Alan Butz, Author at Fidelis

5 keys to identifying the right staffing partners

Specialization

Nobody is an expert in everything. General IT staffing firms and MSP’s are great for your run of the mill IT roles, but when you are running complex systems specialization matters. Hire staffing partners who are experts. The firm’s you partner with should have deep relationships within their technology space and be active in those communities. This will deliver the expertise needed for a successful outcome.

Stability

Vetting out the stability of the partner you choose should be top of mind. Look for financial stability. It is not always the size of the staffing partner that matters, it is their ability to pay their consultants in a timely matter, carry the insurances required to minimize risk and the ability to scale their workforce to support your demands.

Longevity of Internal Staff

A large part of a successful relationship with a staffing vendor is your sales rep and recruiting team’s ability to understanding your organization and its unique IT needs and corporate culture. If the firm you are looking at seems to have a different rep. calling on you every couple of months, you will run a high risk of mistakes being made and information getting lost in transition. Look for firms who work hard to retain and develop their internal staff. If there is no longevity or succession planning within their organization, they may be more risk than reward long term.

Back-Office Support

There is more to a staffing partner than their ability to find talent. Engaging a firm with a strong back-office is critical in meeting the needs of today’s customer. Look for firms who have the technology and financial capabilities to do what is needed to meet the demands that come with the size and scale of your organization and the services you will require.

Integrity

A partner will always operate with honesty and integrity. Look for firms who operate under these principals. Talk to past customers about how they delivered on what they promised. How they handled challenging situations that arose and dealt with budget constraints to meet their commitments.

A partner is going to be honest about what they can and can’t do. They will advise you on the resources they represent and the price points they can work within. Partners work through any challenges with integrity. A quality staffing firm should not be in the relationship for maximizing short term profits and slinging resumes to fill positions. They should be in it for long-term partnerships and delivering a positive outcome for their customers.

Over 20 years in professional services has taught us one thing- we can’t avoid mistakes, but we can learn from them. As a professional services firm, we work exclusively with one product -people- and people have a mind of their own. When we get an offer rejection, or someone chooses to terminate a contract early, we have to remind our customers and ourselves that no matter how hard we try, we ultimately can’t control the human condition of free will. We can, however, look for things to improve upon to make these outcomes happen less often.
The most common reasons we have found that people leave a contract early are as follows:
• The time commitment that was outlined in the beginning of the interview process does not line up with reality- either more or less hours than expected, or more travel
• Extreme micro management over their role
• They are poached by another opportunity for more money
In response to the above, I have a few thoughts. Overall, what I have learned over a decade in this industry is that a simple and honest approach is always the best approach.
• Regarding expectations of hours and travel:
We believe in an open and honest approach in the hiring process. We take a reality based approach when it comes to travel and workload and I don’t add any fluff or positive spin. We take pride in speaking plainly and openly. We have found that this tactic causes a lot less hurt feelings and missed expectations.
• Regarding micromanagement:
We understand the desire to micromanage, and agree for the initial 30 days of a contract its proper to keep a tighter oversight schedule, however, at Fidelis, we counterbalance the tendency for companies to micromanage new employees by placing highly qualified, energetic consultants that continually beat expectations. We continue to collaborate with our clients throughout the hiring and process and beyond.
• Avoid your consultants being poached:
What we have learned over the years of being in the people business is a simple and honest approach is always the best approach. We create significant value for our clients by being upfront with them about the candidates we propose, the process ahead of us, and the associated costs.
We are all going to make mistakes, but as long as we approach life with a growth mindset, we can improve and minimize issues along the way.
Over the next coming months we will be doing a series of posts related to our industry. Topics to include:
• How to proactively determine “red flags” in the hiring process
• The negative effects of “ghosting”, which also leads to the topic…
• Why my recruiter didn’t respond. Is it me?
We welcome more topic ideas and look forward to your response. Our goal is to create an open space to productively work through ideas to improve your experience both from both a customer and consultant perspective.

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