Experience Management Resources

• You aren’t growing even close to the rate that the staffing industry is averaging.
• You are not hitting your profit targets.
• Your recruiters want more resources, but your budget doesn’t support it.
• You want to hire the best people in the industry. However, you can’t afford them right now.

“There is no silver bullet.”How many times have you heard that, or even said that, when discussing such organizational problems and challenges?Right now, I want you to think of your perfect customer. Bring to mind the great relationship you have with that client along with the revenue and profit that your company enjoys as a result. What problem are you solving for them? Beyond filling job orders... what deep-seated needs and deficits is your team helping the client to fill? Where are you bringing confidence and clarity to their organization that would otherwise be a costly blind-spot?Now, do your best to imagine that you have hundreds or thousands more of this perfect client, and your organization is delivering your products or services to all of them and enjoying the same strong and profitable relationship.You know there are absolutely plenty of potential customers out there that have the exact same problem(s) and you can provide the solutions and the talent to solve them.And because of that, there really is a silver bullet. Ready?Solve your customers’ problems and you’ll solve your own™ With that, here are 3 common mistakes that even the smartest executives can make that prevent them from solving their customer's problems and how to avoid them:

Mistake #1: Not talking about your customers

After several successful years in sales and strategic sales management, I was so excited to have earned a promotion to the Senior Leadership Team. I was looking forward to making an even larger contribution to the growth of the organization as a result. We had several team meetings/calls every week; us C-Level people clearly had a lot to talk about... We had many organizational problems to solve. We discussed the p/l, people issues, productivity, legal risk, cost cutting, and economic changes. On and on, hour upon hour. After about five weeks of this, I couldn’t take it any more, and I simply interrupted the meeting and said, “are we EVER going to talk about a customer?”. The team was stunned. It was true. We were so inwardly focused on solving our problems that we forgot about solving our customers’ problems - and guess what? We weren’t.

Mistake #2: Not talking with your customers

I mean really talk WITH your customers. So many times, we leave it up to sales and recruiting to talk to our customers. See number 1. The senior team is busy with all the internal problems. Consider this, if you have any manager in your organization who does not talk with your customers on a regular basis, then you are not aligned to solve their problems. You can experience great innovation and growth by implementing a requirement that every department leader throughout the organization had a call with a customer every week. Ask your shared services staff (accounting, hr, etc.) to get on a call with at least one of your customers every week and talk WITH them. Connect and find out what their problems might be whether or not your company is positioned to solve them (btw – you probably are). And - wow! The things you’ll uncover. One of the easiest ways to tee up these conversations is through a consistent Net Promoter Score Survey process and follow-up plan.

Mistake #3: Not talking about the problems your company solves

I am certain that your perfect client is one where you have solved their problem(s) through delivering great talent, a great solution or a value-added service. Your sales and marketing approach must focus on talking about the problems you solve, not the product or service you deliver. Customers buy solutions, not people. Let’s take a simple example: Butler Street doesn’t sell training or consulting. We sell growth. We help companies and their people grow – solving the problem of lack of desired growth. Symptoms of this problem are evident in several areas including low client retention, lack of talent bench-strength and depressed margins. Get very clear on the problems your organization solves (see number 2) and take the time to educate your clients and potential clients on how your company solves them. Solve your customers’ problems and you’ll solve your own™Interested in learning how to communicate your value and begin to experience growth in less than 30 days. You may be interested in how Butler Street’s approach grows businesses! Click here to get the conversation started.

B2B service providers rely heavily on client satisfaction and service quality to retain accounts and differentiate from the competition. As such, NPS can be a leading indicator of revenue retention, growth, and brand differentiation in a crowded (and often unruly) marketplace.

What is NPS?

Net Promoter® Score (NPS) is a client satisfaction and service quality metric based on a single survey question that asks your clients how likely they are to recommend your firm to a friend or colleague. Clients respond using a numeric scale of 0-10, ten being extremely likely and zero being not likely at all.NPS is calculated by subtracting the % of detractors (those who respond with 6 or lower) from the % of promoters (those who respond with a 9 or 10). Click here for a more detailed look at the NPS methodology.NPS is unique because it offers standardized measurement and reporting on client satisfaction and service quality that can be applied across the B2B services industry as a whole, at the company-level, within specific disciplines, and even by account owner. B2B service leaders utilize account-level NPS to supplement ticket-level reporting, allowing them to get ahead of retention risks and manage relationships at the account and team level.

NPS for B2B Service Providers in 2018

NPS for B2B service providers is a target topic for Inavero’s annual industry benchmark study, and in 2018 B2B services clients reported an NPS of 18% based on overall satisfaction with their provider (our sample focused on clients of B2B service providers in the U.S. and Canada).YOY NPS data shows that clients' experience and satisfaction with their service providers is varied. While the % of detractors have remained relatively consistent since 2014, the remaining % of promoters versus % passives have ebbed and flowed. These fluctuations may be related to the rapidly changing nature of the technologies and ecosystems IT services firms are required to support, the evolution of client expectations based on those rapidly changing environments, and even the commoditized nature (and therefore high-turnover nature) of the industry (4 out of 5 clients say they have switched IT service providers).For reference, global NPS standards classify 50% NPS as excellent and 70% NPS as world-class. And recognizable service leaders like Nordstrom have an NPS of 75% compared to Comcast, a notorious service laggard, whose clients give them a -1% NPS. Click here to learn more about the NPS methodology.At 18% NPS, the B2B services industry benchmark for client satisfaction and service quality is average (at best). Which means that B2B service providers have a unique opportunity to stand apart from the industry by investing in client satisfaction and service quality.

How does your service stack up?

If you're not already leveraging NPS at your company, we hope you consider this article a call-to-action. Not only do client satisfaction and service quality represent opportunities to differentiate in an increasingly commodified service industry, they are fuel for firm growth.And if "you can't manage what you don't measure" - then you certainly won't be able to improve it either.

Next steps

• Ready to get started with NPS? Contact the Inavero team for insights, best practices, and a tour of our survey platform (designed specifically to support professional services firms).

Last week, Eric Gregg (Founder and CEO here at ClearlyRated) and Kyle Braun (President of the Staffing and Recruiting Group at Careerbuilder) hosted a webinar covering key findings from this year’s Staffing Advantage Report - a joint industry study that asks today’s hiring managers, job seekers, and staffing employees about what they identify as key issues and impactful trends in the staffing industry - “Position your Staffing Firm for Success in 2018.”In the webinar, titled “Position your Staffing Firm for Success in 2018,” Eric and Kyle shed light on leading trends and performance benchmarks for the staffing industry with the goal of helping staffing firms to be more effective and productive in 2018.Below are 4 takeaways that were shared on the webinar. Want to skip the recap and watch the full webinar? The amazing team at CareerBuilder has made the recording available to you for FREE. Click here to get started.

1.Talent satisfaction should be a top priority for your firm

While staffing industry benchmarks for talent satisfaction have remained steady since 2016, 34% (more than 1 in 3) of placed candidates say their satisfaction with their staffing or recruiting firm has declined during the past year. Compare that to just the 12% of candidates who say they are more satisfied this year than last, and you begin to see that the industry is at risk of trending in the wrong direction.What’s more, categorized comments from survey candidates suggest that expectations are increasing faster than staffing firms are investing in service improvements. What was once considered “great” service is not only expected, but also not entirely remarkable.

2. It’s time to leverage technology (or suffer the consequences)

I’ll spare you the “tortoise and hare” reference made in the webinar and simply say this: if you settle for ‘following suit’ when it comes to investing in technology (the tortoise approach), you will fall behind the competition. Your strategic opportunity in 2018 is to make small investments and grow your firm’s capabilities over time; but you must take advantage of it today.

Look toward technologies that create efficiencies in firm processes. Systems that automate manual processes create more time for recruiters and account managers to create exponential value for clients and candidates (think about all the benefits that require a human touch like adding context to interactions, building relationships, and being available for problem solving and issue resolution). Plus, growing the number of placements a single account manager can make (or the candidate pipeline generated by a single recruiter) will inevitably help grow the bottom line.But investing is just the first step - you’ll also need to ensure a smooth rollout and adoption across the firm to fully leverage what modern-age technologies have to offer. CareerBuilder’s Kyle Braun shares these 3 recommendations for successfully rolling out a new technology platform in your firm:

• • Create a well-defined rollout plan to set expectations and address obstacles early.
  • Provide in-depth user training and strategic resources to ensure success from day 1.
  • Assign a single person ownership of driving adoption of the new technology at your firm. Simple accountability can go a long way towards creating shared acceptance and, potentially, advocacy of your new tool.

3. Think beyond the traditional employment paradigm for greater market share

Candidates are considering temporary positions now more than ever. By expanding what classifies as “employment” and working with clients to support non-traditional candidates - your firm has a unique opportunity to capture a relatively uncontested share of the market.

If you’re ready to explore the depths of the temporary employment opportunity, a great place to start is with those placements that don’t require a 9-to-5 work day or physical office presence. Find ways to utilize your existing recruiting engine to broaden the talent pool and vet for temporary or remote work.

4. Prospects want to trust you - but they don’t

Trust in modern society is at a historical low. And the same holds true in the staffing industry. Regardless of how much time and energy your firm places on creating a remarkable client or candidate experience, your buyers want “proof” before signing on the dotted line.The chart below demonstrates the top resources clients utilize when searching for a staffing service provider. As you can see, the top 4 resources (referrals, online presence, past experiences, and firm reputation) are underwritten by the experiences that others report having with your firm - not how your sales or marketing materials portray you.

And while referrals continue their reign as the top resource used during the buying process, they still aren’t enough to abate the lack of trust from your prospects. 88% of clients who receive a referral take another step to vet your firm before reaching out to discuss a partnership.Bottom line: most of the people you’re selling to (both clients and candidates) have likely had a mediocre experience with a competitor. While that might seem like an easy opportunity to differentiate, this dynamic actually puts your firm at a “reputation disadvantage.” The best way to reach buyers (and differentiate your firm) early in the process is to demonstrate your service quality promise and practice through collective community proof points (think ratings or testimonials from clients and candidates).

Ready to improve in 2018?

ClearlyRated works with staffing and recruiting firms across North America to measure client satisfaction, differentiate on service quality, and build online reputation. Visit clearlyrated.com/solutions or contact our team to learn more!Want to watch the webinar? The amazing team at CareerBuilder has made the content available for FREE. Simply click here to get started.All facts and figures are sourced from the 2017 Staffing Advantage Report - an annual industry study conducted by ClearlyRated and CareerBuilder.

Most staffing leaders I talk to these days would agree that the industry is undergoing a momentous shift in how we do business. It’s a change driven by talent shortages, technology and automation, and generational flux. But at the heart of the industry, no matter how much it evolves, we’re still all about people. Nowhere is this more obvious than when you win a Best of Staffing® award - which is based purely on the feedback of your clients and candidates.If you’re one of the less than 2% of US staffing firms to win ClearlyRated’s 2018 Best of Staffing Award, you probably feel honored to know that the people you work with truly believe in the value of your company. It’s an award to be proud of.But now that you’ve won, what happens next?Our best advice: don’t treat a Best of Staffing Award like an adrenaline shot, a quick, feel-good boost to morale but unsupported by a long-term plan. I see too many companies with little to no strategy behind applying for or winning industry awards. A win feels awesome, momentarily inspires your team, and may even create some short-term traction in attracting a new client or candidate. But when the shine wears off, there’s no lasting significance. You worked hard to earn this award, and its greatest impact will be seen through long-term strategy.For more guidance on marketing your Best of Staffing Award, keep reading.

Internal Employee Awareness

Your employees should be excited about a Best of Staffing Award. After all, they’re the ones interacting with clients and candidates, so survey responses are a direct reflection of their efforts.

Your goal, then, should be to educate your teams of salespeople and recruiters about the award and how to use it. Your announcement might be verbal or via email, but either way it’s time to spark enthusiasm by using tangible statistics, scores, testimonials, and shout outs from the survey results. Ensure they understand their own role in helping your company to win this award.Share your plans to market your Best of Staffing Award with your employees. They will be instrumental in helping to spread awareness through social media, email, phone calls, and more. Recruiters and salespeople can also use the Best of Staffing Award as a differentiator in their conversations with prospective candidates and clients. Help them find the most effective way to do that with email or call scripts, sample social media posts, and updated sales collateral.Finally, it’s always fun to celebrate this win with your employees – recognizing their hard work and thanking them for their efforts – by rewarding them in some way. A catered office lunch? A fun outing? You decide (or let them)!

Content Marketing

We’re big believers in the power of content marketing for staffing firms. Providing value to your audience through articles, whitepapers, ebooks, and more will position your firm as a leader and resource in the industry. Great content marketing is built on a robust strategy, and part of that strategy should certainly include employer branding… which is where your ClearlyRated Best of Staffing Award comes in.A press release is the first step. Fortunately, ClearlyRated provides a template you can use and customize to get this piece of content out there quickly. Publish your press release using a tool like PRWeb, where it will be sent to local and national news outlets, and share it via social media, email, and your blog feed.But don’t stop there. If your brand will benefit from recognition in the local community, reach out to local and regional business publications to pitch the award as a story that’s important to their audience. Or, if you have the budget to build awareness of your Best of Staffing win, consider taking out a sponsored ad placement to share the news and direct readers’ next steps with a strategic call-to-action.Beyond the initial PR push, it’s time to get creative with your content marketing. Employer branding-focused blogs that highlight your Best of Staffing Award could include fun employee spotlights, summaries of team activities or philanthropic events, or even a good old “letter from the CEO.” Read more on how to become a thought leader here.Finally, brainstorm some articles that support your services, explore industry trends, or answer typical client or candidate questions. You could write about how staffing firms can help companies overcome talent shortage or how to find a recruiter that’s really worth working with. Both of these examples deliver valuable information to your audience while providing an opportunity to show how a staffing firm with a Best of Staffing Award – like yours – can genuinely help your audience.Remember to keep tabs on your content marketing metrics so you can evaluate how well articles are doing and what to improve in future pieces.

Social Media Marketing

Using social media to market your Best of Staffing Award is essential to your long-term strategy. It’s how you’ll create brand awareness, lead traffic to your website, and build a network of followers who can, in turn, help generate leads.

First, be aware that there’s a lot of noise out there. Getting your voice heard on social networks requires strategy and long-term commitment. Sharing the initial news of your award on social media will be exciting, but you have to think long-term if you want it to gain any traction in establishing your company as a leader in the industry.Don’t be afraid to plaster your social profiles with the ClearlyRated Best of Staffing logos and badges – they’re eye-catching and provide that extra level of credibility. Share your press releases and blog posts on a regular basis, and encourage your employees to do the same. Explore which pieces of content might be worth sponsoring for an extra boost in engagement. Photos of your team celebrating the win will show your human side and will almost always be popular posts. Bonus points for creating “memes” that highlight statistics and testimonials from your Best of Staffing survey results.Beyond the news of your award, keep active in your social presence by sharing industry articles on current trends or news, re-sharing status updates from other industry leaders and peers, and interacting on discussions that are happening in your network. Make sure your team of salespeople and recruiters are equipped in social media marketing best practices, too. Ultimately, these practices will keep your company and its employees top of mind with current and prospective clients and candidates, boosting overall brand awareness and establishing credibility.

Other Places to Market Your Best of Staffing Award

Internal awareness, content marketing, and social media marketing will make up the cornerstones of your award marketing strategy. Another integral piece of the puzzle will be a robust, on-going email campaign to help you nurture and convert your leads. All of these marketing strategies will take concentrated effort that may require a dedicated team member or outsourced marketing partner.But you can also take care of some less formidable tactics yourself: be sure to use ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing logo on your website and your email signatures; include testimonials from the survey results on your website; use ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing banner image on your social profiles; thank clients and candidates personally for their feedback via email or phone; and include mention of the award in your job advertisements.Congratulations on winning ClearlyRated’s 2018 Best of Staffing Award! Are you ready to tell the world? Echogravity can help you out.

Portland, OR – February 15, 2018 - ClearlyRated, a leading provider of client satisfaction surveys and service quality research for accounting firms, announced the winners of the 2018 Best of Accounting™ Award today on ClearlyRated.com.The Best of Accounting™ award recognizes accounting industry leaders in client satisfaction and service quality based exclusively on ratings provided by their clients. On average, clients of 2018 Best of Accounting award winners are 2 times more likely to be completely satisfied with the services provided than clients from non-winning firms.“In an industry where just over 2 in 5 clients would recommend their firm to a friend or colleague, Best of Accounting award winners stand apart,” said ClearlyRated’s CEO and Founder, Eric Gregg. “ClearlyRated is proud to recognize winning firms for their investments in client satisfaction and service quality, and applaud their commitment to continuous service excellence.”Accounting firms that won the 2018 Best of Accounting award are featured on ClearlyRated.com alongside satisfaction ratings and testimonials from their clients.About ClearlyRatedThe ClearlyRated team partners with professional service firms in the U.S. and Canada to measure client satisfaction, improve retention, capture testimonials, and increase new business. ClearlyRated’s proprietary online survey program leverages the Net Promoter® Score methodology to measure client satisfaction.About Best of Accounting™ClearlyRated’s Best of Accounting™ Award recognizes firms that have demonstrated exceptional service quality based exclusively on ratings provided by their clients. The award program provides statistically valid and objective service quality benchmarks for the accounting industry. Award winners are showcased by city and area of expertise on ClearlyRated.com. – an online resource for companies and individuals to find the best accounting firms to call when they are in need.

As a staffing and recruiting firm, you take pride in delivering amazing service and lasting results to your clients. And, given the level of competition in the industry, it makes sense to differentiate on (and build your company around) this promise.

But what if I told you that the reputation of the industry as a whole is working against you?

ClearlyRated and CareerBuilder have been measuring the staffing industry's client satisfaction for a decade, and the scores have dramatically declined from a high in 2009. No matter how much care you take to ensure client satisfaction, the reputation of the industry as a whole will affect how prospective clients see your firm. Enter the "reputation disadvantage" - a prevailing issue faced by modern staffing executives and marketers in the U.S.What can your firm do to combat the effects of this industry-wide detriment? To start, don't sit idly and wait for client satisfaction trends in the staffing industry to turn around. In fact, our research suggests you can't afford to: We find that prospective staffing clients care about client satisfaction nearly 4x more than any other metric when selecting a firm to work with.

3 ways your firm can combat the industry's reputation disadvantage

1. Don't assume you know what your firm's reputation is.

Reputation isn't what you know to be true about your firm. It's what others believe to be true about your firm. What's the best way to learn how others perceive your firm? At ClearlyRated, we recommend executing an annual client satisfaction survey program (at least), with a simple method for clients to provide feedback and consistent metrics for your team to track against.And we're not talking about just your favorite clients - you'll need feedback from as many clients as possible to get a realistic understanding of your firm's reputation.

2. Show (don't just tell) your differentiation.

You may provide amazing client service, but it's not safe to assume that prospective clients will take your word for it. Offer as much proof as you can to support your story of excellence:

• Leverage testimonials from satisfied clients.
• Showcase industry awards that highlight client satisfaction.
• If possible, share your firm's satisfaction metrics with anyone who will listen.

In an industry where roughly 90% of providers "differentiate" on service, building an ethos of transparency and open communication with clients and prospects will do more to help you stand out than anything you may say about yourself.

3. Focus on your talent as much as your clients.

Your candidates play a significant role in your firm's reputation - and the majority of candidates are not satisfied enough with their firm to return for a second assignment (76% find a new firm or don't use one at all). What's more, our research indicates that a 10% increase in talent satisfaction correlates to a 5% increase in client satisfaction - a strong reminder of the symbiotic relationship between your two audiences.To boost your firm's reputation in the industry, recruiters should focus on building personal relationships with candidates, establishing clear communication guidelines, and offering as many resources as possible to maximize talent - and with it, client - satisfaction.

Ready to improve firm reputation and differentiate from the competition?

Visit clearlyrated.com to learn how staffing providers can leverage client and talent satisfaction to build reputation and stand out in the industry.This article was originally published in Staffing Success magazine - an industry publication edited by the American Staffing Association.

Some of you have asked why ClearlyRated spends so much time talking about (and sometimes giving away) Fitbits.

That's a reasonable question - best answered with a short anecdote pulled from the Gregg family archives. Ready for a quick trip down memory lane? I can promise self-deprecating humor and halloween photos. Here we go...

Eric circa 2013

Look at that strapping young gent. That's me with my daughter Delaney in 2013. What you might not be able to tell (thanks to the slimming properties of a black rain jacket) is that back then I was 25 lbs overweight. Not the most exciting thing to admit. After all, "Dad Bod" wasn't a sought-after look until 2016 (at the earliest).Needless to say, I was motivated to lose weight and ready to invest in a healthy lifestyle. So I did what any clear-thinking adult would do - I decided to purchase a fitness tracker.

Enter the Fitbit

After the obligatory due diligence, I landed on a Fitbit – ‘Fitbit motivates you to reach your health and fitness goals by tracking your activity, exercise, sleep, weight and more’, said their website.Exactly what I needed. I was sold.As expected, I learned a lot from wearing my Fitbit. I could tell you specifics like:

• Average amount of sleep I get each night: 6 hrs and 36 minutes
• Average # of times I get woken up per night: 3.2x per (thanks, Delaney)
• Average resting heart rate: 62 BPM
• Average steps taken per day: 10,345

Look at all of that information! I was ready to go, confident that this newfound omniscience would help propel me toward my health goals.

Eric circa 2016

3 years later, I had seen an amazing transformation...Amazing in the sense that it was the exact opposite of what I had set out to accomplish when I decided to purchase a fitness tracker.I had gained another 3 lbs.Turns out, the simple act of measuring and monitoring these statistics did little, if anything, to move me closer to my weight loss goals. In fact, some basic arithmetic would tell you that having this information at my fingertips actually hurt more than it helped.Why am I sharing this weight loss failure story? I’ll admit, selfishly it’s extra motivation to exercise more (and possibly an excuse to show off my undeniably adorable children). But the real ‘aha! moment’ here has implications for the way we can andshould think about effecting change in our businesses.

Fitbits and Client Satisfaction

Just like staying active is good for our overall health – ensuring you have a pulse on your clients' satisfaction is core to your business growth. But simply tracking, measuring, and capturing this information alone isn’t enough.Let’s revisit my less-than-impressive fitness journey as a cautionary tale. I can have all the information in the world available to me from my fitness tracker, but until I intentionally alter my behavior I’m not going to see any improvements in my weight. The same holds true when it comes to client satisfaction improvement efforts.

Don't get me wrong. I encourage you (in fact, I urge you) to survey your clients and listen closely to the feedback they provide. But you won't see a true ROI from these efforts until you resolve to take action - even imperfect action - with this information. To borrow from one of ClearlyRated's clients, "if knowing is half the battle, being able to quickly and appropriately respond is the other half."My Fitbit was telling me exactly what I needed to do (it wasn’t rocket science - "move more, Eric!") but I didn’t act and consequently was disappointed with my results.Similarly, your clients will tell you where and how you can improve the experience they have working with you but without an execution plan – nothing is changing (in fact, it might even be getting worse).Remember: information is power, but action is improvement.

When charged with the task of hiring a staffing agency in today’s ever-changing business environment, many companies find it’s no longer a question of whether or not to implement a flexible workforce strategy, but rather which staffing agency or agencies are best to partner with when building and executing that strategy.

Leveraging more than a million survey responses over the last decade, we’ve identified 7 questions to help hiring managers, procurement professionals, and senior HR leaders choose the best staffing agency for their needs.

Question 1: What expertise do you have with recruiting in my industry?

Our research has shown that while an ability to effectively match technical skills and culture fit are critical, it is the staffing agency’s knowledge of your industry that is often most important.³Does the agency attend your industry events?Have they filled positions for your competitors?If they aren’t one of the key contributors to your industry, find an agency that is and partner with them instead.

Question 2: How do you measure your client satisfaction and what is your most recent satisfaction score?​

One of the most reliable indicators of future performance is past performance. Ask staffing agencies to provide you with their most recent client satisfaction score and how they compare to competitors. Don’t just accept 3 testimonials from the staffing agency­­—anyone can find 3 people that love them.ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing^® is the nation’s only award that recognizes staffing agencies that receive remarkable reviews from their clients. The 2017 Best of Staffing® Client Award winners have all achieved a minimum Net Promoter^® Score of 50%.

Question 3: What was your turnover rate for internal staff last year?

Partner with an agency that has low turnover of their internal staff so that you can build a long-lasting relationship. It’s important that your account manager and recruiter know you, your business, and your industry. This is tough to accomplish if they leave the staffing agency.In a 2012 study conducted with CareerBuilder, we found that 32 percent of staffing agency clients had a different contact at their primary staffing agency that year compared with the previous year.³The best agencies should have internal turnover significantly less than the most recent industry average of 15 percent.²

Question 4: What is your most recent satisfaction score for your permanent and temporary placed talent?​

A staffing agency with happy people working for them is invaluable. Dissatisfied permanent and temporary employees who are working for you are twice as likely to quit their job early.³ These types of avoidable disruptions are painful and costly for you and your team. Gauge the satisfaction of permanent and temporary employees currently working for a staffing agency by viewing testimonials, reviews, and satisfaction scores.The industry average Net Promoter^® Score for permanent and temporary employees working for a staffing agency is 21%,⁴ but those who earned ClearlyRated’s 2017 Best of Staffing® Award for talent satisfaction achieved a minimum NPS^® of 50%.

Question 5: What current trends and recruiting issues should I be aware of?

Choose a staffing agency you trust as a strategic advisor for your company. Your agency should provide you with useful and enlightening information that makes you smarter, even before you hire them. Did you learn anything new the first time you met with them? If not, continue your search.

Question 6: Do you expect your rates to be higher, lower, or about the same as other agencies we may consider?

Don’t just buy from the staffing agency with the lowest price or markup. It’s important to make an informed decision based on value, and not solely on cost. Our research shows that if your organization makes a bad hiring decision it can cost you up to 4 times more than if you had just hired a staffing agency with expertise in filling the needed position.³However, if an agency is higher in cost than their competitors, they should be able to explain and illustrate why. Pay for concrete value and true differentiation, not clever marketing or a persuasive sales pitch. Choose a staffing agency that provides you with permanent and temporary employees you can’t necessarily access yourself and invests in training the talent who will be working with you.​

Question 7: What are your expectations of me in this partnership?

A high-performing relationship with a staffing agency won’t happen without your investment of time and resources too. Partner with a staffing agency that you trust enough to allow them the access they need to learn about your business and culture. The success of a partnership is rooted in valuing each person involved—clients, job candidates, and the hired staffing agency. With this commitment in place, hiring a staffing agency and developing your flexible workforce strategy can be a transformational component for your organization’s growth, flexibility, and sustained success.

About this guide

The information above is based on research conducted by ClearlyRated, a professional research firm that administers more staffing agency client and talent satisfaction surveys than any other firm in the world. ClearlyRated’s team reports on satisfaction surveys from more than 1.2 million staffing agency clients and talent each year and the company serves as the American Staffing Association’s exclusive research partner.SOURCES2. ClearlyRated and CareerBuilder Research: 2014 Opportunities in Staffing(Not available online, contact ClearlyRated for the full report)3. ClearlyRated and CareerBuilder Research: 2013 Opportunities in Staffing(Not available online, contact ClearlyRated for the full report)4. ClearlyRated and CareerBuilder Research: 2016 Staffing Advantage Report

Staffing agencies work on behalf of their clients (companies looking to hire permanent or temporary employees) to find people with the proper skills and experience to fill a position.

Staffing agencies work in nearly all industries, hiring people at all stages of their career from entry level to senior executive positions. The jobs can vary in length, from temporary to permanent. Staffing agencies continue to grow in popularity, but there are still many misconceptions and questions on how to hire the best one.

Leveraging more than a million survey responses over the last decade, we’ve identified 7 questions to help hiring managers, procurement professionals, and senior HR leaders choose the best staffing agency for their needs.

Employment agencies work on behalf of their clients (companies looking to hire permanent or temporary employees) to find people with the proper skills and experience to fill a position.

Employment agencies work in nearly all industries, hiring people at all stages of their career from entry level to senior executive positions. The jobs can vary in length, from temporary to permanent. Employment agencies continue to grow in popularity, but there are still many misconceptions. Leveraging over a million survey responses over the last decade, we have identified and dispelled the 5 most common myths of working with a staffing agency.

Here are a few job application tips that we have compiled from the pool of applications we've received over the years. We hope they will be helpful to you, but by no means do they apply to everyone.Tip 1: Show your personality!It is always great to get a peek at someone’s personality through their email and/or cover letter. It just may be the thing that differentiates you from another applicant.

Tip 2: Read the application directions.

Make sure all requested application components are included. A lot of applicants fail to include cover letters as requested in the job listing.

Tip 3: Pay attention to spelling and grammar

The ability to communicate clearly is essential to any job, and it is especially crucial in a communication heavy position.

Tip 4: Include a few paragraphs of introduction text in the email accompanying your resume.

Tip 5: Personalize the email and cover letter to your potential employer.

Find out who works at the company or who the hiring manager is and address it that way. This makes it clear that you have done some research on the company.

Tip 6: Always mention the company you are applying to in your cover letter.

It shows that you researched the company and the job.

Tip 7: In cases where your background (schooling and jobs) don't apply to the position, it is important to address that situation in your cover letter.

Explain why you want to apply for a job that doesn't quite fit your experience. Career changes are a very common occurrence, but it will be to your benefit to address and explain your goals.

Tip 8: Take advantage of technology.

Include links in your email and cover letter to your accounts on various social networking sites such as LinkedIn or personal websites. This provides a lot of additional background and personality information that can be very helpful to make you stand out from the crowd.

Tip 9: Discover what a company values and address that in your email and cover letter.

At ClearlyRated, we value fanatical client service, so in our hiring process applicants who give an example of their experience with client service and how their values align with ours were instantly moved to the next round.

Tip 10: It is not necessary to state multiple times that you are a perfect fit.

Instead, talk about how your qualifications do or do not apply to the position and let the hiring manager decide the perfection of the fit.