HR Insight - How Can Staffing Help Your Business Scale?

The staffing industry is dynamic and includes key players among them staffing companies and agencies, professional employer organizations, recruiters and headhunters. From providing personnel to work on a short-term basis such as filling in for sick staff or employees who are absent for various reasons, the industry has evolved significantly over time to provide workforce on temporary, contract and full-time permanent basis for many sectors of the economy.

Staffing or temp agencies recruit and screen their employees. After the screening process, which is often accompanied by training in the relevant fields, the employees are then sent to work with the agency’s client. The client need only specify the type of personnel required, the number, rates and the period for which the personnel will be required. It is important to note that under this arrangement, the dispatched personnel remain an employee of the agency, although there are provisions for absorbing persons into a permanent position under the client’s mandate. Employment placement agencies on the other hand take up the process of recruiting, screening and undertaking initial interviews for full-time positions available. The clients approach the agency with a job title and description and a comprehensive outline of qualifications and eligibility requirements for the same. After successful placement of a candidate, the client pays a service fee to the agency, often calculated on the basis of the expected salary of the new employee. Check out this video, representing a staffing company in technology:

Headhunters and agencies providing executive searches work in one of two ways. They may recruit, screen and conduct preliminary interviews with potential candidates for a position and get paid for the short-listing service. Alternatively, the company may enter into an agreement with the client to receive a fee, based on the salary, only in the event that the client company hires the candidate(s) presented. Headhunters are professional consultants, who, before embarking on executive searches make it their responsibility to understand the challenges and potentials of the client. With this information, they are able to profile and find the most suitable candidate for the executive position, who is certain to deliver quality performance and optimize the client’s operations for sustainability, profitability and growth. Talent is the most important element that headhunters look out for and clients recognize and appreciate this with service fees much greater than other staffing arrangements.

With an ever growing economy, there is a consistent demand for a workforce of different degrees of skill from unskilled labor to high-level management personnel. The staffing industry works to effectively link employers across different sectors with potential labor force that best matches their needs.