Don’t be an introvert, look at the external market, says APSCo’s Hunt
21 October 2013
Not enough recruitment firms look at the size of the external market as a way to gauge their own success, according to the chair of the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).
Mon, 21 Oct 2013Not enough recruitment firms look at the size of the external market as a way to gauge their own success, according to the chair of the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).
Miles Hunt was speaking at the APSCo members conference on Friday (18 October), as he led an executive-specific session entitled ‘Rising above the market – growth strategies in an uncertain world’.
He suggested firms must actually ask “what is growth?” in order to better understand their own situation. He says this can be defined by the size of the recruitment market in your particular sector. “My one very strong recommendation is that you have as a KPI – if you don’t already – the size of the market,” he said.
“How many of us crow about we grew x number of percent in a year… or we’re beating ourselves up because we didn’t grow?,” he asked the room – making the point that if you grow 4%, but the market grows 10%, you’re not doing as well as you could, and conversely, 2% decline is not so bad if the market as a whole recedes more substantially.
He continued: “How many of us do maintain external markets as KPIs, how many of us actually get the accounts of our competitors?”
The APSCo chair suggested using benchmarking data such as that available from APSCo, as well as the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and other sources, to build this bigger picture.
Recruiters can also read analysis of the financial accounts of all listed recruitment firms, all firms in the Recruiter HOT 100 and FAST 50 league tables and other prominent recruiters, on recruiter.co.uk.
Hunt was last week announced as the new chair of IT specialist Darwin Recruitment.
Miles Hunt was speaking at the APSCo members conference on Friday (18 October), as he led an executive-specific session entitled ‘Rising above the market – growth strategies in an uncertain world’.
He suggested firms must actually ask “what is growth?” in order to better understand their own situation. He says this can be defined by the size of the recruitment market in your particular sector. “My one very strong recommendation is that you have as a KPI – if you don’t already – the size of the market,” he said.
“How many of us crow about we grew x number of percent in a year… or we’re beating ourselves up because we didn’t grow?,” he asked the room – making the point that if you grow 4%, but the market grows 10%, you’re not doing as well as you could, and conversely, 2% decline is not so bad if the market as a whole recedes more substantially.
He continued: “How many of us do maintain external markets as KPIs, how many of us actually get the accounts of our competitors?”
The APSCo chair suggested using benchmarking data such as that available from APSCo, as well as the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and other sources, to build this bigger picture.
Recruiters can also read analysis of the financial accounts of all listed recruitment firms, all firms in the Recruiter HOT 100 and FAST 50 league tables and other prominent recruiters, on recruiter.co.uk.
Hunt was last week announced as the new chair of IT specialist Darwin Recruitment.
