Jump to the Next Curve - Part 3: Provide Access to a Private Talent Pool

This is part 3 of our Jump to the Next Curve Series. Be sure to read both parts 1 and 2. 

In the last blog we talked about the complicated dance that is temporary staffing. So many steps make up the complex choreography. Within an agency both the recruiters and the account managers spend time getting to know each of their clients on an individual basis. Not only do they need to determine the right skill sets for new candidates but also the personality types that work best within each office environment. 

Placing an ill-suited candidates into a company can be as detrimental as placing an unqualified one. 

Once a service reaches a comfort level with their customer, they find it extremely easy to spot candidates who would excel in their environment. 

A recruiter doesn't need to recreate the wheel every time their client contacts them with a new need. However, within the staffing company situations can arise such as employee turnover which make it necessary for new recruiters to relearn each client's culture. With the right structure in place, this learning curve can be greatly shortened. This is where a customized, private talent pool can become quite useful.

Even when a company does not have a current need, a recruiter can tag a specific employee with that customer information to maintain the record electronically that this candidate is perfect for that client. Without the right workforce management tool, too much of this information stays in the brains of the recruiters causing a lack of communication for future projects. Good employees go without jobs and clients can be unhappy with the quality of service. 

Online staffing offers an excellent opportunity to create private talent pools customized for each client. When the next need arises, the information is already available and candidates can be contacted quickly. A recruiter can let their client know that these candidates have been hand selected based on their specific skills and their ability to fit within the organization as a whole. With each requirement or preference from the client, the field can be narrowed and focused so only the best candidates are submitted for any open position. 

Your clients may not hire new employees every day. They may not even contact you once a month. When they do have a need it is often urgent. Having the ability to create these private talent pools can give you the freedom as a recruiter to focus on the most important aspects of your job: connecting the right people with the right companies at the right time. 

Our next topic for the "Jump to the Next Curve" series will be the OnlineStaffing Marketplace. Be sure to read parts 1 and 2 as well. 

Jump to the Next Curve - Part 2: Create Your Own Online Staffing Business

This is the part 2 of our Jump to the Next Curve series. You can find Part 1 here. 

Anyone who has ever worked in the temporary staffing industry understands how to maneuver through the complicated dance that is workforce management. 

Each week, dozens of potential employees walk through the doors to interview for opportunities with the service. For every job order from a client, countless candidates will be interviewed, only three to five will be submitted, and ultimately only one candidate will get the job. This perpetuates the myths that staffing companies are standing in the way of opportunities or just want headcount for their business. While this is patently untrue, the cycle still continues. 

The sweet spot for most temporary staffing companies and their flexible employees are short term positions offering additional income or work experience. Managing these projects can take a lot of time away from a recruiter or administrators daily tasks. A client may call at 4 pm on a Friday needing 15 people to be at their facility at 7 am Monday morning. Suddenly, the end of the day tasks get set aside and the urgency to fill the position by "smiling and dialing" makes the tension in the office electric. And what happens when you can't reach everyone in time? If the job goes unfilled, that is lost revenue and candidates still not working. 

In this brave new world of online staffing, there may be a solution. 

Online staffing with self-service capabilities streamlines the experience to allow clients and candidates to take a more active role in the process. It will change the face of the industry. 

Once you've implemented your online staffing system, your candidates and clients become engaged with your organization  Optionally, you can allow your clients to manage jobs directly to the system which automates an alert to available and qualified candidates. These skilled workers can respond directly and receive all the information they need to accept and start the assignment. Candidates waiting in the wings for the perfect job to become available can now stay engaged with short term assignments if they choose. 

An online staffing system can also automate several other parts of the process in between your applicant tracking and your back office processes. 

• Candidates can manage their profiles directly by keeping their contact information and experience up to date.
• New jobs are broadcast to the widest range of potential, qualified candidates as soon as they come into the system. 
• Time sheets are automatically submitted and processed by your candidates and clients each week.
• Optionally your selected clients can post new jobs to the system which will automatically generate a notification to qualified candidates.

Integrating online staffing into your workforce management solution offerings can improve your performance and potential as a future staffing business. Imagine how you can improve your processes and take your company to the next level to focus on new revenue streams and offering the best service to both your candidates and your clients. 

What questions do you have regarding online staffing and how it can affect your business? 

Stay tuned for the next topic of our Jump to the Next Curve series: Creating a Private Talent Pool. 

Jump to The Next Curve - Part 1: Online Staffing Trends and Challenges

People outside of the staffing industry don't often understand all the intricacies of the business. They see recruiters as ruthless headhunters and staffing agencies as organizations that stand in the way between employees and jobs. None of this is true, of course. The staffing industry is complex and recruiters want to place qualified candidates at good companies. That is the only way the bills get paid. 

With major changes happening in technology and the increased dependence on the internet and cloud computer, there may be a brave new world available for staffing services that never existed before: 
Online Staffing. 

Right now, staffing companies face 3 major challenges: 

1. How to efficiently find the right people for specific jobs while keeping talent "on the bench" engaged with the company.
2. How to keep revenue growing by leveraging new trends and technologies.
3. How to introduce a new system without disrupting the current ecosystem at the company.

The biggest myths surrounding online staffing is it is only for remote freelancers or companies will be sent untested candidates who have never been interviewed or vetted by the agency. The reality really lies within the way individual companies source talent, serve clients, and keep the staff engaged. 

Online staffing is growing quickly. Current projections indicate that it will be a $16 billion industry by 2020.  

The internet has changed everything we do. It has changed how we shop, how we travel, and how we stay connected. The staffing industry needs to embrace this change or get left behind. 

Staffing companies currently spend tremendous amounts of time screening and interviewing candidates. Every recruiter knows the pain of not having a position for every star candidate who walks through their doors. When that perfect job finally crosses your desk your superstar may already be working elsewhere. Missed opportunities represent untapped revenue for your company. 

At the same time, your clients often turn to you with ASAP jobs or temporary projects. These immediate need jobs or short term, undesirable projects may feel like a waste of time for you and your candidates, but they don't have to be. They can be an opportunity to engage your talent, satisfy your client base, and earn additional revenue for your company. You already have a pool of qualified candidates, online staffing can put them to work. 

Consider a system which frees your staffing firm from the old, outdated methods and provides an efficient, smarter way to find and manage talent.  Implement a system which will help keep that talent engaged, connected, and working.   Most importantly, keep the staffing firm flexible and competitive in order to take advantage of the new and emerging trends in technology, the technology that will be imperative for the continued growth of your business.

Depending on the market you service, there are many areas of opportunity that won't change your current business models. Online staffing can allow you to create new avenues of growth for your business. 

What else do you want to know about online staffing business and how it can enhance your current business model? 

Stay tuned for the second installment, "Jump to the Next Curve Part 2: Workforce Management for the New World"

Business Intelligence in Workforce Management

What is Business Intelligence? 

A definition: business intelligence is a discipline made up of several related activities including data mining, online analytical processing, querying, and reporting. 

Photo by Eric Molina via Flickr

Often, individual business owners believe that they can save money by not using a specially designed software system or by replacement them with free resources such as Google Docs and spreadsheets to manage their employees. A very small company can function in this way but for larger organizations a bigger system will be needed so there is room to expand. 

Are you familiar with the concept of Moneyball? Billy Beane changed the face of baseball using math, data, and analytics. You can do the same for your business. 

Look at the following questions and think if the answer would be helpful to you and if so, how long would it take for you to get the answer using current system?

• Who is available to work tomorrow with a specific skill set and location?

• How many people in system prefer text messages to emailed communications?

• Is there anyone in your system who works more than 50% of their jobs at just one client?

•  Is there a day of the week where you see more no-shows than others?

• Who is being selected for specific clients when submitted through your VMS?

• Is there one employee who has a pattern of rejecting certain jobs?

• Do you have to consistently correct employee hours on their time sheets?

• Which employee has to be reminded regularly to turn in their hours each week?

• What is the hiring trend for a client?

• What type of skills your clients are searching for?

Business intelligence allows your company to predict and project the tasks that will come up based on previous experiences and analysis of your data. 
 

NextCrew provides a white label online staffing platform which is built around your key performance indicators. We customize business intelligence around your needs and processes. Contact us today to learn more!