What staffing firm clients want: 4 top trends for 2022
Recently, Dave Kollmorgen, Director of Sales for the Staffing and Recruiting group at CareerBuilder, and Eric Gregg, CEO and founder of ClearlyRated, hosted the research-based webinar, “What Staffing Clients Want: 2022 Staffing Buyer Trends,” that revealed insights from more than 600 hiring managers. Amid The Great Rehire, companies remain focused on staffing and continue to look to staffing firms to help them stay ahead of the recruitment curve. If you want to attract more staffing firm clients, here are four top trends you’ll want to watch.
1. Clients crave top-notch communication
It’s been said that the best predictor of the future is the past. Have your communications with your staffing firm clients been as frequent and thorough as they could be? If not, you’re putting that business relationship – and your reputation – at risk. Customer service/experience with the staffing firm, responsiveness to inquiries/questions, and communication from contacts at the firm are the top three areas that will convert clients into promoters of your business.
2. Companies need you to provide quality candidates in a timely manner
Failing to plan means planning to fail. Hiring managers and recruiters are counting on you to meet their staffing needs swiftly and efficiently. If you’re not actively growing and retaining your pool of qualified candidates, your NPS score is in jeopardy as is your bottom line. When polled, 42% of hiring managers said they experienced service issues with staffing firms related to having too few candidates. Use these tips to improve candidate experiences to lower your risk of coming up short on qualified applicants.
3. Invest in tech to provide a better user experience
How easy is it for clients to get the information they need within your customer interface? Whether you’re a smaller firm using out-of-the-box solutions, or you have a bespoke portal like Adecco, your software solutions need to provide clients with actionable, real-time data and insights into market intelligence, candidate pipeline, and cost of turnover as well as providing engagement tools for gauging worker satisfaction. Nearly a fifth of hiring managers indicated that they experienced issues with a staffing firm’s technology, and, of that number, 63% said they were either actively looking for a new firm or were open to exploring other options and/or actively looking for new providers.
4. Help them deliver on DEI efforts
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) remains a hot topic – and rightfully so. You can talk the talk, but remember, numbers don’t lie. If your staffing firm isn’t putting resources behind the strategic and thoughtful sourcing of diverse candidates, you’re going to have a hard time retaining clients and winning new business. The good news is that most clients think their staffing firms are on par with others in terms of implementing DEI initiatives in recruiting practices with large firms more often seen as being ahead. However, there is opportunity for improvement. Seventy-seven percent of hiring managers said their organization is prioritizing
initiatives to hire more diverse candidates over the next 12 months, and 76% felt that staffing firms should prioritize candidate diversity in their recruiting and placement. Seize the chance to expand your DEI efforts to meet the growing demand in 2022 and 2023.
You can view the full webinar here. And check back for future webinars from CareerBuilder and ClearlyRated along with additional insights staffing firms can use to grow their client bases this year and beyond.