When Should You Use a Recruitment Agency?

At its simplest, a recruitment agency connects employers with people looking for work.

In practice, a good recruitment partner should do considerably more.

Depending on the type of recruitment required, an agency may help with:

• Understanding and defining the vacancy
• Advising on salaries and candidate availability
• Advertising positions
• Searching existing candidate networks
• Identifying passive candidates
• Screening applications
• Checking candidate suitability
• Conducting initial interviews
• Coordinating interviews with the employer
• Supporting temporary staffing requirements
• Managing communication throughout the recruitment process

The objective isn't simply to generate more CVs.

Most employers can already achieve that through job boards.

The real value is reducing the amount of time the employer spends finding the right candidates.

One of the clearest signs that external recruitment support may be worthwhile is when vacancies begin affecting the wider business.

An unfilled position doesn't exist in isolation.

The work associated with that role usually moves elsewhere.

Existing employees take on additional responsibilities. Managers spend time covering gaps. Overtime increases. Projects take longer. In operational environments, capacity itself may be reduced.

At this point, recruitment has moved beyond being an administrative task.

It has become an operational problem.

Employers should consider the wider cost of the vacancy rather than simply comparing an agency fee with the cost of advertising a job themselves.

If several managers are spending hours every week recruiting, interviewing and reorganising workloads around missing employees, direct recruitment isn't necessarily as inexpensive as it first appears.

Speed is one of the most common reasons businesses approach recruitment agencies.

An employee leaves unexpectedly.

Several people are absent.

A new contract begins sooner than anticipated.

Production increases.

A warehouse suddenly needs another shift.

In these situations, starting recruitment from zero can be difficult.

An established recruitment agency may already be speaking to suitable candidates and have people available who have been screened and are actively looking for work.

This is particularly valuable with Temporary Recruitment, where the requirement may be measured in days rather than weeks.

Speed shouldn't mean lowering standards.

The advantage comes from having an existing recruitment infrastructure and candidate network ready before the employer needs it.

Sometimes a vacancy receives plenty of applications but very few suitable ones.

Other times, it receives hardly any applications at all.

Repeatedly placing the same advert is unlikely to produce a dramatically different result.

A specialist recruitment agency can provide access to candidates beyond those actively searching the same job boards.

More importantly, experienced recruiters should understand the market well enough to identify why the role is proving difficult.

Potential issues might include:

• Salary
• Shift patterns
• Location
• Skills requirements
• Competition from other employers
• An unnecessarily restrictive job specification
• The way the position is being presented

Sometimes the answer is finding a different candidate.

Sometimes the recruitment brief itself needs changing.

This is where sector-specific experience becomes particularly useful.

A specialist Warehouse Recruitment partner, for example, should understand the realities of recruiting warehouse operatives and forklift drivers, while an experienced Logistics Recruitment agency should understand the requirements surrounding transport, distribution and logistics positions.

Recruiting one person can take time.

Recruiting 20 people creates an entirely different challenge.

Volume recruitment can require employers to process large numbers of applications, conduct checks, organise interviews, communicate with candidates and coordinate multiple start dates.

This often happens at exactly the time the business itself is becoming busier.

Warehouses may need additional operatives ahead of peak demand. Manufacturers may increase production after securing a new contract. Logistics businesses may require additional workforce capacity to support increased volumes.

A recruitment agency can provide additional infrastructure around that process.

Rather than the employer individually sourcing every candidate, the agency can create and maintain a suitable candidate pool against the expected requirement.

This is particularly effective when recruitment can be planned in advance.

The earlier an agency understands expected numbers, roles and start dates, the more opportunity it has to build the required workforce.

Using a recruitment agency isn't automatically the right answer for every vacancy. There are advantages to recruiting directly. Employers retain complete control over the process, avoid agency fees and can build their own candidate database over time.

For straightforward positions with a healthy supply of applicants, direct recruitment can work extremely well. Agency recruitment becomes more attractive when the equation changes. Consider the following:

How much internal time is recruitment consuming?

Job adverts, application reviews, telephone calls and interviews all require somebody's time.

How long has the position been vacant?

A difficult vacancy may be costing the business considerably more than the eventual recruitment fee.

Are you reaching the right candidates?

More applications don't necessarily mean better recruitment.

How quickly do you need somebody?

Urgency can dramatically change the value of an established candidate network.

Is this a recurring requirement?

Businesses regularly recruiting the same types of employees may gain more from an ongoing recruitment relationship than those making a one-off appointment. The right answer can also vary between roles.

A business may successfully handle office recruitment internally while using an Industrial Recruitment specialist to support production requirements, for example. It doesn't need to be all or nothing.

If an agency's only contribution is sending every available CV, its value is understandably difficult to see.

Good recruitment should reduce work for the employer, not create more of it. A recruitment partner should understand:

• What your business does
• The position you're recruiting
• Which skills are genuinely essential
• Your working environment
• Shift patterns
• Salary and benefits
• What makes somebody successful within your organisation
• Why previous employees have stayed or left
• Your expected timescale

Candidates should then be assessed against that understanding. You should expect fewer irrelevant applications, clearer communication and honest feedback about the market. Good recruiters should also be prepared to say when something isn't realistic.

If the salary is significantly below market expectations or the required candidate simply isn't readily available, knowing that early allows the employer to make an informed decision.

Recruitment agencies aren't interchangeable. Before choosing one, consider whether the agency has relevant experience within the areas in which you recruit.

Ask how they source candidates, what screening takes place and how they approach temporary and permanent recruitment. But also consider the relationship itself.

Does the recruiter ask questions about your operation, or simply request a job description?

Do they understand why you're recruiting?

Do they provide useful feedback?

Do the candidates being introduced become progressively better matched as the relationship develops?

The strongest recruitment partnerships improve over time. Once an agency understands your business, it can begin anticipating requirements rather than responding to every vacancy as an entirely new exercise.

For businesses regularly recruiting across warehousing, logistics, industrial or other high-volume environments, that understanding can become particularly valuable.

Using a recruitment agency isn't necessary for every hire. It becomes valuable when the time, difficulty or operational impact of recruitment starts outweighing the benefits of managing the entire process internally.

Recruitment support may be particularly worthwhile when:

• Vacancies are taking too long to fill
• You need people quickly
• You're receiving applications but not suitable candidates
• Specialist roles are proving difficult to recruit
• Multiple employees are required
• Seasonal demand is approaching
• Recruitment is consuming significant management time
• Staffing shortages are affecting productivity
• The same roles need to be recruited repeatedly

Ultimately, the question isn't simply "How much does a recruitment agency cost?"

It's "What is the most effective way to get the right person into this role?"

What are the benefits of using a recruitment agency?

Recruitment agencies can reduce the time employers spend sourcing and screening candidates, provide access to established candidate networks and offer specialist knowledge of particular labour markets. The value is usually greatest where recruitment is urgent, difficult or required at volume.

Is using a recruitment agency expensive?

Agency recruitment involves a cost, but this should be compared with the total cost of recruiting internally and leaving a vacancy unfilled. Advertising, management time, overtime, lost productivity and delayed work can all contribute to the true cost of recruitment.

Should I use an agency for temporary recruitment?

Temporary recruitment is one area where agencies can provide particular value because employers often require people quickly. An established temporary recruitment agency may already have screened workers available for suitable assignments.

Can I use a recruitment agency and recruit directly at the same time?

Yes. Many businesses use a mixture of internal and agency recruitment depending on the position, urgency and availability of candidates.

What should I look for in a recruitment agency?

Look for relevant sector knowledge, a clear screening process, good communication and evidence that the agency takes time to understand your business rather than simply forwarding available candidates.

There is no reason to outsource recruitment simply for the sake of it.

Where an internal recruitment process is delivering the right people efficiently, it may already be doing exactly what the business needs.

The value of a recruitment agency becomes clearer when finding those people starts becoming difficult, time-consuming or disruptive to the wider operation.

The right recruitment partner provides more than candidates. They provide additional capacity, market knowledge and access to a network that can help the business respond when recruitment requirements change.

DMOS People supports employers with temporary and permanent recruitment across warehousing, logistics, industrial and other sectors, tailoring recruitment support around the requirements of each business.

If recruitment is taking too much time, vacancies are becoming difficult to fill or you simply need additional people quickly, speak to DMOS People about where external recruitment support could add value.