An investment in temporary staffing can be one of the best investments that your company can make. To help you select the right one we are going to consider 5 things to watch out for when selecting a temp staffing agency.

Industry Experience

A temp staffing agency may be a good agency, but may be the wrong match for your company. This would be due to lacking in sufficient experience within your industry.  If they lack that experience they will have a tough time providing you with temps who have the needed skills to fill your company’s short term employment needs.

Another reason why you want to confirm industry experience is that it will give you access to valuable market intelligence. If the temp staffing agency has industry experience they can provide you with valuable insider knowledge concerning the following:

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• Job candidate availability
• Standard industry wages for certain job positions
• Developing industry trends
• Exposure to possible cross promotional opportunities

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Tapping into the market intelligence provided by the temp staffing agency can provide you with a real competitive edge.

Understanding the Unique Needs of Your Business

Your company culture is unique compared to other companies in your industry sector. The temp staffing agency you select needs to be aware of this.

To help ensure that the temp staffing agency that you select understands your needs, good communication is needed. When you explain your needs, do they get it? Are they willing to ask you specific questions about your company’s operation? If the answer is no to any of these questions take it as a warning sign that the agency may not be the right fit.

Understand and Observe All Legal Regulations

If you select a temp staffing agency that is taking legal shortcuts you are exposing yourself to numerous risks. Here are just a few examples of legal requirements that you want to ensure a temp staffing agency is following. Do they:

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• Observe all Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s requirements, such as the payment of any premiums
• Observe all Ministry of Labour requirements, such as ensuring all temps are legally employable in Canada
• Ensure that all temps get paid at least the minimum wage

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One possible warning sign to watch out for is too low of a billing rate. Costly fines and other legal ramifications would quickly eat away at any short term savings.

Screening of Temp Workers

Before selecting a temp staffing agency you should be fully aware of their screening process. This process should include the properly administering of background checks for all temps. Along with background checks, you also want to be aware of any competence tests that are performed by the temp staffing agency. Also included in the screening would include the proper checking of all references. By watching out for how they screen prospective workers will help avoid being stuck with dead weight.

Quality or Quantity?

A temp staffing agency could have a large pool of temps, but how many of the temps have the needed skills? This can also be taken back to the importance of the screening process. You want to be sure that the agency you select takes proper steps to weed out the unqualified. In this way you can be sure that the temp that walks through your door will have the necessary skills to fill your company’s needs.

By watching out for any potential warning signs you can select a temp staffing agency that will simultaneously increase productivity and cut costs.