Who’s headed back to the office – and who’s hoping to stay “WFH” for life? The answers may surprise you – but they will also empower you as we all try to wrap our heads around the new world of work in which we live and, well, work. To help us better understand the latest shifts in the workforce, and how companies can best adapt to ensure a smoother supply chain, we’re joined by Barb Sexton and Tim Holland of OMNIA Partners – the largest and most experienced purchasing organization for public and private sector procurement. Listen in as Barb and Tim help us unpack the latest trends in labor, why staffing is no longer the exclusive domain of HR – and how organizations like OMNIA partners can deliver crucial insights and best practices to help your organization navigate the new normal.

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain Now, the voice of global supply chain. Supply Chain Now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges, and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on Supply Chain Now.

Scott Luton (00:31):

Hey, everybody. Scott Luton and Greg White with you here on Supply Chain Now. Welcome to today’s show. Hey, we’re broadcasting from Connections 2021 right down here in Miami, Florida, the magic city, with our dear friends from OMNIA Partners, right, Greg?

Greg White (00:46):

Yeah. Dear friends. As a matter of fact, we’ve known Barb forever, and this is our first time meeting here.

Scott Luton (00:52):

And you’re letting the cat out of the bag.

Greg White (00:55):

I’m sorry. I did it out of order again, didn’t I?

Scott Luton (00:58):

That’s okay. Hey, a big shoutout, OMNIA Partners have been wonderful hosts, very hospitable – I can’t believe I nailed that word. I had trouble with it yesterday.

Greg White (01:05):

That was pretty good.

Scott Luton (01:06):

But what’s been one of your favorite parts about this conference before we interview our guests?

Greg White (01:11):

I’d have to say Sarah being our Sherpa for this thing. She makes sure everything happens. If we need anything or if we need any info, seriously, that’s been a great part of it. But, truthfully, I think the discussion we had with Kevin Heath and with Paul Noble at Verusen yesterday, just a great perspective. Getting some eyes on what they’re seeing in the marketplace and what’s going on. And some great guidance on how companies can really tackle the issues that they’re seeing today. One of which we’re going to talk about with you two today.

Scott Luton (01:48):

Massive issue today.

Greg White (01:48):

Massive issue. And, you know, some good pointers on what to do about it.

Scott Luton (01:52):

Agreed. So, folks, if you want market intel best practices, how to move forward with you and your organization, this is a great event to be at, Connections 2021. And it’s largely because of people like our two panelists here, esteemed panelists. So, Greg, my feeling is that although Kevin and Paul threw the gauntlet down yesterday, we have a challenger for best episode yet.

Greg White (02:12):

I think so. I really do think so. And they’re much funnier. We already know that.

Scott Luton (02:18):

Barb Sexton, Vice-President, Partner Development of Corporate Services with OMNIA Partners. Hello, Barb. How are you doing?

Barb Sexton (02:26):

Hello. Hello.

Scott Luton (02:27):

Great to see you. We’re going to chat about how it all started in a moment. And Tim Holland, Contingent Workforce Solutions Specialists also with OMNIA Partners. Tim, how are you doing?

Tim Holland (02:37):

Good. Good to see you. And thanks for making me part of the column here.

Scott Luton (02:39):

Oh, you bet. We’ve enjoyed the pre-show conversation so much already. Hopefully, we were recording that. We’re going to get to the good stuff though. So, Greg, we want to kind of get to know our guests first and I want to start with Tim. So, Tim, tell us a little bit about yourself. And give us the good stuff now, Tim.

Tim Holland (02:56):

Well, let me start by saying I’m married, and I haven’t been allowed to make a decision since then. So, that pretty much sums up my life. Other than that in a professional basis however, I’ve been with OMNIA Partners for seven years. And a curious, interesting thing in college, I never expected myself to be in this contingent workforce world. Fresh out of college and walking down the street and saw a temp agency, and that’s how I got involved in the industry and never left. And that’s all I’ve done ever since I left college.

Scott Luton (03:35):

And we hear Tim’s a bit of a labor whisper, is that right?

Greg White (03:43):

I thought he was a comedian. [Inaudible].

Tim Holland (03:50):

Is that someone [inaudible] whisperer?

Scott Luton (03:50):

One final point, you were a fellow Atlantan for a long time.

Tim Holland (03:54):

Was.

Scott Luton (03:55):

Was. But now you’re up in Chattanooga, I believe. Is that right?

Tim Holland (03:59):

I am in Chattanooga, yes. Once again, going back to my original point about I really don’t make decisions anymore. Both of us now enjoying remote work and allowed us the opportunity to move somewhere that you wouldn’t normally move to from a job perspective.

Scott Luton (04:19):

And here we are.

Tim Holland (04:19):

She loves the mountains and the river. And she told me not to be gorging and to also be doing outdoor stuff. And so, I’m trying to balance right now the gorging versus semi-gorging.

Greg White (04:32):

So, you’re living some of the topics we’re going to talk about today.

Tim Holland (04:35):

I am. I am.

Greg White (04:37):

You’re experiencing it from both sides.

Tim Holland (04:38):

Near and dear to my heart. Absolutely.

Scott Luton (04:40):

So, that’s just one-half of the dynamic duo we have here today. So, up next, Barb Sexton. Barb, before you tell us about yourself, it’s important to note we’ve enjoyed a variety of conversations and collaboration with OMNIA Partners, and it all largely started from an interaction we had with Barb on a livestream and then a conversation a couple of years ago. And we’ve been tracking you as well. And by the way, I love your glasses – if you’re checking out the video. But, Barb, tell us a little about yourself.

Barb Sexton (05:11):

All right. So, also married. So, apparently, we’re off the market.

Greg White (05:17):

If one of the audience [inaudible].

Scott Luton (05:17):

I’m waiting for signs and go up to something, but off the market, folks.

Barb Sexton (05:26):

Yes. Yes. Military family, lived all over the nation, came from the human resource, HR, background. And I did some time in the staffing business before landing at OMNIA Partners, and I’ve been here going on 11 years now.

Scott Luton (05:51):

Military family, what particular branch do you gravitate towards?

Barb Sexton (05:55):

It has been 21 years Army; oldest son, four years Army; youngest daughter, six years Air Force.

Scott Luton (06:03):

So, your daughter’s a heck of a golfer, isn’t she?

Scott Luton (06:08):

One for Greg. One for Greg. Well, thank you. You know, families sacrifice to do exactly what you just described and kind of sometimes that stays in the blind spot, but we are very grateful for your husband, son, and daughter’s service.

Greg White (06:22):

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.

Scott Luton (06:23):

Okay. So, now, we’ve got a little flavor for Barb and Tim.

Greg White (06:29):

We know we’re having fun.

Scott Luton (06:30):

We’ll have a blast. We knew he would though. We really enjoyed our pre-show conversations. Let’s level-set a bit. Now, we’re going to be talking about labor challenges, not as much the future of work, but kind of the current state of work, and some of those challenges there.

Greg White (06:47):

The now of work.

Scott Luton (06:48):

The now, yes. So, Tim, I’ll start with you. When it comes to hybrid and remote work, what are some of the things you’re seeing and perhaps living?

Tim Holland (06:56):

Yeah. And I think it’s not necessarily going to come as a shock to many, right? You’ve got organizations that primarily are still in the mode of looking to continue to maintain the remote work for an indefinite period of time, but really morphing into – I don’t know if you would say at this point the majority of companies are doing it, but a higher percentage than not – looking to make hybrid and remote a permanent thing. And, in fact, many companies that we know of coming in now, the hybrid could be anything from a couple of days a week on a rotating basis to, perhaps, meetings and things in more centralized spots then you don’t have offices necessarily. And so, it’s really changing from top to bottom because that happens. It changes, really, anything that happens and affects an office because you really don’t have specific spaces anymore.

Greg White (08:08):

No water and cooler conversations. All minds of dynamics have shifted.

Tim Holland (08:14):

And, again, is it permanent? Generally speaking, it is permanent. It’s on a spectrum, right? We went from zero to a hundred. Will we ever go back to zero? We’ll never go back to zero. We’ll go back to 50, probably vacillate in that 50 to 100 percent kind of spectrum. It’s going to change back a little bit, but it’ll never go back to where the way it was.

Scott Luton (08:39):

And you got a number of things you’re balancing there. Of course, the needs of the business but also the employee experience, the EX, where they feel comfortable, where we can maximize not only what they want to do, but also with their productivity, right?

Tim Holland (08:55):

Well, yeah. And it’s interesting because I think that the conversation also leads to who’s going to be more interested in going back into the office? Who can be more productive in an office setting? It’s interesting. So, my wife, who I started out speaking about –

Scott Luton (09:13):

What’s your wife’s name, by the way?

Tim Holland (09:14):

Her name is Marie.

Scott Luton (09:15):

Hello, Marie.

Tim Holland (09:15):

She’s an HR. And, by the way, even though I’ve been technically in HR my whole career, she tells me to tell people that I’m not an HR. Because she’s an HR and she never believes that I’m an HR.

Greg White (09:29):

She knows where the line is and you are not there.

Barb Sexton (09:29):

She does not approve. And I agree with her.

Tim Holland (09:33):

I don’t know if she thinks I got a squeegee on corners, like, wiping people’s car windows. So, at any rate, I digress on that. But it depends also on the workforce. So, what we’re seeing and what we’re hearing is different sectors of people that are in the different age groups and the different generations, some of those generations more likely to want to go back in versus others. You know, I think the trend is the older the worker, the less they want to go back in a traditional office.

Greg White (10:05):

Really?

Scott Luton (10:05):

We were just talking about that.

Greg White (10:07):

The less they want to go back.

Tim Holland (10:07):

The less they want to go back.

Greg White (10:09):

Wow. I guess I would have thought the opposite.

Barb Sexton (10:12):

Yeah. The baby boomers, the working parents wish to stay remote. It’s the college, the millennials, and the Gen Z, they want to be back in the office, collaboration, face-to-face. They’re more social. They’re more interaction. They need that personal feedback.

Greg White (10:33):

That’s a stunner to me. I mean, I can see both cases, of course, as you talk about that. But I guess I would have thought the workers who had kind of the tradition and the history of doing that kind of work would want to stay. And I can say I’m not a baby boomer but very close Gen X, I’m kind of working remotely and being able to work from anywhere. But I really guess I thought, you know, it would have been the younger generation. That’s really interesting.

Tim Holland (11:03):

Yeah. Well, and the people that never worked remote because a lot of the baby boomers and the next generation, there wasn’t a lot of remote work back when they were in the midst of their careers.

Scott Luton (11:17):

I couldn’t bag groceries back in high school remotely, for sure.

Tim Holland (11:19):

Exactly. So, as they got used to staying at home, “Wow. I didn’t realize how much more time I had on my hand and how much more productive I’ve been.” And even sectors like HR, you would think HR, employee relations, got to see the person, got to be in front of individuals. Even HR is morphing. Again, going back to my whole personal comment, is that, even my spouse, she was the last person to want to do remote. The very last person. She loved the interaction. Now, if she didn’t have to go back to the office even one day a week, that would be fine with her. It’s amazing that the transformation of those kinds of people versus I was always mostly remote.

Greg White (12:07):

Kind of how you’re going to keep them down on the farm now that they’ve seen [inaudible].

Tim Holland (12:12):

Yeah. You can’t unsee what we’ve just seen.

Greg White (12:16):

That’s a really good analysis.

Barb Sexton (12:17):

And from a talent acquisition perspective, that’s really been the trend, is, how do we now attract that talent if we want to go back to the workforce. Or if we want to go back to the office versus have a hybrid model versus remote.

Scott Luton (12:32):

You got to compete in different manner. So, let’s go there. So, Barbara, I appreciate some of the statistics and your last comment there. But what else would you add, especially when we open it up to the overall labor supply and outlook? What else would you add to that?

Barb Sexton (12:48):

There’s an extreme shortage.

Scott Luton (12:50):

That’s right. That’s right. Call it what it is, right?

Barb Sexton (12:54):

It’s absolutely across the board. So, the shortage in the industry used to be in your skillsets, right? The mechanical, the trades, the technical.

Greg White (13:02):

The supply chain.

Barb Sexton (13:03):

And now it’s supply chain. Absolutely. And now it’s just across the board.

Tim Holland (13:08):

Well, people have short-term memory. If you think about it, 2019, before this all happened, it was a historic shortage of people anyway. States and cities like Minneapolis at that point were gyrating between 1.7 and 1.9 percent unemployment rate back in 2019. Now, you fast forward, you go, “Where are all the people? Where did they go? I mean, I’ve had, like, ten conversations, the same question. It’s where do they all go? It’s well, obviously, the stipends and the stimulus is help those people stay on the sidelines. Now, most of those are starting to dwindle, right?

Tim Holland (13:42):

So, as they dwindle, you would expect that all those people would come out back out of nowhere, back in the workforce. It’s not happening for two reasons. Is that, one, don’t forget, they just weren’t there in mass before this happened. Because you had an aging population. Even they’re saying right now that the birth rate isn’t keeping up. Like, there’s a higher death rate first time in history, supposedly, or close to first time. The death rate is exceeding the birth rate in many cities. So, you’ve got the fact that you didn’t have people before, you gave the population incentives to avoid potential workplace, or help them to whether this situation. And then, even though it’s over, some of these folks, they’re also concerned on the safety parts still. So, they don’t want to go back into a busy work environment.

Scott Luton (14:40):

You got a perfect storm brewing, for sure. And some traditional elements to the labor equation, but also some very new elements. We want to talk about the great resignation in a moment. But before we do -and, Greg, I’ll throw you in here – anything else to add in terms of what else you’re seeing before we specifically kind of define what this great resignation is, Barb?

Barb Sexton (15:04):

That would be perfectly it, the great resignation.

Scott Luton (15:06):

That’s what we’re seeing day in and day out.

Barb Sexton (15:08):

We’re just going to have a vicious circle and it really is just talent pool and availability. And it all leads back to the workforce and the environment, attracting and retaining talent.

Greg White (15:22):

I think this has been a big awakening for people, as you said. So, two generations or at least two generations in the workforce had hardly worked remotely at all. Now, they’ve seen what it’s like.

Barb Sexton (15:37):

They got that taste.

Greg White (15:36):

And they have an incredible appreciation for it. I mean, you know, Atlanta, it’s not uncommon to have a 32 mile commute to work. That’s just one example. I mean, LA, New York, there are many that are much, much longer even. And, now, that people don’t have to endure that. They’ve seen the productivity and the life quality that they’ve gained back from not having to have that. And it has been, I would say, an awakening from that standpoint. Once people’s eyes are open to it, like you said, you can’t unsee that. And also people were locked at home for months on end and that gave them a lot of time to think about how they wanted to live their life when they really couldn’t live their life. And they really had not a lot to do, but think for a month or two or some even more.

Tim Holland (16:27):

Well, it gave people a chance to experience the tradeoff that they always wanted to experience. And that they were always locked in their 15 and 20 year jobs and fearful about what would happen if they took that chance, “You know what? I want to go and I want to live in an island somewhere. I’m an outdoors person, I want to live in a mountain. I can’t have my job anymore and do that.” And, now, they’ve obviously found a way to do both. And here’s the really curious part, is that a good percentage of those folks, even if everything switched back to what was the previous semi-normal, they wouldn’t go back. They would say, “You know what? I’m so far along and I’ve experienced this, I’m going to find a different job and I’m going to leave.” That leads to resignation.

Barb Sexton (17:18):

Which is [inaudible] the great resignation.

Scott Luton (17:20):

Right. And that’s speaking to the impact, because employers and business leaders have to address just that. Not only are we losing the labor, but we’re losing the tribal skillsets and tribal knowledge organizations, is that right?

Barb Sexton (17:35):

Yes, we are.

Tim Holland (17:36):

Well, yeah. And so, people are even either getting out, or, as they’re making the change, so people are moving now. It depends also on the type of work you do. You know, where is this happening? Well, I would say two things that are really dramatic trends. One, we’ve never ever seen this, not in my lifetime and I don’t think in history, where there was a dearth or there was a shortage of folks that were in that entry-level role and that unskilled role. I’ve never seen it before where there’s a shortage. Now, there’s been a shortage of IT. There’s been a shortage of engineering. There’s been a shortage of almost any other skillset you can think of. But somebody that doesn’t perhaps even have a high school degree, no work experience, there’s a shortage of those folks willing to come to work.

Tim Holland (18:26):

So, there’s that, but the resignation part is the folks that it’s happening primarily in the higher skilled roles, the engineering, where people were at pay rates in the $50, $60, $100. You know why? Because they’ve got built up wealth. And they still need to work, yes, but they’re willing to risk it because they’ve experienced what it is.

Scott Luton (18:55):

Freedom.

Tim Holland (18:55):

To be living in the mountains and going kayaking every weekend versus I lived in a subdivision outside of Atlanta. And they were fearful for 20 years to make it. But once they did, they’re like, “You know what? I’ll take a chance at almost anything. I’ll take a chance out of not having my job anymore and I’ll figure it out.”

Barb Sexton (19:14):

One in four is supposedly looking for a new career. One in four people is looking for a new [inaudible].

Tim Holland (19:22):

And some don’t even know they should be looking for a new job, frankly. You know what I mean? I’m just counting. There’s odds.

Greg White (19:30):

All right. [Inaudible] but it will be.

Scott Luton (19:33):

So, we have really spent the last 12 minutes talking about level setting, right? Getting the major issues of our time, at least from a labor standpoint, out on the table. Before we talk about how procurement leadership is responding to these challenges, anything else that you all would like to mention before we kind of talk about what leaders are doing about it?

Tim Holland (19:55):

Well, I’ll let Barb comment on this as well. But, obviously, this always used to be that’s HR. Sourcing, that’s HR. It’s too complicated for me. It’s not a commodity. I don’t know what to do with it. And then, the C level was always, again, the chief financial officers. Now, they’re getting involved because every part of the organization, if it’s not number one, it’s their second highest priority in every company. People drive companies. People do the work.

Greg White (20:27):

Boy, if we didn’t know that before, we know that now.

Barb Sexton (20:28):

We do.

Scott Luton (20:29):

Well, I heard on the news this morning – and maybe this percentage is inflated – but 70 percent of expense of an organization is on labor. Is that some things you’re seeing?

Barb Sexton (20:40):

Yes. It’s within the top three, with the other being the benefits of a program to support that labor.

Greg White (20:46):

It’s also Hippocratic.

Scott Luton (20:49):

So, the cost of doing nothing is massive. The cost of doing something is massive. And then, you got to get it right.

Tim Holland (20:57):

You can’t catch up in this case. So, doing nothing every minute, your 200 percent behind anybody else. Because they’ve already been doing stuff for months. If you just start now and say, “We have to have a strategy of labor management, a strategy of employee retention, a strategy of employee attraction.” You better not be figuring out right now. You better be on it right now.

Scott Luton (21:20):

And you better be with an expert that can look far beyond the four walls of your organization and really benchmark what other leaders and organizations are doing. You know what I like about Barb and Tim? It’s like we got college game day going. And we’ve got Tim kind of at the stage giving predictions. And Barb is like the bear bringing statistics to the table. Both are very, very important. So, we’ve got quite a [inaudible] show off.

Greg White (21:54):

[Inaudible].

Scott Luton (21:57):

Lee Corso. Greg –

Greg White (21:52):

Wait. Let me [inaudible]. Not so fast, my friend.

Scott Luton (21:58):

All right. So, we’re going to move into what are leaders doing about it. What are y’all seeing leaders doing about it?

Greg White (22:08):

It’s a tough situation. How are they tackling this?

Barb Sexton (22:10):

And leaders is a good word for it because it’s not just HR issue. This is an organizational issue. It’s not just HR. It’s not just procurement. Speaking to what is procurement doing about this, they’re asking to be looped in and engaged early in this situation. How can we look at the talent management strategy as a whole? So, how do we look at not only our full-time employee workforce, but how does that link up and fit with our contingent workforce? How do those mold? And how do we keep the full talent pool rolling? So, it’s definitely an organizational issue.

Scott Luton (22:54):

It really speaks to something that came up yesterday, and Bob’s mentioning again, procurement, like supply chain, fought for years to have a seat at the table. And while we consider kind of procurement to be part of really the end to end supply chain world, procurement now has a seat at the table, but it’s also valued more than perhaps ever before.

Greg White (23:14):

Yeah. Undoubtedly. And kind of the traditional borders of procurement have really shifted. I mean, staffing, as part of that, I know that’s an offering. We talked with Kevin Heath, your COO about it yesterday. But having an organization that is product and human capital sourcing, I think that’s got to be a relatively rare mix these days. But, man, you can see it. And it’s one of those things where, I’m sure, a lot of companies are going, “Why didn’t we think of that?” You mentioned commodities earlier, Tim, right? I’m not going to say people are commodities, but it is a very tight market, not unlike commodities these days. And having that kind of assistance has to be critical. Are you seeing people turning more towards staffing of the organizations [inaudible]?

Tim Holland (24:13):

I mean, that is the right question to ask because just before this happened in 2019, ’18, the trend was two years ago, by ’20, literally two out of every four hires was going to be what was considered to be a contingent worker. That’s an SOW. That’s a 1099. That’s a staffing employee. Two of every four, so what that’s telling you is, it’s changing the way that companies view the use of total talent, total labor. Because before it was, “I need my own employees. They have to be employees.” And they’re seeing that, that just isn’t a reality because before this all happened, freelancers was always the thrown out term. “I want to be a freelancer. I want to be a bank contractor.” And most people were going there because they already experienced a level of flexibility than ever before.

Tim Holland (25:10):

Now, you compound this by what just happened. And it just reinforced exactly what was happening and kept perpetrating it going forward. There’s nothing to stop now from encouraging people to be independent contractors because they see how great it is. And why should I go back and be an employee? But one thing that is happening that’s really remarkable right now – I’ve been in the industry doing this for 25 years – I’ve never seen the degree of outsource recruiting that’s happening right now. So, I have seen more and more companies go to what we would term a recruitment process outsourcing or similar concept. Let me put this perspective, I’ve been here for seven years at OMNIA Partners, six of those years in this last 12 months, I’ve seen probably 300 percent more RPOs than I’ve seen in any given year prior to that. In fact, I might even say the last three years prior, it’s 300 percent more than the three years put together. Because companies are looking and saying, “We went through this downturn. We let people go or people quit. We need help recruiting.”

Scott Luton (26:32):

And they look around, they see other companies taking this RPO approach and, “This is the way, I guess.” Let’s talk about this, Barb, I like how you put it when we talked about what procurement leadership is doing. They’re asking and getting paid. They got a ton of know-how and expertise and assistance and facilitation expertise in particular of how to approach it.

Barb Sexton (26:55):

Resources.

Scott Luton (00:26:56):

Yes. So, by extension, let’s talk about GPOs and, of course, OMNIA Partners. What are they leveraging in the battle for good labor?

Barb Sexton (27:08):

They’re leveraging the relationships that OMNIA Partners has worked with and are experienced with. They’re leveraging that relationship. You know, we talked about speed the savings or speed to a contract. In this, it’s just speed to resources in general. I think you mentioned earlier to hire somebody, to pull in because they’re limited in time and resources. You don’t have to hire somebody.

Scott Luton (27:36):

That’s a decision.

Barb Sexton (27:39):

Free of charge. Talk to us about that resource to work for that.

Tim Holland (27:41):

And I mean, exactly what Barb is saying, speed are already negotiated contracts. But what really people don’t know and what people can’t see, is that, don’t forget, we’ve got access to 600 to 800 world-class organizations. The who’s who of the Fortune list. These individuals interface with us and interact with us. And part of our process is a confidential sharing of information and knowledge that we are a repository. No other organization in the world has the access and repository of information, data, and best practices than anybody else does. Even the analyst’s houses, the Aberdeen’s – no disrespect to any of them – SIA, they’re not part of this organization that can speak daily to these Fortune companies. So, when a Fortune company asks me, McDonald’s approaches me and says, “What other best practices?” I can speak to them not based in analogy, not based on anecdotal evidence. I can say, “I just had a conversation with Cargill. I just met with General Mills.” It’s specific.

Scott Luton (28:52):

Here’s some golden nuggets.

Tim Holland (28:54):

That’s the beauty conceptually. Yes.

Barb Sexton (28:56):

Right. Here’s what we’re seeing in the marketplace and there’s no fee attached. Just conversations and resources.

Greg White (29:01):

I feel like there ought to be a fee attached to this episode, don’t you?

Scott Luton (29:05):

Agreed. [Inaudible].

Greg White (29:06):

Seriously, this is powerful stuff. It’s great insight.

Scott Luton (29:10):

It is. It’s a relationship and insights and information supply chain that y’all are really leading and offering in many ways. And it goes upstream and downstream. We got reversed, you know, we got a whole shebang.

Tim Holland (29:25):

So, talking about relationships, it is a too early to talk about divorce now or is that –

Greg White (29:32):

It’s too late now. You already moved. [Inaudible].

Tim Holland (29:36):

It’s too late. [Inaudible].

Scott Luton (29:39):

So, I want to keep going down this path. You know, we get a lot of feedback and folks are like, “Well, tell me more.” We got it on the previous webinar with OMNIA Partners. How can they help me? How can they help me, the president, or the chief HR officer, or a manufacturer leader, let’s go down that road a little more. So, relationships, clearly, speed the move, speed the contract, whatever phrasiology you look at, that market intel from 600 to 800 movers and shakers across global industry.

Barb Sexton (30:12):

I call it speed to knowledge.

Scott Luton (30:15):

What was that, Barb?

Barb Sexton (30:15):

Speed to knowledge.

Scott Luton (30:17):

Speed to knowledge. I like that. So, what else would you add to that list of resources that you are bringing to the battle, the war for talent?

Tim Holland (30:27):

Well, I think here at OMNIA Partners, we created an expertise and a portfolio that here to fore. Procurement organizations didn’t look at a procurement group like you’ve got that expertise. Our first supplier in the category has been with us almost 20 years. And so, even myself, coming from the industry we have – as Barb pointed out. Barb’s got a lot of experience – our staff have a lot of experience within the human resource category. A couple of quick examples, I will write RFPs if they choose to do so for some of the members.

Scott Luton (31:09):

Writing RFPs, is that what you said?

Tim Holland (31:10):

Writing RFPs.

Greg White (31:10):

I don’t even like reading them. I can’t even imagine writing them.

Tim Holland (31:13):

And then, I got to read them. And then, I got to score them. And so, I have been with our members on their committees to select the right supplier for them. And so, that’s the expertise to Barb’s point. We do a lot of things that are, again, not to disparage. In fact, I’m trying to mimic, it is like an Accenture type process, so when organizations look and they say, “This is a procurement organization. It’s a procurement group.” You can do that too. And, yes, we can.

Scott Luton (31:46):

You do it well.

Tim Holland (31:46):

And, by the way, as a feature of being a member, you don’t have to pay a six figured number for us to help you do that.

Scott Luton (31:54):

We heard something before the show, Greg, about how this dynamic duo hit the road. I think y’all open for – what’s a cool group right now?

Greg White (32:04):

Tedeschi Trucks.

Scott Luton (32:05):

There we go. You’re opening for Tedeschi trucks, whoever they are. Kidding aside, you’re going out and kind of going to the gemba, you’re white boarding. You’re kind of putting your finger on the pulse of what organizations need both in a common sense, but also very uniquely. So, if I look at sectors like manufacturing industry, one plant versus another plant, you can have vastly different needs. So, tell us about that, because that seems to be part of this Accenture styled approach.

Tim Holland (32:35):

It is. It’s available to all our members. A very consultative approach of a combination of things, white boarding, wage and rate assessments, and analysis. These are very in-depth studies that we can help them evaluate, especially where you are today in the spectrum of, do I have a healthy MSP? Do I need an MSP? Is it better to have a master supplier? Should I have more staffing companies or less staffing companies? All of that, we can help them in a process by which it’s non-intrusive, there’s no cost to them. And, frankly, it accelerates. Again, if you’re not doing it already and you don’t have the resources to get it started, that’s why we can be able to offer that to our membership.

Scott Luton (33:21):

We’ve covered a lot of ground in 30 minutes time or so with Tim and Barb. A lot of good stuff. I’m fighting myself to go a little deeper now.

Greg White (33:29):

I know. I know. Well, this is an important topic and it feels like there’s a lot we could go deeper on. But I just have to ask this question, Barb.

Scott Luton (33:39):

Oh, this is my favorite part. You never know it what that is about.

Greg White (33:44):

Some of the stuff that Tim has described, that’s a service that you perform at no charge – I just want to make sure I heard that – when they use you to help them with contingent workforce sourcing. We’re not actually putting Tim on the payroll at these companies. You’re just volunteering this additional work as a value added service, is that right?

Barb Sexton (34:12):

Yeah. I would say, even to go a step farther, if you’re not yet a member of OMNIA partners – which I wouldn’t understand –

Greg White (34:24):

That was very subtle. Well done.

Barb Sexton (34:24):

Did you like that? You could also rely on the resources of our organization and the specialties that Tim brings to the table to go through that process. You know, that might be something, just a white boarding session or [inaudible].

Tim Holland (34:40):

And we have a great stable of analysts that are world-class, so they can analyze our members’ data, they can produce reports that are usable. And so, we highlight –

Scott Luton (34:53):

Wait a sec, Tim. I love it. Did you hear that little additional phrase he added, not just reports, TPS reports that no one ever uses. But reports that you can use. The important data. Information.

Greg White (35:06):

Right. Actionable.

Tim Holland (35:07):

Exactly. Not just busy work. Exactly. And so, I would encourage anybody that is looking to take advantage of this, especially if they’re in the states or in the cities of Key West and Honolulu especially –

Greg White (35:19):

There he goes.

Tim Holland (35:20):

– I will be there for them. I’m there for them.

Greg White (35:23):

Will work for sunshine [inaudible].

Tim Holland

We don’t have enough members in Key West.

Greg White (35:28):

How about Miami? How do you feel about Miami? Would you want to work in Miami?

Tim Holland (35:31):

Well, it’s not bad.

Scott Luton (35:33):

Very nice. The magic city. All right. So, now we’ve got several hundred of our closest friends in the exhibition hall. We’re going to take some questions from them. I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding.

Greg White (35:44):

That’s good. I hope they caught my look on camera there.

Scott Luton (35:47):

So, think story time. You know, think of y’all’s time on the road. I know the last 18 months has been tough, but think recent conversations, think of some conversations you are having here. In a moment, we’re going to make sure folks know how to connect with you and we’ll get that out there. But what have we not talked about in terms of some recent conversations y’all had that further illustrates the value that you all bring to the table. And for that matter, the really cool conversations y’all been part of as a part of doing what you do day in and day out.

Tim Holland (36:25):

I mean, the strength of what we do and who we are is not only our internal resources. Really, it’s our suppliers. And it’s how we selected them, and how we have vetted them, and how successful they have been. So, one of the things that one of my key suppliers does, especially, again, to address the dire labor problems, is that, they’ve got analytics that are really quite awesome. They’re helping our members look at a market, determine things like how many openings are in the market, what’s the labor supply in the market, what are the wages doing. So that they are really providing actionable things. Again, what do they say? You’re only as good as your team behind you.

Scott Luton (37:13):

Or the day that you have access to. It seems like, to me – if I could interject for a second – one of the ways y’all are leveraging your suppliers is, again, it goes back to this information that you’re informing them in a way that they can act. And whether it comes to negotiations, whether it comes to job descriptions, whether it comes to whatever aspect of that attract, develop, retain talent strategy is, they’re more in the know. So, their action can be more successful. That’s what I’m hearing.

Tim Holland (37:46):

It is. And their databases for their particular company and industry and clientele base is powerful. So, if they can help a company go, “Look, if you want to be successful on the spectrum of wages, you need to be here,” is valuable stuff. Because they know. Again, I’m not big into anecdotal things anymore. I’ll tell you we can use interesting terms. But it comes down to what is really factual and what is actionable, and that’s what they come up with for a member so that a member’s like, “We’ve been struggling, struggling.” And sometimes companies don’t want to hear the reality of it. You know, the reality is, is that, you’re at $14, you should be at 19. Even if you increase $2, it’s not going to be dramatic. You’re not going to see anything dramatically change.

Tim Holland (38:41):

And so, they help our members to get to that point of success versus telling them what they want to hear. Right now, it doesn’t help anybody to tell you what you want to hear. It’s about the realities of this labor market, which, by the way, we’re in this for a good 6 to 12 months without, I think, any significant gyrations one way or the other. So, I think we’re in a period of at least 12 months before we see anything significantly change.

Scott Luton (39:15):

So, it sounds like –

Greg White (39:15):

Significantly change, what do you mean? [Inaudible]?

Tim Holland (39:18):

I mean, where you start to see companies not feel that absolute and significant upward pressure of wages. Where you see companies that don’t have 120 openings with a workforce of 500 employees. Those are the kinds of things that are so dramatic right now that very likely, based on what we see and what we have over the next 12 months, that’s not going to change dramatically. Nobody has a crystal ball, right? But even after that point, I think it will be a slow change versus after 12 months, it’ll be great. It’s not going to be great after 12 months. But it’ll get better. It is getting better.

Scott Luton (39:58):

We like good news, but the reality is what you just shared there about the labor market. The reality is, it’s even worse for the computer semiconductor market, right? We’re here at the end of 2022, beginning of 2023, you name it, but it is what it is. And I love what y’all bring to the table to help business leaders get through these incredibly challenging times. Hey, Barb, if you had one more thing to add before I make sure folks know how to connect with you, whether it’s a message you’ve already shared that folks need to make sure they listen to or something we’ve forgotten to bring up? You get one of the final thoughts here today, Barb.

Barb Sexton (40:37):

No pressure.

Greg White (40:37):

No pressure.

Barb Sexton (40:38):

Tim mentioned pay rates, pay. We spoke a lot about attracting talent, retaining talent. And I believe even the chip shortage. This all circles back to talent and people, and the value and the benefits that we place on those people, whether it’s from their work environment, whether it’s from their benefits package or their fee rates, it’s just a circular event. And so, you’ve got on top of the talent acquisition, the labor strain that we have today, those same HR or leaders, organizations, they’re looking at everything, not just how to attract the talent, but then the benefits to retain that talent, the pay structures, the entire how are we organized, how do we keep them safe. So, it’s just a lot going on that these organizations are dealing with. And we value that we’re able to provide a resource to help them.

Scott Luton (41:46):

But you got to have adults at the table in one place. You got to deal with the experts. And a lot of what Barb and Tim is sharing here today, that’s what I hear in my ears.

Greg White (41:57):

Nobody’s going to be surprised that I’m a big fan of this approach. I mean, look, I started a lot of companies. We’re doing a company right now where we’re outsourcing a significant number of talent. And we are experiencing in some areas exactly what you both have described here. We don’t know what the hell great is, and we don’t know how to get there. And having a resource that you can go to.

Barb Sexton (42:17):

We could help you with that, Greg.

Greg White (42:17):

I know. I know. Believe me, my head is spinning. But having a resource that can get you there instead of making that mistake for three, or six, or nine months, and fall months and months or maybe years behind your competition while they have a groove – I think you’ve talked a lot about speed, and I think speed is what a lot of what you all offer. But I think it’s even more fundamental than that right in this instant. It’s access. Simple access is what you can provide.

Greg White (42:50):

So, you can access those 600 to 800 potential suppliers or those recruiting resources or, obviously, talented people like this that can help companies get over the line to be that much better. And I think that is what is really important, is, a lot of companies don’t even have access to the talent or the resources that they need. And that’s why the supply chain and procurement and human resources have all stumbled during this time. And are probably not coming out of it as quickly as we could have, if we knew better what to do. And I think this is the time when organizations like this who already have accumulated this massive talent, massive speed, and massive access can really provide a tremendous amount of value to companies.

Scott Luton (43:37):

I agree. And I think it goes back to something Tim –

Greg White (43:40):

I thought you were going to say not so fast, my friend.

Scott Luton (43:43):

I agree almost wholeheartedly. I think it goes back to something Tim shared as to why it’s so challenging is because some of the foundational aspects of workforce management and the labor market management have changed because we have changed in what we want. And I like how you really spiked the football on that point because it’s a really important acknowledgement. So, on that note, we hate to bring things to a close –

Greg White (44:09):

You really hate doing this.

Scott Luton (44:10):

I really do. To your point, Barb, the people are the power. And in this day and age of technological innovation and you name all those disruptions, which are beautiful things, yet people are still what makes global business happen. So, let’s make sure folks know how to connect with you both. And, Tim, I’ll start with you. Not only are you clearly a contingent workforce solution specialist, but you’re a comedian and humorous on the side.

Tim Holland (44:38):

I make at least 20 bucks a week doing that.

Greg White (44:41):

I have a feeling it could be really good. Just the fact that you are also interesting.

Barb Sexton (44:47):

I’ve seen him perform. It’s good. It’s good.

Scott Luton (44:51):

Really? Oh, man.

Tim Holland (44:52):

Interesting, I think that’s really pushing it.

Scott Luton (44:54):

All right. So, how can folks connect with you, Tim?

Tim Holland (44:57):

So, they can reach me on LinkedIn, definitely at my profile. They can also reach me off of our OMNIA Partners website. And, certainly, I look forward to hearing from both our members and companies that are interested in membership.

Scott Luton (45:12):

Yeah. Wonderful. And that’s Tim Holland with OMNIA Partners. All right, Barb, how can folks connect with you?

Barb Sexton (45:17):

I am all over LinkedIn.

Greg White (45:18):

She is. We can verify that.

Barb Sexton (45:22):

So, feel free to reach out. And our website, www.omniapartners.com. You can find us.

Scott Luton (45:30):

It’s just that easy.

Greg White (45:30):

That’s the best representation of a website I’ve ever seen. That was awesome.

Barb Sexton (45:34):

I’ve been practicing for my personal debut.

Greg White (45:36):

That was awesome.

Scott Luton (45:39):

All right. So, that was Barb Sexton, Vice-President, Partner Development of Corporate Services, also with OMNIA Partners. As we mentioned, Tim Holland, Contingent Workforce Solution Specialist. Man, I am not envious of y’all’s roles. The challenges that you are helping organizations through. But it’s so important. It makes us feel so good that we have business leaders doing just that.

Greg White (45:59):

It could be worse. It could be the people that need Barb and Tim. Seriously, because what we’ve just discussed here is a huge impact on business. And it’s a huge hindrance to so many businesses right now. So, having a resource like this, you guys being able to dive in and help so significantly so quickly, and then also move on to the next company. That’s got to be a fun effort for you right now. So, we appreciate what you guys do.

Scott Luton (46:24):

Well said. Yes, we do. All right. So, folks, hopefully you enjoyed this conversation as much as we did. Be sure to check out omniapartners.com. Check out supplychainnow.com if you’d like more of these conversations. Hey, be sure to check out all the thought leadership that will be coming out of Connections 2021 right here in Miami. We are not going to share all the details. Some of it is confidential, right? Like mojitos –

Greg White (46:44):

What happens in Little Havana stays in Little Havana.

Scott Luton (46:48):

All right. But, hey, be sure to connect with Barb and Tim. And on that note, on behalf of Greg, and Amanda, and Vickie, and our Supply Chain Now team, do good, give forward, be the change that’s needed. And we’ll see you next time right here on Supply Chain Now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (47:04):

Thanks for being a part of our Supply Chain Now community. Check out all of our programming at supplychainnow.com, and make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain Now anywhere you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain Now.