If you’re working in a startup or a rapidly growing organization, you know that having the right team in place is critical for success, and that’s where staffing firms come in as valuable partners. Below, we’ve listed six reasons why partnering with a staffing agency can be a game-changer for your business:
1. You Need an Army
Chances are that you don’t have an internal recruitment team yet. Your managers are trying to recruit for their team openings AND do their full-time jobs successfully. There are likely already a significant amount of overtime hours as it is, and employee burnout doesn’t help anyone. In the ever-competitive and evolving startup environment, business development needs are a priority. Recruitment tends to be placed on the back burner as a result.
It’s likely that your team needed someone yesterday and is just now getting around to advertising the position. In order to get quality talent in the seat quickly, your hiring strategy should include an outside resource to function as your recruitment team – or at least to supplement your internal efforts until you’ve built out a successful talent acquisition department internally.
2. The Business is Evolving, and You Need to Keep Up
As a startup business, time is of the essence. Whether you’re racing your service to the market or developing cutting-edge technology, there are never enough hours in the day. Staying ahead of the curve means onboarding talent before you’re in dire need. This way, they can learn and acclimate to your business to make an immediate impact in mission-critical moments.
Companies that anticipate business needs to proactively make great hires win the talent war before it’s even begun. Your business depends on what talent you bring to the table. This is why experienced recruitment specialists are essential.
3. Talent Is Your Number One Asset
Startups are typically a sink-or-swim environment. To thrive under pressure, faster, stronger, better candidates are needed to make it in the long haul. This is why you need to ensure you’re getting the absolute best candidate on the market and within your budgeted compensation range. Without a knowledgeable recruitment team that is constantly interacting with talent in your field, it’s hard to know for sure what the best talent actually looks like. You might be surprised by what you find.
Most managers get hung up on specific skills and struggle to fill positions due to a lack of a soft skills match. A soft skill match is equally as important as a technical skill match–arguably even more so at a startup! A recruiter is experienced in analyzing all of these variables and can present the most viable candidates much more quickly than someone who is not familiar with the market.
A recruitment team does all this leg work for you, speaking with candidates that may look like an obvious match based on their resumes and connecting with candidates that seem like a stretch. Recruiters can compare the talent in the market with the essential skills hiring managers are looking for and help weigh the soft skills and career motivators of the talent to determine who truly is the best fit and, more importantly, who will last long-term.
4. Candidates Don’t Know Who You Are
If your brand is still relatively unknown, it can be challenging to attract the quantity and quality of talent you seek. Your company just hasn’t been around long enough for people to know about it, even though it is definitely worth knowing about. Most startups offer alluring perks for candidates, such as a fully stocked kitchen, unlimited PTO, and a generous work-from-home policy.
Also, many top performers at startups can pave their own career path as the company grows and evolves, even switching between departments if it makes sense, as their varied responsibilities often force them to wear many hats. Recruiters can help you overcome a lack of name recognition and help candidates focus on the selling points your start-up offers.
5. You Have Money to Spend
You finally have the finances to get your business off the ground. Why not spend it on your best asset? Talent should be at the forefront of your investment. You have aggressive business plans in place and investor demands to meet. You need more headcount to propel the business forward. The sooner you strengthen your talent pool, the sooner those goals become more achievable.
Incorporating a staffing firm into your recruiting plan gives you more bang for your buck. Instead of hiring an internal recruiter, hire an entire recruitment team with the bandwidth to screen more talent and provide competitive market analysis. Time is of the essence for startups. You need to fill positions faster. And, spending money to partner with experts now means you can avoid the cost of trial and error later.
6. Referrals Aren’t Enough
In a competitive job market like New York City or San Francisco, the best way for a candidate to get in front of a hiring manager is through an internal connection. Many open positions are successfully filled this way. However, your employees’ personal network is limited. As a newly formed company, it’s likely that your internal pool already consists mostly of your friends and/or family.
That restricted network often compromises skills, experience, and diversity and, therefore, lacks what’s needed to give you a competitive edge in the market. With a larger pool of talent, you’re able to truly vet referrals against similar candidates. This way, you can more accurately determine if they are the best fit for the role at your budgeted compensation.
Start-Ups and Staffing: A Partnership that Works
Choose talent over skill. You cannot simply “read” talent from a resume. Skills can be taught. It’s more important to know who you are hiring. That’s how Atrium can help. We build meaningful relationships with incredibly talented people. Our goal is to make sure they thrive in their careers. When employees thrive, it makes a significant difference to a company’s bottom line. Whether you’re a startup or an established corporation, our team is here to help you find the right match for your organization.
