Utilising SaaS Contract Management to Navigate a Transient Workforce

Contract Management is like an art form; constantly growing and evolving with the trends of the world. In recent years, the business world has seen an increasing trend towards engaging staff on a non-permanent basis. This has given rise to the challenge of retaining corporate knowledge despite a transient workforce.

A Changing World

Over the past decade, a broad range of skilled professionals have been jumping off the career ladder in search of ‘the career experience.’ They want more variety and greater control over their careers and are finding short-term engagement with companies to be the solution. This trend suits employers too.

Companies have found that employing freelancers, independent professionals, consultants or temporary contract workers provides a solution to managing rising labour costs. The flexibility of contingent workers also allows a business to supplement workplace talent and build agility in a changing marketplace.

There are many positives to changing workforce trends, but jumping on board with them requires adjustments to systems and procedures. Contract Management, especially, with transient staff can be a real challenge. When so much is at stake, a tight ship needs to be run, but with transient staff, relying on one person to be the captain isn’t always possible. This is why embracing SaaS (software as a service) technology is an absolute necessity if modern businesses want to keep track of their contracts.

SaaS Contract Management

Remember those days when staff on the career ladder would stick with a company for decades? One person would usually oversee the manual systems for their company’s Contract Management. Relying mostly on their own memory, knowledge and experience, an overseer could generally take care of the company’s contracts; provided they were available at all times to look after the systems and procedures. Heaven forbid they should take holiday or sick leave!

These days, unless you have an overseer chained to the office, managing your contracts with paper files and cabinets, or files on a computer hard drive, your system vulnerable to error. It’s a certainty that staff will come and go, and when they go, they will take corporate knowledge with them.

Retaining Corporate Knowledge

Keep that knowledge where it belongs by embracing a digital approach that’s easily accessible for those managing contract relationships; no matter their term of employment (or where they’re located).

With SaaS Contract Management, the subscription service allows accessibility from any device, from any location. Staff can work from home, in transit or in the office. The software is easy to learn, easy to use and its powerful security features mean that it can act as a safe, central repository for your contracts and related documents, keeping them all in the one place.

Don’t lose important information

A huge problem with staff contingency is the storage of important information that may need to be accessed later – usually when the staff member who recorded it is no longer an employee. An example of this is the minutes that accompany regular meetings with suppliers. Those minutes are important records of the details, decisions and assignments that were agreed upon.

Obviously, if those records can’t be found, you could end up in the midst of conflict if there’s a disagreement or misunderstanding with your suppliers. This can be negated by storing the minutes in your Contract Management system with its relevant contract.

Certificates, Police Checks & Insurances

The same applies to all other documents associated with Contract Management; they all need to be stored in the same place and accessed on demand. Furthermore, you’ll need to be alerted when those documents are nearing expiry. Your new staff member may never have dealt with your suppliers or contractors before, but with a SaaS system, automation can tell them when action needs to be taken. This process is easy to teach and learn and allows detailed notes to be stored if needed.

System Changes

Storing process notes is useful in other areas too. Price changes require supporting documents that detail why the change has occurred and how much it will be. Assumptions, observations and other details may be needed later on for reference, so it’s important they can be accessed by new staff in future if needed.

Besides smooth workflow benefits, time and money savings and decreased stress levels, there’s another strong reason to embrace SaaS Contract Management. If you evolve your system to cope with staffing trends, your company will create an environment of flexibility and gain a reputation for operational efficiency. This breeds a culture that attracts the very best expertise from the broader talent market and will ensure you’re always near the head of the pack.

Why not book in a demo and experience our SaaS solution to Contract Management! Our bespoke WebCM service ensures your system is tailored to the unique requirements of your business. We’re also a pretty friendly bunch; get in touch with us here.