“A well-structured, tiered Preferred Suppliers List isn’t just a procurement tool; it’s a strategic advantage that enhances efficiency, improves talent acquisition, and aligns seamlessly with business objectives. In today’s candidate-driven market, success depends on choosing suppliers who anticipate your needs before you even ask.”
Jon McNeish, CEO of MacGregor Black
Preferred Suppliers Lists (PSLs) can work enormously beneficially across all sectors of your business, regardless of whether that might be marketing, communications, operations, sourcing raw materials, or, in the specific case in question, recruitment.
If not already, then many in business will be using this first quarter of 2025 to assess and evaluate the value their preferred suppliers bring to the table. This may also be a time when organisations are being honest with themselves. Are they really helping their suppliers to help them in the best way? Expecting your preferred supplier to deliver the earth when you’ve invested little time in helping them understand your specific needs only means disappointment on all sides.
This is why the concept of tiered PSLs is becoming more and more attractive. And, due to the rapidly evolving nature of recruitment in particular, that headache for almost all growing businesses is one they tend to find can be most suited to prioritising with a tiered approach.
It means having a one-size-fits-all approach to PSLs will no longer be in recruiters’ best interests. Not only does it threaten to become inefficient, but the risks attached then become greater too. For example, you’ll find inconsistent candidate quality, a dilution of recruitment agency expertise, slower recruitment times for specialised roles, a lack of flexibility, poor candidate experience, and an overall misalignment with the hiring company’s goals.
These elements are too important to get wrong.
It would be churlish to blame this all on the post-pandemic environment, but there is no doubt that employees have definitely been able to use this period as an opportunity to rebalance what many had perceived to be unfairly weighted scales between employer and employee.
There can be few who would argue that employees have gained far more power when choosing their next career move and how that then fits in with their personal life, family commitments, and other interests and priorities outside the nine-to-five.
Looking at PSL tiers, I want to address the challenges larger or scaling organisations face in managing recruitment across diverse needs and demonstrate how tiered PSLs can drive efficiency, enhance talent acquisition, and align far more cohesively with overall business objectives.
Recruitment challenges
Many businesses fall into the trap of relying on outdated recruitment methods. As already outlined, the modern job market demands flexibility and specialisation. For the past few years, the job market has been candidate-led, and that remains the case across various recruitment agencies. With skills gaps in many industries and expectations for benefits more prominent than ever, candidates’ pursuit of their ‘perfect’ role has left many businesses struggling to seduce the talent they need.
With these challenges being at the forefront of many businesses we work with, having a tiered PSL in place can mitigate a number of these concerns.
What makes tiered PSLs a smarter strategy?
In simple terms, tiering your PSLs means categorising suppliers by their specialisation, performance, or relevance to certain roles. Tier one suppliers will have a deep understanding of your critical needs, whereas tier three suppliers will only have top-level knowledge about your business. And that may be all they need.
In my experience, tiered PSLs have become a necessity for any organisation serious about scaling efficiently. Relying on tier one suppliers for critical projects is only going to serve you well in the long run.
Matching suppliers to your specific requirements makes it really difficult for you to replace them because they should be able to provide you with what you need before you even need to ask—they will understand what you’re looking for, how to get it, and by when.
In recruitment, this not only reduces hiring time but also improves the quality of candidates. Clients who try alternatives often return to us because we understand their needs better than anyone else. Tiered PSLs are also really cost-efficient, as they avoid overpayment by aligning suppliers to roles based on their value-add and hierarchy in the company.
How MacGregor Black adds value
We help businesses streamline their recruitment processes by strategically selecting and managing recruitment partners that align with their specific needs and corporate culture. Our partners work with the most effective and reliable of our talent partners to improve both the quality and efficiency of the hiring process. We don’t just provide recruitment solutions; we embed ourselves in your organisation, understanding your culture and challenges at a granular level.
We recently worked with a leading multinational corporation in the retail sector, looking to refine its recruitment process for executive-level positions across its global operations. We helped the company gain access to a broader pool of pre-vetted talent, reducing time-to-hire and improving candidate quality.
In another case, a fast-growing technology company leveraged our expertise to source new senior leadership positions. By utilising us as their customised PSL, the company successfully onboarded top-tier executives, accelerating its growth and ensuring smooth operations across multiple regions.
Actions for decision-makers: Knowing what to ask
One of the biggest mistakes I see businesses make is failing to ask the right questions during the procurement stage. The focus on cost over quality, only to realise later that their supplier wasn’t equipped to handle their needs, is, ironically, a costly error. If you’re looking to hire a senior person into the business and add a generalised recruitment agency to your PSL, the chances are you are not going to fill that role with the ideal candidate.
Feel free to use these questions the next time you’re briefing your recruitment partners:
- What specific industries or sectors do you specialise in?
- How do you ensure that candidates align with our company culture and values?
- What is your recruitment process for sourcing, vetting, and shortlisting candidates?
- How do you handle challenges such as hard-to-fill roles or urgent hiring needs?
- What does your candidate assessment process involve (e.g., interviews, testing, background checks)?
- What is your average time-to-hire for senior/executive-level positions?
- What is your success rate in placing candidates who stay with the company long-term?
- What are the terms of our partnership, and how do you handle exclusivity or multiple suppliers? How do you communicate with clients throughout the recruitment process?
- How flexible are you in adjusting your recruitment strategy if our needs change over time?
While some of these may seem obvious, time and again I have seen agencies retained under a PSL yet not meet what I’d perceive to be some crucial fundamentals. This often stems from gaps in understanding during the procurement stage. Measuring metrics such as candidate quality, delivery times, cost transparency, and even candidate satisfaction can address which tier your PSL should be positioned in.
We know that recruitment success doesn’t happen by chance—it’s all about having a solid strategy, especially in complex organisational environments. Whether you’re juggling multiple teams, working across borders, or dealing with shifting priorities, a well-managed tiered PSL is key to making it all run smoothly.
Connect with MacGregor Black for a consultation or to explore your tailored recruitment needs. Contact us today.