Negotiation Planning

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Everyone knows that a successful negotiation must be well planned and this requires a good deal of research. When controlling contingent labor costs, current market data is critical. Having the most up-to-date information will allow you to negotiate intelligently, leading to big savings. However, the monetary portion of the negotiation process is only one of a number of factors that must be considered when planning your negotiations whether for existing contingent workers or new engagements. It is important to understand some of the other parameters that may impact on any negotiations.

In most companies there are internal competing goals when it comes to the engagement or continuation of the services of a contingent worker that may significantly affect any bill rate negotiations or renegotiations. A typical scenario is that the Hiring Manager is concerned primarily about the availability of the contingent worker and meeting project schedules and cost becomes a secondary factor; Procurement wants to negotiate bill rates to save money; Human Resources is concerned about headcount, length of assignment and other co-employment issues, etc. Other typical concerns may be the financial viability of the agency furnishing the contingent worker and types and amounts of insurance coverage.

A well-planned negotiation process takes into consideration all of the above factors as well as the goals of all interested parties. Occasionally, the choice of losing a contractor mid-project and extending project deadlines through an unreasonable bill rate renegotiation may put all efforts to reduce a particular bill rate on the back burner. In most cases, necessity dictates approach and consequently, communication among all interested parties is essential for successful negotiations. And nextSource's services have enabled companies to have all the information for negotiation. Visit the success stories!