What makes a good recruitment partner

There are many challenges facing clients and recruiters but what makes a good recruitment partner?  The list below is not exhaustive, but it addresses those that are for me  some of the key elements:

•  Ability to attract and source relevant, qualified candidates.
• Ability to engage with qualified candidates.
• Efficient, rapid hiring process.
• Data Driven Recruitment.
• An ability to build a strong employer brand.
• Ensuring a good candidate experience.
• A fair recruitment policy; and
• Good Process.

So, what contributes to a good partnership between recruitment partner and client?

From an employer perspective, one of the major factors influencing the recruitment process - and which will allow a recruitment partnership to excel - is receiving a filtered set of well qualified candidates. In my experience, most clients aren’t interested in the volume of candidates but rather are interested in the quality and relevance to the role of candidates received.  

The quality of the job specification provided by the client is key to this as is on-going engagement from both the client and the recruiter to clarify details , identify skills and attributes which may not be in the specification.  It is not uncommon to find that recruiters will submit resumes that have all the skills requested only to be told by the client that actually skill or attribute ‘x’ is absolutely essential but wasn’t mentioned on the original JD or on the initial client Teams call.

This is supported by a former HR Director of a Global Electronics Manufacturer, who indicated that “candidates having relevant role experience, and both the clients and recruiters committing to, and work together to agreed time lines” is essential and they feel this is “very important when dealing with recruitment partners” and that this “contributes to a very good recruitment process and relationship”.

A senior HR manager in a multinational utilities company identified ‘the quality of the candidates being presented, linking to their understanding of the role and the skills and competencies needed’ as being their key requirement for a high performing recruitment partner

The HR Director of a major UK infrastructure company summed up what they think the key attributes are -  simply ‘Honesty and integrity. It’s so important to building a trusting relationship.’

I’m sure that’s something we can all agree on.

In summary, from a recruiter’s point of view, the following will help to create a good partnership with clients.

• If a recruitment partner can demonstrate empathy with a client this will enhance the relationship.
• If the recruiter can understand not only the clients’ requirements but the culture of the client, the recruiter will know the sort of candidates who will be a good fit for the company from a cultural point of view.
• If the client can commit to agreed timelines - deadlines in terms of arranging interviews, interviewing, providing feedback this allows the recruiter to convey more accurate information to the candidate - this improves the overall process and relationship between recruiter, candidate and potential employer.
• If the client has faith in the recruiter and the recruiter has previously demonstrated their ability to deliver to the client , this will pave the way to a better relationship.

It may be possible to enter into an exclusive relationship working with different areas within the client organisation, leading to a deeper, more holistic understanding of the client’s requirements.

Recruitment partners should be an extension of the client and should represent the client as if they were part of the company.  Honesty and integrity are essential at every stage.

Sources for this article include:

HR Director of a major UK infrastructure company, Senior HR Manager of “Big Six” UK Utilities Company;  former HR Director of a Global Electronics manufacturer, a former Financial Shared Services Director of a large international energy company.   NES Advantage. Workable.com  - Myself with over 25 years’ experience in recruitment !!

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