The Changing Role of Recruitment Agencies in SA

By Vanessa Raath @its_about_peopl

How much does E-Recruitment Cost?

No wonder there are so many ‘fly by night’ agencies popping up all the time! All you need is an Internet connection, a few Social media accounts and you can recruit. Right?

There are 414 million LinkedIn Users

- April 2016

LinkedIn can be found in over 200 Countries

- April 2014

35% of LinkedIn Users access their

profiles daily- January 2016

There are 2 new users every second

on LinkedIn - December 2015

LinkedIn Profiles with a photo get 14x more views

- September 2015

The Key Differences between Traditional & E-Recruitment

Traditional E-Recruitment

Advertising was mainly done in Print Media like the newspaper

Advertising is not only on dedicated career portals but on social media too

There was a more ‘Spray and Pray’ approachThis can be a far more targeted approach to headhunt the most suitable candidates

Audience consisted of newspaper readers Audience is anyone who uses the Internet or social media

Took up to a week to get an up to date CV You can Google and research a candidate in a matter of minutes

Strong emphasis on the personal touch Automated online applications lack the personal touch and will not suit more mature candidates

Have the opportunity to sell the non-financial benefits of the company

Have to offer more than your competitors to create the initial interest in your role. As well as having an excellent online Employer Brand

The Biggest Threats to South African Recruitment Agencies are…

• Companies who hire Recruiters to work for them internally in an in house set up

• Smaller agencies who are willing to work at ridiculously low margins and push our percentages down

• The war for talent is real and sometimes our clients cannot compete with the huge packages on offer from other companies

• NOT e-recruitment as we prefer to embrace this as a positive for us

Can the ‘Human’ in Recruitment ever be Replaced?

• Can an algorithm measure attitude; creativity; personality; culture fit and how a candidate presents themselves?

• How Technology can Help:o Sort through CV data to get to a manageable pool of suitable

candidates very quicklyo Keep in touch with our candidate pool and with our clientso Use Job Boards & Social Media platforms to obtain contact

details and ‘professionally stalk’ people

Why you will always need Specialised Agencies in South Africa

• Internal Recruiters are not as well networked as specialised recruiters as they are often required to focus on general recruitment

• External recruiters have a large passive network of candidates that they can tap into when the right role presents itself

• External Recruiters who have worked in the same industry for more than 5 years often get approached by their previous candidates before their partners even know they are looking

• Even though E-Recruitment platforms are free for all to use, specialised agencies know where to look for their talent and this will always give them the edge

How South African Recruitment Agencies can remain Relevant

• I would recommend that all of the following be done via LinkedIn:

Stay current and always have your finger on the pulse of your niche specialist industry – write blogs; comment in forums & LinkedIn groups and basically make yourself heard

Build your own personal brand within your niche speciality Build trusted relationships across your niche speciality with hiring

managers and candidates. Candidate often become clients and VV. Know where the top candidates are working and what sort of roles

they would consider changing jobs for

How Agencies must embrace E-Recruitment to Succeed

• HAVE A SOCIAL RECRUITING STRATEGY• Explore the latest tools to stand out from

other agencies who may be viewed as ‘too traditional’ in their approach

• Do you add value to your client’s recruitment process?

• HAVE A FAST, EASY APPLICATION PROCESS• You need to strive to maximise your

candidate’s experience through the application process or else they will choose an easier route to their next job

• ONLY WORK WITH CLIENTS WITH A STRONG EMPLOYER BRAND

• Is your client proud of their brand and do they have a desirable social media presence?

• Are you recruiting for a company that candidates actually want to work for?

• USE E-RECRUITMENT TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY PERSONAL & COMPANY PROFILE

• Even if you are a 3 person agency your social media presence can still be excellent

• Candidates will research you and your company before deciding to meet with you so use this to your advantage

How E-Recruitment will help all of us in the Future

• More cost effective• Access to passive candidates• Increased visibility with a larger reach• Shorter turn around times• Access to higher quality candidates• Competitive edge

Recruiting is Different to Sourcing

Recruiters do so much more than just identify Talent. They also need to consult with Line Managers; conduct interviews;

problem solve; manage offers and many other duties. E-Recruitment makes the Recruiter’s jobs easier but I firmly

believe we still need the Recruiter to close the deal. I believe that E-Recruitment will enhance our value as Agency

Recruiters as long as we use the tools efficiently and effectively.

Thank You!

Vanessa Raathinfo@itsaboutpeople.co.zawww.facebook.com/itsaboutpeoplewww.linkedin.com/vanessaraath@Its_about_peopl