Sometimes, relationships can breakdown and one side starts to provide more than the other. This is true in all aspects of life but in business it can be particularly damaging to your bottom line. When you are trying to scale your business and move forward, hiring the right people is often the most critical aspect but can often take the most amount of time,effort and resource to secure the right person. Use these simple steps to ask yourself, “is my recruitment partner the right person for my business?”. 1 – Are they attentive? Ultimately this is a partnership and you don’t want to create a master – slave relationship. But, the recruitment company you engage with are providing a service. Therefore, they should be prompt, clear and open about what they will do by when. If you feel like you are having a 5* service, that really is a great starting point.  2 – Do they actively listen? Really important. Sales is a tough gig and often I hear examples of recruiters wanting to sell to customers rather than listen. The key to success with your recruitment partner is for them to listen to and understand your problems & then challenge you to create solutions.  3 – Are they timely? Look, a thorough recruitment process takes time. A no stone unturned approach is not a quick fix. However, your chosen recruitment partner should outline time scales for delivery or at least a review on how they are progressing. This gives you peace of mind that the process is working towards a deadline but also allows for any issues to becaptured in a timely manner. 4 – Do you like dealing with them? This is purely down do individual preference but you have to like who you work with! If you are finding it a slog and see the recruiter you are working with as a necessary evil then it should be time to consider your options.  5 – Do they deliver? Ultimately it all boils down to delivery. Do they solve your problems by delivering great people, to the brief, on time and in a professional way. And if not, do they add value by telling you what to do to solve your problems. In a candidate short market, it may not be down to the recruiter you are using, but the proposition you are asking them totake to the market. If this is the case, you need to know.  There are tonnes of reasons and things to consider when choosing your recruitment partner or reflecting on the one you are working with at the moment. My advice would be start with the above and if you are still in a position of question/ non delivery then considering a new option should be looked at – for an open discussion call Gareth Foden on +44 1606 212 020