Kevin O’Shannessey shares some expert advice.

I’ve had many discussions around the value that an FMCG recruitment company can provide with line managers over the past five years.

It’s a topic that should always be raised prior to any recruitment assignment.

Here’s my view, from someone who has worked in the industry for over 12 years and now offers a professional service to the industry. Using a reputable, third party recruitment consultant can still be one of the most cost-effective options in finding the best talent for the organisation you work for.

Finding high quality and appropriate candidates

Candidates appear to be passive by default in today’s job market. The need for many tools and techniques to access and encourage quality candidates to consider change is very real. The need for a consultant to build ongoing trusting relationships with the candidate pool is more important than ever. Most organisations just rely on online ads to generate candidates for jobs. This strategy is no longer enough.

Extension of your HR department

When an organisation is recruiting directly it has no independent advocate representing the organisation. Candidates that are “the best” will often have other options to consider. A high quality consultant will know how best to represent job opportunities and organisations to candidates who may be nervous about a move.

I had a recent situation (not in any way uncommon) where I was discussing a reputable company with a candidate. I mentioned there was a role available that had been advertised, he’d seen the advert and decided not to apply because of what he had heard about the company. His assumptions and conclusions were not accurate and he was happy to explore the opportunity in the end.

Market knowledge

As it is important to recruit FMCG employees with the right background, so it is important to work with recruitment consultants who know the industry well and ultimately specialise. The required sophistication of key account managers is on the rise, as is the need for more commercial marketers. An FMCG consultant who struggles to define category management may not be the best person for an organisation to use!

A high quality recruitment consultant knows their market niche so intimately that they can provide not only excellent service, but useful unbiased advice to their clients and candidates. It is unlikely that a line manager will have anything close to the same understanding of where the candidate market is at.

Speed and success

As a line manager you will have higher daily priorities than assessing the resumes of numerous candidates who are not appropriate for the role that you’re recruiting for. Recruitment consultants have no higher priorities than providing the right person for the assignment they are working on, as quickly as they can. A high quality consultant should be able to provide the best candidate to a client, faster than a client can do it themselves. If they can’t it’s likely they don’t know the FMCG market well enough!

In conclusion, yes there is a cost to consider. Maybe the upfront cost of finding a fabulous candidate through a credible FMCG recruitment company is less than you’d think?

Kevin O'Shannessey is manager - FMCG sales & marketing, OCG Consulting.