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What a rollercoaster we’ve been on – from denial all the way to reflection! 

The hardest part is over. When you’re done asking yourself common questions post-breakup, we bring you on the final lap to greener pastures. Whether you’re an employee hoping to move on without a bitter aftertaste or an employer hoping not to repeat the same mistakes, we show how working with recruiters can create more value in the future. 

We find out in the fifth segment: 

Working It Through

Who’s to blame – the employer or employee? 

1. Salaries

Employees:

Your trusted recruiter would be in-the-know of the industry market benchmarks. While there will definitely be cases of firms with a larger budget expenditure (yay to above-average salary increments!) and firms with tighter constraints, it’s best to manage your expectations on your salary and clearly communicate this to your recruiter.

Employers:

Transparency is key. Working with your recruiters can be a much smoother process if the budget is confirmed when your recruiter qualifies the search with you. Recruiters generally understand and respect that budgets are in place, and would be able to work best around them. To make it a more fruitful and effective search, an employer should highlight what are the uncompromisable factors that you look out for in an individual and identify viable stretches. Certain specific skill-sets are highly sought-after in the market, and there are times when certain employers would be willing to pay a premium amount to attain such talent! Keeping your salaries competitive is very crucial, especially in a candidate lead market.

2. Under-appreciated work

Employees:

It is likely that with your previous employer, you would have already identified what form of appreciation would keep you motivated – whether it is a word of affirmation, increased autonomy, a larger capacity or career progression. Take note of these and share this with your recruiter. 

Your recruiter would likely have an in-depth understanding of the firm’s culture that they are representing and hopefully this would help to reduce time wastage. Your recruiter would also be well-equipped on how to ask the correct questions during an interview with the employer.

Employers:

As line managers, we understand that there will definitely be days that are not smooth-sailing! It is all-too-often that recruiters hear complaints and woes from top management that it is increasingly difficult to retain good staff, especially during a crisis. 

Make it a point to be proactive in communicating any upcoming projects to your recruiters. It is our job to help you to break the information into bite-sized, understandable and actionable portions to your future candidates. Managing expectations is especially crucial during the onboarding period. In addition, saying a few encouraging words to your teammates is a great gesture, and makes for creating an awesome work culture to make the new ones feel welcome. No one wants to feel alone in what they do, including you!

3. Mismatched Expectations

Employees:

Make sure to share your expectations with your trusted recruiter. This is essential so recruiters can keep in mind your career interests when looking for the right match. At Funds Partnership Asia, we are all about aligning the career goals of the candidate with the business needs of the hiring firm. Not sharing expectations potentially increases more opportunities for miscommunication to occur – which defeats the purpose of you looking to leave in the first place!

Employers:

What will this hire bring to the table? Is it a nice-to-have or must-have? Is there a project coming up soon? Is this a replacement hire? Does this role require a permanent headcount? While there are many perspectives to consider, engaging a recruiter that is a neutral party could assist your business to accomplish the end goal with the minimal cost incurred.

Recruiters are equipped with market knowledge on the current candidate pool’s behaviours, skillset(s) and technical level of understanding. Engaging a recruiter also sets the tone between you and the potential candidate during the interview phase and after onboarding the candidate!

4. Role Redundancy

Employees:

To debunk any myths, employers would never frown upon any staff that has been made redundant due to organisational restructuring and neither do recruiters! So no shame – do not hesitate to even share with your recruiter that your role has been made redundant due to mergers, company shut-downs, outsourcing, etc. Specialist recruiters are always aware of market changes and potential employers that might be looking to hire, so feel free to even inquire if they can help transfer your skill-set into a new role or even take a broader scope of work if necessary so that you can resume your career journey.

Employers:

It’s a new level of stress to know that the business is heading south and it’s of no consolation that you would need to let go of your employees who have slogged through the days with you. Fun fact: your recruiters have an under-appreciated value that is rarely leveraged on – networks. Speak confidentially and leverage on your trusted recruiter to figure out a solution to save the business. Trust is very much key here hence, be sure to know who you are reaching out to when speaking about such matters. To find out more about Funds Partnership Asia’s expert introduction service, please reach out to Ayyaz Ahmad and Robert Hayward.

5. Lack of Business Processes and Systems

Employees:

As every firm utilises a proprietary technical system/ database for solutions they provide, the best way to leverage on your recruiter is to enquire on the specific software that you are looking to learn. Typically, your recruiters would know the technical systems and software which then aids in your job search. 

Employers:

Partnering with recruiters to give you an objective assessment of the candidates is a plus when you are looking for an additional member. By sharing with your recruitment partner the dynamics of your team, your recruiter is then better able to find a candidate who not only is technically capable but also possess the ability to sail through the good and rough times together with the team. 

Stay tuned to Part 6: Acceptance in the next part of our series!