New shoe day…… to the runners / joggers / or even power walkers out there – you’ll appreciate how good new shoes are…… unless you’ve got spring loaded heels. Ok they can’t turn you in to Mo Farah, however they can do something we crave each day; offering to make your life just that little bit easier!
For the record here – yesterday’s jog with the new trainers trimmed off a very nice 16 secs per mile. Now ok, this could well be because I had a couple of good nights sleep, didn’t drink much on the weekend and “also” had new trainers but each element played its part and rather than a laboured jog like those last week, this one actually felt pretty good.
First in a while, whilst wrestling the demands of a 4 month old breaking mine and my wife’s sleep with wilful disregard for my sanity, whilst also juggling a 5 year old. Oh and building a company. So yes, I’ll take the win!
For those reading this far, what the hell does this have to do with Recruitment?
Well, how many managers, talent teams and companies out there hang on to the same pair of trainers (recruitment agencies) for far too long.
“We’ve worked with X, Y, Z for however long…. They’re not great but they do the job and get there in the end”
“Signing terms and getting you on the system will take too long, we’ll just have to use the suppliers we have already.”
“Our MD is mates with the other agency owner so it’s complicated”
Well my old trainers used to get me there in the end, it’s always far easier to just throw on the pair you already have, and having to use an inferior pair because they were bought for me, might make one person content; but it doesn’t make the jog any easier!
Am I also downplaying the effect the old trainers (sorry agency) are having on you. Not only do you have to go through the arduous task of starting a hiring process that you know is going to take up far too much of your time & energy, but also you could be damaging your company’s reputation.
Whether tapping up the wrong candidates that are instantly rejected (because the agency didn’t understand the brief) and therefore those same candidates might no longer wish to apply to you again in the future; or CVs slow to be reviewed because the agency have sent 25 incorrect profiles (throwing CVs against the wall and hoping it sticks) and therefore take an age to be reviewed, which is what the agent should have done in the first place.
Each of these elements (and many other examples) increase the pain almost to the point you become so accustomed to discomfort that you normalise poor service.
