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Has the role of the recruiter become boring?

Has the role of the recruiter become boring?

As someone who’s been in the recruitment industry for more than 25 years, I have witnessed a lot of change. Back when I first started out there was very little competition - you simply advertised a job in paper and, in return, loads of relevant candidates applied. 

In those days, procurement was practically non-existent, HR’s sole role in the hiring process was to type up offer letters, and you could speak directly to line managers (who actually took your advice on board). 

But, as anyone who has started out in recruitment over the last decade will tell you, the sector is a completely different ball-game from what it once was. With political uncertainty and technological transformation – not to mention five generations of workers in the workplace at once – today’s business landscape has changed, and so has its demand for talent.

When looking to attract, secure and retain talent, organisations want to partner with recruiters that have the necessary expertise and technology to take their talent management strategies to the next level. They want the latest technology, psychometric testing, and innovative ideas – anything that guarantees they’re getting their hands on the best and most relevant talent.

To keep up with this ever-changing demand, modern recruiters need to adapt to change. Here’s how:

A sector built on relationships.

Back when I was a recruitment consultant, I was fairly average at billing - but what I excelled at was developing strong customer relationships, which had a major benefit on my wider business. 

The skills required to select the right candidates, understand the client’s needs, and manage the entire hiring process from start to finish remain as challenging and skilful as ever. But modern recruiters have a lot more on their plates than this; managing the demands of multiple stakeholders and third parties, keeping up with cutthroat competition and fee erosion, and jumping over wave after wave of market disruption, the satisfaction and value levels for today’s recruiter have been well and truly dampened. 

There are many highly experienced recruiters out there that have long-standing relationships with key clients and a deep knowledge of their markets – but asking new consultants to replicate this in the same manner is like asking Hercules to carry out the twelve labours.

Encouraging an entrepreneurial mindset.

In today’s marketplace, there’s still a place for the large contingent recruiter (for now), but this will become more and more competitive, and eventually huge consolidation will become widespread. If you’re happy to fill roles at a lower value with very little influence on the process, there is still plenty of money to be made. But if you’re the entrepreneurial, curious and creative type, you should consider a different route.

It’s up to the older generation of recruiters that “had it good” (and I’m including myself in that number) to create an industry that allows the new generation of recruiters to experience the true fulfilment that can be felt in the job. 

And I’m not talking about providing a CV service or outsourced solution - we have to adapt and become relevant to what our customers need, and instil a sense of purpose in our offering that engages our employees and generates retention for all parties involved.

The demand for innovation.

We believe the recruitment industry needs to change. Holding recruiters to strict KPIs is not the right approach – nor is upholding a corporate culture that discourages new ideas or collaboration. 

At Morgan Philips Group, we don’t pressure our consultants to make a certain amount of calls or meetings per month - we encourage them to build their business the way they see fit. And we certainly don’t believe chaining them to their desks from 8am to 6pm does anyone any favours. In fact, over a third of our team are flexible workers. 

And not only do we provide an exceptional end-to-end solution for our customers, from discovery and design through to delivery and fulfillment, we’ve also managed to create an environment where our consultants struggle to be bored.

Supported by our talent management frameworks and organisational psychologists, our consultants help organisations define their strategy to prosper in the new world of work. Our search business (Morgan Philips Executive Search) then supports those customers in acquiring and assessing the talent to execute these plans. Finally, we provide our customers with talent solutions alongside permanent, interim and contractor resources through our Morgan Philips Group brand and Fyte platform.

Our entrepreneurial culture combined with our innovative solutions means our team is constantly developing and growing – which makes our consultants jobs a whole lot more exciting. I know I would have left the industry by now if we were still offering a traditional straight-line recruitment service.

If you would like to bring purpose to your role and benefit from more than 20 years of talent solutions and tools modernised into a consulting solution that’s fit for the new world of work, get in touch. Or check out our Working for Morgan Philips Group page.

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