My observation?
Having spent a number of years recruiting recruiters, it’s fair to say I’ll have interviewed someone from within most recruitment businesses, therefore learned a great deal about how businesses operate, the management styles within, their cultural DNA, their systems, the commission structure and bonus payment processes and got to grips with how unique their USP’s really are.
My conclusion?
The large corporate recruitment businesses seem to lack innovation and have failed to evolve over the last 10 years let alone 20. Things have changed since 1982, you need social and digital capability, your system needs to be slick and definitely cloud based, candidates need to be easier to find than ever so a clunky old database isn’t going to cut it anymore. Speed, efficiency and service are key to success now, and recruiters need to be doing more with candidates and clients on a face to face basis, therefore ability to log in from anywhere, anytime has to be possible.
I don’t buy the hype around ‘the war for talent’ and all that jazz, since the recession people have become very passive, job boards have integrated social media and offer some decent analytics to an extent but the rise of LinkedIn has made previously hidden candidates identifiable and GlassDoor has brought real life candidate and employee experiences to a whole new level of transparency.
Generalist job board candidates and advert response quality has decreased significantly, specialist job boards have done well to really differentiate themselves from the old guard. PSL’s are no longer fit for purpose and working to 8-10% fees is no longer commercially viable due to how competitive the recruiter landscape has become. Internal Talent Acquisition teams are seeing positive results due to digital engagement, captivating careers pages, targeted and branded recruitment campaigns, quality client relationship management and strong employer branding but candidates still like the impartial relationship and career guidance a head-hunter or external recruiter can offer. Another observation is that it appears that the stronger and high calibre candidates have their career journey mapped out in their heads, an ambitious finance graduate knows that AAT and ACA will get them climbing the ladder, they know that over-exposure in a smaller business will aid them longer term, they also know that joining a big 4 may excite or deter lots of potential future employers and they know at some point that they want to be a Finance Director, the job of a recruiter here is to help and guide them to achieve (and coach them to understand) their career aspirations. A face to face and open and honest relationship with this candidate will go a long way, if you place them then great but if you don’t (and you may not) but have given them a great experience and service then you’ll definitely be one of a chosen few hiring their team.
My shameless plug?
We partner with entrepreneurial and typically owner managed or capital invested recruitment brands, companies that are innovating, investing in their people, running service driven processes, building relationships instead of encouraging spot business through mountains of activity based KPI’s. They have amazing cloud based technology and are ultra-receptive to ideas on how to improve every aspect of their business, from employer brand and employee engagement to backing individuals with the spirit and desire to launch new business functions (and sometimes companies) within their structure.
So if you’re reading this and nodding along in agreement that the business/person (maybe both) you work for is still stuck in the 80’s, the 90’s or even the early 00’s then feel free to call us and pick our brains for an update on what a genuine game-changing career move could look like.