When a recruitment consultancy is treated as a "backup plan", everyone loses.

Over the past few years, many companies have strengthened their internal Talent Acquisition teams. This is a natural evolution and, in most cases, a positive one.

However, I have also noticed an increasingly common practice that, in my opinion, significantly reduces the effectiveness of the recruitment process.

A company assigns the same vacancy to its internal Talent Acquisition team and to an external recruitment consultancy, but with one unwritten rule: the consultancy will only be considered if the internal team fails to make the hire.

At first glance, this seems like a smart strategy.

"We increase our chances of success at no additional cost."

But is that really the case?

In reality, this approach turns the recruitment consultancy into nothing more than a contingency plan, when its true value lies in working as a strategic partner from day one.

When a consultancy knows it will only be engaged if the internal team is unsuccessful, it faces several challenges.

It invests time and resources in a process that may never reach completion, even if it identifies outstanding candidates.

It becomes more difficult to secure candidates' commitment because it cannot provide a clear timeline or a defined decision-making process.

And, in many cases, it ends up approaching the very same professionals who have already been contacted by the company, creating a poor candidate experience and potentially damaging the employer brand.

In the end, nobody benefits.

• The internal team feels increasing pressure to fill the position quickly.
• The consultancy works without being truly integrated into the hiring strategy.
• Candidates receive duplicate approaches.
• And the company misses the opportunity to benefit from two complementary recruitment approaches.

A genuine partnership does not mean keeping the recruitment consultancy "on standby".

It means defining clear roles from the very beginning.

The internal Talent Acquisition team can focus on inbound applications, internal mobility and employer branding.

The recruitment consultancy can focus on passive talent, market mapping, direct search and identifying professionals who are unlikely to be reached through traditional recruitment channels.

When both work together, they stop competing with each other and start working towards the same objective: hiring the best available talent.

In recruitment, the real question should not be who makes the hire.

The real question should be: How can we work together to hire better and faster?

That shift in mindset is what transforms a commercial relationship into a true strategic partnership.