07/05/2014
With many businesses trying to significantly reduce recruitment costs via a direct to market recruitment strategy, it is worthwhile reflecting on the value a recruitment partner can deliver. Today’s labour market dynamics present a window of opportunity for organisations to maintain their focus on talent retention and increase their recruitment of higher calibre new employees. In this environment, savvy human resources professionals will leverage their recruitment partners to enable and support this focus.
they are your voice and brand in the labour market
We recently received some invaluable feedback from a highly successful and well regarded Head of HR about the value they receive and expect from their recruitment partners, and how they leverage these relationships. We are pleased to share some of their insights, and encourage all readers to also share their experiences and tips:
“As with any service I think it’s really important to look beyond the financial cost and consider the total value gained from the relationship (much of which you don’t actually pay directly for!). If the value doesn’t outweigh the cost, then there’s probably a case for changing your strategy. However, in order to get these value added services from recruiters you have to be prepared to invest in the relationship, which means you see the service provider as part of the business – they are your voice and brand in the labour market.
The relationships my business and I have with recruiters provides a lot of intangible value which cannot be replaced by software, including:
- Market Intelligence. I find it valuable to know who else is recruiting, what skills are hard/easy to find, trends around why people are moving, average time taken to fill a similar role, salary and salary package information and other information that can assist me and the hiring manager to improve our recruitment effectiveness;
- Candidate Intelligence. Recruiters may have dealt with a candidate in the past and have better insight into why they joined/left their previous employer, what other positions candidates have considered and therefore how aligned are their motivations to our role/ business etc.
- Candidate Management. Our recruitment partners may have to work with a candidate to manage competing offers. Sometimes they obtain candid feedback from candidates that I wouldn’t be able to obtain if the candidate was dealing directly with me. This gives us the opportunity to address any of their areas of concern at subsequent interviews. Our recruitment partners are also very good at managing some of the tricky but important conversations with candidates, like discussing appropriate attire, re-engaging candidates whom have previously been unsuccessful for different roles and so on. Having a third party to assist throughout candidate management is of immense value.
- Representation & Assessment of Fit. I can be brutally candid with a recruiter about the team/manager and the best personality type that is going to succeed – this ensures that I generally only see candidates who fit this brief. Recruiting directly it’s not possible to put in a position advertisement “must be resilient because the manager of this role is a micro-manager” or “must be able to work independently and confidently (because the manager is super hands off”)
- Makes Me Efficient. I am a broad HR professional, but I am not a recruitment specialist. When I recruit directly I am less efficient at this task, and it takes me away from many other key activities that I can add more value to.”
As our HR Resourcing practice and other highly specialised recruitment consulting industry leaders continue to succeed in spite of current market trends and industry pressures, it is becoming increasingly evident that our client isn’t the only one with this view of the value of recruiters – and by applying a partnership approach when working with your recruiters you too can maximize the value you obtain from your recruiters in this labour market.