Daniel Lyons, Managing Director at Innovate CV shares his predictions of what we can expect in 2010-2011.
1. The perfect storm: say hello to innovation
At a time when no business is exempt from the challenging economic market, companies are being forced to innovate and restructure at an unprecedented rate in order to achieve a competitive advantage in the market place. The recruitment industry can be no exception: 2010 is ripe for a recruitment revolution.
Whilst for years the recruitment process has remained static, rendering all parties and stakeholders involved in the process unsatisfied, it can no longer afford to lag behind the futuristic technologies which other industries are so successfully embracing in order to get ahead. Recruitment players will be required to offer a much-needed, dynamic and efficient solution to the recruitment process at every level. This will provide large efficiency gains for the early adopters before becoming the industry standard.
2. Increased pressure on HR Professionals
During unprecedented times in which increasing amounts of people have been forced to change jobs, the number of applicants per role has risen dramatically. Naturally, this has had an immediate knock-on-effect on the time HR professionals are having to devote to finding the right individual for the job. In fact a recent survey* revealed that of the 39.4% of respondents’ HR departments, as much as 9.2% of them are spending 50-75% of department time on recruiting. These professionals are crying out for an easy to use, creative technical solution in order to decrease interview and screening time.
* Recruiting, Turnover & Retention in the New Economy, Kennedy Information
3. From traditional to digital
2010 will see a gradual decline in the use of traditional recruitment methods, at least as far as the larger companies are concerned anyway. They will have the scale to develop the best practices, and train their workforce in other methods of recruitment. This will see the inertia which has traditionally been associated with Social and Digital Media recruitment begin to drift away. Case studies for recruitment via digital will develop, increasing the level of trust that other, smaller parties have in the system.
As employers become increasingly cash conscious and time poor, online resources will begin to take precedence over the traditional mediums of recruiting, which involve lengthy processes such as collating references etc. This will particularly become the case if online recruitment methods improve, and attain a higher level of integration with recruitment CRMs. Finding the right candidate at the best possible price will be key in a difficult economy.
4. Increased care to get the right candidate for the job
The commercial cost of making a wrong hiring decision is estimated to cost up to four times the salary of the position according to xxxx - (need to get hold of print copy Recruiter, 3 February 2010 p.20 “Selection – it’s time to move on” by David Mason). There have been murmurings in the industry for years about concerns which employers and recruitment consultants have with CV inflation, but now they cannot afford to make a mistake.
They have to make sure they get the right person, and that that person is capable of adding value to their business. Despite budgets becoming tighter than ever, employers and recruitment consultants will be prepared to invest heavily in solutions which can provide them with the right candidate.
5. Direct relationships with employment community
Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook signal a future where employers will need to build deeper channels of communication and provide platforms if they are to get noticed by today's job seekers. In a real time world that is about live, unedited, and passionate responses which span platforms and time zones, job seekers will expect a relationship with an employer that goes far beyond merely sending in their CV. To a candidate, sending a CV to a recruiter currently feels far too much like throwing a tennis ball over a wall. Employers which can engage without compromising their integrity will be the big winners in 2010.
7. Accelerated competition
Whilst the recruitment sector is set for gradual recovery this year, the value of the permanent recruitment market will decline by a further 4.2% in the year ending March 2010, according to a report from market intelligence provider Key Note.
For some recruiters, this may be too little to late but for those that remain, competition will be hotter than ever before. Recruiters and companies alike will need to embrace technological solutions to get ahead.
8. Mounting pressure on Recruiters
Recruiters will be required to up their game significantly in 2010, providing essential metrics and KPIs to employers in order for them to justify in-house and external recruitment expenditure. Despite this increased service, fee rates are unlikely to rise in 2010 and may even be squeezed further, forcing recruiters to be creative in budget spend and strategic in investment.
9. The rise of online video
The widespread availability of cheaper, hand-held broadcast equipment, software, and photo and video editing sites such as Flickr and YouTube has improved the process of producing and displaying creative work. This has been embraced by candidates, particularly amongst the young, to improve their job prospects, and align themselves with other creative leaders.
The opportunity for young people to be part of the creative community has soared notes Matthew Taylor, Director of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts. The number of people involved in grime [UK underground music scene] is an indicator that we are moving away from an era with a small number of spectators, to an era where every person feels that they have scope for, and can be creative. We expect to see this trend spill over into recruitment, as companies increasingly look for creative thinkers with great problem solving abilities.
10. Development methods to pre-qualify candidates
In an increasingly competitive job market, candidates need to be top of their game: anything less just won’t cut it. This quest to gain the competitive edge will render the role of online career centres absolutely crucial. Candidates will begin to rely on these as a means of bridging their skills gap and enhancing their offering to potential employers.
