Marketplace update

Reasons for recruiting
When recruiting to replace an employee, it is important to remember that your new recruit should be at the level the incumbent was when s/he started; to recruit an individual equal in status to the employee who is leaving means that the new employee will have little to learn and seek progression too quickly.

Recruiting a new position can be difficult to position. We are pleased at Placement UK to be able to offer a free bench-marking process in these circumstances where we can provide subjective advice on what is available at every level.

Maternity leave is a time when companies feel that a team can cope without the absentee, but it should be remembered that it is a time when the increased pressure on other members of the department can force them to reassess their own positions.

Permanent, Temporary or Interim?
Temporary candidates are a quick solution. However the reduced investment shown in them is likely to be returned in terms of their commitment to the company. Candidates available for temporary contracts are less likely (although not exclusively) to be of a calibre or specialism that was less essential to their last company. It is an ideal solution to unskilled or low paid levels where a requirement is immediate.
However with the increasing flexibility of working environments, this is a solution which, although small, is growing in popularity.

Permanent candidates are usually keen to progress their career and are more difficult to attract to anew company without enticements, but once employed will provide a longer term investment for your company.

Interim candidates are those who utilise their specialist knowledge to improve your business. Their experience is valuable so they can be expensive, but worthwhile as the changes they make can create larger cost savings.
Where consultants merely advise, Interim candidates will actually become part of the situation and implement solutions. They are ideal for systems implementation or whilst driving structural change, but should not be seen as a permanent solution.

Salary expectations
We encourage candidates to seek no more than 10 - 15% increase on their basic salaries, but every assignment and individual should be treated separately.

We endeavour to ensure that the client is made fully aware of the preferred candidate’s situation with regards to other offers, package preferences and individual requirements so that the correct offer is made first time and awkward negotiations are kept to an absolute minimum.

Recruitment Trends
Preferred Supplier Agreements are routine for procurement managers, but how do they fit within a personnel department?
There are the obvious benefits of creating competition and lowering costs, but they can take years to develop, cause added layers of bureaucracy and are often over-looked by elements of the company.

Having worked both within and outside of PSL initiatives, we would recommend that PSA’s are set up and closely administered for all mainstream and/or repetitive recruitment, and a wider range of specialist organisations are utilised to provide sector specific candidates with knowledge tailored to the clients needs.