Becoming indispensable

Anna Scott

With the threats and challenges to the recruitment business evolving with greater speed than before, it is imperative on recruiters to recognise just what these issues are and how they can deal with them.

Competition for business now comes in many forms. The growth of more centralised recruitment strategies and in-house recruitment teams, coupled with a CEO cutting costs wherever possible, puts a great deal of pressure on agencies to offer something different.

The growth of social media has empowered candidates to network with potential employers directly and clients to recruit without agencies and often more informally.

Making a success of a recruitment business in 2014 will be a complex and demanding task.

One of the industry’s bodies, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, has urged recruiters to up their game and show HR professionals how invaluable they are to the process of sourcing quality candidates.

The REC’s report, The Client Paradox: The changing relationship between client and agency recruiters, identifies a number of areas where recruiters need to improve what they offer employers.

Understanding precisely what a client wants is paramount. This should go without saying but can be neglected.

Specifically, demonstrating expert knowledge of the job market is essential. An in-house recruiter should not know more than any agency consultant precisely what is shaping a particular jobs market, where skills shortages lie, what candidates are looking for and where to find skilled candidates, for example.

Equally, recruiters must improve their candidate communication, both before, during and after the recruitment process to optimise applicant volumes.

Embracing new technologies will be vital. Using video interviews and Skype to engage with candidates is already normal practice in some big employers, the REC says. Recruiters must not shy away from this important technology.

Ultimately, HR professionals and in-house recruiters have a heavy enough workload without having to immerse themselves in a job market and find the best candidates. That is what the recruitment sector is here for. This is not about reinventing the industry, as the REC says, but about providing the best possible insight and contacts for employers. Those recruiters that nurture both that sort of skill from within and that kind of relationship with their clients will reap the benefits in the coming year.