Suppliers are regularly asked to tender for business and as a supplier of services, recruiters can also experience the tender process. They are required to show USPs or more specifically what you can bring to the vendor. Often companies ask about culture and ethics of the supplier, during the process, but in my opinion, I am not convinced it influences the final decision.
I wonder how many “PSL” tenders, in the next few years, will ask the question; What did you do for your employees when Corona Virus swept the country and what impact did that have on your ability to service your client’s requirements?
What is the impact of disillusioned staff on business relationships. Pre-agreed arrangements can become strained as the basis of business relations are not only contractual but reliant on a personal relationship. Are companies who operate strict procurement frameworks interested in the relationships with the supplier or more interested in-service delivery at rock bottom prices?
If you take a pragmatic approach, Preferred Supplier Lists are sensible for businesses of scale. The benefit for the company is, preferred rates and a guaranteed service delivery level. However, the downside is that the supplier is often a generalist recruitment business offering a one stop shop, usually they are either UK wide or multinational. Throughout Scotland, we have variances in culture and business challenges within cities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen and Dundee. Having a service provider based in Glasgow, servicing an Aberdeen customer, provides big challenges, as the two cities have huge differences in industry sectors, not to mention company cultures. Whilst I have no experience of recruiting in the Aberdeen market, I have worked with many who have and understand that there are big differences.
The clients of national or international recruitment businesses have a buying power that can be leveraged in order to recieve a reduction in the cost of using large scale recruitment businesses – simple economies of scale. Yet, I would argue that financial efficiencies disproportionately impact on the ability to attract the quality or relevance of a candidate in that region, in relation to the business. Such as candidate knowledge, acceptable fee structures, candidate availability and even industry knowledge.
I have worked in central and southern Scotland as well as having been based in the South East of England. An example I came across in my own career, was a large company I provided recruitment services for, had national PSL agreements for clients that were commercially favourable to London based customers. There are however failures in understanding that favourable terms in London are not as favourable as those in other locations like Glasgow or Edinburgh.
In turn, a different client I came across was once paying disproportionate rates to a local recruitment business in the Financial Services Sector compared with a national recruiter. The local recruitment business was trying to understand the culture of the business and how they can add value. The national supplier was supplying at a considerably higher rate, and yet there was less value add.
At Able Bridge Recruitment we are all about adding value and working in partnership with our clients. We don’t always want to be awarded preferred supplier status for high volume accounts as the process becomes focused more on the transaction than the service or getting the right people. We take pride in the fact that we know our clients and can work with them through their highs and their lows.
If you are looking to hire into your accounting & finance team or your HR department, or you are looking for a new role, please feel free to reach out to one of the team on either 0131 202 3215, 0141 7397080. Alternatively you can e-mail info@ablebridge.co.uk
