Lorraine Thomas, pictured, managing director of staff search and selection company Metzger, looks at ways in which you can evaluate performance and value when using a search consultant.
There’s a saying that goes “time spent on hiring is time well spent’, and these days, in the competitive, candidate-driven market that we’re seeing at the moment, most employers would probably agree. Engaging the best talent requires meticulous planning and a committed, structured strategy and of course, this requires dedicated resources.
For that reason, amongst others, many companies prefer to use a search specialist. To clarify, search typically means headhunting, a highly targeted process often employed for a senior level appointment, which involves extensive, proactive research across different networks. Selection, on the other hand, focuses on recruitment from say, advertising, and may involve response handling, screening, interviewing and so on, on behalf of a client.
While engaging a search consultant is not an insignificant investment, it can be highly worthwhile, ensuring a good pool of candidates and ultimately, helping you find the right match for your business. The cost and disruption caused to an organisation through hiring the wrong person can far outweigh the cost of effective recruitment.
We have worked with contract cleaning and FM employers for more than 20 years and we recognise the importance of measurement, evaluation and added value throughout the process. All search companies are not the same, and it’s critical that you know what you are getting for your investment! Here, I outline a number of factors that may be useful when measuring the value and success of a search consultant.
Pre-campaign support
Choosing the right candidate isn’t just about qualifications or experience, it’s about chemistry and cultural fit. This means a good search partner needs not only understand the actual brief, but your business and its internal culture too. Long before the ‘search’ begins, they should support you by helping you define the role and the appropriate capability, competence and that all important match.
Breadth of search
Crucially in my view, a consultant should challenge the brief, by encouraging the client to think beyond their normal parameters of recruitment or ‘outside the box’. In sectors like contract cleaning and FM, companies seeking a new client facing sales director, for instance, could consider extending their recruitment strategy to other industries where front of house skills are key, like hospitality, leisure or catering. We have successfully sourced many high-calibre candidates from adjacent industries, who have moved seamlessly into their new role. To find good people, you need to be looking in the right places and many experienced search consultants will make the most of their network and include ‘passive’ talent in their target population (those who are not actively looking to move but who could be tempted with the right offer).
Brand feedback and perception
The hiring process is an invaluable opportunity to learn about your business. View it as market research! If you work with a search specialist, they should give you a clear insight into how your organisation is viewed out there in the industry. What are the positives and negatives? Do candidates want to work for you and why – or why not? How do you fare against competitors? Are renumeration packages and progression opportunities appropriate? This feedback can support your future recruitment and help to shape marketing plans and brand positioning.
Candidate communications
Visibility of activity around the search is very important. Giving employers regular updates on who we are talking to, what the feedback is from candidates, why applicants are interested in leaving their current role, salary expectations and so on, is a critical element of our brief. (Clearly, we must also respect commercial confidentialities.) Aside from drawing up a shortlist for a particular role, we can help build a pool of potential talent that employers can draw from in the future.
Candidate quality
Even with a dedicated in-house HR function, carrying out all the necessary research on the person’s career and achievements, 360 degree reviews, psychometric assessments and so on, can take a significant amount of time – one clear advantage of appointing a search consultant is that they can conduct these checks for you. However, using a search consultant that specialises in your industry should give you extra reassurance, as they should be able to informally reference candidates through their own network of contacts.
The candidate’s experience
How you handle your recruitment process is how your candidates will perceive your business, so it’s important that your shortlist is kept informed, and feedback given fairly and professionally. A good search partner will manage this well and they can also be a useful third party, particularly when it comes to managing salary expectations or counter-offers from competitors. Testing the motivation of candidate throughout the process is a vital part of our process, to ensure that the person is committed to a move. Occasionally, the unexpected happens – when a first choice candidate suddenly becomes unavailable, for instance, or changes their mind about the role– but a good consultant will manage this sensitively, and most importantly, be able to keep other preferred shortlisted candidates interested until final decisions have been made.
Client experience
We’ve been working with most of our clients in the cleaning industry for many years, and we’ve come to know their requirements well. However, evaluating each campaign, assessing its strengths and weaknesses – and if there was anything we could have done differently – is critical to ensuring client satisfaction, and this should be the case for any experienced search consultant. This debrief is an essential part of the process. Equally, following up with both parties, once the candidate is in place, makes it easier to resolve any issues an early stage.
