The Logic of No-Placement-Fee

Can corporate policy on placement fee charged by recruitment agencies make a difference in your recruitment campaign?

In the Philippine recruitment industry, there are only two types of agencies:  Those agencies who charge placement fees, and those who do not charge any placement fees on the candidates.

The Philippine Overseas Employment & Administrations’ (POEA) Rules & Regulation, Rule V Section 3 states that the maximum fee an agency can charge on a candidate is equivalent of one month salary. (See info box on the right.) 

While the Philippine laws permit the agencies to charge candidates a placement fee, the underlying question a human resources practitioner will have to ask whether this policy opens the doors to hire the best candidate in the job market, and whether it creates a positive image for your company as an employment opportunity provider.

There are numerous employers and HR practitioners who ask which agency is it better to work with, those who charge fees on the candidates or those who don’t?  Many times when trying to understand the purpose or underlying reason why they ask this question, we learn that what they really wish to know is: What makes a recruitment campaign successful?

Considering the many factors that define the success of a recruitment campaign, let us narrow the question to how placement fees affect the success of a recruitment campaign. 

The following is a table that compares the experiences of agencies that do not charge placement fees to candidates versus agencies that do:

No Placement Fee Agency	Placement Fee Charging Agency
Cost of recruitment absorbed by employer.	Cost of recruitment absorbed by candidate, or candidate & employer.
Candidates are assessed based on their qualifications.	Candidates assessed by their qualifications, and ability or willingness to pay a placement fee.
Applicants are keener to pursue the opportunity since they will be assessed based their qualifications rather than how much they can pay.	Applicants are less interested to apply since there are other opportunities which present a better option than being charged a fee to pursue a career.
Candidates are focused on building a career.	Candidates are concerned with paying their debt.
Employers are concerned with attracting the best candidates.	Employers and agencies have a harder time attracting the best candidates.

It is clear that agencies that do not charge any fees on candidates have an edge when it comes to presenting to candidates the vacancies of their clients.

Sophisticated employers know that in order to attract the best candidates in the job market, they will have to invest to gain their attention.  At any given Sunday, newspapers in Manila advertise job opportunities in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Singapore and more.  Hundreds of agencies and companies are trying to catch the attention of potential candidates, and convince them to apply at the job openings being presented.  The average job seeker asks the following questions:

1. Which country is it best to seek a job opportunity?
2. Are these job opportunities from a multinational or a top 100 company in its market?
3. Does this recruitment agency have an outstanding reputation?

Given this, it is clear that agencies who do not charge any placement fee have a better chance in attracting the best candidates.  This is the logic of why companies who want to have a successful recruitment campaign only commission agencies of good reputation – recruitment agencies who do not charge fees to candidates.

For more information on how to conduct a successful recruitment campaign, you may send an email to sales@edistaffbuilders.com  or check our website at www.edistaffbuilders.com.

EDI-Staffbuilders International is one of the top international recruitment agency in the Philippines.  As a subsidiary of the John Clements Consultants Group (JCCI), EDI brings the standards of its esteemed parent company in the international recruitment practice.

EDI was started in 1978 by the Harvard-educated Mr. Leocadio Dominguez and renowned Australian psychologist, Mr.  John Clements.  Being one of the pioneering company in the industry has not only afforded EDI a tradition of leadership, but has set the bar on industry standards.

Over the past three decades EDI has gained the confidence of some of the top companies in the Middle East in the Asia-Pacific, primarily in the oil & gas, petrochemical, engineering, construction, telecommunications, IT, hospitality, services, and banking industries.

The Agency With Most Top Saudi Clients

The Top 100 Saudi Companies published by the Arab News every November is an awaited publication.  The said report details the best performing companies in KSA.  It is quite interesting to note that 25 of the Top 100 have either at one point or are currently working with EDI-Staffbuilders International, the Philippines top recruitment consultants.

If you consider that there are more than 600 land-based recruitment agencies accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) – and if EDI alone has 25 of the Top 100 - is truly a testament of the quality of service, standard, and reputation of EDI as a professional recruitment solutions provider.

 Photo credits: Karlo Panahon

More to this, 21 of the Top 100 Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in KSA have also commissioned EDI as their recruitment consultant in the Philippines.
 
To know more about EDI's secret to servicing the best companies in the Middle East, please feel free to contact our Sales & Marketing Group.  Email us at sales(at)edistaffbuilders.com or call +63 2 8937043.  We will be most keen to share why EDI has gained the confidence of some of the Top Saudi Companies.

Where can I find EDI-Staffbuilders International?

For those who want to know our location, our main office is at:

Suites 703 & 704, 139 Corporate Center
139 Valero St., Salcedo Village
Makati City 1227
Philippines



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Building the Right Team

A company's profitability and operational excellence will only boil down to one simple premise: Building the right team.

In EDI-Staffbuilders International, our philosophy is in building our people.  People matters.  As recruiters ourselves, we know that the composition of our management and staff will dictate how effective we will be in this business.  And, this is really the secret of our success.

As we conduct this business with companies that expect nothing but the best Filipino or Indonesian staff, we begin by sharing this philosophy.  This is the first correct step when it comes to recruiting expatriate staff.




To know more about our secret, feel free to email sales(at)edistaffbuilders.com or check our website www.edistaffbuilders.com.  We will be most keen to share how we have been successful in this recruitment consultancy.

Air Niugini Cabin Crew Vacancies

Air Niugini Limited is the national airline of Papua New Guinea, based in Port Moresby. It operates a domestic network from Port Moresby and Lae, as well as international services in Asia, Oceania, and Australia. Its main base is Jacksons International Airport, Port Moresby. Niugini is the Tok Pisin word for New Guinea.

EDI-Staffbuilders International, the Philippines' top recruitment consultants for overseas job opportunities has been commissioned by Air Niugini to recruit the following:

(5) SENIOR FLIGHT ATTENDANTS

• At least five (5) years experience in similar capacity
• Personable
• With very high sense of customer-orientedness
• Female applicants, with very good English communication skills
• Chinese-speaking, advantageous
• Not more than 35 years old

(15) JUNIOR FLIGHT ATTENDANTS

• At least 2 – 3 years experience in similar capacity
• Personable
• With very high sense of customer-orientedness
• Female applicants, with very good English communication skills
• Chinese-speaking, advantageous
• 22 – 30 years old

Email applications to aris.metin(at)edistaffbuilders.com

How the POEA Regulates the Overseas Recruitment of Filipinos

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) is well known locally since a quarter of our country’s workforce is practically located abroad.  However, the same could not be said in countries where we send our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

This of course has led to human resources professionals in companies that recruit Filipinos to study the intricacies, requirements, and process of the POEA.  And, at times there is a degree of hesitation among HR professionals when it comes to meeting the requirements and standards of the POEA.

So this brings us to the question: How does the POEA administer the Philippine overseas recruitment industry?
Before we answer that question, we need to investigate what are the requirements of the POEA and what may be the possible cause for HR practitioners to have reservations in meeting these prerequisites.  The POEA mainly requires that foreign employers of Filipino professionals and workers to submit to its minimum standards.  This means that foreign companies should adhere to the POEA Rules & Regulations which are based on Philippine House of Representatives’ Bill No. 14314 and Senate Bill No. 2077 signed on 07 June 1995 known as the Magna Carta of Overseas Filipinos.  Second to this, the POEA requires foreign employers to adhere to a policy of transparency, and this entails the HR Manager to submit thorough documentations about their company.

The documentary requirements would be:

1. Letter of Request / Manpower Request Letter
2. Letter of Authorization / Special Power of Attorney
3. Copy of Commercial Registration
4. Specimen of the standard Employment Contract
5. Company profile
6. Location Map

On top of this, based on the rules & regulations of the POEA, the said documents should be submitted before any recruitment activity is done by the foreign employer or its representative recruitment agent.

This has caused HR Managers to feel that the POEA has been too stringent, and has placed a high bar for companies to commit to recruiting Filipino professionals and workers. 

To balance this out, we need to ask why the POEA requires these prerequisites.  Aside that these are stipulated by the law, it could all be said that the logic and justification for these rules are based on the government’s policy of protecting its citizen from false opportunities and illegal recruitment activities.  The POEA also intends to uphold a minimum standard of employment program for Filipinos.

Now considering these policies and prerequisites, are there any absolute benefits that a company may get from this exercise with the POEA?

On the short-term, one might say that the benefits escape those who deal with the POEA.  A submission of the prerequisites and adherence to the POEA’s Rules & Regulations would primarily have a company accredited as a legitimate employer of Filipino expatriates.

A thorough examination of the POEA Rules & Regulations would clearly show that the policies upheld by our government balances the relation between the employer and employee, in accordance with international conventions and standards.  This is where we can find the absolute long-term benefits of dealing with the POEA – that all these prerequisites are non-financial investments of an employer in the employee relations and engagement programs.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to laying down the right foundations of engaging your Filipino employees for a long-term career with your company.  A progressive employment program begins with the right recruitment practice and policy, and the POEA’s process simply helps employers in positively engaging their future employees from the Philippines.

To know more on how to go about your engagement and dealings with the POEA, check EDI-Staffbuilders International, Inc. at www.edistaffbuilders.com, or email us sales@edistaffbuilders.com.

EDI-Staffbuilders International, Inc. is the premier international recruitment consultancy firm in the Philippines.  As an affiliate of the John Clements ConsultantsGroup (JCCI), EDI brings the standards of its esteemed parent company in the international recruitment practice.

EDI was started in 1978 by the Harvard-educated Mr. Leocadio Dominguez and renowned Australian psychologist, Mr.  John Clements.  Being one of the pioneering company in the industry has not only afforded EDI a tradition of leadership, but has set the bar on industry standards.

Over the past three decades EDI has gained the confidence of some of the top companies in the Middle East in the Asia-Pacific, primarily in the oil & gas, petrochemical, engineering, construction, telecommunications, IT, hospitality, services, and banking industries.

Recruitment Campaign Success Factors

Is there any recruitment format that would ensure a 100% success in our expatriate recruitment program?

Recruitment is not an exact science.  Unlike accounting where at the end of the day you can close with an exact balance, or in engineering where you can finish with a precise blueprint, in recruitment the factors that come into play are highly dynamic and ever-changing.

Despite all these, we need to ask are there any steps we can take to be better assured of success in a recruitment campaign?  Or better yet, what are the critical success factors in recruiting expatriate staff?  There are decisions that a human resources practitioner should make to improve his or her chance of conducting a successful recruitment campaign, whether in the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, or any other manpower sending countries.

1.     Proper Planning

Prepare, prepare, prepare!  Having a recruitment plan is the beginning of this whole exercise.  The first mistake in conducting any recruitment campaign is the lack of planning.  There have been nightmare stories of companies jumping into a recruitment campaign without a clear cut plan on how to find the right talent the job market can offer.  They go through the whole exercise, only to end up wasting a lot of resources, and coming up only with dismal results.  This all could be avoided if a manager will lay down a proper plan.

One might ask the following questions:

What’s are my realistic goals for the recruitment campaign?

What should my target “audience” (candidate) be like?

What is the budget of our company for each targeted recruit?

What are the necessary materials and information about our company and the vacancies that I can prepare for the candidates (so they can make a proper decision on our company)?

2.     Clearly Communicated Job Opportunity

Information is the key!  A candidate can make his best decision based on the available information he receives.  A vague job opportunity is less likely to be pursued by a candidate, than one opportunity that allows him to weigh all the prospects with his career.  Three critical steps that need to be considered in clarifying the job opportunity:

·     Clearly defined job role through an updated Job Description that outlines responsibilities, tasks, reporting relationships and competencies required

·     Understanding how this job role contributes to the corporate health of the organization

·     Career and growth opportunities for those who accept this job opportunity

This is why information is the key.  As recruiters, our role is to channel the right information to the candidates.  As HR Managers, your role is to prepare clear and truthful information about the job prospect.

3.     Find the Right Partner

The choice for a partner will also dictate whether your company will be successful in a recruitment campaign.  This would actually hinge on three key factors:

·     Resources: Is the agent a mom-and-pop type of operation, or do they have a proven system and the experienced staff?  Do they have the network that would ensure a greater reach for talents?  Do they have a reliable talent bank?

·     Process: How do they identify candidates?  What is their recruitment methodology?  Does the agency have a filtering program?  What appraisal tools do they use to identify not only the capabilities, but competence of the candidates?

·     Reputation: How long has this agency been in the business?  Who are their clients?  Do they have an ethical recruitment practice?  Do they charge placement fees or hidden fees against the candidates?

At the end of the day, how one conducts their recruitment campaign will dictate whether their company will reap benefits and returns through its future employees.  While shortcuts and quick results are tempting to get the job done at a faster pace, a successful recruitment campaign demands nothing less of a well-thought out plan, clarity in relaying the job opportunity, and finding the right partner.

EDI-Staffbuilders International, Inc. is the premier international recruitment consultancy firm in the Philippines.  As an affiliate of the John Clements ConsultantsGroup (JCCI), EDI brings the standards of its esteemed parent company in the international recruitment practice.

EDI was started in 1978 by the Harvard-educated Mr. Leocadio Dominguez and renowned Australian psychologist, Mr.  John Clements.  Being one of the pioneering company in the industry has not only afforded EDI a tradition of leadership, but has set the bar on industry standards.

Over the past three decades EDI has gained the confidence of some of the top companies in the Middle East in the Asia-Pacific, primarily in the oil & gas, petrochemical, engineering, construction, telecommunications, IT, hospitality, services, and banking industries.

For more information and to know more on how to conduct a successful recruitment campaign, email us at sales@edistaffbuilders.com or check www.edistaffbuilders.com.