Different Types of Recruitment Models
Different companies have different hiring needs. So depending on level of engagement, exclusivity, long-term prospects, and other factors, many different recruitment models are followed in the market. Here, I will try to explain them.
Different recruitment models:
- Contingency Hiring
- Retained Search
- Exclusive Requirements
- Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
- Outplacement
- Executive Search
Contingency Hiring: In contingency hiring, whenever a company comes across any requirement, it gives it to many consultants at the same time and asks all of them to send resumes. Only the consultant whose candidate is offered gets money from the company. Here, recruiters don't get any assured and fixed salary. Their revenue depends entirely on whether they can make offers or not. As the risk factor is high here, consultants charge a higher percentage for such types of recruitment. Generally, the company pays in terms of a specific percentage of CTC of the candidate. This is the most prevalent way of recruitment.
Retained Search: Here, a recruitment consultant works exclusively for a specific requirement, and payment is divided into two parts. He is paid a fixed amount by the company for search activity, called a retainer fee. Other than that, if he makes an offer, he gets more money. For recruitment of senior executives like CEO, Sales head, a very focused approach is required, so this method is preferred.
Exclusive Requirements: Sometimes companies give some requirements exclusively to recruiters. Here, the recruiter assures the client to close the position within a specific date. If he can't close the position by that time, he needs to either close the position with a lesser commission or bear some other penalty. All the conditions are clearly decided before the contract. Here, the percentage of the commission is less than contingency hiring because there is no competition.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO): RPO model is gaining a lot of popularity recently. Here, a company outsources the whole recruitment process to another consultant. Some people from the consultant's side sit in the company itself and manage the whole process by themselves. The sourcers can either sit in the client place or in their own office. Here, the RPO partner is responsible for closing all the requirements. They take care of the whole recruitment process right from sourcing, scheduling, interviews, offer to joinings. The benefit for the company is that they don't have to manage their own recruitment team, which reduces costs. But on the other hand, the risk is high because if consultants don't understand the company culture and hiring plans properly, it can get disastrous. So companies should be careful while choosing recruitment partners because we are talking about high scale and longer duration engagement here.
Outplacement: Outplacement came into the picture during the recession period. Here, if a company wants to lay off some employees to cut costs, they can hire a consultant to place those employees in other companies. The recruitment cost is borne by the current employer. Outplacement is not very popular till now.
Executive Search: Executive search teams only focus on senior level positions like CEO, CTO, Sales head, and similar requirements. The method of sourcing for such positions is quite different from junior level requirements. Here, the number of potential candidates is less, and they don't prefer to show their resume on the portals. So head-hunting, searching in networking sites, and personal networks help a lot. For such requirements, the commission is much higher. Executive search teams also do retained search activity.
Other than the above models, recruitment can be divided into two other types:
- Permanent recruitment
- Contract or Temporary staffing
Permanent staffing: Here, after recruitment, the candidate stays on the company payroll as a permanent employee.
Temporary staffing: In the case of temporary staffing or contract staffing, the candidate remains on the payroll of the consultant and works with the company for a limited time period. Companies generally prefer this model if the project is small or uncertain. Again, it reduces their long-term costs as well. So, this model is gaining good popularity nowadays.
Different companies have different hiring needs. So depending on level of engagement, exclusivity, long-term prospects, and other factors, many different recruitment models are followed in the market. Here, I will try to explain them.
Different recruitment models:
- Contingency Hiring
- Retained Search
- Exclusive Requirements
- Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
- Outplacement
- Executive Search
Contingency Hiring: In contingency hiring, whenever a company comes across any requirement, it gives it to many consultants at the same time and asks all of them to send resumes. Only the consultant whose candidate is offered gets money from the company. Here, recruiters don't get any assured and fixed salary. Their revenue depends entirely on whether they can make offers or not. As the risk factor is high here, consultants charge a higher percentage for such types of recruitment. Generally, the company pays in terms of a specific percentage of CTC of the candidate. This is the most prevalent way of recruitment.
Retained Search: Here, a recruitment consultant works exclusively for a specific requirement, and payment is divided into two parts. He is paid a fixed amount by the company for search activity, called a retainer fee. Other than that, if he makes an offer, he gets more money. For recruitment of senior executives like CEO, Sales head, a very focused approach is required, so this method is preferred.
Exclusive Requirements: Sometimes companies give some requirements exclusively to recruiters. Here, the recruiter assures the client to close the position within a specific date. If he can't close the position by that time, he needs to either close the position with a lesser commission or bear some other penalty. All the conditions are clearly decided before the contract. Here, the percentage of the commission is less than contingency hiring because there is no competition.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO): RPO model is gaining a lot of popularity recently. Here, a company outsources the whole recruitment process to another consultant. Some people from the consultant's side sit in the company itself and manage the whole process by themselves. The sourcers can either sit in the client place or in their own office. Here, the RPO partner is responsible for closing all the requirements. They take care of the whole recruitment process right from sourcing, scheduling, interviews, offer to joinings. The benefit for the company is that they don't have to manage their own recruitment team, which reduces costs. But on the other hand, the risk is high because if consultants don't understand the company culture and hiring plans properly, it can get disastrous. So companies should be careful while choosing recruitment partners because we are talking about high scale and longer duration engagement here.
Outplacement: Outplacement came into the picture during the recession period. Here, if a company wants to lay off some employees to cut costs, they can hire a consultant to place those employees in other companies. The recruitment cost is borne by the current employer. Outplacement is not very popular till now.
Executive Search: Executive search teams only focus on senior level positions like CEO, CTO, Sales head, and similar requirements. The method of sourcing for such positions is quite different from junior level requirements. Here, the number of potential candidates is less, and they don't prefer to show their resume on the portals. So head-hunting, searching in networking sites, and personal networks help a lot. For such requirements, the commission is much higher. Executive search teams also do retained search activity.
Other than the above models, recruitment can be divided into two other types:
- Permanent recruitment
- Contract or Temporary staffing
Permanent staffing: Here, after recruitment, the candidate stays on the company payroll as a permanent employee.
Temporary staffing: In the case of temporary staffing or contract staffing, the candidate remains on the payroll of the consultant and works with the company for a limited time period. Companies generally prefer this model if the project is small or uncertain. Again, it reduces their long-term costs as well. So, this model is gaining good popularity nowadays.