Take Your Program to the Next Level: Build a Plan for Continuous Improvement. Webinar Q&A Updated: May 17, 2012

Transcription

1 Take Your Program to the Next Level: Build a Plan for Continuous Improvement Webinar Q&A Updated: May 17, 2012

2 Q: Our company has a highly successful MSP/VMS program in terms of performance, visibility and savings, but the one issue that comes up constantly is how to decrease the quantity of no shows for both interviews & new hires. Any suggestions? A: Cycle time is the biggest driver of this metric the longer the cycle time, the more opportunity workers have to apply for other jobs. Workers usually take the first job offered to them. Our customer analysis typically shows a correlation between significantly long cycle times and no shows or false starts. (Arjun Dutt, Fieldglass) Q: How is Visa s program aligned internally, e.g. is Mark's program aligned under procurement/control or HR? A: I m in HR, Talent Acquisition. We split TA into Recruitment and Operations, and I fall in the latter. Procurement joins me for Supplier Governance meetings on an annual basis. I also have a Procurement resource aligned with all of Visa HR, and we meet monthly to discuss all things contingent (workforce) and to address any concerns with the MSP/VMS contract. (Mark Johnson, Visa) Q: How many people do you have in the Program Office to manage all of these initiatives? A: At Visa, we manage the program from a customer perspective. I have one direct report as a Visa FTE. Our MSP is outsourced to Allegis Group Services. They have on-sites in Foster City (3 people), Miami (2 people), Singapore (2 people) and London (1 off-site shared resource). (Mark Johnson, Visa) A: We have a small core team of Thomson Reuters employees who manage the regional programs we have in place. The Regional MSP s staff provide service to the businesses. (Dave Kain, Thomson Reuters) Q: Does your MSP/VMO perform Supplier Management, or does another group (like Procurement) measure for you or collaborate with you to perform the measurement and analysis? A: The Contract Staffing program is managed by me in HR. Our MSP, Allegis, will run supplier scorecards based on KPIs/SLAs in our master agreement. They optimize the supply chain on our behalf and have both cut and added vendors, developing a 1st and 2nd tier network. They are open to receiving referred suppliers for consideration at certain open season times. Allegis benchmarks all suppliers across all programs, attempting to use consistent criteria from customer to customer. (Mark Johnson, Visa) A: We have our MSP Providers hold the contracts and manage the supplier network. (Dave Kain, Thomson Reuters) Page 2

3 Q: Can the panelists advise how they conducted rate benchmarking? A: We have each of the Regional MSPs provide data on Market Pricing quarterly. It is a combination of pricing information from industry sites, their nation account teams, and suppliers. This information helps us adjust our rate cards, but also allows us to benchmark ourselves against the current market pricing. (Dave Kain, Thomson Reuters) Q: Does the MSP or internal analysts provide the market data that's used in the job title and rate refresh? A: Our MSP does this. In fact, they have a dedicated economist who was formerly under the US Dept of Labor. He provides analytics, both ad hoc and periodically. When we sit down monthly to review spend, we look at trends, i.e. if positions are exceeding rate cards. Also, our business reviews allow direct dialogue with business leaders on market changes and to prepare for any rate adjustments. (Mark Johnson, Visa) Q: Mark, do you own the Fieldglass relationship, or does your MSP? A: Our MSP owns it formally and under contract, but Fieldglass, Visa and our MSP have joint continuous dialogue. We have reached a point in our relationship such that any one of the three parties can openly call the other without feeling threatened. (Mark Johnson, Visa) Q: Mark, do you give your suppliers access to the Share Point site? A: Outside of key Visa employee stakeholders, our MSP has access to the Share Point site. (Mark Johnson, Visa) Q: Mark, does HR review/approve job titles? A: Yes, I approve job titles that are placed in the Fieldglass catalog for job postings. (Mark Johnson, Visa) Q: Mark, do you require that all AWF register to assure all onboarding functions are completed in the Fieldglass application? A: Not in all cases. We currently have a portion of our AWF that are consultants and business process outsourcing (BPO) workers that are purely tracked and reported out of Fieldglass, but do not need to register. Our MSP creates worker records in Fieldglass that then flow to Visa downstream systems, i.e. provisioning access. (Mark Johnson, Visa) Q: How often are HM surveys conducted? Do you survey your contingent labor suppliers about your program? Page 3

4 A: We conduct annual surveys annually, to avoid bombarding managers with multiple surveys throughout the year. Outside of my own HR program, HR in general has its own survey, and there is also a corporate-wide survey. We don t survey suppliers on the program, mostly because they tend to be overly positive about the MSP/VMS as to not lose the business. I hate to say it, but I discount this type of survey and stick to what the managers are feeling. (Mark Johnson, Visa) A: We survey both quarterly. (Dave Kain, Thomson Reuters) Q: We have had an MSP for 3 years. We still have managers circumventing the process because no matter how much we improve the internal process, it is still easier for them to pick up the phone and call suppliers to get workers in the next day. Do either of you see this issue? A: That is always a challenge! I would examine other factors leading to circumvention, i.e. headcount rules, tenure tracking, etc. (Mark Johnson, Visa) A: We have had an MSP in place for 10 years, and have the same problem. The only solution that we have identified is: 1) Get executive support in those businesses 2) Use your finance system to identify the culprits 3) Develop a communications strategy to educate them 4) Continue to measure compliance We have found that being able to articulate both the risks of going outside the managed program and the value of the information gained from the program resonate well with executives. Their support helps overcome hiring manager reluctance. (Dave Kain, Thomson Reuters) Q: Do you recruit 'specialist' roles or are they simple 'white collar'? (in reference to cycle time reduction) A: We have contractors performing various job roles at differing levels. This could range from entry level call center agents to senior software engineers. (Mark Johnson, Visa) A: 70% of our program spend is for technology resources. Another 25% is other professional positions. 5% is administrative & clerical and less that 1% is light industrial. (Dave Kain, Thomson Reuters) Q: For continuous improvement, did it require you to update/revise internal policy? A: Not required per se, but it should lead you to update areas of your existing policy or creating new guidelines. It may require you to re-review Page 4

5 your MSP contract to ensure that KPIs and SLAs are still relevant or more fleshed out. (Mark Johnson, Visa) A: Primarily we needed to implement new policies, but in a few instances we needed to change existing policies to support best practices identified by the Program Office. (Dave Kain, Thomson Reuters) Q: Dave, what would cause rate adjustments? Does it change during the assignment? A: We review our rate cards quarterly to determine if the market has changed. We only see rate adjustments during an assignment if it is a long-term engagement. (Dave Kain, Thomson Reuters) Q: Does the Fieldglass technology 'Punch out' to SAP? A: Fieldglass does punch out to SAP, as well as other systems such as Ariba, etc. (Arjun Dutt, Fieldglass) Q: Arjun, what specific gaps should I be looking for in my program? A: The most common gaps that we see are in measuring quality and efficiency. Quality is the toughest to measure, as much of it is subjective and requires additional input by the users of the system (i.e. hiring managers). Many companies avoid the subjective input from the users and therefore don't have enough data to make good decisions. Or, quality is measured at the end of the assignment, without any correlation to the worker's company history. Using a VMS allow you to measure multiple points of data within the entire lifecycle of the worker's assignment, from being a candidate all the way to termination, and using a mix of these data points to better identify and measure quality. Another common gap that we see is efficiency. A VMS tool can automate many functions being done today. As displayed in the webinar, Thomson Reuters was able to save three days of cycle time with just one such point of automation. Imagine further savings when measuring other points. (Arjun Dutt, Fieldglass) Q: Arjun, does Fieldglass have a template program review document you can share? A: That would be ideal, but unfortunately each program is unique and no one template would necessarily be applicable for everyone. For example, a review of light industrial-heavy programs will vary from a review of ITheavy programs. We have helped programs of all sizes and complexities find operational improvements. I would suggest sending an to info@fieldglass.com to be connected with someone who can be of further assistance. (Arjun Dutt, Fieldglass) Page 5

6 Q: What SLAs/KPIs are most important to you, and how is program success determined? A: Program success is determined through multiple KPIs and SLAs. We are going through an overhaul of the program's mission statement, key components that support the mission, and how to effectively measure performance. Our most important areas of focus are quality, speed and value. We then evaluate data analytics through the Fieldglass application to trend this performance. Combined with an annual survey, this allows us to provide program governance. (Mark Johnson, Visa) A: There are three that we pay the most attention to: hiring manager satisfaction, supplier satisfaction and cost savings. Since these objectives can conflict, the key is to find the best balance between quality and price. (Dave Kain, Thomson Reuters) A: Talk about a segue way. This sounds like it has the makings of an entire blog post unto itself. Check our blog, From the Field in a day or two to read through my thoughts on this very interesting topic. (Arjun Dutt, Fieldglass) For those of you interested in learning even more about the continuous improvement process, we have written a white paper titled, Factors For Taking Your Services Procurement Program From Good to Great. Page 6