Introducing Vendor Management Systems

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Explain how a VMS helps procure and manage an external workforce.

Managing Multiple Workers (and Vendors)

SAP Fieldglass is a cloud-based solution for procuring and managing an external workforce. It’s a type of software known as a Vendor Management System, or VMS.

Before we dive into the SAP Fieldglass solution itself, watch the video to get a foundational understanding of what Vendor Management Systems actually do to serve the workforce staffing industry.

The Benefits of a VMS

With that in mind, one easy way to understand the value of a VMS is to consider what it’s like to operate without one. Without a VMS an organization really doesn’t have a basis for knowing whether a supplier is charging reasonable and competitive rates for the workers that it’s supplying, or even if it’s supplying quality workers. Nor does it have an efficient method of tracking and managing the workers, so there is no insight into productivity or the value of the work being done.

So a VMS gives customers like WorkingNet

  • an efficient and automated process for hiring and managing non-permanent workers like Joe,
  • acts as a single point of reference for critical workforce decisions,
  • helps companies monitor the suppliers and control the cost of their external workforce, and
  • even helps keep track of the regulatory standards around the world.

Ultimately, a VMS does what an organization wants out of any tool: it increases efficiency and productivity, reduces costs, helps gain a competitive advantage, and drives business growth.

Having one system to house all worker and supplier information is not only cost effective but provides a single portal for complete visibility into the workers, the suppliers, and the project.

Overall, a VMS provides total visibility into the workforce, and companies like WorkingNet can automatically enforce contract compliance to reduce costs, mitigate risk, improve quality, increase operational efficiency, and make smarter buying decisions.

And considering WorkingNet’s global reach, a VMS can help the company stay in compliance with labor regulations in any country so that it can make appropriate hiring decisions anywhere in the world.

How a VMS is Used

Think again of the relationship between WorkingNet, the buyer; re:CrewIT the supplier; and Joe the worker. What would be needed in order for WorkingNet to attract, hire, manage, and pay Joe?

image of contingent process, illustrating how buyers use the VMS to indicate that a position is available, how suppliers use the VMS to provide candidates, and how workers use the VMS to complete onboarding tasks

How Buyers Use a VMS

WorkingNet, which has the temporary position to fill, would need to start by indicating that the position is available.

1It would use the VMS to create a job posting, which contains all the necessary information such as work dates, locations, and pay rates.
2Since a VMS maintains a database of suppliers, that job posting would be routed through the VMS to re:CrewIT (or whichever suppliers WorkingNet has selected).

How Suppliers Use a VMS

3And because re:CrewIT also has the VMS, they would then use it to review the job posting, evaluate the job criteria, and match appropriate candidates. They would then use the VMS to forward information on those candidates to the hiring managers back at WorkingNet.
4WorkingNet, then, would review the candidates in the VMS and request to hire as many as are needed. Those selections would then be routed back to re:CrewIT so that it could provide the requested workers.

How Workers Use a VMS

5Once hired, Joe would use the VMS to fill out documents like an I-9, a background check, as well as sign the contract for the position and enter his contact information. He would also create and submit time and expense sheets in the VMS. That data would be maintained in the VMS to make it more efficient to manage, track him, and determine his eligibility for future positions once his contract is up.
6It also makes it easier for both WorkingNet and re:CrewIT to track Joe’s time and expenses,
7and ensures that both re:CrewIT and Joe get paid accurately and in a timely manner.
8And finally, when the project comes to an end, Joe would follow a particular exit procedure, and the VMS would help with that too!

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