5 Signs You Need a New Staffing Firm

Choosing valuable new hires that positively contribute to your company’s culture and mission is imperative.

Employees are the lifeblood of every organization, and one bad hire can cause steep consequences. 

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Is your staffing firm doing everything possible to make sure you quickly find and hire the top job candidates for your roles? On the surface, it may seem they are, but the reality is they aren’t working as hard for you as they should be. 

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Have you noticed any of these red flags listed below? They could be signs that you need to consider a NEW and BETTER  staffing firm. Otherwise, you could be missing out on great candidates!

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#1 They send you perfectly acceptable candidates

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Think about the last few candidates you’ve interviewed. If your staffing agency has sent you candidates that met the required education, offered decent experience, and responded with acceptable answers to your questions, should you consider that a success? Not necessarily!

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Companies should never settle for “average” job candidates from their staffing partners. Top-notch staffing firms will send you awesome candidates. Why? You’re paying them for their experience and the keen insight they offer. They should be building relationships with the candidates they represent, and your company should benefit from them. 

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Consider changing staffing firms: If the candidates they send you don’t excite you, and you can't visualize them thriving in your open role, your current staffing firm isn’t keeping up their end of the bargain. Average candidates mean your staffing partner isn’t working their contacts and resources  to uncover high-performing future employees for you. Or, maybe your current staffing firm simply doesn’t have the network or candidate pool to properly find the right candidate for your job!

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Related Article: Secrets that Recruiters Know that Employers Don’t…but Should

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#2: You have trouble communicating with them. 

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Companies need a strong relationship with their staffing firm. Trust is the main requirement. The service they provide is critical in maintaining a vibrant, productive workforce. And, of course, hiring top talent.

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Your staffing firm should function as an extension of your company. They should know and understand your company’s vision, goals, and culture to best represent you in the marketplace. If your agency partner doesn’t take the time to know your company culture or ask the right questions to find out, you may be in jeopardy of hiring the wrong candidate. And, ultimately, the wrong hire causes your company to lose time AND money 

Consider changing staffing firms: An attentive, professional staffing agency forms a close partnership and ideally becomes an extension of their internal team. This relationship provides the ability to identify top tier candidates that will be great additions. 

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The staffing agency you work with should take great pains to understand your company’s needs. If you see signs they lack understanding or don’t want to take the time to get to know your business and its staffing needs, it may be time to look for a better staffing option. 

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#3: Your staffing partner has no sense of urgency. 

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An employee in a key role quits. Every day you wait to fill their position costs your company money and efficiency. 

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Your staffing partner should be well aware of this. 

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Reducing your time-to-fill (TTF) positions is probably one of the biggest reasons you decided to work with a staffing firm in the first place. Their job is to facilitate the process of finding a great match for your open jobs, FAST. If your hiring time lags, top candidates could end up accepting an offer from your competition instead of you!

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Related Article: Do Your Hiring Efforts Fall Behind Your Competition’s? 

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Consider changing staffing firms: If you have trouble with your staffing firm producing quality candidates in a timely manner, if they take days to send you candidates, or if the interview process drags on because they are unresponsive, vague, or non-committal, are they worth doing business with? Find a more responsive staffing partner you can count on. 

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#4: You get the feeling your company is too small for them to care about.

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Say it with me: Every company, no matter the industry or size, should feel like they are their staffing partner’s priority. 

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Unfortunately, big staffing companies may put more effort into their huge, corporate clients and give their smaller ones almost no attention. Feeling like your company is not as important, your staffing partner is too busy to address your needs, or you get the “leftovers” from their bigger clients is NOT OKAY. 

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Consider changing staffing firms: If your company gets lost in the shuffle and the staffing firm doesn’t seem to value your business, go find a more boutique staffing agency that will make your company and its needs a top priority.

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#5: Your staffing agency doesn’t take time to get to know your business. 

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A company can have vastly different needs depending on its size, location, and industry. What works for one organization may not work for another. 

For example, some large agencies have too many points of contact. Employers can’t effectively manage them. 3 or more points of contact at the same agency makes it difficult  to manage, since each recruiter does things differently. This results in a relationship that isn’t as strong as it could be if there are only  1 or 2 contacts to build relationships with.

Staffing companies should take time to get to know and understand your specific business operations, goals, and growth patterns. If they don’t, there’s not much chance they will nail what you need in a job candidate. 

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Consider changing staffing firms: If your current staffing firm assumes they understand your business and puts you in a “cookie-cutter” rotation, they aren’t formulating recruiting strategies tailored to your needs. Look for a more attentive firm to work with that will apply a customized approach to finding top candidates that suit your needs. 

Building good relationships with vendors is important for an organization to thrive, and a strong, trusting bond with your staffing firm is one of the most vital. If you’ve nodded your head at any of the above points, do your company a favor and entertain the idea of finding a new staffing firm that will put the time into better understanding and meeting your hiring expectations.