What HR Expects out of Recruiting Agencies

Being on the other side of the desk was an eye opening moment. When I left the Recruiting Agency to go to be in an HR/ Corporate Recruiter/TA role, it threw me for a loop.

I thought it would be a similar role to agency recruiting, but it really wasn't. I had to work with the employees that I hired, so the people I hired, affected my own work environment, the people I work with and the company I was in - so it truly became a scary new world I had to learn with a different mindset, but I jumped into that world & quickly had to catch on and learn.

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When I went to work for an eCommerce Retailer/SaaS company, I had to switch over to a Corporate HR/Recruiting Mentality and understand what it meant to work directly with hiring managers and hearing the why more than ever before. Hearing out strategies, growth plans, why people are being hired, what skills are being targeted and what personalities would be needed to work well within such a hyper growth atmosphere...again more of the inner workings and the why and what won’t work in terms of hiring that we may not be able to put in a job description based on the personalities in the office, only certain people could potentially handle the rapid growth, and fast paced nature of the executive team.

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In corporate recruiting, I realized I entered a world where it was not about revenue... it was all about hire as we need, as fast as we need it, and make sure everyone is aligned culturally and will be a good long-term fit, so attrition rates are not hurt based on the new hires.

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There were times we were so busy I had no time to hire and I had to use an external Recruiting Agency to help. When this happened, I thank goodness had an awesome agency who was great at helping us find talent when needed but overall, there were things we looked out for from our agencies and there were things I could never truly explain but sometimes, if the relationship was strong enough, I could explain easier.

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So here is a list of things I wished all Agencies did a better job of back when I was in Corporate Recruiting & Talent Acquisition:

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• I made sure to hire a Recruiting Agency who truly recruited & campaigned and not just pulled from a database. I was always weary of Recruiters who had candidates very quickly and then never sent anyone else over time. It showed me, the agency didn't truly work the position and actively recruit.
• If an Agency Manager was able to walk me through of what to expect and their sourcing process, essentially how they go out and find talent, that would make a difference to me. Explaining how long it takes to start getting a funnel of candidates and how they work with clients, who will be recruiting on the role and assigning a Recruiter or person, and how the process will be from here on out, made it feel a bit easier to outsource my recruiting efforts to an agency.
• If a Recruiting Agency had terms, guarantee and a fee that was average or normal and not higher than the going rates and terms for my industry; that made me feel comfortable. An agency that was too cheap or too expensive, always threw me for a loop and didn't feel right.
• I loved weekly check in calls or at least once every 7-10 days. It showed me they cared, and they were on top of the role. Sometimes I was so busy, I needed to put the check in calls on hold, but overall, more check ins were nicer, even if it was just an email update.
• When an agency was able to provide some names easily of previous companies they have done work with - and it was similar enough to my role or company where it would make me feel a bit more comfortable, personally – that would make me feel a bit more comfortable with a new agency relationship.
• I loved it when a Recruiting Agency could provide market/competitive intelligence on the landscape of salaries, and potentially challenges and issues with a role and recruiting specifically for that role in a specific area based on a compensation range or limited availability of talent. If I gave a range that was not right for a role. The idea of giving alternative titles, roles, and such for a position based on a budget, was helpful. This way we could recruit the right level for the right role and make sure they would stay longer by being a good fit for the level we truly needed versus thought.
• A Recruiting Agency that was not too pushy. Sometimes, the agency may not realize, the candidate has a soft skill, personality or an intangible that is just too hard to explain, but truly would not work for the company's hiring manager. Just let HR move on from some candidates without the best feedback if the feedback may be a bit uncomfortable to give beyond saying "it was a personality thing" or something within that realm. Some hiring managers will not feel comfortable in an interview and that will be that. No further explanation is needed sometimes. It's almost like dating, and the idea of pushing a future spouse on anyone is not fair. It can be quite bad from a mental health perspective and/or work environment/culturally to be working with someone the next 5 years, 8 hours a day, if you do not feel comfortable with them.
• An agency that would keep me on top of potentially awesome candidates who are now passively looking for new roles in the industry - was always a great moment. It allowed me to open a conversation with the executive team about others in the industry and the potential of adding that type of person to the organization and what it would mean, opening up very cool and strategic conversations at times.

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It's not a complete list, but it was the major things that really helped me find a Recruiting Partner(s) that made me feel comfortable and allowed us to grow when times were filled with lots of open requisitions due to growth spurts and a Recruiting Agency was in need. I love to see recruiting agencies and HR come together in a way that brings about beautiful success for all parties involved. It should never be a competition between parties, but a true partnership and respect for each person's role in what they do. Those in HR many times know a lot of what is going on and what people are thinking at the executive level down to all departments and levels, and they are the best people to work with to make sure you are aligning the right candidates for the needs of the company. They are the ones having the meetings with the department’s heads, know headcount budgets and what can potentially be possible.

Having a strong HR advocate allows you to truly help you do what you do best - Source and Recruit - and when/if there are challenges, due to having a strong relationship, it then becomes easy to have an open conversation and get to where you need to get to in order to make a successful hire. Recruiting firms should always make an effort to build a real strong relationship with all those they work with in HR.

Essentially, if anything, HR and Recruiting Agencies should be best friends in the hiring process, and not in any competition, whatsoever.

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