UNDERSTANDING CLIENT CULTURE AND NEEDS IS THE KEY TO ADVANCE RECRUITMENTS' INDUSTRY LEADING CLIENT SERVICE

December 2006

Advance Recruitments has learnt a thing or two about client service over the last 13 years. With its founding principle of 'Excellence in Quality and Service' being the focus from the first day of operation, client service behaviours and thinking have become embedded in Advance Recruitment's culture. It is not the realm of theory, but the study of applied client service actions that have been developed and are reviewed by the Advance Recruitments team on an ongoing basis.

Advance Recruitments develop working relationships with their clients by gaining a thorough understanding of the client's culture, and aligning services to support the client's organisational needs. This is achieved through a variety of methods such as weekly visits to the all client work sites, regular service meetings with line managers, as well as maintaining constant contact with the client's Learning and Development division, and Compliance Managers to keep abreast of all procedural changes and updates within the client organisation.

"We aim to be so integrated into the client's method of doing business that we become a seamless extension of the client's operations," says Sascha Charlton, Managing Director at Advance Recruitments. "To achieve that objective, it is impossible to get to that point with large organisations without a proven methodology and a disciplined, purposeful team implementing that approach."

Ms. Charlton nominates three major qualities that must be present for her organisation to deliver true value in the client relationship, fulfilling its commitment to 'Excellence in Quality and Service. They are:

1. Flexibility. Whether developing and delivering a statewide or national workforce, Advance Recruitments has the flexibility to configure its operations to support the business objectives of the client. Organisations that are truly client-centred have the flexibility to build their services around the requirements of the client.
2. Efficiency. Advance Recruitments have a commitment to processing work as efficiently as possible without compromising quality. From this philosophy comes a focus on using any technology available to either (a) provide real time information to HR Managers about the performance of the Advance Recruitments workforce on a client's various job sites, and (b) to manage administrative tasks faster allowing staff to spend more time working with clients.
3. Communication. Communication is vital to building working relationships. It is the means by which Advance Recruitments understands the context and specific needs of the client when it assigns its workers to a client site. A client-centred company embeds in its modus operandi both formal communication through structured site-visits and meetings, and informal communication via phone calls and email.

"By ensuring these elements have always been central to Advance Recruitments' focus, I find it inspiring to see how our teams respond to client needs and challenges," says Ms. Charlton. "These qualities are truly appreciated by clients when the heat is on, and certain operational objectives must be achieved on time and within budget. Advance Recruitments is at its very best when a client organisation is in what we call 'a moment of truth' - particularly found during times of change when a business is moving to a new way of operating, and there is a high requirement for a company's service providers to embrace this change and be present and active in helping the client achieve their business objective."

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