Positioned behind the scenes of UK businesses, the business services and finance industry has a key part to play in our economy. Companies have the added pressure of ensuring that they, like the businesses they supply, employ quality staff, manage their internal processes efficiently and adhere to all health and safety legislation. Health and safety is particularly important, from those providing hygiene and business services and finance services to those delivering heavy supplies of business materials. As a massive employer of temporary agency workers, with millions of people working in administration and finance departments, front line roles, as well as driving and delivery work, some of the biggest players in the business services and finance sector have come to rely on de Poel to make certain that these key objectives are met.
de Poel is the UKs leading neutral vendor recruitment provider.
Further challenges presented themselves as to cope with the recession, many agencies began cutting corners on worker-checks, manipulating pay to candidates, and upping their margins. Already battling with tough trading conditions, this presented a series of problems for business services and finance firms employing thousands of temporary agency workers. Luckily those working with de Poel were in a strong position to respond to agency cost-cutting strategies, with a standardized rate matrix and formal service level agreements already in place.
The use of temporary agency workers will continue to play a pivotal role within the business services and finance industry throughout 2010 as business services and finance firms concentrate on developing more innovative and environmentally friendly offerings to cope with competition. But with tight health and safety legislation in place and pressures to keep costs down until the recession comes to an end and businesses are procuring services and goods more consistently, the need to improve control of their temporary workforce will be more important than ever.
Business services and finance companies must improve their control and indeed cost of the temporary workforce, which is often fragmented, if they are to be successful during 2010.
Much like construction and logistics, the business services and finance industry has been a frontline victim of the global recession. Dependent on business spending for its survival, this industry has faced a hard blow as businesses across the board sought to make huge cutbacks in spending and in the number of services they required.
And yet, this isn't the only problem. The rapid development of communication technology, having led to a profound shift in the geographic distribution of services provision, has also intensified the need for the business services and finance industry to develop a range of on-shore, near-shore and off-shore capabilities. Meanwhile, the fact that businesses have evolved to keep up with the times, has also put pressure on the industry to exchange traditional business services with more innovative, contemporary offerings. Further, the increase in the number of companies consolidating their supplier lists to streamline procurement and administration and reduce overall costs, has caused many business and finance service providers to partner with other suppliers, and created problems related to prime vs sub-contractor status and customer-relationship control. The impact of organisations implementing greener business practices has induced even tougher trading conditions for industry players supplying non-biodegradable materials or for those with polluting service-solutions in place.
In light of the developments within the business services and finance industry, the need for temporary agency workers has massively increased. As traditional business service activities are experiencing commoditisation, successful market players are under pressure to turn their value-proposition away from the basic removal of cost, and towards the improvement of their clients' own product offerings and more up-to-date. This requires more workers. At the same time, the need for greener service offerings, whether they be more sustainable services or more environmentally friendly products, demands a more diverse skills base as well as a higher number of total employees. Skill sets include anything and everything from the frontline workers themselves, manufacturers, drivers, office workers and sales and marketing people, to managers, supervisors and higher level operations executives.
The business services and finance industry includes actual business services such as catering, security, cleaning, horticulture, hygiene, business services and finance, pest control and finance, as well as the supply of business products and materials such as stationary, financial systems, furniture, telecoms, food and beverages. These services and/or materials can be supplied as single, bundled or fully integrated services, and by this very nature of their solutions, business services and finance companies will often utilise a significant number of temporary agency workers.
de Poel is the UK's number one purchaser of temporary agency labour in the UK and within the business services and finance sector, specialising in the procurement and management of temporary agency labour. We help companies to optimise their relationships with recruitment agencies, adding value, saving money, and improving standards across the use of temporary agency labour. Our web-based system e-tips® reduces administration and produces a wealth of real-time management information, enabling companies to manage and control their temporary agency labour more efficiently.
"Savings of 8% on the company's temporary agency labour spend has increased profitability."
