|
 Nicola
Grimshaw, Digby Morgan’s director responsible
for leading the commerce division, gives Human
Resourcefulness an update on the state
of the market in her sector.
It feels as if we’re all
milling about at the start line waiting for
the gun to go off! There have been a couple
of false starts and we think it is going to
be a long, slow uphill run, but it is all about
to start! In fact, there are undoubtedly some
pockets where it is already moving very fast
with some great activity happening.
Without doubt, since the summer break, learning
and development is back on the agenda though,
as we’ve talked about in previous newsletters,
we have seen an ongoing importance placed on
talent development within corporations throughout
the downturn. We are working with a number of
large corporates seeking true business partners,
leadership development is particularly in demand
and there is an increasing confidence amongst
candidates ready to enter the market. Having
said that, at the most senior level, there are
still a large number of displaced professionals
many of whom who are having to engage in a prolonged
job search and recruitment process.
High calibre candidates continue to be very
much in demand which, in turn, has often meant
that we have to deal with the issue of multiple
offers and counter offers from existing employers.
It is certainly not the case that top talent
is either easy to find or ready to accept a
more modest package.
We continue to witness a demand for HR talent
to work in Continental Europe and, interestingly,
find that HR best practice, particularly in
the functional specialisms, is more advanced
here in the UK. This has led to the bar being
set high for multinational companies used to
working with top quality UK teams and seeking
similar talent for their European teams. Nevertheless,
using the breadth of the Digby Morgan network,
combined with specific and bespoke international
online resources, we have enjoyed several successful
placements.
Search
Our search practice has continued to work on
a number of retained mandates both in the UK
and overseas. With the increasing need to manage
confidential appointments and the desire of
companies to work in close partnership with
a search specialist to ensure the employer brand
and proposition is sold consistently in the
marketplace, we have been able to operate as
a real ambassador for companies as they seek
to hire critical, senior executives.
Public Sector
The public sector team continues to extend
its reach with particular success in a number
of local government councils undergoing major
transformation as well as other third sector
businesses. With many organisations seeking
private sector talent to move in to the public
sector, we are increasingly required by our
clients to work very closely with candidates
to really understand their motivations and desires
in such a move.
Of huge importance here has been Digby Morgan’s
experience and ability to accurately ascertain
a candidate’s capacity to actually make
that move to the public sector. A combination
of the passion and desire to make a difference
to the local community or other cause is frequently
as important as the skills to manage what is
often a challenging stakeholder group and effect
change in hugely complex environments.
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