External Recruitment Partner – Why They Are Crucial to Have

Initially you may ask employees, former colleagues, friends, and the company continues to grow and then… resources dry up. Once this happens you will naturally start to address the question “how do we recruit the right people?" There are basically two ways – internal and external recruitment. Either way, both require investment but why might one be better than the other?

Internal Recruitment

In the case of internal recruitment, it is a long-distance run. Because you need to find the right human resources people, set up recruitment processes, ensure the best way of communicating between the IT department and the recruitment department, and above all “know the market and know recruitment marketing”! Yes, recruitment will not work properly without well-targeted marketing. So, you need recruitment and marketing. This is time consuming and expensive to build quality in these two teams. Is there another way? Yes!

External recruitment

Engaging with a dedicated recruitment partner especially one that knows your market, has candidates in their portfolio, and has a name that will make your company known to candidates, could be the perfect strategy to success. And above all, you need one that can emphasize the points that candidates need to hear, advise both sides, and set real expectations for both the client and the candidate.

Know the market

In this fast paced, highly technical, modern world you really need to know the market. An exceptional recruitment partner knows the market. Why is this important? This is worth some words…

Market knowledge

In my opinion, knowledge of the market is the cornerstone of success whatever business you are in. Whether it is identifying client needs, setting up services, developing something, selling products, working with data, or finding the right people for your projects. You do not build a house from the roof down – that just doesn’t work. Unless your name is David Copperfield… But I digress, let’s get to the point: When looking for suitable people for your projects, you need to know at least the following:

• The availability of people on the market and their abilities.

• Their rates.

• The things that really attract candidates to the project.

And you need to know these, not just a little bit, but extensively. Because you are looking for real talent who will move your company to the next level you will want your offer to be relevant and in the right ballpark. It takes time and a lot of effort to understand and navigate the talent market. A great external partner will have been on the market for a long time, specifically, it will be their daily bread and butter. They know what clients want, they know what attracts candidates to the client, and the most proficient partners can track trends as they start and bring this knowledge to both clients and candidates without being late to the game. Being able to advise as a true partner to their clients as well as to the candidates in their careers, is vitally important too. How do these partners do it?

Recruitment marketing and employee branding

The moment you understand the market, you can start to influence it to your advantage. Now, I do not mean just posting on social media the latest barbeque, cake, and balloons photos or videos from a wonderful teambuilding event, which your employees, the most loyal ex-colleagues, former classmates, and the boss will “like” for you. Will that please your followers? Well yes, just like cats and dogs do, of course. You can gradually build a company brand this way and show the world that, on the outside, everything is just fine. But will it attract the champions in the industry who receive offers for interesting projects almost every day?

To succeed in this “talent war” there is an obligation to provide added value. You need to get people to invest in your vision and goals and enable them to internalize the brand image by, for instance, among many possibilities, giving them the opportunity to learn something new, help them raise their skills to the next level, encourage exercise and sleep, let your employees disengage sometimes, and, most importantly, motivate them by making the job “fun”. These are the things that really get their attention.

Once you have happy employees – what next?

At this stage it is important to get those employees that would like to – remember, not all employees are extroverts – help you with promoting your brand. This could be achieved in many ways, but here are some modern opportunities that you may not have considered:

• Company social media posts produced by the employees themselves and not the marketing team

• Let employees contribute to company vlogs and blogs

• Involve them in webinars

• Employee spotlights and testimonials

• Establish brand ambassadors

• Encourage employees to use personal social media wisely

Once you have done the research, with or without a partner, started to implement the ideas and processes, employees will be happy to share their experiences. Yes, it really works both ways. Ultimately it will enrich both sides. And such experiences will be worth a fortune in the future. Not to mention that it all contributes to, and benefits building your brand. But… where to take the time to produce relevant content and be seen and heard when the business is constantly running? Fortunately, you can have an external partner who will advise and help you achieve these goals.

What if you are still not convinced?

I mentioned several reasons why an external partner might be faster and, ultimately, what could be a cheaper way to your goal, i.e., to get the startup company on the map. Next time we will skip the trendy phrases and start a more detailed analysis that focuses on how to get to know the market. Do keep an eye on our resources page for regular, new blogs and articles.

I would be really happy to hear your comments especially around your experiences with external recruitment or maybe you have a proposal for a topic you would like us to take a look at? Connect with me directly on LinkedIn or contact Iconity – your external data intelligence recruiting partner – here.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day.