How to make sure a recruitment skills shortage doesn’t slow you down

Felicity Evans • April 29, 2015

News just in from RIDA (the recruitment investment, advisory and consultancy house) paints a picture that is at once full of promise, and at the same time exposes some very real frustrations. A survey recently carried out by the consultancy – in which recruitment company directors were quizzed about their predictions for business throughout 2015 – revealed that whilst 59% experienced growth in 2014, 45% considered that a notable lack of skilled consultants could prove a barrier to further significant expansion.

For the most part, the recruitment specialists who were quizzed did not see a problem in the jobs market, or with the quantity of jobs they expect to make it onto their books throughout the coming year. The problems will occur – in short the brakes will go on – when the skilled staff needed to manage clients simply aren’t there, or rather, aren’t perhaps performing at the level required. And this is significant: (27%) of survey respondents reported that increased staff performance directly impacted on their agency’s bottom line.

When we at Recruit Mint read the findings, we did two things: a) we breathed a sigh of relief that we’ve managed to find the smart, hard-working staff that we’ve got, all of whom are busy making sure that we remain one of the most efficient and trusted agencies in Peterborough. But we also b) agreed whole-heartedly. We’ve mentioned before how it’s tough to find recruitment personnel who can do things the Recruit Mint way, but we recognise that it’s not just we who struggle. And whilst the situation is exasperating for recruitment professionals, it has ramifications for the wider business and economic environment, locally, regionally and nationally. Slow down the rate at which jobs get filled, or worse still, fill them with people who aren’t right, and you’re basically throwing a spanner into an engine that – still fragile from recession – can’t really afford to get derailed.

Good news does come, however, from a statement by Helen Reynolds, CEO of RIDA Group. She says, ‘Despite the challenges being faced by a number of recruitment business owners, many of them are being overcome – and to great effect on their bottom line. Online marketing and increased branding have seen a sharp rise in activity over the last 12 months, as agencies seek to counter increased agency competition… This survey has shown that while recruitment director confidence remains high overall, those who adopt more savvy practices such as optimising their online presence will be the eventual winners in the continued war for talent (and clients).’

So, the message is clear – there is a silver lining to that cloud. Whilst we continue to live in an imperfect world we can use our initiative and our skills to exploit technology, working smarter to make the most of constantly expanding and improving communication opportunities – all available to use at the touch of a button.

Information source: http://www.ridagroup.co.uk/

Recruitment Marketing Metrics That Matter - Measuring Campaign Effectiveness Beyond Applications

By Karl Montgomery • July 22, 2025
Here's a statement that will make every recruitment leader squirm: Your recruitment marketing is burning money, and you don't even know it. While you're celebrating that uptick in applications, your actual quality hires are plummeting. While you're patting yourself on the back for lower cost-per-application, your cost-per-quality-hire is spiralling out of control. And while you're obsessing over job board metrics, your competitors are leveraging recruitment marketing analytics to dominate the talent market. The harsh reality? 57% of marketers use leads to measure the success of their marketing initiatives. In recruitment terms, that's like judging a restaurant by how many people walk past the door instead of how many actually buy a meal and come back for more.

The Remote Work CV Gap - How to Address Employment Fluctuations During the Pandemic Era

By Karl Montgomery • July 22, 2025
Here's a controversial statement that'll ruffle some feathers: Your pandemic career gap is not the liability you think it is—it's actually your secret weapon. While you've been losing sleep over that employment gap between March 2020 and whenever you landed back on your feet, the recruitment landscape has fundamentally shifted. That gap you're trying to hide? It's become so commonplace that more than half (53%) of all candidates screened in the last 12 months have career gaps on their CVs, according to employment screening provider Accurate Background. The pandemic didn't just change how we work—it rewrote the rules of what employers expect from a CV. If you're still approaching your pandemic career gap resume with pre-2020 thinking, you're not just behind the curve; you're potentially sabotaging your chances with outdated anxiety.

Beyond the ATS: How Semantic Search and AI Are Changing Candidate Discovery

By Karl Montgomery • July 14, 2025
Here's an uncomfortable truth that most recruitment leaders won't admit: your current ATS is actively sabotaging your ability to find the best candidates . While you've been religiously adding keywords to job descriptions and hoping for algorithmic magic, the most talented professionals have been slipping through your digital fingers – not because they lack the skills, but because they don't speak your system's rigid language. The recruitment technology revolution isn't coming. It's here. And it's fundamentally rewriting the rules of candidate discovery in ways that make traditional keyword-based systems look as outdated as fax machines in a WhatsApp world. Welcome to the age of AI candidate search technology, where understanding context matters more than matching words, and where the smartest recruitment teams are already gaining an almost unfair advantage over those still stuck in Boolean search hell.

Salary Negotiation in the Age of Pay Transparency: How to Advocate for Your Worth Without Burning Bridges

By Karl Montgomery • July 14, 2025
Here's an uncomfortable truth: most of us are rubbish at negotiating our own worth . While 55% of job candidates don't even attempt to negotiate their salary, the very employers who'd benefit from their skills are sitting there wondering why talented people keep walking away from "generous" offers. But here's where it gets interesting – we're living through the biggest shift in workplace transparency since the gender pay gap reporting requirements landed in 2017. Pay transparency isn't just knocking at the UK's door; it's already reshaping how smart candidates approach salary conversations. The question isn't whether you should negotiate – it's whether you're equipped with the salary negotiation strategies that actually work in 2025.

The Food Manufacturing Skills Crisis: Bridging the Gap Between Industry 4.0 and Traditional Production Teams

By Karl Montgomery • May 14, 2025
The UK's food manufacturing sector stands at a critical crossroads. With advanced automation technologies revolutionising production processes, a significant disconnect has emerged between the sophisticated capabilities of Industry 4.0 systems and the skills of the existing workforce. This gap isn't just a minor operational challenge—it represents an existential threat to the sector's competitiveness, productivity, and long-term sustainability.

Last-Mile Innovation: How Logistics Leaders Are Redesigning Teams for the E-Commerce Era

By Karl Montgomery • May 14, 2025
The explosion of e-commerce has fundamentally transformed the logistics landscape, pushing traditional warehouse and distribution models beyond their limits. In the UK, where online penetration rates have increased from 9.3% to 26.6% between 2012 and 2022, logistics providers face mounting pressure to deliver faster, more flexible solutions while maintaining efficiency and controlling costs. This revolution isn't just changing what logistics teams do – it's transforming how they're structured, the skills they need, and the roles they're creating to meet the demands of the digital commerce age.

The Hidden Costs of Slow Hiring: Why Recruitment Efficiency Is Your Competitive Advantage

By Karl Montgomery • May 14, 2025
In today's fast-paced business environment, the ability to secure top talent quickly has become a critical competitive differentiator. Yet many organisations continue to struggle with prolonged hiring processes that not only frustrate candidates but also impact the bottom line in ways that often go unmeasured. While quality hiring decisions should never be rushed, there's a substantial difference between thorough assessment and unnecessary delays.

The Technical Interview Blueprint: How to Showcase Problem-Solving Skills Beyond Your CV

By Shazamme System User • May 12, 2025
In the competitive landscape of technical recruitment, your CV might secure you an interview, but it's your problem-solving prowess that will land you the job. Technical interviews have evolved far beyond simple knowledge checks, becoming sophisticated evaluations of how you approach challenges, communicate solutions, and adapt under pressure.

The Silent Dealbreaker: Why Candidates Reject Job Offers at the Last Minute

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
Picture this: after weeks of interviews, countless email exchanges, and meticulous CV screening, you've finally found the perfect candidate. The offer letter is sent, champagne is on ice—then silence. A few days later, the dreaded email arrives: "Thank you for the opportunity, but I've decided to pursue another option." Last-minute candidate rejections aren't just frustrating—they're expensive, time-consuming, and increasingly common in today's competitive job market. According to recent research by Robert Half UK, 42% of UK professionals have accepted a job offer but continued to interview for other roles. More alarmingly, 28% admitted to accepting an offer only to back out before starting. But why is this happening, and what can recruitment professionals and hiring managers do to prevent these eleventh-hour disappointments?

How Data-Driven Decision Making Can Transform Workforce Productivity

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
In today's competitive business landscape, intuition and experience remain valuable, but they're no longer sufficient on their own. UK businesses facing rising operational costs, increasing competition, and a challenging economic environment can no longer afford to make critical workforce decisions based on gut feeling alone. The difference between thriving and merely surviving increasingly depends on how effectively organisations leverage data to optimise their most valuable resource: their people. According to research from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) , UK productivity growth has stagnated since the 2008 financial crisis, lagging behind other G7 nations. With the April 2025 minimum wage increases looming, businesses face growing pressure to extract maximum value from their workforce investments. The good news? The rise of workforce analytics provides unprecedented opportunities to identify inefficiencies, optimise performance, and cultivate environments where employees thrive. As Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the Royal Society for Arts (RSA), noted in the UK Government's Good Work Review : "In a world of increasing workplace complexity, the organisations that thrive will be those that measure what matters and act on the insights." This blog explores how data-driven decision making can transform workforce productivity, examining practical approaches that UK businesses are implementing today with remarkable results.
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