Recruiting Strategy
Your guide to using recruitment agencies to help you hire
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
While technology has made hiring simpler for smaller organisations - with recruiting software and applicant tracking systems - there is sometimes the need for extra manpower in your recruiting efforts. Many organisations will opt for the help of a recruitment agency or many recruitment agencies.
Recruitment agencies will take over the hiring efforts of your organisation, meeting your needs with the required talent. Recruitment agencies will use various pricing structures to pay for their efforts. But is a recruitment agency always the best idea for your company? Here are a few things to note:
There are a number of benefits to using a recruitment agency. Firstly, they make the problem go away, but there is a lot more to using an agency. They have a vast knowledge of recruiting strategies and of the recruitment industry - recruiting is their bread and butter.
They have a network of contacts and potentially a pool of talent they can draw from
One obvious benefit is that they hire relatively quickly. They have a network of contacts and potentially a pool of talent they can draw from. Where there is intense competition for talent or where you are experiencing a low response rate, they may have this work done already.
If you have a small HR team, no internal recruiter or no recruiting team, they will take pressure off your organisation. There is also the potential for cost savings, where they take responsibility for sourcing and engaging with talent.
There are a few things to bear in mind when considering using a recruitment agency. While they have considerable industry knowledge that you can leverage, a little knowledge can help you make the best decision possible.
Is the recruitment agency suitable for you and your needs? You need to work with an agency with whom you can build a positive working relationship. Along with that, should you be seeking a specialist recruitment agency for the type of talent you need?
One very important person to consider is the candidate
One very important person to consider is the candidate. If you are using a recruitment agency, candidates may be reluctant to engage with them, as they will not be working for your company directly. On the other hand, this flexibility suits many candidates.
The knowledge and experience that an agency could bring to your recruiting efforts is extensive, but there are reasons why using a recruitment agency may not suit your organization. Communication is actually at the root of quite a few disadvantages to using a recruitment agency.
While you might want to let an agency handle recruiting, you should not hand over all control. Your organisation has needs and goals for this candidate to fulfill, so you should have some input into who gets shortlisted or selected.
You may have no contact with candidates, which might leave desirable candidates fall through the cracks. While whatever criteria you list for a recruitment agency will form the basis for good hiring, there are some aspects of a candidate’s personality or aptitude that you will get to know through direct contact with them.
“HireHive makes the team a lot more productive. We’d be lost without it. Team Leaders can do it all themselves if needed or jump in at the right time and know exactly where everything is and what’s happening.”
Hilary Dempsey Head of HR at Life Credit union
