Restarting Consultant Partnerships: How Do I Navigate Agreements and Onboarding?

Dear seniors, I am working as Executive Recruitment in an edible oil company. About 6-7 months ago, my colleague who was responsible for managing the consultants left the organization. Since then, we have ceased working with consultants (approximately 70-80) as we are unable to immediately continue her work. I have now been tasked with restarting the process from the beginning.

I have compiled a list of the consultants we previously worked with, focusing on those who have delivered better results, which amounts to about 10-15 consultants. How should I begin initially? What are the key points that I should always bear in mind from signing the Letter of Agreement to the candidates' onboarding and payment?

Please help.

Thank you.

First of all, I am surprised by the fact that your colleague was dealing with 70-80 consultants. Did your organization have hundreds of positions to fill on a top priority? Or were most of the consultants incompetent, requiring you to keep so many of them for backup? The question that bothers me is how she managed all of them.

But you seem to have cleaned off the major dirt by reducing the number to 10-15. I would say you should keep really good 4-5 consultants on whom you can rely. The rest 4-5 can be used as fill-ins for "not so urgent" positions and for those that pop up every now and then due to regular resignations.

Key Points for the "T&C" Agreement

Apart from the other general conditions, the five most important conditions you need to discuss and get the consultants to agree to are: (1) The placement charges, (2) The terms of payment, (3) Replacement period and process, (4) Response time, (5) Penalty clause (if you wish to include). Never forget to include details pertaining to the validity of the contract (timeline) and the legal aspects related to the jurisdiction to approach in case of any dispute.

I hope this should be useful to you. Good luck.

Thanks a lot, senior. Actually, I joined the organization 9 months ago, and before I or my other colleagues could handle her responsibilities, she left. This information will definitely help me a lot.

OK, would you like to give me any advice on corporate relations with consultants?

Consultant Assessment and Vendor Selection

Fully endorse the opinion shared by mstos6t010 and liked the comment: “Were most of the consultants incompetent that you had to keep so many of them for backup? The question that bothers me is how she managed all of them?”

What needs to be done is an assessment of these consultants in terms of:

- Positions filled by the consultants
- Terms & Conditions
- Quality of resumes sent
- Response time of consultants

The other option is to identify the vendors in terms of their segment expertise, like accounts, engineering, marketing, etc., and shortlist 2-3 vendors for each vertical with clearly defined metrics.

Develop a good rapport with these consultants as they are your brand ambassadors of your organization, and they endeavor to attract the best talent for your organization. It is important that your vendor should understand your company's business and culture.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Rajat Joshi