Do you know what to look for in a recruitment partner?

Having a strong relationship with the right recruitment partner who understands your business, its culture, vision, mission, and values along with supporting you to attract the right mix of people and skills to your workforce, is vitally important in todays labour market. Do you know what to look for?

In the current climate where costs are being put under pressure and where we have seen a downturn in economic growth, many organisations are not prioritising their recruitment strategy and partnerships. In previous years, this type of market would usually see a reduction in job numbers and an increase in candidate availability, however, this is not the case now.

• We now have lower migration rates which means that the growth of non-UK-born younger people is 90,000 lower per year than in 2016.
• More people have longer-term health conditions which are preventing them from working and being economically active.
• We have an aging population with 1m more workers over the age of 50, than in their 20’s and many chose early retirement in the pandemic.

All of this means that for the first time in over 3 years, the supply of candidates into the labour market is decreasing.

The length of time people stay in jobs has changed significantly. We used to see the longest time people spent in jobs at around 10 years, however this has dropped to around 4 years now, with more than one in ten people leaving after 1 year. The average tenure is now 2-5 years and if you need to replace an employee it could take up to 28 weeks and cost over £25,000 in lost productivity.

Culture and team fit are increasingly becoming more important and working with the right recruiter who understands this can help you retain and attract the right people. Working with a good recruitment consultant who can effectively “sell” your business and its culture to potential active and passive candidates can give you the edge you need in the current climate.

• As the jobs market changes around 50% of all jobs are now classed as “high skilled” according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) lightcast’s labour market tracker, as apposed to one in five being “low skilled”.

There are not enough people in the labour market with the skills that are in demand which is resulting in many businesses having job vacancies that are harder to fill. As a result of this, some organisations have had to look at other ways to attract the talent.

Many business leaders think that they don’t need recruitment agencies until they are hiring, however taking the time to meet with your new (potential) recruitment partner and looking to build a relationship ahead of the time when you will need them is key. It will help to make sure that they really know and understand your business and what a good employee looks like so that they can keep you in mind whenever they are speaking to new potential candidates. They would be able to flag great candidates to you ahead of time so that you don’t miss out on the best talent in the market that not only matches the skills you need, but also that vital culture fit.

The right recruitment partner will support and challenge you on your retention, employer branding, employee engagement and labour market changes and insights to support your development plans. They should be thought of as the outsourced professional services consultants that are there to advise you every step of the way, just as your accountant, solicitor or IT Consultant does.

If your recruitment partner takes the time to fully understand your business, your products or services, your aspirations and how you stand out from your competition, they will be able to find candidates that are the best fit for you and the business. They will be able to work closely with the candidates to ensure that their expectations of the role and your company match the reality which will mean they are more likely to accept any job offer.

The more you engage with them, the better the service and the more benefits to your business in the longer term.

Instead of sending on a job description and leaving the recruiter to fire CV’s back to see if any of them are relevant, we would advise that you factor in the time to go through the vacancy in more detail with the recruitment consultant, making sure that they understand everything you need them to be aware of around the role, the hiring manager, the team and your interview process. If this can be done face to face, then it will give the recruiter chance to ask questions and give feedback or advice if the brief isn’t realistic.

Time is of the essence in the current climate, so being able to move quickly when the right candidates are put in front of you is essential. Block out time for interviews so that you don’t miss out on the best candidates. Moving quickly on job offers for the right candidate and giving feedback on those that are not successful is equally as important so that those who you are considering don’t lose enthusiasm for joining your company.

Our top tips for identifying a good recruitment partner are:

• Are they members of the REC?
• Do they uphold high standards of service and compliance?
• Do they understand their market, and can they offer advice and guidance with market insights?
• Is Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), Sustainability, and Community and Social Responsibility (CSR) important to them?
• Do they focus on the Culture and Team fit when they recruit rather than just the CV?
• Do they meet with you regularly, even when you are not recruiting to understand your business and how its changing?
• Are they proactive in matching people to your organisation even before you have a recruitment need?
• Do they give you more added value services?
• Do they support you in looking at your retention process and employer branding to attract the best people to your business?
• Are they able to demonstrate how they go that extra mile for you?

There will always be recruiters who decide to cut corners and those who don’t prioritise service to their clients. However, as key members of the REC since 2018, KD Recruitment uphold the highest of standards and work to the REC’s code of conduct with regular assessments of our compliance and service delivery.

When considering a new recruitment partner, it should be good practice to ask them about their compliance regime and how they uphold their high standards of recruitment practice.

For more information on how we could support your organisation, please get in touch here or call the office on the following numbers:

Scarborough: [phone removed]

York: [phone removed]

Hull: [phone removed]

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