Client
Texas-based renewable energy company with more than 30 years servicing companies across the southern U.S.
Location
Chester, Virginia
“With AdvantaStaff’s history of success hiring in the Central Virginia region, we were able to get our facility up and running in a quick timeframe despite not being familiar with the local area.”
The Challenge
The company’s newest location was also the one furthest from their headquarters in Texas. The new site manager wasn’t local to the area, and he was on a temporary, six-month assignment, brought in from another location to get the new facility running quickly. In addition to starting the facility, he was tasked with hiring and training the first group of employees, including a site supervisor and three operators; six more operators and clerical support would be brought on in the three months that followed these initial hires.
Though the company’s site manager was in Virginia, the human resources (HR) department was in Texas. How would they find the qualified people they needed when they weren’t familiar with the area?
Looking for qualified employees from thousands of miles away was an almost impossible task. The company tried having their site manager do the initial screenings after HR found potential candidates, but with all the operational tasks he had to complete to get the location running, he just didn’t have the time.
The Solution
The company decided to seek out a staffing service immersed in the local area which could provide qualified workers within a quick deadline. An online search brought them to AdvantaStaff. Locally owned and operated, AdvantaStaff offered a valuable resource – having more than 17 years’ experience in providing employees and support services to Central Virginia manufacturing operations. AdvantaStaff’s temp-to-hire program also met another need. Instead of hiring permanent employees, it would enable the company to take on temporary staff, allowing them to evaluate each employee’s performance, attendance, and work ethic before establishing a more permanent relationship in hiring.
The AdvantaStaff team began by gathering information that would allow for finding and managing the right individuals more easily. Our account manager asked questions about the background and skills required for each role, work environment, shift schedules, screening needs, etc. We also met with the site manager at the facility, to see the location and explain the process for referring individuals for interviews.
Once we began actively recruiting, the process moved quickly. Candidates were screened with summaries of every position provided, and interviews were coordinated with the site manager. In the first week, three viable candidates were scheduled for interviews. The first three operators were identified and started as temporary employees within four weeks. Exemplifying our recruiting success, the company felt that one of the individuals had the potential to become the permanent site manager.
Bottom-line Results
AdvantaStaff’s ongoing role in the staffing and management of these employees and future hires makes the job of the site manager much easier; he can focus his attention on daily tasks and meeting the site’s start-up production goals. The facility continues to add employees – still as temporary staff with the option to bring them on as permanent employees. With AdvantaStaff’s knowledge of the local skill base and the requirements needed to work in the facility, the right employees are hired, enabling the customer to meet their staffing plan and production goals.
Any administrative burdens that the site manager might have had to deal with when bringing on temporary staff have been eliminated. By using the AdvantaStaff time management platform that allows for Geofencing to track attendance, timekeeping is seamless. Any potential employee issues are addressed quickly by AdvantaStaff, and all invoicing is managed between AdvantaStaff, and the company’s Texas headquarters. From the employees to the site manager and the HR staff in Texas, everyone is very pleased with the on-going partnership.
Partnering with AdvantaStaff removes the stress of trying to fill positions and manage employees from out-of-state.
- Work with a local staffing company to fill positions quickly with qualified candidates
- Feel confident that all hiring and employee management tasks are taken care of
- Focus on running operations, not hiring, timekeeping, or employee management
To see how AdvantaStaff can help your company fulfill your staffing needs, fill out our contact form or call us at 804-414-1560.