Multiple recruiting agencies? This is why you should use only one

If you’re hiring for an important role (and what role isn’t important in today’s business environment) it may seem logical to hedge your bets by calling upon several recruitment agencies for help. You may feel you’ll get better coverage if different agencies are out there publicising your job offer. More is more, right? Wrong!

In practice, the reverse is true. There are many drawbacks to appointing more than one recruitment agency, and, quite frankly, no benefits. Take a walk through the various issues, and I’m confident you’ll come to the same conclusion as me.

The cons of using multiple recruitment agencies

1) Having too many recruiters weakens impact and motivation

In contingency recruitment – what you might call a no win, no fee contract – the recruiter is only compensated if a successful hire is made. Traditionally, it was felt that this has the effect of aligning the recruiter’s interests with the employer's, ensuring they put in their best effort into finding the most suitable talent.

There is no exclusivity baked into a contingency service, so plenty of employers appoint numerous agencies in the belief that they will somehow outcompete each other to provide an even better result. The reality is that every additional agency added to the mix reduces any one recruiter’s chance of placing a successful candidate. Four agencies in the mix? That means they’ll still have to do 100% of the work they would do in an exclusive arrangement, but they’ll only have a 25% chance of finding the candidate that gets hired.

There is no other service industry where a provider will potentially put in vast amounts of effort and resources with zero guarantee they will get paid for it. If an agency is up against other firms, they have to play it safe and reduce their inputs; it’s the only commercially responsible decision.

2) You’re creating more work for yourself

So that’s the downside for the agencies. But what about you? You’re busy and outcomes matter, so save yourself the stress of juggling multiple agencies. Instead, you can focus on building a strong relationship with one dedicated partner, eliminating potential confusion and conflicts.

Working with multiple agencies means endless back and forth with different people, which will be time-consuming and require much more project management. In addition, you are likely to end up with piles of lower quality or duplicate profiles that you have to dedicate time to sifting through and rejecting. With an exclusive agency, you’ll have a single point of contact, making the process faster and more efficient. You can give one thorough briefing on your requirements instead of many. Subsequently, you’ll be able to discuss updates, give feedback, and refine your requirements with a dedicated consultant who understands the organisation's preferences and priorities.

You still benefit from the contingent model. Having one agency doesn’t mean going down the route of a retained contract with its upfront fees. But now the recruiter knows it’s worth investing their time and energy in the partnership.

3) Non-exclusive recruitment agencies are less focused

Whether or not you tell them, the recruitment agency will know that a competitor is also recruiting for the role. They will put in the amount of effort commensurate with their chances of success, and then they will move on to the next opportunity. This isn’t maliciousness or laziness on their part, it’s a pragmatic business decision. You won’t benefit from additional inputs such as a comprehensive analysis of both the passive and active market.

When you’ve worked hard internally on your value proposition, you want to ensure it reaches the market in the right way. Talking to multiple agencies comes with the risk that your message gets interpreted in varying ways as agencies move quickly and without as much care and attention as they would like. By the time the job description reaches the candidate, it’s already off-brand and confused.

When you have an exclusive recruiter, you’ll receive a higher value service and the role will be sold into the marketplace properly, ensuring you get the right candidates and the right result at the end of the process. You’ll also be building a relationship that will continue to deliver for future hires, thanks to a deeper understanding of the company’s culture, values, and goals.

4) You increase the likelihood of the dreaded ‘spray and pray’ approach

In an exclusive arrangement, you are allowing space for the consultancy side of the recruitment service to bring real value. The recruiter can find the best possible selection of candidates, meaning they are less likely to waste your time on poor matches or contact unsuitable candidates.

When multiple agencies are in the mix (I’ve seen as many as six for a particular role) it becomes a race against the clock, and everyone wants to be the first one to get in touch with a candidate. Suddenly, recruiters are spamming candidate inboxes - not even waiting to be fully briefed about the role because they have the job title and, well, you never know. As soon as they have candidates that are even a loose fit, they’re clogging up your emails in a bid to be the first in the door with a particular CV.

5) Candidates won't have a good experience

Being approached by multiple agencies will conflict the candidate, which is not good for brand experience. It wastes their time and can also make the role feel undesirable. Anecdotally, candidates feel it reflects better on a potential employer if they have an exclusive agency. When a recruiter clearly has an in-depth understanding of the company and the role, it’s easier to build trust with a candidate.

Because we’re dealing with a fairly small pool of candidates in Ireland, it wouldn’t be unusual for an individual to be contacted three times in one day about the same position. It seems desperate and fatigue sweeps in quickly for the candidate, especially if they are getting conflicting information from the recruiters. They may even drop out of the process altogether, which could affect your time-to-hire.

Having multiple recruiters submitting the same CV makes the candidate look like they don’t have any control, makes the agency look like it isn’t trusted, and makes the employer look like they can’t make their mind up. It’s just not an ideal situation, whichever way you slice it.

6) You're not building trust and respect

If you want to build a strong long-term partnership with people who are willing to go the extra mile for you, an exclusive partnership will help achieve that. If you have done your due diligence and picked the agency that’s the best match, you have to then take a step back and trust them to deliver.

"Trust is the highest form of human motivation." - Stephen R. Covey

You will get exponentially more value from an exclusive partnership. But that doesn’t mean appointing the first firm you come across. Go through a proper vetting process, investing time in researching and shortlisting. Ask for references, have calls with them, and quiz them on their understanding, knowledge, and track record.

I know I’d rather partner with a good agency that has the self-respect to want to get paid. What does it say about a business that it’s happy to work for free? What does it say about a business that it wants to have the time to do a good job and get you a result you’re happy with?

Relationships really matter in recruitment

Relationships are a two-way street. As well as asking what the agency will do for you, think about the value that you’re bringing to the agency. At Savvi Recruitment, instances where an employer has actively enabled us to do our job have been the ones with the best outcomes. These would have involved long calls with all the stakeholders, getting to know the business, the culture, and the requirements. When we get real access, feedback, and clarity, this comes across to the candidates and makes a huge difference to their experience.

Recruitment is a people business. It’s a more enjoyable process when good people are doing the job, and you’re working with individuals you respect. It means so much to the agency when the employer is invested. Your standards are high? A good agency will be only delighted! We all want to feel trusted by the people we work with and know that what we do is valued.

Opt for a closed-loop recruiting model

The multi-agency approach perpetuates the kind of processes and practices that the recruitment industry is so often rightly criticised for. Pitting agencies against each other in a race to the bottom is bad for all of us. A huge amount of work and other resources goes into attracting, evaluating, and selecting candidates. If you want good results, you want this work done right.

Don’t forget that Dublin is a very small market. So is Ireland, for that matter. Even if having multiple agencies didn’t affect the quality of work, you simply don’t need more than one recruiter to reach the entire candidate pool here.

In our experience, employers that have moved to an exclusive arrangement don’t look back. If you’ve been unhappy with the results your contingency recruitment agencies have achieved, or felt you didn’t get good value, try appointing an exclusive agency next time.