5 Recruitment Trends to Watch in 2016

Over the past few weeks I’ve read countless lists of predictions for 2016, whether those be in the world of politics, business, science or sports. Undoubtedly the year has seen a volatile start in the business world with stock markets indicating a greater level of investor nervousness. However, whether the year turns out to be a good one or a more challenging one, one thing that is important to each of us, and which we can do something about, is our career. So instead of me predicting what the world may be like in the next 12 months, let me focus more on my thoughts for what sort of career trends might we see in 2016 and beyond.

It’s clear to see that now, no matter what sector you work in, very few of us work in areas that are not impacted by technology and the data that flows through our organisations. I see that in my own business, even though in some ways a recruitment business is the ultimate people business. Technology and data is changing how we work, from the way we work with our clients and candidates, to how we can better predict their needs in advance. And I know from talking with my consultants that organisations across all sectors are seeing the same impact, and that the pace of this change is only set to increase in 2016.

1. A focus on making big data useful

‘Big data’ has dominated many business conversations for the last year or two now, but it’s only relatively recently that it has started to become more tangible and real as a business tool. In the recent past it may have been a solution looking for a problem, but today it is starting to make real inroads to provide users a real competitive advantage. I speak from experience here, having just recently hired data scientists into my own company to unlock the secrets hidden in our own data. I expect their insights to drive better informed business decisions, and therefore profit, going forward.

My business is not alone. As two examples, I’ve seen many of our marketing and financial technology clients utilising data to inform predictive customer analysis, while the life sciences industry has seen a rise in the number of biotech software companies looking for candidates who can assist in the data analysis and mapping of the vast amounts of data contained in each human genome. The data may be different, but the need for analysis is the same for us all.

The message here is that data analysts will be in even higher demand in 2016. But the story doesn’t end there. Companies will also benefit from the skills of what I term ‘data translators’. By that I mean people with the skill to find you the right data and make it both meaningful and useful and above all actionable. What I’m referring to is beyond analysis and even insights. The skills I am talking about enable businesses to understand and practically use the output from the story that their data reveals to produce measurable results that improve profitability.

2. A renewed focus on the customer experience

Putting the customer at the heart of business activity has long been espoused as the route to a successful business, but it will become even more so in 2016. After all, customers take even the most recent advances and improvements for granted almost immediately and they expect service to be immediate, consistent and world class, every time. My business is no different; having spent many years getting our infrastructure and processes right, perfecting the customer experience is now front of mind.

In 2016, we will see more businesses focus and invest in their Customer Experience (CX), harnessing data and insights to better target customers, increase personalisation and better inform product development. A CX guru has the capability to transform an organisation’s relationship with its customers. Understanding what they want, how they would best like to interact, what their optimum journey would be and putting it into practice are the “must have” talents for 2016. There is a whole industry built around helping companies understand their customers’ journey. I predict that organisations that are lucky enough to have this talent in-house will be at an advantage in 2016 and beyond, because customers are increasingly demanding to be served in the way they choose, not how the supplier might choose to serve them, and they are intolerant of what they see as inadequate or inflexible service.

3. Even more value on security

With more technology and data comes the increasing threat of cyber-crime. You only have to look at the number of high profile ‘hacks’ that made the headlines in 2015 as evidence.

Undoubtedly, we are seeing an increasing number of our clients hiring permanent IT security staff to bolster defences and prevent such attacks, rather than recruiting experts to deal with the aftermath of a security breach. As customers share more of their data with businesses and with the adoption of wireless and cloud-based solutions increasing, we will see more businesses across all sectors investing in these permanent roles, whether they be cyber security experts, security engineers or information security analysts. Ten years ago, we couldn’t have imagined recruiting for a cyber-security engineer, but now there is more opportunity out there than available talent, and this trend is set to continue and accelerate throughout 2016.

4. Mobile first?

I see mobile technology as one of the most disruptive (or helpful) influences on our society over the next ten years - its growth is unstoppable and so is the disruption caused to businesses and their business models. Rightly or wrongly we live in an ‘always-on’ world through our own mobile devices. They are our map, our contact book, our connection to information and our distraction on the daily commute.

However, business’ track record at riding this mobile wave is mixed. I see many organisations who have just completed their upgrade to a desktop-centric infrastructure and customer experience, only to find out it’s now irrelevant and has been superseded as customers demand to interact while on the go, not when they are seated at the desk. It’s relentless evolution, but there’s no time to pause for breath if you want to stay relevant to your market.

I believe the inexorable shift from desktop to mobile will pose one of the biggest challenges to businesses in 2016 and beyond. Businesses must keep pace – as a result we will continue to see increased demand for ‘mobile’ roles and functions. In particular, we are seeing more organisations looking to turn their understanding of how customers use mobile websites, products and services into useful insights for marketing and R&D teams. At the same time, the maturation of a mobile society spawns whole new businesses and industries and over time will turn traditional industries on their head. For example, Uber could not exist in a non-mobile world. But at this stage, Uber simply provides a novel and effective new way of connecting customers and suppliers (passengers with cars and drivers). Run these developments to one possible conclusion and we start to question the very principle of car design and usage. In a future mobile world of simple, cheap and shared transport, what is the role of the future car, what does it look like, how does it work and who will own it? I don’t have the answers, but there are likely to be some very different responses as these new business ideas mature. All of this will create greater and greater demand for ‘mobile’ skills.

5. The battle for STEM skills continues

As an engineer at heart, the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) has always been a passion of mine. I’m sorry to say that we continue to see a global shortage of STEM skills and I predict that the growing influence of data and technology will only increase the appetite for these skills across all sectors and departments in 2016.

I also expect to see more R&D activity across government, universities and a wide range of industries. The pace of innovation and invention is accelerating as our ability to bring together ideas from disparate areas and recombine them to solve new problems becomes easier. Theorists point to this ease of idea exchange as a key catalyst for the explosion in innovation we experience today and if this is true, expect the pace of innovation, and therefore change, to only accelerate. This will create more and new jobs, many of which do not exist even in concept today. To win in this world, you need to stay on this wave of development and ensure your skills remain relevant as the world moves on. Lifetime learning will become evermore important as what we know today can quickly become irrelevant if we are not careful. Daunting yes, but for those of us who can be flexible and adjust our skills quickly as business evolves, very exciting and rewarding. So when you’re interviewing for that exciting new job, think about how you will evidence how you have developed and adjusted your own skills over time, in order to show your new employer how you can be prepared for tomorrow’s world and not just today’s. 

Technology and data is creating entirely new careers, reshaping existing ones, and changing the way organisations recruit and engage talent. In order to succeed in 2016 and beyond, you must foster openness and collaboration across your teams, learning new skills and embracing new ways of doing things. No-one has the answer, so you must continually test and learn, continually trialling new ideas and seeing what works and what doesn’t. For many of us, that’s a new and uncomfortable way of operating. But in a world where the rule-book has not been written, I see it as the only way to stay ahead of the game and in effect write the rules yourself.