Five Ways a Vendor Management System Benefits Staffing Suppliers

Many staffing firms are reluctant to embrace a Vendor Management System. But this is based on a series of misperceptions.

Vendor Management System (VMS) technology was initially invented to streamline the procurement of staffing talent. This offered a number of benefits to businesses - from increased visibility of their staffing spend and reduced complexity to the elimination of human-error through automation.

For staffing firms, however, the benefits have not always appeared so obvious. Many see a VMS as creating excessive constraints, inflexible rate card controls and driving unnecessary competition.

In reality, a VMS can benefit staffing firms just as much as it does businesses, making them more efficient, more effective - and ultimately more lucrative.

Five Ways a Vendor Management System Benefits Staffing Suppliers

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In this eBook, we explore five ways staffing firms will see these benefits.

A lower time-to-hire is directly correlated with a lower cost-per-hire, according to recent research.1

More efficient staffing processesA VMS will help streamline your staffing process and ensure quality and compliance are consistent

In a competitive landscape, staffing suppliers must provide the best possible experience to businesses. But as organisations increase their reliance on external workers, many suppliers struggle to ensure rapid responses and consistent communication.

A VMS is therefore a vital tool. It enables staffing suppliers to work more efficiently, streamlining their process and allowing firms to configure the platform to fit their specific needs and workflow.

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Match candidates more efficientlyMaking sense of clients’ needs and matching them with the right candidates takes a great deal of time. But with real-time analytics, notifications and information sorting features, suppliers are able to understand and respond to the needs of their clients far more quickly and effectively.

Fix communication gapsWhen suppliers are overstretched, it isn’t always possible to ensure the right person is available to communicate with clients. But using “Proxy” and “Delegate” information, a VMS ensures that a colleague is able to seamlessly impersonate the individual and ensure the recruitment process isn’t delayed by broken communication.

An automated hiring lifecycleBy centralising all submissions, suppliers can easily assess candidates and ensure they are suitable for a given role. They can then schedule interviews directly through the VMS, and fast-track onboarding through automated processes.

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Greater visibility of performanceWith clearer data, staffing suppliers are empowered to improve their strategies and processes

Many suppliers struggle to properly quantify their efforts. Even those that generate data on various elements of their process tend to lack a centralised platform that can be used to create a full picture of their performance.

A VMS offers the perfect solution, enabling suppliers to understand and respond to their current performance using granular, highly reliable data.

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Track performance in real-timeUsing a VMS, suppliers can track the entire recruitment lifecycle - from how many calls are required to connect with a candidate to retention and turnover rates and the bottom line cost of their entire process. This data is generated in real-time, meaning performance can be understood at the most granular level possible.

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Optimise based on data, not intuitionThe data a VMS creates gives suppliers clear, actionable insights that can be used to optimise the process. This might simply mean locating elements that can be usefully adjusted; it might mean understanding better their own staffing needs. Ultimately, it means leaders can make strategic decisions based on data, not simply intuition or accumulated opinion.

Unlock new business opportunitiesA data-driven approach will eventually help suppliers expand their client base. Many business executives consider themselves to be poorly informed about compliance and contingent workers’ responsibilities, and the data a VMS generates will enable suppliers to provide such businesses with enhanced visibility.

Less than 1 in 4 staffing companies say that key metrics are available to everyone in their HR team.2

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Digital timesheets save businesses 5% of their total staffing expenditure by avoiding human-error and payroll spillage.3

Enhanced invoicingSuppliers can save time and money by integrating and automating timesheets

Invoicing requires a great deal of time and effort on the part of both suppliers and businesses. Many businesses still operate using cumbersome manual timesheet processes - which create unnecessary complexity and room for error.

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Get rid of manual timesheetsWith a VMS, suppliers can seamlessly integrate with the client business’s time entry system, creating a more efficient process. This will also reduce the likelihood of manual entry errors, and enable staff to be tracked across multiple projects, tasks or departments with ease.

Provide more optionsMany staffing suppliers have to operate a single system, as managing multiple time keeping approaches manually becomes complex and time consuming. A VMS allows them to offer multiple options to staff: the supplier can enter time on a worker’s behalf, or enable them to enter it themselves. They can also manage rate cards easily through the VMS to save time.

Increased complianceCompliance is a major concern for many businesses dealing with an external workforce. But with a VMS, suppliers can easily reconfigure their system to automatically comply with specific company policies, overtime rules and industry-specific labour regulations. Ultimately, this mitigates risk for the client and makes for a smoother hiring process.

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Better client relationsA VMS improves communication and collaboration between suppliers and their clients

For many staffing suppliers, managing relations with your business partners can be challenging. But a good relationship is essential, as it builds trust and ultimately ensures that the business will continue coming to you to fulfil their staffing needs.

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Improved communicationA VMS helps suppliers communicate better with their clients, making it easier to provide updates and feedback. This can be done automatically through notifications, as well as a chat functionality which connects individuals directly to one another.

Track the process easilyInformation about the hiring process must be shared quickly and transparently with clients. A VMS enables this, enabling real-time notifications as each step of the process is fulfilled. This ensures clients feel confident that things are moving along, and ultimately creates lasting trust in the relationship.

Enable clients to reach out with easeA VMS makes it easier for hiring managers to share information or updates. This might be as simple as notify the supplier that the manager will be out of the office on a certain date. But even relatively small communications like this will massively reduce the amount of miscommunication and confusion within the relationship.

68% of large companies are consolidating their staffing suppliers - and 29% more say they plan to. A strong, reliable relationship is key for staffing suppliers to ensure they are the supplier of choice.4

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The average cost saving achieved by implementing a Supplier Management solution is 12%.5

Receive more requisitionsWith a VMS, businesses can send requisitions through a streamline distribution list. This enables them to send out a higher volume of requisitions, without extra manual effort or cost. And by organising the distribution list according to company, location or labour needs, suppliers will only receive requisitions fit for their particular offering.

Forecast demand and planning proactively to meet itMany suppliers miss out on opportunities because they are not prepared for sudden spikes in demand. With a VMS, they are able to forecast demand accurately, using a variety of historical data and contributing factors. This then ensures they have the means to fulfil excess requests.

See future job postings in advanceWith a VMS, businesses are able to schedule job postings for future dates, as well as providing their budgets for these roles. This means suppliers can see what is coming down the pipeline and make strategic decisions about what to plan for. This ultimately increases their likelihood of success and allows suppliers to manage their resources more efficiently.

Increased Business OpportunityStaffing suppliers can grow their business more effectively using a VMS

VMSs clearly provide a number of benefits in terms of improved processes and relations. But many suppliers don’t realise that they can actually help you win more business and grow.

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At Indeed Flex+, we offer a scalable Vendor Management System that enables staffing suppliers to realise the full benefits of technology. We partner with our clients to tailor our tech to their specific needs - including complete account management to support you every step of the way.

From increased workforce visibility and reduced administration to sophisticated real-time data dashboards and quality fulfilment services, we offer an end-to-end solution that will help your operations become more efficient, effective and lucrative.

Looking to discover more about our VMS Solution?

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Indeed Flex offers a suite of services to help businesses at every stage of the recruitment process:

Vendor Management System (Indeed Flex+)

Permanent Hiring

Managed Service Provider

Workforce Management

Temporary Staffing

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Call us 0203 880 6955

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