The team at Partners Personnel has built one of the largest staffing firms in the country with one driving strategy: putting relationships first. They’ve created an associate-first culture, one that makes folks care about their work. It’s something that Erin Foschetti, their Executive Vice President and Managing Partner, hadn’t seen in her 27 years in the industry – until she joined Partners Personnel.
“I was flabbergasted to be in a room full of people who were as passionate about what they do as I was.” Foschetti said. “And part of that is serving people. Every decision we make starts with the temporary associate.”
But their candidate experience had a flaw they hadn’t figured out how to solve. They lacked a system for sourcing and following up on referrals. This meant that associates and their referred colleagues were sometimes left in the lurch.
“Just like most staffing agencies, when somebody would refer a friend, we would put a sticky note on our computer,” said Foschetti. “Quite honestly, oftentimes our team would forget to follow up.”
What’s more, Partners Personnel was struggling to make the most of their existing network and over-relying, instead, on job boards and cold-ads to source new talent.
Their enduring challenge: how could they effectively source and retain top candidates while maintaining the high standards that set them apart from their competitors?
They knew that referrals were producing some of their best candidates, but tracking these referrals was inefficient and inconsistent across their organization.
With Staffing Referrals, Partners Personnel reduced their advertising spend by 18%, improved their retention rates, enhanced their associate experience, and achieved significantly higher fill ratios from referred candidates.
Here’s how.
1. Reduced advertising spend by 18% by tapping into an existing network of vetted talent
When it comes to job board advertising in staffing, it’s often a race to the bottom. Everyone competes in the same crowded digital marketplace, where postings become increasingly expensive, less meaningful to candidates, and less effective for recruiters.
Partners Personnel made a strategic pivot away from this saturated space. Rather than continuing to battle in the eat-or-be-eaten world of job boards, they turned their attention to an untapped resource they already possessed: their extensive network of successful placements.
Instead of burning through their budget chasing anonymous candidates, Staffing Referrals empowered Partners Personnel to unlock the hidden potential within their existing talent pool, transforming dormant connections into a pipeline of pre-vetted, high-quality candidates.
The results were clear:
“We’ve been able to reduce our ad spend by 18% with Staffing Referrals,” said Foschetti.
“We’re not hurting as much because Staffing Referrals handles a bigger piece of our recruitment pie. We’d rather reward associates who source quality candidates than pay for another blind ad.”
2. Improved fill rates with higher-quality candidates
The Staffing Referrals shift not only reduced costs but dramatically improved candidate quality. Referrals come with an implicit endorsement from existing successful associates, creating a powerful cycle where quality attracts more quality.
For Partners Personnel, an automated referral management system led to higher fill rates, better retention, and stronger client relationships—all while spending less on sourcing.
Staffing Referrals helped Partners Personnel tap into a hidden talent pool within their existing network—thousands of qualified professionals connected to Partners Personnel’s existing associates, talent who would never see a traditional job posting.
“Our fill ratio from individuals who have come from Staffing Referrals is significantly higher than from a cold advertisement,” Foschetti explained. “That warm lead is truly impactful.“
3. Boosted retention rates and built trust through transparency
Perhaps most importantly, referred candidates stay longer. “In this industry, retention is everything. Improving retention has become our company-wide North Star” said Foschetti.
Every time they lose an associate, they have to start from scratch, Foschetti says, with new training, new onboarding, new relationship building. The cost is staggering.
“The associates who come through Staffing Referrals aren’t just better performers – they’re more likely to stick around, which creates tremendous value for both us and our clients,” said Foschetti.
Foschetti says this starts with improved communication – which creates the kind of trust that makes candidates want to stick around. Before implementing Staffing Referrals, missed follow-ups and delayed responses were undermining this trust. “When you say you’re going to do something and don’t follow through, that trust is broken,” said Foschetti. “You can see it in the demeanor of an associate immediately.”
Staffing Referrals eliminated this trust gap through real-time transparency. The platform’s automated outreach delivers personalized messages that feel genuine rather than canned, helping to build transparency and foster stronger relationships with talent. The tracking dashboard also gives both referrers and candidates visibility into exactly where they stand.
Now, their associates receive a streamlined, reliable referral experience that builds trust and loyalty. The system’s automation ensures that promises made are promises kept—from initial referral to final payment.
“For the associate, doing what you say you’re going to do really matters. Staffing Referrals helps us keep our integrity,” said Foschetti. “In staffing, that integrity for the associates makes a huge difference.”
4. Created a powerful word-of-mouth engine in new markets
Staffing Referrals also accelerates Partners Personnel’s entry into new markets.
“Word of mouth travels very, very far. We are constantly opening our doors in new markets, and we’ve found that ramp time is faster in new markets with Staffing Referrals. That’s a huge ROI for us,” said Foschetti.
This approach has transformed how Partners Personnel launches in new markets. “Before, entering a new community meant pouring money into expensive advertising with unpredictable results,” said Foschetti.
“Now, we lead with our referral program. We have found that by really promoting Staffing Referrals in new markets, we get more traction than we do on a blind ad.”
5. Gained visibility into referral metrics for the first time
Before implementing Staffing Referrals, Partners Personnel had no way to effectively track their referral program’s impact.
“A major reason we chose Staffing Referrals was to get reliable metrics. We kept hearing that our candidates supposedly found us through a friend’s recommendation, but we had no way to verify this. We wanted hard data to confirm if this was actually true, see exactly what our referral network really looked like, encourage people to connect us, and incentivize the associates who were bringing us new talent.”
After implementation, Partners Personnel gained new clarity and visibility into their talent network. “Not only do we have metrics that we can log in and see in Staffing Referrals in real time, which is incredible, but we also now have tracking in Bullhorn,” said Foschetti. “We actually have eyes on referrals now.”
6. Seamlessly integrated with Bullhorn for improved operations
Partners Personnel found that integrating Staffing Referrals with their Bullhorn ATS was remarkably smooth. “It was probably the easiest integration we’ve ever done,” Foschetti noted. “The system was up and running faster than any of our other tools. While we’re still building and refining many of our reporting capabilities, Staffing Referrals’ analytics were available from day one—I could pull accurate reports immediately after launch.”
The Bullhorn integration enhances recruiters’ daily workflow by flagging referred candidates during searches. “When our recruiters search for candidates, the system immediately identifies which ones came through Staffing Referrals,” explained Foschetti. “This instant visibility gives recruiters confidence that they’re looking at a warm lead. It automatically elevates these candidates as more trustworthy prospects worth prioritizing.”
The integration provides Partners Personnel with more than just workflow improvements—it delivers valuable data insights. By connecting Bullhorn’s placement data with Staffing Referrals’ tracking system, Partners Personnel can now see exactly which referral sources deliver the highest-quality candidates, not just the highest volume. This clarity helps them make better decisions about where to focus their recruitment resources.
Conclusion: A culture of referrals that reinforces Partners Personnel’ values
For Partners Personnel, implementing Staffing Referrals has strengthened their associate-first philosophy in tangible ways. The platform turned a haphazard process into a consistent practice that reinforces their core values daily.
“I want to reward good people, hardworking people. I want to reward people who believe in us, who have a proven track record,” said Foschetti.
Referrals aren’t just a recruitment channel at Partners Personnel—they’re a reflection of the firm’s relationship-first philosophy.
When asked what she would tell her past self about the importance of prioritizing a referral program, Foschetti was straightforward: “Seeing the difference Staffing Referrals made for us, I would have a lot more urgency. I would try to make this a priority sooner because it makes a huge impact for the associates and for us.”
About Partners Personnel
Partners Personnel is a full-service staffing company with offices nationwide dedicated to finding the best talent for our clients and building great careers for our employees. At Partners Personnel, we are fanatics when it comes to client satisfaction!
Our managers and senior colleagues have decades of staffing experience. They are experts at fostering lasting relationships with both clients and employees by relying on our core values: passion, commitment to service, accountability, innovation, integrity, and collaboration.
Partners Personnel has experienced rapid growth since its founding in 2017 to becoming the 12th largest industrial staffing firm in the U.S. while expanding to over 100 branches nationwide. The strength of its culture as an SIA Best Staffing Firm to Work For and the focused purpose of “helping people and organizations improve” has fueled this rapid growth.