Over the past twelve months, our Business Engagement team have noticed a clear distinction in relation to demand for resources within different industry sectors. Whilst the strains on the European Financial Market continue to deepen, the larger banking organisations especially those with a significant international presence are sitting tight, reticent to commit to large projects in 2012 until the true impact of the current financial storm are realised. On the other hand, there are a number of local financial services companies especially those in the insurance, mortgages and commercial finance industries, who are optimistic and are pushing ahead with core system replacement projects and ecommerce transformations to catch up with their peers in the banking industry. For many the opportunity cost of not having strong online presence and the lack of investment in newer technology platforms far outweighs the initial outlay for modernisation projects which will ultimately result in increased efficiency and greater opportunity for revenue generation.
Our Commerce and Industry clients in contrast have seen clear spikes in recruitment over the past twelve months with further large scale projects scheduled for next year. The trends in this sector are still very much in the pattern of acquisition and consolidation as some of Australia’s largest players come together with the likes of the acquisition of Franklins by MetCash and a number of conglomerates looking to consolidate their IT environments. Mining, Engineering and Energy companies are still hiring at a senior level, alongside construction and property companies. All indicators are that it will be a big year within the Telco space for large scale transformational projects across customer service and life-cycle management with analytics. Again in this sector trends are around mergers such as VHA and 3 Mobile which is driving consolidation of their platforms, upgrades and migration projects, alongside the ongoing NBN programme of work which continues to suck up resources. Project sizes within this space are ranging from $20M to $400M and anticipate to get underway in Q1 2012.
What Next?
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With a 10% predicted increase from 2010 on IT spend globally there are a number of trends we are noticing specifically within the banking and financial services sectors.
Regulatory change, with tighter requirements for the likes of APRA is driving much of the current recruitment requirements around increasing the reporting capabilities for many of these organisations.
There is also an increasing number of large scale modernisation and transformation programs of work across large and small clients driven by the fact that most organisations haven’t made a significant investment on technology spend for the past 10 years. Mobile banking functionality is also a hot topic currently especially with the likes of Bankwest implementing a new website utilising an online shopping tool which provides a shopping basket type of functionality.
Cost reduction is still the big challenge for CIO’s and this in itself is driving the demand for consolidation and unification of global and regional technical operating platforms.
There is much debate around the buoyant job market with candidates receiving multiple offers, counter offers and even rate hikes to attract the best talent. Inherent in this behaviour is significant risk, both on the part of the seeker and the “seekee”.
Talent Seekers – Bidding wars and rate hikes. Be careful what you wish for, do you really want that candidate so much you are willing to pay above the odds? What does that mean, will the candidate then leave you in the lurch at the drop of a hat if even more money is waved at them? Hmm how committed to your role are they really if their only motivator is the money? Far better to be flexible and look for the right attitude, culture and personality fit, give this type of person a chance at their dream job they will most likely be so delighted at the opportunity, they will want to reward you with dedication, commitment and hard work which will ultimately provide much more value for the organisation. Read more…
Whilst attending the FST (Financial Services in Technology) event last Friday, I listened to Greg McAweeney, the GM of RaboDirect, speaking about using Social Media to enhance customers experience. Rabobank Direct is a specialist online-only savings and investment bank and the only bank that publishes a blog on its website. They feel this demonstrates their openness and transparency and I was surprised to learn they are not afraid to showcase the good and the bad on their site for all to see. The brainwave idea is that we must relinquish control, as Greg says, we never had it anyway! We must embrace the opportunity to show ourselves “warts and all” to redress some of the crowning issues that have recently dogged the banking industry and, on reflection are the same complaints that have, over the years, been leveraged against the recruitment sector. The banking industry has taken a hammering post GFC with little trust and much anger from the general public, as with the recruitment industry key concerns predominately focus around openness, transparency and honesty.
With many unscrupulous and unethical agents and agencies around it is my experience that consultants with an honest, ethical and assiduous approach will always shine out from the pack. In addition using social media is a fantastic way to create communities and become a “trusted advisor”, a specialist in your chosen field and with something of more value to give than your average “common or garden” variety recruiter. It is a wonderful opportunity to create an open forum for feedback and ultimately lead to innovation as posts both positive and negative can be analysed and addressed. Read more…
A competency interview (also referred to as a situational or behavioral based interview) is a style of interviewing often used to evaluate a candidate’s ability to perform a role or task. It is based on the premise that past performance is the best indicator of future ability and increasingly, companies are using competency based interviews as part of the selection process for experienced recruitment. It can give valuable insights into an individual’s preferred style of working and help predict likely scenario based behaviors which may occur in the role.
Most clients these days will use a competency or behavioral type interview, and this will most likely be combined with technical questions and questions about industry experience. Interviewers will ask questions that require candidates to demonstrate that they have a particular skill or a “key competency” the firm is looking for. Candidates will be asked to do this using situational examples from their life experiences, to illustrate their personality, skill set and individual competencies to the interviewer.
Competency interviews may also feature questions that probe candidates on their knowledge of the company and industry they have applied to. This type of interview question tests candidates on their motivation and commitment to career.
A typical competency based interview will last for one hour. At most major firms, competency interviews will also be standardised. Consequently all applicants can expect to be asked identical questions.
What are Competencies?
A competency is a particular quality that a company’s recruiters have decided is desirable for employees to possess for a particular role. During interviews and assessment processes competencies are used as benchmarks that assessors use to rate and evaluate candidates. Read more…
With the release of the Rudd government’s budget this week, speculation is that employment growth will strengthen from 1% to around 3.5% in 2010. Realistically this means that unemployment rates will drop, demand for talent will increase and the recruitment market is likely to take a turn towards a severe skill shortage not experienced for quite some time. With this in mind what are you, the employer, doing to avoid attrition rates creeping up and losing your key talent to competitors?
With demand increasing dramatically this year within the Banking and Financial services space for Project Managers and Business Analysts, a skill shortage of experienced, competent and skilled candidates is a reality. In a bid to push through various projects and programmes of work delayed due to the GFC, many organisations within financial services now have multiple requirements ranging across a high number of projects. Some organisations are now offering rates and salaries way above market rates in an attempt to attract the best talent in the market, and to tempt those key performers away from their current employers.
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Over the past twelve months, our Business Engagement team have noticed a clear distinction in relation to demand for resources within different industry sectors. Whilst the strains on the European Financial Market continue to deepen, the larger banking organisations especially those with a significant international presence are sitting tight, reticent to commit to large projects in 2012 until the true impact of the current financial storm are realised. On the other hand, there are a number of local financial services companies especially those in the insurance, mortgages and commercial finance industries, who are optimistic and are pushing ahead with core system replacement projects and ecommerce transformations to catch up with their peers in the banking industry. For many the opportunity cost of not having strong online presence and the lack of investment in newer technology platforms far outweighs the initial outlay for modernisation projects which will ultimately result in increased efficiency and greater opportunity for revenue generation.
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