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The rise and rise of the data team.

A strategist's viewpoint on AI and it's application to Customer Experience.

WFH or In Office?: the debate continues.

Build a successful Freelance Career. Tips from those who know.

Flexible work arrangements have become increasingly popular in recent years, as more and more employees seek a better work-life balance. It often sits high on a candidate’s agenda as it can have a significant impact on your career and personal life. Below are some things to consider as you plan to negotiate flexibility in your role. Know your options Before you start negotiating, it’s important to know what your options are. There are many different types of flexible work arrangements, including part-time work, telecommuting, job sharing, compressed workweeks, and flexible schedules, working from other locations. When you are applying for a role, try to find out early on what options are currently available to you. Work with your recruiter to uncover what level of flexibility the business offers and discuss some of the options you are considering. Identify your priorities Once you know what your options are, it’s important to identify your priorities. What is most important to you? Is it working from home a few days a week, or having a more flexible schedule that allows you to attend your child’s school events? Knowing your priorities will help you negotiate a flexible work arrangement that works for you. If there are specific personal reasons (childcare, commuting), that you are comfortable sharing with your recruiter/employer then an open approach often helps build a rationale for the flexibility. Be prepared When you approach your employer about flexible work arrangements, it’s important to be prepared. Write down the reasons why you want a flexible work arrangement and how it will benefit both you and the company. Be ready to provide examples of how you will be able to maintain your productivity and meet your work responsibilities. If you are working with a recruiter, be open about your need for flexibility early in the process rather than a late-stage negotiation, so they can advise you on the best approach, investigate what options are currently in-place in the organisation, or help with negotiations. Be open to compromise Negotiating flexible work arrangements is all about finding a solution that works for both you and your employer. Be open to compromise and be willing to consider alternative solutions if your employer cannot accommodate your initial request. Remember, the goal is to find a solution that benefits everyone involved. Follow up Once you’ve negotiated a flexible work arrangement, it’s important to follow up and ensure that everything is going smoothly. Keep your employer updated on your progress and be open to feedback. If there are any issues or concerns, address them promptly and work together to find a solution. Our ways of working have changed dramatically in recent years and it’s thrown up some significant challenges for employers. Whilst flexibility may be high on your agenda, be mindful that individual flexibility arrangements may be difficult for your employer to navigate. Ultimately the goal is to reach a solution that benefits everyone so a carefully considered, open and balanced approach is key.

In 2022, the topic of the "talent shortage" dominated news headlines. We went from The Great Resignation to The National Talent Shortage, and businesses were focused on finding good talent. As we begin the new year, let's reflect on the big recruitment themes of 2022 and what we can expect for the year ahead. Boom-time for candidates: The market in 2022 was driven by candidates. Generally, salaries increased 7.6%, with some companies reporting increases of up to 20%*. Although this created a wonderful opportunity for candidates on the move, it also resulted in high budget pressure, high turnover within teams, and false economies of wages and inflation. There’s always a flip side! Highly competitive recruiting: To attract talent, businesses and agencies need to raise their game. The result has been clearer job descriptions, innovative benefit structures, and quicker recruitment processes, as well as the ability to think laterally about talent (part-time, returning to work, remote work). These have been some of the positive side-effects of robust competition. Flexibility: Welcome to the post-covid workforce! Never before have we had so many briefs with a “work from anywhere” option listed on the brief. Flexibility has been a contentious issue for many businesses as they find their optimal working arrangements, but we are certainly seeing a greater number of remote working options, and we have been recruiting beyond the traditional Melbourne/Sydney talent pools this year. It’s been a big win for candidates living in regional areas and of course, working parents have also benefited from greater flexibility than ever before. No Brits? We certainly noticed a lack of international talent. Before Covid, there was steady supply of specialist skills (CRM, Digital, Analytics) often covered by international talent coming into the market. Contract roles were often filled with talented backpackers looking for short-term work. Whilst we are starting to see a slight increase in international talent over the last few months, there’s also been a recognition that we can’t rely as heavily as we once did on importing talent. It’s been a fascinating recruitment year and one we consider “out-of-the-box”. As we start 2023 we foresee: A softening market due to more international talent hitting our shores (migration intake has been reset from 35,000 anually to 195,000). Unemployment forecast to rise by 1% to 4.5% Some shifts starting to emerge with senior candidates coming back into the market. Increased number of candidates wanting roles with that offer the opportunity to work overseas. Flexiblity and hybrid work policies refined. A continued focus around how people can integrate work with their lives. What does all this mean for you? We feel that there’s still tremendous opportunity for candidates in the market and this should continue into 2023, albeit perhaps not at the frenetic conditions we have seen this year. We encourage you to keep close to the market, understand your worth in the market and think about your next career steps. If you want to kick off the next year with a focus on your career, book some time for a Career Chat with us. Take 15 minutes to re-fresh your market understanding, gain a recruiter perspective on your CV or answer any burning career questions! We’d love to hear from you.

During the pandemic the number of working holiday makers plunged from 141,000 to just 2000 workers putting pressure on the domestic talent market. We are now slowly seeing signs of recovery with 41,000 new visa’s granted and expected to arrive in the next few months. Now is the time to get up to speed with the latest changes in visa’s immigration and sponsorship if you are one of the many businesses looking to hire international talent. The good news is the Government has relaxed the rules (slightly!) around Working Visas. Here are some of the highlights: Whereas previously Visa holders could only work for one employer for six months, they can now work for employers longer than this period. This currently holds until December 2022, but may be extended after this. For more information click here Another change has been the extension of hours permitted to be worked by candidates on Student Visas. Previously these candidates could only work 20 hours per fortnight – but in recognition of the talent shortage this has been relaxed and they can now work 40 hours or more. See more here: If you choose to Sponsor an employee, be aware there is likely to be a rush and consequent delays on processing these applications. The most important thing to have organised in advance is “labour market testing”. This means that your role must be featured on specific national websites for at least 28 days. To ensure continuity of employment, it is recommended that you start the Sponsorship process two months in advance of the Visa expiring.  If you do require any assistance or advice on working with Visa candidates or advertising your roles for correct labour market testing, please get in touch with SCC Talent.

Have you noticed a wave of new roles popping up on LinkedIn but are not quite clear on what they actually do? Are they traditional roles re-purposed into the buzz word or are they completely new? We thought we’d break down some of the more popular roles that might require some explanation: CX Designer (Customer Experience Designer). This is generally a strategic role for someone who loves design thinking and is passionate about providing better customer experiences. They are deeply curious, understand human-centred design principles and are brilliant at navigating broad stakeholders within an organisation. Day-to-day they may be conducting consumer research, discovery workshops with stakeholders, exploratory conversations and building artefacts such as experience maps, user journeys and personas that will help improve customer experiences throughout a business. Salaries for CX Designers range from $120 – 150kinc Journey Planner No this is not another title for a Travel Agent but it is someone who is focused on the way a customer and gets from A to B. A Journey Planner usually has skills across digital analytics, digital media, CRM/Marketing automation platforms and has a strategic mindset. Day to day you may be auditing and mapping customer journeys, providing recommendations and strategies to enhance the customer journey or lifecycle (across website, app or CRM). You may also be setting up tests to validate new changes to the customer journey and using customer insight and data to refine experiences. You may also contribute to content suggestions and to creating compelling customer experiences. Salaries for Journey Planners range from $85- 120kinc depending on experience. Customer Success Customer Success roles were initially popular in start-up/tech environments but are becoming increasingly popular job titles, and in some workplaces are interchangeable with Account Manager roles. Essentially a Customer Success Manager must ensure that the customer has a positive customer experience. Usually, they are engaged after the initial Sales process and takes a customer through the on-boarding phase. In a SaaS environment they might take a client through training, analyse usage and data, ensure clients are using features and achieving the goals they had set out to reach with the product. There’s a very broad range for Customer Success roles depending on the product and technical skills required. Let us know if there’s a new job title you’d love to know more about!