Award-winning staffing agency POD is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of their Northern branch; POD North opened on the 3rd of February 2020 in York. Middlesbrough native Danni Hill, an established member of the POD London HQ family, will head up the Northern office from which POD will cater to the evolving staffing needs of both brands and agencies from the Midlands all the way up to Scotland. This reflects an industry shift from London-centric activities and activations to a more nationwide outlook, opening possibilities for close, rewarding relationships with staff and clients in the north of the country and the great network of cities found there.

Through this new move, which coincides with the agency’s 10th birthday, POD hopes to be able to service their Northern clients and events better – they will also now be closer than ever to their valued Northern staff who currently make up 25% of the POD database. As a company whose ethos revolves around nurturing authentic personal relationships with their staff, the new branch will play a vital role in offering a base to manage and communicate with the northern members of the POD family. From recruitment drives to onboarding programmes and live project management, POD North allows for that vital face time needed with both staff and clients.

Joe Sheppard, Managing Director of POD Staffing, says: ‘This is a really exciting direction for the future of POD. It addresses our need for a Northern base where we can further strengthen our relationships. POD is a company which puts cultivated, personal relationships and human connections as a top priority; by having more face time with clients and staff we can ensure we are delivering our projects to the best of our abilities, while staying true to our core brand values.’

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Joe Sheppard, Managing Director of POD Staffing, shares how agencies should use the traditional method of telephone conversation to communicate with clients in order to thrive in the tech-focused world.

Earlier this year I found myself on a panel alongside other esteemed industry professionals discussing the future of event staffing.

It was interesting for me to get a feeling for other people’s take on what is required for a successful staffing agency to tick. It felt like there was a big focus on technology across the board. Tools for clients, and for staff alike. Tools for measuring ROI, for compliance, for reporting and evaluation. All reasonable, sensible updates for an industry that (it could be argued) has had to fight to prove its worth for a seat at the top table of event marketing for years.

It made me consider the future for staffing. Where should technology sit in terms of being a priority for a staffing agency, especially when it comes to communicating.

We live in a world where conversation takes a backseat to tech. Emails, messaging, even dating is all carried out over screens – my industry is no different. The current approach of tech leading all communications, databases, job-boards, email shots and mass texts is part and parcel of a staffing agency’s daily routine. People are used to it, it’s the way of the world. The amount of calls we receive at POD asking about online job boards makes that very clear, however, that doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do it!

We recognise the importance of investing in tech. Of course, we, like all reputable staffing agencies, have an intelligent database. Great for profiling, for process, for accounting, geo-checking-in and reporting.

We can also talk one-to-many via our system……But is that the right approach? What benefits are there? It’s time efficient for sure -but our clients should expect more, and our staff should demand it.

For the 17 years I’ve been involved in event staffing, the principles of a well-run agency remain the same. Find good people, motivate good people. That simple.

I believe that picking up the phone and talking, having a conversation, is the simple route to achieving this. We therefore don’t offer job boards, nor do we ever share mass emails or text. Ever.

You might argue that’s impossible if you’re talking to a database upwards of 1000 people – but in my opinion, it simply must happen for an agency to thrive. A standard project will require anything from 2 – 50 x staff. That’s it. So, picking up the phone and making a booking the old-fashioned way is absolutely the right way to do it!

The alternative is the job board approach, or worse-still a mass email…

A message lands in your inbox… it’s from Agency ‘X’ offering a role, it’s worth ‘X’ much money and is for an ‘exciting’ brand. You can respond right there. It’s ideal, you’ve booked your next two weeks up without even opening your mouth – what’s not to love? Win – win for agency and Brand Ambassador!

What about your client though?

It’s not uncommon for this type of email to land in the inbox of one of my full-time, office-based employees (multiple times, every day, from multiple staffing agencies in fact!).

She indeed worked as a Brand Ambassador in the field for various agencies, although a full 3 years ago! And that, right there, scares the life out of me from a compliance perspective. In dropping a mass-email, you really don’t know who you are talking to.

In that situation how can you be confident that the very best team is being assembled for your client’s needs?

A counter argument will suggest that the email is stage one of many, and that a proper screening takes place at a later point. Maybe that’s the case. But I tend to think that you open the door to a ‘fastest finger first’ approach if you are letting tech lead your bookings.

My previous staffing director would call it the ‘spray and pray’ technique!

There are a million reasons why talking, meeting and engaging is important in my world. From that first interview, you get to know a candidate. But equally important- they get to know you, trust you, understand you, subscribe to your ethos, then, in most cases, they want to work for you personally, and its less about just ‘filling the diary’. They won’t let you down… Even the thought of doing so bothers them… This is what I believe makes the difference between good and great.

No doubt everyone, in all walks of life, will be challenged in some way by the convenience of communicating via the digital world. The tech industry must shoulder some blame.

According to Tanya Goodin, author of Stop Staring at Screens and a digital detox evangelist, “Screens and remote digital contact, rather than real relationships, are the default focus of our attention. We retreat into devices to avoid awkward situations; they distract us when we’re bored; entertain us when we’re lost for words. They’re less complicated than people, but ultimately less rewarding.”

That sums it all up perfectly for me.

How can anyone expect their front line to perform brilliantly- communicating brand principles and conversing with potential customers perfectly, when every other part of their own experience with you is delivered by a message?

So, we will proudly remain slightly old school over here at POD, therefore guaranteeing that our clients and, importantly, our staff will always know that they are the heartbeat of our organisation.

After all, our product is people!

POD Staffing are Campaign’ Magazines Staffing agency of the year, IPM COGS staffing gold winners and the first ever staffing agency to be crowned GRAND PRIX at the same ceremony last month.

To find out more about POD Staffing, get in touch with Joe Sheppard at joe@podstaffing.co.uk 

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LSI Netherlands BV – owner of the Peperami brand – and agencies TLC Marketing and Sense were crowned the big winners at The IPM Awards 2017, taking home the trophies for Brand Owner of the Year, Agency of the Year and the coveted Grand Prix Award respectively.

This year’s winners, which were announced at the IPM’s black-tie Awards Gala on Wednesday June 7 at the London Hilton Park Lane, showcased and celebrated the very best in creativity and effectiveness in the promotional marketing industry.

The evening commenced with opening addresses from Lord Black of Brentwood, President of the IPM, and John Sylvester, the IPM’s chairman and Chairman of Sodexo Benefits & Reward Services UK, while the host for the event was Strictly Come Dancing star, Claudia Winkleman.

LSI was named as Brand Owner of the Year, after collecting two Gold and two Silver trophies for its campaign linking Peperami mascot, the Animal, with the Angry Birds movie.

TLC took the Agency of the Year accolade, having picked up four Gold awards and a Silver for a range of different campaigns.

The Grand Prix went to ‘real world’ agency Sense for its #H2O activation, part of the ‘Discomfort Future’ campaign on behalf of The Economist. This saw potential subscribers offered free coffee apparently made from recycled water from a portable toilet, to highlight the issue of water scarcity around the world. It won two Golds and was selected by the IPM awards judges as the best of the best.

The picture above shows Sense collecting their award from Lord Black (left) and the evening’s host, Claudia Winkleman (right).

Other agencies celebrating multiple trophies at the IPM Awards 2017 included The Circle Agency, ZEAL Creative, Toucan and Brand & Deliver. Behaviour change experts 23red managed to pick up Gold, Silver and Bronze in the Not for Profit, Charities and Public Sector category, the second time the agency has achieved this impressive feat.

John Sylvester, Chairman of the IPM, said: “The IPM Awards celebrate outstanding promotional marketing from the very best UK agencies and underscore our commitment to supporting best practice, creativity, effectiveness and innovation. Our Awards are open to everyone in the marketing industry and this year it was great to see both some familiar faces and some newcomers amongst the winners and the audience.”

This year, winners of Gold, Silver and Bronze IPM Awards all qualify for entry into the IMC European Awards, and the IPM will be contacting agencies shortly to explain how to take advantage of this. John Sylvester observes: “The UK produces world-class promotional marketing campaigns, and we want as many of our winners as possible to enter the IMCs so we can underline our leadership in this vitally important sector of the marketing and advertising industry.”

Sponsors for the IPM Awards 2017 included headline sponsor Sodexo, Westfield Shoppingtowns, Sykes, Emirat, Whistl, Granby Marketing Services, Promotional Handling, i-movo, POD Staffing, Peazie and Pictures Experience.

A full list of this year’s winner can be found on the IPM website.

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