Increasingly, we are seeing that top talent at the graduate and MBA level are approaching the job market in the same way they currently approach the consumer market. People expect a personalised shopping experience and the most successful retailers are those who can treat even a massive customer base as individuals. Equally, the most successful companies in attracting and retaining talent will be those that can treat their people as individuals, and provide them with a personalised recruitment and development experience.

‘Mass customisation’ has become the major challenge for big companies – how to provide individualised talent management on a large scale. As the market for ‘early years’ talent gets more competitive, with smaller companies becoming at least as attractive an option as larger ones in terms of opportunities, relying on a one-size-fits-all approach is not enough.

The best candidates will be attracted to the companies that treat them as individuals – that go out of their way to accommodate, understand and develop them. Companies will need to take a more flexible, customer-focused approach to the recruitment and management of top talent, which is something we’re already starting to see with the move to year-round graduate recruiting and the increased focus on headhunting high potential rather than recruiting through more traditional processes.