by Gregg Hassler
The economists report we are officially out of the recession and although most of us are still in recovery mode, optimism is in the air. With the change in the economy comes the need to plan for growth. A vital piece for employers is the challenge of hiring the right team to meet their needs. As the unemployment percentage rate goes down, the top 20% of talent is now employed which decreases the pool of available qualified candidates. Small to medium sized companies know they will need top talent to drive their future, but don’t always have the onsite resources to accomplish this goal.
The biggest question most employers ask is, “Why should I pay someone else to staff my team?” The biggest advantage is allowing a company owner or manager the ability to drive the operations and sales versus spending time and energy away from the business to search for employees. Outsourcing the recruitment of talent not only streamlines the process, but can give the employer added guarantees and services. Professional staffing agencies have the advantage of experienced fulltime recruiters, the ability to headhunt candidates from competitors or like industries, hard and soft skill testing capabilities, background and drug screen services and unlimited nationwide databases to source top talent. They also have the benefit of offering up to a “Secure 7” year guarantee for the employees placed in an organization; which means for any reason the position reopens, the staffing service will refill the position for the employer at a deep discount. The value to an employer is the ability to ramp up quickly to drive increased revenue and significantly reduce the cost of vacancy.
The background and drug screening of candidates before they are presented to an employer are also an advantage to consider. Most employers understand the importance of running background and drug screens and now the newest technology allows not only a quick turn around on background checks, but instant drug test results with a saliva based test. This makes getting an immediate staffing need filled the same day and reduces the “ick” factor with the standard urinalysis test.
With the upward swing in the economy there is a renewed energy to plan for the future of small to medium sized businesses. Historically employers who have utilized an outsourced service for their recruiting and background check processes have found it not only saves them time and money, but more importantly allows them the advantage to ramp up quickly and out sell their competitors.
Gregg Hassler is the owner of Work Personnel Services – ghassler@atwork.com , 951.297.3591 ext. 101
