There is greater emphasis being placed on finding the right staff in the present day and age. If you were to rewind the clock, companies would simply post a job advertisement in their local newspaper, interview the candidates they like and select from there. The process is a lot more intricate nowadays. The old method will not suffice if you want to be sure that you are going to reap the rewards of the best staff for your company’s needs specifically. The truth is that most business owners are not great interviewers nor are they good at the employment process. Why? Well, it is not their job to be. It is not something they are trained in either. This is why more and more businesses are turning towards the services being offered by IT staffing companies. In this post we will take a look at why these services are beneficial, as well as providing some insight into various considerations and attrition. So, keep on reading to discover everything you need to know.
Why choose a Staffing Company?
First and foremost, let’s begin by assessing the reasons why you should consider partnering with a staffing company in order to find the right IT personnel for your business.
- Expertise – There is only one place to begin and this is with the fact that you will be able to take advantage of the staffing company’s expertise. They will be experienced and qualified recruiters. They will know exactly what it takes to find the best candidates for your job. Their industry knowledge can prove to be pivotal when it comes to recruitment practices and trends. Moreover, by going for a staffing firm that specializes in IT specifically you know that they have extensive knowledge regarding your industry. This is much more beneficial than simply using a general recruitment firm.
- Lower costs – Another advantages associated with using a staffing service is that you will be able to lower costs. It can be expensive to recruit applicants, especially when it comes to the likes of benefits administration and payroll processing. Moreover, some job roles require a thorough background check, pre-employment testing and even drug screening. This is something that the staffing company will do for you, which means you do not have to foot the expense associated with all the pre-checks and tests.
- Save time – This relates to the former part that has just been mentioned. If you are to handle the staffing process effectively and really find the best candidate, it is going to take you a considerable amount of time. There are a lot of steps in place. Luckily, this is something you do not have to worry about when you have experienced recruiters handling everything for you. Not to mention, they may already have the best employee for you on their database, eliminating the need for an extensive process. Through time being saved in such a way, this means that you are going to be able to focus on doing what you do best, i.e. the core of your business – what makes you money.
- Take advantage of a network of professionals – As just briefly touched upon, there is every chance that the staffing firm may already have the best professional ready and waiting for you. They will have a large network of IT workers that they can search through. This often eliminates the need to advertise job openings, interview different applications, process the documentation for new hiring of employees and such like. Not to mention, you may be able to benefit from a better pool of candidates than you would if you were to simply handle the process yourself. A good IT staffing firm will have built up its network and have associations with the best professionals in the industry.
IT Staffing and Attrition
One of the major problems facing the IT industry at the present moment in time is attrition. Competition is fierce and there is also the risk of losing your best members of staff to the competition. This is a nightmare scenario, yet it is something a lot of businesses are facing, especially small companies that are losing out to bigger players in the industry.
One of the ways you can deal with this problem of attrition is by taking advantage of temporary staffing solutions. There are two ways this service can be of assistance. Firstly, during periods whereby you have a lot more work to take on, you can hire a temporary worker to take care of some tasks. Consequently, your key employees will be focusing on doing what they do best, and thus it helps to ensure job satisfaction.
However, if you do experience the dreaded moment when another company poaches one of your employees, staffing services can help you to cope with this. You can benefit from an employee that can quickly come in and do the job. Otherwise, deadlines would suffer and this would have a detrimental impact on your business.
How to Choose the Best Staffing Firm
Now you know all about the benefits of using a staffing company, especially in relation to attrition. However, if you want to reap the rewards of all of these advantages, you need to choose a staffing company with a great amount of care and consideration. Keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the main points to take into account.
- Experience – Look for a staffing firm with a lot of experience. It is not advisable to go for an agency that is merely starting out. They will have not had time to perfect their practice. Moreover, they won’t have a substantial network of high quality employees built up yet.
- Read reviews – It is always a good idea to read reviews that have been left by previous clients. This will give you a good idea regarding the level of service you are likely to experience. If a company has a bad reputation, this is something you should be able to pick up on quite easily and thus you will know to stay away from them.
- Recruiting process – It is vital to understand how the agency handles the staffing process. How are they going to provide you with the best personnel for your job? What techniques do they use? Do they have a substantial database to draw on first and foremost? Do they use job boards? Do they make use of social media?
- Vetting process – The vetting process is just as important. How does the staffing firm evaluate the worth of each candidate? What will they take into consideration? Are they going to run any background checks? Will they be happy to enforce a pre-employment test?
- Price – Of course price is an important consideration when it comes to any business expense and staffing is certainly no different. Don’t make the mistake of going for the cheapest agency you find. This is a service whereby quality is undoubtedly the most important thing. You cannot afford to cut corners. After all, the price being charged is ultimately a reflection of the effort the agency is going to put in to find the best match for the position. Needless to say however, you don’t want to break the bank either!