Evolving Beyond Temps: A Q&A with TriStarr

The role of staffing firms has been changing in recent years. We sat down with Erika Bodell and Basil Gordon and asked them what’s new or even unexpected about TriStarr and the clients they serve.

How is TriStarr changing to meet the needs of your clients?

Our clients’ needs have shifted as the employment world has changed. We’re still performing many of the same services, but in much different proportions. For instance, a few years ago about 30 percent of our business was providing temps in the office environment. Roles like clerical assistants and receptionists. Now, with the increasing use of AI, temps are less than 10 percent or our revenue.

What services do your clients want now?

We’re seeing far more requests for assistance in recruiting permanent positions. Our services can include everything from writing job descriptions to filtering resumes to determine the best candidates for an initial interview to administering DISC assessments. Finding the right person for a position is more critical than ever. TriStarr offers several ways to assist in the hiring process. We are looking to provide only the best quality candidates who will fit the culture of our clients’ businesses. Another way clients use us is to keep searches confidential by running them through us.

We also can provide HR services and consulting. We even handle payroll for several clients.

How is AI integrated into your services?

We use AI to help us screen candidates, especially from a large number of resume submissions. But AI can only do so much. This is still a people business. We have to help our clients consider the intangibles of potential candidates and help with judgment calls.

So why choose TriStarr?

We’ve kept the human touch. Real people talking to real people. We maintain the ability to customize our services for individual clients. It’s more of a consulting approach.  We’re connected to our community. Our ratings by third parties are at the top. Believe it or not, we have over 2,000 reviews averaging 4.6 stars.

What’s one thing that might be unexpected from TriStarr?

That we often anticipate the needs of our clients. About 15-20 percent of our placements are candidates that we recommended even though the client wasn’t actively looking to fill a position. We can do this because we get to know our clients’ businesses and culture so well that we can say, “Hey, you should take a look at this person for your team. We think they would be a great fit.”