Organizations that work with placement companies as "just another" provider do not understand the business called recruitment and manpower. Recruiters' work processes and relationships with placement companies can be the difference between a profit line and a loss line in the company's annual report. And if you think I'm exaggerating or you want to know how to work with headhunters, this article is just for you
Why did the relationship with placement companies became so important for you success?
I was working as a consultant to an organization, trying among other things to improve the recruitment process in their company. There were 2 major problems int this organization while working with the placement companies:
One - they worked with a limited supply of companies specializing only in their professional field.
Two - they assumed that placement companies were a provider they pay and treat like all others and therefore the placement company should pursue the organization to get Answers. It seemed okay for them not to update the headhunters when positions are closed. It's also not bad if they sometimes say that they know the candidate even though they actually got his resume after it was sent to them. So where exactly is the loss here for the company you ask?
This poor performance Head Hunterdoes not provide any resume
Did you ever happen to know a placement company that has been around for years and provides you nothing? True, we always ask ourselves - How do they make a living? They are so bad and do not know how to work. But that is not the right question. I recommend that you ask yourself the following question - why doesn't this placement company send us a resume? My basic premise is this is a company that has a some profit (otherwise it would close) so it succeeds in making the the job done, just not for our company. I promised earlier that we would talk about the company's loss line and here's the bottom line - remember the company I consulted to on their recruitment? they did not recruit for many key positions in the company and their products were not ready ont time, plus they lost many sales due to lack of manpower. This was calculated to hundreds of thousands of Euro's. So first of all, sometimes when there is no choice and you fail to recruit, it is best to pay to pay to a placement company to bring in manpower and earn hundreds of thousands in return.
How do the placement companies work
Placement and Head Hunter companies have a complete pool of clients for whom they provide placement services, sometimes there have unique jobs and sometimes have the same job for several companies. As a placement company, it's all about its apparent interest in recruiting as many employees as possible to increase the profit line. What does this mean for recruiters in organizations? The following is the list of errors that exist in organizations today towards placement companies:
- Do not respond when getting a CV or respond after a long time, which makes candidates irrelevant
- Ask for exposure of details and then update that the candidate is recognized even though it's not
- Don't update when a position is closed
- Open a position just to see what's on the market without the need for real recruitment
- Don't send updates on new positions and expect placement companies to chase after the organization to get the details
- Open positions without details or with inaccurate details and then come in with claims when getting irrelevant resumes
True, placement companies are not guilt-free and undoubtedly make many mistakes. They are also sometimes act unprofessional in many parameters, but in this article I will address the side of organizations in the work interface.
So how come they have candidates that we do not have?
- Personal contact with applicants who are not actively seeking but they can contact them when a relevant job opens
- Many applicants do not send resumes because they fear that their current employer will find out. They only work with placement companies who know where they are working and make sure their resumes arrive at the right destination
- Some applicants simply do not want to work hard and they prefer that the hunter will do everything for them. Therefore they do not send resumes to organizations
- The placement companies receive a resume that you don't have either way because your company doesn't work with the same site or they just drafted a more attractive ad than you and / or published an ad in a different place than you
- The placement companies have collaborations with each other, increasing their search pool for non-market candidates
- Head Hunters have huge databases and many jobs and they can contact dormant applicants who are currently not actively submitting your position or will not respond to your inquiries on LinkedIn
- Some placement companies simply know how to hunt better than you on LinkedIn or Facebook or sell the job more convincingly. Placement people are salespeople, usually serves you as well
How to deal with placement companies
- Regularly send out the active positions and recruitment profiles
- In important or complex jobs, a 2-3 minute call to explain. In particular positions it can be the difference between successful recruitment and ongoing search
- If you have closed a position - updated the companies so that they will not waste their time in pursuit of false candidates. Their time is worth their money. A placement company who finds that a position was closed after they send you a candidate might drop gear in it's relationship with you.
- Sometimes it's good to give a Push to companies by giving them an exclusive one day recruitment for a job to show that it's important to you and you trust them
- Respond in time to phones, emails and messages
- It is permissible and even desirable to send holiday gifts and invite your leading suppliers for frontal meetings
- Pay for the service on time - if you need to involve the VP, Human Resources and even the CEO. A good placement company is hard to find and they also talk to each other. Companies that have a bad name will get a low priority from placement providers. The fact that you signed a contract does not mean that you will receive the best resume
- Sometimes aggressive bargaining on conditions that seems economical will cost you dearly - if you are a placement company and you have a candidate for 2 different companies while one of them with better placement conditions, who will send the candidate first? Give the companies fair conditions and always prefer to recruit important candidates for the company over saving a couple of Euro's. It's usually just not worth it
- When the candidate doesn't fit - Explain why so that the placement company can learn to improve next time
- Connect them to friends and companies who want to recruit and help them increase their profits, a company you are happy with will most often give you better resume and make more effort for you as gratitude
In conclusion
The relationship and work processes with placement, recruitment and hiring companies have a significant impact on the organization and success of the human resources department. Examine yourself after reading the article - How do you treat your placement companies?
