The concept of diversification is captured in the adage ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket’.As commonsensical as this may seem, this logic is rarely applied in business, especially when considering alternative service providers. Our reluctance to try other options hinders us from accessing opportunities that could potentially be game changing for us, especially as businesses.

THE BUSINESS LANDSCAPE HAS CHANGED, AND WITH IT COMES COMPETITION:
Here is a typical scenario we come across often : You have a job opening within your company or you foresee one coming up in the near future. You automatically go to the one reliable employment agency you have always used.
That’s great. They understand your business, your culture, your budgetary constraints and quite importantly, they understand you and how your business was 10 years ago. But the economic landscape has changed, there is new competition and many competing agencies are offering unbelievable conditions to earn new business. They have learnt new ways of doing business that are favorable to clients. Competitors are offering lower rates, shorter transition periods to transfer temp employees to your own payroll, improved customer service, better quality of candidates that improve retention rates, guarantees on employees and many other appealing add-ons. You are reluctant to take advantage of this and exploit the new opportunities, possibly because you are unaware of the range of options available to you, or more commonly, you are unwilling to accept new offers because the current choice has worked in the past and you don’t want to ‘rock the boat’.

BUSINESS SENSE:
It makes sense to you somehow. It may not entirely be business sense, but you convince yourself there is something strategic about the decision to stay with your ‘old faithful’, plus it is your comfort zone. Without any intention to undermine the competence of anyone with the responsibility of recruiting, one factor to consider should always be cost of acquisition. If you could save more by using new providers, other than your ‘old faithful’, and yet cannot bear the thought of losing that long-standing relationship, then it is only reasonable to expect you to watch your costs and diverse by scouting for those new options that improve your bottom line and supplement the old with the new. After all, what you are after is an excellent candidate. Does it really matter which agency provides the best candidate for you, if the terms are great? The focus of every company should be to make money and become more profitable – unless you are a charity.

THE DIRECT HIRE ADVANTAGE:
Temps can be used for a variety of assignments, for short term gaps, transitional work, project work, trial basis (temp-hire) and a host of other arrangements. However, the turnover can be really high because temp workers tend to have low loyalty rates as they continue to search for permanent jobs when employed for temp roles. They get an offer of a dollar more, or a mile closer to home and they switch easily. All investment in training, recruiting, and providing working tools for the new employee is wasted and the replacement effort just re-starts the cycle all over again. Many companies are starting to consider Direct Hire options and are open to building relationships with more than one provider to meet their demands especially with hard-to-fill positions.
Companies need to pay attention to response time, customer service, availability of candidates, willingness to go the extra mile, great communication, candidate quality etc when choosing new providers.

AN IMPOSITION OR OPPORTUNITY?
A large number of businesses we speak with reveal that they receive at least half a dozen offers daily from staffing companies trying to sell their services and help them fill vacancies. From the tone of some of the employers, this is usually seen as an imposition, where in reality, could be an amazing opportunity. The opportunity to find out who is offering better conditions, better cost options and better service levels.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO VALIDATE THE FACT THAT YOU ARE WITH ONE OF THE BEST:
If indeed you have every reason to be happy with your provider, this opportunity for comparison will help you validate the fact that you are working with some of the best employment companies. You get the opportunity to find out which offers are out there and ensure you are getting the best deal possible with regards to response time, quality of candidates, retention rates and cost.

WHAT THE RECESSION TAUGHT US:
The recession has taught us that being price –sensitive is critical to success, regardless of business size. Larger businesses may not be as price-sensitive as the smaller ones but they are not immune to collapse. Think Lehman Brothers, General Motors, Chrysler, CIT Group, Guaranty Financial, CIT Group and others destroyed by the recession including large banks that had to be nationalized.
As we all now recover from the recession, many companies, both large and small are now realizing the importance of being cost conscious, making considerable efforts to have lower overheads and better cashflow, even when conditions appear safe.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER & CAN BE A GREAT NEGOTIATING TOOL:
Knowledge is not wasted especially in today’s business landscape, it allows us to make informed decisions. Get information and keep re-evaluating your service costs and providers. Companies have the obligation to keep their business profitable and sustainable , even if it means ‘rocking the boat’ a little!

Contact Brand Leverage at www.brandleverageusa.com or call us on 763 347 0122 or 763 208 9774.