The saviour of the UK Recruitment Industry

saviour  –noun 1. a person who saves, rescues, or delivers: For those that follow my blog or more recently my twitter feeds you will know that i have set myself the task of being the saviour of the UK recruitment industry. I take my recruitment seriously, I want the industry to do a lot better than it currently does, get rid of the cowboys and acknowledge that recruitment plays a fundamental part in every aspect of every business. Get it right and your business will grow, reduce costs, succeed, get it wrong and you will have wasted not only your recruitment fee but a whole chunk of cash associated with that person from the tangible salary etc. to the more intangible opportunity cost.

So this week I have set myself a challenge, to create a tangible plan to become the saviour of the UK recruitment industry (the world is just too big for my 1st attempt).

My plans are often fairly fluid but if I am serious about this then I need to put a stake in the ground and make a stand.

In some fairly broad based and often anecdotal market research there are some common themes. From a client perspective it's the endless cold calls, CV's sent to them when they weren't asked for, the lack of understanding of their needs and the general averageness of consultant's work, lack of professionalism and general dodginess. Candidates hate the false interest in what they actually want to do, the business development edge to conversations, mostly focusing on who do you work for, where has your cv gone, who do you know etc. etc. etc. Many people have experienced that feeling that there is a horse parked outside and for some reason they can hear the theme tune to a few dollars more.

Using that analogy it is clear there are the good, the bad and the ugly in this industry, like others no doubt but far more apparent given the impact the profession has on business. Before I get complaints - yes some recruitment consultants and recruitment businesses do a great job, I think what I am saying is that when we come across one of those it is the exception and not the norm and that needs to change.

So... saviour... I think this word sums it up nicely, a statement of my intent.

About doing something that will make an impact in the business, improve standards, make it professional. Now there are organisations with this intent. I am an active and supportive member of the industry trade body REC (www.rec.uk.com) and will carry on my work with them at a local level to raise awareness within the recruitment industry that standards and ethics are good and to encourage business decision makers to use only REC consultants. But I know I can do more.

So today is monday and by the end of the week I will have written the high level plan with a focus on the end game, whatever that might be, get it out there for you to read, review, contribute, collaborate whatever. I might be the saviour but without everyone joining in it's going to be a long tough road.

M.

If you have any thoughts, comments etc. email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com or find me on twitter MDangerfield