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Make the Most of your Recruitment Partner

At JP Smith Recruitment and HR, the two most common reasons we see for organisations wanting to work with us is either because they don’t have the time to conduct a full and comprehensive recruitment exercise themselves, or they feel they don’t have the expertise to recruit effectively. In either case, they need a recruitment Partner to guide, mentor and support a robust recruitment process. However, all the recruiting expertise in the world won’t net a good result, unless organisations are willing to enter into an open and mutually beneficial relationship with our consultancy. Whoever you work with, it is important to know how to make the most of your recruitment partner to ensure success.

It all starts with the job brief. A job brief is not just an opportunity to consult with your recruitment Partner about the job and what you need from the incumbent. Although this is a major part, it also provides an opportunity for the consultant to provide advice on current market conditions, candidate salary averages and quartiles as well as whether your expectations are reasonable. Often then and there, a skilled consultant can work with you to find the right balance between the vacant role providing value to your organisation, whilst still being attractive to the right candidates.

An interview is a three way street. When it comes to the interview stage of the process, it is wise to discuss thoroughly the candidates that your consultant has put forward to you and examine why they thought them worthy of consideration. Discuss with your consultant the questions already covered in their interview so that you can focus more so on cultural and personality fit. Finally, ensure that you provide your consultant with feedback as to the adequacy of the candidates presented. This ensures that all interviewee’s receive quality feedback if unsuccessful.

Candidate negotiation is hard work. Unfortunately, many quality candidates are lost at the salary negotiation stage. There is a fine line between completing due diligence (reference checking, psychological testing etc.) and taking too long to make a decision. Take too much time to decide and your candidate may accept another offer, but alternatively, decide too quickly and you can potentially be making a costly mistake. Your recruitment Partner should be skilled in the “art” of negotiation and provide assistance in keeping the candidate engaged whilst you do research. Further to this, they should be actively helping with the “due diligence” to ensure that it is completed in a timely fashion.

Engage and retain. Arguably, the most important stage of any recruitment process is actually what you do after your new hire starts. A recruitment Partner truly committed to an ongoing professional relationship will continue to provide support long after the placement has been made. One of the most beneficial services a consultant can provide is regimented follow ups with the candidate. This enables Managers to get an insight into any issues a new hire may be having and also, gives the candidate another forum with which to share their thoughts. Thoughts they may not be comfortable sharing with their direct Manager.

Partnering with a professional recruitment consultancy can take a lot of the frustration out of any recruitment process and in most cases, saves time and potentially money. This can only happen however, if you are committed to working with your recruitment Partner and treating them as such. If you feel that your current partnership isn’t working to its full potential, or would like to use a recruitment Partner for the first time, I would be happy to discuss how we can help. 

Declan Ryan 

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