The rapid growth in the use of electronic media such as the internet, cell phones, SMS’, the social media, video conferencing etc, over the past decade has led to a sharp decline in face-to-face meetings with clients in the recruitment business, especially when it comes to the initial introduction to clients and the start of a new relationship.

Geoffrey Allison, Managing Director of Bishopsgate Financial Recruitment, a company formed several years ago to specialise in this sector, says, “The initial contact with a client is so important, because it allows one to meet the client face-to-face, see the company’s premises and meet the individuals in the company who are the potential future employers.

“It also provides an ideal opportunity to find out about the culture and unique needs of the company, so that these areas can be matched to candidates. It is undoubtedly a more professional approach.

“All too often we get a first time call or an email from a company requesting us to furnish details of a candidate with particular skills in the financial services industry. We are always reluctant to send the details of any candidate through, without a proper, detailed briefing from the client.

“Furthermore there is currently a dearth of skilled personnel in the financial services industry, so the recruitment process has to be a great deal more thorough.

“Our advice to prospective employers looking for these skilled staff is to sit down with one of our senior staff in your offices. He or she will get a detailed brief on your specific requirements.

“We will then be in a better position to select the right candidates, especially after assimilating your unique business culture, working environment etc. It gives us the inside track and makes it much easier and more effective to match candidates to specific positions.”

Bishopsgate is a privately-owned recruitment company, specializing in the placement of financial and accounting staff. Forming part of the Voice Recruitment Group, the company operates from offices in central Cape Town and Rosebank in Johannesburg.

Bishopsgate is able to source staff across the following areas of expertise: debtors & creditors clerks, bookkeepers to trial balance or balance sheet, reconciliation specialists, B.Com qualified Accountants, Cost & Management Accountants, Taxation Specialists, Audit Professionals, Chartered Accountants specializing in various disciplines, Financial Managers, Financial Directors, Project Managers and Non-Executive Directors.

The company’s client base consists of JSE-listed companies, large national privately held businesses, medium sized organizations, audit practices, academic institutions and rapidly growing owner-managed entrepreneurial enterprises. Bishopsgate offers three products: Temporary Staffing, Contract Workers and Permanent Placements.

According to Allison, financial and accounting professionals, whether permanent, temporary or on contract, are a vital part of any successful organisation. Allison has specialised skills which were developed over more than a decade, in his former capacity as MD of a number of the country’s most reputable and successful recruitment companies specializing in the financial services sector.

His experience in the international executive recruitment arena during a period of working in the UK includes significant recruitment success with a FTSE listed recruitment group. Additionally, the Cape Town-based consultants include an MBA graduate and a senior consultant with a wealth of accounting experience.

Allison concludes, “Interpersonal communication on a face-to-face level has come under threat due to all the other rapid forms of communication such as phone, cell phones, SMS’, emails, Facebook and other social media etc. In a way we’ve lost the value of taking the time to have a more personal interaction with a client.

In a fast moving business world this leaves a gap, which can have negative consequences such as time wasting and frustration during the later stages of the recruitment process by sending the wrong candidates.

“This could be due to a lack of understanding of the required skills, the individual company needs, their unique culture and their working environment.”

---

Share this article