by Craig McGregor | Mar 17, 2022 | Business, Featured, Recruitment
There is nothing quite like a global pandemic to make change! The world is a different place, and without doubt, so is the workplace. After many months of working from home – and the investment and introduction of technology to successfully offer continuity of employment and services, the world of work has seen significant change.
Something that we’ve observed here at Hunter Recruitment Group is the rise of the hybrid workforce model as a result of these changes. And from what we see, it is here to stay.
So, what exactly is hybrid work? How can it benefit your business, and how does it impact recruitment?
Although there is no hard and fast definition of hybrid work, what we are speaking about is a situation where an employee, or in fact a whole team, can work both remotely (from home or another location) in combination with time spent working in an office or specified worksite. It can be a blend of hours, specific days of the week or even nominated times of the year – based on organisational need.
The hybrid model of work offers numerous benefits for both employers and staff, and some of these include:
- By offering flexibility and accommodating employee preferences for work locations and styles of working, you have the capacity to increase employee satisfaction and productivity
- Cost savings can be made on travel and transportation, and the effective use of space, time and resources can potentially lower overheads and on-site expenses
- Having hybrid processes, policies and systems in place brings agility and responsiveness to your organisation should the need to work from home arise again in the future
And the area that we really specialise in – recruitment opportunities!
The employment market of today demands greater flexibility and work / life balance, by offering hybrid opportunities, and not being tied to geographical boundaries, you can hire from a much larger pool of talent – even attracting interstate or international team members.
Of course, as with all workplace practices the hybrid model requires clear communication and expectation setting from both the employer and employee – and we’d also recommend introducing team-building tools to see success across your organisation.
If you are finding it difficult to secure great staff – a hybrid model may just be the answer. And we can help.
If you would like to discuss finding the right fit for your business and our suite of recruitment solutions call HRG on (02) 4936 6537.
by Craig McGregor | Dec 20, 2021 | Business, Featured, Recruitment
Executive recruitment, or the process of finding and hiring candidates to fill leadership, or top-level roles across your organisation, is both crucial and often, challenging.
The people in these roles will shape the culture of your workplace and make decisions that define the future success of your business.
With the insights gained over our 15 years working in recruitment, here are some of the most common challenges we’ve uncovered in executive recruitment and tips to overcome them.
EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT CHALLANGES
Competitive market.
With the employment market already competitive top talent is in high demand. Plus, organisations are fine-tuning their retention strategies to ensure that they can retain excellent staff, rather than having to replace them and re-build industry and organisational knowledge.
Recruiting ‘passive’ candidates.
It is very likely that executive-level candidates and potential leads for your role are already employed by another organisation and not actively seeking a new job.
The executive recruitment process is not as simple as advertising a job on Seek. These candidates will often need to be approached directly and provided with greater detail about the role and the organisation.
Time.
On average the time frame for finding and hiring staff at the executive level is much longer than the typical recruitment process. Patience is important as this is a staffing decision not to be rushed.
This also highlights the importance of succession planning across your organisation, and the need to identify skills gaps long before they actually arise.
EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT TIPS
Here are some of Hunter Recruitment Groups’ tips to secure the best talent and find the perfect fit in your executive recruitment search.
Research, clear expectations and documentation.
It is very important to do your research, be well prepared and have very clear expectations as to what you expect from the person fulfilling the role before you even commence your executive recruitment.
Designing a thorough and detailed job description and defining role objectives will make the experience much smoother.
Your relationship with recruiters.
As a business the better the relationship with local recruiters the more effective they will be to secure the best top talent.
At the Executive Level, the people in charge of sourcing need to have a critical understanding of the current culture and of the culture you wish to create if moving through change. Without this information, you won’t find the right person. Having regular catch-ups with recruiters even if you are not recruiting can be fruitful as they are constantly meeting with the best talent in the market, either through direct recruitment programs or in their networking
Provide an outstanding candidate experience.
Executive recruitment requires an extremely high level of professionalism, discretion, and confidentiality.
Get to know your candidates, understand their motivation and clearly articulate what sets your organisation apart.
The best candidates for executive recruitment may be hard to find – as with all recruitment – you want to treat them with respect and to stand out as an employer of choice.
If you’d like advice and guidance on your executive recruitment process, or you’d like an experienced recruitment professional to manage the process for you, contact Hunter Recruitment Group on 02 4936 6537 we’d be very happy to help.
by Craig McGregor | Nov 24, 2021 | Business, Featured, Recruitment
Replacing talent is costly and time-consuming. Some statistics estimate that the cost of replacing a high-performing and high-potential employee is two to three times the outgoing worker’s annual salary.
There’s the loss of organisational knowledge, intellectual property and productivity, the recruitment process involved in finding a replacement, and of course the training and development required when new staff start.
In an employment market where ‘supply and demand’ is already creating issues around attracting talent, the focus on finding and retaining great staff is even greater.
[You can read more about our thoughts on ‘The Great Resignation’ and the impacts we believe it will have in the Hunter Valley here ]
So, what strategies can you implement to help you secure top talent and keep them as valued team members long-term? Here we’ve made some suggestions.
Recruit right in the first place.
Of course, we are going to say this. With over 15 years of experience offering recruitment services in Maitland, Newcastle and the Hunter Valley we know the value of finding the right fit for the right role.
Clearly articulating your expectations of the role you are advertising and communicating that effectively in the job description – with the appropriate pay scale to match – and following this communication throughout the interview process is crucial.
Looking at motivation, development opportunities, and the outlook of your candidate will further help you identify a future employee who can grow with your company – someone who will become highly productive and a part of your company’s ongoing success.
Onboarding and engagement.
Finding a fantastic employee doesn’t stop at the signing of the job offer. The need for thorough onboarding is very real. Nobody wants to start a new job and have no idea what they are doing. Streamlined systems and processes to help your team understand their role, workplace expectations and policies unique to your organisation are invaluable.
On-going employee engagement is equally important. An engaged employee is a happy employee and therefore much more likely to stay. LinkedIn’s Global Talent report notes that 77% of the companies surveyed for the report focus on positive employee experience to increase retention.
Training and career progression.
When looking for great people you need to be able to see potential. Is there a skill gap that can be addressed with a training program or mentoring? A great attitude and the willingness to learn will go a long way in contributing to a high-functioning team and positive workplace culture.
Or, are you missing internal promotion opportunities for current team members because you aren’t offering regular training and development? So often employees just need a little encouragement to thrive.
Of course, turnover is inevitable and if you’d like to discuss an effective recruitment process built just for your business, we’d love to hear from you. Start a conversation with Hunter Recruitment Group today.
by Craig McGregor | Nov 15, 2021 | Business, Featured, Recruitment
Over the last two years working remotely and hybrid working conditions have all become the norm for many employees.
There’s nothing like a global pandemic to increase the demand for technology in our workplace. We’ve found ways to work, meet, connect and collaborate online. But how to hire online for a role that will be working remotely?
We believe more and more employment services and recruitment agencies will make the shift to digital, embracing technology to foster connectivity and to handle their ‘virtual hiring’.
Recent survey results from American human resources and recruitment professionals show that 61% of recruiters expect video interviews to be the default interview mode moving forward. And as our pandemic trends and recovery seem to follow a similar path to the American timeline, Australia might not be far behind.
Here at Hunter Recruitment Group, we already offer a streamlined shortlisting and selection process, using state-of-the-art video interviewing software. This is actually our specialty.
The team at HRG love learning more about people than just the skills set out in their resume. Asking the ‘why’ questions as part of our shortlisting process is key – whether you are looking to source staff to work in-house, in a remote location, or a combination of both. And our bespoke one-way video interviewing enables this.
When providing recruitment services for our clients, we look at the role and create a personalised question set to match. We then have our selected shortlist of candidates respond via one-way video interview. As a business owner, hiring manager or human resources professional working with Hunter Recruitment Group, you then receive a resume and also get the chance to see and hear from the candidates, allowing you to make a much more informed decision.
By using this technology, it cuts down the hours interview time for our clients and facilitates more effective, on-going recruitment outcomes.
Beyond the short-listing stage Hunter Recruitment Group can offer video or on-line interviews and assist with the onboarding process for your new team member. Something which is crucial for anyone joining an organisation in a remote capacity.
The future is now, if it’s time for your organisation to embrace a more modern, and effective, recruitment process give us call at Hunter Recruitment Group – we’ll help you source your next great hire.
Find out more today, phone (02) 4936 6537 or email admin@hrgroup.com.au
by Craig McGregor | Oct 11, 2021 | Business, Featured, Recruitment
A global pandemic, time in lockdown, change of how we live and potentially a shift in how we work. This has been talked about by many, however a new phenomenon that has hit the USA and parts of Europe is being dubbed the Great Resignation
Individuals are re assessing their lives and coming into spring and out of lockdown making large decisions about work.
The US is about 6 months ahead of Australia here as they eased out of lockdowns earlier in line with spring in the northern hemisphere. What occurred was a wave of people shifting careers. With a large chunk coming from the following groups:
- Front line workers who have had enough of there roles
The front line workers are not just health workers but this includes retail staff, teachers, and some hospitality workers who kept working at the workplace whilst others worked from home
In terms of a local context, we had greater government intervention with the likes of jobkeeper and the aim of keeping employees connected. Will this impact our great resignation or not only time will tell.
- Employees who believe they had been miss treated during lockdowns
Employees are reevaluating what brings them joy and in 2021 it seems to be so much more than money.
How your Organisation treated staff is going to be critical to the impact on your business with regards the great resignation.
- Employees seeking more flexibility and for work from home to be the new norm
I have spoken of this for years with excitement for the future. I truly believe that skilled individuals living in the Hunter will be doing more telecommuting with Sydney. Working for global companies from home in Maitland. Earning greater salaries and a potential for our kids not to have to move to the ‘big smoke’ to get a start.
However, the flip side of this becomes local employers will sooner compete more readily with Sydney and beyond for local talent.
FLEXIBILITY IS NO LONGER AN ATTRACTION IT NEEDS TO BE A GIVEN
Is your business ready to deal with what will be the new normal around flexible workplaces post covid. Do you have the culture to survive?
Another factor from the US experience is, pre covid one of the major areas for a career shift was the opportunity for development and career advancement. Americans are valuing this much less and looking at how they work and how this fits their life with greater importance.
- Supply and demand for staff is seeing sign-on bonuses becoming more frequent in the employment space
In the US the IT sector has been the biggest market to be hit with regards this issue. Tech savvy employees are understanding the dynamics of supply and demand and there is a trend towards lucrative sign on fees and equipment purchases coming with a new employment contract
At HRG we have had one client discuss with us the potential to offer a cash payment upfront to entice trade labour to their workshop.
Supply and demand is a major factor in the current issues I discus with my clients on a daily basis. Is your business ready to wait for the right person? Can you train up staff?
The Great Resignation is a serious consideration for Hunter Valley employers to start to explore in their business. As we exit lockdown and return to some normality at the workplace. How we treat our employees, how we view the employment market along with how we recruit needs to change.
Recruitment is not just about sticking a job ad on seek and picking a person. It has always been so much more complex, but as the great resignation hits and the market forces demand more, how we recruit becomes a different dance.
I think we got a taste of this late last year as we exited jobkeeper. The fear that was driving lower job applications and the security of government payments declined and more candidates hit the market. As we transition back to work, back to life in late 2021 more and more local people will be challenging themselves as to what they want to do in terms of career.
The US experience will be similar here in the Hunter and now is the time to review your employment strategy.
If you would like to have a confidential discussion with me regards my thoughts on local impacts and how HRG can assist you to navigate this period in time. Then start a conversation with HRG today.
by Craig McGregor | May 13, 2021 | Business, Featured, Recruitment
Finding great staff and building a team can be challenging. And time-consuming. Without certain tools, technology and connections in your industry you may not know where to start.
This is one of the reasons why businesses turn to recruitment agencies such as HRG. At Hunter Recruitment Group we take your business and staffing needs seriously, and want you to have the most positive experience possible. We get the best results when our clients give us the best and most up-to-date information on not only the role but the business.
Here’s just a few things to consider when selecting a recruitment agency:
Compatibility
Check out the reviews, testimonials and social media posts for any prospective recruitment agencies. Does their tone, objectives, vision and quality of work align with yours?
Are they local? Known in the business community? Experienced?
Culture and compatibility are crucial in recruitment. Think of your chosen recruiter as an extension of your business – ensure they are the right fit for you.
HRG focuses on finding values fit for new staff members. Take the time to explore the values of the agency you wish to use and ensure you are comfortable with the values alignment and having such an organisation represent you to the employment marketplace.
Cost
Yes, you must acknowledge and factor into your planning that there is a cost involved with using a recruitment agency.
Have a conversation and get a clear picture up-front. From here you can consider the associated fees and also the benefits of using an experienced recruiter – including finding the right fit, long-term employee relationships and staff retention.
Clear communication
No one knows your business better than you. But if you share your insights and your plan for growth, projections and goals with your recruiter they will better understand who, and what, you need when it comes to staffing.
Be specific and detailed in developing your job descriptions, salary rates, policies and expectations – this way your recruiter will know the skills, outlook, experience and attitude any candidates must have.
The more details the Hunter Recruitment Group team have, the better and more effective our recruitment outcomes are. We love asking the question – Go beyond the PD and tell us what you are truly looking for? Think about how you would answer this question when recruiting.
Be Open to Expertise
The recruiter should understand the market, and this constantly shifts. The economics or basic supply and demand is different for each sector and to be honest on each separate recruitment experience.
The recruiter may tell you that you need to increase salary to attract the right person, you need to be open to this suggestion but also potentially open to sourcing a candidate with a lower skills fit that is more your price point if increasing pay rates is not possible.
Great recruiters ask insightful questions and really dive deep into fit, they may at times source multiple candidates that will excel in your business. Again, this is potentially an opportunity to be open to where that can take you.
Always remember, an experienced recruitment agency is here to make your life easier and your workplace more cohesive.
If finding great staff is an issue for your business, start a conversation with HRG today.
