What is a Neutral Vendor?

— Explore the differences between a Traditional Agency, Direct Booking Platform, Master Vendor, and Neutral Vendor.

Understanding the differences between the four popular temporary worker models is incredibly important when assessing who can meet your Care Services’ needs. One can’t meet all, and all can’t meet one. So with this in mind, let’s explore the pros and cons of each

1) A Traditional Agency

A traditional agency is composed of regional desks that make up an office, who employ and contract out staff to attend to temporary requirements (ad-hoc shifts), temp-perm placements, or permanent placements. Typically speaking, they specialize in one industry or region.

What they fail to achieve in scalability and resource, they make up for in bespoke localised requirements. With more benefits added in permanent recruitment than temporary recruitment, based on the limited resource risk factor.

Pros

✔ Personal touch

✔ Tailored service

✔ Hands-on

✔ Expertise on regions and/or industry

Cons

✖ Limiting support capabilities outside of key region(s)

✖ Limited internal personnel, especially out of hours or on weekends

✖ Operationally capped with limited back-office management software or systems

✖ Requests manually processed

✖ Time consuming

✖ Unreliable

2) Direct booking platform

A direct booking platform like Care Hires (was) in 2019–2020 is an aggregator/open marketplace similar to Uber, that allows staff to complete bookings directly posted from Care Services.

Through this model using Uber as an example, you can request a booking that is broadcasted to the available pool of staff. Given the sensitivities of care and time commitments needed from management, this model induces anxiety rather than comfort.

Pros

✔ Lower margins, more cost effective

✔ More control and visibility in comparison to a traditional agency

✔ Software platform improving back-office experience

Cons

✖ Limited coverage if no staff/talent available (including cancellations and emergency shifts)

✖ Limited scalability based on available staff

✖ Generic supply capabilities (no nuance or bespoke requirements met)

✖ Fulfilment gaps due to unplanned cancellations, changes, made by the healthcare staff

✖ Unreliable as you’re at the hands of the staff member

✖ Time consuming for management and key personnel

3) Master Vendor

A Master Vendor is a supply management company that has a vested interest in the supply provided; I.E owns or operates a supplier who receives impartial treatment, in the interest of the Master Vendor, prior to the request being passed to the wider ‘net’ of suppliers.

Although they have a wider ‘net’ of suppliers, they’ll always favour what increases the bottom line (sometimes despite client preference); leaving a bad taste in the trusty care services’ mouth.

Pros

✔ Larger supply capabilities

✔ Scalable and national coverage

✔ Software platform improving back-office experience

Cons

✖ A vetted interest that may inhibit effective supply

✖ Doesn’t normally facilitate bespoke requirements

✖ Doesn’t normally facilitate ‘small’/temporary requirements

4) Neutral Vendor

A Neutral Vendor like Care Hires, is a supply management solution that has no vested interest in the supply provided, but instead uses supply frameworks to put forth and manage the criteria of requirements requested by the Care Provider.

In a nutshell, and in its purest form, a Neutral Vendor gives you the advantages of national scale with no distortion or interest in who is the best for the job. As long as they are the best for the job.

With this in mind, the service provided is that of a consultant, administrator and software provider collectively vetting, proposing and managing the suppliers who complete the assignment.

Pros

✔ Nationwide coverage

✔ Multifaceted supply for job roles and requirements

✔ Manages small and large sized supply chains/requirements

✔ Software platform centralising supply

✔ Time saving

✔ Reliable with contingencies via alternative supply

Cons

✖ Permanent recruitment for a limited number of requirements (less than 5) isn’t an advantage of using a Neutral Vendor

✖ A Neutral Vendor isn’t an advantage for single service care providers who use ad-hoc shifts typically services by 1 supplier

Interested in how a Neutral Vendor solution can help your organisation?

Contact Care Hires: sales@carehires.com