Whilst recruitment is not “rocket science” at least according to a school of thought when I entered the industry back in 2000! It is however, in many ways a tough job demanding a broad range of soft skills and attention to detail to become consistently successful. I’m also of the view that recruitment, if you are knowledge-thirsty and inquisitive, opens your insight to so many interesting people, companies, industries and markets which allows your generalist education to grow and evolve open-endedly.

Clearly the recruitment industry, like so many others, has been heavily impacted by the pandemic that has swept the world during 2020. Whilst recruitment services and offerings are straightforwardly aligned to the new models of remote working or online platforming; this doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the solution to becoming a flourishing success in the longer term. A key skill of recruitment is sales and any good salesperson needs to meet and engage face-to-face. This is especially apparent when the product is a person (the candidate) and missing out on this “contact point” can be a critical potential flaw.

With Covid in circulation, “touch points” are now seen as dangerous and to be avoided and rightly so from a health standpoint. However, such contact or engagements within recruitment (and sales in general) is quite often the difference between winning and losing. Contact points are also tools that successful recruiters, can and should, use to their competitive advantage and latterly this aspect of the role has slowly been fading away.

Whilst a core of the recruitment role can be executed through the phone, on-line videoing and the ever-evolving mobile device, the more traditional beliefs are becoming somewhat redundant. Further changes are inevitable and this will clearly be determined by the continued upsurge in technological advancement, already underway, to ensure that business interaction and communication can accommodate Covid-19 and any future global shocks.

This is likely to mean a continuation and the development of an “e-commerce model” whereby this online and remote platform is increasingly apparent. It exists where the candidate is delivered to door of the remote office “the client”; once all selection and on-boarding procedures are complete and vetted, via the virtual recruiter and the various interview panellists on the Zoom or Webex calls.

These changes are here to stay and in reality the on-going pandemic will serve only to accelerate the speed at which recruitment becomes aligned to the e-commerce approach. The “un-lockdown” will see recruiters tuned-in remotely and the on-line search engines becoming ever more dominant and data-driven. The challenge will be relationship-based; whereby recruitment brands and firms need to deliver their service value add-ons and products within this new context and the restraining contact points.

At Charterhouse, we are committed to developing our approach and contribution, to allow for the ease of business, whilst ensuring that we can still demonstrate and leverage-off our expertise, experience and track record within the GCC recruitment sector. To facilitate any face-to-face interaction and in support of staff wellness and mental health, Charterhouse has been very proactive in returning our office operation and staffing back to normal, within a safe setting designed to support a strong, balanced and pragmatic working environment.