Your staffing business has been going for a few years, maybe more. You’re past those early, awkward stages where you’re sweating to get every contract, working with a skeleton crew to get the business up and running. You’ve finally achieved a little stability. Having beaten the odds, you can focus on sustainable growth and the future.
But there’s something holding you back, and its name is Excel.
Does this sound like you?
Thank spreadsheets for their years of service and put them out to pasture.
What started as a nearly free tool that helped your business get started, Excel is now standing in your way. You have so much invested and stored in it, but you’re also starting to notice it’s slowing your team down.
It’s time to say thank you, Excel, and good-bye. The next logical step would be to partner with a staffing software provider that understands the industry and will take the time to understand your company and its needs. But we know that can be a scary step to take.
In this post, we’re going to discuss five signs it’s time for your staffing firm to adopt staffing software.
Sign #1: You waste lots of time getting and analyzing data in spreadsheets.
As your business grows and matures, data becomes the lifeblood of your staffing business.
Analyzing data enables you to make better decisions about current problems and to develop evidence-based, long-term strategies for your business. But, in an era where everything seems to change on a dime, your data needs to be accurate and timely. Spreadsheets keep data static.
Compared to more modern, powerful software available to the staffing industry (EX: a well-designed staffing CRM solution, or a user-friendly staffing ATS), integrating and analyzing data in spreadsheets is incredibly manual and difficult.
Sign #2: You’re struggling to get an accurate picture of the truth.
Modern staffing technology (when done right) is designed to give you a single version of the truth by automatically integrating and updating data from a variety of different sources.
For example: a good staffing software solutions partner could provide your organization with an integrated platform where your staffing payroll software speaks to your ATS and they both talk to your CRM. This level of integration saves you time and money.
Sorting through bad data in tabs of spreadsheets only slows you down and increases the likelihood of errors that hurt client satisfaction.
Sign #3: Your talent database is in Excel.
Managing your candidate database and profiles is another area where your business can outgrow Excel fast. It’s very limiting.
In the staffing industry, your ability to access top talent is the lifeblood of your business. Don’t let a strategic asset like the contact information and engagement history of contractors sit in an Excel file.
You need a true staffing ATS that enables you to source, vet, and match talent to the needs of your clients quickly, efficiently, and in compliance with all relevant regulations.
The right staffing software solution will streamline your talent processes and improve client outcomes.
Sign #4: Your people keep “bumping into each other” on shared spreadsheets.
Another classic sign that it’s time to send Excel (and Google Sheets) packing: your people start complaining about trying to edit shared spreadsheets at the same time.
If you’re busy figuring out complicated rules for managing access and editing privileges to shared spreadsheets: the spreadsheets are the problem. It’s time to consider other options.
Partnering with the right staffing software provider can enable better collaboration and smoother workflows for all your people.
Sign #5: Manual processes are bogging your staff down.
Though Excel may feel comfortable and familiar to your staff, those benefits are outweighed by the extra time they spend performing manual tasks that could be automated or eliminated by upgrading to an ATS built to serve the staffing industry. This matters because the more time your people spend on manual processes, the less time they have to spend on high-value activities, like acquiring new clients, serving existing clients, and finding great talent.
If you’re experiencing any of the above challenges with Excel or any other software you’re using to run your staffing business, it’s time to start looking at other options.
Bringing in new software is a big decision but, with the right partner, we think you’ll find the benefits far outweigh the costs. When partnering with Senegal Software, our easy onboarding makes your migration process stress-free. If you’re interested in learning more about how we can modernize your business and streamline your staffing agency, we’d love to hear from you.
Checklist: How to Build the Best Staffing Tech Stack
If your staffing firm’s tech tools don’t make you faster, smarter, or stronger, your business deserves better. We’ve put together this checklist of what to consider when building your tech stack. See the checklist.