I remember several years ago watching one of the reality shows about a pair of newlyweds.  They were very different than my husband and I when we started out.  Our lifestyles were polar opposites.  They were stars, lived an extravagant lifestyle and of course had money.  I thought as I watched they would have vastly different problems in their relationship and life in general.  I was surprised as I tuned in week after week to see they suffered from the same “newlywed” issues that we had!  How could this be?  I came to the conclusion that most people probably go through all the same things, just at varying degrees.

The same rings true with staffing.  Staffing is staffing.  It doesn’t matter if you are staffing on the west coast, east coast or somewhere in the middle!  I don’t think it matters if you are a large multi office staffing service or a small one office service.  You are going to deal with some of the same issues.

Earlier this month I spent some time training a company on the East coast.  As we worked through training on their staffing software I heard some of the same problems, issues, complaints and pains that I encountered when I worked in staffing.    At one point we were discussing reasons people give for failing a drug test.  You would think they would just fade away, but so many people want to explain why (I guess in case you change your mind?).   Is there a web site out there that provides excuses for failing a drug test?  How can people on opposite ends of the country both think they failed because someone put a little something extra in their spaghetti sauce?!

Here are a few other shared experiences:

• Temps can’t/won’t/don’t turn in their timecards on time.
• No Call No Show.  Really?  Why did you accept the assignment in the first place?
• The back office wished the front office would do their job.  Is it really that hard to put in a job order?
• The front office doesn’t understand why the back office gets so worked up over a missing job order; it can always be added later.  We still have ten minutes before payroll is run.
• Customers can’t understand why you can’t find the perfect person for their order, even though they have been looking on their own for the last month and can’t find them either.
• ALL temps think they are the perfect fit for every assignment you have open.
• Moms and grandmas really, really want their kids to get a job (and get out of the house)!
• Unemployment and Workers Comp… enough said.

So the next time you are having a tough day and struggling with an issue in your staffing company, take some comfort in knowing that somewhere out there, someone else is having the exact same staffing issue!