Good people are hard to find

With over 2 million people unemployed, the recruitment market is easier than it has been for the last five years. But the really good people are still very hard to come by and with our reputation being so heavily invested in our people, we believe that compromising on quality during recruitment is not an option. Our philosophy has always been to search hard for the exceptional people and move quickly to bring them into the DAV team, to further enhance the delivery of services to our clients.

At a time when the market is extremely tough and many organisations are fire fighting and focusing on 'just getting through' the recession, our people continue to shine as they lead the delivery of complex business transformation programmes for our clients. This exceptional performance is not by accident or sheer good luck, it is because DAV professionals are of the highest calibre and have the experience and know-how to efficiently and effectively deal with the problems that organisations are tackling in today's unforgiving economy. They will go the extra mile as a matter of course with the attention to detail, even in making the small things happen, that makes the bigger decisions easier to make whilst fostering strong relationships based on trust, integrity and hard work. All of which helps to create a compelling customer experience. This compelling blend of skills, experience and personal values, found in all our people, ensures that the business objectives of our clients are successfully delivered.

As we get closer to recovery, companies will all start to jostle for position and we envisage that a host of new business transformation programmes will come to the fore. Keen to steal a march on the competition, many companies will be looking to drive change in their front and back office operations in order to improve customer experience, gain efficiencies and create market differentiation. They will be searching the market for the best specialist organisations to help them deliver these programmes of change quickly and successfully.

When faced with this new set of challenges, our clients can be confident that DAV will be able to provide highly experienced professionals who will both integrate into their senior team quickly and effectively lead their organisation through the challenge of change. We can give our clients the peace of mind that DAV will leave nothing to chance in the successful delivery of required business outcomes, whether we are managing the implementation of a large scale IT programme, re-engineering an under-performing technology operation or leading a strategic outsourcing programme.

Delivering a first class customer experience was the topic of our recent Enigma roundtable held in May. Professor Keith Goffin from Cranfield School of Management, who has undertaken extensive research into innovation management, attended the dinner forum and set the scene for discussion by talking around understanding the hidden needs of customers and why customers need to be excited by innovative products - click on the following links for more information on both the May Roundtable and future events.

In my opening paragraph, I talked about the fact that good people are hard to find and that DAV has a absolute commitment to hire only the best and the brightest talent in the industry. We are therefore delighted to welcome Russell Clifford on board, as Programme Director. Russell brings with him over 20 years of industry experience having previously worked in a senior capacity for EDS. Click here to read more about Russell.

I hear we are expecting a long, hot summer in the UK. Let's hope that for once the forecasters have predicted correctly. We shall need a bit of sun and relaxation, because come the autumn the flood gates will open as we all race to get ahead of our competitors ready for the market slowly awakening in 2010.

Thank you for your continued support, enjoy the summer and enjoy reading our Summer Enigma enewsletter.

Charlie Mayes, Managing Director