The Pros and Cons of Working with a Staffing Agency
July 25, 2023 2023-07-25 7:51
The Pros and Cons of Working with a Staffing Agency
According to businessnewsdaily a staffing agency acts as a middleman between employers and workers, helping to match qualified candidates with companies that have job openings. Working with a staffing agency means that you do not directly step out to seek out your employees; the staffing agency provides you with the staff that match your needs and they are involved from the recruitment process to the termination. They are not just a recruitment agency.
It seems that the use of staffing agencies has increased in recent times. Technology is certainly a factor in this matter but the increase in competition and the shortening of the length of time at which products get to the market have certainly added to the relevance of staffing agencies that save businesses resources like time which has become very vital.
This article considers the pros and cons of working with a staffing agency. Almost everything in the world, no matter how perfect they may look is accompanied by cons, this is the same with staffing agencies. Read on to know what to watch out for as you patronize staffing agencies. Some pros of working with a staffing agency include;
1.Staffing Agencies could Reduce Business Risks and Liability:
One of the most important resources to any business is human resources. The human beings, the brains and minds that work with a business can make or break it.
Working with a staffing agency gives the business an opportunity to observe and choose their permanent staff prudently. For example, the banking industry in Nigeria. They employ a lot of marketers on a contract basis and eventually make a few outstanding ones permanent staff. Though this is not a typical example it shows the immeasurable advantage that could come with working with a staffing agency.
Since human resources are the most important, they have to be well chosen, however, the traditional method of recruitment offers only a limited opportunity to do that. With a staffing agency, a business has the opportunity to observe staff in their natural environment and prudently pick what is best for them.
2. Saves Time
This happens in two ways. First, it takes a relatively long time to fully hire staff if a business were to hire them directly. A lot of time and effort is put into this process so a staffing agency with a lot of options from which the business can choose what they need is a good alternative.
The second way this happens is by shortening the learning curve. Traditional hiring processes give room for the assumption that the staff has a lot to learn on the job. The business has to organize training for new staff. But with a staffing agency, the business receives a better deal; exposure to people with more experience and qualifications would certainly save training time and resources at least initially.
3. Flexibility:
The market today requires more flexibility than it did just a few years ago. Businesses are required to quickly adjust to changing times and circumstances and an adjustment may mean more staff for some period of time.
It would be a waste of resources for a business to invest in recruiting staff and talents that would not be with them in the long run. It would be a waste to go through the hassle of recruiting people that would spend 3 or 6 months only and then be let go. Staffing agencies help businesses to adapt to these changes easily and quickly. When temporary staff are needed, the business could contact a staffing agency and have this need met without much disruption of the proper functioning of the business.
Some cons of working with a staffing agency include;
1. Poor Recruitment Processes:
A staffing agency does not use the services of the staff that they work with; it is therefore only natural that they may not be as intentional as the business may be in the screening and training of the staff that work with them. This may affect the effectiveness of the staff they have and thus the effectiveness of the business.
However, there is a way for businesses to mitigate this challenge. It is by working with specialized staffing agencies. When looking for a human resource manager, contact a staffing agency that deals with human resources, for IT staff, do likewise. This is the best bet you have not to hire staff they are not worth their weight in gold.
2. Staff Bonding and Loyalty:
Temporary staff are not likely to be as loyal as permanent staff would be. This is because they have a short-term view of everything that goes on with the business because they know that they are not there for the long run. However, a business surely wants staff that are loyal and committed to the growth of the company, this is one reason that some businesses have remained alive today- staff loyalty.
Interpersonal bonding may be reduced as temporary staff view themselves differently from the company’s permanent staff. Also, this staff may not understand the branding of the company deeply and at a time like branding is almost everything.
3. Higher Cost
This is a huge one for a business that is seeking to make a profit (I believe yours is). Generally, recruitment agencies cost about 20-30% of an employee’s annual salary. This is no small money and it gets worse if you are looking for a unique role or a hard-to-fill one.
This is certainly not something that a business would like to do in the long run. It is not a feasible model for staffing one’s agency. My advice then would be that over time, a business invests in building its own talent pool for recruitment. Businesses should recruit most of their staff by themselves, this is more feasible. Staffing agencies should be consulted sparingly.
In the long run, this pays off both in cash and in kind. Are you an HR Professional? Will you like to learn how to automate your HR processes in a way that optimizes your organizational performances? Click away. Remember that employees are a company’s greatest asset so learn how to choose them prudently.
