Playing by the rules – how compliance helps (not hinders) recruiters

When you’re a busy recruiter, and feel like the clock is always against you, the last thing you want to deal with is paperwork.

From work orders and contracts to interview forms and detailed reference checks, compliance is often seen as a dirty word – hindering the pace at which you need to recruit in today’s market.

Yet beyond the bureaucracy lies a truth that most experienced recruiters will come to realise during their career. And this is that compliance, when done well, actually has the power to elevate you from a good recruiter to a great one.

It’s a quality that inspires confidence and respect from candidates and clients alike, helping them feel they are in a safe pair of hands where the service you provide is consistent, efficient and effective. 

Why care about compliance

At HorizonOne, we prefer the term ‘Quality Assurance’ (QA) over ‘compliance’ because it better describes what we are actually working towards through compliance. Beyond a checkbox, QA seeks to measure the experience of your candidates and clients so you can find opportunities to improve.  

When we look at QA in action, it’s about how well a particular process works to achieve the best possible result. For example, referee checks are an essential process in recruitment. But what is the easiest and most efficient way to conduct a reference check that will give us all the information we need to make an informed decision about the candidate?

By the end of any recruitment journey, every process should provide maximum assurance that:

• We have the right person
• There is documented proof on why this was the case
• The candidate had a positive experience
• The client’s requirements were met and they also had a positive experience

As a recruiter, there are many benefits to viewing compliance through this lens.

Here are 4 of my favourites:

1. It makes you more efficient

When you are time poor, being inefficient sets you back even more. So if you know you have to complete certain processes, why not make them as streamlined as possible so you can get back to doing what you do best.

2. It makes you consistent

Once you’ve established a method to achieve the best results quickly and efficiently, you can consistently deliver that experience to every client and candidate.

3. It boosts your reputation

Every happy client or candidate is a chance to boost your reputation and increase word of mouth referrals. People come to know and trust that you deliver quality – not just once, but every time.

4. It gives you peace of mind

When you’re placing hundreds of candidates, it’s difficult to remember why you made a certain decision at a given time. But if something were to go wrong with a placement, having clear records provides peace of mind that you can substantiate any decision you made at any point in the future. 

Enjoying the journey, not just the destination

In my role as QA Officer at HorizonOne, I’ve spent a lot of time working with recruiters to determine how we can best streamline our processes.

We’ve been on a journey together, not from the viewpoint of “do this because you have to”, but “how can we maximise the speed, efficiency and quality of this process?”. Be it removing something unnecessary, developing great templates or tapping into automation, it’s about discovering the pieces that have the biggest impact in making our consultants’ lives easier while delivering the best experience for clients and candidates.

The next time you have to do a compliance activity, don’t just see it as a tick and flick. Proactively seek out ways to make it better, so you too can reap the benefits of time, reputation, and peace of mind.