It is no secret that the staffing industry is highly competitive and frankly oversaturated. And regardless if you are a national company or a local firm, it is getting increasingly more difficult to find candidates in a market where jobs outnumber employees. But even though the tides are shifting, it is still no excuse for not receiving the best quality candidates out there. After all, that’s why you partnered with a firm, right?
So let me ask you this:
Has it been a while since you’ve seen any candidates from your staffing firm?
Or maybe when you do receive a candidate, they are always missing the mark? Not qualified? Wrong culture fit?
Let me paint the picture of what happens:
- Staffing Firm – They are on a mission to partner with as many companies as possible. More companies. More opportunities to make money. In response, they want their recruiters to be constantly running in multiple directions, blasting candidates across the board, in hopes that a large enough percentage stick to confirm that their business model is successful.
- Company – When there is a hiring need, the thought process is, “Why not have a bunch of firms working on my openings? The more, the merrier. Right? And I’ll probably get a lot of candidates really quickly.” In a vacuum, this concept sound legitimate and can sometimes work in the short-term, but rarely sustainable.
The end result?
Companies partner with multiple staffing vendors and run the risk of commoditized recruiting.
- Staffing Firm – In as little as a few days of working on a job opening, recruiting slows as the motivation to fill roles decreases. Why put their top recruiters on an opening that 7 other firms are working to fill? And to top it off, the fear of not producing candidates sinks in and they start sending subpar candidates. (Sound familiar?)
- Company – Hiring managers begin to get frustrated as they wait impatiently for candidates. They were expecting a group of super qualified rockstars to be pounding down their door, where are they? Ultimately, this fuels the perpetual stigma about the difficulties and downsides of working with staffing vendors.
What is the solution?
Partner with one or two select firms. Or better yet, develop an exclusive partnership with a firm that you can build a true relationship with. You want a team that gets to know your company and I mean really know it. These recruiters are going to be selling your company’s experience to candidates. Isn’t it a little frightening to think that your company’s reputation in the hands of a firm that just considers you “Company ABC”? At the end of the day, staffing is a service and sometimes the best plan of action is to connect directly to the highest quality provider, rather than play the field with five other options to see what shakes out.
Finding success with using a staffing firm will take a little trial and error. Invest time in in the process. Set up a meeting with the leadership and explain your pain points, concerns, and expectations. The right firm will be able to offer a solution, execute on your goals, and most importantly, continue to foster a growing relationship that will sustain the test of time.
