In today’s HR environment, employers are taking significant measures to protect their investment. This includes evaluating and refining HR practices, equipment, staff and external partnerships like employment agencies or recruiters. The majority of employers know the costs of hiring the wrong person can be exponential, but what about the costs of partnering with the wrong recruiter? It happens all the time, bad recruiting. Nevertheless, the good news is…it doesn’t have too. Before hiring a recruiter or employment agency, make sure they perform these job functions flawlessly and without additional charge.
• Experience & History of Success: At a minimum, a quality recruiter should have a solid background in recruiting with a history of successfully placing employees with companies. Trust me, when you’re in dire need to find a great candidate, don’t waste your time with an agency that lacks the depth and expertise to help. Nothing can drain your budget more than wasting time working with a firm that can’t deliver qualified candidates.
• Spot Problematic Job Descriptions: A recruiter should be able to highlight potential flaws in a job description. In some job descriptions, there are phrases or details that can attract the wrong candidate. Conversely, there are key words that are needed to attract the right one. A good recruiter can review and revise immediately to get an employer the best possible candidates.
• Access to an Exceptional Talent Pool: A recruiter must have a strong talent pool to access. The amount of time and money that this can save an employer can be substantial. If you’re evaluating an employment agency/recruiter, find out their specialty, any specific details they can provide about their immediate talent pool and get references to back up any claims.
• Paid To Screen: This is a big one. In fact, when it comes to partnering with a recruiter, it’s probably the one that’s most overlooked. A recruiter for hire is paid to screen the candidates for employers. A recruiter’s ratio-to-hire should be on average 1:6. If your recruiter or internal hiring manager’s ratio-to-hire is significantly higher, than you’re losing valuable time and money. Partnering with a firm that can consistently deliver faster more efficient results can be immense cost savings to an employer.
• Checking References: This is another critical point. An experienced and competent recruiter goes above and beyond checking the standard references and delivers a quality candidate for employers every time. Poor reference checks can lead to employers investing in the wrong candidate, high turnover and unnecessary expenses. At CRI, we take reference checks serious so much we have internally developed, proprietary referencing system that protects clients from fraudulent references, called Bradshaw Referencing. To learn more about our method and more, visit our Bradshaw Referencing page.
• Helps with Follow Up: One of the biggest complaints out there is the lack of follow up to candidates when a company isn’t interested. We get it. Companies move fast and forget faster. A great recruiting partner can help with that process and won’t charge you either. This type of communication takes minutes and can have a lasting effect both for the candidate, recruiter and the company.
Smart employers will never stop looking to improve their processes, partnerships and overall protecting one of their biggest assets, the employees. Taking a closer look at your recruiting efforts is a great place to start. The right recruiting partner can undoubtedly improve your HR efforts and gain substantial savings in the long run.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Ingrid Moore
Ingrid Moore is the Founder and CEO of Corporate Resources of Illinois, an employment & staffing agency with over 20+ years’ experience located in Schaumburg, IL. Ingrid and her team assist employers with finding the right hire for their business. For more info, follow us on our LinkedIn Company Page, or follow us Corporate Resources of Illinois‘s Google+ page.
