Recruiters Making an Impact - How to Sell the Value of What You Do, with Charles Cameron, Ep #86

Jul 30, 2021

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

From changing people’s lives to creating positive social and economic impact, a career in recruitment can be a truly fulfilling experience. Despite the best intentions, you may still face the frustration of being perceived as a salesperson who is just after the fee, rather than what is the best for your candidate and your client. How do you change this perception? For Charles Cameron, it is all about defining and selling the value of what you do.

My special guest Charles is the CEO of RCSA Australia and New Zealand and Vice President of the World Employment Confederation, the global lobby group for the recruitment, staffing and HR services industry. In our discussion, you will hear Charles’ insights on the importance of genuinely professional recruitment consultants and how to sell that value to your clients. Charles also shared why recruiters will always remain relevant despite the continued rise of online and AI platforms and why cooperation in our industry will make us stronger and more influential.

Episode Outline and Highlights

[3:27] How Charles got into the recruiting industry.
[8:05] Charles talks about the importance of genuinely professional recruitment and staffing consultants.
[14:10] The economic and social contribution of professional recruitment and staffing firms.
[17:05] Why genuine recruitment professionals will always be relevant despite the continued rise of online and AI platforms.
[19:50] How do we sell the value of what we do?
[30:30] Competition versus cooperation - what makes us stronger and more influential when we share and cooperate.
[38:24] What are the big challenges and opportunities facing our industry post covid?

The Importance of Genuinely Professional Recruitment and Staffing Consultants

A passionate advocate for labour market intermediaries and consultants, Charles is driven by the role professional recruitment consultants can play in inspiring people to be better through work. I took the opportunity to ask him about his thoughts on the importance of genuinely professional recruitment.

As CEO of RCSA Australia and New Zealand and Vice President of the World Employment Confederation, his insights are remarkably relevant especially in today's economy. Charles stated, “I think great recruitment professionals have this ability to get inside the minds of individuals and find something that they didn’t themselves know was there.” He further explained that although it may appear easy on the surface - finding someone who needs a job and marrying them to the right client - it actually involves more than just that. “Getting inside their minds, understanding what it is that they have, how it is that we can assist them to transition skills from old economy jobs to new economy jobs, really then supporting them” Charles added. Hear more about how Charles wants to change the way in which people look at recruitment agents.

Selling the Value of What We Do

Charles firmly believes that what we as recruitment professionals change people's lives for the better. But the problem he sees is that we are unable to consistently sell the value of what we do as an industry. How do we sell the value of what we do as professional recruiters? He explained that we must first address why “You just don’t define your value particularly well… I think this all comes back to this notion that we sometimes don’t believe in that value ourselves.”

Charles emphasized the importance to “[Not] stand back and just allow others to dictate who we are.” It requires stories about candidates involving human connection. In line with that, Charles shared the “NextGen campaign”, where they create materials for their members to use digital assets and stories to compel people to “change people’s lives while making good money along the way…”.

Challenges and Opportunities Post-COVID

Going back to Charles’ unique vantage point as Vice President of the World Employment Confederation and CEO of RCSA, I had to ask his thoughts on the biggest challenges and opportunities we have as an industry post-COVID. Charles shared a couple:

Finding talent - from being “talent traders” to “talent developers.”
Clients retaining their recruiter - why retained model is the key.

Hear why these are two important elements post-COVID and what we should do as recruiters to adapt.

Our Sponsors

This podcast is proudly sponsored by i-intro® -- the retained recruitment platform and methodology that allows recruiters to win more retained business, increase their fees and boost productivity. Mention The Resilient Recruiter podcast for a 25% discount. Book your free, no obligation consultation here: http://resources.i-intro.co.uk/markwhitby

Charles Cameron Bio and Contact Info

Charles is CEO of RCSA Australia & New Zealand and Vice President of the World Employment Confederation, the global lobby group for the recruitment, staffing and HR services industry. With qualifications in economics and labour law, Charles has specialised in advising to, and representing, the recruitment and staffing industry for over 20 years. A passionate advocate for labour market intermediaries and consultants, Charles is driven by the role professional recruitment consultants can play in inspiring people to be better through work.

Charles on LinkedIn
Charles on Twitter @ACharlesCameron
RCSA website link
RCSA on Facebook
World Employment Confederation website link
StaffSure website link

People and Resources Mentioned

Greg Savage on LinkedIn
Neil Carberry on LinkedIn
Jason Elias on LinkedIn
Plamen Ivanoff on LinkedIn
This podcast is proudly sponsored by i-intro®

Connect with Mark Whitby

Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call
Mark on LinkedIn
Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby
Mark on Facebook
Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach

Related Podcast You Might Enjoy

Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter