Corporate Recruiters help Agencies thrive and survive
An interesting post on Stephen O'Donnell's blog Aye Right called The end of the CV database started me thinking about how the whole issue of "who owns the candidate". The person who really "owns" the candidate is of course the candidate but they go where they choose to get a job; be it direct or indirect. But don't for one second think that direct is always the best route. Retailers continually fight off the manufacturers in the same way that Agencies will continually fight off corporate recruiters.
Take the example of Amazon and eBay. Both have thrived yet the major retailers continue to grow and now also exist online in many cases. Apple have launched their flagship stores and whilst it may be really nice to go and visit an Apple store, if you want one of their products and it can easier and cheaper be bought via Amazon or Tesco then you may just take that option. Of course Apple win you as a customer but so does the retailer and you are ultimately happy as you have your product. Your buying decision was based on a number of factors that suited you rather than anyone else. Recruitment is no different.
The candidate will decide if and when they are prepared to move jobs. They may be enticed whilst not actively looking but ultimately it has to suit them in some way. If the process of going direct to change is made overly complicated they will look at more efficient alternatives. If buying online from Apple was really hard work and more expensive yet the same process via Amazon was easier and cheaper yet the outcome was still the same i.e. product in hand then most sane people would buy via Amazon. Likewise, if corporate recruiters make the job application process cumbersome and inefficient then the best candidates will go elsewhere i.e. agencies or maybe even job boards.
The problem today is that too many corporate recruitment teams are like the online retailers when Amazon was only a few years old i.e. still trying to get to grips with online and nowhere near as good as they think they are. Yes, most have a career site and many have an ATS but beyond using job boards they are all pretty much doing the same. An e-commerce business constantly:
- Measures site stats.
- Tweaks processes and page layouts based on user behaviour.
- Measures every marketing channel and constantly looks at new channels.
- Builds and maintains prospective customer lists.
- Gets customer feedback to improve what they do.
- Measures and moves things to improve results.
- And loads more besides as well as lots of measurements!
I wonder how many corporate recruiters REALLY assess their online recruitment presence in the same way an e-tailer does? Of course some do but they are in the minority. In the meantime, jobs still have to be filled hence the recruitment agencies and job boards continue to thrive. The agencies that start to think like an e-tailer will really thrive and won't even have to think about threatening the job boards like Hays feel the need to do. Hays are in a great position to do a lot more to "own the candidate" without resorting to letters as shown in the post linked to at the start of this post. The real opportunity lies with the niche agencies who will:
- Become the experts in their sector.
- Provide the best industry and career advice to candidates.
- Build and maintain communities using online and offline activities.
- Differentiate their service to their clients i.e. the Line Manager.
- Outperform their corporate recruiter competitors by offering Line Managers information, expertise and the best candidates.
- Become the Amazon of their sector by maximising technology.
