This is in our opinion a watershed moment when we can say there is annual growth in recruitment opportunities for the first time.  While we are still someway from achieving the peak figures for the Index that we saw at 171 in July 2008, the Index finished 2009 on 68 points, 2 points higher than the same time in 2008.

The monthly data also showed that the proportion of recruitment jobs of all HR roles advertised hit the highest levels the Index has seen for 16 months at 14%.

Our data has now been tried, tested, and analysed for a couple of years and the figures for December 2009 are as impotant as any we’ve released.  They demonstrate no seasonal slowdown, the seventh month of consecutive growth and back up the feelgood feeling that we’re all getting day to day in our jobs again.  It would seem that it’s exciting to work in recruitment again.

It is still hard to find a new role but the important news is that people are finding jobs, good jobs, and ones that are better paid again after over twelve really hard months.

The markets driving recruitment remain consistent, banking and energy, but they are dragging other sectors along with them and are influencing other businesses.  The executive search businesses that support these markets are also aggressively in the market and hiring new talent at this time so fingers crossed for a much improved year in 2010.

• Financial services will continue to lead UK growth (and we won’t mind one bit)
  • Banks may not be universally popular with the media but they are driving growth and hiring for recruiters at the moment, as we reach year end all indicators are expectations in Equities and Commodities in particular will drive recruitment across the city
• Workforce plans will come under real pressure from attrition
  • We won’t claim this one ourselves, Universum the employer branding company earlier this year pointed to a post-recession trend that this time round appears to have been polarised.  Typically post-recession businesses suffer slightly higher attrition levels as people who couldn’t move because of market conditions do so… This time out a market poll combined with the impact of the baby boomer rush to retirement in the next few years is likely to leave organisations facing a far larger recruitment campaign just to keep headcount level, expect to see lots of recruiting in 2010 but don’t confuse it for growth
• Recruitment budgets take the strain
  • In no small part due to the above and the ease with which companies have been able to recruit this year there will be an expectation to deliver low cost high quality recruitment and workforce plans but the reality of a changing market will kick in
  • While there might not be growth two years of salary pay awards and high attrition rates will mean as 2010 wears on there will be upward pressure on salaries for new joiners to attract talent (even if it’s filling an existing role) and to get jobs filled quickly, whisper it quietly but it might be time to start making friends with the PSL again
• Flexible recruiting will be critical and become the “norm”
  • Recruitment and volume of hiring is increasingly planned and driven by point in time demand.  To deliver this companies will increasingly look to outsource recruitment projects to flexible RPO solutions or hire contractors to deliver projects and leave while a smaller core permanent recruiting staff will set the strategy and deliver the day to day requirements
  • And yes we reckon that means more headhunters getting hired directly by clients to deliver better value executive search onto the pay roll
• More change at Aspen Partners
  • After the launch of our benchmarking services we’re looking forward to continuing to develop research and consulting projects for the recruitment function in 2010

Several years ago rather against my better judgement I got into a discussion with a fellow recruitment professional who was speaking at an event about what “added value” meant to a client.  He essentially seemed to believe that doing his job as a recruiter was “added value” and could not demonstrate any tangible product or service beyond delivering his hires that he offered his client.  The reality of today’s HR and recruitment world is that added value has to be tangible, measurable, reportable, and real.

By partnering with PI Benchmark I strongly believe that we are offering real added value.  A product which while initially focused on the public sector will show any HR director measurable performance outcomes on HR and recruitment performance that can then be acted upon for improvement.  That is real added value.

Our services will offer valuable non-attributable comparative measurement for organisations against peer groups and other target sectors in both the pre-defined Audit Body endorsed format and with the support of our own indicators.  I strongly believe that this will give our new benchmarking clients critical information for HR directors to arm themselves with in taking on the toughest HR conditions in living memory as improved services are expected to be delivered against ever tighter budget constraints and executive scrutiny.

To find out more about our new service download our PDF document by going to www.hrpeoplemark.org or contact me (Andy Mountney) on 020 7849 6864 or andrew@aspen-partners.com

To find out more about how PI Benchmark has delivered benchmarking services to the public and private sector for over twenty five years visit www.pibenchmark.com

Commenting on the news Aspen’s Managing Director Andrew Mountney said, “This is the sixth consecutive rise month on month this year but the first time the shackles have come off showing a clear lift in confidence and commitment across industries to hiring in-house recruiters.  The market still recovering from a low base from early 2009 (the index hit a low of 36 May) but these figures show that businesses across the country are preparing for increased recruitment activity across functions in 2010.”

The rise in the general index was supported by a rise in the percentage of recruiting roles being hired as a proportion of HR jobs generally.  This rose to 12.84% the highest level in over twelve months.  Andrew Mountney added, “The rise of recruiting roles in proportion to general HR roles is a key indicator, it demonstrates the swing in priorities for HR going into 2010.  HR Directors are preparing now for tough recruiting conditions in 2010.  Business leaders still have a clear expectation from HR to deliver direct sourcing strategies at low cost going forward yet 2010 is going to be an extremely competitive year for talent as candidates are presented with a greater range of options than they’ve had for over two years.  To be ready to deal with the conditions it is critical to have a first class team of direct recruiters in place now to deliver the 2010 workforce plan”.

The Aspen Index peaked in July 2008 at 171.

The index also rose at it’s fastest pace (4 points) in more than a year.  The index now sits at 47 up from 43 in August and against a peak of 171 in July 2008 (still a long way to go!)…

Further good news showed that the percentage of recruitment jobs available as a proportion of HR positions open rose to the highest level since November 2008 ranking at 10.87%.
Taken in context along-side ancedotal evidence of a rise in interest in hiring amongst RPO businesses and financial services companies in particular the appetite to have strong recruitment teams in place going into 2010 as recruiters we should be encouraged.

Further updates through-out the year, if you have a comment on the figures or on the market let us know.

Here’s to a strong October…

Andy

If you want the full low down e-mail me on andrew@aspen-partners.com and I’ll send you the complete report.

Just as a teaser you might be interested to know that if you want to be the highest earner in graduate recruiting your still best off working for a bank, and we disproved some of the fears over recognition finding that in general graduate recruiting professionals are an extremely happy bunch!

Recovery to record levels of July 2008 of 171 still look a long way off but the tailing off of the decline and improved market chatter can only be good news.  On top of this weekly figures this week indicate a one week rise of over 10% in the number of opportunities for recruiters in-house.

While it might seem premature to say that the tough times are over things are certainly getting better and financial services continues to lead the charge from within our own client base.

The good news from these figures is that they relate solely to the UK, while we’ve been viewing an international up turn for some time the UK had remained not only low on opportunities but also on confidence, with that slowly returning maybe we’re back on track!

Taking sight of this just a few weeks after the much debated and seemingly maligned attempt by REC to launch the Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP) to essentially lead to the recruitment agency sector having a chartered qualification left me thinking do recruiters need qualifications and if so what is best?

In-house recruitment at the moment severely lacks any particular formal qualification. The CIPD offers a small number of expensive certificates with a focus on recruiting yet my experience is that recruitment agents are most likely to take these at personal expense in an attempt to move in-house when there is no expectation or desire to see these skills from the in-house client. In fact in a dynamic and innovative function like in-house recruitment which sits amongst clearly qualified peers in HR and marketing there seems to be no standard expectation of recruiting education, training, or qualifications.

So what do businesses really want from their recruiters?

In all my time doing this role I cannot remember a candidate being rejected for a lack of a formal recruiting qualification (or more generally holding the CIPD) however specific skills and competencies are becoming more important. Qualifications in testing tools such as SHL, experience of or superuser status on various pieces of recruiting software such as Peoplesoft, Filefinder or iGrasp, or accreditation in training from organisations such as AIRS in a candidate rich market are becoming regular reasons for selection and rejection.

This is all well and good but great recruiters building their career in one environment cannot hope to gain experience on every piece of software or training course and while this approach may suit today’s market it will likely disappear in busier times when there is a talent shortage again.

There is an enormous gap for creating, and most importantly, recognizing an industry standard qualification for in-house recruitment professionals. The AGR Standard is a right step in the right direction but it should be part of a wider picture. There is a great opportunity to set a new standard for recruiting ensuring professionals have the necessary skills from candidate sourcing to employment law knowledge and vendor management properly validated. In taking this step now we can set a standard that those wanting to work in the function in the future can openly seek to attain to ensure they are prepared when they move into a recruiting role either from a background as an HR generalist or more likely an agency recruiter.

Going back to the very beginning something else stood out at the AGR conference; just how proud graduate recruitment professionals are of what they do, let’s celebrate that for them and experienced hiring professionals through recognizing achievement in great recruiting.

The Aspen Index which monitors available roles for in-house recruiters in the UK as well as benchmarking this against the wider opportunities within HR in the UK has seen a small but important increase in available opportunities in June compared to May 2009. Commenting on the announcement Director Andy Mountney said, “This is great news for recruiters and HR professionals, we have been monitoring the market for fourteen months and since it peaked for recruiters in July 2008 we have seen a decline every single month since. While the figures show only a small increase in opportunities for in-house recruiters the break put on the decline should not be under-estimated.”

Further good news came in supporting figures that showed there had been a rise in available opportunities across all HR disciplines.

The Index is available on the new Aspen website and has backdated monthly rankings to May 2008. The index has been averaged out over the first year of results to 100 and saw a peak of 171 in July 2008 compared to 39 in June 2009 and a low of 36 in May 2009. Andy Mountney added, “We’re delighted that we’ll be able to bring a regular barometer of the recruitment market to HR professionals through the new site, Linkedin, and Twitter. The figures show us that conditions are still extraordinarily tough for recruitment professionals seeking new opportunities and the fall of over 75% in the index in a year shows just how quickly the market collapsed while more recruiters found themselves seeking work. We will continue to update the market through 2009 via the Aspen Index and hope that the upward trend of June continues.”