Planned Resources recruit across the niche markets of planning, engineering, architecture and design, property, and government support. We operate across private and public sectors in Melbourne, Victoria, and Australia.
We not only welcome, but encourage, our clients to give us feedback at any stage of the recruitment process. The only way for us to learn and grow is by listening to our client’s experience. At Planned Resources, we send a regular survey to the clients who we’ve engaged within that period. Clients are asked to rank our service anonymously. This feedback is then used to ensure we’re continually improving our service.
(We also regularly survey our candidates that you can read more about here).
Client feedback
We aim to conduct our business through a set of people-led values – mutual respect, intelligence, maturity – so we’re thrilled that our FY2021/22 Client Satisfaction Survey shows that we’ve delivered high levels of service, especially through some fairly challenging times as organisations continue to feel the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can see a breakdown of the results below. Some of the comments include:
“The way you engage is how we wish all recruitment companies engaged with us! Keep it up, it has been a very strong relationship so far.”
“I’ve used Planned Resources for many years (I was once on their books!). Great service, responsive consultants, and great selection of candidates”
“I always recommend Planned Resources to Councils as well as planners who are looking for some short or long term work”.
“Keep up the great work. Your team are fabulous to work with and operate with integrity, respect, and passion. I look forward to furthering our partnership with you”
“I’ve been using Planned Resources since around 2014 and this won’t change”
“Appreciate that you understand (our) needs and how you have worked with us!”
“Helped to resource our team during a very difficult period”
“I really appreciate the quick turnarounds and the specific local industry knowledge”
“Honest, professional and approachable”
“Full knowledge of candidates and suitability to positions”
While we appreciate great feedback, we also understand that our reputation is as hard to keep as it is to earn. We must work harder to maintain our stance in the industry and provide our clients with the high service levels they’ve come to – and should – expect.
We also recognise that there’s (always) room for improvement. We’ve listened to our client’s feedback, and this year we’re implementing a number of process improvements including updated candidate onboarding and improving our back-end finance systems. We look forward to hearing future feedback on our improved systems.
Results: 2022/23FY
1: Consultant rapport
Overwhelmingly, respondents said they formed a strong rapport with their consultant. While we’ll work hard for everyone to select ‘Strongly Agree’ we’re happy that 100% of our clients had a positive relationship with our consultants (79% ‘Strongly Agree’; 21% ‘Agree’)
Comments:
“Very responsive and pleasant to engage with … extremely reliable”
“Fabulous to deal with”
“Easy to talk to, transparent and honest”
“Lovely to deal with”
“Extremely pleasant”
“Always been very helpful and responsive”
2: Consultant industry knowledge
Having a deep understanding of the sectors we operate in, is extremely important. To us, it’s not good enough to simply work amongst a sector, instead we want our consultants to have a deep understanding of the industries that they operate in. We’re encouraged that the respondents agree that we lead in this area.
Comments:
“Planned Resources understand (our) needs very well”
“(They) knew what was required for planning, and more particularly, found a candidate that met my needs”
“Full knowledge of candidates and suitability to positions”
“Understands what I’m looking for – strong grasp of what Council bandings mean”
3: Client best interest
We’re thrilled that 100% of respondents recognise that we have their best interest at heart. We know that one size doesn’t fit all, so we’re committed to partnering with both our clients and candidates to fully understand their individual requirements. This ensures we source the right person for the right team.
Comments:
“Take the time to understand my requirements and take care to source someone who will fit my team”
“Always has my best interest at hand”
4: Response times
Mutual respect is a key value of our business, and this means we’re respectful of our client’s time. Therefore, we’re happy that 100% of our respondents agree that we deal with our clients in a timely manner. (86% ‘Strongly Agree’, 14% ‘Agree’)
Comments:
“If anything, I’m the slow one! … Always on the front foot”
“If not, they will let me know”
5: Upfront in dealings
Being honest and transparent with our clients forms the foundation of our relationships; this means we have the maturity to be upfront and, if required, have difficult conversations. We’re happy that 100% of respondents agree that we’re delivering in this area.
Comments:
“That’s why I enjoy working with Planned Resources. It is easy to have candid conversations.”
“Honest”
“Had always been honest about the market and what is/not available”
6: Back-office functions (payroll/invoicing)
We recognise that our back-office functions have let us down previously. The score of 3.6 is actually a slight improvement on the previous year’s results. We’ve recently invested time and money into our processes, but additional work is still needed for our invoicing processes which we’re aiming to do over the next couple of months. We would expect these to have an impact on improving our results for the next year.
Comments:
“We got chased up on an overdue invoice that we were not sent originally. That being said, the Planned Resources team is very easy to deal with to resolve these matters if they occur.”
“I had an issue with signing off a timesheet, it was easily sorted out in time for my team members to be paid on time”
7: Overall satisfaction
Respondents are overwhelmingly happy with our services, but this doesn’t mean we now rest on our laurels. Instead, we recognise that we must work harder to maintain our industry reputation and continually improve for our future clients.
Comments:
“Strongly agree; they are honest, professional and approachable”
“I’m particularly pleased with the background reference checks having been done and provided in writing to us. The questions put to candidates are exactly what we need to know. These written records of reference checks saves a lot of time from our end and makes the process much simpler and smoother. Thank you!”
“I’ve been using Planned Resources since around 2014 and this won’t change”
8: Recommending Planned Resources
We don’t take recommendations for granted. While we’re extremely grateful that all respondents would recommend Planned Resources above other recruitment agencies (thank you!), we also recognise that this means we must continue to deliver!
Comments:
“Helped to resource our team during a very difficult period”
“I really appreciate the quick turnarounds and the specific local industry knowledge”
“Honest, professional and approachable”
“I’m particularly pleased with the background reference checks having been done and provided in writing to us. The questions put to candidates are exactly what we need to know.”
“Full knowledge of candidates and suitability to positions”
“It’s been a pleasure … it’s all systems go!”
“The way you engage is how we wish all recruitment companies engaged with us! Keep it up, it has been a very strong relationship so far.”
“I’ve used Planned Resources for many years (I was once on their books!). Great service, responsive consultants and great selection of candidates”
“I always recommend Planned Resources to Councils as well as planners who are looking for some short or long term work”.
“Keep up the great work. Your team are fabulous to work with and operate with integrity, respect and passion. I look forward to furthering our partnership with you”
“Appreciate that you understand (our) needs and how you have worked with us!”
But what does it all mean?
We understand that our reputation as a client’s ‘trusted advisor’ is as hard to keep as it is to earn, so we’ll continue to work hard to provide both our clients and candidates with an optimal people-led service. This means continuing to uphold our values – mutual respect, intelligence, maturity – as a foundation of all our business dealings.
We’re always open to feedback – good, bad, neutral – so if you want to get in touch with our team, we’d love to hear from you!
By: Russell Locke, Director
Russell established Planned Resources in 2010 and continues to work in the business as both Director and recruiter.
Connect with Russell on LinkedIn
Contact: 0407 111 364, russell.locke@plannedresources.com.au