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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

HR Departments and Recruitment Agencies - one coin, two sides = great value

The impact of the recession and the rise of social media has resulted in some in-house recruiters cutting down – or cutting out completely – their use of recruitment agencies

The impact of the recession and the rise of social media has resulted in some in-house recruiters cutting down – or cutting out completely – their use of recruitment agencies.

However, it has also reinforced the real merit of in-house HR teams working with external recruiters “because we’re both sides of the same coin, and together we deliver better results” says Permanent Solutions Direct managing director Lisa Jarvis.

Forging successful relationships with HR specialists has helped Permanent Solutions Direct to its most successful year since the company was founded in 2005.

Lisa, who is a council board director of REC, and on the committees overseeing industry standards, compliance and qualifications, believes there are six key elements to making the HR/agency partnership work to full potential……

  • Taking the time to form a lasting partnership between HR department and recruitment agency.
  • Ensuring the recruitment process adheres to REC and CIPD principles.
  • Having confidence that the agency is properly representing the client’s brand values.
  • Trusting the agency, if necessary, to talk to the line manager to whom the candidate would ultimately report.
  • Appreciating that agencies, with their specialist databases of both active and inactive potential candidates and skills in interrogating online sources such as LinkedIn, are almost certainly the best solution for difficult-to-fill vacancies with tight timescales, and
  • Ensuring the agency has a genuine approach to candidate care – HR departments can easily check this at candidate interview.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adds Lisa: “In the current market, major companies will typically target their in-house HR people with finding 80 percent of new employees, with 20 percent being sourced by agencies.

“It’s therefore imperative that agencies should be hired by HR departments on the basis of their commitment, professionalism and ability to work hand-in-glove together.”