The staffing industry is actively thriving.
According to the global staffing market estimates and forecasts released earlier this year, the global staffing industry is predicted to grow by 12% this year, to a total of $445 billion. This is regardless of an 11% decline in growth in 2020— a result of the negative impacts of COVID-19. Nonetheless, the staffing industry has been on continuous growth, with the sole aim of matching establishments with the right job candidates.
Well, it may interest you to know what the staffing industry does.
The staffing industry is a service-based industry that assists job seekers in their search for suitable jobs. The positions they seek to fill ranges from temporary, part-time, to full-time, which often depends on the requirements of the employer. The staffing industry makes it easier for newbies to onboard, and also provides them with a bit of experience before they take up their new position.
As a thriving business, the staffing industry has different openings for entrepreneurs to invest in. However, to increase your chances of success and sustainability in the business, it is important to have a focus. This helps you to concentrate on a niche, and if you’re able to achieve excellence in the long run, companies contact your business to meet their staffing requirements.
Although having a niche in the industry is great, it is not enough to achieve sustainability. And just like every other business, the staffing industry has its fair share of challenges. However, focusing on one area at the initial stage of the business will solidify your foundation in the industry, and also guarantee your customers a top level of expertise as a staffing firm.
Melissa Acton-Buzard, founder of Chameleon Technologies— a leading staffing firm, proposes four solid ways to help you achieve sustainability in the staffing industry.
Committing To The Business
It might seem blurry for starters, but the business has to be done. In an industry where there’s a need for human resources and not products to be consumed, challenges are inevitable.
According to Melissa Acton-Buzard, building a career in the staffing business is tough. However, she fell in love with the fast pace and the personal relationships achieved from doing the staffing business. Having worked with Microsoft and other top staffing firms, she started her staffing firm— Chameleon Technologies, which recruits staff for IT companies. In the long run, Melissa’s passion has kept her going and has also paved a way out for her.
“Building a career is not easy. After Chameleon Technologies was founded, we experienced drastic difficulties post-9/11 and the dot-com fallout. However, I was passionate about Chameleon and I didn’t want to give up. Luckily, we received an opportunity from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and were able to move back into the office the following year, followed by tremendous growth. The resilience kept my vision alive.
Have A Good Plan
It’s always exciting to have a business goal and purpose, but this could be disastrous if there’s no roadmap to achieving that goal. It’s crucial to be clear about the services and practices you want to offer, as well as knowing what your staffing firm plans to do differently from already existing firms.
For Melissa, she has a 5-year plan for her firm, which covers everything her staffing business is focused on, and also how to remain sustainable, profitable, and relevant. “We hope to remain active in the staffing business— our first prong— and continue to grow with an emphasis on IT engineering and executive search. On the data side— our second prong— we have many fun projects coming up in terms of the data services space— from data analytics to BI to cloud strategies. Lastly, we have an innovative SaaS-based product that we hope to streamline growth with, through potential alliances. A lot can happen in 5 years.” She claims.
This exemplifies how a plan should look like for a sustainable business in the staffing industry. It keeps your eyes on the goal, helps you to be flexible, and ensures your business is sought after. A good plan also increases your efficiency, which is quite vital in the industry.
Build A Great Team
If you want to get the best out of your staffing business, then you should get a great team to work with. Don’t trivialize this, because human management is a core component of the staffing industry, and will create sustainability for your firm in the long run if done rightly.
No doubt, the processes involved in dealing with clients and scouting for eligible job candidates can be tiring, and that’s why you should have a follow-up mechanism. This keeps in touch with those you have placed on jobs, and also gives you an idea of how pleased the employers are.
Melissa always checks in with her employees, does impromptu BBQs and game nights, and various other activities just to create a bond, and also a feeling of togetherness.
This provides both your current and prospective clients the avenue to communicate and engage with you easily. In the process of communicating with your clients, make them see reasons why you are the best in your niche. Also, share success stories of your staff who have done excellently or are currently doing so. This will convince clients that your staffing firm is of value.
However, you can’t do all of these alone. That’s why you must assemble a group of people who believe in your dream and share the same passion as you do for the business. As you know, iron sharpens iron.
Stand Out
Asides from having a niche, make your business unique. Your clients should be able to easily recognise your business and the excellence you stand for.
As time progresses, focus on diversification. Seek other ways to make your staffing process and clients engagement seamless. Outstanding customer service is unmatched in the staffing industry— makes yours exceptional.
With this, Chameleon is able to stay ahead of the competition. “Chameleon exceeds its competition by providing a very personal, hands-on, high-quality service, as opposed to quantity. It’s those personalized relationships that will continue to be the catalyst for Chameleon’s growth.” Melissa claims.
After ensuring sustainability, you can then branch out to incorporate other areas of staffing into your operations.
Final Thoughts
To wrap it up, remember every entrepreneur should aim towards maximum satisfaction of clients. Also, if you aim to sustain a staffing business, ensure your drive doesn’t depend on money alone.
Beyond making money, you should be purpose-driven and also aim for the maximum satisfaction of your clients. Chameleon Technologies is a testament to this point.
As an entrepreneur, if you are not passionate about your business, you will soon throw in the towel and might regret it at the end of the day. And this would result in a complete waste of all the time, energy, and money invested. Stay resilient, this is the real growth and sustainability hack for your business.