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October’s budget changes are likely to mean that labour is far more expensive than previously predicted, and businesses throughout the country will be reviewing how every penny is spent in order to save costs. If you’re considering reviewing your recruitment partnerships over the next few months how can you ensure that they align with your business goals and achieve optimal ROI?

In order to receive the maximum benefit from your potential recruitment partner there are a range of questions you need to ask in light of current market trends, such as rising operational costs and evolving workforce demands. Other reasons to look for a new recruitment partner include gaining wider access to the talent you need, freeing up your internal processes to focus on your core business, improving the focus of your business, maximising the potential external resources they can offer you, and increasing your efficiency.

Key considerations:

Research
Thoroughly research all the agencies you have in mind. Check out their history, and find out how long they’ve been active (a simple search on Companies House will show you their trading history and solvency status, as well as who owns and runs them), and check out their reputation on review and comparison sites to see what other clients and candidates have to say about them to ensure they have a reputation for integrity and achieving their objectives.

Processes
Ask about their processes – this should cover their internal systems, their method for candidate provision and what their step-by-step recruitment process is. How do they pre-screen candidates? How do they motivate passive candidates to apply for a new role? What are their success rates? How do they identify and attract candidates? How do they keep talent engaged before, during and after the recruitment process? Do they use any specific recruitment tools? Are their ESG and D&I values aligned with your own?

Experience
Are they experienced in recruitment in your specific sector? Can they provide trend analysis and market research to back up their claims of a deep understanding of the industry in which you want to recruit? Can they provide permanent, contractor and contingent talent? Specialist recruiters employ their sector knowledge to provide you with the candidates that will be the best fit for your business, and understand the role they’re recruiting for too. Do they have case studies that prove they have solved challenges similar to yours in the past.

Flexibility
Flexibility is vital in the recruitment process and enables you to deal with hiring fluctuations in response to market conditions, tight deadlines and constantly changing demands. If your business needs short-term, specialist skills, contractors for longer-term projects, or permanent staff able to make a seamless move to your organisation, make sure that the agencies that you’re considering can offer you a range of options.

Compliance
Supplier compliance is an essential consideration during the tender process, primarily to ensure that the agency you deal with adheres to the law of the land (in respect of such issues as the Equality Act 2010, the Employment Rights Act 1996, and GDPR, for example) but also to protect your own organisation and the talent you’re trying to attract. Insisting on having an agency’s D&I initiatives laid out for you also demonstrates that you put workers’ rights high on your list of priorities and are working hard to ensure a fairer, more inclusive workplace, and one that takes wellbeing seriously.

Cost-effectiveness
Cost-effectiveness matters to ensure optimal ROI, and there are a range of factors to consider when assessing agency fees, including how much you pay if you currently use an agency, the costs of the time and resources involved if you conduct the recruitment process yourself (and its effectiveness) and what services you’ll receive from an agency. A vital consideration, too, is contractor and temp rates – it’s important that you seek a full cost breakdown to ensure complete transparency – if a rate seems too good to be true it probably is, and someone, probably the worker, is being short-changed in the process.

Given that the CIPD estimate that the average in-house cost per hire in the industrial sector is £6,125, rising to £19,000 for a managerial role, the advantages of outsourcing your recruitment requirements to a specialist will not only save you money in the short- and long-term, but also ensure the best possible choice of candidates and help you retain them, ultimately saving you money.

Compatibility
Think carefully if the recruitment partner you’re considering is a company you can actually work with. A recruitment partner is not like any other kind of service provider and it’s important that your values are aligned with one another. Personalities also need to fit, and there needs to be complete mutual respect in order to create a true partnership that’s built to last.

If you’re planning to review your recruitment tender processes over the next few months the points we’ve outlined here will provide you with a good footing on which to start. Of course we’d be delighted to be considered for your recruitment needs – with over 20 years’ experience of sourcing, engaging and managing flexible, temporary and permanent workers in the public sector, the utilities, industrial and transport industries, as well as for commercial organisations, we have the proven track record and experience to help our clients achieve their commercial goals as well as maximise value.

If you’d like to discuss your recruitment needs please contact us here.