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5 Ways Staffing Agencies Can Cash In On Seasonal Holiday Hiring

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The coming holiday season promises another increase in consumer spending, and staffing and recruiting agencies can benefit as well as retailers. Here are five ways recruiters, staffing and temp employment agencies can get a piece of the holiday hiring pie.

‘Tis the Season for Holiday Hiring

Retailers, distributors and shipping companies are about to beef up staff, big time, in anticipation of another banner year for holiday ecommerce sales and many of them are going to turn to staffing and temporary employment agencies to get the job done. Amazon, Target and UPS will be hiring hundreds of thousands of seasonal workers this year.

And job seekers are interested, too. RetailDive reported “according to a recent Indeed holiday hiring survey, holiday job searches per million job seekers rose 11% in August from the year-ago period.” While some companies will create their own hiring systems, others will turn to temporary employment, staffing and recruiting agencies for help filling seasonal jobs.

5 Ways to Help Your Staffing Agency Grow by Satisfying Holiday Hiring Demand

1. Build a large pool of potential seasonal workers ahead of time.

Any of your current and past contacts could be looking to make a change or willing to take on a second job during the holidays, even if they are not technically looking for a new job. Reach out to your contacts now and ask for referrals as well.

Set up an online form just for people interested in seasonal work with a short application and create an expedited version of your normal recruiting and hiring process so that when opportunity knocks, you have a long list of potential seasonal workers who are ready to hit the shop floor – or warehouse floor – running.

2. Use invoice factoring to finance expanded recruiting and hiring activities.

Having a list of candidates who have already been vetted could give your agency a competitive advantage during the holidays that extends into repeat business next year. Job ads, background checks, time spent interviewing candidates and checking references – it all takes time. You might even need to hire your own seasonal help just to handle the increased workload it will take to build a large pool of seasonal workers.

Invoice factoring speeds up cash flow and gives you access to working capital that is tied up in client invoices; this is working capital that you can then deploy to ramp up recruiting efforts and develop a pool of seasonal workers who are ready to go to work immediately. Even if you are already factoring, we would be happy to provide you with a quote for staffing invoice factoring to ensure that you have the best cash flow solution in place for your agency.

3. Keep quality standards high.

Yes, you want to have a pool of candidates large enough to quickly meet employer’s demands for temporary workers during the holidays, but that doesn’t mean low-quality seasonal workers should get through the door. Your value as a temporary employer, staffing agency or recruiter lies in saving your clients time and money after the worker hits the floor. Any time a client has to deal with a less-than-stellar placement, the cost of using your services goes up, and your value to the client goes down. Don’t skimp on quality of candidates even during the holiday seasonal hiring rush.

4. Point out the value of getting a foot in the door.

If your initial call for seasonal workers doesn’t produce the number of potential placements you envisioned or you are looking to get a few really stellar candidates to consider seasonal work, remind contacts that the road to getting their dream job at their dream company might start by getting their foot in the door as a seasonal holiday worker.

5. Send out a packet of potential seasonal worker resumes.

You’ve got a pool of seasonal holiday hires ready to place; now what? In addition to reaching out by phone and email to clients, put together a marketing packet that highlights the number and quality of candidates that you have who are ready to rock and roll, by speaking to candidates backgrounds and experience, and using testimonials from their references – think of it as a holiday staffing catalog and design it accordingly as collateral that you can use throughout the holidays online and off.

Horseshoe magnet attracting talent over white background, 3d

4 Ways Staffing Agencies Can Attract Top Talent Online – Infographic

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It’s not what you know or who you know, any longer, that gives job candidates the best chance of landing a dream job. Since job seekers say the internet is their most important resource, staffing agencies that want to attract top talent need to master the digital channels candidates are using today.

Internet, Not “Who You Know,” Best Resources for Job Seekers

Several years ago a Jobvite.com infographic featured by The Undercover Recruiter claimed that employee referrals dominated when it came to the channels job seekers found most effective in landing a new job. While career websites made the list of top five, twice as many attributed hires to referrals than career sites and nearly three times as many said that having someone on the inside was more effective than job boards.

Staffing Agencies –  Master Digital Hiring Strategies to Attract Top Talent Online

More recent data published by The Boston Consulting Group and Recruit Works Institute on staffingindustry.com says those numbers have flip-flopped, as more candidates not only use the internet to find new jobs but rank it as the most effective job search channel as well. When asked which channels they used to find a new job, candidates listed the following:

  • 55% – Internet job sites
  • 36% – Paper media
  • 33% – Referrals from people they know
  • 24% – Direct inquiry
  • 20% – Public services
  • 17% – Permanent placement employment agencies
  • 17% – Temporary placement employment agencies
  • 9% – Alumni networks
  • 7% – Job training programs

It’s no secret that people who are serious about finding a new job or just casually looking around to see what type of opportunities are available use the internet to discover position listings. While having someone on the inside who is willing to recommend you to a hiring manager is certainly a plus, data shows that a majority of candidates are uncovering and landing new jobs on their own. In the U.S., candidates said that the most effective channels in helping them obtain a new job as:

  • 35% – Internet job sites
  • 20% – Direct inquiry
  • 19% – Referrals from people they know
  • 9% – Paper media
  • 4% – Temporary placement employment agencies
  • 3% – Permanent placement employment agencies
  • 3% – Public services
  • 1% – Job training programs
  • 4% – Alumni networks

When it comes to getting a job, it turns out that it’s not who you know, it’s what a talented candidate knows how to find online that matters most. Staffing agencies can improve their ability to land the talented candidates they need to compete and grow by reaching the passive talent pool as well as those actively seeking new opportunities and by mastering use of the same digital channels job seekers are using to uncover job openings online.

Looking for Top Talent in All the Wrong Places?

While fewer than 20 percent of those in the job market (either currently employed or looking for a job) are engaged in a proactive job search, the real size of the talent pool is much, much larger. Jobvite’s 2018 Job Seeker Nation Study indicated that as many as 82 percent of employed workers were open to new job opportunities.

Presumably, the internet will continue to be the main go-to resource for candidates, especially for candidates who are just exploring the job market in a more passive way and who might not want colleagues to know that they are considering other opportunities. Not only will they use the internet to uncover open positions, they will also use the internet to research companies where they want to work or who have listed job openings that interest them.

Recruiters, staffing agencies, and temporary placement firms that get top talent on board – whether they are actively looking for a new job or just testing the waters – have an advantage when it comes to persuading hiring managers to take a look at their candidates instead of conducting their own recruiting and hiring process. Here are four digital channels your staffing agency should master in order to engage active and passive candidates earlier in the job search process.

4 Ways Staffing Agencies Can Attract Top Talent Online

1. Optimize Your Agency’s Position Listings for Online Search

Staffing agencies should optimize their own position listings just as if they were web pages designed to get found in local searches. Instead of thinking about the listing in terms of the position’s responsibilities or candidate skills and abilities desired, content should be written to make it more likely for the listing to be discovered by potential candidates in an online search.

  • Include keywords and phrases that job candidates would be likely to type into a search browser
  • Use keywords in meta titles and descriptions
  • Use headlines with keywords to help get found in search and draw the site visitor in when they land on the listing

2. Write Like Marketers, not Hiring Managers

Be interesting!  Candidates might read hundreds of position descriptions in the course of a job search. Write your online content so that it is engaging and memorable – or even entertaining. Send the message that the company you are representing is a great place to work and build a career. Talk about the organizational values that would make candidates a good fit for the employer. Create intrigue and interest.

3. Think Long Term Instead of One-and-Done

Build for the long term and get the opt-in.  Make sure there’s a way for site visitors to subscribe to updates about a position, even if they are not ready to submit an application. Keep it short and simple so that you can build your contact database and engage with local talent via email so that when they are ready, they turn to your staffing agency for help.

4. Use Social Media to Expand Reach

Social networks like LinkedIn are not just great channels where staffing agencies can publicize openings, they can also be used to network with both active and passive candidates. Building reach on social networks comes down to increasing numbers of social followers for recruiting and staffing agencies as well as individual recruiting professionals themselves. In addition to posting engaging content, staffing and temp employers can also sponsor posts and social media ads to increase their ability to attract talented workers.

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Where job seekers are looking for jobs online - infographic

 

strategy desk sign sitting on business charts to reflect staffing marketing strategy

Attract Talent and Clients with the 4 W’s of Staffing Marketing

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You might be familiar with the 4 P’s of Marketing (product, price, placement and promotion), but these four W’s of staffing agency marketing can help you grow even faster.

Is Your Staffing Agency Marketing Plan Creating Competitive Advantages?

With an economy humming along at virtually full employment, many hiring managers are turning to staffing agencies to help fill the talent gap. Fast growth rates in any industry tend to make them attractive for entrepreneurs and startups, which only means more competition for staffing agencies.

Traditional staffing marketing plans might be built around the 4 Ps of Marketing – product, pricing, placement and promotions. However, competing on these alone might not be enough for staffing agencies to create competitive advantages for their firms, let alone grow temporary placement services in light of an influx of new staffing and recruiting startups.

We came up with 4 Ws of staffing agency marketing that can breathe new life into your staffing marketing strategies and accelerate agency growth.

4 Ws of Staffing Marketing Plans that Foster Faster Agency Growth

Whitepapers

For B2B companies like agencies that provide staffing, temporary employment, and recruiting services, whitepapers might provide a lot of bang for the buck. A survey of B2B marketing leaders in North America reported that whitepapers produced the most content marketing ROI.

Whitepapers and other types of content that can be downloaded do not just provide staffing marketers with an opportunity to talk about their brand or agency services.  They can also act as long-term lead-generating machines by driving the constant addition of new database contacts when some type of registration is required to download the content.  White papers might be especially effective for staffing agencies since content can be leveraged to generate leads by attracting either prospective clients or prospective new hires (talent).

Some of the types of content that can fulfill this dual-marketing role in helping to build both brand awareness and fuel a staffing agency’s email marketing database include:

  • whitepapers
  • industry reports
  • infographics
  • slideshows
  • videos
  • presentations
  • guides and how-to publications
  • case studies
  • ebooks

Webinars

Like whitepapers, hosting webinars and podcasts can provide your staffing agency with an opportunity to introduce itself to new prospects or help candidates and employers who are exploring options for temporary employment services decide which staffing agency they would most like to work with.

And like whitepapers, since registration is required, temporary agency marketers also reap the benefits of adding to their email marketing database.  After the webinar has occurred, marketers should have a plan in place for contacting registrants with an offer that motivates them to take the next step.

Workshops

Staffing agency-hosted workshops can be held in person at a physical location but may also be held as a virtual event.  Examples of workshops that might help attract more talent for potential placement include topics like resume writing, interviewing skills, leadership development, career advancement strategies, and so on.

Examples of workshops that can help an agency attract more potential temporary employers include topics such as current HR trends, ideas for new employee onboarding, conducting performance reviews, enhancing employee engagement, creating career paths for budding leaders, and more.

Wisdom

Both candidates and employers have multiple options for finding job openings or attracting top talent.  Ultimately, what will set a staffing agency apart is the unique wisdom that its ambassadors have to offer.

Recruiters and staffing placement specialists need to get in the habit of reaching out via email and social networks with their wisdom – tips and advice they can provide that can help employers or job candidates be more successful.

It should be noted that this is usually going to be in the form of non-promotional communications and networking rather than in selling activities. It might be as simple as sending an interesting article or piece of news by email to a potential employer that gives them competitive insight or alerts them to a new industry trend.

Agencies that realize the power of long-term email marketing that is non-promotional in nature stand to gain top-of-mind brand awareness with both candidates and employers so that when the need arises, they are the first to be contacted.

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We offer staffing factoring services that expedite cash flow. With improved cash flow from invoice factoring, staffing agencies and temporary service firms can reinvest in their business more quickly in order to:

  • Take on new business more quickly
  • Expand advertising and marketing
  • Add new locations
  • Take on larger client accounts
  • Have money on hand to meet temp worker payroll and expenses
  • Offset opportunities lost due to slow-paying customers

Get a Staffing Factoring or Payroll Funding Quote

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Why Legal Staffing Agencies Might be the Next Big Thing

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Over the next 10 years, new jobs in the legal industry are expected to outpace many other industries.  Legal staffing agencies that master the art of filling emerging job opportunities in the legal field can grow more quickly than the rest.

Paralegal Jobs Outlook – 15 Percent Growth Expected from 2016 to 2026

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that more than 41K new jobs for paralegals will emerge between 2016 and 2026, resulting in industry growth of nearly 15 percent. The increasingly complex nature of contracts, copyright, ownership, the idea of intellectual property in a virtual world, and other legal agreements as well as the need for expertise in forming or disentangling unions of all types ensures that the services legal firms provide will be in demand for a long time to come.

Indeed, the very complexity of laws and regulations, the erasure of easy-to-define borders inherent in a digital world and many other factors are practically creating new jobs in the legal industry. As new legal specialties emerge so will firms, lawyers and a myriad of legal support roles. While some legal firms will elect to do their own hiring, some will turn to legal staffing agencies to fill open positions on an occasional or an on-going basis.

Emerging Non-Lawyer Legal Jobs Provide Even More Opportunities for Staffing Agencies

Legalcareers.about.com published a list of ten non-lawyer jobs that already exist in the legal field, and which they describe as “thriving.” Included on this list are:

  • E-discovery personnel (electronic discovery) staff who do research online and preserve and manage electronically stored information
  • Legal nurse consultants
  • Litigation support staff
  • Paralegals, both those that work in support of lawyers and who provide lawyer-alternative services
  • Trial consultants
  • Mediators
  • Jury consultants
  • Legal secretaries
  • Compliance Specialists
  • Court reporters

Related both to the legal field as well as law enforcement, forensic science techs, researchers and detectives also fall close to this list. In large firms, HR (human resources) directors often come from a legal background, or even possess law degrees themselves. The diversity of professional and support roles relative to these types of jobs is immense. Since demand for workers in these jobs can be expected to increase, staffing agencies that form divisions that specialize in staffing for these types of roles will be well-positioned to grow as well.

4 Ways Legal Staffing Agencies Can Increase Market Share

1. Become a helpful resource for legal firms and professionals before you start to sell.

Legal staffing firms that add value by turning their websites, social networks and email newsletters into a resource interesting to professionals in the legal profession can introduce their legal staffing services to both legal firms and prospective candidates alike. Building brand awareness by offering value in advance of asking for the sale often shortens the buying cycle and eliminates potential competitors.

2. Host networking events.

Networking events can act as mini job fairs, allowing employers to meet prospective placements in a social setting before bringing them on as temporary workers or regular employees. Since many legal jobs put individuals into direct contact with clients as well as internal staff at all organizational levels, getting a feel for how candidates may or may not fit within the organizational culture can reduce the chance that a candidate is placed somewhere they just don’t fit.

3. Offer a Unique, Beyond-the-Call-of-Duty Vetting Process

The attention to detail that is second nature to many in the legal field practically ensures that if you miss something critical in the candidate-vetting process, they are sure to discover it. When it comes to the way you recruit, interview, pre-screen and otherwise examine candidates for placement in legal jobs in your area, what can you do to make your process uniquely valuable to potential employers?

4. Partner with Schools and Students

Your legal staffing agency could ensure a steady stream of qualified, ready-to-place candidates coming out of law school and colleges who are looking for legal jobs right out of the gate by adding value and partnering with colleges, schools and other legal education programs. Hosting job fairs, sponsoring scholarships, providing guest lectures, paying for books or providing other student-amenities can all help ensure that you get first pick at emerging legal professionals and a chance to help them get their first job in the legal field.

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We offer legal staffing factoring services that expedite cash flow for legal professionals and law firms. Get more information or request a free, no-obligation proposal and find out how you can get immediate access to the money tied up in receivables, without waiting for clients to pay.

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Employee Engagement on Mechanism of Golden Gears with Lens Flare. 3D Render.

4 Ways to Invest in Employee Engagement Strategies and Grow Your Business

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If you genuinely believe employees are your organization’s most valuable asset, invest where it counts most. Here are four ways to invest in employee engagement strategies and make your business more profitable in the process.

4 Employee Engagement Strategies that Can Make Your Business Better

Many of the strategies you could adopt to grow your business come with big price tags. In contrast, accelerating talent development in your organization through employee engagement strategies is likely to produce big results at a fraction of the cost.

When asked what sets their business apart, many business owners and CEOs quickly reply, “Our people.” And yet, outside of employee benefits and compensation, few organizations have a formal plan to continue investing in employee engagement strategies on an on-going basis in order to accelerate talent development.

“Accelerate talent development” – don’t you just love that phrase! We lifted it from TLNT.com, a site focused on ‘The Business of HR’ (human resources).

Most businesses expend significant resources to attract and hire the right people for their organization—not just people who have the skills and knowledge to perform the tasks relevant to a given position but who also represent a potential asset to the organizational culture. Given this investment, retaining and developing the talent attracted should be a strategic goal for your business!

Your organization’s talent development program should include tactics likely to increase employee engagement and satisfaction, but it should also include tools to accelerate talent development so that the talent developed can be reinvested back into your business to help it grow.

We came up with four employee engagement strategies, represented by four very relevant quotes, that enable you to invest in your employees to accelerate talent development and grow your business.

4 Ways to Grow a Business by Investing in Employee Engagement Strategies

1. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” —Nelson Mandela

Education isn’t just about knowledge and skills. Education is about demonstrating your commitment to your employees. Investing in employee education sends the message that you want people to stick around for a while; after all, no employer invests in training and education for employees who want to leave!

Education can also increase employee engagement and enhance employees’ feelings of connection to your business’ brand, vision, and mission. It can help employees understand how their role helps to fulfill your organization’s mission and vision statements.

2. “Setting the right challenges will help your employees develop a ‘growth mindset’ and enlarge their ability to learn.” —Mona Berberich, a digital marketing manager at Better Weekdays, writing for TLNT.com. 

Set goals too low, and people may become disinterested. Set them too high, and they may become discouraged. But if you set them just right, you have created the foundation for higher levels of employee engagement and job satisfaction.

3. “CFOs say poor interpersonal skills are the top reason for an employee’s failure to advance in a company.” —Neil Amato, writing for CGMA Magazine

Poor interpersonal skills – sometimes referred to as “soft skills” – don’t’ just hold people back at work, they hold people back in life. Investing in training for individuals and in team building exercises can not only improve the soft skills employees need to develop on the job, but they can also improve your organizational culture by enhancing interpersonal relationships and fostering a deeper level of mutual commitment – the idea that “we’re all in this together.”

4. “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” —Peter Drucker

Last but certainly not least, our list of four ways to invest in employees in order to grow your business is investing in yourself. Employees must believe that you genuinely care about them and have their best interests at heart, or your efforts to improve your organizational culture will be met with skepticism. Invest in yourself through:

  • Taking an interest in them personally
  • Discovering the personal and professional goals of employees and helping to create the means for them to achieve them
  • Practicing clear and continuous communication
  • Talking with employees on a regular basis about the values, vision, and mission of the business
  • Ensuring that each employee understands how their role contributes to the corporate mission and how they can help (individually or corporately) the business achieve its goals
  • Welcome comments, suggestions, and even constructive criticism – especially if it leads to improvements in your company
  • Recognizing and rewarding employees for outstanding work, leadership, and growth

These are just a few ways that you can invest in employees in order to grow your business and make it stronger, more productive, and more profitable. Most are very low-cost, and some don’t actually cost a thing.

Employing talent development acceleration strategies in your business could provide you with competitive advantages in business performance and talent acquisition. By creating an organizational culture that fosters high levels of employee engagement, you lay the foundation for making your employees the unique assets that you claim they are.

post-it note that states we are recruiting, for recruiting ideas article

3 Innovative Recruiting Ideas for Staffing Agencies

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The recruiting and staffing landscape has never been more competitive. Agencies that want to land the best candidates need to stand out from the rest; these three innovative recruiting ideas for staffing agencies can help.

Innovative Recruiting Ideas for Staffing Agencies Can Set Your Services Apart

You aren’t likely to come across a job posting from a company or a staffing agency that says “ho-hum candidates wanted.” Without an innovative approach, however, your staffing agency runs the risk of looking just like all the rest, and that “rest” is growing quickly. The staffing industry grew by 4 percent in 2018. With the economy at full employment – and more job openings than jobs – the recruiting competition for staffing agencies in 2019 is tougher than ever before.

You might be concerned that your agency will have to spend a lot of money on advertising or gimmicks in order to become more successful at attracting top candidates. However, these innovative recruiting ideas for staffing agencies can help set your services apart, and they don’t have to break the bank to deliver a big return on investment.

3 Low-Cost Innovative Recruiting Ideas for Staffing Agencies and Recruiters

1. The Power of a Voice

Today’s technology makes it easy for everyone to see information all the time, but at the same time makes swiping information and updates away or deleting information from an inbox equally easy and immediate. Within seconds, people decide whether to read an update, comment or click on an image. Sites like LinkedIn make it possible for prospective candidates to find and connect with company and agency recruiters instantly; indeed, it’s not uncommon to see updates about position openings throughout the news feed on LinkedIn and other social platforms.

All of these voices have power, especially when updates come from people a prospective candidate knows personally, or when a “real employee” lends their voice to the recruiting effort by sharing a job post or positive reviews about what it’s like to work for their employer.

When information comes from a reputable voice a candidate will be more likely to click on the content, which then takes them to a company’s job posting or career site. The power of a voice – a real employee’s esteem for the organization they call home, can play a critical role in helping to engage and attract top talent to impact the future of the company.

2. The Impact of Personal Stories

For every job opening there is an employer, title, description and salary. While all of these can get the attention of talented candidates, it’s the culture of the organization, the growth opportunities for an employee, the neighborhoods where they might live or work, and the added perks that make life a little bit sweeter that truly engage.

Many companies recognize this is an advantage to gaining top talent, and so seek to engage candidates using short funny or inspirational videos in order to give prospective hires a peek behind the curtain. Although professional video production can be expensive, the cost to make your own short videos runs the gamut from free (using a cell phone, webcam or owned equipment) on up.

Amazon has released many videos that give candidates insights as what it’s like to be a part of the culture and what they to expect working at Amazon on a daily basis, such as this one titled What is it like to work at Amazon: Go Beyond the Badge with Janna.

This video was published in May of 2015 and since then has garnered more than 18,000 views. Another Amazon example is a video that talks about Seattle, where the company is headquartered, focusing on the e-commerce giant’s relocation package and why Seattle is a great place to live.

3. The Prove It Test

A “prove it test” is any type of test a recruiter might use to determine whether an applicant has the skills needed to succeed in a given role. When you combine the idea of a prove it test with a personal challenge, you create intrigue that can motivate ambitious, talented candidates to take action. Think of this as one of the few times “if you build it, they will come” might actually work.

In one example, when Google was recruiting engineers they put up billboards that simply had a white background with an algorithm listed. Those who responded on their website with the correct equation and then succeeded in additional problem solving online were then redirected to a final recruiting page. Giving proof to the message displayed to those who reached the final recruiting page that “One thing we learned while building Google is that it’s easier to find what you’re looking for if it comes looking for you,”

Google has continued to use unconventional recruiting techniques in order to attract the uniquely talented employees they are looking for. In another instance, the MGM hotel in Vegas put together their own version of the reality show Iron Chef to test the mettle of applicants for a top chef job at one of their best restaurants (MGM and Iron Chef Contest).

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Staffing Agency Factoring and Staffing Payroll Funding Services

We offer staffing agency factoring services and staffing payroll factoring with low fees – as low as 5% – plus free same day funding, with advances as high as 90%. Get a free, no-obligation quote to compare against your current factoring program or find out how our staffing agency factoring or payroll funding could help you grow your agency more quickly.