Due to the high risk of serious injury and even death associated with the job, forklift operators need to be especially skilled and experienced. They absolutely must have the right licences and qualifications, including equipment knowledge, safe-operation abilities, and load and material handling knowledge, along with understanding of inspection procedures.
If you’re looking to hire qualified forklift operators on your own, especially on short notice, you might have trouble finding workers who fit the bill—workers who have all the necessary skills and certifications needed to do the job right and do it safely. And you certainly can’t just settle for someone who is mediocre because you haven’t found any qualified applicants, or you could risk lost productivity and workplace injuries that you’ll be liable for.
When you need to hire qualified forklift operators, you should partner with a staffing agency. An agency can fulfill your hiring needs in less time, with higher efficiency, and at a lower cost. But more importantly, an agency can find you skilled and qualified candidates for you to choose from, which is critical.
Let’s delve deeper into these benefits that you’ll receive when you partner with a staffing agency.
A Staffing Agency Can Save You Time
Handling the entire hiring process on your own can take weeks. You’ll have to write a job description detailing the skills, experience, and certifications that you need. You’ll have to post job advertisements and then wait at least a week for candidates to apply. Then, you’ll have to spend more time looking over all of the resumes you’ve received, make calls to the ones you want to interview, and then spend several days interviewing the applicants before making your final decision. This is all time that could be spent on more important responsibilities, and in the meantime, your open positions will remain vacant. And if you don’t find anyone qualified during your first round of hiring, you’ll have to do it all over again, wasting even more time.
A staffing agency, on the other hand, can speed up the process considerably. The key is to work with the right agency—one that specializes in filling warehouse and industrial positions. When you engage such a niche agency, you won’t have to post ads, look at resumes, or interview anyone, because the agency will have a list of qualified candidates for you to choose from in no time. You’ll be able to fill your positions quickly, without delay, so work won’t be left undone, you won’t have to overwork your current warehouse workers, and you won’t have any dips in productivity.
A Staffing Firm Can Find You Better Candidates
It can be difficult to find qualified forklift operators, especially on short notice. The skills you need are specialized, and not just anyone can do the job. A staffing agency that specializes in these types of placements will have deep networks and great relationships with qualified candidates. Your agency will have a list of forklift operators to call on whenever you need help. Whether you need temporary workers or permanent employees, your niche agency will be able to send you forklift operators with the skills and experience that you need, so you won’t have to start your hiring process from scratch or be left to choose from a sea of unqualified workers.
A Staffing Agency Can Save You Money
Think working with a staffing firm will cost you too much to make it worth your while? Think again. You’ll actually achieve a great ROI because partnering with an agency will allow you to reduce many of your costs, such as the costs of recruiting, the costs of training, the costs of forklift accidents, and the costs of a high turnover rate, because its recruiters will do all of the work for you and will only send you qualified workers who can get the job done right.
