5 Ways to Make Your Staffing Agency More Efficient
In the United States, there are more jobs than there are candidates, let alone skilled candidates.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were only 0.6 unemployed people per job opening as of December 2021.
For staffing agencies, that means the game has completely changed. Staffing agencies need to not only find candidates, but potentially even entice people to leave their current role for an exciting new opportunity. Staffing agencies have to do double time to fill positions, whether that’s an office job or a more blue collar role.
In a world where candidates hold all the cards, efficiency is everything; staffing agencies have no time to lose on outdated processes or redundant procedures, both of which can take away from the time you need to find the best candidates for your open roles. Here are five ways to start streamlining your staffing process now.
Create a Unique Strategy for Every Client
No two job roles are alike, and neither are the clients you’re filling them for. Before you put out the all-call for applications, spend some time getting to know their ins and outs so you can develop a strategy just for them. This can include high level details like a profile of the kinds of candidates they like to something as in-depth as a documented process for collecting information from them like what the role is, what the requirements are, and what they’re able to pay.
The longer you work with a client–and the more complex their roles are–the more you can tailor your staffing process, too. Consider creating tools like skills tests or extra background checks suited specifically to a single client. This ensures that you’re only sending candidates who are really up to par, ensuring that you won’t waste time on re-do’s down the road.
Capitalize on Referrals
Referrals can be a great way to find new, skilled talent. It’s also a great way to amplify the impact of every candidate you recruit. Since workers are often tapped into networks of fellow workers in their industry, they can help spread the word about your agency if they have a great experience with you.
Invest in mutually beneficial relationships with the workers you do have. Encourage, and even reward, their referrals, so they’ll be as excited as you are about spreading the word. Though referral incentives might be a short term investment, it’s still a great, relatively low-cost way to multiply your recruitment efforts and ensure you’re tapped into a solid pool of talent for the industries and companies you’re staffing.
Automate Your Day-to-Day
Scheduling meetings manually may seem simple enough, but it’s actually eating into time you need for the tasks only you can do. Though automation can take scheduling off your plate, it isn’t just for your calendar.
Automation can improve the candidate experience by streamlining how you find, screen and select candidates for different openings. This means that only the most qualified candidates will end up on your desk, saving you time as you find the best people for your open roles. Software can also take over the daily tasks you might otherwise dread, creating a more satisfying work life, and, as a result, a more efficient workforce.
Keep Your Recruiters Engaged
“Employee engagement” may seem like a buzz-word, but there’s reason to believe it can actually impact your bottom line. 71% of executives say that employee engagement fuels company success, yet only 20% of employees are actually engaged with their work. What’s more, a whopping 69% of employees say they’d work harder if they were more appreciated. If your recruiters are among these numbers (and statistically speaking, they are), there’s room to improve their work life and, as a result, their output.
Start engaging your employees by making their work fun and rewarding. Celebrate when they hit goals or milestones that matter to your agency, from retaining accounts to finding new ones to improving fill rates. And don’t settle for a pat on the back. Consider giving recruiters something tangible to recognize their hard work, whether that’s a gift card to their favorite coffee shop or an extra day off.
Keeping your own employees excited about the job will help them keep positions staffed and people on the road.
Simplify Your Process for Finding and Booking Lodging
If you’re like most staffing agencies, you have a lot of roles that require candidates to be on the road. Since you’ll likely need at least one (if not more) lodging options per project, travel management can get out of hand in a hurry, especially if you’re still manually managing your bookings. The truth is that good travel management does take time, but it doesn’t have to take away from sourcing the best candidates.
Business lodging solutions like Hotel Engine can put more time back in your day by simplifying your process for finding and booking lodging.
Business lodging solutions like Hotel Engine can simplify the end-to-end process for finding and booking lodging. You can not only visualize all of your bookings in one place, but you can also search Hotel Engine’s network of 700,000+ hotels, saving you time on the search. What’s more, you can tap into savings of up to 60% at member hotels and track that activity on a single, easy-to-use dashboard. Using Hotel Engine makes it easy to book great hotels while spending less time on travel and more time on the recruitment activities only your team can handle.
