Bob Marshall has been recruiting since the 80s and over the years has produced some great content that we’ve featured. This one fits in rather nicely with my recent blog about how 69% of Recruiters Risk Clients Stealing Candidates. You have to concentrate with his stuff but it’s worth it!
For years now I have relied on A. Bernard Frechtman’s classic book, Employment Agency Law, A Guide for the Personnel Professional. In the edition I have, Chapter 3 is entitled, “Collecting The Fee You Think You Earned”. In this section Frechtman deals with what he calls The Efficient Procuring Cause (EPC) principle. The way I understand this principle is that if I were the catalyst who began the ‘Chain of Events’ which ultimately led to a placement, then I am due the fee. In this age of Job Boards, Social Media and In-house Recruiters, it doesn’t matter if my candidate’s resume has somehow worked its way into my client’s database, onto the CEO’s desk, or if the candidate is a relative, or neighbor (this actually happened to me once) of the President. It’s as simple as this: If I were the catalyst, then I am due the fee.
To further clarify this point, Frechtman recommends using a pragmatic rule (not as yet adopted by the courts) that he calls the “But-For” rule. To me this means that “but-for” my intervention, the placement would not have occurred.
Interesting enough, many of your clients understand this principal and often follow it. Here is what a huge hospital healthcare system once emailed me when stating how they were going to pay fees when hiring physicians from recruiters: “Having several physician openings throughout our hospital (network) has aroused questions by administrators as to who is to be awarded the fee when more than one recruiting firm presents the same candidate. According to the National Association of Physician Recruiters, ‘If a physician recruiter is not the procuring cause of a candidate’s decision to interview with a client, then the physician recruiter is not entitled to claim the fee, unless a specific contractual agreement otherwise exits.’ We will follow these guidelines as well. I hope this clears up any questions you may have.”
The Pre-Prep
I hasten to add here that without what I call the Pre-Prep (is that a word?) of the Hiring Manager, these logical explanations will not prove binding later on. You can’t expect to be successful if you are offering all of this scintillating knowledge AFTER the resume has been discovered in your client’s database or on their tablet. So, the key is to begin this education process at the very beginning of your recruiting relationship…when taking the initial Job Order. At that moment, state that you work in the specialty where they need the candidate. Explain that this specialty is a small niche and that it is possible, indeed very probable, that they will know the recruit who you will present to fill their position. Continue by saying that prior knowledge of the recruit/candidate won’t affect your business relationship and that you will still be due the fee because of the generally accepted principle of The Efficient Procuring Cause. And then go on and explain it…in detail. Get their tacit approval of this principle from day one of your business relationship. Insert the EPC language into your fee agreement and send that agreement for them to countersign. From that point forward, you will be in a much stronger position should prior knowledge of a candidate you present become a topic of conversation. As in almost everything we do as recruiters, Pre-Prep is the Key!
Bob Marshall began his recruiting career in 1980 when he joined MR Reno, NV. In 1986 he founded The Bob Marshall Group, International, training recruiters across the nation as well as in the United Kingdom, Malta and Cyprus. In 1996, he returned to working a desk full-time, while continuing to train recruiters. In 2015, Bob will begin offering his one-year TBMG Consulting Partnership proven training system in selected US and international territories. To learn more about his activities and descriptions of his products and services, contact him directly @ 770-898-5550; bob@themarshallplan.org; or visit his website.
