This is a summary of a presentation our founder, Tom Sarach, made on a panel at Staffing World 2011. We think it’s valuable information to pass along to everyone in staffing.
Expose the industry to your legislative branches on a state and federal level. You can join local business advisory groups to stay on top of legislative issues in your state that affect businesses of all types, and to lend your voice to a strong chorus of business owners when addressing elected officials. Keep in contact with your officials, too: call, write, email and even visit them when you’ve got the time. After all, you’re their boss.
Social media is another way to expose the staffing industry to various audiences. You can use different social media channels to talk with candidates, clients, other staffing businesses, vendors and legislators. Just remember that the key word is “with”; on social media, people do tend to talk back to you. Be ready to hear their concerns and respond to them in a way that makes things better for everyone.
Stay on top of workforce and health care developments. The employment landscape has changed significantly in the past few years. Be sure you not only understand the changes, but can communicate them to your employees, candidates and clients in a way that they can understand. And with health care, be aware of the changes that are still going on, and know how they might affect your firm in 2014 and beyond.
Vendors can help you with all of this. A good software vendor can help keep you up-to-date on legislative changes, integrate your social media with your job orders, make sure you’re current on any technological updates and even provide content for your communication efforts. Plus, vendors know the industry; if your vendor can’t help you directly, we can point you toward someone who can.
How have your experiences been with these points? Have you contacted legislators or joined business groups, engaged in social media, gotten on top of workforce and health care developments and/or used your vendors like the resource we are? Let us know in the comments!