The National Skills Shortage: Closer to Home

Unless you have been living in a recruitment vacuum it is no secret that Australia is in the midst of a sustained skills shortage. Importantly, scarce supply has seen the recruitment industry itself find it difficult to attract and retain talent.

Current industry conditions are reinforcing the notion that consultants are a recruitment business’ most valuable asset. So how are some innovative recruiters addressing this issue?

For an increasing number of organisations heading overseas to identify and secure recruitment talent is becoming a successful strategy. The idea being that if your talent pools are too small, simply create larger ones.

In particular, this approach has gained a level of popularity in Information Technology and Computing recruitment. Some IT recruiters have learnt to effectively cross international boundaries to secure skilled candidates suited to their niche.

Of course, recruitment businesses must adapt to international marketplaces if they are to successfully attract recruitment talent. As reiterated by Leonie Hill, FastTrack – Sales & Marketing Director, in the June 2007 edition of Recruitment Journal:

"Companies are starting to talk about a global village of candidates; they're looking to recruit candidates from other regions who are prepared to work for periods of time over here. So the capacity to deal across regions for companies that either work in a niche market, or are very large, is going to be crucial.”

Closer to home a powerful recruitment management system, when used to its full potential, is also essential for maximising talent pools. A fully integrated system that enables consultants to deeply mine their database greatly assists in aligning candidates and recruitment positions. In particular, the use of keyword libraries, as available in FastTrack’s SkillsBase & Recruitment Manager, can help stimulate lateral thinking when trying to fill internal recruitment positions.

In short, keyword libraries match candidates to positions. By utilising various keyword criteria they ensure accurate skill searching and matching, and form the basis on which a job, candidate or client is defined.

By assigning specific keywords to candidates with desirable skill sets (particularly candidates that may not be searching for recruitment positions), consultants can automatically create comprehensive shortlists for any recruitment position. Used effectively, this ‘outside the square’ tactic helps uncover unrecognised opportunities.

Needless to say, retention is another key consideration. Recruitment business owners must become talent managers in order to retain their valuable existing talent. Fostering their passion and ensuring consultants have the right systems, training and resources is how they will be kept satisfied. Remember, the best form of candidate attraction is ‘word of mouth’. When your consultants speak positively about your business it is the best endorsement potential recruitment talent can receive.

With no end to the skills shortage in sight recruitment businesses will continue to find it challenging to secure the right personnel. However, a proactive business mindset and harnessing your recruitment software will help ensure you have the right people.