If you’re a modern staffing agency you’ve probably already worked out that software is your new secret weapon. The question is which software. Working with our most discerning clients, we came across some staffing agency tools and we wanted to share the love. While there are clearly many tools staffing agencies can benefit from, we decided to focus on three areas that are critically important to agencies in particular, and highlight one solution a piece.
Candidate discovery
“You can’t recruit, message or network with someone you haven’t found.”
Glen Cathey, SVP Talent Strategy & Innovation @ Kforce
Let’s start with the basics. Candidate sourcing is the bread and better of any staffing firm. There are a huge range of tools available, including LinkedIn automation tools, resume databases, portfolio sites and networking tools.
One staffing agency solution that does candidate discovery particularly well is HiringSolved, a platform that automates the information gathering process.
HiringSolved has a product called TalentFeed that uses artificial intelligence to analyze data from multiple sources, both inbound and outbound. The software learns how you match candidates to jobs, and then automatically suggests new matches based on your preferences. In essence HiringSolved dramatically speeds up the sourcing process by automating painful tasks that would otherwise be done manually.
In 2017 Allegis invested in HiringSolved, the benefits of which were covered by Matt Charney on the Allegis blog.
Candidate engagement
One of the biggest challenges in modern recruiting is maintaining the human touch we all crave at scale. Staffing firms pride themselves on strong relationships, especially with candidates, but how can this be done with high-volume roles? There is a fear that automation tools used by staffing agencies could make the hiring process feel cold and robotic.
Mya, a conversational hiring assistant powered by artificial intelligence, helps agencies engage candidates in a friendly way at scale. Instead of being ignored or waiting weeks to hear back, Mya guides candidates through the hiring process. Mya can field questions about the role, ask screening question and even schedule in-person interviews.
This makes the hiring process feel much more interactive for candidates, and saves a lot of time for recruiters.
Candidate management
Another tool staffing agencies need is an end-to-end system for candidate management, often referred to as a CRM. What’s different about JobAdder is that it’s a recruitment platform that specializes in staffing firms.
JobAdder has all the features you’d expect an applicant tracking system and CRM to have, and powers over 30,000 job advertisements each month. But in addition, JobAdder has a range of features that staffing firms would appreciate such as text-based sourcing, job distribution, a dashboard for recruiting temp workers and contractors and powerful analytics.
JobAdder clearly understands the needs of staffing firms.
Staffing firms need better tools
Staffing firms face unique challenges, so they need tailored and thoughtful solutions. The staffing firm tools we selected seem to get the balance right between automation on the one hand and human touch on the other. That’s no mean feat, and it’s something we are constantly thinking about ourselves.
If you come across other tools you think our staffing agency clients could benefit from, we want to hear from you.
