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As one of the fastest-growing companies in San Diego, Qualcomm also is one of the region's largest employers. When the cutting-edge communications company has a significant volume of jobs open, temporary or permanent, taking the time to fill them quickly isn’t an easy task, which is why Qualcomm entered into an exclusive partnership with Manpower Temporary Services of San Diego to provide staffing services.
"From a consistency standpoint, it was difficult working with multiple staffing companies and not having their full focus," says Tamar Elkeles, vice president of learning and development for Qualcomm. "By partnering with Manpower, it’s a one-stop shop. They're able to do everything, including making strategic staffing decisions based on our current and future needs. There's just a huge difference in the level of commitment and support."
About five or 10 years ago, exclusive relationships between staffing companies and the businesses they served were a rarity. But today these partnerships are becoming more commonplace, especially with corporations that have a greater volume of staffing needs where timing and strong matches can make a critical difference in financial viability.
"Some industries ramp up for a season by 350 or more workers," explains Phil Blair, executive officer for Manpower Temporary Services of San Diego. "If they don’t get that quantity or the right quality of people, well, you can’t make that up later."
 The tide has turned toward exclusive relationships for several reasons. With unemployment at a record low, finding quality personnel has become more labor intensive. As businesses grow increasingly fast-paced, human resource departments have less time to find qualified employees and then interview, test, check references and train. Add to that the large amount of paperwork involved, from credit checks to payroll, and it’s a small headache to hire just a handful of employees. For an employer that requires 1,000 temporaries a year, the obvious solution is to outsource this staffing.
That's what happened in the case of Advanta Mortgage Corp., a nationwide mortgage company with a large office in San Diego. "We had substantial money going out to temporary employees," recalls Julie Simek, manager of human resources in the Rancho Bernardo office. "Here we used six or seven different vendors. So last summer the corporate office in Philadelphia decided to partner with Manpower (the national office) because it gave us a better rate."
Meanwhile, the staffing agency is happy because it is assured all of the company’s business. "It works best for us because we pay less for our temporaries and best for them because they're given a lot of business from us," adds Simek. "It’s a win-win all the way around."
Cost is perhaps the main reason companies are choosing to go with a single staffing agency. While the normal fee for a temporary employee is usually 50 to 60 percent above the employee's salary, a partnership can lower that rate as much as 20 percent. Sometimes even the conversion fee can be waived in a temporary-to-permanent situation.
These are both huge cost savings for any company, but especially for one that hires a large number of temporaries. "I think partnerships have become more commonplace because it allows for consolidation of pricing," says Dagney Smith, area vice president of Olsen Staffing. "It’s like going to the Price Club. As a partner, we work at ways of saving them money. Because we’re partners and not just vendors, we’re looking to the long-term relationship. We want to keep them happy because they'll keep using us."
But money alone isn’t the only major advantage to an exclusive partnership. Just as viable is the level of commitment from the staffing company, which often places one of its own employees on-site. This employee is charged with becoming intimately familiar with the client company’s management, culture and business goals.
 "We found the quality of personnel they send out really matches our needs," says Theresa Jong, assistant vice president and director of human resources for Guild Mortgage, a company with its corporate office in Serra Mesa and 30 branch offices across the Western United States. Two years ago Guild entered into an exclusive partnership with Meridian Temporaries. "Before we had bad matches. Even for a clerical worker, you’re paying more for this person and you want a good match for your money."
Kris Butler, the branch manger for Meridian, says partnerships save time and eliminate the trial and error that might occur when matching employees and employers. "(With a partnership) you are not spinning your wheels," says Butler. "If you know the environment from the beginning and are not being called in at the last minute, you can send the right person."
Being part of a company’s team makes the staffing agency's job easier. "It’s how we prefer to do business," says Kristen Othman, branch manager for Adecco, a global staffing service with 4,000 offices in 52 countries. "It gives us more ownership and more accountability. As a partner, we have a little bit of the pie and become an extension of the human resources department. That means we make sure the overall objectives are met, instead of just pieces."
Companies can tell the difference. "When they're on-site, we get their perception as well as ours," says Qualcomm's Elkeles. "There's an alignment between the contingency workforce and Qualcomm. Essentially, they can get the best people for us because they're interested in how our business does. Manpower has been able to accelerate our business with strategic staffing that’s saved us money."
A partnership isn’t something that happens magically overnight. Usually a company works with several staffing services until one stands out. It’s not only a matter of which one fills positions best, but also of trust.
"It’s like any marriage," says Blair. "They run a few test orders, then ramp up the number of orders, then let us sit in on a few meetings. Eventually we move to having someone on-site. And when we’re sitting at the table, we can better fill their needs."
Even in an exclusive relationship, not all a company’s needs are met with one staffing agency, especially if there are specialized needs involved, such as timing or hard-to-locate skills. But staffing companies have been able to fill this gap as well by subcontracting such difficult-to-fill positions.
Othman recalls a particular staffing challenge where a client needed an administrative assistant who spoke both English and Japanese. "We filled the position once, but the second time we subcontracted the job," she says. "For our clients, it was completely seamless. All they had to do was make one call to us and that took care of the situation."
That kind of ease and dependability are just a few of the reasons that partnerships between staffing firms and companies are becoming more commonplace. As a company grows and its staffing needs become more complex, often a human resources department needs outside assistance to keep the workforce at a level that maximizes the company’s performance. That's where a partnership can make the crucial difference.
"It’s great to make one call and let them take care of everything," says Elkeles. "It makes them a comprehensive resource. You’re just not getting the maximum benefit from the situation unless you’re focused on a partnership."
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