How To Choose The Right Recruitment Agency For Your Company?

How confident are you about finding the right recruits for your company? According to recruitment agency Monster, in 2022, recruiter confidence in finding the right employee dropped from 95% in 2020 to 91% in just two years. This drop may seem insignificant to the average person. But, if you work in HR, you know it’s a major cause for concern.

If recruiters can’t guarantee influxes of premium-quality recruits, company leaders cannot devise long-term business plans. That’s why one question is disturbing countless business leaders across the world – how do I find the best recruitment agency? Let’s explore this question in detail.

What is a Recruitment agency?

Before we learn how to find a recruitment agency, let’s learn what this term actually means in the modern context. Recruitment agencies are external, third-party firms that specialize in recruiting suitable candidates for their clients. Employers, i.e., business leaders ask these agencies to find high-quality candidates for unfilled positions within their organizations.

Recruitment agency professionals do what the average business leader can’t. They explore local talent pools. Build databases of employable professionals. Attract the right job seekers for the right positions. Carefully look through hundreds or even thousands of job applications. Then, they direct the most suitable candidates to their clients’ HR departments.

Types of Recruitment Agencies

Before you learn how to select recruitment agency, let’s explore your choices –

Retained Search Firms: These recruitment firms specialize in sourcing & recruiting workers for senior, executive, or other high-level positions. From investigating whether the candidates are willing to explore new job opportunities to mediating salary negotiations – agents of these recruitment firms do it all. But, they also charge the highest fees in this sector (retainer + 30-35% of the salary of the recruited employees).

Contingency Search Firms: These firms don’t work exclusively with certain companies like retained search agents. They don’t charge as much either (20% of the salary). These firms search for & present hundreds of candidates to prospective employers. They only get paid when the candidates they present are hired.

Temp Agencies: Temp agencies serve companies that are looking for short-term, temporary workers.

Specialist Agencies: These agencies serve specific industries. Electronics, programming, biotechnology, etc., are some industries where you’ll find such highly-specialized recruitment agencies.

Why Use a Recruitment Agency?

• You’re unable to find the right workers for your team.
• You can’t afford to source, qualify and interview thousands of candidates every few months.
• Your workforce quality is depleting & you need additional recruiting power on an urgent basis.
• You’re tapping into the market for specialized experts but can’t find people with the required skill sets.
• You’re building a team in a location that’s unknown to you.

Whether you run a small, medium, or big business – you’re guaranteed to face at least one of these challenges as a business leader. These are the types of situations where partnerships with recruitment agencies prove to be invaluable. Recruitment agencies always have large databases of employable professionals from a variety of backgrounds.

They can simplify your company’s recruitment process by sending in job-ready candidates for interviews – whenever you need new human resources. Another burning reason to use a recruitment agency is that if you don’t – your competitors will & they’ll build better workforces.

Suggested Read: External recruitment advantages and disadvantages

How to Choose Your Perfect Recruitment Agency?

Identifying & recruiting high-quality candidates requires a lot of effort. The same applies to identifying & selecting the right recruitment agency. So, how do you find the best recruitment agency to use when your workforce desperately needs fresh blood? Here’s what to do –

• Determine What Type of Recruiter You Need: Looking to hire long-term employees or temporary contractors? Want a long-term agreement with a recruiting firm or a short, six or twelve-month stint? Make these decisions before you select a specific type of recruiting firm.
• General or Industry-Specific Recruiter: Determine whether your organization needs the quantity that general recruiting firms provide or the niche qualities that specialized recruiting firms offer.
• Determine Your Payment Capabilities: Retainer recruitment agencies charge monthly fees for consistent work. Contingent agencies only demand payment when you successfully hire their recommended candidates. Determine which payment model makes more sense for your business.
• Survey Your Industry Contacts: Can members of your industry or professional endorse certain recruitment agencies? If yes, ask them for their recommendations.
• Online Research: Look up terms like “search firm,” “talent acquisition firm,” or “headhunter” on the internet. You’ll find many advertisements, reviews, blogs, etc., about local recruitment agencies that operate within your specific industry.
• Assess Their Quality: Check whether the agencies you’re interested in have successful track records of sourcing candidates that match your hiring requirements.
• Recruit the Recruiters: Treat the recruitment agency representatives you interview the same way you’d treat job applicants at your company. Ask them a variety of questions. Determine if they’re compatible with your short & long-term recruitment needs.
• Run Background Checks: Once you’re done screening multiple recruitment agencies & you have two or three shortlisted candidates, start running background checks. Contact their previous. Inquire about their results & consistency.

 How Much Does It Cost to Use a Recruitment Agency?

Recruitment agency fees typically range from 25% to 35% of the basic salaries of the workers that are recruited. For example –

• Let’s say your company recruits a worker via a recruitment agency & pays him $10/hour.
• Anywhere between 25% to 35% of that amount must be paid to the recruiter.
• How long will you have to pay these fees to the recruitment agency? Depends on what type of agreement you have with the agency.

Alternatively, you can have an arrangement where you pay monthly fees for consistent services.

 Which is the Best Recruitment Agency in India?

Synergy Staffing & Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. is currently the most highly-rated recruitment agency in India. Every year, the firm helps hundreds of companies facing staffing-related challenges.

 Conclusion

Recruiting new workers is an extremely time, labor, and resource-consuming process. It’s a responsibility that’s best left outsourced. That’s why recruitment agencies have emerged to become one of the key pillars of the global corporate industry.