Last Updated May 28, 2025
To succeed in the staffing industry, you want to offer the best talent to your clients, but workers don’t always have the required skills to succeed. That’s why a staffing agency training plan is so essential. Whether you’re onboarding new recruiters or preparing contractors for client assignments, a well-organized staffing agency training program can make all the difference in performance, compliance, and client satisfaction.
Providing training can help you stand out in a competitive market. Investing in your people has never been more important. In fact, a strong training program can be a huge differentiator, making it a solid business development tip for staffing agencies.
But how do you create your own training program? In this guide, you’ll learn how to create a comprehensive, role-specific training plan that supports both your internal teams and your external workforce.
How to Create a Training Plan for Your Staffing Agency
While you could purchase a pre-made staffing agency training plan, it likely won’t cover all the essential skills your placements need to learn. Plus, these programs are rarely customizable, especially if you hire for specialized roles like nursing or IT. It’s better to create your own staffing company training for both internal employees and placements. Follow these steps to create effective staffing agency training.
1. Set Clear Objectives
Before developing any content, define what your staffing agency training should accomplish. Are you looking to improve onboarding efficiency? Boost recruiter performance? Ensure compliance? Your objectives will guide the structure and delivery of the program, ideally aligning with your overall staffing agency business plan.
For example, healthcare staffing agency training might focus on HIPAA compliance, patient care standards, and communication protocols, while staffing sales training should zero in on client relationship management, objection handling, and upselling.
2. Divide Your Training Plan Into Modules
A modular approach helps ensure each team member gets the knowledge they need without information overload. Divide your staffing company training for employees into two primary paths:
Internal staff training: This includes onboarding for recruiters, account managers, and administrative teams. Core topics include sourcing techniques, using your ATS, and industry-specific compliance.
Contractor or client employee training: For temporary or contract workers, focus on role-specific expectations, soft skills, and legal requirements. Following proven best practices for staffing agencies helps ensure your training remains structured and effective. If your agency supports clinical roles, healthcare staffing agency training should include site protocols and patient safety.
A modular setup allows you to mix and match training information based on role or client needs. With this approach, there’s no need to create a new training program from scratch every time you onboard for a new specialty, client, or role. Simply add what’s missing, and you’re good to go.
One key question is: are staffing agencies responsible for hazard training? Yes, if your contractors work in environments with safety risks, make sure to provide and verify appropriate hazard training in alignment with OSHA standards.
3. Identify Relevant Topics for Each Module
While some topics are evergreen and apply to all roles, you still need to tailor modules to various roles, industries, and compliance requirements. For example:
- For staffing sales training, topics include cold calling techniques, CRM best practices, negotiating client contracts, and maintaining long-term client relationships.
- For recruiters, include sourcing strategies, resumé screening, interview prep, and DEI hiring practices.
- For external workers, consider your staffing agency onboarding process as a guide for the expectations and protocols covered in the module.
- Industry-specific roles also have special considerations. For example, healthcare staffing agency training must also include credentialing, clinical protocols, and client-specific onboarding requirements.
4. Start Compiling Resources
Once you’ve mapped out topics for each module, collect (or create) materials needed to support them. This might include:
Slide decks and checklists
- Video tutorials
- Compliance documents and SOPs
- Role-playing exercises and call scripts for staffing industry sales training
You’ll likely need to create some new content, but you can save time by looking for existing resources first. Agencies often overlook how much existing content they already have, especially materials created to solve common challenges in the staffing industry. Check for existing resources, from recorded team calls to templated onboarding documents, and make them easily accessible in a centralized hub to encourage their use. After identifying your existing resources, make note of any content gaps that need new resources.
5. Utilize Existing Employees to Assist With Training (If Applicable)
One of the most cost-effective and engaging ways to build your staffing agency training program is to involve your own team. High-performing recruiters, account managers, or sales reps can lead training sessions, answer questions, or even help co-create a staffing agency training manual.
This peer-to-peer approach can be especially useful for staffing agencies that provide training across diverse roles. Plus, it creates leadership opportunities for seasoned employees while ensuring the training stays rooted in real-world experience. If your agency is too small to offer training from internal experts, consider growing your staffing agency to boost the quality of your placements.
6. Compile Your Training Plan Into a Document
Once your modules, topics, and resources are ready, organize them into a single, accessible staffing agency training manual. This document should clearly outline:
- Training goals
- Required materials
- Completion timelines
- Assessment criteria that align with staffing agency KPIs
Whether you’re onboarding internal team members or delivering staffing company training for employees on assignment, having a central manual ensures consistency, scalability, and compliance across your agency.
7. Build Out a Training Schedule
Structure matters. A clear, realistic schedule helps employees retain information and complete their modules without becoming overwhelmed. Your staffing agency training schedule should include:
- Start and end dates for each module
- Time expectations per week
- Milestones and assessments
- Live sessions, if any
For example, staffing industry sales training might follow a four-week track with live coaching, recorded lessons, and practice calls based on proven techniques for selling your staffing services. Meanwhile, healthcare staffing agency training may need to align with credentialing deadlines or client onboarding windows.
8. Ask for Feedback Upon Completion
Your training plan should evolve with your agency’s needs. The best way to understand whether your staffing agency training plan is successful is to ask learners for feedback. After each round of training, ask both internal staff and contractors to share feedback. Did the content feel relevant? Were the resources accessible? Did the schedule support their learning?
Don’t forget to review compliance requirements, too. Regular updates and insights from your team will keep your training effective, engaging, and legally sound.
In-Summary: Creating a Training Plan for Your Staffing Agency
A well-structured staffing agency training plan helps your business scale effectively, stay compliant, and deliver consistent value to both clients and candidates. Whether you’re offering internal staffing company training for employees or providing onboarding for contractors, the key is to set clear objectives, organize content into digestible modules, and tailor topics to each role. Make use of internal expertise, document your plan in a clear staffing agency training manual, and improve training through feedback.
Building a thoughtful and scalable training program isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a strategic advantage in a market where everyone is looking for talented, dependable workers. Having clear training protocols helps cover your bases and protect your people, which is key to running a successful staffing agency.
Michael McCareins is the Content Marketing Associate at altLINE, where he is dedicated to creating and managing optimal content for readers. Following a brief career in media relations, Michael has discovered a passion for content marketing through developing unique, informative content to help audiences better understand ideas and topics such as invoice factoring and A/R financing.
