Employers Beware – This May Be As Good As It Gets
November 27, 2009 by Damian
As I have said in other posts, 2009 has been a funny old year in many respects. One of the biggest differences from previous years is that employers now hold the upper hand in recruitment matters for the first time in a long time. Contrast this to the state of affairs a few years ago when HR people spent the majority of their time on recruitment, fending off partners who desperately needed staff but were unable to find them.
I am sure that employers are enjoying the current situation. When they need someone, they can be very confident that they will be able to find someone with relative ease. As an example, the HR Manager of a very desirable employer told me that when they put out a vacancy recently, they had 29 applicants. 18 months ago, for the same vacancy, they received 1 and that person was unsuitable!
However, I think that employers should make the most of the current situation. At present, even though more and more vacancies are coming on to the market, there are still relatively few new roles around. Coupled with this, there are some very talented people around who are looking for a change and thus, some employers are managing to secure the services of top quality candidates who they would never get in a more crowded job market.
My view is that this state of affairs is not going to last much longer. The overseas markets are starting to bounce back, salary reviews and bonuses will be negligible this year and some people will just have had enough of their current situation. The consequence of this is that regardless of whether the NZ economy improves or not, there will be a lot more movement in the market early in 2010 than there has been in all of 2009.
Employers need to be aware of this and be planning for it. Those that are will continue to attract good talent but those who are putting their head in the sand and thinking that their staff will stay relatively loyal next year and if they need someone, they will be able to easily find them, are going to be in for a shock.
As an aside, some employers seem to have become complacent in their recruitment and are taking far too long to shortlist, interview and make decisions. In a different market, it will not be possible to take so long. If they do, the best candidates will have already gone to someone who has a more streamlined and candidate focussed approach.
So for any employers out there reading this, my view is that if you are thinking about taking someone on, do it now before it is too late. If you wait too long, you may find that the problems that you faced 18-24 months ago in attracting good staff will be back on your doorstep again. Now may be as good as it is going to get.
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