When building your company, office support staffing plays a central role in success. Regardless of business size and scope, you need office support staff. But filling those roles can involve going through separate agencies. So what is the difference between staffing and PEO?
What Is the Difference Between Staffing and PEO?
Staffing
A staffing agency focuses on the recruitment and placement of employees. Think of them as the scouts out there looking for talent.
You can use staffing agencies for a variety of hiring needs. This includes full-time, temporary, and even project-based hiring.
These services come at a fee, of course. As with many services, you receive what you pay for. A quality staffing agency will take the time to find optimal candidates.
Primary Functions
You can use a staffing firm to:
- Recruit potential employees
- Screen employees
- Place employees
Professional Employer Organization (PEO)
A PEO is a little more complicated. Think of a PEO as a co-employer. You can use them to take care of a broader range of HR functions than your business alone could take care of.
Even if you have an HR department, using a PEO can help augment their capacities.
Primary Functions
A PEO can help you manage:
- Payroll
- Employee benefits
- HR compliance
- Risk management
- Other HR functions
Can a PEO Also Handle Staffing?
PEOs can handle a broad range of HR functions. However, they typically do not handle staffing. While a PEO can be a resource for your staffing firm or department, there is no overlap between this specific function.
While related, PEOs and staffing firms simply have different roles. That said, some PEOs offer services like job postings, candidate screening, and onboarding. Or they could offer some combination of these. It depends on the PEO and what your contract involves.
What If There Is Conflict Between a PEO and a Staffing Firm?
Though these are two separate roles, conflict or challenges can arrive in the actual process of hiring and HR management. Below are a few potential areas of conflict. Should conflict arrive, always work to move toward understanding and improved communication.
Co-employment Complexity
Co-employment introduces additional legal and insurance factors into the business. This particularly can become complex for works deployed at client sites. Proper paperwork and communication go a long way in preventing these issues. The more parties involved, the more complicated any situation can be.
Risk Management
Hiring someone often involves things like training, compliance monitoring, and other items. Staffing firms and PEOs can have different approaches to these. Make sure any standards are laid out clearly.
Communication Breakdowns
Across the board, communication breakdowns account for most issues. This holds true for businesses and pretty much everything else.
For example, if responsibilities are not laid out clearly, issues can occur. Usually, this involves either an overlap or a gap in responsibilities. Overlap happens when two branches both try to accomplish the same task. Gaps occur when a task needs to happen, but neither party takes care of it. Each party may think the other party was handling it.
A Changing Workplace
The roles of staffing firms and PEOs are but two parts of a dynamic workplace environment. With greater shifts to remote work and nonlocal jobs, companies can benefit from outsourcing time-consuming tasks.
Whether you need new employees or someone to manage their benefits, finding the right firm is the first step.
A Top Staffing Resource
LH Global Consulting provides global staffing solutions for companies of all sizes. Reach out to us today to set up a consultation and see where we can take your business.
