Performance managing your recruitment/staffing provider
- Editor's Pick
- Published on 13 Nov 2012
- Natalie Singer
Most companies have structured performance review systems in place for their employees but only a handful have anything to assess their recruitment or staffing provider.
Recruitment costs are significant and while many companies have strict tendering requirements and service level agreements in place with their preferred suppliers, too few have a system to assess delivery accurately. After all, what do you measure:
- Price or spend?
- Number of CVs submitted per vacancy?
- Number of interviews set up with candidates?
- Number of placements?
- Success of the placed candidate over a period of time, i.e. 6 months?
People are not products
Applying simple service delivery assessments, as with products, does not work. People are by nature flexible, unreliable and open to a myriad of things that can change their circumstances and affect their employment. You cannot say that if employee A does not work out, the provider should simply substitute with employee B, as would be the case with a defective product.
Most of the staffing industry provides a form a guarantee but companies are cautioned against viewing this as a guarantee on the individual. After all, no one can predict what another person will do in the future. Rather, this guarantee should talk to the delivery of the service that has been agreed between the provider and the client.
For instance, it would not be reasonable to expect an agency to replace a candidate who suddenly becomes ill and incapable of doing the job, except if it could be proven that the agency knew about the illness and purposely did not disclose this to the client, knowing full well that the placement would not be successful. The controllable aspects are the recruitment methodologies and due diligence undertaken by the agency in assessing the candidate, not the decisions of the candidate or employer once the placement has been made.
Avoid comparing apples with oranges
On the surface, most recruiters seem to be offering the same service. But don’t be fooled!. There is a myriad of different recruitment methodologies, and clients should ensure that they fully understand what they are buying. So, when you assess a provider ask these six questions:
1. What is their area of specialisation? Can they prove success?
2. How do they source their applicants?
3. What processes are followed to screen applicants? Method of interview, assessments, verification checks, etc.?
4. What is the experience and expertise of the consultant assigned to manage the account?
5. What kind of success do they have in terms of placement and do their candidates remain in employment for a significant period of time?
6. How much do they know about your business? Will they be able to source people effectively who not only meet the technical requirements but would also be a good ‘culture fit’?
It may be worthwhile to invite interested providers to make a formal presentation to your HR team. This way you can access their level of expertise, question their methodology and determine if there is a fit for a mutually beneficial partnership going forward.
Review your list of recruiters annually
There is no point in having a preferred supplier list as long as your arm if the companies on it are not performing. Spend time each year assessing the suppliers against your expectations and their actual delivery and chop those who haven’t made the grade.
At the end of the year, ask yourself:
1. Which agencies actually made placements in the past year? Remove any that have not made any placements.
2. Of those who made placements, what kind of placements did they make? For example, have they tended to excel in placing IT people, finance, or technical? Separate your suppliers into subject-matter experts. Keep these lists separate and only send them specs for relevant positions, rather than the shotgun approach of sending all specs to everyone on the list.
3. Of the candidates who were placed, how many did not make it through the probation (or guarantee) period?
Interrogate why this happened. Was it related to poor recruitment, or something else? How often has it happened per agency? If the problems appear to be with the initial recruitment process, consider ditching agencies that consistently do not perform.
4. How many of the placed candidates have proven to be value-added employees who are contributing to the overall goals of the organisation? These are the agencies you want to work with so invest time in these relationships.
A shorter list of specialised providers is not only easier to manage but you will be surprised at the increased quality levels that will come from providers who are no longer competing with every Joe Soap and who feel they can invest time and effort in developing long-term relationships with you.
