Making the most of a hot HR job market

The heat in the general market has translated into an environment where, in most areas, the competition for HR talent can best be described as ferocious. The key area for demand rests with mid-range HR generalists who bring sound technical skills combined with the ability to genuinely comprehend business needs and partner with operational managers to achieve objectives.

Experienced practitioners within the specialist areas of HR have also been in great demand, particularly in the fields of organisational development, attraction and retention, learning and development, rewards, OHS and employee relations. There has been significant growth in demand for in-house resourcing specialists as well.

Whilst most areas have been bullish, there have been some areas of weakness. The most notable and high profile of these have been at senior level. A growing number of people expect to ‘lead the function’ for a major company with associated responsibilities such as team management. At the same time, there is little evidence to suggest a corresponding growth in the number of lead roles available in established and sophisticated HR environments. Consequently, the competition for these roles is robust, to say the least.

Strong demand for mid-tier HR generalists

There are a couple of other factors contributing to the strong demand for mid-tier HR generalists, the first of which is the structure of teams and an increase in churn rates. Confidence in the employment market has ensured that many of the larger blue chip organisations have been steadily rolling out a stream of opportunities in the generalist HR middle management level. Many of the larger employers in the market have structured their HR teams in the business partner model.

Typically the business partner model is one where the HR practitioner reports to a senior HR leader and is responsible for approximately 200 to 400 employees. The role is supported by specialists in a central area with a shared transaction call centre which takes on responsibility for day-to-day HR enquiries. This structure gives great accountability and line of sight to the business, but quite often doesn’t provide a ‘next step’ internally. Therefore, HR generalists often look outside their existing company in search of career growth.

The year ahead

Despite some declining consumer confidence, the labour market is poised for continued strength. As the engine of growth in the Australian economy continues to shift gears from trade-based sectors to white collar industries, employment amongst the professions will continue to be strong with continued demand for experienced HR professionals.

In summary, the HR market will remain healthy from a demand perspective, particularly for those candidates who can switch between the operational and strategic. Importantly, the profession needs to ensure it applies the same attraction and development approach to HR as it does to other disciplines.

David Owens, associate director, Staff & Exec

The prevailing view of the HR recruitment market is that it is hot. Particular hot categories have been specialist HR roles. Demand for learning and development directors, managers and consultants has been very high since the run into implementing the FSRA (Financial Services Reform Act) early to mid 2003. There has barely been any let-up in demand and this has had an enormous effect on the availability of people – any people – with skills in this area.

Remuneration and benefits plays a key role in ensuring that the value proposition for the employee is competitive and incentives are suitable to ensure both attraction and retention of executive talent. This has been seen very clearly in the telecommunications, IT, pharmaceutical and professional services sectors this year. Consequently, demand for remuneration and benefits specialists has been as high as ever and availability of good people has been poor, to say the least.

Recruitment specialists are also in short supply, and this is amplified by tremendous demand not only from corporates looking to build or expand their in-house recruitment teams, but also from the recruitment industry itself. One could, however, suggest the characteristics and motivators of people in the different streams of recruitment are very different. The lure of greater returns for recruiters in the consultancy sector will continue to challenge the attraction and retention of quality recruiters to the in-house sector, especially those operating in markets such as legal, banking and, once again, IT.

Demand is also high for HR generalists. The HR professional who demonstrates broad understanding of basic business principles and functions and is capable of contributing to business review and planning discussion in a credible way will prosper.

What of future market trends?

There is clearly a well established trend towards employee staff service, and the automation of low value HR is everywhere, as is the enablement of line managers in respect of matters of recruitment, OHS and performance management. I see growth of the HR specialist function as the demographic crunch approaches in the future organisation.

There will be a continued rise of the HR business partner, an individual who is part of a business unit management team, and who interfaces at the highest levels to ensure all pieces of the company’s business plan are met by relevant chapters of the HR business plan. This is a senior generalist who must impact HR’s business appropriateness as well as effectiveness. In a fast changing environment, it is a fast thinking, fast moving, business savvy operator who always keeps the plan on track that will generate the most credibility and attract a sense of true value.

Chris Le Coïc, director, HR Matters

The current salary prospects of top level HR professionals are very healthy. The million dollar HR professional is well and truly here, with a number of the top HR jobs in Australia paying well in excess of this, once all compensation package elements are included. Despite what you may read in surveys, HR jobs are paying a lot more than they used to in comparison with other disciplines, and the gap between HR and sales, finance, marketing and IT is diminishing.

Where are the HR jobs?

The HR recruitment market has been strong in recent times and is now probably stronger than it has been for many years. The Sydney and Melbourne markets account for the vast majority of HR roles (probably 80 per cent).

Significant restructuring of the HR function has taken place in many large corporates, with increasing use of technology doing away with many of the entry-level HR roles HR graduates used to be able to take to start up their careers. The impact of technology has also allowed the outsourcing of parts of the function more effectively. So while the number of HR roles may have been diminishing inside some corporates, the number of HR roles in outsourcing companies has been substantially increasing.

Generalist HR has been in demand in more recent times at all levels, and at the two to four year experience level, the market is experiencing a shortage of good calibre candidates as a result. At the top end, however, there seems to be no shortage of high calibre senior HR executives looking for new opportunities.

Specialist areas such as compensation and benefits and talent management are in demand, and there’s a shortage of good people in these areas, particularly at the more senior levels. Employee relations is likely to increase in demand as the Federal Government’s IR strategy is put into place over the next few months.

The HR contracting market also has been very strong, and has now firmly established itself as a key element of many companies’ HR recruitment strategies.

As such, it’s definitely become a more candidate-driven market over the past few months, as the supply of labour has begun to dry up due to the increase in the number of jobs available. HR candidates themselves, however, generally seem well prepared to meet the needs of the market.

Future market trends

Increasing use of technology will see the number of the more traditional HR roles reduced, particularly at the lower levels. This will eventually lead to a problem as gaps appear within organisations at the lower levels of HR, with no one available internally to move up to the next HR levels, such as HR advisor. The number of HR roles being created in HR outsourcing companies will consequently increase.

HR salaries will continue to increase in relation to other professions, with parity becoming increasingly apparent as the HR function begins to find its way onto the boards of publicly listed companies. HR people will also more frequently take on CEO positions as companies recognise the skill sets top HR professionals can bring to the top job.