Talent Scouting

Meeting Missions: Casting for Unique Talent

In an industry driven by performance, talent is always in the spotlight. When an international media company wanted to expand access to contingent and freelance talent, increase workforce visibility and navigate the complex compliance and regulations that come with hiring on a global scale, they chose Allegis Global Solutions (AGS) as their managed services provider (MSP).

As the client and AGS delivery teams assessed the work to be done, it became clear that certain skills were needed for staff augmentation and that a direct sourcing programme could add further value. The client required a partner to source and vet a wide range of niche talent for highly specific roles — ranging from camera operators and performers to data scientists and business analysts. AGS stepped in to address the talent gap and cast the best-fit talent for the role.

Taking Action: Assembling a Reel-Ready Roster

The direct sourcing solution required creative, tailored approaches. For example, for UK performers and retail talent, we set up assessment centres. As the AGS Flex Talent team, we embedded ourselves in the workers’ environment and partnered with hiring managers to design a fair, structured assessment programme with clear screening and scoring matrices. We used face-to-face interviews, tasks and role-playing games to assess candidates for these specialised roles, which required knowledgeable and nimble talent.

We then compiled the scoring for each top candidate, enabling hiring managers to review the results and determine who should move forward. In the first year, our team completed three assessment centres with great results, prompting the client to request that they continue into the next year.

In North America, AGS supported a recurring demand for short-term executive assistant professionals. A dedicated talent bench was established with 254 pre-qualified candidates – including 94 people who had previous experience working for the client – generating 35 rehires and eight successful redeployments, maximising the value of prior workforce investments. By maintaining a standing pool of up to 30 deployment-ready candidates, our team enabled rapid fulfilment and reduced average time-to-start to 3.4 days while completing onboarding within 24 hours.

With AGS’ proven success models for sourcing niche talent, the client requested a new direct sourcing project searching for master control operators. The programme was selected to support an expansion of a new project, delivering 14 of 15 hires in under two months. The initiative generated an estimated $115,000 in cost avoidance while creating a sustainable pipeline of qualified talent for future demand. With the master control pipeline in place with 158 people, the program has filled 31 positions to date and maintained a submittal turnaround of 48 hours for multi-headcount roles.

Delivering Impact: Applause-Worthy Results

For our client, direct sourcing solution proved to be a competitive advantage and the solution to a critical business need. Direct sourcing fulfilment proved highly successful, reaching 96% fulfilment in the first year, whilst the Flex Talent offering delivered 25% headcount growth through expansions and supplier transitions. In less than a year, direct sourcing increased headcount by 79% and delivered $193,000 in savings compared to competitive suppliers’ fees, contributing to a total programme cost savings of $8.96 million.

Over the past two years, our direct sourcing programme led supplier starts and active workforce presence, whilst holding the highest point-in-time active assignment count at 60 active workers. The programme achieved a 30% global market share for competitive staff augmentation compared to the industry standard of 10-11%. These results demonstrate that direct sourcing has scaled beyond a supplemental channel into a core workforce delivery engine.

In addition, the quality of hires has remained high, with a 78% submission-to-shortlist rate, 40% shortlist-to-interview rate and 61% interview-to-hire rate – 17% higher than the supplier competition – making us a top-performing supplier with a 92% successful finish rate. Accessing top talent is only part of the service; we also consider how our programmes impact the hiring manager and candidate experiences. Through satisfaction surveys, we received a 92% satisfaction score from engagement managers, and by tracking key hiring benchmarks, the direct sourcing solution yielded a 0% failure-to-start rating, reduced time to fill to 26.2 days and delivered 746 independent contractor starts and 1,393 agency worker starts.

In one year, direct sourcing was able to scale materially without sacrificing upstream quality, supporting operational excellence, business engagement, enhanced data and spend transparency. Through the core MSP programme, statement of work (SOW) support and the addition of direct sourcing, the client now has a foundation for sourcing high-level talent that positions them for future success.