West Valley Staffing Group Growing With Its Clients

By Scott Eldredge, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

If you want to know if the economy is improving, one place to look is West Valley Staffing Group. The company that supplies workers to other companies is itself adding new employees.

"Right now, business is growing in each of our four specialized staffing companies," says Susie Parkins, branch manager of the Hacienda office at 5690 Stoneridge Drive. "We've been working with a number of companies that went through the downsizing that so many companies did a few years ago, and now they're at the point where it's time to hire again. Companies want help making sure they get the right person in place, the person who will really help the team grow and get them where they need to be."

West Valley Staffing supplies workers across a broad range of job categories - everything from wireless implementation engineers and machine operators to analytical chemists, legal assistants, and tax accountants. The four business units that comprise the company can meet needs in nearly 100 categories.

West Valley Engineering specializes in technical personnel categories, including engineers, designers, scientists, publications, purchasing, manufacturing, and light industrial. West Valley Technology provides software and IT professionals. Prostar Staffing handles administrative, clerical, word processing, legal, and HR personnel; and Accountants Now! focuses on accounting and finance in a wide range of industries.

"This specialization is what makes us unique," explains Parkins. "We don't have recruiters trying to fill positions across many disciplines. We have specialized recruiters in each of the business units, people who know how to evaluate applicants in specific fields. They may have done the job themselves or have years of experience in the field."

To become a part of the West Valley Staffing Group workforce, applicants go through a thorough interview process that may include skills evaluations, a background check, references, and others tests depending on the position.

Every candidate is also given safety training and must pass a safety evaluation with a score of 100%. Safety is an issue that figures strongly in West Valley's relationships with its workers and also the companies it serves. "They're our associates. We want to make sure as a staffing firm as well as a partner with our client companies that we're doing everything possible to promote safety," Parkins explains.

The company even has a team that goes out and evaluates current and prospective clients with regard to safety and compliance issues, a service that benefits everybody. This three-way relationship between West Valley, its workers, and its client companies is at the core of how the company sees itself and its key role - putting people to work.

"We really try to understand the processes of our companies, learn about their environment, their culture, what they're looking for and why, what their hiring process is," Parkins says. "Then, with our specialized recruiters, we can find candidates that fit, and let those people know what to expect. It's all about communication, all sides knowing what to expect. The more we're able to communicate, the more positions we fill, and the more loyalty we have."

All of which adds up to putting more people to work.

Photo: West Valley Staffing Group provides a wide variety of personnel services through its four divisions, all located in Hacienda.

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