Greg Savage's Blog (157)

When it comes to public speaking, preparation saves perspiration

Please read all my blog posts at "The Savage Truth"

Currently I am speaking to large groups of recruiters at RCSA events around Australia and New Zealand, on the topic of ‘Riding the Recovery’. Feedback has been good I am relieved to say,… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on November 18, 2009 at 5:30pm — 1 Comment

Job Boards don’t find people jobs. People find people jobs

To read all my posts see 'The SavageTruth' here

We are going to recover from this downturn, and when we do, the talent shortage is going to be more severe than anything we experienced a year or two ago. Finding talent, connecting with those talent and building talent communities is going to be what separates the winners from the losers in the recruitment industry, in my opinion.

Sourcing talent will become… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on November 2, 2009 at 9:47pm — No Comments

Why clients give out orders in competition… and why it’s wrong for everybody!

To view all my blog posts please visit The Savage Truth

There is an elephant in the room when it comes to the basic business model of our industry. People don’t talk about it much, yet it’s a fundamental flaw in the relationship between client and recruiter, and it drives poor service and lack of satisfaction for all parties.

Multi-listing of job orders across multiple agencies, and recruiters accepting… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on November 1, 2009 at 7:46pm — 3 Comments

What you say online IS your personal brand!

Please read all my blog posts here

http://gregsavage.com.au/

I have been reading quite a bit lately about creating a personal brand online. The subject fascinates me, not least because I see so many people making a total hash of it by the inane things they post on Facebook, Twitter, blog replies, and to a lesser extent, LinkedIn.

But recently I had such a powerful personal example happen to me, that I feel compelled to share it with you. This small Twitter exchange… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on October 20, 2009 at 2:33am — No Comments

The secret to "fun and money" in recruitment! A simple formula that guarantees billing success

For all my blog posts please visit http://gregsavage.com.au/

I was walking down the street the other day when I ran into an old colleague, an ex-employee actually, from my days as the owner of accounting and finance recruiter, Recruitment Solutions.

We talked for a while, and as we parted she said with a huge smile, “ Still following that old success formula, Greg. It has made me millions!” At first I could not for the life of me work out what she was talking about. But… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on September 29, 2009 at 12:00am — 11 Comments

Are these the two dumbest recruitment executives in history?

Sometimes you just have to wonder at how dumb some people can be.

I know, not a nice way to start a blog post, but wait till you hear this.

Last week I was coming back to Sydney from a week in the Aquent London office. I stopped over in Bangkok, and had two hours in the Qantas lounge there, doing what all the other business dudes were doing. Blackberry, laptop, maybe the newspaper.

Now the seats in the Qantas lounge are fairly close together, and it is… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on September 24, 2009 at 10:00pm — 10 Comments

Have YOU been swimming naked?

Small glimpses of a recovery for both the Australian and UK recruitment industry may be coming into view, but times remain tight and recruiters have to scrap for every client, every order. One thing the recession has done, is highlight the paucity of true consulting skills across our profession. Years of talent shortages and desperate clients have allowed ‘résumé shufflers’ to succeed, even thrive, and the ability to actually connect with clients, service them as “trusted advisors” has been… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on September 21, 2009 at 10:19pm — No Comments

Can the staffing industry really learn a lesson on customer service from Qantas, of all companies?

I see a lot of the inside of planes. Being responsible for a recruitment business in upwards of 25 cities, in 15 countries, takes care of that. And I have been a Qantas “Platinum Frequent Flyer” for 8 years straight as a result.

Lately I have been assessing why I usually fly Qantas, as I have been getting more and more aggrieved at the airlines pricing policy. Seriously, Qantas regularly have Business Class seats at TWICE the price of comparable airlines to places like Shanghai,… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on August 31, 2009 at 7:49am — 3 Comments

Recruiters? Honest as the day is long!

I had a bad experience last week. A bad experience which quickly rebounded into a good one, I am happy to say.

It was Friday 6 pm. I was rushing to wrap up things at work. Last minute emails to complete. A call from our Director in China with a client issue. A Skype call from our Europe MD. And then my wife on the phone saying don’t forget to pick up the kids.

I race down the elevator to the under-building car park, juggling laptop, gym gear, mobile phone and security… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on August 26, 2009 at 7:30pm — No Comments

Recruiters! We must learn to sell why we are still relevant

Let’s not fool ourselves. We are not a loved profession. Clients often use us begrudgingly, some even with open hostility. I have sat in client board-level meetings and heard with my own ears, the resentment felt towards our industry. I have listened, squirming, while clients plan to avoid using recruiters and any third party staff providers.

Even before the downturn, the evidence was all around us. The rise of internal recruitment teams, the clear strategy to reduce use of outside… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on August 23, 2009 at 8:36am — 5 Comments

Social media – it’s a tool, not a strategy

I was very reluctant to write this post initially. There has been so much noise about social media, and how it’s going to impact our industry, do we really need another blog on the topic?

Probably not. But the rhetoric and hyperbole about social media has been bugging me lately, and it will make me feel better if I offer some thoughts about how all this may play out.

Lets start ‘big picture’ and then focus in on social media itself. It seems to me that the big issue facing… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on August 19, 2009 at 9:00am — No Comments

Leading in adversity. Your toughest test yet

Trust me on this. You have never had a test of your leadership until you have managed a recruitment business through a recession.

It’s beyond tough. Balancing falling revenues while trying to retain key staff. Communicating critical fee generation targets while at the same time not “spooking” the troops and leaving people depressed and panicky. And then there is the myriad of decisions about cost control, pricing levels, and strategy.

Really, who would want to be running a… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on August 12, 2009 at 3:31am — No Comments

Get ready for a whole new world as the recruitment market recovers

Increasingly it’s becoming clear that a real recovery in recruitment demand is looming over the horizon. In Australia we are seeing little surges of temp demand, and in Asia our job order flow at Aquent is strengthening slowly but surely. Europe is more problematical for the moment, but certainly the RCSA (Recruitment industry body in Australia and New Zealand) must believe an upswing is probable, as they have asked me to speak on that very topic over the coming months right across the… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on August 3, 2009 at 10:30pm — 2 Comments

Guess What? It’s not about technology at all. It’s about connectivity!

Recruitment and staffing has been around a long time. And I have had the fortune to witness its evolution for almost 30 years. I have worked in many countries and recruited across many sectors.

And guess what I have learned.

The more things change… the more they stay the same!

It was not that long ago that if you walked into a successful recruitment office, every person you saw was on the phone. And why not? There was no computer to tap away on. There was no… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on July 25, 2009 at 8:27am — 5 Comments

Temp to perm fees. Are we absolutely stark raving mad?

Here is a prediction. As the market recovers the first impact on our industry will be a revival of the temp and contract market.

Employers will see increased work volumes as the economy recovers, but will “dip their toes” into the labour market at first, hiring flexible solutions initially. But then, as momentum is gained and confidence returns, they will start to hire permanently. But the first place they will go for their permanent hires will be to transition tried and tested… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on July 10, 2009 at 6:30am — 2 Comments

Are we there yet? Has the decline in hiring finally reached the bottom?

Perhaps the most common question I get asked these days is whether the dramatic decline in the staffing market has leveled off. My own staff, clients, candidates, even journalists want to know whether there really are any ‘green shoots’ in terms of employers venturing back into the labour market.

As anyone in recruitment knows, the answer to that question is a moving target, hard to pin down at best, totally elusive at worst.

And of course it depends what sector we are… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on July 7, 2009 at 6:30am — 8 Comments

Recruiters, don’t despair, recessions end!

Until about 6 months ago, I had the best recruitment job in the world !

Seriously. CEO of a global, yet niche recruiter, with 450 staff spread across 30 offices in 15 countries. We dominate our space in most markets, we are highly profitable, and we do cool things all the time (see Aquent.com)

But that was then. For the last six months I have had one of the hardest, least rewarding jobs in recruitment (well that’s a hotly contested title I know, but it seems that way to… Continue

Added by Greg Savage on July 2, 2009 at 6:51am — 4 Comments