Lauren Milam
Vice President of the West Coast
Hire Up Staffing
If you are a business owner or leader, chances are you are keeping a close eye on the news and wondering what these headlines might mean for your business. Or perhaps you are already facing hard choices within your organization like hiring freezes, position eliminations, and/or layoffs. If this resonates with you, then it is important to recognize that you are not alone.
Fred Rogers has been quoted as saying, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
While speaking on behalf of a helping group, I have firsthand knowledge of the many benefits a professional Staffing Agency can offer its clients during times like these. It might seem counterintuitive to partner with a staffing agency during an economic downturn. However, during times of volatility, I would encourage you to add to your arsenal of support rather than look for ways to reduce it.
Read along for a list of meaningful deliverables your Staffing Partners can offer during times of uncertainty that you may not have considered:
If your company is put on a hiring freeze:
An internal hiring freeze typically puts a hold on permanent hires. Often this does not mean that you can’t hire contingent staff during peak months, or in the event of a large customer order. Getting companies through their hiring freeze is a great example of how valuable a trusted partner can be. You still have customer orders to fill. You still have a business to run. If you can’t hire permanently, then call your staffing agency and hire temporarily to keep the necessary workflow going until the hiring freeze can be lifted. That is the beauty of having a solid, contingent staff in place when the unexpected happens.
If your company does layoffs:
Layoffs are difficult for everyone involved. There are a few ways your staffing partner can help during this tough time.
- Call your agency and ask them to put together a list of current job openings, along with a stack of agency business cards that you can share with your staff that is affected by the layoffs. This will connect your staff directly with your agency contact and immediately provide a lifeline for other opportunities.
- Follow up with your agency contact regularly on the status of placed employees.
- Explore the option of bringing back laid off employees contingently through your staffing agency. Many times, companies have a budget for incidentals or contingencies that you can pull from to bring back folks temporarily to keep productivity moving. This could secure your best employees that had to be laid off in hopes of them returning permanently when business picks back up.
If YOU get laid off:
- Layoffs can affect everyone. Many times, layoffs can happen to you when you least expect it. Who will you call when it does? Who knows you well enough to help guide you in your job search? Should you find yourself in this unfortunate circumstance, having a trusted recruiter who is on your side and knows you well is golden.
- Could you find your own job if you were to be laid off? Of course, you can. But wouldn’t it help to have someone in your corner assisting you in your search? Yes! As a recruiter, many times my clients have called me and said, “Guess what? I need your help finding ME a new position.” It happens. Life happens. And if it does, have a plan for yourself.
Feeling overwhelmed by information overload?
Utilize your resources! Staffing professionals hold valuable market insight, and we have our finger on the pulse of all industries, all the time. Connect with someone outside of your organization on occasion for a renewed perspective. Ask your staffing partners what it is they are seeing within your industry and beyond. Identify the trends they are witnessing and get their scoop on what might be working for other organizations, both local and non-local.
Let us help you plan:
Meet with a staffing agency when your company is going through a downturn– it is the best time to do it! A staffing professional will be able to provide you with information on the market, share hiring trends, and provide other helpful economic data to assist you in developing a plan for today and tomorrow. We can help a client get through the hard times and prepare for happier ones.
Once the time comes to start hiring again, you will have a plan and your staffing agency will be there to help you through it—every step of the way.
If you are interested in setting up a meeting to discuss all the ways we can help, email me and we will schedule a support call ASAP. [email protected]
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Lauren Milam, VP of the West Coast
Meet Lauren Milam, Regional Vice President for Hire Up Staffing Services. Lauren started in the staffing industry 7 years ago as a Recruiter. Finding success in her role quickly, she promoted through the ranks to outside sales, training and development, and then Regional Vice President. She joined Hire Up in November of 2019 as our first Regional Vice President hire for the California Market. Since starting at Hire Up, she has created and implemented new sales campaigns and initiatives to help the company grow. In her first quarter with Hire Up, she helped the recruiters increase their individual gross profit by an average of 28%. She does this by creating plans that focus on the individual needs of each office and person.