When a company needs to fill a position fast, they turn to several recruitment agencies at the same time, on the assumption that their problem will be solved quickly. This is a common misconception, unfortunately. You might get the position filled faster but not necessarily with the right candidate. On the contrary, if you offer exclusivity to one recruiting agency, they will be more dedicated to the task and come up with the best candidate to fill your personnel needs. In this article, we will explain why granting exclusivity to a recruiting agency is in the client’s best interests.

You have the recruiter’s full commitment

Let’s say you need to hire a new IT expert for your company. The first impulse will be to talk to as many recruiting agencies as possible, so they send you someone quickly. The problem is that each of the recruiting agencies involved in this process knows that, at any time, one of their competitors might come up with a candidate for the job. In other words, there’s the risk that they go through all the trouble of looking for an IT expert that is right for you, but someone beats them to the punch, and you hire someone else. That means a lot of work for practically nothing. Instead, if a recruiting agency gets exclusivity for this task, you’ll get their full commitment. The recruiting agency knows that you rely on them, and they have the certainty you’ll hire the candidate you present and not someone else.

The recruiter has the time to do a thorough screening process

When several agencies compete to fill the same position, they will be tempted to rush the job and propose the first candidate they can find. Those who deliver faster; win, so they won’t bother much with making sure that this is indeed the best possible candidate for your company. A recruiter working on an exclusivity contract is not hard-pressed for time. They can afford to check across various databases, go on social media and fish around multiple talent pools they know of.

When you grant exclusivity to a recruiting agency they don’t need to hurry. They can take the time to interview many applicants, examine their CVs properly, check their references, etc. This way, the candidates that make it to the final selection are probably the best available out there. As a company, you want to make a good hire, otherwise, you risk having to let the new employee go after a couple of months if they don’t meet your expectations. And you’ll have to start all over again, at a significant cost to your business.

Working with multiple agencies makes your company less attractive

The human brain is trained to want those things that are harder to get. Things that are easily available are less desirable. The same is true for a job. When a person looking for a job keeps hearing about the same position from different recruiting agencies it will instantly seem less attractive. They’ll think there must be something wrong with that position since several agencies are trying to fill it. The conclusion will be that it’s probably not worth it.

However, if a recruiting agency presents the exact same position as an exclusive offer, it will appear more desirable. Exclusive deals feel special and make you, as the candidate, feel special. How many times have you been offered an exclusive deal from the many companies you do business with? When the phone company guy calls to tell you, they have an exclusive offer, he immediately gets your attention. If you’re looking to recruit the best professionals in a field, giving them the possibility of getting an exclusive job offer is the best way to get their attention.

The bottom line

If you grant exclusivity to a recruiting agency, you’ll get their full commitment. They will devote more time and effort to fill the open position, fully knowing that you most probably will pick one of the applicants they propose. Also, they will take their time to select the best professional available, rather than propose the first one; they find hoping to secure the deal and make money.

Does this make sense?

Contact JobnetAfrica to see if and how we can help you find the top talent in the market at contact@jobnetafrica.com.