Sep 21, 2011, 5:26 am ET
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Over the last several years I’ve sat through no less than 100 staffing agency “pitches” in person or over the phone. At this point these meetings have begun to all sound very similar, so I’ll bucket agency sales pitches in to these three areas.
“We’re Different.” Almost every agency says they have a special/unique process for reviewing resumes, sourcing candidates, and access to candidates that sets them apart from their competitors. From my experience I’ve not really seen the impact of their “unique” process in the candidates they’ve submitted. Additionally, most agencies don’t appear to have a thorough understanding of their competition. At some point in almost every vendor meeting someone says that they don’t push paper like “everyone else.” I would encourage vendors to have a much more in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape before they make such broad sweeping indictments of their competitors.
“We Build Relationships.” Every vendor I’ve ever sat down with has said they build meaningful relationships with managers and they “get” our business unlike any other vendor in town. As a result they tell me they have the ability to make a cultural fit for our organization. To this statement I like to ask: “Give me an example as to how you screen for cultural fit.” I’ve been underwhelmed by all responses to this point.
“We Have a Proprietary Database.” I’ve heard this one a million times. Vendor ABC has a database of millions of qualified/ interested candidates at their beck and call to fill contract needs. I don’t doubt they have a long list of former contractors they’ve placed, but in my experience most contractors don’t feel the same level of loyalty to their staffing agency. Most contractors are more interested in the type of work, the end client, and compensation. And before you rebuke, I will concede there are notable exceptions to this point, but overall, it’s correct.
Overall my experience is that candidate screening is indeed not that different; that staffing agencies do not have a special candidate database (why, then do I get the same candidate submitted by different vendors all the time?); and your partnership with me is not that strong. In fact, too many vendors treat me as someone to work around than to work with.
Here are my suggestions.
Talk about your recruiting process: In the end, aren’t we hiring a staffing partner to do something we aren’t/can’t do internally? It drives me nuts to see agencies post client requisitions on job boards. This is NOT a value-added partnership. I can purchase a Careerbuilder posting and screen the candidates who apply. More recently I’ve really pushed vendors to talk in depth about their recruiting process. The responses are truly varied. I will absolutely select a staffing vendor based on the depth of their recruiting process.
What actually makes you different? In 15 seconds tell me why you are a truly different partner (without emphasizing any of the three items I mentioned above) and why I would be insane NOT to work with you as a staffing partner. Give me a truly compelling case. If you can’t, then you aren’t any different than the other 10 agencies that will be calling me this week.
Don’t over-promise: Not a lot more to add to this, but on my side of the fence, this is a continually painful part of vendor interaction. If you can’t fill the role, or it’s not something you’ve worked on before, tell me. I’ll respect your honesty, and in the long run you’ll get more work.
Turnover: I want to deal with the same person each and every time I call. Additionally, I do not want to have to re-train my account rep every six months because you have retention issues. This leads to a second challenge: too many newbies. Most recruiting agencies fill most of their recruiting positions with new college grads and then do not support their development appropriately. In short, these new recruiters don’t know how to recruit OR maintain relationships (reference my previous challenges). As a result, I now ask to meet everyone who will be working with my team to fill external needs. I want to meet the manager, account rep, and recruiters that my managers will be talking with.
We do value relationships (on our terms). My last point, is that I truly do believe staffing agencies can add tremendous value to the talent acquisition landscape of organization. I value true experts who do real recruiting and respect my role in the process and organization.
- Counterpoint
- Suzanne Sears Sep 21, 2011 at 10:08 am
Phew: fair but scathing!
So let’s go with the counterview: What Drives Recruiters Nuts about Clients….
a)Assigning 10 or more agencies to fill the same role forcing us to compete with every Tom Dick and Harry in the region……..Want a relationship? Sign up just one or two agencies: see the service then!!
b)Providing Job Descriptions that effectively don’t exist: mainly because they are composite roles: that two or three people used to do before recession times…….and then demanding the candidate be expert in every category to be considered
c)Tossing out candidate profiles: because they don’t like the last Title they had: while saying: We don’t want people who are obsessed with Titles: we want them to just want the opportunity at hand
Can’t tell you how many times I have heard that one: while at the same time saying: Declining Titles means the candidate is going backwards in their career.
d) Demanding Senior level candidates with degrees in fields that have only existed since the year 2000: even though the candidate has worked in the role for 15 years anyway
e) Not hearing from the client for 3 weeks after a resume has been submitted:….meaning we have to chase and chase for a response..and are often just ignored……..leaving both us and the candidates hanging as to level of interest
……the candidate we worked hard to sell drifts away to another opportunity and we have to start all over again
f)Firms that take 3 months to get to 3rd interview and 4 months to hire……..meaning we have to hold the candidates hand the whole time to assure them there really is a job opening…….and its worth pursuing…….as by then the candidate is feeling as if the firm isn’t really eager to hire them………that behind the scenes communication with candidates that is endless is something clients never see…….
g) Working on contingency: meaning no cash: for 6 months to find candidates only to be told: the firm doesn’t think they are going to do any hiring after all……WHAT????
h) Hearing the usual: We only Hire the Best: We are a Unique Firm that needs Special Creative People…….and then they provide a job description that looks like someone’s last Will and Testament…….and end up hiring the VPs best friend anyway.
i) We want to hire for Cultural Fit:……so What is that cultural Fit?…..with the inevitable: Focus on Customer Service…..Hasn’t everyone got to give excellent service nowadays to survive?……blah blah….
All the Corporate Speak garble…..just tell us exactly what you want……want young techie dudes?…..want senior sophisticated luxury reps?…..
If clients want partners: they need to treat their agents that way….with courtesy, clarity and finally: actually hire people to make the relationship mutual.
Ok guess that’s enough from this side of the fence…….
Can’t live without clients 