Tips - If I've learnt 3 things in recruitment

1. It actually is a numbers game (as annoying as my previous managers were in drumming that in to me!), and you do need to make hay while the sun is shining

2. Complacency is the root of failure!... Never take a candidates word for granted (or client for that matter)

3. You're only as good as your last quarter

Provided by Claire Whalley of ARM Ltd

StanChart to boost pool of relationship managers to 300

AS AFFLUENCE in Asia rises, Standard Chartered Bank is ramping up its wealth management business in Singapore.

In an expansion of its priority banking business here, the foreign bank yesterday said it planned to hire 300 relationship managers over the next three years, more than double its current number.

So far, it has hired 80, it said. Priority banking caters to individuals with $200,000 or more in net assets.

Other banks are also hiring more. HSBC says it is planning to take on about 100 staff in wealth management, while OCBC says it will continue hiring selectively.

Market watchers say this is a good time for banks that are relatively unaffected by the financial crisis to capture more market share.

Singapore's economy bounces back

There was a big sigh of relief for many Singaporeans as the economy expanded in the second quarter at its fastest rate in nearly 6 years.

Growth surpassed expectations, with a more than 20% rise from the previous quarter. All thanks to a surge in biomedical production.

Manufacturing is not exactly a huge part of Singapore's economy, but the island specialises in pharmaceuticals and high-end specialist manufacturing.

And increased demand for flu vaccines helped an already recession-proof sector to expand.

Exports, which are the real lifeblood of Singapore's economy, rose nearly 6% in May.

Shipments of raw materials such as iron ore are picking up. The reason, yet again, appears to be China.

The rest of the manufacturing sector is still struggling, however, and retail sales are still down. Domestic consumption is not picking up, so analysts say the worst may not be over yet.

- Mariko Oi, reporter, BBC Asia Business Report

If I've learnt 3 things in recruitment...

1) Be completely flexible to your clients' needs

2) Don't promise something you can't deliver

3) It's not rocket science! The basics of hard-work, integrity & good client/candidate relationships will pay off.

By Michelle Jones of e-recruitment buddy

Recruiters worst fear - back out!

Continuing from my previous post I would like to dwell here on the subject of back out in a little more detail.

The pain of losing out on a deal a billing does not apply anymore now that I don't have to worry on targets but it still does leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I still believe that one should always be transparent if not at least there is such a thing as courtesy and that one is obliged to his or her recruiter in explaining the circumstances under which he/she had to back out or turn down an offer. After all, Singapore is but just a small island and you never know whom you bump into around the corner street or at the food court.

A good and wise candidate typically will have at close contact a doctor whom he can trust for his general well-being, a mentor a guru that he can always go to for advice or seek wisdom on life and someone also said a good recruiter whom he can call up anytime to seek career advice/better opportunity or simply banter with like good friend.

To everyone job seekers out there or for that matter anyone aspiring for better career opportunities you will gain more if consciously you try and cultivate a good relationship with your recruiter by giving and or showing respect and regards. We recruiters thrives on such and don't be surprised your gesture might just be reciprocated with similar kinds or even deeds ;-)

Singapore job market shows signs of pick-up!

This is my second post in as many weeks on the improving sentiments in the job market here in Singapore. I would also like to believe that this positive waves will continue for another quarter to allow us to propel through the rest of the year into the 1st quarter of 2010.

Almost every paper this morning carried news of survey results collated from some of the leading multinational recruitment firms. Everyone echoed similar sentiments; higher recruitment projection for the next quarter, substantial increased in hiring this quarter and the two sectors that showed most remarkable turnaround are IT and Banking Finance.

Q3 forecast as per Hudson's May survey shows - 32 percent of respondents in banking and finance expect to increase recruitment as compared to 19 percent in Q2.

While in IT & Technology due to the result of solid pipeline of revenue-generating projects built up in Q2 25 percent of respondents expects to grow headcount.

As an in-house recruiter in a mid size regional bank contrary to the negative hiring trend in the market outside in the past few quarters we've never slowed down on our recruitment pace.

However, lately and even more so this last 2 months I am getting to experience candidates that are willing to turn down or back out of offers while in the process of signing the contract or in one instance just days before reporting for work.

This to me, from past experience ( Y2K project and SAP boom days) is one sure sign that the job market is bullish and that candidates have in their hands multiple job offers.

Wishing all the recruiter folks out there happy hunting and good billings!

Singapore employment outlook brightens

Singapore, June 2009: Could this represent a "green shoot" for the Singapore economy? According to Manpower's quarterly employment outlook survey, more employers are expecting to return to the hiring table over the next three months.

Of the 697 employers considered for the third quarter update, 12% expected to see an increase in their headcounts. A further 7% predicted a decrease in staff while the remaining respondents expected there would be no change in the third quarter.

Philippe Capsie, country manager of Manpower Singapore, says this represents a significant turnaround on the group's second quarter survey. Then, more employers expected to reduce headcount, rather than increase it. "While there is no quick fix in this current economy downturn, employers' hiring confidence is improving," he said. "Most employers are saying they will retain present staff in the third quarter, indicating that the worst may be behind us."

The survey considered seven distinct industry sectors. Of these, four (including manufacturing, finance and construction) predicted negative employment growth overall. In contrast, modest growth was predicted for the transportation, utilities and retail trade sectors.

If I've learnt 3 things in recruitment - by Anonymous

1) Go with your gut instinct...............if you think a candidate will let you down at some point, they will.
2) Keep in communication with clients. If you're struggling to fill a role, tell them so and manage their expectations effectively. They will respect you a lot more for it.
3) Everyone makes mistakes, just don't make them twice! I would prefer not to be referenced.

Standard Chartered to hire 100 bankers

Singapore - Over the next 12 months, Standard Chartered will hire 100 private bankers to support its wealth management in fast-growing markets across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

While the bank did not elaborate further on its hiring plans, a bank source said most of its new hires will take place mostly in Asia, with the remaining going to Europe and the Middle East.

Peter Flavel, global head of its private bank unit, says Standard Chartered is in good shape despite the global downturn. "'As we're seeing a continuing increase in client demand for our private banking services, we will continue to invest in attracting talent to further strengthen our proposition," says Flavel.

He adds that the bank is scouting for talented candidates with excellent track records and consistency in fulfilling client expectations.

"'We are here to meet clients' needs. To achieve this, we need a certain type of relationship manager - someone with exceptional people and advisory skills, a strong team player, commitment to building long-term partnerships with clients."

About 100 out of 350 relationship managers in Standard Chartered worldwide are based in Singapore, according to a report by The Straits Times.

SG job ads rose 18.6% in Q1

Even as the economic recession deepended, the volume of job advertisements, interestingly, has picked up between January and March.

The number of job ads in Singapore rose 18.6 per cent, according to the Robert Walters Asia Job Index which tracks ad volumes, online and in print, for professional positions.

I guess, we can take this as good news considering the fact that everything else seems so 'bearish' at the moment.

What is Your Recruiting Strategy? By Lou Adler

Do you have a recruiting strategy, or do you just adopt the latest fad and see if works? This probably won't work. Tactics don't determine strategy; strategy determines tactics. And when business conditions change, a company's strategy needs a corresponding change. So does the company's recruiting strategy. Some of these strategic changes are brought about by technology innovations, demographic shifts, changes in government policy, and economic cycles. Regardless of their causes, incorporating these changes and shifts into the business planning process allows companies to remain competitive.

Those that recognize and incorporate these shifts first enjoy a significant competitive advantage. Consider Microsoft in the 1980s and Google today, or Western Union (telegraph) in the 1850s, as examples of how to adapt to these big changes properly. Now consider GE which figured it out for 100 years, but blew it in the last 10.

Over the past 10 years I've been predicting recruiting industry trends based on similar technology, political, economic, and demographic shifts. In many cases I was spot on; in others, off by a year or two; and in very few, dead wrong. With this as a backdrop, here are my latest predictions on what you need to get ready for the next war for talent:

1. Demise of the major job boards.

I've been predicting this for 10 years. It just makes no sense to me why a good person with multiple opportunities is willing to spend the time to find and apply to a boring job that is just like every other job. Of course, what I missed were the aggregators acting as intermediaries to make the job boards more efficient and the growth of niche job boards. However, my prediction is that the big job boards will further diminish in importance over the next few years in parallel with the economic recovery, except for companies who have a high volume of jobs to fill.

2. The adoption of consumer marketing principles to recruiting.

I started discussing this trend in the mid-90s right after the job boards became a major sourcing tool. In consumer marketing it's obvious that those companies that had more creative ads that were positioned to be found had better results. The search engine marketing and optimization piece of this was the driving force behind the rise of Yahoo! and Google Search. In the early 2000s a few brave companies started adopting these same consumer marketing concepts for recruiting, but it took 3-4 years after they were proven out in the consumer world before they were generally accepted by HR/recruiting. Around 2006, recruitment advertising was only 1-2 years behind its consumer marketing cousin; and today, with the most progressive companies, it's even. Based on this trend, it's not too far-fetched to predict that the majority of companies will be adopting these consumer marketing principles without any lag time. The most progressive will be adopting them in beta.

3. The rise of the "ERP-pipeline-CRM-talent hub" sourcing model.

With the rise of Web 2.0, social media, blogs, Twitter, and LinkedIn, it's pretty obvious that finding the names of potential candidates will have little value, but nurturing them and having them follow you will have tremendous value. This is why building a pipeline of prospects kept warm by robust CRM systems will be critical. It's also obvious that your best employees have heard of, or personally know, the best people in your industry and in their field of expertise. Tapping into this direct and indirect network through a far-reaching and progressive employee referral program will be a critical component of tomorrow's ERP programs. Replacing individual postings will be search engine optimized talent hubs, where candidates can search for jobs by class and company (e.g., all Flash developers at Google). These are company- and job-specific niche boards that will replace the need for aggregators and all public boards. At these sites prospects can submit resumes, be funneled to specific openings, or just be followers.

4. Time of possession will become the dominant recruiting metric for hiring top people.

Getting the names of great people is now simple, but getting them first isn't. The sourcing sweet spot of the near future will be to get these people to call you on the first day they decide to get serious about considering a new career opportunity. You can see where you stand on this measure by starting to ask the best people you come across how long they've been looking. If it's not on the first day, worry. Then start tracking it. Of course, you need to add this objective to your recruiting strategy and then figure out how to pull it off. It's pretty obvious that those candidates found on day one are of higher quality than those found after they've been looking 2-3 weeks. (Note: good recruiting agencies are already doing this.)

5. Increased focus on top performers vs. the masses.

A basic principle of consumer marketing is to identify an ideal target customer and develop messages that meet their motivating needs. They then need to be pushed to them through the best media channels, like TV, radio, blogs, Facebook, etc., to drive the highest response rate. Up until the recent past, most recruitment advertising has been targeted to attract average performers (consider your boring job descriptions) and pushed to where the best rarely go (the big job boards). Building an ideal candidate persona is the first step in determining the messages and the appropriate media. This profile examines the prospective candidate from multiple perspectives identifying job hunting patterns, their decision criteria, networking and social connections, motivators, and short- and long-term career needs, to name the most obvious. For example, the best CPAs will soon want to be involved in the conversion of U.S. GAAP accounting to international standards, and the best electrical engineers want to work on developing new ways to create a secure smart grid.

6. The rise and fall of Twitter will be offset by the increasing importance of the corporate recruiter, employer branding, and job linking.

In a sea of sameness and info overload, the brand will become king again. Twitter will become useless unless a loyal group of followers is developed and maintained. The dominant reason top people accept offers is the opportunity to learn something, make an impact, and grow. An employer brand can establish this overarching message. Linking the corporate vision and strategy to each class of job through the talent hub can increase the number of prospects and followers as long as the tweets and emails enhance the story. However, the corporate recruiter will become the critical cog in this system – just as the sales rep is in any other complex buying process. If corporate recruiters are just doing data updates, box checking, and admin, the possibilities offered by consumer-based Web 2.0 marketing will fail to launch.

7. There will be no silver bullet.

For the past 10 years, many corporate recruiting leaders have based their strategies on becoming early adopters of the latest fad. This actually is not a bad way to go, as long as you're first, and are willing to change horses once diminishing returns set in. While this will still work, there won't be any overarching new technology that solves everyone's needs, since once everyone has it, the best you can get are average results. A sourcing strategy needs to be built upon a strong integrated technology platform flexible enough to handle the latest cool stuff.

8. Hiring will become a business process.

Actually, I'm not too sure of this one. But it seems odd that with hiring top talent such an important issue, most company execs and HR leaders don't really do too much to ensure it's done properly. Of course, they'll sometimes train their managers in an interviewing process they don't use and they'll give the recruiting department some extra resources when hiring spikes. However, this is not a strategy; this is a tactical reaction to a change in business conditions. Despite this typical response, some companies actually have implemented an end-to-end integrated process for hiring top performers with startling results. This covers how jobs are defined (clarifying performance expectations), the implementation of consumer marketing-based sourcing programs, the use of an evidenced-based interviewing process, all tied together by a solution-based sales system for recruiting. This is the process described in my book, Hire With Your Head.

The most important of these predictions is the idea that hiring must become a business process if you want to hire top people on a continuous basis. However, to pull this off you must recognize that there will be no silver bullets or short-term panaceas. The silver bullets do work in the short term, so making the use of these as a component of a recruiting strategy if it's tied to the overarching idea of doing everything described here. While these are predictions of where the industry is going, they're really not predictions at all, since many companies are now doing most of these things already, and successfully. The key here is not to get caught in the trap of tactics driving strategy. This is a fool's game that can't be won.

Executives' pay most affected by downturn

Singapore - Top executives have been most affected by the wage freeze, a widely-adopted measure taken by companies to cut costs and retain employees.

A global survey conducted by Hay Group across 2,000 companies from 88 countries last month reports Singapore as the country hit hardest by the economic downturn in South East Asia.

Eighty percent of the Singapore respondents predict that they would not be able to hit their business targets, compared to the 21% in a previous Hay Group survey in November 2008.

The report also show Singapore as registering a 0% base salary increase, with clerical level and high-performing employees as they only two groups of exception toreceived modest pay rises.

Many companies believe that the downturn has the greatest bearing on clerical level workers,and the nominal pay increase is used to balance the cost of living.

How to Overcome Objections Related to the Recession - Mark Whitby

The "Number One" question I get asked these days is "How do I overcome objections related to the current economic climate, for example: we're downsizing, the project is on hold, we're making cutbacks, we don't have any budget for recruiting, etc."

1. There's No Such Thing as a New Objection
The first thing to realize is that these objections are not new. They're just variations on the classic objection: "We are not recruiting," or "We don't have a need," or "We don't have any vacancies." The only difference is that we're hearing it a lot more often these days, which I realize is incredibly frustrating when you're trying to generate new business.

Often a prospect assumes that if they're not hiring, there's no point in talking to recruiters. For most recruiters this objection signals the end of the conversation. It's basically "Game Over," right? So what we can do about this situation?

2. It's Not Personal
Secondly, realize this is not personal. They're not rejecting you personally and they might be just as frustrated about the situation as you are - they might even be worried about their own job security! So try not to let this objection upset you. They're really just giving you some information; it's what you choose to do with that information that separates the good recruiters from the great recruiters.

3. Don't Give Up Too Easily!
Next, don't give up too easily. If you handle this objection the right way it can still lead to a very productive conversation. The key is to use a soft sell approach, not a hard sell. You can't make someone give you their vacancies, especially if there's none to be had. So, take the pressure off yourself and especially take the pressure off your prospect. The more pressure you apply the more resistant they will become.

4. You Can Still Make the Call a Success
Finally, if they're not currently recruiting, focus on achieving your "secondary" objectives. Your goal in this situation is not to get a vacancy or to get an interview for your candidate; the desired outcome is to have a meaningful conversation, to build rapport with a potential client and to gain as much information as you possibly can and agree a timetable for staying in touch.

Even if they have no immediate need for your service, take the opportunity to have a conversation with them. At the very least you'll be building a relationship for future business.

"Mark Whitby - The Recruitment Coach - helps recruiters and recruiting firm owners to maximize their billings and business performance. If you want to generate more clients, candidates and placements, get your FREE tips now at: http://www.RecruiterTrainingOnline.com."

Barclays set to hire in Singapore

BRITISH banking giant Barclays is sticking to its aggressive plan to hire up to 1,500 highly skilled staff by early 2011 in Singapore - despite the turmoil that has ravaged many financial institutions.

The bank wants project managers, applications development managers, and software and IT specialists for its Business Technology Centre at Changi Business Park Central launched last year.

Barclays has already hired 250 staff - mainly locals - and wants to increase this headcount to 650 by the end of this year.

The centre will allow Barclays to run its international cards and banking platforms out of Singapore.

The new staff are in addition to the 2,500 that Barclays already has for its investment banking and wealth management businesses in Singapore.

Hudson Report (Hiring & HR Trends) - Q1 2009

The Hudson Report Quarter1 2009: Singapore employers keep hiring cautious and headcount steady.

Key Highlights -

• 23% of respondents expect to increase hiring in this quarter, down from 37% in Q4 2008, with the majority of respondents (65%) who will keep headcount steady whilst 12% of respondents will decrease headcount;
• Expectations show a substantial decline year-on-year: the 23% of respondents planning to grow headcount this quarter compared with 51% in Q1 2008;
• Expected salary increases for new managerial hires remain healthy, with 39% who will pay a 6-10% increase, and 32% who will pay 11-20% increase;
• Most respondents will give out year-end bonus payments, with only 17% of respondents planning to pay no bonuses;
• Across all sectors, 47% of respondents forecast that their company’s performance will be excellent or good in 2009, while 7% say it will be poor;
• Freezing headcount, along with global headcount approvals and strategic hiring, are HR strategies most likely to be adopted in response to the economic downturn.
  
  Click here to download Hudson Report

How to Switch Desk Specialties by Bill Radin

If you're recruiting in an industry that's at death's door and nothing you do seems to revive it, a change in desk specialties may be in order.

You don't necessarily have to drop your existing specialty altogether; you can keep your "core" constituency active while mining for gold in other areas. However, to get the most out of your efforts, the more concentrated time you spend on your prospective market, the better.

As you begin the exploration process, look for a niche that draws on your existing assets, such as your database of candidates and companies, plus your industry knowledge and technical expertise. For example, if software developers are no longer in demand, there may be a market for software sales managers. If no linkage to your assets can be found, then you may be forced to rebuild your desk from scratch.

To increase the odds of a successful transition, consider the following tips:

1. Find a niche that's in demand, not only now, but promises to be in the future. The last thing you want to do is reinvent yourself all over again in two or three years.

2. Make sure you have some degree of affinity for the population you'll be mingling with, and at least a modicum of interest in the new field's technology, skill set or culture. It's hard to be an advocate on behalf of an industry—or a candidate population—that leaves you cold or makes you feel uncomfortable.

3. Don't expect instant success. It takes time to learn the nuances of a new desk specialty and reach the point when the pieces begin to fit together. It's been said that a prospect needs to be contacted six or seven times before any sort of name recognition or rapport can be built.

4. Remember the basics. Your primary objective is to arrange sendouts, either by candidate marketing or by writing job orders. The more interviews you set up, the faster you'll get your production on track.

5. Stay focused. If you wander in too many directions, you'll end up with a Balkanized desk, comprised of disparate candidate and company populations that have no common language. The trick to desk specialty management is to keep your nose to the scent of new business, without taking too many forks in the road.

Bear in mind that the fundamentals of the business will remain constant, even if you switch your desk specialty. If your technique is sound, you'll make progress quickly, provided there's business to be found in your new area of interest.

However, you might want to brush up on (or rehearse) your marketing presentations and recruiting calls before you start making calls to new prospects. Your seniority in the old specialty may have masked weaknesses in technique, and if you're starting fresh, you'll want to make a good first impression, even if you have many years of recruiting under your belt.

Bill Radin is a top-producing recruiter whose innovative books, tapes, CDs and training seminars have helped thousands of recruiting professionals and search consultants achieve peak performance and career satisfaction. Please visit Bill online at www.billradin.com.

Google to lay off 100 full-time recruiters!

Amidst all the fresh news of gloom and doom around the world and the enevitiable end result of job losses in the form of lay offs and retrenchment happening almost every day I just could not stop myself from mentioning Google specifically.

And thats because I've always been a big fan of Google and their innovative approach to anything they embark upon including their stringent and out-of-the-box recruitment process.

Having said that it was rather dissapointing to know of Google laying off 100 full-time employees that too their recruiters!

Google is known to have one of the most profitable business model and a mean reputation of technology industry's most resilient companies and that raise a question in my mind.

When such entity like Google are necessitated to resort to laying off workers, who else can remain isolated and safe from being layed off?

***

Top 10 Worst Tech Predictions Of All Time

1. The iPod will never take off.
:: Sir Alan Sugar in 2005

2. No need for a computer in the home.
:: Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corp in 1977

3. Nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within 10 years.
:: Sir Alan Sugar in 2005

4. TV won't last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.
:: Sir Alan Sugar in 2005

5. After the first flight of the Boeing 247, a plane that could hold 10 people: There will bever be a bigger plane built.
:: Proud Boeing engineer in 1933

6. We stand on the threshold of rocket mail.
:: US postmaster-general Arthur Summerfield in 1959

7. Nobody would ever need more than 640KB of memory on their personal computer.
:: Bill Gates in 1981, allegedly

8. The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.
:: Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office in 1878.

9. Spam will be solved.
:: Bill Gates in 2004

10. X-rays will proved to be a hoax.
:: Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society, in 1883.

Singapore Recruiter roundtable debates – November’08

Recruiter Roundtable Debates is organised by eFinancialCareers.Sg and attended by senior internal recruiters from several of Singapore’s leading financial institutions.

Some of the key issues and findings emerging from this week’s discussion are –

• Both Employers and candidates becoming more cautious in the wake of the global financial crisis
• Job market remains in comparatively good shape and is still attracting foreign talent
• Hiring levels are found to be generally lower than last year but no savage job cuts like NY or London
• Growth sectors – risk, audit and compliance
• Strong demand for advisory and relationship manager roles in Private Banking
• In-house HR/recruitment teams are increasingly placing emphasis on internal recruitment strategies and reducing reliance on agencies.

***Happy hunting folks***

Impact of Recession on Search Firms – Singapore context

Disclaimer: This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer - Joe Neitham

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Economic slow down, Financial Tsunami, down turn, recession, call it what you like but we seems to be heading for a definite period of persistent rise in uncertainties in the days ahead. We are experiencing what some would even call the worst recession since the Great Depression and the similarities between the Great Depression and the current recession aka Credit Crunch recession are very similar. Much like the credit crunch today, the Great Depression began with a stock market crash and the eventual meltdown of the financial system. The bad news for us is that the current recession is not over yet by anyone’s imagination and the longer the recession prolonged the closer we are to a state of deep and painful depression.

From recruitment perspective, recession does have direct consequences on recruitment plans and the severity of the recession dictates the surge or decline in recruitment activities. We are today probably experiencing the half way point of recession as it is expected to prolong till 2013 as seen from surveys around the globe.

As such, measures taken by different organisation across varied industry, in preparation for the bad times to come, ranges from the mild to the drastic – pay cut, hiring freeze, lay offs and retrenchment are the buzz words today.

Here at home in Singapore we’ve seen and heard of organisation such as CLSA resorting to pay cuts in order to avoid retrenching their staff and in most financial institutions we are seeing hiring freeze (at least in most part of the business) as the norm of the day such as JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, Standard Chartered Bank, etc. Retrenchment as the last resort is underway at DBS (Nov 14, 2008 The Straits Times), Citibank (Nov 19, 2008 Biz Times), HSBC (Wall Street Journal - Nov 17, 2008), Merrill Lynch (Oct 22, 2008 The Straits Times), UBS (Oct 22, 2008 The Straits Times), Standard Chartered Bank (Oct 29, 2008 The Straits Times). I have a feeling that we’ve not seen the last of such retrenchment activities in the banks as mentioned above and some of these banks will continue the next round of lay offs soon if not in the immediate future.

Outside of banks, some of the organisation that has taken lay offs route are Motorola, Nokia, GAP, NOL, AIA, IM Flash Tech., YKK, Allied Technologies Ltd. The list is expected to grow as many organisation need to resort to trimming their staff strength in order to sustain.

In the midst of all the doom and glooms around it is still heartening to know that organisations here such as Singtel and NTUC are declaring not to resort to lay offs, while banks like Barclays, Standard Chartered bank, and ANZ are still hiring actively if not aggressively.

Types of search firms

The past few days I’ve been meeting up with few recruitment consultants and I guess their interpretation of the current recruitment scene varies from one to the other and that’s purely because of the space in which they operate. Typically we have the following types of search firms here in Singapore –

Executive Search Firms: These are the true search firms where they only take on retained search. Typical search firm will have a strong Research team with strong market mapping capabilities and they do not have any particular industry that they limit themselves to but on roles – only senior management level. Some of the leading search firms in Singapore are -
· Egon Zehnder

· Spencer Stuart
· Amrop Hever Group
· Heidrick & Struggles
· Russell Reynolds

Recruitment Consulting Firms (Hybrid – Contingency/Retainer): These are firms that are strong on contingency however most will also take on 10%-20% retainer jobs. Consultants here are strong on end-to-end consulting and 2-5 consultants will share 1-3 researcher (only name generation and market mapping) and in some cases resourcers (Identify and shortlist candidates – email/phone/face-to-face). Focus on middle to senior level candidates. Some of them are -
· Talent2
· Hudson
· Robert Walters
· Derwent
· Korn Ferry

Recruitment Agency (Contingency - Contract/Perm): These are agencies that are typically focused on verticals and most of them are in Information Technology. Traditionally they only do contracting where they outsource engineers to client site and manage their payrolls. Lately, few of these agencies do not wish to miss out on the lucrative contingency business so they have dedicated consultants that only do permanent placements. In such places, often they will have dedicated Sales/Business Development (client facing) team that are supported by strong Resourcers in the back office. Some of the leading agencies are –
· A-IT
· Optimum
· Comtel
· Emerio

Trends in recruitment process

Recruitment Outsourcing:

In the past 2 years alone we have seen a rapid growth in recruitment outsourcing, also known as HRO(Human Resource Outsourcing), RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing), TAM (Talent Acquisition Management), etc and basically to quote the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association

, "Recruitment Process Outsourcing is when a provider acts as a company's internal recruitment function for a portion or all of its jobs. RPO providers manage the entire recruiting/hiring process from job profiling through the on-boarding of the new hire, including staff, technology, method and reporting. A properly managed RPO will improve a company's time to hire, increase the quality of the candidate pool, provide verifiable metrics, reduce cost and improve governmental compliance.”

Some of the organisation that are outsourcing their recruitment functions in Singapore are –
· Credit Suisse to Alexander Mann Solutions
· Barclays to Resource Solutions/Robert Walters -
· Deutsche bank to Alexander Mann Solutions
· UBS to Talent2
· Merrill Lynch to Talent2

Corporate/In-house Recruiters:
For sometime now we’ve had HR folks taking on recruitment as a sub function and unfortunately these does not work well when you are recruiting in volumes. Some of the banks in Singapore that are increasingly relying on in-house recruiters are – ANZ, JPMorgan, Standard Chartered Bank, RBS, etc. Most of these in-house recruiters are from search background with many years of end-to-end recruitment experience under their belts. Obviously, they know what they are doing and they will definitely give some their vendors a run for their money.

Talent management solutions:
Most of the big banks here these days have implemented Talent management solutions in the recruitment process. Some of the leading solutions that are in used here are -

· Taleo (Clients: ANZ, Credit Suisse, JPMC),

· Brassring (Client: UBS),

· Recruitmax (Client: Barclays),

· JobsDB Dimension (Client: SCB).

Preferred Supplier Panel:

Gone are the days when banks will utilise the services of any and every recruitment firms out there. These days’ banks are more selective with whom they want to associate themselves and whose service they would like to avail. Thus was born the Preferred Supplier List or Panel, where out of maybe 70-90 firms only 10-20 are short listed to be included in the panel. Every in-house recruiter as well as the hiring managers is generally mandate to only use those agencies that are in the list.

Banks that uses Talent Management Solutions invariably will have their preferred supplier list and the system will not allow you to submit resumes if you are not in the panel as a registered user.

The future of recruitment industry

As more and more organisation engage on developing their own in-house resource capabilities their focus then will be to hire directly and reduce dependencies on headhunters/recruitment agencies in the long run. Today many in-house recruiters are well equipped and trained on direct sourcing through different mediums for both active and passive candidates – Networking tools(LinkedIn, Facebook, Zoominfo etc), Job site Database search (eFinancialcareers, Monster, etc), Googling (using Boolean strings), etc. What this translates to is substantial lost of requirements for recruitment agencies. The future of recruitment industry therefore will be decided by those firms/agencies that are willing to evolve and adapt to the changing demands of the industry. Added to this, recession will result in the number of jobs being drastically reduced and everyone therefore will be forced to fight for the few jobs that are available and survival will very much depend on getting those few available jobs from the client and filling them.

- Agencies will have reduced job sheets: Fewer jobs due to recession and those that remains most of them will be filled by in-house recruiters. Only hard-to-fill niche or senior roles will be given to agencies.
- Agency to focus on building strong search capabilities: To fill those hard-to-fill niche or senior roles agencies must equip themselves with strong search capability to beat the fierce competition and stand out from the rest.
- Smaller/boutique agencies driven out of business: In the interim smaller agencies who are without any serious requirements will be left out, eventually they will have to close shop due to lack of funds. However, those smaller agencies that are focus on contracting with more than 50 contractors will survive at least for the period when the contract still runs.
- Only the big boys with strong capital reserves will survive: The big Recruitment Consulting firms with diverse portfolio will survive and ride out this rough patch as they are not dependent only on few particular clients in particular industry/sector.
- Strong relationship + strong delivery capability will thrive: In the end, it all boils down to the depth of ones relationship with clients because relationship will help in requirements coming to you. However, relationship alone does not suffice and what will set a survivor apart from the rest will be the strength in their delivery capability – high percentage of successful job filled against number of jobs.

Is your firm geared up and prepared for the long haul and ready to ride out the recession? What plans of actions are being put in place not only to survive but excel in these challenging times?

Should the negative trends continue for the next two quarters number of consultants will find themselves in the deficit from which recovery will be a difficult task. I believe that this will eventually result in many consultants losing their jobs sometime during the end of 2nd and beginning of 3rd quarter of 2009 and many cowboy agencies will also be force out of business. So how each companies responds to these new economic conditions will ultimately “separate the wheat from the chaff”.

On the bright side, experience and big billing consultants will not only survive but continue to do well and for them pots of gold waits at the rainbow’s end and this is what we know as “survival of the fittest”.

PS: Feel free to share with everyone your thoughts and take on this topic by leaving your comments here or you may write in to me confidentially at neitham(at)gmail(dot)com.

***Happy hunting folks***