As an HR practitioner, having gone over to the ‘dark side’ of recruitment two years ago, I can empathise with the sentiments expressed by Elaine Stroud (‘Recruitment consultancies must raise their standards’, Letters, Personnel Today, 4 November).
On behalf of smaller recruiters, I would say how difficult it can be when an organisation’s principal determining factor of selecting recruitment partners plays away from the candidate experience towards applicant volume and cost factors.
The sense I get as a smaller player in the market is that relationship building seems to be relatively low on the agenda, in favour of faceless, expensive applicant management systems.
Here’s hoping that relationship and the ‘people factor’ can resurface in a reduced marketplace.
When Elaine does get back into work, I hope she will ask her suppliers how they can demonstrate a high-quality candidate experience – my guess is it will be the smaller suppliers who score highly.
Richard Young, details supplied
