Like in many categories, staffing services strive to appear unique in their approach — to offer a method that is “ownable” and different. But when you look beneath the surface they often (in an effort to maximize their own profit) overly streamline their work with clients, creating a commodity service that varies little from one client to the next. While, of course, it is important to have time tested processes in place, it is also critically important that the staffing company understand that every company they deal with is unique in product, process and culture. Selecting a staffing company that does not acknowledge and embrace client differentiation could be less expensive in the short term, and much more costly in the long term. Every company is unique in its needs, and every potential employee has unique skills. An effective staffing company will have figured out how to efficiently leverage those traits through customized programs for recruitment, assessment and placement to ultimately add strength to a client’s organization. One of the best measures of a staffing company is in how they have managed their own staff. Look for a staffing partner with a core group of managers that have grown the company together, over time, with a shared vision for excellence.