A seemingly counter-intuitive question we often ask clients is this: do you really need to recruit?
Conventional agencies never ask this.
But Paul Mitchell Associates has learnt it pays to encourage our clients to think creatively. Can a solution be found internally? Is it possible to adapt existing structures? Promote within? No… are you sure?
Questions like these have often saved our clients time and money. Retention rates improve when people invest in existing talent. We challenge clients to explore this avenue first before launching into action.
Most of our work comes via client and candidate referrals. This way, prospective clients often know what we can do – and have seen how others succeeded with us.
But success doesn’t just happen.
To do what we do best, clients must outline their culture, reputation and vision – not to mention budget and timescale. It pays to identify fit, obstacles and opportunities.
In return, we provide insight into brand positioning, competitor trends, salary benchmarking – and more. A thorough brief will point us in the right direction.
First, we identify and shortlist prospective candidates from our active and passive networks, before extending our search to the open market. Our clients don’t like to be bombarded with CVs – it’s a waste of their time.
Rigorous analysis of the candidates’ experience, character, motivation, commitment and expectations – verified by qualifications, references and testing – is essential for determining a suitable shortlist. We make it a rule to submit only individuals to which we have spoken.
Now is the time to meet. We liaise with both parties to arrange interviews and communicate feedback at all stages.
We take our responsibility for guiding clients and candidates through the critical decision and offer stages very seriously – brokering negotiations to ensure all mutual interests are satisfied.
In our experience, decisions made in haste – or through coercion – invariably result in failure. It pays to give both parties space and time to think. If on reflection it is determined that a new direction is required, we offer our clients the flexibility to revisit earlier steps until the job is completed successfully.
Failure is not an option. PMA’s aftercare team will follow-up, assist and provide safeguards to support our clients in the unlikely event things don’t go to plan.