As the job market heats up, a "triage" system for orders becomes crucial to increasing a recruitment company's productivity and conversion rate, according to Elias Recruitment founder Jason Elias.

Recruitment agencies must manage clients' hiring expectations in a similar way to a triage nurse in the current bullish employment environment, Elias told Shortlist.

"It's exactly like triage: who's got the chest pains and who's got the blister on their pinky," he said.

Job orders that the recruitment company is more likely to fill usually rely on certain information, such as how long the job has been open, how many other recruiters are on it, and if there's an internal candidate, said Elias.

Jobs with favourable characteristics should be prioritised over others, he said.

"You make more money because you're spending your time more productively. It's a fewer number of jobs, and you close a higher percentage.

"If you only have x amount of hours in the day, do you want to be spending them on a job where you're not going to see anything or one where you've got a higher chance of converting it?"

Setting expectations with the client on how the job order will be managed is vital to ensuring a successful placement, Elias said.

"Our top priority is retained work because we are truly a partner and the client has 'skin in the game'. Retained assignments get our full attention until such time we have a break, and then we look at the next thing and the next thing.

"I explain job triage to my clients as, when I take a brief please understand that your work is really important but, at times when we have to prioritise, the retained assignments go over the contingent ones."

The recruiter needs to make it clear that all contingent work is a lower priority, said Elias.

"It's like me saying [to a law firm], I'm just about to list my business on the stock exchange. I need you to draft an IPO document, but once I put down the phone I'll be calling eight other law firms and the first one to send me the paperwork, I'll pay," he said.

Pick and choose your clients

The triage approach should extend to clients, as those with certain traits should be prioritised over ones without them, said Elias.

"Good clients have a clearly articulated idea of what they want outlined in a position description, [and] are able to explain the personality traits required and the dynamics of the team the candidate will work with," he said.

Desirable clients are ones that provide constant communication and move quickly, while bad clients are slow, don't provide feedback and often change their mind, Elias said.

"Most clients fall between these two poles, but if you set out what your expectations are of each other early on, it helps manage the process more effectively," he said.

Repeat business is crucial to establishing a good client relationship, because trust is only established after a few assignments where each party can adapt to the others' processes, added Elias.

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