Partners shouldn’t see each other as competition

Contingent rant!

The worst trend in talent acquisition is the tendency for some hiring orgs to compete against the very same agencies they use to help them hire. 

This stems from the painfully outdated mindset of contingent recruiting. Friendly reminder: the contingent model exists literally nowhere else, aside from ambulance chasing lawyers. Maybe there’s a reason for that…

Inefficiencies do not live in a vacuum. Working hours are not unlimited. Wasted effort always turns into higher prices and lower quality. Which all hiring orgs hate, yet so many keep going back to.

The term “partner” gets thrown around a lot. Everyone wants to work with a firm who “gets” them. Understands their work culture. Adopts their processes. Knows their pitch by heart. And does such a thorough job, they get their time back.

But I can’t overstate this enough:

👉Partners don’t compete against each other. If you do, you will never achieve those end results you’re looking for.

If you’re a hiring org and you’re favoring your candidates over your agency’s because of the fee structure, the division of responsibilities and terms of the partnership are broken. Full stop. You should think differently about who you partner with, and more importantly, how.

I’m the first to say: if someone doesn’t need to use us, they shouldn’t.

Those who do need us get maximum effort.

Yes, I just quoted Deadpool. 

James Hornick

Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.