Use these questions on every agency you talk to. Including us.
The glass box
Seven questions to grill any staffing agency with — including us.
Use this before you sign with any agency. A good agency can answer every one of these clearly. A bad agency will change the subject. Ask us the same seven — we'll answer all of them in 30 minutes.
WHAT THIS GETS YOU
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A benchmark against which to measure every agency you talk to
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The exact questions we answer at every assessment
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A filter that eliminates bad-fit agencies before you waste time on a demo
FREE · NO SIGNUP REQUIRED · 1 PAGE
The full checklist
All seven questions — on the page
Read them here, download the PDF, or bring them to your next agency meeting.
01
What is your fill rate — and how do you measure it?
Any agency worth hiring can answer this with a number, not a story. Ask for their 30-day and 90-day fill rates for orders like yours. "We do our best" is not a fill rate.
What to listen for: A specific percentage. Anything below 90% for day-one show rate deserves a follow-up.
02
What is your 30-day retention rate for new placements?
Most placements that fail, fail in the first two weeks — quietly. If an agency can't give you a retention number, they're not tracking it. If they're not tracking it, they don't know their own performance.
What to listen for: A number. Not "we have low turnover" — an actual percentage.
03
Who calls the worker on day 3 — and what do they do with what they hear?
Retention requires proactive contact in the first two weeks. If the answer is "the worker calls us if there's a problem," that's your answer. Problems don't get reported. They become no-shows.
What to listen for: A named role, a fixed schedule (day 1, 3, 7, 14), and a process for what happens when a worker raises an issue.
04
How do your workers get to the job site?
Most no-shows are transportation failures, not attitude problems. Ask specifically what percentage of their placements use public transit, personal vehicles, or agency-provided transport. If they don't know, they haven't solved the problem.
What to listen for: Evidence they've thought about this. Routes, drivers, backup plans — or at minimum, data on the transportation breakdown of their workforce.
05
What background checks and drug tests do you run — and when?
Background checks and drug tests should happen before the first shift, every time, for every candidate. In food processing and manufacturing, one unvetted worker is a liability. Ask for the specific test panel and how results are documented.
What to listen for: "Before placement" not "upon request." A named test type (5-panel, 10-panel). Documentation they can produce.
06
What does your launch process look like for a new client?
A real process has a checklist, a timeline, and a named owner. "We handle it" is not a process. You want to know: who does what, by when, and what happens if something isn't ready 48 hours before day one.
What to listen for: A specific sequence. If they can't describe it in 90 seconds, it doesn't exist.
07
What happens when someone doesn't show up?
Every agency has no-shows. The question is whether they have a backup system — a bench, a pool, a call protocol — or whether they start scrambling and calling you with excuses at 5:45 AM.
What to listen for: A backup pool behind every active order. A named escalation path. A response time commitment.
Download & use it
Keep a copy. Use it on every agency you talk to.
The PDF is one page — clean, printable, and ready for your next vendor meeting. Then ask us the same seven. We'll answer all of them on the record in 30 minutes, no pitch.