Candidate Loyalty? - Let's be realistic!

I recently came across some marketing material put out by a specialist agency claiming the way they worked meant their candidates remained loyal, in as much as they "stayed with them".  That got me thinking.

Is loyalty linked to exclusivity?  Does a loyal candidate forsake all other (agencies or job sites) waiting by the phone for their chosen one to call?  My own thought is probably not for the vast majority of jobseekers.  The main and glaring exception to that may be a candidate created through a confidential approach by a headhunter where absolute discretion is essential to protect the candidate and their career and exclusivity is guaranteed.

At a time where recruiters are constantly lambasted for poor service levels (sometimes with good cause) it is a credit to anyone who can claim to retain their candidates (although in this instance the period in question is about 8 months since launch) and certainly best practice must always be recognised and encouraged.

Call me cynical but my feeling is that loyalty (as in forsaking all others) is a notion in recruitment that died in the recession of the early 90's when replaced by the "every man (and woman) for themselves" mentality.  Who can blame people when companies were discarding experience employees who had given many years "loyal" service, close to their clock and pension, and government, not at all empathetic to their plight, telling them that if they wanted to find another job they had better "get on their bike".  In those years the implied contract between employer and employee which historically went beyond the written contract changed, maybe for good.

That I believe was the catalyst of change that makes "loyalty" an outdated value in recruitment, sadly. We now teach our children to stand on their own two feet and "look after number 1 because no-one else will"

So, can candidates really be loyal - and should we even expect it?  If another agency calls and makes a good presentation which sounds like an ideal job are they going to say "not interested"? Really?  Add to that the fact that todays' jobseekers are internet savvy people capable of independent thought and action operating in a  market  bulging with job offers from competitors and corporates all making a bid for attention over literally hundreds of jobsites - including Jobmax

So, if you have treated your candidates with respect and supported them in their job transition offering appropriate and timely advice they will always take a call from you, and hopefully tell their friends what a great job you did.  But don't be blind to the fact that they probably have another couple of "favourites" that they like as much as you, and that their CV is on a handful of job boards - and someone else's database!