How a staffing firm can be a useful tool for your business
Employees are the biggest asset to any company; however they are also their
biggest expense. In today’s economy, many businesses and organizations are
forced to make tough decisions. Companies are urged to run lean, but at the
same time they are asked to maintain productivity. By using a staffing firm,
human resource professionals can quickly locate hard to find workers and
bring those workers on for a brief period of time or hire them for a regular
full time position. This flexibility allows hiring managers to respond quickly
to changing business needs without burdening the company with excessive
labor costs. Small businesses or start up businesses may want to consider
outsourcing all or some of its human resources needs to a staffing firm. The
benefit of outsourcing is you only pay for the service as needed and it
eliminates the cost of hiring and maintaining a full time human resources
department. Below you will find many reasons why a staffing firm could
benefit your business or organization.
1. Saves Time: Using a staffing firm frees the employer from the burden
of pre-screening and interviewing under-qualified candidates by
supplying interview-ready candidates. This benefits the employer by
allowing them more time to concentrate on the functions of their
business which increases productivity.
2. Reduces Cost: Alleviates rising costs of advertising, skill assessments
and costly background checks. Reduces overtime labor costs and the
expense of benefits, payroll costs, unemployment taxes and other
staffing costs that rise each year. In most cases, businesses do not
incur any charges from the staffing firm until the candidate starts the
position.
3. Decreases Risks: Allows businesses to learn about new employees
before they hire them. Prevents absenteeism, and worker’s
compensation claims from overworked core employees by providing
temporary help during peak periods. Relieves employers from the
burden of unemployment and worker’s compensation.
4. Increases Flexibility: Hiring workers on a daily, weekly or seasonal
basis will allow companies to respond to market demands without
adding full time staff. This approach to staffing is more efficient than
the traditional advertising a position, going through stacks of resumes,
running background and reference checks and then having to wait
weeks for new hires to start. Hiring managers don’t have to worry
about setting up payroll and benefits for new workers and the
assignment can be terminated at anytime.
5. Try before you buy: Companies and workers have the opportunity to
evaluate each other. If both the employer and the worker agree that it
is a good fit, the employer may select to hire the worker. Traditional
hiring processes do not allow for such flexibility and may result in
poor hiring decisions which can be very costly.
6. Actively Recruits: The staffing industry’s access to a wide range of
workers is one of the essential benefits it offers clients. Staffing firms
are experts at filling positions at all levels of an organization from day
labor to chief executive officer.
7. Conducts Skill Assessments: Many staffing firms have the ability to
do onsite testing, with some that are certified proctors for national
evaluations. Examples of those assessments may include: accounting,
woodworking, electrical, SAP, etc. This is an opportunity to assess the
candidate’s ability and accuracy to make that hiring decision that best
fits the company and the candidate. For candidates the assessments
give them a benchmark for their skills with the ability to do tutorials
to improve their knowledge and skills in various industries.
8. Conducts Prescreening: Prescreening is a very important piece in
making the best hiring decision for both the candidate and employer.
Staffing firms offer basic prescreening with custom packages specific
to the employer needs. Some of those include:
 Homeland Security, E-verify
 Interviews Basic and Behavioral Based
 Background Checks
 Reference Checks
 Credit Checks
 Skill Assessments
 Safety Training/Orientations
9. Handles Advertising: The question always is: how much do I spend
on an ad; where do I advertise; and which market should I target? Let
the staffing service use their expertise and their dollars to advertise
your open positions. Various options they are able to offer include:
newspaper, radio, Internet, job boards, Work Force Development,
referrals, colleges, job fairs, and various others. Let the staffing firm
invest their time and money in recruiting the best candidates for you!
If you have never used, or thought of using, a staffing service, meet with a
local staffing professional to find out how easy your next employee search
could be. You may be surprised at the results!