I work with a great bunch of industry experts and if anyone knows the recruitment space; it’s them. So I asked them each to share just one tip for recruiters to help get you through these difficult times; and here they are:
Dougie Loan from Odro: Create an Outreach Candence
First step in building an outreach cadence is to define and identify your Ideal Client Persona (ICP). This should be client you know you can find candidates for and that you can provide an excellent service to. You should have no more than 50; if you do, you’re not being strict enough. Once you’ve identified who you’ll be speaking to, work out what they want to hear. Put yourself in their shoes, and think about the problems they are facing. Next choose your tools – phone, email, video, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc and set these all out in front of you. Next it’s content time. Create 3 pieces of value that you can give away for free. This could be webinars, guides, customer stories, market intelligence – basically things happening in their world that will resonate with them. This gives you a REASON to call. Next create a timeline. Blend the methods of communication with the pieces of value over 15 steps, leaving 1-5 days between each step. A good rule would be to have the 15-step cadence take 29-35 business days to get through. Always follow up a piece of content with a call. It’s a great opener. The final step is to put your plan into action. You now have a structure for your next 6 weeks that is laser focused on the people that you know you can close easier than anyone else. And make sure you stick with it till the end as most customers will respond in the second half of your cadence, so don’t give up. Also make sure you review your steps as you go. Work out where the biggest conversions are and learn from them for next time.
Alan Pett from ETZ: Being Transparent with Candidates is Critical
Alan Pett from Not so long ago, we were talking about many sectors of recruitment being ‘candidate driven markets’, with a shortage of available, credible candidates for many roles being the norm and head hunting skills being to the fore. Covid-19 is changing the balance, with many good and highly experienced people now finding themselves back on the job market as the furlough scheme winds down companies have had to cut costs. For those lucky enough to still be hiring, the chances are there will now be many more credible candidates to choose from than there would have been at the start of 2020. So, it is time to be honest – if a candidate is not an ideal fit then tell them early on, don’t waste your time or theirs where they don’t fully match the brief, as in the current climate the chances are somebody else will, so find those matches instead – in the long run you will be helping your employer, clients and candidates by being honest and although sometimes tough to hear, they will be thankful that you were transparent with them.
Lee Biggins of CV-Library: Put the Candidate First
Jason Martin of Access Group; Stay Agile
Paul Lloyd of Brookson; Make your Client Engagement Rock
Client engagement and interaction is key at this point to ensure you stay ahead of your competition. Every recruiter in the country is rebuilding and retargeting and more focussed than ever on growth after months of low activity. This means your clients are more likely than ever to be approached by new competitors who are trying to replace you in the supply chain. Brookson are seeing a growing interest now in IR35 with it only being just over 6 months away and this can be utilised as a real value add to your clients, get in early and solve the issue for them before your competition do!
Barry Cullen of IntroProtect; Protect Yourself with your Terms of Business
What advice would I give to recruiters? That is easy, just put this in your terms of business (fill in the blanks first):
”[CLIENT] indemnifies [RECRUITER] against all liabilities, costs, expenses, damages and losses (including but not limited to any direct, indirect or consequential losses, loss of profit, loss of reputation and all interest, penalties and legal costs (calculated on a full indemnity basis) and all other professional costs and expenses) suffered or incurred by [RECRUITER] arising out of or in connection with [CLIENT] breach and/or [RECRUITER] enforcement of this agreement.”
Wendy McDougall of Firefish; Reinvent your client relationships
As we move into a client-driven market, the recruitment industry is adapting to a shift in need from transactional to relationship recruitment services. Right now, clients need your knowledge and support in navigating the new job market, and you’re in a brilliant position in that you’re able to use your expertise to become indispensable to them. With this in mind, my biggest tip would be to use your expert knowledge to create market insights that prove your value to your clients. Produce marketing campaigns that you can send through your CRM that provide value and create regular touchpoints to stay front of mind for all the right reasons. This strategy will reinvent your relationships as you’ll be creating an environment where your clients know they’re in the safest hands possible when it comes to their hiring needs – and these are the relationships that lead to a long line of repeat business.
Robin Bonass of eBoss recruitment software: Build a working environment that is open to change
We’re heading back to the office, but it’s not the same one we knew six months ago. We left behind years of widening skills gaps and stable jobs creation. We return to an influx of high quality candidates, but slower job creation. So we can’t pick up exactly where we left off and expect to achieve the same results. But we can grasp this moment of instability to make improvements to our businesses; safe in the knowledge that we’re not relinquishing market share to competitors, who are also dealing with the disruptions, too. If I were recruiting today, I would be asking myself the following questions: Can I reduce my baseline costs? Lower outgoings will help me to sustain my enterprise during lean months. Job creation is erratic and if I can prevent financial leakage ahead of a jobs drought then that is a good thing. Can I increase the upward scalability of my core tasks at a moment’s notice? This will help me to manage both high volumes of new talent when furlough schemes are halted, as well as rapid job creation when major players re-enter the labour market unannounced. How many candidates can I process in one eight-hour day? How many candidates can I process without reducing my one-to-one time; my telephone time; my candidates’ experience? And, to bring it full-circle: how can I improve all of these numbers without increasing my costs?
Jason Medcalf of People Group Services: Offer your contractors the pay solutions that they really want whilst improving your cashflow
The below average performance of many umbrella companies to deliver full value and timely furlough payments has accelerated the trend of contractors rejecting umbrella in favour of PAYE solutions. Review your payroll options, ask yourself what your contractors want. Swapping an underperforming Umbrella for the right one will simultaneously give your contractors a free payroll option with great benefits, AND improves your payroll cashflow by up to 19.8% every week. In a landscape where liquidity is so important, wouldn’t you want to keep your precious reserves in your own bank account?
