Overall in 2010, UK unemployment figures failed to reach levels predicted by more pessimistic commentators. But nor did they endorse the idea of a confident economic recovery.

Unlike its European neighbours, the UK has relatively few centres of employment. Employment levels in the South East in particular have grown rapidly, with many companies now reporting wage inflation as being a significant cost concern. In contrast other regions, particularly those relying on significant public sector expenditure, will be anxiously waiting for the shortfall to be made good by the private sector.

Overall though, the picture is of a slow but steady reduction in unemployment or jobless figures, with professional level positions recovering relatively strongly post recession. If the UK labour market seems to be sending out mixed messages, the picture on the continent is even more ambiguous. Over the past twelve months employment levels have fallen slightly across the Eurozone, having fallen even more steeply in 2009. Whilst this has certainly created difficulties for European nations, and has indirectly resulted in bailouts and the spectre of defaults, these raw figures mask a tale of two continents.

Roughly speaking, a north-south divide has occurred. With the economic powerhouse of Germany leading the European economic recovery, whilst the southern European nations including Spain, Greece and Portugal are facing unemployment rates in excess of 20% and years of cost cutting austerity measures to come.

So what conclusions can be drawn from this? Well, mainly that looking at raw data out of context can be misleading. Many commentators are suggesting that employment and salary levels are rising comparably faster than GDP growth in the larger more stable economies whilst there is a real fear of a jobless recovery in other states.

On the whole, though, the growing business confidence with regards to recruitment and job creation suggests that we are on the road to recovery in employment levels, even if the journey may be longer for some than others.

This year has seen the renewed debate in and out of the FTSE 200 on women on the Board, and rightly so. If our own industry is anything to go by, there is no argument. Wherever you look – Asia, the US or Europe – women lead the executive search industry. In Europe we have Jan Hall, Anna Mann and Beatrice Bellini. In Asia we have Alice Au, Grace Cheng and Christine Houston and in the US we have Cornelia Kiley, Marylin Prince and Melanie Cusin as prime examples. There are many, many more.

And yet, all over the world the burning issue is “why are there not more women on the boards of the leading companies?” In Germany – the worst case – they still don’t have a woman on the board of any major company. But then the Germans also see no reason why a Board should accept the concept of outside counsel on leadership, succession or assessment despite Government and peer pressure to do so.

For many, the answer to this question is that – like the US – there should be a quota. That is not the solution. Quotas bring with them a compromise of standards because they insist on a particular board presence – for example ethnic, gay, disabled – regardless of the needs of the business. These appointments become token rather real business solutions.

The “raison d’etre” of Executive Search is “the war for talent”. Anyone in our industry knows that search is about accessing the pool of senior management talent that is about a third the size of the actual need both at board level and below. Logic tells us there are less women than men in that pool, so there is a natural paucity of talent to choose from. However the best headhunters are women.

I have been recruiting within the search industry for twelve years now and women are clearly so much better than men in our business. Why? Because they don’t wake every morning wondering who they are and how they are perceived by their peers. Whereas for the men it is all about how they are perceived – by their teams, by their clients and by their candidates.

Women don’t worry about that – they are much more secure in their business relationships -but men have it at the top of their agenda every day because it is what defines them in the executive search community. To make things worse for the men the best managers of search firms are women. If you don’t know Sonamara Jeffries or Sue O’Brien then you should because they are the “glue” that holds their firms together, the DNA that helps all of their teams to gel as a unit yet still be recognised and rewarded for their individual, as well as their overall, contribution. They are the developers of client relationships, the architect of high quality service delivery and the evangelist for collegiality as well as being superb ambassadors and recruiters for their firms.

The key to their success is that they deliver time after time on their promises to clients, they don’t waste time bragging about it and are never afraid to step up to the plate when a search is not going as well as it should. Women are less inclined to “compete” with their clients and much more inclined to listen. Someone once said: “There are two kinds of people in the world -those who listen and those who are simply waiting for their chance to talk”. Women rarely if ever fall into the latter category.

Women do not tend to promote themselves enough but then they don’t need to – their clients do it for them. Whereas men are mostly self-promoters, women are not. They want to see a lengthier track record from their peers than men do before they will recommend and support the advancement of their own gender.

But most important of they are not weighed down by huge egos that demand a daily massage from their colleagues. I know of a male manager who announces his arrival every morning with the words “Good morning top team” assuming that motivates them. Actually they all think he is simply asking for recognition every time he walks into the office.

If you own, manage or chair a search business then seek out the best woman in your firm – if you don’t have one then go out and hire one – and put her in charge. The difference will amaze and delight you. Better still it will really please your clients. And it may yet help promote more of the right women on those main boards.

Some are born great and others have greatness thrust upon them. In privately-owned businesses, leadership is often passed down from one generation to the next, as parents groom their children to take the reins after they retire. Sometimes, though, it’s not such an obvious choice and founders find they have no natural successor waiting to step into their shoes.

Some of the world’s best-known businesses remain in private hands, with international reach to rival that of leading listed companies, significant brand equity or valuable intellectual property. For the generation that built them, succession planning can be a thorny and emotive issue. A charismatic leader who has made the company in his or her own image can be a hard act to follow, but their legacy and achievements have to be safeguarded.

In public companies too, nobody is irreplaceable but there will always be key roles where the baton needs to be passed smoothly into secure, capable hands; as well as those which require skill sets that are rare and difficult to find. Often, the internal talent pool provides able candidates – but even where talent has been incubated, it’s not always ready when you need it.

Businesses planning for smooth succession can benefit enormously from consideration of external talent. Rather than gambling the future by thrusting greatness on an individual who is not a perfect fit for the top job, preparing in advance to bring in the right talent can be in the best interests of the company and all its existing stakeholders. Looking round the market can also help the board to develop a better idea of leadership skills available in the market, against which to consider their other options. Even if the choice is made to keep succession in the family or select from home-grown talent, there may be an opportunity to plan for a broader recruitment need and support the incoming leader with additional commercial, financial, operational or other expertise to complement their strengths and enhance the management profile of the business.

In the current climate, no business can afford to be introspective. Listed and entrepreneur-led companies can equally benefit from surveying alternative talent before making pivotal appointments.

The growth rate of nominal spending on retail goods slowed, while goods price inflation continued to rise.

• Growth in spending on consumer services remained weak.

• Activity in the housing market appeared to have softened slightly, although there had been a slight increase in demand for newly built homes.

• Investment intentions suggested that growth in capital spending was likely to strengthen a little further over the next twelve months.

• Emerging market demand continued to support growth of exports of goods, and demand from Europe and the United States was beginning to pick up.

• Domestic demand had provided only a modest spur to manufacturing output growth.

• The underlying level of activity in the construction sector remained weak.

• There had been a further rise in employment intentions in manufacturing and business services, but intentions had dipped for consumer-facing firms.

• The level of capacity utilisation was broadly normal in the manufacturing sector, but there was still significant slack in the service sector.

• Total labour costs had been growing at a moderate pace, and the Agents’ scores had drifted a little higher on the month.

• Inflation in the prices of raw materials had picked up further, adding to the upward pressures from rising foreign wages on the cost of imported finished goods.

• Output prices in manufacturing had risen somewhat in response to rising costs, but for business services they were broadly flat compared to a year earlier.

• The rate of inflation in both consumer goods and services was above its historical average, reflecting the recent increase in VAT, and the rising costs of imports, aw materials and fuel.

The stigma once associated with being made redundant has all but disappeared over the past decade. Operating in a global market as many of us do, we are more susceptible to the impact of events that take place in other countries. Rewind back to two years ago. Who would have thought that the collapse of the US sub-prime market would have had such a dramatic effect on UK businesses?

Operating in this context means that a job for life no longer rings true, and in fact it hasn’t done for a number of years. Most employees can expect to be made redundant at least once in their career. In many circumstances people facing redundancy may have already been offered outplacement support and believe that they know all there is to know about finding a new role. Others may feel that because they have successfully managed their careers – changing roles frequently – that they are well equipped to go it alone.

The truth is that even with this week’s announcement that unemployment has fallen by 17,000 to 2.48 million, the job market has changed. It’s tougher, with fewer job vacancies and a wider pool of talent to choose from – a recruiters’ market, one might say. Access to professional advice and guidance such as outplacement support may make the difference between finding a role within 6 weeks as opposed to 6 months.

The job market is constantly changing and understanding how to approach it is essential. Succeeding is all about how well prepared you are. And we’re not simply referring to interviews. Preparation is essential at every stage, from understanding your skills set (what you are good at and have to offer), the types of organisations looking for those skills, the routes for uncovering vacancies (both advertised and hidden), using your networks and networking sites such as LinkedIn.

Ensuring you have a competitive CV, one that highlights what you have to offer has always been important, but in today’s job market your CV needs to make an immediate impact. With so many talented individuals to choose from, and an increase in the number of applicants per job vacancy, recruiting managers have less time to spend looking for the relevant information on your CV. Whether online or paper based, CVs need to make an immediate and lasting impression.

Assessment centres are now also part and parcel of the interview process as organisations seek to find out how you will fit and perform in a role before making any commitment. Understanding how to excel at assessment centres, and there are many different types, is essential.

Then there’s the interview stage, which is no longer reliant on simply preparing responses to competency-based questions. Potential candidates need to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the sector, the organisation, its business challenges and strategy, and demonstrate how they will help to achieve it.

Looking for a new role can be very stressful, particularly at a time when job vacancies are reduced and unemployment figures are high. Whether someone has successfully and effectively managed their career to date or previously received outplacement support, the truth is that we can all benefit from the advice and guidance proffered by those who specialise in helping individuals to find roles. And let’s face it – using all resources available to you will increase your chances, helping you to adapt your approach to today’s market and stand out from the competition.

If you want to grow your business, and if you want to remain competitive you need to ask yourself: Why would my target market (customers) buy from me? and Why would the best employees choose to work for me? You not only need to ask yourself these questions, you need to know and be confident in the answers.

Deabadh typically work with clients helping them define, gain clarity and implement a strategy around the second question. If you can’t answer the second question (why would the best employees work for me) then spending your efforts on growing your business is going to be less then effective. The quality of the customer experience is dependent upon the quality of the employee servicing them. Now more than ever, with the changes in our economy, the customer experience is critical to your long term success.

Talent (recruitment, development and retention) is going to be one of the top challenges facing all levels of business going forward. In fact, efforts spent on ensuring your company has top quality employees will ensure you have the expertise to manage other challenges your company may face. As the economy continues to shift, competition increases and technology continues to advance, the quality of your people has easily become your most significant asset.

Most significant asset, yet for the most part the most under managed in companies right now. However, for those of us looking for the answer, the magic bullet of where to spend our time and energy and get the biggest bang for our buck, talent development may just be the answer. The number of problems it solves, opportunities it creates, and revenue it can produce is astounding.