Are You Neglecting Your In-House Talent?

480210215There’s an old adage that applies very well to the staffing industry: “the shoemaker’s kids have no shoes.” It’s natural to focus on client demands and open requisitions more than your own internal hiring needs and talent development. At some point, however, neglect catches up with you in the form of serious consequences: overworked internal staff, critical skill gaps and rising turnover.

As the increasing demand for talent has made finding new opportunities easier, that last consequence — high turnover — has become one that plagues many staffing firms to the detriment of both clients and candidates. Is your firm safe from the harms of high turnover?  Are you a staffing industry employer of choice for the long haul?

To help you answer this question, I asked several staffing firm veterans and one industry rookie about their career paths in staffing and what made them stay. Use their insights to learn what has resonated with star employees and ways your firm can nurture and maintain a loyal staff.

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“I fell into it.”
This has been the most common answer when I’ve asked how someone got into the staffing industry. It’s usually followed by, “… and I never left.” Thad Smith, VP, administration and shared services at Callos Resource, explained that he worked at a managed service business for security guards before taking the role at Callos. Smith shared, “I started out in the risk department as the benefits coordinator processing unemployment claims. Then I was a staffing coordinator, sales rep, and took over as a product manager.  Years in both risk (support) and ops (staffing/sales) set me up for my current position overseeing risk, sales, and HR.”

He has worked his way up to the executive level by leveraging multiple skill sets. “I see the most growth for ‘alsos’ in the staffing industry,” he said. “That is, people who can staff or sell to customers, but also have other skills. Familiarity with technology and data and how they can be utilized in our day-to-day business is just as, if not more valuable, than a leading sales rep or top coordinator. Our industry, unfortunately, is slim in employees with that skill set.  We spend hours collecting data from our candidates and customers, yet very little time leveraging it. That’s an incredible missed opportunity.”

What gets people to jump to a new staffing firm?
As people grow within their staffing careers, they often make the jump to another firm. But why? Robin Mee, founder, president and managing recruiter for Mee Derby & Company, explained that staffing professionals leave for a variety of reasons: “They aren’t with the right company; they decided to join a firm that doesn’t align with their professional or personal values; the job they took changed once they joined the firm; the management changed and new management is not working for them anymore; they don’t believe in the current leadership.”

Robin’s firm focuses on staffing within the staffing industry, so she sees the positive side to switching roles. “The new opportunity could be related to finances, career path, flexibility, location or travel. Candidates are always looking for ways to grow.”

And as the industry also continues to grow, there will be more job opportunities for your top employees. According to Staffing Industry Analyts, the temporary help penetration rate is at an all-time high, comprising more than 2 percent of the US workforce. “This is good for the staffing industry and companies are aggressively hiring salespeople and recruiters,” Mee said. “I have heard companies say that their barrier to expansion is internal talent. In 25 years of staffing industry search, I have never seen companies of every size and specialty hiring recruiting leadership like they are now.”

Challenge your team and invest in them for retention.
I spoke with a relative rookie to the industry, Molly Louthan, sales director for Signature Consultants, to explore her career path and what makes people stay at one firm. “A friend introduced me to the industry, and I quickly realized the opportunity within the space. After nearly two years, I was recruited by Signature Consultants to help build their Chicago market and I accepted the opportunity to expand my skill set as a leader,” says Louthan. “Now, when I am recruiting for my team, I also focus on growth opportunities and the robust training we have, which is a differentiator in the space. If I think about my peers who are top performers, if you’re not challenging them and showing them how you’re going to invest in their career growth, they aren’t going to stay long.”

John Rabito, VP of sales at TransTech IT Staffing, shared how the training his company invests in is not only making his sales teams more effective, but it is also increasing their satisfaction and success. “By sending our sales team to association meeting and conferences, they are able to see trends on how clients are engaged in the IT staffing industry. Their knowledge of the business helps them establish deeper and more trustworthy relationships with our clients, thus resulting in higher satisfaction levels for our clients and sales staff,” Rabito said.

The bottom line —The best teams win
If you don’t have a strong team in place, you’re not going to reach your growth goals. As cliché as it might sound, this is still a people business and it starts with your internal employees. Don’t let people find you by accident. Proactively recruit top talent with a campaign targeting internal hires, provide your employees with training and growth opportunities and watch their tenure and their performance rise.

MORE: Closing industry perception gaps

Leah McKelvey

Leah McKelvey
Leah McKelvey is regional VP, enterprise EMEA at Bullhorn. She can be reached at leah (dot) mckelvey (at) bullhorn (dot) com.

Leah McKelvey

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