It was only yesterday that your company had four job openings. The HR staff was able to fill these positions with ease. In fact, some days you wondered if you had one too many recruiters on board.

Over the past six months, business has been great. You can’t keep up with the demand. You’ve approved 10 new requisitions for staff while your internal HR team works on replacing five key employees that left for the competition.

The job openings are listed with a number of contingency recruitment firms, who only get paid if they make successful placements. It’s been weeks and you have yet to see results.

If this sounds familiar then it’s time to analyze your relationship with your recruitment vendors.

Relationships matter-Think about it. How hard would you work on a RFP if you knew the potential client sent the specs out to 20 other companies? The same goes for contingency recruiting. If you’ve placed your job openings with a number of firms you are only hurting yourself. Instead, find several agencies that share a similar business philosophy to yours. You’ll soon see dramatic results. In this business, it’s all about the relationship.

Pay full freight-Congratulations. You’ve whittled the fee down from 30% to 20%. Yet you seem to be interviewing only “B” candidates. In life you get what you pay for and this is particularly true when working with recruitment agencies. Remember those “A” candidates you were hoping to attract? Well they are going over to those “A” clients who are paying the full fee. Are you still feeling proud? Put your pride aside and offer your contingency firm a bonus for filling your positions with top quality candidates. You’ll more than make it up on the back end.

Partner with your recruiters-Hiring managers often believe that it’s the recruiters job to land the talent. This couldn’t be further than the truth. Seasoned managers know that it’s a partnership. Recruiters and hiring managers must work side-by-side. When a qualified candidate is presented, clear your calendar and meet with that person. If you don’t, they may wind up meeting with your competitor.

Direct communication-It takes a while for recruiters to find the sweet spot. Direct feedback can minimize the ramp up time. Share as much information as possible. For example, if one of your competitors is going through a merger or you have heard that employees are disgruntled at a particular company, let the recruiter know. Help them improve their game by telling them where they are missing the mark. Before long, you’ll have enough top rated players to compete in the World Series.

Consider other options-When it comes to recruiting, one size does not fit all. For example, when hiring key personnel, executive search firms are most effective. Search firm professionals act like senior advisors. Contract recruiters, who are usually paid an hourly basis, can be cost effective if you are looking to staff a considerable number of openings in your organization. This approach is particularly appealing to companies with cyclical hiring needs.

The employment market has its ups and downs. But one thing that never seems to change is the need to develop solid relationships with outside personnel who can help you through the good times and the bad.

© 2005-2006 Human Resource Solutions. All rights reserved.

Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions (http://www.yourhrexperts.com) and has been helping companies align their people assets with their business goals. She is considered an expert in generational workforce issues. Roberta publishes a monthly newsletter “HR Matters” http://www.yourhrexperts.com/hrjoin.cgi which is jammed with resources, articles and tips to help companies navigate through sticky and complicated HR workforce issues. She can be reached at 413-582-1840 or [email protected].

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