And once again, my hands are tied. This was promised to be a blog with some juicy industry gossip, and it very nearly was. However, after a few conversations yesterday, my editor (I do my own editing) has opted to veto the scoop. The reason: once the dust has settled, I can have a bit more fun with the topic. And writing blogs that aren’t fun is, well, not very fun at all. Apologies, but it’s coming OK?
Instead, this blog was inspired by last week’s, and what I think we’re all seeing in the market. Last week’s blog was an odd one. For a blog that doesn’t contain Robert Walters or the fate of Consult and its former employees and Directors, it was one of my most read of all time. For those who missed it, it was about recruitment legends OCG shutting up shop in NZ. The reason it resonated so well was twofold I believe: Firstly, you cannot underestimate the sheer volume of recruiters who have done their stint at OCG. Secondly, the consensus amongst those who haven’t, is that OCG have always been worthy and ethical competition. In recruitment, there is no higher praise.
And this got me thinking on the nature of competition amongst us recruiters. In its simplest form, it is commonly held that Recruiters have to be competitive, and competitive people aren’t to fraternise with the competition. Like you poor folk who got sent to an expensive school, Hays are meant to hate Robert Walters like that cringeworthy Kings vs Grammar Rugby stand-off. Some firms even encourage this. The idea that a “us versus them” mentality won’t just drive performance, but galvanise the team.
This is of course bullsh*t. Aggressive competition for competition’s sake is barely witnessed in quality recruiters. If you go to Ernesto’s in Wellington or Vultures in Auckland at lunchtime today, I guarantee that you will see Recruiters of different (and often competing) firms sinking a few beers together. No matter how some bosses try and encourage it, most good recruiters see any other good recruiter not just us worthy competition, but actually as an ally against knob-head internal recruiters. There is an “us versus them” mentality, except “them” is anyone preventing a recruiter from sending an invoice.
There are bad competitors however. And these fall into two camps.
Firstly, some agencies (or more accurately, agency leaders) are just immoral. When good agencies lose out to these folks, we’re not annoyed that we lost. We’re annoyed that we lost to a firm who cut corners, treat people badly, and usually owe the IRD loads of money. Like any industry, its easier (at first) if you cheat. If you’re a non-recruiter reading this, there are more of these firms floating around than you probably realise. Or maybe not.
The second group are more fluid, and you’re probably seeing these a lot more currently. In a crap market, formerly decent firms and recruiters are behaving in a way “unbecoming of an officer” in order to keep their heads above water. What we’re seeing are firms who previously operated in an ethical matter, representing candidates without permission, claiming candidate ownership (and then fighting to the death about it), making increasingly frantic and inappropriate BD and headhunt calls, and pressurising candidates to take jobs that they don’t want.
It is of course easy to sit in Ernesto’s or Vultures and moan about these recruiters. I think we need to see it another way however, at least for group two. If we accept that these recruiters are injured and cornered animals, doing whatever they can to fight off getting sacked or going bust, then we must also accept that we’re winning. Finding out if a rival recruiter is billing any money is impossible in an industry where we’re all “smashing it”. What gives it away is our actions. If your competitors are acting increasingly desperate, there is a fair chance that you’ll have less competitors in 6 months. Good recruiters don’t cut corners unless the mortgage depends on it. If you’re still trading and not cheating, then you’re winning the battle of attrition.
In our 16 years of trading, we’ve competed against about eight other agency rec-to-recs. They’ve ranged from good people doing good work, good people doing bad work, and awful people doing awful work. Some still trade, some don’t, and some I’m not even sure about. What has been consistent with the ones who don’t trade any more (or are just impossibly quiet) is a flurry of bad work before they shut up shop. Like the death throes of a dying hyena, they gnash away at clients and candidates, before deciding that the “market isn’t right currently“. It’s painful to compete against, but it’s temporary.
Anyway, be sure to buy a respected rival a pint today if you get the chance.
^SW
