Why Your Company Should Partner with a Recruiting Firm

When it comes to landing top talent, the stakes are high.

According to Harvard Business Review, over 80% of employee turnover can be attributed to poor hiring choices. Similar research from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that the cost of a bad hire is 30% of the employee’s first-year earnings.

Add to that the fact that job resignation numbers keep climbing and retention becomes a greater challenge, quality hiring decisions have become more important than ever.

That’s why you shouldn’t go it alone. Read on for our top reasons why you should partner with a recruiting firm during the hiring process.

 

What does a recruiting firm do for you?

 

Before we get into why you should work with a recruiting firm, let’s talk about what a recruiting firm actually does for you:

• Gain access to top talent, both passive and active
• Gather insights into candidate career paths
• Prepare candidates (and you) for interview
• Act as an objective source of feedback and go-between for both parties
• Assist with the offer and negotiation stages

Many of these important tasks have become more difficult in today’s job market. For example, the active candidate pool is shrinking, creating a need to seek out passive candidates. This requires more resources than most companies are willing to invest.

When you find yourself falling short in any of the above areas, that’s a good sign that you need to partner with a recruiting firm.

 

6 top reasons to partner with a recruiting firm

Now that you’re clear on what a recruiting firm does exactly, here are some reasons you should partner with one.

 

1. Speed

Each day a position remains unfilled, you’re missing out on potential revenue. Without access to talent networks and communities, your HR department is going to take some time to find, screen, interview, and place talent—more time than you can afford.

A recruiting firm, on the other hand, already has those communities built out, and may even have some good-fit candidates on deck. What’s more, partnering with an agency that specializes in your niche means that they’ll know exactly what you’re looking for.

By partnering with a reputable recruiting firm, you can fill positions faster with quality talent.

 

2. Attracting passive candidates

Given today’s tumultuous job market, there simply aren’t enough active candidates to fill all available positions. That means that you can’t just post to a job board and wait for people to come to you—you’re going to have to go out and find them.

According to LinkedIn, 70% of the global workforce is made up of passive candidates, but 87% of these candidates are open to new opportunities. So even if an A-list player is happy in their job, they’re never going to turn down a call with a recruiter.

Partnering with a recruiting firm can open doors to quality talent that you never would be able to access yourself.

 

3. Industry expertise

If you work in a niche industry, you’re almost certainly going to have a specific list of requirements for your roles. This requires an intensive and detailed search process.

A recruiting firm with industry expertise can take a lot of this off your plate, screening and qualifying candidates before you even hear about them. If they have experience working with similar companies and placing people in similar roles, you can have the confidence that they know what you’re looking for, and can find those people quickly.

What’s more, recruiting firms with experience in your industry will also have connections with other companies and candidates. Their insight can be invaluable when you’re bidding for competitive talent.

 

4. Lower acquisition costs

You may be hesitant to work with a recruiting firm because of the fee they charge. However, we can pretty much guarantee that you’re going to spend less with a recruiting firm than if you tried to do everything yourself.

Consider all of those activities we listed above. Now ask yourself: how much would it cost to hire people to fill all of those tasks? Then consider the cost of the tools and technologies that recruiters use to make their jobs more efficient.

Simply put, there’s no way the cost of devoting internal resources to recruiting and hiring would be less than bringing in an external partner.

 

5. Scalability & growth

Hiring is never static. There are peaks and troughs throughout the year. So even if you were going to build an in-house recruiting team, it’s very difficult to maintain the right size throughout the year.

Partnering with a recruiting firm, however, ensures your access to recruiters and their talent communities year-round. As you look to scale and grow, this dependability can be a major asset.

 

6. Candidate quality & retention rates

As we mentioned earlier, recruiting firms dedicate significant time to screening and qualifying candidates. This, combined with their industry expertise, means that when you finally get an interview with a candidate, there’s a high likelihood that they’re a good fit.

Not only that, but the recruiter will likely have insight into what prompted said candidate to leave their organization—giving you a blueprint to help keep them at your company.

While working with a recruiting firm won’t guarantee long-term employment, it puts you in the best position to achieve that goal.

 

Final thoughts

 

You shouldn’t have to become a staffing and recruiting expert just to fill critical roles. So play to your strengths, and let a recruiting firm play to theirs. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

Fortunately, there are experts who can help guide you through the process and make sure that you find the best talent for your company.

If you’re ready to get started, reach out to one of our Brightwing hiring experts today.