HR recruitment - what is going on?
Here Jim Cressey of Higher Talent contributes a piece on the current state of the HR interim management market:
Higher Talent is a specialist Human Resources recruitment consultancy dedicated to the search and selection of Human Resources professionals. We pride ourselves on our high level of candidate care and our dedication to finding the perfect fit for our clients.
I joined Higher Talent to establish, more formally, their interim HR practice and this we have done under the newly established HTi brand. We have gradually consolidated and updated our database of interim candidate detail and ensured that, where possible, we have met all potential candidates in person. Our efforts now are turning to establishing ourselves as a leading, but caring, HR interim provider. We are also re-designing our website to allow more direct interaction between our candidates and clients – watch out for this in the near future!
The best way to describe the HR interim market at the moment is “steady”. At Higher Talent interims we anticipate that Autumn 2011 will be an active period for interim placements. Our thinking is formulated by the following:
- The seasonal nature of the corporate event cycle ensures there is a steady demand in Q4 2011 and Q1 in 2012 for HR interim help
- HR Interims continue to play a vital role as temporary replacements in cases of maternity or unpaid leave situations
- HR Interims also have a vital role, as subject matter experts, in leading specific corporate agenda projects such as major change programmes and new country establishment for our international clients
The lack of overall confidence in the recruitment marketplace means that companies are more inclined to employ someone on an interim basis rather than permanently, at this time. This has in turn led to a proliferation of fixed term contract roles, for various reasons, which may be unhelpful from a fiscal and legal point of view, to those already formally established as career interims.
Finally we are concerned, as we all are in the recruitment world, about the lack of candidate and client awareness of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR), despite the best efforts of companies like Interim Hub. These regulations are upon us now and here at Higher Talent interim we will be doing our best to educate those that have little knowledge of the implications. Watch our web-site for more developments in the area.
Jim Cressey is leading the development of Higher Talent interim and brings to Higher Talent over 30 years HR and Reward experience gained through a career in consultancy and corporate.
You can contact Jim at Higher Talent on james@higher-talent.com or telephone him on (0)207 283 9200.