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Client LoginRecruitment companies and their clients often operate in silos despite sharing the common goal of finding the right talent. This disconnect prevents true collaborative partnerships that could yield better results for both parties. Here's an exploration of what's preventing effective co-creation and why the Business-for-Business (B4B) model represents a promising path forward.
Outdated Hiring Method
Traditional recruitment methods are the overarching reason why co-creation cannot exist. For co-creation to exist a new way of thinking and a new way of working must happen.
Short-Term Thinking
Both parties often focus on immediate need for CVs rather than developing long-term talent acquisition strategies. This reactive approach prevents investment in co-creative processes that might take longer to implement but yield superior results.
Information Asymmetry
Clients will frequently feel compelled to withhold crucial information, about their culture, actual needs, or candidate expectations. Similarly, recruitment firms may not fully disclose their processes or candidate sourcing methods. This lack of transparency hinders effective collaboration.
Trust Deficits
Previous negative experiences with recruitment providers may cause clients to maintain arm's-length relationships. Without trust, clients are reluctant to involve recruiters in strategic talent assessments, discussions and grant them deeper access to organisational knowledge.
Outdated Procurement Models
Many organisations treat recruitment as a commodity service to be procured at the lowest possible cost. This prevents the development of strategic partnerships where recruitment firms can add value beyond simple candidate sourcing.
The Business-for-Business (B4B) model represents an evolution beyond traditional B2B relationships. While B2B focuses on selling products or services to other businesses, B4B emphasizes creating shared value and outcomes.
Outcome-Based Partnership
B4B shifts focus from transactional services to delivering specific business outcomes. For recruitment, this means measuring success by candidate performance, retention, and business impact rather than simply filling positions.
Continuous Value Creation
Rather than a one-time transaction, B4B partnerships continuously create value through ongoing collaboration and continuous improvement. Recruitment partners become embedded advisors, true partners, offering market insights, talent strategy / development consultation, and workforce planning beyond basic recruitment.
Technology Integration
B4B partnerships leverage integrated technology platforms that allow for seamless data sharing, collaborative workflows, AI support, and joint analytics to drive continuous improvement.
Science Integration
Psychometric assessment tools are now becoming a game changer within the B4B model, allowing you to gain deeper insight into individuals and team dynamics, pre- and post-hire, using it as a science-based engagement and development tool.
Human Connection
When the recruiter is completely integrated pre- and post-hire, leading the process, and is fully engaging with candidates and stakeholders, then we enter the space of co-creation, the ultimate solution.
To transition toward a B4B model, recruitment companies and their clients should embrace methodologies like Ihon Holistic Hiring™; we can transform recruitment from a transactional process into an ongoing strategic partnership that serves everyone's interests.
For more information on Ihon Holistic Hiring™, please read my original article, Ihon Holistic Hiring™: A New Era in Talent Acquisition Through Interconnected Assessment & Engagement.
For forward thinking companies, B4B is the next logical step in the evolution of recruitment, it’s a game changer.
“The most successful recruiters are those who are always learning and adapting to the changing needs of the industry” - Kevin Wheeler, Founder of Future of Talent Institute