As Published In May/June 2006

People Power
By Mike Miley

Manpower teams with Oracle's PeopleSoft to run its global employment business.

A global employment services company with more than 4,300 offices in 72 countries has compelling reasons to leverage a global IT infrastructure for both e-commerce applications and back-office financials. For starters, its clients need standardized global online access to the multicountry employee procurement services, a simpler way to manage the galaxy of suppliers used daily, and a way to reduce the costs of managing a contingent workforce. And its corporate executives need a global view of all financial operations, but with enough specificity to address local operations and multiple currencies.

That's why Manpower has taken a comprehensive approach to deploying and integrating its front- and back-office systems around the world, using Oracle's PeopleSoft applications as a central part of that effort.

"In 2003 we began a deep partnership with PeopleSoft to help develop and deploy a PeopleSoft Services Procurement application at Manpower, while standardizing globally on PeopleSoft Financial Management and Billing applications," explains Jay Schaudies, global vice president of e-commerce for Manpower.

Using PeopleSoft Services Procurement as the core, Manpower deployed an e-commerce system called Direct Source that allows its customers, regardless of location or size, to log on to a Manpower Web site or corporate portal, submit staffing requests to Manpower, and track all the specifics relating to the hiring process. Direct Source then funnels the preinvoice data into its PeopleSoft Financial Management and Billing applications. The result is a global solution that helps automate, standardize, control, and audit the employee procurement process all the way from "req to check"—from the initial requisition for a worker to the payment for services.

Procuring Employees Online

Addressing the needs of more than 400,000 customers per year, from small and midsize firms in all industry sectors to some of the world's largest multinational corporations, Manpower specializes in permanent, temporary, and contract placement. It also offers other services throughout the employment and business cycle, including employee assessment and career transitioning, individual training and organizational consulting, and comprehensive financial services.

"The range of what we do, plus the low margins in employment services, underlines why creating greater efficiencies in our global financial and employee procurement systems has been so critical to us," says Schaudies. "On the financial side, we had too many country-specific applications that didn't talk to one another, and global clients don't want a hodgepodge of financial data from different systems, alongside multiple currencies and billing operations. Everybody likes to see a roll-up—and, hence, the great value of standardizing globally on PeopleSoft Financial Management and Billing applications. On the Direct Source side, having the ability for any client to submit hiring requests through a single standard tool around the world, with all the metrics and processes also being standardized, provides an incredible complementary asset for our front offices."

Snapshot Manpower www.manpower.com Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Size: US$16 billion Oracle products: Oracle Database PeopleSoft Enterprise Applications: Customer Relationship Management, Financial Management, Supply Chain Management, Performance Management, Human Capital Management, Supplier Relationship Management, Service Automation (Project Management)

To make Direct Source possible, Manpower leveraged PeopleSoft Services Procurement's contingent workforce management capabilities, such as the ability to source, fill, and monitor the services procurement process and the ability to track and manage the delivery of services. Oracle worked with Manpower and used its extensive domain expertise to add powerful new enhancements to subsequent releases of the Services Procurement application.

Users of Direct Source include client-approved personnel and managers hired by Manpower located either at the client's site or within a regional office. Such users log on to a company portal or Manpower's Web site—which has been set up for that company according to the types of vacant jobs and their requirements, such as certifications or work team interviews—and fill out a form to submit the online requisition for a worker. The request then goes through the company's internal approval process, with all the financial controls maintained by Direct Source. Once approved, the requisition then transfers to all the Manpower branches set up to help that client, and the hunt for candidates begins.

"Once the search is completed, what customers get back are candidates who are ranked in the tool according to the requirements the customer set up," says Schaudies. "If a candidate meets a customer's approval, then all the client need do is click the approval button on the screen, and Manpower takes care of the rest. All the communication necessary to place employees is triggered and tracked through Direct Source, as are any constraints on the job—training they need, the hours they're allowed to work, their salary, begin and end dates, and payment schedule. Direct Source then feeds all the financially relevant data to the back-end PeopleSoft Financial Management and Billing applications, where employees' checks are cut. The client receives one bill for all suppliers, and the overall funds for the account are transferred and tracked. It's wonderfully efficient, and the client can electronically see every step of the process at any time."

Costs and Benefits

Next Steps READ more about PeopleSoft Enterprise WATCH PeopleSoft Enterprise Service Automation for Professional Services Oracle and PeopleSoft—Better Together

The company has more than two-dozen countries and nine languages now represented on Direct Source and a half-dozen countries using PeopleSoft Financial Management and Billing. Moreover, Manpower has taken significant steps to implement the integrated global IT systems it needs, while adding PeopleSoft Human Capital Management applications for its internal human resources administration, as well as PeopleSoft Customer Relationship Management for marketing and business development. The cost of acquiring and implementing the PeopleSoft global systems across so many country operations is less than acquiring and deploying multiple systems, according to Schaudies.

"We've seen projected implementation costs rapidly decline as a result of the shared learning and common governance that comes from deploying a common system," says Schaudies. "And we're already realizing the benefits, both in our standard processes for financial control of all our global business as well as in greater end-user satisfaction and efficiency. When a customer can get on Direct Source to initiate and track all the details of the hiring process—getting one approval, one bill, [and] full reporting and auditing of time and expenses as well as a bird's-eye view of Manpower's performance on its service-level agreements—they're typically a very happy partner in the employee procurement process."

The process is not yet over. More needs to be done, and kinks in the system still need to be worked out. Still, Schaudies believes that the company has a winner with its Direct Source tool, and he is hopeful about the Oracle and PeopleSoft connection. "It's a huge global success," he says. "That's part of why we're so pleased that Oracle has supported it and extended it, as well as supporting the relationship and the strategic partnership."