Use of the non-employee workforce is increasing dramatically, and is only set to rise further in the years to come. Yet, despite this growth, many organizations are failing to implement processes that allow them to manage their external workforce efficiently.
In fact, the vast majority of organizations (particularly those with smaller non-employee workforce budgets of anywhere between $1m to $10m) are still using completely ineffective and time-consuming manual methods such as spreadsheets, in-house databases or Sharepoint-like websites.
This inefficient, fragmented and simply ineffective management methods will lead to a lack of visibility into your contingent workforce management program. The result? Your business will be losing money because of numerous inefficiencies, even worse, you could have absolutely no idea that rogue spend is having a huge impact on your bottom line.
Using manual spreadsheets to manage non-employee workers and staffing vendors simply does not work.
Have you decided enough is enough? Are you looking for a vendor management solution that will give you complete visibility into your non-employee workforce, consolidate your vendors and significantly reduce your overall external workforce spend?
If so, it’s likely you have already begun the search for a vendor management system (VMS).
Great decision! The use of a vendor management system leads to benefits such as vendor consolidation, greater efficiencies, improved non-employee workforce visibility, reduced costs, the ability to seamlessly monitor and track vendor performance, improved external workforce quality and much more.
In this blog, we’re going to take a look at the top five questions you need to ask providers to ensure your organization is implementing the perfect VMS software solution for your external workforce requirements.
1 - Does your solution meet our required features and functions?
This question is important not only because you want to ensure the VMS you choose has all of the features and functionalities you need, but also because you’ll want to avoid all of the bells and whistles that some VMS solutions have that you’ll never use. These unnecessary features will affect the user experience of those who don’t need them, reducing how efficient it is to use a VMS.
Instead, look for some core features that will really work towards improving how you manage your entire contingent workforce management program, including your staffing agencies. Some of the top functionalities and features should include, but are not limited to:
- Vendor consolidation
- Automation of processes
- Creating a centralized database for your program
- Vendor guidelines and rate standardization
- Invoicing
- Process requisitions
- Process approvals
- Onboarding tools
- Visibility into vendor performance, so you can analyze the success of your staffing agencies.
2 - Will my team be able to use the software?
There’s no point investing in a software solution that’s too complicated for your team to use. Operators shouldn’t have to spend countless hours trying to figure out how they can use each function to optimize how they manage your organization’s non-employee workforce.
Invest in a vendor management system that has put the time and effort into creating a solution that is easy-to-use. A user-friendly interface will go a long way to ensuring that your business realizes ROI from your VMS investment.
3 - Will the vendor management system secure my company’s data?
A vendor management system is typically delivered in a software as a service (SaaS) model. That means the VMS provider is responsible for securing the solution and keeping your company’s data protected.
While SaaS is generally considered more secure than on-premise applications, it’s still crucial that you ask your VMS provider about the security steps they are taking to protect your business. Make sure the provider you end up choosing is using security measures such as encryption, backups, password protection and version tracking to secure your sensitive data.
4 - How much does the VMS cost?
The vast majority of vendor management systems have been developed for organizations with enterprise-level spend in mind. These VMS software solutions typically require minimum spend volumes, often putting them out of reach for organizations with smaller non-employee workforce budgets.
Thankfully, your options are growing and you are no longer forced to stick to those ineffective manual spreadsheets you have been using to manage your contingent workforce program.
Conexis VMS, for example, is the very first vendor management system designed with no minimum spend requirements - meaning it’s the perfect solution for any size company, no matter how small or large your external workforce budget is.
5 - Can I see a demo of the VMS?
Now that you have narrowed down the field of VMS providers, it’s time to get started with the fun part. Ask your potential vendor management system providers if they can give you a walkthrough of the technology via a free demo.
A demo will give you an in-depth look at the vendor management software solution, the features and functionality that it has and how user-friendly it is to use. This will give you a good idea of whether the solution is the right fit for your organization.
Remember that a product demo is also a great time to ask any further questions that you haven’t already asked.
Want to learn more about choosing the right vendor management system for your company’s specific vendor management and non-employee workforce requirements, or simply want to book your very own software demo with Conexis VMS? Contact our team today. We would be happy to help.
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