Commentary - May 15, 2005

John Henning

Building Quality Relationships

It's always a good time to focus on the importance of building quality relationships with the business partners that enable your business to run smoothly and efficiently. One of the most important business partnerships an organization can have during a period of job growth is their relationship with recruiting firms.

The recruiting firms that have focused on building and maintaining quality relationships during the lean years are the firms that have survived and are now positioned to help your organization attract quality candidates as they become increasingly difficult to find, attract and retain.

As the demand for recruiting services increases with the overall surge in jobs, the way in which corporate recruiters and hiring managers deal with agencies becomes increasingly important. There are several factors that must be taken into account when developing a quality business relationship with a staffing partner.

The most important of these is providing timely feedback on candidate submissions and interviews. In an environment where recruiting firms have choices of where to allocate their resources, the companies that are able to move quickly and provide meaningful feedback in an open, honest and mutually respectful manner are the companies that will be able to attract the best talent and keep the attention of their s taffing partners. When agencies are prioritizing which positions and clients to work with, they will invariably gravitate towards the clients that have demonstrated mutual professional respect by communicating in a straight-forward and timely fashion. Other factors include exclusivity, flexibility and relative fee structures. All of these factors combined with a genuine regard for the services provided are those which staffing vendors take into account when deciding how to prioritize their efforts.

Keys to quality long-term relationships are mutual respect, professional integrity and honesty. These characteristics define the quality of a successful business partner relationship. Most clients value their business relationships and recognize the importance of building true partnerships with their vendors and suppliers. After all, the vendor and customer are all working together to achieve a common goal.

If you are able to take the business relationship to a deeper level, one that touches on genuine caring and mutual respect for one another, it is awesome! The bottom line is that business relationships are the foundation of every successful company. If we have a strong foundation of quality business relationships, we will be better positioned to build our companies in an increasingly competitive world.

About Granite Solutions Groupe

Granite Solutions Groupe (Granite) is a San Francisco based recruiting firm that specializes in recruiting and placing highly-skilled senior-level Project Managers, Business Analysts and IT Managers at global firms throughout the financial services and IT Market. Contact them online at www.granitesolutionsgroupe.com.