Global Recruiting

Today’s guest blogger is Scott Love. Scott helps staffing and recruiting companies get more business from better clients, and at higher rates and fees. Over 4,500 staffing and recruiting firms from over 35 countries have invested in his systems. Access his Staffing and Recruiting podcast and other free videos and tools that will help you sell more: www.StaffingSalesTraining.com. We are very excited that he will be one of the featured speakers at our upcoming Global Conference in Washington, DC!

Recruiting and staffing firms have entered a year that many believe will be a record in production. Everyone is hiring! Clients want to get more candidates!

But that red-hot image of the future may in fact be a destructive fire on the horizon. Here is the dilemma, and it’s a double dilemma. I hate to sound like a pessimist, but I see so many firms that are not prepared for this impending doom.

First, the candidate pool for staffing and recruiting firms is shrinking. Most people in our industry believe that is a good thing. Why is it shrinking? It’s not just because of the demographic issues, such as retiring baby boomers and a void of talent that is ensuing. But the problematic issue for recruiting and staffing firms is that technology has made it easy for companies (our clients) to boost their hiring through social media. Many have added low cost internal recruiting departments, which means they can hire those who are “good enough” through the ability to easily and more swiftly capture that low hanging fruit. For many of you, your clients have now become your competitors.

That’s the first dilemma. And it’s a big issue.

This second dilemma compounds that issue and even exacerbates it. It’s the fact that, because there is a boost in recruiting firms and staffing agencies in terms of numbers and also in terms of activity, then the companies you hoped to get as clients will not perceive you as valuable since now you are a dime a dozen and seem to be just like all the rest. The batch of new staffing and recruiting firms all want to get business, so they are going to “buy” it by lowering rates and fees; they are training your prospective clients that your business, in spite of the need for it, has become a commodity. If you don’t believe me, count how many times you have heard that your rates or fees are higher than your competitors.

So both of these converging issues mean that 2016 might not be that robust year you were hoping for. Sorry.

But here’s the good news. Many of your competitors might not see the problem and might not know how to be prepared for dealing with it. Let me give you some tactical ideas that can still help you make this an amazing year for you.

1. Understand that the middle has disappeared. This is something I see when I visit and consult to staffing and recruiting companies and speak to them about the competitive landscape. The successful ones know that they need to adapt and change how they perceive their value in the market. It doesn’t have to be a big change, just a shift in your perspective. You will make money by either becoming a Tiffany’s or a Wal-Mart. Both are viable business models and both will make you successful.

2. Understand and articulate your uniqueness. “Staffing firms are all the same.” That’s what your clients think. Are they really that wrong? You have access to the same pool of candidates. You look the same. You charge the same. You do the same thing for them. What’s the difference? You can build in uniqueness by focusing on a certain niche or sub-niche. You can highlight that difference by articulating a message or a story that is relevant to your clients. You can highlight that difference by finding a common theme of specific value and tailoring your message to that theme.

3. Go for the brass ring, not the low hanging fruit. If you hold all the cards by focusing on placing candidates that everyone needs and nobody else has, then you have value and are in a position to charge higher rates and fees. I once consulted to the owner of an independent temp agency in south Florida who was depressed and exasperated from the rate pressure coming from larger competitors. I advised her to build value through specialization and differentiation. I gave her a strategy solution and advised her that, instead of focusing on all administrative areas, she needs to limit her activity to only placing degreed executive assistants who are bilingual on both a temp and perm basis. Her increased value in candidates, just from this minor shift in focus, resulted in price not being an issue. She was the only one in her area that had this focus on specific value in a fungible position, so she was not limited by industry and made more placements at much higher rates and fees. Her processes were easier and more replicable, thereby scalable as she added new employees. Her perceived and tangible value increased, as did her stature in the market. An ancillary benefit of this strategy was that it got her out of the HR department and into the corner office, which meant she could negotiate directly with the executive-level decision-maker whose commitment to those specific placements was much more emotional and personal.

4. Sharpen your skills. Add up your training budget for the past year (how much you have invested in training and development, such as books, seminars, online resources, coaching and consulting). Now, compare this number to what you paid for your college education. Most people might admit that they invested less than $1,000 a year in their own development, but for a college education, they spent tens of thousands in something that has no impact on their income. When you finally start playing to win by investing in yourself and your team, then you will discover ideas and reach new levels of performance.

These are simple ideas, but if you follow them, my prediction is that, at the end of this year, you will be celebrating your best year ever.

Copyright © 2016 Scott Love – reprinted with permission

Qualigence International has released its 2016 Recruiting Trends white paper. The report offers a comprehensive look into some of the changes recruiters can expect to see throughout the year, including cross-industry hires, diversity, college graduates, benefits, talent pipeline, and big data. A few of the salient points are highlighted below.

Cross-Industry Hiring. While traditional hiring activity has focused on hiring candidates with direct industry experience that matches a particular role, there can be value in considering candidates that may not have that exact experience in the background. Such candidates may have broader understanding of markets, increased exposure to different types of people and business styles, or be more willing to try new things or tackle new challenges. It’s also wise to remember that longevity in a particular industry may not equal top performance.

Diversity. More employers are looking to diverse their workforces, whether that includes more women in executive or technical roles, increases in racial minorities, or other cultural differences. Other types of diversity can include education levels or work experience.

Talent Pipeline. There is a growing disconnect between finding candidates and making placements. Things that contribute to this include recruiters who either don’t engage with candidates, or who engage with them inappropriately or at the wrong times. Regular, consistent follow-up is critical. Excessively-long hiring processes and multiple below-market offers also cause candidates to withdraw. These are areas where recruiters and employers alike can improve this year.

Candidate Assessments. Employers are getting more sophisticated in how candidates are evaluated, from video interviewing to personality assessments to sample work assignments and more.

Customized Benefits. As candidates continue to value work-life balance, employers are beginning to look at customized benefits packages. While some employees may place more importance on a flexible schedule, others may be more interested in health insurance or fitness/wellness incentives. Look for customized packages to increase.

Time-to-Fill. As the time it takes to fill open positions is near historic high levels, recruiters and employers are beginning to understand the negative impact this can have on a company’s morale, productivity, and financial performance. Efforts to improve the candidate experience, including speeding up the hiring process, should increase as a result.

What recruiting trends are you seeing? Please comment below!

We are in the midst of a severe talent short market. Some predict it will last for years into the future. Even during the recent recession, the unemployment rate for those with four-year degrees and those with advanced degrees was not remarkably high. Today, some career segments, like IT, are at near full employment. Employers and the global recruiters supporting their search for talent are having a tough time finding qualified talent.

So what is this all about? Many employers use “talent shortage” as code for “the people I want at the price I want to pay are not available.” The market has changed and some employers are unwilling to recognize the result of these changes. It makes recruitment virtually impossible for some openings. I hear recruiters say, “I have 5 of these openings in the New York City area and they pay $63,000.” When the market is $75-$80K, this is a pointless search. All the more reason for employers to hire elite recruiters and ask them to properly define the position and market for that position before beginning a search.

There are options, but for more than a decade the level of corporate investment in development, education, and training has been nearly non-existent. Do you see training and development programs in place at the employers you know? Some of the market leaders and trend setters, like Google, Apple, and even oil companies, were investing before oil dropped to record lows. Many of these leaders have been seen abandoning training and development in favor of benefits, perks, signing bonuses and cool work cultures.

So we are in a zero-sum game. This means recruitment will change even more dramatically in the next few years. Headhunting as it is called will be back in vogue. No longer will there be a host of readily-available talent to be found on LinkedIn and other social sites. Finding candidates will require precision-based recruiting to engage, excite, extract and move a candidate from one great position to another.

If employers want to avoid being victim to the talent shortage that is upon us, they will need to pay market rates, hire the best recruiters, and create a desirable work environment with good managers, fair benefits, a positive culture and a healthy work-life balance. Become the job that employees want versus the one they want to leave!

Headhunters: have at those that do not respond…they are called “source employers” and will provide the talent for those employers that are more progressive and realistic.

Today’s guest blogger is Laura Schmieder of Premier Placement Inc., specializing in manufacturing especially engineering, operations, supply chain, sales and marketing roles globally. She currently serves on the NPAworldwide board of directors.

First, I’m going to admit that I’ve been doing recruiting since the dark ages. Seriously. BEFORE email, fax, social media, Google and instant information. Back in the day, I could either talk the client into interviewing based on my verbal presentation OR send the resume via snail mail and wait a few days. Eventually FedEx and next day delivery emerged, but it wasn’t until the fax machine became reasonably cost-effective that we could instantaneously send a resume…and get immediate response.

I look back and realize that I got many more interviews because I had to use my persuasive techniques or I would be constantly waiting for the mail to arrive. Hiring managers worked with me based on trust and reputation for knowing what they wanted. Access to resumes was not as easy (or plentiful) given there was no Monster or Careerbuilder or any number of resume databases to be searched.

At an NPAworldwide meeting last week which was hosted by Monster, the discussion revolved around how to plan the working day, how to attract the MPC, land new client employers, and build relationships in an age where people rarely answer their phones or return voice messages but prefer either email or texts.

Back to basics is what I heard. Pick up the phone anyway, don’t rely on texts and email solely. Find out what motivates the candidate to want to make a change OR for the hiring manager, not only the technical expertise but what personality best fits the group.

As much as this Information Age has given us instant access to a plethora of data – contacts, resumes, employer details – it can be overwhelming. Data or facts are nothing without knowledge of what drives a decision. What we do with those details is what is important – and getting back to the basics will help us achieve our goals.

If you’re just branching out into international recruitment, you may have a lot of questions. One thing you may *not* have considered, though, is how negotiating styles can vary from country to country. You run the risk of killing a deal if you approach negotiations the same way you do it in your own country. Harvard Business Review published an excellent piece on this topic. It’s worth reading in its entirety, but here are some of the key points.

Be careful how you express disagreement. In certain cultures, it is very acceptable to say that you strongly disagree or even to tell the other party she is wrong. While it might be easy to interpret these types of statements to mean the negotiation is going poorly, it could actually mean the start of a lively and productive discussion.

Displaying emotion varies widely. There are many negotiating styles that include emotional displays from waving hands/arms, boisterous laughter, and raised voices. However, these traits can be viewed as unprofessional in other cultures. Where negotiating can get confusing and complicated is where these characteristics meet. For example, some cultures that are highly expressive emotionally, such as Brazil, also avoid direct confrontation. In other cultures, such as Germany or the Netherlands, open disagreement is viewed positively AS LONG AS that disagreement is expressed calmly and factually.

Trust is an important ingredient. And, different cultures build trust in different ways. In the US, for example, we build “cognitive” trust, which is “head-based”: we look for people who are reliable, know their stuff, and can demonstrate a high-quality product or service. The other type of trust, “affective” trust, comes from relationships: that is, feelings of friendship or emotional closeness. You may find that you need to spend considerable time upfront building an emotional connection before you can really start negotiating. This could include meals or social activities where business is not discussed at all.

Avoid yes-or-no questions. There are many cultures where it is simply not appropriate to give a yes or no answer. Asking questions which force this can create a situation where the other party feels obligated to answer yes due to long-held cultural norms, because it would be seen as highly disrespectful to say no. This can lead to all sorts of problems between parties.

Tread lightly with written contracts. Again from a US perspective, we are very accustomed to verbally coming to terms on an agreement and then following that discussion up with a 20-page written contract (which also may require negotiation). Once a contract is signed, we do not expect there to be any variation from the agreement. In some countries, the mere existence of a written contract is offensive and means the other party can’t be trusted. In other countries, a written contract is not actually legally binding and is a dynamic document, meaning that terms can continue to change even after signature.

There is a two-minute video in the post that helps illustrate some of these concepts, which I am sharing for you here:

Today’s post is from Nerissa Reyes from AVANTI People Partnership International in Manila, Philippines. Nerissa is currently serving as chairman-elect on the NPAworldwide board of directors and was previously both secretary/treasurer and a regional director for the recruitment network. She lives and works across several countries including Jakarta, Sydney, London, and Manila. 

AVANTI People Partnership provides executive search and staffing for various multinational companies across functions. In the fast-growing “business process outsourcing” arena, AVANTI provides cross-border recruitment solutions on a global scale.

Did we ever go to university thinking we would like to be a recruitment consultant? It does not follow a prestigious degree like law, doctor, accountant.

So why do we do this? Why did I become a recruitment consultant after obtaining a professional qualification in accountancy? Did I see this as an interim job? Why did it last for 20 years? Accountancy is a good discipline, but dealing with people provides deeper gratification & meaning to everyday life.

But can we make a recruitment firm sustainable and built to last? I believe if the leader of the company follows through with a vision/ mission that goes beyond themselves, the business can continue to prosper. A recruitment firm that follows a culture according to authentic personal values is reflected through the recruitment staff & appreciated by candidates. The  clients see your difference and offer repeat business. A network of associates sharing similar values expand the business.

Maintain a culture of authenticity. A values-grounded management is truly concerned about the welfare of staff. The  head of a small recruitment firm sets the vision and determines the working environment. Walk the talk in the workplace and the recruitment staff will care for the company like their own.

After 20 years in the industry, our legacy lives on. I recently opened a Facebook posting from the company’s first group of recruitment consultants, a team photo in our first office with the caption, “the good old days.” Our consultants have moved on, but the learning and experience is something they will carry with them…and they are always proud to have been part of the team and eager to refer repeat business.

Nowadays, we are tempted to make shortcuts. Clients push us to do mass production and treat candidates like a commodity. Nevertheless, our core values as recruitment consultants should not be compromised in the process. The recruitment process is not just about the KPI’s…it’s about  the person. Unlike  any other business  it affects people’s long-term careers and livelihoods.

Do not be afraid to tell the truth about employment market conditions. If we have reservations about a client’s cultural fit with a candidate & vice versa, we should be in a position to provide relevant, sincere advice. Remember, relationships are long-term…we may miss this placement opportunity, but it comes back a hundredfold. Ultimately, they appreciate the honesty. This is our main differentiation over searches done just using technology tools.

No task is ever so daunting if we maintain that authenticity in the recruitment workplace. Our recruitment company will take on the challenges brought about by the industry ups and downs. But we will be “built to last” because our core values are grounded.

“The only truly reliable source of stability is a strong inner core and the willingness to change and adapt everything except that core.”
― James C. Collins, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies

Our guest blogger is Rod Hore from HHMC. Rod is a 35-year veteran of Australian and international IT and corporate advisory organisations. His executive-level credentials traverse many segments of the staffing and recruitment industry and include corporate advisory assignments, mergers and acquisitions mandates, and C-level advisory to multinational and other public and private organizations. Located in Sydney, Rod founded HHMC to provide local industry acumen and global knowledge to Asia Pacific recruitment agencies. HHMC’s innovative business strategies and well-grounded guidance result in clients realising their personal and corporate goals.

As the year has progressed we have all seen a rise in announcements about acquisitions in the recruitment industry. A rush of consolidation activity is underway between the large and international companies. In a number of cases the deals are enormous and the valuations seem “generous.”

Does this activity have any impact on life for the small-to-medium business owner and manager? Well, yes it does. Here are 4 impacts.

Valuations
The question we are most often asked is about valuations – does all of this activity create a spike in value for small-to-medium enterprises (SME’s)? Possibly, but not for most.

For most SME’s, HHMC has seen little change in valuations over the past decade. Profit levels have risen and fallen, and the appetite for acquisitions has risen and fallen, but the multiple of profit paid for SME’s has mostly stayed within a set range.

In most circumstances, larger companies cannot justify acquisitions that are too small as the transaction cost and risk is too high for the expected return. The exception may be those companies that have developed a particular niche that is in demand and can prove there is strategic benefit is that niche.

However the rise in larger-scale M&A activity does embolden SME owners and managers to consider acquisitions as part of a growth strategy. These are not reported widely, but the activity level is high.

Global Expansion
The rise in global companies has an impact on SME’s. Not only does it bring well-funded and high-performance organisations into a local market, the global companies tend to have disruptive models compared to local SME agencies. Clients are presented with new solution models and new pricing models that are often beyond what can be provided by the SME’s.

SME’s need to choose their strategy carefully so they are providing services to clients that want those services.

Large works with large
As the recruitment industry’s clients adopt greater HR and procurement-led purchasing models, SME’s tend to be sidelined. Larger companies work with larger companies in most circumstances. This is especially true for international organisations that are seeking single-supplier solutions across counties and across regions – indeed this is driving some of the global M&A activity.

SME’s need to consider where they can best add value and what client type they should target.

Success breeds success
A very positive outcome of the M&A activity is that it puts a spotlight on the industry. This can lead to greater investment activity such as the attention of private equity companies seeking investments in a buoyant industry. It also attracts greater entrepreneurial activity, attracts new management talent, and provides a focus for business advisers.

One would hope the focus and activity will embolden business owners and managers to strive to build the best businesses they can; businesses that will come to the attention of global acquirers or the private equity investors.

That’s good for the industry.