Chances are, if you require technical consultants for your IT projects, you work with IT staffing firms. When hiring from an IT staffing firm, it’s important that you get the talent you need quickly and that they are a great fit for your role. There are two key ways to go about getting talent from IT staffing firms: staff augmentation or with a VMS. The upside to using a VMS is that it allows you to get your job out to lots of companies, quickly. However, are you really getting the quality talent you need?
Having a good relationship with an Account Manager (or a few Account Managers at various companies) and using staff augmentation as opposed to a VMS, can provide you with added benefits you may not have considered.
For example, Account Managers can act as consultants themselves: They can advise you on how the market is fairing for the specific position you’re looking for – it could be a harder market to recruit in or there may be a lot of candidates out there and you won’t have any trouble. Other times, you might be trying to find someone very niche and are having a hard time finding that perfect person. Your Account Manager might advise you to drop some of your job criteria in order to find someone who is still great and can do the job that’s required. Account Managers also have a great grasp on the rates in the market. You might be set on an hourly rate but are not seeing the kind of candidates you want. The Account Manager can guide you on changing your rate so you’ll be able to see more of the candidates you need to fill your job.
This consultative approach also works as Account Managers get to know you and your company. Working closely with an Account Executive allows them to understand you, your hiring goals, your team and your company overall. While this might not seem like a huge advantage, it is. And one that is completely missing in the VMS process. During the recruiting process, your Account Executive will be able to better distinguish a great fit based on your needs and objectives. For example, you may need a gregarious person to collaborate with your already social and outgoing team. Hiring someone shy and reluctant, even if they’re completely qualified, might make them feel uncomfortable and leave your contract early.
While a strategically aligned Account Manager will do everything possible upfront to decrease turnover for you (like finding a great culture fit as we mentioned above), they also have other initiatives in place to increase retention for you. Many IT staffing firms offer benefits to their consultants to make them feel they are part of their own team, as well as a valued team member at your organization. Benefits offered might include: medical insurance, dental, 401Ks and flex spending accounts. Other less-traditional benefits may include company outings, consultant retention programs and even an ESOP. It’s important that you know what benefits your consultants are being offered to help keep them on your contract and at your company.
Lastly, by being able to be consultative with you and your company, your Account Executive might be able to offer additional services to you based on your needs. For example, maybe you would benefit from using their payrolling services. Or maybe a contract-to-hire consultant would make more sense given your current circumstances. These are all services an IT staffing company can offer you that you could be missing out on when using a VMS.
Using a VMS to get IT talent will get you staff for your projects. However, there are many great advantages to a direct relationship with an IT Account Executive. If you’re looking for an IT staffing company that can work with you as a partner and extension of your hiring team, look no further than IDR. Click here to learn more.