FROM AUGUST'S 2016 RECRUITER MAGAZINE

Nothing is certain in these turbulent times. Businesses love certainty, but we have little of that. In the press we read of businesses suspending taking decisions. Some are reviewing whether to relocate offices elsewhere; some are slowing/pausing hiring decisions.

Certainty can’t be assured until key questions have been answered: When will Article 50 be triggered? Will it be triggered? What does life look like outside the EU? Will companies have access to the Single Market? Will there still be free movement of people/workers (something that greatly affects us as recruiters)? What new trade deals can be struck? Will we get access to new markets bringing new opportunities? No one can speak with any certainty.

But what about us recruiters, living with uncertainty? What do we do?

First up, recruitment leaders need to step up to the top table and do what they are paid to do – lead. Partner with business leaders on hiring decisions. Demonstrate the strength of hiring and talent pools. Business as usual – keeping positive.

Short term, with so much uncertainty, candidates will be worried about being hired. We need to dedicate extra time, consideration and care in the coming period to them.

Speed up hiring decisions; with so much uncertainty repeatedly talked about in the media, those seeking jobs will become more nervous about making a change. Our job is to reassure: there will be solutions, staff will be supported and there are opportunities for those willing to see the opportunity in change. Make changing jobs as seamless as possible: candidate communication and experience has never been so important.

We need to ensure that our graduate schemes are fully visible to give graduates confidence. Advertise apprenticeships – bold and proud. Business as usual.

One thing is for sure: recruitment must have a stronger voice.

Perhaps in recent times recruitment has been too intent on navel gazing on where it sits in a business and lost sight of the bigger picture. Are we part of HR, marketing? Its own function? We can see that very few companies have recruitment leaders reporting directly to the board. All too often recruiters look to pass off ‘ownership’ to HR and blame them that their voice is not heard. That is unfair and passing the buck. Is it not those that hold the job that need to hold themselves accountable? If they are voiceless, then are they to blame? Maybe the focus needs to move on to our place in the business community and society, and influencing key decisions, which directly impact us, rather than where to report to in a business…

There is a critical need for instant feedback on the state of the labour market to be fed into top-level policy discussions. Otherwise decisions and positions will be taken that will affect our ability to serve our businesses all too quickly without proper consultation.

Recruiters, with their unique early insight into the jobs market, rightly deserve to be top-level stakeholders in the coming years.

Maybe social media has led some recruitment leaders to believe in their own ‘Kool aid’ – their perceived sphere of influence focusing on their followers online. Social media provides the convenient but meaningless position of being an armchair critic, espousing hot air into a vacuum of an echo chamber. Being part of the ‘Commentariat’ and criticising decisions to build their own personal brands might be a convenient escape from influencing real life. Social media and reality are often disconnected.  

Recruitment is critical to a business. A business that can hire the ‘top talent’ will get the top salespeople (who make more sales and make a company more profitable) and hire the best developers (creating innovative products that sell in their millions).

Great recruitment is an art. Great recruitment is extremely tough, mediocre recruitment is easy. What we do can make or break a company. Recruitment leaders can affect so much. It’s time to lead. It’s time for recruitment to find a voice.

Matthew Jeffery is vice-president, head of global sourcing and employment branding at SAP