Contractor Compliance: the need for a ‘single source of truth’

Inefficient contractor compliance and management processes can be costly for businesses. And unfortunately, most of them don’t realise this as they go about their daily operations using traditional Excel-based systems. Not that these systems aren’t good — they are excellent for their intended purpose, but they aren’t versatile for the complexities associated with contractor compliance processes.

Why Excel-based systems don’t quite meet the standard

Most companies will have some form of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, but few will have one specific to contract management. If anything, they may have an “add on” contractor compliance and management solution to their ERP, which poses a challenge as it may not be designed with the specific customers' needs in mind. This leads to reliance on Excel-based systems to manage contractor compliance, which is totally inadequate.

Why? Because many businesses will have multiple departments with specific responsibilities for contractor compliance. For example:

• The procurement department may have to ensure that services are sourced from properly registered (ASIC; ABN) companies that provide the best value for money.

• The HR department may have to ensure that contractor employees are properly licensed and adequately paid by their employers.

• The Training department may have to ensure that contractor employees are provided with the appropriate levels of induction training.

• The WHS department may have to ensure that contractors and their employees have safe work systems appropriate to the risks associated with the task and the work environment.

• The Risk and Governance department may have to ensure the contractors have the appropriate levels and types of insurances required for their services.

Each of these departments manages its aspect of contractor compliance in its own way, with spreadsheets designed for their own needs. There is no centralised database to capture all aspects of contractor compliance.

So, when one department may consider a contractor compliant from their standpoint, the same contractor may not be compliant from another's standpoint — there is no ‘single source of truth’. Inadvertent engagement of this contractor will result in non-compliance and exposes the business to contractor risks.

Contractor compliance: opportunities & risks

At the beginning of this article, we mentioned that inefficient contractor compliance and management processes can be costly for any business, and the above scenario is just one example. What businesses lose from these poor processes is hard to quantify, but it’s not hard to imagine what they can be when you do not have that ‘single source of truth’.

But ultimately, it gets down to this: the larger your business, the more contractors you use, and the higher the loss. 

That is why you should consider Conserve. It is a centralised system where all contractor data is monitored and maintained. It’s easy and intuitive to use and allows any number of authorised personnel in the business to access the system. Conserve has been designed and is continuously reviewed and updated with the customer in mind, and it provides significant opportunities for companies to not only save money through this ‘single source of truth’ but also improve efficiencies and the mitigation of contractor risks. 

Contractor risks are not only those that have to be mitigated at the time of service by contractors but post-service as well. Imagine a claim being brought against a business 3 or 5 years post-service, particularly if the contractor’s business has folded. The only recourse for the company to prove that the contractor was legally compliant at the point of engagement will be the contractor’s available historical data. With Conserve, you can maintain all contractor data, and it will be accessible to your business at any time.

Get your ‘single source of truth’ for contractor compliance

Any business that takes its contractor compliance seriously will know the limitations of using traditional Excel-based systems and the associated frustrations, so it’s important to realise they’re not your only option. All you need is a good platform that provides real-time data and information on your contractors through a well-structured dashboard with details only a click away, like Conserve.

Conserve is also offered as a ‘managed service’, and part of this includes periodic operational reviews by our client services team to ensure Conserve continues to be a good fit for you, the customer. Where issues are identified, these are fed back into our ongoing plans for Conserve's continuous development and enhancement.

A ‘single source of truth’ for contractor compliance management is a business imperative, and it’s time to get on top of contractor compliance management using Conserve. It is one of the most intuitive, cost-effective and efficient platforms available in the market, and it’ll steer your business in the right direction every time.

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