People are not a commodity.

ANYBODY CAN FIND ANYONE: 1 DEGREE OF SEPARATION

The average number of steps between two strangers along a line of acquaintances was once six. Thanks to our technology platforms, this number is now usually one. The world has been rapidly getting smaller; recruiting is not what it used to be.

Professionals around the globe are more easily reached than recruiters could ever have dreamed of — but with this gift has come altered expectations and demand. Hiring companies are taking matters into their own hands more often and increasingly seeking innovative alternatives to traditional suppliers.

The perception of value in a recruiting firm is too often tied up in the word "search." This over-simplification of what a recruitment consultant does becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and leads to diluted services and limited imaginations about what can be achieved working with a really good recruiter.

COST IS KING

The recovery from the 21st century's great recession has been achieved in varied ways in different companies and economies. One of the major trends has seen firms cut their way to prosperity. In the effort to become lean, organizations have been ruthless in their efforts to reduce expenses. Every dollar counts.

Among the biggest consumers of recruitment services, procurement has risen from being a clerical function to a key strategic partner to the core business. Those unable to communicate their unique value proposition have been gradually commoditized — surviving only by cutting prices and, with them, quality of service.

When cost is king, money spent on hiring talent is rarely seen for what it truly is: an investment.

CENTRALISATION

When cost is king, centralisation writes and administers the rule of law. In order to gain visibility and control of costs, many organizations have centralised their structure — yielding efficiencies, economies of scale, and control. The recruiting supply chain has not escaped centralisation, and smaller firms, even those who add value, have often lost their market share to bigger companies who can service more verticals and/or locations despite often offering lower quality of service.

One of the major downsides of centralisation is the marginalisation of critical voices and ideas. The appetite for finely-tuned localised solutions still exists but is less well served. Decentralisation's great strength is that it encourages the independence of thought and nuance needed to solve difficult problems.

THE RISE OF IN-HOUSE TALENT ACQUISITION

Market conditions have provided a near-perfect environment for the rise of effective in-house talent acquisition teams. Recruiting has been recast as a transactional process, organizations are hungry for cost savings, and talent is easier to reach than ever.

Recruiting firms, strategic and transactional alike, need to embrace this world and develop services and account delivery models to supplement in-house acquisition teams where they exist. The winners in this marketplace have strategic partnerships with HR.

OUTSOURCING

In the long run, high quality recruitment companies will always out-compete alternative options. Behind this truism lies the principle motivation for outsourcing in general: stick to what you are good at. When there are ongoing tasks to be done that fall outside core expertise, it is often a sensible strategy to outsource them to a specialist company.

MSP and RPO models typically give excellent visibility to the end client and usually save or control costs effectively. It is critical that all parties recognize the balance of cost, quality, efficiency and risk that is embedded in the solution.