I’m a reasonably positive person, but brain-dead, one-size-fits-all large enterprise processes leave me with today’s Friday Feeling, which is irked.
I’m a reasonably positive person, but brain-dead, one-size-fits-all large enterprise processes leave me with today’s Friday Feeling, which is irked.
I received an HR Risk Assessment survey that took 90 minutes to fill out yesterday. That was the “Lite” version!
If you work in a Risk Management or HR-related department in a large enterprise, please wake up to the fact that in 2 employee vendor scenarios involving a married couple for example, diversion and inclusion policies are, um, “not applicable”. That is, unless you’d like that we introduce polygamy so we don’t leave anyone out.
Or pandemic preparedness. We’re prepared. It’s called a will.
Also in that situation, child labour means something *completely* different than what you’re talking about.
It’s important to note that I’m not saying that diversion and inclusion policies, Pandemic Preparedness, and child labour are not to be taken seriously.
What I’m suggesting is that in the majority of small vendor situations, which a lot of service providers to the goliaths of industry are, we should be charging YOU for the billable time we’re wasting crossing “t’s” and dotting “i’s” for you.
Let’s face it, in the absence of human intelligence being applied, maybe artificial intelligence could prepare revised questionnaires for vendors of different sizes.
If a 1-5 person company is providing services, and say, like in my case, I have a 10 step commute to my studio in my backyard garage, do I really “need” a 5-page risk mitigation strategy?
I mean, it can be a bit slippery in the winter because of the snow, but really?
Do I really need to carry Workmen’s comp insurance of over $1,000,000 when I’m the only one providing a service, and the greatest hazard I face in recording a voiceover is possible static discharge from walking across my carpeted floor?
Do I really need to measure schedule 1, 2 and 3 Greenhouse gas emissions from my 14 by 14 foot studio heated by a natural gas fireplace, and powered by just enough electricity for my recording equipment?
I answered question after question for 90 minutes, and the only reason is took JUST 90 minutes is that I was able to copy a version of “….this is not applicable to my 2 employee company or relevant to the services I provide your company.
To be honest, I should be asking the large enterprise this: In the event that your payables policy continues to be 90-120 days, may I defer delivery of the service by the same period so that services rendered converge with the payment. Like they SHOULD.
It’s time for large enterprise to really abide by the sentence in almost every one of their HR policies is actually true: your most important asset is your people. That includes your vendors and suppliers. Take the time (because you certainly appear to have it) to create custom surveys by using a couple of introductory qualifying questions related to the size of the company, and the specific type of service offered among other things.
You’ll waste less of their time with necessary regulatory compliance. You won’t create resentment at doing your work for you which is what that exercise felt like. You’ll have the answers you need to qualify the vendor, and the vendor will be aware of concerns within their company they need to prioritize to remain in good standing with you.
As opposed to asking their dog not to pass gas in the backyard to keep their GHG emissions lower.