On Take the Stage, presented by Haley Marketing, we bring you the BEST speakers, coaches, trainers, and strategic partners from across the staffing and recruiting industry every other week. More than your standard interview, each conversation is built off of a specific session or topic these industry thought leaders bring to conferences and audiences around the country.

On this episode of Take the Stage, Brad Bialy is joined by Robin Mee (CEO and Founder, MeeDerby) and Kim Whiteley (President, MeeDerby). On this episode we discuss trends impacting the talent acquisition industry.

• Why you need flexibility among your workforce.

Brad Bialy 

Brad Bialy has a deep passion for helping staffing and recruiting firms achieve their business objectives through strategic digital marketing. For over a decade, Brad has developed a proven track record of motivating and educating staffing industry professionals at over 100 industry-specific conferences and webinars. 

As a visionary leader, Brad has helped guide the comprehensive marketing strategy of more than 300 staffing and recruiting firms. His keen eye for strategy and delivery has resulted in multiple industry award-winning social media campaigns, making him a sought-after expert and speaker in the industry. 

Robin Mee

(LinkedIn)

Robin Mee is the Founder and CEO of MeeDerby, the leading search firm for the Workforce Solutions ecosystem. She is a passionate advocate of staffing, a volunteer industry leader and a regular speaker at staffing events nationally. Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) has honored Robin many times on the Staffing 100 and the Global Women’s Power 150 lists and in 2016 the American Staffing Association (ASA) recognized Robin with their first-ever Volunteer of The Year award. In late 2023, Robin was named to the American Staffing Association Board of Directors for 2024. Robin is a vocal supporter of Women in Leadership and issues of Diversity and Inclusion, and MeeDerby a sponsor of the ASA’s Women in Leadership Interest Group and Women of Color in Staffing. Staffing companies have voted MeeDerby a Best of Staffing firm 13 times for Client satisfaction in the annual ClearlyRated survey. Robin is a co-author with 14 other women staffing leaders of Together We Rise, whose initial proceeds are funding ASA scholarships in support of rising females. Most importantly, Robin and her team at MeeDerby are highly regarded members of the staffing community whose company is a conduit for change, as MeeDerby has helped hundreds of staffing companies grow by hiring top talent, and thousands of staffing professionals elevate their careers.

Kim Whiteley

(LinkedIn)

Kim brings more than 20 years of staffing industry and search experience to MeeDerby.   She leads the day to day operations of MeeDerby supporting the team in placing managers and executives in the staffing industry.  Kim is active with the American Staffing Association (ASA), participating in the Women in Leadership Council, The Mentor/Mentee Program, former Chair of the Direct Hire Council and a 2023 advisor to the Women’s Business Colloraberative’s (WBC) Staffing Workstream.  Kim is active in her community as a board member with SHIP (Student Homeless Initiative Partnership), is a volunteer dive coach for her son’s highschool and a committee member of BoyScout Troop 278. Prior to joining MeeDerby, Kim spent 15 years with Spherion in  leadership and revenue driving roles across multiple staffing verticals.

About Mee Derby

MeeDerby is the leading executive search firm specializing in Staffing and Workforce Solutions. Since 1988 we have completed over 3,000 Executive and Management searches for hundreds of companies from start-ups to the largest global players across every staffing discipline. MeeDerby is deeply embedded into the Workforce Solutions Ecosystem and is a 14 times winner of the prestigious ClearlyRated Best of Staffing Client Award.

Welcome to InSights, the staffing podcast from Haley Marketing, built to help you with your recruitment marketing and digital marketing. Whether we're talking about digital marketing trends or what's working right now for staffing and recruiting firms across North America, we're here to share our InSights on how you can stand out, stay top-of-mind, and sell more.  

After years of uncertainty, the labor market balanced slightly in 2023. Data shows a stabilization of key recruitment metrics, and an overall decrease in recruitment marketing costs. Despite this stability, it remains imperative to stay up to date with recruitment marketing benchmarks to track your performance and adjust your strategy.

On this episode of InSights we're joined by Alicia Little to review Appcast’s 8th annual Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report.

Brad Bialy  

Brad Bialy has a deep passion for helping staffing and recruiting firms achieve their business objectives through strategic digital marketing. For over a decade, Brad has developed a proven track record of motivating and educating staffing industry professionals at over 100 industry-specific conferences and webinars. 

As a visionary leader, Brad has helped guide the social media, content marketing, and comprehensive marketing execution of more than 300 staffing and recruiting firms. His keen eye for strategy and delivery has resulted in multiple industry award-winning social media campaigns, making him a sought-after expert and speaker in the industry. 

Matt Lozar  

(LinkedIn / Twitter) 

Matt Lozar works as the Director of Recruitment Marketing at the Haley Marketing Group, the nation’s largest marketing firm dedicated to servicing the staffing and recruiting industry.

As the Director of Recruitment Marketing, Matt focuses on the four pillars of recruitment marketing – career sites, job advertising, social recruiting and employer branding. Matt launched the job spend management division at the Haley Marketing Group, leading the company’s partnership with Appcast. Through the usage of programmatic software, the division grew more than 100 percent in 2022 after growing more than 200 percent in 2021! The department works with dozens of staffing agencies, managing millions of dollars of recruitment spend.

Matt has eight-plus years of working directly with staffing agencies and recruiters by helping them meet business goals and overcome marketing challenges. During that time, Matt has worked with more than 100 organizations to find the right content and digital marketing solutions. He also concentrates on online advertising while helping staffing agencies with social media planning, content strategy, search engine optimization, and email marketing.

Matt has appeared on more than 25 webinars across the industry while also talking at several industry conferences. He is a co-host on the Secrets of Staffing Success podcast, appearing on more than 120 episodes. Matt also holds a biweekly LinkedIn Live broadcast on Tuesdays at 11 am Eastern where he talks about recruitment marketing, content marketing, and job advertising.

Alicia Little

(LinkedIn)

Alicia Little is the Director of Brand & Content Marketing at Appcast and has spent the last seven years of her career there, building awareness of the brand and recruitment marketing best practices through industry-leading content like Appcast’s annual Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report. A marketer and storyteller for almost twenty years, Alicia has spent the vast majority of that time in B2B HR tech companies such as Skillsoft, RedHot Learning and Stellar Learning Strategies.

On Take the Stage, presented by Haley Marketing, we bring you the BEST speakers, coaches, trainers, and strategic partners from across the staffing and recruiting industry every other week. More than your standard interview, each conversation is built off of a specific session or topic these industry thought leaders bring to conferences and audiences around the country.

On this episode of Take the Stage, Brad Bialy is joined by Tom Kosnik, the staffing industry’s leading expert offering a unique combination of business consulting acumen and experience to independent staffing firms. They discuss the importance of developing a true pricing strategy and how to analyze markups. Tom emphasizes the need to collect and analyze data on pay rates, bill rates, and burdens. He also explains how to create a financial model and run a financial analysis on every account to ensure profitability. They touch on the challenge of differentiating the staffing industry and the value it provides. Tune in to gain valuable insights and strategies for running a successful staffing firm.

Brad Bialy 

Brad Bialy has a deep passion for helping staffing and recruiting firms achieve their business objectives through strategic digital marketing. For over a decade, Brad has developed a proven track record of motivating and educating staffing industry professionals at over 100 industry-specific conferences and webinars. 

As a visionary leader, Brad has helped guide the comprehensive marketing strategy of more than 300 staffing and recruiting firms. His keen eye for strategy and delivery has resulted in multiple industry award-winning social media campaigns, making him a sought-after expert and speaker in the industry. 

Tom Kosnik

(LinkedIn)

Tom Kosnik is the staffing industry’s leading expert offering a unique combination of business consulting acumen and experience to independent staffing firms. Tom advises on all aspects of running a staffing firm including organizational performance; change management; strategic planning; financial analysis; compensation plan design; process and profit improvements and business value enhancement to help staffing firms across the country improve operations and the bottom line.

In 1995, Tom started the Presidents’ RoundTable program to improve leadership capabilities of independent staffing firms’ management through creative idea generation, sharing, collaborating and addressing industry challenges. The RoundTables have expanded to include CFOs, COOs, and CMOs.

Tom is the only consultant for independent staffing firms with a degree in Organizational Development (M.A. from Bowling Green State University) and a B.A. in psychology from Seattle University. He has a Masters of Divinity degree from Catholic Theological Union and is also certified with the Center for Creative Leadership. This specialized educational and professional background equips him with a unique skill set for guiding independent staffing firms.

Welcome to InSights, the staffing podcast from Haley Marketing, built to help you with your recruitment marketing and digital marketing. Whether we're talking about digital marketing trends or what's working right now for staffing and recruiting firms across North America, we're here to share our InSights on how you can stand out, stay top-of-mind, and sell more.  

The Taylor Swift Effect. What can the staffing industry learn from consistently creating high-value content like Taylor Swift? Why should you empower your team to create personal content on LinkedIn?

Brad Bialy  

Brad Bialy has a deep passion for helping staffing and recruiting firms achieve their business objectives through strategic digital marketing. For over a decade, Brad has developed a proven track record of motivating and educating staffing industry professionals at over 100 industry-specific conferences and webinars. 

As a visionary leader, Brad has helped guide the social media, content marketing, and comprehensive marketing execution of more than 300 staffing and recruiting firms. His keen eye for strategy and delivery has resulted in multiple industry award-winning social media campaigns, making him a sought-after expert and speaker in the industry. 

Matt Lozar  

(LinkedIn / Twitter) 

Matt Lozar works as the Director of Recruitment Marketing at the Haley Marketing Group, the nation’s largest marketing firm dedicated to servicing the staffing and recruiting industry.

As the Director of Recruitment Marketing, Matt focuses on the four pillars of recruitment marketing – career sites, job advertising, social recruiting and employer branding. Matt launched the job spend management division at the Haley Marketing Group, leading the company’s partnership with Appcast. Through the usage of programmatic software, the division grew more than 100 percent in 2022 after growing more than 200 percent in 2021! The department works with dozens of staffing agencies, managing millions of dollars of recruitment spend.

Matt has eight-plus years of working directly with staffing agencies and recruiters by helping them meet business goals and overcome marketing challenges. During that time, Matt has worked with more than 100 organizations to find the right content and digital marketing solutions. He also concentrates on online advertising while helping staffing agencies with social media planning, content strategy, search engine optimization, and email marketing.

Matt has appeared on more than 25 webinars across the industry while also talking at several industry conferences. He is a co-host on the Secrets of Staffing Success podcast, appearing on more than 120 episodes. Matt also holds a biweekly LinkedIn Live broadcast on Tuesdays at 11 am Eastern where he talks about recruitment marketing, content marketing, and job advertising.

Randy Harris 

(LinkedIn)

A former minor-league professional hockey player and dedicated father of four young daughters, Randy Harris is an active business leader in the Buffalo, NY business & technology community.

Randy serves as the CEO of Lighthouse Technology Services, a technology staffing and services firm headquartered on the 28th floor of Seneca One Tower in downtown Buffalo.

In addition, Randy is the co-founder of TechBuffalo, a non-profit organization that strives to create a sustainable, inclusive, and accessible technology community for Western New York by improving the region’s ability to retain, attract and foster technology talent.

About Lighthouse

Lighthouse Technology Services inspires companies on their path to success by connecting them to the right technology and talent solutions at the right time, and we’ve been at it since 2004.

Headquartered in beautiful Buffalo, NY, on the shores of the Great Lakes and in the midst of Niagara Falls, we serve as a guide to companies looking for technology and talent support, and as a beacon to talented professionals seeking a partner on their work journey.

On Take the Stage, presented by Haley Marketing, we bring you the BEST speakers, coaches, trainers, and strategic partners from across the staffing and recruiting industry every other week. More than your standard interview, each conversation is built off of a specific session or topic these industry thought leaders bring to conferences and audiences around the country.

0:01:09 The importance of staffing firms offering temporary and contract opportunities

Brad Bialy 

Brad Bialy has a deep passion for helping staffing and recruiting firms achieve their business objectives through strategic digital marketing. For over a decade, Brad has developed a proven track record of motivating and educating staffing industry professionals at over 100 industry-specific conferences and webinars. 

As a visionary leader, Brad has helped guide the comprehensive marketing strategy of more than 300 staffing and recruiting firms. His keen eye for strategy and delivery has resulted in multiple industry award-winning social media campaigns, making him a sought-after expert and speaker in the industry. 

Angela Alberty

(LinkedIn)

Angela is the Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer at myBasePay. Having studied workforce trends an entire professional career spanning over a decade, Angela is an expert in the human capital sector. She is a thought leader and advocates for the worker population with a specialized focus on Contingent Workers. Angela has held leadership and executive roles at some of the most recognized national and global on-demand Employer platforms.  Angela is an expert on employment-related matters and is passionate about driving advocacy for the external worker population.  

Welcome to InSights, the staffing podcast from Haley Marketing, built to help you with your recruitment marketing and digital marketing. Whether we're talking about digital marketing trends or what's working right now for staffing and recruiting firms across North America, we're here to share our InSights on how you can stand out, stay top-of-mind, and sell more.  

1. Why is it a bad candidate experience to ask for a Social Security Number at STAGE 1 of the application process?

Brad Bialy  

Brad Bialy has a deep passion for helping staffing and recruiting firms achieve their business objectives through strategic digital marketing. For over a decade, Brad has developed a proven track record of motivating and educating staffing industry professionals at over 100 industry-specific conferences and webinars. 

As a visionary leader, Brad has helped guide the social media, content marketing, and comprehensive marketing execution of more than 300 staffing and recruiting firms. His keen eye for strategy and delivery has resulted in multiple industry award-winning social media campaigns, making him a sought-after expert and speaker in the industry. 

Matt Lozar  

(LinkedIn / Twitter) 

Matt Lozar works as the Director of Recruitment Marketing at the Haley Marketing Group, the nation’s largest marketing firm dedicated to servicing the staffing and recruiting industry.

As the Director of Recruitment Marketing, Matt focuses on the four pillars of recruitment marketing – career sites, job advertising, social recruiting and employer branding. Matt launched the job spend management division at the Haley Marketing Group, leading the company’s partnership with Appcast. Through the usage of programmatic software, the division grew more than 100 percent in 2022 after growing more than 200 percent in 2021! The department works with dozens of staffing agencies, managing millions of dollars of recruitment spend.

Matt has eight-plus years of working directly with staffing agencies and recruiters by helping them meet business goals and overcome marketing challenges. During that time, Matt has worked with more than 100 organizations to find the right content and digital marketing solutions. He also concentrates on online advertising while helping staffing agencies with social media planning, content strategy, search engine optimization, and email marketing.

Matt has appeared on more than 25 webinars across the industry while also talking at several industry conferences. He is a co-host on the Secrets of Staffing Success podcast, appearing on more than 120 episodes. Matt also holds a biweekly LinkedIn Live broadcast on Tuesdays at 11 am Eastern where he talks about recruitment marketing, content marketing, and job advertising.

On Take the Stage, presented by Haley Marketing, we bring you the BEST speakers, coaches, trainers, and strategic partners from across the staffing and recruiting industry every other week. More than your standard interview, each conversation is built off of a specific session or topic these industry thought leaders bring to conferences and audiences around the country.

0:00:50 Difficulty in selling staffing services due to lack of understanding of differentiation

Brad Bialy 

Brad Bialy has a deep passion for helping staffing and recruiting firms achieve their business objectives through strategic digital marketing. For over a decade, Brad has developed a proven track record of motivating and educating staffing industry professionals at over 100 industry-specific conferences and webinars. 

As a visionary leader, Brad has helped guide the comprehensive marketing strategy of more than 300 staffing and recruiting firms. His keen eye for strategy and delivery has resulted in multiple industry award-winning social media campaigns, making him a sought-after expert and speaker in the industry. 

Tom Erb

(LinkedIn)

With a career spanning over 20 years, Tom Erb has established himself as one of the staffing and recruiting industry’s top subject matter experts. As a consultant, trainer, and speaker to the staffing and recruiting industry, Tom has helped hundreds of firms create and execute sales and recruiting strategies to grow their business.

Welcome to InSights, the staffing podcast from Haley Marketing, built to help you with your recruitment marketing and digital marketing. Whether we're talking about digital marketing trends or what's working right now for staffing and recruiting firms across North America, we're here to share our InSights on how you can stand out, stay top-of-mind, and sell more.  

Opener Matt asks Brad his favorite President, and Brad is speechless

03:21 Discussion on the importance and potential benefits of employee and client referral programs.

04:54 Mention of candidate referrals and the three sources of placements.

05:29 Reflection on the current state of referrals and reviews in the industry.

07:32 Highlighting the potential for referrals to be a differentiator and improve the quality of candidates.

08:47 Introduction to the discussion on the data regarding Indeed and its impact on job postings.

09:21 Analysis of the increase in conversion rates and costs for job postings on Indeed.

09:47 Costs are going up in job boards and recruitment.

10:23 Job orders are down in the industry, leading to overpaying for clicks.

12:41 If job orders are going down, consider reducing the budget.

16:08 Calls to action are essential in marketing.

19:16 Make it easy for applicants to take action.

20:10 Simplify content to increase conversions.

21:40 Are you funneling people the right way?

Brad Bialy  

Brad Bialy has a deep passion for helping staffing and recruiting firms achieve their business objectives through strategic digital marketing. For over a decade, Brad has developed a proven track record of motivating and educating staffing industry professionals at over 100 industry-specific conferences and webinars. 

As a visionary leader, Brad has helped guide the social media, content marketing, and comprehensive marketing execution of more than 300 staffing and recruiting firms. His keen eye for strategy and delivery has resulted in multiple industry award-winning social media campaigns, making him a sought-after expert and speaker in the industry. 

Matt Lozar  

(LinkedIn / Twitter) 

Matt Lozar works as the Director of Recruitment Marketing at the Haley Marketing Group, the nation’s largest marketing firm dedicated to servicing the staffing and recruiting industry.

As the Director of Recruitment Marketing, Matt focuses on the four pillars of recruitment marketing – career sites, job advertising, social recruiting and employer branding. Matt launched the job spend management division at the Haley Marketing Group, leading the company’s partnership with Appcast. Through the usage of programmatic software, the division grew more than 100 percent in 2022 after growing more than 200 percent in 2021! The department works with dozens of staffing agencies, managing millions of dollars of recruitment spend.

Matt has eight-plus years of working directly with staffing agencies and recruiters by helping them meet business goals and overcome marketing challenges. During that time, Matt has worked with more than 100 organizations to find the right content and digital marketing solutions. He also concentrates on online advertising while helping staffing agencies with social media planning, content strategy, search engine optimization, and email marketing.

Matt has appeared on more than 25 webinars across the industry while also talking at several industry conferences. He is a co-host on the Secrets of Staffing Success podcast, appearing on more than 120 episodes. Matt also holds a biweekly LinkedIn Live broadcast on Tuesdays at 11 am Eastern where he talks about recruitment marketing, content marketing, and job advertising.

On Take the Stage, presented by Haley Marketing, we bring you the BEST speakers, coaches, trainers, and strategic partners from across the staffing and recruiting industry every other week. More than your standard interview, each conversation is built off of a specific session or topic these industry thought leaders bring to conferences and audiences around the country.

0:01:21 Is there value in referral programs in the staffing industry

Brad Bialy 

Brad Bialy has a deep passion for helping staffing and recruiting firms achieve their business objectives through strategic digital marketing. For over a decade, Brad has developed a proven track record of motivating and educating staffing industry professionals at over 100 industry-specific conferences and webinars. 

As a visionary leader, Brad has helped guide the comprehensive marketing strategy of more than 300 staffing and recruiting firms. His keen eye for strategy and delivery has resulted in multiple industry award-winning social media campaigns, making him a sought-after expert and speaker in the industry. 

Rachelle Arnold

(LinkedIn)

As head of Customer Experience, Rachelle oversees and ensures customers' success with automated referral management. Rachelle was born and raised in New Orleans, LA, and graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a degree in Marketing in 2009. Her career started very early on in retail, moving up the ladder and eventually landing as store manager of a major retail brand at the age of 23. With a passion for customer service and a knowledge of running businesses, she joined GIFTED Healthcare, a healthcare staffing agency, in 2016. Rachelle held many roles at GIFTED but landed as Director of Recruitment for her last two years of employment there. She utilized Staffing Referrals as a customer for 2.5 years before joining the Staffing Referrals team in 2021. In her spare time, she spends time with her furbaby, Lola (who is a 4-year-old sheepadoodle) and teaches yoga.

Staffing Referrals 

Staffing Referrals helps staffing agencies turn their unique talent network into their competitive advantage. Helping agencies source, engage, and place qualified candidates faster as the #1 Automated Referral Management™ (ARM) platform.

Welcome to InSights, the staffing podcast from Haley Marketing, built to help you with your recruitment marketing and digital marketing. Whether we're talking about digital marketing trends or what's working right now for staffing and recruiting firms across North America, we're here to share our InSights on how you can stand out, stay top-of-mind, and sell more.  

• Simple, Effective Ways to Establish Your Brand

Brad Bialy  

Brad Bialy has a deep passion for helping staffing and recruiting firms achieve their business objectives through strategic digital marketing. For over a decade, Brad has developed a proven track record of motivating and educating staffing industry professionals at over 100 industry-specific conferences and webinars. 

As a visionary leader, Brad has helped guide the social media, content marketing, and comprehensive marketing execution of more than 300 staffing and recruiting firms. His keen eye for strategy and delivery has resulted in multiple industry award-winning social media campaigns, making him a sought-after expert and speaker in the industry. 

Matt Lozar  

(LinkedIn / Twitter) 

Matt Lozar works as the Director of Recruitment Marketing at the Haley Marketing Group, the nation’s largest marketing firm dedicated to servicing the staffing and recruiting industry.

As the Director of Recruitment Marketing, Matt focuses on the four pillars of recruitment marketing – career sites, job advertising, social recruiting and employer branding. Matt launched the job spend management division at the Haley Marketing Group, leading the company’s partnership with Appcast. Through the usage of programmatic software, the division grew more than 100 percent in 2022 after growing more than 200 percent in 2021! The department works with dozens of staffing agencies, managing millions of dollars of recruitment spend.

Matt has eight-plus years of working directly with staffing agencies and recruiters by helping them meet business goals and overcome marketing challenges. During that time, Matt has worked with more than 100 organizations to find the right content and digital marketing solutions. He also concentrates on online advertising while helping staffing agencies with social media planning, content strategy, search engine optimization, and email marketing.

Matt has appeared on more than 25 webinars across the industry while also talking at several industry conferences. He is a co-host on the Secrets of Staffing Success podcast, appearing on more than 120 episodes. Matt also holds a biweekly LinkedIn Live broadcast on Tuesdays at 11 am Eastern where he talks about recruitment marketing, content marketing, and job advertising.