Recruiting for the high quality candidate is a matter of reputation and referrals

By: Tom Sarach, Jr.
Date: 3/1/2008

When will the staffing industry get its deepest wish - a larger pool of qualified and motivated employees that are available to fill the needs of our clients?

While unemployment is turning a bit upward, January's unemployment figures showed the first net loss of jobs in almost four years - it is not flooding the temporary staffing industry with new employees. At one point, many of us thought a new source of employees would come from the projected mass retirement of Baby Boomers. That new source of experienced and quality workers has not appeared because of the economic realities of high health care costs and lack of retirement savings has kept them in the permanent workforce.

One scenario - workers who are made available because of a souring economy - is likely to make its presence known before the other, but it may not happen soon. This leads us to the issue that many of us in the staffing industry have been wrestling with for some time now: Where do I find enough employees to fill the needs of my customers, how do I find quality employees, and how do I retain those people?

In order to solve the new employee conundrum and recruit for those highly - sought after quality candidates, there are four fairly straight forward tips that I would suggest:

1. You've Been Referred
After Reliance Staffing, a four-office staffing firm in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia, and a sister company to COATS, reviewed its January, 2008 recruiting efforts, it uncovered two truly remarkable numbers. First, while the staffing firm advertises a number of its job openings in local newspapers, those efforts are supplemented by posting those same jobs on the company's Web site, reliancestaffing.com. When the average spend per applicant was tallied, paper - based advertising cost the company $20.53 per candidate while the online applicant cost the company just 83 cents.

Further efficiencies were gained because the online applicant was tied directly to the staffing business' data base, which means that once the applicant finalized the application and pushed the submit button, that person was, after an initial interview and additional screenings, immediately made available to all of Reliance's recruiters and clients.

Even more effective and efficient than advertising and online posting is "word-of-mouth," better known as referrals. They're free and they typically bring in the most qualified candidates. Reliance Staffing saw referrals drive its recruiting efforts in January, serving as the number one way in which the company received new candidates. There is no magic way to increase referrals. Monetary incentives are often good short-term solutions, but nothing is as effective as a staffing firm's reputation. Everyday your company has to show your employees that their welfare and employment are your firm's utmost concerns. Once that employee feels the staffing firm has their best interest at heart and routinely and consistently follows through with promises and interesting work assignments, they are much more likely to tell friends who share their same values, work ethic, and educational background. In other words, you will start to see more high quality candidates start coming through the doors.

2. A New Way of Thinking
Among the many philosophies that can be found in the staffing industry two are prevalent. One says that it is a grudging business; one that is very difficult, one where we are simply filling slots. Another says that human resources is a most honorable occupation, one that provides people with what they want most, but cannot find - a job, stability.

Savvy staffing companies will ensure the second philosophy permeates their firms. Doing so ensures that people will want to work for you, that you will receive those more-valuable-than-money referrals from other employees.

3. Train Once and Do It Again
It goes without saying that when a firm hires a new placement specialist, that person goes through training to get to know the firm, as well as the company's applicant tracking system (ATS). Staffing firms should leverage the zeal of these new employees to be ATS knowledge ambassadors to other placement specialists within the company. Often times, when these new people go through ATS training, they are being shown the newest technological advances that have been built into the system. The new information and that person's excitement for the technology should be spread throughout the office. This can be done by holding an informal meeting where the new employee relays what s/he learned or by putting that person in touch with another who is considered a trainer within the firm who can then spread the new information to other placement specialists.

Additionally, the smart firm that is in the business of recruiting for high quality candidates will not only look at how the new people affect the office, but will review how others affect recruitment. One place to shine a light is on specialists who have been with the company for a long time and their grasp of the ATS that is currently being used. There are two categories of people to look for: the self-proclaimed experts and those who suffer from the "Yeah, yeah, I know about it" syndrome. Those who are the self-proclaimed experts are especially ripe for ongoing ATS training because, more often than not, they are the de facto teachers within the organization - they are the people placement specialists turn to when they have system questions. Work with the ATS provider to arrange "continuing education" classes. These can be scheduled with the ATS provider and range from conference call-style sessions or they can involve office visits by ATS representatives. For those who are already considered experts on the system, ask the ATS provider to create classes that train people on the nuances of the system that will ultimately lead to newly found efficiencies.

Those who have the "Yeah, yeah..." syndrome are also ready for ongoing training.

Their laissez-faire attitude also has the ability to cut into the firm's overall reputation and reduce the number of people referring candidates. They think they have a lock on the system because they are able to do their job fairly efficiently. This group is typically getting by with what they've chosen to remember from an initial class and some ongoing training, but is not as efficient as possible. This is the group that thinks they've heard it all, so they have to be enticed into learning by revealing new nuggets of information that will excite them by showing them how it will make their jobs easier and more efficient.

The bottom line in training is: maximize the investment made in an ATS. Training should be an ongoing activity that continually shows people all a system can do, how it can make them more efficient, and, ultimately, more successful.

4. Don't Overestimate Technology
Remember that staffing is a people business where personal connections often provide competitive advantages. Your ATS provider will tell you that their software will offer you solutions that will help you grow your business through increased efficiencies, such as better data management, faster and more accurate applicant searches. And while it is true that the right software will make a difference, it should be considered a complement to the human element of this profession.

Technology is meant to create efficiencies, it is not meant to replace a person who is genuinely excited about helping others find employment and stability.

In order to recruit those hard to find high quality candidates, you need to take a look in the mirror and ask yourself two hard questions, "Is my reputation what it should be?" and "Are my placement specialists doing all they can to make the candidate experience a good one?" To find those high quality candidates and ensure they refer their colleagues to your firm, you need to be able to answer those questions with a yes.

Tom Sarach, Jr. is the Vice President of Operations for COATS, Inc., a staffing industry technology provider based in Virginia Beach, VA. He can be contacted at 757-499-3808, or by email at tsarach@coatssql.com.