Coalition and Compromise

There are a lot of C words around in the UK at the moment to describe politicians,two of the most prominent being Cameron and Clegg, and personally I think they look very comfortable together despite the media desperately looking
for their lover’s tiffs.If it really does work out that our leaders, with their
conflicting ideas can come together and fix the pressing problems of the day,
it will be wonderful all round.I am sure there will be many critics whatever
happens, but finding stability and then growth will be a magnificent
achievement.

So,in that spirit of cooperation I am looking around me and hoping to see it flourish in business and in particular the recruitment industry.Recruiters are not naturally great compromisers and coalition is not
usually on the agenda.Let’s face it we have found somewhere to work where
selfishness is often rewarded.Would the average manager want his/her staff to
be altruistic and generous or greedy and focussed on generating bonus?The
latter will more likely coincide with company performance goals,so greedy is
more likely to be better,particularly as if it goes with quality of service a
lot of clients will also be very happy.That seems simple enough,but where
cooperation is key is when clients use a third party to handle their
recruitment needs,and that’s when all the relationships can come under
pressure.

We all want Clegg and Cameron to put their differences to one side and make all their decisions solely for the good of the country.We want them to understand that what is good for the country will be good for them
and for their parties.If they can put the success of their joint venture above
all else they will be our heroes.It is a tough ask for professional politicians
who have spent so long promoting themselves above all others.Similarly, what a
company wants when they engage a managed or an outsourced service,is that all
those troublesome issues and difficult people will all fall into line and
quietly become resolved issues and helpful undemanding people.

It’s not always easy though.The myriad of offered solutions by suppliers can be confusing.It is amazing how finding people can be dressed up in complex processes, but whatever it is that is sold, a whole range of line
managers,senior executives and HR staff need to buy in to the suppliers service
and help make it work which requires significant internal coalition and
compromise on well worn habits.The service is unlikely to work smoothly on day
one and devious recruiters will be looking for cracks in the framework to creep
through and make their own sales.The rate at which some companies get through
suppliers is testament to how difficult it can be.

There is even more coalition required between external recruiters and the newly hired internal recruiters.Trying to find compromise here usually comes down to accepting a fee level or not, and that’s it.The norm
is often that the same servce is required but just at a lower rate.There are
rare agreements that occur when a consistency of service and particular levels
of quality and information are requested as well as a fee reduction,but not
often.Once successfully in the nest the cuckoo can call the shots while they
are there and take their cut until they are asked to leave.OK,that’s cynical
and not always true,but it is true enough, often enough for it to be the
standard moan that you hear recruiters emit when they hear the news that their
much loved client wants them to go through company xyz, worldbeating provider of radical solutions that will make
their life easier.

The point I would like to make is that the key to managed or outsourced recruitment solutions comes down to a coalition of forces that agree to compromise to a degree for the good of their mutual client and therefore for
their own good.When this is done based on understanding the company’s needs,
and a range of solutions are carefully selected against each of those needs,
and all parties see how it will work for all their benefits you have the recipe
for great success.Making that happen is the biggest task of the solution
provider who must be very careful how they proceed.A company’s human capital is
always vital to it’s health and success and just making a deal for the sake of
winning more business can be very damaging.There are a lot of RFPs,RFQs and RFIs
which come down the line demanding a lot of information but giving little out
until the business is allocated---that’s not logical.Nor is it logical that the
executors of the service are sometimes recruiters who were not terribly good on
the other side of the fence.Controversial I know,but when do you see a
company’s top biller go off to jump that fence.Well not often, and usually
because that person’s remuneration needs are not compatible.But if they are so
good is it not worth a company buying them in as an exception to fill a lot of
jobs?

Our industry is always evolving as it learns.In this age of coalition I am sure there are many lessons for us to learn from sharing goals.