Somehow, we’re nearly at the end of first decade of the 2000s (or the noughties, whichever is the accepted phrase!) The past 10 years has flown by but has been full of ups and downs, as well as rather big changes, for the recruitment industry. So thinking about this, I started thinking about the year ahead and what will be in store for all us people in the recruitment world.
From listening to both experts and clients, I’m expecting conditions to improve during the first half of 2010 and then stabilise. This is obviously great for business and a short term relief that we’re starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel; however I think we still have a year or two before we’re completely rid of this very tough recession. With conditions picking up, recruitment consultancies definitely need to take advantage of the increased business potential out there, but at the same time it’s important that they have sensible and realistic plans and don’t cause themselves major problems by doing too much too soon.
So what else? I think that recruiters need to review their service offering for the changing times. Listen to your customers! With the prolific use of online tools in business and in the recruitment industry today, organisations need to think of new ways to offer their services – it’s these innovative companies that will be more successful.
Don’t forget about your own people. Research (CIPD) shows that up to 40% of those good people that you’ve managed to retain throughout the downturn will be looking to move as the recruitment job market picks up. That means recruiters really need to focus on engagement to keep their top talent.
Planning strategies for the year ahead would be a lot easier if we had a crystal ball!
Recruitment leaders need to focus on these key issues – change, innovation and engagement. With the situation constantly changing it’s the companies that are good at managing this change that will ultimately see their way through the year ahead; but they need the best talent to bring their creativity to the workplace to do it.
Posted by: Fiona Lander
