SAP Recruitment Agency

How to Select a SAP Recruitment Agency

Table of Contents

What a SAP Project Manager Needs From a SAP Recruitment Agency

Have you ever been a SAP Project Manager in need of SAP Resources for a complex SAP implementation?  I have been, and let me tell you, it can be stressful when you need SAP resources and you have a SAP ERP Implementation Go-Live date staring you in the face and a fixed price contract to deal with.  It always amazes me that a complete pre-sales cycle including a resource plan can be developed, yet none of the SAP partners actually have any SAP Skilled resources available the day the project is supposed to kick-off.  So what, then, do you need to look for in a SAP Resource provider? 

Question Your SAP Recruiter

First, you must ask the right questions

 

What Do The Best SAP Recruiters Bring To The Table

 

In my experience, the following are critical SAP Recruitment Capabilities:

  • Speed and Accuracy.

    Your SAP resource service provider needs to provide fully qualified, well-matched resumes to your specific SAP jobs request within 24 hours! If they can't, they should be willing to tell you.  Your resource providers should have a sense of your tight project timelines and deadlines and must react quickly with readily available candidates. 

    Experienced SAP professionals are in extremely high demand, therefore, SAP recruitment agencies not only need to know who the best SAP experts are, they need to know their current status, which is no easy task.

  • Value Based Price

    You need a SAP Resource provider that works with a reasonable margin, while making sure you and the SAP Consultant are both getting fair value.  You also need a provider that can help you vet SAP talent and other required information technology professionals and as well, is capable of creating a better SAP consultant.

  • Transparent Business Practices

    A well defined, simple, recruitment process, that is a transparent process, open to all the parties involved, works best, with the least amount of friction.  Consultants should be able to prepare their time & expenses online and you, the SAP customer, should be able to view and approve with a minimum of effort.

  • Quality Assurance

    You need a SAP Resource Provider who can not only quickly find SAP consultants, but can ensure the highest quality possible because they know the subject better than anyone. 
    You need to understand how your provider evaluates: experience, education, certification, references, and ‘fit’ with your organization.

  • Value Management

    Given that today’s SAP projects are about delivering business value, the SAP consultants you are looking for need to have a clear ability to help you achieve increased project profitability.  

    This is where SAP recruitment agencies need to know how to work closely with SAP project managers and the SAP Executive Team.

    SAP executives realized long ago that in order for a SAP project implementation to be considered successful, it had to be based on a solid business case.

    SAP software offers a vast array of functionality, which means there are a lot of options to choose from when scoping out a SAP project, which is often part of a much larger project.

    SAP recruitment services have to go far beyond just finding a 'standard' SAP consultant to fill a role, such as SAP HCM.  They have to help bring together industry experts to fully leverage the entire SAP suite of software solutions and services.

  • Continuous, Efficient Communication

    Your SAP Resource Service Provider needs to communicate with you however it works best for you, while still getting the job done.  Whether it is e-mail, phone or social media, you have only so much attention available, so it cannot be wasted.

    For the vast majority of new SAP clients, SAP represents a brand new way of working.  Thus it is imperative that the SAP recruitment team knows about all SAP recruitment needs.

  • Locally Based Resources

    The best consultants are probably also usually a bit tired of the Road Warrior lifestyle.  You, as a client, need to minimize project turnover, and one of the major causes of project turnover is the grind of the road. 

    Whenever possible, you want a local SAP resource, or at least in the same time zone and your SAP Resource provider should have a vast, global network to provide them and the tools to find the best SAP talent when they aren’t in the network. This provides scalability, from one consultant to an entire team.  

  • Industry Expertise

    Your SAP Resource Provider should be able to help you uncover your unique industry requirements, and know who knows! Given that one of SAP's primary competitive differentiators is its Industry Specific Solutions, such as IS-Mill, iMRO, SAP Airlines, SAP Travel & Transportation Management, SAP Professional Services, SAP EC&O and their associated SAP Industry Best Practices, your SAP Resource Provider needs the ability to identify consultants who are actually deep industry experts.  We don't subscribe to the concept of there being a commoditized SAP Skillset.  Maintaining long term relationships with highly specialized SAP Industry Solution experts takes very consistent effort to achieve success.

    How do you know if a skillset is not commoditized?  If there is any risk involved in the task, then it is not commoditized.  Is there a SAP project or role that does not involve some degree of risk?  Not really.  Almost all roles involve a great deal of change, have uncertain business outcomes and require active risk management for successful project delivery.

How Many SAP Recruitment Service Providers Are There?

There are literally hundreds (we know of over 850) of SAP Recruiters out there.  Many do a great job.  However, we have, after more than 20 years in the SAP market, come to realize there are many missing elements in the SAP recruitment market, which has affected our ability to deliver valuable solutions to our clients. 

 

SAP Delivery Practice

 

We set out to solve those problems many years ago, and now have one of the most robust solutions available anywhere, along with extensive, hands-on SAP Implementation experience to model our delivery practice on. 

 

The Right SAP Recruitment Partner

 

When it comes to finding SAP resources for complex implementations, it's crucial to partner with a recruitment agency that can deliver qualified candidates efficiently, transparently, and with industry expertise. At our SAP Delivery Practice, we pride ourselves on being able to provide both contract and permanent SAP consultants with the highest quality assurance and value management. Our unique approach and extensive SAP implementation experience have allowed us to create one of the most robust recruitment solutions available in the market. So, whether you're a SAP Project Manager or an SAP Executive Team member, feel free to leverage our SAP specialist recruitment team to help you achieve your project goals. Don't hesitate to engage with us and learn more about our services.

 

 

Why not leverage our SAP specialist recuitment team?

SAP Recruitment SuperherosWho Ya Gonna Call?

 

Get SAP Staffing  Agency Support

 

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Topics from this blog:
SAP Partner SAP Recruitment SAP Resources

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Lonnie D. Ayers, PMP

About the Author: Lonnie Ayers is a Hubspot Certified Inbound Marketing consultant, with additional certifications in Hubspot Content Optimization, Hubspot Contextual Marketing, and is a Hubspot Certified Partner. Specialized in demand generation and sales execution, especially in the SAP, Oracle and Microsoft Partner space, he has unique insight into the tough challenges Service Providers face with generating leads and closing sales using the latest digital tools. With 15 years of SAP Program Management experience, and dozens of complex sales engagements under his belt, he helps partners develop and communicate their unique sales proposition. Frequently sought as a public speaker in various events, he is available for both inhouse engagements and remote coaching.
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He also recently released a book "How to Dominate Any Market - Turbocharging Your Digital Marketing and Sales Results", which is available on Amazon.

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