So, this is it… A key project, a vital contract, or a crucial senior hire…

It’s Tender time. It’s the company you love working for. It’s the purpose that inspires you. It’s the next step in your business’s growth and success.

Under it all is that fire in the belly – the ‘why’ that motivates you, your staff, your business culture, and your brand. Recruitment Tenders should be exciting…

Out with the old…

“What are your specialisms?”

“How many placements did you make last year?”

“What is your turnover?”

“Where are you based?”

“What are your percentages…?”

“Give me a case study…”

Blah, blah, blah…!

By the time it comes to Tender, from a recruitment perspective, your previous suppliers weren’t successful.

So, if we ticked the same boxes, by answering the same questions, we’ll win your Tender based on an unsuccessful criterion.

Only changing the questions will change the results.

Are You Jumping Through Hoops?

We keep hearing tender talk that’s less rock-a-hula and more singing the blues…

The gruelling 172-day average a UK tender lasts — longer than 10 Egyptian plagues!
Application forms longer than international trade agreements
Arduous admin, digesting recruiter spiel and Numberwang figures and percentages
The usual suspects getting the nod – after all the above!

…and bring in the new…

The elephant in the room? When recruitment is reduced to a dull-as-dishwater data-driven function, it’s corporate hoopla. Maybe things should change, but people feel in control with familiar steps and instructions. It’s safe. It’s how it’s always been done.

That’s the danger of process. Rules trump outcomes. Success is ticking the list, not the big picture. In the short term, it’s controlled and formulaic; in the long term, it’s a blocker on a growth mindset, disrupting, and beating competitors.

Put yourself in our shoes (blue suede, optional). Would you want to answer the same old questions ordained by a model that, in many cases, has already failed? We don’t. If we did, we wouldn’t be providing a solution; we’d be reinforcing the problem.

Why not talk about strategy, substance and ROI, rather than playing a bidding game to the bottom of a barrel?
Why not recruit based on people’s achievements, purpose and personality, rather than keywords and algorithms?
Why not adopt a consultative, growth mindset, rather than a battle for control that yields no winners?

Love me tender? Let’s return to sender. Let’s rethink this. Let’s disrupt.