2022 in recruitment, a game changer ?

I am aware that this post may be a bit exaggerated. But I do not intend to moderate it. I sometimes have a tendency to exaggerate in my publications, for which I apologise, but I write it the way I really think.

What have you seen so far on social media and in the press ? For 2 years ??

"2020 was a year like no other". One year later: "2021 was a year like no other". "The pandemic changed everything", "We must prepare for a new normal".

Corpo-communication. Little content, lots of water.

Anyway, at the level of large organisations, I neither really laugh at it nor criticise it.?

I know that this was, is and will be the nature of things. The corporate must speak the corporate language, just as politicians, the military, the church and other large organisations speak their meta-language - code.

Nevertheless, the pandemic has turned the world upside down (yes, that's a hackneyed cliché), and the recruitment world upside down three times over.

2022 may not be "a year like any other", which I wholeheartedly wish for you and for myself (in health, economic and political terms). But one thing I am sure of: it will be completely different in recruitment than 2021. It may even be completely groundbreaking for the recruitment industry.

What did the recruitment world look like "one minute" before the pandemic ?

Both the economy and the labour markets had their absolute peak in 2019. As a result, recruitment companies started hiring more and more young people. Without any work experience, let alone recruitment experience. They took assignments on a success fee (contingency) model. This reduced recruitment more and more to the function of a primitive call centre. This is a very bad approach that leads nowhere. In the number of 4-7 agencies on the so-called PSL (preferred supplier list) everyone is in eternal conflict with each other, with the candidate, with the market, with the client. To get on the PSL... you have to beat the competition with a lower rate ("race to the bottom"). So we are not competing on quality, or other REAL competitive advantages. What client thinking looks like: More agencies for lower and lower rates + more junior internal recruiters= "somehow these candidates will eventually get called"...and the budget needs to be under control.?

No, they won't "call them out".

Agencies have no incentive to go outside the box: send 2-3 CVs and see if "someone will buy something". Yes, this business model adheres to used car salesmen. However, if you're not a recruiter, you need to know that there's a lot more to it than "cold email/cold calling" around an agency's candidate database and LinkedIn. Read on ! I will show you the arguments below.

Internet in the era of the plague.

In the plague era of Covid, the Internet just got clobbered. Literally. Relational selling, based on traditional f2f meetings, died out overnight. Also literally overnight, not just recruiters but a whole lot of salespeople, evangelists etc had to switch from offline to online. What happened: Social networks and so-called "social selling" simply got clobbered. So much sales content flowed into LinkedIn. The phenomenon that occurred is similar to the famous "advertising blindness" of the 1980s. Back then, in New York, ads started appearing on taxi roofs so they could be seen from skyscrapers because all other media were failing. Taxi roofs also failed.

I must admit that, as a traditional man, I absolutely always preferred normal (physical) encounters, although thanks to this I knew some parts of Polish motorways by heart.

At the time of Covid the so-called "everyone" switched to online. And they began to clog up the online world at lightning speed. Again, there was a flurry of schematic content that only generated clicks and that NO ONE wanted to read. The LinkedIn community began to be spammed with thousands of worthless polls on whether it's better to work remotely or hybrid ("LinkedIn in a time of disease") and other worthless questionnaires and posts.?

Coaches of all kinds have started to present Paulo Coelho-style thoughts on a massive scale.

The level of content on LinkedIn has dropped dramatically, which I regret. I much prefer the LinkedIn of five years ago...but what can I do about it. Try to adapt.

At the same time, recruitment, so far associated with something primitive, a slightly better call centre, which it absolutely should not be, began, step by step, to be perceived as a comprehensive professional service: excellent copywriting+ knowledge of marketing in social networks (and this in times of revolutionary change !) + excellent knowledge of the market of a given industry+ excellent negotiation and persuasion skills... Yes, at least the experienced ones among us stopped being perceived as "used car salesmen". Finally and thankfully.

Where have we gone (as a community) with the solution, or "give us more recruiters"....and EB.

With unemployment at record lows globally, many industries have experienced an unprecedented shortage of talent (at least during our professional lives) that we simply don't know where to look.?

It seems to me that in 2021 companies (agency clients) have understood for the first time in years that recruitment is not the same brokering as, say, a real estate agency or a car broker. Real estate and cars have no cognitive intelligence, no feelings etc. They are a bit easier to trade. I apologise at once if this comparison may offend someone.

Nevertheless - for the first time in years, our (recruiters') work started to be perceived as consulting. As a business consultancy, rather than a call centre.

The Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) model has seen absolute growth. However, I would like to say that after a year of the market's enthusiasm for this model, its main flaw has become apparent. The RPO model is a giant outsourcing of young and inexperienced recruiters pumped by RPO companies.

Unfortunately, it does not work. Why? Because we're mostly trying to cash in on their training.?

Inexperienced recruiters, who are sold by RPO firms as having the same know-how and skills as "RPO firms in general", untrained, are just another "supply" to the internal recruitment team.

Specifically, many strat- ers believe that instead of paying recruiters, whether external or internal, it is better to invest in Employer Branding activities. But EB goes a very long way. It's a bit like brushing your teeth every day... You have to do it, of course, but...?

Will EB ensure you a fast enough flow of candidates ? Do you want to wait a year for the first effects ?

Solution:

I suggest you start treating both internal and agency recruiters as business consultants and not simple cold-callers. And start choosing those who don't work in bulk but in quality. And let the rest go if you feel you are dealing with cold-callers.

Recruitment is a multi-faceted skill. You need to know a little bit of everything and possess a lot:

1.Sourcing techniques- this is not just using LinkedIn= this is using a dozen sourcing tools at once.

2.Excellent communication with the candidate= excellent copywitng.

3.Excellent argumentation and negotiation skills.

4.Knowledge in the field of marketing. And the latest trends.

5.Up-to-date knowledge of the market, down to the smallest detail.

6.Knowledge of domain knowledge.

7.Continuous extension of knowledge and skills.

Such recruiters can really help you.?