How many times do we hear the question: “What is the secret to getting and retaining the best temporary workforce?
The initial company response seems to be: “look for, and start a search for a new staffing firm, and engage with the one that has the highest volume, biggest, or other non-workforce-related metric.
Why not engage with the staffing firm that treats its temporary employees the best? Why not consider the firm with values and ethics aligned with your company’s values and ethics?
Why isn’t the answer to identify what is unfair, unbalanced, and ultimately causing temporary staff turnover in the first place?
As we ponder these questions, it seems logical that if a temporary workforce is hard to engage and retain at the levels you need at your firm, there must be something better available across the street or across town that is just enough more attractive hire them away.
When working with a staffing firm, consider the three-way relationship that must exist. The staffing firm must pay well enough to keep employees interested in long-term temporary work for that staffing company. The staffing firm must collect from the client a high enough markup to ensure that the benefits it provides to temporary employees can be delivered profitably.
Engaging based solely on price is a bad idea, short- and long-term.
There is always a staffing agency that will sacrifice competency, safety, worker eligibility (E-Verify) or other cost in their balance sheet to say they can deliver at a lower bill rate. But, choosing a firm that pays employees minimum wage and razor-thin markups, or risking regulatory investigation (for your company) will never be able retain the people you train and invest in.
Eventually, the staffing firm selected on price alone, will be unable to deliver as promised. Within weeks, this immediate benefit will wane. Going back to your former firm will take months to build back the performance and partnership.
The cost of turnover and lost productivity far outweighs savings in bill rates.
Don’t forget that there is also an unmeasurable cost to your company reputation if workplace practices are exposed in the speed-of-light social media world.
Your temporary workforce will jump ship for the smallest increase in pay. If you engage with a staffing firm that pays temporary workers minimum wage, the staffing agency serving the firm across town can attract those same people for a mere $0.25 increase per hour. All your training and workforce investment goes across the street too.
A quality staffing firm knows these dynamics, and lives the ethics required to ensure the three-way collaborative partnership works between your firm, the staffing agency, and the temporary workforce.
Barton Staffing Solutions has been E-Verifying worker eligibility, drug testing, and delivering quality temporary workers to clients in the Chicago-area for years – well ahead of the industry’s adoption of these best practices. Customers who know the value of a quality workforce that shows up when scheduled, and is sustained for the duration of the assignment have learned to expect that from Barton Staffing Solutions.
Are you one of these best-in-class clients that know the value of staffing solutions Barton delivers are worth the increased cost? Does your COO and CFO know this is the best and most cost efficient and operationally effective way to ensures production, quality and their own customer expectations are met on time and under budget.
So what is the secret? Simply put, don’t choose on price alone. Look to hidden costs including turnover, lost productivity, cost of training, and other inevitable factors.
This is a competitive advantage that lesser staffing companies just cannot deliver. If you are ready, call Barton Staffing Solutions today at any of our local Illinois offices in Aurora, Melrose Park, Hanover Park, or Crest Hill (Joliet).