Even the most reputable staffing agencies can make mistakes. It’s a part of life. You learn how to deal with them, rectify them, ensure they don’t happen again, and move on, striving to do better in the future. However, easily fixable mistakes are usually small and don’t result in devastating consequences.
If you’re engaging a staffing firm that consistently makes errors—especially big ones—and doesn’t seem to learn from them, it might be time to check out and find a better agency for your staffing needs. If the firm you’re dealing with makes any of the four mistakes detailed below, you know it’s time to step out of your business relationship.
1. Information Verification
It’s not exactly rare to have someone exaggerate or straight up lie on a resume. It’s the staffing agency’s job to verify all the information written down on a resume. They should be talking to past employers, asking for copies of diplomas or certificates and making sure that the temp is who he says he is. Regardless of how busy the agency is or how quickly you need your temp to start, this verification process must be done at all cost. The last thing you want is an unqualified temp walking onto your job site with no skills or experience to get the job done.
2. Not Insuring Their Workers
Staffing companies have the responsibility of insuring their workers. The type of insurance they get will vary based on the industry and position the worker is being placed for. Your agency should be able to provide you with written confirmation of insurance so you can feel more comfortable having temp workers on your worksite in case anything were to happen.
3. Not Complying with Legal Regulations
Legal compliance is an absolute must. Workplace legislature is constantly changing and it’s up to staffing agencies to keep up to date with the most current workplace laws. This is an expectation you have of them and one of the biggest reasons why you are engaging them for your hiring needs. They should know the laws backwards and forwards so you can ensure that the correct paperwork is always filled out and that you are always in compliance. Being non-compliant can cost you money, get you cited, and even shut down your business. That’s just a risk you shouldn’t be willing to take.
4. Not Meeting Your Hiring Needs
This sounds basic, right? Unfortunately, many staffing agencies fail to get this simple step right. They’re hiring quickly to meet your demand or they’re not using your selection criteria when narrowing down their pool of candidates. Either way, if you’re not getting the right temp workers for your jobs—workers with the right skills, attitude, and experience—then your agency has failed to meet your needs.
You need to be able to trust that staffing agencies know what they’re doing and they’re doing it well. If your agency is making any of these big mistakes, it’s time to seriously consider switching to a more reliable firm.
