It’s become a familiar mantra: reduce costs, improve productivity, improve ROI. Michael Miles, president of Staff Management, a provider of vendor on premise staffing and management solutions, says that while many companies handle staffing in-house, HR is an important area that, if not properly executed, can create a great deal of wasted management time and unnecessary expense. By outsourcing the recruiting and staffing process to experts, Miles suggests, many companies can maintain a better workforce, reduce high recruitment costs and improve ROI.
“As the employment market tightens, the cost per hire may rise,” says Miles. “But these five HR guidelines for outsourcing to staffing providers can help prevent those costs from getting out of control and threatening the core business.” Here then are five tips that Miles says should guide a company when outsourcing the recruitment, staffing and management process:
* Staffing companies should provide a narrow pool of qualified employment candidates, thorough pre-screening, company-specific behavioral interviewing and efficient employee processing. Additionally, a process for drug screening, background checks and other pre-employment steps prior to hiring is a must. By identifying only those candidates with the right skills and motivational fit, the client company will be more confident that new hires are properly equipped and capable of doing the job they were hired to do.
* Staffing companies should also provide tools and technology that can support a client’s high volume hiring and peak staffing needs. Only those providers that specialize in high volume can efficiently fill positions, reduce vacancy rates and eliminate the risk of losing incumbent employees due to an extended time to fill.
* In order to have the best possible hires, you need the best available candidates. This means that the staffing company needs alternative sourcing methods to generate awareness among hard to reach candidates. Additionally, they should offer multiple points of access for the candidates to apply, to ensure those most qualified are hired quickly.
* Providing candidates with an accurate job preview that sets realistic job expectations results in employees who are 10 times more like to stay on the job 30 or more days.
* A good staffing agency will listen carefully to the needs of employers to identify specific hiring requirements by company, division, department and hiring manager. Niche staffing agencies that specialize in an industry, position, classification and geography are best equipped for success.
Chicago-based Staff Management specializes in high volume, vendor-on-premise staffing solutions for the light industrial and call center sectors. For more information, visit www.staffmanagement.com or call (800) 746-9462.