with Meea Evans-Cone of CEVA Logistics
Contingent work isn’t slowing down. In fact, it’s becoming a more critical part of how organizations operate. But while demand remains strong, the way these programs are designed, managed, and measured is shifting fast. Buyer expectations are evolving, labor models are getting more complex, and the old approaches that once worked are no longer enough to stay competitive. The opportunity is still there, but only for those willing to adjust how they show up and deliver value.
In this episode of Staffing Made Simple, co-hosts Casey Wagonfield and Rob Geist are joined by Meea Evans-Cone from CEVA Logistics to explore how contingent workforce programs are evolving in real time. Drawing from experience on both the staffing and buyer sides, Meea shares what’s changing inside large-scale programs, how organizations are rethinking standardization versus local flexibility, and what it really takes to stand out today — from aligning with buyer expectations to delivering measurable quality and retention in light industrial environments.
Casey Wagonfield:
Have you noticed how contingent workforce programs feel like they’re operating in a completely different area? Right now, the old playbook just doesn’t work anymore. In today’s episode, we break down how contingent workforce programs are evolving, how agencies can respond and differentiate to meet changing buyer expectations, and what actually makes staffing firms stand out today.
You’ll hear directly from a buyer running a massive contingent workforce program, as we unpack what’s shifting in the market, how organizations are rethinking labor models, and what should be standardized across multi-site programs versus what must stay local to succeed.
If you want to align better with what buyers want and position your business to win more opportunities, this episode’s a must-listen.
Welcome back to Staffing Made Simple, brought to you by SimpleVMS, the most vendor-friendly VMS on the market. This is a podcast where we bring you real-world insights and actionable ideas that you can use right away, whether you’re on the buyer side or the supplier side of the contingent workforce.
I’m Casey Wagonfield. I’ve been in the staffing industry for about 16 years now. And honestly, I love co-hosting this podcast because this industry never sits still; it’s always evolving. And we get to bring on really cool guests who help us make sense of where things are right now, and where it’s all heading next.
And today, we’re keeping this one practical for both sides of the table – so, buyers running programs and staffing organizations supporting them. We’re digging into what’s changing in contingent workforce programs, how agencies can better align with evolving buyer needs, what should be standardized versus kept local, and what good looks like when you’re actually measuring quality and retention in light industrial, especially.
And don’t worry, your favorite co-host, Rob, is here too. And if you’re new here, Rob is the Senior Vice President of Growth at SimpleVMS and always brings his years of experience and insight. What’s up, Rob?
Rob Geist:
What’s up, Casey? I’ve been looking forward to this episode. We’re going to be joined by Meea Evans-Cone, and you’re going to hear really quickly why she’s such a strong voice in the contingent workforce space.
Meea is a buyer-side contingent workforce leader at Ceva Logistics. She brings a rare perspective because she’s also worked on the staffing side as a talent leader earlier in her career. She’s also very active in the industry, sharing what she sees in the real world. She’s a speaker at ProcureCon 2026. Last year, she spoke at the Women of Work on redefining contingent workforce success metrics and shifting the focus from cost savings to value creation.
I was super impressed when I first met her, and I know our listeners are going to love her insights.
Meea, welcome to the show, and thanks for coming on.
Meea Evans-Cone:
Thanks for having me. I’m excited to be here.
Casey Wagonfield:
And, as Rob mentioned, Meea, you’ve lived in both worlds. You started on the staffing side, and now, you’re running a huge contingent workforce program. Are there any things that you learned in staffing that have directly helped you in the seat you sit in today?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Ultimately, I learned the blueprint of the pricing structure, as well as the blueprint for service delivery. I understand the financial burdens of staffing better than most in the organization, and I also understand what it takes to recruit and retain a great candidate. This helps me set realistic KPIs and expectations with our stakeholders, and essentially, helps the suppliers because they don’t have to do that.
Casey Wagonfield:
When I was in staffing, I wished every person knew the financial burdens.
Meea Evans-Cone:
Some of the expectations are unrealistic, and I have to educate.
Rob Geist:
It’s kind of crazy how it’s ever evolving. It’s just never-ending, the evolution and the things that the staffing companies have to deal with.
But you were all over the country last year, Meea, hitting every conference you could to learn what’s changing. If you could summarize it, what trends feel real right now, and what feels like it’s just fluff?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Ultimately, I feel like the world of work has changed significantly. And I say that because of the way I was raised.
You used to go to work for X amount of time, save your money, retire, all the good things. And now people are doing different things. Gone are the days of everyone seeking a 40-hour work week that leads to full-time employment with a client. People are genuinely wanting to work as a way of financially augmenting their dreams and true career aspirations.
As employers, we should create a space that supports this, while also achieving the responsibilities we have to our customers. So, it’s a true partnership for everyone involved.
The noise: AI and the fact that it’s going to take our jobs. I wholeheartedly believe that this is a farce. AI is a resource that will make our daily jobs at work more efficient.
It will remove the “other tasks as assigned” in our job descriptions and allow us to focus more on our key priorities.
Casey Wagonfield:
I love that. And we’ve actually talked about that on another episode with some staffing people who are using it for that reason. Use it to do the busy work, but you’re still going to need recruiters and the relationships in that business, and talking to people in person.
But use AI to do the busy work, so you can focus on the things that matter.
Meea Evans-Cone:
Absolutely.
Casey Wagonfield:
And I know you have talked about some different things you’re seeing in the market. When people hear terms like EOR, direct sourcing, and outsourcing, and to some people, that can be confusing. It’s just not familiar.
How do you really decide between what’s best for you when you’re making your choice?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Well, I learned a lot about that last year, and that was one of the reasons why I was going to so many conferences. And at the end of the day, what I’ve been able to summarize is that all of the acronyms basically are a strategic measure that leads to risk avoidance and increased service delivery,
Rob Geist:
Straight to the point. I love it. Also, you said “other duties as assigned.” That’s one of our favorite things to use here at Simple.
So, if a buyer is thinking, “Hey, we need to modernize our contingent workforce strategy,” what are the first three moves you’d make in the first 90 days in a way that both buyers and suppliers would understand?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Well, 90 days is a short period, but it should be an exploration, right? You need to understand what you have in front of you. Do you have the right data that’s needed to make the bold moves? You need to talk to your stakeholders, understand where their pain points are, and understand what the gaps are. Because if you try to implement anything without true discovery, it’s a risk in itself.
Casey Wagonfield:
So, I do want to talk about multi-site programs. What’s the stuff that you have to standardize, no matter what, when it comes to multi-sites and the non-negotiables, if you want the program to run efficiently?
Meea Evans-Cone:
I sit in procurement today, so in commercial terms: KPIs, invoicing, pricing structure – there has to be an even playing field for all partners that is going to lead to clear and accurate reporting. The concise data, then, will tell you the story you need to evolve and mature in your program.
Casey Wagonfield:
I love that. And it keeps everybody on an even playing field, too.
And to your point, are you in a position to do that right now? Where are you at? Where do you want to go? And then what do you need to do to get there?
Rob Geist:
One thing I talk about with my enterprise clients, and it really is a big factor in how they make decisions, is where does a local touch matter most in labor markets? There are just real realities about sites, cultures, onboarding, and supplier mix. Where do you have flexibility in that, too?
Meea Evans-Cone:
At the end of the day, the word culture stands out to me, because every city has its own. And, yes, some bigger cities are able to benefit from having those larger suppliers because individuals are more integrated into the technological advances that are here today.
But despite those things, there are communities that operate differently. So, local presence in these communities is going to be critical to your talent acquisition. So, this is why we are always going to have regional suppliers who have the respect of the smaller communities.
Because another company that has absolutely no existence in that community, people are going to be skeptical of them. And so, we have to be cognizant of the fact that a global model and a larger-scale model are not going to work in some of the smaller communities.
And some of these communities may not be very small. They just may be very close-knit.
Rob Geist:
I see it all the time with clients of ours that have a national footprint, and they wish they could use one national supplier. And they even try it, and they do great in two markets, and then the other six, they don’t. And it’s because it’s hard to manage from afar.
So, you need to engage those local people with those local relationships, and people who are in your communities, to staff successfully for you. It’s so crazy because staffing’s so different. It’s all part of the relationship piece of the staffing industry, too.
The relationships aren’t just client to supplier; it’s relationships between the supplier to their communities.
Casey Wagonfield:
I remember even going to companies trying to get my foot in the door. And they’re like, “Well, you have to go through this, or we have to use this company. Even though they’re not doing anything for us, we have to.
I never understood that. And nothing against the major players in staffing, but putting all your eggs in one basket…
And to Rob’s point, if an office in Albuquerque can’t keep their internal staff, and they just keep churning, well now that site in Albuquerque gets the short end of the stick, versus what if there was a local agency that’s been there for 20 years, that has a great reputation, and that might be the better fit versus all your eggs in one basket.
Meea Evans-Cone:
Absolutely. The reality is there are still individuals in the workforce who look at their church program or their local newspaper to find jobs and to engage with the community.
So, we have to be cognizant of the diverse workforce that’s present today. And that’s why those regional suppliers are going to be critical for the next, at least, 5 to 10 years. I feel so,
Casey Wagonfield:
Yeah, I agree. I want to touch on what supplier-friendly actually means, right?
Because people throw around supplier-friendly programs like it’s a slogan. In real life, what do you think that actually looks like? What are the buyer behaviors that make good suppliers want to lean in?
And, on the flip side, let’s be real, every supplier has that program that they fill last. What causes a program to get to that last resort, too?
Meea Evans-Cone:
I look at it as a true partnership – supplier-friendly. That’s what that means to me. It means understanding what your supplier needs to be successful and vice versa for the client. But it also means sharing a common goal or strategy and making decisions that align with everyone who’s involved, right?
It truly is a relationship, an almost boyfriend-girlfriend type thing. You have to be able to lean in on one another and really just be together in ways that make each other great. So, that’s what I hear when I hear that term.
Rob Geist:
And let’s be real. There are also programs out there that staffing vendors look at as their last resort. They’ll send all their quality people to one client, and all the scraps get sent to someone who might not have as good a reputation out there in the market.
So, what gets clients labeled as that last resort?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Well, full transparency. When I was a recruiter, no matter how long ago that was, I was taught to work closer to the money. Staffing is a unique industry where you do a lot of work upfront with no reward until you actually make a placement.
So, when there’s a program that has low response rates, they’re going to always suffer because of this. No one’s going to spend time responding to a requisition that will not lead to a placement, or at the very least, feedback to help them grow. And that goes back to being supplier-friendly –understanding what our supplier needs to be successful.
Casey Wagonfield:
And, if you think about it, you’ve got two different programs. You know the money’s the same, but one of them, you submit people, and it takes two and a half weeks to get a response. While the other one can start fairly fast. Yeah, I’m probably going to go for what’s closest to the money.
Meea Evans-Cone:
Absolutely.
Rob Geist:
I think many clients don’t realize that how they treat the workforce is a big part of it. Casey, I love the story you tell about the client you had that made the workers from your agency go to the bathroom in a porta-potty, while another agency could go to the regular bathrooms.
Casey Wagonfield:
We pulled all of our people out of that company really quickly. I’m a big believer that if I wouldn’t send a family member to a company, I’m certainly not going to send somebody else to it.
In light industrial, when we’re trying to look at quality indicators, quality can mean a lot of different things. What signals do you look at that tell you these suppliers are delivering quality talent?
Meea Evans-Cone:
At the end of the day, attrition means most to me. I mean that the attrition rate needs to be low, and if it’s higher, I need to have clear reasons why it’s not.
Speed, of course…most stakeholders will tell you that’s important, but I’m from the school of thought that I’d rather you take more time to find the right candidate that sticks than just throw a candidate at me and hope it sticks.
So, at the end of the day, quality equals a long-lasting relationship, where that candidate is able to go in there, be trained, and last as long as that assignment lasts.
Casey Wagonfield:
That’s music to staffing companies’ ears. I’d rather you take the time to find the right person than just throw something at the wall and see what sticks.
And I’ve never understood that. You’re only making yourself look bad by doing that.
Meea Evans-Cone:
Absolutely. And I do not favor it. I don’t mind the slow speed if that candidate sticks. Now, if it doesn’t stick and you’re too slow, it’s a whole other issue.
Casey Wagonfield:
And I know, especially in light industrial staffing, retention is always a hot button. Blaming suppliers always seems to be the answer a lot of times. But what are the smartest ways you’ve seen retention or tenure improve without just pointing fingers?
Meea Evans-Cone:
You have to look at the marketplace and understand the drivers. In the light industrial space, the reality is that individuals will move for a quarter more an hour, and you have to understand that. But additionally, in today’s marketplace, people actually care about their work environment and how they’re treated, as well.
They’re not just staying because they pay people well. They stay because this is a cool place to work, or I like my environment. And so, for us, one of the things that is very important is understanding drivers when individuals are cycling out of our program, and understanding if there is a trend.
Is the trend income-based? Is the trend environment-based? Yes, the supplier holds some role in that. Did you tell them about the environment? Did you let them know exactly what to expect when they were there? But, at the end of the day, humans want more out of a workplace, and we should be able to provide that.
And we need to be able to glean that information from the suppliers and understand how we’re going to make this place the best place to work.
Casey Wagonfield:
That’s funny you say that. I had a client who had hundreds of people working there daily, and they were not the best-paying job.
People would jump. But, as an agency we had to figure out, well, what can we do differently to keep these people staying here? But the company did a great job of bringing them in. When COVID hit, they catered in lunch every day for five months for the entire plant.
They’d always have performance bonuses. So, trying to think of ways to combat, right? Maybe they can’t pay better than everybody else around there, but what other things are you doing to get people to stick around.
Meea Evans-Cone:
Absolutely. It matters so much in today’s environment. Culture is important.
Rob Geist:
Well, there is so much to retention, right? It’s setting the expectation properly for the worker from the staffing agency. It’s how they’re treated by the end client that they’re working for. But it always seems to get blamed on the staffing agencies.
So, what’s the smartest way you’ve seen retention or tenure improve without just pointing fingers?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Ultimately, because I sit in a world where it’s heavy on the light industrial and industrial space, we have to make sure that we have true market differentiators that are separating ourselves from our competitors or the other competitors in the marketplace that are offering similar work.
So, that means doing research on things like pay rates, culture, all those types of things, because we have to set a foundation that leads to retention and long tenure there. And that’s ultimately important.
And, from there, the rest is up to the suppliers – making sure that they actually set the proper expectations of what the environment is and what the expectations are of the program.
Casey Wagonfield:
I love that. And to your point too, I mean, you got to be different, right? Because I look at some of these cities: you go to Columbus, Grove Port, or Plainfield, Indiana, and it’s just one massive third-party logistics company or distribution center upon another.
And there are 90 of them, so they’re all fighting for the same talent, or similar talent. What are we doing differently so we can get the best from our company?
And we’re hearing more buyers say that they’re going more internal or maybe hybrid. Why do you think that shift is happening, and what’s the right way to do it?
Meea Evans-Cone:
What I’m seeing – and that’s only based on last year and on being able to network with my industry peers – is that more people from the staffing world are becoming buyers.
We’ve been MSPs. We’ve been recruiters. And we understand and know the inner workings of running a program. And, as a result of that, we don’t need outside help. That’s what I see most.
Outside of that, I think that it’s important that when you have an external partner, they’re truly an external partner, that is, really a part of your organization, or integrating themselves into your organization and truly being strategic with you.
So, that full value at the end of the day is also important. And what’s important to realize before you do any of this is, do you have the capabilities? Do you have the resources, both human and technological, to be able to go internally, because there are some internal programs that aren’t efficient.
Rob Geist:
Meea, in past conversations, you mentioned moving into a second-generation program. For people listening, what usually changes when a program matures from gen-one to gen-two?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Well, in generation one, you’re gathering information, right? You’re moving from spreadsheets and manual billing and all the things to okay, we have a system now. And that system and tool generates data that tells a story. And you’ll be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t look at that data, tell that story, and understand how to use that story to change.
So, when I speak about first gen to second gen, that’s what I mean: we’ve moved from manual operation to now having full visibility, and now we have to do something with that information.
Casey Wagonfield:
And we talked a little bit about niche agencies, and maybe that even goes into finding local agencies, or niche agencies that are local. But a lot of agencies say they’re niche – buyers hear that all day: “This is what we do. We specialize in this.”
What’s the best way for a niche supplier to prove their expertise in a way you actually trust?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Well, ultimately, for me, because I’m so familiar with the staffing industry, you have to have a differentiator.
And, coming from a space where I know too much, but I also look at, again, strategy. What are the company’s objectives that I’m working for? And how does this company or this supplier align with those objectives? And so, if you have a niche, that niche needs to align with the objectives at the end of the day.
But the best way to prove it is by aligning with what we are looking for from our strategic expectations. But at the end of the day, once we engage with you, you have to prove yourself with scorecards and all the things, and be able to report out on that niche. There are a lot of things, like, for instance, sustainability, all those types of things.
Show me what that looks like. Show me what you’ve done in that area of being a niche supplier. So, proof is always in the pudding. I love numbers. I like to see the story that it tells.
Casey Wagonfield:
And you’ve probably experienced this: a salesperson comes up to you and says, ” We can do this, we can do that, we can do this.”
And then they go back to their office, and that’s just not the case. They offer you all the things in the world, but then they fall flat on their face when it comes down to it.
Meea Evans-Cone:
Absolutely. Totally agree.
Casey Wagonfield:
So, I wanted to quickly jump into this topic, Meea, because I know there are a lot of people who wonder about it. When we talk about outreach that actually works, because I’m sure you get hit 20 million different ways every day, by phone calls and emails and people just dropping in, trying to get in front of you or sending whatever, is there any type of outreach that actually catches your attention in a good way? And anything that maybe just gets ignored instantly?
Meea Evans-Cone:
I like the personal touch, I’ll be honest, because it’s not about the words you say, it’s about your delivery, your spirit, the human effect. You can say all the things, but I need to understand if you’re it. And that’s just the reality. Emails don’t do much for me at all.
I need to understand if you’re really knowledgeable. Are you just putting words on a piece of paper or in an email, or do you really know what you’re doing?
Casey Wagonfield:
So, yeah, and I think that just comes down to does that agency differentiate? Are they niche, and how do they make that quantifiable to you when they’re talking to you? Prove that, because, at the end of the day, you don’t know anything until you give them a job order and see if they can actually fill it. So, it’s hard to judge that, I guess, upfront.
Meea Evans-Cone:
It is.
Rob Geist:
Piggybacking off of that, what is a way that they can prove they’re actually knowledgeable?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Casey just said it, right? Proving that you’re knowledgeable means delivering, and that’s just the reality of it. Once you get that in, and you’re able to prove yourself from a sales standpoint, the fastest way to establish your credibility is to actually deliver and show me what you can do.
Casey Wagonfield:
If somebody’s coming up to you, they’re seeing you at a conference, and they’ve got 30 seconds in front of you, what should they lead with that would earn them 10 more minutes?
Meea Evans-Cone:
I don’t know if that matters, to be honest. They should lead with kindness.
Casey Wagonfield:
And curiosity.
Meea Evans-Cone:
Exactly. And that’s what’s important. Most of my conversations start with the human effect, not the sales effect.
Don’t come to me as a salesperson. Be a human first, and then we’ll start talking, and naturally, we’ll learn more about what each of us does for a living and how we can help one another. I believe in genuine connections. I do.
Casey Wagonfield:
I love that. And our last episode was with a consultant within the staffing industry named Mark Winter.
And he talked about just being a consultant. Don’t be salespeople. People smell your commission breath a mile away. Figure out what their pain points are and how to fix them. Don’t go in just checking boxes to ask these questions.
Be that thought leader and that consultant for your clients.
Rob Geist:
I can relate to that. I go to my fair share of conferences, and I’ll tell you, 90% of the relationships I build at those conferences are at the dinners, the happy hours, talking about real-life things, instead of me standing at a booth and trying to hard pitch someone.
It honestly took me a long time as a sales professional to realize that I’ve matured into that, as opposed to just it being something that was natural to me. For sure.
Meea Evans-Cone:
It’s important. And I agree with you about those relationships. You learn more by just being genuine and honest with one another.
Casey Wagonfield:
And Meea, when we talk about true staffing partners that go out of their way, bringing different things to you, is there anything that stands out to you that they bring to the table that’s different than all the others?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Sure. So recently, I met with a supplier that offered profit sharing to their contractors.
And that, to me, was important because it leads to a sense of ownership and better contractor retention. And then we had another supplier that we met, who, ultimately, was working with their contractors to help upskill them in different ways, which would help them grow in their careers after being away from work for longer periods of time, namely single moms who may have been away from work to raise their children.
Those are the types of differentiators that really make a difference in our marketplace, in general, but also in society, and they lead to better contractor and worker retention. And those are the types of things that clients and customers need.
Casey Wagonfield:
I’ve never heard of an actual contingent workforce earning a profit share. I’ve heard of internal offices at staffing companies. If they do well, they get a profit share. But I think that’s such a cool incentive and a carrot to dangle for your contingent workforce who are working on site for that profit share.
It probably helps them see farther ahead in the future. I need to stick around. And, at the end of the day, does it really cost you that much more than if you had to turn that person and interview another one, and recycle?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Absolutely. And it was powerful because you could tell they were really empowered, and they were passionate about the work that they’re providing to the community. So, those are the types of things that we, as buyers, are looking for. How are you supporting your community, and how does that align with our strategies?
Rob Geist:
On that same note, do you look at how staffing agencies engage with talent? Do you think that if they’ve got a good talent engagement process, they provide more loyal people to come out and work for you?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Absolutely. I am a big proponent of the employee. Always have been. Always will be. And I feel like, even in my days as a recruiter, I made sure to treat those whom I was recruiting and whom I could call and count on to go to assignments, well. The reason why I had these individuals whom I could call and say, “Hey, can you go do this for me? It’s in two hours,” is because I treated them well.
And so, yes. Absolutely. I’d love to hear what a supplier does to retain and recruit their employees. And I love to hear how that impacts not only the worker, but the business, because that’s critical. You have no business without that employee.
Casey Wagonfield:
And that goes back to everything we’ve been talking about: retention and all the things, right? You have to treat people well, and when you talked about just being nice to the employees, that says a lot.
On our second episode, we had a guest, Eduardo, from Arvato, who’s one of our clients. He runs about six different locations, with a little over a thousand people. But he actually went in. He was like, “When I’m evaluating my suppliers, I go in as a blind customer to see how they treat me.”
And he wanted to see if they had somebody who was bilingual that could talk to him; see how they treated him when they walked in the door during the interview and after the interview. I thought that was interesting because you don’t hear that a lot anymore.
But that was so important to him that he is like, “I’m just going to go see firsthand how they treat their employees.”
And I always used to, when I was in staffing, tell people, to do even those micro personalization things that get people loyal to you. When somebody walks into your staffing office, just hand them a bottle of water, right? What does it cost you? 10 cents. Maybe having something above you on the TV that says, “Welcome.” So, doing those little things I always thought had always stood out.
That’s what makes people loyal, because at the end of the day, especially in staffing, if they’re coming to your office, they’re probably going to three of your competitors too. How are you treating them differently from everybody else?
Meea Evans-Cone:
Absolutely. And that matters, especially in today’s workforce.
People really care about how they’re being treated. They care about the pay, yes. But, at the end of the day, how they’re being treated is paramount. It’s all over social media. They care about those things.
Casey Wagonfield:
I mean, 10 years ago, it was just all about the pay, right?
I think over time, they want meaning in their job versus just the pay. Pay is important. You still have to pay bills, but you know, I want some meaning behind what I do.
Meea Evans-Cone:
Absolutely. Because a job is a job, but the differentiator is the environment.
Casey Wagonfield:
A hundred percent.
Rob Geist:
That leads me to my next question. What’s the fastest way a staffing agency could lose credibility with you?
Meea Evans-Cone:
For me, it’s about our business rules or doing things that aren’t above-board. I have a strong sense of integrity in everything I do, whether it’s in my personal life or my business.
And anything that someone says or does that loses credibility with me in the things that I know are right or wrong, I can’t do business with them. That’s not okay.
Casey Wagonfield:
You know, a lot of agencies say they’ve got all this technology, and they’ve got this data, and some of them really do. But when they show up and say they’ve got data and tools, are there any proof points that actually make you sit up and say, “Alright, well, these guys are different. I like that.”
Meea Evans-Cone:
At the end of the day, I think one of the greatest things I’ve found with some of the true partners that I have dealt with over the past few years, and that’s in any walk of my life, throughout my 14 and 15 years in this industry, is suppliers that give us resources. I have suppliers that often reach out to us and say, “Hey, heads up, this is happening in California. This is happening in New Jersey.”
And they give us the power and the resources that we need to go to our legal team and say, “Look into this, figure this out. What is our strategy? What do we need to do as a result?”
The same goes for the different things happening, whether it’s direct sourcing or EOR. When suppliers are able to just come to you and prove they do have the resources that are needed, and that the resources they said they had and that they said they would provide, they actually gave them to us – that’s monumental for us, right? It’s critical, and that’s what creates that true partnership.
Casey Wagonfield:
That’s a good point, because you know, I’ve heard that too in some of the legal episodes we’ve had, is just having that partner that says, “Hey, well, in California, this law goes into effect next week, and this is how you’re doing business. You should probably change that.”
Meea Evans-Cone:
Absolutely. And it’s important because yes, we have our legal teams, but they’re doing all sorts of things, so being able to give them that heads-up and get in front of it is critical for us. And I appreciate our partners who provide that type of information to us.
Rob Geist:
So, once a staffing agency gets past the salesperson, and you actually engage with them, and you’re working with them, what do the best ones do in the first 30, 60, 90 days that’ll make you say, “Yep, we’re going to give them more orders, and we’re going to continue working with them.”
Meea Evans-Cone:
30-to-60 days is a little short, because we grade on 90. But, at the end of the day, in the first 30 to 60 days, you have to fill orders. You have to have people show up. And you have to communicate. Communication is key.
So, the best ones are communicating any challenges they might have and working with us to understand how to do better if they need to, or just showing up with the numbers. But if they aren’t able to at least communicate why, and let us strategize on how they can be successful… I’m not successful if my suppliers aren’t.
Rob Geist:
Well, that’s a wrap for today. Huge thank you to our guest, Meea Evans-Cone, for bringing real practical insights that both buyers and suppliers can use. We certainly got a lot from this conversation.
For the buyers, you got a clear view of what’s changing in contingent workforce programs and what’s worth standardizing versus keeping decentralized. And what quality and retention really look like in light industrial.
For staffing teams, understanding how buyers are rethinking their strategies for using temps is crucial. Considering how to expand your model, specialize in it, and leverage different tools and analytics to stand out could really make a big difference for future success.
Casey Wagonfield:
If you got value from this episode, do us a favor: subscribe, leave a quick review, and share it with somebody on your team who needs to hear it. And if you want to keep the conversation going, connect with Rob and me on LinkedIn, whether you’re managing a contingent workforce program or supplying for one.
We also encourage you to check out SimpleVMs at simplevms.com to see how we help teams streamline processes and drive better results. Thank you again for listening to this episode of Staffing Made Simple. Until next time.