“Tiller” isn’t a word that immediately comes to mind when most people describe top staffing industry employers. They might use other terms such as “talent hunters,” “recruiters” or “placers.”

But those phrases don’t express the importance and value of this role. Finding and placing talent is fundamental staffing work. However, turning internal team members into fruitful performers requires tilling and building talent. It’s essential for any people-focused business.

An Entrepreneur’s Confession

Because I run a firm that includes a leadership development division and my career was forged in the talent space, people often assume I am a veteran of leadership development programs. In fact, my training has mostly been on the job and aided by some great mentors. That oversight is not unusual for an entrepreneur — and staffing is an industry rich in entrepreneurs.

But every successful entrepreneur can tell you about the impact of a high performer on the business and bottom line. Talented leaders are transformative. SIA’s 2024 North America Internal Staff Survey found that the No. 1 driver of staff satisfaction is senior leadership. That is one reason I have become a passionate advocate for leadership development.

Strong professional development is also critical to retaining gifted team members who know your business, are trusted partners to your clients, and protect business continuity and intellectual property.

The Urgency of Talent Development

Right now, staffing businesses are coming to me with urgent concerns about growth. Does this scenario feel familiar?

Your once booming staffing company, which had been steadily opening new offices and launching new divisions, is getting smaller in this economically challenging market. Your entrepreneurial and spirited go-getters, who were used to promotions and/or salary bumps regularly, are restless in the slowdown and anxious for opportunities.

That career plateauing is a risk to both client and staff retention. Clients connect to people more deeply than anything else. If top people go, clients often leave as well. Cultivating your talent — providing opportunities for their growth — is one way to keep your firm stable until the economic cycle turns again.

Change Your Growth Paradigm

Staffing firms that have grown organically for years sometimes face a whole new set of challenges. Talent development is particularly urgent when this occurs. Take, for example, mergers and acquisitions. Acquisition-based growth requires very different skills, such as overseeing tech and team integrations and balancing long-term vision with short-term decision making.

Whether your firm is battling economic headwinds, managing an M&A deal or grappling with another challenge that calls for new capabilities, your firm will likely need to mix up how it is fostering skills for this new season of growth.

With three steps, that change in talent development can begin:

1. Find what’s working. Audit your existing programs, from training and development to mentoring resources and company performance. Determine what is working to help employees gain skills and reach new career milestones.

2. Determine gaps and risks. Consider your problem areas. Are you promoting top performers into new roles without training or tools and then wondering why they struggle? Are critical skill gaps holding the business back or driving turnover among employees looking to grow? Once you know what’s missing and what’s working, you’re ready to invest.

3. Invest strategically. With limited training budgets, how can you cost-effectively leverage programs you already have in place to support more growth? For example, many staffing firms today are boosting internal management training with 1:1 coaching to accelerate leadership skill development. Or they are leveraging workshops/intensives that can maximize skill development across larger groups while still providing team members with a rich learning experience. Find ways to grow what you have put into bigger investments toward high-risk areas — top performers who are stagnating or serious skill gaps.

Finally, don’t forget what a generous community the staffing industry is. You will find wonderful mentoring, scholarship and training opportunities through all the associations, including SIA, which offers Certified Contingent Workforce Professional (CCWP) training as well as leadership, sales and recruiting effectiveness courses.

Growing and keeping top talent requires resourcefulness, new mindsets, investment and strategic vision. By taking a tiller mindset, you set your teams, your leaders and your organization up for fruitful success.