And the Award Goes To…

And many of us celebrate along with them, glued to the television, attending a “viewing party”, or talking about it with our family, friends, and co-workers. While we may not have any personal relationship with these celebrities, we cheer along with them when they win and empathize when they don’t.

This got me thinking…

So often in the staffing industry we are looking forward – to the next job order, the next assignment, the next opportunity. How regularly, other than to evaluate key performance indicators (KPIs)/metrics such as revenue and volume, are we looking back to identify who may be our “stars”? Since we all love watching these award shows, why not recognize and honor those who helped make you successful?

I’m not simply talking about your internal employees – though, if you want to continue to grow and be prosperous, ensuring these “first customers” feel valued and respected is paramount. I’m referring to your field employees, your staffing partners, your clients and contacts. These are the individuals and organizations you work with every day. Your relationships with them directly shape your company.

So, how do you, as a staffing firm, recognize and honor your “A-list”, celebrating their contributions to your success?

Wouldn’t it be a fantastic idea to have your own award show for these key contributors, both internal and in the field? Here are some ideas (though feel free to be as creative as your imagination can take you):

• Best Candidate in a Supporting Role. This category would honor those field employees who may work part-time or pick up short-term assignments.
• Best Collaborator. Here, you’d recognize those clients who are true staffing partners, collectively working towards mutual success.
• Best Candidate in a Leading (Full Time) Role. Your full-time (or near full-time) field employees who have had stand-out performance within your agency
• Best Staffing Partner. Honoring those staffing vendors who, like your companies, are collaborating for shared growth.
• Best Breakout Performance. Honor those newer Candidates and Client Contacts who excelled in their short tenure
• Best Project. For those companies with whom you worked on a specific project or SOW work (such as an EMR implementation or IT initiative)
• [Insert Your Staffing Firm Name] Excellence Award. Honoring those Candidates, Companies, Staffing Suppliers, and Contacts with whom you’d had a long term, successful relationship

Begin to gather ideas of how you want to honor your colleagues – yes, each and every one of these players are partners in your staffing firm’s success. Start to devise your list of nominations. When it comes to these awards, just like in Hollywood, “box office” numbers may not always correlate to a nomination or win. Think outside the piggy bank and recognize individuals and organizations based on more than just how much money they made you. Relationships and quality matter. In fact, one could argue they’re the basis for downstream financial achievements.

Elicit feedback – possibly incorporating a voting method – from your associates (both internal and external). I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but people LOVE voting for achievements. Ever heard of “American Idol”? With this information gathered through activity metrics, goal tracking, performance ratings, commissions, evaluations, surveys, text messaging or good old-fashioned phone calls, you can compile your own list of nominees for a multitude of different categories.

Host your own agency awards show. Go all out. Red carpet! Interviews! After-Party! Photos! Jimmy Kimmel hosting! (Okay, that last one may be a little tricky.) Creating a platform where you’re celebrating your internal staff, along with your field employees, clients, and partners will demonstrate how much their work contributes to the success of your staffing firm. They’re equally valued, respected, and honored.

And after the awards have been presented, the champagne has been consumed, the after-party has concluded and reality settles back in, leverage your staffing technology to not lose sight of who the A-listers are within your staffing firm. Soon, many award hopefuls will eagerly await the next year’s announcement of nominees, each of them vying for their chance to make award show history.

How are you honoring your teams? We’d love to have you share your ideas in the comments section!

Interested in learning more about how Erecruit can help you identify, nominate, vote and celebrate your staffing stars? Contact us.

Amy Yackowski is the Director of Healthcare Best Practices for Erecruit. She is an avid 90s game show watcher and seeker of new ways to improve the contingent workforce management experience for staffing agencies and their clients. Amy is responsible for helping Erecruit healthcare customers develop their framework, analyze their business processes and optimize their use, effectiveness and efficiency of the Erecruit solutions to boost their profitability. Join her in conversation on Twitter, LinkedIn and ayackowski@erecruit.com.