Earlier this year I was contacted by Hays, the recruitment company. They run seminars for their clients and having read about me, they asked if I could come to their London offices and talk to a group of HR professionals about how social media might, and might not, help to improve communication. We agreed I would waive my usual charge for speaking, and in return Hays would send some promo material to their guests before and after the event, and they would reimburse my out of pocket expenses. I’m a little reluctant to work like this, but as I believe in a basic principle of value trumps price, I decided to give it a go. The date was agreed and booked.
Next I went to meet the guy from Hays to talk a little more about the session and to check out the layout and feel of the place, it really helps to have an idea of the physical environment you’re working with. We sat in the room talking and the Hays guy came across really edgy. ‘Are you OK?’ I asked, ‘You seem very nervous’. ‘Well you see….’ replied Hays guy, ‘it’s just that…well we’re not sure how this session is going to go and whether we should be doing it?’ He paused, before blurting ‘We don’t want you to talk about social recruiting because it’s not something we do.’ ‘I wasn’t planning to focus specifically on recruitment’ I replied, ‘it’s not my area of expertise and anyway, it wasn’t in your initial brief to me.’ Hays guy sat back, visibly relieved at having had his confessional moment.
‘You will need to have a plan, some ideas around fielding questions etc’ I said to Hays guy. He tensed again, ‘what do you mean, a plan?’ ‘Well just because recruitment is not an area I will be covering, doesn’t mean your customers aren’t going to have questions about it, does it?’ The conversation continued and we parted company having agreed I would finish my prep, I would also send over a few images to frame the discussion, plus an updated two page guide about What Goes Around for Hays to circulate to their guests. Hays guy would manage any social recruitment curve balls, and I agreed I would support him where I could. I pulled everything together and sent it across as agreed.
A few days before the event I checked in with the recruiter. I confess I was a little surprised that Hays had not been back in touch with me, and what followed was an awkward backtrack on behalf of Hays guy. ‘Errr, umm, yeah….oh, Hi Doug, funny I was just about to call you, yeah been meaning to give you a buzz. Thing is you see, we’d like to postpone the event, just for a few weeks so we can gain more publicity for us and you, OK? I’m on the case and I’ll be in touch again very soon.’ And that, dear reader, was the last I heard from Hays guy.
Plans change – I know that. And I also know it’s basic good manners to be proactive when plans change, perhaps a dash of honesty wouldn’t go amiss either. Hays’ website says ‘It’s All About People, Worldwide’. Certainly didn’t feel like it to me, I sincerely hope they treat their customers and candidates better than this. I guess the main reason for sharing my tale is so that the next time you get an ‘offer’ like this – perhaps you’ll find a way to approach it more usefully than I did?
You might be thinking, ‘shit happens Doug, get over it’, and I am over it – just about ;). Subsequently Carole suggested to me that the next time someone proposes a similar arrangement, I should include the option for a cancellation/postponement charge. Interesting thought, and I’m also aware that with all of the varied paid assignments I’ve been engaged with, this fizzling out experience has never happened, weird huh?
Possibly the clue was in their unwilllingness to pay for professional services (strange, as this is what they offer) in the first place. It’s not like they’re a start up, or a titchy charity with month to month cash flow to manage. With the blessings of hindsight, it probably was an indicator of their lack of commitment.
I’m sorry to hear about your experience Doug but to be blunt sounds like you’ve had a lucky escape. What they were doing thinking about running an event on using social media without wanting to discuss social recruitment just shouts incompetence and smacks of ‘this is a good idea because it will get us some publicity and its popular’. From this I’ve learned
They are a recruitment agency who don’t use social tools but want to be seen as doing
Their customer service is poor
Their PR dept need to get a grip
As for you Doug, keep doing what you do as like you say this has only happened once. Their issue not yours, have a good day 🙂
“I sincerely hope they treat their customers and candidates better than this”
They don’t.
Hays are to recruitment what McDonalds are to nutrition.
A tale with little surprise. This Company, through many years of dedication and hard work to the cause seems to have created a reputation for itself for bad manners, deceit, and extremely poor customer service. Lucky escape Doug, associating with them could’ve been counterproductive in the Recruitment space.
Thank you all for your lovely insight, comments and warnings. Much appreciated 🙂
Funny how people want free, but don’t value it one bit. Bullet dodged…
Indeed broc, indeed, it does seem like I evaded a problem in waiting eh 🙂
A basic rule in any sales process is if a product or service costs zero it will have zero value to the buyer and will receive zero comitment from them, but still a tactic that allows chancers to feel good about themselves.
I really want to believe that Gary and yet just occasionally it all works out and mutual value is exchanged.