Questions to Ask Vendors of Global HR Services

Here are some questions to ask, and areas you’ll want to explore with, potential global HR vendors:

• Please identify those countries and cities where vendor resources exist to support our company’s global needs. Please include for each area your number of:
  • Full-time employees
  • Part-time employees

  • Contract employees

    
    

• Which office facility will coordinate the global engagement?

  
  

• What will be the level of accessibility of our company’s assignees to the service provider? How many hours a day, and days of the week?

  
  

• What metrics do you use to measure the effectiveness and quality of your services?

  
  

• Can you describe/illustrate your proven process for successfully delivering your services?

  
  

• What procedures/process will you employ during implementation and or transition?

  
  

• What is the anticipated timeframe for service delivery implementation, should transition from another service provider become necessary? What assistance will you require from our company?

  
  

• What standard reporting protocol occurs between the service provider (you) and us? For example, communications and management reports — how often will they be provided to us? What would they include?

  
  

• What technology do you use as a “tool” to assist in the servicing of its client companies? How is it employed?

  
  

• Will you enter into a “pay for performance” relationship with our company? In other words, if you perform above expectations, will a bonus above that previously agreed upon be paid? How about if you perform below expectations?

  
  

• What is the billing cycle and format? Will we receive one consolidated bill for all global services provided, or one bill from each of the servicing locations?

  
  

• Are you open to a bundled fee arrangement? In other words, will you be consolidating all services into one fee at a reduced price, rather than pricing each service separately?

  
  

• What is the typical contract length? Do you offer multi-year discounting?

  
  

• Which of the actual service delivery requirements are performed by the vendor itself? Which are further outsourced by the vendor?

  
  

• How would you staff the service team? How long do service team members typically remain on a client’s account? What is their attrition rate? Will they provide profiles of team members?

  
  

• What value-added services can you offer?

  
  

SOURCE: Neil Krupp, of the Chicago office of Deloitte & Touche.

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