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Two weeks ago on LinkedIn (thanks Greg Webster from Cox Purtell Staffing
Services), I was reminded of one of my blogs from the distant past; Rec-to-recs: What should they deliver?

 

When I read the blog again, I was surprised to find
that it’s now six years old. In consulting my blog stats, I discovered that it
is ranked #7 on the list of my most-viewed blogs (out of 431 blogs published
since 26 March 2008). The 38 comments that the blog generated remains the second
highest number of comments that one of my blogs has attracted (Now Hiring 32 Professionals: All
Agencies welcome to submit candidates*
written in August 2009, about Atlassian’s rules for working with
recruitment agencies, just topped it with 40 comments).

 

Another Cox Purtell consultant, Imogen Ryan, suggested I write an update
on the original blog; a good idea, I thought. So here we are.

 

Undeniably the rec-to-rec sector has gone through some challenging times
since I wrote the original blog. Rosemary Scott’s business, Scott Recruitment,
is no longer a national business. The franchise model that Scott Recruitment
previously operated under is no longer in operation. The Scott Recruitment
website lists one location and two recruiters, including Rosemary herself, who
is obviously back on the tools again.

 

Former Scott NSW Franchise owner, Deborah Ross, after a short period running her own rec-to-rec business, is now part
of the team at yet another, kind-of franchise model that
is seeking to attract experienced and successful recruiters into
self-employment.

 

Former Scott Queensland Franchise owner, Belinda Beekman, after a
short period running her own rec-to-rec is now in real estate sales.

 

Former Scott Victoria Franchise owner, Craig Watson, has been running his own rec-to-rec,
Watson Collard, in partnership with former Scott Victoria employee, Luke
Collard since March 2014.

 

Former Scott West Australia Franchise owner, Bunty Paramor has been running her own rec-to-rec
in Perth for over three years now.

 

The tale of Scott Recruitment’s dramatic downsizing is replicated in
other rec-to-recs throughout Australia, albeit on a much smaller scale and
without the unwelcome publicity that messy and protracted court action brings.

 

I can’t find a rec-to-rec in this country that has even six employees,
total!

 

It’s clear, for the time being at least (and probably for the longer
term), that rec-to-recs will be micro businesses that have owners working from
home or a co-working space and have one or two employees, probably working
part-time and/or from home, focusing on candidate sourcing. I mean, let’s face
it, is any rec-to-rec short of jobs to work on?

 

The questions I am interested in finding out the answers to are these:

 

  • What sort of business
    model creates a sustainable and profitable rec-to-rec?
  • Are any rec-to-recs doing
    anything dramatically different that’s working?
  • Are any rec-to-recs
    charging their clients using anything other than the traditional formula
    of ‘percentage of starting remuneration’ fee?
  • Are any rec-to-recs consistently  
    able to deliver top candidates to their best clients?
  • What assessment technology
    are the best rec-to-recs using? How is it helping them place candidates
    with little or no recruitment experience)?
  • Which rec-to-recs are
    delivering value for their clients, beyond candidate referrals and
    placements?
  • What future is there for
    rec-to-recs?

 

Next week I plan to write a follow up blog to this one, aiming to answer
all of the questions above, with lots of quotes and examples. But, I need
your help  .

 

Please send me your views on the rec-to-rec sector via the comments section below, or if you prefer to remain anonymous (publically, at least) then
send an email to [email protected] or call me on 03 5977 1577 or 0423
557701.

 

I look forward to hearing everybody’s views.

 

Related blogs  

Rec-to-recs: What should they deliver?

How serious is the recruitment
industry about recruiting its own? 2013 update

How Mitre 10, campus life and London
made the recruiter in me

 

Most recent blogs  

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Craig Watson

Hi Ross. I am more than happy to share the most intimate of details of our business. We have clear points of difference, easily discernible value-adds, and are continually reviewing our structure and model to be more in-tune with the ever-changing recruitment industry. We are also 2 weeks away from launching our new website… shall we lock in a phone call?
Cheers Craig Watson

Niall Hamill

Hi Ross, Strangely I too was recently reading the original post. Always know that you have a good topic when the comments are more amusing than the post – sorry ! Thought the R2R bashing was very ironic.

The issue is largely nothing to do with R2R but rather the candidates that they represent and the market itself.

Over the past number of years the number of consultants coming over from the UK, Ireland, the US and SA has largely dried up so the supply is clearly limited and getting exclusivity on those is largely impossible for the R2R.

Couple that with the fact that despite their assurances about company culture, product area, training and career development etc, the candidates will almost always secure multiple offers and eventually choose the worst company that had to offer the most money to get them on board !

They are then back on the market within 6 months saying that they were sold a pup but still wanting the same money. With such limited candidate supply, limited candidate control and a highly competitive market, R2R is a terribly difficult space in which to operate and equally very difficult for the business to achieve scale.

From our perspective, we've had a great deal of success dealing with Russell Bebb and Tony Crane – two guys with an excellent understanding of our business and a really solid passive candidate network.

Jonathan Rice

Hi Ross, thanks for getting this conversation started again. I've been doing rec-to-rec for 9 years now. The first couple of years for a larger brand as their NZ Manager, and then starting up my own brand in late 2009. The initial business I worked for had some good people, but when the GFC hit they disintegrated into their component individual parts. I have tried to grow the rec-to-rec side of my own business beyond just me, but it is incredibly challenging. Rec-to-rec just seems to be a business well-suited to flexible, agile, responsive solo operators who can work hard at building a personal brand that recruiters engage with, rather than passing on those skills and traits to other employees.

The fact of the matter is the candidates of rec-to-recs (other recruiters) often need closer attention and tighter control than in other sectors, as they can be very fickle and easily swayed. Perhaps it's easier for a solo operating rec-to-rec to maintain that laser focus and "at any cost" constant attention required to get a placement over the line.

I would have made more profits in recent years by doing this myself from a kitchen table. But I decided to take on a more challenging project and see if I could actually grow my business beyond the norm for our sector. Doing so in agency rec-to-rec has proved somewhat futile though, so we have achieved it by broadening our offering to in-house rec-to-rec, HR recruitment, and flexible on-demand recruitment contractors (virtualRPO).

All of these offerings fit well together and have made it possible for us to grow to six people across Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, with more to come I hope.

We try to provide extra value to our industry through weekly blogs and quarterly networking events which are gaining in popularity. We have tried different pricing models, hosting training classes, developing new-to-recruitment candidates etc, but none of that has really taken off or resonated with the agencies of NZ who generally just want an experienced recruiter with local experience and sadly don't really care how they get them.

The future for us lies more in flexible on-demand recruiters which will grow as the sharing / flexible / gig economy grows too. Some agencies see this as a threat, but the more forward-thinking ones use our model for sourcing specialists or to staff up for specific recruitment projects.

I personally love agency rec-to-rec, for all its foibles, but have found I can offer more value and better outcomes by reducing my client base to a smaller number of firms who I have an intimate knowledge of, rather than trying to bring on more rec-to-recs to deliver to a wider client base. The future for us is bright, I believe, but only by making agency rec-to-rec one facet of the way we source and provide recruitment expertise to businesses.

Vibeke Thomsen

I started my first Rec2Rec firm in Wellington in 1995 and has been in the rec2rec business ever since. When I started Galaxy in 2005 there were 7 or 8 rec2rec firms in Brisbane and since then they have come and gone.

The market has changed – A LOT – and we put a lot of effort and self education into adapting to the changes in order to remain current.

Galaxy is now the longest standing rec2rec in Brisbane and we have operated out of the same offices in CBD Brisbane for 11 years now. Our service driven mentality, ethical standards and long standing relationships are the key factors behind our longevity.
Rec2Recs need to deliver more than just candidates. We are the ears and eyes of the recruitment industry and with our umbrella view, our value adds are BOTH candidate relationships as well as industry advice to both candidates and clients. E.g – we spend a lot of time helping our clients putting together commission schemes and we don’t just talk jobs with our candidates, in fact the majority come to us for (recruitment) career counselling – which may or may not result in us putting them up for a job.

As the market is job rich, Galaxy decided a long time ago, to choosing our clients very carefully, we don’t work with every agency. We need to believe our clients can provide our candidates with a compelling place to work and our clients need to trust and invest in us. It has to be an honest, trusting partnership to work. Same with the candidates. It is not about numbers, it is about success ratios.

Simply put – Rec2rec consultants need to LISTEN to the candidates, be honest with them, offer advice, and send them (only with their permission) to carefully selected few potential new employers – not 10 or 15!!

Lisa Norris

Hi Ross

I, like Craig and Jonathan, am more than happy to share with you the journey we've had as a rec2rec, the different initiatives we've presented to the market (national offering, products, fee structures etc), what has worked and what has not and the positive impact being part of McCall has had on the business for the last 12 months.

Running a rec2rec is still the hardest thing I've ever done so I'm watching this article with interest for what I think will be valuable feedback for me, from my peer group, and the client and candidate market.

Cheers

Lisa Norris

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