Profiles
Archive for December 2011
On behalf of everyone here at Morgan McKinley, we would like to say thank you to our clients and candidates for your continued support throughout 2011. We would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Keep an eye out on our website for the Morgan McKinley Ireland Salary Survey 2012 which we are publishing in early January. Our salary survey provides an insight into hiring and salary trends in accountancy & finance, customer service & multilingual, energy & construction, engineering, financial services, human resources, I.T, legal, sales & marketing, science, supply chain & operations and secretarial & office support across Ireland.
The depth and duration of the current global economic crisis has meant that with the exception of a few notable industries and specialist areas, the supply of candidates in recent years has by far outstripped demand. This has unfortunately led to a proliferation of bad practice in the recruitment industry. That goes for in-house recruiters just as much as some of their agency counterparts.
What I would like to discuss is Employer Branding and the Candidate Experience. The best Talent Acquisition and HR departments in the world are already highly cognisant of these terms and what they mean, I know because thankfully I work with many of them, but it is clear that many others are not. Employer branding is the external and internal perception of your company. That means not only being concerned about what your current employees think, but also being concerned about the external view of potential or future employees.
Too many companies don’t seem to realise that how they manage the candidate experience once they receive an application for a job can have a huge bearing on their employer branding. The candidate experience starts when a candidate sends in their CV and ends when they either get, or don’t get the job. I would argue that working with a good recruitment agency will give the company a far more positive employer branding, as they are working with a partner who’s job is not only to help manage the recruitment process, but also to help sell the company as an employer of choice. Equally, working with an unprofessional agency will be potentially harmful.
Companies who don’t acknowledge the receipt of a CV; who don’t follow the process they have set out at the beginning; who refuse to give interview feedback to candidates who have given up their time to attend interview; must be mindful of the impact these actions can have on their employer branding. Simply put, candidates are consumers and are potential clients of many of the companies to which they apply. A negative candidate experience will lead to negative employer branding.
It’s a small world and the proliferation of social media, websites and blogs means that if someone has a negative message it isn’t too difficult to get it out there. Perhaps over the last few years, some companies have assumed that it doesn’t matter what the candidate experience is like, because there were plenty of candidates out there, desperate for a job. This is a very short-sighted and dangerous view. Managing your employer brand perception starts with managing your candidate experience. Not doing this can be highly destructive when it comes to both recruiting and retaining talent.
Where a candidate is unsuccessful for a role, not providing feedback as to why is probably the most regular complaint by a person who has endured a bad candidate experience. Conversely when a candidate who loses out on a job is told why, that candidate can benefit from the experience in the long run and is given the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. While it may end in disappointment, they can still respect the company’s professionalism and honesty throughout the recruitment process. And they may even perhaps still aspire to work for that company which has shown it’s self to be a great place to work.
In November 11, Morgan McKinley carried out a Bonus Expectations Survey with 584 senior-level operational and HR managers across Ireland to find out their views on forthcoming year-end bonuses. The results of this survey were published along with our monthly Employment Monitor report. The highlights of both reports are as follows:
Bonus Expectations Survey highlights:
- Morgan McKinley’s Bonus Expectations Survey in November 11 found that 29% of professional employers do not expect to pay year-end bonuses. 18% are still not sure if bonuses will be paid.
- The remaining 53% predict that their companies will be paying year-end bonuses. However, the majority (77%) expect that these bonus payments will be modest, at approximately 1-10% of base salaries.
Irish Employment Monitor highlights:
- The November 11 Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor recorded a month-on-month decrease of 12% in the number of new professional jobs in Ireland.
- There was however an increase of 24% in the number of professional job opportunities when compared to the same time last year.
- The number of professionals entering the jobs market rose 8% from October 11 to November 11.
- Compared to November 10 there was a slight decrease (1%) in the volume of professionals seeking new career opportunities in the Irish market.
Budget 2012 has proven to be the most anticipated, leaked and discussed budget in years. We are all aware of the usual cuts, social welfare, health, education, VAT increases, CGT and so on. If we dig a little deeper and look past the sensational newspaper headlines, can we view this budget as a step from rescue to rebuilding? In my opinion, yes we can!
I believe the tax measures implemented within this budget will help grow our economy, boost exports and promote business activity. Some of these measures include:
- No change to the 12.5% corporate tax rate
- Measures which aim to ensure continued success for the IFSC
- Positive changes to R&D
- Further corporate tax exemptions for small businesses
- Improvements in tax regime to attract key people talent to Ireland under the “Special Assignee Relief Programme”
- Tax breaks for companies to encourage exports to BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa)
- Moves to stabilising the property market
On an individual basis, the government held their commitment in relation to income taxes and chose not to introduce any further increases. However consumption/indirect taxes were not as fortunate. To see how the changes will impact your finances, check out the useful KPMG calculator tool which quickly assesses your bottom line.
The overall objective of this budget was to encourage growth and recovery in Ireland and with the above measures hopefully this objective will be achieved. However I think it is wise to have a certain amount of cautious optimism, we are inevitably edging closer to the limitations of taxing and the government will have to conjure new ways of reducing spend in future budgets.
Finally as a recruiter, it is encouraging to see the implementation of measures to attract key talent to Ireland, in a bid to create more jobs and facilitate the development and expansion of business here.
Now where is that calculator?!
Recruitment in the pharmaceutical sector throughout 2011 has far exceeded projections from 2010. The areas in which recruitment has been most active reflect the difficulties faced by companies as a result of the economic climate.
One interesting trend has been that most of the hiring of pharmaceutical staff has been in finished product sites, rather than primary pharmaceutical manufacturers. This shift shows that in the face of economic uncertainty, companies are focusing on finished product manufacture rather than API, maximising the added value from their operations. Most companies are reducing spend on research and development, cutting costs through introduction of Lean policies, and continually reducing waste by investing in operational excellence projects to ensure maximum productivity at minimum expense. Many of these projects have unfortunately resulted in the reduction of headcount at the manufacturing operator level, while demand has increased for highly-qualified, specialist candidates.
This means that candidates with extensive experience in drug product manufacture, be that product a solid dose, parenteral, or liquid formula, remain in high demand across all departments. Recruitment remains highest in the area of QA/Compliance, and this trend looks to continue well into 2012, with a number of companies planning inward transfer of new products.
In line with the trends described above, we invite specialist candidates interested in progressing to the next step in their careers to contact us for a discussion on their experience and interests.
Stephen Burke
Science consultant, Dublin
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