Leveraging positive momentum and building brand

Bad news sells. If you were to listen to the media you would think that the recruitment market is all doom and gloom. Redundancies seem to be commonplace, however, what we are seeing isn’t as bad as it seems.

Now I’m not saying the market is back to the fast pace and golden days of 2022, but we are seeing momentum come back. After a slow January, we are seeing more jobs coming through, more people looking for a new role and more conversations being had.

How to maximise your relationships

We always say that you should be building those partnerships with your chosen recruitment agent in the quieter times so that they are ready to go when you need them, but have you ever thought of it from the perspective of choosing an agent that aligns with your business based on values, skill set, expertise and communication?

Taking the time to intentionally choose someone based on what matters to you and your organisation can make a world of difference in terms of service level and sharing your company’s brand with the market.

Service levels vs cost

We experience 2 main types of relationships with our clients.

There are ones that send a job description out to 10 agencies with the hope that surely one of them will find the right person, right? This often leads to you receiving an overwhelming amount of CVs to work through yourself, possibly a lot of duplicates, and can result in a lot of wasted time on both ends with multiple terms discussions and confusion in the marketplace.

It also means whichever consultant reaches a candidate first gets to give them the first introduction and sell your business... this is fine if you are confident that this is being done right. If not you could be losing candidates & damaging your brand without even knowing about it.

The other type of client has chosen to work with us exclusively or on a small, selective panel of agencies who have taken the time to get to know their business. They have been given the time to not only source the best person for the role but to also source the best person for their company based on a deeper understanding of the culture and values.

Both of these services will probably cost the same but will offer very different levels of service. By intentionally choosing your agency before the need to hire arises you can have a totally different experience.

Company brand and public image

The first point of contact many potential employees have with your business could be via a recruiter. Not everyone will get the job, but everyone will be left with a first impression of your business – what do you want that to be?

Building a partnership with your agency and utilising them as an extension of your business can be a way of controlling that message to the market.

We spend so much time working on branding and communications to our potential customers, that marketing the message to potential employees should be no different. It’s not just about finding the right person to fill the need. It’s also about leaving a good impression on the ones who aren’t successful on this occasion.

Get them involved earlier in the process

Once your agency has a good understanding of your business, values, culture and communication style, then getting them involved earlier in the hiring process can assist with decision-making and future planning.

Your agent will have a variety of data and analytics tools that can give you valuable insights into salary benchmarking, demographics, talent shortages, alternative skillsets and much more. They will know about your competitors and be able to advise on retention plans and a recruitment strategy that aligns with your organisation.

Use your agency for all the added extras as these normally come free of charge as part of investing in the partnership.

For more on the added extras that your agency can provide, refer to Part 1 - Optimising the relationship between talent teams and recruitment agencies

In summary, momentum is starting to return to the market. Job flow is rising and the market feels more positive than the news would allow you to believe.

Be intentional about who you want to work with and control your message to the market by building a lasting partnership with your agency. You will get a much more efficient service and will be able to leverage the insights we can share to help with decision-making and future planning for your team.

If you want to discuss any of the points above or want to explore tailored data and insights for your organisation, contact our team of experts today.