Pronexia's Blog - Your Peek Into The World of Recruitment!

“Firing” a Client is painful but inevitable for your Reputation

And here are some anecdotes from our short, yet seemingly long, company history to illustrate the point made in the last blog entitled “Pronexia’s 3^rd Year Anniversary and the Key to our Success” (you can find it here: http://bit.ly/1gugFWa ).

In our first year of operation, we landed a highly coveted contract that gave us numerous mandates and would allow for fast growth. As we were patting ourselves on the back after filling four of their mandates within the first month, we received a call from a placed candidate. She had been fired earlier that morning and it was done in a truly humiliating manner. We quickly found out that it was a common way the director of the department disposed of her staff.  This company hired quickly and fired even quicker. When choosing between easy financial gain and Pronexia’s future reputation, we chose the latter and parted ways with this company.

A few months ago, we visited a prospective client whose office was in an almost shocking disarray. Employees were sitting so close to each other that their elbows were practically touching. To make the situation worse, the company president shared with us his views on employees being greedy and overpaid in the job market. Needless to say, we politely disengaged from the prospective partnership even though he was ready to sign the agreement.

Another client meeting that stood out was a memorable experience shared by two of our consultants. During an almost 3-hour marathon meeting with a prospective customer, they were both offered jobs, found out that the hiring manager does not mind hiring candidate with drinking problems but would not stand gamblers, listened to a long rant about the vices of all 3^rd party recruitment firms but got a signed contract. They walked out exhausted but relieved that they did not have to collaborate with this company ever again.

Firing an account or disengaging from a potential partnership is never easy. Yet, the benefit is the luxury of enjoying your work by partnering up with companies that align with your beliefs and allow you to build your reputation in full accordance with your vision. Fortunately, leaders who believe in building a strong employer brand with commitment to employee engagement and internal appreciation far supercede the few that don’t. And as suppliers, if we all commit to only servicing the companies built on values of honesty and integrity, the job market will become a better place for all.