How Your Relationship With Hiring Managers Can Help Your Agency Win Business
It comes as no surprise that talent is the number one priority for over 79 percent of HR leaders surveyed as part of LinkedIn’s Australian Recruitment Trends report. Despite this, most don’t believe that in-house recruitment teams will grow. Sixty-two percent predict their team will stay the same and a minority (5 percent) believe it will shrink. Consequently, HR professionals will increasingly need to do more with less and come up with strategies to ensure they have the right people in place at the right time. So what role can your recruitment agency play in helping HR leaders meet their strategic objectives?
Increased demand for services
There’s positive news for the recruitment sector: despite the fact that most in-house recruitment teams are predicted to largely stay the same size, HR leaders are expecting a substantial rise in hiring volume. This, coupled with the fact that skills shortages are impacting almost every sector, means there should be ample opportunity for your recruitment agency to assist employers with their hiring needs. And while this is good news, be mindful that each and every one of your competitors will also be looking to capitalise on this increased demand. Consequently, recruitment marketing should be a key weapon in your armoury to ensure you can get the right talent for your clients and forge ongoing relationships.
Reducing the time-to-hire
LinkedIn’s research also reveals that time-to-hire is a key metric for in house teams. In fact 36 percent of HR leaders say the time it takes to fill a job requisition is one of the three top ways they measure success. If your agency is to win new business and maintain it, you must be able to demonstrate that you can help reduce the all-important time-to-hire metric.
And with new research revealing that the contingent employment model is gaining pace across Australia—with a 43 percent rise in the number of advertised temporary, contract, and casual job vacancies since November 2013—the use of VMS systems that reduce the time spent on menial tasks and standardise the entire recruitment process will be helpful in reducing time-to-hire and will arguably only grow in importance in the coming months.
Employer branding
With 82 percent of HR decision-makers agreeing that an employer’s brand has a significant impact on their ability to hire talent, recruitment companies have a huge role to play in communicating this effectively. Invest time getting to know your clients’ culture and senior leaders to ensure you can convey this to potential talent in a compelling and credible manner. And develop appropriate marketing and candidate engagement campaigns that speak to each client’s target demographic.
With talent leaders in Australia that took part in LinkedIn’s research spending 28 percent of their budgets on recruitment companies, the business opportunities are there for the taking. But in a crowded market, your agency needs to demonstrate that it’s the logical partner of choice. Embracing new technology and developing engagement strategies that allow you to meet the pain points of your audience will put you in good stead to win the plentiful business that’s up for grabs.
Want to learn more about what you can be doing to provide your candidates and clients with added value? Check out this toolkit
