The effects of the economic slowdown on graduate recruitment are highlighted in a recent feature by the BBC ‘Half graduate recruiters cut jobs’. With vacancies down 5.4 per cent and redundancies up significantly, this means a considerable reduction in many companies’ workforces. Whilst such reductions are done to ensure companies’ profitability and survival, they also pose often unrecognised threats to their long-term viability.
In any pool of employees, there will be a distribution of performance: some will be stars, the majority will be around average and some will perform well below average. If recruitment practices remain static, so will the distribution of performance, meaning there will be fewer stars to drive success.
As recruitment is reduced, this also has the effect of shrinking companies’ talent pools. This is a long-term and potentially serious threat, as it is from these talent pools that the leaders of tomorrow are grown.
To overcome these threats, recruitment needs to get smarter. If we continue to use the same methods, we just replicate the distribution of performance in the current workforce. Here are some of our tips for tackling the recession through great recruitment:
Review your recruitment practices to ensure they are as good as you can make them
Identifying the right people is a science – ensure your people are trained in its methods
Don’t be afraid to invest in getting the right people in place – this is the best investment your organisation can make.
To find out how our services can help you beat the slowdown, please contact us.