I’m willing to bet that if you’re a staffing industry executive, at least six of the eight items below are on your “must do” list. Improve retention8 Items on Staffing Executives Recruit internal staff Increase speed of return on new hires Improve online reputation Avoid leaving $$ on the table Re-engage candidates while on assignment Improve time-to-fill ratios Break into new accounts

1. 8 Items on Staffing Executives’ “Must Do” List
(And 8 Ideas to Help Gain Traction with Them Now)
I’m willing to bet that if you’re a staffing industry executive, at least six of the eight
items below are on your “must do” list.
1. Improve retention
2. Recruit internal staff
3. Increase speed of return on new hires
4. Improve online reputation
5. Avoid leaving $$ on the table
6. Re-engage candidates while on assignment
7. Improve time-to-fill ratios
8. Break into new accounts
My confidence on this comes from talking to staffing leaders every day who are trying
to pull all levers within their control to compete more effectively. And since your main
audiences are candidates, clients and internal employees – this is rightly where the
focus aims.
Gain traction – starting now.
Here are eight ideas you can immediately put into action to gain traction on these
critical areas:
1. Improve retention – Ask for feedback. The biggest issue we typically hear that
impacts retention is a lack of communication. However, most firms don’t realize
what confusion exists and how it’s hurting their culture (regardless of company
size) since leaders don’t often ask for candid feedback. Start by hosting a small
roundtable with your new hires to identify their experience so far at your
organization. What have they enjoyed? How have their expectations been met? Are
there opportunities where they feel the company could be doing more? Since they
are newer to the firm, they might be more likely to share fresh ideas. Consider how
you can gather feedback more consistently and show your employees that you’re
implementing their suggestions.
2. Recruit internal staff – Host an open house. Referrals are still the leading source of
hire for most staffing firms. Are you giving your great employees a compelling
reason to invite someone into your company to experience your culture for
themselves? Consider hosting a happy hour or panel event at your office, and
reward employees for bringing potential hires that meet set qualifications (send
those out in advance of the event). If it’s not feasible to host an open house,
consider other ways to highlight your culture, like acompany video spotlight or
individual video profiles for in-demand roles like sales and recruiting. People want
to see what it’s really like working for you, and to envision themselves there.

2. 3. Increase speed of return on new hires – Audit your training program. If you think
that arming new hires with a phone and LinkedIn Premium means instant results in
two weeks, your thinking is outdated. Sales positions are among the top 10 hardest
roles to fill in the US, and you’re not just competing with other staffing firms to get
great talent. If you want a quick return on the investment you’re making into
salespeople and recruiters, confirm that the training you’re providing is “return-
worthy.” Cold-calling gets old, quickly. Provide your team with compelling reasons
to call, content to continuously share with your target audiences and the
techniques and internal tools to feel confident in their outreach. You’ll be in a much
better place in the long run than if you put another $100 Amex card on the line for
the 12th sales blitz in a row.
4. Improve online reputation – Visit Indeed Reviews and Glassdoor. People don’t
believe everything they read on the internet. Let’s be thankful for that. But, and
there’s a big BUT, they certainly trust what others are saying more than the
advertising that you are doing on your own behalf – especially when your review
counts start exceeding 30 or 40. If I’m a potential employee, I could dismiss one bad
review as a disgruntled bad hire. With 50, 2.5-star reviews peppered across the
entire year on both Indeed and Glassdoor, you might have a problem – and I don’t
want to deal with that situation. I’ll just go to the other staffing firm down the
street that is also hiring and has 25, 4-star reviews. The first step to fixing this
situation is taking the blinders off and realizing that people look at and trust online
reviews. The next step is developing a strategy to highlight what it’s really like to
work for you. Check out these best practices from Glassdoor for ideas.
5. Avoid leaving $$ on the table – Know your book of business. If you buy into the
sales adage that it’s harder to bring in new clients than upsell your existing clients,
then you probably have very specific strategies in place to penetrate current
accounts based on your existing client portfolio. It’s surprising – but most people
don’t have these strategies. How many clients in your base have less than five
contractors on billing? What would it mean if you focused on taking those accounts
from five contractors to 10? Analyze your book of business to determine where you
might truly be leaving money on the table. Hold people accountable to metrics for
growing your marquee accounts.
6. Re-engage candidates while on assignment – Designate someone to
engage. Similar to increasing loyalty with your existing accounts, it’s important to
foster loyalty with your consultants – especially in this market. Despite technology
gains and sophisticated systems to keep a pulse on where contractors sit in the
process, there are still communication gaps that are opening doors (and LinkedIn
inboxes) for your competition to build a relationship with your consultant.
Consultants start thinking about their next assignments as soon as they start yours
– so make sure you’re the one there talking to them about their plans. Is there a
recruiter or account manager that you can designate to call consultants after their
first day, first week and ideally at six touch points for a 12-month assignment? Is it
worth testing to see how your loyalty and re-hire rates are impacted?

3. 7. Improve time-to-fill ratios – Re-energize your ATS. In a recent pulse survey we
launched for staffing executives, a vast majority indicated that their ATS was a top
annual investment, followed closely by job boards (not including staff and
employee payroll). I’ve already mentioned knowing your book of business, but it’s
also important to understand the current status of your ATS. How many candidates
do you currently have in your ATS? How many haven’t been contacted in more than
three years? What functionality exists in the ATS to segment by skill, location, time
of last connect, etc. and refresh the data? Considering that you’re spending top
dollar on this system, be sure to do the work to make sure your ATS is actually
working for you. Try segmenting the data and launching a series of emails to
candidates who have been in your system more than three years. Consider an
incentive that encourages them to share their recent information and re-engage
with your staffing firm.
8. Break into new accounts – Try something different. Take a risk and try a sales
campaign that you haven’t done before. Give people a systematic approach to
follow-up on and hold them accountable. For example, if you send three touch
points that are more clever (and expensive) than previous pieces, make sure your
team is following up on them. Maybe you’ve never hosted a client roundtable or
event in the past. Would this be attractive to your prospects? Do you have a big
name client that loves to speak on panels and share their expertise? Ask them to
moderate a roundtable and then give your sales reps an email they can send to
start inviting attendees. Think about new ways you can provide value to your clients
and prospects, simultaneously giving you a valid reason to get in front of them
again.
The idea of “marketing” is often scary for most staffing leaders. Some may equate it
with a huge investment into branding, websites, social media, collateral and
promotional items that are outside their comfort zone (or P&L). However, good
marketing is much more – it’s understanding your business goals and aligning them with
measurable communication and outreach strategies that will positively impact your
objectives. Everything mentioned here is marketing – and it shouldn’t be scary. Instead
of scary, think of marketing as game-changing strategies to gain traction more quickly
and push you past the competition.
Which of these ideas have you tried? Do you plan on trying any in Q3? What are you
waiting for?! Take this 8 question, 3 minute survey to see how you compare to your
peers on some of these top initiatives.