Adam Reynolds is a talent manager and group head of recruitment at Host Europe Group, Europe’s leading web hosting business. As well as managing the talent pipeline at HEG, he’s also an avid blogger and all round recruiting geek. Combining all of these elements he’s kindly written a guest blog below.
One of the things I love most about social platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter is the opportunity to listen to what my peer group has to say about their role in recruitment. In particular, I enjoy listening to ex-agency recruiters turned in-house recruiters discuss how they will “go it alone” with a “who needs an agency” type maverick attitude. This is archetypal schadenfreude. The reason I know this is that this was once me. One quickly learns from such mistakes. Usually at the point where line managers email subject title has progressed from “New hire – any news?” To “where the hell is my new team member???”
It is true, companies wouldn’t fork out for an in-house recruitment expert if the majority of roles requisitioned were simply outsourced to an agency. However, in my experience, a symbiotic relationship must be established with a handful of specialist agencies for the life of the in-house recruiter to be anything other than a stampede of angry stakeholders, disappointed line managers, and woefully lowly KPI’s.
Careful selection is the key here. Agencies should be selected within a meritocratic framework. Networking with peers to get stories of success and of course, failure, are essential and a try-before-you-buy option should be mandatory if thinking about adding to your PSL.
I work within a fairly typical SME type business where I am requested daily to source a range of roles doing technical things that I will never fully understand. This is not limited to IT, it includes finance, marketing, HR (although I do know this area, thankfully!), Product Management, Legal, Sales, and Support. I like to think I’m a relatively bright guy, I retain information, I make notes, I ask questions but to expect any recruiter to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of every role they hire, in particular the technical ones is short sighted. As such utilising the knowledge and skills of an experienced and specialist recruiter, for me is essential.
I have used Eligo as a Tier 1 PSL agency for many years now and they have the right blend of rapport, professionalism, expertise and industry knowledge. My contacts there have always taken the time to understand our business and work with, not against our idiosyncrasies! That, sometimes is all you need!