Struggling To Fill Vacancies?

In this talent short market, hiring managers are very frustrated by candidates taking their time, changing their minds and generally suiting themselves.

The market is the polar opposite of what it was.  Why?  Because for the longest time it's been an employers’ market and it was hiring managers taking their time, changing their minds and generally suiting themselves.  To many hiring managers, recruitment is a simple transaction requiring little skill.  This view is too often formed by managers, including HR Managers, who have had no recruitment training, regularly deliver poor candidate experiences and blame the market for not being able to attract talent.

Right now is a good time for us all to reflect on the last time we were a candidate in the job market.  Can you recall how much effort was involved and how confronting interviewing and rejection was?  Do you remember the pressure of making the decision to move to a new employer.  If you were counter-offered, you faced another dilemma.  Do you take a leap of faith to join a firm you don’t know, or do you accept a tempting counter-offer from people you do.

In this competitive market, counter-offers are very prevalent.  A word of advice, their likelihood should be discussed at the outset and throughout the recruitment journey, not at the end of it.

In my 32 years in recruitment, I’ve rarely seen an accepted counter-offer work out to the candidate’s benefit.  Usually nothing changes and a salary increase doesn’t make a meaningful difference.  Before long the candidate is back in the job market.  In the meantime, their employer has had time to prepare for their inevitable second resignation, which usually comes within 6 months.

People still make poor life decisions and when that happens, re-grouping and starting the recruitment process again is all that’s left to do.  Thankfully a better outcome is usually achieved the second time around.

Attracting candidates and managing them through each stage of a recruitment assignment requires skill, a good database and market knowledge.  It’s in extreme markets like this, that the best recruiters truly shine.