How do you get maximum value from engaging a recruitment agency? At SULLIVAN Consulting, we believe that recruitment works best when there is a genuine partnership between employer and recruiter. Our role is to take the stress and worry out of the recruitment process, and free up your time to focus on other aspects of your business. So how can you get the most out of this partnership? From our experience, three of the key areas to address are setting clear objectives and expectations, creating open and responsive communication channels, and engaging with the recruitment process. Let’s take a closer look at how getting these things right can bring out the best in your recruitment partnership.
Set clear objectives and expectations
Successful partnerships happen when all partners are working towards a common goal and, ideally, working to their individual strengths. One of our key strengths at SULLIVAN Consulting is leveraging our digital network to reach outstanding candidates for our clients. On the other hand, our clients know their organisation best. Understanding your organisation is essential when partnering with a recruitment agency. As recruiters, we can help you to attract, identify and assess top talent, but you need to decide what you are looking for.
For this reason, we recommend taking the time to determine clear objectives for your recruitment. What skills and experience are you looking for? Is it time to update the job description? Do you need candidates to complete any assessments? Also consider your expectations of the recruitment process. What is the timeframe for filling the position? Do you want a recruitment consultant to attend panel interviews with you? How involved will you be with the recruitment process? Considering these objectives and expectations, and discussing them with your recruitment consultant early on, will help to achieve a smooth, efficient and successful recruitment experience for you and your organisation.
Establish responsive and open communication
Communication is one of the most important aspects of a successful recruitment partnership. Clear and timely communication with your recruitment consultant will help to ensure an effective recruitment process. Responsiveness is particularly important. Don’t forget that candidates are often applying for more than one role, and you need to work quickly to secure first class talent. They may just receive an offer elsewhere while you are deciding whether to progress with their application. Responsive communication, however, will help to build rapport with candidates and maintain engagement with the process.
You can help improve responsiveness by establishing open communication channels with your recruitment consultant. Sometimes there are good reasons for a delay, and a good recruitment consultant understands that as a business person you have many demands on your time. Being open with your consultant about your time constraints and availability allows us to better manage candidate expectations throughout the recruitment process. So take the time to establish clear communication patterns early on. Are you often in meetings and hard to reach by phone? Let us know the best time to call. Do you prefer to respond by email? Make that your primary contact method. By creating clear, open and responsive communication channels with your recruitment consultant from the outset, we can partner with you better to reach your recruitment goals.
Engage with the process
Partnering with a recruitment agency produces the best results when you commit to and engage with the process. Ideally, this means that all candidates being considered go through the agency process. Accepting or considering applications outside of this, for example direct applications, undermines the recruitment process. To get the most benefit from the expertise of your recruiter, they need to consider all candidates on an equal basis. Otherwise you’re just not comparing apples with apples.
So how do you make sure that all internal stakeholders engage with the process? Have a clear internal process for handling recruitment and nominate a point of contact for the recruitment agency. Establish a process for referring interested applicants to the agency process. Even better, develop a regular recruitment partner who gets to know your business and can build long-term relationships with you and your stakeholders over time.
At SULLIVAN Consulting, we value the trust our clients place in us as their recruitment partner. Setting clear objectives and expectations, establishing responsive and open communication, and engaging with the recruitment process all help to develop the recruitment partnership. By partnering with us, SULLIVAN Consulting can take the stress and worry out of the recruitment process for you, and help to make recruitment a positive experience for all concerned.
