Case Study

Challenge

Evolve Housing + Support had a specific list of objectives they wished to achieve in relation to outsourcing the management of their temporary staff bank. The objectives were designed to create cost savings and efficiencies in all areas of the organisation including operations, HR, finance and the bank of temporary workers.

Objectives

• Regulate and reduce agency spend
• Grow and maximise Evolve’s temporary staff bank
• Ensure continuity and consistency in relation to workers placed at services
• Provide an effective out-of-hours service
• Eliminate back to back shifts and excessive working hours
• Provide an efficient on-line timesheet system
• Create visibility of line-cover bookings and ad hoc shift cover
• Reduce paperwork by providing one weekly invoice
• Collate and present accurate monthly data to facilitate bank worker pay
• Present real-time reporting on-line related to cost savings

Delivery

To facilitate the delivery of a successful bank management solution, we utilised the following software and staff teams:

• CentralAxis – Central’s web-based operating platform
• Service Delivery Team
• Tailored Service Level Agreement and Fee Card
• Recruitment Team
• Resource Team
• Compliance Team
• Finance Team
• Central Training

Configuration and Implementation

CentralAxis was configured to:

• Provide unique labelling for Evolve’s bank workers
• Prioritise bank workers for line-cover bookings and ad hoc shift cover
• Eliminate back to back shifts and excessive hours
• Provide visibility of agency workers hours to initiate transfer protocols
• Deliver cost saving induction training through Central’s eLearning suit
• Developed a number of bespoke reports to provide analytical feedback
• Developed a CSV file to deliver timesheet hours for bank workers' monthly payroll

Service Delivery Team

• We visited each service to build a relationship with the service managers
• Central’s recruitment and service delivery teams were trained to skills match specifically for Evolve’s services
• We on-boarded Evolve’s bank workers onto CentralAxis
• We provide a comprehensive out-of-hours service

Service Level Agreement

To ensure all stakeholders were clear of the outsourcing objectives, we took a partnership approach to the development of a comprehensive Service Level Agreement (SLA). Incorporated into the SLA are clear and specific responsibilities for all stakeholders and agreed Key Performance Indicators related to the objectives, which enable us to measure its success.

Outcomes

The following outcomes are related to the key drivers for outsourcing:

Regulate and reduce agency spend

• Strict protocols were established to ensure locum workers were offered ad hoc shifts and line cover positions prior to going out to agencies
• Agency spend reduced 50% between May 2016 and May 2017

Grow and maximise Evolve’s temporary staff bank

• Between May 2016 and May 2017, Evolve's locum hours increased by 275%
• The size of Evolve’s locum bank increased by 30%
• Locum line cover hours increased by 350%

Ensure continuity and consistency in relation to workers placed at services

• CentralAxis delivers self-booking functions for workers and managers
• Over 50% of shifts are self-booked delivering cost savings and continuity
• Shifts are pre-booked in advance
• All shift data is visible on CentralAxis

Provide an effective out-of-hours service 365 days a year

• During the contract, Central’s out-of-hours service has been operational 365 days a year
• 1% of Evolve’s shifts are booked with the out-of-hours service
• Central’s out-of-hours service contributes to locum performance protocols

Eliminate back to back shifts and excessive working hours

• Prior to outsourcing, Evolve had no processes to prevent locums working back to back shifts, simultaneous shifts or excessive working hours. Only identifying this when they ran their monthly payroll
• Automated CentralAxis functions provide notifications of back to back shifts
• Central’s service delivery team audits provide safeguards to ensure locums are not working excessive hours

Provide an efficient on-line timesheet system

• On average 99.4% of timesheets are submitted and approved on time
• The integrated CentralAxis timesheet system is worker led, putting the locums in control
• Timesheets contain detailed information on a shift by shift basis
• Automated processes provide real-time alerts when timesheets are submitted, approved and rejected

Create visibility of line-cover bookings and ad hoc shift cover

• To date, 100% of line-cover and ad hoc shift cover requirements have been met by the locum bank and Central Recruitment
• CentralAxis provides full visibility of the recruitment processes related to line-cover bookings including: applicants, short-listed CV’s, interviews scheduled and successful candidates
• CentralAxis also provides ongoing visibility of hours worked and timesheet data for all bookings and shifts

Reduce paperwork by providing one weekly invoice

• Evolve receive one weekly invoice for agency hours, one monthly invoice related to bank management fees and a CSV file to facilitate locum worker payments

Present real-time reporting on-line related to cost savings

• Evolve has on-line access to 23 different reports providing real-time data and analytics relating to bank management, night rota scheduling, line cover recruitment, ad hoc shift cover, agency versus bank shifts, self-bookings, timesheets, invoices and cost savings.

Feedback

Testimonial

We have worked with Central Recruitment and Training since 2003. Central initially provided Evolve with ad hoc shift cover and in 2010 became our preferred provider and took over management of our temporary staff bank.

Central’s software and service delivery teams help us to maximise the staff bank by coordinating locums into shift cover and line cover bookings, creating visibility, efficiencies and cost savings throughout the organisation.

Central Training also provide us with in-house training, a Learning Management System, a bespoke eLearning Induction Programme and a number of tailored eLearning courses.

I am happy to endorse this case study and the software, products and services provided by Central Recruitment and Training.

Jackie Elvin
Head of HR