About Us - Consultant Profiles
Our consultants' broader business experience and connections in the marketplace means we can help you build a strong, successful organisation. Learn more about our key personnel...
Margo McLay | Len Hayward | Grant Radcliffe
Grant Radcliffe
The information and communications technology (ICT) world is a far cry from where it was a decade ago when technology recruitment was mostly about, well, technology.
Grant Radcliffe, Executive People's Kiwi-bred technology recruiter, has grown up in the computer generation, and says executive search and recruitment in this sector isn't just about coding in the corner but about applying the skills as part of a team - and a bigger picture - to give your organisation ‘the edge'.
”Technology has changed. Customers will drive the new trends so the ability to join a team to translate requirements into competitive advantage is the key,” says Grant.
Following completion of a bachelor's degree in aviation management, Grant gained a light aircraft and commercial pilot's license and landed himself on the ground where he honed his skills in hotel and hospitality management and recruitment (a career move which allowed him to trade in his wool fat for hair wax and exploit his love of surfing).
Grant then moved into corporate ICT recruitment where he sourced talent for Red Rock Consulting before moving into an end to end recruitment role working with clients such as IBM, Accenture , SMS and Oracle.
This experienced earned Grant the ability to help stressed–out executives of the baby boomers generation pin point what cool technology skills they need to bring in to their organisation.
"The biggest change in e-business is its focus on people and their uses for technology, not on the technology itself. Initially, IT was this brave, new world," Grant says. "It had endless possibilities, and we were still discovering what we could do with it. A lot of vendors thought they could be everything to everybody and organisations bought into that and then realised they didn't make a smart investment. Now we are focusing more on particular niches and core service areas."
Finding the right recruit, Grant says, requires plenty of hard work, plenty of patience, consistency, creativity, and flexibility.
"I've developed an ability to relate, and understand what it is both candidates and employers are after and I'll tackle any newfangled technology if it will help me develop a relationship with clients, and help me better understand the world in which they live and operate. My recruitment strategies constantly involve new ideas, including tapping into social networking and joining in on industry bulletin boards to keep abreast of the industry,” Grant explains.
According to Grant, areas of continued high demand include SAP specialists and those skilled in development languages. Grant also believes that in the current climate projects are likely to be scrutinised more closely and that ROI will have to be good for more speculative projects.
"There'll be more commercial reality and more emphasis on great project management skills and people with more than just one skill-set.” Grant also sees increasing demand in the functional consulting area.
"Companies are looking for greater efficiency by leveraging off existing IT investments. An example is Oracle and SAP customers who are often sold a variety of modules, but don't use all of them. They're looking at activating modules not being used.”
The upshot is high demand for consulting services around the two main vendors IBM and Oracle. He believes there is also ongoing demand for Business Intelligence and CRM specialists, not just in larger organisations, but in small-to-medium-sized businesses as well.
"As the economy tightens, companies need to look after their customers and maintain the whole customer experience, and CRM is a big part of that,” he says.
Having worked with both large multinational companies as well as start-ups operating with one staff member from a garage at the back of their house, Grant appreciates that every client is important.
"At the end of the day, small and large companies need help with recruitment solutions and a person with one employee is just as important as a conglomerate with thousands,” he says.
So aside from trends in skills, what's Grant's tip on where the technology world is heading?
"Pay TV will get a run for its money from online video. The iPhone and similar devices will outpace the PDA, and the e-book will finally come into its own.”
