Lately we have been asking clients why they work with M18. We obtained various answers whereby there was certainly one that stuck out. It’s a reason that has a strong connection to the title of this article which is:
‘You guys don’t give up. If one route doesn’t work, you’ll take another one, you go on until we have a result that satisfies all parties.’
Why do we persevere??? It seems much easier to let go if we come across an obstacle or feel we cannot succeed.
We continue because we commit to delivering results for our clients. Which we do because clients put their trust in our hands. How? They do not only give us exclusivity for a search, even more so, they pay us a percentage of the fee upfront. This makes the commitment a two-way street!
This is only one of the clear advantages of working on a retainer basis. But there are more. We at M18 call these the 4Ps of recruitment:
- Partnership => we consider our clients as a partner with whom we work together as a team to achieve the best results. This means that there is open and regular communication and (anonymous) candidate profiles are shared and discussed. Feedback is exchanged on an ongoing basis to make sure that we continue to follow the right track. In summary, we try to advise the clients about the best options rather than trying to ‘sell them’ the first candidate that comes along.
- Professional image => when recruiting you want your company to be put into the best spotlight whilst radiating the appropriate image. This helps you find the golden nugget that best fits with your company (culture). As retainer-based recruiters we spend much time with you to obtain the most possible information about the company and role. We often get feedback from candidates that we are well-informed, giving them the right information and helping them make the best decision. Furthermore, this knowledge makes ‘selling’ the role and company much easier.
- Proof for future => future proof for all parties, clients, candidates and ourselves. We work with candidates that take their career change seriously and are looking for long-term commitment towards their new employer. We can proudly say that our first placement 20 years ago still works at that client today. On the other hand, we try to work long term with our clients, because over time we get to know each other much better. This in turn will help us represent them even more professionally (see point 2).
- Persistence => where the so-called no-cure-no-pay agencies might look for quick wins and will focus on CVs in their database, we go for sustainability and perseverance. Even when finding candidates is tough we, as mentioned earlier, do not give up! It’s always nice when a search goes really fast, but sometimes there are hick-ups. A candidates decides to refuse a proposal, the future employer changes job elements during the recruitment process that were not known upfront, we bring knowledge from the market that makes the future employer realize their offering is not market-conform…. We continue to talk to our client, and through dialogue find new roads towards a positive outcome.
Retainer-based recruitment requires trust from a client, and is therefore more difficult to sell. Still, we made the decision 20 years ago to work in this manner, and not only for the 4P’s of recruitment that I explained earlier, but for a number of other reasons as well:
- We focus on fewer projects than no-pain-no-gain firms, which helps us spend more time on each of our clients’ recruitment projects. Whilst the overall fee that we charge is often the same, the collaboration is different. We advise about a candidate rather than trying to sell him/her to you. And we screen them thoroughly upfront so that your recruiters and/or line managers can focus on the few right candidates, rather than ‘wasting’ much time on screening irrelevant CV’s. Don’t forget, their time is money too. You get a more personalised and better service for your investment. And since recruiting the right persons can help your company advance (and thus gain more), investing in the right recruitment partner helps your business advance. In other words, your‘Return on Hiring Cost’ is higher.
- We scout the entire market and approach not only the actively looking talents, but even more so the passive talent pool (= those that are not actively looking but are open to listen when approached). We focus on the right matches, not just on the ‘available’ ones, and this increases the chance for success!
- It happens that companies start a recruitment process but along the way decide that they want to recruit a different profile. As we are committed to you throughout the process we are more flexible to adapt.
- Companies do decide to stop certain recruitments or put these on hold. This can be due to a reorganisation, management changes,…, or by unforeseen external events such as currently COVID 19. Especially the latter has made companies think twice before hiring. If we would have been working in a no-cure-no-pay mode the crisis we are living would have hit us much harder. It may even have forced us to temporarily stop our business. With this shared responsibility approach we can continue to serve all of our client optimally. Which pays off for all in the long run.
Interested to learn more? Do feel free to contact us!
