staffing agency

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.

Bad Employees Could Be Costing Your Company More Than You Realize

Bad Employees Could Be Costing Your Company More Than You Realize

Business owners are responsible for keeping a delicate balance between meeting employee expectations and inspiring loyalty while still trying to please their customers. While it’s true that not every employee will perform exceptionally at every single job, many managers are uncomfortable with addressing the issue of bad employees. Unfortunately, those bad employees could be costing your company much more than you realize. Bad employees have the potential to:

Hurt your company’s image
Hurt your company’s potential
Affect the performance of other employees

It is extremely important to understand that keeping a bad employee on staff hurts not only your company, but the employee as well. Most bad employees know that they are not the best person for the job and coming to work every day with that knowledge is both frustrating and stressful. This work related stress can easily affect their personal life as well. Caring managers must be willing to take the appropriate action and help that employee move into a job where they are able to be a star player or at least a good employee.

Bad employees have a tendency to spread their negative traits throughout a company. These traits might include poor attitude, backbiting and incompetence. In time, bad employees can affect your other employees, customers and the overall quality of your products and services. This has the ability to severely damage or even destroy your company.

Replacing a bad employee with someone that performs as well as or better than your star player can significantly improve your company’s potential. It can free up your time, allowing you to become a better manager, it shows your team that good performance is recognized and it can greatly improve your team’s efficiency and effectiveness.

In order to improve your company’s effectiveness and efficiency you must start by identifying and eliminating bad employees. An experienced staffing agency can help your company locate the top talent that you require. A qualified staffing agency pre-screens its professional candidates to ensure a perfect fit within your company.

Tips For Getting A Job Through a Staffing Agency

Tips For A Getting Job Through A Staffing Agency

In today’s competitive world it can be extremely hard to find a job. One of the most promising ways of finding a good job is to contract with a staffing agency. Staffing agencies can help you find the perfect job and gain necessary experience throughout the process. The following tips can help you land a job through a staffing agency.

Research the different staffing agencies available
Locate staffing agencies online and thoroughly research them. Check references and ask lots of questions.
Understand the difference between paid and free
There are several staffing agencies that require job seekers to pay a fee for their services. Most of the time this fee will be paid by the company where the applicant is placed. If you choose to use a staffing firm that charges fees, make sure that you research them thoroughly before signing on.
Register with a reputable agency
A reputable staffing agency can be a valuable partner when searching for a good job.
Provide a comprehensive resume
Most staffing firms will require you to submit your resume when you register with them. This is important as it gives the staffing agency the ability to match your talents and skills to the job postings that they have available.
Take all qualifying tests
The staffing agency that you choose might require you to take certain qualifying tests. These tests are a good indicator of your personal skills and abilities and can enable the staffing agency to place you in a wider range of positions.
Take any additional training offered by the staffing firm
Many staffing agencies provide training for individuals that contract with them. This specialized training not only reinforces your skills but also increases your chances of finding a job.
Search through job listings
While the staffing agency that you contract with will aim to match you with the perfect job, it is still a good idea to search through the agency’s database of job vacancies yourself.
Whenever possible, sign up for Email or SMS alerts
When there is a job match, if you receive notice right away through email or SMS alerts you will be able to apply for the job immediately.
Always apply immediately
To avoid missed opportunities, always apply immediately when there is a job match.
Do not give up
The perfect job usually takes time to find. Trust in the staffing agency that you have chosen to work with.

Developing A Professional Relationship With A Staffing Agency

Developing A Professional Relationship With A Staffing Agency

A quality staffing agency can be an excellent way to get your business through a huge project or a disastrous flu season. However, not all staffing agencies are created equal. Depending on which staffing firm you choose, you could either find yourself overwhelmed with the end result, or wishing you could turn back the clock. When selecting a staffing agency, you must find one that is able to fulfill your business’ individual needs. Let’s take a closer look at how to develop a professional relationship with a staffing agency.

Start By Determining Your Needs

If you are not able to properly communicate your needs from the start, your long-term success will suffer. Consider meeting with managers and supervisors to determine exactly what the role of your new employees will be. Figure out just how many employees will be needed for each department and how long you will need them to be with the company. You should also determine the skills that each employee must possess. Be sure to plan your company budget to pay for the workers that you need, and remember that having too many employees can be just as stressful as being short-staffed.

Choose Your Staffing Agency

When selecting a staffing agency to work with you will want to choose one that is able to fill the specific needs that you have determined. For example, a staffing firm that specializes in industrial workers is not likely to have a pool of accountants to assist your company during tax season.

Once you have determined which staffing agency specializes in your particular industry, inquire about the benefits and pay that the agency offers their employees. Typically, a quality compensation package will attract higher caliber workers. Don’t be afraid to request references from the staffing firm. Simply checking references can save you a lot of stress and money in the long run.

Once you have selected a staffing agency, ask if they offer a trial period. This gives you the opportunity to see how well you work together, as well as ample time to decide if you wish to make the arrangement permanent. After a few weeks, schedule a follow up interview to discuss any fine tuning that needs to be done. This is crucial in establishing an ongoing professional trust that is based on communication and understanding.

Common Myths About Getting a Job Through a Staffing Agency

Common Myths About Getting a Job Through a Staffing Agency

Staffing agencies offer qualified candidates the opportunity to gain access to companies on either a temporary, temp to hire or full-time basis. Temporary assignments can last anywhere from one day to six months or more. More than ninety percent of all companies in the U.S. use staffing firms to find employees, and approximately forty percent of all employees have entered or re-entered the job market with the help of a staffing agency.

However, many college graduates still avoid registering with staffing agencies because they have heard one or more misleading myths about getting a job through a staffing agency. Let’s take a closer look at these common myths:

Jobs available through staffing agencies are not “real” jobs, they are only temporary jobs.
The reality is that the jobs available through staffing agencies are “real” jobs, often offered by large, well-established companies. These companies develop budgets in order to hire a set number of full-time employees every year. These budgets include a substantial amount of money used to hire temporary staff throughout the year to handle the ebb and flow of business. When the time comes for the company to open up temporary positions as full-time, the temporary employees that were placed by the staffing agency are in the ideal position to interview for the full-time job.
The jobs available through staffing agencies are low paying jobs.
Regardless of how they locate the opportunity, most college graduates will be offered assignments that fit their experience, which is entry level. It’s up to them to decide how they will leverage that opportunity in order to take their career to the next level. Jobs offered by staffing agencies typically provide employees with a better chance to advance their career.
Staffing agencies only work with entry level, administrative type candidates.
Staffing agencies work with a variety of different candidates. Specialty firms place professional, managerial and technical candidates, while other staffing agencies offer opportunities for candidates that are looking to either get their foot in the door or change industries.
Assignments offered by staffing agencies only last a couple of weeks.
While assignments offered by staffing agencies might last anywhere from one day to several months, employees have an excellent opportunity to get hired full-time. Perhaps one of the best things about working with a staffing agency is that you are exposed to a wide variety of companies, positions and opportunities. This makes it possible for you to decide exactly what you are looking for as far as company culture, who you work best with and what type of work you enjoy doing.

Benefits of Using a Staffing Agency

Benefits of Using a Staffing Agency

Staffing agencies perform all necessary recruitment and selection processes for organizations requiring high quality workers. While some staffing agencies provide temporary workers, others provide professional candidates for temp to hire arrangements. Regardless of the type of employment, there are several benefits to employers using staffing agencies to locate top candidates. These benefits include:

Increased expertise
Lowered costs
Greater availability of workers
Higher level of employee retention

When a company uses a trusted staffing agency they receive a level of expertise that far exceeds most HR departments. Staffing agencies are able to provide employment services that rival even the best recruiters and employment specialists, typically at a much lower cost. Staffing agencies have a much higher level of expertise related to job knowledge, employment trends and recruitment practices. Additionally, if the staffing agency specializes in certain fields, they will also have a wealth of expertise in your particular industry.

Using a staffing agency can save you a significant amount of money over hiring adequate staff to recruit applicants. Because staffing agencies perform all necessary screening, companies are able to save on pre-employment testing, background checks and drug screening. Additionally, employers can save considerably on payroll processing and benefit administration when they use a staffing agency.

Staffing agencies typically have a much larger network of available workers over most employers. Staffing agencies keep relationships with high quality candidates that they have already identified as dependable, reliable and conscientious. The network that a staffing agency maintains is usually broad with potential employees ready to fill any position that an employer might have available. In fact a staffing agency can usually fill a position in a matter of days, or even hours.

Employers that engage the services of a staffing agency for temporary employment get an opportunity to observe employee performance, qualifications and work habits before offering them a permanent job. This has the ability to cut down on turnover once the trial period has ended. Utilizing staffing agencies for high volume placements can result in significant savings related to turnover and training costs. In addition, using a staffing agency can also save an employer on the intangible costs of turnover, such as employee morale.