As a company managing high volume temporary workforce levels across a number of clients, some things that might be second nature to us could be something of interest to others – which is something we wish to share here.
We’re extremely proud of our attendance levels, suitability rates (a nice way of saying the candidate was asked to not be returned), and our effectiveness of being able to match suitable candidates to our roles in a timely and effective manner. We’re often asked to fill roles in the same day! With Marton Recruitment having over 40 years recruiting success, we’ve managed to hone our service and identify what helps provide our clients and candidates with high levels of satisfaction.
Paying workers accurately
Nothing will upset the flow of a workforce quicker than not being accurate with their pay. We utilise internal payroll functions for all of our manufacturing & construction workers and advocate PAYE payroll for high volume temporary work as it is a true reflection of the general work being undertaken. Our back office function is public facing so if a candidate has a query, they deal directly with our payroll department over the phone or face to face – invaluable!
Checking Timesheets
When dealing with a large workforce, it is essential for us to double check ALL timesheets (and not only because we make our statistics public). We reconcile timesheets weekly against our planners and make sure our temporary workers have worked the days expected. Where there is an anomaly, we investigate it and correct an error before it’s processed. If there is an unauthorised absence, we find out what happened. That way the candidate understands that such absence isn’t acceptable and secondly, it will be noticed and brought to attention. By minimising shifts lost, not only do we have happy customers, but we have improved billing. Another consequence of not getting this right is incorrect invoicing for your client making you look unprofessional and delays in receiving the correct payments.
You/We WILL be let down!
This is a stonewall guarantee of recruitment and is a frustration for recruiters as much as it is for clients and for candidates. It isn’t how we stop this happening, as it will happen to every recruiter everywhere at one point or another, it’s about how we deal with it and resolve it. Understanding why a candidate didn’t show, having suitable replacement candidates provisionally available, being attentive to your client at times of urgency – these are probably the main aspects to overcome when managing a large temporary workforce as well as in recruitment in general. Don’t take it personally, do your hardest to put things right & don’t stick your head in the sand! If we can minimise this consequence, the time, savings and service to your clients can be considerable. The best thing here is to manage expectations, as anyone already knows in recruitment as well as those who utilise a recruitment service, this will happen!
Modern Technology
It’s essential to use technology to our advantage but is too easy to become over reliant on it and lose that personal touch with candidates and clients. I guarantee that if you rely on technology too much to manage your workforce, your candidates and clients will suffer. It’s too easy to claim ‘the email wasn’t received’ or that the phone was turned off, or that the message they sent you mysteriously got lost. If you’re electronically confirming details, ring up to check it’s been received – your probability of things going wrong will reduce.
In an advanced industry such as recruitment, to come up with one big difference can be difficult, we focus on the service we deliver and a number of areas where we can make a small difference that when added together, equate to creating a much bigger difference.