17-02-09 Recruitment demands the right decisions
They don’t make the headlines as often as redundancies and downsizing but that doesn’t mean they no longer exist: job vacancies and new positions. According to a recent study by Bizz magazine, Belgium’s biggest employers have more than 12 000 vacancies that need to be filled. “In order to quickly and efficiently find the workforce they need, employers need to seriously think about their recruitment strategy. In times of restricted budgets this becomes all the more vital,” says Lut Crijns, HR Consult director.
In 2007, professional periodical Bizz Magazine started doing a yearly poll into the recruitment intentions of large companies. That first poll showed that the country’s largest recruiters were in search of 12 000 new employees. In 2008 that figure grew to 17 500, but today, in the crisis year 2009, we’ve gone back to 2007’s level. Better than expected? “Well it definitely places the communication surrounding the current crisis in a new light,” says Lut Crijns. “There’s no doubt the tide of last year’s intentions, inspired by global growth, is turning but there are, however, elements that make that recruitment hasn’t come to a complete standstill. Factors like increasing demographic pressure and major outflow of personnel in certain sectors are compensating the decrease in the job offers that would otherwise be created through growth. Thus ‘growth vacancies’ are being replaced by ‘replacement vacancies.’ The so-called War for talent is definitely still waging as was shown in Luc Sels’s research Acerta published last year. The study researched the effects of the ageing population and its influence on the job market.
Ageing of the population hasn’t stopped
At Bizz Magazine the general tone is that although it isn’t easy for all companies to put forth concrete figures for future recruitment, most companies wish to keep their status as employer. Lut Crijns: “At a minimum that shows that companies are aware of the fact that attracting talent and retaining it, remains necessary. Moreover, lets not forget there have been massive recruitment efforts recently and that, according to the poll, some companies have gone beyond their originally planned quota. Whatever the case, 2009 will be a year of consolidation. Consider that all that freshly attracted talent will now need to be managed and you’ll understand why Acerta is making 2009 the year of Talent Management.”
Key competences
A surprising result in the research is that, besides the traditional bottleneck vacancies, customer-oriented employees are at the top of employers’ wish list with competences like a healthy dose of team spirit, a flexible attitude, innovative thinking potential and communication skills following behind. Last year customer orientation only came in third. Lut Crijns: “ An evolution in sought competences is quiet logical. All companies have to look for the talent that will make the difference in the future. In several sectors and markets, customer awareness has become more and more important the past few years. After all, it’s through thorough knowledge of the customer’s needs that it becomes possible to differentiate oneself from the competition. In order to achieve this it becomes all the more vital to attract the right talent and do this using the most efficient channels. The more restricted budgets for recruitment get, the more important it becomes to ‘get it right the first time around.’ Extended campaigns and pricey procedures are feeling the pressure from cutbacks. Last year, Acerta Consult invested in taking over Executive Research in order to specifically expand their expertise in efficiently finding the key talent companies are looking for.” A better selection is also the order of the day. The current trend of ever more spontaneous applications means that it becomes necessary to dig deeply through the different résumés and screen more thoroughly on both talent and motivation.
