As covered in our recent article (click here), Contingent Recruitment holds a large share of the recruitment solution chosen by employers. It has a place in the market for less complex job vacancies, where a fast paced, less detailed search is required.
The best way to undertake a Contingent recruitment solution is defiantly an exclusive engagement. But there is a much better recruitment solution, that guarantees a job vacancy is filled – Retained Search.
A retained search is a recruitment model whereby a single recruitment consultancies service is exclusively retained to carry out a thorough, robust and systematic search for talent, to ensure and guarantee to job is filled for the employer. This type of search model is a partnership between the client and the recruiter, a robust search process to shortlist the best and most qualified candidates together and having a transparent consulting process every step of the way.
Compared with contingent recruitment, it is by far the better alternative for every party involved; employer, candidate and recruiter.
To start with, it is a structured process, representing a clear commitment from both sides and sending a strong message that the hiring company highly values the opportunity. We can create a more customized search for roles that are often very unique, tailored, and fashioned to meet the clients' demands through a retained search.
Also, the retained search ensures that contacted candidates are not confused or misled by the process. It is not a one-size-fits-all approach used by the contingent recruitment process, but instead, the recruiter takes time to obtain a thorough understanding of what the ideal candidate possesses.
Given that the employer, candidates, and recruiter are active participants in the retained recruitment process, the retained search maintains a very transparent process. This, in turn, lets recruiters collect valuable data and information including salary intelligence from the approached candidates easily.
Furthermore, the Competency-Based Assessment and assessing candidates soft skills (via Building Environs Recruitment’s partnership with Headway DNA) candidates are assessed in more detail and selection is more of a scientific approach, it gives ‘search’ recruiters the edge every time.
Unlike contingent recruiters who offer their services without cash upfront, retained search recruiters receive an up front payment to secure the time and commitment from the recruiter to commit fully to a deep, robust search process – rather than a more speculative resume submission, as per the contingent recruitment model.
In doing so, Building Environs makes the guarantee that we will continue to work on the job vacancy until the position is filled by us – and agree to a set timescale at the commencement of the assignment.
Unlike a Contingent recruitment solution where there is no guarantee of filling the job, when it comes to a strategic, important job vacancy that suits the Retained Search process – we make the guarantee, our clients won’t be left hanging in the wind awaiting an updated.
We believe that all job vacancies will be filled as long as the right process is followed and communication is open and transparent.
At Building Environs Recruitment, that fee isn’t necessarily higher than a Contingent (no placement no fee) solution – we just seek a partial payment of the fee at agreed commencement of assignment.
Reporting:
retained search consultants typically start their project with a roundtable meeting involving the client and everyone that will participate in the process. A consensus is reached on the full job specifications and what market intelligence to collect, and a candidate briefing document is developed. The recruiter brief the clients on their plans, gather what's needed from them, and confirm the clients' interview process, timeline, and contact point to ensure transparency.
Researching:
Candidates are sourced at this stage. There are three significant steps at this stage:
Shortlisting:
Retained search recruiters use assessment techniques like competency-based assessment, skills testing and others to qualify and assess candidates that will make their list. It is very advantageous to all parties to use competency-based assessments and skills based measures in shortlisting candidates. Further, it allows the Search Consultant them to extensively test candidates' commitment before putting such candidates forward to the clients. Lastly, clients can have confidence and trust in the search consultants' ability to identify the right skill set, before the most suited candidates are presented to the client.
Interview & Offer management:
Once the employer has selected candidates from the shortlist and invited to interview, they make an assessment on suitability for the role and review the candidates Assessment data. A job offer is made and the offer process is managed until a succesful outcome.
Feedback:
the last stage is the feedback stage. Basically, it's a review session where actual results are compared against the expected results.
Contact our Director Martin Preece to learn more about the process and why it's the most succesful form of recruitment solution, within the Recruitment industry. Martin@Buildingenvrions.com.au | 03 8751 4958
