Industry Research

Recruiting in Difficult Economic Conditions

Don't 'Throw the Baby Out with the Bath Water'

by Elizabeth O'Leary, TalentZone Pty Ltd (formerly Catch22 Pty Ltd)

As I observe a market focussed on cost cutting initiatives, I am naturally saddened to see many of my old recruiting buddies facing redundancies. However, in such difficult economic times we empathise with management and the tough decisions they must make. Those remaining, however, need to be cautious not to 'throw the baby out with the bath water' when it comes to recruitment!

The frantic pace of recruitment activities in recent years throughout the much fabled 'War for Talent', saw organisations spend unprecedented sums on key talent sourcing initiatives including employment brand creation, career websites, recruitment technology and recruiter capability. Employers were exasperated by the lack of quality applicants and scrambled over résumés. How quickly the scene has changed – now I am hearing employer's frustrations at the endless stream of résumés and candidate enquiries. This should not be seen as a frustration, rather as a huge opportunity to take control of the future resource pool!

It is interesting to witness two dramatically different reactions to current market conditions. On the one hand, the proactive employer is developing strategies to ensure that their investment in recruitment marketing and infrastructure in recent years does not go to waste. In contrast, the reactionary employer is forcing an abrupt halt to any recruitment related initiatives and rapidly losing all of the market penetration they have worked so hard for. So, there's no prize guessing which organisation will gain traction fastest when war for talent re-emerges – and it will!

So how do you successfully put your recruitment strategy into a holding pattern?

Corporate Website

While it is tempting to put the 'closed' sign up on your careers section of your corporate website, you could be missing out on a fantastic opportunity to gather great quality résumés. While you need to be honest with candidates and acknowledge the limited current opportunities within your organisation, you can still encourage them to submit their details for future career opportunities. Collecting these valuable résumés will form the foundation of a substantial résumé database of your own!

Résumé Storage

I hear you – never before have you been deluged with such volumes of résumés! So seize on the opportunity to retain and organise this information. Ideally, ATSs (Application Tracking Systems) would be used to help you manage, store and utilise this valuable data. However, if getting approval for expenditure to invest in tools such as ATSs is like you asking for the crown jewels then you need to be pragmatic about using your current processes and systems to perform this task for you. Even if it's just a basic database, spreadsheet or self-developed process – make sure you are capturing the vital information in a way that can be later understood and utilised.

Low Cost Brand Management

Naturally, it doesn't make sense to maintain high cost advertising campaigns and sourcing strategies if you aren't actively recruiting. However, you don't need to spend huge sums to maintain your carefully created employment brand. Try working with your marketing department to 'piggy-back' on the corporate advertising spend and use marketing and sales functions and publications to promote your employment brand. Also investigate relevant professional associations and websites for subtle, yet targeted, promotional activities.

Candidate Care

Sure you may not be able to offer even the best candidates a job for the moment – but it's only for the moment. Work on methods of maintaining candidate contact until you are in hiring mode again. Focus on low cost communication including emails, electronic newsletters, informal networking (such as an 'email a friend') or even a casual coffee or 'get to know' interview. Not only will this enable you to build long-term candidate relationships, but it will also be a great way to stay in touch with the market and find out what your competitors are up to! Treat candidates with respect, give them quality information and feedback and they will come back – and probably bring their friends too!

Recruitment Technology

If you are one those who invested in recruitment technology in recent years, look at ways of adapting your tools to a new environment. For instance, find ways for line mangers to use your technology if they are the ones now doing the hiring. Talk to your vendor about their strategic plans and make sure that you are on top of what technology innovation is around so that you can quickly integrate new tools when the time is right.

Supplier Relationships

Use the quiet time to re-visit your supplier relationships. Spend time evaluating the performance of your recruitment agencies, advertising agencies, etc. and put in place KPIs for the future. These relationships will be critical to you in a buoyant market, so learn from your past experiences and set them up for lasting success.

You will notice that all of these strategies are low cost and can be effectively managed by either a 'skeleton' recruitment function or alternatively can be contracted to a third party.

The key is to capitalise on the past, embrace the present and prepare for the future!

About the Author

Elizabeth O'Leary , Director, TalentZone Pty Ltd (formerly Catch22 Asia Pacific Pty Ltd )

Elizabeth O'Leary has eight years professional recruiting experience in a variety of disciples including accounting, finance, IT, consulting and marketing.

Throughout her career, Elizabeth has specialised in professional recruiting in a consulting environment with Michael Page International where she specialised in finance and accounting recruitment primarily for multinationals in the industrial sector. Elizabeth then broadened her experience in an internal role as a specialist recruiter with Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) where she was actively involved in all levels of recruiting for the Australia and New Zealand practice. Her expertise was further developed in her capacity as Manager, Executive Recruiting. She has specialised in developing innovative sourcing strategies to attract high quality applicants to Accenture with particular emphasis on rare Technology/eCommerce skills from both the domestic and international markets.

Elizabeth founded International Careers Pty Ltd, a specialist expatriate recruitment consultancy, in September 2000. She also undertakes consulting assignments for a variety of clients, specialising in the development of innovative sourcing strategies, recruiting initiatives and employer branding.

Elizabeth can be contacted on [email protected] .