Gina Le Prevost, chief executive of AP Group, advises firms on the best way to attract new talent in an employees’ marketplace
THE employees’ marketplace is as strong as ever in Jersey and Guernsey. The trend is positive and is likely to continue well into 2022. A large percentage of employers in the islands are keen to continue recruiting and plan to increase their staffing levels to keep up with the level of new business coming in.
Now that the staffing boom has arrived, it is a headache for HR managers to try to satisfy the staffing requirements of line managers who are working long hours to cover the shortfall of bodies in their departments. At AP Personnel we are receiving shopping lists of staffing requirements from our clients – no complaints from us in terms of being of service.
To help businesses recruit the staff they need, I recommend the following:
1. Ensure your HR department is liaising with recruitment agencies constantly to find out who is registering with them. Make friends with agencies so they favour your company’s HR team above others as an organisation to do business with.
2. Regularly update the recruitment agencies of choice with your company needs and, if possible, with future jobs that will need to be filled.
3. Feedback to recruitment agencies is critical to ensure that if a candidate is not suitable, they can be switched off. The agency can then find other employment for the job seeker, thus helping other companies to help fill their roles, as the declined candidate may suit their requirements instead.
4. If the HR department is co-ordinating recruitment between company departments, they must advise and push line managers to find time to interview prospective candidates as a priority and, just as importantly, provide immediate feedback after interview to the HR team. Telling the HR team whether the job seeker is suitable for further interviews or potential offers of employment enables them to report back to the agency and ensures a consistent pace is maintained. Psychologically, it is a big positive to a job seeker to hear that the prospective employer valued their interview and responded quickly to the agency.
5. Regularly talk with recruiters when the shoe is on the other foot. For example, it is an employees’ job market currently and not an employers’ one. Therefore, it is important that you provide as much information regarding your company and its positive points as possible so that recruiters can sell this to job seekers to entice them to see your organisation as the employer of choice.
6. Employment agencies are in business, just as their clients are. Therefore, constantly trying to squeeze them on rates and payment terms will not work in an employees’ marketplace. Pay for services and you should get good service in return. If one client is paying a higher commission rate, it is certain a recruiter will favour the client paying them more. More importantly, though, you will get the consultants’ loyalty and the best candidates they are screening.
7. Accept the fact that you need to apply to the States department for work permits/licences if you have had a vacancy for more than one to two months.
Leaders in Island businesses need to be taking action and ensuring that they are supporting their HR teams by working together to get jobs filled. AP Group has been established since 1990, professionally serving the Channel Islands and global clients. For more information, visit apgroupglobal.com.
