A Worldwide HR Perspective

Your Experience with ProPosition
ProPosition Management Search is able to offer a unique combination of long standing expertise in the Headhunting market, coupled with a contemporary and fresh approach. It is a nimble, agile company, with a team able to understand the need of their clients. At the same time ProPosition’s consultants work closely with candidates, with whom over time they are able to establish a long-term relationship.
In my experience, as a candidate first and as a client later, I enjoyed both sides. Today what we call ‘the candidate experience’ involves all stages of the candidate engagement, even before the contact with the company. With ProPosition you always get the feeling that the team cares about you as human being, not only as professional leader and you are considered more than just a name to put on a long and short list to their client company.

Main challenges Human Resources should face in order to be successful in the US market
The US market is in a ‘perfect storm’ from talent standpoint. Unemployment rate is an unprecedented low level and it is more and more challenging to be able to attract and retain great talents. Even at blue collar/specialist level, you see companies putting in place retention plan and offering benefits like relocation packages to potential new candidates.
It is not uncommon to find a great talent, keen on considering to join your company and the following week learned that the same candidate has accepted a role with another company. Agility, speed, quick and timely follow up are key essential elements in securing talents. To be able to attract and retain talents, as in the rest of the world but particularly in the US, tangible and intangible benefits are more relevant than in the past. Flexible working arrangements, the feeling to be part of a company where diversity and inclusion policies are embedded in the way of working, opportunity to grow in different roles and even functions, just to mention some, those are all elements making the difference in the intention of talents to stay or to join another company.

And what about the challenges related to the EU labour market?
We see that more and more trends are global, so what I described for the US from my experience around the world is also valid everywhere else.
It is fair to say that in Europe the labor market might be seen as slightly less competitive. At least if you look at some KPI’s like level of unemployment or in general how ‘fluid’ is the market (for example, notice period is usually two weeks in the US while it might be up to 3, 6 months in Europe), you might say so.
However, competition for top talents is still fierce and companies need to work on the candidate experience as hard as in the US. Even in those markets, reality is that demand of top talents still outstrips supply, and I believe this is also the case in Italy. Once again, reputation of the company, opportunity to have an international experience, long term professional development perspective are elements which will make the difference, and the talent acquisition partner you select as a company needs to be able to pass those opportunities to potential candidates at early stages of the engagement.