Staffing companies, also referred to as recruitment or employment firms, are specialized in the process of sourcing, vetting and arranging candidates for a wide range of jobs and industries. Within the U.S., where the labor market is vast and constantly changing, working with an agency for staffing can simplify the process of hiring, minimize risks and offer access to a larger potential pool of talent. In today’s highly competitive business world the importance of talent goes beyond just a source of income, it’s a strategic advantage. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small-scale startup that needs to grow rapidly, a mid-sized company expanding its operations or an enterprise that has high turnover, acquiring the right people efficiently is essential. This is where the staffing companies are able to help. We’ll take you through how the staffing firms assist in hiring and the benefits they bring to companies and the reason why more businesses are working with staffing companies to meet their workforce requirements.
A staffing company is a facilitator between employees and employers. The staffing agency works with companies to understand their staffing needs, find the right candidates and help with the hiring process.
Staffing services are not the same, they will depend on your company needs:
➤ Temporary Staffing: Used for short notice projects, covering seasonal employee gaps or employee absences.
➤ Temp-to-Hire: Allows companies to interview a candidate before moving to a full-time position.
➤ Direct Hire: Staffing companies recruit and hire permanent workers who are directly hired by the client organization.
➤ Executive Search: Professional search for executive or specialty jobs, also known as headhunting.
Hiring internally can be an expensive and exhausting process. Recruitment is not an easy task, but a staffing agency will do the heavy lifting for you. Then a couple of outsourced agreements and contracts will enable an outsourced recruitment to happen smoothly:
Staffing agencies have an extensive range of job board postings and social media networks, along with their proprietary candidate databases. They truly do know how to put together compelling job advertising that attracts the talent you will be after.
The types of professional recruiters are ones that are actually searching for candidates, not those simply submitting applications, but embarking on a search for passive candidates that are not actively seeking changes, but are open and interested. They review resumes and pre-screen, with interviews and background checking.
Many staffing agencies provide skills testing for both hard and soft skills to make certain candidates meet your specific requirements, like software competency, typing speed, effective communication and more.
Agencies sometimes coordinate and also conduct the introductory rounds of interviews. This saves hiring teams valuable time allowing them to ultimately conduct screening on the best of the best candidates.
Some agencies offer on-boarding support; providing paperwork support, compliance, orientation and even training.
Staffing agencies have great pools of pre-screened candidates, often classified into market sectors, skill level and experience. This means they can provide talent very quickly-even for hard-to-fill positions. They also leverage professional associations and an aggressive head hunting approach by approaching passive candidates that would never apply for your job advertisement.
By using a staffing agency you are not only getting applicants who read your ad, you are getting to pull from an order of magnitude more candidates typically and frequently, candidates that are of higher quality than what you would typically find.
Staffing agencies have a specialty in certain industries or functions which means they know:
➤ The peculiarities of the employment industry in your business
➤ Competing pay standards
➤ Trends in hiring and time of the year
➤ Regulatory and compliance issues
Whether you are hiring people in IT, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, customer service and creative industries, a specialized staffing partner will help you with market data and help you stay competitive. By using a staffing agency you are not only getting applicants who read your ad, you are getting to pull from an order of magnitude more candidates typically and frequently, candidates that are of higher quality than what you would typically find.
Glassdoor reports that the average hiring process in the United States takes approximately 24 days but for most businesses, it’s longer and more costly. Empty seats cost productivity, revenue and overtime to overworked teams. Staffing companies greatly reduce time-to-fill by leveraging their own talent pool, technology systems and recruiters with experience. Not only do they have access to a pre-screened talent pool with the best candidates for the job, but effective procedures are also implemented quickly, allowing staffing agencies to deliver the qualified talent you want in days or even hours.
Most organizations will be hesitant to partner with staffing firms because of the perceived cost, however, the return on the investment of hiring a staffing firm usually outweighs the upfront cost.
Here’s how:
➤ Reduces internal HR workload and costs
➤ Reduces overtime by filling open positions sooner
➤ Avoid bad hires, they are very time and morale expensive
➤ Avoid the expense of advertising on multiple job boards
➤ Reduce compliance and onboarding risks (e.g. wrong paperwork or missing tax documents)
Also, for temporary staff, the staffing firm typically handles payroll, taxes, benefits and workers compensation so employers save time and money on administrative tasks.
Employing personnel entails legal duties, from EEOC compliance and background checks to I-9 verification and payroll tax withholding. A reliable staffing company will make sure all legal and HR best practices are being followed. For workers hired on a contingent or contract basis, the staffing entity has the employer-of-record responsibility, which shifts certain liabilities, like unemployment claims or workers’ comp, from your business. This can be advantageous in extremely regulated businesses or growing businesses with no infrastructure to manage confusing HR responsibilities.
Changes in demand for staffing can come from any or all of the following:
➤ Seasonal demands (retail during key holiday seasons, accounting during tax season)
➤ Large projects with little time to get them done
➤ Employee separation (maternity leave, sick leave, family leave, etc.)
➤ Economic uncertainty or deliberate growth strategy
Staffing agencies specifically provide flexible workforce solutions that enable you to ramp up or down people without long-term commitment. You can change with your business needs in response to the changing economic conditions without sacrificing quality.
Staffing firms want to see you succeed, their business model is built upon successful placements and they rely upon repeat business. As a result, staffing firms are highly motivated to connect you with candidates who properly fit your company and have the highest chance of succeeding—professionally and culturally. Some staffing firms even offer placement guarantees, so if a candidate/trainer doesn’t work out within a specified period, they will replace the candidate/trainer free of charge.
Outsourcing talent acquisition to a trustworthy partner will allow you to give your teams much-needed focus on what’s important, e.g. growing the business, improving operations, engaging employees and not the mundane logistical aspects of recruiting.
Today’s recruitment space is more competitive and sophisticated than ever and for the majority of companies in the U.S. working with a staffing firm is not just a convenience but a necessity. Whether you need temporary ringers, long-term employees or an entire talent solution, staffing firms have the experience, efficiency and flexibility you need to develop a stronger, more fluid team. If saving time, reducing the risk of making a bad hire and accessing top-tier talent are your primary concerns, partner with a staffing agency like Linked PS that understands your market, your goals and the culture of your business.
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