Going for green – eco friendly procurement

Whilst sustainable procurement has previously largely been relevant in the public sector, it is becoming more imperative in the private sector as companies look to incorporate their procurement strategies into their CSR.

When it comes to temporary agceny labour recruitment going green can be difficult – you can hardly judge workers on their environmental impact or sustainability! But, using an electronic management system can significantly reduce paper, saving costs and the environment.

Managing recruitment agencies and your temporary agency workers is a lengthy and difficult process, often the central procurement team will have minimal control over spend, as the actual process of recruitment is left to hiring managers at individual sites. Through the use of technology procurement managers are able to keep costs under control and work out how they can be streamlined to improve savings year on year.

Not only is the management information they provide essential, the savings can be boosted in other ways. Although initial investment can sometimes be prohibitive, cost reductions achieved through reduced administration and use of paper can easily recoup this. Handling multiple time sheets and the collation, reconciliation and payment of invoices adds about 12% to agency costs. It also requires significant administration and storage costs in house – the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply calculates that the processing of each invoice equates to £50.06. Add to that an average error rate of 15% and it becomes clear that an electronic system is essential.

de Poel’s electronic, timesheet and invoice processing system, e-tips® gives a complete overview of all temporary agency labour within your company. Different levels of administration are provided to ensure that central procurement can see the vital management information needed to achieve targets, but so that hiring managers and agencies at local levels can use the system for effective management of temporary agency staff.

On top of these features e-tips® can provide Agency Workers Regulations data, Right to Work documents and checks, driving license information and unique candidate tracking amongst other things.

To find out more about how e-tips® could help your green procurement policy, visit our website – www.depoel.co.uk