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Agency PSL Agreements & Candidate Ownership

Summary of postings

Agency PSL Agreements & Candidate Ownership	Nicola Barton	11 Apr 06
Re: Agency PSL Agreements & Candidate Ownership	shakil mohammed	12 Apr 06
Re: Agency PSL Agreements & Candidate Ownership	Charles Brittain	15 May 06
Re: Agency PSL Agreements & Candidate Ownership	Michael Atwal	4 Jun 06
Re: Agency PSL Agreements & Candidate Ownership	mark	12 Mar 07

Details of postings

Agency PSL Agreements & Candidate Ownership	Nicola Barton	11/04/2006 23:31
I am undertaking a major overhaul of our Agency PSL and successful suppliers will work to our company's own terms of business. I work in a project based business which uses an applicant tracking system that interfaces with agencies and managers. Traditionally we have used agencies for nearly all of our candidate supply but aim to reduce our reliance on this method. My main concern is how an agency lays a claim on a candidate. Currently, an agency has ownership of a candidate they have introduced for up to 6 months. However, when we receive applications directly from the same candidate for an alternative position we still have to pay the agency. Clearly this is not working for us a business. Another option is that an agency has claim only for the vacancies that they have submitted that candidate to. As our business operates on a projects basis, my worry is that we could have the same candidate being interviewed in different parts of the business through different sources. Does anyone have any experience of this and the candidate ownership issue? If so, your advice would be gratefully received.

+ Re: Agency PSL Agreements & Candidate Ownership	shakil mohammed	12/04/2006 11:01
Hi, From a business perspective you are right, but this does not work for the Agencies as business may get the Agency to search for a candidate and but may never intend to place the candidate in the position and instead offer the candidate work in a different role. I have been a contract recruiter (working onsite with clients) for almost 6 years and I have found the best way to reduce cost is to employ a skilled Recruiter/Headhunter for the duration of the project and get to source all canadidates and negitiate with suppliers. shakil
++ Re: Agency PSL Agreements & Candidate Ownership	Charles Brittain	15/05/2006 09:51
One procedure to help solve the problem of agency ownership of CVs is to request that all listed agents have a dated permission in writing from the candidate that they are happy that their CV is being put forward for a particular opportunity. Should that candidate not prove suitable for that role, then the respective agent needs to be advised of this, with reasons why. Should the candidate prove, during the current recruitment campaign that they are suitable for another position then the respective agency needs to be advised of this also. However, should the candidate apply for another position, through another recruitment campaign, at a later date then the CV should not be treated as the property of the agent. The agency should have re-applied that candidate after discussing the new role with the candidate: each recruitment campaign should be considered seperately and this should be made clear within the signed preferred suppliers agreement terms of business. One should not encourage agents to send in a pile of CVs for them to simply sit back and wait for you to sift out the suitable ones for imediete use and for future campaigns: they should be encouraged to put some work in for their candidates. To control the problem of the same candidate being interviewed in different parts of the business through different sources, one should centralise the recruitment strategy. There should be a company recruitment strategy that stipulates that all candidates, at least initially, should be handled by one team within the organisation. That team should then implement a clear and auditable trail for the seperate CVs handled for the seperate recruitment campaigns. A system should be designed that would enable the recruitment team, at a glance, to see how well any recruitment campaign is progressing and how well any candidate is being processed. That way it should become clear and highlighted when a candidate in the system is being considered for multiple roles through multiple sources. To be successful at handling multiple recruitment campaigns a company needs a transparent and well structured centralised recruitment procedure for all to follow. All the best. Charles Brittain www.charles.brittain.com
+++ Re: Agency PSL Agreements & Candidate Ownership	Michael Atwal	04/06/2006 16:58
This is a real concern particularly when you are dealing with agencies on a contingency basis. Many agents will drip feed candidates and cvs from a pre-selected list. Many of these candidates will be approaching potential employers from different channels and methods. My first concern would be the quality of your internal applicant tracking system. If it works well then the risk of a candidate applying more than one time should be eliminated at the point of re-entry. One option is to outsource the management of the agency PSL to a recruitment service specialist that manages supply chain issues for clients. Let them develop processes that integrate effectively to ensure this problem is removed. The other is to consider building on relationships with your best or new suppliers operating on a retained basis. Over the long run this should remove the risk, lower cost of ownership and improve the quality and calibre of candidates coming through the agent. This is easy in principle, difficult in practice, what you need is an agent that has a genuine interest in working with you as a long term partner. They should be more committed in finding the best talent out in the marketplace through a more developed, well honed search process.
++++ Re: Agency PSL Agreements & Candidate Ownership	mark	12/03/2007 14:26
Hi Nicola, I think what you are highlighting is the age old problem that most organisations face and is made worse through e-recruitment. I think that because you are reviewing your PSL it gives you a golden opportunity to issue new T&Cs to that PSL, ie your T&Cs not those of the agencies. Within those T&Cs you can then stipulate the rules that you wish to apply. In terms of tracking candidate correctly you will need to have a real-time recruitment system in place which will allow you to audit and track candidates. I have put I-grasp into my last two recruitment functions but there are other systems out there. Mark (www.peaktalent.co.uk)