5 Characteristics of Great Recruiting Firms

Introduction

Once a company decides that certain resource needs are best served by partnering with a staffing agency, the question then becomes which staffing agency will be the best partner from a cultural perspective as well as who can cost effectively provide the best candidates to fill the client’s staffing requirements.  Axelerate’s leadership, broad industry capabilities and exceptional experience is ready to meet your staffing needs

Here we present 5 characteristics of staffing companies that we believe potential clients should explore when evaluating a potential staffing partner.

Industry Expertise / Experience

Having deep knowledge within the domain of interest is not negotiable, but what about the less tangible attribute of domain expertise.  Having hired these types of roles before is a positive indicator.  Since no recruiter is going to have permanent staff tuned to every skill/role contingency, the question becomes is the organization nimble enough to adapt outside their comfort zone?  Can they access individuals to assist them in the hiring process - augmenting their own domain experience if necessary?  

Good recruiters will challenge your own knowledge of a resource requirement by assessing it in-depth.  Adept recruiters know that even the best job descriptions are subject to revision and the staffing agency must be adaptive – prepared to encounter and engage these situations

Is the recruiting agency able to elaborate on the state of an industry in terms of recruiting issues and challenges the client needs to be aware of?  Consider a recruiter’s record of attending industry conventions and events as a good indicator that they remain current within the industries they serve.

Internal Staff Quality

There is nothing more depressing than meeting your prospective recruiter for the first time and feeling like the people you’ve just met have themselves been sent over by some temp firm.  Each potential client will assess recruiters according to their own standards, but consider the following:

• Experience – experience not only within the domain knowledge of a staffing requirement but staffing credentials period.
• Turnover – has the staff been around for a while?  If staff are turning over every year you have every right to be concerned.
• Regional understanding – how in tune with a client’s region of interest, whether for a specific hire or whether that is a client’s home location, is the recruiting firm?  Every geographic entity has its nuances, does your recruiter understand yours?

Service Satisfaction

Here I’m referring to both customers of the Recruiting Firm as well as the people who have worked for the Firm. Through whatever means - evaluations, reviews, or conversations – determine what is it like to do business with the recruiter, and work for the recruiter.

Post Hiring Responsibilities

The staffing agency’s hiring process should provide this information clearly.  A quality recruiting firm will maintain a ‘high-touch’ customer care approach without being a pain in the you know what.  Following up at reasonable intervals acts as both a courtesy and a real verification that ‘all is well.’  It also provides the means to assess the situation and adjust as necessary.

In order to maintain a certain quality level of service, the recruiter needs to be the first in line regarding the delivery of information.  Proper information flow is critical not only to filling the position but maintaining it and getting the maximum value from it.

Expectations of the Client

Staffing companies want to help you find the best workers for your organization, and it’s difficult to do if hiring managers don't communicate clearly and thoroughly about their company, the position and what type of individual will best meet the challenges of the position.  And while it is incumbent on the recruiter to detail the requirements of any new hire, going it alone serves neither party well.  This state of affairs must be maintained through the complete life-cycle of the job fulfillment process.

Conclusion

Whether you’re making use of an on-demand staffing solution for an emergent requirement or staffing for a planned one – ensure your staffing agency selection can satisfactorily “weigh-in” on the measure of merits presented here.