Joining a split placement network can be a big boost to your recruitment business if you have an open mind and a good attitude. Below are five mental roadblocks that can hamper your success and lead you to question your decision.

Not being willing to consider new markets. Many recruiters have a defined niche whether it is geographical, industrial, or occupational. Joining a split placement network gives you the opportunity to expand your business if you keep an open mind. Perhaps you will have an opportunity to fill different types of roles for your existing clients (instead of having to turn those down). You may be able to serve your clients as they expand into new countries.

Not being willing to consider new ways to work. Your split placement network may offer proprietary software or access to a third-party ATS, which might offer the ability to streamline your recruiting process or improve efficiency. You may get to know other recruiting firm owners who run their businesses differently than you. While it can be difficult (and scary!) to make changes, it’s important to keep an open mind. In our network, for example, everyone does things a little differently. There are lots of ways to be successful; be willing to try something new!

Not being willing to trust your trading partners. For recruiters with limited (or unpleasant) experience making split placements, it can be daunting to trust your new trading partners. Hopefully you checked out your new split placement network to see what policies are in place, how frequently disputes occur, and how they are handled. If you are satisfied with these answers, you should feel comfortable trusting your trading partners. You know what else helps? Calling people on the phone and attending face-to-face meetings – both of these are so much more effective at building personal connections than sterile email communications.

Not being willing to share more information than “normal.” This goes hand-in-hand with trust. The recruiters I know who are most successful in a split placement network are those who share as much information as they can – the candidate’s complete contact details, the name of the client, the location of the job, etc. The ultimate goal is to get the opening filled quickly with the best person; withholding information doesn’t help achieve that goal. This particular item can be a big hurdle to overcome, but it pays big dividends.

Not being willing to learn from others with more experience/success. It’s generally not a good idea to come into a new experience thinking you already know how it works. Even if you’ve had previous success, listen to your peers. If they’ve been part of a split placement network for a long time, you might pick up a trick or two.

There are a lot of things to think about when you’re considering membership in a split placement network. Once you’ve made the commitment to join, make sure to keep your mind open to new ideas, new concepts, and new ways of doing business. Don’t block your own success!

With the skills shortage that is projected to last for a number of years moving forward, I believe employers will need skilled recruiting resources more than ever before. Independent recruiters will need to work cooperatively to quickly source the best candidates for their clients, which means you’ll need to invest time building a strong recruiter network.

There is a growing trend (at least in our membership) of smaller offices and more single-person recruiting firms, many working from home, which removes the traditional “built-in” recruiter network of co-workers. Working alone or in a very small office requires you to reach out to external recruiting resources.

Here are five ways to build your recruiter network:

• Look for online recruiter communities in LinkedIn or other social media sites. Many recruiters are already active LinkedIn users. You can look for recruiting groups based on location or specialty, or start your own group that serves your specific needs.
• Organize an informal Meet-Up or Tweet-Up to meet recruiters in your community. LinkedIn and Twitter both offer mechanisms for creating and publicizing face-to-face events. It can be as simple as getting together for an informal breakfast meeting at the local coffee shop.
• Get active in your local / state / provincial / national recruiting association. Most associations are in constant need of volunteer support, and this can be a great way to meet other recruiters as well as taking advantage of professional development and educational opportunities.
• Attend face-to-face conferences and educational opportunities. Virtual “connections” can be handy, but there still is no real substitute for face-to-face networking. There are myriad opportunities for these kinds of events, which are sure ways to build lasting relationships for your recruiter network.
• Consider joining a formal recruiting network or other recruiting organization. These recruiting resources are often purpose-built for independent recruiters who share a common niche or geographic market. Many can provide infrastructure, business support and other recruiter resources which can create more time for you to spend on your core activities.

There are many other ways to build your recruiter network. It’s not important HOW you do it; what matters is that you have a trusted pool of reliable recruitment partners who can help you serve your clients quickly and effectively.

NPA has been in the business of fostering split placement opportunities since 1956. Obviously we are big believers in splits, since that’s the very reason for our existence. If you haven’t considered integrating split placements into your business model, here are some reasons you should:

1. Split placements can help level out cash flow fluctuations. Splits are good for business in all kinds of economic conditions because they provide incremental revenue that stabilizes seasonal or cyclical revenue fluctuations.
2. Split placements can allow to you work on more projects simultaneously. A split fee recruiter can complete more projects. More completed placements means more satisfied clients and more profitability.
3. Split placements help you serve your clients faster and more efficiently. The most successful recruiters I know are those whose sole desire is to get the best candidate in front of their client faster than anyone else. By building a reputation as the “most reliable provider” they are guaranteeing future business.
4. Split placements can help you expand your scope of service in terms of both geography and occupational or industrial markets. Participating in split placements means you can help your clients with a wider variety of assignments, whether that means branching out geographically or different types of roles.
5. Split placements offer an affordable alternative to hiring additional recruiters in your recruiting firm. Instead of hiring a new recruiter or investing resources in developing a new niche, you can reach out to trading partners who are already established experts. Best of all, there is no ongoing overhead – you simply pay for their services when you need them.

If you’re interested in adding split placements to your business model (or increasing the number of splits you currently make), there are two primary ways of doing so. One way is to relentlessly build your own network of like-minded recruiters that you can trust and who work the same way as you. You’ll need to spend time creating a split fee agreement, upfront, each time, to ensure your client and candidate relationships are protected. The other way is to join an established recruitment network. Split placement networks bring you a ready-made cadre of trading partners, infrastructure and ground rules governing how splits will be made, and dispute resolution if needed.

NPA offers a free tool to help you determine if joining a split fee network could benefit your recruiting firm. The NPA self-evaluation tool is anonymous. NPA does not capture any of the data you submit so you won’t get any phone calls or emails as a result of filling out the questionnaire.