HR Overview

Our 2020 Northern Ireland Salary Guide features HR industry insight from our HR Specialist Recruiters- request a copy of the guide by emailing infoire@staffline.co.uk or read our HR sector insight below!

In a time when HR hires are generally on the increase, it’s critical that appointments are made using a multitude of decision making factors across skill, competency and cultural fit. An increasingly important factor, cultural fit will ensure that a candidate will not only buy into the company values and mission statements but additionally, and if assessed correctly, the company values will be aligned with that of the candidates ensuring a strong long term working relationship. 

Larger companies and multinationals are continually growing their own Recruitment and Talent acquisition teams as they understand the value this function brings in terms of return on investment, the above cultural fit, and enhancing of the company brand. A common trend in the modern age of working in the ‘workplace’ is candidates need to secure employment that will enhance a positive work-life balance, including reduced hours, flexible working patterns, and working from home. Salary expectations are lower, given the opportunity for this work-life balance in most cases, and studies have proven higher productivity for employees who are able to work more flexibly than those who are employed on a strict working pattern. In a highly competitive market, it is so important that employers realise the importance of utilising a flexible approach, as it is a key criteria for HR jobseekers in Northern Ireland.

Whilst work-life balance will continue to be important, it’s imperative that employers also focus on other benefits such as employee’s health and well-being strategies, which will continue to be hot topics and reasons to seek new employment in 2020. 

Towards the end of the 2010s, we saw a dip in temporary recruitment in the HR market. This has switched into the first months of 2020 with a demand for temporary HR staff on the up according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. The demand for HR contractors continues to show no sign of reducing. Working on an interim role, especially within the HR profession where there is an ever-growing abundance of temporary projectbased opportunities, has so many benefits for candidates: experience across different sectors, flexibility, less competition for the role at interview stage, continuous progression up the career ladder for perpetual contracting professionals, higher salaries in most cases, creating a diverse professional network.

Candidates are also benefiting from learning a variety of skils in a concentrated space of time, especially when hired for specific projects, such as Change Management, Strategic Planning, or training a new division in the company. The benefit to the employee in an interim role is they get to encounter new experiences and challenges and often helps produce a more rounded HR professional, which ultimately benefits any organisation.