Employers of all sizes are experiencing a talent crisis right now. For many businesses, it can feel impossible to find skilled, qualified help, quickly. It’s easy to assume that the problem is a lack of talent in the market but often, it’s a glut of competition from other employers that lead to struggles.
When you’re looking for great employees, you need every competitive advantage at your disposal. When you work with a staffing agency, you can close the gaps in your hiring process and access quality candidates, quickly. Here are ten great reasons why you should use a staffing agency to control costs, achieve your strategic goals and access great people, every time.
1. Staffing Agencies Improve Productivity
One of the biggest benefits of using a staffing agency is an increase in productivity. Human Resources teams are stretched to their limits in today’s environment and the time it takes to screen resumes, set up phone screens, schedule interviews, handle payroll and administers benefits only adds to their stress. Every hour they spend on hiring activities is an hour they cannot spend on more strategic functions.
Working with a staffing firm removes much of that administrative burden from HR’s plate. The staffing agency handles all of the initial screening, vetting and interviewing and if you hire temporary employees, they also handle the payroll and benefits. While there are new costs associated with a staffing agency partnership, the cost-savings of improving internal productivity will have a positive impact on the bottom line.
Temporary employees can also boost overall productivity during periods of high volume. Relying on overtime isn’t always the best way to get the most out of a team and it costs a lot of money. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a typical American worker costs their employer around $30 per hour, with wages taking up 70% of that cost and taxes and benefits taking up the remaining 30%. Overtime costs are a minimum of 1.5 times that employee’s total hourly cost. The more employees you have working overtime, the more costly they are – and often you’re not getting the same productivity. Keeping your team members working more than 50 hours per week actually decreases productivity and output. Studies show that output at 70 hours is equal to output at 50 hours.
2. Try Before You Buy
Hiring is risky business. Sourcing, interviewing and vetting candidates takes time and money, and if a new hire doesn’t work out, you have to start the whole process over. Unfortunately, bad hires are usually not obvious until the employee has been on the job for some time.
Temporary and temporary-to-hire solutions can reduce that risk. You work with your staffing partner to hire an employee for a set period of time, and during that time, the staffing agency handles the administrative burdens of payroll and benefits. At the end of the contract term, you decide if you want to extend an offer to the employee. You get to see first–hand just how the employee fits in with the team and the culture and you get a real feel for whether they will succeed. It also provides time to identify any weaknesses that would not typically be evident in the interview process.
3. Better New Hires
Despite common misconceptions, staffing agencies have access to top talent. Top candidates choose to work with staffing companies for several reasons. Some enjoy the freedom and flexibility that comes with temporary assignments and contract roles. Others use staffing agency services to help facilitate a career change, while others like the benefit of using a staffing agency to match them to roles where they are most likely to succeed.
Partnering with a staffing firm can give you access to high-quality candidates who are ready to get to work and make valuable contributions from day one. A staffing agency spends a great deal of time pre-vetting every candidate and getting to know them both personally and professionally so they can make accurate matches. Using a staffing agency to fill open roles and staff up during busy times provides you with access to talented people you may not have been able to find on your own.
4. Staffing Agencies Reduce Costs
Hiring full-time employees is expensive. It increases overhead and business risk. Working with a staffing agency and leveraging temporary employees to navigate changing workflow can help businesses control those costs. Temporary employees are employed by the staffing agency, not your company. That means you do not have to provide benefits or deal with social security taxes, unemployment taxes, etc.
Additionally, temporary employees can help reduce overhead costs like overtime. The per-hour cost for a temporary worker might be more than the per-hour cost of a full-time employee, temporary staff can be leveraged as-needed and on a part-time basis without having to commit to 40 hours each week. If you need a temp for 25 hours one week, that’s all you pay for.
5. Avoid Unemployment Claims
When you hire your own staff to manage an upswing in work and must let them go when work subsides, you are subject to unemployment claims. However, when you hire temporary employees through a staffing agency, those workers are employees of the staffing firm, not your business. Therefore, there is no risk of those workers filing unemployment claims when their services are no longer needed. This also helps control operational costs by eliminating Human Resources’ time spent on unemployment claims and navigating Department of Labor compliance.
6. Fill-Infor A Vacancy
A staffing agency can mobilize quickly to help you fill critical vacancies when they arise. In some cases, like family leave, vacations or job resignations, you can plan ahead. In other cases, you may be left short-staffed at the last minute. Holiday call-offs, unexpected illnesses, family emergencies, etc. are common occurrences and can often put strain on your existing team.
Staffing agencies are valuable in both cases. If you know a vacancy is arising, the staffing agency can fill it ahead of time with a temporary employee or a temp-to-hire employee for a smooth transition. In the case of last-minute issues, many can also mobilize quickly to ensure output doesn’t suffer and you can remain fully staffed with talented people.
7. Better Match Workforce to Workload
Depending on the circumstances, hiring a new full-time employee may not be the only or best option for the situation. Staffing agencies can help find the right solution to your workload. If the work is seasonal or you simply need help with a large project or contract, hiring temporary employees may be the best and most cost-effective solution. If you’re not ready to bring someone in full-time until you’re confident in their abilities, temporary-to-hire can be the smartest choice. A strong staffing partner will assess your needs and find the right solution for your workload and your budget.
8. Make Hiring Easier
Hiring is a complex process and that complexity is mostly front-loaded into the early stages of a search. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just snap your fingers and have qualified, vetted candidates, arrive at your door? With a staffing firm, you can. While snapping your fingers isn’t recommended, you can simply pick up the phone or send an email and within a short time, qualified candidates will be ready for you to review.
Staffing agencies remove the complexity of sourcing candidates, creating job descriptions, posting jobs, evaluating their resumes and applications, phone screening, verifying skills, etc. You simply submit a job order and the staffing firm takes over. They only send you candidates who meet and exceed expectations and who are fully aligned with your role.
9. Hire Faster
Hiring entry-level employees can take an average of 23 days. The more specialized the role or the higher up the ladder, the longer the process can take. Part of the reason it takes so long is that hiring teams have multiple priorities and hiring can often get pushed to the back burner. Unfortunately, a drawn-out hiring process can cost your company great talent. Good employees are in-demand and if they receive a viable offer while they are still waiting for a decision from you, they will go with the company that was more decisive.
A speedy but accurate hiring process can be difficult for most businesses to achieve. Partnering with a staffing agency solves that challenge. Staffing firms have a built-in pipeline of passive and active talent to draw from immediately. If they do not have a match in their system, they can source new candidates quickly because they have the bandwidth and the infrastructure to move quickly to fill openings accurately. Your team only needs to focus on reviewing the best candidates the firm presents and interviewing your top choices.
10. Assist with Onboarding
The cost of hiring doesn’t end when an employee accepts your offer. You must also factor in the cost of onboarding and training that employee, which can increase the total cost by thousands of dollars. A specialized staffing agency can help you reduce those costs by offering onboarding assistance.
First and foremost, staffing agencies are hiring experts. They know how to match people to your roles and to your culture so they are set up for success. They can also assist with new hire paperwork and in many cases, they can also offer initial orientation to your organization. A great staffing partner can also make recommendations for optimizing the onboarding process and assist in creating staff schedules in the future, saving more time and money over the long-term.
Ready To Partner With An Expert Staffing Agency?
If you are looking for temporary or temporary-to-hire solutions for your staffing challenges, partner with Top Notch Personnel. Our staffing specialists are experts at matching skilled candidates with companies needing great people, quickly. If you’re tired of struggling to beat the competition for the best candidates, contact us to connect with a staffing specialist today.