I’ve been in my new role at Solutions Driven for roughly a month now, and I can’t believe how much of an eye-opener it’s been already.
I’ve worked in the recruitment industry for some time now, and before joining Solutions Driven I was in a role which was focused on selling recruitment software to recruiters and consultants; I now get to place clients with our team of expert recruitment partners. As a result of my range of experience, I, more than most, fully understand the ‘bad press’ that recruiters and the recruitment industry in general gets. I feel like I’ve now been full circle – I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the downright ugly!
My previous notion of recruitment was that a recruiter would access a CV database, perform a search, and post an advert online. I’ve since discovered that this is indeed how the majority of recruitment consultants operate, but that it’s a dire way to go about the business of recruitment. This method gives recruiters access to less than 10% of the candidate market. Almost every developed economy is currently experiencing a talent shortage: in such a candidate-driven market, how could this possibly be a good idea? Employers need not only to make a halfway-decent hire, but to employ someone who is a commercial, cultural and creative fit for their organisation.
Since starting here at Solutions Driven, I’ve seen how recruitment should be done, and the results that doing it right can bring. We are not a contingent agency, but an exclusive recruitment partner. Exclusivity itself gets enough bad press on its own, but it’s the only way we work, and I now believe it’s also the only way to ensure that employers get the respect and level of high-quality service they deserve.
We take full accountability for every role we work by operating a 180◦ model: a Business Development Specialist brings in roles and then expert recruiters fill them. We work on roles only on an exclusive basis (that’s right – exclusive – another thing that gets some ‘bad press’). The reason for taking this unusual approach is due to our dedication to business-critical, high-level roles. We take full accountability for each assignment, with dedicated timelines, psychometric testing, candidate fit scorecards and key milestone reporting, all of which is only possible if we’re able to foster a close working relationship with our clients to fully assess their needs.
In this candidate-driven market, you cannot afford to offer business critical roles to several contingent recruiters; this allows them to operate on a first-past-the-post basis, with no accountability for your role or the candidates they put forward. It shouldn’t be hard to see how this is a problem in an environment where top talent is thin on the ground.
One of our internal behaviours is ‘Grasp the Thistle’. This embodies our ethos of dedication, hard work and determination to provide the best service possible no matter the challenges we face. We completely immerse ourselves, our team and our tools in finding you the perfect candidate. In doing so, we take your Employer Value Proposition to market, and therefore become fully accountable for you, your role, and your next hire.
If you would like to find out more about how we can help you with business-critical and challenging roles, please get in touch.
Gary has over a decade’s worth of experience within recruitment and B2B services. He describes himself as proactive and self-motivated, and combines excellent labour market knowledge with a tenacity in driving sales and business development.
