{"id":20922,"date":"2025-07-16T12:50:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T11:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indeedflex.com\/?p=20922"},"modified":"2025-07-16T12:54:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T11:54:36","slug":"how-an-msp-can-act-as-the-antidote-to-a-psl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indeedflex.com\/blog\/for-employers\/how-an-msp-can-act-as-the-antidote-to-a-psl\/","title":{"rendered":"How an MSP can act as the antidote to a PSL"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":20923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76,78,81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-employers","category-market-insights","category-workforce-management"],"acf":{"blocks":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text_editor","centered_text":false,"background":"transparent","text_editor":"

Using a PSL to deal with temporary staffing needs works for many businesses, and has done for many years. But just because something works, doesn\u2019t mean there isn\u2019t a better alternative out there \u2014 it doesn\u2019t have to be a case of \u2018well it\u2019s just what we\u2019ve always done\u2019.<\/p>\n

PSLs serve a purpose, but\u2026they require heavy manual admin, don\u2019t necessarily protect businesses from compliance risks (and associated fines), and offer limited visibility of outgoing costs \u2014 making it harder to budget effectively.<\/p>\n

However, a more-than-viable alternative lies in Managed Service Providers (MSPs)<\/a>. They address all of the pain points outlined above by centralizing agency management<\/a>, vastly improving compliance processes (and so reducing risk), and providing a much clearer view of associated costs.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the right MSP for your business will save you both time and money.<\/p>\n

But how do you know when it\u2019s time to switch from your tried and tested PSL to an MSP? And what tangible gains will you make, as a business?<\/p>\n

In this post, we\u2019ll compare both systems and why and when to make the switch from one to the other?<\/p>\n

PSL model: it works, but presents problems\u2026<\/h2>\n

Fragmented supplier management<\/h3>\n

Relying on a PSL for your temporary staffing needs means dealing with multiple suppliers at any one time \u2014 each of them with their own contracts, processes, rates, and performance metrics.<\/p>\n

This can become a bit of an issue, particularly if your business is growing at pace, with information stored in different places on different systems, rather than all in one place.<\/p>\n

It can also be a huge time drain \u2014 especially when you consider how many indirect suppliers your business has to deal with on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n

Exposure to compliance risks<\/h3>\n

With the rules and regulations over issues such as safety and health constantly changing, it becomes much harder to keep track of them (and ensure you\u2019re sticking to them) if using a manual PSL \u2014 not least because each of your suppliers will have their own approach to compliance.<\/p>\n

This potentially puts your business at risk of costly errors or oversights, leading to big fines and possible reputational damage.<\/p>\n

An unclear financial picture<\/h3>\n

With a PSL, although you can pick and choose your suppliers from a wide list, each of them is likely to set their own rates, which makes it much harder, overall, to track staffing expenses.<\/p>\n

And without a clear overview of what you\u2019re spending where, it\u2019s much harder to spot areas where you could make significant savings and stay on budget.<\/p>\n

In fact, 59% of professional services organizations say they find resource forecasting very challenging<\/a>, and this certainly isn\u2019t helped by not quite knowing how much you\u2019re spending and who with.<\/p>\n

MSPs: Saving you both time and money<\/h2>\n

In contrast to the points raised above, Managed Service Providers (MSPs)<\/a> address the challenges of the PSL model by centralizing staffing processes and offering businesses greater control over costs, compliance, and supplier performance.<\/p>\n

Centralization of all info<\/h3>\n

One of the major advantages of MSPs is the centralization of staff management. Rather than working with multiple suppliers, MSPs bring all staffing services under one roof \u2014 with a single provider. This means one point of contact for all supplier relationships, leading to fewer administrative touchpoints, better rates, a clearer picture of performance, lesser chance of errors or discrepancies, and more streamlined communication all round.<\/p>\n

It makes sense then that organizations using MSPs to centralize and automate repetitive admin tasks \u2014 such as vendor management, invoicing, and compliance \u2014 report savings between 25% and 45% across staffing and related processes.<\/a><\/p>\n

Greater compliance – less risk<\/h3>\n

Instead of relying on each agency to manage compliance individually, MSPs handle all compliance processes across your entire supplier network, ensuring that all of them meet the same regulatory standards.<\/p>\n

This centralized, automated approach greatly reduces the risk of errors and ensures your business is always up to speed with ever-changing regulations.
\nYes, it saves time. But perhaps more importantly, it also helps you to avoid hefty fines or penalties for non-compliance.<\/p>\n

Financial visibility \u2014 a much clearer picture<\/h3>\n

One more, particularly important, advantage of MSPs is that they offer standardized rate cards across all suppliers, and centralized procurement \u2014 the pleasant side-effect of this being far greater transparency when it comes to staffing costs.<\/p>\n

Rather than dealing with variable pricing from multiple agencies, MSPs allow you to track spend and identify genuine opportunities to make savings, sticking to your allocated workforce budgets.<\/p>\n

Ultimately this allows you to make better financial decisions as an organization, and avoid overspending.<\/p>\n

In simple terms, the use of the right MSP can result in savings of up to 30% on total staffing costs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How to know when it\u2019s time to switch to an MSP<\/h2>\n

Shifting from a PSL to MSP is not a decision to be taken lightly or quickly, but several signs will suggest when the change is necessary. Here are some key indicators:<\/p>\n