This is part of our "Recruiter Clinic" mini series (which has inadvertantly been on a mini break!) where I ask various people "What is the question you are asked the most often? What is the answer you give?"
This is the response from Gary Franklin
Question: How do I get onto your PSL?
Answer: many large organisations with traditional purchasing models follow complicated and cumbersome RFQ, RFI and tendering processes to select the suppliers for their PSL. There is no sure fire way of getting through the rules, weighting and scoring matrices that can be set up by procurement teams I’m afraid. This kind of process and the resulting set up, tend to leave suppliers feeling they are being kept at and arm’s length, with limited relationship potential, other than that of traditional supplier/buyer and that any quality in service is diminished. I agree. It’s a lottery.
In organisations where there is more emphasis on quality of service and importance placed on cooperation and understanding of the business as well as the personalities required in the different roles, it is crucial that you build a relationship with the key stakeholders. These will either be with the in-house recruiting teams or the hiring manager. A bit of advice, if the organisation you are trying to sell to has an in-house recruiting team, bypass them at your peril, for they can be the decision makers not only on which agency to deal with, but also on which people will be hired. You will almost certainly ruin any chance you have of dealing with that company if you try and go around the in-house recruiting team to the hiring managers directly.
In many instances PSL’s are built based on suppliers’ previous track record with a company, on feedback and input they get from the hiring managers. In-house teams in many of the HR departments talk to each other and compare notes on agencies and thus it is important that the levels and quality of service you offer is of the highest standards at all times. If you are invited to give a presentation as part of a PSL review, be sure that you know the company you are presenting to inside out. You have to know the scope and scale of the company, which markets in operates in, who its competitors are, what the competitors are doing (in respect of sales strategy , reorgs, hiring) why they hire, how they hire, what competences they look for in the various departments, what technologies are important to that market, what is the buzz in the market, what legislation could affect them. This is more information than you can get from an hours superficial searching on the internet. This is proper and through research, but it has to be done if you want to have any credibility. If you can clearly show that you know the market better than the recruiters then you will be adding value already.
Gary has over 13 years’ experience of successful recruitment experience having worked for agencies, run his own business and for the last four years as an In-House Recruitment Manager for one of the largest computer software companies in the world. In addition he has had a successful and rewarding career as a Sales Manager, selling enterprise class computer software and hardware. This has given him a unique and diverse set of experiences that provides him an understanding of the issues, challenges and expectations on all sides of the recruitment process; candidate, hiring manager, agency and in-house HR recruitment manager.
Gary has over 13 years’ experience of successful recruitment experience having worked for agencies, run his own business and for the last four years as an In-House Recruitment Manager for one of the largest computer software companies in the world. In addition he has had a successful and rewarding career as a Sales Manager, selling enterprise class computer software and hardware. This has given him a unique and diverse set of experiences that provides him an understanding of the issues, challenges and expectations on all sides of the recruitment process; candidate, hiring manager, agency and in-house HR recruitment manager.
In 2008 Gary founded The Forum for In-house Recruitment Managers (The FIRM). The FIRM has now become a respected and award winning international community of corporate in-house recruiting professionals from over 1000 companies in 44 countries that share knowledge, expertise and ideas with each other, raising our own standards and the quality of the services offer to our employers. Gary writes a daily blog about his own personal job hunting experiences and can be found online at www.garyffrranklin.wordpress.com on Twitter at www.twitter.com/garyfranklin, or my email at gary@thefirm-network.com.
If you want to take part in this series just drop me a note at Louise@ukrecruiter.co.uk
