In a recent Staffing Industry Analysts’ Buyer Survey  buyers who purchased IT Staffing services were asked to name the most important criteria when selecting a staffing firm.  Half of respondents said “Worker Quality” was the most important criteria when selecting a firm. When the question was posed a bit differently and buyers were asked to name the top three criteria.  Again, 78% of respondents cited “Worker Quality” as one of the top three things look for when working with a staffing firm.

The article covering this survey goes on to explore the disconnect between IT Staffing firms marketing efforts and mapping to the needs of the buyer.  Only 18% speak to Worker Quality in their marketing materials.  But is that the real take away from a survey like this or does the issue go deeper?  Frankly, I think the issue hits at a major issue in the industry itself that, as a hiring manager for fifteen years, always drove me nuts!  How you find, match and deliver candidates to hiring managers, in other words your process, is just as important as the end result. In other words, if your process stinks your worker quality will suffer as a result. Maybe not in the short term, but if you want to develop a long-term relationship with both client and candidate the “simple things” are imperative:

• Listening to client needs
• Taking the time develop, collaboratively with your client, accurate and detailed job specifications
• Communicating! Return phone calls, return emails, and proactively update the client on status- good news and not as good news. Don’t hide behind email!!

These are just a few examples. Seems like pretty common sense stuff right? Yet so many staffing firms take the basics for granted especially in a bull market where “unicorns” are in vogue and startups want to show you their office space before their product or service.

Ok, so let’s say your firm executes on the basics listed above. Then what? What makes your firm different than the rest?  Well, we at Ursus believe that the next generation workforce, the millennials, want to engage differently. They want to interact, not just with staffing firm and the clients they represent, but each other….to compare notes and best practices, to refer and share and be rewarded for referring and sharing, to create and share their own content, be counted and measured against their peer groups.  A richer, more interactive experience is expected whether you are playing a game on your phone or searching for your next career move.

Enter Ursus IT Staffing, a next generation staffing firm built on tried and true operational discipline PLUS the best tools, services and communication vehicles that the next generation workforce deems as status quo in any user experience.

What do you think? Let us know @ursusinc