The Manufacturer Article
- 1. 70 71 E arly in his career, Phillip Hodson carved an impressive path through some of the big names of UK engineering. But with every step as he etched the names of Perkins, Caterpillar and Alexander Dennis onto his CV one thing left him unsatisfied with his move. When I went for interviews as a candidate I was always left feeling like it had only been about a single transaction, he says. There wasnt much investment of time from recruiters in people relationships. There was a lot of investment in the client but not enough on me as an individual. It was this discontent which inspired the ethos for Hodsons own company. After a couple of promotions I got to the stage where I needed to use recruitment companies to hire people myself, he says. My first thoughts were to stay away from those that Id had a poor relationship with as a candidate. So thats basically our attitude at Kensington todays candidate is tomorrows client. Kensington does not see one client when a company asks it to fill a position; it sees many. Theres the company, the successful applicant, and all of the other applicants too. And no one takes priority. This is in contrast to most of Kensingtons competitors, who tend to follow the ideology that so aggrieved Hodson in his engineering days. Whats more, the situation has only got worse since the recession began. Recruiters panicked when the work dried up a bit and seemed to say right, lets just concentrate on the client and get the money in, said Hodson. But we made a bold move and decided to keep our focus on the relationships throughout the service, comprising the candidate, the client and us. Mismanagement of applicants is not a folly committed only by rival recruitment firms though. Most manufacturers have, unfortunately, not been able to take on many more staff over the last year-and-a-half. However, of those that have, some have had to take on the task themselves, due to cost-cutting, rather than outsourcing the job to a firm like Phils. And some have found this a slightly trickier affair than they first may have thought. They didnt anticipate how many applications they would receive, and didnt have the skills in-house to handle the relationship with the candidate properly. They didnt give feedback for instance. Thats been a real issue with the recruitment industry in recent times, candidates become despondent and frustrated at not being kept in the loop. From the individuals perspective entry professional to boardroom level Kensingtons services involve a post candidate care process to ensure that the new role is meeting expectations. There is a triggered system on the job seekers database for a Kensington consultant to call all of the individuals they have found jobs for at regular intervals. They can then act as mediator between the company and the employee if any issues need ironing out. Other services they offer job hunters include CV and interview preparation and psychometric testing. From the employing companies perspective SME to blue-chip Kensington provides salary surveys, job specification creation, redeployment services and some legal advice. In sourcing appropriate applicants it uses its database of job seekers, holds open days at assessment centres, advertises where it sees fit, and actively head-hunts suitable candidates. If the first bedrock upon which Hodson has built his business is maintaining relationships, the second is keeping real links to industry. All of the employees Hodson has taken on have previously been engineering professionals, some of them with 25 year stints in the industry. This adds names like GEC Alstom, CAT, Perkins, Michael Page, Pricewaterhouse Coopers NIS and Faber Design to the firms collective credentials, along with many special purpose manufacturers covering most of the mechanical engineering and process industries. Kensington also has an engineering alliance with North West Projects Advanced Engineering Design an expanding engineering design consultancy specialising in a variety of mechanical handling projects largely for the Nuclear Industry. And the efforts have not gone unnoticed. Kensington recently won two national awards at an annual event run by Job Site. The Most Improved Recruiter and Best Understanding of Candidate Needs for 2009 awards have seen the business gain increased interest from both the candidate and client communities. There were five awards in total; Kensington was nominated in all five. The competition heats up Of the firms that havent trimmed their payroll in the last couple of years, only a minority have added to it. That naturally means there has been a large increase in the number of applicants per job; Hodson estimates four times more on November 2008 levels. He says recruitment-wise, the industries worst hit for jobs since the downturn began have been automotive and aerospace, along with some general manufacturing. However, there has been an increase in job availability in green industries like waste management and recycling, as well as the design and manufacture of things like alternative energy equipment and energy efficient heavy machinery. Advanced manufacturing of new technology and composites have remained strong too. Hodsons advice to so-called traditional engineers is to jump aboard the green wagon. There are definitely transferable skills from other areas of manufacturing into the green industries. We can help candidates recognise that they already have the necessary skills and then we can help market those skills. These are industries that are going to be around for a long time so people need to take advantage early. In terms of the skills recruiters are now looking for, Hodson says leadership and people skills and continuous improvement (CI) understanding are becoming increasingly important. They want a real understanding though, not just buzzwords. I wish I had a pound for all the people who have 5S on their CV and dont fundamentally understand it. They may have been involved with it and may even be able to articulate upon it to a certain degree but thats not enough, employers are looking for a real understanding. A thorough understanding of CI is important for another trait that recruiters now want; good business acumen right through the ranks. Clients want candidates now that see the clear path to the customer, says Hodson. Engineers struggle to represent themselves and show how what they do affects the bottom line. Reducing costs while improving quality at the engineering stage is where the two marry up. After a thorough interview it is, however, apparent they do possess the skills and experience but find it awkward marketing these to potential employers. Selling their skills does not come naturally to them and so we have to work hard to ensure they see the fruits of their labour and can sell these benefits. Overall, the types of skills that employers want and the sub-sectors with job vacancies might be changing but the ethos that Kensington employs when finding the right person for the role stays the same. The companys success is inherently linked to the success of its clients; employer and employee. You can be sure youre in good hands Kensington Consultings best interests are your best interests. Kensington Consulting is a Lancashire-based engineering and manufacturing recruitment services firm that was begun by Phillip Hodson in 2006. He tells Mark Young about the driving force behind the firm, and shares some insights on manufacturing recruitment in the midst of a transforming economy Employing a little care I wish I had a pound for all the people who have 5S on their CV and dont fundamentally understand it. They may have been involved with it and may even be able to articulate upon it to a certain degree but thats not enough, employers are looking for a real understanding Kensington Consulting is an engineering and manufacturing recruitment services firm based in Lancashire, serving Northern England from Staffordshire up to Cumbria, and North Wales to Yorkshire. 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