Employees are often considered the single most important resource for any company, big or small, and upper managers are greatly concerned with hiring people with the right skills, experience, education, and personality for the office while keeping them on board for the long haul. Employee retention rates are a factor that any manager or HR department will care about, and high employee turnover rates can cost a lot of money and may damage morale for everyone who is left. For this reason, hiring new employees is a process that many companies will outsource to agencies and hiring firms to get the best candidates for interviews. Staffing agencies, headhunters, temp agencies, and more can fulfill this service once a client company reaches out to them, and with this method, a company may not only save the time and trouble needed to find candidates on its own, but the candidates hired may be more likely to stay on board for the long term, something that everyone involved wants. Temporary agencies, in particular, can provide lucrative services for candidates and hiring companies alike, and temporary agencies may have plenty of good candidates ready to work for a client company.
The Work of Recruiting Agencies
Temporary agencies, headhunters, staffing firms, and more are roughly similar in purpose, although some are more geared for filling certain business positions than others. What they have in common is this: they will gather large numbers of candidate profiles, then carefully assess them to match candidates with companies and positions that best fit that candidate’s skills, professional goals, and education. In this way, employee retention rates can be lowered, and candidates can find a job that makes them happier and develops their skills and business connections the way they want. Across the United States, just over 3 million temporary and contract employees are at work for staffing companies during an average week, showing just how big this industry is. Even the social media profiles of candidates may be reviewed; about 92% of recruiters factor them in, looking cor instances where a candidate bad-mouthed an old employer or boss. Such material can be a red flag.
Some agencies are highly specialized. Headhunters focus on recruitment for upper management positions, where the candidate has a lot of responsibility to take on and wields a lot of power, so it is vital that the precisely correct candidate for these positions is found. HR recruiters look for candidates for manager and regular positions in client companies’ HR departments, and temporary agencies work with candidates who will serve as temp workers at their new employers. Temp workers are paid less than regular employees at a company and will leave after their term is over, but it is a highly beneficial arrangement for all parties. Businesses can have workers who cost less to pay, and the temp workers get what they really want, besides money: experience and connections. It serves as a “get your foot in the door” opportunity for the temp workers, and for them, experience to put on a resume and connections for future opportunities are essential for temp workers, who may be fresh out of college. For businesses, staffing your company with some temp workers means saving on expenses and giving this opportunity for a young, relatively inexperienced worker.
Why Use Recruiting Agencies?
Temporary agencies and other staffing agencies can get better workers for the position, and lowering employee turnover rates is a major concern. In fact, 57% of organizations have said that employee retention is a major concern of theirs, and losing employees often means not only that work is not being done, but money is lost; on average, a quitting employee will cost the employer somewhere between 30% to 150% of that employee’s salary. Using staffing agencies can reduce this risk, as well as manager strategies such as offering competitive benefits packages and periodically interviewing employees to see if their goals and needs are being met, and adjust the workplace accordingly. A lack of skill development or opportunities for promotion may be even bigger reasons than a low salary for employees quitting. Even something as simple as regular reaffirmations of employees’ good work and value to the company can help, acting as a minor mental boost that accumulates over time.