RECRUITMENT & CO September 2021
The official publication of
The Association of Professional Staffing Companies in Australia
Moving towards COVID normal
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What's inside?
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17 19 4 A message from APSCo Australia MD Lesley Horsburgh
6 Member and Partner News: WorkPro, Vincere and FastTrack
9 From the APSCo Chair: Stephen Smith
10 Association News
17 International News
19 Flexible finance solutions for APSCo Members: Westpac
20 An update on the APSCo Awards for Excellence
22 Insurance supports health and wellbeing: BrokersOnline
24 Make sure your spreadsheets don’t add up to a hill of beans: Middle Office
26 Why contractor care matters: Platinum WFM
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Recruitment & Co is published by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies Australia (APSCo Australia). Editorial submissions: carly@apscoau.org Advertising enquiries: carly@apscoau.org Membership enquiries: paul@apscoau.org
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR MD
Welcome to the September issue of Recruitment & Co Lesley Horsburgh APSCo Australia Managing Director
We are well and truly in the thick of it right now both as an industry and here at APSCo; as employment law continues to twist and turn, the need for a greater level of compliance is steadily rising and the recruitment industry finds itself placed at the centre of a rapidly changing landscape. Last week (at the time of writing this) we ran a webinar titled The Vaccination Conversation. it drew our largest attendee list yet and provides a great example of both the challenges our industry is facing and the role that APSCo plays in assisting its Members in responding to them. It’s no secret that our secretariat is small but through lots of hard work and the expertise of our Affiliate Network, I am delighted to see our Membership grow, our voice elevate and our Member engagement continually climb. Our dedication to providing relevant and business-critical resources catered specifically to the whitecollar professional market has strengthened during the last six months, with a raft of updated resources, contract templates, enhanced certification modules, and networking across finance, inhouse counsel, and regional groups, we feel confident that our Members are in good hands. As we stride toward the final quarter of yet another tough year, our focus will turn to our worthy awards winners and finalists and the beginning of our planning for 2022. I hope all of our Members can see the ground we are gaining here at APSCo and urge each and every one of you to make the most of your membership by getting involved, giving your feedback, or simply making good use of the resources available to you. Last but not least, a warm welcome to our new Members and Partners: Saldare, Robert Walters, Corroboree ICT, ELR Executive, TalentVine, Stellaris Consulting, Collaborate Recruitment, and Procuret.
LESLEY HORSBURGH APSCo Australia Managing Director RECRUITMENT & CO | 4
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MEMBER AND PARTNER NEWS
WorkPro amplifies its solution with Employment Medical Checks As talent specialists are shifting to more remote recruitment, the demand for more thorough background or probity checks is growing. This is particularly true for companies that are placing onhired workers at a host site as the worker is not under the direct supervision of the On-Hire Firm and in some cases, the recruiter may not physically meet the on-hired worker. With this in mind, workforce compliance leader WorkPro recently introduced a comprehensive medical checking service, facilitating a large array of general and industry specific medical checks in partnership with Jobfit, to ensure workers are job fit and ready to be on site, easily enabling APSCo Members the opportunity to add a layer of physical risk assessment into the recruitment process. You’d be forgiven for assuming that medical checks were primarily used for high risk or highly physical industries, but in fact these checks have proved to be incredibly important across the board in reducing workplace risk, workers compensation claims and worker downtime, and have had a more recent increase in demand as Covid has increased our sensitivity to compliance and risk, combined with the need for remote hiring. "As part of our market research, we examined a range of providers and available checks, mapping them back to the trends in injuries”, comments WorkPro CEO Tania Evans. "We were seeking to work with a company that could provide not just the checks, but also expertise to be able to provide advice and consultation to our customers when considering medicals as part of their risk programs and identifying the checks that made sense for their business and markets they service. Jobfit is more than just a checking provider, although the breadth of clinic availability and components is impressive." With a network of close to 100 clinics around Australia and New Zealand, WorkPro can provide convenient access in metro and regional locations. The range of pre-configured checks can address a role, risk, or even legislated requirement. Medical checks range from musculoskeletal and functional capacity assessments through to vaccinations and drug/alcohol screening.
Unfamiliar with WorkPro? The company recently celebrated its 15year anniversary. That’s 15 years of assisting businesses around Australia/New Zealand with workplace compliance, optimising work health and safety, and providing the certainty businesses and candidates need. WorkPro is able to conveniently collate all your pre-employment requirements in one platform and now APSCo members can take advantage of a range of background and probity checks coupled with medical checks to ensure candidates are heading out on site fit for purpose and any existing or likely physical concerns highlighted are effectively managed.
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MEMBER AND PARTNER NEWS
Vincere debuts in G2's high performance mid-market category Positive rankings from customer reviews has cemented Vincere's leadership in tech innovation for firms of 50+ recruiters Vincere, the Recruitment Operating System purpose-built for recruitment and staffing agencies globally, announced that they have broken through to the G2 Mid-Market Grid® Report for Staffing in the High Performers category. G2 is the world's leading business technology and services review site. These quarterly reports leverage reviews and satisfaction ratings from verified software users to help business professionals make more informed technology purchasing decisions. Based on G2's proprietary scoring algorithm, Vincere demonstrated excellence across all categories including customer satisfaction and company growth momentum as determined by firsthand customer feedback specifically for the Mid-Market segment; businesses with 51–1,000 employees. "It's a huge recognition for Vincere to be named high-performer for the Mid-Market segment, which lands right in our sweet spot of recruitment firms with between 51-1000 staff", commented Eloise Sutton Kirkby, coFounder and Director of Growth at Vincere. "G2 is like the People's Choice Awards for Technology. The rankings represent the voice of our customers and further validates our commitment and ability to deliver a compelling Recruitment Operating System. A modern #RecOS designed to give recruitment businesses the power to advance and drive tangible results. We are humbled and want to thank our incredible customers for continuing to choose us as their preferred Tech partner." "We are actively listening to our customers and constantly iterating on the platform. That will never change. A top priority for us is to be in tune with what recruiters need. We're excited to unveil even more of the product roadmap for 2021 and beyond." Vincere was also recognized as a Leader in 3 additional G2 Grid® reports: Momentum Leader Summer 2021, Leader Summer 2021 and Implementation Index for Staffing.
FastTrack announces partnership with ManpowerGroup Global FastTrack, the cloud computing company that helps staffing agencies better manage the world of work is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with ManpowerGroup to be their preferred partner supplying its FastTrack360 platform in selected markets worldwide. The choice of FastTrack360 by ManpowerGroup followed an evaluation of alternative systems to meet their middle office staffing business needs. FastTrack360 was selected for standing out as a single cloud-based platform with the breadth of functionality and flexibility to be configured across a broad range of different country requirements. The first country rollout of the FastTrack360 platform under this agreement will be in the United Kingdom for the Experis, Manpower and Brook Street brands with active discussions for other country rollouts in SE Asia.
SHARE YOUR NEWS WITH US! Do you have a news item regarding your business? A new appointment or an exciting announcement? Please get in touch with us here at Recruitment & Co. SEND YOUR NEWS TO CARLY@APSCOAU.ORG
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A MESSAGE FROM APSCO'S AUSTRALIAN CHAIR
Ask lots of questions and listen very carefully When I last wrote a piece for Recruitment & Co, we had just delivered a very successful Conference here at APSCo. Business across most sectors seemed to be in a boom phase and large parts of the markets had moved back to some form of office work. The focuses were on talent shortage; lockdowns in many states very much felt a thing of the past.
Stephen Smith Chair - APSCo Australia Director - Sirius People
Today for a lot of us, this current lockdown is nearly three months old and we look forward to the school holidays for different reasons than normal (for the break from homeschooling rather than the opportunity to go away with family), but I still can't help feeling how lucky a lot of us have been. For large parts of the national markets, the recruitment economy has kept going strong and a V-shaped bounce for a lot of those areas that haven't seems hopeful to arise leading into Christmas. Our schools in the main, certainly from my experience, have been outstanding in facilitating homeschooling and we look forward to the unlocking, only a few weeks away as a time when business activity should ramp up quickly again. This optimism I feel is only strengthened with talk of regional travel in October (my kids can't wait to see their grandparents) state travel hopefully by Christmas and even international travel just around the corner. It would be remiss of me to not note and send out my thoughts to those that have not been so lucky, but hopefully, the environment post lockdown provides the opportunity for all to rebuild and regrow their businesses. There is no doubt that the world will be different moving forward, especially the world of work, but I am excited about what the end of 2021 looks like and particularly Christmas with family. 2022 could be one of the strongest employment markets we have ever seen. The conversation now moves to how we work together moving forward. Questions about the return to the office, about vaccination programs, and vaccination passports are likely to be at the forefront of every aspect of life from going to the office, to the cafe or restaurant or Cinema. It’s likely to be challenging and raise a lot of questions. My thoughts around this, we need to be asking lots of questions and listening very carefully to people’s concerns and fears. Good luck with the last quarter of 2021, I hope it's a good one.
STEVE SMITH Director Sirius People, APSCo Australia Chair RECRUITMENT & CO | 7
www.apscoau.org
ASSOCIATION NEWS
The Vaccination Conversation: APSCo and our Partners leading the way It's a hot topic and thus far, APSCo's most popular and well-attended webinar series. Over 200 individuals have attended the first two instalments, now keep an eye out for the upcoming third. Commencing in mid-September with Part 1, our legal experts George Haros from Gardens, and Martin Richardson from Ready Set Recruit Legal answered everyone's important workplace vaccination questions, from mandating vaccination policies to the more unique arrangements with contractors and host employers. Following on in late September with Part 2, our WHS experts from Gallagher Workplace Risk held a discussion on the practical considerations for returning to the office, including strategies for implementing policies, understanding your WHS obligations and the implications to workers' compensation. This discussion was led by Brianna Cattanach, Damien Stinson and Nicholas Cahill. In Part 3, coming in October, we'll be discussing the topic of AI, facial recognition, medical checks and the recording of data. Where are things heading and what are the risks involved? Stay tuned to email announcements to register for this session.
If you're an APSCo Australia Member - the recordings (Part 1 and 2) are now available in your Member Resource library. Non-Members can purchase the recording via the APSCo website.
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APSCO'S REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE
ANTHONY WHYTE- TALENT
Is your glass half-empty or half-full? It’s fair to say that the last quarter has again been an interesting one on many fronts. Covid continues to throw different scenarios at us, with many of our State Premiers on a different page to that of the Federal Government. On top of this, our Federal Government continue to struggle by not making decisive or hard decisions, which are expected from the party in power rather than one playing the politics. Unfortunately NSW, VIC and more recently our friends in the ACT have been caught up in Covid breaches requiring harsh state lockdowns. ‘Is your Glass half empty or half full? This may resonate with many of you, but which best describes you and your business dealings of today and tomorrow? If you are like me, you will be jumping between the two often several times daily. At Talent, we have never been busier across all our business lines. Our Solutions and Consulting arms continue to go from strength-tostrength as does our agency
division, which is inundated with hundreds of permanent and contract opportunities, hence the ‘optimism’. Like a lot of things, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is and here comes the pessimism. Whilst the work is there, the ability to find great candidates is proving a major stumbling block for most recruiters. In days past, a job offer led to a placement, yet now we are looking at circa 60 - 75% placement ratios. The reasons are endless but the major three are: 1.Good candidates have multiple opportunities on the go at the same time and in many cases, multiple offers (the average being 2.7 offers at once) – hence they are in the driver’s seat. 2.Counter Offers – money and financial incentives continue to play a big part in the decision-making process. No company wants to lose their people.
Anthony Whyte Vice-Chair - APSCo Australia General Manager - Talent International
3.Remote work and flexibility – now a must have as our way of working has changed dramatically due to Covid. In summary, Covid isn’t going away anytime soon; the vaccination up-take is slow in some regions but heading in the right direction. Both interstate and international travel will remain scarce, yet the volume of work and demand for staff will continue to grow at rapid pace. It is therefore imperative as a Recruiter to understand your strengths and have your sourcing strategy on point. For clients who may be losing staff or struggling to hire, understand your company selling points, because if you don’t, you’re well and truly out of the game. Companies that are well led; have a clear vision and importantly deliver on this vision will go from strength-to-strength in difficult times. Make sure you’re in this camp, otherwise your business recovery will be slow and painful but hopefully not terminal. RECRUITMENT & CO | 11
APSCO'S REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE
JAMES LILEY- FRANK RECRUITMENT GROUP
We can smell the finish line It’s almost an industry cliché that ‘Resilience,’ and ‘Tenacity,’ are key traits held by our most successful recruiters. Recruiters in Victoria have never had their resilience tested so much than over the last 18 months. Friday the 13th of March 2020 was the day our Australian F1 Grand Prix was cancelled and the start of our State’s COVID battle – 564 days ago as I write this. The first week of October marks the start of our 2021Q4 but also 250 days of lockdown for us as Victorian recruiters – the longest lockdown in the world. If lockdown wasn’t enough, we have had fires, earthquakes, riots and lockdown school holidays to test us further. As recruiters, we can be proud to have been a rare ray of light and positivity for many across our business community.
James Liley Vice President - ANZ Frank Recruitment Group Director - APSCo Australia
We have given our clients confidence that their businesses can flourish if they are willing to take our consultative advice and adapt their approach to talent management. We have managed more counteroffers than ever before in our careers. We have given candidates the confidence to make a career move despite many having never met their new colleagues in person. We have acted as an extension of our clients’ HR, PR and Marketing teams to position their brands as an ‘Employer of choice,’ in this new economy we find ourselves in. Do not underestimate the contribution you make to Victoria’s economy; you are a catalyst to our state’s recovery.
We should be proud Melbourne, our empathy buckets may be empty but we can smell the finish line. We are going to come out of these lockdowns over the next few weeks and we will be stronger than ever. Melbourne’s good weather is nearly here (make the most of it!) and we will soon be travelling again. One thing is for sure, we are not going ‘Back,’ to work – we are moving forward as an industry with our new way of working and we will be stronger than ever. Look after each other; check in, we’re going to have some cracking end-of-year parties! RECRUITMENT & CO | 12
APSCO'S REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE
ANDREW TURNER - MEDACS GLOBAL GROUP
When will things get back to normal? For many of us, at the start of this year, we had hoped 2021 would be ‘normal’ following the volatility of 2020. The question I have begun to ask myself more and more is ‘What is normal anyway?’
From an outsider’s perspective, the Healthcare recruitment industry perhaps appeared an enviable sector to work within during a global health emergency. Pre-COVID our market was busy and whilst it has remained buoyant, COVID has disrupted our marketplace in previously unseen ways – international and domestic border restrictions are by far the greatest challenge we face. Our clients still have jobs to be filled, our candidates still seek new opportunities - it’s just we along with our industry colleagues need to work with greater flexibility and agility to enable everything to fall into place.
During 2019 and early 2020 Australia faced unprecedented bush fires followed by flooding, which was immediately followed by the pandemic and at the time of writing, an earthquake in Victoria!! From my own reflection we may at times place too much emphasis and nostalgia on things getting back to normal…if we were to look back the healthcare market has undergone significant and repeated challenges over the last ten years – all of which has required our industry and more importantly our people to adapt to a changing dynamic.
Andrew Turner Director - Specialist Staffing APAC Medacs Global Group Director - APSCo Australia
COVID has brought to the forefront the resilience of our people, I am immensely proud of the work of my teams over the last two years to support essential services across Australia and New Zealand, there is a patient at the end of our work, and we play a key role in supporting the continuation of care. As we embark on our 2022 planning, my teams and I are more optimistic for the future – not a return to normal – just that we are better placed than ever to tackle the challenges that will inevitably come our way. To quote the 90’s classic – "Things can only get better!"
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APSCO'S REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE
LAILA BILLBERG - IGNITE SERVICES
How to manage the return to office The past three months have certainly been a rollercoaster in recruitment, Laila Billberg writes.
The positive is that we have remained extremely busy despite new lockdowns, talent shortages and navigating the challenges of remote work over an extended period. Lockdowns across Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane over the past few months have forced staff back into remote settings for an indefinite period. Fortunately, client activity has remained resilient as employers appear to be preparing for a quick bounce back in activity once lockdown restrictions ease. This has seen demand for permanent work, in particular, remain relatively steady whereas in previous lockdowns demand was more volatile.
Shortages of candidates in high skill sectors continues to be a key pain point for our consultants. In particular, growing commercial and government demand for technology talent is inhibited by an evershrinking supply of local available talent. To combat this, we’ve focused on optimising the end-to-end experience of our candidates to effectively acquire and retain the top talent that our clients want and need. The key question for many businesses at the moment is once again the return to offices, and how to effectively manage remote and/or hybrid teams longterm to maintain engagement and productivity.
Laila Billberg Director - APSCo Australia General Manager - Ignite Services.
While our teams are now better equipped to cope with the challenges of remote working than last year, we’ve certainly noticed some shortfalls emerge such as immersive learning, remote onboarding and team socialisation (particularly for new and junior staff) which are more difficult to replicate online. We continue to focus on the mental health and physical wellbeing of our staff by hosting regular online social activities, have revamped our remote onboarding process and are participating in a September walkathon. These activities have seen our teams flourish over the last quarter despite challenging conditions. RECRUITMENT & CO | 22
APSCO'S REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE
MELISSA OCCHIPINTI - PAXUS
The crucial part we play in creating diverse and inclusive workplaces Achieving a workplace culture of diversity, inclusion, and belonging is a key priority for many organisations, with evidence showing that companies who comprise of diverse teams outperform those with more homogenous workforces, explains Melissa Occhipinti. The recruitment industry and internal Talent Acquisition teams are instrumental in assisting organisations to meet their diversity and inclusion goals, as, let’s face it, this cannot be achieved if they are not provided with a diverse short list. Recruiters are often the first point of contact between the employer and the candidate, and are the gatekeepers to job opportunities. We are the ones who can influence clients to ensure their job requirements provide the right employment conditions that would attract a diversified pool of candidates, whether that be the ability to pivot a role to part-time, provide family friendly flexible working arrangements or ensuring the workplace can be adapted to accommodate
candidates with a disability, to name a few. We also have the responsibility to ensure the recruitment process is as inclusive as possible to ensure that candidates from all backgrounds receive the same opportunities, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious or non-religious beliefs, nationality, family background, age, and disability. At Paxus, we take a multifaceted approach that not only looks at the ways in which we recruit on behalf of our clients, but also considers how we promote diversity and inclusion within our own business. Key aspects of our diversity and inclusion program include:
Melissa Occhipinti Executive General Manager - Paxus Director - APSCo Australia
Comprehensive and regular recruitment training on inclusive recruitment processes. All our consultants have achieved their Disability Confident Recruitment (DCR) certifications. We partner with female led industry associations to run workshops. Gender coding in job ads to ensure the right language is used to attract female candidates. We partner with a number of indigenous enterprises who are heavily involved in their local communities. So, for change to happen, the recruitment industry must fully commit to helping their clients achieve this. We’re committed doing our part, and we hope you all are too.
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APSCO'S REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE
JOHN MCCLUSKEY - WHIZDOM RECRUITMENT
Candidate short market? Let's celebrate! I am not sure if as recruiters we are getting soft, or many don’t understand what we do? John McCluskey writes.
Most recruiters are seeing a huge number of roles coming across their desk, more work than they can handle, but complaining about a candidate short market. Why… Personally, I am not sure why, because if there was an abundance of candidates, why would many clients require the use of recruiters? Did you ever think that the reason we are getting so many roles is because the clients cannot find the talent themselves and thus outsourcing to recruiters? If it was as easy as advertising a role on a job board and waiting for the candidates to come, why would anyone use recruiters.
Sure, there is the value we add with shortlisting, screening, testing, etc, but all this only happens if you have candidates to access. That’s why we exist, clients cannot find the right talent for their workforce, so they bring in the specialists. Candidates currently have more choice than ever before for opportunities, and this is where recruiters have the obligation to sell a role and match a candidate with the right opportunity to support their careers, and not the first opportunity to make a sale. It is also important during the screening process that
John McCluskey Director - APSCo Australia Managing Director - Whizdom Recruitment
we carefully consider the key requirements of the client and the expected outcome of the role. Promote a client’s business as a valued place to work. If they are not - don’t promote - and provide that feedback to clients. Be brave. Placing a candidate in a role or client that they are not suited to hurts your business, your client’s business and damages a relationship with a candidate, and the short-term gain maybe offset by losing that candidate and client to a competitor. Candidate and client satisfaction is always best measured by their referrals, how many referrals are you getting? RECRUITMENT & CO | 24
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
APSCo in Asia APSCo Asia is embarking on an exciting new phase of growth in order to create a broader international trade association across South East Asia which will not only support members, but also enable them to help shape and build the association. One of the initiatives we are looking at is a new programme of trade delegations next year – both virtual and in-country and we are currently looking into potential trade delegations to both Malaysia and Vietnam. From a market perspective, job vacancies in Singapore rose by 8% in the second quarter of the year compared with the first quarter led by the increase in employment in the industrial and manufacturing sector which jumped 60% during the same period. That’s according to data from Michael Page Singapore who says that the growth has mainly been driven by the growth plans among semiconductor chip manufacturers, capital equipment, and electronics makers. The most in-demand job functions include design professionals as well as testing and verification specialists through to backend roles such as packaging, field support, and quality management. Automation and digitalisation remain a key focus for most organisations and there has also been a consistent demand for automation professionals. Demand for sales and marketing specialists rose by 41% as companies prioritise marketing across digital channels. There was also an 11% increase in contracting job opportunities which indicates an encouraging shift towards agile hiring in Singapore. In Malaysia, members are reporting an increasing demand for skilled engineers driven mainly by increasing automotive industry investment in hybrid and electric vehicles (EV). Malaysia has established itself as a leader in the EV sub-sector and with its strong manufacturing background, companies are increasingly willing to invest in the sector and are establishing factories related to EV and solar energy. This is seen as a huge opportunity for Malaysia and there is expected to be a positive knock-on effect for recruitment.
China Increasing technology adoption and the availability of the internet in China has created a large appetite for live streaming e-commerce services. People in all parts of the country can now sell their products and services via livestreaming, and that has led to a demand for skills to support the required infrastructure. IT programming and support roles are prime examples. In addition to the push for internet and streaming capabilities, many other industries contribute to demand in the country. For example, China is an established leader for new energy vehicles. Now, with Tesla entering China, most domestic automotive companies are gearing up to compete and retain market share.
As a result, many automotive companies are expanding their teams, causing a spike in demand for skills in functions such as research and development, design, software development, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and other areas. Another area of demand is the luxury goods sector. With international travel restrictions in place, people who previously bought luxury retail products overseas started buying the products locally. There was a huge growth in luxury retail, and clients are turning to recruiters for solutions on how to flex and scale to meet their demands. “China was one of the first countries to get the virus under control, and when the lockdown was lifted, people went back to work with renewed vigour”, says Allegis Global Solutions’ General Manager of China Loy Tong Chia. “An interesting result is that the return convinced many senior decisionmakers that the workforce has to be physically present to deliver business results, unlike the renewed appreciation for remote work that has risen elsewhere in the world”. “Locally, the mindset that demands workers to be physically in the office will likely continue to prevail, but it will hinder an organisation’s growth”, adds Loy. “Companies should be comfortable with a hybrid workplace model to leverage a global workforce and access the wider talent pool. This broader reach can be an advantage for businesses in China willing to embrace a new mindset”.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
APSCo in the United Kingdom The professional recruitment market in the UK has continued to perform exceptionally well with huge increases in year-on-year vacancy and placement figures, pointing towards a robust and resilient recruitment sector despite August traditionally being a time when hiring stalls. This is in keeping with the latest Government figures which reported that job vacancies had surpassed 1 million for the first time. Year on year metrics continue to show marked increases with contract roles rising by 79% and permanent vacancies rising by 47% and according to recent government reports, the number of people on payroll reported on HMRC systems is now very close to its pre-pandemic level at 28.9 million compared with 29 million in March 2020. While the furlough scheme will end in September, the shortage of candidates across all sectors should mitigate any risks of a stall in jobs growth. The UK is well and truly back to a highly candidate-led market where demand for skills across all professional sectors is constantly outstripping supply. This being driven by the resurgence of projects and expansion plans which were put on hold during lockdown, and there is a real scramble for the skills needed to fulfill those projects and growth plans. We are also now seeing the effect of ‘the great resignation’, and there is obviously still the Brexit effect to contend with, particularly as there is no post-Brexit immigration policy that allows skilled contractors to work in the UK on a project-by-project basis – a situation about which APSCo continues to lobby government as this policy has turned off a whole pool of EU talent that the UK has previously relied on. The increasing dearth of talent that businesses across the country are reporting is a real concern to the recruitment sector. While the Government has pledged to support skills development in the UK on a longer-term basis, there is a need for more immediate action.
APSCo in Germany APSCo Deutschland has appointed a new Managing Director who will continue APSCo’s mission of supporting and representing members in the region by delivering a suite of services that create a clear commercial advantage for recruitment firms. Thomas André Sola brings over 15 years of experience in the German recruitment market, most recently as MD for the DACH operations of TechStream Group, an APSCo Deutschland member. Consequently, André has witnessed the value of APSCo first hand and plans to use this knowledge to drive both new membership and additional member services to support those in the German professional recruitment market.
From a market perspective, Germany, like many other European economies is suffering major skill shortages. In fact, the head of Germany's Federal Employment Agency has issued an urgent appeal to the government to allow significantly more immigrants with sought-after skills into the country. Due to demographic changes which centre on an ageing workforce and a low birth rate, the number of potential employees of working age will halve by almost 150,000 by the end of this year alone and predictions are that this will be even more dramatic in the years to come. In fact, according to official forecasts, Germany’s workforce is projected to shrink by about 4 million by 2030 as the baby boomer generation returns. Shortages are endemic across all sectors from nursing to engineers and technicians through to logistics specialists and academics. To solve these shortages, the Federal Employment Agency says that there needs to be targeted immigration to fill gaps in the labour market and that the country needs at least 40,000 skilled immigrants a year, as well as training up more unskilled workers and allowing female employees with part time jobs to work more hours - if it is to retain its position as Europe’s largest economy.
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Flexible finance solutions for APSCo Members With flexible financial solutions, Westpac could help your labour hire business to maximise cashflow and unlock future opportunities.
Westpac has a long history of helping Australian businesses for over 200 years. We proudly support and actively participate in an industry that keeps this country working. We enable growth by offering flexible solutions, and creating opportunities through partnerships, research, and innovation. How we can help you. A recent customer won a new contract requiring a significant number of new contractors to be placed in a short space of time. However, their existing finance arrangement was restrictive. To help them fulfil their obligations and fund their rapid growth, our team of banking specialists offered a flexible Invoice Finance solution that would expand with their growth. The situation. Facing a potential cash shortfall with their previous bank holding personal property as security supporting an inadequate overdraft facility, the business owners sought a solution to enable them to deliver on the opportunity with confidence.
The challenge.
A word from our customer.
The challenge was to implement a flexible cashflow solution which would support the growth in business, while releasing their personal property held as security. The directors also wished to deal with a major bank with deep expertise and which could service all their banking needs.
“We have a vision for where we want to go and the opportunities were certainly there, but there was a slight stumbling block in the way and that happened to be our finance partner. We needed to change things to meet the demand and that is where Westpac came in. They managed to separate our property from the business and set up an Invoice Finance which has made a massive difference. By consolidating all of our banking with Westpac we can confidently strive forward.”
The success. After successfully implementing an Invoice Finance facility, the business owner’s property was released, allowing them to separate their personal property portfolio from the business. This new arrangement provided the business with additional working capital to support an ongoing growth strategy – enabling them to take on new clients and place more contractors. Westpac has enjoyed playing a part in our customer’s success and we continue to partner with and support their growth plans servicing all their banking needs.
We’re here to help. With flexible financial solutions, we could help your business maximise cashflow and unlock future opportunities. Contact one of our State Managers to discuss your business needs. NSW: Phoebe Yang 0477 736 492 phoebe.yang@stgeorge.com.au VIC: Nick Moutsos 0459 839 808 nick.moutsos@westpac.com.au QLD: Michael Robertson 0418 472 725 michaelrobertson@westpac.com.au WA/SA: Rob Di Carlo 0434 609 828 robert.dicarlo@westpac.com.au Things you should know: The information in this article is general in nature and does not take your personal objectives, circumstances or needs into account, and your individual situation may differ. Consider its appropriateness to these factors and read the disclosure documents for your selected product or service, including the Terms and Conditions or Product Disclosure Statement, before deciding. Unless otherwise specified, the products and services are available only in Australia from Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141 AFSL and Australian credit licence 233714.
Make a note in y our Diar y!
Finalists announc ed October 12 From 11a m
State winners and FINALIST ANNOUNCEMENT While we had hoped to bring everyone together to celebrate with their local recruitment community for this year's Awards, the lockdowns have forced us to move to a digital announcement for the 2nd consecutive year. Our State Winners and National Finalists announcement will be made via the APSCo Australia LinkedIn company page from 11am (Melbourne/Sydney time) on Tuesday, October 12, 2021. Please ensure you're following the APSCo Australia LinkedIn company page.
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Insurance supports health and wellbeing With employee wellbeing being a heightened focus for employers at the moment, take a moment to consider how financial wellbeing plays a key role, alongside both mental and physical health, as part of everyone’s general wellbeing. However, the cost can be a barrier for many people, with only 35% of Australians aged 1869 having a life insurance policy and only 15% having disability/income protection insurance/critical illness cover. There is undoubtedly a large number of working Australians who are not fully protected, should such a major life event occur. What options do I have to support my employees?
A significant injury or longterm illness for most employees could dramatically impact their overall wellbeing through the financial stress often associated with such a lifechanging event. Any extended period out of work means salaries will likely cease after sick and annual leave have been utilized, (if the employee accumulates these as a permanent employee).
In the case of members’ onhired workers though, they may well have built-in salary loadings to account for such leave benefits, and their salary could stop immediately following a major injury or illness. There are of course many insurance options for individuals to consider, with life/disability/trauma and income protection being the most comprehensive options but therefore most expensive.
Business owners and leaders can support their employees in a number of ways to offer financial support and there is a cascading range of insurance products, with corresponding levels of cover and price points to consider. From the highest to the lowest, these include the following: Group life and income protection - generally will include death, disability, and critical illness lump sum payments as well as income replacement up until retirement age
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Best suited for businesses with 25+ employees Purchased by the business and extends to cover all permanent employees Priced on a bulk basis and average age ranges Selective individual life and income protection - cover as above Purchased for selected employees only and therefore priced on a case by case basis Group personal accident and illness - generally will include death, total permanent disability, significant injury lump sums (loss of limb or eye for example), and sickness, with income replacement up to 104/154 weeks Significant cost difference compared with the life and income protection options as the maximum income benefit is typically 154 weeks Lower lump sum benefit amounts for significant injury(s)
Bill cover personal accident and illness similar cover to group personal accident, but with the weekly/monthly benefit being just for monthly bills, not full income replacement Lower lump sum benefits amounts for injuries
Mark Laudrum
Head of Commercial & Retail Broking BrokersOnline mark@brokersonline.co +61 2 8294 7569 +61 499 011 472 www.brokersonline.co
Fixed monthly benefit or the total of monthly bills for up to 24 months Covers business or general living expenses such as electricity, gas, gym membership, mortgage, or rent How can I explore my options and what does it cost? Life insurance advice can only be provided by a licensed life insurance broker and BrokersOnline can connect you with a specialist advisor from one of our partners.
About Mark With a recruitment insurance broking career beginning in Melbourne in September 2004 and advising agencies and industry bodies over the years since, Mark has worked with hundreds of agencies across a wide range of disciplines and sectors.
If you are considering your first step into insurance as an employee benefit, then we at BrokersOnline can assist you with group personal accident/bill cover options that can start from $150 per employee per year.
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Make sure your spreadsheets don’t add up to a hill of beans Have you ever been shocked by your credit card statement? Surely you didn’t use it that much? How did three cheap lunches, and one pair of jeans, add up to $2,000? Thomas Taylor of Middle Office explains. The same thing can happen with your business. All businesses have some sort of quoting mechanism but not all businesses make sure they regularly check all the deals add up to the profit. A lot of “exceptions” can trash the results as easily as it is to blow out your credit card. One of the most common problems for recruitment agencies is a disconnect between what the consultants are selling and the P&L. Quotes to potential clients for temp contractor rates are often based on a spreadsheet the founder developed years ago. With no mechanism for them to be reconciled back to the P&L it’s easy for them to be out of kilter. You might remember that your math's teacher told you to do the multiplication signs first, and then to do the plus signs. It’s called Arithmetic hierarchy. It’s a good way to think about what happens in your business. Having said that, it may not be immediately clear what to multiply and what to add up.
Your total business margins, the numbers in your profit and loss, are the sum of each of your deals. Each individual deal, less each deal’s direct costs. The profit of each deal adds up to the profit for the whole business. Sounds simple enough, but If you just add up all the sales and then subtract all the costs you don’t get to easily see what makes it up. You want to be able to “reconcile” the total of all the deals with the P&L. You have to multiply first (work out the profit on each deal) and then add them all up. Then you can start to see what’s causing any differences. You can see if you have a problem with most of the deals? A “systemic problem”, or perhaps it’s a bunch of outliers that add up fast like charges on your credit card?
Break it down to lunch-sized chunks. Use batches to control your margins. If your agency started out small you would have run on spreadsheets one transaction at a time. Now that you’re getting bigger batches are probably better. Your monthly P&L can equal the batches that month. You can see what batches had problems with margins. If it’s all of them you can start to dig a bit deeper. Maybe it’s a market segment or type of client. Our company, Middle Office, does this for our clients. We give them the tools to see where their deal by deal performance is in line with their expectations. That way they can focus on the most profitable deals and, by the science of multiplication, a more profitable business. RECRUITMENT & CO | 21
Why contractor care matters How can something as simple as treating high-value contractors like VIP business assets give your recruitment agency a massive competitive advantage? Darren Berson, Founder of Platinum WFM explains. I have been an entrepreneur for over 22 years, so I know how important it is to watch business trends and constantly look for ways to gain an edge over competitors. Demand is booming for high-value contractors in Australia. The reality that a handful of skilled contractors can generate over a million dollars in payroll makes this trend extremely profitable and very competitive. If you build strong relationships with your contractors, you unlock the potential for repeat placements, powerful referrals, and becoming the recruiter of choice in your niche. Create a Competitive Edge When it comes to high-value contractors, recruiters are under pressure to put quality talent in front of their clients quickly. Once your contractor is placed, the pressure notches up to contract and onboard them as smoothly as possible. Having a pool of quality talent is the first big advantage. The second is having the systems and processes in place to move your VIP assets through the necessary processes with as little pressure on your business as possible.
The simplest way to build a talent pool is to make sure your service does not stop the day the contract starts. The easiest way to achieve this without hiring a fleet of administrators to run your backoffice - is to put the right tech in place with the right support for your team (and your contractors). Choose the Right Tech Does this scenario sound familiar: you place a high-value contractor at a client site. Everyone is happy and the project is going well… so, you get to work on new client briefs. Six weeks later, your contractor calls, frustrated and angry about a glitch with their timesheets. Your heart sinks. Not only is the relationship with your contractor in jeopardy, your cash flow is going to hurt until you get those timesheets approved and invoiced. You scramble to solve the problem and probably head down a black hole of non-billable time for you and your team. The whole purpose of technology is to amplify your resources by simplifying and, where
possible, automating the processes that are repeated in your business. Good tech also enables the smooth passage of information through your business, from timesheet to invoice to payroll to ATO. I was a recruiter for many years before I began developing tech solutions for our industry. I recommend keeping these issues in mind when you look for a tech stack to help you manage contractors: Risk management: There are some unique risks to managing contractors. Your outsource solution should have good governance and reporting practices built in to help you manage these risks. A system specialist: If your team does not have the technical capacity to support your contractors across different systems, look for an outsource solution with all-Aussie support that your contractors can count on - because if they can’t, their issues will simply circle back to you to solve. A dedicated administrator: If the number of contractors you manage shrinks and expands throughout the year, you may not want to employ a dedicated person to manage their needs.
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There are outsource options with built-in contractor care, but make sure you entrust your VIP business assets to a white label service - don’t handover your assets to a third party. Gear for Growth Imagine how steadily your revenue will grow if your team is focused on making placements, and your backoffice tech keeps your admin running smoothly? I know it can feel daunting to set yourself up for success, but it helps to think about it as short term pain for long term gains.
Once upon a time, we had a CD player, a television, a DVD player, a camera, and a telephone. Today, we have a single smart device that does it all, and the same is true for managing contractors. Your setup does not need to be heavy on human resources or overheads - there is a configuration of outsource software and support for just about every recruiter out there.
software components by integrating them into a single solution. Find what works for you. Choose back-office solutions that can scale up or down on-demand and include quality technical support so you always get the best outcomes for your money. And remember to treat your top contractors like the golden geese that they are.
Personally, I believe in multiplying the positive impacts of individual
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Photograph by Francis Watson
