Recruiting in the Industry sector in the coming months? Be Agile and Fast!

A few weeks ago, expert members of InterSearch Worldwide’s Industrial Practice Group met in person in Paris, hosted by the French member of InterSearch, Grant Alexander to make a global assessment of the industrial recruitment market, sharing thoughts and views. Here are the main findings of this analysis we performed and to which other InterSearch industrial experts from around the world also contributed:

Candidate-Driven Market

This may not be a reassuring thought for the reader, but the candidate-driven market is not a phenomenon limited to 1 country or 1 region. Across the world, all experts make the same assessment: candidates have more options and are therefore in a position of strength, to demand higher salaries as well as other perks related to work-life balance. They are also way pickier when it comes to company culture. This leads to growing difficulties in filling positions: senior management roles in industries like engineering and technology are particularly affected, as well as middle-management roles across all subsectors. Johanna Horn, at InterSearch Germany, observes:

“For the younger generation (candidates up to the age of 40), values have changed. Relocation, frequent business travelling requirements, the number of office days etc. have become show stoppers, as work-life balance or just more time with the family have become more important.”
This tight market makes it difficult for companies to find suitable candidates, sometimes forcing them to simply give up and think of other ways to achieve a project.

Focus on Sustainability and CSR

Companies across multiple regions are increasingly prioritizing sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Candidates, especially the younger generation, consider a company’s attitude towards sustainability and values when making career decisions. This shift emphasizes the need for companies to integrate sustainability into their business plans and actions and communicate them effectively to attract and retain talents. And since all companies are now moving on the subject, those with the most visible commitment will make the difference. Fortunately, governments are also stepping up their commitment to sustainable development. Micheál Coughlan, at InterSearch Ireland:

“Our country is making a strong push towards sustainability, with initiatives to reduce carbon emissions, invest in renewable energy, and promote green technologies. This trend is expected to continue and create opportunities in the clean energy and sustainability sectors.”

See InterSearch’s article on Sustainability-related recruitments, here.

Impact of Digital Transformation

Digital skills and IT expertise are in high demand across industries, which have seen an increase in automation, robotization of their processes, globally. ERP, CAM, WMS software have become widely adopted, even in the most traditional industries, and call for experts to ensure maintenance and developments. The shortage of talents in this field favors the growth of parallel businesses, which provide industries with a wide range of IT-related services: training, software development, externalized maintenance, cyber-security…

Sector-Specific Trends

In addition to local specifics (slowdown of the Technology sector in the US, high growth potential of the semiconductor industry in India, Aerospace rebound in France…), most markets witness a significant increase in the Renewable Energies sector, encouraged by government policies (see above).

“In Korea, the battery industry’s upstream and downstream sectors, including materials, manufacturing processes, and recycling, are experiencing growth, leading to a substantial demand for related experts” comments Jay Yoo (InterSearch South Korea).”

The same observation can be made in many countries in Europe (Norway, France, Ireland…), where numerous projects of wind farms, PV fields, hydrogen production facilities are deploying, arising the need for engineers and experts.

Outlook

Unfortunately, there is no sign of a calm-down in the coming months, and the war of talent will probably intensify. Most InterSearch partners expect a structural talent shortage in all traditional roles, which will worsen with the emergence of new roles (digital, cyber, CSR…). Frequently engaged in several recruitment processes at the same time, the candidates will remain unpredictable and highly unreliable, leaving the outcome of your process uncertain until the end of the onboarding!

“In this context, the value of Executive Search firms has never been so clear. Our role has shifted somehow: it’s not only about finding the right talent and assessing hard-to-find soft skills such as Initiative, Adaptability, Engagement…, but it’s also about advising our clients on how to react, training them on the best way to lead a recruitment project and to discuss with potential employees, whatever the level.” – summarizes Godefroy De La Bourdonnaye, Head of Industrial Practice Group of InterSearch Worldwide.

Here are some tips from InterSearch partners:

Once you have a candidate secured for a 1^st interview, be fast and give information on the process. According to Greg Harper, from InterSearch USA, “if the client is not prepared to move quickly and transparently, candidates quickly lose interest” and dropout. Frequent touch points are essential to keep the candidates involved in the process.

Rethink your recruitment processes: be ready to tailor the job for the candidate, adjusting the content and the prospects to his/her expectations, and not the other way around. Improve the candidate experience and make the difference, including a visit of the plant / headquarters at some point during the process, or even offering a 1-day immersion! Stick to the WYSIWYG motto: What you See Is What You Get!

Give an international dimension to the search, don’t limit yourself to your own territory. Some countries (i.e. Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates) are already used to go looking for expatriate profiles, worldwide. Ask your local InterSearch contact for more information on our cross-border solutions!

As an employer, be ready to state your company’s Why? It does make a difference with candidates looking for a purposeful job.
Work on your onboarding, to secure your new employees. But the job of securing the employee’s future begins even before he or she takes up the position, during the notice period with his or her previous employer! During this period, anything can happen: the profile may be bought out by the employer, he/she may change his/her mind, he/she may accept a better offer… Find excuses to stay in touch!

ABOUT INTERSEARCH

InterSearch Worldwide is a global organization of executive search firms consistently ranked amongst the largest retained executive search practices in the world. InterSearch is currently operating with over 90 offices in more than 50 countries, able to operate in 70+. Established in 1989 in the UK, InterSearch carefully selects the best executive search firms to partner with as a member of a global entity with high integrity, transparency, and depth of experience. InterSearch prides itself on having a global reach with local impact.

>> Read the article on InterSearch’s website

How to ensure a successful handover when a manager retires – Anne-Laure Pams

BUSINESSES TEND TO TURN A BLIND EYE TO IT, BUT A COMPANY DIRECTOR RETIRING IS A WATERSHED MOMENT. IF NOT PROPERLY PREPARED, THIS TRANSITION CAN BE HUGELY DAMAGING, NOT ONLY FOR THE MAIN STAKEHOLDER – WHO WILL BE SEEKING THEIR NEW PLACE – BUT ALSO FOR THEIR TEAMS. A GOOD SUPPORT STRUCTURE CAN HELP KEEP POTENTIALLY HARMFUL BEHAVIOUR AT BAY.

WHEN A MANAGER IS APPROACHING RETIREMENT, PREPARATION IS KEY.

When do managers need an offboarding process? For someone who has been committed – perhaps overly so – to developing their company for several decades, retirement constitutes a sensitive transition period. Most managers go through different stages – more or less consciously – the closer they get to the big day. A sense of flight, for example, may be followed by a rebound in energy which, in turn, can give way to simply letting go. While sometimes not clearly in evidence, their discomfort is nevertheless damaging. Realisation will start to sink in that retirement means they will no longer be ‘in the spotlight’. And yet the need for recognition and the desire to be impactful are often what provide managers with their source of mental strength.

SOMETIMES IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

To compensate for this loss, the most enlightened managers will make plans to take on company directorships or throw themselves wholeheartedly into their own personal projects. But for those who don’t, this emotional roller coaster constitutes one of the most dysfunctional behaviours possible for the company, especially for the team who will be remaining in place and who have no other option but to contend with their manager’s discomfort. It is not unusual, for example, that some outgoing managers are unable to cope with the idea of the company continuing without them. In the most extreme cases, they can even behave irrationally: their ego bruised, a retiring manager may unconsciously sabotage their successor in an effort to assert their authority one last time before making their final exit.

This strategic issue, largely concealed by the company, must then be handled by the HR department or even the general office staff. At the very least, they are expected to alert the manager and suggest to them that they focus not only on the handing over of their position but also on their own personal transition.

LOSING ‘STATUS’ CAN BE A HARD PILL TO SWALLOW

When retirement cannot be envisaged as a happy prospect but, rather, is a source of internal turmoil, then a support structure is needed. Implementing a plan for succession within a company is a first step from an organisational point of view, but it does not help the manager in question come out of denial. Because, at this point, they will be questioning their entire identity, not to mention their place in an environment where they have no decision-making powers. Coaching will offer them the individual support structure that they need. This option allows them not only to accept the transition but to prepare it and safeguard it. The future retiree will have the opportunity to reflect on their new role going forward, the steps they want to take to continue creating value and the legacy they want to leave behind when it is time to say goodbye…

Given proper support – provided by good partners a year, or even two, in advance – the retiring manager will be able to turn their departure into a constructive changeover, transitioning more gradually and hence less ‘violently’. A company with the foresight to prepare for its manager’s retirement ahead of time and, therefore, to avoid potential disruptions, will also have everything to gain from this support structure.

Article by Anne-Laure Pams, Director at Grant Alexander – Leadership Development, Executive Coach, Co-president of the Coaching Commission of Syntec Conseil.

Appraisals: a means of developing talent or crushing it? – Anne-Laure Pams

Performance appraisals in the business world

Used for the first time during the first world war, performance appraisals became a widespread tool in the business world in the early 1980s.

‘Patronising’, ‘disrespectful’, ‘humiliating’… You feel a shiver go down your spine as you listen to how some senior managers describe their experience of appraisals. Veritable poor sibling of HR consulting, it is a practice that is bound by no rules. There is no ethics charter to provide a framework for the work of HR consultants claiming to be appraisers. No regulatory body to put a stop to their artisanal, or perhaps even questionable, methods. And no training to establish a common ethical foundation. And the problem is that companies, both large and small, have made massive use of assessment since the Covid-19 crisis forced them to reallocate their resources. In the most extreme cases, the process is rather like a ‘talent-crushing machine’: senior managers must willingly pit themselves against difficulties during their appraisals, which essentially hark back to the recruitment interviews of 20 years ago, when destabilisation was the primary goal.

What is a ‘good’ appraisal?

As happened with coaching several years ago, appraising, as a practice, requires urgent regulation if companies are to successfully retain their talent. Employers’ unions, HR associations and the players in HR consulting must step up and provide the structure for this practice, which is certainly not a new one. In the meantime, companies must tread very carefully when they plan to use appraisals as a means of talent development. Getting a clear explanation of the entire process is a good place to start. Questioning the objectivity of the assessment is another. Because, contrary to what we see in the market, a good appraisal requires more than simply putting a manager on the spot in a single exercise or conducting just one interview. Any appraisal must be multi-dimensional; in other words, it must involve several people, such as a coach, a consultant and perhaps an industry or sector expert. Psychometric tests should be part of the process for the assessment to be as objective as possible.

The process should comprise several steps that should include at least two interviews, possibly a simulation and, absolutely, another interview to go over the results of the psychometric tests. The process should examine both the senior manager’s professional skills and his or her personality. As for the findings, certain safeguards are necessary. It is important to bear in mind that an appraisal should serve as a basis for reflection taken in context with any other information gathered about the person being appraised. As such, findings should be drafted in hypothetical verbiage as opposed to being indelibly stamped on the appraisee’s career path.

A demanding but compassionate attitude

Appraisals are often a crucial step in a senior manager’s career, so it is even more important to ensure that good standards are applied when conducting them. This, therefore, places considerable responsibility on the HR consultancies and recruitment agencies operating in the field today. They have the careers of these men and women in their hands. Consequently, their approach to the appraisals must be irreproachable. Their attitude must be demanding, but always compassionate.

Of course, their role is to pick up on shortcomings, but they must also be respectful of the person they are appraising. At the height of the talent war, when companies need to be increasingly mindful of their teams, mistreating them or shaking their confidence by putting them through a sloppy and unscrupulous appraisal is unlikely to be a recipe for success. Quite the contrary… The responsibility lies with you to ensure that your appraisal process is a good one, providing your talent with a strong incentive to remain in your organisation.

Article by Anne-Laure Pams, Director at Grant Alexander – Leadership Development, Executive Coach, Co-president of the Coaching Commission of Syntec Conseil.

The art of managing – What makes an inspiring manager?

The borderline between management and command : aspects that allow us to optimise managerial performance.

Olivier Lajous is a consultant and speaker who served in the Navy for 38 years. On the strength of his career, in which commitment, trust, courage and humility all contribute to success, he supports companies and tells teams about the keys to high-performing individuals and organisations. We interviewed him and *Henri Vidalinc, Chairman of Grant Alexander, and discussed what makes good managers.***

What led each of you, in your own way, to take an interest in managerial performance?

I started off as a simple sailor and ended up as an admiral and naval officer and during my career I was able to observe different ways of giving orders in environments that were sometimes hostile and conditions in which discipline was very important. All the most notable leaders had something inspiring about them – just the right presence, just the right tone and natural authority. I became convinced that success can only be achieved by working as a team and through managerial performance.

Before becoming involved in HR consultancy, I worked for various companies and encountered many managers and often asked myself what gives them their legitimacy in this role. Good managers make teams want to follow them. The presence of a good manager transcends codes. It is like an aura that is emanated and projected regardless of the physical dimension. Differences need to be cultivated. The question is can these characteristics be developed.

To what extent is this innate or acquired do you think?

All individuals have to co-exist with other people. Obviously, the notion of the innate counts – people’s natures are the result of genetic and environmental factors. But the fact we can acquire characteristics means we have many opportunities to surpass ourselves. Others drive change and encourage progress. The more we are confronted with Others and otherness, the more we enter a process of construction and achievement, becoming able to accommodate differences, change our habits, live in a community, practice high-performance sports, deal with extreme environments (seas, mountains, tropical rainforests) etc. Self-confidence is developed through experiences and challenges, not only through commands.

We have to show a certain humility if we want to learn. Opening up to the experience of others allows us to develop better self-awareness. As we become familiar with our strengths and weaknesses, we learn how to make progress. It is important that we feel we can master our own destiny. When we are aware of our weaknesses, we can seek the skills and resources we need. A good manager should also be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each team member.

Are there similarities between commanding and managing?

Managing and commanding are in fact two facets of the same activity – the art of managing – and are implemented according to time-frames. When there are no operational urgencies, we manage. And we can command naturally after we have managed. The legitimacy of commanding in the heat of the action (saying which direction to take) is the natural result of good management when we take the time to discuss matters (approaching others). In all cases, this depends on natural authority, i.e. a subtle blend of soft skills, know-how, the ability to get things done and to convey messages in order to share experience and inspire people.

The notion of preparation is fundamental. Natural authority must be accompanied by skills-based authority that establishes credibility. The good news is that both can be developed. A good manager must have both charisma and substance to be able to endure over time. There are people with knowledge: diplomas, apprenticeships, experience, understanding of jobs and codes, and people who show us what to do and explain why we do it. At Grant Alexander, we believe that over and above professional skills and personality, we can measure and develop mental abilities that are conducive to success (self-confidence, self-awareness, team-awareness, capacity for concentration, control of our emotions, our environment, determination, etc.). This is our Athlete Thinking philosophy.

How is natural authority asserted in managerial positions?

In my opinion, natural authority is best embodied in the legitimacy of decision-making. Good managers must be able make fast decisions. To do this, they have to be prepared to take a decision at any time, whatever the situation. Therefore, they must remain concentrated. This is similar to the way athletes behave. They can go into action when necessary with all their capacities mobilised.

A team can only succeed if it has a leader who makes decisions. To prepare for decision-making, we have to practice making decisions and avoid restrictive and prohibitive rules. We should never consider that there is only one way of dealing with a situation. The right answer comes from experience; it is never predetermined. We have to test scenarios. This means we have to develop the ability to seek out rules that allow us to respond appropriately at the right time. There are elements of risk in all choices, so it is essential we train ourselves to be courageous. And to control our mind and emotions.

Is it possible to train ourselves to control our mind and emotions in order to improve performance?

We cannot ignore emotions and affect on the pretext that we are in a professional environment. Managers must show humanity and be able to display their feelings. Experience should allow them to channel their emotions better. Good managers who have gained their teams’ trust must accept that team members may challenge them.

Contrary to beliefs, the army is not an environment devoid of feelings. In fact it is very conducive to emotions. When you find yourself in extreme situations, you have to be able to combat panic, fear and anger. This is why you shouldn’t be afraid of your emotions. You have to understand and control them and know how to put them to good use. If you try to ignore them, they may overwhelm you and then you may end up making mistakes. This brings us back to the fact that we need to manage and optimise mental characteristics in order to achieve efficient management. We all have innate characteristics but are also capable of developing new ones and this shouldn’t be underestimated.

– October 2017 –

Henri Vidalinc is Chairman of Grant Alexander.

Olivier Lajous is a consultant and speaker.

He served as a seaman in the navy for 38 years, starting out as a sailor and ending up as an admiral. He navigated for 16 years, commanded three ships and helped resolve many armed conflicts from 1980 to 2003 (Afghanistan, Iran-Iraq, the Lebanon, Libya-Chad, Yemen-Eritrea). He was a director of communications, director of a centre for higher education and then director of human resources for the national navy. He has also served in a government ministry for the Minister of Overseas Territories. Elected HR Manager of the Year in 2012, he is the author of “L’Art de diriger” (The art of managing) published by L’Harmattan.

We all are resilient

Athlete voice : Michaël Jérémiasz

Thank you Michaël for sharing with us the qualities that made you the champion and the committed man you are, a subtil mix of passion, pleasure, Athlete Thinking, thirst for life and resilience.
Michaël Jérémiasz is a paralympic athlete, multiple medal holder tennis champion, now consultant on disability issues. He was the flag bearer for the French delegation at Rio 2016 Paralympic games.

The path to excellence

Athlete voice : Yann Brys, pastry chef “Meilleur Ouvrier de France”

We are happy to share with Yann Brys his passion for pastry and to learn what qualities brought him to the path of excellence.
Yann Brys is the Creative Director of Maison Dalloyau in Paris.

Being a company’s champion

Athlete voice – Pier Gauthier, managers & top athletes coach

A taste for challenge

Athlete voice – Isabelle Barthelemy, emergency physician

Athlete Thinking, a contagious state of mind

Grant Alexander has developed a business philosophy that reflects its company’s own culture: Athlete Thinking.

Thinking as an athlete.

That state of mind fuels everyone at Grant Alexander. It determines our market approach and the way we drive our candidates and their development.

It suggests looking at every individual’s potential under a double lens: through his professional abilities and his mental ones.

We truly believe that performance is not only a matter of skills.

It is nurtured by mental capacities that can be measured and optimized.

A good manager must be Athlete Minded

This is why we developed a methodology to identify individuals that are endowed with mental and behavioral characteristics that dispose them to success better than others.

Thinking as an athlete is playing one’s professional life as an adventure made up of commitments, sense and pleasure, an adventure that has success as its goal.