Employers, employees play it safe

In the current economic environment, employees are hesitant about making career changes - similarly, companies are delaying their selection processes and are displaying tremendous caution in their hiring procedures and decisions.

So says Madge Gibson, partner at leading executive search firm Jack Hammer Executive Headhunters who says both “candidate caution' and ‘employer procrastination' scores are currently at an all-time high.

She says “Companies seem to be taking an inordinate length of time to finalise selections, despite the internal need to fill vacancies urgently.”

“The consequences of which, in the current economic climate, are that companies will find their growth hampered through lack of skill, human resources and facilities when the market conditions steady. They will find themselves on the back foot and not ahead of the pack”

Recruitment procedures must be efficient

She continues,” Despite the challenging climate, companies still need to ensure efficient decision-making processes if they want to secure ‘hard to find' candidates. This is especially true when recruiting top-tier executives, as unnecessary procrastination often results in the best talent exiting the process out of frustration”.

Gibson comments that even with the correct procedures in place, it sometimes takes many weeks for companies to arrange interviews due to conflicting calendar availability and not enough priority being placed on hiring external skills.

“People are the most important factors in successful businesses and without the right leadership, managers and rainmakers on board, companies will not be able to outrun the economic downturn.

“Disorganized, laborious and outdated recruitment processes not only deter external executive talent, but also have a negative effect on a corporate brand, and lead to frustration and demotivation of staff internally”.