You do a lot for your temporary workers. You find them jobs, you pay them and provide them benefits. Why should you do anything more? Isn’t that enough? If I were your competition, I would repress a sly smile and say: yes, you’ve done plenty, relax.
But since I’m not, I’ll share one of the best-kept secrets in the industry: Making the most of temporary worker satisfaction is money in the bank. Here’s why.
Staffing Industry Analysts surveyed several thousand temporary workers and asked them how they picked their agencies. One in four based their selection on a personal recommendation.
Of course, some agencies get more such recommendations. What do you suppose is the difference in recruiting efficiency between an agency that gets 15% of its talent gratis, through unsolicited recommendations, and one that gets 40%? What kind of difference would that make in terms of revenue and profit?
While you dwell on that, here are a few tips to help you win this angle on the war for talent.
You get what you measure. Temp satisfaction is easy (and cheap) to measure via the now-standard “net promoter” survey. You can do such surveys yourself, find one online, or take part in SIA’s (free) annual “Best Places to Temp For” contest, which launches every Fall.
Once you measure temp satisfaction, the next step is to assign someone in authority to own it. Most staffing firms that outperform in that regard drive it from the top.
Create a culture that values temps. You might think the likelihood of a temp recommending an agency would depend heavily on whether the temp thought they had been well compensated. It doesn’t.
We’ve noticed the factors most correlated with odds of being recommended were not financial; rather, they were trust, honesty and politeness.
To get your staff to exhibit those traits, you must first demonstrate them yourself. Lead by example. Second, hire recruiters who fit that profile. And third, get the word out. Put it in your mission statement, include it in your communications, and publicly reward it.
Be prepared. Another factor highly correlated with odds of recommendation was how well temps thought they had been coached/prepared for their assignment. Those who thought they had been very well prepared were about as likely to recommend their agency as are customers of Costco and Apple, the most highly recommended companies in the US.
Preparation is about communication. The most important information to communicate: the duties of the assignment (ideally in writing) and the culture of the hiring company.
Don’t call them “temps.” Among the, ahem, temporary workers we surveyed, only those making less than $16/hour (and only about half of those) were OK with being called temps or even temporary workers. The most commonly preferred designation across all pay ranges and especially in the $16/hour to $45/hour range, was “contractor”; beyond the $45/hour mark the preferred designation was “consultant.” Other designations might be fine as well, as long as the talent thinks so.
Happy staff = happy temps. Not surprisingly, internal staff satisfaction (or lack thereof) and temp satisfaction (or lack thereof) are highly correlated. Unhappy people have a way of communicating their unhappiness. Resolve internal problems so they don’t spread to the talent.
When staffing firms think of their brand, they typically think mostly about buyer perception. Change that line of reasoning. You’re in the business of persuading two parties to trust you, so your brand needs to work for both. As it happens, happy, eager and engaged temps are pretty much the best brand you could have — for buyers and for temps.
