Study II: Recruiting and Training Concerns Resolved

Background/Situation: Claims office of a major insurance company handled all recruiting, screening and training processes for data entry/customer service representatives.

Issues: The volume of work overwhelmed the client. Their competitor was attracting most of the qualified, potential employees in their market. Recruiting was made even more difficult by the strong economy and the "job-seeker's market." This resulted in the client having to choose from candidates who had the "soft" skills needed for the job, but who lacked the proper "hard" skills and training.

Actions: The FurstStaffing team met with the client to gain a better understanding of the skills needed for each position. Not only were specific "soft" skills that would transfer across the diverse work environment needed, but also each applicant needed "hard" skills, such as a minimum key stroke score for data entry. The FurstStaffing team created and implemented a recruiting program utilizing components of its referral network, recruitment advertising, and existing employee base. The team also developed a training program to satisfy the client's need to train individuals who possessed only the set of "soft" skills. Furst partnered with the client to place these individuals as temporary-to-hire employees.

Results: The recruiting program attracted candidates who better fit the client's needs. Candidates whose skills did not meet requirements received training from Furst, making them marketable to the client. The temporary-to-hire placements allowed the client to transfer skilled individuals to their full time staff, while giving the employees an opportunity to join a firm that offered them a specific career path. The end result was that the client was able to rely on Furst to staff each subsequent new training class.