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qualified to work at the airport, ask how many badged employees
they have out on assignments and what GHAs they have or
currently service. Leverage this data; many times, if a staffing
organization has several customers in the area, chances are
they know your competition better then you do. Ask some questions.
While the staffing company cannot violate non-disclosure
agreements (NDAs), they will be able to provide an idea and data
regarding competitive pay rates, ideal shift differentials, talent
retention plans, benefits and best employee appreciation practices
to retain talent.
A tip for ground handlers and support staff, we are all in a
tight-knit community so ask around about what staffing agency
is being utilized and how their experience has been. Stop by the
badging office to see what posters for hiring are on the board
and who the local agencies are.
Forecasting
Plan ahead for the year. This can be difficult as flights get canceled,
contracts come and go, airlines take their business to the
competitors, or your operation gains new customers. But we
all know from our supervisors and operations managers what
shifts are short and the estimated tonnage per employees, per
hour to be moved, and how many employees it takes to move
that tonnage.
Once forecasting is complete, start the agency small and
very early from when you need them to perform and fill many
open lines. Place an order of 10-15 employees just to have the
operational flow and expectations of the expected performance
set. Afterwards, you can build operations correctly to rely on the
agency when you need 60-80 or 100+ open positions.
As a best practice as a staffing agency representative,
I always urge customers to look ahead for upcoming labor
demand due to the long lag time of badging and starting employees.
The typical time to have an employee from their application,
to offer accepted, to badging as well as drug and background
screening completed, is approximately 10 business days. This is
a two-week process to start a SIDA badged or even STA cleared
employee. Also allow time for attrition. The typical two week
time frame to start work for the employee at most companies
affects a 40-50 percent attrition rate before training even begins.
A tip to consider is asking the staffing agency to provide
weekly onboarding logs and plan that 40 percent will not complete
the process due to drug and background screens.
Workforce Flexibility
If you are a large or midsized GHA/FBO, you need a staffing
supplier who has a presence or an office, even if it happens to
be at another GHA/FBO at the airport. This flexibility allows for
scaling with your staffing needs. It also helps both customer and
staffing supplier to collect badges, scale up and down quickly,
manage workforce, collect, submit and approve timecards as
well as understand the warehouse supervisor's needs.
The VOP (vendor on premise)/onsite provides the distinct
advantage for both GHA/FBO and the staffing agency partner
effectively. This onsite partnership reduces turnover and
August 2022 || AviationPros.com || 13
Demand and
flexibility is the
most critical
component for
moving air cargo.
allows for the direct managing of the employees provided by the
agency. In the staffing business, human contact/management/
oversight between staffing agency and employees is essential to
retention. Many times, the agency will have office hours at the
GHA's warehouse to workout timecard issues, sick time, worker's
comp, training, security, changing of employee schedules, badging
issues and more.
A best practice, if the staffing order is 20 or more employees,
arrange interviews and begin the onboarding process at your
location twice a week or, in some cases, every day until the number
of employees requested is fulfilled. Allow the agency to have
an office space available and printer access to have candidates
onboarded directly at your site. Whenever 50 or more employees
are needed by the agency, it is a best to establish a VOP/onsite
operation until the need is completed.
When employees have been successfully onboarded, keep in
mind that each staffing contract will contain a clause regarding
a number of hours or days on assignment that an employee can
be transferred over to the GHA's/employer's payroll for a small
fee or with zero fee conversion terms. Use this to your advantage
and partner with the supervisors and staffing agency on
who should be and should not be offered a permanent position
directly with the GHA/FBO. Use this to retain your talent pipeline
with hires from the agency. Some of the best employees and
supervisors at a GHA came in as temporary labor employees
who were promoted and then hired on for permanent roles.
A Tip on VOP. If the staffing ramp is over 45-50 total employees,
the staffing company should have office space. This assures
recruiting, retention, timekeeping workforce management of
the staffing companies' employees is completed. It also creates
a dedicated team for interviewing, recruiting, and overall
management.
Follow these four keys and tips when beginning and maintaining
the staffing agency relationship. Keep in mind that the
staffing agency is hired not as a product but as a resource. Treat
them as a part of your operation and form a partnership so that
when needs arise, you can scale with a trusted partner.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RICH GELLER
Rich Geller is a director of business development and
provides staffing services to airlines, GHAs, FBOs,
passenger service providers and freight forwarders. He
can be reached at www.linkedin.com/in/richgeller7.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTED
http://www.linkedin.com/in/richgeller7 http://www.AviationPros.com
august2022

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