Research report · 153 senior leaders surveyed
What Procurement Leaders Really Think About Workforce Solutions RFPs And a blueprint for better workforce solutions RFPs.
At Guidant Global, we believe the way these partnerships are bought is as important as the partnerships themselves. So we went to the source: what do procurement leaders really think about workforce solutions RFPs, and what does it mean for the next era of work?
senior procurement and workforce leaders shared their perspective.
Only around one in four respondents say they are very confident in the results of their most recent RFP.
Following the research report, we provide you with a dedicated blueprint for better workforce solutions RFPs. You can skip to the blueprint here.
An industry at an inflection point
The workforce solutions RFP process is under real pressure.
The workforce solutions RFP process is under real pressure. Our new research - based on responses from 153 senior procurement and workforce leaders - points to an industry at an inflection point.
Procurement leaders are not unfamiliar with the mechanics of running workforce RFPs. Despite lengthy, disciplined RFP cycles every three to five years, confidence in outcomes remains weak.
The issues are structural rather than tactical. Buyers struggle to make genuine like-for-like comparisons, find it hard to meaningfully differentiate between suppliers, and frequently encounter friction between HR and Procurement during evaluation. At the same time, supplier responses often fall short of what buyers actually value.
All of this is playing out against a backdrop of rapid capability change. AI and automation, skills-based hiring and workforce analytics have moved rapidly up the agenda, but the RFP process itself has not evolved at the same pace.
This research report uses new survey data to highlight where the process is misaligned with buyer need and sets out a practical blueprint for a more intelligent, outcome-led approach to workforce solutions procurement.
From complexity to clarity
Workforce solutions being procured
Scope is crucial, as RFP complexity increases scope creep. Our research shows most organisations are procuring multifaceted workforce programmes rather than a single service line.
MSP remains the most widely procured solution (55%), followed by SOW Management (50%) and RPO (45%), with direct sourcing and consulting also featuring strongly.
Evaluating MSP, RPO, SOW and direct sourcing together makes RFPs more complex than single-solution tenders, making like-for-like comparison difficult and requiring buyers to recognise structural complexity upfront.
Hybrid or partially outsourced programmes account for around half of all respondents, with fully in-house (28%) and fully outsourced (18%) models making up most of the remainder. Fewer than 5% describe their programme as not currently implemented.
Many organisations are still defining what stays in-house, what partners own and what success looks like, making it harder to write precise, outcome-focused RFPs.
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How organisations run RFPs today
Infrequent, lengthy and substantial undertakings
Workforce RFPs are not frequent exercises, with approx. 40% of respondents running them every two to three years and 30% on a three-to-five-year cycle. When they do happen, they are substantial undertakings. Almost half take between 3 and 6 months from launch to supplier selection, with an additional 25% extending to 6 to 9 months. Less than 15% manage to complete the exercise in under 3 months.
Shortlisting practices reflect this seriousness. Most organisations invite 5 to 6 suppliers, with most of the remainder inviting 3 to 4.
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The confidence crisis
Confidence is weak considering the significance of the decision.
Perhaps the most important headline in this research is that confidence in RFP outcomes is not strong considering the significance of the decision involved.
Only 30% of respondents describe themselves as very confident that their RFP process identifies the right partner. This lack of assurance highlights a pressing need for reforms that can instil greater trust and transparency in the selection process.
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How buyers validate supplier capability
Evidence builds confidence. Written responses do not.
Given this confidence gap, it’s important to look at how buyers try to validate capability beyond the written response.
Data and performance validation tops the list, followed by site visits, technology demonstrations, client references and meetings with the proposed delivery team.
Written responses sit at the bottom, cited by a small minority as a primary source of confidence.
Ironically, the written RFP response takes the most amount of time for both buyers and suppliers, yet it is the least trusted aspect of validation.
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The biggest challenges in running a workforce RFP
Comparison, differentiation and internal alignment
Respondents chose their top three challenges from a set list, highlighting both process issues and interpersonal tensions.
Like-for-like comparison and supplier differentiation
The two greatest challenges are two sides of the same coin: 43% of respondents struggle to compare suppliers on equivalent terms, and 38% find it difficult to differentiate between them.
This issue has two causes, the first from process design. Broad or vague RFP questions allow varied responses, while insufficiently detailed scoring frameworks make differentiation subjective. The second, in a highly competitive, established industry vendors clearly need to work harder to stand out, or at least apart, from the pack.
The HR / Procurement fault line
30% say internal misalignment between HR and Procurement is a significant and often underestimated friction point. HR leads workforce strategy and understands operational needs, while Procurement manages the commercial process and suppliers. If these functions lack alignment on evaluation criteria, weighting or decision authority, the RFP process becomes an internal negotiation as much as an external one.
Technology assessment remains poorly served
29% state that it is evaluating technology capability, despite technology demonstrations being a leading trusted validation method. Buyers are recognising the need to assess technology, but standard RFPs aren’t enabling this. Written descriptions of platforms and AI are hard to judge without real demonstrations.
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Supplier response frustrations
The lived experience of reading supplier responses
Challenges reflect structural difficulties; while frustrations reflect the lived experience of reading supplier responses.
Generic and verbose responses
37% highlighted either generic answers or excessively lengthy responses as the leading frustrations for buyers respectively - suppliers are submitting extensive documents that fail to address the buyer’s specific needs.
Pricing opacity
31% of respondents state lack of pricing transparency is their leading frustration. In a market with varied commercial models, buyers want clearer pricing frameworks. Unclear costs add to the challenge of making like-for-like comparisons.
Claims without evidence
22% of respondents name bold claims without supporting data. Buyers want proof, not empty claims, so making unsubstantiated statements without data or case studies fail to gain trust.
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The capability shift - What matters most now
What matters most now
The research looking ahead to the future highlights a major strategic shift in the workforce solutions market, with the value of key capabilities evolving significantly in the past three years.
AI and automation: The defining shift
AI and automation tops the 'much more important' list (42%) and crucially sits among the lowest for 'less important' responses. AI and automation are no longer a differentiator - buyers expect providers to show genuine AI capability.
Skills-based hiring
Skills-based hiring – which 41% named as 'much more important' - reflects a broader market shift away from role-based hiring models towards capability and adjacency mapping. Providers unable to show their solutions support skills-based methods are now at a strong disadvantage.
Workforce analytics and planning
Workforce planning (37%) and workforce insights and analytics (35%) both also rank highly, reinforcing that buyers are looking for strategic partners, not just transactional vendors.
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A practical blueprint
A blueprint for better workforce solutions RFPs
A sharper RFP is not more paperwork. It is a clearer decision system. Use these eight practical shifts to move from broad supplier claims to evidence, comparability and confidence.
Start with outcomes, not outputs
Set success measures and selection criteria before writing questions.
Build scoring before responses
Agree weighting, ownership and decision rules up front.
Less volume, more precision
Use sharper questions, shorter answers and mandatory evidence.
Build validation in by design
Make demos, data, references and delivery teams weighted stages.
Assess technology properly
Test platform capability, AI roadmap, integrations and analytics.
Require pricing disclosure
Standardise fees, margins, technology costs and outcomes.
Align HR and procurement early
Run a joint kick-off and agree decision rights from day one.
Future-proof the framework
Refresh criteria as AI, skills and analytics expectations change.
Conclusion
The RFP is not broken. It is under-engineered.
The Workforce Solutions RFP is not broken, but it is under-engineered for the complexity it is now being asked to handle.
The market has evolved rapidly, the scope of services being procured is broader, the technology dimension is more significant, the strategic expectations of providers are higher, and the capabilities that matter most have shifted substantially.
We need to bring process through which these partnerships are formed on that journey.
This blueprint for a better RFP is not a radical departure; it is a disciplined application of what the data already tells us works.
Organisations that redesign their workforce solutions procurement process around these principles will not just make better selections.
They will signal to the market that they are sophisticated, outcomes-focused buyers and attract the calibre of response, and the calibre of partner, that they deserve.
The research shows buyers face:
- Written responses that buyers don't trust
- Scoring frameworks that emerge too late
- Pricing models that can't be compared
- Technology claims that can't be validated
- Internal misalignment that undermines consistency
The good news is that procurement leaders clearly know what they want:
- Evidence over assertion
- Specificity over scale
- Transparency over complexity
- a process that gives them genuine confidence in their decision.
Next step: turn the blueprint into your next RFP
If you want to run a workforce solutions RFP that drives clearer comparisons and more confident decisions, we can help.
Guidant Global can support you in shaping outcomes, evaluation criteria, tightening the written stage and building in evidence-based validation. We are happy to help with the practical steps to create a stronger process.
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