How has the market changed for an employer over the past 5 years?

Let me give a real practical example. I recently had to re-write a series of job descriptions for one of my clients; they are recruiting both consultants and managers in Chicago and New York.

They provide a great service to their clients but their job descriptions told me nothing about that.

They made the mistake of telling me and any potential candidates what they do and list the tasks they do within their roles.

What they failed to do was bring out the ‘why’ of what they do, ‘why’ they do it and what job satisfaction their roles give them.

Why bother?

Because the work they do;

• saves clients – time, money and effort
• ultimately makes the work life of their clients more fulfilling and effective

Another example my client wanted to ask candidates to prepare a case study to demonstrate how they would typically approach / attempt to solve a tricky client problem.

This in itself is a great idea but we had to explain to them that there was an error in this approach they had forgotten the major factor – it’s not about them as an employer it’s about the candidate.

Why would a candidate want to work for them?

By giving them a case study to complete before they have even engaged / bought into the idea of working at the firm, they had effectively lost the best candidates already!

If they had a great potential candidate for a position in management consultancy, they had put in an obstacle before even getting through the door, but for all the right reasons!

Until that person had bought into a role at the company, why would they bother?

If you ask someone to complete the case study scenario from the outset, that’s what they are going to perceive their job to be about.

I agree some of the roles have an element of report writing but before you have properly sold yourself / engaged a candidate in a recruitment opportunity, let alone got them involved in a process then you have it all backwards.

Clients need to sell themselves

They need to present themselves as the place someone would want or need to work to further their careers.

You need to be offering them an IRRESISTIBLE opportunity to work at your firm! You are giving them a career springboard!

I explained to clients that they need to meet candidates. It is once they’ve met – both client and candidate can decide whether they want to progress, once they have finished their first dance!

The candidate is then committed to the process and then they may be interested in you as a firm.

Too many of my clients suffer from what I call the ‘ME-Mindset’.

It is not about you as an employer anymore. Times have changed.

Despite more challenging recruitment conditions in recent years, it is still about the employee not the employer.

Candidates vote with their feet, and if they don’t enjoy the work environment they leave.

As an employer, if you don’t have an irresistible opportunity, then high potential candidates won’t apply.

Don’t get confused; you will receive applications, but not from the kind of candidate YOU want!

They won’t be the ones you want, the time wasters; they may be lovely people but they are not what I would call ‘career-enhancers’ – the candidates who want a career furthering move onwards and upwards within your organisation.

Give me a call I can explain exactly what you need to do to OR follow this link to find out more about how to attract the right candidates to work for your firm!

The post It’s Not about You Anymore, It’s About Them! appeared first on The Treasury Recruitment Company.

An interview with Stephen Long; Ex Group Treasurer, Williams Lea Tag

How did you and Mike Richards, CEO of The Treasury Recruitment Company meet?

Mike Richards and I first met when he worked at Robert Walters back in 1999. I’d been working in Banking and corporate treasury at that point, and we both knew Nigel Hopkins, an outstanding treasury recruitment specialist who went on to place me in my first treasury role. I was sort of bequeathed to Mike by Nigel who was retiring, and I’ve never looked back.

How would you describe your career path within Treasury?

Approximately twenty years ago, Mike placed me in a role as a treasury officer where I quickly gained experience in liquidity management. I learned, as part of a good treasury team, to support each other, learn from each other and grow together. My next role, at English China Clays PLC (ECC) was a great environment with a fantastic “family” team. Mike phoned following a French buyout at ECC. I remember him saying: “you need to go and work in Telecoms, the sexy industry” with the experience I had gained at ECC it gave me a real stepping stone into a company as huge as MCI Worldcom.

At MCI Worldcom I put in the Banking structure that their new owners, Verizon, still use to this day. I’m proud of that. It also gave me a hunger for problem-solving so I asked Mike about interspersing consultancy/project roles after this.

What’s different about treasury consultancy roles to working in-house?

I’d say you can really make a difference to the long-term futures of companies. I started with KPMG setting up their first UK Treasury team and then moved to a company called Charter, where I had to untangle a treasury system made up of disparate Excel spreadsheets left behind by an infamous Treasury Manager. Let’s say there were inconsistencies…

Consultancy can also give you rapid promotions too. In my next role, I received a call back from Genworth from an interview I initially did not get (despite Mike’s best efforts) just two weeks after rejection. They’d promoted within and needed a Cash Manager urgently. It was the position I’d interviewed for, but I became a stand-alone project manager within weeks. I was embedded in the company, working on lifestyle and mortgage insurance risk, and I really enjoyed it. The people I met there were fantastic.

What advice would you give someone trying to decide which job to take?

I read something on LinkedIn recently about how important it is to find yourself a great boss. In 2012 I went for an interview with the VP of Finance at Invensys, Karl Fenlon who subsequently moved onto the University of Surrey and Claire Moore who remains at Schneider Electric. Mike had told them all about me, and he said to me “I want you to hear it from them and see what you think of Karl and Claire.”

I ended up working for a boss who empowered me, trusted my abilities and it was so refreshing. An important part was how Mike knew all my achievements, my strengths and weaknesses, and he knew about matching me with the right client.

I guess, a second piece of advice is to find a recruiter who deals honestly with you and employers, someone who is familiar with all the players. For me, treasury is all about the relationships you have because the jobs are interchangeable between industry, company and technology. Mike has the relationships in place to make getting the jobs easy.

Now that you are in ‘the big chair’ have you used The Treasury Recruitment Company to hire?

Yes! In my current role as Global Treasurer for Williams Lea Tag, I phoned them when I needed to hire a Treasury Analyst.

Mike’s colleague Danielle really knows that level of the market, she chatted through the candidates with me, and the great thing about the relationship we have is they just really tell me what they are like. They explain to candidates “why a position is right for them” and this is key. However, when hiring I wanted a straight-up assessment of why she had chosen the candidates. As a result of our chats, which feels more as if I’m asking a friend, I went into the interviews with strategies to open up and get the best out of the candidates.

I’m incredibly pleased with the person I’ve hired. It was an interesting hire, because I wouldn’t say I hired the candidate as a result of the interview. Not everyone who is a great employee is a star at interview. I needed to incorporate Danielle’s assessment even more, in this instance with what my own instincts were telling me. I learned a lot from that experience.

Why have you stayed with The Treasury Recruitment Company over the years?

Let’s put it this way, in the world of treasury recruitment there are occasional ‘bad apples’ you try to avoid. Mike isn’t one of them. Treasury is a unique area – you kind of grow to know everyone in it (by reputation if nothing else). People move between companies as opportunities arise and it’s interesting at that point because you’ll perhaps know members of staff at your new job. We all attend the same conferences and banking dinners, which eventually become like catching up with old friends. Mike’s my go-to person if I need to know anything. He knows everyone, and they all like him too!

“Mike’s my go-to person if I need to know anything. He knows everyone, and they all like him too!”

Would you say Mike’s become a ‘thought leader’ for the industry?

Yes. He’s always looking to push the boundaries. He’s always looking for new ways to engage people. He’s a LinkedIn doyenne and strongly believes developing a personal brand will help you advance. He’s even convinced me to change my profile picture!

Stephen Long was Group Treasurer at Williams Lea Tag from September 2017 to December 2019. Currently at Survitec Group

The post Why choose The Treasury Recruitment Company? appeared first on The Treasury Recruitment Company.

Hang on aren’t you biting the hand that feeds and pays the bills?

You shouldn’t criticise your clients!

The point is we’re NOT!!!

Let me explain we have found with a few exceptions that many of the roles we recruit are ‘recruit-to-replace’ positions.

A client calls and explains they need to recruit, great news!

Their Treasury Manager has decided to leave their position after a short time say 12 months we would usually expect them to stay at least say 3 years in their role.

Then the INSANITY begins!

CLIENT who from here on will be known as FRED – why because we don’t have any clients called Fred, if you are called Fred and you want to be our client please don’t hesitate to call we won’t judge – anyway!

FRED – Please find us a clone / a replica / another person just like our previous person please.

ME – OK Fred we can do that but surely by recruiting the same again aren’t you entering into the same circle?”

Won’t we be having this same chat in 18 months time?

Fred this will be great for my revenues but NOT best advice for you my client?

Replies I have had from FRED:

SCENARIO

“Mike I don’t care I am under so much pressure here I just need another person to cope”

SOLUTION

I just recruit another Treasury Manager – great we can do it, more revenue, position filled, candidate happy, client happy – at least for NOW…..

Bear with me….

WRONG

12 months later and both the candidate and client are in the same situation AGAIN!

Two unhappy people and what has this role done to enhance my candidates career?

This is where my advice to my clients comes from;

“STOP RECRUITING THE SAME PEOPLE TIME AFTER TIME

& EXPECTING DIFFERENT RESULTS”

SAME SCENARIO

Treasury Manager leaves

OUR SOLUTION

“Fred let’s talk about your options”

Option A

Straight recruit to replace – we know what happens

Option B

Fred can you promote the Treasury Analyst?

Promotion for them, they have knowledge of the group, their replacement at Treasury Analyst level will also want to join because they can see you promote from within!

OK lower fee for us but then we are recruiting candidate who want to work for Fred for the next 5 years NOT the next 18 months

Option C

Fred can you promote anyone?

No Mike there isn’t anyone ready to step up OR I don’t have anyone else.

OK well let’s work out with you:

• Why your outgoing person is leaving?
• What development could you have provided them with?
• Did you provide sponsorship for training courses to tie them in and develop them at the same time?
• Are you prepared to do an exit interview to find out how you could have helped them plan their career?
• What about recruiting at a lower level maybe and committing to training to give someone a career path with you guys for say at least 3 years?
• If you do need to recruit at the same level what goals are they going to have to achieve 18 months from now?
• Are they aiming for your job Fred? Would you let them have it in 2 years are you ready to widen your own role or maybe you need to look at how you might aim to move on to clear a space for them?

Weird…huh…

A recruiter trying to help a client recruit for the future NOT just for their next PAYCHECK….

So if you want to recruit to replace anytime soon give me a call and I can point you in the direction of a series of Treasury Recruiters who will take your money every 18 months or so.

Or if you want us to help recruit the next member of your Treasury team who be warned they will probably be gunning for your job in the next 2 years THEN CALL US!!!!

We are here to help both you and FRED!

The post Stop Recruiting the Same People & Expecting Different Results appeared first on The Treasury Recruitment Company.