Are Split Placements Right for You?

From time to time, we get asked if there are certain types of recruitment firms that are more well-suited to split placements than others. There are certainly many different ways to operate a successful recruitment firm. For firms that participate in splits, there are even many different ways to be successful. But if you don’t have a long history of making split placements, and are wondering if  they would be a good addition to your firm, here is a pretty good list of attitudes and attributes to have. If you can answer YES to 7 or more of these, congratulations! Split placements are likely a great source of incremental revenue for your recruitment firm.

1. You have too many jobs and/or candidates. Do you have more jobs than you can reasonably fill on your own? Or more qualified candidates than you can reasonably place (particularly in a well-defined niche)? If you’re in danger of losing placements to a competitor because you’re overwhelmed, splits can help you fill your job openings or place your candidates, and still keep your clients and candidates satisfied with your performance.
2. You don’t have enough jobs and/or candidates. If you are struggling to find good job orders, have recently lost a major client, or need more candidates in your pipeline, consider splits. We are fond of saying there is always *someone* making money, so splits can help even out the lulls in your business.
3. Your current specialty is slowing/soft. All business is cyclical in some ways. We often see sales get hot at a different time than manufacturing, for example. Or a certain geographic region that is more robust than another.
4. You would rather have half of something than all of nothing. Recruiters who are successful at split placements recognize that half of a fee is better than no fee.
5. You want to add capacity, but not overhead. If you’d like to expand your business without creating more overhead, split placements can be a good solution. Working with partners on an as-needed basis allows you to work in additional industries, occupations, or geographic regions without hiring, training, or supporting additional staff.
6. You have a high degree of trust along with good infrastructure. There’s an old saying, “Trust everyone, but count the cash.” When working splits, it’s imperative that you have a high degree of trust. It’s equally important to have good infrastructure in the form of either a formal network that supports you, or really great written contracts that govern splits.
7. You are a very good communicator. Split placements can include a fair amount of risk. Almost all of the risk can be mitigated, if not completely avoided, by simply being a really excellent and frequent communicator.
8. You are open-minded and flexible. When working splits, it’s helpful if you are able to adapt to different ways of doing business. If you have a very rigid process and are not open to different ideas or methods, you are likely to experience a high degree of frustration with split placements.
9. You enjoy working collaboratively. If you prefer to work alone and manage the entire placement process, split placements may not be a good solution in your business. Successful splits require a willingness to work cooperatively on deals.

If you’re currently making splits, have I missed anything important? If you’re not making splits, which items on the list above are getting in the way? Comment below!