It’s not about having the right skills, but the right combination of ability and personality fit
The human touch is still an important factor in the recruitment industry, as CPL’s Avril McHugh explains to John McGee
WITH the Irish unemployment rate at a 10-year low and new job announcements being made on a near daily basis, business is booming for the Irish recruitment industry. With revenues of €393.6m and profits of €14m in 2015, the biggest player in the Irish market is CPL Resources — the stock-exchange listed company founded by Anne Heraty back in 1989. With its headquarters in Ireland, CPL now operates 19 recruitment agency brands catering for various industries in nine different countries. It is also a substantial employer in its own right with 600 full-time staff, a figure that is set to grow substantially over the coming years.
While the declining unemployment rate may be good for the overall economy, it poses both challenges and opportunities for recruitment companies, says Avril McHugh, CPL’s marketing director.
“The biggest challenge is securing top-tier talent for clients,” she says.
“There is huge demand for the best people, so it’s not just about finding the right skills but finding the right combination of skills and personality fit. That leads to a lot of competition. It’s often referred to as a ‘war on talent’ with recruitment agencies, in-house recruiters, job boards and new recruitment technologies all fighting for the attention of skilled candidates, most of whom are not actually looking for a new job and are gainfully employed,” she adds.
“Technology is starting to level the field too. Anyone can search LinkedIn or post a job online and promote it on social media. To win that war, however, we need to be smarter in how we use technology and offer a better service once we actually find the right person.”
While digital platforms like LinkedIn and the various online job sites will continue to play a role, the one thing they can’t replicate is the human interaction, she says.
“The main opportunity for recruitment agencies is that human touch. We have seen all of this technology disrupt the industry, but the bottom line on all of it is that candidates interact with either an online application or directly with an employer.
“As an agency we have inside knowledge of both the employer and candidate and we can make the right connections and support candidates in a way those technologies can’t. An automated recruitment app can’t coach interviewing techniques or take you out for coffee — no matter how good the search algorithm is.”
Cutting through all the noise to get to potential job-seekers while at the same time servicing the needs of its corporate clients is always a challenge, says McHugh.
“The internet has changed the recruitment landscape not only by enabling people to post and research jobs by themselves, but also by inundating people with information.
“We need to make sure we’re being heard by making ourselves a truly valuable resource for clients and candidates. This is why we place so much importance on our research, our employment monitors and things like our white papers,” she says.
With economic activity increasing over the past few years and a slew of new FDI investments announced over the past six months, possibly the biggest challenge is matching supply with the demand. For some sectors this is proving to be tricky.
“Recently, there has been a pattern of demand exceeding supply in a number of areas, particularly technology, science and engineering.
“We have seen incredible investment in these areas, both from indigenous companies and multinationals, which has driven up demand and made it difficult to find the best talent. The mass emigration over the last six years, with around half-a-million people leaving the country, hasn’t helped matters as a lot of that talent is now overseas.
“However, the upside is that the demand is there for these people to come home to really exciting career opportunities. That’s why we set up the One Tribe, which offers information to help talented Irish workers to return home along with a concierge recruitment service to help them find a role in Ireland that advances their career,” says McHugh.
“For the wider recruitment market in general, as the economy grows, we’re also seeing the number of senior positions available increasing. Earlier this year, we established Ardlinn, which recruits for executive-level positions in the €250k-€500k bracket.
“As Ireland continues to be a global leader in attracting foreign direct investment, this has generated a lot of opportunities at that top level.”
Unlike other sectors of the Irish economy, the recruitment industry could benefit significantly if companies move parts of their UK operations to Ireland, particularly those that need to be part of the single EU market.
“It still remains to be seen exactly what kind of deal the UK will negotiate with the EU — but it could lead to an influx of foreign direct investment in Ireland, particularly in the banking and financial services sector,” she concludes.