When James Caan started out in recruitment there were apparently just 90 agencies in the UK and now there are over 20,000. Over the past 30 years much has changed but one thing that hasn’t is that our industry still suffers from high attrition rates. James’s figures show 25% of the recruitment agency workforce is “churned” every year.
I read in one of James’s LinkedIn Pulse articles that 70% of UK recruitment businesses will never achieve over 10 heads or generate more than £0.05m in gross profit. Why is it so tough to grow in our space? Like James I believe the key to solving these problems could well be training. He’s created the worlds first recruitment training app and I spoke to him recently to find out more.
The first thing James tells me he struggles to believe that significant improvements in the recruitment space have been made in the past 30 years, since he started his first recruitment business. Yes, technology has moved on massively and it’s never been simpler to source candidates than before. These new technologies would suggest that recruiting has actually become so much easier. In addition in those past 30 years he tells me that whilst salaries have gone up by 400% there has been no increase in the actual per-assignment fees generated by recruiters.
His conclusion is that even with all this sophisticated technology we are less productive today than 30 years ago. Backing this up is his findings from speaking to over 100 clients across the globe; the consistent message is the quality of service provided by recruiters today is poorer than ever before.
He believes that recruiters just don’t have an understanding of the end-to-end approach now have an appreciation of its multiple stages allows the best to practice the true art of recruitment.
So what is the new training hub?
The Hub hosts a range of tools for recruiters which include a step by step guide that outlines James’ methodology of the placement process. Through video training delivered by James himself he leads consultants through each stage in his approach from; knowing your market, taking a job brief, through to all the guidance you need to make a successful placement. There’s also help via experts from LinkedIn, who the platform was developed in association with, on sharing top tips on how to source the best candidates.
The Recruitment Guide provides a unique combination of personality profiling, training modules, peer to peer networks, news feeds and global leader’s expertise. There’s even in depth management training for owners/managers.
The price for this is very accessible at £10 a month for consultants and £20 a month for owners/managers
This looks like a great resource and one which I’m sure we’ll be talking about more over the coming months.
