UK Recruitment Industry - “The Spotty Youth of British Business”

It is true to say that as a marketeer I really should think before I speak – which sadly I don’t, much to the annoyance of many of those who have worked with me in the past and who would subscribe to the thought that “he only opens his mouth to change feet.” But I would hope that those same critics would also conclude that I can always be trusted to “say it as I see it” and more importantly am always prepared to give way to a well argued contra-opinion. And my frankness has added considerably to my strength as a negotiator, lobbyist and champion of difficult issues.

I have been using the phrase “Recruitment is the Spotty Youth of British Business” since my time as Managing Director oft the REC, the trade body for the £26 billion UK recruitment industry, where I coined it to convey a heartfelt belief that the recruitment industry desperately needed to ‘grow up’, especially if it was ever to stand a chance against the apparently respectable HR and purchasing community – its primary clients.

I visualised the average operator as a hormone charged adolescent, bounding with energy and enthusiasm (and perhaps just a little anger) and eager to please everyone around but without the knowledge and sophistication of age. Simply I reckon the average recruiter goes about business like a ‘bull in a china shop’ and breaks more than a few priceless plates along the way.

Whilst I was charged by some as ‘dissing’ the business sector (which simply goes to enforce my point), the reality is that I have a real love of the industry and especially its passion but I do feel it should spend less time raving (for the short term pleasure) and more time focusing on life and the pursuit of happiness (its strategic gains). It has never come as a surprise to me that few recruiters have Business Plans and even fewer have exit strategies. When I explained to one business owner just what the business was worth to a buyer, after first being highly offended by the derisory valuation of the best business in the land he said “Hell who cares, we have really good parties!” What shocked him more was what it could be worth if the whole corporate psychology was just a tad more robust and a little less ‘Happy Days.’

I hate recruiters who make just enough money to buy the Villa in the South of France and then become absentee parents and leave the blood, sweat and tears of the day-to-day operation to a team of good managers, who themselves quickly become disillusioned and start making plans to rip-off the database and form their own money machine in competition. The resulting legal action, fought from the South of France, which both parties enter into with the same teenage venom as a pair of young Rottweillers.

A more structured and focused approach; leading business development by reference to a well engineered plan and deviating only within measured and reported parameters, could make the experience more enjoyable; in a rewarding sense, and more rewarding; in a long term profitability and return sense. Entrepreneurs often believe their cavalier style and devil-may-care flamboyance will make up for all traditional business disciplines. Well, sadly they are wrong and all good entrepreneurs (like the Bransons of this world)quickly recognise that they can only be gung-ho within the constraints of a focused and profitable plan and with the right people around them to make it succeed.

Therefore I conclude that most recruiters need a mentor, probably with a few grey hairs and real and practical business experience and success, and preferably not just in recruitment, to help guide the formulation and delivery of the business’s full potential. This will also enable it to realise its true worth. And even better, to ensure you get the best service from your mentor give that chosen person authority by appointing them to the board as a Non-Executive Director. Then expect your NXD to tell it like it is, not pussyfoot around difficult subjects and take responsibility (at least in part) for your success.

Gareth

Recruiter Value Promotion

Yesterday I attended the excellent Business Forums International 4th Online Recruitment Summit and had some interesting discussions with major employers regarding their view of recruitment agencies.

It took me back to the good old days of working as a Corporate Account Manager at Securicor Recruitment Services and Randstad and it appears opinions (at least from those I spoke to) still haven't changed.

Words like, expensive, necessary evil, throw mud and see what sticks etc were still being used and I had to question why! Why if the recruitment industry in the UK, in the minds of UK HR professionals is so bad, does it continue to grow massively year on year, operators continue to report record profits and you as clients, continue to use agency support solutions?

We found the answer in our small little group and it is quite straightforward. Employers can't maintain staffing establishment without some form of agency interaction and this is seen as a negative almost 'held to ransom' situation. Agencies then (massive generalisation here but stay with me) don't appear to have convinced HR professionals in general of the value they provide to the corporate employment process.

I said in one conversation; "hang on, how does your business manage product distribution", and the answer was that they sub contracted it out to a distribution specialist. I obviously followed this up by saying that the same principles and cost efficiencies could and should therefore apply to sub contacting elements of your recruitment process!!!!

The penny dropped and for a minute I had immediately changed perception and got agreement. Conversation soon changed however to the fact that this has yet to be proven to the individual I was talking to but it opened the door to an alternative and proven way of thinking.

I admit, when I was a Sales Exec at SRS, you could walk into a D and I client and if you had drivers or a pool of good blue collar workers, you got an opportunity to supply, without the need for a lengthy sales pitch and in certain circumstance this was the same for Office Services, so the important discussion about value never really materialised. But what if it was included at every client meeting and tools and management information was made available to demonstrate value. Could general HR opinion be changed?

There is so much talk about how expensive agencies are and how they are an additional cost to employers, but I of course don't buy this because without agencies, employers need additional internal HR staff or hiring managers need to spend more time (time = cost) on the recruitment process which believe it or not is a cost to the business!!!!!

So to my previous employers at REC, let's have some detailed, high profile and widely distributed research into the cost efficiencies of utilising temporary and permanent recruitment businesses, for members and the industry itself to use to tackle these opinions. Some examples and indicatory tools would also be chipper.

Three buzzes make a big buzz - Zubka!

So the biggest buzz words in recruitment are web 2.0, social networking and the passive candidate.

It's no surprise then that Zubka has captured the hearts and minds of us technology and innovation commentators because it hits all of these bases in one go!

Web 2.0 - A clear example of how to incorporate the phenomenon of social and business networking and relationship management, with the aspirations of people to make money from the internet.

Social networking - Gives people the opportunity to communicate with and refer their friends, colleagues and contacts within their on and off-line networks to hirers advertising on the Zubka platform and at the same time earn a fee for doing so.

The passive candidate - You see a job on Zubka that someone you know will be ideal for. Chances are they are not job hunting but as soon as you connect them with the job, that changes in an instant.

Zubka is a source of quality candidates for recruiters and a potential new revenue stream.

For recruiters, Zubka will help them to fill more jobs, succeed with more of those hard to fill positions and enable them to accept out of scope roles all leading to an enhanced relationship with their clients.

In addition an opportunity exists to monetise candidates in their databases that they haven't yet placed with an existing client.

One to engage with.

The Mobile Internet Opportunity

I for one am passionate about the opportunity the mobile internet represents to the recruitment industries.

It hit my radar back in early 2006 at REC, when an organisation called asap Plc www.asapplc.com approached us regarding the mobile internet and how it could impact on the classified marketplaces.

The latest figures by the Mobile Data Association suggest 15 million people accessed the mobile web in April this year, a rise of 1 million users on the previous month. The increase in usage is yet another clear sign that mobile web browsing is on the map and with the significant role interactive job search plays in our everyday lives, it is perhaps the right time for recruiters to understand how they can capitalise on the mobile opportunity.

Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, Google, MSN eBay and Yahoo are now all making big plays in mobile, plus more recently Vodafone went public on 6th June to launch their 'all you can eat' mobile data service.

Some notable job board brands have gone mobile too, Jobserve, S1 and SecsintheCity, so is mobile the next big thing? Well many agree of course it is and it's only a matter of time before consumers start to receive real value from internet access on the move and the mobile internet goldrush starts with earnest.

Recruiters - Don't complain about a lack of candidates!

If you know me, have read any of my published content in the trades or seen me present, you will know I am the biggest supporter of the traditional recruitment industry and have a passion to protect it from the press group monopoly on candidate flow and the trend for employers to go it alone using the latest employment technologies.

Imagine then my disappointment when I distributed my CV to a number of rec2rec and technology agencies, as a candidate through their standard application process, in a quest to establish if there were any businesses they were talking to and could place me with that needed the short-term or flexible support of someone like me; 10 years traditional and on-line recruitment experience at a sales and senior level, ex MD of the REC's technology subsidiary, ex REC's Acting Technology Director and all-round staffing and employment technology/innovation specialist.

There were 4 types of response from the agencies I approached.

1. Immediate phonecall to introduce themselves and their business, then a fact find to establish what I was looking for and how they could support me. - To those, if you are reading, I salute you. You represent everything I have grown to admire about the recruitment industry and I look forward to working with and recommending you to my peer group.

2. Personalised email thanking me for sending my details but confirming I fell into a category they didn't support or I was looking for an opportunity outside their geographical boundary. - I can accept this as a reasonable response. After all time is money and they were good enough to say straight away that we couldn't help each other. I would say however, that I probably know many people that do fit into their categories and geography so if they used me correctly by staying in touch as an introduction point, I could probably facilitate a couple of fees a year for them.

3. Automated email confirming that my details have been received and would be databased for reference against suitable opportunities. - Not on face value negative, however, I know what this means. Because there was not a specific vacancy available at the time my CV was received, I was going into a database, many of which are not proficiently searchable, so in most cases I will be approximately 200kb of space taken up on their server and will never be seen again.

4. Nothing, nada, zip, tumbleweed rolling across a desert with an eary sound in the background. - An appalling response. Now considering most agencies when questioned will say that the biggest issue to their business is finding candidates, why oh why, would you not engage with one, one who I like to think is a strong candidate, who is placeable, connected, experienced and regularly in the press applauding the industry!

To those who provided the 2, 3 and 4 responses, what happened to specking candidates out? Is this a thing of the past or is the focus on the fee rather than candidate.This got me thinking. When some recruiters complain about a lack of candidates, do they mean a lack of candidates that perfectly fit the actual roles they have available at that very moment in time?

We know from the unemployment rates that the majority of job seekers in the UK are placeable, so I wonder if the focus was more candidate orientated, is there more value to be achieved all round!Here's a thought and perhaps a challenge to directors in the recruitment industry that follows the mystery shopper principle. Why not submit your CV to your own business via your website and see what response you get. You might be surprised!

Finally, to the agency that sends their automated responses with the subject header 'Resonses' with a missing 'p' and from an email address that starts 'reject', you might want to assess the experience you provide to job seekers!

It's Official, Technology 'Wont' Replace Recruiters!!!

I read, with surprise, in Recruiter Magazine today that a report called 'Debunking the Myths' has been produced by Cordoba Consulting for REC and KPMG to tackle questions on managed services and technology within the UK recruiter and employer marketplaces.

I was surprised because I find it difficult for a report to be so definitive in its conclusion that technology 'won't' replace recruiters because "too few employers have a sufficiently well-defined brand or web presence to attract as many candidates as they need".

I wonder if Cordoba included a review of the job board and search marketing industry's when conducting their research because, forgive me if I'm wrong, the low cost level playing field access to job boards, CV databases and pay per click sponsored links in the UK has given even the smallest employers equal opportunity to promote themselves and their vacancies on-line, which for some time has been the most proven method of finding a new opportunity for UK job seekers.

The report is also released at the same time as the CIPD's 'Recruitment, Retention and Turnover Study' which highlights that 73% of businesses surveyed used agencies in 2006, which is down from 76% in 2005. 3% doesn't sound much but a 3% reduction in UK recruitment industry turnover equates to £750 million pounds, which incidentally is more than the turnover of the fourth largest recruitment company operating in the UK by £250 million based on 2005/2006 figures, so not an insignificant sum!

In addition, we continuously read about the record profits and sales figures of technology vendors, including Stepstone Solutions and Jobpartners, who provide recruitment solutions to corporate employers to power their self-hire strategies.

I'm not saying that technology will replace recruiters but there is compelling and documented evidence that it is and will continue to erode corporate employers dependence on agencies, so a report claiming that technology won't have an effect sounds more like it is based on opinion rather than fact.

There's No 2.0!!!

Just a bit of tongue in cheek, but I had yet another conversation with a chap at the weekend who believed Web 2.0 described the impending launch of a new version of the Internet to rival the existing one!!!

I know, I know, it's like what they say about 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire', it's only easy if you know the answer, but you can't blame people for getting the wrong idea, when marketeers around the globe have jumped on the 'latest buzzword bandwagon' and flooded the press with Web 2.0 this and Web 2.0 that, without explanation and headlines like 'how web 2.0 are you?', plus historically, technology companies have called new versions of their products version 2.1, 3.0........

I of course explained in detail where the term Web 2.0 originated from and what it meant (fastrack here), but it led to some really humorous afterthoughts given that marketeers could now continue this methodology for describing other business practices, activities and pastimes.

Our discussion then was taking place at a BBQ 2.0 because we were using gas rather than charcoal, and the liquid of choice to wash down the food was Beer 3.1 (3.1 because it was in a can rather than on draught and included a widget so we could pretend it was draught). We went on and on, probably something to do with continued flow of Beer 3.1 and the introduction of Spirit 4.6, 4.7 and 4.8.

We had to stop because it started to get annoying, but it did highlight and semi explain a real issue I have noticed in the UK recruitment market. Technologies and innovations are complex but the explanations of what they do and what value they provide don't need to be. So here is a simple request to all technology marketeers around the world. Focus on simple 'plain English' explanations of your products and services rather than creative technological jargon!!!!

It might have an influence on a current trend where many recruiters are in the process of changing their existing recruitment software because it didn't do exactly what it said it would do on the tin (thanks Ronseal)!

On a side issue, we also started discussing if an actual Competitor to the existing Internet could be created with the hard-drives of dormant PC's, Laptop's and Server's around the globe being used to power it. Probably Beer 3.1 talk again but something to ponder on the next time I get a free minute or two.