The options available when considering a recruitment solution

What’s the value in putting price at the heart of your recruitment buying decision?

It’s a loaded question of course, and I fully appreciate that some brands are fortunate enough to attract the very best talent independently whereas some require the support of a great recruiter to engage, inspire, reassure and encourage a sensational candidate to be bold with their career development choices. But like most solution based buying decisions, the decision-making process might be influenced largely by perception of the recruitment industry. Which let’s face it can be selective, distorted even. By that, I mean impacted by initial impressions, pre-conceptions, stereotypes and of course, past experiences. The latter is a biggy when buying recruitment in a small marketplace like Scotland, once bitten forever shy and all that. Most focused businesses will see recruitment simply as an investment. They will perform robust due diligence in examining potential partner credentials against their business needs, taking on board internal and external feedback and even on the odd rare occasion, employing devil’s advocacy.

So, much to consider then, before investing. But tell me this, why does base level ‘price’, no matter how small the delta, still prove such a pivotal factor when buying or selecting a partner to deliver a solution fundamentally important towards the future success of the brand or business for so many?

We all understand that price is a strong indicator of quality when making so many of our personal day to day purchase decisions. I mean, Citroen’s and BMW’s ultimately perform the same basic function, don’t they? Yes and no. It’s down to appreciation of context and value. When the context is positive, price has a lower influence on the decision-making process and when the context is below buyer’s expectation, price becomes everything.

To relate this back to procuring a recruitment solution – which is unashamedly my business area – those who fully appreciate the context and added value of engaging a trusted recruitment partner rarely form their buying decision solely on price alone. You’re simply procuring a B2B solution after all, so getting the correct solution is often much more cost effective than the cheapest. There are a myriad of agencies and services available to you, but for simplicity sake, ‘most’ of you have two core choices to consider when deciding what type of solution to buy;

Option 1. Engage an expert recruitment partner

One brave enough to take the time to get to know your business, challenge your thinking, appreciate your culture, value structure, performance drivers and understand your competitor landscape. Usually these are housed with experienced practitioners that are extensively networked, highly credible and able to demonstrate a ‘personal’ track record of successfully delivering similar relevant solutions. They have sold recruitment which has worked, and importantly which hasn’t, but critically they have learned from their past experiences and evolved. They want to add value both today and tomorrow and passionate about delivering strong return on your investment. – because that’s how they measure their success. To that, I also add that they are likely to intuitively understand ‘mutual value’ when constructing deal architecture, factoring time investment and complexity involved to enable them to deliver the correct solution for your business. To me, this solution is an investment.

Option 2. The large-scale generalist or volume agency

You’ll recognise this form immediately. Within these firms you will largely find badged ‘specialists’ irrespective of experience or track record, and these recruiters traditionally sit within large transactional teams leveraging historical database and house brand track record when championing their capability (I mean, I used to work for Coca Cola, but I never made the stuff). Whilst there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with such firms, to the contrary in fact, as most of the best recruiters initially cut their teeth in such environments (including yours truly!), they are usually reluctant or unable to get to know you and your business, as they are juggling numerous metaphorical client balls whilst prioritising assignments based on simplicity, and focusing on meeting strict personal targets above all else. They can – and do – price aggressively as they are structured to secure volume business, and the solutions they aim to deliver whilst broadly fit for purpose, often feel insipid to an end-user. To me this is just striking a business “deal”.

Horses for courses then, depending on your position. But if or when you are next considering procuring new talent for your business I challenge you to explore beyond the context of merely buying and price, and consider the potential investment return first and last. Yes, both options available to you could possibly produce similar outcomes for your business. But one comes with mitigated risk, is better placed to deliver for you and will likely remain steadfast and delivery focused if a project becomes elongated as they are invested in you. One is already likely to be looking towards the next deal.

Warren Buffet understands something of investment and summarised this old chestnut best when he mused: ‘Pricing is all about value. Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.’

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