Guest Spot:What happens when underdogs choose not to play by Goliath’s rules?

They win.

A recent study quoted by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker in May 2009 says that when underdogs acknowledge their weakness and chose an unconventional strategy, they are likely to win, “even when everything we think we know about power says they shouldn’t.”

A mix of innovation, boldness and irreverence, particularly when applied to a self serving industry like recruitment, are set to be the winning ingredients behind the unconventional business model of Playfair & Noble (www.playfairandnoble.com), a ground breaking company which embraces the spirit of Web 2.0, allowing employers and professionals to communicate directly and discreetly, without the interference and prohibitive costs of traditional recruitment agencies.

The founder Alex Crovetti, an Edinburgh-based entrepreneur who after several years of project management ~ his last project was the city’s £30m flagship Missoni Hotel ~ has switched professions, feels so strongly that the present agency-driven system has become outmoded that he has launched Playfair & Noble.

“The present system has led to a growing dissatisfaction amongst employers and employees. There is an urgent need for a more transparent and rewarding recruitment service that provides substantial cost savings and facilitates communication.  It must be stressed that P&N is not a recruitment agency and it is not a social networking site either”.

Employers can post all their job adverts and view CVs for free.  If an employer is not looking for people they can still use the website to showcase their company, completely free of charge. By registering, an employer is under no fee obligation until the company hires a professional.

Further, whilst traditional recruitment agencies charge employers in the region of 25% of a professional’s first year salary, Playfair & Noble only charge 7% and share half of the fee with the professional who finds a job through the website; the system also rewards referrers with 10% of the fee.  Alex says: “We feel that such a fees system is fair play for all parties involved, a sentiment echoed by employers and professionals alike”.

Crucially, from an ethical point of view, privacy and discretion remain of paramount concern, prompting P&N to introduce a system with controlled visibility.  CVs are only made available to registered employers; recruitment agencies are not allowed to register with the website; and in addition professionals can control who views their CV, for example by blocking their current employer.

“P&N empowers all involved by giving them the freedom to speak to each other. This represents a fundamental value that the recruitment industry, acting as a self-serving entity, has prevented.”

Furthermore, if a professional does not complete the probationary period, P&N refunds 100 per cent of the fee. It will never spam job seekers with e-mails or bombard employers with CVs, advertise phantom jobs or cold call prospective professionals.

Also, everyone can earn rewards if they refer professionals or employers to the website, and one method of achieving this is by leveraging social networks like Facebook and Linkedin.

Although they only launched this summer, established organisations are already supporting the P&N’s model and are on board. “We are being recommended from firm to firm and in order to succeed the common objective is to have the key players, in all sectors, registered.  This is happening”.