Choosing a Recruitment Partner for Your Business

The effective recruitment of permanent and temporary staff is a challenge faced by many businesses, with employers often filled with dread at the thought of hours wasted whilst sifting through CVs and sitting through endless interviews.

It’s little wonder that employers are increasingly choosing to work with recruitment agencies like Savanna in a bid to make this process less painful and more productive.

But with so many agencies out there, how do you go about choosing a recruitment partner for your business?

Here’s our 7 Top Tips to Help you Choose the Right Recruitment Partner:

  • Industry specific:  Unless your recruitment needs are fairly general, you should always look for an agency that specialises in the recruitment of staff for your specific sector. Agencies that don’t have a solid insight into your business will be unlikely to produce a candidate with the skill set you’re looking for.  It’s perfectly normal to ask for evidence of industry experience, so make sure you do.

 

  • Check their screening process:  The whole point of using an agency is to save you time and money – that’s the service you are paying for, so you shouldn’t need to sift through countless CVs, or sit through interviews with candidates who are clearly unsuitable. An agency that offers a thorough and effective service will check references and meet with each potential candidate to check their suitability before introducing them to your business.

 

  • Are they registered/qualified?  If the recruitment agency you’re considering is based in the UK, they should be registered with the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). They should also be able to demonstrate an understanding of current employment law and ethical standards, including the Agency Worker Regulations. In the transport sector, they should have an appreciation of the Working Time Directive and driving hours, and the importance of matching a driver’s experience with the type of role they are filling (tramping, pallet distribution, shunting etc).  For extra peace of mind, they should also be members of an industry body with a complaints procedure. In the transport and logistics sector, the Road Haulage Association is the industry body to look out for.

 

  • Employee retention rates:  No matter what route you take, employing a new member of staff on a temp-to-perm or permanent basis will cost you money, so the last thing you want to do is start the whole process again in 6 months. Recruitment agencies may boast they fill 100% of their clients’ vacancies, but that is of little value if the candidate quits within 12 months. Ask for employee retention figures and make sure you get them.

 

  • After sales service:  Once an agency starts placing candidates with your business, you should expect to hear from them regularly. If they are invested in ensuring you get the best people for your needs they will want to review progress, punctuality, reliability and your feedback at frequent intervals throughout the placement, and will act swiftly if it transpires a candidate is not a good fit for your business. 

 

  • Investment in People:  This is particularly applicable when looking for temporary staff. Does the agency offer their candidates any form of loyalty scheme that rewards consistent performance levels and encourages continual personal development, or do they simply look to find people to fill placements? An agency that invests in their staff will typically recruit a higher calibre of candidate, with much greater motivation and professionalism.

 

  • Price:  Don’t be swayed on price. Although a cheaper recruitment agency may seem an appealing option, ask yourself what part of the service they’re scrimping on to offer that lower price. After you’ve received 20 CVs with no pre-screening checks, or have been let down by unreliable temporary staff, you’ll soon realise it was a false economy. The cost to your business of not covering a load is likely to be far greater than the pence saved by selecting the cheaper option.

 

If you’re looking for a reliable and experienced recruitment partner for your haulage or logistics business, take a look at some of our client testimonials and  find out why you should select Savanna.