| Product: |
Randstad |
| Date: |
24/12/07 (207 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Very unique and tailored service with a magnificent matching process
Disadvantages: Consultants are seen in same light as window salesman and estate agents
Welcome to Randstad! It's good to know you!
These days, in most towns, you will find a number of recruitment agencies on the high street. The most popular ones, arguably, are Reed, Adecco, Office Angels, Manpower and Brook Street. In 30 towns within the UK, you will find a Randstad, but as a Senior Consultant for this agency, I have found that a lot of people do not know much about Randstad. Lamentably, the company name 'Randstad' is abstract, it does not give the slightest indication of what we do, which is a huge shame because we have been in the UK since 1989 and, unlike the above list of agencies, Randstad are different - 'a lot better' different.
Before I go into that, let me explain a bit about the company.
Randstad
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Randstad is the 3rd largest high street recruitment agency in the world. It was established in 1960 in the Netherlands, and we are active in Europe, North America and Asia. In the Netherlands, Randstad is the equivalent of Marks and Spencer - a very well established brand which stands head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. Furthermore, in Belgium, Germany, Poland and in the south east of the US, Randstad are the market leading recruitment agency.
As used above, Randstad's motto is "good to know you" - a motto which reflects our desire to build and develop relationships with any individual we can provide a service to. Our bread and butter comes from endeavouring to know clients and candidates as best as possible and using our knowledge of them to service them as effectively as possible. Moreover, internally, Randstad is a very family orientated business. In the UK, despite having over 300 employees, everyone knows everyone - my Managing Director Fred Van Der Tang does not just know me, he's met my son and partner. Furthermore I have met the CEO, Ben Noteboom (based in the holdings company in the Netherlands), who came and dropped into the branch to say what a great job we are doing. Undoubtedly, this sense of unity contributes to the reason why Randstad came 41st in The Times Top 100 companies to work for 2007.
Around the world, Randstad are a total solution provider for office support staff for companies. You can use Randstad either for temporary, fixed term, and interim staff or for permanent staff.
In the UK, Randstad concentrate on recruiting for the following job families:
General administrators - PA's, data entry clerks, receptionists, secretaries, customer service advisors and typists.
Specialist office staff - Credit Controllers, Purchase / sales ledger clerks, HR administrators and Accounts Administrators.
Call Centre staff - Telesales executives, customer service operatives, inbound agents and outbound agents.
Warehouse staff - General labourers, picker and packers, forklift operators, drivers, production operatives, general warehouse operatives.
Professionals - Finance professionals, Legal professionals, HR Consultants, IT managers, Sales managers etc.
Temping
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Randstad's traditional speciality is temps, and we call them 'flex-workers'. This is because our temporary workers are flexible to the requirements of our clients. Whether they require someone for 1 day or 3 months, we have the manpower to send to them. For a lot of flex workers, temping is a lifestyle choice - it exposes them to different roles, which equips them with a strong array of skills, it fits in with travelling or educational agenda's, and any problems are managed by their recruitment consultant, making life easier and more stress-free.
The pay is very good with Randstad, although it varies from town to town. In Newbury, a lot of agencies pay temps in the region of £6 per hour for basic administrator role, whereas Randstad offer £7 as a minimum, even for relatively mundane administrative positions.
How to register
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When you walk through the door, you will be greeted by a consultant - we believe in the personal touch. Normally an agency has an administrator to meet and greet, but we do not have these at Randstad - you will easily benefit more from speaking to the actual expert who will be working on your behalf. From there you will be asked a few questions just to ascertain if you are looking for the kind of roles we cater for. If you can bring in a CV with you in this initial meeting, it will give the consultant the best overview of your skills and experience.
If we can help you, we will book an appointment for you to come back. What we require when you return for the registration process is an eligibility to work document such as a passport or a birth certificate with proof of national insurance number, plus the details of two referees. We will then put your basic information on our database such as contact details, along with your work history and education. We will then interview you to find out what you are looking for in your next role, desired salary / hourly rate, prefered management style and what kind of company (size, sector and personality) you would like to work for. Having done this, we will then require you to undertake a couple of IT assessments on Microsoft Word, Excel and a data entry test, so that we have an idea of where your administration skills lie. While you are doing this, we will call our most appropriate clients as per your requirements and canvass your skills out to them to see if they have any vacancies or openings that would be suitable for you. If not, then once the registration is complete, we will inform you of suitable vacancies we currently have and from there we will progress things accordingly.
What makes Randstad different?
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Exemplary matching process - Job Fit, Boss Fit, Company fit
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Randstad are reknown for being experts in matching the best candidate to our client's vacancy. The way we ensure we place the right person into a job is by going through a 3 stage criteria, known as job fit, boss fit and company fit.
When a company has a vacancy, the Randstad consultant will visit the client and make sure they have a thorough understanding of:
The job - skills and experience required to be successful
The boss - how the manager to the vacant position likes to manage staff
The company - the personality of the company, department and team
After obtaining this information, the consultant is in the strongest position to match and shortlist the best possible candidates.
When an individual is registering for work with Randstad, the consultant interviews every candidate for very similar information. They have to discover what skills and experience the candidate has for their ideal job, how they like their superior to manage and motivate them, and what kind of company they want to work for. From the two sets of information, the consultants then make the match to as accurate a standard as possible. In nowadays labour market, loyalty and stability are traits you will find missing from 75% of CV's, because job satisfaction is no longer sufficient enough to keep employees within companies. Everything has to be right - the right kind of management and motivation, the ideal work environment and the correct incentives. If one or more of these do not exist, then an individual is likely to be inclined to look for a company where it does. Recruitment consultants at Randstad do their best to ensure no problems are likely to occur when the person starts the job.
Unit structure
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You will have a primary personal consultant that deals with you for the whole process of finding the right candidate for your vacancy and company (client) or finding you your ideal job (candidate). Having said that, this consultant will work in a unit of two consultants. In every office, a two consultant unit deals with permanent recruitment and a two consultant unit deals with temporary recruitment, as opposed to the traditional approach of one consultant for one and the other, as offered by all other agencies. The benefit of having the two consultant unit is that you are guaranteed continuity of service at all times, especially because if one consultant is very busy, on the phone, off on holiday or sick. The other consultant on the unit can deal with you just as effectively. Furthermore, for the client, you have two experts resourcing the right candidate, hence being more likely to offer an objective choice rather than a subjective.
0% Commission
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Unlike 99% of recruitment agencies, Randstad's consultants do not get paid a commission for making either temporary or permanent placements. Having previously been rewarded financially in previous companies, I can say that people's motivations are very different when money is involved. You will call candidates and railroad them into taking a job so that we can get the commission for their successful placement. The benefit to the client of the 0% commission is that Randstad consultants are able to concentrate on getting the match correct to ensure they make customers happy and satisfied, and receive repeat business. The benefit for the candidate will be that they are only going to be briefed and put forward for roles which match their personal specification.
Flex Worker Charter
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To ensure that flex-workers stay loyal to us and decline offers to temp for other agencies, Randstad offers a benefit scheme to each flex worker when they begin working for us. This benefit scheme is called the Flex-worker Charter, which states that flex workers are entitled to 28 days holiday a year, they are entitled to time off for medical appointments, paternity pay, maternity pay, pension contibutions and many more. The main benefit of this scheme is that our clients do not face having to keep training new flex workers, we can almost guarantee retention of staff. This is not offered by any other agency.
Training
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To ensure we have the best possible people working for you, all consultants go through a rigorous training schedule called the 'Zero to Hero' programme in order to make them as effective and strong as possible straight from the beginning. They go through a week's classroom training on the recruitment cycle, customer service, how to get the most out of interviewing candidates, how to get the most valuable information from clients and how to accurately match.
Beyond the basic training, Randstad have a fantastic record for developing leaders. Globally, Randstad are the sixth best company in the world at developing leaders, which is a superb accolade.
After care service
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Having placed a candidate with a client, we conduct an 'Post-placement review' a week after the appointment, to make sure both client and candidate are happy with a) their new employee / employer and b) the service we provided. We then keep in regular contact at 4 weeks, at 8 weeks, at 6 months and then lastly conduct a 1 year review just to make sure that all is okay and to resolve any problems if required.
For temporary recruitment we conduct AIF checks, which stand for 'Arrival/Intermediate/Finish' checks. This is to make sure that the client is happy at the major stages of the assignment with the quality of the worker, their ability to do the job and their integration with their team.
Price
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You get what you pay for at Randstad. If you want monkeys, you can pay a mediocre agency peanuts and they can churn out low quality temps and provide a poor quality after care service. Randstad however are like the Harrods of recruitment - the price of using their service is higher than average, but the quality of the candidates are second to none, and the weight of work that they take off of the shoulders of decision makers is invaluable. The intricate attention that is paid to every stage of the recruitment cycle by the consultants, coupled with the strong after care service to ensure that client and employee are happy with the appointment long after it is made, makes the service unrivalled. There is always a contingency plan if the rare occasion happens that a temp does not turn up, and a free replacement is offered if a permanent candidate leaves their job within 8 weeks.
Overall
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Service-wise Randstad are simply the best exponents of the recruitment process I have come across. I have worked for a few of Randstad's strongest competitors, and having experienced the processes they go through to match candidate to vacancy, I can honestly say I have not seen a company follow the cycle from start to finish with such detail and care.
All consultants, managers and head office staff act with total professionalism and transparency.
Therefore, for the ultimate service, whether you are wanting to temp, wanting a permanent job or if you require a superb quality temporary or permanent worker, there is only one option - Randstad Work Solutions.
It will be good to know you!
For more information about Randstad or to locate your nearest Randstad branch, go to www.randstad.co.uk.
Thanks for reading!
Summary: Professional and high quality recruitment consultancy
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