One of the questions I get asked the most is – “Oz, what the heck is Talent Solutions?” It’s a term that’s been floating around the industry for some time now, albeit with different meanings.

Here at MSH, we define Talent Solutions as the convergence of two very different traditional industries: consulting and talent acquisition. We believe that they are coming together and transforming in a way that is better for both customers and candidates across the globe.

What’s driving this transformation? It all starts with the customer.

Customers today are more discerning and advanced than ever before. Just imagine buying a TV. Twenty years ago, you would walk into Circuit City, point to the one you like, and have it delivered to your home. Now? You spend hours researching online, learning everything you can about picture quality, smart capabilities, and voice-activated remotes—and using that knowledge to select the right TV. It’s typically not until after you’ve made your selection that you go to the store that has the best price and take it home. The bottom line? For companies to succeed in today’s market, they must bring an acute focus on the customer and give them exactly what they want—at the right price, the right value, and the right level of service.

The good, the bad, and the ugly: A look at traditional consulting and recruitment.

Whether I’m out researching the competition, or talking to our clients about their experiences with traditional consulting and recruitment firms, one flaw that consistently comes to my attention is a severe lack of customer focus.

I’ve found that often, when building their engagement teams, traditional consulting shops will pull together their A players, B players, and C players—and charge exorbitant blended rates. For what? An average quality team that strives to extend the longevity of their consulting engagement. Rather than coming into a company to complete an objective and leave the company better off than when they arrived, they often expand the scope to remain engaged for as long as possible—and keep getting paid. Customers simply aren’t getting the tangible value they’re looking for out of their consulting partners, and frankly, I think it’s something that’s ripe for change. It should be about the customer and I wouldn’t say it is right now.

Traditional recruitment firms have many of the same issues, plus more. In recruitment, the barriers to entry into the field are often quite low, which results in teams that lack basic business knowledge and just throw things up against the wall, hoping it sticks. They spend their time making hundreds of calls a week, with no service levels or guarantee of success, because they’re not incentivized to do what’s right for the client. If they are successful, it’s likely going to cost an arm and a leg.

Granted, these are generalizations and there are outliers in both industries. But I’ll bet most of you were nodding your heads as I ticked off the challenges with both industries.

The funny thing is that the consulting and recruitment industries are more similar than they are different. Both are building people programs with specific objectives in mind. Both are typically charging hourly rates. Both are leveraging experts to solve problems—internally and externally. And both are only as good as the people they provide as the end service.

The main difference is that in consulting, the packaging and up-front service is typically impeccable while the back-end of how they hire their people is a long, laborious process. Recruiting, on the other hand, often has a very efficient and nimble back-end, but lacks the service levels and reporting capabilities desired.

What happens if you combine consulting and talent acquisition? You get the best of both worlds.

By bringing these two seemingly different and archaic industries together in the form of Talent Solutions, service providers are able to deliver an experience and outcome that’s all-around better for clients. It allows the creation of truly creative solutions that drive faster, easier, and more cost-effective ways to source quality talent “just in time,” for a client’s exact needs. Plus, it empowers the delivery of solutions at a price that doesn’t blow your budget and ultimately ensures that everyone walks away feeling good about the end result.

Talent Solutions is what we do here at MSH. We create flexible, customized solutions that deliver best-in-class talent, without charging exorbitant prices. Sound too good to be true? There’s only one way to find out.

MSH is an industry-leading talent solutions firm, providing strategic talent acquisition and consulting services to organizations around the world. Established in 2011, MSH aligns people, processes, and technology with overall business objectives.