Staffing Schools: There must be a better way!

What is an MSP?

An MSP (Managed Service Provider) is a firm that steps in and manages their client’s staffing program from recruitment to payment. They stay on top of ever-changing labor regulations, credentialing and provide consolidated invoicing to free their clients up so they can focus on other tasks, saving them time and money.

MSPs emerged to fill a need for large corporations with staffing programs consisting of thousands of temporary workers and hundreds of staffing vendors. Originally utilized in manufacturing, MSPs began to move into the healthcare industry a decade ago and hospital systems noticed immediate improvements in scheduling efficiencies and less billing discrepancies causing the service to seep into other facets of healthcare staffing. Today, schools across the county are utilizing this service to ease the load of overworked administrative staff.

One challenge all employers face regardless of their industry is the ability to locate professionals with the specific skillset and credentials they require. Unemployment in the US is the lowest it’s been since 20001, with more specialized positions such as school professionals at an even lower rate. Hiring managers and talent acquisition firms alike are rushing to come up with new ways to recruit and entice qualified professionals into their positions. MSPs benefit from a vast network of providers. While their clients still only make one phone call, they now have the power of ten or more firms working hard to find the right fit and fill the position.

The Old Way

On any given day, a Special Education Director may have multiple and varying open positions to fill throughout the district, potentially 100s to 1000s of individualized education programs (IEPs) to oversee, a number of homebound students to supervise and a pile of reports to file. Perhaps, they find out two employees are taking maternity leave soon and two more will resign at the end of the school year.

To overcome these obstacles, the Special Education Director must now have to make numerous phone calls, salespeople and interviews that may or may not result in finding someone who fits their needs and represents their school’s mission and vision.

If they do eventually find the right fit, they are now flooded with additional monthly time sheets and invoices that get passed on to the accounting team and the never-ending parade of paperwork continues.

MSPs and a Better Way

Educators should be educators. Not secretaries, not business managers, not accountants and certainly not staffing experts.

While educators focus on the education of our youth, MSPs focus on the business side of things. Multiple openings? Make one phone call. Staff going out on maternity leave and getting reassigned? Make one phone call. The MSP will utilize the list of the school’s approved vendors to fill those openings. In addition, the MSP will manage those invoices and process the billing.