we are confident your business will agree! We offer our services up and down the supply chain, from assembly line production to distribution center team members, guaranteeing trained, responsible, highly qualified workers. 

Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you might have about our services! We are happy to discuss our services and how they might apply to your particular worksite and workplace environment.