Love is in the air: Find the right Recruitment Partner for you

Posted on 9th February 2017

So you think you’ve found the one?

They say that finding your life partner is the number one thing on the to do list, find this and everything else will (eventually) fall into place; but in business, it would have to be finding the right partners. One of the biggest barriers to business growth in London is the quest to attract and retain not only the best talent and skills, but also the right culture fit for your business. Here at The Maine Group we are in our 30th year of getting just that exactly right. Never has it been more important for our market, notably in London, to find the right recruitment partner and know that they make candidate attraction on your behalf their number one priority.

Without the right people, businesses and growth plans will fail and in this market it is equally important to be retaining good people. As a result of the recent uncertainty, businesses aren’t being decisive and one of the key outcomes of this is that employees don’t know what their future holds, or where they stand, causing retention rates to fall. Therefore, it’s really important for businesses to be decisive, even if they are to stand firm and maintain position, that is still moving forward.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, its might be time to take a new look at your partnerships and court someone new. Are they checking all of your boxes? We believe that whether you engage with us, The Maine Group, or you source your own recruitment partner, there are some elements that must be considered.

Guarantees

What kind of guarantees will your recruitment partner offer you? Will they share the risk of not finding that right match for your world? 30 years ago, The Maine Group set the bar at a 3 month, 100% guarantee; others will offer you sliding scale, or a shorter term. It’s for you decide what guarantees suit your business model; just ensure that your recruitment partner is supporting you.

Don’t forget, this is not only for your permanent employees, but should also be discussed for your flexible working contingent.

Vetting, Testing, and Referencing

Even in the day of facetime and skype, too many recruiters rely on a cv and a telephone call alone to ‘get to know’ candidates. We recommend, through our own experience, that there should be at least a two stage vetting process – first on the phone, then a face to face meeting. This should then be followed by testing for relevant skills, and most importantly corroborating the candidates experience and fit from a third party. We reference all of our candidates as standard, as we want to ensure that our candidates are who they say they are, and do what they say they can do!

Take the Time to Meet Your Recruiter

Make sure they know you, they know your world, your culture, and that they are the right fit. Culture is so important when hiring, they really need to understand your values and beliefs. If it doesn’t feel like your recruiters are an extension of your business, then they are not the right team for you.

Professional Accreditations

Are your chosen partners’ members of a professional recruitment body?
Ensure that your recruitment partner follows best practice guidelines; the REC are running a campaign for good recruitment which has ‘received the backing of some of the UK’s largest employers’. The aim is to ‘bring together likeminded HR and recruitment professionals to share knowledge, raise standards, and commit to excellent practice’ [Read more here]. These standards are what you should expect from your recruiter.

True Consultants in Recruitment

A recruiters’ job is not to put CVs in front of you, they should consult with you, and get to know and understand your world. The value they add should be to make you the best and most attractive employer. This takes a partnership approach - from your job descriptions, your interview process, right through to the on-boarding of your new team member; your recruitment partner of choice should be guiding you through the stages, and where needed, vetting your process to ensure it is aligned with what you are looking for. They should be identifying the skills and person fit needed for both your company and the roles.

Alongside the recruitment element, they should be offering you payroll services, market knowledge, outplacement support, interview advice and training for line managers, benchmarking exercises, and, most importantly, they should be completely up to date with their legislation. We offer our clients salary surveys and face to face employment law update events as a minimum.

Whether you’ve just started looking for a recruitment partner, or you’re not receiving the level of service you expect and are looking for someone new, these are the things you need to take into account when finding ‘the one’. Just like in love, the pursuit of the perfect business relationship requires uncompromising standards, hard work, honesty, and trust. Look for the recruitment partner that knows you, your world, and what your business needs.

To find out more about The Maine Group, or to enquire how we can help you, please contact our CEO, Meeta Sahni here, or call our office on 020 7734 7341.

Coming up next in the CEO Series…