Staffing vendor Friend or Foe?

Is your staffing vendor a friend or a foe? On the one hand a friend because they found you a resource you couldn’t find on your own, on the other hand a foe because they charged a high fee for someone who didn’t stay employed. You fear your staffing vendor will “steal” your people. Does your fear make the staffing vendor a friend or a foe?

The relationship between client and staffing vendor is tricky.  In some ways you need one another, in other ways there is very little trust on either side.  Every employer that has used staffing agencies has a story of a vendor who “stole” one of their people, and most all staffing agencies had a client who robbed them of a fee.

What should a strategic partnership with a staffing vendor look like? It starts with your staffing agency’s genuine desire to improve your life as a client. You are only as good as the team under you.  Your staffing vendor should take the commitment to build you a superior team as seriously as you do!

Ask yourself, “Does my staffing vendor saving me time and provide access to talent I can’t find on my own? Does my staffing vendor listen to my needs and provide me with candidates that are a good fit, or are they wasting my time by sending me poorly screened resumes in the hopes of landing a fee?  Does my staffing partner they me you about candidates they “screened out” and the concerns they have about the candidates they presented (all candidates have their flaws), or do they burn valuable resources having us screen resumes and interview candidates who clearly aren’t for you? “

Perhaps most importantly, do they provide sound advice and counsel to keep me away from hiring mistakes? And when the going gets tough on a difficult search assignment, does my staffing vendor give up on me to find the next easiest fee, or keep at it until my job is successfully filled?

In the end if you need to use more than one agency on a single assignment, you do not have a strategic partnership.

 

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Contact us today to set up some time to learn more about Systems Personnel and how we can help augment your existing team or help you find the perfect candidate.