Issuing RFPs puts your company in control of the entire vendor selection process and insures that company-wide stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process. It is an opportunity to re-vamp existing processes and evaluate new technology systems, and to start forming a long-term relationship with a new global managed payroll partner.
Tips to help avoid RFP pitfalls
Issuing the RFP without internal stakeholder input
Once the RFP has been issued it is too late, at least without difficulty and delay, to go back and ask for more detail about issues that are important to other business units and geographic managers. Global payroll could impact several internal disciplines including HR, finance, regulatory, compliance, risk management and IT. There may be recruitment plans under way in a new market, or a new technology system being considered, for example, which could impact the geographic scope and technology requirements relating to multinational payroll.
Omitting a clearly defined business objective and the ‘selection criteria’ that will be used to choose a payroll outsourcing partner
Global payroll is a multi-faceted solution consisting of various technology platforms and in-country partners designed to meet the clients’ specific business requirements and align with their corporate cultures. Vendors who understand the critical business issues will be better equipped to provide solutions that are best suited to each individual client’s specific business objectives.
Losing sight of the need to format the questions in a way that will be easy to evaluate and compare the responses A side-by-side comparison chart and uncomplicated scoring formulas help clients clearly evaluate the vendors who respond to the RFP. Providing a section for comments is useful too. As the vendors are short-listed, further explanations are often needed to fully and accurately respond to what are sometimes highly-technical and country-specific questions.
Underestimating the timeline from date of issuing the RFP through to internal assessments
RFPs are often hundreds of pages long with granular detail that could take several weeks for potential vendors to complete. Once they are submitted, there needs to be ample time on the client side to properly review, compare and contrast all of the responses. This often requires inputs from various stakeholders with limited time available to thoroughly evaluate the responses.
Misunderstanding the timescales and resources required for project implementations
Transitioning global payroll systems may involve finance, HR, payroll, risk managers and IT staff members all of who play a significant role in the success of the implementation. All of these should be considered and factored into the decision-making processes both in terms of how long the process will take as well as when the company as a whole makes the decision to initiate the outsourcing project.
Chris Draeger, SafeGuard World International.
Issuing RFPs puts your company in control of the entire vendor selection process and insures that company-wide stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process. It is an opportunity to re-vamp existing processes and evaluate new technology systems, and to start forming a long-term relationship with a new global managed payroll partner.
Tips to help avoid RFP pitfalls
Issuing the RFP without internal stakeholder input
Once the RFP has been issued it is too late, at least without difficulty and delay, to go back and ask for more detail about issues that are important to other business units and geographic managers. Global payroll could impact several internal disciplines including HR, finance, regulatory, compliance, risk management and IT. There may be recruitment plans under way in a new market, or a new technology system being considered, for example, which could impact the geographic scope and technology requirements relating to multinational payroll.
Omitting a clearly defined business objective and the ‘selection criteria’ that will be used to choose a payroll outsourcing partner
Global payroll is a multi-faceted solution consisting of various technology platforms and in-country partners designed to meet the clients’ specific business requirements and align with their corporate cultures. Vendors who understand the critical business issues will be better equipped to provide solutions that are best suited to each individual client’s specific business objectives.
Losing sight of the need to format the questions in a way that will be easy to evaluate and compare the responses A side-by-side comparison chart and uncomplicated scoring formulas help clients clearly evaluate the vendors who respond to the RFP. Providing a section for comments is useful too. As the vendors are short-listed, further explanations are often needed to fully and accurately respond to what are sometimes highly-technical and country-specific questions.
Underestimating the timeline from date of issuing the RFP through to internal assessments
RFPs are often hundreds of pages long with granular detail that could take several weeks for potential vendors to complete. Once they are submitted, there needs to be ample time on the client side to properly review, compare and contrast all of the responses. This often requires inputs from various stakeholders with limited time available to thoroughly evaluate the responses.
Misunderstanding the timescales and resources required for project implementations
Transitioning global payroll systems may involve finance, HR, payroll, risk managers and IT staff members all of who play a significant role in the success of the implementation. All of these should be considered and factored into the decision-making processes both in terms of how long the process will take as well as when the company as a whole makes the decision to initiate the outsourcing project.
Chris Draeger, SafeGuard World International.
