Although this large, grant-funded nonprofit had internal HR expertise, they had one department within their organization that continually had people problems - difficulty hiring, employees requiring excessive management time, and temp agency expenses putting a strain on the budget.

This department included a large team (over 20) of seasonal, entry-level employees and, over the years, the organization had become dependent on high-cost temp agencies to fill these positions. Even with the use of temp agencies, the temporary employees had high turnover rates, low attendance, and disciplinary issues that were almost double what the organization had, as a whole.

This nonprofit organization knew they needed a change in hiring for these positions, but they didn’t know what it was so year after year they paid the price – financially and otherwise.

When they came to Talbott Talent for help, we immediately redefined their recruitment strategy for these positions – and others – through collaborative discussions and strategic job post refinements.

Within 8 weeks of their initial conversation the organization had 20 highly competent, professional temp workers who had the skills and competencies needed. The hiring managers were thrilled! One hiring manager even said…

“The candidates are 100% better than previous years using this partnership and process! You’ve transformed our department!”

The director was so thrilled with the results of this Hiring Partnership project, as we opened up a lot of space in her budget by removing dependence on temp agencies, helped the hiring managers hire the right people for the role, and made her hiring managers love their jobs even more because turnover and attendance (which used to be their biggest headaches) were no longer issues for their team members.

HERE’S WHAT WE DID…

SOLUTION 1:

Change job postings to reflect actual needs.

Talbott Talent’s Hiring Partnership team met with the director and hiring managers as part of a position discovery call. Immediately, we realized one thing: the job posting the organization was using to attract clients did not reflect the skills and competencies needed for the seasonal positions. We created a new job ad to truly reflect what the hiring managers were saying they needed.

SOLUTION 2:

Adjust compensation and remove temp agencies from the equation.

By evaluating the cost of temp agencies against the compensation these employees were actually taking home, we were able to help the organization set a competitive hourly rate for these positions that was still much less than they were spending on temp agencies - so it actually saved them money!.

SOLUTION 3:

Create a recruitment funnel.

In the past, the organization had gone straight from job posting to one quick in-person interview and then maybe an offer. We developed a new process for their hiring, including interviewing on a continual basis, creating multiple quick virtual and in-person interview and screening stages, moving candidates from application to job offer within two weeks.

Talbott Talent was able to ensure all candidates the hiring managers met with had the skills and professionalism to excel in the position, and that they were going to accept the position when offered. The hiring managers had interviews scheduled for them with ONLY highly qualified candidates.

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