Over the last decade, modern technology has taken the contractor management world by storm. It has changed the way hiring organizations and contractors approach safety and has contributed to increased productivity on all fronts. The last few years especially have presented unprecedented challenges to businesses that brought on questions about increased safety measures, better resource allocation, and overall more efficient management. Many software providers have pivoted into creating innovative offerings aimed at providing valuable data to businesses all while significantly reducing the amount of time spent on tasks that can easily be completed by automation technology.
It is no secret that valuable resources such as time and money for any business are limited and must be spent with intent. In today’s fast-paced climate, there is no shortage of arduous processes and essential yet complex tasks looking to drain your resources. For contractor management, that means allocating resources to tasks such as contractor prequalification, onboarding, document collection, and workplace audits. All contractor management tasks are vital components of a solid safety program that must be accounted for at all times. However, having to physically carry out those tasks often take up a large portion of time and are tied to a hefty price tag. So, what if there was a way to eliminate those pain points while still hitting your compliance targets every quarter?
Automation
The processing of automating key tasks has grown to become a greatly beneficial tool for many businesses across the board. In fact, this tool has become commonplace in many technologies as a method to streamline tasks that otherwise would’ve required manual work to be completed by a human. Hiring organizations make use of it through automating much of their contractor management workflows in a bid for compliance. In turn, businesses receive many benefits through using automation such as reduced costs, more accurate insights, and more informed decision making.
Save money
Health and safety management is often a pricey endeavor for many companies. However, that doesn’t have to be the case. Traditionally, hiring organizations that work with third-parties will typically employ an internal safety professional(s) that will spearhead their entire safety program from start to finish. Alternatively, some organizations decide to outsource this process to a contractor management service. Both options result in a great increase in operational costs as you’d be delegating a wide range of administrative tasks for someone else to complete.
Save time
Safety management is a process that comes with a heap of legal requirements, mostly in the form of never-ending paperwork, larger than life spreadsheets, and protocols you must go through. Automating your contractor workflows can help easily reduce the amount of time you spend on just administrative tasks, in turn freeing up time to focus on building a safer workforce onsite. For example, automation allows you to set automatic renewal reminders for expiring contractor credentials instead of having to chase each one down separately. Furthermore, you can automate pre-qualification standards to assess and filter through prospective contractors before they ever arrive at your jobsite.
Monitor and maintain compliance
Automating your workflows means that all your insights and documentation will be updated in real time, resulting in a more accurate depiction of your compliance status. It is much harder to audit your process after the fact. Not to mention, doing so opens you up to larger room for error. With automated pre-qualification, you can ensure that any contractor you onboard is compliant. Furthermore, automated renewal reminders help you mitigate delays in your work as contractors are sent reminders for expiring documents so as to not fall out of compliance. Having audit ready insights helps you make key decisions to improve your safety program and safeguard your company from potential risks and liability.
Pick the best contractors
If picking a contractor to hire for a project seems like a long and complicated process, you’re doing it wrong. Choosing the right people for the job is instrumental for your safety success, but it doesn’t have to be a project that puts a dent in your resources and slows you down. Automation opens up the possibility of an easy and informed decision making process by presenting you with all the relevant contractor information to make a choice that you’re confident in. With automation, you’re able to compare prospective contractors at the click of a button, view real time compliance statuses, and ensure that they have all the qualifications necessary for the job.
Scale easily
If your business deals with just a few small contractors, then you may be able to get by just by using spreadsheets to keep track of information and communicate with contractors strictly through email. But once you scale, this traditional contractor management system is out of the question. Automation allows you to scale your business to any size with zero disruption to your day-to-day operations. This means that whether you have 10 contractors a year or over 100, you’re ensured that volume is never an issue and that your contractor management system will work in the same way. On the other hand, a traditional process would gradually become a never-ending process that is riddled with errors.
Closing remarks
As a safety professional, you know the challenges of contractor management all too well. The process of a manual compliance effort is outdated, inefficient, and counterproductive. Automation has made it easy for hiring organizations to effectively onboard contractors, keep track of compliance, and streamline their safety program all while significantly reducing costs and administrative time. If you spend your time chasing down contractors for approvals, running through thousand-cell spreadsheets, and guessing your safety audits, now is the time to implement software to automate these tasks so you can focus on what matters most.
Addison Moore is Director of Marketing at Contractor Compliance.