I have been going to the same Barbers in Armagh now for a few years now. It’s a big shop and they’d have at least four Barbers cutting hair at one time. I have my routine off to a tee now because I know what day and what time to go at so as I’m guaranteed to get the girl that cuts my hair the way I like it.
Why?
There are two guys that work there and I don’t like them, they don’t take their time and they are just focused on who can do the job in the least amount of time. One guy is all show, fancy hair and does all these fancy moves with the scissors whilst looking at himself in the mirror!
Meanwhile, he’s tugging the hair from my roots rather than cutting it. Now when you get to my age your hair starts to become a valuable commodity and you value your roots if you know what I’m saying.
They don’t seem to take the care and attention that the girl does. She takes her time and I trust her to do a good job. I work exclusively with her and in return I get a service that I trust, and I am happy to pay for and I’ll be back in six weeks. Sound familiar?
So, what is the point here?
Well, why would you not work exclusively with a recruiter when trying to fill a vacancy in your organisation?
Some will argue what happens if you can’t find me the right candidate? Can you actually deliver? The last guy is leaving in a few weeks and we can’t have the position vacant. These are all valid concerns.
But you also got to remember if you want quality service it will take time like the barbers.
A recruitment process takes time, marketing the job, sourcing using different networks and social media-screening and meeting candidates-assessing their skills and experience and establishing relationships – managing counteroffers. So, if you are up against the clock many of these elements this process is ignored, and the quality suffers.
In most cases when I’m working on a job that I know there’s four other recruiters working on that job it’s the first past the post-exercise, quality suffers and like the barbers you don’t tend to work with the same attention to detail as if you do when you are fully trusted to deliver.
I speak more and more with hiring managers who complain about recruitment agencies and the bad service they have received and in fairness, I believe it’s down to the relationship between the recruiter and that client.
If an organisation is not committed to meeting me to allow me to get to know their business, their hiring preferences and their culture how am I going to represent them positively out there to candidates – I can’t and candidates will see past that and go elsewhere
There’s a consensus out there that if you work with several agencies you will get a range of CV’s because not all candidates are registered with every agency and I’d agree with that thought process. But it’s not always the case more and more candidates are suspicious if a job is represented by multiple agencies and the feeling that the organisation doesn’t put a value on their role within their business so at that are put off.
So, what are the benefits of working exclusively?
Well, the most important benefit is responsibility. When you work exclusively with me the burden of responsibility passes to me and it’s up to me to deliver. So of course, your job will get my full attention
I like any business has overheads, rent, rates, advertising etc and I have to make money to pay these bills so I will always focus on the pieces of work where I know I can do a good job and deliver on because I know I’ll get paid.
Like all good service level agreements, I will always put measures in place to take that worry away when working exclusively with me such as regular updates, agreed on timeframes for the presentation of CV and interviews and break out clauses
Like any project, if the time is spent wisely you will save valuable time and money in the long run.
Your employer brand is the most important factor you need to consider when trying to recruit so you know that you are been represented in positively and your brand will be improved by being seen to be working in partnership.
Recruitment is no different from any other successful business and these businesses have strong relationships with their suppliers. If your supplier delivers on time with the right product or service at the right price that supplier will become your tier one – your go-to provider.
So, why not have the same relationship with your recruitment provider as I have with my Barber, I’d love to have a chat with you about working exclusively with me and how I can add value to your next piece of recruitment.
