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Recruiters have lost 'relational fitness', time to rebuild muscle

Recruiters have lost some of their relationship-building skills during the pandemic, requiring renewed focus on building 'relational fitness', says a networking strategist.

Since the start of the pandemic, relationships between immediate team members have strengthened, but broader networking has suffered due to the lack of "incidental bump-ins" in workplaces, and face-to-face meetings and events more broadly, Relatus CEO Julia Palmer tells Shortlist.

This is impacting both internal recruiters, who have lost some of their relationships with hiring managers and other stakeholders in the organisation, and agency recruiters, who now lack strong networks with prospective clients and candidates.

These relationships are harder to manage in the first place, Palmer says, as they are "strategic by nature" and driven by collaboration for mutual gain...