Our Industry Unveiled

From the desk of Renee Fisher, Vaco Managing Partner  

Consulting vs. Staffing?? What does Vaco actually do? We get these questions quite often as we refer to our employees as consultants, whether hourly, project based or full time.  We'll touch on these basic questions and save the world of executive searches for another conversation. So what's the difference between staffing and consulting you ask?

Let's first discuss the definition of each. Staffing comes from the term staff augmentation.  This is when you replace a normal position or fill in positions on a team with temporary associates. These are traditionally routine transaction positions within the company that are more generalist in nature.

Consulting is when a company outsources a particular project or need to a subject matter expert (SME). That person or company then takes full responsibility for the entire project with deliverables to be provided at the end of the engagement.

Traditionally, one would either go to the regular staffing company for a staff augmentation type position and would receive a "temp."  If companies needed someone that had been screened and qualified for a specific skill set, they had comfort in going to their public accounting firms to make the fill. If they needed a project to be completed with little to no supervision, they would consult a large consulting firm.  There was comfort in displaying the name of the consulting firm and provided reassurance to their superiors/board for the quality of the work provided. Hence the creation of Vaco. 

So why does Vaco call our employees consultants?

(Continued from the Vaco newsletter, More Than Business)

Our consultants are the best of the best and whether our clients need to fill a position on a temporary basis or they want Vaco to perform a consulting engagement, they will have a SME or a group of SMEs available to them to get it done, no matter the job.    We are continually screening our potential employees to make sure they deliver on a talent bar that exceeds our clients' expectations.  This is not short of interviewing over 100 people a week in order to deliver top talent.  We have a pulse on the market and can react quickly to each client request.  We love and value our consultants and consider them a key part of the team that makes us successful and our clients happy. 

This has been Vaco's model since we opened our doors in March 2004.  Our clients have relied on our expertise to find them the exact talent they need when they need it.  We pride ourselves on not giving a client a consultant who is on the "bench" (someone we have full time and available, but not really the right fit) but giving that client the "A game" player.  The demand is high for talent in accounting, finance and technology and we are not a firm that sells on price; however, in this market, our clients want quality at a cost effective rate.  Long gone are the days when a client has carte blanche on a budget.  Now, clients want alternatives to getting the job done and done right.  We work hard to give them everything in between to fit within their budget. 

If you have something that is on your mind and you would like for us to address it, please feel free to call me directly or someone in the office to have a discussion.  We want to educate our clients on their hiring options as well as address items that you have curiosity about within our company or the entire industry.    We are always looking for interesting topics to share with our business community and welcome the input!  Thank you again for all of your support and guidance as Vaco has continued to aspire to our goals and achieve growth.  It is through your communication and feedback that we are able to make your experiences with our firm real and valuable.

Take a look at how Vaco is making a difference in the Richmond community.  Check out the JA-In-A-Day pictures from the 2011 VSCPA Day of Service on our Facebook page!! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vaco-Richmond-LLC/208514084268 

2011 Best Places to Work in Virginia 

Vaco Richmond, LLC was recently named as one of the 2011 Best Places to Work in Virginia. The annual list of "Best Places to Work" was created by Virginia Business and Best Companies Group.  For more information, see the link in the "What's Happening in Richmond" section below