Wednesday, 22 June 2011

10 Reasons Why Exclusivity is in HR’s Best Interests

Clients may feel that an external recruiter asking for exclusivity on a job role has nothing but their own best interests at heart.  To think this is to miss the detailed picture, however, as there are many reasons why working closely with one recruiter rather than passing the role out to many agencies is the best route from an HR perspective.

While the HR recruitment team may have a number of recruiters on their PSL, each of those firms is likely to have one or two specialist areas where they really shine.  For each specific job vacancy, therefore, there is likely to be one or two agencies on the PSL who are genuinely likely to be able to source closely matched candidates.
Here are ten reasons why working closely with one of these quality recruiters on a specific job brief is actually in HR’s best interests:
1.    You are getting the recruiters full commitment to filling the vacant role.  Where a recruiter knows they are working on the role in competition with 3, 5 or unlimited number of other agencies, you are likely to see a short burst of activity from each one, followed by waning interest and a shift in their focus to another client with whom they have a close or exclusive relationship.

2.    You are putting the onus onto the recruiter to have responsibility for filling the vacancy.  Once they have been given exclusivity, with or without a retainer, they own the issue – and you can concentrate on the rest of your job.

3.    When a role is in competition, the only thing that matters is speed.  The competing recruiters know that you are logging the arrival of CVs to the minute, and that whoever gets a CV in front of you first ‘wins’.  In these scenarios a recruiter who takes time to actually brief the candidate and gain their permission for the submission of their CV loses out, so in reality it doesn’t happen.  Change the scenario to an exclusive partnership and the focus shifts at once to quality.  The recruiter has every reason to make sure that the CVs they put in front of you are for well matched, fully briefed, candidates who are sold on your company and keen to apply for that particular job.

4.    Working exclusively for you means a recruiter can bring all their resources to bear to source talent for you, including the most valuable resource of all – time.  Instead of a quick database search and putting an advert up on a job board, a thorough, detailed search including combing their networks, asking for referrals, and using social media channels.  In other words they will have time to tap into the passive talent market, not just skim off the most actively looking candidates.

5.    Exclusivity means your recruiter has time to take a detailed job brief from you.  A more detailed brief, with the background to the post, the scope of the role, the culture of the firm and the particular department/team will lead to closer matches for you.

6.    Working exclusively means your recruiter can properly screen the candidates before selecting those to put in front of you.  Not just a quick call and wiz over a CV, but in-depth face to face meetings to probe candidates’ suitability and motivations and fully brief them on the roll and sell them on your employer of choice branding.

7.    During the course of the hiring process, your recruiter will have time to gather full feedback after each interview stage, including probing for reservations, checking for other ‘irons in the fire’, and attitude towards the job, people they’ve met and the organisation itself.

8.    Your recruiter will also be able to focus on gathering realistic information on availability, potential start dates, current salary (and package) and future salary expectations, which will save you time and frustration once you come to offer stage.

9.    You will save time and repetition by dealing with just one, competent, recruiter and will be clear on the costs and contract terms you are working under for this role.
10. You will avoid the messy and time consuming issue of several recruiters referring the same candidate to you for the same role.
- Justin Kent

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