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Competing For Talent? How Recruitment Agencies Give You a Competitive Edge
13 Oct, 20231-2 minutes
In this blog, you will learn
- What recruitment agencies do.
- The advantages for employers and councils in using a recruitment agency.
- How to discover and recruit the best talent for your business.
When it comes to hiring and finding the right candidate, it can be a daunting task and a slow process. Employers want to find the best talent possible for their team, but it can be an arduous task to attract, interview and hire the perfect individual.
Businesses recognise the value of individuals and how hiring the right employees is crucial for the success and growth of any business. However, the candidate job market is extremely fast paced and competitive which is a key challenge for hiring managers.
Research has revealed that 65% of employers globally reported they had lost their preferred candidate to an overly lengthy hiring process. To avoid letting the best talent go and to save your time and valuable resources, why not utilise the experience and expertise of a specialist recruitment agency to give your business the edge it needs?
Recruitment agencies can give you a competitive edge when it comes to attracting top talent. In our latest blog, we highlight the benefits of using a recruiter to make an informed decision and discover how these agencies can help you find and hire the best staff for your organisation.
What do recruitment agencies do?
Recruitment agencies track down talent on behalf of another company and ultimately act as a communicator and mediator between jobseekers and employers. They communicate information about the role, company and brand, and provide updates about the application and interview process.
Recruitment agencies understand employment markets and excel at finding candidates based on your specific requirements. They are responsible for everything from advertising and marketing, sourcing ideal candidates and offering guidance on the recruitment process, interviews and salaries.
Deciding to use a recruitment agency doesn't mean that you're incapable of managing recruitment by yourself. Instead it allows you time to focus your energy on other aspects of your business and hand the responsibility of hiring to someone else who is able to get better results.
What are the advantages of using a recruitment agency?
There are many advantages to using a recruitment agency to give you an edge against other businesses.
A recruitment agency can be an extension of your team and can be used to your advantage. Here are 9 benefits you can expect from a recruitment agency to win the war for talent.
1. Expert advice
Recruitment agencies are experts at finding and placing candidates and communicating with the organisations seeking top talent. As recruiters recruit day in and day out, you can be confident that recruiters have the skills and abilities to find what you’re looking for.
A Recruitment Consultant understands the impact of supply and demand in the jobs market and provides specialist industry knowledge focused on attracting new talent. Recruiters are knowledgeable and keep-up-to-date with changes in the competitive recruitment market, specialise in various sectors and offer their expertise.
Recruitment agencies know the talent available, where they are located and how to reach out to them. They consider salary rates, career expectations and skill-sets to determine if a candidate will be a suitable match to a specific employer.
2. Access to top talent
Recruiters have access to a wide pool of candidates in a database of temporary, permanent and interim candidates over a period of years.
Partnering with a recruitment agency can connect you to a vast network of qualified individuals ready to join your business. This can include passive candidates who may not be necessarily looking for a new position but would consider one if a recruiter approached them with an exciting opportunity.
Recruiters have access to skilled, experienced and trustworthy candidates so you can feel confident that they will only recommend top talent. This saves an enormous amount of time as hiring managers don’t need to wade through hundreds of irrelevant CVs.
Additionally, a Recruitment Consultants' main role is to communicate with candidates every day which would be extremely difficult for a Human Resources (HR) department to do given the number of tasks and responsibilities they face on a daily basis.
3. Find the perfect match
Recruitment agencies know exactly what to look for in candidates and they are able to identify the best ones from their candidate network. Finding the perfect candidate can be the longest and most tedious part of the recruitment process, especially if you’re waiting for candidates to apply through your own careers website or job boards.
Attracting perfect applicants is an extremely difficult task as some candidates might not be the right match, have the right qualifications or meet all of the expectations of the employer. This can result in a lot of wasted time sifting through irrelevant applications.
Also, recruitment agencies don’t just wait for people to apply for the position, they seek out suitable candidates using their network and specialist knowledge. That means using a recruitment agency vastly increases your chance to meet high quality candidates with the relevant skills and expertise in your sector.
4. Save time
Finding top talent can take time away from your human resources departments and their daily tasks and responsibilities. The length of the hiring process greatly influences people’s decisions to consider several jobs or pull out in the middle of an application.
Resources for Employers suggests that the typical time to fill a role in the UK is 48 days in the UK depending on the role, skills required, competition and the job market overall. Research has found that half of all UK professionals have declined a job offer because the hiring process was too long. This means that businesses miss out on talent by having overly complicated or lengthy recruitment processes.
Working with recruiters eliminates the need to spend time and resources on self-hiring. A recruitment agency will take the time to find the right candidate by using their candidate sourcing abilities, technology and knowledge of the market.
5. Advocate for your brand
Companies invest a lot of time and effort developing their employer brand and maintaining their image to attract quality applicants. When it comes to ensuring successful recruitment, it’s important that an agency values your business and your brand.
Even if you are self-hiring, you want to ensure you pick the right candidate for the job but also for the business and brand. Recruitment agencies consider not just skills, but also if a candidate is a match for an organisation’s culture and values.
Recruitment agencies keep your brand in mind, actively marketing your business and highlighting the benefits of joining your company.
6. Offer industry insight
Recruiters spend all of their time working to provide staffing solutions for organisations within certain sectors. Because of that, specialist recruitment agencies can offer their job market insights to employers to enhance their recruitment strategy.
For example, if an accountancy practice is wanting to pay a £35,000 salary for a Senior Accountant in London, a specialist recruiter can advise that this is way below the market average and they will need to increase it if they wish to remain competitive in the space and attract good quality applications.
The benefit of a recruitment agency is they can set your expectations accordingly and you can use their insights to make good business and recruitment decisions.
7. Negotiate on your behalf
Negotiating employment rates and terms with candidates can involve constant back-and-forth communication which can be challenging, sensitive and time-consuming. Recruiters possess excellent negotiation skills to ensure agreeable terms are met for both parties and to reduce the risk of losing your ideal candidate.
Recruiters know what similar companies are paying and what candidates will expect, which means they can negotiate salaries on both sides.
Recruiters will inform you if you’re offering a fair and competitive salary to keep candidates interested and engaged. This will save you time and effort, as recruiters will ensure the best outcome for your business by not presenting your candidates for multiple roles, minimising salary competition.
8. A smoother interview process
Another advantage to using a recruitment agency is that they can make the interview process faster, smoother and more efficient than if a business was to advertise a job without any extra help.
First and foremost, a recruitment agency will forward details to the hiring company and invite the best candidates to an interview. Recruiters will also communicate with applicants, prepare them for interviews by offering expert interview coaching and provide constructive feedback post interview.
9. Constant communication
According to LinkedIn, 89% of talent say that being contacted by their recruiter can make them accept a job offer faster. Communication is crucial to candidates but it can be difficult to maintain communication without a recruitment agency to take the time and effort to maintain regular contact and provide updates.
Recruitment agencies keep in constant communication with candidates on your behalf, keeping them updated, offering advice and tips and overseeing the entire process. This means your business can be confident that potential candidates are informed and updated, as you continue with your usual tasks and responsibilities.
Even if a candidate is unsuccessful, having back-and-forth communication gives them a good impression of your business. While the candidate might not be successful on this occasion, they may be suitable for future roles so it’s important to leave a positive final impression in the candidates mind.
Searching for a recruitment agency to help your business?
Since 2017, we’ve connected thousands of businesses, schools, hospitals, councils (and everything in between!) with their dream employees.
If you’re struggling to fill a role, why don’t you contact us on 01772 954200 to see how we can help? One of our consultants will be happy to listen to the challenges which you are facing and advise on the best possible solution for you.
If you’re searching for a new role, why not visit our job page to take a look at the latest opportunities? Alternatively, upload your CV and one of our experienced consultants will contact you when a relevant opportunity becomes available.
Who is Spencer Clarke Group?
As an industry leading recruitment agency, we’re reshaping how recruitment should be done! We’re passionate about finding candidates the perfect job which has the ability to improve their mental health, work life balance and standard of living.
We operate in two sectors:
In eleven specialisms:
Healthcare, Social Care & Nursing
Corporate Functions & Business Support
