It’s interesting to see that this is already happening in the Recruitment sector.  If I look back over the 20 years that I have been recruiting, it is very evident that the advances in technology have allowed us to work in very different ways.  I’ve probably got more power in my iPhone than I did in all of the tech I had back in 2000!

Agency prowess was measured on the size of their database, however, the emergence of LinkedIn soon put an end to that.  Some still try to dine out on it, however, the smart Recruiters know that identifying potential candidates has never been easier, but attracting and engaging them to your opportunity remains the key challenge.  Using an owner-operator or smaller recruitment firm that has flexibility and can inject personality into the process, starts to make a lot more sense for those recruiting companies that value the process/candidate experience and not just the end result.

We’ve seen further advances in the number of Recruitment Marketplace platforms that support those companies looking to recruit by facilitating an introduction to a panel of independent recruiters. It’s not perfect as it still promotes the multi-agency contingency model, however, it does mean you no longer really have to work at a high street agency.  Rather than being ridden around the office by a manager trained in the 1990s, banging on about ridiculous and largely irrelevant KPIs, you can get your laptop set up at your kitchen table and join one of these marketplaces and you are in business!  Generate some better-quality business on the side and you all of a sudden have a nice way of earning a living.  No commute, no power hour and no pretending you love the buzz of working for a big company!

As Naval states though, these systems will evolve and eventually lead to much higher quality business being available in this manner.  There has been a lot of change in Recruitment over the last 2 decades and so it will be interesting to see how other sectors are shaken up by technology.

It’s an interesting concept for HR professionals as if this does happen, it will mean that we will have to consider how we approach attraction and retention as employees will have more options in how they can earn a living.

What have been the biggest changes in your sector?