Boom After Bust; How to take advantage of the upturn. Notes from the #rechangout

This week’s google+ hangout was based on a recent Recruitment Directors event we ran. For the hangout we were joined by Adrian Treacy (COO for The Arrows Group), Graeme Read (CEO at 3R Partnership) and Roy Ripper (recruitment training expert).  Alan Whitford was our excellent host and Louis Welcomme from Colleague Software managed the technology.  Our subject this week was Boom After Bust; How to take advantage of the upturn.

It was a great show and you should watch the video here:

The main themes we covered were:

• In moving back to a candidate scarce market  the candidate is key – we covered this in our last hangout: The importance of the Candidate Experience in Recruitment. Notes from the #rechangout. You might also like to read The Candidate is King: Employment market trends for 2014 and Can The Candidate be King Again?
• Don’t get too excited by the boom and be tempted to have a finger in every pie; stick with what you are good at – be the best you can be within that market.  This article from 2011 is still very pertinent; Ten Steps to Dominating Your Market and Owning Your Niche
• Work on building effective candidate relationships.  Jobseekers are getting numerous offers and counter offeres as the market hots up.  Yes a counter-offer culture developing as jobs market improves and according to The Guardian today Google had one hour to make counter offers to prevent Facebook poaching talent.
• It’s a tricky time to take on staff.  The skill set needed for a great recruiter hasn’t changed (the right attitude is key – in fact there is a best-selling book called Hire For Attitude) but finding them is pretty tricky. Be more imaginative; why not look at ex sports/forces people.
• The most effective recruiters immerse themselves totally in their chosen market and take on a student mentality to learn everything they can.
• There is a shortage of recruitment consultants so you need to make sure you look after the (good) ones you have. Ensure your brand/culture means they want to stay.  Make sure you focus on keeping your staff happy and loyal.  HR thought-leader John Sullivan suggests Winning ‘the War to Keep Your Employees’ Requires Re-Recruiting Your Top Talent
• To add value consider “creating” the ideal jobseeker for your clients by up-skilling the candidates you have (those who have the right attitude if not skills for the role).
• Get closer to your clients and talk with them about the skill shortages and give them some solutions. Manage expectations and then suggest alternatives such as them training up, looking in markets they’d not normally consider, etc. Essentially being consultative (read this article from 2009!) and  helping them with the talent shortage rather than just bunging over CVs of people who will never join them.
• Good recruiters shouldn’t fear internal recruiting teams – just don’t try to compete – go for the roles they can’t do themselves.  Focusing on a proactive sourcing model (finding people your client wouldn’t just attract themselves) is adding value.  Teach your recruiters to understand their niche, map the market, and know instantly who to talk to. Do the same with candidates;  position yourself as an expert in their market and find ways to engage with candidates ahead of them looking for a job and/or you having one.  Mark Stephens (who is normally on the hangout) has written about, with candidates, how you can double your results with effective consultative resourcing techniques
• Have you heard of the Lifetime Value of a Candidate? If you place a candidate once you are likely to place them again – on top of that there are the ‘ripples’ of goodwill and referrals, etc.

This really was a jam packed session and a nice follow up to our afternoon event.

We are back on the 30th July with Katrina Collier, founder of Winning Impression talking about How should recruiters be using Facebook?