Recently, Social Talent published an article directed towards recruiting firm owners. It breaks down five common mistakes that recruiters make that are usually due to being clumsy or not focused through the process. These are slight mistakes that could easily end up with a recruiter losing valuable revenue. I believe they are mistakes that are good to keep top of mind and refresh yourself with to stay on top of. 

I’ve listed the mistakes below. Head over to the full article to read the solutions! Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve all heard a talent shortage exists. However, what are employers reporting in regards to the first quarter of 2020 hiring? Manpower has released their projections for the first quarter that answer that question. More than 11,500 interviews were conducted with employers within the United States, including all 50 states,the top 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), theDistrict of Columbia and Puerto Rico, to measure hiring intentions for the first quarter of 2020 My post today will provide an overview of the findings. I encourage you to review the survey results in more detail.

% of Employers Expecting to Add Payrolls

Employers in 22 percent of U.S. businesses surveyed expect to add to payrolls in the first quarter of 2020, with 5 percent anticipating a decrease and 72 percent expecting no change. It is definitely a job seeker’s market with these types of results.

Top 5 Industry Sector Results

While Employers in all 13 U.S sectors expected to grow payrolls during the first quarter, these 5 industries had the largest increase expected:

1. Leisure & Hospitality (+30%)
2. Construction (+22%)
3. Professional & Business Services (+22%)
4. Wholesale& Retail Trade (+22%)
5. Transportation & Utilities (+19%)

Regional Comparisons
The Midwest Outlook takes the lead by matching the strongest reported since 2001, with 23% of of employers expecting workforce gains. Regionally after that was:

• South (21% net employment outlook)
• West (17% net employment outlook)
• Northeast (15% net employment outlook)

Global Outlook

Manpower also surveyed a total of 58,000 employers across 43 countries to report on a global outlook and employers in 42 of 43 countries and territories surveyed expect to grow payrolls. The strongest labor markets are anticipated in Greece, Japan, Taiwan, the U.S. and Romania, while the weakest hiring activity is expected in Panama, Argentina, Costa Rica, Italy and Spain.

What impact does this have on independent recruiters? While many exist, I suggest the following:

• As an independent recruiter, bump up your business development efforts to retain new clients affected by talent shortage.
• Employers unwilling to work with recruiters during the past four years may be more willing now to seek the professional assistance of an independent recruiter with such a tough candidate market, new techniques need to be employed to uncover passive talent.
• If you are focused on one niche only, consider changing your niche or adding to your current niche, especially in areas where the market is not as tight.
• Develop a recruiter networking group of trusted trading partners around the world to assist you with filling difficult jobs and placing candidates who can’t find a job locally.

In today’s world, business keeps moving faster and faster. Staying current with technology is a challenge in and of itself. So, who has time to analyze the past?

Bill Benson, Chair of NPAworldwide’s Board of Directors, believes in taking time at the end of the year to take inventory on what is going well and what could be going better. A recruitment firm owner needs to ask themselves what are they expecting next year. Let’s assume that your competition is improving and business may be tougher to get in 2020. Thinking this way forces you improve your game.

1. Get back to basics! Conduct a self-audit to make sure that you are continuing to do the little things right – small details can make a big difference! Look at your processes for interviewing candidates, presenting candidates to clients, prepping candidates for interviews, reference checking, qualifying candidates and clients. Ask the hard questions of your clients and candidates in order to further qualify Interest levels. This is a good time of year to ferret out any bad habits.
2. Use social media to help stay more connected to your clients. You don’t need to be a social media maven to use technology to your advantage. Skip Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and focus on Linked In. “Like” your clients on linked In. Set Google alerts for your clients to stay informed when they are in the news. This insight will give you angles and opportunities to communicate and even pitch a candidate. Share articles that you believe are informative to your client personas.
3. Start dating your clients again. We often can get busy focused on current assignments and fail to stay more connected to long standing clients. Understand you have competitors that you didn’t know exist that are calling on them. Take them to lunch over the holidays or call them to simply see how they are doing. You build trust with your clients by showing this type of interest.
4. Schedule follow-up calls. Use your calendar system to give yourself reminders to make calls. An Example: Set a 30, 90, 180 and 360 phone call reminder with your placed candidates. Why? If a problem exists… some early intervention might avert a fall off! This follow up also shows you care as much as you hoped they believed when you placed them in the first place. These people are your best referral sources. Set similar call reminders with your clients, referral sources and key NPA partners. Set a 12 month out call every time you take a job order. Do this whether you fill the position or not. It might be a cyclical need and your 12 month out follow up call might hit at exactly the right time. You will more likely hit your call goal if you have a rolling list of these phone calls popping into your calendar every day. Anything you can do to structure your day will give you positive results.
5. Stay focused! Let’s face it…most of us have attention or focus issues! Block your time into hourly segments of “focused time” to work jobs and stay on the phone. Start each day with a list of calls and 2-3 jobs where to place your focused time. Set goals that help you track daily progress. Daily planning and phone discipline are still the top predictors of success in our business.
6. Training. Use a training platform to help you “sharpen the saw.” This is Stephen Covey’s Habit number 7. At WilliamCharles Search Group we use Next Level Exchange. Also look for webinars and other training material. 

Finally, always remember that when you go back to the start of the placement (way back to when you received the job order) and take it all apart, you find things that could have been done better. Good luck to all recruiters in the New Year!

The agreement for fees between independent recruiters and employers can take many forms and have been evolving as the cost of being an independent recruiter has increased when you want to update your business to include the latest technology tools and assessment options. These added annual services that a recruiter wants to maintain to be delivering efficiently for their clients in a tight candidate market have led many firms to update their pricing and reconsider a straight contingency model. This article shares different fee structures we see in our recruitment network, NPAworldwide. Our recruiters specialize in executive level placements, who join to share jobs and candidates and leverage other members.

What are the differences between these fee arrangements for managers and other professional level positions?

1. Contingency Recruitment

As the name suggests, recruiters with a contingency recruitment fee arrangement agree to search for a candidate to fill an employer’s open position. The employer is obligated to pay the recruiter only if a candidate the recruiter presented to the employer is hired for the open position. The timing of the payment of the fee depends on the agreed upon payment terms and varies greatly by employer.

2. Container/Engaged Recruitment

While different versions of this type of recruitment exist, typically a recruiter will receive $7,500 to $10,000 before the search begins. Of course, this upfront fee amount will vary depending upon the salary range of the open position. This portion of the fee is non-refundable and subtracted from the final fee payment after a candidate is hired.

This type of fee option positions the recruiter as a professional service provider for an employer similar to the relationship an employer has with an accountant or attorney. If you are a contingent recruiter now, this option is a good idea to trial with current clients. A way to do this might be lowering your fee percentage, but in return asking for an engagement or container fee. Perhaps instead of 25% for one search, your fee percentage is 20% for three searches with upfront engagement fees paid for all three.

3. Retained Search

Retained searches focus on key management positions within a company including C-level positions. While fee arrangements for retained searches may vary, typically, the employer commits to three payments. The first payment to the recruiter is made before the search begins. The second payment is made to the recruiter after a certain number of candidates are presented to the employer. Final payment occurs after a candidate is hired.

When looking to switch to a retained model, the value that you provide to clients should appear to extend further than just providing candidates. Many firms that work mainly retained search position themselves as more of a a consultant and as a hiring expert. Ask your client to come in and evaluate their hiring, send your clients articles or a newsletter highlighting your knowledge of the industry or market insights. Provide personalize market intelligence regarding industry trends or HR issues.

If you are currently thinking about changing up your fees for 2020, here are some great brainstorm questions:

What do you consider the value on your time and expertise?

What are your annual operating costs, how many placements cover that?

What price point do you think ensures your fees are competitive without being “cheap”?