How To Choose The Best Staffing Agency?
- Arnim Sharma
- Aug 15, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: May 2
Table of Contents
Overview of the Best Staffing Agency
All job kinds and industries are in desperate need of talented, seasoned employees, and hiring managers face intense competition. That is why the need for the best staffing agency is reaching its peak. Choosing a hiring agency can be a crucial step in developing a thorough, successful recruiting program in today's competitive labor market. So, answer these queries:
Where should you begin? What should you ask the recruitment agency? How do you make sure that they understand your requirements properly? And most importantly, how do you assess and choose the best staffing agency?
In this guide, we’re discussing these answers through a step-wise breakdown that gives clarity, criteria, insights, and helps make the right choice.
What is a Staffing Agency?
Before digging into the qualities of the best staffing agency, understanding what it is and does is important. Staffing agencies are ones that handle all the responsibilities of hiring and recruitment for your organization, but as an external player. So, they are not your employees but like outsourced partners to whom you pay a pre-determined amount and avail of services per the terms and conditions.
Read More: Reasons to Work with a Staffing Agency
The Best Staffing Agency: Choose this Way
Here are some practical and actionable steps to choose the right staffing agency for your requirements. You can ask some of the questions we have suggested below, and it will help you to better interview recruitment agencies.
First Step: Analyze your Requirements
Nobody other than you can know why you want an extra resource in your team and how it will help you with the workload.
Job Descriptions
Write those requirements down, then create a job description from your end. You’ll now know what the agency would be doing for you in terms of their role.
Employment Type
Now comes the employment type. Make sure you have a clear understanding of your employment requirements before working with a staffing firm to begin a search. Are you looking to hire someone on a direct-hire basis, a short-term contract, or a contract-to-hire basis?
Determine Spending
How much can you spend? A lump sum fixed % fee calculated based on the first year's wage is typically charged when hiring someone directly on a full-time basis through an agency.
The advantages of a contract-to-hire, where you pay as you go and can terminate the contract at any time if something is not working out, are often overlooked by employers.
Second Step: Search Suitable Staffing Firms
When you begin your search for the best staffing agency in town, start with agencies that seem to have a comprehensive understanding of your industry and market niche and use a strategic approach to attract qualified candidates.
What is a niche staffing agency? |
It is basically a talent acquisition or search firm that can help you get industry experts. For example, an accounting staffing agency or an engineering staffing agency will have access to the top engineering talent or a large database of the best accountants available for hire. |
Other staffing agencies can offer services for a wide variety of industries. You can browse through their websites and find out more about this. For example, at iBovi Staffing, we help find candidates for multiple industries like Healthcare, Banking, etc.
Third Step: Now Interview Shortlisted Staffing Agencies
If you have shortlisted agencies based on these criteria, you can start interviewing them. Don't be afraid to interview the hiring company as if they were the candidate.
You can ask questions such as -
How long has the company been in operation?
Who have they worked for so far?
How long does it take them to find candidates?
What is the procedure for hiring?
What is their retention rate?
Do they have a backfill guarantee?
You'll be able to tell right away whether or not they can meet your needs from all of these. Consider such questions and look into their history more. This will also show how well-prepared and professional they are.
Remember, to truly analyze if the staffing agency is the "best staffing agency" in business, their numbers, placements, and retention rate should speak for them.
Fourth Step: Explain Hiring Requirements
Remember the requirements we decided on in Step 1? After you have followed the above steps, you will find a company that you think is suitable. Now you have to explain to them your needs.
Fun Fact |
The sales of the staffing and recruiting industry in the United States of America in the year 2022 reached $186 billion, a rise of $18 billion compared to the previous annual year. (Source: Statista) |
Explicitly defining your company's requirements is important as it will help them to understand what kind of talent you require. So, ensure clarity in communicating everything.
Don't be shy about discussing your business either. There are numerous topics to cover:
Background information about your business
Your mission and vision statements
Your enterprise values.
Business culture at the moment
Description of the workplace
Such subjects could appear tedious, but you better believe that they are essential if you genuinely want to invest your time and money in the right place. Also, lay great emphasis on your company's culture as you not only want a candidate who is fit for the job, but also an employee who fits culturally well. Many employees leave not only because of the work but also due to the workplace environment.
Fifth Step: Understand the Agency's Hiring Procedure
What is the procedure followed by the staffing company when choosing applicants for your open positions? What resources and tools are available to them for recruiting?
How long have they been developing their network and talent pool of candidates? What kinds of positions have they recently been working on?
Knowing how their recruiters operate is different than simply inquiring about the agency. Verifying the staff's experience helps in selecting the best recruitment agency. You can speak with them personally and find out how they operate.
The company may claim to be the best staffing agency. However, all they may be doing is posting the job on job boards and sending over all the candidate applications to you for review. It’s not optimal if you’re the one screening and shortlisting when they’re the ones who should be exhuming these responsibilities. So, make sure compatibility on this level is aligned with the staffing agency.
Sixth Step: Analyze Cost of Contracts & Services
Even though expenses are crucial to every business, selecting an agency just because they are the least expensive might be a costly mistake in the long term.
Cost is an important factor. You can check if they have different rates for different types of employment or based on the tiers. At this stage, you will have to go through their policies and terms. Check if they offer a replacement.
Fun Fact |
Do you know that at iBovi Staffing, if an employee doesn’t meet your expectations, we offer a free replacement? |
All these points should help you seal the deal with the best staffing agency seamlessly.
iBovi Staffing: Making Staffing Effortless for you
In recent years, the recruitment industry has seen more and more companies outsourcing their recruitment needs and hiring the services of recruitment agencies. While this can be a good thing, it can also be a bad thing.
It is important to know how to find the best staffing agency out of the whole lot and what to look for when you are choosing an agency to work with. Hiring an agency that is not the best fit for you or your company could lead to more harm than good. So, ensure you follow the points we’ve mentioned in this article and make the finest choice for yourself in every sense.
Else, we suggest you get in touch with the iBovi Staffing team- the prime specialists in the industry with experience that speaks for itself. Talk to us!
FAQs
Q1. What services are offered by the best staffing agencies?
Staffing or recruitment agencies offer a range of employment-related services, including recruiting and permanent placement, as well as temporary and seasonal staffing solutions. Companies can hire quality, pre-screened workers for seasonal, short-term, or permanent positions via staffing firms.
Q2. What kinds of assignments can staffing agencies help you hire for?
Staffing agencies help you fill job roles in almost all occupations, from skilled degree-holding professionals to unskilled labor. They fulfill all blue and white collar requirements.
Q3. Should I use staffing services or try to fill the position myself?
Staffing agencies are always seeking, vetting, and presenting qualified applicants. This provides you with a significant advantage when screening candidates who will be a good fit for your business. While you concentrate on production, boosting earnings, and customer care, they'll handle hiring.
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