The use of temporary employees, or contingent personnel, to fill in or augment a company’s full time staff is more widely practiced and accepted than ever before.
Considering recent statistics that show unemployment across the United States is at the lowest level in many years, savvy business owners and managers are turning to staffing firms to assist in sourcing, screening, and placing qualified people to meet current and future business objectives.
If you’ve been working with staffing firms and hiring temporary employees for any length of time, you probably have established your own set of criteria as an employer in what you look for when hiring temporary employees. But for those of you new to the game, here are a couple quick pointers on how to choose a staffing agency.
- Apples & Oranges.
Is the staffing firm you’re working with experienced and adept at finding the exact skill sets you require? If you need a project manager for your software implementation but the staffing firm you are working with only has a track record of hiring and placing administrative assistants, then you may be in for a long and frustrating experience. Always determine that you are working with someone with demonstrated expertise in providing what you need, and that they can do so in a timely manner.
- The Devil is in the Details.
What sort of screening process does the staffing firm you’re working with have in place? Take the time to inquire about the exact process that goes into vetting candidates before being placed on a job. Once you understand the process, and are OK with what you are hearing, then determine what is important to you in meeting your company’s staffing need.
Are employer references checked to verify recent work history? What about educational verification? Do you want or need a background check or drug screen completed? If so, to what level? Should this mirror your internal company policies? There are many more questions to ponder, but the point is this: Define what you need to know about all candidates placed at your company and make certain these needs mesh with what your staffing firm can and does provide.
If you need 500 people to fold boxes in your warehouse during peak production times, is reference checking, background checks or drug screening even important? You must decide. If, on the other hand, you’ll need someone to work on a long-term project in your corporate headquarters and they’ll have access to your facility and sensitive information, then a full vetting of that candidate is a prudent move.
To assist in sorting through the questions above, and providing some good answers, feel free to contact us here at STS Staffing. After 26 years in business, we’ve worked with all types of organizations, of all sizes, and have met their needs with high levels of satisfaction. Learn more about our process on our website.
