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Our partnership model in practice

At Rowlands, partnerships are at the heart of everything we do. Being a good partner means that we have trust, honesty, communication, commitment and shared values. We believe that this approach leads to greater happiness and wellbeing; for our clients, candidates, colleagues, and community. It is also why we are one of the few recruitment agencies in Jersey that is still going strong after more than 46 years. But what does this focus on partnerships mean in practice?

A partner to our clients

For us, being a good partner to our clients means that we put ourselves in their shoes and behave as part of their team. We work incredibly hard to understand not just the right skill set required for a role, but also the right personality fit for the organisation. The time and care we take doing this means that we only ever refer quality candidates, which is reflected in our high rate of interview progressions. This approach saves everyone's time and energy and also builds trust and rapport.

We also always keep in mind the wider aims of our client’s organisation. We don’t want to just ‘fill a role’ - we want to contribute to the overall success of your recruitment and retention strategy. Our client’s HR teams often use us as a sounding board because they know that we can provide external, expert advice that is tailored by our understanding of their business. We know that it's not just the best people but also the best recruitment processes that help your business grow. That's why many of our clients have been with us since the very beginning and why we receive frequent positive feedback about how accurately we match candidates to roles.

A partner to our candidates

Starting a new job is a significant step for anyone; whether you're new to the job market or changing careers, a huge amount of your time and energy will ultimately belong to your employer. We know that if people are unhappy at work, it can impact their whole life. Equally, the right job can be transformative for people’s happiness. So we take the responsibility of helping you find the ideal role very seriously – as a good partner should!

We do this by getting to know you as a person, not just as a potential job-seeker. Throughout the placement process, you have a dedicated recruitment partner to support and meet with you, either in person or via video call, depending on what suits you best. While forms and CVs are essential for presenting information, we know that getting to know you is just as important in helping us to find you the perfect role.

We also understand that the Jersey marketplace is small and can be sensitive when changing jobs, so we treat everything with the strictest confidence. We only recommend you for roles that we think closely match your aspirations, and we coach you to ensure you are interview ready. We want you to feel prepared and empowered for the next chapter of your career and to enjoy the experience as much as possible!

A partner to our colleagues

Our partnership approach is equally important to us internally – it's not just something we provide for our clients and candidates. To have integrity, we know that we must demonstrate we are good partners first and foremost in our own business. That’s why we never recommend a client or candidate do anything that we don’t already encourage within our own team. 

For example, we always hire based on character and values rather than skills alone. While it's great if someone does have relevant experience, we know that someone being a good fit for our culture is even more critical. We then invest heavily in training because we know that we can teach the right person the right skills, and that this investment is never wasted. This approach also means that we often promote from within the business because we can grow and nurture the talent we need.

We also put a lot of focus on creating a flexible, healthy and mindful work environment. We check in on our team regularly to ensure that they have everything they need to flourish. Because of this, we have a loyal, kind and motivated team who give back to the business. It's why we call our staff Recruitment Partners, rather than Recruitment Executives – this better reflects the mutually beneficial nature of how we work. We are very proud of the fact that we have an extremely high staff retention rate, and that as a result, our candidates and clients benefit from our continuity and experience.

A partner to our community

We also work hard to be good partners to other businesses and our community. For example, we were one of the first accredited members of The Jersey Good Business Charter. The Jersey Good Business Charter is an initiative focused on helping local businesses to build a better community and world. Signing up to the standards of excellence set out by the charter means that we work alongside like-minded companies and form partnerships that are based in positive, sustainable, ethically driven and environmentally conscious practices.

We know that our approach is different – we focus on building thoughtful, genuine relationships with a sincere commitment to creating long term partnerships.