As in all industries, whilst there are lots of good recruitment businesses out there, there are plenty of bad ones as well. For businesses looking for a reliable, effective and value for money recruitment service, it can be difficult to filter out the bad ones without using their services – which can be a very costly mistake.
So how do you tell whether your recruitment agency is reputable and trustworthy?
One effective way is to check that they are members of the REC – The Recruitment and Employment Confederation. At Prestige, we’ve been members of the REC for some time, and take its recommendations on best practice very seriously.
Here’s why we believe REC membership is so important.
Introducing the REC
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation is the professional body for recruitment in the UK. It represents and supports the industry, and sets out clear best practice guidelines on the way recruitment businesses should act and operate for the benefit of clients.
REC membership acts as a mark of quality, providing reassurance that the recruitment company will strive to deliver the right people every time, cares about what it does, and works with professionalism in everything they do.
It also runs the Good Recruitment Campaign – an ongoing effort to help businesses find and attract the right people. As part of this, it provides specialist training, workshops, events and tools to help businesses in every industry.
The Good Recruitment Charter
One of the core aspects of the Good Recruitment Campaign is The Good Recruitment Charter. This defines good recruitment practice through a series of nine key principles. At Prestige, we base our recruitment service on these principles, to ensure that our clients benefit from a fair, transparent, effective and value for money service that delivers the right personnel.
Our principles are:
- We are fair, legal and ethical in all our resource planning and recruitment procedures. We actively promote diversity and inclusion within the workplace.
- We exercise good recruitment practice in everything we do. This applies to all our recruitment services, and is applied equally to temporary, contract, interim, fixed-term, zero hours and part time workers.
- We treat all candidates with respect, and deliver a high standard of experience. This includes ongoing communication and two-way feedback throughout the recruitment process.
- Wherever possible, we aim to offer flexible working arrangements and adaptive working practices – in an effort to boost both inclusion and to attract the right talent for your business.
- Our professionals work to recognised standards, undertaking relevant professional training and qualifications and committing to continued professional development.
- We are signed up to all relevant industry codes of practice and actively look to embody these codes into the way we recruit.
- Our supply chain delivers good recruitment practice throughout, including where outsourcing and vendor arrangements are in place.
- We help to address youth employment through our service, including supporting candidates with apprenticeships and traineeships, and look to embody the REC’s Youth Employment charter.
- We regularly review our recruitment procedures with feedback from candidates and keep up to date with the latest industry best practices and developments.
Additional information about the Good Recruitment Campaign can be found at https://www.rec.uk.com/good-recruitment-campaign
Quality recruitment support from Prestige
At Prestige, we’re committed to upholding the absolute highest standards for the benefit of clients and candidates – offering an ethical, professional service that works for everyone.
Additional information about the way we work, our industry accreditations, awards and association memberships can be found at https://www.prestige-recruitment.com/about-us. Alternatively, for more about how we can help your organisation source the right talent your business needs – please get in touch with your local office today.