When it comes to managing a contingent workforce program, there’s no better way to gain program visibility and control than through the implementation of a Vendor Management System (VMS).
By centralizing and automating processes across your entire organization into one platform, businesses can realize improved efficiencies, gain complete visibility, optimize staffing agency performance and reduce the costs associated with their contingent workforce management program.
In fact, 76 percent of companies have experienced savings through the use of a vendor management system, according to a report from Staffing Industry Analysts.
With that in mind, in this blog we’ve listed four of the top vendor management system best practices to ensure your business realizes maximum ROI from the implementation of a VMS.
1 - Ensure your VMS is used across your entire organization
To be successful and give your business visibility and control over contingent workers and staffing agencies, a contingent workforce management program must be a company-wide initiative that’s centralized in one place. In fact, that’s one of the primary reasons for investing in a vendor management system.
Yet to ensure your business is receiving these full benefits from your VMS, it’s crucial that all hiring managers across your organizations are using it appropriately. Having hiring managers that don’t use your vendor management system and hire contingent workers (or engage staffing agencies) on their own terms, will prevent your organization from having true visibility and control over its contingent workers - and impact your entire program ROI.
Create a process so that all hiring managers can seamlessly use your VMS in their roles. This will ensure that all contingent workforce data is recorded across your entire business.
2 - Train your employees to use your vendor management system
As with any new system within your organization, employees need to understand why new technology is an improvement from what they had before. In most cases, staff members typically care more about how technology will improve their own professional life, more than it will help the results of the business. If technology is difficult to use, most employees won’t bother to use it.
To ensure uptake of a vendor management system within your organization, staff training is essential. Ensure that all employees understand how to use your VMS. This will help them to understand both how it will help their own professional efficiencies, and the company as a whole.
In addition, it’s a great idea to either suggest improvements, or have an improvement portal, with your VMS provider so that they can build a product roadmap that further benefits your organization when introduced to the product.
3 - Implement a vendor management system that works for your specific requirements
Vendor management systems come in all shapes and sizes. While some are designed for the large contingent spend volume of large enterprise organizations, others have been specifically designed for company’s with smaller contingent workforce and are considerably easier to use for smaller teams.
The vendor management system that you implement into your business should be specific to the unique needs of your business. If not, you may find you're spending more money than you need to, and that the system is too complex for your employees to use.
For example, some businesses may need a vendor management system that supports the management of permanent employees (sourced through staffing agencies) or contingent workers sourced directly. Not all systems have these features.
4 - Use a cloud-based VMS
Software as a service is hugely beneficial in today’s world of remote work. A cloud-based vendor management system gives your business flexibility and business continuity no matter where your team is working from and where they are based.
In addition, a cloud-based service also gives your contingent workforce data disaster recovery capability in the event of a breach to your systems.
Interested in learning more about Vendor Management Solutions?
Whether you are looking for a new VMS Solution, or just getting started, we are here to help. See how easy Conexis is to use by taking a quick 2 minute Self-Guided Tour. Contact Us for a Free No-Obligation Consultation to discuss your workforce challenges (and get immediate actionable insights) or Book a Personal Demo Today!