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Partnerships July 14th 2010

Partnerships

When visiting new customers, I am often asked the same question.
 
“Why should we use you?”
 
Having thought about this and looked into our most successful business partnerships I come to the same conclusions.
 
The partnerships I value the most are built on respect, honesty, and integrity. I look to build valued partnerships and seek to build mutually beneficial relationships resulting in successful win-win outcomes.
 
However, more often than not, I am faced with clients releasing roles to multiple agencies, dealing with candidates applying to multiple agencies, which results in dozens of people scrambling around trying to establish role fit and suitability for the same role but bumping into one another and causing all sorts of confusion along the way.
 
Somewhere along the way businesses and individuals decided that utilising more than one recruitment provider would somehow get the job done more efficiently and effectively than utilising just the one.
 
There is in my experience another way…
 
Forming a long term partnership is about looking for a relationship focussed on mutual success and the achievement of business objectives.
 
I believe partnering with one recruitment provider has some of the following benefits:
 
  • Greater understanding of the business culture & business objectives
  • Ability to be flexible with solution and problem solving
  • Understanding of roles in greater detail
  • Protection of the employer brand
  • Increased information sharing
  • Focus continuous improvement
  • Ability to measure performance
  • Ability to effectively mitigate and share risk
 
Partnering can be particularly advantageous for long term recruitment solutions, ‘ad-hoc’ roles, project delivery and critical key hires.
 
As partnering encourages mutual trust, openness in communication, shared objectives and a strong focus on business outcomes; when partnering with a recruitment agency - you are more likely to attract the right talent for the right roles at the right time, which is the absolute best outcome for attraction, recruitment and selection strategies.
 
I believe when selecting arecruitment partner, clients should be looking for recruitment company that…
 
  • Understands your business and the market you work in
  • Has experienced people in place who can help create and maintain the type of partnership relationship that you are looking for.
  • Has experience working as partners with other organisations and understands what it means to be a great partner!
 
At R&S we value partnerships and we do everything in our power to deliver for the customers that value that too.

demand and supply June 10th 2010

 

Well it has been an eventful period since my last blog....Business has been growing steadily and it appears on the surface at least that we may be over the worst of the UKs economic crisis - at least, it appears, that all of the bad news is out their now and UK businesses are now in a position to start to plan effectively for the future.

increased demand...

We have been busy planning for Q3 2010 and also asking our clients what there plans are for the future.  At least 85% of clients we have spoken to over the past 12 weeks have expressed either an interest in recruiting somebody now or within the next 6 months.  In fact, over the past 12 weeks we have seen the number of permanent jobs roles increase in all sectors, week on week.  So things at least in the short term are looking positive...

supply 'challenges'

Despite things looking more positive on the client side, one of the key challenges facing everybody in the recruitment business is more to do with finding the talent on the market.  As the market has so many people out of work, much time is taken sifting through CVs and I think it is harder to 'get noticed'.  Fortunately this has been alleviated somewhat by the advent of social networking and we have all found the use of various websites such as Linked In, a very valuable asset to our business.

So I look forward to the challenge of 'moving the market' as we move towards Christmas.   I feel that we are in a great position to continue to work with clients and candidates alike to build on the successes of the past few months and look forward with optimism.

If you are interested in hearing more about our opportunities or even if you are looking to recruit somebody into your team and would like to discuss how we can assist you, please drop me a line to marc@robertson-sumner.com.

Marc

Also, we run a very successful 'refer a friend' scheme, and many candidates and clients alike have 'won' vouchers to the tune of £100 simply by recommending one of their friends and colleagues to us.  To find out more, you will find a link to this on this website.

It's not what you know, it's who you know. - May 24th 2010

 
 
Robertson & Sumner is now in it's 10th year in business and have seen some dramatic changes in our business over the years.  Not least the development of technology and 'digital media' designed to make us all more effective.
 
When we started trading in the year 2000, believe it or not, the majority of our clients preferred their CVs faxed across and we would spend a lot of time faxing / re-faxing CVs and dealing with annoying black lines caused by Tipp-Ex!!
 
These days I am pleased to say the process of introducing candidates to our clients is much more efficient, with a CRM system that automatically emails and tracks all candidate applications and monitors the process of all interviews at each stage and no more of the dreaded Tipp-Ex to worry about!
 
The growth of digital media in the form of niche websites and social networking has however created its own challenges and means that we as recruiters are continuously adapting the way we operate to identify and attract the best talent on the market.
 
 
As a 'child' of the fax and phone era - I have tried to embrace the digital revolution and we now utilise tools such as Linked In and Twitter to advertise roles and more importantly to maintain an effective network of sales professionals.
 
At a meeting of the last Recruitment Society, we were warned that "Recruiters must adapt to the relentless challenge posed by social media or die".  I for one am looking forward to the next 10 years and who knows in 2019 maybe 'blogging' about how old fashioned it was when we used to use Twitter....
 
Follow me on Twitter at....www.twitter.com/marcsumner76 
 

Happy Easter!! - April 10th 2010

 
 
I'm often asked by new clients to just "send CV's " , and in turn if we are not able to articulate our service to a client, we tend to start off the relationship on that note, if that's how they are used to working.
 
In this instance the success of client / consultancy relationship largely depends on who can get the CV quickest, and who is lucky enough to secure the placement first. What surprises most though, is that some clients think this is the best way to secure the services of the best candidates. Throwing the net out, as wide and far with lots of agencies, and seeing what comes in. Also secure the services of the best consultants. I believe this method is wrong on both occasions.
 
Sadly in the long run, this tends to have the opposite affect. and it leads to miscommunication of the role, the company, and the opportunity as it's presented to the market. When a company is presented to the market by so many different agencies,  it can be seen as desperation, and puts off some of the real gems of the market applying for roles.
 
Candidates often ask me, "is this a hire and fire company?".............as every recruiter I speak to has this role, I'm not interested.
 
The sudden climate change over the last year, and the war for talent is increasing. Clients should be looking at how they can educate their current suppliers to sell the opportunity better and give them the knowledge they need to attract the best talent. Client's should be looking at consultants with a proven track record of success and have they got the knowledge and contacts to be able to source the "stars" in the market.
 
All consultants prefer to work on exclusive arrangements. If clients in turn "scatter-gun" their vacancies out to the market, why do they think the service they receive will be any different?
 
I would like to thanks the clients, who have given us time to understand their business, opportunity to work on exclusive roles, and the feeling that we are adding value, by attracting talent that makes a measurable difference to the company.
 
Our success is only on the back of our clients success, so it's always in our interested to find the best on the market and deliver to our clients we feel valued by.
 
We are committed to build long term relationships with our clients and work best with organisations who are looking to build a true partnership with their recruiters.
 
It sounds a cliche but I am committed to learn more about my clients' business to take the hassle out of finding talent within the sales arena and offer a value add, rather than just a few CVs.
 
=====================================================================================================
 
On a personal note, I would like to thank all of you, who have sponsored my for the London Marathon in two weeks time, I feel less prepared this year than in previous but hope the adrenaline and support of family and friends will get me over the line!!

taking advantage of the talent...17th March 2010.

 

In today's tough market conditions, it is important to strike a balance between hitting sales targets and keeping staffing costs to a minimum.

However, with an abundance of talented sales people on the market there is a definite opportunity to grow your market share without the commitment of permanent contracts and added perm head count.

To offer this flexibility to both existing and new clients we are now offering the opportunity to add additional resources to your team on a temporary basis.

This gives you flexibility to really see how people are going to perform before offering them a permanent contract and we feel this offers a cost effective way of added talent to your sales team.

  • Our experienced recruitment teams will handle all of the back office work, saving you time:- 
  • All candidates go through a full interview with our experienced recruiters.
  • We check identity and rights to work.
  • Reference checking.
  • Payroll processing.
  • Employee benefits administration (holiday pay, sick pay etc)
 To find out how we can assist you, please contact me directly on 01932 230678.
 
Marc Sumner
Managing Director

Let it Snow - Feb 2nd 2010

Let it Snow !! 

It’s Feb 2nd and we have had the most snow we have seen in 20 years. Today seems as good as any, to keep you updated on what's happening at R&S. In fact, I am snowed in at home, so it gives me ample time to write this.
 
Now the year is in full swing, I am finding that many clients are keen to draw a line under 2009, and are focusing on moving their business's forward and grabbing a larger share of a tighter market place.
 
"Cream still rises to the top"
 
I feel this is a great time to look at your current sales staff, and identify if you have the right team in place.
 
SME and Mid Market companies can normally adjust to changing markets the quickest, even though they might not have the financial muscle, we are finding some exceptionally talented sales staff on the market at present, which could be snapped by forward thinking companies. 
 
It's not just unsuccessful candidates who have been fired or made redundant. We are also finding that real star's are being let go as well. This is not due to poor individual performance, but due to circumstances beyond their control.
 
Only last week I was interviewing 3 sales staff at a leading IT Hardware vendor, who are going through an office relocation.  All 3 were excellent sales candidates, all were over achieving on their sales targets, and were given fantastic references from the Managing Director.  Any of these 3 sales candidates would be good additions to another IT company.
 
The candidate market is normally a clear indicator to what's happening in our industry. Unemployment may be on the rise, but good talent is still in high demand. In this market can you afford not to be interviewing the best talent available?  That's a question we have been asking ourselves recently.
 
"Business Relationships"
 
In a recent survey, 68% of customers said they prefer to do business with people that they have met.  I have been busy visiting many of my established clients and introducing them to the new members of the Robertson & Sumner team.  One of the key areas of discussion at these meetings is around how they can develop an effective strategy around retaining and recruiting better talent for their businesses, and sharing risk of the cost of recruitment.
 
It is more important than ever to really start to think about the state of your business relationships.  Personally I have been looking at my own past, present, and future relationships in business, and looking to cement these. 
 
We have been lucky over the past few years that we have enjoyed some very loyal customers, and again I would like to thank them for their continued support and trust.
 
"It is not all doom and gloom"
 
According to the Global Snapshot report from international recruitment specialist, Antal, which surveyed employers in 107 countries around the world, 28% of UK organisations are hiring managerial level personnel. Although this figure is set to fall, the number of businesses letting staff go is also set to drop. The Scottish employment market seems to be in relatively good health with 54% of companies currently hiring.
Most in demand across the country are managers and professionals with sales and marketing experience. Organisations are planning to increase their recruitment levels in this area, with 35% of the sales and marketing sector expecting to hire during the next quarter.
 
"The job market from the candidates perspective…"
 
I am often asked about the ‘job market’ from the point of view of the candidates.  One piece of advice I would offer to anybody looking for a new opportunity at the moment is to be as open minded as possible.
 
Open to both new industries and new opportunities within your present areas of specialism.  Also look at smaller businesses as well as larger corporate organisations.
 
Huge numbers of quality individuals are coming on to the market, and it so is much more competitive than it has been for several years.
 
Many companies have fantastic roles available but because they may not be a household name some candidates are put off.  I am not one for using old recruitment jargon – but I think this applies in this case, "you won't know what the company and opportunity are really like until you go and meet them for yourself".
 
 
 
Marc Sumner
Managing Director
 
marc@robertson-sumner.com
 
 
Change is automatic, progress is not - Tony Robbins

Happy New Year - Jan 4th 2010

 I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that 2010 is not as disastrous as the media would have us all believe!!

I am confident that with a mix of hard work, good customer service and most important of all.......belief!!  Many organisations will be in a better position going forward.
 
Working as a team…
 
Recently the whole company went through a ‘Thomas International’ and ‘Belbin’ team exercise.  Designed to help us try and understand our own behaviours within the business.  We were told that it would throw up some interesting results and we were not mistaken!!
 
The good news was that we seemed to have a good balance of attributes that make a successful team…which was a relief in itself! 
 
However, we were not necessarily focused on working on peoples strengths and perhaps we were missing out as a result.
 
The following day we collectively decided to act upon the feedback and formed 2 teams based on the Belbin feedback.  People were allocated the roles that matched their skill set and the initial feedback and results have been very encouraging.
 
The trainers, who worked through the exercise with us, were astonished about how quickly we were able to make the necessary changes, and how everybody was really brought in to the idea of working more closely together to achieve more success for our clients. This is definitely testament to the adaptability of the whole team at R&S and for that I thank them.
 
 
Marc Sumner
Managing Director
 

August news....green shoots and racing Aug 2009

‘Green shoots of recovery’ or media hype?

Well the news has somewhat changed around over the past few weeks. The press appear to be reporting signs of a recovery in certain areas of the economy. 
 
At Robertson & Sumner August seems to show that the need to hire effective sales staff is still very important and this has been born out with our best monthly results in 10 years of trading. 
 
Another key indicator for us is the time one of our sales candidates spends ‘on the market’ looking for a new role. We have noticed that the average time for one of our candidates to find a new role from the date they are first interviewed has reduced from 8 weeks to only 3 weeks. This seems to indicate that businesses are hiring more freely and candidates seem to be getting new roles much more quickly than they were at any point over the past 12 months.
 
Lets hope these positive business signs are not as fragile as the England Cricket team batting line up!!! 
 
Marketing verses Relationships.
 
We are always hearing that businesses should up their marketing spend in troubling times, however, the challenge is what is effective marketing? And does this replace the need to maintain existing relationships.
 
In recruitment establishing a good working relationship with both candidates and clients is key.  For the past few years, we have been taking clients to Sandown Park for an evening of racing, music and not to mention food and drink. I find that in this arena of relaxed ‘out of work’ time you can really get to know your clients and it gives you both an opportunity to get to know each other and build up an honest and open relationship.
 
Our 2009 event took place last week (6th August) at Sandown Park, Esher and we had approx 30 clients once again along in attendance. I would like to thank you all for coming and making it such a special night.  
 
I was also proud to present the trophy to the winning horse in the last race of the evening the Robertson & Sumner “Step Up” Handicap. 
 
It is the first time that we sponsored a race and I must admit it made the evening all the more special.