Welcome
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Welcome to the autumn edition of FutureFocus; our quarterly newsletter designed to provide busy managers with a snapshot key trends in employment and human resource management, whilst keeping you abreast of developments at FuturePeople Recruitment.
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This issue we focus on the employment outlook and Australian labour market in 2010. We also review the current recruitment legislation landscape and consider the impact of driving down agency rates.
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We hope you find our newsletter valuable and informative and welcome any feedback in relation to topics of interest or areas for improvement.
Linda Simonsen
Chief Executive Officer
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EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK 2010
2009 was a fine example of the fluidity of the employment market and how quickly it can swing from buoyant to tight. The beginning of 2009 commenced with the fall out of corporate restructures, which was evident in a three fold increase in the volume of job seekers within the contact centre space. This included experienced agents, as well as those seeking to enter the industry following contractions in other service industries.
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 Despite an increase in the volume of applicants, the quality of job seekers did not proportionately increase; as organizations sought to do 'more with less'; focusing on retaining their best performers, whilst utilising the broader economic contraction as an opportunity to tighten their belt via staff cuts; even if their specific corporate imperatives did not necessarily require it.
However, by the end of the first quarter of the 2009 financial year, we had seen a swing away from a conservative focus on hiring only temporary labour, back to a focus on hiring permanent staff. By the end of 2009, demand for contact centre staff was at an all time high and the increased opportunities available to employees saw the lull in attrition begin to trend upwards.
Many employers have made the conscious decision to watch the market over the past year and see what emerges from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).
The beginning of 2010 has commenced with increased demand again for permanent contact centre staff and this has been noted in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. The market has significantly shifted for candidates, where there is an abundance of opportunity filtering through the Contact Centre industry.
To be ahead of their game this year, Contact Centre Managers should return their focus to effective employee retention activities to ensure a spike in employee turnover does not impact business performance.
Of equal importance is the investment in clever recruitment and selection activities to ensure the attraction and selection of high performing employees and that the efficiency gains created in the past year are not lost in rush to meet customer demand driving reactive recruitment practices.
Linda Simonsen
Chief Executive Officer
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THE 'REAL' COST OF DRIVING DOWN AGENCY RATES
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Everybody loves a bargain don't they! Especially when it comes to Agency Recruitment Fees. In light of the economic challenges 2008/09 presented to industry, in particular recruitment agencies, as demand for labour came to a grinding halt; some Employers have taken full advantage to drive a hard bargain with their suppliers. However, with the RBA continuing to increase interest rates and employer confidence at a two year high, the war for talent is well and truly back on; creating a need for employers to review their talent acquisition and supplier engagement strategies.
In a tight employment market, it is essential for Employers to ensure they have engaged suppliers representing their brand to attract the best talent to your organisation quickly and effectively. Given the cost that an empty or poorly filled seat in a contact centre represents, and that the average cost of agent turnover within the first 12 months sits around $20K p.a., it is an employer's best interest to invest financially and otherwise in their relationship with their recruitment partners.
Rather than focusing on driving down cost, Nick Walker from FuturePeople Recruitment encourages Employers to 'focus on creating value in the relationship with recruitment partners'. 'An engaged Recruitment Partner will invest in getting to know your business; running workshops with key stakeholders to understand expectations and business needs, as well as benchmarking top performers and crafting a best practice recruitment and selection solution.'
A best practice solution focuses on attracting quality talent via showcasing your Employer Value Proposition (EVP) effectively and evaluating candidates against job role competencies, as well as motivational fit for the role and organisational culture. It measures how candidates perform in the role and includes a continuous improvement aspect.
Another area where employers can achieve significant value from a Recruitment Partner relates to reporting. Comprehensive reporting can assist you in understanding how your EVP compares to your competitors, as well as evaluating how effectively the selection process predicts 'on the job' performance of new recruits; to enable continuous improvement initiatives. It can provide you with feedback on employee satisfaction in the early stages of employment, in relation to culture and training, as well as how well the role meets expectations.
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This is critical information which can assist you in improving your ability to attract and engage quality talent; saving you valuable recruitment, training and management costs in the medium term.
Within the Contact Centre industry, recruitment is now 'business as usual' and companies are reaching out to use agency as a necessity to tap into this current candidate tight market where competition between agencies is now on 'who can present the right candidate' rather than 'who can work at the cheapest fee'. Where agencies have heavily discounted during the downturn, clients are now savvy to negotiating based on service rather than cost; recognising that driving down rates will hurt their business and are unsustainable in the long term.
Relationships take a life time to build but only a moment lose.....
Nick Walker
Business Development Manager
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STAFF COSTS AND RECRUITMENT LEGISLATION
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CASE STUDY - REDUCTION IN ATTRITION FROM 49-19%
A recent case study undertaken on behalf of one of our leading clients; a direct telephone and electronic sales distribution provider servicing many of Australia's largest and most recognised brands, highlighted the impact that effective recruitment and selection can have on improving employee retention, productivity and morale. Attrition was reduced from 49-19% through FuturePeople's focus on profiling top performers, developing a customized assessment centre program to focus on motivational fit aspects as much as competency, and maximising the talent pool via consulting on the organisations Employer Value Proposition (EVP) in relation to that of competitors, whilst also crafting a candidate engagement strategy.
Feedback from the client revealed that FuturePeople temporaries were on average performing 30% higher than directly-sourced candidates.
Shelley Hensel
Quality Manager
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JOBS GROWTH
Monthly Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates April 2009 - April 2010
Over the past 6 months we have seen a marked decrease in the Australian Unemployment figures, with all indicators pointing to a continued downward trend.
Data obtained from Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The average Australian Contact Centre salary has also increased in the 2009 calendar year by 4.867%, to $46,072.65 + Super, at December 2009.
Data obtained from MyCareer.
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WHAT JOB SEEKERS WANT
There has been a major shift in the focus of what candidates are now looking for, with the key area now focusing on career progression within the company. The results of this quarter's Job Seeker Survey reveal that 64% of call centre job seekers rate career progression as the most important factor in looking for a job. This reaffirms our view that employee development and setting realistic expectations of career progression up front will ensure reduced staff turnover in call centres. This is an interesting swing from several surveys completed in 2009 which saw job security at the top of the job seeker preferences list.
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RECOGNITION ROOM
FuturePeople is pleased to welcome Emma Teale to the FuturePeople Team, in the capacity of Client Delivery Manager. Emma brings over 12 years experience in the Recruitment Industry, spanning Relationship Management, People Management and Branch Management. Emma's role is fully focused on Customer Satisfaction via effective recruitment and selection process design, strong project management to ensure well executed recruitment solutions for our clients, at the same time as nurturing long term client partnerships based on mutual trust and respect.
Your feedback on our service or enquiries are welcome by Emma on 02 9024 2924 or eteale@futurepeople.com.au.
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JUDGES BLOG - NATIONAL ATA AWARDS
It is an honour to be invited once again to judge this year's ATA National Contact Centre Industry Awards. The significant time investment is far outweighed by benefits of gaining insights into the latest trends in the Australian Contact Centre industry and spending my days being constantly delighted by the calibre of talent in our contact centres - from agents and team leaders through to contact centre managers and specialists. A common theme emerging in this year's judging program is the role of NPS as a valuable measure of not just customer satisfaction but staff engagement, as well as the use of sophisticated employee reward and recognition to drive engagement, and a significant growth of home based agents. There is no doubt that this year's nominees have lifted the bar once again.
Linda Simonsen
Chief Executive Officer
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CLIENT TOOLBOX
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e: service@futurepeople.com.au
w: futurepeople.com.au
t: (02) 9252 0633 f: (02) 9252 0634
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FuturePeople is headquartered in the Sydney CBD, with clients in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.
For more information on how futurefusion™ can benefit your organisation email us.
FuturePeople Pty Ltd ABN 14 102 250 902
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