Once we'd established the traditional 'sales' based recruitment doesn't work, it became clear we needed a new direction. We wanted to develop a new system focused on giving you the best possible chance of succeeding in your new role.
We identified three key steps essential to achieving consistent, successful placements. Whilst doing this, it also became clear why the old sales approach, instead of helping, gets in the way. (Click on the tabs to read more.)
The biggest threat to achieving a high success rate is us. A lot of organisations (and people!) start with great intentions but then, bit by bit, they fall away. That’s why we’ve been careful to put a system in place to prevent this happening:
- A guarantee that protects you – not the recruiter. We’ve made sure there’s no incentive to ‘hard-sell’ you into a role that’s not suitable. Simply put, we’ve changed our guarantee so that if we do that, we don’t get paid. (Read more about how the recruitment guarantee makes things worse.)
- A pay structure that rewards success not ‘sales’. We’ve taken out the large commission element that warps decision making. Instead, we’ve linked our consultants’ success with your success. That way, NOBODY will profit by ‘compromising’ our values.
- Lastly, we’re very ‘vocal’ about our success rate. (You may have noticed!) If we let our success rate slip, then we’ll be no different from the thousand other recruitment companies. We’ve put in far too much work to let that happen.
The quality of the employer is vital. To evaluate them, your consultant needs to ask them tough questions. They should ask probing questions about, amongst other things, finances, staff turnover and management style. In particular, your consultant needs to be sure they can honour their commitments to you and any career path offered is realistic.
In the usual recruitment system, the pressure is always on to increase sales. Naturally, asking potential customers awkward questions doesn’t fit very well with that!
Some will do it. Some may even turn down business if they have misgivings. However, to do that takes tremendous strength of character.
We know from experience that the usual response is to work with the new client and ‘rationalise’ and misgivings away.
Our approach takes away this potentially devastating conflict of interest.
- It’s invaluable to have someone experienced ‘in your corner’ that you can trust. Moving employers is a stressful time with people giving you conflicting opinions. Unfortunately, many feel a ‘high-commission’ consultant will find it hard to give an ‘honest’ opinion. We understand that. It’s why we don’t pay commission.
- Consultants should help you negotiate the right package with a prospective employer. Unfortunately, most advisers can’t help. They tend to get dismissed as ‘just another salesperson’. A consultant must have gravitas and experience to help you negotiate. By moving away from the ‘sales model’ we have been able to attract the type of consultants who possess these qualities.
We're not suggesting any of this is ‘rocket science’. It’s just a matter of ensuring everything is focused - and keeps focused - on the right goal, rather than getting sidetracked with all the usual ‘distractions’.
If you would like to discuss your career, please feel free to get in touch.
Although we can’t guarantee outcomes, you can be sure we share the same goal as you.
You can contact us here.
