Different ways to communicate. One place to manage communication.
Communication has always been fundamental to temporary recruitment.
When a booking needs to be filled quickly, the ability to reach the right workers and get a response can make the difference between filling a requirement and losing it.
What has changed is the number of ways agencies can now communicate.
SMS, email, mass campaigns, mobile apps and instant messaging all provide different ways to reach workers. Each has its advantages, but more communication channels can also create more complexity.
The challenge is no longer simply how to contact workers.
It is choosing the right communication method for the job, while making sure conversations remain easy for recruiters to manage.
Speed still matters in temporary recruitment
Temporary recruitment does not always provide the luxury of time.
Bookings arrive at short notice. Client requirements change. Workers need to know quickly when opportunities become available.
Being able to contact hundreds of suitable workers in seconds is very different from working through a list individually.
That is why mass communication remains an important part of temporary recruitment software, particularly when requirements need to be filled quickly.
But speed alone does not determine the best channel.
Recruiters also need to consider the urgency of the message, how much information needs to be shared, the likely response required and the cost of delivering it.
The right communication method depends on the job.
SMS remains valuable for urgent recruitment communication
SMS is still one of the simplest and quickest ways to communicate with temporary workers.
It does not require somebody to log into a system or actively check an email account. Messages are delivered directly to a device most people have with them throughout the day.
That makes SMS particularly useful for:
- Urgent booking requirements
- Short notifications
- Time-sensitive worker updates
- Messages where immediate visibility matters
SMS does, however, have a direct cost.
For agencies sending thousands of messages, relatively small per-message charges can quickly become significant.
That does not necessarily make SMS expensive.
If a message helps fill an otherwise unfilled booking, its value can considerably outweigh its cost.
The more useful question is whether SMS is the most appropriate channel for every communication.
Often, it is not.
Email works better when more information is needed
SMS is well suited to short, immediate communication, but not every recruitment message is short.
Email provides a better option when more detailed information needs to be shared.
Within Sabre Rec, for example, worker and hirer assignment forms can be automatically emailed to the relevant recipients. Email can also be used as an alternative method for booking notifications.
Users can send emails directly from Sabre to up to ten recipients at a time, providing another option for individual or small-group communication when SMS message-length restrictions are not appropriate.
For larger groups, Sabre Campaigns provide the mass-communication capability.
The important point is that email and SMS solve different problems.
Choosing between them should depend on the communication itself, rather than simply defaulting to one channel.
Campaigns make recruitment communication scalable
Temporary recruitment often involves communicating with more people than an individual recruiter could realistically contact one by one.
A large availability exercise, urgent workforce requirement or targeted worker update may need to reach hundreds of people quickly.
Campaigns allow agencies to communicate at scale while targeting the workers relevant to the requirement.
This can help recruitment teams avoid spending valuable time working through lists manually when the same communication can be sent to an appropriate group at once.
Campaigns are particularly useful where:
- Large numbers of suitable workers need to be contacted
- Availability needs to be established quickly
- The same information needs to reach a defined group
- Individual communication would create unnecessary administration
The value is not simply sending more messages.
It is reaching the right group efficiently.
Worker apps create another communication channel
Worker apps provide an opportunity to move more recruitment communication into a lower-cost digital channel.
Push notifications can alert workers to new information, while two-way chat can allow an agency and worker to continue a conversation within the same environment they already use for bookings, availability, documents and timesheets.
For routine communication, this can reduce reliance on chargeable SMS messages while making it easier for workers to interact directly with their agency.
But apps are not necessarily a replacement for other communication methods.
A message is only useful if somebody sees it.
App adoption, notification settings and the urgency of the requirement all need to be considered. There will continue to be circumstances where SMS is the most effective way of getting somebody’s attention quickly.
The objective should not be to replace one channel with another.
It should be to use each channel for what it does best.
Choosing the right communication channel for the job
There does not need to be a single winner.
An urgent booking may justify an SMS.
A large availability exercise may be better handled through a targeted Campaign.
More detailed information may suit email.
An ongoing conversation with an individual worker may be better suited to app chat.
Cost is part of that decision, but it is not the only consideration.
The cheapest message is not necessarily the most effective message. Saving a few pence on communication achieves very little if an urgent booking goes unfilled.
Recruiters need to consider:
- How urgent the communication is
- How many workers need to receive it
- How much information needs to be included
- Whether a response is required
- How likely workers are to see the message
- The cost of the channel
- The operational value of getting a quick response
The objective should always be to use the most appropriate method for the communication.
But having more options creates another challenge.
More communication channels should not mean more places to look
As communication options increase, conversations can easily become fragmented.
A Campaign response appears in one part of a system. An individual message appears somewhere else. Booking-related communication may have its own history, while an app conversation sits in another screen.
Before long, recruiters can end up searching several places simply to understand what has already been said.
That creates unnecessary administration and makes it harder for somebody else in the business to pick up a conversation with the full context.
We think there is a better approach:
Separate how communication is delivered from where communication is managed.
Workers may receive messages through different channels, but recruiters should not have to search through different areas of their recruitment software to manage the resulting conversations.
Bringing recruitment communication together in Sabre Rec
This is the direction we are taking with messaging in Sabre Rec.
We have already separated the previous Search & Send function into dedicated Search and Messages areas, giving users direct access to their conversations.
Messaging from the Booking screen will be retired as we continue to consolidate communication within Messages.
The next stage will bring Campaign responses into the same area, followed later by two-way chat through the Sabre Worker App.
We are also bringing Sabre system messages into the same screen, providing one place for product updates, planned maintenance and other important service information.
The methods of communication may be different.
The user experience should not be.
Our aim is to make Messages the place where Sabre users can understand the conversation, regardless of which channel was used to deliver it.
Different ways to communicate. One place to manage communication.
Recruitment communication will continue to evolve.
SMS is not disappearing.
Email has its place.
Campaigns provide an effective way to communicate at scale.
Worker apps create opportunities for lower-cost, two-way communication.
System messages allow important information to be delivered directly to Sabre users.
For us, the objective is not to force all communication through a single channel.
It is to make each channel useful for what it does best, while making the resulting communication easier to manage.
Different ways to communicate. One place to manage communication.
Frequently Asked Questions About Temporary Recruitment Messaging
Is SMS still useful in temporary recruitment?
Yes. SMS remains particularly effective for urgent bookings, short notifications and time-sensitive communication because workers do not need to log into an app or check their email to see the message. The important consideration is whether SMS is the most appropriate channel for that particular communication.
When should recruitment agencies use email instead of SMS?
Email is better suited to communications that require more detail. This can include assignment information, forms, longer instructions or messages where SMS length restrictions would make the information difficult to understand.
What are recruitment messaging campaigns?
Messaging campaigns allow recruitment agencies to contact larger groups of relevant workers at the same time. They can be useful for availability exercises, urgent workforce requirements and other situations where contacting workers individually would be unnecessarily slow.
Can worker apps replace recruitment SMS?
Not completely. Worker apps can provide a useful lower-cost channel for notifications and ongoing communication, but their effectiveness depends on workers using the app and having notifications enabled. Urgent situations may still justify SMS.
Why should recruitment communication be managed in one place?
When conversations are spread across different areas of a recruitment system, recruiters may need to search multiple screens to understand what has already been communicated. Bringing communication together provides a clearer conversation history and reduces unnecessary administration.
How is messaging changing within Sabre Rec?
Sabre is consolidating recruitment communication within the Messages area. Search & Send has already been separated into dedicated Search and Messages functions. Booking-screen messaging will be retired, with Campaign responses planned to move into Messages, followed later by two-way Sabre Worker App chat. Sabre system messages will also be available from the same area.
See How Sabre Rec Supports Temporary Recruitment Communication
Sabre Rec brings recruitment operations and communication together, helping agencies manage workers, bookings, availability and messaging within the same recruitment environment.
If you would like to see how Sabre Rec works in practice:
About the Author
Walter Lourens is the founder of Sabre MS. His background spans recruitment, logistics and software development, giving him first-hand experience of the operational challenges faced by temporary recruitment businesses. His work focuses on developing practical technology that makes recruitment processes simpler, more connected and easier to manage.