For most candidates, the option of hybrid and remote work has become key deciding factor when searching for a new role.
Companies not willing to offer this and insisting employees work full time in offices are finding they have fewer candidates to choose from.
With many opportunities to choose from, candidates are not only looking to meet current career goals in a new role. They also want to know that there’s room for growth.
Opportunities to learn new skills and technologies or take on more responsibility in time are key elements for career progression. Having mentoring programs in place is attractive for candidates on all levels.
Companies can’t afford to lose employees, but equally they’re often out of touch of market related salaries. They get surprised by resignations and then attempt to make counter offers. Often this is too little too late.
Employees that earn well and who are treated well don’t go looking for other opportunities.
When candidates are looking to move, they want to know where they stand in terms of interviews and offers. Endless interviews and delayed decision making will result in them walking away in favour of opportunities with companies that are decisive. Ellis Fox partners with companies to help hiring managers understand what candidates are looking for and streamline the hiring process to secure the top talent for the role.
Candidates can afford to be selective about job offers.
If companies want to attract top talent, they need to understand what candidates want and be willing to adapt to market trends.
At a time where budgets are shrinking and senior expertise is in high demand, hiring interims makes a lot of sense. It’s a short term commitment designed to achieve specific outcomes in a set period of time. For main contractors needing to get projects back on track or keep them going despite losing project managers or senior expertise hiring interims is an ideal solution.
Interims have the skills and knowledge to be able to deliver a huge amount of value, don’t take weeks to on-board and in the long term can be a very cost effective solution.
This is why companies shouldn’t look at the short term monthly cost as being higher than what a salaried employee would be. Over the lifetime of the project, taking into consideration the cost of delays, and the total contract cost to hire an interim, for the level of expertise and value being delivered it more than delivers on the investment.
Interims have specific knowledge in one or more key areas. This could be crisis management, problem solving, organizational change and restructuring or specific technical skills. These skills often go beyond what a company has in-house. Existing managers can certainly be upskilled, but this takes time. When there’s an urgent need for specialist skills, hiring an interim is the answer. Additionally, interim can help to reduce the pressure on existing team leaders by taking on the responsibility of specialist tasks. This enables managers to focus on their core areas of responsibilities without having to take on additional responsibilities.
An interim rarely gets caught up in internal politics because they don’t have the same history with a company as full time employees. Instead they’re tasked with achieving specific outcomes within a specific time frame and their professional reputation hinges on achieving them. Interims are hired because they have the leadership skills necessary to keep a project on track or move it forward to deliver on outcomes.
An interim comes in with a fresh and unbiased perspective. They aren’t easily influenced by the dynamics of inter departmental relationships. They’re more focussed on achieving what they’ve been tasked to do. They will often see problems or blind spots that employees overlook. This outside perspective also identifies additional opportunities for improvement more easily.
Interims are people confident in their abilities and comfortable with contracting arrangements. They are often semi-retired and have held leadership positions within the industry.
Many serve or have served as non-executive directors in large companies. They’re capable of making decisions, problem solving and providing strategic input to move projects forward.
Typically interims will also have specific niche areas of expertise such as: turnaround management, project bidding, change management, commercial management, new technology implementation, etc.
They’re able to leverage their broader leadership expertise to help upskill employees on specific projects. Stepping into projects to get right to work with minimal introductions.
For a senior professional, working as an interim provides an opportunity to hone their leadership skills as they apply commercial expertise and practical knowledge to a diverse range of projects.
For someone who likes taking on new challenges, each new project creates an opportunity to apply knowledge and skills in a different way. It is a highly stimulating environment to be operating in.
Interims are usually independent thinkers able to bring a different perspective. They can often look at a situation and quickly and identify what needs to change or be implemented.
Because of their track record of success, they can be trusted to make sound decisions. They can also help nurture diverse thinking encouraging innovation and problem solving in teams.
They know the infrastructure and utility sectors within the construction industry, they have broad networks of contacts, and they know how to get things to work significantly better than they have been in the past.
Ellis Fox has a broad network of senior professionals experienced in filling interim roles. Candidates have specialist skills and are able to step in and fill key roles at critical time in projects.
Quantity surveyors are key role players in construction and infrastructure projects. Companies need them to help deliver on projects and targets.
Top quantity surveyors have much more than the right qualification and technical expertise. They bring with them industry knowledge and working relationships as well as critical soft skills that enable them to manage projects effectively.
Ellis Fox has a deep understanding on what constitutes a top quantity surveyor and can assist you in your search for the right person.
It’s not easy hiring for executive positions, especially in an industry where so many external factors impact a company’s ability to remain profitable.
Ellis Fox understands what skills and expertise are required for various executive roles and is experienced in sourcing top candidates to fill these.
Reach out to the team at Ellis Fox to hire for hard to fill roles and find the senior expertise your company needs.
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