Many employers believe they’ll get a better result and widen the pool of candidates by briefing more than one recruiter.

But that’s simply not true for so many reasons.

I know what you’re thinking, of course he’d say that. He wants the commission all to himself!

But forget about trying to find any ulterior motive: using an exclusive recruiter is better for businesses. Here’s why.


5 reasons using multiple recruiters is bad for businesses

1. Your recruiters will do less work.

Recruiters usually get paid on commissions. On contingent assignments, if they don’t make a placement they’re paid nothing. They’re also usually very busy – at least if they’re any good. Put these two factors together and you can be sure that when you brief multiple recruiters each will spend less time and effort – not more – on filling your position than if they get the job exclusively. After all, no one likes wasting time on work they’re unlikely to be paid for. Many recruiters also end up tripping over candidates who have already been interviewed for other roles so it wastes the candidate’s and the recruiter’s time and reflects poorly on the hiring company.

2. You won’t see the best candidates.

If a recruiter has “rockstar” candidates they will reserve them as a reward for their loyal clients who have engaged them exclusively in order to cement the relationship and get ongoing exclusive briefs. Furthermore, if a candidate is uncovered during an exclusive brief, the recruiter will hold them for that client whereas for non-exclusive briefs, the candidate may be “shopped around” to several firms so bidding wars and delays become inevitable.

3. The focus will shift from quality to speed.

While we’re still on the subject, a non-exclusive recruiter’s focus generally shifts from submitting quality candidates to getting things done fast. Many will aim to get their candidates’ CVs registered first so they can lock it in, irrespective of whether their candidates are suitable. This results in more CVs for the hiring manager to review and undermines the value of the recruitment process itself, which is to screen the candidates first. In fact, some less scrupulous recruiters even send CVs without even having interviewed or spoken to the candidate – just so they can log their name first.

4. It’s bad for your reputation.

Using multiple recruiters can also be bad for an employer’s brand reputation. If candidates hear of the same job from multiple sources it reflects badly on the business, making them seem disorganised or, worse still, desperate and no one wants to work for an employer like that. In the current market, where there is a shift of bargaining power in favour of the good candidates, employers can shoot themselves in the foot and miss out on the top talent.

5. You’ll eat up a lot more time in admin.

There’s a lot of double handling involved when employers brief multiple recruiters for the same job vacancy. You are better investing time in one recruiter who understands your firm, the culture and what makes a successful candidate. Who needs more paperwork, which just adds time and costs? You will also invariably be dragged in to adjudicate over multiple recruiters claiming to represent the same candidate. This never ends well, with double invoices or, worse still, litigation. The easiest solution can be to pass over the candidate altogether and choose someone else.

The Key Point …

To use an analogy from the legal world, using multiple recruiters is the equivalent of going to five lawyers to draft a shareholders’ agreement and only paying the one you like first.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

This can be applied to your role as a recruiter and also emulated to your clients and candidates.

1. The Law of Navigation – “Anyone can steer a ship but it takes a leader to chart the course”

Leaders see the whole trip in their minds before they leave the dock. They have a vision for getting to their destination, they understand what it will take to get there, they know who they’ll need on their team to be successful, and they recognize the obstacles long before they appear on the horizon.

2. The Law of Solid Ground – “Trust is the foundation of leadership”

How does a leader build trust? By consistently exemplifying competence, connection, and character.

3. The Law of Victory – “Leaders find a way for the team to win”

Victorious leaders have one thing in common: they share an unwillingness to accept defeat. The alternative to ‘winner’ is totally unacceptable to them. As a result, they figure out what must be done to achieve victory.

4. The Law of Priorities – ‘Leaders understand that activity is not necessarily accomplishment”

Leaders never advance to a point where they no longer need to prioritize. It’s something that good leaders keep doing no matter the task. Think of the 3 R’s: What is required?, What gives the greatest return?, What brings the greatest reward?

5. The Law of Timing – “When to lead is as important as what to do and where to go”

Good leaders recognize that when to lead is as important as what to do and where to go. Timing is often the difference between success and failure in an endeavor.

In New England, a favorite summer activity for many is fishing. I saw some folks fishing off a local bridge last weekend and it got me thinking – recruitment is a lot like fishing (minus the cargo shorts and cold beer, maybe). You must first have the knowledge, insight and patience to understand exactly what your client is looking for in a perfect fish (candidate), and then find the right fishing spot and dangle the right bait (an attractive job order) to reel in that perfect person.

Job seekers are the fish, swimming around, looking for the best possible bait – a role with a great employer to provide them with money, security, training, leadership and opportunity. There are plenty of fish in the sea, but in regards to talent, you’re bound to have some bottom-feeders, as well as a few prized fish like tuna and salmon.

Like a fisherman trying to catch the right fish, if you are a recruiter, you are looking to reel in the perfect employee to provide your client with the skills, knowledge, and cultural fit they’re looking for. So you have to know where to go. Kind of like how fishermen anticipate migration routes, you have to stay upstream of market trends to stay afloat. Maybe you have to travel away from your regular fishing pond for some variety. If you haven’t gotten any bites and don’t have the right candidate in your database, maybe talk to some trading partners to see if they have a candidate who wants to relocate to your client’s area. Fish actively.

When you fish, you must make sure you have the right tools and bait to catch the kind of fish you want. Similarly, recruiters have to make sure they have the right “bait” to attract the kind of candidates they want, because others will likely be fishing in the same spot, too. When you post your jobs online, you can’t throw out a broad net, because you’ll only be scooping up the bottom-feeders; you need the right bait (a clear, concise and specific job posting) to attract those select healthy fish in the candidate pool. Choose the type of fish you want to catch before you choose your bait and tools, and tailor your job posting to that exact candidate.

Once you’ve found a suitable candidate and dangle the bait (their CV) in front of your client, keep a finger on the line so you know when there’s a bite. Just how most fish escape because the fishing line is taken slack, recruitment is no different – make sure to follow up and give feedback often. No one wants to harp on ‘the one that got away.’

While fishing is a leisure activity for many, it takes years of experience to become a great fisherman. If you know the best places to “fish,” have other “fishermen” to bounce new ideas off of, and the right tools, you’re well on your way to landing that big catch.

Whether you’re an employer with ongoing hiring needs or have a one-off role to fill, using a recruitment agency is definitely an option worth considering. There are many traits and characteristics to consider when you are evaluating recruitment agencies. If you’re unsure how to select a recruitment agency, here are some pointers worth evaluating:

Relational or Transactional

Broadly, a transactional recruiter will approach your needs as a transaction. A relational recruiter will take time to develop a thorough understanding of your business and culture, and will want to partner with you in a strategic manner for the long term. There is nothing wrong a transactional approach; for certain roles, it may even be desired. What’s most important is to think about how YOU want to work. If you have a transactional mindset and the recruiter has a relational approach, neither side is likely to be satisfied with the working arrangement. In general, however, I think recruiters are more successful when they develop those strong, deep client relationships. They’re more effective at finding good-fit candidates, and understanding your long-term goals can help them work with you on building your team in a strategic way.

Experience

How long has the agency been in business? What about the individual recruiters? What was their pre-recruitment background? Have they worked in your particular industry? It’s also good to know WHO you’ll be working with on your recruitment assignment – a tenured recruiter, or someone who is learning the ropes. Ideally, you’re looking for a firm with a proven track record of success, and that will most likely come from years of experience. Firms that have been in business for a number of years will generally have weathered some economic ups and downs and know how to survive in a slow market.

Specialist or Generalist

Recruitment firms come in all different styles. Some will be “generalist” firms across the board. Others will be made of individual specialists. Others may be micro-specialists, serving a niche-within-a-niche. There’s not necessarily a right or wrong answer to this question; a lot of it will depend on the business you’re in and the kind of hiring you need to do. If you’re a manufacturing facility and generally need the same sorts of engineers, operations professionals, plant managers, etc. on a consistent and ongoing basis, a generalist firm with manufacturing experience might be perfect for your needs. If you’re a law firm or a hospital, it’s probably best to look for a recruitment agency that focuses specifically on lawyers or nurses. In my experience, there aren’t a lot of “generalist” firms that are really equipped to effectively source those types of candidates. If you need a person with a very specific (and rare) skill set, and you already know there are not a lot of those professionals in existence, a micro-specialist is the way to go. These recruiters have deep networks and relationships; if they don’t already know who all the prime candidates are, they’re going to be able to tap their resources to find them.

Methodology

How does the recruitment agency work? What services are they providing? Be sure you understand exactly what you’re buying and how the process is going to work, including a timeline for presenting candidates and obtaining feedback from you. A successful, professional recruiter should be able to document (or at least thoroughly describe) the steps they will take to complete your search from initial discussion all the way to the candidate’s first day on the job (and maybe longer!).

And there is more but most importantly:

Hiring top talent is a major priority for successful, competitive businesses. Make sure you understand how to select a recruitment agency that will help you meet your hiring needs and goals both now and in the future.

Organizing Genius by Bennis is one of my favourite business books. In the chapter “The End of the Great Man” he concludes by saying:

“In a Great Group you are liberated for a time from the prison of self. As part of the team, you are on leave from the mundane, (no questions asked), with its meager rewards and sometimes onerous obligations. [On such teams nobody] ever talks about the long days or who got credit for what. All they remember is the excitement of pushing back the boundaries of doing something superbly well that no one has ever done before. Genius is rare, and the chance to exercise it in a dance with others is rarer still…. In Great Groups, talents come alive.”

He starts the chapter by saying “None of us is as smart as all of us.”

“We all know that cooperation and collaboration grow more important every day….. Yet despite the rhetoric of collaboration, we continue to advocate it in a culture in which people strive to distinguish themselves as individuals.. We continue to live in a byline culture where recognition and status are accorded to individuals, not groups. … Throughout history, groups of people, often without conscious design, have successfully blended individual and collective effort to create something new and wonderful….. Great Groups have reshaped the world in very different and enduring ways. We have to recognize a new paradigm: not of great leaders alone, but of great leaders who exist in a fertile relationship with a Great Group. In these creative alliances the leader and the team are able to achieve something together that neither could achieve alone. The leader finds greatness in the group. And he or she helps members find it in themselves.”

Great Groups are “made up of greatly gifted people. Each achieved or produced something spectacular new and each was widely influential, often sparking creative collaboration everywhere.… Group seem to be most successful when undertaking tangible projects.… The project brings them together and brings out the collective best.… It is no surprise that we tend to underestimate just how much creative work is accomplished by groups. A Great Group can be a goad, a check, a sounding board, and a source of inspiration, support, and even love…. Great Groups are organizations fully engaged in the thrilling process of discovery.”

“The organizations of the future will increasingly depend on the creativity of their members to survive. And the leaders of those organizations will be those who find ways both to retain their talented and interdependent minded staffs and to set them free to do their best, most imaginative work…. In a truly creative collaboration, work is pleasure, and the only rules and procedures are those that advance the common cause…. Great groups rarely have morale problems. Intrinsically motivated, for the most part, the people in them are buoyed by the joy of problem-solving…. Imagine how much richer and happier our organization’s would be if, like Great Groups, they were filled with people working as hard and as intelligently as they can, to caught up for pettiness, their sense of self, grounded in the bedrock of talent and achievement..”

“Any participant would tell you that he or she would rather be here than anywhere else. The money doesn’t matter, career doesn’t matter, the project is all. In some cases, personal relationships have been interrupted or deferred. It’s hard to have a life when you’re up half the night in the lab working on your part of a compelling problem, often with one of your equally obsessed colleagues at your side. This is not a job. This is a mission, carried out by people with fire in their eyes.”

“Great Groups… all have extraordinary leaders, and, as a corollary, these groups tend to lose their way when they lose their leadership. Great Groups tend to be collegial and non-hierarchical, people by singularly competent individuals who often have an anti-authoritarian streak. Nonetheless, virtually every Great Group has a strong and visionary head. [Such leaders have] a keen eye for talent. Sometimes Great Groups just seem to grow. Some places and individuals become so identified with excellence and excitement that they become magnets for the talented…. But Great Groups are made as well. Recruiting the right genius for the job is the first step in building many great collaborations. Great Groups are inevitably forged by people unafraid of hiring people better than themselves. Such recruiters look for two things: excellence and the ability to work with others…. who play well in the sandbox with others.”

“Those who are brought on board saw themselves as an enviable elite, however overworked and underpaid.… [These leaders] sought to recruit only the best person, in the needed specially the project required. Each person was told why he had been chosen: He was the best one to be had….. Great Groups often tend to attract mavericks… If not out and out rebels; participants may lack traditional credentials or exist on the margins of their professions. .. With often delusional confidence… [their] lack of experience is an asset, not a liability, because these unseasoned recruits do not usually know what’s supposed to be impossible. Thus many Great Groups are fueled by an invigorating, completely unrealistic view of what they can accomplish. Not knowing what they can’t do puts everything in the realm of the possible.… “We didn’t know we couldn’t do it, so we did it.” In short, experience tends to make people more realistic, and that’s not necessarily a good thing…[leaving] an inability to act and the loss of self trust.”

“Curiosity fuels every Great Group. The members don’t simply solve problems. They are engaged in a process of discovery that it’s own reward…. They have another quality that allows them both to identify significant problems and define creative, boundary busting solutions rather than simplistic ones. They have hungry, urgent minds, expansive interests and encyclopedic knowledge…. People are able to make connections that others don’t see, in part because they have command of more data in the first place. Individual and collective achievements result from the interplay of distinguished minds.”

“Great Groups don’t have to be told what to do, although they need to be nudged back on task.Great groups are coordinated teams of original thinkers…. They are people who get things done, but there are people with immortal longings. Often, they are scientifically minded people with poetry in their souls……

Inspirational leaders can transform even mundane projects, turning them, too, into missions from God. They are always people with an original vision… promising a challenge worthy of a Crusader. Leaders are people who believe so passionately that they can seduce other people into sharing their dream…. of doing something superbly well that no one had ever done before.”

It is useful because it gives us both a chronological development sequence as well as outlining distinct and practical leadership attributes. Here is the progression:

Level 1: Achiever

Collins describes this individual as highly capable making productive contributions through individual talent, skills and know-how, as well as honed working habits.

Level 2: Cooperator

We see this leader as a team member who works effectively with others in group mode, jointly contributing to the team’s goals.

Level 3: Organizer

Now, the individual rises to learn management competencies, in organizing people and resources effectively to the pursuit of objectives from on high.

Level 4: Visionary

At this level we see a leader who has the ability to unite people to vigorously pursue a clear and compelling vision; stimulating the collective and catalyzing their commitment to high performance outputs in attaining the dream.

Level 5: Sculptor

This Is Collins key contribution: he discovered that some few business leaders could build “enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will”.

Now we add what we see as two yet higher levels of leadership development:

Level 6: Humanitarian

This is the skill and attitude to transcend “self” and our personal empires (including the sculptor’s empire). Here we find the empathy and objectivity to see and feel from the perspective of other cultures and individualities’ needs, wants, burdens and hopes. The humanitarian is able to translate this learned “outgoing concern” into unifying words and subsequent movements, on scales both small and big.

Level 7: Liberator

This emancipator goes beyond support from followers to personally lead those followers to relieve the troubles and burdens of an oppressed group. Usually this leader can bust the compromises an industry or government imposes on people. Most often this is done through strategic innovation. Because innovation, at least at first, does not directly affect the status quo, it often begins quietly, going unnoticed until its impact begins to build momentum. At that point, the energy behind the innovation begins to change the world and its old burdensome ways – – people are liberated from the oppression. Liberators are leaders who have developed the know-how and attitudes to bust all sorts of imposed compromise.

Above we have, an outline, a thumbnail sketch of leadership development in the context of humility and vision.

The whole reason to hire a search firm when we have an opening to fill or a position to plan is simple. We want them to unearth the one very best candidate in the marketplace that will make a true difference in our company. Procuring such people requires a very high skill level not ordinarily found inside our company or for that matter outside. Not only do the individuals need to be located but they also need to be reassured how beneficial a move would be by someone who offers emotional support and objective advice; a candidate needs to be advised by someone who cares. The hiring company likewise also needs objective advice about their choices and the meaning of those choices. They also need the carefully chosen words of an intelligent, articulate advocate who can advance the corporate client’s case. There is a balance between seizing the initiative and exercising appropriate risk management as the right person is sought out.

Fortune Magazine has said that there are “competent executives everywhere whose performances are underrated and unrewarded standing a better chance than ever before being noticed and courted by someone else”. There is a reason why the best people change firms and and it rarely has to do with money. Good executive move for opportunity and the satisfaction to be a top performer, to live with purpose and collaborate with a winning team

When a critical role goes unfilled, it can have a huge impact on company growth. You’ll need to have a plan in place to cover the job duties for the position while you are recruiting for it as efficiently as possible.
When the perfect match is not on the shelf, companies are left with no option other than hiring a headhunter who can find the best employee for the vacant position.

According to Rob Adams, author of If You Build It, Will They Come, more than 65% of new products introduced by established companies, with already entrenched products, will fail; for start-up companies the failure rate is over 90%.

The probabilities for success, with a new innovation, increase dramatically when a Jobs-to-Be-Done analysis is done. Ulwick & Bettencourt claim an 80% innovation success rate when that analysis uncovers what customers really want (see Step 4: Generate Game Changing Ideas). That analysis focuses on individual customer needs. We can drive that 80% success rate even higher by looking at market analysis and segment examination.

Where to Jump In

Adams tells us markets can be analyzed from the perspective of four significant types of buyers: early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. In the early adopter stage of market development, costs are high, volumes are low and the manufacturing learning curve is huge; it is very hard to make money because of the high initial costs of (1) manufacturing the innovation, (2) marketing from scratch, and (3) selling it through new channels and people. The learning curve is filled with expenses from experimentation.

Fast-Followers often jump in when a product hits a 5% share of the market. At this point, end-user demand is just starting to move towards mainstream. A significant problem is being solved so the user is willing to pay a premium price. Investment costs for sales and marketing are typically lower than the early adopter stage, but still substantial. The early majority stage is the most lucrative because high-margin products step onto a rocket ship of demand. The profitability eventually attracts aggressive competitors usually from companies in adjacent markets. In these hot markets, a land grab for market share is the norm; the strategy is to grow share at all costs.

Where Not To

The late majority stage occurs because the market approaches saturation and user demand begins to slow. Competition forces prices to drop and market share increases seem to come, not from new customers, but from grabbing them from competitors. Brand recognition and differentiation with features is the motif for survival. Niche innovation and disruptive services become the only islands of profitability that have the potential to create entirely new markets.

In the laggard stage, the market is completely saturated. Oversupply is everywhere. Only the consolidators survive. The only effective strategy is to become a consolidator or to sell out to one. Customers are acquired, not created.

The lesson to be learned about this four-stage market lifecycle, in terms of innovation, is that it is much easier to sell a product or service to a new customer than to go after competitor’s customers. So we can see where the greatest return for the least investment can be found. Also notable is that the early adopter stage is too expensive for most companies in terms of time, money and risk. It is better for us to look for opportunities in the early majority stage where markets are expanding and where, in particular, certain sub-sectors are growing at an amazing clip. While at first glance this may seem obvious, the vast majority of businesses neither understand nor heed this lesson. And, therein is the difference between a low and a high probability of success with new products and service innovation.

Proven Winners Quickly

Being a fast follower means knowing how to imitate products and services already “out there” that are starting to win; in other words, they are proven or near proven. With that proof, our innovation risk falls even further.

Oded Shenkar in Copycats tells us the principles of imitation are not only consistent with innovation, their practice enables even more innovation. Further, copycatting means being able to move at an even faster pace than doing pure innovation. In a world where our markets change so fast, our survival may depend on learning how to imitate effectively.

Part 2 next month