CWS 3.0: September 23, 2015

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Building an RFP: ‘Be very clear and inclusive’

Putting together a request for proposal (RFP) is, of course, important when putting a contingent workforce program in place.

For this week’s topic of the week, we asked Kanita Harris, category manager, human resources, at Halliburton: “What is the most important single thing when putting together an RFP?”

Answer: Clarity.

“Everything needs to be very clear and inclusive so the suppliers understand the scope of what they are being required to quote on,” Harris said. “You don’t want to get any surprises later because it wasn’t clear.”

Being clear about the requirements starts with the specific roles, onboarding requirements, insurance requirements, geographic location and what the company is willing to reimburse and what it isn’t, she said. Also, share key performance indicators (KPIs) and other service-level expectations. Further, staffing suppliers should know what the program looks like; is it a master vendor, MSP or VMS? And they need to know the associated program fees.