Mid-Market Contingent Workforce: A VMS isn't just for Large Programs!

When it comes to contingent workforce management programs, organizations that have smaller contingent workforce volumes  often have no formal management plan in place to manage their non-employee workforce and staffing agencies.

Instead, companies use manual spreadsheets and emails to send and record data. It doesn’t take long for these spreadsheets to get duplicated, emails to get lost and the entire program to become fragmented. 

The problem with this is that it leads to a complete lack of visibility and control over contingent workers, and organizations are left with rogue spend and inefficient practices as hiring managers engage with staffing agencies and contingent workers using their own processes and rates.

To gain visibility into your contingent workforce, monitor its performance and significantly reduce costs, the implementation of a vendor management system is crucial. 

Yet, traditionally, vendor management systems have been designed for enterprise organizations with huge contingent workforce volumes. These systems have complex functionalities and poor client support, making them inaccessible for companies with smaller budgets.

Thankfully, that’s changing. 

There’s now an improved selection of vendor management systems, such as Conexis VMS, that have been designed specifically for organizations with mid-size contingent workforce spend. 

In this article, we take a look at exactly why vendor management systems are no longer just designed for organizations with vast amounts of contingent spend, and how companies with smaller contingent workforce budgets can benefit from VMS implementation. 

What is a vendor management system? 

A vendor management system is a software solution, that’s typically hosted on the cloud so it can be accessed and used anywhere with an internet connection, that allows organizations to facilitate all of the processes associated with contingent workforce management.

With a VMS system, companies can centralize, automate and consolidate the management of their contingent workers and staffing agencies in one single platform.

Typical functionalities of a vendor management system include data storage, procurement, onboarding, time entry and approval, monitoring staffing agency performance, payments and so much more. 

Simply put, the right VMS software will help your business to; 

• monitor and track vendor performance; 
• gain complete visibility of your workforce; 
• automate the end-to-end processes of managing your contingent workers and staffing agencies;
• ensure contingent workforce compliance;
• and gain visibility into program spend. 

A VMS is an easy way to manage your contingent workforce management program and realize true ROI from your non-employee workforce. 

A VMS can benefit smaller contingent workforce programs 

VMS systems aren’t just for organizations with large contingent workforce volumes, they can benefit those with smaller contingent workforce volumes too

Most of the popular vendor management systems have been designed for enterprise organizations with high contingent workforce spend. This means that these systems have complex functionalities, are difficult to use and typically rely on someone with contingent experience to operate.

There are now vendor management systems that have been specifically designed for organizations with smaller mid-size contingent workforce spend. 

In fact, an article from Staffing Industry Analysts states: “In the past, many companies worried that annualized spend of less than $20 million did not warrant - or could not sustain - a full MSP [or] VMS solution. To some extent, that was true, and so these companies managed their programs in-house through their procurement and/or human resource teams.

“Today, innovative MSP/VMS service providers are able to deliver the benefits offered through these programs within more spend-restricted environments. This is accomplished in a number of ways, including shared program management staff and scaled technology platform.”

Implement a contingent workforce management program with a modern vendor management system that improves your workforce quality and saves you money, for a fraction of the cost of the legacy VMS players.