HR professionals often have thankless, difficult jobs. Between ensuring that new employees are integrated seamlessly into the fold, mediating disputes that arise and handling many of the day-to-day operations required for the organization to run successfully, they are often completely booked. As such, it stands to reason that they might enlist outside help when it comes to recruiting: however, only retained search firms can ease their burden in any significant way.
Contingent search firms, while able to perform some basic tasks, ultimately lack the depth of resources to provide complete support to HR. Because they do not offer guarantees and are generally working with low to mid-level candidates, contingent agencies simply lack the bandwidth to do thorough checks of each prospect. Therefore, the onus falls onto human resources departments at the companies themselves to do much of the screening, sorting and evaluating work that they were trying to avoid in the first place.
Retained search firms, on the other hand, only present fully qualified candidates who are ready to interview. The personal commitment of the executive recruiter is reflected in the caliber of the prospect presented. Retained firms get to know the company in depth, and have a deep pool of applicants to draw from, including those who are not currently looking for a new job.
Which sort of firm is correct for you depends entirely on your organization's needs. If you are looking to fill a large number of entry or mid-level roles, the approach of a contingent search firm could work. However, if you are looking to find the best candidates for executive positions, a retained firm is the way to go.
