recruitment extra November 2013 by Thomson Reuters

November 2013 30172893

recruitmentextra.com.au

WHEREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S YOUR TALENT POOL? A look at the changing tides and unchartered waters of talent acquisition

The leading magazine for recruitment professionals in Australia and New Zealand

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Contents

Inside November

Features 20

The Importance of Effective Candidate Relationships

Where's Your Talent Pool?

Asylum Seekers: An Untapped Talent Pool

Privacy - It's in the Jam, not the Icing

Harnessing Team Potential

33 Riding the Wave or Using the Rip

WHEREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S YOUR TALENT POOL?

M&A activity in 2013

Regulars

17 21 20

News

Online Recruitment

The Panel

Social Recruiting

Head to Head

HR Report

Legal Eye

Tax Focus

On the Move

Directory

The latest news, events and announcements

Movers and shakers in the industry

Advertising directory

Manager, Media Division Kevin Stokes Tel +61 2 8587 7043 kevin.j.stokes@thomsonreuters.com Editor Imogen Tear Tel +61 2 8587 7258 imogen.tear@thomsonreuters.com Submissions imogen.tear@thomsonreuters.com Advertising Australia & New Zealand Helen Sykes Tel +61 2 8587 7462 helen.sykes@thomsonreuters.com Enquiries Emily Ings Tel +61 2 8587 7051 emily.ings@thomsonreuters.com Graphic design Michelle D’Souza Printing Ligare http://sites www.thomsonreuters.com.au/recruitment-extra/ www.thomsonreuters.com.au www.recruitmentextra.com.au Customer service and subscription inquiries Tel 1300 304 195 Fax 1300 304 196 Email LTA.Service@thomsonreuters.com Publisher Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia Limited ABN 64 058 914 668 Head office 100 Harris Street Pyrmont NSW 2009 Tel +61 2 8587 7000 Fax +61 2 8587 7100 © Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia Limited 2010 ISSN 1835-1395 All information in recruitment extra is copyright. Material is not to be used or reproduced without written permission. No responsibility is taken for unsolicited material. Articles reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the publisher.

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4 November 2013 recruitment extra

from the editor The Art Gallery of New South Wales was the venue for this year's Recruitment Excellence Awards and made for a spectacular backdrop to celebrate the award winners and finalists. I'd like to once again congratulate the winners and extend my thanks to all of you who came along, particularly our valued sponsors. Coverage of the night will be featured in next month’s edition but for now don’t forget to check out our facebook page and website for the video and photos. We are already talking about next year's event and have some exciting plans afoot - so watch out for announcements in the new year. As we rush headlong to the end of the year a slew of reports and forecasts have been released on the state of the market for 2014. Adjectives such as 'steady', 'hopeful' and 'resilient' abound and there is a perception that more people will be starting to actively look for work. With this in mind it may be prudent to take the time now to have a fresh look at your potential candidates. Our contributors this month have some tips and suggestions on how to make the most of your talent pool to capitalise on this tentatively positive market sentiment.

Congratulations... TO THE WINNERS

OF THE 2013 RECRUITMENT EXCELLENCE AWARDS BEST GRADUATE CAMPAIGN AWARD Winner: Blaze

BEST LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN AWARD Winner: M&T Resources

BEST EMPLOYER BRAND AWARD Winner: Telstra

BEST NATIONAL AGENCY AWARD Winner: Talent International

BEST USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA AWARD BEST START UP AWARD Winner: u&u Winner: Blaze BEST USE OF PRINT ADVERTISING AWARD Winner: Blaze

BEST WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY AWARD Winner: WorkPac Group

BEST BOUTIQUE AGENCY AWARD Winner: MitchelLake Group

DELOITTE RECRUITMENT EXCELLENCE AWARD Winner: Stellar Recruitment

BEST CANDIDATE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AWARD Winner: M&T Resources

THE ASTUTE PAYROLL EXCELLENCE IN THE APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES AWARD Winner: ITCOM

Thanks to our sponsors:

News

TaylorCare truly cares

TaylorCare Recruitment, based in Sydney’s inner west, has announced the launch of their Australia-wide social work division during a fundraising high tea at Balmain Town Hall. Speaking at the event, which was attended by over 70 women and raised $3,400 for the A21 campaign, TaylorCare Recruitment owners, Kate and Ryan Taylor, said: “what better way to launch a new division than to do a social justice charity event.” The A21 Campaign works closely with victims of the modern day slave trade to bring them freedom from their traffickers and rehabilitate them for a new life. Taylor said the campaign was well worth supporting as the issue is current within Australia and the rest of the globe: “We believe that no one person or organisation can do everything to stop modern day slavery, but we all can do something!” she concluded.

Five stars for Kinetic Kinetic Super has been awarded five stars for outstanding value in CANSTAR’s 2013 ratings. The annual independent research by CANSTAR recognises superannuation funds that represent the ideal mix of available investment options, account access, insurance options and premiums, availability of advice, fund performance, cost and investment strategy. Investment performance is incorporated into the overall rating in order to identify and recognise funds which have outperformed consistently over a five year period. Performance results for the 2012/2013 financial year saw Kinetic Super’s default growth (MySuper) investment option return +1.8% over the quarter, +14.7% over 1 year and +9.5% p.a. over three years. Paul Kessell, Chief Investment Officer

6 November 2013 recruitment extra

for Kinetic Super, commented: “With the consolidation of the divisions of Professional Associations Super last financial year, Kinetic Super is now in a better position to target exceptional returns with a simplified investment platform. Our consistent investment performance can give our members confidence that their retirement savings are with one of Australia’s best performing industry funds.” Growing the Kinetic team is Chris Schodde who recently joined from Towers Watson. Schodde will provide assessment and analysis of investment decisions and be responsible for the maintenance of internal systems. “Kinetic Super has a record of strong investment performance and I’m looking forward to contributing to the fund’s investment activities as part of a dynamic team,” Schodde said.

UPWARDLY MOBILE The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Internet Activity report released in September found the volume of data downloaded via mobile telephones for the three months ended 30 June was 19,636 terabytes, a 43% increase from the three months ended December 31, 2012. Mark Cleaver, Bibby Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, said the faster internet speeds and greater internet accessibility through mobile devices could help SMEs grow their businesses and become more efficient. “As more people access the internet via mobile telephones and as internet speeds improve, doing business online or via mobile devices is one of the key ways of improving business efficiency and productivity. If SMEs haven’t already, they should be developing online systems and apps that enable them to do this,” Cleaver said. “Some of the ways businesses can improve their online and mobile operations include switching to devices for better efficiency and mobility, providing extended business hours through 24 hour online trading, online ordering and processing of orders and transactions, attracting and retaining skilled staff who may not live near the office through teleworking and flexibility in locating your business in any location with 24 hour online access,” he said. “The roll out of the National Broadband Network will mean continual improvements in internet speeds, for which SMEs should be preparing,” he added. [For more on the use of mobile technology in recruitment see page 23 of this issue.]

News

ONESHIFT PARTNERS WITH PROGRAMMED OneShift, a website that pairs those seeking more flexible work with the businesses that need them for short periods of time, has announced the start of an equity partnership with Programmed. Programmed has acquired a 27.5% equity stake and intends to market the capability of OneShift to many of its customers. Commenting on the alliance Founder and Chief Executive Officer of OneShift, Genevieve George, says: “This partnership will drive further structural change across the recruitment industry, combining our strength in the online job matching space with Programmed’s decades of experience and industry knowledge.”

The world’s largest recruiters Staffing Industry Analysts has released a list of the largest global staffing firms, showing little movement among the top 10 and no change among the ‘Big Three’. Of the 119 firms, 46 are headquartered in Europe, 51 in North America and 21 in the ‘Rest of the World’. The Big Three – Adecco, Randstad and ManpowerGroup retained their positions at the top of the list. Together they have a 17% total market share, while the 119 largest firms (inclusive of the Big Three) have a combined market share of a little over 45%. The top 10 firms are particularly important in markets such as France

Company

and the Netherlands, which are heavily consolidated. No company outside the top 10 has more than a 1% global market share. The list, comprising companies with annual revenue in excess of US$ 300 million, featured 17 new companies and saw nine leave. Entering on the basis of their organic growth were: ACS Group (97th), Elwood Staffing (98th), Bluestone Global (101st), Lorien (105th), Employment Plus (106th), digital Intelligence Systems (DISYS) (110th), SMS Management & Technology (112th), Snelling Staffing Services (113th), Source One Staffing (117th), and the Judge Group (118th).

Country

2013 Rank

2012 Rank

Adecco

Randstad

ManpowerGroup

Allegis Group

Recruit

7 <=

Looking pro

Hays

Kelly Services

5 <=

The inaugural Officeworks Professionals survey has found that Aussie workers spend $4.5 billion annually to enhance their professional look at work. The research revealled that white collar workers spent an average of $922 a year on corporate clothing, the latest technology, stylish furniture and colour-coordinated stationery. A further 20% said they spent more than $1,000 per year on looking professional. Eighty percent of those surveyed said they felt they were taken more seriously at work when they spent time and money on looking professional. However, 5% said they were unwilling to spend anything on improving their look believing it held no impact on how they were perceived.

USG People

Robert Half

Tempstaff

EXPR3SS! ADDS CLIENTS Web-based recruitment and selection management software provider Expr3ss! has announced the addition of several new businesses to its subscription-based service including Nick Scali, Mary McKillop Care, Authentics Australia and Harris Farm. Expr3ss! managing director, Dr Glyn Brokensha said recruitment managers across multiple industries were abandoning the old method of reading resumes and compiling spreadsheets in favour of integrated cloud-based solutions. He said: “Expr3ss! appeals to the new ‘internet generation’ of workers because it helps organisations better source and manage the applicant process and design their career sites to connect automatically with other internal and external audiences.” Founded by entrepreneur Carolyne Burns and medical practitioner and psychotherapist Dr Glyn Brokensha, Expr3ss! works by capturing, tracking and analysing applicants from advertising sources and other channels. The software ranks applicants using a range of screening questions and assessment tools. It also enables employers to sort candidates based on their values and attitudes using an embedded psychometric system.

recruitment extra 2013 November 7

News

FastTrack restructures FastTrack has announced a business reorganisation that includes a new software development partnership with Indian developer, RadixWeb. David Page, CEO at FastTrack, says, “this relationship with RadixWeb will enable us to accelerate our continuing development of FastTrack360 that includes a complete redevelopment of our Front Office Skillsbase product. All our 700+ clients will be able to enjoy an upgrade path that offers common FastTrack360 technology, features and functionality deployed either in-house or in the Cloud. We remain absolutely committed to a range of fully integrated Cloud solutions from front to back office that avoids the cost and complexity of managing alternative hybrid systems from multiple vendors. “While some staff changes have been necessary, the reorganisation has also been geared towards the growth and improvement of our customer service and support functions,” added Page. “Our long history in the staffing industry means that we have a depth of consulting experience that can add real value and improved ROI to clients’ use of our systems and we want to ensure this continues to be seen as a strong differentiator of our overall product offering.”

Check out photos from the Recruitment Excellence Awards on our website and facebook pages

8 November 2013 recruitment extra

DCA RELEASE INSIGHTS INTO CULTURAL DIVERSITY The Diversity Council Australia has released the results of new research that investigates the cultural origins of board members. Whilst it finds some encouraging breadth and depth in cultural diversity amongst business leaders, it also identifies some underrepresentation in key areas, especially when compared with the general population. Key findings include: • 22.2% of directors are ‘culturally diverse’ (referring to people from non-Anglo-Celtic cultural origins, ie European, Asian, African, Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander origins), 21.9% of CEOs, 19.9% of senior executives and 13.5% of chairs. This compares to 32.2% in the general Australian community. • When a narrower definition of ‘culturally diverse’ is adopted (ie excluding people from North West European origins), the degree of culturally diverse business leaders drops by at least half. The proportion of culturally diverse directors falls to 11.3%, culturally diverse CEOs falls to 11.4%, culturally diverse chairs to 7.0% and culturally diverse senior executive positions to 9.7%. This compares to 24.3% in the general community. • Most culturally diverse directors have North West European origins (10.9%). • The proportion of business leaders with Asian cultural origins is relatively low compared to the general community, only 1.9% of executive managers and 4.15% of directors have Asian cultural origins (versus 9.6% in the general community). • On a state basis, New South Wales, WA and Victoria have the highest proportion of culturally diverse directors, Queensland has the closest match between leader diversity and community diversity, but New

South Wales has the least alignment between leader diversity and community diversity. • On an industry basis, the commercial & professional services industry has the highest degree of cultural diversity while the transportation industry and the automobiles & components industry have the lowest. • Culturally diverse female and male leaders are on par with 22.0% of female directorships culturally diverse and 20.4% of male directorships. However, there is a very small pool of culturally diverse female leaders: 29 female versus 233 male. Nareen Young, DCA’s CEO said the research provides a unique perspective on Australia’s business leadership. “For many years we have known the degree of gender diversity on ASX 200 boards but we haven’t had any knowledge of the cultural background of directors. Yet a culturally diverse and capable leadership team can provide enormous benefits for organisations, such as the potential to boost local market share, enter international markets, create strategic alliances, maximise innovation and meet critical talent shortages. “Our research is an important first step in capturing the cultural mosaic of ASX business leaders. It also provides valuable recommendations on how organisations can better measure and capitalise on culture in executive ranks and the leadership pipeline for the benefit of their businesses,” said Young. Andrew Stevens, Managing Director of IBM Australia and New Zealand who supported the research, added: “Now more than ever it is important to capitalise on the full breadth of talent in the marketplace. A culturally diverse workforce, at all levels from graduate hires through to executives, fosters creativity and innovation which is essential to any company’s ongoing success.”

News

Honest, high achieving managers rank top When given the choice between a manager who is a high-achiever but demanding, and a manager who is nice but ineffective, 71% of those surveyed by Kronos would choose the high-achiever. “The results from this survey challenge the stereotypical Aussie reputation of being a ‘relaxed’ nation,” said Peter Harte, vice president, Asia-Pacific, Kronos. “Results indicate most Aussies actually prefer managers who will push their limits.” Results also caution managers to avoid jargon in the office with 83% of employees finding business jargon annoying. The phrases that irritate employees most are: • “I don't care how, just get it done” • “think outside the box” • “I need you to be more proactive”. In other feedback, Aussie workers rank honesty (76%) as among the most

important attributes of a good manager. Overall, a majority of employees who believe their managers demonstrate this value alongside others such as ethics, collaboration, creativity, empowerment, innovation, dedication and trustworthiness (89%) believe their manager does this on a regular basis. “It’s fantastic to see the majority of employees view their manager as honest, collaborative, and dedicated – all very positive workplace behaviors. But it comes as no great surprise that the common phrases we use at work really don’t establish rapport between coworkers, in fact, they create tension. Employees want to work with people who can achieve great results, even if their management skills are a little rough around the edges,” concludes Harte.

HAYS: HOTSPOTS REVEALED According to Hays Quarterly Hotspots list the top five skills in demand are: 1. Financial analysts 2. Estimators 3. Specialist nurses 4. Software developers 5. Digital marketing. The report also found increasing staff movement is creating vacancy activity as people decide to change employers. “The movement of candidates onto the jobs market to explore their options and change employers is fuelling an active jobs market,” says Nick Deligiannis, Managing Director of Hays in Australia & New Zealand. “The majority of vacancy activity is the result of replacing departing staff rather than the creation of new roles. Employers will act fast if an employee leaves a business critical role. “This movement of candidates between jobs is a trend not reflected in the unemployment rate, but it is a good sign of candidates’ confidence that they can improve their prospects by looking for a new job. As a result overall vacancy activity is expected to

increase this quarter. Many employers also tell us they are keen to secure candidates who can start early in the new calendar year. “But employers prefer candidates with a solid history of tenure with their previous employers. Candidates who have changed employers often aren’t viewed as favourably as those who have been loyal for several years. “We’ve also seen the recruitment process lengthen as employers become more thorough when assessing candidates. They often want to make sure their candidate of choice has a broad skill set so that they gain the most value from new hires.” According to Hays, another trend that is impacting today’s recruitment market is the preference for companies to recruit on a temporary-to-permanent basis in order to trial a candidate in the role. Fixed-term contracts are also proving popular as they help employers control costs. “Those candidates prepared to commit to contracts running through until Easter are highly desirable,” said Deligiannis.

DUTY OF CARE REMAINS DURING THE SILLY SEASON Employers are being urged to take steps to protect their employees and the reputation of their business during the lead up to the Christmas silly season. Phillip Collins, Head of Workplace Services at the Australian Drug Foundation, says that workplace celebrations can be notorious for over indulgence leading to sexual harassment, violence or injury. “Alcohol use contributes to 11% of workplace accidents and 5% of all Australian workplace deaths,” said Collins. “Good alcohol management is needed to meet duty of care, reduce potential liability and minimise the risk of intoxication and alcohol related harm,” he said. He added that employers are responsible for looking after their employees' health and safety at a work function or christmas party in the same way as they are in the workplace. “There are many simple things you can incorporate into your planning from serving non-alcoholic drinks, making sure your bar staff are RSA trained and providing plenty of food,” said Collins. “Plan a day that’s not focused just on drinking. If you have an event that is really well organised, with lots of entertainment and activities, your guests will naturally drink less and you are less likely to have your party turn into a health and safety nightmare.”

recruitment extra 2013 November 9

News

AUSTRALIAN UNEMPLOYMENT MUCH HIGHER THAN ABS STATS Roy Morgan Research recently released a new report that shows Australian unemployment may have actually risen to 10.4% in September, with an estimated 1.3 million people out of work. The official figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the unemployment rate stood at 5.8%, which was the highest official rate since August 2009, but still considerably lower than the Roy Morgan report. According to the report there were about 12,467,000 people working in Australia, which was an increase of 90,000 people from the month before, however the dynamics of the workforce had shifted slightly with the number of full-time workers dropping by 27,000 to 7.4 million, and part-time employment figures up 71,000 to 3.76 million. The report also showed the number of people actively searching for roles had increased from the previous month by 46,000 to 1.3 million. Gary Morgan, Roy Morgan Research, said the drop in fulltime employment and the current level of underemployment were the two biggest takeaways from the report. "Most worryingly, full-time employment has dropped to 7,413,000 (down 27,000) – now at its lowest since January 2013," Morgan pointed out. "Australia’s under-employment has dropped slightly to 989,000 meaning a total of 2,286,000 Australians are either unemployed or underemployed."

10 November 2013 recruitment extra

Penny Coulter inducted as ITCRA Life Member The ITCRA Board of Directors were unanimous in their nomination of Penny Coulter of Taylor Coulter as a Life Member of the Association. In presenting the award retiring President Russell MacDonald said: “ITCRA could not exist if it wasn’t for the volunteers who continue to support the Association at Board and Committee level as well as the members and supporters who renew each year to ensure the Association maintains its vision and goals in an increasingly challenging market place.” Julie Mills, ITCRA CEO, added that “the ITCRA Board want to honour an individual who has been a Board Director and President and someone who was instrumental in her foresight to drive

the evolution and development of the SkillsMatch platform. Her insistence on using the outcomes to represent member’s interests to government and clients ensures this strategy is embedded in ITCRA’s goals going forward.” Mills also noted that, “Penny’s ongoing commitment to the broader ICT skills agenda through ICT Careers Week, her work on projects to encourage Women in ICT as well as her relationship with the ACS Foundation to encourage both private and public sector sponsorship of ICT education and research projects, for the benefit of professionals working in ICT, and ultimately, the industry itself make Penny Coulter a worthy recipient of an ITCRA Life Membership.

Contact centre skills shortage More than 60% of contact centre managers are expecting a shortage in skilled staff over the next few years, a report by FuturePeople has found. The contact centre industry has 100,000 vacancies a year, an employment appetite second only to mining, but 25% of managers surveyed said they are already facing skills shortages and 61% are concerned about the long-term recruiting difficulties ahead. FuturePeople CEO Linda Simonsen, said the industry needed to be proactive about attracting and developing contact centre staff in order to prevent a major skills shortage in the future. With contact centre roles becoming increasingly more complex and the gap between customer expectations and agent skills increasing, attracting the right staff is very important. The report found that 40% of contact centre leaders identify enhanced skills across multiple channels as the number one way in which agent skillsets will need to change and that 87% of contact centre managers believe emotional intelligence-related skills will be the defining characteristic of longterm contact centre staff. “While it’s important to note that multi-

channel skills and soft skills like emotional intelligence can in fact be taught, meaning existing staff can learn these new skills, of course it would also be ideal if we could attract and retain people who are naturally high in emotional intelligence and multichannel skills. To do that, however, the industry has a few hurdles to overcome,” Simonsen says. She believes the Australian contact centre industry needs to market itself better to new recruits, as well as provide tangible career development options to existing agents. “Give them a clear career development plan,” she says. “And we could start offering a role that’s so attractive to the country’s best and brightest that it makes them want to really stick around.” The report also shows that only 37% of contact centre managers recruit agents with a view to keeping them in the contact centre over the long term, and only 28% of managers test for leadership ability during the recruitment process. However, rather than being a mere stepping-stone to the larger organisation, Simonsen believes agents should be encouraged to stay longer and to develop broader and deeper skills.

News

Mining companies dig top spot Topping this year’s list of Australia’s most in-demand employers is Rio Tinto followed by Leighton Contractors and Google. The annual list, produced by LinkedIn, is determined by the analysis of member and company interactions on LinkedIn. The only Australia-based brand to make the global top 100 was Worley Parsons who ranked 35th in the world – up 36 places since last year. NBN Co Ltd and Origin Energy were new additions to Australia’s top 10 list, having previously come in at 16th and 17th last year respectively. “The top 10 Most InDemand Employers in Australia are great examples of companies investing in their talent brand and their results demonstrate the return on their investment,” said Tim Grogan, Talent Brand Strategist, LinkedIn. “Our research shows that almost all Australian recruiters think that a company’s employer brand has a significant impact on its ability to hire great talent. It is crucial that organisations understand how they are perceived by prospective candidates in order to remain competitive in hiring and retaining talent.”

AUSTRALIA’S TOP 10 MOST INDEMAND EMPLOYERS FOR 2013

1. Rio Tinto 2. Leighton Contractors 3. Google 4. John Holland 5. Origin Energy

6. Microsoft 7. Worley Parsons 8. NBN Co Limited 9. Qantas 10. Accenture

No nuts allowed A recent survey from Employment Office has revealed nut-free workplaces are on the rise, with one in five Australians saying they have worked for a company with a nut-free policy. Incidents of severe allergic reactions have doubled over the last decade and schools have long been declared no-go zones but workplaces had previously remained resistant to becoming nut-free zones. However, with more people being diagnosed and fewer outgrowing the sensitivity, numbers are now increasing. Employment Office Managing Director, Tudor Marsden-Huggins, says banning nut products is not the only option and that employees and employers should work together to create a plan for anyone at risk. “It may not be necessary for employers to go as far as adopting a total nut-free policy,” said Marsden-Huggins. “However the condition is recognised as a disability in Australia, so employees affected should be treated with an acceptable level of care and consideration.”

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recruitment extra 2013 November 11

News

AUSTRALIA SCORES A 5.5 An ongoing shortage of high-level skills means that Australia’s labour market is yet to find balanced ground, according to the Hays Global Skills Index. The Index, which assesses the efficiency of the skilled labour market in 30 countries, found that in Australia the labour market was still not producing the right skills pipeline. The Index scale ranges between 0 and 10, with the higher the Index score the greater the difficulty for employers in findings skills. A score greater than 5 indicates skill shortages; less than 5 indicates few if any signs of skills shortages. Australia’s score was 5.5. “As the Abbott Government settles down in Canberra, boosting employment should be a priority,” said Nick Deligiannis, Managing Director of Hays in Australia & New Zealand. “But central to this is arguably the biggest thorn in the side of Australia’s labour market: the ongoing shortage of higher level skills. “Yet while unemployment is expected to rise in 2014, as confirmed by Treasurer Joe Hockey earlier this month, employers

still struggle to attract highly skilled and experienced professionals. “It is a bitter paradox caused by employers being unable to find the skilled workers they need, particularly in more technical areas such as IT, construction and engineering. Demand is not evident in every function in every region of Australia, but we are seeing sustained demand for high-skill professionals. “So instead of a balanced labour market where employers can easily recruit, retain or replace their key talent at generally prevailing wage rates, a shortage of professionals for jobs in high-skill industries and high-skill occupations is still evident,” he said. The overall Index score is the average of seven indicator scores. Three indicators explore the supply of talent, labour market participation and labour market flexibility. One looks at talent mismatch. The final three are wage pressures indicators, looking at overall wage pressure, wage pressure in high-skill industries and wage pressure in high-skill occupations. “Skills gaps can manifest themselves through wage pressures, a

talent mismatch and/or supply,” says Deligiannis. “Our Index looks at all three areas. “Of interest in Australia are the three scores for wage pressure. Australia’s high ‘overall wage pressure’ score of 7.1 shows the country is expected to face overall wage pressures above historic norms. We expect to see growth in wages across the whole economy, after allowing for inflation. While overall real wage growth is expected to be down slightly from last year, this indicator continues to add upward pressure to the overall Index score of 5.5 for Australia. “There is also a widening in pay differentials between high and low-skill industries, as the score of 8.0 for ‘wage pressure in high-skill industries’ shows. New Zealand received the highest score possible of 10.0 for ‘wage pressure in highskill industries’, exacerbating the problem for this part of the world. “Australia is also seeing a widening gap in pay differences between high-skill and low-skill occupations, as indicated by the score of 6.0 for ‘wage pressure in high-skill occupations’,” concluded Deligiannis.

Big businesses are slow to pay Bibby Financial Services say many SMEs are suffering at the hands of big companies who are reluctant to pay invoices. Bibby quotes data that reveals 60% of invoices are being paid by Australian businesses beyond the standard 30-day payment period. The high rate of late payments, as revealed by Dun & Bradstreet’s analysis, has seen businesses pay their bills in an average of 53 days during the third quarter of 2013, more than three weeks beyond standard terms. The sobering data reinforces the struggle many SMEs are facing to keep afloat. Separate data issued by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) found that the number of Australian companies entering external administration jumped to 1,005 in July 2013, the highest level in 16 months, before falling slightly to 986 in August. Mark Cleaver, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, said: “While

12 November 2013 recruitment extra

business confidence is slowing improving, these statistics give a sobering picture. With some businesses going under due to the difficult economic times, even more are battling to get their invoices paid given the slowdown Australia is currently experiencing. While lower interest rates are helping to cushion the downturn, a battle is being waged by the nation’s SMEs to get paid.” According to Dun & Bradstreet, large companies were the slowest to pay their bills during the third quarter, with those employing more than 500 staff taking an average of 56 days, three days more than the national average. “Many big businesses are not paying their bills promptly, which is hurting the economy overall and keeping cash out of SMEs’ hands,” Cleaver said. “My advice for any SME is to deal with late payers as soon as you become aware that there is a problem, even if an invoice is just a few days overdue. Early action now can overcome difficulties later and

you’re more likely to get paid if you chase an invoice rather than simply hope for the best,” he said. Separate data released by the National Credit Insurance Brokers (NCI) has revealed the number of claims nationwide received on trade credit insurance in September 2013 was 71, slightly below the average level for that month. But claims received remain higher than pre-GFC average levels. According to the most recent Bibby Barometer, conducted in July, the majority (81%) of small business decision makers have experienced cash flow problems in the past year. The major cash flow problems experienced include declining margins (25%), issues with government red tape, compliance and tax administration (24%), customers making excuses for slow payment (23%), or trouble getting payment from large companies or government departments (20%).

News

BUSINESS CONFIDENCE AND WAGES ON THE UP Regional Australia is experiencing a prolonged period of sustained jobs growth, and rather than losing out to jobs in capital cities, has maintained its share of this country’s employment over the last 15 years. The strength of the regional jobs market in Australia is a key finding of the latest Fairfax Employment Forecast, which also shows that not only is the national employment growth rate trending upwards, in 2013 record levels of employment were reached in this country. “It’s actually an urban myth that capital cities are stealing employment growth from the regions,” says Forecast author, Michael Emerson from Economic and Market Development Advisors (EMDA). “This report debunks the notion that all jobs are flooding to the cities, and interestingly, in the latest edition of the forecast, jobs growth in regional areas is higher than in Sydney.” The report finds that more than 4.2 million people work in regional Australia, making up 36% of the workforce. The transport sector, driven by mining, is growing strongly, and tourism has recovered recently with jobs growing 7% a year. The construction sector is also said to be picking up with jobs rising 2.8%, and the education sector is stronger with jobs up 2.4%. However, while the outlook is more positive than the last edition of the

Forecast in May, it is still a patchy picture. “There have also been big differences between market segments, with Generation Z experiencing a very difficult job market, while jobs for twilight career people are at record levels,” Emerson says. The national unemployment rate for teenagers remains high at 16.4%. “In fact, Generation Z have known only difficult conditions since they entered the jobs market at 16, their relative lack of skills and experience being the main drivers for the weak market they find themselves in,” says Emerson. The report forecasts that in the year to August 2014, 193,000 jobs will be created nationally, although growth rates will vary significantly between the states and different industry sectors. The Forecast shows that the Australian economy has added 141,000 jobs over the year to August 2013. While this is below pre-GFC growth rates, it is still strong enough to keep unemployment at relatively low levels below 6.0%. The rate does vary between states and territories with Tasmania highest at 8.6% and the ACT lowest at 3.7%. Emerson says that the latest Forecast also points to a notable upswing in business and consumer confidence since May. “Clearly there’s been a boost to consumer and business confidence

delivered by the Federal Election following a long, drawn-out campaign,” he says. “In addition, interest rates are at record lows and this is starting to stimulate the non-mining sector, with house prices picking up and job vacancies beginning to grow.” Total hours worked is another indicator of the current state of the job market and this has started to increase again with hours worked up 1.7% in August 2013. “This indicator has been trending up throughout 2013 and has contributed to the strength in overall income growth. It is another sign of an improving job market,” says Emerson. When it comes to wages growth, wages and incomes increased at well above inflation rates despite the increase in unemployment in the year to May 2013, with wages rising by 4.8%. The manufacturing sector recorded the highest wage growth with total incomes up 9.1%. The highest earning industry by far remains the mining sector where the average income per annum is $126,000, up 7.1% from the previous year. The report concludes that with business confidence trending up and the economy continuing to grow, the wages outlook is strong with the annual rate at about trend levels of 4.2% in the year to November 2014.

IPROS HAPPY AND COMMITTED The annual IPro Index has found the vast majority of independent contractors (IPros) understand what their clients want and work hard to achieve it. Of those surveyed, 94% agreed or strongly agreed that they had their client's best interests at heart while 93% agreed or strongly agreed they consistently met specific project goals. These trends have remained steady during the last five years of the survey, despite conditions such as the GFC and turbulence in the job market. The survey found that IPros are confident in their own qualifications

and capabilities, adhere to agreed work schedules, deliver prompt service and understand their client's definition of quality. They also see themselves as valuable members of the team and strive to exceed client expectations. "The research clearly shows that IPros are immersed and happy in their work," said Entity Solutions Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Franceschini. "Again we have found that this group is dedicated and very valuable to organisations looking for quality, professional staff resources."

SPECIAL PULL OUT SECTION For full coverage of the REA's don't miss next month's special pull out section.

recruitment extra 2013 November 13

News

MERCER: SALARY INCREASES SLIP According to the latest Mercer Total Remuneration Survey, salary movements have slipped significantly and are sitting at the same levels recorded during the global financial crisis at 3.1%, compared to an average fixed pay movement of 4.1% across the last 10 years. “We are seeing a considerably more conservative approach to remuneration than we have in most of the last decade,” said Leader of Mercer’s Talent Business in the Pacific Market, Garry Adams. “Smaller pay increases mean employers have to get more out of their workforce for less. There is more pressure than ever for employers to be more innovative with employee rewards and benefits in order to increase productivity in an already relatively high cost environment. “We know companies who have effective benefits, have better employee morale, significantly lower turnover and offered lower overall salary increases. In a tight budgetary environment we shouldn’t overlook that effective benefits

can have a positive impact on the bottom line,” he said. Evidence of a two-speed economy remains, however the speeds are changing. Mercer’s survey shows variations across Australia with organisations in WA and Queensland showing lower salary increases, while organisations in New South Wales are more likely to give executives a higher premium. Higher premiums are being paid in technology, retail, pharmaceutical and education, while the construction and engineering sectors are passing on lower increases to executives and experiencing decline for the first time since 2009. “We are finding smaller organisations have recorded lower turnover, higher salary increases and can be more fluid during times of change. However, larger organisations have a higher rate of pay and broader reward offering but they may be faced with greater administrative burdens in implementing change,” said Adams.

RECRUITMENT ACTIVITY REMAINS RESILIENT IN AUSTRALIA Employers in Australia continue to hold a steady view of the domestic economy and this is translating into longer term hiring intentions, according to the findings of Michael Page’s H2 2013 Australia Employment Index. Half of the surveyed employers will keep staff numbers in their business stable over the second half of the year and the majority do not plan to increase hiring activity for another 12 months or more, with 46% expecting to hire in 12-18 months and 40% in 18 months or longer. “While Australia has been reasonably shielded from the impact of the US and Eurozone economies and there is a sense of hopefulness in the domestic market, employers in Australia are taking a somewhat vigilant approach to hiring,” said Phillip Guest, Regional Managing Director for PageGroup Australia, New

14 November 2013 recruitment extra

Zealand and Japan. “The domestic employment market has been in a bit of a holding pattern over the past year or so and employers are becoming increasingly conservative in their hiring intentions.” Of the 19% of respondents indicating an increase in headcount in the second half of 2013, 45% anticipate an increase at the smallest range of up to 5% and a further 31% are likely to increase between 5% and 10%. Aligned with this reserved hiring activity, the overwhelming majority of survey respondents (76%) do not expect the Australian economy to grow during the second half of the year. “As we move through the remainder of the second half of the year...we may see a positive shift in employer outlook going into the new year which could translate into renewed hiring activity,” added Guest.

Page Personnel launch competition Page Personnel has launched the Page Personnel 2013 Executive Assistant of the Year Award to find and recognise the best Executive Assistant or Personnel Assistant in Australia. Now in its third year, the winner of the 2013 competition will win a five night holiday to Barcelona, the Maldives, Dubai or Las Vegas. The winner will also receive a one-on-one career development session with Page Personnel and sixteen long-stemmed roses, courtesy of The Roses Only Group, the official sponsor of the Page Personnel 2013 EA of the Year Award. “As specialist recruitment consultants with expertise in placing support roles in the areas of Accounting, Customer Service and Office Support, we understand the multiple skills required by employers when hiring an EA or PA and the many demands of these roles,” said Sarah Riley, Director of Page Personnel in Australia. “We know that an EA or PA who is exceptional at their job is a valuable asset for any busy senior executive and this award was created to give those professionals an opportunity to be acknowledged for their hard work and efforts. All eligible EAs and PAs are encouraged to enter.”

Online Recruitment

News

Year-on-Year market share for Business and Finance Employment and Training, in All Categories Based on market share of visits to the industry. Monthly rankings for the month of September 2013 This category features online job databases, employment classified websites, employment agencies and human resource management services. It also includes any websites related to job seeking, vocational training and career development. Rank

Website

Domain

Visits

Seek Australia

www.seek.com.au

27.46%

www.linkedin.com

19.20%

indeed Australia

au.indeed.com

3.98%

CareerOne

www.careerone.com.au

3.60%

jobrapido Australia

au.jobrapido.com

3.45%

MyCareer

www.mycareer.com.au

3.06%

Job Seeker

www.jobseeker.com.au

2.54%

SimplyHired Australia

www.simplyhired.com.au

2.31%

Australian JobSearch

www.jobsearch.gov.au

1.99%

Woolworths - Careers

www.wowcareers.com.au

1.40%

SpotJobs

www.spotjobs.com

0.84%

Star Now Australia

www.starnow.com.au

0.71%

Fair Work Online

www.fairwork.gov.au

0.62%

Jobs.com.au

www.jobs.com.au

0.58%

Coles Careers

www.colescareers.com.au

0.55%

Wiley Job Network

www.wileyjobnetwork.com

0.55%

Service Seeking

www.serviceseeking.com.au

0.51%

About.com - Job Searching

jobsearch.about.com

0.50%

indeed

www.indeed.com

0.50%

Hays Personnel Services

www.hays.com.au

0.49%

Date

Market Share

Date

Market Share

Sep-12

0.78%

Apr-13

0.96%

Oct-12

0.84%

May-13

0.99%

Nov-12

0.84%

Jun-13

0.93%

Dec-12

0.69%

Jul-13

0.99%

Jan-13

0.94%

Aug-13

0.96%

Feb-13

0.99%

Sep-13

0.93%

Mar-13

0.95%

recruitment extra 2013 November 15

The Panel

Pete Watson

A If during the recruiting process you become aware of a potential problem in your client’s company that could impact your candidate’s job satisfaction how would you handle the situation? Do you discuss the issue with the candidate, client, both, neither?

16 November 2013 recruitment extra

Director Mint Recruitment Always! Not to sound too deep here, but nothing in life is perfect! And the same definitely applies to the recruitment industry, from both a client and a candidate perspective. Now, not through lack of trying, over the past fifteen years I don’t think I’ve yet represented “the perfect candidate” to “the perfect client” (or vice versa). That said, particularly in our industry (which, let’s be honest, isn’t exactly lacking in confidence), there are plenty among us who deem themselves to be “a perfect 10” candidate or client, but I honestly believe that if we all take a good long look at ourselves, very few of us would still maintain that perfect score. I remember a conversation I heard a few years ago, when I heard somebody talking to a close friend about “the 80% rule”. She was talking about the never ending quest to find “the perfect life partner”, and that she believed very few of us ever found that 100% perfect life partner, and if we all stopped striving for perfection and accepted our husbands and wives using “the 80% rule”, we’d all be a lot happier! And it made a lot of sense to me! (The fact that it was MY partner talking to her best friend is a different story for a different time!) Anyway, back to recruitment: So, how does all of this affect how we present a candidate to a client? Or a client to a candidate? There are two elements to my answer: Firstly, even though salespeople are notoriously the easiest people to sell to, they’re also not stupid. If you get on the phone and sell in a candidate to a client and tell them they are fantastic at this and wonderful at that, and amazing at the other, they’ll be waiting for the catch. There must be a catch. There is always a catch! And if you don’t hand deliver “the catch” yourself (in the original pitch), they’ll only be looking for it even harder in the actual interview process. And you can guarantee they will find it themselves, when it might become an issue further down the track. So, my point here is: Yes, deliver the good news, absolutely! Sing it from the rooftops. But do the right and brave thing as well, and hit them with the negatives too. That way, at least there’ll be no nasty surprises at the end of the interview process, or worse still, within the probationary period! Secondly, now that we’ve highlighted that your client or candidate is likely to identify the other’s weaknesses anyway, surely it makes sense for you from a service perspective to be the person to highlight these weaknesses. Your client (or candidate) will appreciate your candour, and value the honest and thorough service you are providing. It will create a much stronger relationship based on TRUST and not just sales “blah blah blah”. So, in summary, highlight the positives, and also the negatives! It will serve you well in end. Oh, and if anybody is interested, after overhearing the “80%

The Panel

rule” conversation from my own “life partner”, I challenged her on a couple of things, which resulted in me being presented with a few “life-based KPIs”. You’ll be pleased to know I’m now running at an average of 81.5%. So everybody’s happy! Pete started Mint Recruitment in London 10 years ago, and brought the Mint brand to Australia five years ago. As Managing Director, Pete takes overall responsibility for Mint’s three offices across the UK and Australia, and spends his time floating between Sydney, Melbourne and London meeting seasoned recruiters looking for their next move.

Vibeke Thomsen Founder and Manager Galaxy Recruitment I always aim for a near zero fall over rate and 100% satisfaction from clients and candidates through honesty and transparency. I expect that from others, and what I deliver myself. To answer the question, it is important to: Firstly, consider our candidate service. When candidates choose to go through a recruitment firm it is because we have the inside information they need to assess whether the employer, the culture, the team, etc is the right match for them. They rely on us, they trust us with their careers - it really is a big responsibility! Secondly, remember that we recruiters are only as good as our last job. Ignoring issues for the sake of pushing a placement over the line is stupid and short-sighted, likely to result in a fall off. Losing credibility with our employer, our client and candidate will jeopardize our reputation when the lousy quality of work spreads to the market. So, yes, I would definitely discuss important issues with both candidate and client, when possible, and carefully choose a strategy to suit the situation. Here are three separate situations I have encountered with different clients. Situation 1: Our candidate was near offer stage with our client, and ready to accept mainly due to the wonderful manager he would be working for. Next the hiring manager told me in confidence of her plans to resign within the next few months. Adhering to confidentiality I opted to steer my talks with the candidate towards the importance of making a decision based on the company as a whole, not just one person. Simultaneously, I appealed to the conscience of the hiring manager who fortunately decided to speak up about her intentions to leave, before an offer was made to our candidate. Situation 2: This situation involved a high billing, yet aggressive/competitive staff whom my candidate would be working closely with. I discussed my concerns with our client and together we developed some strategies to avoid potential

conflicts. I then outlined (very diplomatically) the personality of the other staff to my candidate and suggested that the client organised for a coffee meeting between the existing staff and my candidate, giving them a chance to get to know each other. Whilst our after service is always extensive, we were extra diligent with this placed candidate, ensuring we addressed any little sign of concern. All ended well, by the way! Situation 3: Halfway through the recruitment process (with another candidate and client) we got word that our client was in financial difficulties. We investigated, acquired facts and requested a meeting with our clients. We were assured payment on our invoice and told not to worry. Whilst this was a concern, we were more concerned about the future career of our candidate who was the breadwinner of a young family. We provided our candidate with the (publicly available) facts and made it clear that it was his (informed) decision to make; reiterating that we would support him either way. He pulled out. Unexpected issues arising during the process is inevitable. Confronting and solving them appropriately is what differentiates a good consultative recruiter from a transactional recruiter. As recruiters we need to provide our candidates and clients with unfiltered and honest information so they can make informed decisions. The decisions lie with them, however, for legal, ethical and/or financial reasons, the recruiter occasionally has to be prepared to pull the plug. We are all in business to make money, but my philosophy is that if we focus on putting quality into our work, the money will automatically follow. Vibeke is the founder and manager of Galaxy Recruitment; a Brisbane based rec2rec firm which has been operating for over eight years. She has clocked up nearly 20 years of experience in the recruitment industry, 12 of those as a Rec2Rec specialist. Born and educated in Denmark, she “fell” in to recruitment in Tokyo (as you do!) where she lived for five years. Her career continued in the UK and NZ where she worked for Kelly Services and Morgan & Banks. In 1998, she set up the first rec2rec firm in Wellington and sold it four years later when she moved to Australia.

Matt Sampson Owner and Managing Director Aspect Personnel Both. Absolutely both! Failing to give a candidate an accurate overview of a job opportunity is poor recruitment. Concealing information about a job opportunity is dishonest recruitment. Within the realms of privacy laws, we should be representing both our candidates, clients and job opportunities as accurately as possible, based on the knowledge we have. Our industry is marred with a preconception that recruitment

recruitment extra 2013 November 17

The Panel

consultants are primarily driven by financial self-interest, even at the expense of service delivery. I, like many of my peers, am getting sick of being stereotyped at dinner parties. I want to be seen as a professional consultant, rather than a self-transaction-focussed salesman. The best way I see to making that differentiation clear, is to tackle potentially problematic situations (like the one above) like a consultant, not a salesman. If I was to become aware of information that may impact on the parameters of a role, the first thing I would do is seek clarification from my client. The conversation with my client may be an awkward one depending on the nature of “the problem” and therefore I would be sure to frame the reason for the enquiry. Clients engage me to market their business, and the opportunity available, to suitably qualified and motivated candidates. The better my understanding of my client (including any potential “problems”), the more accurately I can market their business to candidates, the more appropriate the shortlist of candidates and the higher likelihood of a successful placement. I would clarify our mutual goal, before asking them to elaborate on the potential problem. If I deemed the problem significant and my client was not willing to provide me with enough information on it, or there were privacy implications of sharing the information, I would reconsider working on the role. Assuming my client was forthcoming with information, my next conversation would be with the candidate. I would immediately advise them of, in an appropriate amount of detail and with respect for privacy laws, the new information. I find it best to provide difficult information in the most factual way possible. The more drawn out the conversation, the more leading and slanted I sound. Best to just tell it how it is. After asking them for their thoughts, I would welcome providing mine – after all, they have engaged me to provide recruitment

18 November 2013 recruitment extra

expertise. If I genuinely thought the opportunity was still worth the candidate pursuing, I would tell them so and why – I will influence them to continue the process. If my attempt at influencing them fails, I am either wrong about the opportunity still being appropriate, a poor recruiter, or both. So what influenced my decision? For me, the penny has well and truly dropped in the recruitment industry. No longer can my business rely on the size of our candidate databases, ad presence, or my consultants’ ability to send a resume to a client really, really quickly. Our clients and candidates have more choice than ever. Competition amongst agencies is high. Access to jobs and candidates via direct means is rife. The recruitment landscape is changing. More and more I am seeing companies engage with recruitment consultancies based on their brand. I see a brand is the perception of a business based on their actions, actions taken when presented with a dilemma such as the above Candid consultation, even when it’s awkward, is key to my personal brand and my business’s corporate brand. I pride myself on being honest and candid in all my business dealings and I demand the same from my consultants in their dealings with candidates and clients. It is a behavioural expectation of our ethos and makes potentially tough decisions (like the one above) seem more straightforward. Matt graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Commerce. He has been working in the Australian recruitment industry since 2005 and is the Owner and Managing Director of Aspect Personnel. Aspect has repeatedly been recognised by BRW, SmartCompany and StartUpSmart as one of the fastest growing businesses in Australia, and by recruitment extra for its employee attraction and retention strategies. Sampson himself has been named by SmartCompany as one of Australia’s top 30 entrepreneurs under the age of 30.

GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?

Join the Panel in 2014 and tell the industry your views. Contact editor@recruitmentextra.com.au Some of the conversations we had in 2013:

“If you had 10 minutes with the minister for employment and work relations what questions would you ask?”

“Much like the argument itself, the debate around the demise of the job board seems never to die. Where do you see the future of the job board heading and how will it fit in with new and emerging recruitment technologies?” “What do you think will be the top three challenges for the industry next year?” “Where is your business most likely to invest in 2013 given the market forecast remains cautious?” “What issues do you believe prevent companies from seeing mature age workers as an attractive hiring proposition?”

“If during the recruiting process you become aware of a potential problem in your client’s company that could impact your candidate’s job satisfaction how would you handle the situation? Do you discuss the issue with the candidate, client, both, neither?” recruitment extra 2013 November 19

Feature LAW FEATURE

The importance of effective candidate relationships By Bryce Dunn, Senior Vice President, PageUp People

ver since the introduction of social media platforms, the ways in which organisations recruit potential candidates have changed. Perennial skills shortages and global economic challenges have also resulted in increased competition amongst businesses to attract and retain the best possible candidates. In this environment, the role of the recruiter is more important than ever. As a result of these changes, one of the most important things recruiters can do is to maintain close relationships with potential candidates. Yet this, too, is becoming more difficult. The vast majority of currently-employed, highlyskilled professionals are not proactively participating in job searches. Yet many of those same professionals would move to a new role in the right circumstances, so it is worthwhile for recruiters to stay in touch with them. Recruiters need to find new ways to engage with potential candidates and keep them engaged in case the right job opening arises. Even the best and most experienced professional recruiter would struggle to maintain relationships with enough potential candidates manually. This is where candidate relationship management (CRM) systems can help. CRM systems are specificallydesigned to help businesses and recruiters to engage with a pool of potential candidates, whether they are proactively seeking employment or not. It helps to nurture potential candidates’ relationships, identifying those with the right skills and highest level of engagement with the employer’s culture and brand, cultivating a talent pipeline. CRM technology can also reduce the cost of sourcing candidates while increasing talent retention and morale since it can help employees achieve career progression and development. A CRM system lets recruiters set up and

20 November 2013 recruitment extra

manage a talent pool, set up campaigns and track engagement as well as research the market. Talent-pooling helps recruiters to identify and target the best possible candidates for specific types of jobs. The first step is to identify the key roles that need to be filled and to determine which roles tend to take longer to fill, which ones have a higher rate of attrition (and why), and which ones have the biggest impact on the business’s bottom line. With this information in hand it is possible for businesses and recruiters to define the profile of the ideal candidate. Using the CRM system to track information and contacts, recruiters can then design and execute targeted candidate campaigns. The software acts as more than just a candidate database, letting recruiters match potential candidates to particular roles by categorising them according to markers such as experience, skills, availability and more. It also lets recruiters search for new potential candidates from other sources such as LinkedIn. The system tracks information in the form of notes from previous interviews, recruiter recommendations, CVs sent, shortlists, rejections, offers and so on. By building a comprehensive history including the candidate’s level of engagement and any previous interactions, it becomes easier to see which candidates are suitable for which roles. Taking this use of technology a step further, recruiters can also use CRM systems to produce meaningful talent maps that illustrate where the competition is, which people know each other and so on. It lets recruiters build talent pipelines that address current and future talent requirements. It prompts and automatically creates and distributes candidate communications according to predefined parameters, helping recruiters to maintain candidate relationships more efficiently. Recruiters can then

decide which candidates to contact personally, spending more time on the candidates that are likely to match the job requirements closely and follow through with the process. By making the work of maintaining candidate relationships easier and less time-consuming, CRM software frees up recruiters to add value in other areas such as the interview and recommendation process, as well as identifying the small number of high-potential candidates that the recruiter may want to build a relationship with. Four tips for maintaining effective candidate relationships: - set expectations from the start and do not over-commit - review applications in a reasonable time frame - set up regular communications with candidates, such as newsletters - schedule time to clean up the talent pool to ensure information is up-to-date and accurate, making it more useful. 

Bryce Dunn leads the team responsible for driving the product strategy, roadmap and product vision for PageUp People. Prior to joining PageUp People, Bryce spent the last eight years in a variety of Product Management leadership positions, including his last position as Director of Strategy and Product Line Management at Compuware Corporate, based in Detroit. Bryce has a keen interest in providing the most innovative solutions to customer problems and has three patents pending. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems from the University of New South Wales and is a coauthor of the ‘Global Best Practices in IT Service Management’, a publication by the ITSMF.

Feature LAW FEATURE

Where’s your talent pool? Imogen Tear talks to Vicki Daniel, Co-founder and Director, Change2020 Since you launched in 2005 how have the candidate sourcing strategies of your clients changed? Recruitment strategies have changed a lot since 2005 to follow several global trends such as social media and flexible working. The use of LinkedIn as a recruitment tool has really shot to prominence, and so has seek.com.au. This means there is a lot less reliance on print media to advertise vacant roles and most of it is done online. However, the very senior executive roles are still likely to be found in major advertising campaigns in The Australian Financial Review and The Australian. There is also evidence of an increase in fixed-term employment contracts for senior roles, which has become the employment vehicle of choice instead of permanent employment arrangements. Advertising for job-sharing roles has also increased, as part-time arrangements and flexible hours become popular options for candidates. Candidates are also increasingly seeking flexible work options and are attracted to businesses that offer telecommuting and have mature enough leadership to allow it. We have also noticed that job posting has become a lot more tailored as more people use special interest groups and associations to advertise roles directly to their members such as the AICD, Women on Boards, Engineers Australia to name but a few. Finally, there is a major increase in companies bringing in overseas talent such as engineers, construction project managers or operations managers for major infrastructure projects. What new tools and techniques have you seen being introduced? How successful have these been? The tools and techniques above are being used successfully for middle to senior management and technical roles, but when it comes to the very senior executive roles, these are still filled via personal networks and specialist executive headhunters. The introduction of a referral programs where incumbents are paid a bonus if they refer a friend or family that are successfully employed by the business is becoming popular.

On another note, social media has also really changed the landscape, with candidate profiles often reviewed during the ‘informal’ part of the employment process, which can be a make or break if they are to get the role. Which of the sectors you currently work across are experiencing the greatest difficulties in hiring? Are these difficulties expected to increase or decrease in the coming year? In the banking and finance and the energy/infrastructure sectors, highlyskilled business analysts that can analyse and recommend new or redesigned business processes are hard to find. It is hard to find program and project managers who focus not only on time, cost and quality but also on supporting strategic imperatives and engaging impacted employees and critical stakeholders to deliver sustainable change. Many program and project managers say they do this, but very few actually do, instead falling back on time, cost and quality parameters as their measure for success. Program and project schedulers, particularly those with Primavera experience are also hard to source. These shortages are expected to increase in the coming year with major energy projects due to deliver. While things might ease after that, it is all dependent on the state of the economy – if it ramps up and major infrastructure projects kickoff then some shortages will continue. What tips, ideas or strategies can you offer our readers to find/keep talent? There are different ways to find external talent but what is more important is growing your own talent pool internally. We are seeing very few internal mentoring programs where older experienced talent (the ‘grey-hairs’) are actively coaching and mentoring the young talent coming through the ranks. This could be due to tougher times and leaner structures so leaders have less time to coach and mentor; this isn’t healthy for the company in the medium to long term. When it comes to succession planning, bosses should take time to identify which

roles, rather than people, are critical to the success of the business. Once these roles have been identified, leaders can scan the company to identify who has the potential to fulfil them. As a contingency plan, it is critical to identify a minimum of two people for each role and develop a talent pool rather than just an individual. Leaders should keep in mind that as businesses move rapidly, the type of talent pool needed can change. Therefore it is a good idea to annually review the type of workforce required to take the business forward as this may alter succession plan requirements. As far as keeping talent is concerned, people make decisions to stay with a business every day based on their leader and the culture; if a culture is rich in recognition, appreciation, rewards and flexibility, that will be a differentiator on whether people stay or go. A company can really make the difference with initiatives such as training and development programs, mentoring programs, monetary rewards, social events such as Christmas parties and BBQ breakfasts where the leadership team are the cooks, involvement in community or charity events, where a day off is provided to allow people to ‘give back’, health and fitness programs for all employees, family rewards and flexible working conditions, such as variable hours of work or remote work. Less tangibly, a good way to retain talent is simply to show they are trusted employees and show that their input forms part of ‘where to next’ for the company.  Vicki Daniel is co-founder and director of Change2020, a change management consultancy. It provides expertise on change and communications management, leadership and culture coaching, bid and new business preparation, succession planning, risk management and workshop facilitation. Vicki has worked with companies in the mining, oil & gas and construction, finance and retail sectors across Australia and New Zealand, dealing with local well-established businesses, blue chip companies and multi-nationals alike.

recruitment extra 2013 November 21

Feature

Asylum seekers:

an untapped talent pool By Nareen Young, CEO, Diversity Council Australia

ith the dust now settled on the Federal election and a new Government taking their seats in Canberra, it’s worth thinking about those who were such a focus of the campaign. Asylum seekers. Despite all the rhetoric from both sides of the political fence, asylum seekers continue to arrive in Australia, seeking protection from places where they face incredibly difficult circumstances and enormous dangers. While it remains to be seen whether any Australian Government can have a substantial impact on the numbers of people seeking asylum in our country, it is within the power of both Government and the wider community to have an impact on the treatment of asylum seekers once they are here. More than 14,000 people sought asylum in Australia in 2011-2012 according to the (former) Department of Immigration and Citizenship figures. And last year, the latest DIAC figures show the numbers are increasing – during the first three quarters of 2012-13 (as at March 2013), 17,698 asylum seekers had arrived, for the first time most by boat. But UNHCR figures show this is a mere drop in the ocean (if you will forgive the pun). Only 3% of the world’s asylum seekers seek asylum in Australia, compared to 17% in the US, 13% in Germany, 11% in France, 9% in Sweden, 6% in the UK and 4% in Canada. In Australia, the number of refugees we accept represents between 1-2% of our annual immigration intake. While the new Government now gets to put their plans to stop the boats into action, things will continue to get tougher for asylum seekers and refugees already in Australia. Getting access to employment is an important step for asylum seekers. Work restores professional identity, allows people to contribute to the community, offers financial stability and provides personal dignity. Asylum seekers are not eligible to

22 November 2013 recruitment extra

access government funded job assistance services nor do they receive Centrelink benefits. For some, volunteering is the only option available as those who arrived by boat after August 2012 have had their work rights curtailed. And under the proposed system of Temporary Protection Visas, asylum seekers will be granted work rights. The NSW Asylum Seekers Centre’s Employment Assistance Program connects asylum seekers who wish to share their professional expertise, skills and business sense with local employers. The Centre is keen to engage employers in a conversation about how we can all work together to harness the skills and talents of men and women seeking a productive life in Australia. The service supports job seekers who are living in the community on Bridging Visas with full work rights and those with permission to volunteer. These candidates have intermediate to advanced English language fluency, are highly motivated and possess a very sound work ethic. All are bi or multi lingual and many come from cultures that value enterprise and innovation. Cultural diversity of this kind provides many benefits to employers. Culturally diverse employees enable businesses to better understand and service an increasingly diverse client base; to open up business networks and assist in identifying and entering new local, regional and international markets and assist in developing domestic niche marketing. With 9.9 million Australian consumers either born overseas or having at least one parent born overseas, businesses that want to reach their ‘whole’ market cannot afford to ignore this critical mass of consumers. 2011 research by Dr Graeme Hugo for DIAC found evidence that over the long term, refugees and their children make considerable contribution to Australia. The study found that refugees help meet labour shortages, including in low skill and low paid occupations. They displayed strong entrepreneurial qualities

compared with other migrant groups, with a higher than average proportion engaging in small and medium business enterprises. They benefit the wider community through developing and maintaining economic linkages with their origin countries. When asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants begin a new job, employers continue to have an important role. A recent DIAC publication emphasises that most really want to contribute, are highly motivated to adapt to life and work in Australia and just want to be treated the same as any other employee. But bear in mind that your business might be their first experience of an Australian workplace. New employees may be uncertain or anxious, and might need more support and information to understand your expectations of them, your business and administrative processes and practices. Some of the things employers can do include arranging a mentor, explaining Australian slang and providing ongoing support in resolving practical and cultural issues. It is important to make sure new employees know how the workplace operates – even if it might appear to be obvious – in terms of things like leave, uniforms, record keeping, lines of reporting and supervision, breaks and all safety issues. I would encourage all those who value workplace diversity and overseas experience to contact the Asylum Seekers Centre or a similar organisation in your state or territory to negotiate mentoring, structured volunteering, corporate social responsibility and paid employment opportunities. A list of organisations across Australia can be found on the website of the Refugee Council of Australia at http://www. refugeecouncil.org.au/r/dir-as.php’.  This article is an edited version of a Diversity Council Australia blog written by Nareen Young. For the full article please visit: http://www.dca. org.au/blogs/view/5/Asylum+seekers+%E2%80 %93+an+untapped+talent+pool.

Social Recruiting

A mobile and connected workforce By Richard Spencer, Director, TWO Social

any organisations in Australia, and in fairness around the world, are still coming to terms with social media channels. They worry about how best to approach customers or potential employees, they worry about the ‘bad things’ they might say on social networks and they spend money on test marketing to see if social channels work. To see if social channels work! Ladies and gentlemen, that horse has bolted and Elvis left the building a long time ago. Social channels do work. Now that’s out of the way, why don’t we see what they might do for your organisation? For some reason, reaching out to candidates and having conversations with them on a long term basis seems to be a difficult idea for many organisations to embrace if it is through a social network. Make it happen in the physical world and we are extremely comfortable. Make it virtual, and we’re more hesitant. And I am honestly not sure why. Social media and the networks that attract all of the attention are a channel to market like any other. We wouldn’t be this concerned about an advert on Seek, nor would we have any concern about having a conversation with a candidate at a careers’ fair. Why then do we have such consternation when it comes to social networking? When it comes to building, managing and maintaining a talent pool, nothing beats the internet. The whole concept was alien to the vast majority of organisations before digital technology and more specifically the cost effective nature of web based communication made it a reality. Yet still we hesitate when it comes to building long term relationships in the one web based medium designed to do only that and to do it well.

As a nation here in Australia, we spend 24% of all our time online on social media channels. The equivalent of 16 in every 60 minutes we spend online is spent in these channels. This is where we spend our time, this is what we like to do, this is how we like to communicate and so this is where organisations need to be if they want to build talent pools for the future. There are a handful of businesses that can wait for candidates to come to them. We could all name a few and we would probably all name the usual suspects. But most of us don’t work for those organisations and we don’t have them as a client, consequently we need to go out and build our talent pools – we need to fish where the fish are! Whilst mainstream Aussie businesses struggle with social networking on a desktop, us candidates have moved on. For the first time, Facebook recently released the number of us who access their network through a mobile device. Whilst globally, 67% of their daily audience accesses Facebook through a mobile device, here in Australia that number is 82%. Of the 9 million Aussies who access Facebook every day, 7.3 million do so

through their mobile. That is a staggering number and effectively makes your mobile strategy your priority and everything else a distant third. If we’ve been unsure how to target these candidates in the past based on our Gen X desktop experience of the web, then we are in a brave new world when it comes to mobile devices. Email is too slow and websites that are not mobile optimised get the short shrift they deserve. Facebook Tabs, the mainstay of the corporate Page aren’t easily accessible through a mobile and a smaller screen changes the game when it comes to content marketing. 

Richard Spencer is a Director of TWO Social, a specialist Social Media agency. As well as being a regular media commentator, Richard advises organisations on how to maximise their opportunities across Social channels. Prior to founding TWO Social, Richard was Senior Vice President, Global Marketing and Interactive with TMP Worldwide, Global Head of Marketing for Michael Page and has been working in digital communications since 1996.

recruitment extra 2013 November 23

Head to Head

WHAT IF...

it’s not the economy? What if it’s your business model? My head to head partner this month is Bronwyn Murphy, Owner and Principal Coach/Trainer of BJ&M Consulting Services. Rod: The past couple of years have been hard on the local recruitment industry. On average companies are smaller and less profitable. The economy, from a recruitment industry perspective, has impacted across sectors and geographies. But is that the whole story? The recruitment industry has changed dramatically and not all companies are adapting to the changes. Has the patchy economy been a convenient excuse? My Head to Head partner this month is Bronwyn Murphy of BJ&M Consulting. We both spend a lot of time with recruitment agency owners and have seen how the past few years have impacted performance. Bronwyn: There has certainly been a trend towards poorer results, on average, for organisations in the industry, but there are agencies in all sectors that are out-performing – growing their sales and profit consistently. The industry was again well represented in the BRW fast-growing list of 2013. That makes you stop and ask questions about what is happening to the industry and why are some companies performing well. Rod: I think the overall recruitment industry has probably grown recently, but maybe what we consider to be “the industry” has changed shape and doesn’t look like it used to. FOUR MAJOR IMPACTS We have discussed four major impacts on agencies. Bronwyn: The first is the one that gets talked about a lot. It is the combination of

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actions from the corporate purchasers of recruitment services, especially the larger organisations. Simply put, they are not coming to agencies as much as they used to – internal recruitment teams, the use of RPOs and restricted procurement-led panels have all resulted in a vast reduction of job orders being available for agencies. Combined with this is the maturity of purchasing by larger corporates – they tend to work with larger agencies. Smaller agencies, even if they have a strong niche focus, are often cut off from business with larger agencies. Rod: The second is less obvious but equally as important. The cost and complexity of doing business has increased dramatically. It is not just increased compliance, with the Privacy Act being the latest, which has absorbed management time and discretionary funds. The expectations on technology and marketing are enormous since the global recession. I include social media in the technology and marketing mix. It is about having a rich online presence that is driven by content, having systems that are “anywhere anytime”, and being connected to staff, clients and candidates. For most organisations this continues to be an expensive, never ending, and timeabsorbing project. Bronwyn: In this category I would also include increased sales activity. If your business prospered by receiving contingent job orders from larger organisations then that source has probably dried up and you need to invest very heavily in direct sales activity (capably

supported by technology and marketing) to generate the same job order flow. Rod: True. We’ve even had the discussion with smaller organisations that they cannot afford to keep staff that do not have a genuine sales capability – the ability to approach target clients and create a relationship that will lead to job orders is a clear job requirement. The third category of change is the emergence of disruptive technologies and disruptive processes. Locally there is little discussion about this. As an example, Online Staffing, the category of business that includes freelancer.com, oDesk and Elance, is growing rapidly and removing opportunities from the recruitment market. Staffing Industry Analysts research shows a wide range of disparate companies across the world and the sector is predicted to grow rapidly from its current $1 billion+ size. Bronwyn: Locally there are organisations that are offering recruitment services in creative ways, developing models that engage clients and are profitable. One example is RecruitLoop but there are a lot of agencies that are unbundling services or adding complimentary services to create a trusted relationship with the client – when this happens job orders do not come to the market. The fourth category is “services”, where an organisation offers a business solution for the client’s issue, and that business solution includes people. The best examples are probably in IT and financial services,

Head to Head

but every sector has examples. If a recruitment agency is seeking recruitment opportunities from a client that has purchased a service, then the agency is now talking to the wrong organisation – they need to go further down the supply chain to find the organisation that is trying to hire staff. There are some great examples of recruitment agencies that now earn a significant portion of their revenue from services. As a result they have certainty of revenue that their competitors do not.

CHANGE OR PERISH?

STRATEGY, SALES, PROCESS

Bronwyn: The agencies that are prospering at the moment have implemented major changes to the way they conduct business in the past couple of years. It seems if you are still performing your business in the same way you did prior to the financial crisis then you are fishing in an ever decreasing pond. If you can’t prove how you add value to your client (or candidate, or staff) then you are probably struggling. Rod, what have you seen to be the impact in M&A?

Rod: So what is a recruitment agency to do? I believe the recent period has brought into sharp focus the characteristics of strategy, sales, and process implementation that have long been requirements in business but maybe were hidden in the recruitment industry’s extended period of sustained growth. I’ve been interested in comments from the UK’s Andy Headworth who recently attended the RHUB conference in New Zealand. He articulates actions agencies need to undertake to stay relevant to their clients. If larger organisations are trying to recruit 80% or more of their hires directly, the agency needs keep up with new technologies like gaming, database mining and social sourcing to achieve things that their clients have neither the time nor resources to do. I particularly like the emphasis he places on technology. He also believes a database is the single biggest resource for an agency – it is the best place to start but it needs to be properly mined, refreshed and email-marketed.

Rod: We have certainly seen an increase in the number of agencies that are facing sustainability issues, and whose future is difficult. There are a lot of transactions with smaller agencies that are seeking a clear exit – not all owners have the capital or energy to reinvent their business. We also suspect there are a lot of very small agencies that are just closing the door. Valuations have not really changed but buyers do have a better understanding of risk. This sounds negative, but the industry has standout performers, it is maturing, it is going about its reinvigoration process, and it will be strong in the future. The lessons from the UK and USA, who had far worse economic disruption than we did, are positive. The UK, especially, has bounced back very strongly this year. The industry will evolve, will have higher barriers to entry, and will prosper. Business owners have a choice of how they participate in the future.

Bronwyn Murphy Bronwyn is the Owner and Principal Coach/Trainer of BJ&M Consulting Services. The business provides its clients with tools to improve the skills of recruitment consultants, managers, HR professionals and executives responsible for hiring decisions. A former recruitment consultant and headhunter, Bronwyn has a wealth of experience recruiting across all levels and a sound track record in managing successful relationships. She has considerable experience delivering short courses, workshops along and coaching businesses at a more in-depth level.

Rod Hore, Executive Director, HHMC Australia Rod was born and educated in Western Australia and works with organisations throughout Australia and New Zealand from his base in Sydney. Rod has 20 years, experience in the Information Technology industry undertaking a range of sales management and leadership roles. Since 1999 Rod has been the Executive Director of HHMC Australia Pty Ltd providing advisory and M&A services to global, locally listed and private organisations in Australia and New Zealand. Much of Rod’s work is with emerging private companies, providing advisory services to owners who are seeking to define and achieve their growth ambitions.

recruitment extra 2013 November 25

Privacy

PRIVACY - It’s in the jam, not the icing By Dianne Gibert, founder, Certex International

he Privacy Act was first enacted in Australia almost 25 years ago, in 1988. And, over that time, we’ve familiarised ourselves with the 11 National Privacy Principles and found ourselves cushy, comfortable ways to manage personal information. Recruitment agencies, for example, have recognised that a key feature of the privacy requirements is to inform the candidate that we will hold their personal information and what we’ll do with it. So, we staple together a Privacy Collection Notice and ask the candidate to read the terms and conditions and give their consent. On their part, the candidates are eager to impress us: they scan the document, quickly grab the first working pen and sign the notice. Done. We’ve got their approval. Now we can record, store and use the information as we think fit. Right? Well, not anymore. It used to be that the Privacy Collection Notice/Statement was the principal document – it generally overlayed every issue pertaining to privacy. So, over the past 20-something years, we began to rely on it as our go-to-guy for all things privacy related. As long as the Notice was appropriate then what we did with the personal information didn’t matter too much – we stopped monitoring too closely how the information was managed or who had access to it. After all, we had the candidate’s consent. This will all change when the new privacy amendments come in to force in March next year. The new privacy requirements include 13 Australian Privacy Principles. Whilst the main thrust of the legislation is the same, there are some changes. There are two new principles on cross border disclosure and direct marketing. The powers of the Commissioner of the Office of the Australian Information Commission

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The powers of the Commissioner of the Office of the Australian Information Commission to impose fines (up to $1.1 million) and conduct audits have been substantially increased.

to impose fines (up to $1.1 million) and conduct audits have been substantially increased. In addition, there is a major change to the underlying platform for privacy management. APP 1.2 refers to “practices procedures and systems”. This means that the one document which got you by before – the icing – is no longer sufficient. You will need to think about how you really manage privacy in your business, the policies and the procedures, and about how well your staff implement these. We have been working with the recruitment industry for over a decade, and have come across many examples of poorly managed privacy situations. Here are some examples. Example 1 The recruitment industry generally believes that they “own” a candidate. In actuality, their ownership is on tenuous grounds – it is the candidate who is in control of their information, and consents to the recruiter’s temporary access to this information. This consent may be revoked at any time. By not fully comprehending what a candidate’s right of control is, recruiters may find themselves in breach of privacy laws.

Example 2 In some parts of the industry there is a growing use of “web crawlers” which collect online candidate information and drops it into a recruitment database. These programs collect resumes from Google search results, Outlook emails and more, and transfer candidate details into a database. By doing so, it builds a time-efficient, comprehensive record of potential employees that is invaluable to many recruiters. Whilst this sounds like a great labour saving device, it is not all good news. The problem returns to this fundamental tenet that we discussed earlier: the right to access information, even in this technological day and age, is held by the candidate. This means you cannot collect and record information about a person without their permission. Example 3 Sandra is a newly hired junior administrative assistant in a recruitment company for nurses and doctors. She’s finding it a bit hard to settle into her new job and make friends with her work colleagues and performs a range of administrative tasks, such as filing paperwork, photocopying documents and editing articles. Through many exchanges of hands (and responsibility), she finds herself collecting and reading through simple police checks of the nurses hired by the company. Suddenly, she jumps up and cries out “XYZ is a prostitute!!” (Who knows, maybe that made XYZ a better nurse!). All the workers beside her are amazed by the revelation and peer over the document themselves and Sandra is pleased to be recognised. It’s just idle gossip amongst coworkers, isn’t it? In fact it’s a gross breach of employee privacy. Every staff member must be fully informed and trained by the company to understand and respect the privacy of past, present and future co-

Privacy

workers, or vicarious liability can even be extended to the managers of the company for not properly advising a junior of this. You might be saying: “sure, a recruiter can be in breach of laws that are intended to protect the candidate that the recruiter will potentially hire. Seems straightforward enough.” But breaches can permeate through many more levels of a corporation.

To put it another way: it’s easy to smear icing on top of an over-burned cake and hide the crustiness. Similarly, it’s easy to cover up poor recruitment practises by installing a fast, computerised device that glosses over your procedural flaws. But do you really want to risk someone eating the cake and finding out that you deceived them (and that the cake itself is awful)?

Example 4 Let’s consider offshore service providers, for example. It is not uncommon for busy companies to outsource candidate management to offshore companies in India, Malaysia, the Philippines and others. These offshore organisations essentially take care of basic administrative functions such as the creation of newsletter and candidate databases for the companies back here, and store these databases overseas. So what’s the problem here? The problem is that the information being used and disclosed is now outside of Australian control but still within Australian jurisdiction. Simply put, this means that you are liable for any nonconformance of the service provider, regardless of whether you were aware of it. This may be an issue for onshore service providers as well. It’s easy to recognise how such breaches can damage a company’s reputation and, in turn, impact current or future business opportunities. But what is often forgotten is that a breach of privacy is oftentimes a breach of law, and this can have more far reaching consequences.

Example 5 There was once a prickly situation that arose in relation to an applicant who consented to a medical clearance for the recruiter of a company. The director of the medical board, in spite of personally knowing the applicant, did not discharge his responsibility to another doctor but conducted the tests himself. When communicating the results orally with the recruiting company, the director also included allegations that the applicant had ‘abruptly’ left his previous job. The recruitment manager noted this unsolicited information and subsequently fired the applicant who, in turn, sued the company for misuse of his confidential information, and corporate negligence. Though the applicant had insufficient evidence to establish his claim, the judge firmly chastised the medical director and refused to allow the recruiting company to claim for any costs suffered during the court process. The reality of it is that even if you are acquitted of any charges, there are still costs associated with court processes, some that are simply irreplaceable, like time and reputation.

When it comes to privacy, it may seem like you’ve heard it all and you have it all in hand. But it would not be wise to assume that you have privacy all sorted, and that there is nothing you need to do to comply with the amendments. Privacy is a finely nuanced and multifaceted concept because it is a fundamental human right to have and to protect. It’s not the icing you slap on top of the cake and hope for the best, it’s the strawberry jam between all the layers that holds it all together. It is important on every level, and takes many hours of time and preparation to get right. It is forgivable to be a caught a little unawares today, before a breach has even occurred, but stringent penalties await those who are complacent or careless in causing a breach. So sit back and ask yourself just how well you understand all these issues, and seek help if you’re unsure. Don’t get caught out with a burned cake. Dianne Gibert is the founder of Certex International Pty Ltd (previously Fathom Business Architects). Certex is an accredited certification body providing certification services in the RCSA SDS and other recruitment industry standards, as well as the well known 9001 Quality Management, 4801 Occupational Health and Safety and 14001 Environmental Management standards.

recruitment extra 2013 November 27

HR Report

HR REPORT recruitment extra's monthly update on the latest news, reports and opinions on what’s happening in HR nationally, trends from overseas and briefs on the activities of equal opportunity organisations, employers and governments. Reporter: Jane Dillon

Stock your pipeline with CRM

Routine recruitment and job advertisements are time consuming and costly exercises when you could be using candidate relationship management (CRM), according to Page Up People VP Bryce Dunn. Dunn told HRR the time needed to fill a vacancy could be slashed by proactively finding people and creating a relationship with them in advance. He sad CRM systems can help identify who to “nurture relationships with” to stock the talent pipeline. He said organisations should keep unsuccessful applicants on file and contact them to ask them to apply when a relevant vacancy cropped up. “If you identify potential candidates prior to jobs being advertised you can build a relationship with them and assess if they are a good cultural fit over time,” he said. He said CRM systems can help reduce “discovery work” and help employers and employees “find you if they have an affinity with each other”. Dunn said his personal experience showed recruitment via CRM can halve the time needed to find the right person. He said it previously took three to four months to fill a technical position in his team, but using CRM to develop a relationship with previous unsuccessful candidates meant when a vacancy occurred he had a new staff member in place in six weeks. “It couldn’t have been a more different process,” he said. He said CRM systems should be a core part of the recruitment process as the benefits influenced succession planning, skill mapping and employee morale. “You can start to build relationships with candidates you think have the skills necessary for future vacancies,” he said.

Link L&D to business objectives

Research released by the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) found more than 80% of respondents believed organisational learning and development activities were linked to business objectives in some way. However, 16% reported the link was weak or non-existent. AHRI chairman Peter Wilson said it was concerning “the sizeable minority” reported little or no link between organisational learning and business objectives. Nearly half of respondents said learning and development was either solely within the HR function or worked with the HR function. Only 12% had a discrete learning and development

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function. The majority of learning and development was conducted face-to-face, internally and informally. However, 10% of respondents reported having access to funding for formal education through their employer. Learning and development activities were largely identified by the employee through performance management or compliance requirements. Less than 7% were identified via skill gap analysis. Roughly half of respondents said they thought the learning and development activities used by their employer were “somewhat effective”. However, new staff induction and leadership training both rated highly as most effective for return on investment. Team building activities were given a thumbs down, with nearly 20% of respondents reporting them as least effective for return on investment.

Help skilled migrants transition

Volunteer programs and migrant outreach centres would help increase the employability skills of skilled migrants and their spouses, a National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) study has said. The study said TAFE programs could help assist social inclusion for skilled migrant families. NCVER’s GM of research Sue Fergusson said often times the skilled migrants’ spouses were also “well-qualified, highly skilled professionals with much to offer” and the programs given to humanitarian migrants should be extended to skilled migrants to help their settlement experience. Fergusson said settlement difficulties were compounded in regional areas with limited labour markets and few strategies in place to support transition for skilled migrants. “[TAFE] institutions can assist the spouses of skilled migrants by explaining and offering recognition of prior learning and advice on how educational opportunities relate to jobs in the Australian context.” Study author and Monash university professor Sue Webb said organisations wanting to benefit from the drive and resourcefulness of skilled migrants could put in place community programs to enhance employability skills. “In the TAFE sector, a strategy of encouraging skilled migrants to participate in organised volunteer programs developed for humanitarian migrants facilitated the transition of some skilled migrants into a new field of professional employment in human services and development,” she said.

HR Report

Labour market still depressed

Despite the change in federal government, the Australian labour market will “not emerge from the doldrums until March 2014”, according to the October 2013 Clarius Skills Indicator. The Indicator reports weak labour demand has pushed the unemployment rate above its average and it is expected to keep rising until the March quarter 2014 when it will reach around 6%. Business confidence has improved recently, due to lower interest rates and depreciation in the Australian dollar. The indicator predicts this will boost consumer spending and investment towards the end of 2013. However, the flow-on effects to the labour market won’t happen until businesses can be confident of improved economic conditions. “Australian business is likely to voluntarily remain on a ‘staffing diet’ in the short term, despite the momentum. Most have learnt to be lean and productive with fewer people doing more so some roles that existed four or five years ago may not come back,” it said. The low skill end of the labour market, currently in surplus of 134,000 jobs, will “worsen before it gets better”, it predicted. However, the “skilled” end of the market has a much smaller surplus, and some sectors are still crying out for skilled talent. Advertising and marketing managers are still in shortage. However, clerical and administrative workers may find it harder to switch roles due a relatively large oversupply. Clarius Recruitment Group CEO Kym Quick said the “more buoyant business sentiment” following the change in government was speculated to put projects previously shelved back on track. But she said “this forward momentum won’t translate to real labour demand until the middle of 2014 due to the lag between project intention, planning and reality”. “Not just the business sector but the community at large will be watching closely for the higher infrastructure spending proposed by the ‘infrastructure Prime Minister’ Tony Abbott, led by road construction,” she said.

HR and OD hires on the rise

Organisational restructures brought on by the GFC have created increased demand for HR professionals and organisational change consultants, according to research by recruitment consultant Robert Walters. The October 2013 HR market update said hiring was expected to increase in Melbourne and Sydney and remain stable in Brisbane as employers look to lift their previous ‘wait and see’ approach and capitalise on new budgets. However, salaries across all three locations were predicted to remain unchanged. In Melbourne, the change of Federal Government has seen a “green light on financial services, telecommunications and energy projects” in the fourth quarter which will lead to increased recruiting, the update said. Project professionals, such as change

managers, instructional designers, eLearning developers and training managers, will be in high demand for the new projects. HR and OHS professionals are tipped to do well in Brisbane due to “ongoing [resources] works in regional Queensland”. “Human resources and health and safety professionals who can demonstrate their ability to implement strategic objectives will have a competitive edge,” it said. Degree-qualified HR and OHS professionals will do well in Sydney and professionals within the learning and development space are predicted to be in high demand. Manager of HR recruitment at Robert Walters Steven Burrows said HR generalists would also be in demand across the board, due to the “more positive business sentiment” post the election. Employers have $55bn reasons to care Australian employees are among the most engaged in the world, Gallup research released on press day has unveiled. For every actively disengaged employee, 1.5 employees are motivated and productive, the study six months in the making has revealed. However, the results are still far from good. Gallup estimated the annual cost of disengagement was AU$54.8bn. State of the Global Workplace: Employee Engagement Insights for Business Leaders Worldwide includes regional analyses of employee engagement data, country specific insights, a look at the impact of engagement on organisational and individual performance, and information about how companies can accelerate employee engagement. Gallup CEO Jim Clifton said the report exposed “too many companies focus[ed] on fixing weaknesses, and this only breeds non-engagement or, worse, active disengagement”. He said “great managers” understood they needed to build on employee strengths, not correct employee weaknesses. Globally the study revealed only 13% of employees were engaged, equating to trillions of dollars in lost productivity. Gallup recommended a number of tips to further build engagement, including: Aligning leadership direction – the leadership team needs to “minimise infighting and political game playing” and introduce a strengths based development approach to leadership; Creating alignment between employees’ roles and the organisation’s overall mission – help individual employees feel their contributions connect to the wider company mission and organisational goals; and Monitoring employees’ psychological safety - stress and depression play an active role in disengagement and reduced presenteeism. Fostering a culture of open communication and caring may help employees mental health. The report said now, more than ever, “companies around the world will need to improve their ability to ensure that workers are in the right roles and are emotionally invested in their jobs”.

HR Report is an independent fortnightly new service published by Thomson Reuters. The service is available in paper and email format. For further details visit: www.thomsonreuters.com.au/hr-report-email.

recruitment extra 2013 November 29

Performance Management

Harnessing potential and tapping into the talent and energy of your team By Karen Gately, Founder of HR consultancy practice Ryan Gately

hat the past 20 years in business have taught me is that both talent and energy matter when it comes to driving results. Great results are possible only when talented people invest energy and behave in ways that enable success. Only when capable people are motivated to bring the full strength of their potential to their role are extraordinary outcomes truly possible. A manager’s ability to grow potential and influence enabling behaviours determines the level of performance ultimately achieved. Human potential is encapsulated in the both the capabilities (knowledge, skills and experience) people bring as well as the strength of their spirit. The energy a team has in reserve and can unleash in pursuit of their objectives is a critical enabler of success. The energy people draw from their spirit fuels the vitality, enthusiasm and drive needed to optimise results. Connecting potential with performance The bridge between human potential and its effective application are the choices people make about how they behave. We all choose how we behave and the strength of our spirit has a profound impact on these choices. When we are energised and have deep reserves of positive energy to draw on we are entirely more likely to think, feel and behave in ways that enable success. Conversely however when people are drained of positive energy we are more likely to allow our thoughts, feelings and behaviours to undermine our ability to reach our full potential. Deliberately building talent, nurturing a team’s spirit, and influencing behaviour are critical priorities for every people manager. Those who are successful not only approach their role in ways that inspire enabling behaviour; they effectively leverage the tools available to them.

30 November 2013 recruitment extra

Included in every people manager’s toolkit is the essential HR systems, processes, policies, programs and resources that underpin an effective approach to human resource management. There is no magic wand however there are tools and approaches that have the potential to enable success in hiring great people, leveraging their talent and keeping them engaged with a business for the long term. Ultimately these tools are valuable only to the extent to which they are effectively applied. Focused and disciplined application is a key driver of a people leader’s effectiveness. Contemplate for a moment how well you plan and implement hiring and performance management processes for example. Do you fully leverage these tools to optimise success? How well does your approach to reward and recognition inspire successful behaviour? Road to success Success begins with the first step in the employment relationship. Recruitment is the foundation upon which an effective HR strategy is delivered. Consider the challenges created when you get hiring decisions wrong. The time, energy and resources lost managing poor performance and behavior is substantial. Set high standards and ensure every person you bring into your team has both the talent and strength of spirit needed to succeed. Remember that harnessing potential is as much about each individual as it is about the group as a whole. Never hire people who are likely to drain energy, look for those whose positivity will energise the people they work with, including you. 10 essential steps to harnessing the talent and energy of your team to drive results include: 1. Regularly stop and reflect on the depth of talent and energy on your team.

2. Earn the trust and respect of your team; without it your ability to influence their development or behaviour is dramatically undermined. 3. Know the capabilities you need on your team and those you need to hire or develop. 4. Develop and implement plans to grow the capabilities of your team in line with your vision and strategy. 5. Be disciplined and implement development plans; expect shared accountability from your staff. 6. Understand how energised the people on your team are; ensure they have the energy to tap into if things get tough. 7. Ensure your leadership style and approach energises the people on your team. Overcome the things you do or don’t do that drain energy from people. 8. Understand and appreciate the impacts of working relationships between people. Influence the strength of your staff’s relationships with you, their colleagues, customers and anyone else they regularly interact with. 9. Set clear expectations about how you want people to behave. Lead by example. 10. Apply consequences for the way people on your team behave. Reward and recognise behaviours that enable team success and address conduct that is not aligned with your business values. 

Karen Gately is a leadership and people-management specialist and a founder of Ryan Gately, a specialist HR consultancy practice. She is also the author of The People Manager’s Toolkit: A Practical guide to getting the best from people and The Corporate Dojo: Driving extraordinary results through spirited people.

Legal Eye

Tips for new managers and new starters By Magda Marciniak, Senior Associate and Laura Douglas, Lawyer, Justitia

s employment lawyers, we often don’t hear about a matter from our clients until something goes wrong. It may be that the new recruit doesn’t have the skills to fit their job description, an unsuccessful candidate has made a discrimination complaint, or the awkward consequences of a poorly drafted employment contract are coming to light. With each of these issues and others, what is often apparent to us is that a series of common errors have led to the problem. For new managers and other new starters, there is no better way to hone your skills than to learn from the mistakes of others. This list of tips is for you. Know your industrial instruments and who they cover Does a modern award or Enterprise Agreement (EA) apply to your employees? It seems a simple question, but while most junior HR practitioners will be able to answer it, many are not well-versed on the details of these instruments. It is important that you understand who is covered by these instruments and at what level of seniority the relevant modern award or EA ceases to apply. Time spent making records is never wasted Whether you are advising on a recruitment strategy or discussing job selection criteria with a prospective candidate, make sure you make a record of it and file it accordingly. Your notes need to be easy to read and understand, in plain English and free of shorthand or any unnecessary embellishments (eg “he was a good looker” or “fat one”). Always check that the record includes the date and the names of the

meeting should be followed up in writing with a letter. Don’t assume that your verbal message has been interpreted in the way you intended. It is generally best practice to follow up such meetings with a written summary of what was said and agreed on. References are there for checking It seems like a mistake that is too obvious to make but unfortunately it happens frequently: a manager fails to properly check a prospective employee’s references and months down the track problems emerge that could have been easily avoided. Ensure that references are checked before your organisation makes contact with a prospective employee. Making a verbal offer and then conducting reference checks is not best practice. Contract first, then employment Once an offer of employment has been made, a contract of employment should ideally be provided to the prospective employee prior to their first day on the job. It should be a condition of employment that the contract is signed and returned before the start date. This gives the prospective employee the opportunity to accept the terms of employment in writing before their employment effectively begins.

parties present and the name of the author.

Educate your recruiters about discrimination Make sure that all your recruiters understand the organisation’s statutory obligations. Do they understand that equal opportunity laws apply to job applicants? It is your responsibility to ensure that they do and that issues of unconscious bias are addressed. Consider producing a checklist or a set of guidelines to follow when assessing job applicants.

Follow up meetings in writing If you have conducted a disciplinary meeting or any other meeting with an employee that affects their employment, in most cases the

Notice of termination must be given in writing There is a clear and strict provision in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) that requires

notice of termination to be given in writing to permanent employees. The notice period will only start from the day the written notice is provided to the employee. This means that if an employee has been advised verbally that their employment has been terminated, the line manager or HR ideally needs to follow it up the same day with a written notice of termination. Probationary periods are not the final word A common misconception is that when an employee’s employment is terminated while in a probationary period of employment, they cannot bring an unfair dismissal claim or any other legal claim. This is not always the case: it depends on the length of the probationary period and whether the employee can show any discriminatory reasons. Regardless of whether or not a probationary period applies, employees in most organisations will be protected against unfair dismissal after six months of employment. The exception is small businesses (with fewer than 15 employees), where employees are able to access unfair dismissal after 12 months. And employees are protected from dismissal for discriminatory reasons during any stage of their employment, as set out in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).

Magda and Laura are employment lawyers at Justitia, an employment, discrimination and labour relations law firm based in Melbourne. They regularly advise recruiters on their policies and processes and assist clients with the defence of employee claims relating to discrimination, bullying and unfair dismissal.

recruitment extra 2013 November 31

Tax Focus

“Do you operate out of a unit trust but wish you operated out of a company?” By Paul Masters, Tax Partner, Deloitte

any successful recruitment businesses start small. In later years, they can often find themselves operating out of a business structure that is not appropriate for the business going forward. The structure may have been set up with advice from a family friend or a suburban accountant. An example of an inappropriate structure is a unit trust. Operating a business out of a unit trust can make it difficult to maintain working capital as there is a lack of freedom with regard to profit retention and distribution. In addition, you may be required to explain the unusual structure to clients, banks and suppliers who may not be as comfortable as they would be had you been operating out of a company. If your recruitment business is currently operating out of a unit trust there may be ways to transfer the business to a company without incurring capital gains tax or stamp duty. The basic characteristics of a unit trust and a company are outlined below: Characteristics of a Unit Trust • At the end of each income year, any profits of the unit trust are generally distributed to the unit holders. Any profits that remain in the trust will be taxed at the highest marginal income tax rate of 46.5%. • Generally, working capital is effectively “on loan” from the beneficiaries. • The net assets on the balance sheet of the unit trust will generally be the amount paid for the units usually this is a nominal amount. • A unit trust does not have directors. It is governed by a trustee. • There is generally no tax benefit compared with a company. Characteristics of a Company • Income can be accumulated in the company and be used as working capital in the operations of the business. • The net assets on the balance sheet will be the paid up capital (generally nominal) plus retained earnings.

32 November 2013 recruitment extra

• The company can be flexible with the distribution of profits to its shareholders. They can pay franked dividends (provided there are sufficient franking credits) resulting in refundable tax credits being passed on to shareholders. • Profits generated by the company are liable to income tax of 30% which is 16.5% less than the highest rate for individuals. One of the most frustrating aspects of a unit trust is the requirement to distribute all profits out of the trust each year to its unit holders. It can be difficult for businesses to distribute these profits as the cash may not be readily available for distribution. Cash is often caught up in assets, particularly debtors. This can lead to large unpaid present entitlements sitting on the balance sheet which are akin to loans from unit holders or ultimate beneficiaries. These are messy, require careful tax planning and generally achieve nothing. Unit trusts may also find themselves distributing to unit holders each year who are already being taxed at the highest marginal tax rate whereas a company can retain these profits and will be taxed at a lower rate of 30%. Obtaining roll-over relief from capital gains tax There may be ways your recruitment business can be transferred to a company without incurring a tax liability. Rollover relief is available where there is an exchange of units in a unit trust for shares in a company. It allows a unit holder of a unit trust to disregard a capital gain or loss from a unit that is disposed of as part of a reorganisation of the affairs of the trust where the unit holder becomes the owner of new shares in a company. By undertaking a roll-over correctly, taxpayers can be exempt from any adverse capital gains tax consequences, particularly capital gains tax relating to the transfer of goodwill in the business. Relief from stamp duty The above roll-over provides relief from capital gains tax only. In most states, a stamp duty liability will arise on the transfer

of business assets, including goodwill, land and plant and equipment from one entity to another entity. However, in the majority of these states, reconstruction can be applied for where business assets are transferred between members of a corporate group. A corporate group broadly includes a head entity and a wholly owned (or at least 90% owned) subsidiary entity. As the corporate reconstruction relief rules are complex and differ between states it is important that you seek tax advice prior to undertaking any business restructure. Generally speaking: • to qualify for relief, some states impose a pre-transfer association rule (ie group members must have been part of the corporate group for a period of 1-3 years) but an exception may be available for a newly incorporated group member. • where relief is obtained, post-transfer requirements may apply (eg group members must remain within the group for at least 1–3 years), subject to some exceptions (such as on a deregistration or a public offer and listing on a stock exchange). • relief is available for companies and unit trusts in most states, however in some states, relief does not apply to trusts. Conclusion If you are currently operating your business out of a unit trust, it may be time to consider rolling your business into company. It is likely such a rollover can be achieved without incurring capital gains tax and stamp duty. However, as business restructuring can be minefield it is important that you seek tax advice. Paul Masters is a tax partner at Deloitte Sydney. He specialises in providing taxation advice to recruitment companies, particularly in the areas of M&A, restructuring and tax planning. He is the tax adviser to four ASX listed recruitment companies and numerous private recruitment companies.

Media Branding

Are your people riding the wave or using the rip? By Jean-Luc Ambrosi, Author

ow your organisation promotes itself through paid media such as advertising can affect all aspects of the organisation and its people. Therefore it pays to understand the high level media strategy and its impact on individuals within and outside the organisation. As a starting point, I like to use an analogy to define two essential approaches to media strategy: the wave approach or the rip approach. The truth is that even if your marketing team is not building its media strategy on the beaches of Bondi or Copacabana they are likely to use one of these two approaches. They not only have an effect on your organisation’s ability to drive new business but also impact your overall brand attractiveness and, you guessed it, your staff perception of the organisation and your ability to attract talent. To illustrate this point, a few years ago a major bank launched a series of TV ads (part of a wave strategy) stating that the bank had made mistakes but was working hard at getting better. While this did nothing to increase customer satisfaction or intention to purchase from new prospects, this form of mea-culpa boosted staff confidence, reinforcing the belief that the bank was genuinely working in the right direction. Culturally it was a very useful tool to rebuild staff confidence, support the new cultural effort and drive change acceptance. Let’s have a look at the two approaches: the wave strategy is well known to marketers and consumers alike. It consists of buying a sufficient amount of media (TV, internet banners, newspapers, print, outdoor etc) to get noticed in the sea of advertising and communication messages. In essence this is about buying media in the mediums that will be noticed by your target audience, warranting that enough media buying is made to ensure that you will be seen above and beyond the other

waves (ie other competitive messaging). Typically a wave media strategy will last a few weeks. This is the most widely used approach to launch or revive products and brands. By creating a large media wave, the target audience will notice your brand and product; it will stand out for a defined period of time. The rip strategy is of a very different nature. On a beach, rips can be difficult to spot and careful attention must be placed to see them. But rips allow surfers or anyone wishing to swim beyond the crashing waves to effortlessly reach their desired spots. The rip takes you out to sea. Whether there are many waves or not, the rips are always present and only their strength will vary. In the same way this approach to media planning allows marketers to send their messages in a continuous fashion no matter how many waves are competing for attention. This approach is not about being seen in the open, it is about being present again and again in front of your audience until becoming part of the landscape. This is about messages delivered continuously over long periods of time to select audiences. While not the most spectacular approach, its relentless nature offers opportunities to reach and provide message repetition to the target audiences. This approach is ideally suited to embed value propositions into minds and drive familiarity with your product or brand offering. The rip approach is less obvious but equally strong enough to take your message out to sea. The two strategies will impact your staff, your people differently. The wave strategy will create higher impact within the organisation in the short term especially if you use high impact mediums like TV or outdoor. Nothing like a good dinner conversation starting with: “have you seen our new TV ad?”. Organisations using this approach can combine it to

boost staff morale, drive particular cultural programs or attempt to model desired behaviours. While the communication seems directed at the general public, the primary or secondary message can be internally focused. This doesn’t mean that the rip approach is not adequate for staff morale but the effects are less obvious in the short term while often more profound and lasting over the longer term. This approach can therefore be used to your advantage in trying to embed cultural values or retain and attract talent over time. The repetitive nature of messages over medium to long periods of time makes them feel more credible and less ‘spin doctored’. In communication, continuity is often linked with believability. By understanding how communication and marketing campaigns are built, recruitment business owners can leverage activities to their advantage, integrating them with their own internal communication initiatives. While this is not a new concept and many managers work on message integration on a regular basis, it makes sense for the recruitment team to understand the marketing and communication strategy with an increased level of depth, including the media approach, to maximise opportunities for leverage and integration. 

Jean-Luc Ambrosi, is an award winning marketer and recognised expert in branding and customer relationship management. He is the author of the book, Branding to Differ, a strategic and practical guide on how to build and manage a successful brand.

recruitment extra 2013 November 33

Mergers & Acquisitions

M&A activity in 2013 – the current position By Richard Hayward, Principal at HHMC, Australia

any recruitment businesses we speak with report that 2013 was a tougher year than 2012. This is also supported by industry data that shows a decline in billing rates per consultant. However, it is not the case for all recruiters with some companies having shown significant growth on the previous year. There are many factors put forward by business owners, CEOs and industry commentators for the declining fortunes of recruiters. These include: the prevalence of social media that enables candidates and employers to connect more readily, the trend to in-house recruiting among corporates, shortages of candidates with the right skills in specific sectors, the economy, the uncertainty from the long lead up to the federal election, major government cutbacks in some states and other causes. All of these are valid comments and reflect the changing environment faced by recruiters now and in the foreseeable future. As has been said – “this may be the new normal”. That some companies have continued profitable growth suggests that there are things that can be done, and some of those may require different thinking. These are thoughts for another article, however, and here I will focus on what is happening with merger and acquisition activity in this environment. Market Activity In 2013 HHMC found that there was a high level of activity and discussion on potential sale or acquisitions. There are factors affecting the level of supply of businesses for sale and the level and type of demand among buyers. Companies reviewing acquisition options as a means of growth appeared to be driven by clear, strategic considerations. Achieving ongoing organic growth is challenging and gaining a leap on longer term plans by smart, targeted acquisitions can streamline the timeframe for reaching profitability and revenue goals. The factors that drove many acquisition decisions include: • Extending geographic coverage, both in Australia and overseas. • Adding new recruitment sector

34 November 2013 recruitment extra

capabilities, eg accounting, IT, engineering. • Adding to contractor/temporary numbers. • Accessing major client contracts. • Gaining significant niche capability (recognised specialists). Strategic acquisitions, when properly executed and implemented increase the value in the buyers’ businesses. As a result of a sharper focus on defining what it is that companies want to acquire, a greater level of assessment and consideration on the performance and sustainability of the target businesses applied. Sometimes a lot of work is undertaken to reach an assessment that in fact the business in question is not the right one and the buyers move on. While this is frustrating for enthusiastic sellers it does reflect a growing level of sophistication in M & A activity in the industry. This is to the benefit of the industry as a whole. We believe demand can be described as solid this year, though more astute and cautious. On the supply side, however, we have observed a growing number of owners making the decision to sell their business after long term ownership. In some of these cases their businesses are still in a quite sound shape and well positioned for an appropriate sale path. For others the decision to sell is tinged with some angst on continuing to compete in this period of significant change in the industry in the next few years. They may still remain profitable, but have concerns on their capacity and energy to adjust their business to fit with current customer expectations. Recently, we wrote about the ‘babyboomer’ tide of business sales that will increase progressively over the coming years. This has started: more and more owners are at a life-stage that means they want to change their everyday circumstances and move on from their business. The demographics of the situation are a fact and are represented in every business segment in most developed countries. The most recent US census, for example, indicated that almost 66% of SMEs were owned by those

in the baby-boomer generation. The next 10 to 20 years will see the greatest shift in business ownership in history. Impact on Sellers The combination of a more sophisticated buying market and an increase in the supply of businesses for sale will strengthen the position of the buyer. Having several choices, of course, provides greater leverage in deal-making. However, good businesses will sell and sell with a price and structure that is appealing to market-aware vendors. The factors (noted above) that drive business acquisitions are the areas that will be positioned more successfully. A business owner considering sale should make themselves aware of how they may “look” to a buyer. What is it that will reduce the risk profile of acquiring their business and therefore give them the greatest return on their sale? It may be better for these owners to address some of the issues that make their business less appealing, over a year or two, rather than starting a sale process now. Ultimately, the decision requires an awareness of the how the market will view them, business value and risk profile, combined with their personal goals and the timing they want. 2013 has been a tougher year for many and may be seen in years to come as part of a period of major change in the recruitment industry. As is always the case, opportunities emerge in times of change.  Richard Hayward is a principal of HHMC Australia, a specialist Merger & Acquisition consultancy focusing on the recruitment industry. Richard has an extensive background at senior level in the recruitment sector having worked with international, national and smaller local companies for over a decade before joining HHMC. His clients, as either buyers or sellers, include companies ranging from blue collar industrial, ICT, banking & finance, accounting, business support, and operations recruiting businesses.

On The Move



ON THE

MOVE  

DEFINITIVE CONSULTING EXTENDS ASIA-PACIFIC OPERATIONS Definitive Consulting has opened two new offices in Asia Pacific, one in Perth and the other in Singapore. In addition to opening in Perth, the firm has significantly expanded its established office in Sydney – quadrupling the firm’s size over the last 18 months. Definitive’s focus on entering new markets was a result of a particularly strong performance across its AsiaPacific operations. Over the last 12 months, the firm’s Asia-Pacific revenues have more than doubled, and now account for 50% of income worldwide.

Founder and CEO, Darren James, said: “We recognised very early that the higher growth economies in AsiaPacific would be vital to our continued success, while global mergers and the emergence of specialist regional hub markets offered significant growth opportunities.” In Singapore, Definitive Consulting will be led by Tracy Burrows, a legal partner search specialist with seven years’ experience in the market. Formerly a tax lawyer with Ernst & Young, Burrows will lead a

team including Willem Kra, Principal, Head of Advisory, and David Louey, CPA, Senior Consultant Tax and Assurance. In Perth, the new office will be led by Rachel Frazer, a consultant with over 10 years’ experience in both the Perth and international markets. Definitive Consulting, which operates from a head office in London has plans to further expand in Asia-Pac, with moves to open in Hong Kong before the end of the year already well advanced.

recruitment extra 2013 November 35

On The Move

Talent announces senior appointments Talent International has announced two senior international appointments. In the UK Jonathan Butterfield has accepted Talent International’s invitation to join its Advisory Board, while in Asia, recruitment executive Jacqui Whyatt joins the company as Head of Business Development for the region. “Our recent international growth has placed us at a key point in the company’s future development and these two senior appointments reflect our ambitions globally,” Talent International Founder and Managing Director, Richard Earl, said. “Jonathan and Jacqui are both highly talented and respected recruitment industry executives in their respective regions and we’re delighted that Talent International will be able to benefit from their extensive knowledge and experience to help us meet our global expansion objectives,” Earl said. Butterfield has more than 22 years’ experience in IT and IT staffing services. In 1996 he co-founded IT staffing company, Best International Group, which was acquired by Spring Group in 2003. He then co-founded LSX-listed IT recruitment company ReThink in 2005 where he served as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director until January 2013, with responsibility for overall group performance. Whyatt has more than 16 years’ experience in international recruitment, having worked in the UK, European,

Jonathan Butterfield

Jacqui Whyatt

Australasian and Asian markets. She has held various roles in the industry including Director of Operations with Rubicor Group, Director of Integration for TMP Worldwide (now Hudson), and was the co-founder of Inspire Search & Selection in Singapore before it was acquired by Chandler Macleod Group in 2011.

Oilfield Workforce Group appoints new director Oilfield Workforce Group Limited has announced that, with immediate effect, Charles Balding will assume the role of Director of Business Development for Asia Pacific market. Based in Malaysia, Balding will be responsible for sales, marketing and business operations in the Asia Pacific. Balding has over 30 years of experience in the engineering and construction projects within the oil and

36 November 2013 recruitment extra

gas industries around the globe. Balding has previously held senior positions in business development as well as project management with multi-national companies. Balding is a Mechanical Engineering post graduate with the Auckland Technical Institute of New Zealand and a Mechanical Engineering graduate with the Swinburne College of Technology in Australia.

Fuse Recruitment opens Darwin office Fuse has opened a new branch in Darwin to service the Northern Territory. Michael Boudreaux, a recruiter with a background in Civil and Structural Engineering, will head up the Darwin office. Commenting on the new office Tyson McNeilly, Director of Fuse Queensland which manages Darwin, said: "Darwin and the Northern Territory are key growth areas for our Australian operations. There has been continued considerable investment into the region and we look forward to assisting with resourcing challenges moving forward.” Since launching in Melbourne in 2011 Fuse and has opened branches in Brisbane, Perth, Mackay, Darwin and London. Fuse Recruitment provides recruitment services to the Engineering, Science, Trades and Insurance sectors and was established by Directors Mathew Westcott, Matthew Christensen and Tyson McNeilly. Fuse is structured to specifically search and recruit in hard-to-fill and specialist roles in candidate short markets.

Board changes at Tempo WA-based recruiter Tempo Australia have announced that Nick Bowen has accepted a senior executive role at Orica Limited and will step down as Chairman of Tempo from the 11th November 2013. Bowen will continue as a Non-executive Director of Tempo and Richard Wright will assume the role of Chairman from the 11 November. In a statement, Tempo said: “The Board thanks Nick for his valuable contribution as Chairman and is pleased that he will remain with Tempo.”

On The Move

New CEO for PayGlobal PayGlobal has announced that COO Stephen Canning has been promoted to lead the growing technology company after current CEO Hugh Martyn’s decision to step down. Following the recent acquisition of PayGlobal’s distribution channel in Australia, Hugh Martyn has decided to step down to pursue other interests. “The board is indeed saddened that Hugh has decided to pursue new challenges outside PayGlobal,” said the company’s Chairman Greg Lancaster. “His leadership over the past five years has done far more than just steady the ship, as evidenced by the successful recent acquisitions of a competitor and

the PayGlobal practice of our dominant distributor in Australia. Together these initiatives will double the company’s revenue and profit,” Lancaster said. “We wish Hugh well in whatever his new challenges may bring him and look forward to watching that success evolve.” The new CEO appointment comes from within PayGlobal. Current COO Stephen Canning, who joined PayGlobal in 2010 and is based in Sydney, will take the reins from early November. Lancaster said, “The board has appreciated Stephen’s contribution to date and is excited to work with him on the future direction of the company.”

CONSTRUCTIVE RECRUITMENT RECRUITS TRAINEES

Clare Wood

Lucy Medlicott

Constructive Recruitment has hired two new trainee recruitment consultants and a team administrator in their Brisbane office. The move is in line with the Managing Director, Giles Keay’s, plan to bring new talent into the industry and the business. "Historically, hiring trainees is something we have done a lot of in the past and it’s really worked for us. We have an amazing training and development program and I think that

Donna Pershouse teamed with the wealth of knowledge of our senior staff is the recipe for success," Keay said. Clare Wood who comes from a residential sales background, will manage the housing and development division while Donna Pershouse will manage the civil and building temporary division. Lucy Medlicott will be the team administrator for the Brisbane office and has previous experience working in a similar role.

Canning, as part of the executive team, has helped shape PayGlobal’s strategy and business development on both sides of the Tasman. Canning has more than 25 years’ experience in software, services and consultancy, spanning various business sectors in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. Canning said, “We have a great team of motivated people at PayGlobal, we have a culture of achievement based on providing our customers great solutions that will continue to evolve. I see PayGlobal being a thought leader in the delivery of payroll and HRIS, and setting standards for the industry.”

Ambition Group announces new CFO Peter O’Donovan has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of Ambition Group. O’Donovan initially joined the business as interim Chief Financial Officer in June 2013. O’Donovan has extensive experience in strategy development, business turnaround and transforming finance organisations. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the UK, has an honours degree from the University of Liverpool and an MBA from Warwick Business School. According to a statement released by the company his immediate priorities will include several high profile change management projects within Ambition Group Limited. He will also play a pivotal role with the senior management team and the company’s Board in delivering on a three year strategy to drive future revenue and profit growth. Guy Day, Ambition Group Limited’s Chief Executive, added: “We look forward to working with Peter as we embark of the development of our strategic plan to restore the business to delivering sustainable, profitable growth.”

recruitment extra 2013 November 37

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