Dialogue seems to be the word of the moment in marketing circles, embracing the emergence of ‘conversational’ media, social networking, the free exchange of ideas, and the questioning of traditional roles of audience and publisher.

Certainly deeper, richer dialogue with our stakeholders is something that we’re working toward at Alexander Hughes. But what does that mean? Well, we think it means more transparency. Better access to our consultants and our thinking (via the blog, published consultant email addresses, RSS, and so on.) And it means more accountability.

This brings a question to mind for us to answer as recruitment consultants: “who are our clients?”

Broadly-speaking ( and yes it IS a generalisation ) recruitment firms fall into one of two categories - those who are client-driven and those who are candidate-driven. The former being oriented towards providing recruitment solutions to known client needs, the latter towards finding slots for candidates with specific functional skill ( Finance, IT Sales etc ).

But, perhaps, this clear distinction is starting to change. Many enlightened employers are adopting more candidate-centric recruitment models and practices. These are typically underpinned by a web-based ‘talent pool’ of pre-registered individuals who have expressed their interest in an organisation, and who are just waiting to be contacted by the employer when a suitable role becomes available. The big picture behind this shift is a number of socio-economic factors – from declining birth rates, retiring baby boomers, sustained economic growth, increase in knowledge-based industries – that has led to what is often described as the “war for talent”.

It’s also important to understand that a big factor in this changing paradigm is candidates’ increasing realisation that the opportunity exists to ( almost ) pick and choose who they want to work for - self-identification as talent, if you like. And as employers understand that candidates are looking for more than just a career, so a greater emphasis is placed on the work/life balance of their employees, and on investing in their overall development needs and career aspirations, rather than focusing just on those which serve delivery of the Corporate goals.

Has it yet got the point then where employers are retaining recruiters to engage the interest of talent, on their behalf, in the broadest possible terms? Well, not exactly. But it’s moving in that direction. Certainly at Alexander Hughes we aim to provide the employers with whom we work with a range of hybrid recruitment solutions that allow them to access and attract talent in a number of flexible, innovative ways. And we positively encourage candidates to contact us for market-led advice and expertise – a similar value proposition to that offered to the companies for which we recruit.