Over the past five years the leisure sector has begun to sharpen its focus on how to work smarter. As a service industry this has to begin with selecting the right kind of people particularly for senior management roles within the company.

In an ideal world this would be the start of a virtual spiral. Having the right people means keeping customers satisfied. And satisfied customers impact on your bottom line. Higher profitability means more can be invested back into the business as well as in further training and development for key staff. This is turn should attract more customers...

Of course, the trouble is we don't live in an ideal world. Too often companies are unwilling to invest the time, let alone the the money, work with a recruitment agency that is willing to go the extra mile to understand what your business really needs. More often than not recruitment agencies are used in a purely reactive way – a last minute solution to filling vacancies as quickly as possible.

Things are not always perfect in the recruitment industry either. Too often recruitment agencies may simply present clients with a pile of cvs they have simply culled after a quick trawl of databases, regardless of their quality. Sometimes agencies can be too 'faceless' or lack real empathy with both clients and candidates. Worse still, candidates can be sent off for an interview they are wholly unsuited for, wasting everyone's time in the process.

So, how can you ensure you get the best from a recruitment agency?

Start talking

At the simplest level it starts with good two-way communication. Ideally you should get face to face with your agency and not be afraid of asking lots of questions. For instance, what is their background and level of expertise? What research have they done on your business? What do they know about your industry?

You should also ask about how they plan to go about finding the right person for you. What methods will they use to attract the right candidates (eg. advertising, internet job boards, headhunting). How much of the legwork involved in advertising, conducting first interviews, making a shortlist etc can they take off your hands, saving you time and money in the process? Do they have experience of placing senior managers? Can they show examples of successful placements?

What questions do they ask in return to find out more about your business and the specific position/s you are looking to fill? Do they understand what competencies are required for the role? How do they go about designing questions for the interviews? Will they be able to 'sell' your business to your preferred candidates? Have they visited any of your sites? What other research have they done?

It may seem an obvious point, but will they guarantee to thoroughly interview all candidates, something that is often missing from the process yet should be a given?

Agree on a plan of action Once you've decided to use a particular agency you need to establish how you're going to work together on an ongoing basis. You need to agree an approach for regular communication and what suits you best – phone, emails, fax. What feedback will they provide to you after first interviews? Will you get to see regular summaries or reports on candidates? What timescales will be involved?

Exploding the myths

1.Cheap is best

Many recruitment agencies in the leisure sector may charge lower rates than agencies in other sectors but please beware! It may look like good value but does the quality of candidates you are being presented with match your expectations?

When thinking about cost remember to work out how much is it costing you every day that the role remains unfilled. Having a good, committed agency on your side could be cost-effective in the long run.

2. More is better Some businesses think that the more agencies they have on their case the quicker they will get a response – that more is better. In fact the opposite can often be true – less is more. The fewer agencies you have working for you the harder they will work, given their oppportunity to succeed will be greater.

Having multiple agencies is generally not a good idea and can slow down the whole process. Another issue to consider is what message does it send out to your target market if you have lots of agencies all placing ads. There is a real danger of looking a little desperate. The last thing you want is to put off the perfect candidate.

We recommend working with no more than 2-3 agencies. If you are looking, say, for a Marketing Director you could try a specialist leisure sector agency as well as one that specialises in general marketing positions.

How to recognise best practice

As far as candidates are concerned, they want to be put forward for the positions they are suited for and to secure interviews. No interviews, no jobs. They also want as much feedback as possible. We always aim to provide a flow of advice and feedback to candidates to try to help them make the best possible impression.

Clients on the other hand want to be presented with a short-list of high-quality candidates carefully selected by their agency, who have done all the right research and analysis prior to this stage.

What's in it for you? Clearly it pays to build an on-going relationship with a recruitment agency as the more they know about you, your business and your industry the more cost-effective the process becomes and the end results will be better. Having a relationship built on trust and respect will allow you to focus on the day-to-day business rather than having your time wasted meeting with unsuitable candidates or having to organise and pay for advertising.

For Strictly People, it's all about client orientation and adapting theapproach towards our clients needs As we specialise in the fitness and leisure sector we already have in-depth knowledge of the industry and a results-driven track record. We also specialise in leadership training and understand what companies are looking for at each management level. Importantly, we have a transparent and competitive pricing structure.

Our approach with our clients can be summarised as follows:

• Propose and agree the search approach • Agree communications framework and timescales

• Define the required competencies for the role • Design an interview structure based on relevant management competencies incorporating probing questions on the candidates achievements.and experience to date.

• Conduct face-to face interviews prior to drawing up a shortlist. • Provide robust, evidence-based feedback to both client and candidates.

And finally... With the economic downturn beginning to bite, headcounts may start to fall across the industry. Paradoxically, this is precisely the time to take recruitment more seriously. At times like this, you need to attract and retain higher quality management staff than ever before to survive the increased competition and slower market growth. So it pays to work closely with your recruitment agency so that your business is less likely to be compromised.

Bryony Garrett, director of leisure sector search and selection specialist Strictly People