Recruitment: A personal approach to long-term career planning
Starting an IT recruitment company in 2020 was an exciting journey for me. My mission was clear: to go beyond the typical recruiter role. I wanted to understand why people were working where they were and whether it was truly the right place for them. If it wasn’t, I wanted to help them find a better fit that matched their career goals. If they didn't have any goals yet, I would sit down with them, discuss what could be reasonable steps based on their current experience, and then find a workplace that matched.
Over time, my services evolved into more of a headhunting role. Often, I found myself in contact with people who weren't actively looking for a job. After digging into what they really wanted from their careers, I could often find better opportunities for them. Just talking about relevant opportunities, I could feel a spark of new motivation and excitement from people. As a recruiter, I felt that the hard work I put in early paid off. Most of the people I have placed over the years are still active and remain happy in the roles that I recruited them to.
What made my approach unique was my open and personal touch when reaching out to people. My focus was to build long-term relationships, essentially being a personal recruiter who can also serve as a coach, mentor, and navigator throughout someone’s career. I tried to meet as many people as possible, learn about what motivates them, understand how they are doing in their current workplace, and see if I could help them either now or in the future. This dedication to career planning within recruitment has made a significant difference in my life and in the lives of many engineers.
A troubling trend in the market
When business is going great, you don’t really think about how well the market is actually doing. It wasn’t until a year ago that I started seeing a troubling trend: employee tenure is short and decreasing, especially within the IT sector. Today, engineers stay 2-3 years in a workplace before switching jobs. Statistics say that 35-41% of people leaving workplaces state lack of career advancement as their number one reason for leaving. This is where I understood why my approach as a recruiter has worked quite well throughout the last couple of years.
Reasons behind the trend
Today I will mention two reasons why I think people state lack of career development as a top reason for leaving. One of the reasons is lack of knowledge around this topic from both the employee and employer. Employees often don't know how to develop their careers within an organization, and employers might not understand how to support their employees' goals. This disconnect leads to frustration, decreased engagement, and ultimately, employees leaving for opportunities that better align with their aspirations.
Another reason is rushed recruitment: companies that hurry through the recruitment process due to immediate needs. These companies focus on filling current tasks, assuming career advancement will follow naturally. Unfortunately, this often leads to employees' career goals not being aligned with the company's plans, leading to dissatisfaction and people eventually leaving for other opportunities.
Impact on organisations
People leaving is costly for any organisation. Direct costs include expenses associated with recruiting, hiring, and training new employees. Indirect costs, such as lost productivity and potential loss of clients, can be even more significant. When employees leave, the company culture is also affected. It's like a snowball effect; if your colleague leaves, you might also look around for something new.
Impact on employees
For the employees who leave, this trend can lead to stress, disappointment, and uncertainty. The promise of a better opportunity is of course exciting, but there's always the risk that the grass won’t be greener on the other side. Throughout my years as a recruiter, I have seen many people being frustrated because they are constantly trying to find their footing in a new place. It’s like a never-ending cycle, and it messes with the long-term vision.
Conclusion
Navigating today's job market, especially within the IT sector, I believe requires a personalised and long-term approach to recruitment and career planning. For recruiters, I see it as essential for you to invest time in understanding your candidates' aspirations and if it matches with the strategic needs of the client that you are recruiting for. This focus can reduce the trend of short employee tenure and create more stable career paths for people. Moving forward, I'm committed to creating a new innovative tool to further continue this personalised approach, benefiting individuals, organisations and society as a whole.
