Determining fact from fiction is harder than ever in a socially connected and digital world. Add to that a common global experience - like a pandemic - and we certainly have a lot to talk about!
Here in the executive recruitment and leadership business, we have heard plenty of fiction about how this year has impacted executive recruiting and organizational design. That’s why Boyden Executive Search is kicking off a new myth-busting series.
Over the coming weeks, we will be calling out the assumptions we are hearing and leverage our data, insights and experiences to validate or refute the facts. Each week, we will dive a little deeper into the topics below. Along the way, we welcome your questions, comments and any new topics you would like us to explore. Let’s begin:
Myth: People are focused on job security right now and are unlikely to make a major career move.
Truth… While this may be true in some cases, from our vantage point, the pandemic has done little to impact the appetite people have for new and exciting roles and opportunities. In fact, in certain industries, we have seen more interest in our search services and there has been little change in the demand for executive talent compared to last year at this time. Not only is there a healthy appetite for the best talent but people are spending some of this rare time in history contemplating their future and considering a career leap.
It’s easy to imagine that people and organizations would be more reserved during a crisis, like a global pandemic, and unnerved by the thought of any additional risk change might bring. Interestingly, like many things in life, challenge has brought with it opportunity for some in 2020. In many areas of Boyden’s business, we are experiencing healthy and active recruitment from organizations and eager and engaging applications from motivated candidates. This is a signal to us in the executive recruitment and leadership business that we are in a vibrant time of change and many organizations and people are embracing the flux.
For organizations there are two key drivers of this active recruitment market:
Pivoting in response to pressures from the economic downturn: Some of the industries hardest hit by COVID-19 have cast their gaze far and wide and ventured into new territories to retain their relevance. As a result, they have had to bring in new skillsets. A good example is United Airlines, which was one of the fastest in the business to ready itself for vaccine distribution. While many airlines are still scrambling to figure out the logistics of transporting the vaccines at the low temperatures required, United landed its first flight carrying a mass shipment weeks ago. Not only did that move take vision and agility, it likely required new and upgraded skillsets across regulatory affairs, distribution, logistics and supply chain, program management and engineering. All are skills that will be helpful for an expanded cargo business even after the pandemic. At Boyden, we are seeing this trend in our day-to-day work with clients, as they seek out highly-skilled talent to deal with new supply chain issues or regulations, for example.
Grappling with growth: On the flip side, there are many organizations whose biggest problem is dealing with overwhelming growth as a result of the pandemic. Exercise equipment, cleaning products, home decor, e-commerce, grocers… the list of lucky industries goes on. But, with rising consumer demand for these products has come supply chain issues, new regulatory obligations, and resource challenges. With lucrative federal government support, for example, it can be difficult to entice minimum-wage employees to show up for work. As a result, new skill sets are in demand, whether that’s to support innovation in automation (for which the business case is now much stronger!), or to help navigate the challenging regulatory environment, such as moving products across borders.
The culmination of these developments presents huge opportunities for proactive candidates who have been attentive of the trends. This is particularly true for those with pandemic-inspired skillsets, like regulatory affairs, risk management, and human resources. However, in these high-demand consumer markets, next-gen supply chain management, e-commerce, digital marketing, payments and cybersecurity are all hot skills to have. There are opportunities for individuals with these skill sets to leapfrog in their careers, levelling up and often over top of someone who may have considerably more years of experience. These individuals are also taking the opportunity to leap to organizations with a tad more cache, like a regulatory affairs expert leaving government to lead the regulatory practice of a big consumer brand.
Whether your organization is struggling to adapt to the new world or you are a candidate with the pandemic-inspired capabilities of the future, now is the time to capitalize on the flux. Organizations should be taking the opportunity to top-grade their talent. And, with that in mind, candidates should be flaunting the in-demand aspects of their subject matter expertise to secure first-in-line status for existing opportunities and those yet to come.
