The recent financial crisis that battered countries worldwide forced many industries to change the way they operate. Human Resources sector is one of such areas that have seen significant transformation.
In the UAE, financial services and technology industries were doing great before the crisis, but things are different now.
Panos Manolopoulos, Stanton Chase’s Vice President for Europe, Middle East and Africa, says that financial services industry was hit badly not only in the UAE but throughout the world.
“There are still a number of areas in the financial sector that needs experienced people. The sub industries like private banking and Islamic finance are in need of talented people. You can’t have an economy without financial services and now even the financial sector is concentrating on different areas,” Manolopoulos says.
According to the executive, the effect of the crisis on various industries has not been fully assessed. But industries like FMCG, retail, manufacturing, industrial, healthcare and pharmaceuticals are still hiring.
“No industry is not hiring, the companies are just putting some projects on hold. In executive search we see that even if some companies have announced a freeze on hiring, they are still looking for some key people. They have only slowed down the hiring process,” he adds.
Decline in salaries
The companies have started thinking differently not only about hiring but also about salaries and packages.
“Salary standards have certainly gone down. For the top level positions, overall packages including bonuses have gone down by a large percentage,” explains Panos.
However, the middle management and lower management packages haven’t seen a significant change.
“Board positions have seen a decline in fringe benefits and bonuses. A decline of 15 to 20 per cent is the standard now and this change has come due to the pressure of moving towards logical packages,” Manolopoulos says.
The companies have now become very cautious when it comes to spending. They have become wiser, and have started to think long term.
“Our interaction with various companies shows that the organisations are playing safe. They have started thinking more in terms of the bottom line and tightening their internal finances rather than just increasing sales revenues,” adds Manolopoulos.
Stanton Chase has also seen a prudent approach from board of directors of various companies in the decision making process.
“We see an approach of being qualitative rather than being quantitative by the companies which are hiring. They are looking for less people but better people,” he says.
Bringing back credibility to the HR industry
A common complaint from most executives applying is that they never hear from the head hunters. Stanton Chase agrees that the HR industry has lost its credibility due to some head hunting agencies which didn’t do business professionally.
“A big effort is going on to bring back the credibility to the HR industry and Stanton Chase is the pioneer in this campaign. It is of paramount importance for us to give feedback,” Manolopoulos explains.
“When we receive CVs we contact the applicants but bear in mind that we receive hundreds of CVs and we are making efforts to be in touch with the executives on a more personal basis rather than just sending an acknowledgment email,” he adds.
In the GCC region and UAE in particular, hiring is usually done through networking. Sometimes there are no head hunting agencies involved in the process but Manolopoulos says it’s a myth that executive search companies don’t use networking.
“We are very strong in networking. However, our approach is more consultative. It’s more methodological in evaluating the people, in terms of whether the culture of people is in line with the culture of the company. Networking for us is equally important for placing someone in the correct company,” the executive says.
UAE - an important market
For an international executive search company like Stanton Chase, UAE sits in a very strategic location in the world.
The company has been, over the years getting a number of assignments from UK, USA and Australia and the decision to open their office in UAE was to execute these assignments.
“A number of companies in the recent past have opened their offices in UAE. Some of them have even opened their headquarters here not only for the GCC region but for Europe, Middle East and Africa. This made us open an office here as UAE is close to a large geography,” says Manolopoulos.
There’s a lot of requirement for global talent in this country and with Stanton Chase being an international company, they have the resources to find the perfect fit.
Focus on quality
Stanton Chase has high quality standards when it comes to placing executives. The firm fills up between 60 to 70 positions per years which is an average of four to five per month.
“We don’t expect to increase the number in 2010, not because of market recovery but because of our capacity and commitment to quality.”
Manolopoulos reveals that there are plans for a geographical expansion. Stanton Chase has opened a new office in Doha and is in the process of opening one soon in Saudi Arabia.
“Our focus for 2010 is on training of people, retaining good talent and developing people internally for higher roles. When it comes to our clients our concentration will be on creating partnerships, deliver with high quality standards, to be persistent and consistent to our values and to extend our benefit to the community within the region,” Manolopoulos says.
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