Mar 7, 2016
Over the years I have worked with literally hundreds of clients across a variety of sectors. The people I serviced within these clients held some different positions within Technology, Data, HR and Talent Acquisition.
I was recently inducting some new recruiters into Precision Sourcing, and we began discussing the profile of a target client. This soon got me thinking about some of the greatest client relationships I have enjoyed, and why these clients were such a positive experience for both myself and the candidates, I placed with them. For privacy reason, I will state only the industry and location of the client.
Data Business – Australia
These guys have an open door policy. We can work the day onsite, grab breakfast, coffee or even use their facilities if required. Their openness and willingness to embrace us into their culture and business are so refreshing that we have been able to become a partner that is culturally aligned.
The simple fact is that because we understand their business so well, the candidates we deliver also do. This makes for an efficient recruitment process that saves a lot of time.
Message: Open the door and embrace recruiters as essential partners to your business goals.
Pharmaceutical Company – UK
This very hectic and preoccupied business became my number one client for several years, and this relationship was based on trust. I would receive a communication explaining they needed resources on-site for Monday. No interview, no technical test and no references for the client to execute. They expected me to deliver the resources on-site for Monday and introduce them face to face at 9 am.
I was accountable for the culture, experience and skill match which meant a lot of sleepless nights as I carried the weight of the decision making on who should and shouldn’t be selected.
Of course, I executed the due diligence mentioned above however knowing that you and you alone were selecting the resource that was to aid them in achieving their project goals was humbling at times. I worked a lot of weekends to make this client a success for me, however, in doing so I learnt a great deal about the role of a true recruiter.
Message: Trust and listen to the advice of those recruiters who have consistently delivered to your business time and time again.
Manufacturing Business – Australia
This client’s project was very much failing which meant a particular type of character was needed to join the project team. Some of my candidates simply didn’t enjoy the first interview stage and feedback on the client’s interview style was not complimentary. Candidates simply didn’t want to work for a failing project or a person that didn’t exactly inspire during the interview process.
As a solution, I suggested sitting in on the client’s interviews. I was able to understand the challenges this hiring manager had. Like a lot of technical people, this person was promoted into a hiring position with no previous experience of hiring, competency based questioning or the importance of knowing that a candidate is also assessing you.
I was able to coach this particular client via a workshop format enabling them to start then attracting candidates via a professional interview format and process.
Message: Engage recruiters that can add value in other ways other than via the usual transnational process.
Logistics Business – Australia
After a very long and detailed selection process, we were selected to become a supplier to this impressive client. Expecting to join a panel formatted in the usual way I was surprised to find that we were granted exclusivity for a period on all vacancies within our specialist niche markets.
The clients thinking was that they wanted 100% of our time focused on 100% of their jobs and they believe that they will get this via an exclusive relationship. We agreed too.
Greg Savage wrote an interesting article about why exclusivity is in a client’s best interests http://gregsavage.com.au/2011/06/08/15-reasons-why-exclusivity-is-in-your-clients-best-interests, but for me, it was refreshing to partner with a business who understood that using four suppliers probably means that you will only get 25% of that recruiter’s attention.
Message: Understand which recruiters are true specialists within the sectors you find most challenging to resource in. Select them via a robust process and review their performance regularly.
FMCG – Australia
This client is complex. Payment terms are lengthy and the process of collecting funds is challenging. We got ourselves into a position whereby funds were not paid on time as per the terms of business and, on the other hand, we were diligently paying their/our resources on time and as expected.
After explaining the challenges of cash flow we were experiencing along with the protracted and pedantic payment process our client kindly used their own personal corporate credit card to bring the debtor ledger up to date. A huge sum but they understood our challenge and to make matters easier they were also able to support us in negotiating more reasonable payment terms that allowed us to maintain a healthy balance sheet with them moving forward.
Message: Pay suppliers on time and as per the terms of business.
