The Situation

Faced with pressing workforce demands from business growth and the introduction of new product lines, the Client sought a Master Vendor provider to oversee and streamline its contingent labor needs and enhance its diversity recruiting strategy. The Client wanted the flexibility to utilize temporary workers that could be converted to direct-hire employees once they proved to align with their organizational culture. Our team of recruitment specialists was granted full hiring authority by the Client and prescreened, qualified, and interviewed each candidate in one phone interview. We were also asked to conduct all pre employment verifications—including education, reference, and police background.

The Challenge

To successfully attract workers to fill our Client’s production associate and material handler roles, the Acara team would need to overcome the following obstacles:

• Leveraging our suite of wage and compensation analysis tools, we uncovered positions where the Client was paying below-market rates—hindering the success of talent attraction efforts.
• Supply chain issues created shipping delays making it difficult to forecast when products would be received and contingent workers needed to be onsite.
• The Client’s reputation in the marketplace was unfavorable—especially among diverse populations.
• Our team encountered communication challenges that were causing bottlenecks within the hiring process.

The Solution

To optimize our recruiting efforts, Acara leveraged a team that consists of the following resources:

• 1 Director of Client Solutions
• 1 Onsite Recruiter
• 1.5 offsite Recruiters

Acara realized the Client’s immediate need to review all current rate structures and models being used within its contingent workforce population. We got to work—using our suite of technology platforms—performing rate and market benchmarking analyses tailored to the Client’s job types.

Leveraging the Acara Marketing and Communications Department, a combined print and digital marketing effort was implemented to reach the Client’s target audience. Print advertising consisted of targeted mailers to potential candidates along with posters that were placed at bus stops and local businesses. Digital marketing included TV commercials and social media advertising.

To help alleviate communication bottlenecks, the Acara Director of Client Solutions and onsite recruiter host standing weekly calls with the Client’s talent acquisition and manufacturing management team to review all open job requisitions. A member of the Acara team also attends all new hire orientation sessions with our contract workers.

The Conclusion

After sharing the results of our benchmarking analyses, the Client took Acara’s advice and increased pay rates to meet current market demands. Higher wages helped attract more high-quality candidates during a time of great workforce competition and labor shortages.

Since deploying our Master Vendor program, Acara has consistently demonstrated our value to the Client. Thanks to our rapid response times and commitment to talent acquisition excellence, our recruiting team achieved the following results, which showcase our strength in discovering candidates that aligned with the Client’s hiring needs:

• 340 contingent hires made since the first quarter of 2021
• 85% of hires from historically underrepresented groups
• 150 contingent workers converted to direct-hire employees
• $12.2 million in total 2021 billing

Acara’s ability to optimize processes, overcome pain points, and meet increased recruiting demands has been integral to the organization’s continued success.