Talent Feast or Famine in Recession

Covid has impacted our lives and our economy and the effects are set to be with us for some time, as we have now entered a formal recession in NZ. Our unemployment is forecast to reach 8 -10.5% by September 2020, according to economists and people’s roles are being affected… this is the reality.

With the above said, it is easy to make an assumption that this will ensure an employer’s market and a feast of talent right?

From our experience, this is not at all the case and in fact, there is often further shortages of professional people and the right alignment in these times, with some of the following reasons affecting this:

1. High performing people are retained aggressively when businesses are in tough times 
2. People are often reluctant to make a move, in times of uncertainty and where the economy is unstable
3. People will make decisions based on different criteria post Covid (any impactful event) and after reconsidering what is most important to them in life
4. Organisations will struggle to manage increased volumes of applications (from those who are not aligned and do not meet criteria), where people are applying for a wider range of roles, outside of their areas of expertise/capability
5. People may accept offers that are not ideal for them, based on financial reasons and leave roles early when they have other options, as a key risk for businesses to consider in hiring during this time

‘Employers need to place more importance than ever before in getting hiring right and providing a human approach to this, when people maybe anxious and need more support throughout to retain them. This will include partnering with experts to support a process, which is higher touch and manages expectations, timings and exploration of best people in the market , for all business critical roles’

Getting it right

• Great experience that people will share with others
• Identify best talent first, with a streamlined process
• Gain fans, brand champions and customers
• Save time and allow people to focus on core business, when you outsource to specialists
• Have designated resource and specialists, who can uncover the right talent fast and engage along the way for a positive experience and who have the depth of understanding to uncover alignment
• Retain top options and preferences through the process, through strong communication and engagement

The cost of getting this wrong

• Terrible experience that people will share with 50% more people than when you get this right
• Lost opportunity for future roles with your business
• Lost customers – often these individuals are also consumers of your products/ services etc
• Impact on time spent through a poor process and people being taken away from their core roles to manage this
• Lost talent identification , where you may have people that do not fully understand the roles are unable to engage with people at the right level or ask the rights questions to gain understanding and hence miss strong applicants, when primarily relying on CV’s or a very generic questioning approach in any pre screening/ interviews
• Lose people through the process due to time delays, in effectual engagement and follow up

Some common approaches to recruitment in the market we see:

‘The Wait & See’(fingers crossed)

This is when an organisation or those responsible for recruitment for a role, believe that the role will fill itself and that internal communication and a wait and see approach will suffice and do not commit to deadlines and the required resource for a role to be successfully placed.

‘The Generic / Active’ 

Typically this comprises of a seek or equivalent job posting online channel to advertise the role and this only targets individuals who are actively looking for a role , often those who are not currently employed or those who are at a high readiness to leave their current role.

‘The Proactive’

Where a search is undertaken and potential individuals are approached by the company directly for the position.

The challenges here include potential conflicts, reaching out to competitors directly, brand perceptions that are at times more challenging when done directly to tackle , time investment may be of concern with this approach (often considerable outside of hours discussions required) and this can feel more invasive to people if not done by a third party.

Careful consideration should be given to whether your business has the internal capability to do this and/or the required time to designate to such an approach.

Often this is not cost effective nor feasible where you have other business priorities or internal recruitment teams who need to be focused on volume/ day to day business support/ roles.

‘The Full Monty / Gold Class Outsource’

This is where an organisation engages a search agency  (like Fusion Partners) to manage the process end to end and provide a high touch and full search and selection process, including access to key networks and relationships, with their brand to leverage both passive and active options across the market.

Typically this is on a retained and exclusive basis and therefore the commitment and service/ time allocated, will work to ensure that all avenues are fully explored, you have access to the widest possible network and you have a third party who can articulate and effectively represent your brand, the opportunity and provide ongoing consultation and support along the way, to all parties.