Selection of Consultants Benefits Administration Operations - Thesis Proposal Example

Request for Proposal Document Selection of Consultants Benefits Administration Operations Human Resources Department LRH Financial February 9, 2007 Contents 1.0 Administration 3 1.1 Request For Proposal 3 1.2 Submission of Proposal 3 1.3 Definitions 3 1.4 Disclaimer 3 2.0 Project Terms of Reference 4 2.1 Introduction and Background 4 2.2 Project Objective 4 2.3 Project Scope 4 3.0 Proposal Submission Guidelines for Vendors 5 3.1 Contents of Technical Proposal 5 3.2 Contents of Financial Proposal 6 3.3 Proposal Submission Address 6 3.4 Proposal Submission Deadline 6 3.5 Submission, Receipt, and Opening of Proposals 6 3.6 Proposal Evaluation 7 3.7 Award of Contract 7 4.0 Proposal Evaluation Criteria 7 4.1 Criteria, and point system for the evaluation of Technical Proposal 8 4.2 Criteria, and point system for the evaluation of Financial Proposals 8 4.3 Final Evaluation Score 8 References 9 1.0 Administration 1.1 Request For Proposal This document is a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) for acquiring services for Benefits Administration in the Human Resources Department of LRH Financial. 1.2 Submission of Proposal The proposal should include all the costs associated with providing the stated services for a period of five years (IFAC, 2005). Successful proposal will form part of the contract that will be negotiated subsequently. 1.3 Definitions a) "Company" means LRH Financial. b) "Contract" means the contract signed between Company and the Vendor and all the attached documents. c) "Proposal" means the Technical Proposal and the Financial Proposal. d) "RFP means the Request for Proposals document. e) "Services" means the work to be performed by the Vendor pursuant to the Contract. f) "Terms of Reference" (TOR) means the document that explains the objectives, scope of work, activities, and tasks to be performed. g) "Vendor" means any entity or person that may provide or provides the Services to the company. 1.4 Disclaimer Vendor shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of their proposals and contract negotiation. The company is not bound to accept any proposal, and reserves the right to modify the selection process at any time prior to the award of contract, without thereby incurring any liability to the vendor. 2.0 Project Terms of Reference 2.1 Introduction and Background LRH Financial is a global investment management firm. The company has been a pioneer in providing new and innovative investment management services to our clients worldwide. 2.2 Project Objective Employees are the most important resource an organization has and LRH recognizes the importance of providing employee well-being by offering state of the art benefits package to our employees. The objective of this project is to update Benefits Administration of LRH. This will improve and enhance the benefits package that our employees obtain from the company. 2.3 Project Scope LRH likes to outsource the following benefits administration operations to a vendor who can provide all of most of the following services, preferably for 5 years. The broad scope of this project covers the following (Wayne State University, n.d.): 2.3.1. Medical and Dental Insurance - Company offers a variety of medical insurance services like hospitalization expenses etc., to employees and their dependants. The vendor will manage the medical insurance records and claims. 2.3.2. Life Insurance - The vendor will develop procedures for maintaining life insurance files and systems for the company's employees. 2.3.3. Retirement Plan - Retirement allowances and severance pay etc. will be calculated and maintained by the vendor for the company. 2.3.4. Tuition Assistance Plan - The company offers tuition assistance to its employees' children. The records and related calculation systems will be operated by the vendor observing the company's directives. 2.3.5. Online access to Benefits Administration for self-service functionality - A self-service function will be available on the company's intranet where all the employees can have secured access to their benefits administration records. They should also be able to communicate with relevant vendor personnel to resolve any queries they might have. The online system will be developed and maintained by vendor. 2.3.6. Employee training - In order to provide awareness to the company's employees regarding the new system and changes, the vendor will conduct training sessions for all employees of the company in groups. 3.0 Proposal Submission Guidelines for Vendors A vendor is required to submit a Technical Proposal and a Financial Proposal. 3.1 Contents of Technical Proposal The Technical proposal will provide the following information: 3.1.1. A brief description of the vendor' organization and an outline of recent experience of the vendor should be provided. For each assignment, the outline should indicate the names staff who participated, duration of the assignment, contract amount, and vendor's involvement. 3.1.2. Comments and suggestions on the Terms of Reference including workable suggestions that could improve the quality/ effectiveness of the assignment. 3.1.3. Description of the approach, methodology and work plan for performing the assignment covering the following subjects: technical approach and methodology, work plan, and organization and staffing schedule. 3.2 Contents of Financial Proposal Separate financial costs should be provided for each item in the project scope. The total cost should be derived from estimates of costs for each activity. 3.3 Proposal Submission Address All proposals should be addressed to 'Head of Purchasing Department, 10th Floor, LRH Financial, California, USA.' 3.4 Proposal Submission Deadline Proposals must be submitted no later than Wednesday March 28th 2007 at 3.00 pm. 3.5 Submission, Receipt, and Opening of Proposals All pages of the original Technical and Financial Proposals will have initials by an authorized representative of the vendor. The authorization shall be in the form of a written power of attorney accompanying the Proposal. Technical Proposal shall be placed in a sealed envelope clearly marked "Technical Proposal" Similarly, the Financial Proposal shall be placed in a sealed envelope clearly marked "Financial Proposal" followed by name of the assignment, and with a warning "Do Not Open With The Technical Proposal." If the Financial Proposal is not submitted in a separate sealed envelope duly marked as indicated above, this will constitute grounds for declaring the Proposal non-responsive. The proposals must be sent to the address indicated above, and received by the company no later than the time and the date indicated above. Any proposal received by the company after the deadline for submission shall be returned unopened. 3.6 Proposal Evaluation From the time the proposals are opened to the time the contract is awarded, the vendors should not contact the company on any matter related to its Technical and/or Financial Proposal. Any effort by vendors to influence the company in the examination, evaluation, ranking of proposals, and recommendation for award of contract may result in the rejection of the vendors' Proposal. Evaluators of Technical Proposals shall have no access to the Financial Proposals until the technical evaluation is concluded. 3.7 Award of Contract After completing negotiations the company shall award the contract to the selected vendor, promptly notifying all other vendors who have submitted proposals. 4.0 Proposal Evaluation Criteria The key criteria for proposal assessment include: The quality of the proposal submitted. The ability of vendor to provide the quality of services. Experience of vendor in performing similar projects. Financial soundness of the vendor Project price by the vendor 4.1 Criteria, and point system for the evaluation of Technical Proposal Criteria Points Description of Approach, Methodology and Work Plan for performing the assignment/ engagement 20 Specific experience of the consultants related to the assignment 3-5 similar assignments of comparable scale and complexity Affiliation with internationally renowned foreign firms 60 (max) 40 20 Qualifications and competence of the key staff nominated for the Assignment 20 The minimum score (So) required to qualify is: 75 Points 4.2 Criteria, and point system for the evaluation of Financial Proposals The formula for determining the financial scores is the following: Sf = 100 x Fm / F where, Sf is the financial score, Fm is the lowest price, and F the price of the proposal under consideration. 4.3 Final Evaluation Score The weights given to the Technical and Financial Proposals for a final score of the proposal by a vendor, are: Technical = 60% , and Financial = 40%. References Wayne State University. (n.d.). Total Compensation and Wellness: Benefits Information. Retrieved February 9, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.hr.wayne.edu/tcw/benefits/index.php IFAC. (2005). Request for Proposal: Development of a Guide to International Standards on Auditing for Use in Audits of Small- and Medium-sized Entities. Retrieved February 8, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ifac.org/Downloads/ISA_Guide_Request_for_Proposal_August_2005_WORKING.pdf Read More