Tips on how to Attract Top Talent to your Staffing Agency

The U.S. staffing market is booming. Not only is the industry expected to grow to 147 billion dollars in 2018, it is also outpacing other industries in overall economic and employment growth. Time to tap into this potential and expand your staffing company.

Every staffing company dreads hitting a point where their growth becomes stagnant, especially after previously experiencing increased revenue, production and placement. So, what are some mistakes staffing agencies make that hurt prevent growth?

The difference between small to midsized staffing companies that continue to grow and those locked in the same place boils down to some overlooked staffing agencies mistakes.

7 Deadly Sins for Staffing Agencies to Avoid

1. Best value propositions getting ignored

Almost every staffing and recruiting firm has a list of value propositions that makes them “unique.” However, very few of these proclaimed benefits are actually one-of-a-kind.

For example, every staffing agency at some point advertised the ability to find top-notch candidates who aren’t available anywhere else. This claim has been purported so much that prospective clients no longer believe it. Unless you have a secret laboratory hidden in the woods where you’re raising the next generation of professionals, then you’re most likely working with the same talent pool as everyone else.

Instead of being vague about what value your company adds, take your staffing agency to the next level by highlighting one or two specific features where your brand stands out among competitors, such as high retention or closing rates.

2. Not maximizing top performers’ value

The staffing industry is highly competitive, which means that recruiting agencies need to strategize the use of their internal talent – especially their top performers. They are the ones who increase revenue, placement, and growth targets. Their time should be spent building connections, overcoming objections, and closing deals. As these actions yield business growth, it’s important to prioritize them above all else.

Don’t have your top people perform time-wasting tasks that fall outside of their most productive skillset. These tasks include administrative, screening, and onboarding duties. Other members of your team can take on these responsibilities, so you can have your top performers work on growing the business.

3. Failing to attract candidates

One of the main reasons temporary staffing agencies stop growing is due to the lack of the inability to foster a steady flow of quality candidates. Ask yourself this: why is your brand the perfect fit for potential candidates? Their time is valuable, prove that your services are too.

Create brand awareness by sponsoring community events and focusing on content marketing. Both strategies will put your agency out there as a strong presence in the industry and will make candidates trust you as a source of career advice. More candidates mean a faster growing agency.

4. Limited tracking of operational measures

It is crucial to track various metrics in order to monitor success. Doing so can determine the areas of improvement that are crucial for growth. Only measuring metrics such as profit or revenue is a big mistake that keeps your staffing firm from growing. It limits the ability to make accurate decisions. Data can tell you what contributed to profitability and what hindered growth, use it!

Some examples of what you should be monitoring would be overall candidates received per week, which recruiters seem to be getting the most leads, who is closing the most deals, etc.

5. Not utilizing technology

The right software should supply powerful reporting and analytics tools to monitor performance, as well as save recruiting and sales teams time to increase productivity.

A common pitfall for staffing agencies is a failure to use the technology at their disposal. Use social media, like LinkedIn, for recruiting. You can also use texting on mobile phones to conveniently reach potential candidates at any time of the day. Growing your staffing agency doesn’t have to be expensive with these little tricks.

6. Lack of in-person engagement with candidates

It’s important to use technology, but face-to-face interactions will never go out of style. Due to the fact-paced environment of the staffing industry, it’s easy for recruiters to become so task-oriented that the only interactions occur between computer screens. Recruiting professionals should be encouraged to leave their desks and meet with prospects. Constantly maintain a networking mindset and watch your staffing agency grow.

7. Not making payroll on time

Sometimes you have to wait 45 to 60 days for your clients to pay you. Staffing agencies are expected to pay the differences out pocket until they receive funds from their clients. Waiting to pay your employees is one of the biggest staffing agencies mistakes that prevent growth because top recruiters won’t work for you if you aren’t paying them.

Staffing payroll funding can help to bridge this capital gap. Besides establishing funding, you should set up a payroll system. This ensures employees are paid on a regular basis, and will calculate overtime, vacation, and holiday pay.

Don’t let these challenges and staffing agencies mistakes stop you from growing your business and ensuring greater success. If you need assistance ensuring working capital for payroll or other staffing agency expenses, give us a call today.

Are you interested in learning the secrets to keeping your best employees while bringing on awesome new ones? Hiring and retaining qualified employees can be tough for staffing agencies. While you may easily find candidates with the technical skills required for the job, discovering a contender who is loyal, goal-oriented and outgoing may be more challenging. Although there is no easy formula to finding the perfect employee, looking for candidates who possess these traits will put your staffing agency on the road to success.

Tips for Staffing Agencies When Recruiting

Communication

Effective verbal and non-verbal communication skills are valuable and necessary in the work place. While employees can be trained to improve their communication skills, staffing agencies should hire candidates that already excel in this area.

Goal Oriented

Goal setting should not only be for current employees but for potential candidates as well. It’s necessary to talk about the applicant’s future within the role before you hire them. During the interview, ask about their short and long-term goals and inform them about the objectives of the position. Hiring ambitious individuals can be challenging but is beneficial for improving the quality of hire.

Dependability

Dependability is an important quality for an employee to possess because it means you can not only trust them to show up to work consistently and on-time, but you can also count on them for the quality and amount of work they complete. Dependability helps employees avoid company-wide layoffs because often times, an employer will choose dependable employees over unreliable ones during times of uncertainty.

Flexibility

Flexibility is a timeless skill occupied by successful employees. Companies are constantly changing and evolving their processes to make them better and more effective. Hiring and retaining employees who adapt well to changes will ultimately allow these developmental shifts to be completed much faster and more efficiently.

Likability/Personality

When hiring, staffing agencies must analyze the personalities of the candidates they are seeking. Personality is one of the many drivers of behavior, and it is consistent over time. Although you may only be interviewing someone for 1 hour, their personality will likely not change once you hire them.

Leadership ability

A candidate’s leadership ability stems from how adequate their communication skills are. Staffing agencies should keep in mind that successful leaders are effective communicators. Sufficient written and verbal communication skills help leaders convey their messages and expectations in a way others can easily understand.

Team Worker

There are very few, jobs that don’t require team work. When hiring new employees, staffing agencies should ensure the candidates are productive when working on a team. Most employees enjoy working with others but it’s certainly something to ask when interviewing.

Creativity

Staffing agencies should bring in creative employees who use new solutions to solve reoccurring problems. Creative people find new opportunities to help the organization grow and evolve. Innovative employees ask questions about an organization’s processes and procedures before customers may think of them. Visionary employees are vital to a business’s success.

Hiring candidates who possess these traits will help your staffing agency retain employees. Taking time to thoroughly interview and assess applicants will better ensure you hire the right person. While there is no guarantee that an employee will stay with your agency forever, these personality characteristics makeup successful and hard-working individuals.

Are your employees losing focus as the first weeks of 2017 pass by? Keeping employees happy and motivated is key to your business’s success. It is important for small businesses to have loyal and engaged employees to ensure productivity. When employees feel unmotivated and undervalued the business suffers. There are many new and emerging tactics employers across the United States are using to motivate their employees to come to work every day. After the holidays, it can be hard for employees to gain motivation to work hard. With the help of some strategic planning in 2017, you can boost employee morale around your office and increase efficiency for a successful year.

Learn new ways for your small business to boost employee motivation during 2017 with these 8 tips:

1. Break your traditional office routine

When employees are in a rut, switching up the schedule can energize and boost employee morale. Give employees the choice to work flexible hours or start a little later on Mondays to help them stay focused on their work and leave any personal situations at home. Working flex hours can allow employees to be more engaged in their work and be more dedicated to the organization as a whole. If employees are given the option to work flexible hours they won’t stress over picking up their kids or having a doctor’s appointment because they have the opportunity to manage their hours and organize their workload accordingly. Flex hours will provide a great work life balance for employees which can lead to a stress-free workplace.

2. Allow employees time off to give back

Volunteering within the local community is great for boosting employee motivation. Give your employees a few days off per year to help a nearby community in need. A day out of the office giving back is a great way for employees to socialize and relax while working toward a common goal. Volunteering can help employees to feel accomplished and satisfied with themselves. Employees who feel good about themselves radiate happiness which will make the workweek much more tolerable for other employees and employers alike. For example, employees can volunteer at a local food bank, do yard work for the elderly, tutor children at a local school and the list goes on. There are many ways employees can give back to the community. In addition to giving employees time off for volunteering you could organize a list of events and inform them of volunteer opportunities within the community.

3. Offer a work from home option

Working from home 1-2 days per week can satisfy employees who don’t feel they have a good work life balance. Giving employees the freedom to complete work at home can keep them more focused when they do come into the office. Working from home can be a more stress free environment for some employees. Those who have a long commute are able to avoid the traffic and save gas, those who are distracted easily may have a quieter environment and for some, home is a more productive and comfortable space. Working from home isn’t for everyone, some may feel more productive at work rather than home which is why employees should be given this as an option, not a requirement.

4. Invest in your employees

Allow your employees to further their education through professional development programs. Giving employees the resources to learn new things will let them know their employer wants them to be the best version of themselves. When employees feel appreciated, they tend to be more satisfied in their current role. Businesses can offer college tuition programs, traveling to professional conferences or simply a few new training sessions at the office for employees to participate in. However you choose to invest in your employees, we can ensure they will feel appreciated and that appreciation will positively impact their work.

5. Thank employees

Another way to make employees feel appreciated is to thank them regularly. From an employee’s perspective, being thanked and feeling valued is important for their motivation and self-worth. They want to know that what they’re doing matters and is respected by their organization. Thanking employees by taking them to lunch once a month or by just having a sit-down with them telling them they are appreciated will be satisfying. Employees who are emotionally satisfied in the workplace will produce better quality work.

6. Have weekly team meetings

Your team will most certainly feel engaged if included in weekly meetings. Team meetings should serve as updates on current company events, what projects everyone is currently working on, future projects and anything else necessary. If one employee is overloaded with work and another has a light workload, they may help each other out.  These meetings will provide employees with a platform to communicate and organize their workloads with each other. Team meetings can also build relationships between employees and their supervisors by engaging in frequent conversation. Team meetings can be used to express company wide goals to motivate employees as well.

7. Ask for and give feedback

Managers must give constructive feedback to their employees and employees must provide their employers with feedback as well. Communication is crucial to a business’s success. A business can be looked at like a relationship between two people, most fail without frequent communication. Managers should provide employees with feedback on performance at least once per year if not more. If an employee is doing something wrong, the best action is to let them know so they can work on solving the problem. If an employee is confident in the work they are doing they will be motivated to continue. If employees are not doing their best job on a project, their supervisors should communicate that to them. While wrongdoing is negative, employees want feedback so they are not viewed in a negative way by their supervisor and colleagues. Managers should also be open to constructive feedback from their employees. Communication is a two-way street and employers should welcome suggestions on how to improve their processes. If a certain employee is uncomfortable with a way their boss is performing a task or managing, they should feel confident to suggest a new way or process, as long as the problem is solved in a reasonable way. Businesses should encourage two-way communication to boost employee morale throughout the workplace.

8. Encourage use of vacation days

Offering employees ample time off for traveling can increase productivity when they are in office. But it’s not enough to offer employees vacation days, you must encourage them to use the days as well. Some workers are afraid of using vacation days in case they fall behind on their work and some like to save their vacation days for use all at one time. It’s important for productivity that employees use their vacation days in a timely matter to stay refreshed and energized while at the office. If employees don’t want to go away for a long period of time employers can offer programs where vacation time can be split up. Studies suggest that time away from the workplace will increase your overall health and wellness and can lead to increased productivity at the workplace. Different companies came up with different vacation protocols. They range from the whole company closing during the summer to unlimited time off for employees. Whatever you choose, be sure it fits with your company’s goals and objectives and communicates to all employees that vacation is a good thing for individuals and the business as a whole.

There are many things that can be done in terms of motivating employees during 2017 for small businesses. Depending on what is hurting your employee morale, there are many tactics you can use to solve the problems. Luckily for small businesses, it is often easier to adopt new practices because of the smaller nature of the company. Large companies often have difficulties implementing new processes due to their large number of employees. If your small business needs some extra capital to use for boosting employee motivation and overall morale, we can get your business funds to accommodate staffing needs for 2017.  We hope you’ve found these tips helpful for boosting productivity in 2017!