10 recruitment trends I predicted in 2010. Right..or wrong?

Recently I was honoured to present a keynote address to the RCSA National Conference in Hobart.(August 2010)

In that speech I laid out 10 trends that I believe will impact the recruiting profession and which we need to factor into our strategies and business planning.

  1. Expectations of clients are rising and will continue to rise. Clients want insights, not just résumés. They want better service. They want specialist level consulting advice. And they want it faster and globally.
  2. Clients and talent are savvier, more discerning, and more sensitive to quality. Right now, publicly listed recruiters are reporting rising revenues and profits. But at the same time we see increasing numbers of small recruiters going into liquidation. Big firm or smaller player, clients will not accept the second rate, the cumbersome or the old-fashioned.
  3. Employers will continue to aggressively build their in-house capacity to recruit staff.  Clients will develop corporate in-house recruitment teams, build recruitment technology, enhance employer branding, and use social media. And all of these will be used to cut recruiters out of the process. It’s a major issue for our industry and we have to offer something measurably different to be seen to be providing value.
  4. An increasing majority of vacant jobs will not be advertised anywhere. Forget web advertising vs. print media. More and more jobs just won’t get announced at all. Networking, social media, and skilled, specialised recruiters will fill most jobs before they ever hit the mainstream media. That has huge implications for us in the way we develop business, access talent and make the match. And also for the skill-set of our recruiting staff.
  5. Talent will become smarter and wiser to the way our industry works. They will be far more discerning about the recruiter they work with. They will take charge of their job search and of their employee brand. Technology has made things so much more transparent for job seekers and the pathway for them to connect with employers is now wide open, potentially leaving third-party recruiters out in the cold. This raises massive questions around the way we engage with candidates and our entire talent acquisition strategies.
  6. Reputation and Brand – of recruiters – will become our most valuable asset. And we will not be able to influence brand via traditional PR and media anymore, because social media is so viral, so transparent and so powerful, that your business can be destroyed or made by it at lightening speed. Our brands are being defined by the voices of strangers.
  7. Referrals will become the primary sourcing channel for all levels of positions. Not print, not job boards – but word of mouth, reputation, networking and referral programs.
  8. Customers’ loyalty will become key. And by customers I mean both clients and talent. Churn and burn will not work. We need to retain what we have, and develop it intelligently and consistently.
  9. On top of all this, there will be increasing pressure on price. Clients will not pay the same for what they used to get.
  10. To sum it all up, yesterday’s “delivery” market will become tomorrow’s relationship market with both clients and talent.
  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On August 31, 2010
  • 26 Comments
Tags: Hiring Trends, Managing Recruiters, Recruitment Consulting Skills, recruitment recovery, Recruitment Trends

26 Comments

GB
Great observations Greg, although I do wonder about point 9. In my 20 years in the industry I've rarely, if ever, experienced upward pressure on pricing, so no news there to learn we can expect to see increased downward pressure. And of course anyone doing business at 10% or less deserves everything they get.
    Greg Savage
    Thanks all for your comments In reply; Andy: No doubt you are right that job boards will remain highly influential. But by definition they only work for "Active" candidates. People who are pro-actively seeking a new role. I think great recruiters are going to tap into communities where increasingly, its "who knows who and who is prepared to recommend who to who". In fact I believe (but I have no stats to prove it) that most jobs even now, are filled through networks -not even counting deals done by recruiters. GB: I feel pretty sure clients will put increasing pressure on the industry to either lower its price or increase its value. Many recruiters have no idea how to add value, so will cave on price. Clare; In our space, marketing and design, yes we are seeing it. Designers creating their own web sites showcasing their work and representing themselves to employers direct, is an example. But its just the beginning and it means recruiters have to prove value to job seekers as well But of course everything I write is just opinion and speculations! What do I really know? But fun anyway Regards all Greg
Julie O
Greg, I totally agree. I come from the internal recruitment and now in an executive search firm. I was selective about the firm I joined as it was important that they understood the value of relationships and professionalism of the recruiter. Unfortunately, there are still many brand names that get by with consultants who are simply "matching CVs" and flooding the inboxes of recruiters.
Andy Headworth
Greg, Great post although I find myself disagreeing with you on No. 7. >> Referrals will become the primary sourcing channel for all levels of positions. As much as I would like to agree, I think we have the mindsets of the candidates to deal with, as as they are difficult to control at the best of times....... They are incredibly habitual and still keep going back to the job boards (the stats bear that out) for job search. All the time that is happening, then agencies/clients will use them, whether we like it or not. This will change, and we are seeing that in the niches, where likeminded skills congregate together. Social media has changed the way we all view referrals now, and many people actually seem happier to refer people through those channels, whereas before they may not have done. Long may this continue! Andy
Clare
Great post, but I'm not sure about point 5. Have you really seen an increasing number of applicants taking more charge over their job search? I see a lot of misunderstanding over effective job searching (despte the huge amount of advice available) and many applicants are in the dark when they suddenly find themselves out of work. I was particularly interested to see Andy's comment above re candidate mindset...
Dan M
Greg, I worked for one of the largest job boards and your comment about "communities" is spot on. They all see it as the death blow to their traditional models and are racing to create solutions that create community-like features. The boards will have a place, but I think their best days are behind them. As candidates and recruiters flock to community building, organizations that do their homework will come to the conclusion that building in house teams is the best option. Agencies will always have a place butthey need to prove value by serving a niche or accessing information/talent an in house team can not easily duplicate.
Russ Boreham
Hi Greg, Interesting article; I completely agree with point 3 though it's worth noting that increasingly we see companies invest in internal recruitment but often it is the internal recruiters that aren't able to find the best candidates and so still keep coming back for help. It baffles me why leading companies don't actively headhunt the best agency recruiters and pay them what they are worth (£50-100k+ OTE) to rectify this. Agency recruiters who have an established network and are doing well aren't going to comtemplate an internal move for the money on offer at the moment, so the need for agencies will not be removed by internal teams getting shinier tools to play with. What's that saying...."all the gear but no idea"?
Arthur K
The challenge internal recuitment teams or people face is that they aren't contstantly looking for talent. The business needs someone so they go out looking for them. Then it ends, then it starts again. Also applicants will be more wary talking directly to organisations using social media because they aren't independant. There will always be a place for agencies small and large.
Herbert Hess
Article is mostly bs. Anyone who has been a recruiter for more than 2 years could have done a more insightful job. The most interesting part of the whole article which I totally wasted my time reading was the title. Can't judge an article by it's title. And some of comments were even more ludicrous.
    Greg Savage
    Thank you Herbert. I am sorry you wasted time reading my ludicrous article .. and then apparently wasted even more time by writing a comment. I have pasted your company web address below so everyone can easily see for themselves your own creative, insightful and generous contribution to our industry. Regards Greg www.hessjobs.com
Tracey Montgomery
Hi Greg, great article and I could especially relate to the point of referrals. Our business doesn't rely on referrals but we certainly thrive because of them - both client and candidate. The only point I take exception to is Point 2. I own and operate a "small" recruitment agency and by no means is my business cumbersome or old fashioned. I think sometimes there is a misconception that only the large, publicly listed agencies are moving ahead with the times. I acknowledge I may have misinterpreted your comment but big doesn't necessarily mean best.
    Greg Savage
    HI Tracey Thanks for your comment. I re -read point 2 and I can see why you got that meaning. It was NOT intended I assure you. I agree some of the very best work in our industry is done by nimble, niche, committed smaller businesses. Very best wishes, Greg
James Cozens
Great article and sorry I missed Hobart. Hope you will come to NZ soon and re-present here. Love the Hess website - was severely tempted to buy a book! And an interesting thought about your online brand - when you see Herb's Linked In profile (well - it's lunchtime here and I am eating my sushi) you see good recommendations and a person you could do business with - when you see his website you think what a load of BS (capitals intended) Keep up the good work!
Nathan Reese
Another great article , I am with Tracey, hope us smaller players still have potential of building a great niche business.
Mic Adam
Greg - nice post and it emphasizes some of the market research I have done (in belgium) about social media and recruitment companies. See my research on slideshare: http://bit.ly/9rJlt8 Today, recruitment companies are somewhat present in social media but recruitment professional are looking unprofessional and unattractive. Though people argue this is only the case in belgium, I am afraid this is a worldwide phenomenon. Okay, it might be better in certain countries, if so I would like to see some evidence :-). Your thenth statement is really to the point since recruiters (except a few) are not building long term relationships with candidates which is a huge mistake. It seems they are missing the "social" in social media. They are using social media as a pool to fish in and sometimes they are fishing in the wrong one - "you can not cath sharks in the lake of geneva". If you are looking for school leavers you do not need to look in linkedin, but in networks such as Bebo, Netlog and maybe facebook. There is a lot of educational work to be done here. Mic Adam - Vanguard Leadership
RCSA ex director
Shame on you Greg for publically humiliating Herbert on your blog an then also on twitter. I am ashamed to have you as a member of the RCSA.
    Greg Savage
    Hello RCSA ex Director, I am not sure if your comment is sincere or in jest. It is valid of course either way, although if you are an RCSA ex Director we almost certainly know each other - so maybe using your real name would have given me a clue to the underlying tone of your remark. For the record though, Herbert called my blog 'BS" and "ludicrous'. He also said it was ' a waste of time' and that it lacked the insight of a 2 years experienced recruiter. I merely pointed people to his website and asked them to draw their own conclusions. Really, not that I care, but I was the person insulted here, and any humiliation felt by Herb is surely self-inflicted and richly deserved. Best Greg
James Cozens APRCSA
As an ex RCSA Director (no not the one above) I have always found Greg's comments to be insightful and relevant. We are not talking about a teacher who could not " do " here as Greg walks the walk and has no need to prove anything. He is a life member of the RCSA and that is not given lightly. So "ex Director" name thyself or shut up!
Brett Iredale
LMAO. Greg's comment to Herbert and the web link just made me laugh so hard I spilled my beer.
Legalrecruiter1
Greg - good post. I agree with most of your points. I believe the biggest challenge will be the build out of internal recruiting teams. Some companies will believe (and want to believe for purely budgetary reasons) that these teams can recruit for ANY position. This is where we as external recruiters have to market the difference. I have been at it for over 20 years and have deep knowledge of my niche as well as a large loyal network to tap that no internal recruiter could match unless they have specialized in my niche. I agree with Dan M. The job boards are for active job seekers and not passive candidates so they are less of a concern to us. Thanks.
Kyles recruitment
Social media is the biggest change where recruiters will often blanket befriend people just to scout out their present circumstances and possibly qualifications.
gerry crispin
Excellent. I subscribe to each of the points above and believe US 3rd party share will drop to 2% by 2012. One exception- transparency will demand immediate disclosure of 100% of all openings- challenge will be to find them however.
Jez Nicholson
As a potential candidate and a potential recruitment customer i've got two points to add: 1. remember that today's candidate is next month's/year's customer. Treat us well and we will remember when it comes to recruiting for the roles that report to us, but treat us like cattle and we will also remember. 2. job boards have narrowed the gap between customer and candidate so much so that the recruiter is going to have to work a lot harder to prove their value. As candidates we believe that you are just reposting adverts and are restricting access to jobs, then we self-select by applying through a job board.
Tyler
I think that some have a misunderstanding about the changes Greg writes about. He seems to have learned on the football field what Phds spend half a lifetime learning. Change doesn't happen all at once in a particular year. It happens unevenly and gradually. Just because the water hasn't reached your deck doesn't mean your ship's not sinking. Paper slingers are endangered because we don't use paper anymore. Candidates are wiser so mistreating them doesn't work anymore. Information is freely available so ignorance doesn't cut it any more. But the human relationship part hasn't changed at all. In fact I think the Internet has created a wide open market for anyone with emotional intelligence. Here in NYC, in middle of all this economic wreckage, we still have preposterously arrogant clients and highly confused job seekers. I see a market for a consultant in there somewhere.
Mitch Sullivan
I'm not sure I agree with all of the points either - but the tone of the article is spot-on when it says that clients are becoming more recruitment savvy and will require more than the vast majority of agencies can deliver - but as Tyler says, it will take a while. I also think that the building of genuinely competent inhouse teams will only really start to flourish when companies learn to start paying decent salaries to attract the best consultants out of the 3rd party sector, because currently too many of them are just another administrative interface between the hiring managers and the agencies.
Peggy McKee
Greg: What's new here? I have been recruiting since 1999 and I have witnessed all that you describe here already (before 2008). But isn't this the way of the world? Love to stay and chat, but I have to talk to my clients and candidates. (this is how recruiters make a living) I suspect that many are not making a living as a recruiter (but haven't announced it to the rest of us). Has anyone seen any real numbers that quantify the effect of the last 2 years on third party recruiters? Peggy

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