Most staffing companies will take your order (and your money) and promise that they can fill your need without a problem. They tell you what you want to hear, but more times than not they can't meet your expectations. As an example, Ryan Staffing excels at placing unskilled temporary on short notice and in large quantities. Don't ask us to find a Nuclear Engineer because it's outside our pay grade...and we'll tell you that.
2. SORRY, WE CAN'T SEND YOU ONLY YOUNG WHITE MALES TO FILL YOUR UNSKILLED POSITION.We all like to think that as employers we've moved beyond out and out discrimination in the workforce. Not in all cases....it still happens. And sometimes for a multitude of reasons staffing companies will look beyond doing what is right just to get the business. In the short run they may get away with this. But in the long run by doing this they are not protecting the clients long term interests. Test your service sometime just to see how they handle this issue and if they are willing to put you and your company at risk.
3. THE DESCRIPTION OF YOUR JOB IS SOMETHING WE DON'T DO BECAUSE OF THE SAFETY RISK.
In many respects staffing companies these days must function like insurance companies when deciding what is good business and what is not. Working with companies that have poor safety records or operate in high risk industries can have a devastating impact on all but the giants of the staffing industry. One bad accident can put a temp help company out of business by driving up their workers compensation premiums to the point they can't be price competitive.
4. WE CAN RAISE THE TEMPS PAYRATE $.25/HOUR BUT IT REALLY WON'T PREVENT TURNOVER.
In the real world raising the pay rate of a light industrial temp working for $7.50/hour with no real shot at permanent employment by twenty-five or even fifty cents per hour is not going to reduce turnover by any significant amount. That's just the way it is these days. Having an opportunity for a permanent position with some hope of a future is what will motivate a temp to stay more so that a token pay increase.
5. YOU REALLY NEED TO RECORD THAT TEMPS INJURY ON YOUR OSHA 300 LOG.
A few years back a client insisted that it was not their responsibility to record temp injuries on their log. It got to the point where I was told to back off or risk losing their business. As a couple of our clients will recently attest, you do have to record these injuries based on control over the work environment. The OSHA inspector made this perfectly clear upon their visit. We wound up dropping the "know it all" client....way too many accidents!
6. PRE-EMPLOYMENT DRUG TESTING IS USEFUL......BUT?
Drug testing temps before they start an assignment certainly has its place and serves a valid screening purpose but is it the end all to beat all? Consider for a moment if you were a drug user that needed a job. You know a drug test will be required to be hired. Don't you keep yourself clean for a
week or two before applying for work in order to pass the test? And then go back to your bad habit after starting work?
Random drug testing may be a better solution than pre-employment testing because the employee never knows when the test is coming....kind of like the surprise quiz you use to get in school. Something to consider.
The pre-employment drug test may be more useful in screening out the dummies that know they won't pass but still try.
7. USING A STAFFING SERVICE THAT OFFERS BENEFITS TO ITS TEMPS IS A WASTE OF YOUR MONEY.
The idea of offering temps benefits sounds like a great idea. Things like paid holidays, vacation time, hospitalization etc. can only serve to lower turnover, reduce absenteeism and attract a higher caliber person right? Not really.
Most (not all) staffing companies that specialize in light industrial and clerical staffing that offer benefits place qualifying restrictions on eligibility that make it virtually impossible for the temp to ever collect. In most cases the temp by the nature of the business never reaches the required number of hours worked to qualify for paid time off. In the case of hospitalization the benefit levels and co-pays limit coverage the temp can use and the premiums are mostly paid by the temp anyway which they can't afford. The end result is very few take out the coverage.
This doesn't stop the staffing service from justifying (and charging) a higher bill rate to you in exchange for providing these " phantom benefits" that few receive. A better solution if you want benefits for temps is a" pay as you go" approach where you only pay for those benefits that are actually paid to each individual temp.
8. YOUR EXPECTATIONS ARE PROBABLY NOT REALISTIC.
Ok.....this will obviously be an extreme example but it serves the message. You need 50 temps tomorrow to perform unskilled positions. They must be flexible about shifts and have transportation to your facility located in the middle of nowhere. The job requires individuals that can read tape measures with 95% accuracy, read and write, pass a basic math test and not be color blind. The physical part of the job requires lifting up to 75 pounds, being on your feet all day, and working twelve hour shifts. They must pass a drug test and have a clean criminal background record for the past five years. The starting pay rate is $7.50/hour and if they miss any time in the first 30 days for any reason their assignment will be ended.
Unless your staffing service has SUPERMAN in its name your expectations are a little too high for any service to meet. Those that will tell you differently are just leading you down a path to failure. Most companies that ultimately become disenfranchised with using temps do so from having been told that their unreasonable goals are obtainable...instead of the truth.
9. YOUR STAFFING SUPPLIER IS GIVING YOU A HECK OF A DEAL AND YOU SHOULD STICK WITH IT.
The staffing industry being what it is these days is very competitive. Some might say cutthroat. Every day it seems we must prove ourselves worthy to keep our customers. Competitive bidding is a big part of this process and we all go through it.
Every now and then we lose a client that claims to have found a new supplier that can beat our price, guarantee lower turnover/absenteeism, pay for temp benefits and have a staff person available on call 24/7.
If all that is true, we say you'd be a fool to turn down an offer like that and go for it....no hard feelings. The only thing we'd throw in the pot is that if it doesn't work out give us a holler and we would be happy to work with you in the future.
10. IT WILL TAKE US A DAY OR TWO TO FIND THE RIGHT PERSON TO MATCH YOUR NEEDS.
For some in the industry it is a common practice to buy time on filling a difficult order by sending out a person that is not really qualified to perform the task at hand. The theory is to hope you won't notice the individuals shortcomings at least for a few days while the scramble is on to find a better match.
What your supplier should do is be upfront and provide a few options for you to consider. The first is to wait a day or two and find the right person rather than waste time training the wrong person. Another possibility is to utilize a less skilled person that can perhaps do some of the tasks required until the perfect match is found. Or, you and your service can work out a deal where the staffing supplier provides you some free training time should a perfect fit not be found. At the very least your supplier should be honest about their prospects for filling your order by staying in contact with you a couple of times each day and be understanding should you give the order to a competitor.
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