Challenges of a Recruitment Consultancy
- March 3, 2018
All organizations, however big or small, go through their shares of ups and downs in today’s dynamic and volatile business environment. Economical, Technological and Social disruptions can hit us, much quicker and harder than we can handle. Foresight, adaptability, and agility have become the most sought-after strategic deliverables for all core teams.
Recruitment Consultancies are usually very small in size, and in their quintessential B2B (Business to Business) model of functioning, are prone to collapses in tough market situations. Uncertainty prevails in almost all core functions of a recruitment firm i.e. Client acquisition, candidate acquisition, candidate show-ups, candidates joining, and even in receiving payments from the clients. A job consultancy, mostly, has access to limited resources, and generally doesn’t have a ‘cushion’ to sustain for too long without generating the revenues, hence margin of error is very miniscule. So in this tough situation, every challenge has to be dealt with, at the right time and in the right manner. So, let’s hereunder understand what the challenges of a job consultancy are, and how to overcome those challenges effectively.
Clients – Identify, whom should you work with?
It’s indeed a challenge upfront to get good clients, however it is so very important in a job consultancy to choose the right organizations to work for, just taking whatever comes your way would create so many bigger challenges later on. You need to make a niche for your consultancy, not all recruitment consultancies can work for all industry segments. Do a thorough market research to identify your niche industry segment, as well as what will take you to acquire clients there. Remember, Saying ‘NO’ to a potentially time-wasting client is as important as acquiring a promising client.
Employees – Identify, who should work for you?
Now that you have acquired your desired client and dream assignment, you need good employees to deliver on that assignment. Identifying, attracting, retaining, and maintaining good employees is tough job for all organizations, more so in a recruitment consultancy because of its small size. Every job consultancy wants to hire experienced candidates with great English fluency, and there’s nothing wrong in it as well. However, don’t fall in a trap of stereotyping, instead hire as per you assignment requirement, and you might end up realizing that a fresher recruiter, with great energy, is able to reach more BPO candidates than the experienced one. So, don’t run after the best recruiters, instead seek-out for most suitable recruiters.
Professionalism – This will be your competitive edge.
Every big-small city of India and world over, there are recruitment consultancies in abundance, and many more are coming-up almost daily. Here, what will set you apart and keep you growing is, your ‘Professionalism’. Set such error-free structures and processes in place that there’s a positive impact in all internal and external transactions. Don’t over commit to your clients and employees ever, and be ethical in all your practices.
Use of Technology – It will cut down your costs in longer run.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning are buzzwords in the recruitment industry, however how many of us really understand them?, leave alone utilizing them in our day to day functioning. It’s very important to have a right “Applicant Management Tool’’ in your job consultancy. It will keep your crucial data preserved, and would structure the entire recruitment activity at your consultancy. Treat the cost of a tool as an investment, and it will save your much more cost in due time to come.
Keep Growing – That’s only way you can sustain.
It’s very common to become complacent with your small successes at your job consultancy. While it’s good to celebrate every small success, it’s more important to set higher vision. Remember, clients and employees want to work with a recruitment firm, which has a bigger vision for itself. A job consultancy has to constantly evolve itself to keep improving and growing.
Organizations are looking for job consultancies which are structured and responsive, and that’s where professional recruitment consultancies can cash-in. All the best, do mention your thoughts/suggestions/feedback in comment section here-under.