Contingent versus Retained – where is the value?

Working on a sourcing and recruitment opportunity for a company on a contingent basis is a process where the consultant will touch base with candidates who are known in the market, that have their resume out there already or are actively looking.

Unfortunately, when a company decides to create a competitive environment between agencies to ‘test’ their abilities and apply a ‘may the best man win’ approach, all that happens is that these candidates who are actively looking are approached by different agencies for the same role, it is still the same pool of candidates. There are a few draw backs to this, a different message can be conveyed by different recruiters and it can look haphazard and unorganised from the candidate’s point of view, particularly if it is a senior position. Doubt can set in regarding the approach this company might apply to other areas of their business. In an effort to be the first to get a resume in, the assessment process may be rushed, some candidates may not even be interviewed, their resume will be submitted just for consideration. With no accountability, agencies will work on a contingent role for a week, maybe two, and if they cannot get a candidate of interest, they will move on to the next role.

The retained process provides a structured search approach and assigns accountability. The upfront is requested because considerable research and time goes into finding not only the active candidates but identifying and speaking to passive candidates that are entrenched in their current company and are looking for the ‘what’s in it for me’ discussion. If a consultant is going to commit this time, they need to know that their client is committed to them.

The consultant will represent the client company with professionalism; this provides excellent branding and delivers one consistent message. It also provides an auditable and consistent interview process enabling more effective assessment of the candidates against each other so that only the very best are submitted for consideration.

Take a look at what else you get for your investment, for example behavioural interviewing, market intelligence and search statistics which can assist in further in-house discussion and decision making down the track.

In the words of Jon Bartos (ref: Whitby, M) there is only an 18% success rate of a contingent role being filled, that is less than two roles out of every ten contingent roles. If you play blackjack, the odds of a return is 40%-45%, if you are playing black/red on roulette your odds of a return are 47%.

In comparison, the success rate of filling an opportunity using a retained process increases to 94% and candidates will be delivered by an agreed date which provides certainty for business continuity and will reduce the opportunity costs associated with the position remaining vacant.