If you’ve never worked with a temp agency, you may be pleasantly surprised at how effective the experience can be. There are so many advantages to working with agencies, once you start, you may wonder how you ever managed without them. So how do you get the best out of working with them?
What are the Benefits?
There are quite a few. If you are just recruiting temps to cover in between one member of staff leaving and another starting, you need someone with the right skill set. Most organisations are unlikely to be able to get someone to fit the bill on their own. Besides, why would you issue a fixed term contract to someone for a matter of weeks, when a temp agency employs them? If you run a business that employs shift-workers or people who work unsociable hours, people may go sick more frequently in the winter, when colds are rife. Some agencies specialise in having people ready for you from eight o’clock in the morning, for example. These agencies use good quality temporary staffing software that matches the role with people with the relevant experience, taking a lot of the hard work out of matching people up.
Choose the Right Agency
There are lots of generalists but many agencies specialise in certain market sectors or industries, for example, insurance, membership organisations or charities. This might be an important consideration but you also want to know about the agency itself – whether its recruiters are professionals, whether they interview the staff they are sending to you beforehand, what kind of software they use? That kind of thing. Just because the recruiters are members of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies, or something similar doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be perfect for you, but it does mean that they’ve invested time in their development. And how do they know the person they are sending is right for you unless they’ve personally interviewed them and built a relationship with that person? Do they use temporary staffing software? – One that can pull the right person out of the bag on a Monday morning when your receptionist hasn’t turned up for work.
Build Relationships
Building a good relationship with your chosen agency is important for a number of reasons. The agency needs to get to know your business and the organisational culture so that they send the right people to you. Make sure that you make it clear to the agency about your specific needs, which may be different for every role. Give them a chance to get to know you, your culture, and the nuances of your workforce. It does take a bit of time, but it will be worth it in the end.
Now you know more about it, consider using an agency. They might just save you a lot of time and hassle.
