CHALLENGES OF RECRUITMENT

 

The field of recruitment in Pakistan is undergoing a change. Not just a small scale evolution but a fundamental progression paradigm - a shift that will see the recruiting landscape change in a manner where traditional recruiters will fall behind and replaced by new, differently skilled recruiters, ready for the new challenges of recruitment.

 

What is this change and why is it so challenging?

The current global recruitment landscape is changing with a fast pace. The global war for the best talent is real i.e. the talent mass is geographically mobile and happy to move for the best job. Further, the talent mass is getting more demanding, not only in pay scales but also in terms of career progression and training & development. With the experienced talent pool shrinking noticeably in quality, recruiters are competing aggressively to attract candidates across different sectors.

 

Also, the graduate pool is alarmingly becoming “less skilled” with watered-down degrees making them under-prepared for the working life. Talent is becoming less loyal and more eager to switch companies on an average of every two years. We see the market competitors getting smarter in mapping out talent pools and attracting key personnel away from their current placements.Recruitment agencies keep failing in finding creative ways to attract the unique talent to their databases, hence bringing about the “recruitment chess” of the same talent across companies.

 

There is a fundamental essence of recruitment – “Not everyone is looking for a job”. The benchmark seems to suggest that only 10% of relevant/experienced talent is actively looking for a role at any given moment in time. So the best candidates relevant for your role/s are typically among the 90% of candidates who are not engaged in job searches.

 

Hence in a market that is full of challenges, companies must ponder on why they are focused on using recruitment agencies, posting on job boards, and CV searching, when they are not actually reaching out to the 90% non-active segment, which could include the best candidates out of the entire talent pool. Perhaps it's time for employers to play their role in accelerating the much-needed change that the area of recruitment is undergoing.

 

 

 

 

About the Author: Tehmina Kanchwala was the Regional Human Resources Manager at Makro Habib Pakistan Limited when this article was first published in the 8th TimeTrax HR Professionals NewsBeat in October 2011. Ms. Tehmina is currently serving as the Manager HR and Admin at Aga Khan Development Network.