Lately, few images have been more likely to send a shiver down a recruiter’s spine than bankers carrying the contents of their desks to uncertain futures. The collapse of Lehman Brothers and the endless news of spiralling markets has heralded a worrying era for the recruitment industry. The sudden shift from boom to bust has meant that the skills that recruiters are reliant upon are becoming increasingly redundant. So what skills do you need to survive the current slump? And what sort of training can you expect in the meantime?

Any recruiter reading this will already know that times are changing. The phone doesn’t ring like it used to, clients are slashing budgets, vacancies are a rare treat and desks are awash with the CVs of the desperate. It’s a far cry from the buoyant situation that recruiters recently enjoyed.

“The economic downturn has had a significant impact so far,” says Henry Noteman, operations manager for Integrated HR, the consultancy arm of Jonathan Lee Recruitment, “and I anticipate a potentially greater impact in the next few months. Those who don’t need to recruit are freezing their recruitment process altogether or filling positions by exploring the boundaries of contracts or creating interim positions.”

The result is that training needs have changed. Time was when the ability to juggle clients and manage a buoyant market could get you through. Now, though, more traditional skills are coming to the fore.

“You have to be extraordinarily good at the ordinary,” explains recruitment trainer Mike Walmsley. “There’s an art to marketing candidates, for example, and meeting them even when they are not recruiting. It’s also about closing meetings with exclusivity deals, coping with rejection, knowing how to network effectively and how to find the business that pays the best. In the boom times all of these things become a dying art but it is in the tight times that you rely on them the most.”

Yet what if recruiters haven’t had the chance to hone those particular skills? There are relatively new recruiters who have never worked through economic downtimes and so simply don’t know what is expected of them. What of the younger recruiters who joined the industry after the slump in the early Noughties? And what of those who transferred to recruitment from other industries and have never known anything but a busy market?

“Generally these recruiters are used to picking up candidates, not developing relationships,” believes Uzair Bawany, group managing director of Contact Recruitment. “They are not equipped for the changes in the market and to be equipped they need to rely upon training and development schemes. Those who lack the right experience tend to look for guidance from more senior figures and, in turn, they should be thinking about strategy and whether their training is up to scratch.”

The problem with economic slumps, though, is that it’s not just recruitment budgets that are being slashed. So are training budgets. After all, who is going to pour money into training when the cash is so desperately needed in other parts of the business? Well, you’d be surprised. Luckily the most switched on recruiters are investing in training and creating strong teams that won’t just see them through the slump but will also carry them into the future.

Take Resourcing Solutions, a specialist in rail, engineering and construction recruitment, as a prime example. The training it offers includes external courses run by organisations such as the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, courses run by an external trainer who works in-house and more informal at-the-desk training through the likes of group discussions. It also has a library of training aides such as guides, books and DVDs. And it doesn’t intend to stop just because the markets are taking a beating.

“We are committed because we have to be,” explains managing director Richard Lawrance. “We have found it is hard to find great experienced recruiters or if we do find someone with experience they want to try something new. So we have to keep up with training demands if we want to stay competitive.

“In an economic downturn training opportunities do tighten but we will certainly keep on investing. It’s about getting people to talk service to clients and not just pitch to candidates.”

Importantly Lawrance isn’t alone in his approach. The consensus of those interviewed for this feature agree that it is only shortsighted organisations who curtail training when recruiters need it more than ever. Another company that refuses to skimp in its training is Russam GMS, provider of interim management. Charles Russam, chairman, believes that the companies failing to develop their staff now are going to suffer in the long term. Not only does the lack of investment signal a disinterest in their employees but it also creates a lack of trust and motivation and, eventually, poor retention.

“We’ve been through three different recessions and have learned the importance of continued investment in training and development,” says Russam. “In tough economic conditions it’s a good time to sharpen swords, hone skills, and search and select techniques and technology. The key is to develop specialist divisions so that you can ride the storm of any business downturn.”

And one of the skills that can help any recruiter ride the downturn is new business development. In a marketplace that was candidate-driven, developing client portfolios was seen as less of a priority. However, the need to seek out new business is once again beginning to dominate. Time was when even thin portfolios were enough to bring in the bucks, but a healthy and varied mix of clients is now key to credit crunch survival. Richard Forkan, head of recruitment services at Plan-Net, an IT recruitment provider, agrees.

“It’s not just about maintaining current clients but finding new ones too,” he says. “If you are going to acquire new clients then business development skills are essential. To do that, though, you really do have to understand a client’s issues and offer them solutions. It’s about pulling out all the stops to get the job done.”

So what does all this mean for the future? It’s a good news story for a change. Not only is it predicted that the economic downturn will weed out those recruiters who can’t cut it, but those who advocate continued investment in training believe that it will create a stronger industry. Fiona Lander, managing director of Lander Associates, recruitment performance development specialist, has the last word.

“We’ll have a workforce that is more mature, experienced and wise,” she says. “That especially applies to those who are new to the industry. They now have to toughen up but if they stick with it they’ll be better informed, slicker, leaner and meaner as a result. At least that’s a positive sign for the future.”



Skills for credit crunch survival

Re-familiarise yourself with traditional techniques such as networking, communication and persuasion rather than relying upon the hard sell. 

Learn to build relationships. Don’t ignore clients because they have stopped recruiting. Get to know them personally and professionally. 

Know your competitors, who they are wooing, what they are offering clients and how they’re staying afloat. Then better them. 

Learn to generate exclusivity. Never close a meeting until you have secured a client’s assurance that you’ll get the next position on offer. 

Know how to handle objections. Clients won’t always want to spend money, agree to exclusivity or even to talk to you. Offer them solutions and gain their trust. 

Hone new business development skills. Focus on finding new clients and building a strong and varied portfolio for the inevitable upturn.