Is it worth it to entrust staffing companies with your skilled trades staffing? Can a staffing company expand your field of qualified candidates so that you don't have to settle? Does having access to temporary skilled labor help you save money on permanent staffing? Are there ways outsourcing your skilled trades staffing can lower your overhead? Each of these is a strong possibility worth discussing more.
1. Access a Wider Talent Pool
Many businesses looking for skilled trades staffing are looking within a limited talent pool. This can be fine when you have only one or two needs and someone who's always ready to fill in. Let's be real, though: that's not a consistency you can rely upon.
When you look at a smaller talent pool, you're less likely to find workers who fill all requirements, certifications, and fit your working environment. You're more likely to pull candidates in who are under-qualified and spend time and money training them up. That can create delays. Staffing companies have access to extensive pools of workers, with details about their qualifications, certifications, and work histories readily available.
2. Consistency for Expanding Your Business
Some staffing companies will have offices in geographic areas where you may be taking a job for the first time. It takes time and resources for you to find candidates willing to work in that new area. Staffing companies with an office in that area will already have a list of fully qualified and certified candidates.
This allows you to expand your region and hit the ground running in new areas. You don't want to be caught out with new businesses in a stop-and-start situation because you can't fill out skilled positions reliably. That kind of word of mouth can debilitate your business in a new area.
3. More Capability
Most businesses that require skilled laborers don't have large HR departments with exceptional reach. Some don't even have HR departments at all. That's OK, but relying on small or part-time human resources departments – or doing the job yourself – means that you don't really specialize in HR.
Just as your business specializes in its field, a staffing company specializes in finding skilled tradespeople who will make a good fit for your needs. That specialty is accessible to you in a reasonable and helpful way, so take advantage of it!
4. Fitting Your Timeline
Perhaps you already know the perfect worker, but they're booked up. Having access to a wider talent pool means you'll be able to find tradespeople who fit your timeline. Skilled laborers are always looking for new jobs to fill in the gaps of the contracts they have. Yet if you only have access to a fraction of them, then you won't be able to find those who fit into your schedule.
Having to delay even a day or two can have a ripple effect on an entire project and create problems for when other skilled tradespeople are available down the line. Avoid that issue by simply using a staffing company to access more skilled workers. It returns flexibility to your business and its schedule.
5. Fitting Your Budget
Hiring skilled workers on a permanent basis when you don't need them long-term is a quick way to chew into your budget. Hiring skilled tradespeople on a temporary, contractual basis allows you to quickly expand with qualified workers when your business needs it – without placing an unnecessary burden on your finances.
The ability to quickly expand and contract your business and its capabilities can help you better accommodate fluctuations according to season, industry outlook, and in the number and size of the jobs you decide to take on.
6. Lowering Overhead
Beyond the affordability of temporary contracts, you also don't have to supply certain insurance costs. Workers will generally have their own health insurance, and you avoid unemployment insurance. This cuts down on cost as well as payroll and accounting time.
7. Many Contractors Supply Equipment
Many skilled tradespeople will supply their own equipment on the job. They like to work with their own tools. This can mean that you don't have to purchase a new set of specialized tools. It can also save you wear and tear on the tools you already do have. It also assures redundancy, if two people need the same type of specialized tool simultaneously. This can help work go faster and cut down a bit on your overhead.
8. Try Out New Potential Hires
When you have access to a wider talent pool, you'll have access to higher quality skilled staffing. This may lead you to find workers you'd like to hire on permanently. Temporary employment through staffing agencies allows you to try out potential long-term hires on the job. It's the ultimate interview, and you're not on the hook if you choose to go another direction. If it is a good fit in both directions, then you've already been able to see just how well a new hire works as part of your business.
9. Certification Aid
Some staffing agencies provide aid with certifications, or are able to provide certifications. A staffing agency may be able to provide OSHA-certification themselves. For other specific certifications, they may be able to help a skilled trades person track down the quickest route to certification or renewal. Keeping track of these things and aiding workers in finding them keeps the talent pool topped up and helps avoid any potential oversight when it comes to certification.
Outsourcing your skilled trades staffing is a smart business move. Ready to get started? Contact Skilled Resources or Labor for Hire today!
