How many Recruitment Consultancies, Consultancies and Candidates are being told that the current recession means that it is a ‘buyer’s market’? ie: the Client can cherry pick. Ok, so perhaps this is true in parts, certainly the downturn has hit certain industries harder than others, causing redundancies, and an influx of candidates. So the common perception (and that reported daily) is that there are now thousands of candidates available to fill a few vacancies, hence putting the client in a very strong position.

I would like to air a word of caution to all those believers of the above scenario. Firstly, not ALL sectors have been hit as bad as say Finance, Banking, Manufacturing etc, and Secondly, the recession did not change the issue with demographic problems overnight, i.e.: the countries who face a shortage of talent through demographic issues i.e.: the population not replacing itself (think Japan, think Singapore, think most of Europe) did not suddenly have an influx of talent for those industries where it remains difficult to source people. My experience (if it is worth anything) is showing that a number of clients are jumping on this bandwagon of ‘It’s a buyers market’, and using this as tool to squeeze margins. Clever move, I can’t really blame them. However I do exercise caution.

Time for an example, I had a client in the Construction industry, who promptly pro-claimed that ‘it’s a buyer’s market’ and that ‘they have the pick of the bunch’…after careful consideration, the following conversation proceeded:

Me: ‘ok so you feel you have a lot of choice in the market now?’
Client: ‘yes, we are receiving a lot of CV’s daily, we literally can’t get through them”
Me: ‘ Right, so lets focus on this requirement of yours, you are looking for a Senior Tunnel Design Engineer, yes?”
Client: ‘ Yes that’s right”
Me: ‘ Ok so do you believe that there is a huge amount of Senior Tunnel Design Engineers available for your job, due to the downturn? I believe your position has been unfilled now for 6 weeks?”
Client: “ Well it’s more difficult to find those sort of people, but there are lots of other Construction candidates in the market”
Me:” But not many Senior Tunnel Design Engineers right?”

Ok so you get the gist. My point in the above dialogue was to subtly point out to the client, that not ALL sectors and positions were affected by the downturn. The downturn did not suddenly created a massive pool of Senior Tunnel Design Engineers, who were made redundant by their previous companies. Not at all. Good people remain difficult to find across most industries. The issue is that decision making has slowed down, and not that ALL clients across ALL sectors for ALL jobs have the luxury of ‘Cherry Picking’. This leads me to my next point.

If you are one of these people who have wrongly made the above assumption and used the ‘hype’ to cover over the facts, then beware. 2 things may have happened (if you were overly wreck less) 1) you may have squeezed your suppliers margins and 2) you may have treated certain candidates below acceptable standards. If you have done any of the above, I would say beware of the following in months/years to come:

1) Recruitment Consultancies may have discounted their fees for you, however I’m fairly certain
that this will be a temporary move. As soon as the market returns (and that it will), the
same old problem of being able to find good talent on time, will return, putting the
Candidates back in the driving seat NOT the clients (sector specific of course, but generally
speaking). Thus making the Recruitment Consultant’s role far more difficult and
time-consuming, therefore this will reflect in a raise in the fees. Be prepared and enjoy
your discounts whilst you can

2) I feel for those companies, HR departments, Recruitment Consultancies,
Hiring Managers etc, who behaved with subtle arrogance, during these current
hard times. People have memories, and they won’t forget about the
companies who treated them well and those that treated them badly. Those
visionary people and companies who invested in enhancing their ‘Employer of
Choice’ branding during this downturn, well done! I firmly believe your
efforts will not go un-noticed. Those who didn’t return calls, emails, and
generally treated jobseekers with dis-respect, then beware, as I believe the
candidates may remember this in years to come, and this may stop certain
candidates from joining certain companies, long when this recession is over
and done with.

So in summary, Clients and Recruitment Consultants, treat people well on the way down, as you never know who you may bump into on the way up again!

For a company who have only been around for 2.5 years and launched in Singapore 6 short months ago, 3C Synergy have made an impact in more ways than most.

Being the only Chartered Building Consultancy specialising in recruitment for the ‘built environment’, 3C Synergy have taken their responsibilities one step further.

Imagine if, for every recruitment placement made in the construction industry, fruit trees are planted in India, or for every person who is found a job, a child’s education is paid for in Africa.  This is the story that 3C Synergy is creating, and is the vision behind the Buy 1 Give 1 scheme, which 3C Synergy proudly participate in as a business member.

According to the Buy1GIVE1 website (www.buy1-give1.com) “B1GI is the home of the most powerful, ‘impactful’ and change-making giving process in the world. It is now a global ‘movement’ bringing together businesses, charities and consumers in a way that has simply not been done before”

Tristan Courtenay is one of the Directors of 3C Synergy, who states that “getting involved with B1G1 means that every time a recruitment placement is made, a specific contribution is made to a worthy cause selected by us. The novel concept is based around transaction based giving”

So far 3C Synergy have planted fruit trees in India, purchased radiation therapy for cancer victims and paid for their children to remain in education during their parent’s therapy, they have also provided meals for rescued children in India, sponsored a child’s education in Africa, purchased therapy sessions for the ‘Daughters of Cambodia’, and planted trees in Borneo.  According to Tristan, 3C Synergy have managed to positively contribute towards environmental and humanitarian causes, as “we believe our business has a duty to act responsibly and that we can use our influence to positively impact the wider global community”

Co-Director Dee Allan said that 3C Synergy researched several charities and worthwhile causes prior to launching in Singapore, as “we didn’t just want to come to Asia and simply make recruitment placements, we felt we could use our business and our own voices to create awareness and get involved with projects which are related to our sector. For us, since we operate within the construction, engineering and real estate sphere, it made sense that we contribute towards environmental causes. Also we are in the business of recruiting talent for our clients, hence we felt educational projects for children was directly relevant, as the children of today are the future for tomorrow”

They beauty of 3C Synergy’s transaction based giving, is that all stakeholders are directly involved with the contributions made. According to Tristan, “Our clients and candidates are a huge part of the contributions we make, as it is the ‘marriage’ between the two which makes a successful placement.  Once the placement is made we are able to contribute a % of the fee received towards a worthy cause.  We are also able to get all our Consultants involved, as they have the choice of which worthy cause to contribute to for every placement they make.  So at any one time, we will be contributing to a variety of causes, which are chosen by the Consultants who are making the placements. It is a win/win for everyone involved, and creates a positive environment for all of us to work within”

From a business perspective the B1G1 model of ‘transaction based giving’ is a great way for businesses to participate in over 500 worthy causes worldwide.  Despite the economic downturn, it is still possible to continue contributing, as according to Dee “the B1G1 model is sensitive to the economical and business challenges facing companies today.  The contributions we make are relevant to the sales we make.  If we are having a challenging month, we will contribute on a smaller scale, however when we are doing more business, our proportion of contributions increases relative to our sales, hence the act of ‘giving’ is totally flexible and ‘moulds’ around the health of our company’s output, at any given time”

3C Synergy will continue to make transaction based contributions, despite the global recession, and aim to make increased contributions towards environmental & education projects worldwide.  “We also hope to participate in a trip to India with the B1G1 patrons, where we will contribute our time as well as money for community projects” 

According to Dee, The late Anita Roddick said it in a nutshell, ‘ If you think you are too small to make an impact, try sleeping with a mosquito in the room’  “We live and work by this phrase, and believe individuals and companies can make an impact despite their size or scale of contributions”

To find out more about how Buy 1 Give 1 works, visit www.Buy1-give1.com and to find out more about 3C Synergy’s work visit www.3csynergy.com