Recruitment Agents and Suppliers

Guide to Utilising Recruitment Agents & Consultant

Recruitment agents are a service that can be used to:

Conduct any part of the recruitment and selection process;
Acquire casual staff for short term employment or urgent temporary staffing requirements;
Acquire a pool of candidates for fixed term and ongoing vacancies; and
Acquire specialist expertise in the form of consultants.

There are a significant number of agents in the Perth market, making it one of the most competitive industries and hence a market that is negotiable on service options, terms and conditions, and rates/fees.

Most agents are looking to establish an ongoing business relationship with a client and this provides an opportunity to negotiate service requirements and fees. The University has established preferred provider relationships with recruitment agents DRAKE

Consultant versus Contractor

Generally, a consultant is a person who possesses specialist expertise or a discreet set of value-add skills that may be additional to normal operational requirements or required by the organisation for a specific project. The consultant is likely to receive only broad direction from ECU to deliver specific outcomes and is generally not subject to daily supervision. They are paid on an hourly basis, or an agreed project fee for the delivery of a "product" or specific outcome. Typically, the organisation would pay a premium rate for this specialist expertise starting at approximately $80-100 per hour depending on the type of expertise. You would generally be invoiced for these services on a periodic (weekly/monthly) basis, or on delivery of agreed milestones throughout a project.

A contractor is any individual who is engaged to undertake operational work that would or could be regarded as normally undertaken by an ECU employee, but for a range of reasons internal expertise is unavailable. These engagements are usually on a casual basis for short-term periods in units of hours/days/weeks. If the period becomes greater than a month there can be negotiation on the hourly rates applicable. These appointees undertake a specific position/role within the organisation and are under the day-to-day direction of the line-manager in the work area. Contractor rates vary depending on the type and level of work being undertaken and start at approximately $18-20 per hour for clerical/administrative roles, $26 for base level technical roles and $45-50 for mid level professional roles. Most providers of these services have a set of standard rates, but these are subject to negotiation depending on the term and conditions of the placement.

Definition of Recruitment Services

Recruitment providers can generally supply casual, temporary, permanent staff and consultants to clients. Some of the larger providers operate in all professions/occupations or have affiliates and other smaller providers have niche segments of the market (eg. IT, accounting) catering for specific occupations.

CASUALS

Use of casuals is predominantly in the administrative/clerical occupations and this segment of the recruitment industry is most competitive. As such, a reasonably quick turnaround of a day or two should be enough time to secure a couple of candidates for a short term position. This may vary, where specialist skill-sets are required.

You would expect to:

contact the provider by phone/fax/email and define the job specification, skills required and expected timeframe

obtain a quotation on the hourly rate

provide any further clarification required

review written candidate profiles

interview preferred candidates

decide upon the appointee, advise the provider and make arrangements for commencement, employee management, payment authorisation etc.

manage placement and assess effectiveness of the placement and any issues are raised with provider.

From the provider you would expect:

understanding of the job specification

a database of suitably qualified candidates

validation/assessment of skill levels

written candidate reports/resumes

efficient turnaround time and/or contact to update progress on the assignment.

Presentation of 2 or 3 suitable candidates

Arrange for commencement

Follow-up on effectiveness of the placement and respond to/address any issues to the client's satisfaction.

PERMANENT/TEMPORARY

his is the undertaking of the recruitment and selection process (or parts thereof) by a recruitment agent on behalf of ECU. Generally, providers will undertake the full process through to delivering 2 or 3 appointable candidates.

You would expect to:

Brief the consultant and provide readily available information like the job specification (position description/position classification standards), business and strategic plans.

Approve the ad copy, if necessary

Be prepared to provide advice to the consultant throughout the process and ensure the conduct of the assignment is in accordance with the agreed brief

Interview the 2 or 3 appointable candidates, as part of an ECU selection panel

Make the appointment decision and advise the provider

Ensure the university's offer of appointment is used

Assess the level of service in accordance with the brief and authorise payment of the fee.

From the provider you should expect:

A written brief of the assignment, timeline and detailed fee schedule

Guidance and focus on value-add suggestions throughout the process

All creative work to draft an advertisement or other methods to attract a pool of candidates

Conduct of all pre-selection and shortlisting activities

Written report on the candidates presented for interview

Written referee reports

Anticipation and support in the interviews

Written selection report

Negotiation with the preferred candidate

Applicant management, including advice to unsuccessful applicants

The provider is our agent and as such is representing ECU. In using agents, you should be prepared to demand only the best practice and service; you're paying for it. The recruitment industry strives to be a high quality service. However, it relies on the expertise and commitment of individual consultants. Your responsibility as the customer, is to ensure that ECU gets the service that it is paying for.

CONSULTANTS

The use of a consultant is generally to buy in expertise that is not readily obtained from within the organisation and the decision to engage them is an important one, not least from the cost perspective.

When you engage a consultant, you should be acquiring an expert in a particular field, who can demonstrate significant relevant skills and experience. There are many people in the market who present as consultants, but are more like contractors, but still charge consulting level fees. This is a cautionary note to ensure that you carefully consider the type of need, the expertise required and the limit of involvement that you want to have.

Consultants would normally work to an agreed project plan, set of requisite outcomes/deliverables and operate with a greater degree of autonomy. They should not require substantial input from the client, nor should they require close supervision in how the assignment is conducted. You are paying for certain outcomes/outputs and it should only be necessary to have milestone reviews throughout the assignment.

What should I pay for a Casual Contractor through an Agency?

Providers of contractors have standard rates that they have developed from their knowledge of the labour market, the value placed on specific skills-sets and the supply/demand variations that may affect the "going rates".

Generally these rates are for one-off work arrangements; short term placements of hours/days. For longer periods of engagement it is wise to negotiate a reduced rate and where there is the likelihood of further contracts, establish this scope at the beginning.

Most providers will negotiate under these circumstances and be prepared to obtain competitive prices from other providers based on the same job specification.

A "rule of thumb" for calculating a casual rate applicable to a specific job would be:

1	Obtain the minimum annual salary for the position eg. Admin HEW 3	$
2	Divide the salary by 2000 (approx. work hours/year)	$
3	Add between 15-16% for on costs	$
4	Add minimum 10% profit margin for provider	$
5	Anticipated TOTAL HOURLY RATE	$

Note: There will be variations to this calculation, but it does arm you with some knowledge and basis for negotiation.

What should I pay for a Recruitment Assignment through an Agency?

Each recruitment agent has a standard schedule of fees that contain their terms and conditions for undertaking the complete recruitment assignment. Some will conduct specific parts of the process on your behalf. This could be as little as being a "mailbox" for applications, or undertaking the process to shortlisting stage, executive search or delivery of two appointable candidates. There is a fee to match the service level.

Most recruitment providers prefer to undertake the full process on your behalf, for a number of very good reasons, notwithstanding that they are obtaining the full fee. For a full recruitment assignment you would anticipate paying the fee in 2-3 instalments throughout the process at milestone points such as commencement, shortlisting and appointment offer.

Fees for permanent placements or longer term fixed term contracts generally start at 10% of the remuneration package at the low end of the market for entry level positions, increasing to 12-15% for professional middle management positions and 18% for senior placements.

Executive search can be an expensive service, starting at 18-20% or 30% of the remuneration package.

There are a number of variables affecting the fee that you should be aware of. In particular, there may be confusion over the inclusion of superannuation in the total remuneration package, for the calculation of the fee. Most providers explicitly include ALL significant package items such as cash salary, vehicle and superannuation.

The placement fee is normally exclusive of advertising costs and any other costs that may be incurred by the provider, including teleconference facilities, travel arrangements and psychometric testing. These additional services are provided at cost but can be a "hidden" extra that is not budgeted for. Press advertising costs can add approximately $2,000 per placement per publication.

Most providers include various forms of "guarantee", to undertake further work without fee to replace a candidate that has left within a certain period of appointment (eg. 3-6 months), but some conditions do apply. Any further expenses like advertising will be charged.

Working with Recruitment Consultants

There are a number of key things to do when engaging a recruitment provider:

Obtain a profile of the provider's experience in managing the recruitment assignment and type of vacancy you have
Identify who the consultant representative will be and their personal credentials to undertake the assignment, you want experience and a good reputation in the marketplace
Ask lots of questions, especially about the provider's market profile/presence, record of similar assignments, candidate database services, candidate management, fee structure
Be prepared to negotiate. Recruitment consultants are "salespeople" and you may need to haggle to get value for money
Be definite and consistent in the brief you give to the consultant. They rely on your description of what you are looking for and wherever possible changing critical aspects of the brief
Be prepared to demand full service in accordance with the agreed fee and avoid "skipping" services like written reports or referee checks for reasons such as, the candidate is a sure thing!
Seek the consultant's opinions or guidance on strategies etc, but consider suggestions carefully, as you may have a better idea
Only make a decision where you feel confident that it is the right one.

The best approach is to get to know the provider and their respective services and strengths as well as obtaining referrals from colleagues who have utilised the provider with success and satisfaction.

Independent Assistance and Further Information

If you have any queries about using a recruitment provider or need some assistance during the process, your HR Account Manager is available to assist.