Temp-to-Hire Conversion

Direct Hire

Someone once told me that being a recruiter is the most rewarding job in the world because every day, they get to put people to work. Furthermore, they continued, the effort I put into finding candidates a job helps them put food on the table and a roof over their heads. That kind of perspective is what sets one staffing company apart from another.

What should you look for in a Temp-to-Hire staffing provider to help guarantee success?

As we usually mention, our point of view will be skewed towards skilled trades (shameless plug to use us for all your skilled trade staffing needs, LOL). However, just in case you are not familiar with temp-to-hire staffing positions, a customer will usually have a staffing company search and identify candidates based on a job description provided by the customer, agreeing to the pay and bill rates, and the length of time required before the applicant can be hired without additional fees.

Get your pen and paper ready because one of the first questions you should ask is, “How many hours does the applicant need to work before I can hire them without additional fees?” Think of this as your try before you buy. It can vary, but most skilled trades positions will fall in the 500-600 hours range. That means for the first 500-600 hours, the staffing company is taking on the risk of worker’s compensation, onboarding them, I-9 verifications, W-4s, verifications, etc. And after those hours, you can hire them with little to no additional costs beyond what you have already paid. Low risk, high reward.

“At Superior Skilled Trades, we provide an 8-hour guarantee, and our standard length of term for temp-to-hire is 512 hours.”

Get that pen and paper ready. The next question you should ask is, “How strong is your pool of candidates for my need?”. Of course, you will get some fluff with any sales effort, but the idea is to get comfortable with the company you are talking with about your staffing needs, especially if you haven’t worked with them before. The key is to feel comfortable that the staffing company has “done this before” you don’t want to have a staffing company fill your jobs with day labor if you have a long-term need. Ask questions like, “Do you have a pool of people who meet my needs?” or “How quickly will it take to fill them?”.

“At Superior Skilled Trades we are constantly building pools of candidates to deploy at a moment’s notice. We have even filled jobs the same day the order was received in some cases.”

The next question is the one that sets the contenders from the pretenders in the staffing world, “What type of conversion rate, from temp to hire, can we expect from you?”. I will digress here and say, coming from a company that relies heavily on data, I don’t have exact figures just lying around, but we do have white papers highlighting specific scenarios. Temp-to-hire positions are like snowflakes. No two are exactly alike. But suppose your account manager can come back with actual data outlining a successfully executed temp-to-hire plan. In that case, your staffing company search is probably coming to an end, and we have a winner.

“Superior Skilled Trades has customers we have worked with for years, with temp-to-hire position conversion rates where 2 out every 3 temp-to-hire candidates get hired on full-time. Our experience and dedication have made us an integral part of their business model.”

Temp-to-hire labor is essential to many businesses and industries. Finding a staffing company that your synergies align with and has the dedicated mindset required to fill YOUR NEEDS can be the difference in your business exceeding your expectations or just being good enough. For most industries, a company’s greatest resource is the people that work for them, so taking the time to find the best of the best is crucial.

Superior Skilled Trades is a National Skilled Trades Staffing Provider. Visit our website at www.SuperiorSkilledTrades.com or call us at (888) 316-0692.

Direct Hire vs Temp-to-Hire vs Contract

Direct Hire vs Temp-to-hire vs Contract

If you consider using a staffing company, you will be hit with some instant staffing lingo and can quickly get caught off guard if you aren’t ready for it. “So what are you looking for? Contract Labor? Direct Hire? Temp-to-Hire? Is this a prevailing wage job?” And then the awkward pause, um, I think I need…

The vernacular might vary a bit, but let’s look at the three most common staffing solutions, what questions you should be asking yourself prior, and what question you should ask the staffing provider you are considering using for your next project. The examples we will look at will be a bit skewed towards skilled trades staffing (a little self-promotion never hurt, lol); however, there is a lot of commonality between most industries that depend on using staffing companies to supplement their workforce.

Let’s begin with Direct Hire; it seems straightforward, you need someone for a Site Manager or an Engineer position, you want to hire them directly. But hold the phone. If it were that easy, would you still be reading this article? When working with a staffing company on a direct-hire position, you would typically agree to the pay range of the candidates and, wait for it, the fee for finding the candidate. The fee is generally based off a percentage of the annual pay range of the position and is usually paid when the candidate starts their first day.

That sounds like it could be a bit pricey upfront; why would I consider this option? Good question! Sometimes the job requires workers to perform tasks that must be covered by your own workers’ compensation and other insurance policies and can’t be covered by a staffing agencies plan. It could be as simple as driving a company vehicle. In most cases, if the job requires driving a company vehicle, it will probably need to be a direct hire. Higher-level and permanent positions are also very common types of direct-hire positions. The benefit of going through a staffing company for a supervisor or engineer position allows you to maximize the pool of candidates so you can find the right candidate for the job.

Next up is temp-to-hire. This one is also very common in skilled trades staffing. Temp-to-hire is an excellent option for growing companies. It allows companies not to waste internal time and resources searching for candidates. So how does temp-to-hire work? Great question! You meet with an account manager, tell them what you are looking for, and teach them more about your business and your needs. Next, you provide the requirements for the position(s) of need, and the staffing company starts providing you candidates for your approval.

Is it really that easy? The short answer is yes. Your account manager has already discussed the bill rate or bill margins; within your job description, you have provided an outline of the pay rate. The staffing agency is responsible for the onboarding, I-9 verification, screening, and workers’ compensation coverage. So essentially, the staffing company is taking on almost all of the risk. For most positions, a worker will work about 500-600 hours, and then you will have the opportunity to hire that person full-time as part of your company without requiring a buyout to do so. This is a great way to try before you buy.

Check out our post about “Why people would use a staffing company?”

The last one is contract labor; if you regularly use staffing companies, then at some point, you will probably require contract labor. Contract labor is usually a position with a definite end date, and when that job is over, the worker moves on. Examples include a regional fencing company with an influx in seasonal projects and needs to beef up without taking on long-term employees or a construction project requiring specific trades to be available at certain points of a construction project. Contract labor typically ranges from a couple of weeks up to a year.

Hopefully, this helps as you begin figuring out what you are looking for and making those first conversations you have about dipping your toe into staffing not so intimidating. Other great questions to ask any staffing company you are considering working with:

What is the average length of time to fill a direct-hire position?

How many of your temp-to-hire hires make it to being hired permanently?

Do you have a pool of contract laborers you use regularly?

Thank you for reading. Superior Skilled Trades is a national skilled trades staffing provider. Visit www.SuperiorSkilledTrades.com or call (888) 316-0692 for more information.

Why would I use a staffing company if I can post it myself?

Why Using Staffing Company - Superior Skilled Trades

We get this question all the time, “Why would anyone use a staffing company to fill their position needs when they can just post it themself?”. Staffing agencies are an integral part of the success in many industries such as accounting, healthcare, construction, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and day-labor.

Skilled Trade LaborersStaffing agencies have come a long way. The days of general laborers lining up at the agency’s door at 5 AM, companies calling in needing help, handing out slips of paper to the worker, returning at the end of the day with a signed slip of paper so they could get paid wasn’t that long ago. This required brick and mortar locations to be located strategically in major metropolitan areas. This method was excellent for the local community the agency was located in but wasn’t efficient. As a side note, I am surprised they never made a tv series about day laborers and the staffing agencies that supply them. The characters and stories I have heard from “back in the day” could provide endless stories and laughs. Nowadays, it is about databases, talent management systems, skill evaluations, entire profiles of data in the cloud, providing analytics on who should be the best fit. All this happens before picking up the phone.

Alright, back to “Why would someone use a staffing agency?”. I will make this article a little self-serving *insert smiley face emoji* and discuss specifics as it pertains to the skilled trade staffing industry. If you have never considered using a staffing agency, you might not know what questions to ask. However, if you do consider using a staffing agency, some good questions to ask include:

  • Do you have a good pool of candidates that meet my need?
  • How do you track candidates’ performance from past jobs?
  • Do you have benefits, incentives, and other perks available to your workers?
  • Do you provide the proper coverage (workers comp) if a worker gets hurt, and how does that affect me?
  • Do you provide some sort of guarantee that the candidate will meet my needs?
  • How long does a candidate need to work before hiring them for my company?

Well, I keep skirting the question, “Why should I use a staffing company?”. If you are in HR or a hiring role, you know that a lot more goes into finding the right candidate than posting on Indeed or ZipRecruiter. Finding a staffing company specializing in your need is crucial because when you post a job, you only capture people looking for a job during the days it’s posted. What if your perfect candidate was looking last week or last month? Good staffing agencies create relationships and, in many cases, have candidates ready to go. For smaller companies just getting started, the process of hiring someone isn’t just a “handshake, and I’ll see you on Monday.” The process of I-9’s, W-4, direct deposits, providing benefits, safety policies, employee handbooks, and now Covid-19 requirements, it is safe to say it can be overwhelming. And one missed signature or improper I-9 can quickly close a small business.

Having the proper workers’ compensation for the job is also essential, staffing companies have dedicated staff to handle only workers’ compensation. Every state has its’ own requirements; documents need to be delivered at the appropriate time to stay compliant to let them know what to do IF they have an accident. Now, suppose your worker has an accident. In that case, some states allow you to direct care some require you to provide other documents, most staffing companies have binders full of documents for every scenario.

So if you have made it this far, staffing companies have a purpose. It allows small companies to have the hiring resources of a larger company, protecting them from many of the pitfalls that prevent them from succeeding. It helps larger companies remain fluid, ramping up seasonal or project-related labor needs without taking on the added cost of a full-time employee with benefits and other company obligations. In the end, you will need to decide if the difference in the pay rate and bill rate is worth having someone else taking on much of the risk but hopefully, now you have a better understanding of why someone would use a staffing company.

Thank you for reading. Superior Skilled Trades is a national skilled trades staffing provider. Visit www.SuperiorSkilledTrades.com or call (888) 316-0692 for more information.