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.

”2006 has proved to be an extremely buoyant market and I certainly have every expectation that 2007 is going to see more of the same and continue to go from strength to strength. We’re seeing clients firming their budgets and confirming headcounts with the expectation of further increases in the coming year.

”As a division, we’re experiencing a lot more retained and search work - clients are recognising that at the senior level there is the need to take control of the recruitment process and take a measured, controlled approach to finding senior talent. Search work is proving successful for a variety of roles – for example, senior HR business partners in the regions as well as specialist human capital consultants. We’re also working on a ‘retained database’ level for clients - where again they get the benefits of more detailed interview assessments and the greater buy in of candidates to key roles.

”So, what are the hot spots for talent? Well, compensation and benefits is certainly one area of huge growth with many companies bringing this specialism in-house and demand is at both the mid and senior levels. Role descriptions are seeking a depth of reward technical skills as well as the ability to dovetail with recruitment and retention issues, including performance management and succession planning. It’s increasingly widely appreciated that innovative reward skills can help with both recruitment and retention issues.

”Other demands are for HR generalists at the mid level to £65k – for instance, we’re experiencing a real shortage of candidates in London and also in the M3/M4 corridors – and, of course, we’re continuing to witness the inexorable rise of the HR business partner. Companies are crying out for HR professionals who can genuinely add some true commercial nous and worth – even, or especially, from those with extensive experience garnered from completely different fields within industry.

”Increasingly, we’re seeing that smaller organisations are starting to understand and appreciate the benefits of HR and the fact that there’s considerably ‘more to it’ and real commercial benefits to be gained from a more ‘sophisticated’ approach to their HR. Consequently, rather than the HR manager reporting to the FD, we’re seeing that HR has its own seat at the top table and are being encouraged to introduce progressive, business focussed solutions.

”Finally, it’s always gratifying to be appreciated and we’re continuing to receive lots of positive client and candidate feedback to the effect that we continue to do things slightly ‘differently’. From helping clients from multiple industry backgrounds to comply with the new ageism legislation to offering a more experienced consultant who gets a genuine kick out of providing our clients and candidates with the highest level of customer service in the industry”.

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