IWLA Survey Results: Staffing Firms Fail Logistics Professionals

April 17, 2014 | News Blog

One of the greatest compliments a business can receive is a referral from an existing client. It’s a true seal of approval that a customer would stake his or her reputation on your work. Unfortunately, most staffing agencies fall short when it comes to garnering recommendations from their current clients. 

We recently polled 950 professionals at the International Warehouse Logistics Association 2014 Convention & Expo. The survey asked two simple questions. The first asked respondents to rate, on a 10-point scale, how likely they would be to recommend their current staffing provider. The second question asked whether their staffing provider selection process takes place at the local or corporate level. 

The first question uses a Net Promoter Score method, an accurate indicator of client satisfaction. The results of this survey came in at -24. Ouch. This is a troublesome result considering how vital an effective staffing solution is to the profitability of most logistics operations.

 When we calculated in the second question about whether staffing decisions are made locally or at the corporate level, the results supported something we’ve long known: decisions made at the corporate level are all about price. So the team on the ground probably isn’t all that happy with the staffing provider. 

In our report, “Staffing Firms Fail Logistics Group in Client Satisfaction,” we outline the reasons for this poor showing of such a strategic part of the logistics business. And we take a look why there is a gap of perceived client satisfaction between the field and corporate.

We also offer some simple – yet profound – solutions that allow companies to meet their corporate-level needs (budget) without sacrificing the accountability and quality that is so critical to the on-the-ground team as it works with the temporary employees on a daily basis.