Dona Battat, Digby Morgan’s director responsible for leading the company’s City division, takes a look at the latest happenings in the Square Mile in 2007.

In tune with the ongoing business success across London as a global financial centre, it will come as no surprise that there is currently a heightened demand for the recruitment of talented HR professionals in the City. We are now witnessing a record requirement both in terms of the numbers of roles and in relation to the specific experience required, and it is now apparent that candidates with experience in certain areas of high demand are in a position to have multiple attractive opportunities to consider. In line with this market, the financial rewards are increasingly attractive for those most sought after candidates.

New Players on the Block

At present we are witnessing a substantial increase in need across most HR skill sets and experience, particularly in the business partner arena at the VP and SVP level, for example. Interestingly, the City market is being increasingly influenced by the approach of some of the relatively ‘newer players’ within financial services such as Private Equity, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds and Re-Insurance companies, amongst others. A number of major roles within these sectors that we have managed recently have been looking to attract talent at the highest level from the top tier financial services and major professional services organisations. Subsequently, current shortlists of candidates for roles within these sectors are now encompassing some of the very best of City HR talent.

The attraction of opportunities with these emerging players is often the corporate culture itself. Many of these companies are offering highly competitive packages and the total reward proposition that will attract the most talented and sought after to come on board. Candidates who experience at first hand the rapid, fluid and entrepreneurial processes of some of these new players believe that this is reflected in the corporate culture of the organisation and career decisions are made accordingly.

As this demand for talent in the City intensifies, we are witnessing a significant increase in executive search assignments being undertaken across many disciplines within HR. Also, with the ongoing dearth of good HR candidates currently available, more and more clients are moving towards a retained relationship with their recruitment partner in order to ensure, in such a competitive market, that they are attracting the best possible candidates in a timely manner.

HR Business Partners

Even with search activity, however, the market remains extremely tight for strong HR professionals across the board. Companies are finding that they are often having to look outside of the City for high calibre candidates; for example, there is now a marked increase in appetite to source talent from within major FTSE 100 sectors and many clients have a greater degree of flexibility on the candidate specification. One area where this is working very successfully is in the high demand for business partners with a wider commercial background coming into the City arena. As companies remain focused on seeking those business partners that can truly demonstrate in-depth commercial skills, they are now employing increasing numbers of individuals with experience in large-scale people management, such as off and on-shoring, outsourcing and smartsourcing. An ability to navigate effectively within a global, matrixed environment and proven experience in leveraging effectively through others is also in high demand, and this experience is now actively being sought within global blue chip firms.

Other areas where we are seeing the greatest demand and, consequently, the toughest competition for the best talent include recruitment (in particular front office recruiters), experienced graduate recruitment and mid level compensation & benefits experts. Other niche areas where there remains a high demand are for shared services and employee relations experts.

Retention

Given the market conditions, employers are now investing increasingly in their people to retain and develop them on an ongoing basis. For example, one of the major financial institutions in the City has stated that achieving mobility within the firm - both geographically and by developing skills sets – is helping forge career paths and is a valid ‘currency’. Increasingly, many companies are recruiting from within, developing their employees’ experience across regions and across HR specialisms. Key staff are being offered roles around the globe and opportunities to gain additional, specialist skills and experience without having to leave the company.

Finally, there is ongoing development in the way in which HR candidates themselves are approaching the recruitment process in relation to their own careers. Current candidates - and also those working in the City who are possible candidates of the future - are, quite rightly, demanding an increasingly personal relationship with us. Although, as HR professionals themselves, they are very informed when it comes to the latest developments in the sector, they know that specialists such as Digby Morgan are the people who truly are committed to The City HR scene and they are becoming increasingly keen to keep abreast of this knowledge.

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