For growing organisations, the speed and accuracy of job placement directly impacts productivity and competitive edge. Yet, many companies still struggle with disjointed processes that turn finding a contractor or temporary worker into a lengthy, costly ordeal. The key to overcoming this is establishing a transparent, automated recruitment workflow.
This is where integrating a powerful HR and contingent workforce system, like expressHR, with a VMS (Vendor Management System) transforms the entire recruitment workflow. This unified approach ensures that the journey from an urgent need to a successful job placement is streamlined, compliant, and highly efficient hiring.
The Challenge of Fragmented Recruitment
Without a centralised system, the contingent recruitment workflow typically involves hand-offs between multiple systems and departments: a request is emailed to HR, then manually entered into a procurement system, and finally shared via email with multiple agencies. This fragmentation leads to:
This creates a slow, expensive process that is the antithesis of efficient hiring.
Mapping the expressHR Efficient Hiring Workflow
expressHR works by providing the connective tissue that links the initial business need to the final job placement confirmation, often acting as the execution layer that supports the strategic decisions made within the VMS. Here is the four-stage, efficient hiring workflow:
1. Requisition and Approval (The VMS Start)
The journey begins in the VMS (or an integrated module). The hiring manager raises a request detailing the role, skill set, and target rate (using predefined rate cards for consistency). expressHR facilitates the automated, multi-stage approval process. No more chasing signatures—the system routes the request electronically to finance and departmental heads. This automated sign-off ensures budget compliance before any external spend is incurred.
2. Supplier Engagement and Candidate Submission
Once approved, the VMS instantaneously distributes the job specification to the defined supplier network. Agencies submit candidates directly into the platform, ensuring all CVs and supporting documentation are standardised and easily comparable. This centralisation drastically speeds up candidate screening.
3. Onboarding and Compliance (expressHR Execution)
This is where expressHR takes over to ensure a smooth, compliant job placement. The system manages all the necessary documentation for the UK market, including 'Right to Work' checks and specific client compliance requirements. The automated onboarding process collects all data required for the eventual contingent payroll, ensuring the worker is ready to start on Day 1 without delays caused by missing paperwork. This rigorous process is crucial for risk management and is a hallmark of efficient hiring.
4. Timesheet, Invoicing, and Payment
The placement is confirmed, and the system now transitions into management mode. Time and attendance are captured through the VMS or expressHR itself, which then feeds directly into the consolidated invoicing and contingent payroll engine. This eliminates the final manual step, completing the automated recruitment workflow cycle.
By implementing the expressHR workflow, organisations move away from fragmented, risky processes to a state of transparent, fast, and efficient hiring. This integrated approach ensures the right talent is onboarded quickly and compliantly, accelerating productivity from the moment the job spec is first raised to successful job placement.