Hi! Happy new year, or if you are reading this in June, What’s the world like then? Did we survive April’s energy price raises?
2023, following on from what I call, 2022 – The hard year for recruitment. Is, and will probably be no different to 2022. There I said it, it’s sadly the fact of the day.
Blame what you want, covid, Brexit, Putin, the price of Gas, Ladbaby getting number one with that sausage roll song. It doesn’t negate the fact that there is a real crisis with putting bums on your seats.
We in the recruitment world, have been surviving for 100s of years – Yes, we’ve been around that long, Henry Robinson set up the first agency in 1653 – which believe it or not was refused by MPs – but he went and did it anyway.
So we have seen wars, rise and fall of governments, countries and the invention of all sorts of challenging technology. And yet, a person that spends their entire time finding people for businesses is more than needed in 2023.
This means – we’ve learned some new things lately, I want to share with you, and help you find the right people, especially if you are struggling now.
- Do you have the right budget? Cost of living as you know is impacting decision-making for a lot of companies when it comes to the budget of wages. For some roles, the budget was set years ago. In that time, we have seen wages stagnate, then increase by nearly 20% for some roles. Counteroffers have been insane for the past 2 years. So, are you advertising a role you advertised in 2019 with the same salary as today? You need to do a real salary review if you haven’t.
- Are you too focused on ALL the skills? Remember the 90s? I was 18 in 1997. Most jobs at certain levels would only really look at 2-3 factors of skills and experience. In some roles in the 90s, you didn’t even need more than a few GCSEs to be accepted – and get a good wage. Whether it’s a welder or a CNC or a design engineer – do they have to have that nuanced part of the job spec? do they really need X number of years to succeed? Or can you train that person? Look at what can be solved with some on-the-job training. Might be a good thing FYI – they won’t have habits you don’t like.
- Can they work from home? – not all jobs will be able to do this, I am looking at Sales roles a lot more these days, where work from home is more considered. BUT most white-collar roles in manufacturing can be done in a dark room, on a laptop, with Alexa and a cat to keep you company. This can open up a lot of roles. Sidenote here, think of the possibilities of people in new locations for your business as well? This may not be the right solution for you. But you never know, there could be a halfway house here.
- Be clear, and move quickly – we call it Analysis Paralysis in the recruitment world. Where the CV has to pass through a process – meanwhile the candidates are applying to your competitors – and right now, your competitors are not selling the same stuff as you, there are now companies hiring similar staff. AND if you are hiring, so is 10 other companies looking for the same. Move quickly, and don’t paralyse yourself with decisions – if it’s right go with that gut, if it’s wrong, find out why?
- Work with a recruiter – One 2 one, maybe 2 other recruiters? But work with us, have random chats about football, listen to our rants – however you want to have a working relationship with your recruiter, work with them. They are there to help – tell the issues, and keep them updated on the process – and the blockages.
Look they are simple suggestions, that will change your whole process if you adopt them. But make little strides – the market is really tight right now, there aren’t many candidates making big moves, and like I say, you’re not in competition with a similar company to you – you’re working against anyone that hires similar skills.
Reach out to me if you want to hear more.