There are benefits to using a recruitment agency. But what about multiple recruitment agencies?  I’m talking about engaging with 2, 3, 4 or possibly more!  Does the upside increase?

We had a recent case where a company approached us to recruit quite a niche role.  All well and good, but we did some research and could see 7 other recruitment agencies were simultaneously working on this brief.  It could have been more…we just stopped counting at 7 and withdrew from the process.

Why did we do that?  Why did the client do it?   And more’s the point what is considered too many agencies?

Let’s dive in and examine the advantages and disadvantages of using more than a single recruitment agency:

Advantages

Speed

If you’re in a hurry, if you need to fill a vacancy very quickly there is an argument for multiple recruitment agency use.  A bit of competition, a sense of urgency, a pressing deadline that needs to be met.  If you are in a hurry, then broadening your agency portfolio can help speed the process.

Broader range of candidates?

There’s the possibility that you’ll get a wider range and a greater number of candidate CVs.  Not always guaranteed as, often recruitment agencies can ‘fish in the same pond’.  However, different recruitment agencies can use different job boards, resources and approaches – hence you may find some variables.  This can be useful if you are unsure about “what” you require.  Different agencies can interpret the brief in different ways.

Commercial Benefits?

Most recruitment agencies only charge you if they successfully place a candidate and fill the role.  There maybe a slight shift away from this approach with increasing numbers of agencies wanting a downpayment or deposit to cover advertising costings and account management…but broadly speaking you only paying a recruitment fee once.

A Better Chance of Success?

Possibly.  It is never guaranteed that a multiple recruitment agency approach always yields results.  However, I can understand hiring managers telling their boss – “I used x3 agencies and none of them could deliver”…and it sounds pretty good!  They tried multiple suppliers in an effort to maximise commercial success.

Disadvantages

The Admin!

If you decide to brief multiple recruitment agencies – well you have to brief them (multiple times), answer the same questions (multiple times), agree the terms of business (multiple times) and be prepared to manage these recruitment agencies and juggle an increased number of CVs and candidates.  In short, you will have to invest more time in the process.

I think it is worth mention that when multiple agencies are working on a brief, well, from the recruitment agency’s perspective you don’t hang back.  You need to start the process immediately.  That does mean you can miss a step of interrogating the brief effectively.  You don’t have time for it.  That error is only seen later down the line – and normally you the Client are having to do extra work to shore things up!

Commercial Benefits?

As we pointed out above, you only pay one recruitment fee.  However, it is not unheard of that recruitment agencies increase their fee when in competition with others.  Simply put, they are advertising, incurring costs and committing resources to a project that by logic…they only have a 25% or 20% chance of success if you have engaged 3 or 4 “equal” recruitment agencies.

You may only be paying once, but you may be paying more than you want.

Can Multiple Recruitment Agencies All Fail?

Yes.  If you throw multiple recruitment agencies at the same “tricky” brief and you reject a couple of candidates as you view CVs and conduct interviews….Suddenly the recruitment agencies are not as busy on your behalf.  They feel that with the heat of competition – someone else is being successful.  You are not getting the most out of a given recruitment agency.

I admit, I quite like another recruitment agency in the mix.  There are moments where you have a difficult brief and the client is “sweating the agency” to try and speed the process.  Well, nothing nicer than asking how is the other recruitment agency doing and being told “I haven’t heard from them”.  Ultimately it gives a benchmark that my performance is better than others.

Effort and hard work doesn’t always equal success though.  That is certainly the case in recruitment.

Relationships and Partnership

Whether you use one agency on an exclusive basis or several across a PSL; the real value of any supplier is their added intelligence and understanding.  By investing in those recruitment agencies, building a partnership and allowing them to really learn about your organisation – so you will benefit.  They should be able to move quicker and be closer to the brief than a scenario where you simply message 7 agencies and tell them to get to work!

Conclusion

So, should you use multiple recruitment agencies or just one?  And when is multiple recruitment agencies too many?

I would suggest the answer is as simple as:  What are you prepared to invest in the process and who will represent your organisation effectively?  I think for most business owners and HR Managers 1-3 recruitment agencies is probably the sweet spot.  You need to balance variables such as required speed, variety of role, required headcount and stakeholder management…4 or more recruitment agencies starts to leave you stretched, and you lose the intrinsic value of the relationship with your supplier.

About The Author

Daniel Oldfield is the Branch Manager of The Recruitment Lab, a Brighton recruitment agency.  He has worked in Recruitment for six years. He has a degree in Journalism and considers himself a film and music buff.  Daniel also runs The Brighton Film Club review site in his own time. If you would like to know more about anything written in this blog or would like to express your thoughts just contact Dan through The Recruitment Lab website.