HR Staffing versus Recruitment

Obtaining and retaining talent in the working world of today demands a peerless employee experience – a working culture and overall sense of mission and purpose far and away beyond the job description alone.

Nevertheless, the process by which employees are sourced, onboarded and trained to perform at their best remains a tried-and-true pathway. That said, business leaders are wise to keep in mind the key differentiators between different styles of talent sourcing – recruitment versus HR staffing.

While similar at first glance, there are key differences between HR staffing and recruiting that affect not only the kinds of positions that individuals work within throughout your business – but also the best strategies and approaches to appeal to those applicants and bring out their best in your organization
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What Is the Difference Between HR Staffing and Recruitment?

There are numerous reasons why it might be the right time to hire some job seekers at your business. It could be to replace colleagues who are moving on, to shore up human resources against the demands of a highly sophisticated quarterly project, or to simply grow the team as a reflection of an expanding business and associated workload day to day.

Recruitment and staffing are descriptors that are often used as synonyms in today's corporate world. In some cases, companies use the descriptors together (staffing recruitment) – but strictly speaking, their definitions are somewhat different, as is the employee experience they offer.

Primarily, HR staffing describes roles at your organization that is more temporary in nature. Potential candidates who come to fulfil staffing positions usually do so on the understanding that the position is temporary – perhaps a few months, seldom more than a year or two at most.

Staffing is a reflection of flexibility in business. The HR staffing process is put into action when select growth spurts, or demanding projects in which extra hands are needed, are being felt throughout your organization.

Conversely, the recruitment process is a more permanent employee experience, and approached with a level of care on all sides. Recruitment is as much about regular workers as it is about leadership, and candidates are expected to demonstrate aptitude and competency in the position for which you are hiring on the basis of an existing career history in the given sector.

Contrast this with HR staffing, in which the temporary nature of the role often entails more training to get temporary workers up to speed.
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When to Consider HR Staffing for Your Business

Ahead of an audit, a new project launch or an unexpected uptick in sales and processing, you may well find that your existing workforce is stretched thin across managerial and operational tasks.

Similarly, life events such as maternity and paternity leave can also remove key players from teams throughout your organization, for which staffing will prove necessary to plug the skills shortage.

Staffing is also a popular business solution for events such as conferences and trade shows, at which your company is expected to put its best foot forward. Many organizations work with HR staffing consultants or an HR staffing agency implicitly to find reps and agents who will represent their business at such events.

Staffing, being a more temporary arrangement, attracts suitable candidates who are aware of the short-lived nature of their role with your organization. As such, it is often easier to onboard these workers, and there is an understanding between them and your organization that this is a mutually beneficial arrangement for a set duration.

However, such circumstances are not set in stone – few things in the world of business ever are. If you appreciate the work your temporary staffing candidate fulfils, and they likewise enjoy the employee experience at your organization, there is often leeway to bring them aboard as a permanent colleague through traditional recruitment channels.
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When to Consider Recruitment for Your Business

For roles and objectives, you know will form an ongoing element of your business and its operations for years to come, recruitment is the way forward. There is more involved in recruitment – taxes, healthcare if provided, pension obligations if applicable, and so forth – but the upshot is those prospective candidates who enjoy the employee experience at your company is likely to remain with you for many years.

Recruitment can take quite a long time. Your business has select needs, and recruitment is designed to fulfil those by exploring candidates’ experience and relevance to your company’s requirements in depth.

However, recruitment can also be used to bring talent into your organization before an opportunity exists. For example, if an industry heavyweight in your sector would be an asset to your team, recruitment can be used to highlight your employee experience and benefits package in the hopes of attracting them to apply with you – filling a role you create especially for them.

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When to Use Recruitment Agencies

Recruitment occurs at the initial stages of employment and involves finding suitable employees to fill open positions. While companies do hold recruitment drives on their own, there are instances where hiring a recruitment agency to fill job openings is the best option.

You should consider hiring an agency when:

You have difficulties obtaining prospective candidates

This usually happens when the vacant position falls beyond the candidate's area of expertise or if the job opening is too complex. A company can usually determine that they've hit the "ceiling" when they begin receiving poor candidates or the human resource department warns about the lack of expertise in the position.

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Your supply of internal recruiters cannot keep up with the demand.

HR teams often have a bandwidth of positions they can oversee at any given time. However, company growth spurts or new investments may force a business to hire more than its recruiters can manage. Tapping a recruitment agency to hire workers for you can provide additional recruiting power to your team and prevent your whole process from slowing down.

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You are looking for new and talented employees with specialized talent.

A hiring agency that focuses on an industry or a certain position can help you find new employees with difficult-to-find skill sets.

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That being said...

Hiring internal employees should always be your first choice. Internal recruitment helps you keep your most skilled and dedicated employees. It also tells other workers that there are opportunities to advance their careers within the company.

Additionally, internal recruitment involves less time and effort from your HR department. This means you will likely see a reduction of overheads, including recruitment fees, new hardware, and desk space, when you hire internally.

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Helpful Tips:

• Remaining transparent throughout both HR staffing and recruitment processes is the key to sustaining a rapport of trust with your candidates
• Job applicants today dislike slow-moving and excessive interview processes – how can you streamline this in your onboarding?
• Candidates expect that temporary roles are advertised as such, and will feel deceived if what they thought was recruitment turns out to be staffing later on
• Salary and benefits are only half the story – the employee experience is what really sells your workplace as the best to work for
• Staffing suits urgent positions, whereas recruitment suits longer term positions – including leadership and C-suite candidates

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Key Considerations

Throughout your business career, you will find onboarding new talent and advertising the benefits of your employee experience a challenge – but ultimately a satisfying one, when it is done right.

Although you may have seen the terms of staffing and recruitment used interchangeably throughout your career, they do in fact relate to different disciplines within HR and talent acquisition. As such, learning when to apply which terminology will help streamline your hiring process.

Similarly, it is vital that you understand when you advertise job vacancies for staffing candidates – who are actively seeking temporary or seasonal work – versus recruitment, which is a slow but steady race to attract top talent to your organization long term.

Master this process, and even challenges like the Great Resignation need not disrupt your company’s growth.