2022 Recruitment outlook post-covid

The candidate-driven market place is here to stay, according to leading, award-winning Midlands recruiter Encore Personnel.

Gi Group owned Encore Personnel is forging into 2022 with a reinvigorated commitment to exceptional candidate attraction and in doing so, to ‘price with pride’.

As soon as the pandemic’s impact on work models and availability of labour became clear, many traditional recruiting methods became inefficient, according to Encore’s MD Pete Taylor, who says it was clear an innovative approach was needed.

He said: “At Encore, our employees have always worked consistently to stand out from the crowd and create thriving workforces for our customers in an ever-evolving recruitment landscape. The pandemic put us all under intense pressure to deliver solutions to a wide spectrum of challenges across various sectors. It was clear the tide was turning on traditional approaches to attracting and retaining quality candidates.”

Headquartered in Leicester, Encore specialises in driving, warehousing, manufacturing, logistics and engineering recruitment. In recent months it has seen a dramatic increase in vacancies, while candidate numbers have dipped.

Pete added that the key to thriving in the recruitment sector this year and beyond is to really listen to what your customers and candidates are saying.

Pete said: “Put simply, supply is not meeting demand, particularly for HGV drivers and warehouse operatives, but also across the board in the engineering and industrial sectors.

“We hear the headlines about the workforce having employers ‘over the barrel’ and scaremongering about ‘The Great Resignation’ or ‘Exodus of Workers’ all too often at the moment. What concerns me is the complacency with which people seem to accept this narrative. That’s not to say that there isn’t a candidate shortage, because there most certainly is, but that conscionable recruiters should be leading the charge in finding practical, long-lasting solutions to the problem.

“At Encore, we don’t like to rest on our laurels and so we were prepared for a crisis situation such as the fall-out from Covid. Our teams worked non-stop, many classed as key workers, to provide exceptional services to our customers during the peak of the pandemic and we’ve taken so much learning from that process. We’ve started 2022 with a reinvigorated commitment to ‘pricing with pride’ which means we will never cut our costs to win a fast deal in the knowledge that we’d be underselling ourselves. We know the value of what we do because we confidently do it so well, day in and day out.

“2022 is going to bring with it, choppy waters for our industry to navigate, but one thing is for sure – our foundations in exceptional customer care will stand us in good stead in weathering what is to come. And The Great Resignation? We don’t look at the challenge in front of us as insurmountable, but manageable on a customer-by-customer basis with our teams listening carefully to how each client is faring and being proactive when it comes to their ever-changing needs and pressures.”

As more roles become available, and the fluid labour market becomes the established ‘norm’ for now, Encore’s quest to attract and retain top talent means they are switching up their recruitment strategy and advise other recruiters to do the same too.

Developing and implementing training courses for both its own staff and its candidates is just one of the ways Encore continues to respond to the skills shortages. For example, ensuring HGV drivers are equipped with the right skills and knowledge of current legislation and regulations needed to kickstart their driving careers.

Established in Leicester in 2002, Encore Personnel operates across the Midlands, employs more than 200 staff and places 4,000 workers each week.

Encore prides itself on its exceptional client and candidate service. It puts the customer and candidate/ employee experience at the centre of all strategy with dual value propositions of ‘your business, your culture, our priority’ and ‘your future, your wellbeing, our priority.’ It places its success on following its key values including avoiding negativity, creating loyalty, and communicating with a refreshing openness.

Note – Encore Personnel was acquired by Gi Group Holding in October 2022