Ten staffing recruiting tips to conquer agency challenges

Recruiting challenges in the staffing industry and how to overcome them

What would the shortest description of the job recruiting process look like? Screen, interview, hire, and repeat! However, the typical recruiter’s day is not that simple. A truly successful recruiting strategy involves the entire team and several aspects you might not have considered. Recruiting is the heartbeat of an agency. Today we will discuss challenges within the staffing recruiting industry and a few tips to help you achieve better results.

Challenges with staffing recruiting:

If you could name the biggest hiring headache, what would it be? Being a recruiting agent can be tough. Problems can arise even with the easiest of hiring projects. Therefore, it is critical to identify the challenges within the recruitment industry and then find targeted solutions.

1. Increased competition

New platforms are connecting employers with job seekers, increasing competition. Plus, increasing demand for effective recruitment has led to the emergence of many new targeted agencies. As a result, there’s a competition to recruit better candidates and reduce the time to hire for agencies everywhere.

2. Talent pools

Recruiters will typically receive numerous relevant applications after placing a search for a particular vacancy or job opening. Too many candidates can make finding the right candidates tough. Screening top talents from a pool of efficient candidates is not a straightforward task and can be a huge administrative burden.

3. Outdated technologies

New technologies are always popping up, but some companies still rely on outdated tech and procedures. A staffing agency needs to keep up and embrace change or risk being left behind. Embracing technology is often easier said than done when you are always recruiting candidates, so you must be careful and make time for software upgrades.

4. Candidates with multiple offers

The right candidates juggle job offers. Each individual wants the best spot in their profession, so they pick between several opportunities. As recruitment agencies find it hard to manage staffing recruiting supply and demand, this can lead to confusion. Recruitment agencies must meet the speed of their candidates’ decisions to work with potential hires before they take another role.

5. Ineffective data

Data management is key to keeping employers happy and filling roles quicker. For example, you could keep resumes on file and reach out to people as other opportunities open up, but sometimes resumes on file are outdated. Keeping clean data on potential employees is the best way to move your business forward, but it takes some thought as a staffing agency to make that happen.

10 staffing recruiting tips

Staffing agencies need a strong recruitment process in place to differentiate themselves. Incorporating digital tools can help your staffing recruiting agency remain relevant in the ever-evolving market. Here are 10 tips that your staffing agency can use for recruitment.

1. Focus on client requirements

Before you can recruit for any position, you need to get clarity. What is your client looking for?

Here are some questions to help you define their perfect candidate:

• What does the role entail?
• What qualifications are important to you?
• Who will this candidate work with?
• What does your company value?
• What is your budget?

These simple questions at the start of the recruitment process can help you determine the best recruiting strategy to use. Keep in mind requirements might differ depending on the role (even in the same company.) For example, some roles require candidates to possess specific technical talent, while others focus on broad abilities, such as conversational skills. Take a few moments to assess the situation, even if you’ve worked with a client before.

Your recruiting company should have a flexible recruiting process that enables your agency to adapt to these requirements. Knowing this information up front will also help you build specific client requirements such as skill tests and in-depth background checks.

2. Have a clear timeline

A daily plan for each hiring stage is unnecessary, and it can lead to unnecessary micro-managing with your clients. However, you still need a realistic plan with a clear deadline and timeline. Having a timeline helps keep operations organized. A timeline gives clients a date for when you will have a candidate, which increases confidence in your process. Make sure you communicate with the client immediately in case of delays.

Establish the timeline with your client by figuring out what they want the job start date to be. Next, build your recruitment process backward from that date. Reverse engineering the recruitment process will help you see what needs to get done to achieve the desired result.

For instance, your client wants a position filled within six weeks, you might lay out a simple six-week plan that includes:

• Meeting to understand the project goals and hiring timeline.
• Sourcing candidates and gauging interest from them through some initial conversations.
• Sending and reviewing candidate pre-employment tests.
• Holding the first round of interviews with candidates.
• Holding the second round of interviewing and choosing a new hire.
• Onboarding, training, and collecting new hire paperwork.

A clear timeline makes it easier to manage the workload and manage client expectations. When communicating with clients, you can map out this process simply using a chart like the one we mocked up. No matter how long your hiring timeline is, sharing information in an easily digestible way will help instill confidence in your recruiting agency.

3. Have a virtual recruiting process

It is not always possible to meet with candidates physically, so you need to ensure the recruitment process also works in a remote environment. Now is the time to explore remote recruitment tools such as video interviewing, digital skill tests, and online onboarding software to streamline hiring online.

One-way video interviews, for example, allow the candidate to record answers to your questions during the initial application process. This helps reduce the time required for face-to-face online interviews.

Digitization of your recruitment process lets you learn more about the candidate. Virtual interviews also help increase your talent pool because you save money flying people to your location, and you can interview candidates globally.

Bringing new technology into the recruitment process should offer you flexibility. You can combine different tools, such as virtual job fairs and interviews, to attract the right candidates, depending on your client’s requirements.

4. Use online assessments

Pre-employment assessments are the secret weapon staffing agencies are using to locate the best talent. Assessments specific to certain positions make it easy to see if candidates can do what the job requires. They also test how they react to various real-world scenarios.

For example, when hiring customer service employees, you can test them for situational judgment, multitasking, and communication skills. Assessments help you verify whether or not they have what the industry requires.

Candidates also get a taste of what the role entails through online assessments. The skills or situational judgment tests prepare them for what to expect while working. Candidates can then decide whether or not they are suited for the role.

Assessments are critical for uncovering transferable skills. If a candidate takes the test for a specific position, but results show they are perfect for another role, you can use the assessment to recommend them for that other position. This way, talent doesn’t slip through your fingers, and you can speed up the hiring process across clients.

5. Match candidates with the right roles

As your pool of potential candidates grows larger, you probably have many candidates in your database who didn’t fit one role but would make a perfect fit for another.

You can use your talent pool to your advantage by marking candidate interests in your internal email system. For example, if you are frequently hiring software engineers and salespeople, ask your list to share if they’d be interested in being emailed when these positions open up. Once you have a new software engineer opportunity, you can reach out to your list of people looking for work in that category. It’s a simple strategy that can lead to huge results.

6. Automate the hiring process

Automation makes it easy to achieve maximum efficiency. It can help streamline the mundane parts of the hiring process, such as candidate screening, data entry, interview appointments, and follow-up emails.

Even small staffing agencies can now automate and eliminate time-consuming, low-value, and repetitive administrative tasks that take your focus away from interacting with employers and candidates.

One of the easiest ways to do this is by setting up an interview appointment scheduler. Using tools likely Calendly allows you to share your calendar and have potential candidates pick the time the works best for them. Setting up an interview can take just as long as the interview itself. When you are talking with dozens or hundreds of candidates, you don’t have time to set up every appointment. A scheduling tool can sync up with your calendar to ensure you are never double booked or overwhelmed trying to manage calendars.

7. Train hiring teams

If you want to improve staffing agency recruiting, you need to hire from diverse sources.

Even experienced interviewers and hiring managers might need to improve their hiring skills. The most common reasons for hiring team training are to combat biases, coach on the right questions to ask, and educate hiring managers about building rapport with candidates.

Train hiring teams using different methods, such as:

• Instructing interviewers on how to prepare for interviews and giving them a checklist.
• Arranging mock interviews for your inexperienced interviewers.
• Encouraging hiring teams to take the Harvard’s Implicit Association Test, so they identify potential hidden biases.

8. Ensure your candidates are engaged

The hiring process is not just about you. It is also about candidates. As you strive to fill empty roles for your clients, the candidates are vying for roles and waiting to hear from you about their applications. You need to engage the candidates, be flexible in your communication, and answer queries as soon as possible.

It is likely candidates are working with several agencies. Keeping them interested in your offerings helps attract top talent. Keep those candidates whose applications do not progress any further in the loop. Consistent communication will leave the candidate with a positive impression of your agency should they apply for another role in the future.

Candidate engagement has a huge impact on the likelihood that you’ll be able to engage candidates at a later date. If candidates are ghosted during the recruitment process, you’ll find it difficult to engage them again. The talent pool is only so big, and you need every potential hire on your side to fill roles adequately.

Automating the staffing agency recruiting process will help easily engage with a bigger pool of candidates by sending constant automated updates based on their status in your CRM.

9. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people who are already employed

We know that it can be shady to approach people who are already employed, but it can be one of the best ways to find talent. You never know what that employee is thinking or feeling. They may be ready for a change or better compensation. Reach out to prospects who already have a position because the worst they can say is no thank you.

Reaching out to employees can be risky, but if you find a person who possesses everything your client needs, why not see if they are open to a new opportunity?

10. Optimize the recruitment process with data

Measure client satisfaction using your data. The goal of any staffing agency is to hire the best people, so it is critical to check in with clients to see if you have succeeded. Ask clients directly whether they are happy with their new employees, if their skills measure up to the task, and if they are the right fit.

Data is not only for gauging client satisfaction — use it to track your recruitment process as well.

Create internal recruitment Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track and measure where the best candidates are coming from, methods that bring the best results, and how to improve your process.

Some data to look at includes:

• Recruitment channels attracting the most candidates
• Channels that are bringing you the best candidates
• The length of a typical hire in your agency
• Candidate satisfaction with the hiring process

Candidate satisfaction is directly linked to maintaining your talent pool. Happy candidates are more likely to come back for another interview. Stay on top of the data and ensure your clients, candidates, and internal processes are doing well!

Building a great staffing onboarding strategy

WorkBright can help streamline your process with onboarding software for staffing agencies. We work with staffing agencies to help them make the onboarding process faster.

If you handle onboarding paperwork for your clients, you need a tool that can help you streamline the process and complete paperwork online. Onboarding paperwork can be an arduous next step after an already taxing recruiting process. Our onboarding software lets you verify identity documents with integrated E-Verify, use authorized representatives to verify identity documents with Remote I-9, and it integrates with a background check and WOTC tax credit provider.

A great hiring process means nothing if you or your client can’t follow through with a great onboarding program. Make sure that you take the time to explain the importance of the onboarding process to new clients.

Staffing recruiting doesn’t have to be a challenge

The staffing recruiting sector has to face its fair share of challenges and hassles. Fortunately, tech innovations give the recruitment industry a desired boost, bringing in greater opportunities for agencies to connect with clients and candidates. We hope that today’s article gave you some food for thought as you continue to grow your staffing agency.