Why a Company Need a Recruitment Agency?

Recruitment is a process that is inherent to every company. A recruitment agency came to existence as a result of supplementing the over demand for candidates. The workforce has been the need of organizations from times unknown. As interesting as having soldiers in your troop, to a comedian in a circus, or filling the deficit of male workers by female workers in the world war situations.

A recruitment agency might be a fancy name today, but stretch its importance in the testing times. Recruitment agencies have supported big and small clients and even start-ups. The need for a workforce that an organization is unable to supplement internally is attainable by engaging a recruitment consultant.

A recruitment agency is the extended arm of any organization, a domain where they can fall back on in case of critical and pressing recruitment needs. Organizations, most of the time, have their inbuilt recruitment teams, but how does a recruitment consultant come to ease the gap between the candidate and the consultant is a testimony of continuous engagements.

Recruitment agencies have, to a large extent, brought a clear and visible difference to the organization they work with.

1) Selling Your Company to Job Applicants

Even top-notch and well-known companies advertise their job requirements. For small companies, an advertisement-supported by a website and other company details comes as a selling point. But what about start-ups? They are just beginning, and there is nothing to showcase their credibility.

A recruitment consultant would keep their recruitment strategy different for the different scale of companies. Well-known companies don’t need much introduction, but better shortlisting the best skill in the industry.

A medium-sized company can be promoted based on its credentials so far as the opportunities an emerging company can provide. Start-ups are the most difficult to sell and therefore need to be backed with credible information and effort. A recruitment agency, to a considerable extent, makes an effort to market your company to the applicants. They make your recruitment process easier by making the applicants find value in your company.

2) Specialized Shortlisting and Evaluation

The activity of identifying a specific skill set and bringing in a niche applicant to the desk is the task of a recruitment consultant. A recruitment consultant is usually hired to fulfill job requirements that the internal HR or recruitment team is unable to meet. A recruitment agency have a vast database and can source candidates immediately. Some consultants also maintain a specialized database of certain skillsets and replenish as per their clients’ ongoing requirements.

The evaluation process also eliminates unwanted skills and makes the recruitment process a step easier.

3) Industry Salary Benchmark

The recruitment agency is at the core of the job market and has a good hold on the industry and competition. The recruitment agencies are well informed about the market tides as they are in touch with applicants across different sectors. A Recruitment consultant should be able to produce a reliable industry salary benchmark in addition to their recruitment skills.

4) A Vast Pool of Curated Applicants

A recruitment agency has an enormous pool of applicant databases. They work on replenishing and renewing the database from time to time and therefore come as a logical choice to source c.v’s.

Some Recruitment agency brings specializations. The specializations can be across location, skills, experience, industry, male/female, cadre, and other classifications. Such a recruitment agency might not be able to meet the regular requirements, but niche ones.

5) Payment Relaxation Facility

The recruitment process is a six months process for any consultant. It starts from getting the requirement, shortlisting Cv’s, sharing c.v’s, client shortlisting the c.v’s, the interview process, rejection/selection, offer, joining period, joining formalities, invoice and payment terms.

The above process easily stretches over six months minimum and sometimes beyond. The applicant notice period and payment terms might delay the process further from case to case. However, the recruitment term also showcases that if the candidate leaves within three months of joining, the recruitment agency has to give another candidate as a free replacement. In case, an optional choice is not given, the recruitment consultant loses on the payment.

The organization can stretch back on the payment terms and enjoy the credit period as some organizations pay as much as 3 or 6 months after the candidate joins. Such organizations enjoy the payment relaxations. In case, of missed replacement, again, the organization is at a winning edge.

6) Headhunting

Headhunting has been the skill of the tribal. They engaged in a game of hunting and slew the heads of their game (prey). However, headhunting in recruitment is identifying the right person for a job requirement. Headhunting was very efficiently and adroitly practised by a recruitment agency in the last couple of decades when applicants weren’t on social media, online resume databases, or even registered with recruitment agencies.

The task of the head-hunters was identifying an applicant with a similar skill set as required from the competitor organization, approach them subtly and stealthily through cold calls and sell them the job proposition. It was a long process and less rewarding, but it was one aspect that recruitment agencies did specialize in. Headhunting is practiced even today, but only with senior management positions.

7) Cultural Fit

Recruitment agency after working for you, knowing your employee selection processes as well as analysis criteria know which applicant will culturally fit your organization. An applicant from the hospitality industry will be a cultural misfit incorporate as well; an applicant from a global MNC will find challenges adapting to a start-up. A Recruitment agency comes to bridge this gap by aligning the right candidate for your company.

Also Read: Employee Traning And Development

The Commercial Aspect

Different recruitment agency charge different fee structures according to the type of placement you are involving in.

Recruitment can be permanent and temporary.

Permanent Recruitment

• A Recruitment agency usually charges a month’s salary, which is 8.33% of the CTC of the employee.
• If a candidate recommended by a recruitment consultant leaves within a period of 3 months, a replacement is provided free of cost.

Temporary Recruitment

• Temporary recruitment is also known as recruitment on a retainer basis. This staffing is an ongoing requirement and might need a gap.
• Recruitment agencies charge on a monthly retainer basis to the organizations.

Executive Search

An executive search firm caters to the niche and management level recruitments. Executive search firms charge a considerable amount of CTC, which might also include getting referral checks done.

1) Recruitment Agency as Efficient Partners

A recruitment agency has, to a large extent, brought down the recruitment process by identifying the right match and hence cutting down on the selection process at the organization level. Some of the crucial aspects of hiring a recruitment consultant are

2) Start-ups

You are too occupied to make everything fall in place as well as recruit a dedicated HR person to increase your team size. A recruitment agency is your best allies and can certainly add value to your budding enterprise.

3) Executive Searches / Senior Management Recruitment

Executive Searches are performed in a stealth mode and are a long engaging process. Having a recruitment partner will not only ensure bringing the right fit to the role but also having the entire process executed seamlessly and also, there is a recruitment agency that specializes in Executive Searches and can come to aid.

4) Meeting Recruitment Urgencies

Every organization has an HR department that practices a full-fledged recruitment process. However, sometimes, there is an emergency hiring situation, and employees have to be recruited in bulk to support a project in the pipeline, seasonal splurge in sales, meeting understaffed requirements post a change in the policy to start recruiting or opening a new department.

A Recruitment agency will come to aid with their vast pool of c.v’s and can also engage candidates in the initial rounds of interviews, cutting down the recruitment process. Recruitment agencies are known to work around a deadline and can be the best support for timely executions.

5) Foraying Newer Markets

If your organization is looking to open a new office, in a new market, nationally or internationally, getting a local recruitment agency involved serves best. The local recruitment agency has a database that is strong with local candidates, and therefore the question of relocating existing employees and the expenses can be saved. Culture and language barriers can also be handled to a larger extent by recruiting local candidates.

6) Building the Databank

A recruitment consultant can also get on a task to create a candidate databank of the most utilized skills, that your company might require.

Online Resume Database v/s Recruitment Agency

The online resume database is merely a database supported by the latest contact numbers and typical search criteria. However, recruitment agency comes as value addition as they bring their human resource skills and evaluation expertise in bringing you the right resource for your organization.

Internal Recruitment Team v/s Recruitment Agency

The internal recruitment team will time and again address the recruitment needs of the organization, plan, execute, and re-plan. However, there are scenarios where the internal recruitment team is already tied up with backlogs, and a critical job vacancy opens up, and it is difficult to manage.  There are scenarios where handling bulk recruitments and generating a continuous flow of CV’s is require. Eliminating the initial rounds of interviews by outsourcing is then a feasible task.  For executing planned approaches and making future recruitment projections, a back-up partner as a recruitment consultant will continue to be the need of every organization. A recruitment agency comes to enrich the experience and ensure a seamless process.

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