1300 363 128
Rebecca Johnston, Harvest Principal Consultant & Recruitment Lead
Why would a business use a Recruitment Agency? Why don’t they just do it themselves? I hear this a LOT and I wanted to offer up a little case study to shine a bit of light onto a subject I am very passionate about.
We had a phone call recently from a new client, who had optimistically placed an advert on Seek.com outlining a role they wanted to re-place due to someone retiring from the business. This is a small business with a stable team and therefore hadn’t done a lot of recruiting. The advert was posted and they waited for the flood of qualified candidates to start coming through. Unfortunately, that did not happen, the response was poor, resulting in only a few applications and unqualified candidates, which left them wondering what to do next?
This is not a unique situation to be in, however this company did have the odds stacked against it;
- It is in a regional location, so the population is smaller and so are the talent pools
- It operates in a retracting market, so there isn’t the growth of talent and organic movement
- There is industry instability, resulting in a reluctance to change jobs from one organisation to another,
- It is a small business and does not have the capacity to train an inexperienced person ‘on the job”.
- It is a very specific role, which requires industry qualifications and a broad and deep knowledge of a complex industry.
Which is why they picked up the phone and spoke with Harvest.
We went out to meet with them, to gain a better understanding of their business and the unique benefits and challenges that they face within the company. We discussed a range of strategies and approaches we could implement into order to find this wonderful new talent and we set to work.
This was not going to be an easy assignment due to the many reasons listed above, however I was confident that we could find someone who would enjoy the culture and the experience of working with this family business.
Without going into too much detail and giving all my secrets away (I have accrued a few tricks during my many years in recruitment) I set to work. I identified my sources and began my approaches, optimistic I could unearth someone great for my new client.
After a couple of weeks of advertising, mapping the market, networking, headhunting and interviewing, whilst consistently communicating with and up-dating my client, I presented my shortlist. Interviews happened the next day and the role was offered and accepted. The reason I was able to find suitable people was that;
- I was able to identify, unearth and approach passive candidates.
- I understood the value proposition, offerings and benefits that my client could offer
- I listened to my candidates and what was important to them
- I didn’t give up
- And I absolutely love what I do.
We now have a happy candidate, who feels valued and motivated in a business that supports her growth and her work-life balance and a new client who now knows exactly why companies call recruitment agencies and why they don’t just do it themselves.
I hope that if you are struggling with finding new talent, don’t know where to start or don’t have the time, that you will think of Harvest and contact us so we can do it for you.
This case study was written by Harvest Principal Consultant & Recruitment Lead, Rebecca Johnston. If you have found yourself in a similar situation to the one described above give Harvest HQ a call on 1300 363 128 to discuss how we can help you.
