- Do I have a pipeline of talent in the wings, a slate of people, ready to approach when your department grows quickly or when the team's star performer decides to vacate for an offer you can't match?
- Being totally honest, does my team consist of "A's" and "B"'s whom I am mentoring and molding or do I have personnel on my team that are barely pulling their weight?
- Are their folks on my staff that don't fit in with the corporate culture and with the majority of those they work with?
- Have I hired people that don't quite have the critical skill sets they need (and now I am paying for it)?
- Am I or my corporate recruiters (HR departments in many cases) networked well enough to bring in talent for positions we don't even have right now? (for instance: Your company is in serious growth mode.)
- Do I have the expertise to recruit successfully or do I even have the time to do it right?
If you answered "no" to any of the questions it's time to get proactive. Enough introspection... I'll share with you what you have to look for when selecting a firm to assist you with your staffing needs...
- You need a source that's going to communicate effectively; that's going to be responsive to your requests, questions, and concerns. What are the signs to look for before you commit to much into a relationship with a company? How soon do they call you back when you call them? Are they on-time/early when you schedule a meeting? When you write them an email do you get a reply promptly with thoughtfully composed message? Did they take the time to thank you (email, note, etc) and are they able to repeat to you what's important to you?
- Here's a must... how do the staffing agencies find the talent? Job fairs? If so ask how they operate them and how successful they are. Do they use job boards? (monster, careerbuilder, etc) How effective is this? They are looking at the same talent as everyone else in the biz. Are they networking? This is key because they will meet people who are working (passive candidates) and build relationships so that they hear when great talent starts to look elsewhere before anyone else.
- Are they stable? Dependable? There are several small local companies that do an excellent job. But be careful. It's best to partner with a company that has a history. That has a track record of success. And that has the financial resources and wherewithal to be there over time for you. Not just there for your needs today, but also for around the corner. I don't like having to retell my story to a fly-by-night outfit over, and over, and over, and over and then learn that they're out of business or their time is being monopolized by a single "larger" account. Consistency and continuity is so valuable.
- Quality of the recruiters. This might be the hugest factor. Recruiting isn't a science. It's an art. If you don't get a vibe after talking to one of the agency's recruiters that they've "been there, done that" and can't wait to do it again... keep looking. Look for energy... enthusiasm... attention to detail... a strong desire to please/get results... and people are really doing things wrong if they don't ask you lots of questions. If you haven't spilled your guts as to what you're looking for guess what? You ain't gonna get it. If they can't repeat back off the tip of their tongues to you what you told them is important and you aren't seeing it in the first wave of candidates then... "Houston, we have a problem."
- You've heard of "dine & dash"? Well what you don't want to see is "place & dash". This is when companies place a temp employee or direct hire with your organization and it becomes harder to get them on the phone than getting G.W. Bush on the horn. A question or concern arises and they better be as accessible as a Starbucks at O'Hare airport (there were actually sixty-one of them last time I checked).
- A guarantee. If something doesn't work out with the staffer the agency got you what's next? Do they replace the person? What does it cost you? Do you have some awfully few number of days or hours to get back to them before you're stuck with someone? Is there a track record of making things right with customers? Any doubts stick a fork in them because they're done.
- Skills assessment/skills training. If you are in the interview and the candidate tells you that a pivot table has something to do with college basketball then you've just experienced surgery on a Disney cartoon character (a Mickey Mouse operation). Time to upgrade. Ask this question on the front end (How do you assess hard skills?).
- Quality, quality, quality. I don't know about you, but I sure appreciate when stores, restaurants, or any business for that matter, does things the right way each and every time. Look for companies, for instance, that are ISO 9001:2000 certified. And always enlist help from companies that have a clearly defined quality policy.
- Build a partnership with a company that truly values your business. If a staffing company doesn't treat you like you matter or convey that they are thankful for the fact that they earned your business... that's a problem. When things get tough and you need to find talent that's not so easy to identify, attract, and secure would someone who's a little flaky from the get-go be a good option. Not so much.
- Breadth of service. The last on the list (for this blog entry) but not the least important! Can the company you're going to work with do it all? Can they help you with payroll servicing? Can they help you retain part time talent? Can they help you with temp-to-hire and direct hire scenarios? Can they help your organization outside accounting and finance so that the volume of business you do can help you leverage better pricing? And most importantly, do they have answers to the things that concern you? Notice how quick they respond to you when you ask for help with something they don't "charge you for".
Another thing to look out for is turnover. If recruiters are burnt out or perennially dissatisfied they can't do a top notch job for you.
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