RECRUITMENT - It's Never Plain Sailing

As the market recovers and the remainder of vacancies comes more into line with the supply of candidates, the consultants at Paul Harper Search & Selection are working hard to maintain the delicate balance between candidate expectations and the true market position.
“Trying to manage client and candidate expectations is never easy and in the current market it is important to get a balance between what a
client or candidate wants and what is available. All our clients want top candidates. Once a vacancy is signed off, they feel tremendous pressure to get the very best candidate they possibly can. However, the top candidates are generally in work and want a step up from their current role to make a move worthwhile. In most cases, they want to work for an Investment House or Wrap provider, of which there are fewer vacancies. As a rule, candidates are not interested in working for another Life Office.” Bridget Kenny-Levick - Consultant with Paul Harper Search & Selection for 5 years.
Now the election is behind us, we should have more sense of where the market is heading, shouldn’t we?  Well, probably not!
BEST RECRUITMENT QUARTER FOR 2 YEARS
As we stated in our previous newsletter, the recruitment market for Intermediary sales staff has recovered from the lows of 2008/9.  At Paul Harper Search & Selection, quarter 2 has been our best quarter. Our general market feeling is that clients are cautiously optimistic about the future.  Those that have survived the downturn see opportunities to recover some of their lost sales – even with the public sector cuts looming.
However, we must face the fact that the UK is not seen as an attractive market by most providers, hence the sale of Axa Life to Resolution and potential sale of Aegon UK by its Dutch parent, and even Prudential made it clear that it saw its future in Asia.
As companies seek to repair their balance sheets, many are looking to offload low margin or loss making subsidiaries.
For those providers keen to stay in the game, capital light seems to be the order of the day as they seek to sell products that can be profitable from day one.
Within the Life Offices it would appear that senior appointments are nearly all internal at present.  In the case where a company is absolutely certain it does not have the necessary skills in house, only then will Head Hunters be instructed to secure individuals with a very specific skill set.
Generally for an external appointment to be made, the hiring company is seeking certainty that the appointment will impact quickly on the company’s bottom line.
While some companies are still focused on efficiency saving (particularly those that did not take action earlier in the cycle) many now find their sales force is too small or has the wrong skills to benefit as the market returns to normality.

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