This week’s blog is going to be a quick round up of some interesting industry-related news articles from the past week. Usually I would be writing some opinion, commentary or offering advice related to our recruitment industry in New Zealand. But this week I can’t and that is because:
1) It is a short week and I am desperately running out of time (anyone have fun in the rain on Queen’s Birthday?)
2) I am developing a nasty bout of “man-flu” which does not lend itself well to advanced cerebral thinking (and yes, a degree of thinking did go into previous posts, believe it or not…)
I hope you will forgive me. I also ask forgiveness of Sheryl at Gaulter Russell, Trish at Retailworld and Brad at Talent Capital for exposing them to my man-flu in various meetings pre-arranged for today (oh and Adrian the barber, if you’re reading).
So according to statistics released by Seek there has been a 3.6% increase in Wellington jobs in May. That is nice, and is certainly mirrored by the demand for recruiters I am starting to encounter in that market. However, Christchurch recorded a huge 4.8% fall. What’s going on in the mainland? Have they completed the stadium already and there’s no jobs left to go around? Should we read too much into this? I don’t think so. I’m surprised the NBR warrants this press release as being news-worthy – of much more importance is the unemployment figures released by Statistics New Zealand as an economic barometer – but then it provides Seek with some free publicity, like this is too.
Michael Hill is recruiting. I’m sure Trish already knew that. Except it looks like he is doing it at seminars where he is on the hunt for the next Michael Hill, rather than going through agencies. He says some good things about having the guts to bring in top quality to your firm and delegating to them. I love the quote:
“There is no point having a dog and barking yourself”
Could the same be said of recruitment managers who are expected to bill? I have always experienced this in all of the companies I have recruited within, where management have also had some fee-generation responsibilities of their own. During the GFC this policy was essential for the survival of the firm and the retention of the manager’s position, but now the market is hotting up again I wouldn’t be surprised to see less managers “barking”. Michael Hill has a vision of running 1000 stores, so I imagine he was disappointed to be following in the steps of Pumpkin Patch and closing half of his recently-opened USA branches.
The World Cup is finally here! But all you Temp Recruiters need to be wary of your football-loving temp staff dropping you in it. Randstad get their name in the NZ Herald with this piece about staff throwing sickies during the World Cup. Certainly after All Whites matches there will be some bleary eyes in the workplace, as detailed in the article:
“Employers should prepare to be short staffed on the days following the All Whites’ World Cup fixtures, which are scheduled for late at night next Tuesday and early morning (NZT) on Monday June 21 and Friday June 25.”
Temp recruiters should make sure they have their on-call mobiles fully charged during those periods too!
Finally, a survey from Manpower suggests New Zealand employers are more optimistic than they have been in two years, which should indicate a rise in hiring intentions – so hit those phones and get in front of your clients.
I seemed to get a lot of interest and feedback on last week’s blog about Restraints of Trade which is great – please keep it coming. I would reiterate though, that it is in all of our interests to keep all arbitration out of the courts and out of lawyers hands, and keep the money in the recruitment industry. I have since learned of two separate incidents recently where one recruitment firm is insisting on pursuing another through the courts in order to restrain a former employee. I believe we should be concentrating on talent management, engendering loyalty and retaining our top people, rather than trying to shut the stable door after the horse has already bolted.
Cut your losses, arrange mediation and come to a fair and sensible agreement – then move on and keep on working hard to secure more market share of all the new business starting to arise in this period of recovery.
