As a Human Resource professional, you sure have your work cut out for you. Not only are you trying to fill open positions at your company, you’re also dealing with any employee issues, keeping up with the most recent OSHA regulations, updating compensation plans….the list goes on and on. An HR professional’s work is never done. If only there were something that could help make your job easier…
One area many HR professionals could use assistance with is the staffing of their open IT positions. Knowing the intricacies of various technologies is not something that’s in your job description. And what’s with all the acronyms? BA, PM, UI, UX…who can keep up!
Working with an IT staffing company is often the solution to this headache for many HR professionals. Partnering with a company that’s dedicated to the staffing of IT professionals helps ease the need for you to know the technical aspect of things. You’d still be in the hiring process and able to ask any behavioral or other interview questions, but it takes the technical piece off your plate. You can rest assured that your IT staffing partner is successfully qualifying candidates based on their technical experience.
Besides providing technical expertise, there are still many ways that IT staffing firms can help you out in your everyday tasks. For example, IT Account Executives and Recruiters are working with IT professionals all day long and have great insight into the market. Say that you’re looking for a Senior Software Developer for your company. By using an IT staffing partner, they’ll be able to tell you what is going on in the market. Maybe it’s lacking senior developers but you could easily find someone more junior that would still satisfy your open role. This is valuable information to know. It’s possible that if you were searching on your own, you would be wasting lots of time. Your IT partner would also be able to help give you advice on what your pay range should be. Using the previous example of the Software Developer, if you hire someone more junior, you’ll be saving money on your bottom line. Or you might have a rate set but it’s just too low for the type of role you’re looking for. This is all expertise that IT Account Managers and Recruiters possess that they can share with you.
Also, IT staffing firms offer other services that you and your company might be interested in taking advantage of. In addition to regular contracting services, many also offer contract-to-hire and direct hire services. Some will also offer payrolling services. When you hire a contractor from an IT staffing firm, the contractor is an employee of the firm’s, not your own company. Any issues that arise with this consultant are the responsibility of the IT staffing firm, taking that burden off of you. Additionally, if your consultant is not working out for whatever reason, your IT staffing provider will find you a backfill for that role.
Consultants not working out does happen from time to time but many IT staffing firms have retention programs put in place to alleviate that issue. IDR, for example, puts their consultants into an Engagement Management Program. This program has a dedicated employee at IDR that keeps in constant contact with the consultant to make sure they are engaged in their contract.
The bottom line is that using an IT staffing firm will save you time. We all know that busy HR professionals like yourself could use more of that! Utilizing a partner like this will not only help you hire the right technical people but also provide you additional services and knowledge that you might be missing currently. A partnership with an IT staffing firm could be the missing piece of your IT hiring puzzle.
At IDR, we work with many HR professionals to help them staff their IT department’s open jobs. Learn more about working with us here.