Welcome to another edition of Fast Five – our fortnightly series where we ask Victoria’s most influential and exceptional business leaders five questions to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of some of Australia’s most dynamic businesses.

TRANSEARCH has been instrumental in identifying and securing board members, ‘C’ suite executives and senior functional experts who have led the growth of successful organisations.

In this edition we spoke to Bill Sakellaris, Managing Director of TRANSEARCH Australia, about recruitment in a post-COVID world and the evolving face of the industry.

How has COVID-19 changed executive search for firms like TRANSEARCH Australia, and their clients and candidates? How different are your operations now compared with pre-COVID times?

For our own business, COVID-19 has clearly changed the way we operate and the way we think about working arrangements. Fortunately, because we are knowledge workers, we are able to work remotely and were able to work from home through the pandemic. Those flexible working arrangements have remained and will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

We have not seen a decrease in productivity as a result of flexible/hybrid work. If anything, we’ve seen an increase, because people are utilising what would normally be travel time for meetings or in some cases, their daily commute. What that has also allowed us to do is provide more flexible arrangements for staff to attend to personal needs, so there’s less requirement for them to formalise those leave arrangements within reason.

Technology has changed the face of executive search. A large part of our work now is done online, which includes client and candidate meetings, and candidate interviews. As a result, we may not need all of the meeting rooms, the dedicated offices and the floorspace we once required. Now that people are more accustomed to working remotely and meeting over Zoom or Teams, we are able to engage a Board of Directors from different states to take a brief and agree on leadership competencies without the need for them to be together in one room. The use of online assessments, including retention surveys, and virtual onboarding, have all have been re-developed since the pandemic.

I still think that collaboration, team engagement and learning are best achieved and when you have face-to-face contact with your colleagues. It’s hard to build and develop culture from the lounge room, or from your study at home, or the kitchen table. Bringing teams together on a regular basis is vital to retain the culture of any organisation.

What are the current challenges in hiring executives and what are organisations doing to make themselves more attractive to candidates? Has the pandemic changed the way businesses project themselves to attract prospective employees? Is flexibility and worker amenity now more vital than ever, and what other factors are important for employees?

At the executive level, flexible working arrangements have proved to be as equally important to candidates as they are management and mid-level positions. This new way of working has caused people to realise what’s most important to them: clearly it’s family, flexibility, and the ability to work when they can be in ‘the zone’, when their productivity is also at their best. Being in the office doesn’t necessarily provide that blue sky thinking time, which is particularly important to those in senior leadership positions.

The truth about the current employment market is that the talent has always been there. However, finding and attracting that talent has become much more difficult. Due to a number of contributing factors, including Australia’s record low unemployment, restricted movement around the world and people leaving the workforce, there are so many opportunities out there at the moment. Candidates are becoming a lot more discerning in terms of which positions they will consider. Executives are being approached by numerous organisations with offers of up to 20 per cent, 30 per cent and in some instances, as high as 40 per cent higher salaries, which is unheard of in recent times.

What that has done is it has highlighted the fact that they are worth more, and therefore able to earn more, and that’s putting pressure on existing employers to retain them. So now, more than ever, the employer value proposition (EVP) is critical. Those organisations that have reviewed and renewed their EVP, and really understand what it is that makes them an employer of choice – why their employees are staying, are the ones that are winning the current war for talent.

Many organisations struggle to articulate their value propositions. In the new business environment, a compelling EVP is essential, not only to stand out from the crowd, but to tap into the key things that are important to executives today. Vision, values, purpose and culture have always been important to leaders. What we are seeing now is social responsibility – community, environment, and contribution back to society – is equally important.

When the value proposition message from hiring manager, through to HR and the executive is consistent, it has validity. It’s where marketing and HR come together. As a consultancy, TRANSEARCH have tools to help our clients develop their EVP so that they’re able to articulate that message very clearly.

On the other hand, what demographics and expertise are in demand? Are we seeing a younger, diverse talent pool in the workforce, or are older workers working longer (be it out of necessity or desire)?

Leadership skills are in high demand, particularly the ability to lead remote teams. If we’re not connecting with people face-to-face, it’s harder to understand what the whole person brings to the organisation. When we’re not congregating around the watercooler or the printer, it means we’re not having those adlib discussions as much as we used to. Leaders with the expertise to engage with their team members, which could be a genuine mindful discussion once per week with each of their staff individually, not collectively, spend 10 minutes really understanding them and their needs, how they’re operating at home, and what’s affecting the rest of their life. Those leaders who are tapping into the real needs of employees, engaging with them and I would argue, therefore retaining them, are in demand.

With knowledge workers, and as we are seeing in the executive space, people are generally willing and able to work longer because their bodies are not being tested every day on a worksite, on a factory floor or in some other labour-intensive environment. Once executives rise to the most senior levels, they tend to take on other types of employment – it could be contract or part-time, or it could be developing a non-executive director’s portfolio, as many CEOs and other leaders do. They’re able to do that well into their 60s and 70s.

In some sectors, such as education and healthcare, the lack of people coming into those professions makes it harder for those wanting to retire. In the executive segment of the market, it’s less of an issue because there is a much bigger talent pool of people coming from public and private, commercial and government sectors, with transferable skills. When considering diversity, it’s more about diversity of thought that we are trying to achieve, as opposed to just diversity from an age, gender balance or multicultural perspective. That’s the biggest challenge that organisations are facing and boards are demanding, and it’s one we are proud to help them achieve through talent acquisition.

What industry shifts has TRANSEARCH observed in recent years, and has COVID-19 changed or accelerated those? Which sectors are at the fore now in Victoria, particularly in our post-pandemic recovery?

Those industries where we are seeing demand for talent include education; healthcare – nursing, aged care, medical technology and other allied services; anything digital; cyber security; defence; advanced manufacturing; and renewable energy. Talent shortages in these sectors have become political issues and their challenges have been highlighted by domestic and world events. If you think about healthcare workers and what they’ve been through over the last two years as a result of the pandemic, they’re tired, they’re stressed, they’re underfunded, so some of them have left the profession.

However, Covid is only one contributor to those broader issues. Protecting sovereign borders, for example, is a key issue because it involves macroeconomic and geopolitical considerations that have forced government to spend more on defence. The energy sector is going through a massive transition period. That’s why we’re seeing some shifts and they’re not just Covid related.

What values are still as important as ever when it comes successfully recruiting executives? Is cultural fit and emotional intelligence as important as skills and expertise?

As I mentioned when discussing the employee value proposition, a sense of purpose and alignment with an organisation’s values are vitally important to executives. Related to that is culture – they go hand in hand. These are the key determinates as to whether an executive candidate will accept an approach or progress with an application.

Candidates are doing more research than ever about organisations and their social impact – what the organisation is doing for society, community and therefore its purpose. I think that theme will be heightened forever. People have realised what we are doing to the planet and what we are doing from a broader societal perspective, and if organisations aren’t contributing in some positive way, then people are voting with their feet – they’re either leaving those organisations or certainly not joining them. Whilst it’s easy to have a value statement or to articulate your purpose, it is harder to measure your culture and that’s where organisations struggle.

Again, TRANSEARCH is using the culture measurement tools we have to help organisations better articulate what that looks like. This in turn helps them (and us) to find talented people who not only fit the culture, but can also change it, if that’s what called for.