Filling up job vacancies usually call for a swift hiring processes. In an effort to move through it as quickly as possible, many employers may feel that hiring multiple recruitment firms is the best idea, especially if there is a strong sense of urgency to fill a specific position. The logic is that the more recruiters you hire, the faster it will be to find a candidate.
However, when it comes to recruitment agencies, more is not always better. If you work with multiple recruiters you can’t always have the vacancy filled faster, and engaging several firms won’t necessarily give you a higher quality talent options. Too often, employers fall victim to this more outdated, traditional multi-agency model and they experience poor outcomes. Please find information below that can help you make informed decisions about employing multiple or exclusive recruitment agencies to fill your hiring needs.
Drawbacks of Launching Multiple Recruiters
In essence, these recruitment firms are fishing in the same pool of prospects, so this type of approach is flawed for a number of reasons.
What are the downsides of hiring multiple recruiters?
- Naturally, the search becomes a case of who can offer you candidates the fastest, rather than who can provide you with the best and most fitting candidate for the position. It becomes a race where the multiple recruiters’ eye for detail, caution, diligence, and selectivity fall by the wayside.
- You will receive endless phone calls, a barrage of redundant follow-ups, and countless demands for feedback and meetings on top of getting plenty of resumes—because recruiters are persistent in nature. Some of your inquiries may even come from candidates with whom the recruiters may not have even met, or even taken the time to explain the opportunity to.
- As mentioned, these recruiters are searching in the same pool of talent, so two or more recruiters may likely present you with the same candidate, resulting in a tug-of-war where you become the referee.
- Enlisting multiple recruitment agencies demonstrates a low individual investment. Since recruiters are contingency-based, they may respond in a comparable low investment level. This explains why some consultants forward resumes to you or resort to database searching in the hope that they may have a chance upon a candidate that might be of your interest. This hit and miss approach that is designed to deliver fast results at any cost, can be detrimental to finding the right person for the job, and can leave a poor impression on both candidates and employers.
- Candidates may see your business as disorganized when they receive phone calls for the same vacancy but from different recruitment agencies. It can lead to confusion and potentially to some top talent backing out due to receiving inconsistent information.
- Contingency based recruiters are often overloaded with too many positions to fill. This type of recruitment firm often overload their recruiters with 20 to 40 positions to fill at one. This is due to the intense competition created when multiple firms are all vying to successfully place their candidate with one employer. The success rate is low, and therefore they need to be simultaneously working on many different jobs in order to generate some type of success. This approach comes with some major drawbacks, which include recruiters gravitating to the lowest hanging fruit. Meaning they only put their efforts into the jobs that look easiest to fill, or will provide them with the highest financial reward upon success. Furthermore, whilst juggling so many jobs to fill, one recruiter doesn’t have the time to get to know the client’s business and the profile of candidates that will generate the most successful outcome for the client. Without this understanding, they are often simply shooting in the dark and firing resumes over to the client in the hope that there will eventually be a match in there somewhere.
Exclusivity is the Way to Go It
If you appoint one recruiter to find your candidate you can avoid many of the pitfalls listed above. Engaging one recruiting firm for a period of exclusivity provides ample benefits, such as the following:
- Knowing that the job won’t be pulled out from underneath them at any moment, the recruiter has the time to gain a better understanding of your business, its group dynamics, and its culture, enabling him or her to tailor the search process to suit your preferences and specific requirements.
- There is a greater level of responsibility and sense of ownership with exclusive recruiters that a multi-agency recruiter working on a contingency basis can never exceed. With exclusivity, the recruiter is focused on finding quality candidates and providing you with the right person, rather than giving you the first resume they find in a rushed and hap-hazard manner
- Working exclusively allows the consultant to take a detailed job request, where they can get to know your needs better, and therefore can be able to provide you with more relevant candidates.
- Recruiters put more effort and energy into clients who are willing to work as partners and who agree to a period of exclusivity, which displays your willingness and commitment to build a true partnership. In turn, the recruiter is likely to reward that effort with urgency, energy and dedication. Remember, recruitment revolves around the concept of building rapport and strong relationships. The better relationship you have with the recruiter, the more they can prioritize your requirement.
- There will be no dispute over who will get the success fee in an instance where several recruiters have presented the same candidate. This keeps the process of billing much simpler.
- Working exclusively will also save you countless hours of interviewing, screening, and being exposed to an endless parading of candidates who may not be suitable for the role. An exclusive firm will do all those tedious pre-screening tasks for you and deliver only a few highly qualified candidates to your door for final deliberation.
- The recruiter is able to fully invest his or her time to implement a targeted recruitment campaign. This means a more detailed search and a more strategic plan. The recruiter will not solely rely on database search. Instead, he will bring all of his or her resources to the table, and will tap into appropriate contacts, communities, networks, and social media to uncover a broader range of targeted and highly specific candidates who can’t be found in a simple and rushed search process.
- Exclusivity also avoids quick keyword searches to look for resumes of random candidates with whom a recruiter may not even have spoken with. An exclusive consultant will tap into the passive talent market and proactively call better-suited candidates who might not be actively seeking a job. Passive candidates make up over 80% of most markets, and therefore this is where you should be seeking future employees in order to find the best suited people for your company.
- A consultant whose sole focus is to staff your open position will advise you on how you can secure the right person, guide the candidates through the search process, and help you negotiate the salary and close the deal.
- Your confidentiality is preserved and information about the open position is kept accurate as the position is not being touted by numerous recruiting firms, who all may have a slightly different approach and story for candidates.
- Recruitment is a two-way street. More than identifying the experience and skills you required and getting the right cultural fit for your organisation. How your company is likely to fulfill the recruiter’s expectations and needs is also an important aspect to take into account. If you work under exclusivity, you can focus on building a stronger relationship with one firm, rather than trying to meet the demands of multiple agencies and individual recruiters.
Points to Consider
Selecting a recruitment company to work with under exclusivity from the countless agencies available is not that simple, not all recruiters may be able to help you. Make certain that the recruiting firm you choose fully understands the role and your selection criteria. Also, see to it that they have a solid placement track record within your niche and industry. Just keep your bar high and the right consultant will surely be able to respond to your level of commitment. When you have found the right firm, you can be sure that an exclusively appointed recruiter is fully committed to your relationship and your needs. They will feel an extra sense of responsibility to deliver the right candidate for you under all circumstances. Knowing full well that if they do not deliver for you, no one else is there to pick up the pieces. If you combine this extra sense of responsibility with the fact that no one else can steal the placement from under their feet, then the exclusive recruiter also has the time to speak with you in more detail and become more in tune with your culture, the candidate profile and the needs of your business. This is the smartest way to work, and it provides you with the best results and a trusted partner in recruitment who is always there for you through thick and thin.