Christina Langley: Using recruitment agencies can produce great results, but you have to know how to make it work for you.

About half of all appointment at CPO level are made through the use of search and selection companies. A huge amount of resource goes into bringing in the experts to fill those crucial senior roles. So it's long been surprising to me how these same executives fail to get the best from recruitment companies. What should CPO's do then to improve their recruitment basics and get more from agencies? Let me offer some advice on how to ensure results.

First, make recruitment your priority. There is little point in employing an agency if you are not going to give the process of recruitment your full attention. It's not something you can simply hand over to someone else to sort out without keeping track of it yourself. Having said that, you can appoint someone senior within your team to be responsible for the recruitment process and make it one of their targets. It's surprising how little time managers spend putting a senior team member in charge of recruitment, when it can usefully be delegated to a trusted colleague.

Nobody wants unfilled roles for too long as it will put extra pressure on others in the team and there will be a risk of targets or bonuses not being met. So move quickly to determine job specifications, get approvals and start the process. Consider an interim solution to fill the gap while you recruit, so momentum isn't lost. Work hard at making your company a 'destination employer'. In today's market there is a shortage of qualified, suitable candidates for good roles - so make it easier for yourself. Carry out benchmarking on salaries and PR campaigns and take a good look at your advertising. Developing your organisation as an employer of choice enables you to give your search and selection partner some ammunition with the best candidates, who often have several options to look at.

The world of procurement and supply management is a fairly small community so you need to guard your reputation very carefully. Gaining a good reputation takes time, but you can lose it overnight. People in the market become aware very quickly if, for example, a firm has handled redundancies badly or its general management is not up to scratch.

Don't spread yourself too thinly by going to too many agencies. Go to niche agencies that offer all the main approaches: database search, selection through advertising and executive search. You may need all three in today's highly competitive market. Your agencies should be investing in refreshing their databases and have excellent networks.

Which agencies you choose will depend on several factors. One of the most important is to make sure the agency has the kind of capabilities needed for the task you present them with. If your requirements for a role are fairly broad, using database search is likely to be cost-effective. But if you are quite specific in your requirements, you need to go to an agency with a full research capability. Executive search - headhunting is a very different skill to database search because it involves seeking out a really small number of people who may fit the bill, and that takes specialist expertise. Not all agencies have the research teams to deal with the headhunting process properly.

Try to develop a good long-term relationship with one or two agencies. If they get to know you, your culture and environment, it will help enable them to fit good candidates to your roles more quickly. Treat them as your ambassadors. Spend time briefing them properly, giving good feedback on candidates and working with them closely. Always remember that recruitment consultancies will put the better candidates forward to those with whom they have a good rapport.

Understand 'off-limits' clauses: this is where an agency agrees with a client not to headhunt people out of that company as potential candidates for roles with other employers, in return for being the preferred supplier. Remember, in the recruitment world you are either a client or a target company. Yet many CPOs fail to grasp this. Savvy clients identify a niche recruitment consultancy to work with, put in place off-limits agreements, and work closely with this company.

Get the basics right and your recruitment process will run smoothly, enabling you to find, and keep, the high-quality team you need in your organisation.

Christina Langley is managing director of Langley Search & Selection