Filling your organization’s staffing vacancies with the right kind of candidates can be a challenge, especially in fields where competition is fierce and star candidates are snatched up quickly. And these are just the routine vacancies — add in seasonal staffing shortages, and finding great candidates can be even more frustrating. You may be contributing to the problem rather than solving it if candidate recruitment isn’t always on your radar. The time to look for candidates is not in the weeks before you need them, but all the time – whether you’re actively recruiting or just planning for recruitment.

Strategic Staffing Explained

If your organization hasn’t already crafted a staffing strategy to address routine and seasonal staffing needs, you’re already behind the curve in your hunt for great candidates. Candidate recruitment should be an ongoing process that guarantees your organization a steady stream – or at least a trickle – of candidates to fill both unexpected and predictable staffing shortages. Creating an ongoing staffing strategy helps you to identify the times during the year when staffing shortages are always a problem, then get ahead of these shortages by planning for recruitment and hiring before the shortages occur.

A strategic staffing plan does more than just allow you to avoid the staffing shortages you know are coming — it allows you to recruit for the unexpected vacancies simultaneously by filling these vacancies with temps you’ve hired for seasonal shortages, or by maintaining a more up-to-date roster of candidates. This strategy will serve you well when you’re faced with an unexpected vacancy.

Strategic Staffing Simplified

Part of your strategic staffing plan should include temporary employees for those seasonal staffing needs. Working with a staffing firm that specializes in employees in your field simplifies the process, allowing you to turn over the process of recruitment for these temp positions completely. If you’ve never worked with a temp agency before, or are unsure how a staffing firm can help you with your staffing plan, contact Staffing Partners to let our Portland employment experts put you on track to get the best temporary and temp-to-hire candidates in your industry, no matter when you need them.