Recruiting and marketing rightfully rank pretty highly on the list of concerns for staffing firms. Those top-of-the-funnel activities are critical to build your database and decrease your time to fill.
But it is not just the top-of-the-funnel activities you need to grow your business. If you neglect your currently placed contractors, the end of your funnel falls out.
In fact, you might want to rethink your funnel altogether.
Fewer than half of all staffing firms measure contractor happiness. But this metric is critical to your short- and long-term success. Engaged, deployed contractors are more loyal to your staffing firm, are happier on site with your clients, provide more referrals and ultimately help grow your business.
Research shows that 15% of contractors leave assignments early. The number’s not terribly surprising. Talent today is in demand. They’re hearing from recruiters on LinkedIn, via email and on the phone. Employers want them, and if your staffing firm or your client isn’t creating a positive experience for your talent today, they’ll go elsewhere tomorrow.
Of course, when contractors leave assignments early, they’re quite literally costing you time and money. They’re damaging your client relationships. And with word-of-mouth marketing as a critical channel for your staffing firm -- sourcing to almost 70% of placements -- you can’t afford unhappy contractors.
41% of candidates who have a poor experience say they would take their allegiance elsewhere. Who can afford to lose nearly half of their contractor talent pool? By placing a focus on contractor care, you’ll position yourself for greater success with:
Increased retention and redeployment rates.
An investment in contractor care will result in more engaged and happy talent when on site with clients. But engaged contractors are also much more likely to be redeployed. And with up to 95% of contractors only working a single placement for staffing firms, there is significant room for improvement that will save your business time and money.
Happier contractors tend to stick around longer as well. With better contractor care and higher redeployment and retention rates, your clients will be happier too.
Reduced candidate ghosting.
Our research shows that 20% of contractors will drop-out between the offer date and start date. Often times this is a result of poor communication between the contractor and the staffing agency. Recruiters are busy, and once a placement is made it can be easy to simply move on to the next rec. But your talent is counting on you to help them be successful, make them feel valued and keep them engaged throughout the process. Drop the ball here, and you may be “ghosted” by candidates who never show up (or return).
In a recent survey, candidates cited a lack of personal communications, job status check-ins, assignment updates and unanswered questions from recruiters as reasons for leaving in the early stages of an engagement.
But in many instances, you’ll never hear from “ghost” candidates again. They’ve moved on to other opportunities and potentially staffing firms who keep them engaged throughout the process.
Ultimately, these add up to significant lost revenue for your staffing firm. Managing contractor churn has a real impact on the bottom line. Engaged contractors are actually more likely to explore additional opportunities with your firm, expanding your revenue. And happy contractors are more likely to refer other talented professionals, increasing your overall talent pool.
Now that you understand the importance of contractor care and its potential impact on your staffing firm, it’s time to take action.
In many instances, firms try to roll out huge contractor outreach programs for every candidate, forcing their team to do more. Unfortunately, this approach is highly manual and expensive, plus it is incredibly time consuming to design, roll out and continuously manage.
Rather than shoot for the moon and barely make it to the top of the hill, start small. Set a few simple goals, and develop a system to help you reach them. Light touches can and should be automated while your team focuses their manual energy on at-risk contractors.
Technology has made contractor care accessible and affordable for staffing firms today. Platforms like Sense use artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to deliver time-sensitive, personalized messages to contractors using their preferred platforms. This takes the burden off your team and your pocketbook.
Prioritize contractor care without maxing out your team.
Sense fosters communication and nurtures contractor relationships while freeing up your recruiters to focus on their most important tasks. It is the only platform that enables the processes, messaging and analytics you need for a successful contractor engagement strategy -- saving you time, resources and money.
Schedule a demo with one of our advisors to learn specifically how Sense can help your staffing firm improve contractor care.
