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The Growing Demand for HR Professionals

Employers are looking for HR professionals who can add value to the company, so it falls on recruiters to sift out the wheat from the chaff.

As HR attempts to justify its place at the top table in boardrooms across the country, recruiters are faced with finding commercially aware, strategic HR professionals, as well as tightening margins in a candidate-heavy market.

“We want candidates that can stand in front of a finance director, business managers and sales managers and present HR in the right way, showing how HR can add value to business performance in the current economic climate,” says Alan MacKinnon, recruitment delivery manager at Transport for London.

Successful agencies will recognize the difference between transactional process-driven roles and strategic roles necessary for driving business, MacKinnon says: “A couple of the organizations I work with came up with a list of 10-12 questions on an experience line and a competency line, and they got the candidates to answer all these questions. So I had a CV based on their background and experience, and a capability status.”

Anthony Pierce, associate director at specialist recruiter Hudson’s HR division, told Recruiter that recruiters need to be aware of their client’s commercial requirements. "The demand is for commercially aware HR individuals; people who understand profit and loss and value to business.

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“By being aware of our clients’ cultural and commercial requirements, we’re helping to find individuals that can add value to the culture and the commercial value of the company.”

In the recession, organizational development, employee relations and change management professionals are in high demand due to company restructuring, according to Pierce.

At Adidas, however, benefits people are in short supply, says Jennifer Cunningham, group recruitment manager at the sports lifestyle brand.

“Compensation and benefits seem to be a missing link currently, with most organizations having either a payroll and/or a benefits department. Finding quality candidates who have the ability to manage both areas is very difficult.”