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You’re expanding, your star employee has left for pastures new or you are swamped with new work – whatever the reason for entrusting your employee search to an agency there are a few things to consider. Using an agency to assist you is no different to using any other supply partners in your business and yet very few companies actually take the time to do a gentle question and answer session with their potential partners.
First and foremost you are entering an agreement, a partnership so this arrangement has to suit you for it to be a success. Here are a few suggestions of what to look for:
1) Bigger isn’t always better
One of the mistakes many businesses make when choosing an agency is basing their decision on the size of the company. This may be pretty self-explanatory but there is a lot more to an agencies credibility than how many branches they have. Make sure you find out the following:
- How long has the agency been in business?
- Ask for their conversion rate – for how many candidates they put forward how many are successfully placed? Our rate is 1 in 3. This gives an idea of an agency’s success rate. No credible agency will refuse to give you this information.
- Ask for testimonials from past and current clients. This speaks volumes about an agencies work ethic
- Do they work with the world and his brother? You want to know your position will be given full attention. If an agency is working with similar companies and recruiting for too many similar roles how can you be sure yours will be given full attention. Too many jobs sometimes equals not 100% attention.
- How many agents will you be dealing with? From my experience one contact is ALWAYS the way forward, knowing you have one point of contact ensures you and your company will be looked after on a personal level.
In the same light giving a vacancy to 10 agencies does not increase the likelihood of 10 times more candidates but increases the odds of getting the same candidate’s CVs 10 times.
2) Be clear on the process from the beginning
Finding out how an agency works and how your job will be looked gives you more of an idea of what you can expect and how long the process could potentially take. This is not set in stone but at least you have a rough idea of the steps your agent is taking to get your search underway;
- Find out if your position is FILLABLE – one mistake a bad agency will make is thinking that accepting a job just for the sake of it is better than not accepting. It isn’t. Sometimes a less senior agent will accept a job with a client to maximise KPIs but in reality the job is out of their remit. This results in your vacancy being forgotten about and you left uncontacted.
- Find out how your employee will be sourced, what resources your agency will use: job boards, headhunting, LinkedIn, referrals etc.
- What is their vetting process – will candidates be interviewed by your agent prior to submission to you, will references be taken, will skills tests be done. These are things to specifically ask for if required.
3) A match made in heaven
Without getting all soft and fluffy here, the relationship you have with your recruitment agent can play a big part in how smooth the process goes. I find that to build a rapport with my clients I establish very quickly the boundaries I have. Your agent is not working FOR you but WITH you and from the offset you need to make sure that you can work with them. Your agent will be contacting you on a fairly regular basis during the recruitment process and if you can’t bear their squeaky voice then you have a problem. Again if the thought of talking to them makes you get your receptionist to invent meetings to avoid them then this process will prove difficult.
Use this time on the phone or during your agency meeting to find out:
- Whether your agent is on your wavelength and understands what you are looking for.
- Their background in your field – No agent should profess to being a complete ‘expert’ in your field but their experience in recruiting staff for your industry may be extensive. Ask questions about their past experiences recruiting for a similar role.
- Use LinkedIn as an opportunity to look at any recommendations your agent has, this speaks volumes about how they conduct themselves and how they are considered a credible partner.
You want to be dealing with someone who is genuinely interested in your role. This will be obvious by the questions asked by the agent. Finding out as much as possible about your business and the role demonstrates to commitment to getting it spot on.
4) Money talks but only quietly
Ok now the fun part. One of the many mistakes companies make when looking for an agency to work with is that they base their main decision on price.
“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do a job, wait until you hire an amateur”
I cannot stress enough how fitting this quote is. Now we all want the best deal and with so much focus put on price we sometimes forget to find out what we are actually getting for the price we pay. Some agencies will offer you 7% and then 2 weeks down the line when you have a staff member that doesn’t fit your business you are now 7% worse off and with no guarantees from the agency put in place. It is imperative to discuss any fees and rebates offered BEFORE any work is started by the agency.
- Be sensible with your expectations. If you want a flute playing, left handed, computer whizz kid accountant who lives in Surbiton for a 7% fee you are probably asking for too much. Fees quoted represent a lot more than an agency’s greed.
- Be fair. You may have been given a budget to spend on agency fees or you may have a structure in place but remember so does the agency. Asking them to drop from 13% to 7% to accommodate you will more often than not NOTEveryone is trying to run a business.
- Find out the specifics – if you specifically need a rebate or if you have a problem with the payment terms then address them from the off. An agency will always be open to negotiation to a point.
- Remember what your father told you. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
5) Cheesy BUT honesty really is the best policy
One of the reasons, if not the main reason successful employer/agent relationships work is because they develop honesty between them. My clients deal with me because I say it how it is. In the same light I am given full access to any information about the company and the role in question that will help me do my job successfully. If the job has been filled internally then tell your agent. If you don’t like the candidates put forward or your agent is on the wrong track tell them. If requirements change and your junior requirement is now a senior one then the first person you should be telling is your agent. No one likes to feel like they are undervalued or worse being messed around – being upfront is key not only to building a relationship with your agent but also in ensuring you get exactly what you want.
JR
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