10 Questions Staffing Agencies Need to Ask About Today’s Competition
Today’s staffing agencies are facing more competition than ever before. Whether it’s from large Online Staffing Platforms, such as Wonolo, Field Nation, and BlueCrew, or from the new players in the On-Demand economy, including Uber and Postmates. These companies have really changed the game when it comes to providing a seamless application and onboarding process for candidates.
As an agency, you’ll want to consider how much you invest in updating your processes, whether you decide to build a platform in-house, buy a white-labeled online staffing platform or select vendors that will automate the most critical parts of your process, you need to develop a strategy to attract candidates to maintain your competitive edge. Even if you’re a staffing agency who doesn’t directly compete with these new platforms, it’s still a good idea to study them. You should be thinking about how to optimize parts of your process to improve the candidate experience, and since no one is doing it better than these companies, they’re the ones you’ll want to emulate as you adapt your strategies.
Here are 10 helpful questions to consider as you start to think about monitoring your competition:
- What companies do you think excel in attracting and onboarding talent?
Are there any companies who you think are doing a great job in the hiring process? Start by building an initial list. - What online platforms are they using?
The types of technology these companies use can give you great insight into their processes. - What vendors have they partnered with?
The vendors they partner with can help you understand how they approach innovation and how they’re investing in it. - What’s their candidate experience process?
Is this process seamless? Or are there points of friction along the way? Is their process entirely hosted on their app or platform? - Do they have mobile presence?
How do they incorporate the elements of the hiring process into mobile and are they seamless? - Do they offer a high level of transparency into next steps?
Providing consistent updates has shown to increase conversion throughout the hiring process. How does the company communicate along the way? - What was their background check process like?
Is their background check process cumbersome? How is the user experience? - How easy was it for you to find, apply to and be on-boarded for a job on their platform?
A helpful way to research is to actually go through the hiring process yourself. How does that process work for you as an applicant? Are there any areas for improvement? - How many channels do they use to advertise open positions?
Where can you find their jobs? Are they advertising on new channels you haven’t tapped yet? - Are they social media savvy?
Do they use social channels like Twitter and Facebook to connect with applicants?
Competing in today’s market requires that you adapt your processes and rethink your methods. By finding the right competitor to compare yourself you to, you’ll be able to uncover new ways to increase your advantage and grow your business.
Want to learn more about how to adapt to the changing economy and stay competitive? Check out our latest eBook, “Is Your Staffing Agency Ready for the New World of Work?”
