Press Coverage
Headhunters forced to go global
The Sunday Times - 2007-04-22
Experience of working overseas is becoming a key requirement for senior executives, writes Mary Braid
INTERNATIONAL recruitment is rising, driven by globalisationand skills shortages in sectors such as IT, pharmaceuticals and engineering. Overseas experience is becoming essential for those who want to reach the top.
Last year, a survey of 2,000 European companies by Intelligence Group, an employment research company, and Step Stone, a recruitment group, found that four out of ten firms were hiring internationally.
In 2005, research by Cranfield School of Management found that four out of ten British employers had increased their international recruitment in the previous five years. One in five reported that the number of staff leaving to work abroad had also risen. One in five British firms considered experience of working overseas important for senior managers.
More recent Cranfield research has reinforced the idea that overseas experience may be crucial for high-flyers. While only 5% of all British managers have international experience, according to Cranfield, this rises to 20% for senior managers and 25% at board or executive level. About 80% of FTSE 100 chief executives have experience of working overseas.
"Business now definitely needs to be looked at from a global perspective," said Amanda Alexander of Heidrick & Struggles, a global executive search company. "HR people have to get their heads around the idea of the world as one marketplace. That's sometimes a difficult perspective for small companies."
Alexander speaks as both an experienced headhunter of international talent for Heidrick & Struggles's clients and also as the global headhunter for its own personnel. "We're trying to extend our geographical mobility," she said. "We think it's good to have overseas experience among our staff."
Alexander argues that experience of working in other countries is now an important component of a person's skills set, demonstrating a talent for operating in unfamiliar and culturally different environments.
Zena Everett of Perriam and Everett, a recruitment company, has observed a spurt of growth in demand for recruitment consultants across the globe: overseas experience is equated with the development of cultural
sensitivity. At the same time, working in various parts of the world builds a better understanding of the global economy.
Alexander said that in serving its clients, it is vital that Heidrick & Struggles is up to date with what is happening around the globe.
"You can have a situation where a type of biotechnology is being developed in just a few parts of the world - say in Cambridge, Shanghai and Reykjavik," she said. "You need a headhunter who knows where to look when the company in Cambridge needs new people, especially when life-science skills are in short supply globally."
Alexander said that the broader a search became geographically, the more difficult it became to find the right people.
"You need a search firm that really does operate globally," she said. "The internet has made it easier to spread information about jobs but if you are going to evaluate people properly, understand what makes them tick and judge whether they are right for a particular job, you need people on the ground across the globe."
Tom Hadley, of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), agrees that global recruitment is growing, but he thinks there are many obstacles to its continued expansion. It is still largely confined to the multinationals, he said.
Smaller organisations are daunted by the prospect of having to deal with immigration restrictions, claims about qualifications and experience, and criminal and security checks.
The REC is involved in talks with the Home Office about UK immigration policy and the difficulties of bringing in people to work here.
Hadley said that some ministers and civil servants believe EU enlargement ought to mean there is less need to go to other parts of the globe to recruit - but this isn't the case.
"There's a lot of focus on top jobs and skills shortages but in fact there's a demand in Britain for lower-skilled people too," said Hadley. "We need an immigration policy that truly reflects our labour needs."
Alexander agrees that sometimes smaller companies are put off global recruitment by the legal and administrative burdens. "Big organisations have systems in place and experts in their legal and HR teams," she said. "Smaller organisations don't have that capacity in-house and so we can find ourselves helping a client to work through all this."
That so many companies still opt for a global search, despite the administrative hassles, is testament to the severity of some skills shortages.
Steven Quinn, managing director of Real IT Resourcing, which recruits staff for the technology, pharmaceutical and finance sectors, thinks global competition for IT specialists is exceptionally keen and is expected to remain so.
"There was a downturn in demand after the September 11 terror attacks but there has been a sustained increase in demand in the past three years," he said.
The internet can reach countless candidates worldwide, but Quinn points out that without recruitment agents creating networks and screening candidates, companies would be left with a job akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. "Our network is about relationships with candidates as well as clients," he said.
Quinn said the British IT talent pool was particularly mature and flexible about working overseas. Indeed, the Intelligence Group / Step Stone study found that British workers were among the keenest in Europe to work in a foreign country.
"A lot of British IT people are very mobile and want to travel the world building up experience," said Quinn.
However, René Schuster, UK and Ireland chief executive of Adecco, the global recruitment company, warns it would be wrong to exaggerate the global trend. "There's a whole bunch of people who will never move country for work," said Schuster. "The concept of the global citizen is still in its infancy."
