Companies: How Can You Get More Out of Your Relationship With a Staffing Company?

COMPANIES: HOW CAN YOU GET MORE OUT OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH A STAFFING COMPANY?

Needs vs Wants:  
Prioritise what you need and want in an ideal candidate’s skills, experience and availability: there’s a difference. A staffing company like ABL will use this information to make sure you pay for the qualities that are of use to you, instead of quoting you a rate that incorporates qualities you have no use for. Example: if all you need is someone to pack boxes, label and palletise goods, why pay more for someone with forklift experience as well, in the event that you “might need a forklift driver once a month”? On the other hand, if you need a very skilled and versatile person because you have a small team and “everyone needs to do be able to do everything very well”, then you will definitely want to pay more to get the best qualified and versatile candidate you can, and insure they receive a wage that will retain their services ongoing, and not just until the next higher paying job comes up.

Make the candidate feel welcome: 
Insure they know how their work affects the rest of production, and insure they are buddied up with a mentor who can show them how best to do the work required. Have the mentor be in charge of making sure the candidate isn’t left isolated at lunch, and that all the worksite do’s and don’ts are shared so the new candidate can start off on the best foot possible.  

If you’re not sure the candidate is the correct fit, 
tell the staffing company right away. Don’t wait until the end of the day or the end of the week…It is really helpful to know what is working, as well as what is not working, so we can fine-tune the evaluation and dispatch processes for your jobsite. We may be able to send you a replacement person the same day, or make a switch for you with another department who has someone with a better-matched skill-set.

If you are happy with the candidate fit, tell us!
Letting the staffing company know which qualities make a particular candidate a better match than others, helps us make better selections for the same (or similar) positions in the future. ABL will contact you 2 times on the first day of a new candidate dispatch, (to confirm arrival, and to confirm the right fit in skills/abilities about half way through the day), and at least once a week thereafter, to insure the continued success of the match.

If you need help with another service, tell us –  
– even if  it doesn’t seem related to what we “usually do for you”. For example, even if ABL can’t provide the service ourselves, we may have a partner or contact with another company who does: We can help each other be successful through referrals.

Avoiding Billing Problems: 
The #1 reason for billing errors is caused by sign-in logs not being used properly. Please make use of the ABL timesheets that can be printed and posted as sign-in logs and faxed or emailed “as is” to our payroll department at the end of the work week. This accomplishes 2 things: time savings for your supervisors, so they’re not keeping multiple records for sign-in logs and a separate timesheet log, *and* it allows the workers a chance to confirm their hours are being recorded correctly *before* being submitted to payroll.

The #2 reason for billing errors is caused by workers being moved between multiple departments, job descriptions and shifts with different pay rates associated with them. Make a note on the sign-in log or timesheet *when this happens* and/or call the staffing company so that *they* can document the changes and track the appropriate bill rates accurately. You don’t want to be billed a forklift operator rate when the person has agreed to work as a packager while his regular department is slow.

Avoid missing an invoice: 
ABL offers electronic billing and electronic payment options. Be sure to update the staffing company if the accounts receivable/payable contact person changes, so it can be directed to the proper parties. If you have to decline an invoice for payment because of an error or other issue, please advise the staffing company right away and tell them the reason.. very often things can be update in a few short hours, and this can save days and weeks of work and aggravation for everyone involved down the road.

If we are doing something right (or wrong) tell us! 
We want to know what you want to see more of, and what you think needs tweaking. We believe that to grow, sometimes there will be growing pains. ABL Employment does not promise you perfection, we promise you a strategic working partnership that we will fight ferociously for, and if there’s something that we can do to make things even easier for you, our client company, then we want to know about it.

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