We’ve been hearing that business confidence has been improving for a while now, glimmers of enthusiasm as New Zealand grinds its way towards a growth economy, leaving the recession and GFC as a memory we can reminisce where we were when. Almost daily this year there are news reports oozing optimism.

What is unique about the start of 2014 is how quickly intentions have turned into action with employers making clear decisions about additions to their teams and projects that need resourcing. We are already seeing evidence of growth within Sales and Marketing recruitment which will have implications for employers now and in the future.

It is a significant shift in supply and demand moving the balance back towards candidates. For the last few years employers have been relatively spoilt for choice of candidates which has allowed cautious decision making, symptomatic of a tentative economic recovery. With an increase in demand it will be candidates who have choices and we are already seeing candidates with multiple job offers, - particularly for mid-level roles.

As candidates become scarcer, the methods we have employed to attract them will need to change. Job boards are no longer giving us all the answers and candidates are becoming jaded with the increased frequency of social media approaches. More and more clients are asking us to support them with roles where their own ad response has been underwhelming. It’s the hard-to-fill roles that are keeping us busy using our database and networks as well as Google Adwords and traditional research to uncover the hard to find candidates.

One implication of this shift is that it is likely to take longer than ideal to find the person you want. It is worth considering a contractor to fill the gap sooner rather than later to take the pressure off. And if you get a quicker than expected result, with the flexibility of hiring a contractor, you won’t need to pay twice.

Another area where employers will need to evolve is assessing what is really important for a role and deciding what can be learned, trained or transferred. Too often a narrow focus on a particular industry or specific type of experience means companies miss out on hiring exceptional talent because they’re just outside the traditional square.

It will require either a more flexible approach to recruitment or an infinite amount of patience to boost your team to prepare for the impending boom.