News

Obtaining Permanent Placement Through a Staffing Agency

Obtaining Permanent Placement Through a Staffing Agency

If you aren’t working with a staffing agency to find your next job then you are probably missing out on several job listings that aren’t being advertised through traditional means. There are several reasons why companies don’t post all of their open positions. It could be because of confidentiality/replacement reasons or simply because they understand that working with a competent staffing agency will get the position filled much faster. One of the main benefits of using a staffing firm to locate your next job is that you can be considered for multiple positions that were not available to find on your own.

There are a few different ways to obtain permanent placement through a staffing agency. For example, you can start out with temporary or contract work. Many companies will start by employing a new hire on a temporary basis in order to make sure that they are a good fit. If the company likes your work, they might offer you a permanent position. Contract work allows you to see if you enjoy the role that you are given in a company without actually being committed to it. These types of positions are often listed as temp-to-perm, meaning that there is a potential for the job to turn into a permanent role, however you are not required to take the position if you do not want to.

Staffing firms that offer direct placement fill permanent positions for companies. Companies hire these types of staffing agencies to find top talent to fill a permanent position. The staffing agency locates the best candidates for the client’s individual needs. When searching for a staffing firm to help you with permanent placement, be sure to choose one that has proven results and good reviews.

Even if you aren’t actively looking for a job it’s a good idea to keep active profiles with a respectable staffing firm. Maintaining good relationships with a staffing agency makes it possible to check in when you are ready to update your professional goals.

iStaffing Agency helps place professional candidates into Management, Senior and Executive level positions . iStaffing Agency specializes in Human Resources, Accountants, Executives, IT Professionals, Loan Officers and other professional candidates in addition to candidates in the Entertainment and Nonprofit sector. For more information about how iStaffing Agency can help you locate your next career opportunity in California, please contact us today.

Why you Should Use a Staffing Agency for Hard to Fill Vacancies

Why you Should Use a Staffing Agency for Hard to Fill Vacancies

Between lost productivity and lost revenue, most companies lose money on hard to find hires. Usually, the search for these types of employees is more frustrating than successful. This is where a professional staffing agency can help. The right agency can deliver top talent for even the most challenging requirements. Let’s take a closer look at why you should use a staffing agency for your hard to fill vacancies:

Staffing agencies can provide valuable industry expertise
Experienced staffing agencies have direct experience with a variety of niche industries. This makes it possible for the agency to offer unique insight into your specific industry’s current hiring trends and best practices, helping you craft compensation and benefits packages that are specially designed to attract top talent.
Utilizing a staffing agency leads to a faster hiring process
Without experienced help, locating a candidate with a hard to find skill set can take several months. Utilizing the help of an experienced staffing firm can cut your time to hire down to as little as just a few days. Staffing agencies have a large database of talented professionals and recruiters who are focused on niche markets, making it possible for them to quickly pinpoint candidates that match even the most specialized hiring profiles.
Working with a staffing firm reduces friction between hiring managers
Nowadays many businesses have two or more hiring managers. This can actually slow down the hiring process and create quite a lot of internal tension, especially when those involved don’t see eye to eye on hiring profiles. Additionally, positions such as IT, engineering and software development have very specific requirements that can be extremely difficult for talent acquisition generalists who lack direct industry experience. A competent staffing agency can provide valuable industry expertise and help multiple hiring managers reach a consensus on a desired skill set.
Using a staffing agency cuts spending
Attempting to fill a hard to fill vacancy can quickly lead to rogue spending. A staffing agency can help your HR team develop a program with carefully defined guidelines on spending.

iStaffing Agency helps companies in California locate, screen and place professional candidates into Management, Senior and Executive level positions. iStaffing Agency specializes in Human Resources, Accountants, Executives, IT Professionals, Loan Officers and other professional candidates in addition to candidates in the Entertainment and Nonprofit sector. For more information about how iStaffing Agency can help your company with their staffing needs, please contact us today.

Increasing Productivity in the Workplace

Increasing Productivity in the Workplace

There are many reasons why your company might need to increase its workplace productivity. Increased demand, entering a new market or the release of a new product can all require your organization to increase its output. Let’s take a closer look at the best ways to increase productivity in the workplace.

One proven method for increasing workplace productivity involves improving the physical surroundings of your employees. This might include incorporating more daylight, colors, open spaces and ergonomics into the design of your workspace. In addition, modifying workstations, improving safety or utilizing technology have all been shown to increase productivity and contribute to a company’s bottom line.

Consider creating an opinion survey to find out how employees view working for your organization. Be sure to use open-ended questions that encourage employees to explain how you can help them to be more efficient and productive.

Involve department supervisors and managers by scheduling a meeting to discuss strategies for increasing productivity. Effective strategies might include adding staff and reassigning jobs. Adjusting staffing levels can significantly improve lagging productivity. Introducing flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting and job-sharing can improve the utilization of your existing workforce.

When you are considering adding staff to increase productivity, be sure to calculate your cost to hire and compare it against your potential increase in revenue. While an immediate return on investment might be difficult to achieve, the additional staff is likely worthwhile for achieving long-term results. Utilizing a competent staffing agency can ensure that you locate top talent without having to use up your company’s resources to fill positions.

It’s extremely important to match your employees’ abilities and qualifications to the work that they perform. Employees that are unable to complete their work are probably in the wrong job. Your employees’ skill sets should always match their job requirements and responsibilities.

Once you have gathered all of the necessary information, compare the costs of increasing productivity using additional staff, improving the work environment and reassigning jobs. Be sure to consider the information received in your employee opinion surveys when deciding the benefits of each.

Understanding the Difference Between a Staffing Agency and a Temp Agency

Understanding the Difference Between a Staffing Agency and a Temp Agency

Most people group the terms staffing agency and temp agency together. Both organizations have overlapping business models and sometimes provide the same services. However, staffing agencies usually offer a wider range of options with more solutions to suit their client’s labor issues and needs.

Both staffing agencies and temp agencies provide their corporate clientele with workers that match a particular skill set and experience level. Depending on the needs of the company, corporate clients might ask the agency to fill a short term position on very short notice or they might provide advance notice of an upcoming need for a long-term or permanent position. Regardless of the type of position, when a corporate client needs a worker they will contact the staffing firm and request an individual with a certain level of experience and skills. The staffing firm consults its worker database, contacts a qualified worker and sends them directly to the corporate client.

Temp agencies and staffing agencies offer temporary workers to their clients. Both types of staffing firm provides short-term labor to help companies deal with unexpected absences, busy periods, illnesses, maternity leaves and special projects. The agencies, employees and clients understand that temporary assignments do not last forever.

While temp agencies only offer temporary work, staffing agencies focus on the long term needs of their clients. For example, staffing agencies that specialize in information technology professionals frequently supply companies with programmers and hardware specialists that are needed to work on projects lasting more than one year.

Temporary labor is much more expensive for a company than permanent employees are. However, when a temporary absence creates the need for short term help, the higher cost might be the company’s only option. When companies have positions available they usually prefer to fill them in order to avoid the high hourly rate of temporary workers. Staffing agencies provide several different staffing solutions including the recruitment of qualified individuals and the permanent placement of full-time employees.

Preparing for a Temp Agency Test

Preparing for a Temp Agency Test

Today, experienced individuals have many options when looking for a job. An employment agency is an ideal place to start. Some job seekers chose to use temp agencies. Temp agencies provide short-term employment opportunities. Applying for a job with a temp agency involves completing an application, interviewing with a recruiter at the agency and taking a skills test. The test is used to evaluate certain skills, which allows the agency to match job seekers with the perfect job. Preparing for a temp agency test is not difficult and can go a long way towards finding the right opportunity.

Before you arrive at the temp agency, find out which tests will be required. Typically a temp agency will use different tests for different career fields. For example, a position as an administration assistant will include a typing test. Since the agency might require testing on specific software programs, you should also ask which software versions will be used.

If you are unfamiliar with the software or you lack skills that will be tested, consider taking a training course. Most community colleges offer one-day workshops, and the internet is full of free training courses. Even if you are familiar with the software that will be used during the testing, it is still wise to take a training course to refresh your skills.

Perhaps the most important part of preparing for a temp agency test is practice. Understanding how a program works or how to use your skills is not always enough to do well on the tests. Many temp agency tests are timed. Practicing your skills significantly improves your speed and accuracy.

The day of testing you must be both mentally and physically prepared. Make sure that you get a full night’s rest the night before the test and eat a healthy breakfast. When you arrive at the temp agency, turn off your cell phone and take a few extra minutes to refocus your mind so that you are able to properly invest your energy on the test.

Making Sense Out of Job Listings

Making Sense Out of Job Listings

Job listings are full of terms such as contract, temporary, temp to perm and direct hire. Each of these positions has their own unique benefits to both job seekers and the companies that offer them. However, many job seekers do not fully understand the difference between the types of employment being offered. Although some companies might vary slightly on how they define these terms, the following definitions should help you make sense out of the positions offered on most job boards.

Contract
Contract typically refers to a position that is not permanent and has a specific time frame attached to it. This type of work usually does not come with benefits. Contract work is offered when a company needs to complete a project or needs to cover a permanent employee’s leave of absence.

Temporary
Temporary positions can range from a few hours to full time work for up to one year. With temporary work there is no guarantee of the position becoming a permanent position with benefits. However, temporary positions frequently extend past the set end date, turn into temp to perm positions or open the door to a full time job later on. A temporary employee is typically considered an employee of the staffing agency.

Temp to Perm
Temp to perm positions are offered when an employer would like a full time employee but cannot commit to a permanent position immediately. During the temp to hire period, the employee is considered an employee of the staffing agency. Companies seeking temp to hire candidates through respectable staffing agencies are sincere in their desire to hire permanent staff members. This type of position can be a great benefit to both job seekers and the companies that offer them.

Direct Hire
With direct hire positions, companies utilize a staffing agency to locate talent then hire them directly. Direct hire positions are permanent positions, usually full time with benefits. Instead of being an employee of the staffing agency, candidates offered a direct hire position go directly on the company payroll.

iStaffing Agency helps place professional candidates into Management, Senior and Executive level positions. iStaffing Agency specializes in Human Resources, Accountants, Executives, IT Professionals, Loan Officers and other professional candidates in addition to candidates in the Entertainment and Nonprofit sector. For more information about how iStaffing Agency can help you locate your next career opportunity, please contact them today.

Spotting Bad Employees

Spotting Bad Employees

When it comes to a company’s success, having a great business model is only half of the battle. Having a strong culture is equally important, if not more so. When you have bad employees your whole operation is in jeopardy.

It can be difficult to spot bad employees, especially when everything is going well. The good news is there are definite signs when someone is making waves and creating unnecessary hassle for everyone around them. It is your responsibility to recognize these signs and send bad employees packing before they are able to do much damage.

The following will help you weed out bad employees:

Strongly enforce core values

When good core values are properly enforced, the good employees will shine and the bad ones will be exposed. Companies typically run into problems when they talk about their values but don’t praise required behaviors and reprimand violations. If your core values are integrated into your review process, you will quickly spot employees that are struggling before they are able to become a major problem.

Pay attention to reactions

The best company cultures create instinctive reactions. This is when employees not only understand the company’s culture, but embrace it as well. For example, if your company believes that the customer always comes first, then your employees will do whatever it takes regardless of guidelines, procedures or rules. When an employee does not react in ways that support your company’s culture, it becomes clear that they are not a good fit.

Measure employee effort

Employees should put in enough effort to be fully participating members of the team. If they aren’t keeping up, then they probably don’t belong. Sometimes employees just don’t fit in the culture of your department, and are better suited in positions elsewhere in the company.

Look out for employees that frequently let you down

It is extremely important to clearly define and communicate what your company’s culture is. Your culture and company values are at the core of just about every decision that you make including whom you bring to the board and how you manage them. It should be obvious when someone doesn’t fit in, because they will let your board down over and over again.

iStaffing Agency helps companies throughout the United States locate, screen and place professional candidates into Management, Senior and Executive level positions. iStaffing Agency specializes in Human Resources, Accountants, Executives, IT Professionals, Loan Officers and other professional candidates in addition to candidates in the Entertainment and Nonprofit sector. For more information about how iStaffing Agency can help your company with their staffing needs, please contact us today.

Tips On Retaining Good Employees

Tips On Retaining Good Employees

It can be difficult to retain good employees. To understand why employees quit, you must first understand what is most important to them:

Job security
Benefits
Compensation
Adequate opportunity to use skills
Feeling safe in the workplace

While most of these factors seem obvious, employers know that reducing employee turnover takes more than just good pay and health benefits. If you want to retain good employees then you must start by looking at your hiring practices. Before hiring your next employee, consider how the following will fit into your hiring process.

Keep a good relationship with your employees

When asked why employees quit their job the number one reason is that they had a poor relationship with their boss. It’s extremely important to make an honest effort to connect with your employees and keep an open line of communication. These are crucial parts of building a good relationship.

Give employees plenty of opportunities to use their skills

Boredom can make an employee’s work day drag on forever and it doesn’t make any sense to hire good employees who end up feeling like they have no purpose in your organization. Make sure that you hire employees with the right skill set for the job. They should feel challenged and receive plenty of opportunities to grow their talents.

Foster good relationships between employees

An office that is full of gossip, bullies and lazy workers can affect your entire workforce. It is up to you to stop this type of behavior. Pay attention and listen to employees who report bad behavior and make sure that it is stopped immediately. Don’t allow poor relationships with co-workers be the reason that you lose good employees.

Take a close look at your organizational culture

Every single person in your organization should be treated with dignity and respect. If your organization has a reputation for unethical behavior or if your executives are seen as shady individuals, even your best employee will eventually start looking for an improvement in organizational culture elsewhere.

Learning how to hire employees in a way that avoids high employee turnover can be difficult. It takes time and effort on your part, but its well worth it in the long run.