Many companies and corporations both large and small have debated whether or not to utilize the services of staffing agencies and recruiters to supplement their own Human Resources department or hiring process. These companies have weighed all the factors, both pros and cons, but have they examined all the potential benefits.
1. Free up Human Resources to meet their other obligations. The main role of a Human Resources department is as an employee advocate and consultant to corporate management providing employee representation. In addition, competing for HR’s time and attention are the so many government requirements. HR has is doing all that they can simply to keep up and stay compliant. In addition to administrating government requirements, record keeping and the countless meetings HR departments are responsible for keep the business legally compliant, HR is also charged with maintaining the benefits including informing employees of 401K results, monitoring vacation days, and many times, coordinating travel between branches, not to mention assisting in facility security (distributing and collecting access badges, etc.). This stretches the time and resources of the entire department. Engaging a technical recruiter or staffing firm frees up the valuable time of an already taxed department. Firms can either work alongside HR (having access to collected résumés and those who’ve expressed a desire in the company) or independently (utilizing their own candidate channels).
2. Let those with the technical skills make the recommendation. Many times, HR departments and HR recruiters do not have the technical knowledge to correctly and accurately identify the appropriately skilled candidates and keeping those lacking necessary skills from consuming valuable time and resources. Many staffing agencies and recruiters employee the talent of former technical professionals themselves. The best technical recruiters stay abreast of the latest technological trends, tools, software and as a result they know just what to look for when they see a position or project description. Smaller agencies may already have a network of qualified technical professionals and know who is available and whether or not they have the necessary skills.
3. Free up hiring managers’ time. In most organizations, HR merely receives or collects candidate resumes, does not do targeted searches and recruiting. They look for keywords on the position description. Very seldom do HR department recruiters possess technical experience themselves (through no fault of their own – that is simply the nature of the industry). As a result, unqualified candidates who appear to have appropriate skills and experience move forward through the hiring process, receive a phone screen or maybe even an onsite interview with a hiring manager and/or an entire review team only to discover this person was unqualified. With technically experienced technical recruiters seriously discriminating and sifting through countless résumés, you can insure only qualified candidates are in front of the hiring managers and/or review teams.
4. Go directly to the source. In most cases, HR will post a need on the corporate website. They may also post on a nationwide job board (i.e.-Monster.com). They probably will not have the time, the resources or the network to do what is called a “targeted” recruiting. Many recruiters will personally know who is qualified, who is happy where they are, who is looking for the next opportunity and who has the skills and talent needed to do more than their current position requires. “Targeted” recruiting requires the professional knowledge of candidates and is dependent upon the technical and personal knowledge of those in the industry. “Passive” recruiting (“recruiting” relying upon jobs postings on the company website and/or job boards) is dependent upon those candidates who might be looking on those job boards or the company website.
5. Selection accuracy. Many HR departments are charged with only a few technical hires per year. Staffing agencies and recruiting firms work on countless positions every day. They know what to look for and can spot “red flags” in resumes or interviews.
6. Access to resources. While large job boards or resume posting sites exist, they are expensive – especially if they are used for just a few technical positions per year. Staffing agencies and recruiting firms have the subscriptions, resources, contacts, associations and connections essential in quickly identifying the right person for the right need.
7. Economically beneficial. While there may be a recruiting fee to quickly identify the right candidate for the position/project requirements, when weighed against the cost involved in the search for an individual who may not work out and get that person up to speed or out the door, engaging a staffing agency or recruiting firm may be just the solution to the woes of getting that position filled or project completed.
*courtesy Eddie Field- Summit Consulting Services
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