Transforming Workforce Management: A University's Journey with DZConneX

Although it may sound like a good idea to give each school/department autonomy over their own workforce populations, it can lead to operational inefficiencies, misclassification risks, and an overall misalignment in workforce management across the entire institution. Properly managing a workforce is a complex task. For a university to get the most value out of their workforce, they should leverage a cohesive, centralized strategy overseen by workforce solutions experts. 

The Dilemma

For over 50 years, one of our higher education customers operated its contingent labor program in a fully decentralized manner. That strategy, or lack thereof, resulted in limited visibility into thousands of contingent workers and their associated spend, making it difficult to get a comprehensive view of the workforce. This lack of visibility hindered effective decision-making, strategic planning, and the ability to identify cost-saving opportunities. 

Their highly decentralized approach led to additional challenges, including: 

• Difficulty in Controlling Costs and Strategic Sourcing: Without a centralized program, managing and controlling costs became increasingly difficult. They also struggled to implement a strategic sourcing strategy across their corporate HR and Procurement departments. 

• Inconsistent Contract Language and Mark-Up Rates: The absence of standardized contract terms and processes across the entire university’s supply chain led to inconsistencies in contracts and poor cost containment. 

• Higher Admin and Resource Costs: Because each school/department was operating independently, the fragmented management of contracts, suppliers, and invoicing added to their administrative burden and resource costs. 

• Missed Opportunities: The customer was losing opportunities to enhance supplier competition, candidate quality, and service levels. 

• Increased Compliance Risks: Maintaining legal and regulatory compliance was difficult with their disparate systems and processes, posing a major threat to the university. 

Once the university recognized the negative impacts that had been compounding over the past five decades due to their decentralized approach, they sought the expertise of DZConneX.

The Strategy

Based on the customer’s extensive needs, DZConneX proposed and implemented a vendor-neutral MSP solution powered by an industry-leading Vendor Management System (VMS) technology. The customized program model centralized workforce operations and management to drive institutional success.

Several key elements of DZConneX's solution included:

• Thorough Discovery: DZConneX completed a comprehensive discovery phase to analyze existing teams, systems, and workflows – a critical step to identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement. 

• VMS Configuration, Testing, and Training: The VMS was uniquely configured to streamline the university’s processes. It was then extensively tested to ensure it was ready for our customer’s use, and once it passed the test, thorough training sessions ensued for hundreds of end users to facilitate effective adoption of the system.  

• Supplier Optimization: Our Supplier Relations team worked to optimize the supply chain – reducing the number of suppliers from 200+ to 50. Optimization improved supplier relations, supplier performance and candidate quality. 

• Integrations: A full integration into the VMS system provided a single source of truth, ensuring that all departments work with the same accurate and up-to-date information. This consistency enhanced decision-making and strategic planning. 

• Comprehensive Reporting: Integration allowed for comprehensive data collection and real-time reporting across various metrics, such as spend, headcount, compliance, and performance. This visibility helped in tracking and managing the contingent workforce more effectively. 

• Dedicated Teams: By incorporating a dedicated PMO team into the MSP program, DZX ensured that our workforce management solution was efficient, compliant, and aligned with our customer’s strategic goals. This dedicated support helped in driving operational excellence, cost savings, and overall program success. 

DZConneX was able to successfully achieve the goal of centralizing the university’s workforce management program to provide a holistic view of the entire contingent workforce, enabling better tracking of worker status, spend, and performance. 

The Impact

By tailoring and implementing a centralized MSP solution, the university’s workforce operations experienced several significant benefits.  

• Streamlined Processes: Centralization reduces administrative redundancy by consolidating processes, which leads to more efficient operations and cost savings. 

• Economies of Scale: Aggregating contingent workforce spend across the institution can enhance bargaining power with suppliers, leading to better rates and contract terms. 

• Consistent Application of Policies: A centralized approach ensures that all departments adhere to the same legal and regulatory requirements, reducing the risk of non-compliance. 

• Centralized Audits and Reporting: Easier monitoring and reporting of compliance-related issues across the entire institution, helping to quickly identify and address potential risks. 

• Comprehensive Data Access: Centralizing workforce management provides a holistic view of the entire contingent workforce, enabling better tracking of worker status, spend, and performance. 

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Enhanced visibility allows for more informed strategic decisions, backed by accurate and comprehensive data. 

• Consolidated Billing: A single point of billing simplifies financial management, making it easier to track and manage contingent workforce expenditures. 

• Budget Control: Better budget control and forecasting through centralized oversight of spend data. 

Some of the tangible benefits our program provided included achieving a 90% adoption rate at its start. The stakeholders’ and end users’ positive adoption showcased the success of our training and laid the foundation for a winning program. The program also realized a 99% candidate retention rate – it doesn't get much better than that. With most candidates remaining on board, business continuity existed, and the university’s operations were not disrupted. 

Additionally, we were able to optimize the supplier network to include more diverse suppliers, leading to 70% of program spend with diverse suppliers. By committing to diverse supplier spend, universities contribute to social equity and economic empowerment. This demonstrates the institution's commitment to social responsibility and can inspire similar practices among students, staff, and other stakeholders. 

The university also realized over $11 million of cost savings within the first four years of the new centralized program. By transforming our customer’s contingent labor program, DZConneX demonstrated the power of a technology-driven, centralized approach delivered by our workforce solutions experts. 

DZConneX has extensive experience optimizing workforce practices for higher education customers, and we are eager to continue helping customers achieve their workforce goals in this competitive sector. If your college or university is facing workforce challenges, reach out to DZConneX today to find out how we can help you thrive in today’s dynamic workforce landscape.