The bar for high standards in the recruitment industry rose in 2023 and is expected to be lifted at a faster rate in 2024. The strongest recruitment partnerships need to deliver more than just good candidates and value-for-money commercial terms; they now must contribute significantly to the overall people strategy of your organization.

Employers with plans to strengthen their people strategy for 2024 should set the bar for their recruitment partners with the following expectations:

1. Salary Benchmarking: Generic salary surveys do not work in the current climate. Only a tailored process examining your roles within your specific industry and geography can produce the information needed to set optimal salary and reward levels.

2. Strengthening Your Employer Value Proposition (EVP): Assess your current EVP in the context of competitors, receive advice on areas of strength and weakness, and learn how to effectively communicate with your existing and future workforce.

3. Enhancing Employer Branding: Brand and marketing are now vital elements of recruitment. From the quality of your job adverts and candidate brochures to your job descriptions and interview experience, employer branding that attracts, engages, and excites the candidate pool can deliver recruits at the highest standard.

4. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI): EDI should not merely be a "tick box" but a way of opening horizons, inviting the largest and widest possible pool of candidates, and building a team that is the most productive blend of backgrounds, personalities, and perspectives.

5. Data-Lead Approach: Every hiring decision should be supported by data, providing full comfort beforehand. This can be as general as the candidate pool or segmented into more detail.‍

‍6. Structured Communication Plans: Agreed timescales and full control for every employer in knowing what is happening and when to expect results.

‍7. Deeper Insights into Candidates: Every CV received should be supported by notes from your recruiter's interview with the candidate. Specific questions tailored around your opportunity and evidence of key personality traits can always be reasonably expected.

‍8. The Right Blend of Technology and Human Input: AI, assessment resources, and profiling tools are becoming ever more powerful and should be engaged as much as possible but balanced with the human input of your recruiter. No technology tool can empathize and tailor as strongly as a real person.

9. Personal Relationship on Every Recruitment Process: Not just with your Account Manager but with the people delivering on your hires. Expect your recruiter to use as many resources as needed but deliver through the smallest possible number of consultants to ensure the best results.

Alongside hiring the very best candidates (10), these are the ten criteria that form the basis of our operating model. Each of our clients has their priorities and maintains a relationship with at least two of our directors to ensure expectations are met and to explore new opportunities for partnership.

The high investment of our time in each relationship only allows us to work with a manageable number of clients. If you aim to become the best employer in your cohort or seek continual improvements to your people strategy, we would be happy to talk and explore how we could contribute.