Recruiting is a competitive field that requires recruiters to be strategic, innovative, and adaptable. One of the strategies that has gained popularity over the years is the concept of split placements, where two recruiters collaborate to fill a position and share the commission. Recruiters in the NPAworldwide recruitment network understand the concept that half a fee is better than no fee at all. But besides adding to your bottom line, there are several reasons why recruiters should consider doing split placements. Read the rest of this entry »
Why Recruiters Should Consider Split Placements
by Liz CareyConnected Recruiters Weather Disruptive Economic Cycles
by Veronica Blatt
None of us are totally sure what’s happening with the economy at the moment. In some ways, a recession seems likely while in others, not so much. Regardless, there are definitely some hiring sectors that have contracted a bit and overall hiring is somewhat slower than a year ago. So how you can best be prepared to survive a bumpy ride? In our almost 70 years of experience, we have repeatedly seen that connected recruiters are better able to withstand economic downturns. Read the rest of this entry »
Split Placements Benefit Clients and Recruiters
by Veronica Blatt
Split placements, where two recruiters work together to fill a job opening and share the resulting commission, have long been the “secret sauce” that helps many recruiters add revenue to their business. But splits are beneficial for clients as well, so if you’re hiring a third-party recruiter, you might want to ask if splits are part of their business mix. Here are some reasons why:
Access a larger candidate pool—Recruiters who utilize split placements can access a larger candidate pool than they would have working independently. This helps clients cast a wider net to locate hard-to-find candidates. Read the rest of this entry »
How to Be Your Clients’ No. 1 Resource
by Liz Carey
Recruiters spend a lot of time and money on new business development and marketing to try and win new clients, but have you tried getting more work from your existing clients? Think about it… you already have a relationship with this client, and they know you can deliver. So, it might be time to teach them that through your membership in a recruitment network, you can help them with all of their staffing needs — whether it is outside your niche or your hiring contact’s department.
For example, maybe your client, an accounting firm, doesn’t need any more tax people right now… but you might be able to get work from a different division of the same company and help them fill roles outside of your typical niche. For example, they might need IT people or lawyers.
You can also try getting more work from your clients if they are an international company, or if they are expanding overseas. Yes, you might be their resource to fill all their roles at their NYC headquarters, but if they have an office in Spain, you can let them know that you have a trusted network partner right in that region that can help with unfilled requirements there.
An international network partner has the expertise and knowledge of that local market, and can help you make your clients happy.
Here is a great example of how to leverage your membership in a recruitment network to get international work:
An Australian NPAworldwide member had a Technical Manager role for a client based in Melbourne, which was given to them after their client had tried for 6 months to fill the role themselves.
“We were asked to assist because we are industry experts in their field,” he said. “We explained to the CEO that there are no Australians willing to relocate to Melbourne to fulfill this role (most live in Sydney). I informed him that he needed to go global. He said that he had thought of this but did not know how. NPA and our expertise were his answer.”
He posted the role onto NPA’s internal job board for members, and a number of recruiters responded with candidates. The best of them came from a firm based in Romania, and they placed the candidate, an Italian citizen living in Italy.
“A truly global effort!” the Australian member said.
NPAworldwide membership gives independent recruiters and small firms a way to compete in a global marketplace, be more effective and efficient to clients, and enhance revenue-generating opportunities.
How to “Break In” to a Recruitment Network
by Liz Carey
New recruiters come into a recruitment network to expand their reach, build their revenues, and to better serve clients and candidates. But If you’ve never been in a split network, what’s the learning curve? How does it work? How long will it take to get that first split placement fee in your pocket? Where do you start?
Here’s how a recently new NPAworldwide member closed her first deal. First, she reached out to the network’s headquarters, asking if there’s anyone we suggest she connect with, as a financial services / accounting / banking industry recruiter in the greater New York City area. Staff sent her several names and phone numbers, and she reached out.
Second, she attended a new member community call that the network held. The call was hosted by a longtime member who shared his tips on how to make more splits. She also attended another network call on how to procure international business from your existing clients.
Third, she was responsive to two other NY-based members who reached out to her and who have a very similar focus on the financial service and hedge fund space. These two recruiters invited her to lunch in Manhattan, where they both work, so they could meet face-to-face and discuss their success on NPAworldwide and how they can help her optimize the power of the NPA network, according to one of the recruiters.
“I believe this was a pivotal point in defining our relationship and success going forward,” he said. “Following our in person lunch, we summarized some immediate action points and agreed to send each other some open requirements.”
One such role was a Senior Compliance Officer in the hedge fund sector based in San Francisco that he had been working on for four months and was unable to fill.
Within a week, the new NPA recruiter that he reached out to sent him a great candidate, which his client wanted to interview right away. The phone interview went well, and the candidate was invited for an in-person interview the next week with the hiring manager and two partners. They made an offer, and the candidate started last month at a $150,000 salary. With a placement fee of 20%, the two recruiters split a $30,000 commission.
So within 3 weeks of joining NPA, this new recruiter had her first deal closed. She and the other NY-based recruiter now have two additional requirements that are in varying stages of success. She said one of the things that makes the partnerships successful is that the two recruiters who reached out to her are very quick to get her feedback. Openness and transparency shows a level of trust that can reassure a new member that recruiting isn’t always a dog eat dog world.
“That’s a tribute to their professionalism and the strength of their relationships and it makes my team and I want to work on their assignments,” she said. “Anyone in this business for any length of time knows that is not always the case with partners or clients and it is appreciated and it’s the stuff long lasting relationships are made of.”
This deal not only shows the power of the network, but the power of folks who take the time to reach out to a new person and introduce themselves. Your first placement will happen, and it’s in your hands to reach out to likeminded members to facilitate the process.
3 Situations that Call for a Split Placement
by Veronica Blatt
NPAworldwide is a split placement network. We’ve been helping our members make splits for more than 50 years, so we pretty much think splits should always be considered. If you haven’t made up your mind yet about splits, or aren’t sure how they could benefit your business, here are 3 situations where a split placement is a great option.
The job is outside your specialty / focus area. Let’s suppose you are a recruiter who fills audit and other accounting-type roles. Out of the blue, your best client comes to you and says they need a digital marketing manager. You don’t know the first thing about digital or marketing. With no resources of your own, your only real option is to tell the client you can’t help. That means some OTHER recruiter will get the job. BUT … if you’re willing to share the fee and make a split placement, there’s no need to send your client looking for assistance elsewhere. You keep the relationship AND your client doesn’t have to go through the hassle of finding and selecting ANOTHER recruiting partner for what may be a one-and-done situation.
The location is outside your geographic coverage area. Let’s change the example slightly. Instead of a job that is outside your expertise, your best client needs to hire an auditor. In Singapore. You don’t know anything about Singapore – what language is spoken, what the educational background is for an auditor, or even how much money an auditor should be making. And Singapore is 13 hours ahead of you, so you’re not looking forward to trying to actually talk to any candidates. Again, you really don’t have the capability on your own to confidently say yes. This is another perfect situation for a split placement. A partner in Singapore can help source candidates in the local time zone, will understand the business culture and customs, and knows how to structure the offer. You manage the relationship with your client so the process is seamless.
You have “leftover” candidates from a recent retained project. Sometimes we hear from recruiting firms that mostly work on a retained basis wondering if split placements are a viable option within their business model. My opinion is they certainly can be! One of the best ways for a retained recruiter to make a successful split placement is to market the “leftover” candidates from retained searches. If you’ve presented 3 candidates to your client and 1 received the offer, what do you normally do with the other 2 candidates? They are qualified candidates who have been vetted and are open to a career change. Why not market those candidates to a split placement partner with a similar job opening? Especially in a candidate-short market like we are experiencing now.
These are three obvious situations where a split placement can be the best solution. There are plenty of other good reasons to have split placements in your business mix. What’s your favorite? Comment below!
Behind the Scenes of a Global Recruitment Network
by Sarah Freiburger
As the Director of Membership at NPAworldwide, a recruitment network, I am often asked this question: So who runs this network? As a network that is member-owned and run, this is a multitiered question at best, and does not apply to every online network that you may find. However, here is the breakdown of what is happening behind the scenes at our specific split-placement network. Read the rest of this entry »
Split Placements Add Value to Recruitment Businesses
by Dave Nerz
Independent recruiters are risk takers. Recruiters typically strike out and leave the comforts of the corporate life behind. Many of these entrepreneurial ventures grow and prosper. One of the things I am seeing more frequently is the desire to create an “exit strategy” from the recruiting franchise that produces value in return for the risks taken and the successes achieved. In some cases the founding entrepreneur has been better at creating and growing the business than they have been at making the business saleable. Those buying a business want to see what value has been added to the business. They are not buying the entrepreneur; they want to buy what is left after the founder is gone.
So what can be done to add value to a recruiting business?
Add Process: The buyer wants to know that the success of the business is not dependent on any one individual. There needs to be a process for recruiting, doing the books, hiring and retaining, marketing the recruiting franchise, and even keeping the place clean and stocked with pens and toilet paper. A rule of thumb: if it is not written down, it is not yet a process.
Add Quality People: What people stay behind when the entrepreneur leaves? They don’t all need to be employees but they should be part of the process and the relationships might be better if captured in writing. This one is a little trickier as some buyers may want to use their own bookkeepers and cleaning services, so don’t get locked into irreversible contracts.
Add Connections: Develop and document the relationships that separate your business from others in the same niche or market. Trading partners that work cooperatively with your business can be the difference between a good year and a great year. They can add the revenue that represents the total profit for any year. These connections add value, but need to be documented in order to produce value at the time of sale.
Add Sources of Revenue: The number one value added source of revenue for any recruiting business is contract placement. These contracts smooth the peaks and valleys associated with contingent recruiting. The ongoing revenue adds to the basic value of the business and increases the likelihood of a sale for a recruiting business.
A second way to smooth the ups and downs is the inclusion of split placements. Split placement revenue is not guaranteed, nor is there a guarantee of continuation on the departure of the founding entrepreneur. But if properly documented as part of the recruiting process, split placements can be demonstrated to add value and reduce the risk of long dry spells for incoming revenue. The ability to work others’ jobs when you have none—or to seek the help of others (without adding staff) when the business is overwhelmed—is a great value that needs to be documented and sold as part of the business.
Add a Formal Split Fee Network: Showing a potential buyer that you have formalized the process to the point of being an active member of a split fee network is a bonus for any potential buyer.
Make your years of risk-taking pay off. Plan ahead and add value that a future owner would potentially pay for.
Image courtesy of Sujin Jetkasettakorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Split Placements Help International Recruiters Fill Clients’ Needs
by Veronica Blatt
Today’s post is courtesy of guest blogger Kimberley Chesney. Kimberley is the owner of Prime Management Group in Canada, with offices in London and Kitchener (Ontario) and Victoria (British Columbia). Kimberley is a long-time volunteer for NPA, currently serving as Chair-Elect on the NPA Board of Directors.
As the world gets smaller, so does the need for recruitment outside of a local network. In order to properly service their clients, international recruiters are finding unique ways of making placements. Read the rest of this entry »