I am a recruiter, but I am also an employer. I have sat on both sides of the recruitment desk, felt the pain when I have lost a member of my team, and shouldered the worry of how much it will cost to replace and train a new starter.
However, one thing I do know is that if I don’t invest time into the process, then it will become far more expensive than originally budgeted.
Recently I had a conversation with a business who told me they took on average 10 minutes to brief a recruitment business over the phone, and they usually briefed five to six agencies. When I questioned as to why they didn’t just brief for a more detailed and longer amount of time, the reply was what would we talk about?
In my opinion, I find that an hour is not really long enough to get a full understanding of the business I am going to be sourcing staff for.
Let me explain…
Time spent at the start of the recruitment process is crucial to getting the end result right.
I would never recruit for a role where I have not met the employer, been to the business, researched the company, and in an ideal world – met the team.
Business fit is something that cannot always be explained, but it can be felt, seen and touched. Visiting an office gives you a sense for how the company is run, their values, and the type of individuals that will fit in.
Likewise, when I brief agencies on the type of individuals I want to hire, I want them to know my team, meet my Directors, and feel our company so they know what we will like and what candidate will like us.
This means a long term placement is far more likely than a quick skill based fix.
Taking a brief
Taking a job brief is so much more than ticking boxes, writing down skills, and asking about remuneration. I want to probe into past hires, when it has worked, when it hasn’t. I want to chat about the companies highest performer, what makes them great – is it skill set or attitude. I need to understand what motivates people to stay with the company so I can search for individuals who share the same goals.
Then when I can visualize the person who is right for the role, well, then we can move onto things like the nuts and bolts of salary and package.
Consultant
My job title has two parts – recruitment and consultant.
Quite often it is expected that I just perform the first, but the part of my role that I love with a passion is consulting. When I partner with a business I want to share my knowledge of the market, be honest in my expectations of the brief we have outlined, I want to consult in a way that adds value to the process.
This all takes more than 10 minutes….
If you want a recruitment consultant to do a great job for you, ensure you find the right consultant and then give them the right time to allow them to do their job right.
That way – you can get on with your job whilst they sort out your recruitment.