If the name Spherion sounds familiar, it may be because this staffing and recruitment firm has been around for decades.
“Spherion began franchising in 1956 and has been a leading force in the recruiting and staffing industry for nearly 70 years. Operating through a network of more than 150 offices nationwide, Spherion is an established company with a strong presence throughout the U.S.,” said Sandy Mazur, President of Spherion’s Franchise Division, during a recent interview.
While the backgrounds of their franchisees vary dramatically, Mazur said, there are common elements they look for in people who are interested in franchising with Spherion.
Potential franchisees need to have strong business acumen, should be entrepreneurial and prepared to be hands-on, active owners, the franchise division president said. It’s also important for people to have a heart for the business, she added, because they must enjoy finding people jobs and helping companies find the employees they need to be successful.
Spherion also has a long legacy of giving back to the communities they serve. To continue this tradition, Spherion has programs in place, like the Community Give Back program, to help franchisees with their local philanthropic outreach and support. Potential owners who seek to have a franchise with Spherion must be willing to carry on that legacy.
Location, Location, Location
The company has more than 80 franchise markets available throughout the United States, all of which are listed on Spherion.com. Most of them are brand new, untapped markets in places like New York City, Idaho, Texas, Central Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon, Indiana, Louisiana, Wyoming and Colorado.
With more and more businesses embracing the flexibility of a temporary workforce, the need for staffing agencies like Spherion will continue to grow. This is because many large companies keep a certain percentage of their workforce flexible so they can upsize and downsize as business demands fluctuate.
“Using temporary and flexible staffing has really become a key strategy for most companies because they want to handle the normal ebbs and flows of economic cycles,” Mazur noted.
As Spherion is constantly recruiting top talent, it’s also a great way for companies to easily find the talent they require to be successful, she added.
Experience Matters
What sets Spherion apart from many other recruiting and staffing agencies is its depth of experience, having been in business for seven decades and franchising since the mid-50s. “You don’t stay in business that long unless you’re doing a lot of things distinctly different from your competitors,” Mazur said. In that time, the company has perfected its franchising model, she said, and knows what it takes to keep franchisees happy. And, part of what Spherion has learned about keeping franchisees happy is providing strong support.
Spherion executes monthly formal marketing campaigns to help drive local awareness and sales in addition to marketing support throughout the year for its franchisees, for example. Along with its rich history of franchising, Spherion has a long-tenured franchisee support team. In fact, the average length of employment for the franchise support team is 18 years.
Each person on this team knows the franchisees they work with and have built long-standing relationships with them, according to Mazur. They thoroughly understand the franchising model, know everything about the services offered and love working with the franchisees.
Each franchisee has support staff assigned to them so they’re always working with someone familiar. This is especially important when helping the new franchisees get started.
Thought Leadership
In addition,Spherion strives to be a thought leader in the staffing industry, Mazur said. To that end, it has invested a lot in research about American workers and employers, why people accept and leave jobs and what engages them when they’re in those jobs, among other workforce topics. The company also keeps up with trends in safety standards and compiles various statistics on the industry. “We really want to be seen and known as a provider of information along with being a provider of outstanding service and people,” Mazur said.
Another area the company invests a lot in is technology. Spherion.com is completely optimized for mobile use, Mazur said, and is constantly updating its current technology and looking at new innovations that can help it become more consistently efficient.
Training
Along with receiving initial opening support from Spherion so franchisees understand the process of getting their business started, they also receive training in all areas of the business. This includes learning about the tools Spherion uses plus specialty training like recruiting for the industrial and non-clinical healthcare sectors, for example.
The objective of the company’s training programs is to help the franchisees understand the support and services provided, as well as the company’s technology, tools and systems. After their initial training, franchisees have access to ongoing training regionally, at the corporate level, and anytime a new initiative or tool is introduced within the company.
A unique feature of Spherion is the License Advisory Board, which is an elected board of owners that represents a cross-section of the entire Spherion franchise community. The board is comprised of representatives for new and tenured owners, and single- and multi-site owners.
“They’re my go-to body of franchisees when I have a new idea or if anything needs to be revised or modified,” Mazur noted. “They represent the voice of the community.”
Along with facilitating peer calls and providing regular business reports and marketing updates, the company also holds an annual franchise meeting and a more informal gathering once per year. During these meetings, franchisees can get to know one another and share their experiences and best practices.
After many decades of franchising, Spherion has really perfected their franchise model.
To learn more about available franchise opportunities through Spherion, please visit www.spherion.com/franchise or contact Bill Tasillo at: billtasillo@spherion.com or 404-964-5508.
For more information about Spherion and its services, please visit www.spherion.com.