Onus is on agencies to lift consultants' game
Onus is on agencies to lift consultants' game
30 April 2009 6:41am
Agencies must act now to stop the unethical practices that will hinder the recruitment industry's ability to take advantage of the inevitable upswing in demand, says Everjoy Consulting director, Adrian Everett.
"For those recruiters who are still succeeding in spite of the downturn, the biggest hindrance on our continued success is the increasing levels of unethical behaviour seen in the marketplace."
Everett concedes it's possible that recruitment consultants don't realise the broader impact that some of their activities have on the rest of the industry, but managers should be especially vigilant in identifying and rectifying bad practices.
He refers specifically to:
•Plagiarising the advertisement of another recruiter in a bid to find out the client from the candidates who respond;
•Calling up other recruiters pretending to be a candidate in a bid to find out the client;
•Changing the name on a candidate's resume and presenting it to other recruiters through an application with your phone number;
•Pretending you have the right to work a role in order to secure candidates and prevent other recruiters from having access to a candidate;
•Telling a candidate, without any authority to do so, that another recruiter doesn't have the right to work a role.
•Trawling job sites trying to guess the clients of other recruiters.
Acting in a legal, ethical and professional manner will reap greater returns than any of the above activities can achieve, Everett says.
"These are all practices which we have seen happening with increasing frequency in the marketplace," he says. "All these practices are essentially a massive case of denial. If you are lowering yourself to any of these acts in a bid for short-term gain... you do not know how to recruit. You should seek advice from either your manager or successful recruiters to find out how to use your time more effectively to nurture and develop strong client and candidate relationships."
Everett urges managers to monitor consultants' activities closely, "and if any of the practices above are occurring, hang their boots up for them".
"If recruitment managers collectively do this, we are all a step closer to maintaining the quality of the industry and ensuring the success of the rest of us."