The Canary in the Coal Mine
As the owner of an executive recruiting firm serving industrial customers, I feel obligated to write during this Covid-19 crisis and tell you what I’m learning/observing.
Calls and emails have arrived at my desk from executives with a number of our clients; most of whom are leading HVACR manufacturers.
They want to know what we’re seeing “out there". “After all”, as one caller said, “you recruiters are the “canaries in the coal mine”.
I never thought there would be a time that old saw would be applied to executive recruiting, but these are not normal times.
So rather than holding our observations close; I’m electing to be that canary that sings in the coal mine.
Here’s what GRN Fort Smith is seeing:
- Very few cancellations/postponement of hiring
- Clients are turning to phone/teleconference for interviewing; this includes the final interview before offer.
- Clients are making offers and candidates are accepting those offers without ever meeting in person! (Perhaps a new paradigm for the interview process?)
- The hiring rate has rebounded after a brief pause ( one to two weeks) whilst clients got their bearings with the new normal of remote work, social-distancing, virtual interviewing, and the adoption of a new attitude of “this too, shall pass”
- GRN Fort Smith continues to take job orders from those same astute clients who understand this crisis cannot be permanent
- Candidates, by and large, continue to keep their options open and have adapted seamlessly to this new virtual recruiting process
- In this environment, candidates are not wary, but careful, and the right combination of compensation, career advancement, and location still wins the day
- With everyone at their desk and/or by their phones these days, our time to fill is improving because everyone’s readily available
- The bottom line is The Battle for Talent continues unabated!
Wash your hands, stay safe, and God Bless America!