Recruitment with the personal touch
As digital advances continue to rewrite the commercial landscape, never has it been more important for businesses to find the correct balance between systems and staff. Here, Steven Hugill speaks to Gary Rogers, head of tech at specialist recruitment and outsourced talent services partner Jackson Hogg, to learn more about how it is helping firms marry the technological with the tangible, and how its support is always delivered with the personal touch.
May 9, 2024
Business is all about balance.
Just like the tightrope walker that calculates their every step to combat changing climatic tremors, so too must an organisation take a measured approach when seeking to overcome the push and pull of market headwinds.
Crucial to achieving such is a stable base, one that combines control and convention with flexibility and nuance.
One like Jackson Hogg.
A metaphorical balancing pole for companies seeking to strengthen teams and bolster growth ambitions, the specialist recruitment and outsourced talent services partner empowers clients to stride on through economic, social and geopolitical fluctuation.
And nowhere is its support better highlighted than through the work of its expert tech team, which unites firms with the best candidates for roles across the entire digital spectrum.
Crucial to its endeavour is Jackson Hogg’s longstanding commitment to the personal touch.
“A lot of recruitment is carried out in a very transactional way – but we’re not like that,” says head of tech Gary Rogers.
He says: “We find out what a client is looking for, and then seek to understand their ethos and culture too, because they are crucial to helping find the right people for any business.
“We always go on-site with a client, to gain not just a really good appreciation of the organisation, but the job specification too – face-to-face conversations and personal relationships are a very important part of our provision.
“From there – once we’ve built that understanding and had further conversations around areas such as budgetary plans – we go out to market, using our existing candidate database to find potential recruitment matches while also advertising on job boards, meeting possible candidates and, where applicable, looking to strategically headhunt people we feel are right for a company and a role.
“Ultimately, we build relationships right from the beginning of the process, which is extremely beneficial for both the client and the candidate.
“And it really sets us apart in the marketplace, because the alternative is to simply put CVs to clients and hope they find the right person,” adds Gary, who has more than a decade of experience in the employment sector.
Similarly distinctive is the support offered beyond the filling of immediate vacancies, with Gary – who works alongside a team of highly-skilled sector lead consultants – harnessing his knowledge and expertise to provide clients with a sounding board to help sketch out growth blueprints.
And in a world where data is increasingly driving decisions, where autonomous systems are fulfilling more tasks and where the value of robust online defences is emphasised by every passing ransomware attack, it is having great effect.
Gary says: “We’re helping business owners who are looking for greater market knowledge and support on the areas where they should be potentially investing in, like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital transformation programmes.
“But we’re not telling clients what they should be doing.
“Instead, we make them aware of the opportunities across the entire tech landscape, providing updates to legislation and sharing, where possible, any best practices carried out by other organisations that could help their goals.
“And while it isn’t directly filling a recruitment role, it is no less important.
“By having such high-level conversations and networking with organisations and individuals, it allows me to better understand sectoral and company pain points and struggles, from which I can then add my knowledge and experience to help companies put in steps to make positive change.
“That is far more valuable to any firm than if I took a difficult role to fill, and then didn’t fill it.”
“And it builds relationships too,” says Gary, whose tech team helps businesses find staff for a host of roles stretching from testing and development posts, to positions including project managers, business analysts and chief technology officers.
He adds: “If I’ve worked with a firm and provided market intelligence and advice on areas like salary benchmarking, for example, then that company knows it can discuss tech recruitment plans with Jackson Hogg when it reaches a position to do so.
“Our team has the expertise and knowledge to support any recruitment goals in the tech sector, and we’re actively hiring to grow our offer yet further, across the North East and beyond, to help more businesses succeed.”
May 9, 2024
- Promoted