Recruiter - August 2016

Business intelligence for recruitment and resourcing professionals

August 2016

INCORPORATING Recruitment Matters

UNITED KINGDOM? www.recruiter.co.uk

Post-B Brexit, what are the ramifications for the UK recruitment industry in the wak ke of the referendum vote to leave the EU?

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MATTHEW JEFFERY Now is the time for recruiters to lead WILLIAM GRIMWADE A fiery career in recruitment – and performing REFUGEE TO WORKER Transitions London focuses on skills

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C R ONT ENT S 39

ING PORAT INCOR itment Recru ers Matt

A

NEWS

05 Primary Care People aims for more GPs in the house A medical recruiter offers an insurance product to attract more GPs 06 Virgin Media goes local Sales reps are being hired from their local area 06 Strategy wins in postBrexit fallout One sector is a likely winner 07 Airswift’s robust business Global mobility is the biggest growth area

07 Star recruit: David Cameron, former UK prime minister 08 This was the month that was...

10 Contracts & Deals

B

TRENDS

12 Insight Paying the price of servicelevel agreements

15

Tech & Tools How do you perform in the mobile space?

C 16 17

D

FEATURES

18 THE BIG STORY Brexit: The story moves on

Recruitment arguably faces more questions than most sectors during this period of so many unknowns. What does the future hold for immigration, employment legislation and recruitment M&As?

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32 Invoice financing Boost for lending with new legal changes

E COMMUNITY 37 38 39 41 42 44 48 49 50

Social Network Careers Peer-to-peer Careers In-house My brilliant recruitment career: William Grimwade Employability Business Advice Movers & Shakers Recruiter Contacts The Last Word: Jon Hull

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INTERACTION In-house View: Matthew Jeffery Soundbites

41 I M AG E S | A K I N FA LO P E / SH UTTER STO C K / ISTO C K

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Changes in legislation can be brutal.

Have you cracked the legislative nut?

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N E WS

UPDATE

WE LCO M E

LEADER

Y

ou couldn’t make it up. Since the small hours of 24 June, the UK, so often perceived by the outside world as coldly efficient and conducting its business to the most proper standard, has been in chaos. The bold leaders of the campaign for taking the UK out of the European Union themselves ‘opted out’ (although at press time, Boris Johnson had just been appointed foreign secretary), and voila, we have a new prime minister who will take the country through this massive unravelling of its economic and “One of the social fabric. Even greatest our new PM dangers is Theresa May must losing the be wondering, commitment “What next?” to achieving Immigration D&I – one of the Brexit workforces” campaign hot topics – will be a key issue for recruiters, and in our Brexit focus, our journalist Colin Cottell has explored with leading legal experts potential scenarios that could unfold over the coming months.

Leading in-house recruiter Matthew Jeffery, no stranger to the political scene, has called on fellow recruiters to put their heads above the parapet and be bold and decisive in their roles as the full impact of Brexit becomes known.

We hope you’re finding our Brexit coverage useful and proactive. We’d like to know what you’re thinking about.

DeeDee Doke, Editor

Primary Care People insures to get more GPs in the house

BY COLIN COTTELL

A MEDICAL RECRUITMENT COMPANY has launched a free insurance product for GPs on its books that the firm’s managing director expects will ease the current shortage of GPs in the NHS. The new indemnity insurance product, which covers doctors against claims for medical malpractice and negligence, was launched at the beginning of July.

Tawhid Juneja (below), MD of Primary Care People, told Recruiter that based on interest from GPs so far, he said he expects 500 GPs to work an extra 20 hours a week or 260,000 hours a year, equivalent to 125 full-time posts, as a result of having access to the free insurance. “It is all about increasing the capacity of the workforce,” he said.

Juneja said the problem with existing indemnity insurance was it put off GPs from working at full capacity. He explained that because existing insurance providers considered out-of-hours working high risk, this significantly increased the cost of indemnity insurance, which had led GPs to reduce their out-of-hours working.

With premiums having doubled in the past three or four years, Juneja said the cost of indemnity insurance ranges from £6k a year for standard hours cover to as high as £40k a year for insurance that includes out-ofhours cover.

Juneja accepted that not charging a premium meant the company was taking a financial hit in terms of lower margins.

“We are doing it on the basis that we are able to increase capacity in our commercial organisation – if we can have a greater volume of candidates working for us, then it makes financial sense,” he explained.

Juneja said he saw the new insurance product as a part of the solution to the problem of GP shortages, alongside other measures, such as bringing in GPs from Europe and measures to make general practice desirable again. ● WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 5

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UPDATE

31,756 FOLLOWERS AS OF 14 JULY 2016

Virgin goes local to recruit sales reps DEEDEE DOKE

A NEW BUSINESS initiative by Virgin Media to target ‘small office, home offices’ (SOHOs) and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) as new customers has led to a highly localised recruitment nt drive for the telecoms/TV ms/T TV service providers.

About 40 ‘community unity sales’ s representatives with in-depth local knowledge are being recruited to serve locations within a limited radius of their homes. “It’s a totally new concept for us,” said Sharron O’Donnell, resourcing supplier manager, speaking exclusively to Recruiter after an assessment day in East London.

While the community sales representatives will also demonstrate the Virgin brand’s patented “Hell yes!” attitude to customer service, their familiarity with the culture, customs, traditions and people of their locales will set them apart from other Virgin sales staff, said Akbar Anwar, national community sales manager.

It is also crucial that the community sales recruits reflect their local community.

An example of this importance is when Virgin Media lost a Spanish representative in a Hispanic community, sales there dropped by 40%.

To attract candidates, Virgin

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Strategy the winner in postBrexit fallout COLIN COTTELL

Media is working with its outsourced recruitment partner Yocto and engaging in “tactical initiatives” in areas where they want to recruit, O’Donnell said. Tactical measures include using job fairs, targeted social media with a Yocto product called SNAP, job centres, poaching cards and deploying highly visible mobile recruitment vans “where we need to get under the skin of the market”, she explained.

Just recently launched, this new initiative comes at a time of intensive recruitment for Virgin Media.

Currently, O’ Donnell said, 130 offers are being made per week across the business.

O’Donnell said a move to bring inhouse the management of its preferred supplier list (PSL) is also underway. In total, Virgin Media has a PSL finalised until 2018 of about 45 suppliers. The move to bring management of the list in-house is intended to help the agencies on the list better understand the Virgin Media business and its people needs. ●

At least one recruitment sector could benefit from Brexit fallout. Following new Prime Minister Theresa May’s appointment of David Davis to the new Cabinet position of ‘Brexit Secretary’, and professional services firm KPMG’s appointment of a new head of Brexit in early July, recruiters operating in the niche area of strategy and business transformation have told Recruiter they expect to see an uptick in business.

“A lot of firms were unprepared for [Brexit], and will be asking themselves the question ‘what to do about this’. There is now a question to be answered, and the people that are going to be asked that question are going to be strategy professionals,” said Nick Barton, founder and chief executive at niche strategy and business transformation recruiter The Barton Partnership.

Paul Mullins, director of strategy and senior hires at interim and permanent recruiter Investigo, told Recruiter that he hadn’t yet seen any effect on clients businesses, but anticipated there could be a two- to threemonth time lag before activity levels rose.

Barton said he expected some uncertainty among clients and candidates over the next month as they decide what to do next and what Brexit means for them.

Mullins said that fears that foreign candidates would be put off taking up roles in the UK because of the ongoing uncertainty about their immigration status – the new PM has yet to decide whether EU nationals working in the UK will have the right to remain – had so far proved unfounded. He said that one Spanish national had just confirmed he would be moving from Dubai to a strategy job in retail in London after receiving reassurances. “The onus is on the hiring manager to defuse the situation,” said Mullins.

Find more daily news stories at recruiter.co.uk/news 14/07/2016 16:04

THOUGHTS FROM…

RICHARD COLGAN

FO UND ER AND MANAGING PARTNER , OAKLEAF PARTNERSHIP

“This was a real conversation from a workmate’s daughter Izzy, aged eight, the Friday morning after the Brexit vote on her way to school: ‘Is GB leaving the EU a bit like Zayn [Malik] leaving One Direction?’ ”

Airswift grows its global mobility

Peter Searle: Airswift will build a far more robust business

DEEDEE DOKE

JONATHAN WRIGHT

CO - FO UNDER , ELITE CAPITAL PARTNERS, SPEAKIN G A B O UT THE U K RECRUITMENT M&A MARKET POSTBREXIT

“I see this as a market interruption, not Armageddon”

KIRSTY RUTTER

CHIE F EXECUTIVE, EATON RISK ADVISORY

“If you make a [diversity & inclusion] target payable, you see change”

I M AG E | G E TT Y

STA R RECRUIT

JULIA HENDERSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR, DRUMMOND READ RECRUITMENT, OFFERS INSIGHT INTO A POTENTIAL ROLE FOR PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON, WHO HAS STEPPED DOWN FROM HIS ROLE AS LEADING THE UK FOLLOWING THE COUNTRY ’S VOTE TO LEAVE THE EUROPEAN UNION. Now he is back in the job market, perhaps David Cameron should look no further than the heart of the London Art

GLOBAL MOBILITY will be “the biggest growth area” for Airswift, the company recently formed by the merger of Air Energi and Swift Technical Resources, as it expands its core services, chief executive Peter Searle has told Recruiter.

At the same time, as its previous mainstay sector upstream oil & gas struggles in the world economy, Airswift is also concentrating on putting the transferrable engineering skills of its over 6,000 contractors to work in other sectors, Searle said. Sectors such as process (including chemicals, pharmaceuticals), energy (midstream, downstream, nuclear, solar and wind) and infrastructure mark recent expansions for the Airswift portfolio, and are benefiting from injections of engineering talent that lacked work in upstream oil & gas because of the sector slowdown.

“We have the same engineers – we’re putting them into new industries with new clients,” Searle said. In the last three months, 27% of Airswift’s business has come from new target sectors, he pointed out.

With three corporate offices in Houston, Manchester and Singapore, and over 50 regional offices around the world, Airswift is well positioned to take on the global mobility market by eliminating at least one layer of relocation administration, Searle said.

Leading relocation companies typically work with locally based partners in the geographies they serve to arrange the further subcontracting of various services. Since Airswift already operates on the ground in so many global locations, the company can arrange for necessary local relocation services itself without a middleman, he explained.

Operating a global mobility business will help Airswift Market in Mayfair, just a a base of wealthy art short stroll through the collectors. build “a far more park from Westminster.

Born to wealthy upper ‘Art Dealer’ seems like an middle class parents and robust business” almost perfect fit. educated at Eton and overall, Searle said.

Admittedly David Oxford University, David only has an A-level in Art features in the Forbes List And expansion History, but as a career of the world most powerful into new sector politician ‘blagging it’ is in people. his DNA and what he lacks His connections markets will support in qualifications he surely make the perfect Little the company’s old makes up for in terms of Black Book for the his connections. super wealthiest whose markets by keeping its The social elitism appetite for classic that David has been Manet portraits, abstract contractors in work criticised for during his expressionist paintings and on the books, he time as PM can certainly and contemporary work play to his advantage like Jeff Koon’s animals said. ● in terms of building up

continues unabated.”

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THIS WAS THE MONTH THAT WAS… Here is a round-up of some of the most popular news stories we have brought you on recruiter.co.uk since the July issue of Recruiter was published J U N E •‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒→ FRI, 24 JUN 2016

BREXIT: RECRUITERS CALL FOR CALM AFTER THE VOTING STORM

FRI, 17 JUN 2016

RECRUITERS URGED TO LOOK BEYOND THE ‘BEER TEST’

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Hirers have been urged to look beyond the ‘beer test’ when recruiting.

The call comes from Leela Srinivasan, chief marketing officer at applicant tracking system provider Lever, who was speaking at an event organised by job search marketplace Hired.com in London.

Srinivasan said one of her colleagues has started the hashtag ‘ban the beer test’, referring to a recruitment method based on taking on a candidate the hiring manager likes and would be prepared to have a beer with.

“It should have nothing to do with your hiring decision,” Srinivasan said. “Even the term ‘cultural fit’ has come under fire recently because it carries with it all of these associations of bias.”

Recruitment industry professionals are calling for calm and a focus on business stability, as questions mount and the UK’s decision to leave the EU sinks in.

The result, followed shortly by [the then] Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to step down, has brought the future of thousands of EU migrant workers, talent mobility and the UK itself sharply into the spotlight.

Scotland’s heavily-weighted support (62%) for remaining in the EU suggests to some that the nation might again seek its independence from the rest of the union.

Andrew Speers, chief executive of specialist oil & gas recruiter Petroplan, told Recruiter: “An area of particular interest for us will be the longer-term future of the UK in its current form. Scotland is a hub of the oil & gas sector, with many workers in the sector employed in Scotland or off its shore, so Scottish independence could certainly have an impact on the future of oil & gas recruitment.”

SCOTLAND’S SUPPORT

62%

FOR REMAINING IN THE EU

FRI, 24 JUN 2016

BREXIT: FARAGE IS IN, OUT, SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT Brexit poster boy Nigel Farage couldn’t make his mind up on Referendum night – long before a single result was declared.

The UKIP leader and face of the Leave campaign appeared to concede defeat as early as 11pm, just as late voters were still returning from the polling stations.

“It’s been an extraordinary referendum campaign. Turnout looks to be exceptionally high and it looks like Remain will edge it,” he announced glum faced. “UKIP and I are going nowhere and the party will only continue to grow stronger in the future.”

Within the hour, a spokesperson for Farage was quick to explain his party leader’s earlier pessimism. “He looked at the prevailing weather and was honest. We’re not saying it’s over. We haven’t had a single bloody vote counted.”

Ironically Farage’s campaign to leave the EU will also see him lose his current job as an MEP when the UK officially leaves the bloc.

He has also unsuccessfully contested British parliamentary elections for UKIP five times.

Recruiters have two years to find him a suitable role…

• In an update to when this story was published, Farage later went on to step down as leader of UKIP.

More: http://bit.ly/29wBMHs

T IM AGES | ISTOCK / GET T Y / SUPERSTOCK

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Ipswich seeks prickly recruit A charity in Ipswich may have caused a spike in the recruitment market after sending ng out n. calls for a particularly prickly character to take on a special role in the Suffolk town.

The Suffolk Wildlife Trust charity is looking to recruit a hedgehog officer to raise awareness of the plight of the little creatures in the area. The charity said it wants to turn Ipswich into the most hedgehog-friendly town in Britain by removing barriers to d their movement between gardens and setting up a network of feeding, nesting and hibernating habits.

More: http://bit.ly/29AsgTw

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MON, 4 JUL 2016

RECRUITMENT QUOTAS ‘ONLY WAY’ TO ENSURE GENDER DIVERSITY, SAYS RUTTER Establishing quotas as performance targets to ensure certain percentages of women and minorities are hired is the only way to improve workplace diversity initially, a woman with 20 years’ experience in financial services has said.

Kirsty Rutter, chief executive of Eaton Risk Advisory, was speaking to a London audience of female strategy professionals. “If you make a target payable, you see change,” she said.

Rutter claimed that attempting to diversify, failing and “going away, nothing changes”, she added.

“If you disrupt and stay there, it [having women in male-dominated workplaces] becomes normal.”

Quotas are necessary to “make it normal”, she said. “Then take [them] off.”

More: http://bit.ly/1UN4J3Q

→‒‒‒‒‒•

“IF YOU MAKE A TARGET PAYABLE,

YOU SEE CHANGE”

TUE, 5 JUL 2016

MON, 11 JUL 2016

FINANCIAL RECRUITERS CONFIDENT OF ROBUST FUTURE

RECRUITER’S INVESTING IN TALENT AWARDS SHORTLIST REVEALED

London’s financial sector recruitment firms have been told they face a tug-of-war for the UK’s top talent as clients pull out staff from the capital in favour of Paris, Dublin and Frankfurt in the wake of June’s Brexit decision.

Matthew Cameron, director at asset management & technology search firm Ocean Partnership, is unmoved. He is confident the UK financial sector will always be robust.

The company specialises in talent acquisition for financial back office functions within asset and wealth management houses, private banks, custodians and hedge funds.

“London may have dropped down the pecking order a bit in relation to Frankfurt and Paris … but if the money and the opportunities are right, it still blows the competition out of the water as a place to work in this sector,” said Cameron.

The shortlist has been announced for Recruiter’s third annual Investing in Talent Awards.

These latest honours feature all new categories including Best Emerging Talent Employer in Recruitment, Most Inspiring Support Professional, Most Inspiring Director/Senior Manager, as well as Best Recruitment Company to Work For within Banking/Financial, Engineering, IT & Telecoms and Professional Services respectively.

The Awards highlight excellence in how recruitment businesses take care of their staff, temporary workers and contractors. The winners will pick up their prizes at an Awards lunch and ceremony on 5 October at The Brewery in London.

More: http://bit.ly/29gh8vd

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More: http://bit.ly/2a57tZh

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€55

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CONTRACTS

PER SHARE IS THE AMOUNT RANDSTAD WILL OFFER TO AUSY SHAREHOLDERS AS IT LOOKS TO BUY THE FRENCH CONSULTING FIRM

CONTRACTS & DEALS Austin Fraser Austin Fraser has chosen headset provider Sennheiser to provide headsets to complement a rollout of its new Apple computers and equipment for its officewide revamp. Based in Reading, with offices in Munich, Germany and Austin, Texas in the US, Austin Fraser carries out technical recruitment within a range of sectors, including engineering, IT and life sciences.

ICS Health, life sciences and social care staffing Independent Clinical Services (ICS) has acquired social worker recruiter Liquid Personnel.

In a statement, ICS said its new investment would ensure future company growth and the development of new services for Liquid Personnel customers.

ManpowerGroup ManpowerGroup brand ManpowerGroup Solutions has formed an exclusive partnership with the Professional Diversity Network (PDN).

PDN is a developer and operator of online networks that provides access to employment opportunities for diverse professionals in the US. PDN will give ManpowerGroup Solutions access to more than 12m candidates who selfidentify as diverse, thereby allowing the company to develop more expansive talent pools for clients.

ManpowerGroup Solutions will provide PDN with research and insights into candidates’ preferences, behaviours and motivators throughout the recruitment process.

Omega Subsea Omega Subsea UK, a provider of project personnel to the energy industry, has bought Westhill-based personnel firm Accpron UK to strengthen its UK’s provision of project management teams and individual personnel to the subsea, energy and oil & gas industries. Based in Inverurie, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Omega Subsea offers project management and onshore and offshore consultancy services to energy sector businesses operating in the UK, Europe and Africa. All of Accpron’s staff, comprised mainly of project personnel, will transfer to Omega Subsea and operate from its premises at Crichiebank Business Centre, Inverurie.

Primestaff Scottish recruiter Primestaff has been acquired in a management buyout. The deal, put together by Primestaff chief executive Danny McIntyre and finance director Antonio Vezza, sees Vezza and construction director Michael Docherty join operations director Carol Conlin, industrial director Sean McPolin and CEO McIntyre on the company’s board. Primestaff has also become an official partner of Scottish professional rugby team Glasgow Warriors, offering advice to players on careers outside of rugby as well as general sponsorship.

SRi Australian venue management company VenuesLive has appointed executive search consultancy SRi to lead the search for Perth Stadium’s new chief executive.

Perth Stadium will be a 60,000 capacity multi-purpose venue capable of hosting AFL (Australian Football League), cricket, football, rugby union, rugby league and entertainment events.

Re:vision Re:vision, the charity subsidiary of Procure Plus, a not-for-profit regeneration company, has agreed a recruitment partnership with property maintenance and service provider High Access.

Re:vision specialises in helping find employment for candidates deemed to be the furthest away from the jobs market, who are helped to be ready and able to work.

The scheme targets priority groups such as long-term unemployed, ex-forces, ex-offenders, those from an ethnic minority background or young people who have disengaged from the system.

DEAL OF THE MONTH

Randstad Recruitment giant Randstad is to launch a cash tender offer to acquire French consulting and engineering firm Ausy.

Randstad said it will offer €55 (£42.6) per share to Ausy shareholders, a 28% premium to Ausy’s closing share price on

Friday (17 June). Ausy’s board has unanimously backed the offer.

Randstad chief executive Jacques van den Broek said Ausy’s IT and engineering capabilities were a great addition to Randstad’s existing business in various geographies. “I am sure that

this agreement will provide additional growth opportunities for all. We look forward to making this combination a success,” he added.

€394m and had more than 4,500 employees active in 10 countries, mostly in France, Germany, the US and Belgium.

According to Randstad’s statement, in 2015 the Ausy group generated revenues of

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TRE NDS

INSIGHT

PAYING THE PRICE OF SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS Procurement-led and cost-driven service level agreements (SLAs) are damaging the relationship between RPOs (recruitment process outsourcers) and their recruitment agency suppliers. Colin Cottell investigates

A

ccording to a new report, relationships between RPOs and their recruitment agencies are being affected by SLAs, which is having a knockon effect on RPOs’ ability to meet their clients’ changing needs.

“RPOs currently enjoy a relatively strong market position within the UK, but their offering is being slowly undercut by SLAs, which can often be at loggerheads with the needs and growing demands of the end user… It appears that many SLAs are simply price driven and do not always promote the best behaviours or deliver an optimal service,” says the report by HR consultancy Oakleaf Partnership.

‘RPO Insight and Direction’ highlights what Richard Colgan, founder and managing partner of

Oakleaf Partnership, describes as the “dichotomy” between SLAs, with their focus on low cost and volume, and the ever more sophisticated and varied demands of clients. Based on an online survey of 100 senior, HR clients involved in RPO selection and or/users of RPOs, the report found significant levels of dissatisfaction with RPOs, with 39% describing internal service levels as poor, and only 57% saying the RPO delivered the service agreed.

Colgan told Recruiter that a good example of how an SLA is detrimental to the interests of RPO clients is a requirement in some SLAs that the RPO itself must submit a certain number of candidates directly to the end user over a certain period before the RPO can go to external recruiters.

“They do this just to tick a box,” says Colgan, even though it means it takes longer to fill the vacancy. “Sometimes

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they know from the minute the role is released they had no chance of filling the role themselves,” he adds. The ban on hiring managers dealing directly with external suppliers is also “hardly the most effective way to find the best quality candidate”, says the report.

Pressure to deliver Senior heads of resourcing and talent attraction at large UK organisations who were interviewed for the report say they are aware that pressure to deliver at the lowest possible cost, while meeting demands for an everhigher quality service, poses significant challenges for RPOs. “The pricing models have become transactional as clients demand lower cost-per-hire and quicker time-tohire. Now with the demand for better quality-of-hire it’s difficult, particularly having been through a deep recession to try and find any higher value (incremental fees) from an RPO’s perspective,” says Tom Baker, global head of resourcing, Imperial Brands.

Rachel Barr, global head of resourcing at financial broker Tullet Prebon, says RPOs are pulled two ways.

“The growing demand for improved candidate levels, worries about employer branding and the need for accurate data and analytics seems to conflict with the increasing pressure IM AGE | SHUT T ERSTOCK

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on margins and the ability to attract and hire their own staff.”

Growing competition RPOs also face growing competition from in-house resourcers, says Jim Richardson, director of talent, learning and resourcing, Santander UK. “As the cost vs in-house numbers come closer together we may see the ‘bring it back in-house argument’ played out more and more,” agrees John Hardy, resourcing director, Barclaycard.

Providing candidate experience that “is robust and positive, but also differentiating against the competition” is another challenge for RPOs, says Shilpa Shah, global head of talent acquisition, Rolls Royce.

“This coupled with managing a high workload of requisitions and still meeting the commercial KPIs (key performance indicators) is tough.

Something will suffer,” she adds.

The report also highlights clients’ concerns about RPOs’ ability to understand their clients’ culture, particularly with RPOs increasingly working away from their clients’ sites.

Other clients question whether RPOs

can be trusted with the responsibility of being an ambassador for their brand.

The desire of some RPOs to move into higher value executive search is also hindered by high staff turnover and lack of experience of RPO staff, say some.

Not all doom and gloom Nevertheless, the report says it is not ‘doom and gloom’ for RPOs. “They are under no immediate threat. They have real scale,” says Barclaycard’s Hardy.

Others comments voiced in the report suggest that despite the various challenges, many RPOs are already evolving in response to meet clients’ changing needs.

“Many RPO organisations have now introduced strategic workforce planning, social media sourcing and many other innovations that businesses see real value in,” says one unnamed resourcing professional.

“RPO has evolved into a third generation now, which is more sophisticated than 10 years ago and now includes areas such as diversity, assessment and employer branding,” adds Santander UK’s Richardson.

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POWER POINTS: KEY CHALLENGES FOR RPO Increased competition, including from in-house recruiters How to deliver a high-quality service while operating under restrictive SLAs Delivering value-added services while under margin and cost pressure Can RPOs harness technology to gain a competitive advantage?

“The RPO industry has evolved for sure… Nowadays, there is a lot of focus on the quality of hires, building proactive pipelines and ensuring a quicker time-to-productivity with robust on-boarding solutions for new joiners,” adds Rolls Royce’s Shah.

Be that as it may, it is difficult to see how the level and variety of service that clients increasingly demand can become the norm while cost-driven and procurement-led SLAs remain such a feature of the RPO market. ●

↗

As the cost vs in-house numbers come closer together we may see the ‘bring it back in-house argument’ played out more and more

RICHARD COLGAN is founder and joint chief executive of Oakleaf Partnership, authors of the ‘RPO Insight and Direction’ report

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T R E N DS

TECH & TOOLS

Mobile-friendly searching How do you perform in the mobile space?

SUE WEEKES

Google recently finished rolling out its ‘mobile-friendly algorithm boost’.

This means that mobile-friendly websites appear higher up the search results if the user is searching on a mobile phone. Those that aren’t mobile-ready may find themselves slipping down the rankings.

If your site is already mobile-friendly, then you’re in the clear. But according to Andy Drinkwater, search engine optimisation consultant and founder of Iqseo.uk, this is not the case for the majority of agencies.

He originally tested more than 4,000 sites in 2015 and 65% of them were not mobile-friendly. In a more recent test, the figure was 59%.

Recruiters must ensure their site is mobile friendly, not just because of Google, but because almost half of job searches begin on mobile devices. While this may seem like your web design and service provider’s job, candidate experience is your responsibility and you need to find out how you perform in the mobile space and whether it can be improved.

WHAT DOES GOOGLE WANT? In short, Google wants to know that your website is optimised for the mobile device on which it is running.

For most, taking a mobile responsive website design (RWD) route is the best solution as this adjusts the website’s design, size and other factors to run on the mobile device, whether it be smartphone or tablet (Google also recommends RWD). It should provide the user with an optimal experience akin to that of the desktop and means they don’t have to excessively scroll around the site to find what they want. “If it doesn’t then you are throwing opportunities away,” says Drinkwater.

“And [you’re] risking a drop in rankings.”

Chris Bogh, technical director of Eploy, urges recruiters to ask their developers to prioritise the mobile experience: “We think about the mobile experience first then progressively enhance to accommodate equally great experiences for tablet, laptop and desktop users.”

THE NEED FOR SPEED Individuals expect the mobile experience to be fast. Drinkwater also explains that if a person is out of the house and there is no Wi-Fi, they want to know they can browse a site that isn’t filled with huge images or hosted on

a budget platform. Test the speed of your site at Google (see links below) and, if it is slow, talk to your developer to find out if a change of host may improve the experience. “There are changes that can be made to code that will help speed a site up a bit, but you will always be hampered by issues if your web host isn’t particularly fast,” says Drinkwater. Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool can also help identify where you can make your site faster in the mobile space.

DESIGN ATTENTION Look at all of the interaction points of your site in the mobile space, such as buttons and forms, and assess the user experience

F IN D OUT HOW MOB ILE-FRIEND LY YO U AR E Google provides tools and guidelines to help you discover whether your site is mobilefriendly and how user experience could be improved. If you feel the site may be falling down in the mobile space, carry out some checks first using the below links before you meet with your web and services provider so you are more informed. www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ developers.google.com/webmasters/mobile-sites/

I L L UST RAT I O N | SH UTTER STO C K

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they provide. Remember they need to be “finger friendly” for touchscreen users, says Bogh, and also take advantage of the features of a phone. “It’s really easy to implement a ‘click to call’ button on the mobile view of your site,” he says.

Drinkwater advises that all click options should be clear and have a quick call-to-action. “Pages shouldn’t be too long; no one wants a never-ending scroll,” he adds.

MAKE APPLYING EASY The majority of people will not have their CV stored as a document on their smartphone or tablet but it may well reside in the cloud on Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox.

“So it’s important your site allows candidates to easily upload their CV to you using their preferred cloud storage provider,” says Bogh. He adds that the mobile experience can be further improved by enabling candidates to login using their preferred

social network account.

“Plus, mobile users tend to be logged in all the time.

So being able to log in to your site using a LinkedIn account, for example, means fewer clicks, faster form-filling and reduces the barriers for a mobile visitor applying to your jobs with you.”

CONVERTING TRAFFIC While you need to make sure Google views you as mobile-friendly, the discussion also needs to extend beyond SEO and take into account how you will convert traffic from your mobile site into candidates. “Find out how many visitors are actually ‘doing something’ on your site – like uploading their CV, filling in an application form or registering their profile with you,” says Bogh. “That’s why mobile optimised design is so important. You’ve got to remove all of those barriers that may dissuade someone converting from being just a website visitor to a customer.”

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C

INTE R AC TIO N

IN-HOUSE VIEW

Brexit: Now is the time for recruiters to lead Let’s hear recruitment’s voice

BY MATTHEW JEFFERY

rexit. The defining decision of our lifetime – the British people have spoken. No one can underestimate how important that decision is. It fundamentally changes our lives as a nation. As the politicians try to plan the way ahead, we have important roles as recruiters to fulfil.

Nothing is certain in these turbulent times. Businesses love certainty, but we have little of that. In the press we read of businesses suspending taking decisions. Some are reviewing whether to relocate offices elsewhere; some are slowing/ pausing hiring decisions.

Certainty can’t be assured until key questions have been answered: When will Article 50 be triggered? Will it be triggered? What does life look like outside the EU? Will companies have access to the Single Market? Will there still be free movement of people/workers (something that greatly affects us as recruiters)? What new trade deals can be struck?

Will we get access to new markets bringing new opportunities? No one can speak with any certainty.

But what about us recruiters, living with uncertainty? What do we do?

First up, recruitment leaders need to step up to the top table and do what they are paid to do – lead. Partner with business

B

Matthew Jeffery (right) in conversation with [the then] Prime Minister David Cameron

leaders on hiring decisions. Demonstrate the strength of hiring and talent pools. Business as usual – keeping positive.

Short term, with so much uncertainty, candidates will be worried about being hired. We need to dedicate extra time, consideration and care in the coming period to them. Speed up hiring decisions; with so much uncertainty repeatedly talked about in the media, those seeking jobs will become more nervous about making a change. Our job is to reassure: there will be solutions, staff will be supported and there are opportunities for those willing to see the opportunity in change. Make changing jobs as seamless as possible: candidate communication and experience has never been so important.

We need to ensure that our graduate schemes are fully visible to give graduates confidence. Advertise apprenticeships – bold and proud. Business as usual.

One thing is for sure: recruitment must have a stronger voice.

Perhaps in recent times recruitment has been too intent on navel gazing on where it sits in a business and lost sight of the bigger picture. Are we part of HR, marketing? Its own function?

We can see that very few companies have recruitment leaders reporting directly to the board.

All too often recruiters look to pass off ‘ownership’ to HR and blame them that their voice is not heard. That is unfair and passing the buck. Is it not those that hold the job that need to hold

+ MATTHEW JEFFERY is vice-president, head of global sourcing and employment branding at SAP

16 RECRUITER

“As the politicians try to plan the way ahead, we have important roles to fulfil. Nothing is certain in these turbulent times. Businesses love certainty, but we have little of that”

AUGUST 2016

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I N T E R AC T I O N

SOUNDBITES

themselves accountable? If they are voiceless, then are they to blame?

Maybe the focus needs to move on to our place in the business community and society, and influencing key decisions, which directly impact us, rather than where to report to in a business…

There is a critical need for instant feedback on the state of the labour market to be fed into top-level policy discussions.

Otherwise decisions and positions will be taken that will affect our ability to serve our businesses all too quickly without proper consultation. Recruiters, with their unique early insight into the jobs market, rightly deserve to be top-level stakeholders in the coming years.

Maybe social media has led some recruitment leaders to believe in their own ‘Kool aid’ – their perceived sphere of influence focusing on their followers online.

Social media provides the convenient but meaningless position of being an armchair critic, espousing hot air into a vacuum of an echo chamber. Being part of the ‘Commentariat’ and criticising decisions to build their own personal brands might be a convenient escape from influencing real life. Social media and reality are often disconnected.

Recruitment is critical to a business. A business that can hire the ‘top talent’ will get the top salespeople (who make more sales and make a company more profitable) and hire the best developers (creating innovative products that sell in their millions).

Great recruitment is an art. Great recruitment is extremely tough, mediocre recruitment is easy.

What we do can make or break a company. Recruitment leaders can affect so much. It’s time to lead. It’s time for recruitment to find a voice. ●

What does Brexit mean to you and your company?

MARCUS GREEN D IREC TOR , N OVA CON T R AC T IN G

“There are an estimated 1.2m people on temporary, contract or interim assignments via a recruiter on any given day in the UK and that figure will continue to grow, particularly as recruiters respond to uncertainty while new trading relationships are negotiated. More than 16% of the contractors on our books are from EU countries, including Poland and Romania. What we need is clarity on their status and clear direction on the future of EU-driven legislation. Our sector has faced more than its fair share of legislative change and challenge in recent years, and we’re sure, whatever the future holds, we’ll continue to be flexible and resilient.”

RICHARD HERRING MA N AG IN G D I REC TOR /S EN I OR V ICE P RES ID EN T, VOLT

“Our industry is naturally positive and I am hopeful that we can avoid a downturn in the UK. There is a German saying: “You never eat it as hot as you cook it” and opportunities will emerge from the new order, particularly as skills shortages continue to dominate the market. A lot of commentary recently has been about the need for focus on candidate engagement. I don’t disagree with that at all but the client relationship is still critical, too. For us at Volt, I expect our markets in IT, telco, engineering and life sciences to remain strong across Europe.”

BARRY PAC TOR G ROUP MA N AG IN G D I REC TOR , T T M H EA LT H CA RE

“For TTM Healthcare, Brexit means business as usual – for the time being. We believe any changes will take at least two years to come into effect, allowing ample time for planning, and rather than being impacted, we will be equipped to work with the change. Working within the European healthcare recruitment sector, the outcome of Brexit also means that TTM has an increased responsibility to show our candidates that, irrespective of their nationality, the UK is still ‘open for business’.

We must also work closely with our clients and continue to provide them with both the best possible staff, and peace of mind, at a time when shortages are an increasing concern.”

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TH E B IG STO RY BREXIT

MOVING THE STORY ON 18 RECRUITER

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Could this be the biggest story of the 21st century to date? A decision by UK voters to take the country out of the European Union has put sterling in freefall, put the future of the UK’s labour market into question, created unprecedented chaos within the ranks of government leadership and led to a sudden change in prime minister. No industry faces more questions at this time than recruitment industry whose

sole reason for being is the hiring of people. Recruiter’s Colin Cottell and Graham Simons investigate three of the biggest areas of concern for the industry in Brexit’s wake: immigration, how recruitment’s trade bodies plan to lobby for industry interests and the potential impact on recruitment’s mergers & acquisitions environment…

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TH E B IG STO RY BREXIT

Immigration: revamp needed for UK’s brave new post-Brexit world

BY COLIN COTTELL

↗ JOHN HAYES Principal and founder at Constantine Law

↗ ROSE CAREY Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys

BIG CHANGES should be made to the UK’s current immigration system to make it work better for both employers and migrant workers post-Brexit, according to immigration lawyers.

Free movement of labour within the European Union is one of the core principles of EU membership, but there is broad consensus following the vote to leave that this is likely to change, with some sort of immigration controls being imposed on EU nationals. “This is a natural corollary of Brexit,” said John Hayes, principal and founder at employment law firm Constantine Law. Rose Carey, partner, employment, pensions and immigration division at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys, told Recruiter that while a complete overhaul of the UK’s immigration system “would probably cause more problems than it would solve … there are several changes that could be made within our existing system”.

GET T Y

Making it more responsive to the needs of employers The role of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which currently advises the government on migration should be extended to include assessing the need for Tier-2 skilled workers from the EU. Currently Tier-2 skilled worker visas are only issued to people from outside the EEA (European Economic Area) and Switzerland. “By utilising MAC, the government could ensure that the UK invites migrants to the UK where there is a genuine business need. Quotas can be used to control numbers where there are concerns about net migration figures increasing,” said Carey.

Reintroduction of Tier-3 visa

Constantine Law’s Hayes would like to see the reintroduction of the Tier-3 visa for unskilled EU migrant workers. He suggests that this should be introduced for certain sectors including construction, hospitality and retail, which currently employ a lot of unskilled workers from Europe. “Who is going to do their jobs in two-anda-half years after we leave the EU?” said Hayes.

Tier-3 visas were introduced in 2008 as part of the UK’s points-based system for unskilled workers from outside the EU, but were never operational and were withdrawn completely in March 2013. Similarly, new applications for Tier-1 visas for highly skilled migrants were closed in 2011 and should be reintroduced, said Carey.

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AUGUST 2016

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CONGRATULATIONS AWARDS

TO THE 2016 SHORTLIST Shortlisted companies include: • Amoria Bond • Annapurna Recruitment • Baltimore Consulting Group • Berkeley Scott • Caritas Recruitment • Class People • CMA Recruitment Group • Cognitive Group • Core Atlantic • Darwin Professional Staffing Group • DP Connect • Eames Consulting Group • Enlighten Supply Pool • Evolution Recruitment Solutions • Expand Executive Search • Goodman Masson • GPW Recruitment • Gravitas Recruitment Group • HCL Workforce Solutions • Henderson Scott • J1 Consulting • La Fosse Associates • Liquid Personnel • LR Legal Recruitment • MC Partners • Meridian Business Support • Morgan Hunt UK • Morgan McKinley • Morson Human Resources (t/a Morson International) • MSI Group

CEREMONY

5 October | 12.30 The Brewery, London • Nicoll Curtin • NonStop Recruitment • Oliver James Associates • Opus Professional Services Group • Pertemps Recruitment Partnership • Portfolio Payroll • Primary Care People • Rapid Search & Interim and Firefly Human Capital • Recart • Resource Solutions Group • Rethink Group • Search Consultancy • SEC Recruitment • Sensible Staffing • SF Group • Sopra Steria Recruitment • Spinnaker Global • Tangent International • The Asoria Group • The SR Group • TXM Recruit • Venturi • X4 Group • Your World Recruitment Group

PASSION FOR PEOPLE

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Awards enquiries +44 (0) 20 7324 2771 rhianna@redactive.co.uk @RecruiterAwards

Sponsorship enquiries +44(0) 20 7880 7607 tom.culley@recruiter.co.uk

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www.investingintalent.co.uk

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be fast-tracked and employees and entrepreneurs are not stuck unable to travel as they are without their passport for months on end,” said Carey.

Carey added that she would also like to see “more priority processing” for work-related visa applications and applications from Tier-1 highly skilled migrants. “Many posts overseas do not offer such a service, and applicants and their employers have to wait six to eight weeks for applications to be processed.”

Widening choice The different service options available for Tier-2 should be offered across all visa application types, suggested Carey.

The options include Super Premium, Premium Service Centre appointments, priority postal and standard postal.

“This would enable applicants to choose the cost of the application against processing times.”

“If it goes smoothly, it is brilliant”

“This visa category should be brought back and developed. Points could be awarded on the basis of academic qualifications, work experience, experience of working abroad, age, offer of employment and English language ability.”

Better administration Alex Ruffer, a partner in law firm Irwin Mitchell’s private wealth team, which covers immigration, says poor adminstration is a problem for her clients: “If it goes smoothly, it is brilliant. But when there is a glitch it is a nightmare, and it is very hard to resolve any administrative issues.” In some cases it can take three or four months for a final decision on an application. “It is frustrating and disappointing for clients, and could be made smoother,” said Ruffer.

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Consistency and fairness The government should “go back to the drawing board” with its entrepreneurs’ category visa, said Ruffer.

The ‘genuineness test’ of whether an entrepreneur is a true entrepreneur is too subjective, she said, and has led to inconsistent decisions. The Home Office “seem to apply the rules more strictly” to countries such as China and India than to other countries, such as the US, she added.

More resources And finally, Carey said: “The UK system is under resourced and under staffed.

There needs to be investment in UK Visas and Immigration. There needs to be more staff to audit employers and businesses to make sure they are compliant with the requirements so abuse of the system is identified and dealt with.”

AUGUST 2016

14/07/2016 16:09

T H E B I G STO RY B R E XI T

Industry looks forward to May

BY GRAHAM SIMONS

THE UK’S NEW Prime Minister Theresa May has been urged to tread carefully with unpicking current European legislation enshrined into UK law, ahead of starting negotiations on the UK’s exit from the European Union.

This past month saw home secretary May as the last candidate standing, after energy minister Andrea Leadsom left the contest to decide who would succeed David Cameron as PM following his decision to step down after the UK electorate voted to leave the European Union in June.

Despite the UK’s vote to leave, repealing EU directives may not be so simple, given the examples of countries such as Switzerland and Norway, which are not part of the EU but have trade agreements with the Union that involve adhering to a vast swathes of EU-derived employment law.

Tom Hadley, Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) director of policy, told Recruiter serious discussions and planning is required before the UK government decides which pieces of European legislation it will seek to change. Hadley added the REC will be gathering insights from members about what they think

“The overriding aim is to ensure that we have the best possible regulatory landscape for our industry”

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The UK’s new Prime Minister Theresa May

is best for their businesses, their candidates and their clients.

“The overriding aim is to ensure that we have best possible regulatory landscape for our industry, one that facilitates growth and job creation, while maintaining effective enforcement mechanisms to protect the interests of compliant businesses.

This will involve reviewing EU-based regulations that are now embedded in UK law, but must also involve as a priority reviewing domestic employment and tax regulations that are currently in the pipeline such as IR35 and the apprenticeship levy.”

But Rachel Suff, public policy adviser, employment relations at HR professional body the CIPD, says their

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TH E B IG STO RY BREXIT

organisation is advocating a ‘no change’ approach to current employment law in the UK. The UK, she said, currently has an “appropriate” employment law framework that provides sufficient flexibility for employers and appropriate employment protection for workers.

Suff added the CIPD will make this case to government as the UK’s future relationship with the EU unfolds.

“We will of course be monitoring developments in any negotiations closely, in terms of how they will be likely to impact on the workplace, and consulting with our community of more than 140,000 members so that we can give an evidence-based perspective on any specific proposals that emerge,” she added.

With regards to which pieces of European legislation enacted into UK law could be changed or repealed entirely, Samantha Hurley, operations director at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), said the Temporary Agency Workers Directive is in the top 10 of lists of EU directives its members would like to see changed.

“It is no secret that APSCo would like to see this legislation amended significantly or removed entirely, although we think the latter is unlikely.

The UK government has ‘gold-plated’ much of this legislation, and these rights have become part of the fabric of UK social and employment law,” Hurley said.

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“What we wouldn’t want to see, however, is small, less significant changes, as these often cause more disruption than leaving the regulations as they currently are.”

In terms of what needs to be retained following the UK’s exit from the EU, Hurley said APSCo members believe keeping access to the European single market would be advantageous – adding with Theresa May’s appointment, this scenario looks increasingly likely.

“With this, we assume, would come free movement of labour, which is largely beneficial for the professional sector,” Hurley added. “Although there are still a plethora of country-specific rules to be negotiated when placing professional staff into other EU states, and the compliance to such legislation should not be underestimated. The reality is that placing professionals in the majority of EU countries is still relatively easy, compared to some other parts of the world.

“If free movement is to be restricted, it is important that we work with the government to protect the international mobility of the highlypaid and highly-skilled professionals that all large UK businesses rely on,” Hurley said.

Retaining access to the single market is also a priority for the REC’s membership, Hadley said.

“Businesses were finding it increasingly hard to source the right candidates before the vote, so ensuring employers can still access the people they need to succeed must be top of the list for any negotiations. We will take this message to government to help PM Theresa May set priorities for the upcoming negotiations.”

That theme of the need to retain access to the single market, balanced with the removal of “burdensome” regulation, is picked up by Azmat Mohammed, founder and director general at the Institute of Recruiters.

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T H E BI G STORY S A M A N T H A R A M S AY

How much EU legislation the UK will retain is anyone’s guess

“We need to be quick off the mark in negotiating a new trade EU deal and other trade deals with Commonwealth countries in tandem” “Post-Brexit we want to see the UK relook at EU regulations like AWR [Agency Workers Regulations] and AWD [Agency Workers Directive] to ensure we can build a flexible workforce that business needs and removing burdensome regulation,” Mohammed told Recruiter.

“We want to ensure business can easily get access to EU talent as required. We need to be quick off the mark in negotiating a new trade deal with the EU and other trade deals with Commonwealth countries in tandem.”

And questions remain over the status of EU nationals currently residing and working in the UK. A spokesperson for the European Confederation of Private Employment Services (Eurociett) said UK policymakers will need to set out a clear plan and timetable for implementing changes to employment regulations with the UK currently reliant on 3m EU nationals within its workforce.

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“The UK relies on them to fill roles across a wide range of economic sectors including healthcare, construction, education and manufacturing,” the Eurociett spokesperson said.

“Indeed, EU workers represent 8% of people working in the hospitality sector in shops, bars and restaurants. Now that the UK has voted to leave the EU, provision will need to be set in place to ensure that it continues to be able to access these workers in order to keep these services going.

“Similarly, workers coming from EU member states will want to be assured that they are afforded the necessary rights and social protections, similar to those which they enjoyed when the UK was a member of the EU.” In any event, recruitment and employment trade bodies need to be consulted ahead of any European laws being repealed or introduced into the UK, said Hurley.

“It is crucial that the government

consults with representative bodies in the professional recruitment sector as EU-derived laws are replaced by, or recreated into, British statute. In its EU Manifesto, APSCo highlights the importance of any trade negotiations or agreements being drawn up in consultation with the private sector.

“This is essential if we are to avoid an unfair market where European firms can access the UK market, but UK service providers cannot fully access the EU market.”

But as things stand there does not appear to be a clear strategy in place for what happens next, as Association of Recruitment Consultants (ARC) chairman Adrian Marlowe pointed out to Recruiter.co.uk soon after the vote.

“There’s no clarity at all as to what’s going to happen. We don’t know what the ramifications are yet. ARC will continue to campaign as we have always done to protect the commercial interests of our members and promote the recruitment industry.”

As for the future prospects of the industry, on the day the vote to leave was announced, Liz Longman, managing director of The Employment Agents Movement (TEAM), told Recruiter government now has the opportunity to be innovative and to introduce changes to enable the UK to develop talent internally to directly help the UK economy and for businesses to develop and grow.

“Industry is already suffering from a significant shortfall in appropriate talent and there really should be a better connect being made between schools, universities and industry to ensure that the right talents and skills are being produced to allow industry to thrive.”

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TH E B IG STO RY SAMANTHA R AMSAY

Pound’s collapse set to give M&A post-Brexit vote boost

BY COLIN COTTELL

↗

The dramatic fall in the value of the pound following the UK’s vote to leave the EU is a potential trigger for heightened mergers & acquisitions activity in the recruitment sector, according to M&A players in the sector.

Jonathan Wright, a co-founder of the newly created M&A advisory firm Elite Capital Partners, told Recruiter that the fall in the value of the pound JONATHAN WRIGHT Co-founder of Elite against the dollar and the yen since the Capital Partners Brexit vote on 23 June would enhance the attractiveness of UK recruitment businesses to overseas buyers.

The pound recently fell to a 31-year low against the dollar, and its post-Brexit devaluation had had the effect of decreasing the multiple (how many times a company’s earnings before interest tax and depreciation and amortisation [EBITDA]) a US buyer paying in dollars would be willing to offer by around 15% overnight, Wright JIM FIELDHOUSE explained.

Corporate finance Wright said his company had already assistant director at BDO responded by seeking out interest from the US and Asia in a possible deal in the sector, where previously the expectation had been that it would have involved only UK players.

However, Wright said the pound’s devaluation would be unlikely to trigger a swathe of deals. “Yes [the pound’s devaluation] is a positive, but in my experience an acquirer is also going to want to see future growth,” he said.

That said, Wright added he expected private equity to

↗

26 RECRUITER

“In my experience an acquirer is going to want to see future growth”

take advantage of cheaper recruitment business assets. “There will be some opportunistic buying by private equity,” he said.

James Fieldhouse, corporate finance assistant director – corporate finance M&A at M&A advisory firm BDO, agreed that despite making UK recruitment businesses cheaper to foreign buyers future deals would also depend “on their trading performance and the sector they are in”. If they rely heavily on sending people overseas [and restrictions on free movement post-Brexit resulted in this becoming more difficult] that might have a negative impact, even though the asset is cheaper,” he said.

Although formal negotiations between the

AUGUST 2016

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T H E BI G STORY S A M A N T H A R A M S AY

UK and the EU on the terms of the UK’s exit haven’t officially started, Wright predicted that the outcome of those negotiations would have a crucial bearing on recruitment companies’ attractiveness to potential buyers.

If the outcome of the negotiations was to “impose stringent rules” on freedom of movement between the UK and the EU, the resultant skills shortages “would naturally affect the performance of recruitment companies”. Wright said this in turn would result in recruitment companies being “less attractive to potential acquirers”.

Fieldhouse agreed that companies who “were going to perform worse” as a result of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations would become less attractive. However, he continued: “If you are a UK-only recruiter that has a real niche, in a sector where it is very difficult to recruit, such as digital, and you don’t send people overseas you should still be an attractive asset for companies from overseas.”

Fieldhouse said the Brexit vote had had no effect on a couple of deals he was working on involving potential buyers of UK recruitment businesses from Europe. However, he said the I M AG E | G E T T Y

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“Major projects might be put on hold”

flipside was in areas such as construction, “where major projects might be put on hold”, which had led to recruitment businesses in the short term becoming less valuable and therefore less attractive.

However, Wright was more positive on the effect of Brexit on recruitment technology companies. He said that many would continue to be of interest to outside investors, particularly early stage ‘disruptive’ businesses. “They have the same chance of getting investment as they did [before the vote].”

In contrast, he said “traditional job boards” would see their chances of outside investment diminish.

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The challenge SPO NSO RE D COLU MN S I M P L Y F A C T O R I N G B R O K E R S L T D

Recruiter Finances Perm to Temp

R

osato Recruitment is a small, up-and-coming recruitment company from Newport. Like many recruitment agencies, they wanted to diversify their offering and supply candidates on a temporary basis. Availability of cash flow for wages would be a decisive factor, as would back office administration. Natalie Rosato, a director, looked to Simply Factoring Brokers to find a solution and commercial finance broker Phil Smith walked her through the process.

Q: Tell us how you heard about Simply Factoring Brokers?

Natalie: We had just opened our new office in Cwmbran. Phil Smith had heard we were opening. On our third day of trading he popped in to see if we had considered using a factoring company. I had previous experience of using a factoring company that didn’t end well so I explained my fears of using one again. However, I had the impression from Phil that a relationship with him and his company would be a supportive one, and that completely changed my mind. It was important that our funder would look after us every step of the way --which they have done.

Q: What was Simply Factoring Brokers able to offer your recruitment business?

Natalie: Phil talked through many options, but invoice factoring is all we require for a business of our size. When we scale, I have no doubt that we will need additional facilities. The back office facilities are particularly appealing as they would streamline our administration.

Q: Can you explain a little about the back office facility?

Natalie: As Phil explained, the back office facility would give us a complete system for managing timesheets, payroll and finance for each invoice that we raise. As temps complete each week in work, they log in to our back office system, submit their timesheets, which are then automatically forwarded to the correct contact for approval. Once approved by a line manager, the system creates the related invoice and submits it to both customer and funder and we will get an advance of up to 90% of the invoice within 24 hours.

There is also no operation cost for the back office system, which is an obvious plus.

Natalie: We are just breaking in to the temporary market so the back office facility is something we will use in the future. We are just not quite there yet.

Q: Are there any reasons apart from cash flow that convinced you to use Factoring?

Natalie: Phil from Simply Factoring explained that we are financing an expansion in to the temporary worker market without taking on debt. This gives us freedom to open new revenue streams with little risk to the business and without going cap in hand to a funder. As

Q: Phil, Is Natalie’s predicament typical of your recruitment customers?

Phil: There is no such thing as a typical situation. As brokers, we often tailor finance packages to suit the needs of individual companies and sometimes use more than one funder to accommodate different needs within a business. Not all funders offer the same facilities as each other, and not all are as competitive as others are with certain products. Naturally, there are similarities in certain verticals, which is why many of our funders supply things like back office management systems along with their finance offering.

Q: Can you give me an example of a difficult situation where you secured funding from more than one lender for your customer?

Phil: This often happens. We have some lenders that are very good on price for factoring services and as a leading broker, we get great offers because they value us as a source of leads. However, I recently had to secure an overdraft facility for a recruitment business that didn’t want a loan to accompany their invoice factoring agreement. The £100k overdraft would only cost the customer if they drew down from the available amount unlike a loan that would require immediate servicing. This allowed my customer to take their time when searching for new premises that would form part of their expansion. ●

↗

Q: So why didn’t you choose a full back office facility immediately?

with all new businesses, we are looking to grow fast, but we also don’t want to spread ourselves too thinly. Most important is that our growth remains stable and that jobs we create within Rosato Recruitment are secure.

SIMPLY FACTORING BROKERS LTD For further information: www.simplyfactoringbrokers.co.uk/recruiter Telephone: 0333 920 6880 Email: recruitment@ simplyfactoringbrokers.co.uk

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE INVOLVED IN THE CHALLENGE? Contact Tom Culley at tom.culley@recruiter.co.uk

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 29

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13/07/2016 11:17

Issue 40 AUGUST 2016

RECRUITMENT MATTERS The View and The Intelligence

The Big Talking Point

The REC’s response to Brexit p p2-3 p2 3

Indeed’s Mariano Mamertino on Brexit

p4

Legal update and the IRP

Events and Training

Labour law and Brexit

TREC 2016

FIVE THINGS TO CONSIDER IN THE AFTERMATH OF BREXIT The vote to leave t e EU th the will likely usher in a challenging period f r British business and for the fo for l b k t in i particular. ti l UK labour market But recruiters will have an important role to play in the post-Brexit economy. Here are five things you should bear in mind.

1) NOTHING WILL CHANGE IMMEDIATELY The UK remains a member of the EU for now and nothing will change overnight. The world of work will carry on, businesses still need staff and will continue to rely on recruiters to help them find the people they need. The best thing for business right now is clear and

@RECPress RM_AUG_16-NEW.indd 1

calm leadership and as much clarity as possible on what the post-EU future will look like.

We have won the economic argument that a dynamic and responsive recruitment industry is critical in building the best jobs market in the world. Our ‘Jobs transform lives’ initiative takes the next step and shows the positive impact the industry has on individuals and businesses.

for recruiters to use when marketing their services, including facts and statistics about the recruitment industry, a promotional film, social media content, presentation emplates, slides, case study templates, website banners, printable wibbon collateral and a Twibbon [a bumper sticker for your e image] social media profile to enable recruiterss to raise the profile of their business, mprove while also helping to improve he wider w the reputation of the it iss available industry. The toolkit bstrransform at rec.uk.com/jobstransform

3) YOU HAVE THE TOOLS TO PROMOTE THE WORK YOU DO

4) THE REC’S WORLD-CLASS RLD D-CLASS INSIGHT ON THE JOB JOBS BS MARKET WILL CONTINUE ONT TINUE

In June we launched the ‘Jobs transform lives’ toolkit. The toolkit contains resources

The REC is now working orking g re esearch with award-winning research p company ComRes to produce

2) RECRUITMENT WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE A BIG EFFECT ON THE ECONOMY

p8

p6-7 a new and improved version of its popular ‘JobsOutlook’ report. The new JobsOutlook features the same in-depth analysis and insight of the UK’s labour market you’re used to, but with new and improved features, including detailed responses from employers about workforce planning. Having access to as much market information as possible is crucial, particularly in times of uncertainty. The improved JobsOutlook will be an important guide in the postBrexit economy.

5)) WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU The REC wants to hear how Brexit is affecting every aspect of your business.

We will continue presenting your views to stakeholders in Westminster and pushing for a diverse and fl flexible exible jobs market. We encourage all members to email any questions, concerns and insights to our dedicated EU address euyourview@rec.uk.com

www.rec.uk.com www rec uk k com 13/07/2016 10:22

Leading the Industry

THE VIEW

We’re already thinking ahead, says Tom Hadley, REC director of policy and professional services

Recruiters will play a vital role in a postEU UK, says Kevin Green, REC chief executive

As I write this the EU Referendum result is still fresh in my mind. The British people have spoken and the UK will be leaving the EU. In the short term the uncertainty we saw before the vote is likely to remain, but the jobs market has nonetheless continued to perform well: every sector (bar oil & gas) and all regions of the UK are in growth. The economic fundamentals remain strong and the stance of the Prime Minister and the Governor of the Bank of England to support the banks and liquidity reassure the markets will help to ensure business as usual prevails in the short term.

At the REC we are capturing members’ views and concerns, while also analysing the huge amount of employment and agency regulation we have on the statute book to see what we think should change for the benefit of the UK jobs market and our members. There will be a lot of negotiating and planning before the UK government decides what to change. Once they have done this it will involve

EU REFERENDUM TAKING STOCK & LOOKING FORWARD extensive consultations. Rest assured that the REC will be representing, influencing and on occasions fighting on behalf of the recruitment industry.

To this end we need to talk up the impact our industry has on the economy, jobs market and individuals. We know that jobs transforms lives and that we make a huge difference to businesses and individuals every day. We have designed and developed a new set of tools so that you, our members, can help amplify all that’s great about our industry, promote professional standards and spread the word about the difference we make collectively. So take advantage of the toolkit and help improve the perception of our wonderful industry.

Together, let’s make the UK the best jobs market in the world.

If you want to keep abreast of all that’s new about employment and recruitment why not follow me on twitter at @kevingreenrec

“THE JOBS MARKET HAS NONETHELESS CONTINUED TO PERFORM WELL: EVERY SECTOR (BAR OIL & GAS) AND ALL REGIONS OF THE UK ARE IN GROWTH.” 2 RECRUITMENT MATTERS AUGUST 2016

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The vote to leave the EU result has ushered in a challenging period for British business, which may have a significant impact on the UK jobs market and our industry.

The REC’s priority has been to call for calm and clarity from government to ensure that any impact is as limited as possible. Other immediate aims have been to capture the concerns of recruiters and to engage with the wider business community on both short and longer-term implications.

Nothing in our current relationship with the EU will change overnight. There will be a prolonged period of renegotiation and readjustment; during this time government needs to do everything possible to help businesses to grow and create jobs. As well as taking this message forward and collating initial member feedback and questions, immediate actions since the referendum have included: • Liaising with other business organisations to take stock of how employers across different sectors are planning to respond • Calling on government to provide as much clarity as possible on what the post-EU world will look like (including plans for reviewing EU regulations like the Agency Workers Directive, which are now embedded in UK law) • Maintaining a clear focus on the skills agenda, as we will need to develop new ways over the coming years of ensuring that UK businesses can fill the jobs available (including a radical step-change in the way we prepare UK nationals to fill vacancies available) • Using our data to monitor any immediate impact of on hiring intentions and on both temporary and permanent placements.

Before the referendum the majority of REC members indicated that remaining in the EU was in the best interests of the UK economy, the jobs market and of their own recruitment business. Now that the decision has been made to leave the EU, our goal is to work with members, government and business community to forge a new business landscape that drives growth and jobs.

You can follow Tom on Twitterr ment @hadleyscomment

www.rec.uk.com

13/07/2016 10:26

THE INTELLIGENCE DIANA BEECH, REC SENIOR RESEARCHER, REFLECTS ON THE ‘UBERISATION’ OF WORK The world of work is changing. The notion of a ‘job for life’ and a ‘9-5’ workday is rapidly diminishing in our increasingly flexible labour market. Today the trend that is gaining traction is that of the ‘gig economy’ – this is when workers opt to assume temporary, often ad-hoc, work contracts (or ‘gigs’), sourced through cloud-based marketplaces.

The recent growth of online platforms such as Uber and Airbnb has given rise to a ‘sharing’ economy where it is commonplace to buy and sell services and jobs. Digital work platforms like Upwork,

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PeoplePerHour and Freelancer.com allow firms to contract with workers for short-term engagements.

The idea of the ‘gig economy’ has its origins in the 2009 financial crisis, when people turned to ‘gig working’ – often doing several jobs at a time – as a means of making ends meet.

Today, however, many people are actively choosing to work ‘gigs’: young people building a portfolio of experience, retirees who aren’t yet ready to give up work, and people simply looking for more flexibility and choice over what they do and when they do it. An Intuit study predicted that by 2020 40% of US workers will be independent contractors.

The latest REC research nevertheless finds reluctance amongst UK employers to use digital work platforms as part of their staffing strategies. A survey of 614 businesses reveals that only

6% OUR SURVEY SHOWS A SURVEY OF 614 BUSINESSES REVEALS THAT ONLY 6% OF EMPLOYERS ARE PRESENTLY USING DIGITAL WORK PLATFORMS

26%

OF HIRERS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE ROBUSTNESS OF THE ‘GIGGING’ PROCESS JOBS

6% of employers are presently using digital work platforms to recruit talent into permanent or temporary positions. One in five businesses say the risks of using these platforms outweigh the potential benefits.

Specifically, our survey shows 26% of hirers are concerned about the robustness of the ‘gigging’ process – highlighting the risk that candidates may lie about their qualifications or experience; 14% of employers are also worried that the use of digital work platforms could open up their businesses to legal complications.

Yet the ‘gig economy’ is growing: 29% of employers

14%

OF EMPLOYERS ARE ALSO WORRIED THAT THE USE OF DIGITAL WORK PLATFORMS COULD OPEN UP THEIR BUSINESSES TO LEGAL COMPLICATIONS

acknowledge it is likely that digital work platforms will become more important to their businesses in the next five years.

The latest REC research compares what employers are telling us with what the people behind the ‘gig economy’ infrastructure are doing to ensure the robustness and efficiency of this new way of working. Next week we will publish our full report, looking at what the trend towards these platforms means for the recruitment industry and for work more generally.

RECRUITMENT MATTERS AUGUST 2016 3

13/07/2016 10:24

The Big Talking Point

BREXIT

BREXIT: UK JOBSEEKERS REACT MARIANO MAMERTINO, ECONOMIST FOR EMEA AT GLOBAL JOB SITE INDEED In what has turned out to be a momentous period in UK politics, last month the majority of British citizens voted to leave the European Union. Quickly thereafter, many UK-based jobseekers started a vote of their own: they jumped online to look for work elsewhere. Job search out of the UK doubled in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit referendum results.

Where were UK jobseekers looking to for work in those first few hours following the news?

IRELAND, CANADA AND THE US PIQUE BRITS’ JOB INTEREST Most looked to the very countries of the European Union that Britain will be leaving, with Ireland attracting the largest spike in searches from UK to EU. But job search didn’t just stay in Europe; search rose 73% for the rest of the world too, to countries like the US, Canada and Australia.

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Indeed’s top 50 searches in the days that followed; none of these terms were in the top 50 in the days leading up to the referendum.

CHANGING DYNAMICS OF EU JOB SEARCH

Mariano Mamertino

It stands to reason that these countries increasingly become talent magnets to EU jobseekers. They host great cities, offering a good quality of life and, crucially, at a lower cost of living when compared with the likes of London.

Ireland will now become one of the only countries with access to the common market where English is spoken as a first language by the majority of its citizens (Malta being another) – a major draw for top talent.

Equally, interest also increased from EU countries to Ireland, at the expense of usual EU to UK job search traffic. So it seems the UK’s loss could be Ireland’s gain:

in the immediate aftermath of the referendum, Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs asked UK citizens seeking passports to slow down as they were in danger of overwhelming the system.

SECTORS AT RISK? Which sectors should take note of the surge? Top searches from the UK to Ireland were for roles in Marketing, HR, Engineering, Transport and Retail.

Outbound search to other European countries such as Germany saw spikes for roles in the Hospitality and Finance sectors. Keywords including ‘finance’, ‘analyst’, ‘data analyst’ and ‘c# programmers’ made

‘The Brexit effect’ on job search saw a decline in the attractiveness of the UK and significant surge of interest in Ireland, in the hours and days following the referendum.

While we should keep in mind that these trends may be the result of short-term volatility, they could also be a first signal of a change in the dynamics that underpin inbound and outbound job search in the UK. Unless the UK acts quickly to reassure EU jobseekers of long-term employment rights and renegotiate its position outside the EU – without disrupting cross-border workers’ flows – these changed search dynamics could continue. The repercussions of which are likely to benefit employers across both the Irish Sea and the other side of the Atlantic.

www.rec.uk.com

13/07/2016 10:24

“WE SHOULD KEEP IN MIND THAT THESE TRENDS MAY BE THE RESULT OF SHORTTERM VOLATILITY”

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13/07/2016 10:24

Legal update

BREXIT What does Brexit mean for the European employment laws we have implemented in the UK? By Chris Cuckney Since the UK voted for Brexit, we have all heard many reports on the possible impact this will have on us.

The REC Legal Team have already received questions on what the consequences will be on the UK legislation that we have implemented as a result of European Directives.

Many of the employment laws we have in the UK are a result of European Directives, such as the Working Time Regulations 1998, the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (or TUPE as it is more commonly known) and the Equality Act 2010.

The short answer is that at this stage it is difficult to know – there is no set precedent to follow and we do not know the precise details of what

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the UK’s relationship with the EU will look like after we have formally left. At the time of writing we have not begun the legal process of leaving the EU, which requires the UK to enact Article 50 of the Treaty of European Union.

Until we do this all of the European employment laws we have implemented in the UK will remain in place and consequently all recruitment companies must continue to comply with them.

Once the UK has begun the process of formally leaving the EU, in theory there will come a point where the UK is no longer bound by our obligation to implement these European Directives. At that stage the UK government could (if they so wished) repeal any legislation that gives effect to these Directives.

It is worth noting that even

if the UK government was inclined to repeal/amend some of the employment laws implemented as a result of European Directives, some of these laws have been in place in the UK for a long time and any decision to change them will have political consequences and could impact the morale of the British workforce. Any changes will not happen overnight; it is likely to be a lengthy process with all the usual government consultations taking place.

The UK courts currently have an obligation to read our domestic legislation in light of the wording and purpose of the Directive; leaving the EU will presumably have an impact on this obligation and it will be interesting to see what importance the UK courts place on European case law going forward.

As undesirable as it is, we are in for a period of uncertainty because we do not know what our relationship with the EU will look like post-Brexit.

It is only really possible to theorise what our position will be when we leave. Over the next two years or so the UK will be negotiating the terms under which we will leave the EU. These negotiations will include an agreement on what the UK’s obligations will be going forward with regard to European Directives, including the possibility that we may have to continue implementing European employment law in the UK. Recruiters should therefore hold off celebrating the end of the Agency Workers Regulation 2010 – the laws recruitment companies were bound by the day before the referendum are just as binding today.

www.rec.uk.com

13/07/2016 10:24

Inspiration

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE INSTITUTE OF RECRUITMENT PROFESSIONALS

The View

Jennifer Button n is a sultant recruitment consultant at Health Recruitt Network and wass the ay’s top student in May’s Cert RP exam

Sonny Pithiya is the or of managing director ms Bluecross Locums

TOP STUDENT

AUDITED MEMBER

How did you get into recruitment?

I’m from New Zealand and I’ve worked as a registered nurse in paediatrics for five years. While doing that I completed a science degree and majored in psychology, and I’ve always found industrial psychology really interesting. When I moved to the UK, recruitment was where I wanted to be.

How long has Bluecross been REC Audited members?

I set the company up in late 2003, and within a year we became Audited members, which we’ve been for almost 11 years now.

What is your role at HRN? HRN covers both temp and permanent recruitment for the private medical sector, so nursing homes, private hospitals and other medical services. I cover the permanent recruitment end at the moment.

What are some of your biggest challenges?

Registered nurses are like gold dust in the UK. It’s difficult to get hold of them and there are so many clients in need of good nurses. It’s a very candidate-driven market.

What prompted you to take the Level 3 Certificate in Recruitment Practice?

We’ve got a good internal programme at HRN where after six months they give every permanent recruiter a chance to be enrolled in the certificate. The company has seen the benefits of the certificate and have really encouraged us into taking it.

How did you find the course?

It was great – I found it very interesting. Having come from a registered nurse background, I know the industry quite well. But knowing how the recruitment side of things works has been really beneficial. It has given me techniques and knowledge that help me every day. My colleagues and I still refer back to the content quite regularly – there’s a lot more to recruitment than what you first assume.

Would you recommend the course?

I definitely would.

What does being an REC Audited member offer?

The intention was always to work at a good standard and Audited provided the platform to do that. It was about getting the right guidance and steps together to ensure we were in the right place. Sometimes when you’re a new business, you’re left unsure about things. What I quickly realised is that the REC Audited process wasn’t about catching us out, but giving us guidance and helping us minimise risk and mistakes.

Would you recommend REC Audited?

Absolutely, I would recommend it to anyone taking it up. The guidance it offers is invaluable. I think members would find that the audit process exists to make them better. We have a lot of companies in the health sector who aren’t Audited, and that surprises me. The Audited process has allowed us to keep on top of all the big legal changes, and it shows your intention to work to a good practice and utilise all the assistance the REC offers.

What does Bluecross Locums specialise in?

We deal with doctors only, but we cover all spectrums, grades and specialities. We’re looking to branch out even further – just in the last two years we’ve moved offices twice because of growth. I started the business out of my office at home; in fact, the first two REC Audited visits took place there. But even with that growth, we’re never going to know everything. Some of the things we come across we’ve never seen before, but going through the process, an REC audit helps us keep track of where we’re going.

To keep up to date with everything the Institute of Recruitment Professionals is doing, please visit www.rec-irp.uk.com

www.rec.uk.com

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Events and training

TREC 2016 HUNDREDS OF HR AND RECRUITMENT DELEGATES JOINED THE REC AT TREC 2016. HERE ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CONFERENCE

REC chief executive Kevin Green

Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith

Charu Malhotra from Ferrero, Dominic Redfearn from Diageo and Kevin Hough from LV

Matthew Syed, sports journalist at The Times

RECRUITMENT MATTERS

Membership Department: Membership: 020 7009 2100, Customer Services: 020 7009 2100 Publishers: Redactive Publishing Ltd, 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP. Tel: 020 7880 6200. www.redactive.co.uk Editorial: Editor Michael Oliver michael.oliver@redactive.co.uk. Production Editor: Vanessa Townsend Production: Production Executive: Rachel Young rachel.young@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6209 Printing: Printed by Precision Colour Printing

The official magazine of The Recruitment & Employment Confederation Dorset House, 1st Floor, 27-45 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NT Tel: 020 7009 2100 www.rec.uk.com

© 2016 Recruitment Matters. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, neither REC, Redactive Publishing Ltd nor the authors can accept liability for errors or omissions. Views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the REC or Redactive Publishing Ltd. No responsibility can be accepted for unsolicited manuscripts or transparencies. No reproduction in whole or part without written permission.

8 RECRUITMENT MATTERS AUGUST 2016

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www.rec.uk.com

13/07/2016 10:24

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13/07/2016 11:18

INVO IC E FINANCING

BOOST FOR LENDING WITH NEW LEGAL CHANGES Upcoming legislation gislation n aims to give lending to rrecruitment agencies a shot in the arm. But iis it that simple? Colin Cottell investigates the C llegal implications LEGISLATION THAT COULD give lending to recruitment companies a welcome boost is about to go through the final stages of the legal process and is due to come into force in the autumn. The legislation is particularly important for the recruitment industry because it introduces measures aimed at boosting invoice finance – a type of financing widely used by recruitment firms.

Invoice finance, where a lender uses a recruitment company’s invoices as collateral, allows recruiters to receive a cash advance of typically up to between 80% and 90% of the value of a recruiter’s 32 REC 32 R RE RECRUITER ECRU EC RU TE RUI TER ER

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I N VO I C E F I N A N C I N G

THE GOVERNMENT’S RATIONALE FOR THE LEGISLATION The government says the existence of ‘ban on assignment’ clauses inhibits providers of invoice finance from lending, or to lend only if complicated arrangements can be agreed that give the lender confidence they will get their money back.

The first type of arrangement is where the agency asks its end client to waive the ban on assignment clause, allowing the invoice finance provider the right to recover the money it lent to the agency.

However, recruiters are reluctant to ask their clients for a waiver for fear of damaging their relationship with

them. And anyway, even when asked for, waivers from debtors are rarely forthcoming, say experts in debt finance.

Some invoice finance providers insist on workarounds before they are prepared to lend. A typical workaround is where money collected by the agency from its end client is paid into a special account controlled by an invoice finance company.

However, even when waivers and workarounds are agreed allowing lending to go ahead, the government say they complicate the lending process, and increase the cost of borrowing to businesses.

unpaid invoices. This allows the agency to bridge the period between having to pay its temps or contract workers and when pay is received from its client, which could be several months. This cash advance can then be used to run the business and to support its growth.

With the growth in invoice finance tailing off last year, according to finance lenders’ trade body ABFA (Asset Based Finance Association) figures showing asset-based lending in the UK growing by only 1.1% in 2015, anything that could give lending to recruiters a boost can only be good news.

However, while welcoming the changes, invoice finance providers and experts in debt finance say it will take time for the beneficial effects to feed through to recruiters.

The government says the legislation is needed because of a clause in business-to-business contracts that many companies insist on including in contracts with their suppliers. Although the government doesn’t single out recruitment, these ‘ban on assignment’ clauses are a feature of many contracts between agencies and their clients.

Andrew Knight, global chair of debt finance at law firm Squire Patton Boggs, explains a ban on assignment is a legal provision where one party or the other to a contract is forbidden from transferring an agreement to somebody else. “So for example, if you owe me money, I am forbidden from selling that debt to a third party,” he explains. In the context

of the recruitment industry, recruitment agencies with contracts that include these clauses are not allowed to pass on the right to receive the money owed to the agency by their end-user clients to the invoice finance company.

“The problem with this in English law is that if you have one of these clauses and you ignore it, and try to assign the contract anyway, it just doesn’t work.

The result is that the person who owed the money (the end client) has still got to pay the original creditor (the agency), and not pay the person (the finance company) who bought the contract,” Knight continues.

Jeff Longhurst, chief executive of ABFA, which along with APSCo (Association of Professional staffing Companies) contributed to the government’s consultation on the new legislation, explains how ban on assignment clauses curb lending to recruiters. Longhurst says funders are concerned about what happens if the recruiter’s end client has already paid the agency.

Longhurst says a particular concern is “if the agency goes bust”, because with a ban on assignment clause in place “the funder cannot go back to the customer”.

“You cannot make the customer pay twice, that is the real issue, so what tends to happen in many cases is the funder is not prepared to advance cash against the invoice in the first place,” he says.

The legislation that is due to come into force in the autumn does not prohibit

I M AG E | I KO N

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I NDUSTRY V IE W Glenn Blackman, Fund Invoice: “Quite rightly the government has said that is unfair, so banning ‘ban on assignment’ clauses is very much welcome” Richard Selvey-Clinton, Oakmead Finance: “There’s a risk that the end client’s legal team tells the funder there’s a ban on assignments, so we are going to pay the agency”

Andrew Dixon, Aldermore Bank: “It comes within the realm of understanding the business and understanding the facility and tailoring it for the individual client”

Andrew Knight, Squire Patten Boggs: “So for example, if you owe me money, I am forbidden from selling that debt to a third party”

Jeff Longhurst, ABFA: “What tends to happen in many cases is the funder is not prepared to advance cash against the invoice in the first place”

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INVO IC E FINANCING

THE LEGISLATION ban on assignment clauses in contracts; however, it nullifies any such clauses that are included after the legislation comes into effect, making them legally unenforceable.

Glenn Blackman, partner at invoice finance broker Fund Invoice, welcomes the new legislation. “Larger organisations that don’t accept invoices that have been assigned have definitely been a problem and this obviously compromises the whole idea of invoice finance. Quite rightly the government has said that is unfair, so banning ban on assignment clauses is very much welcome,” he says.

Invoice finance providers say when looking at the issue of ban on assignment clauses, it is important to draw a distinction between confidential invoice finance and disclosed invoice finance or factoring. With a confidential invoice facility the end client is unaware of the recruiter’s funding arrangements.

Indeed, says Knight, “that is the whole point”. On the other hand, a factoring facility, where the invoice finance company and not the recruiter collects the debt, makes it obvious to the end client that the debt has been assigned to a third party.

Andrew Dixon, Aldermore Bank’s commercial director of specialist finance, says the effects of ban on assignment clauses are most obvious when finance is provided through a factoring facility.

“Obviously when you are disclosed you are going to the customer and saying ‘I purchased the debt of XYZ Recruitment Company’; they obviously say ‘we don’t recognise this because there is a ban on assignments’.”

Richard Selvey-Clinton, managing director of Oakmead Finance, a firm that provides invoice finance to recruiters, says the risk of a funder not getting repaid is greatest when an agency goes bust and the funder goes to the end user to recover its loan to the agency. At that stage, “there is obviously a big risk that th the end client’s legal team tells the funder ‘there’s a ban on assignments, we goin to pay the agency’.” are going Dixon says the effects of ban on assignm gnm shouldn’t be assignment clausess sho

34 R RECRUITER EC CR ER R

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DECEMBER 2014 The government published a consultation paper: Nullification of ban on Invoice Assignment Clauses.

After a consultation period it published its response in August 2015.

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS PROPOSING Rather than prohibiting businesses from putting bans on assignments in contracts, the government plans to introduce a regulation that would nullify any bans that are put into contracts after the regulations have come into force making them unenforceable in law.

THE GOVERNMENT’S PROPOSALS ARE SET OUT IN: • The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (an enabling act).

• The Business Contract terms (Restrictions on Assignment of Receivables) Regulations 2015. The legislation is due to be laid before parliament in the next few months, and to come into force in the autumn.

overstated, and that he is “quite relaxed” about providing confidential invoice discount finance even when such a clause exists. “It comes within the realm of understanding the business and understanding the facility and tailoring it for the individual client. It is just about being pragmatic about it really. It is a challenge, but it is workable.”

And furthermore, with confidential facilities growing in popularity among Aldermore’s clients compared with disclosed factoring facilities, Dixon says ban on assignment clauses have increasingly become less important.

Some finance companies insist that any money the agency collects from its end-user clients is allocated directly to an account that it – the finance company – controls, thereby minimising ising the risk of not rec recovering its loan.

These points aside, Dixon says he sees the legislation as beneficial.

“It will remove one of the issues and should hopefully allow us to be slightly more expansive in the support that we will be able to provide to clients. We have worked around the obstacle, but obviously if it is removed it makes life easier.” Dixon sees the new legislation as being particularly helpful where there are factoring facilities in place, which tend to be used by smaller recruiters, who don’t have the resources to collect their own debts.

Knight is more confident that the new legislation will have a positive effect. “I reckon the law is probably just good enough, and will give lending a boost,” he says. However, he continues: “I think you will notice it is not going to be an overnight transformational thing. I think invoice financiers will gradually get more comfortable with it, as more and more contracts as a matter of fact will be entered into under the new laws.

You will find they relax more.” Over time that can only be good news for recruiters. ●

RECRUITERS USE TWO TYPES OF INVOICE FINANCE Invoice discount finance (a confidential facility) The end-user hirer is unaware of the agreement between the agency and the invoice finance company.

The agency collects the money owed on its invoices directly from the client with the proceeds being passed on to the lender.

Invoice factoring (disclosed facility) invoice finance company and not The invo agency itself collects the p proceeds the age eeds invoice. of the in nvoice. n

AUG AUGUST GUST 2016

14/07/2016 14:52

Advertorial SPO NSO RE D COLUMN F P S G R O U P

image (if applicable)

BrExhaustion?

The constant flow of Brexit doom and gloom is tiring, but there is reason to be optimistic.

Matt Huddleston, Managing Director of FPS Group, explores the parallels between the nations post Brexit upheaval and the current state of the recruitment sector.

The nightly news continues to be filled with reports of ‘what Brexit might mean’ and the overwhelming sensation must be… nobody really has any clue.

Yes, die-hard campaigners for either side continue to predict confidently that either Armageddon awaits or the land of milk and honey is just over the horizon but in reality the vast majority of us are being very British and just getting on with life.

My personal belief is that the media circus simply hasn’t got the stamina or attention span to keep up this level of scrutiny for the next 2 years. As the various colourful personalities who fronted the campaigns head in for an ‘early bath’ the civil servants will be left to the far less sensational task of thrashing out agreements that effectively maintain the status-quo to the very greatest extent possible.

possible that the direst Brexit predictions fail to materialise and UK businesses continue to require staff but are reluctant to increase full-time headcount.

Whilst we sincerely hope not, in the medium term there may be some sectors that reduce in headcount. Here the recruitment industry can help and be a stabilising force in the country, assisting people finding new opportunities in sectors that are doing better. We can only hope that the UK recruitment industry gets the proper positive recognition it deserves in the years to come for the role it will have to play in any transition the country undertakes.

For public sector recruiters, whilst the exact figure of the saving on EU membership is hotly disputed, in the long-term politicians who have promised extra funding for public bodies are going to have to find a way of delivering some additional budget to these institutions. A proportion of these additional funds must surely find their way to HR.

Perhaps I am being too complacent, or perhaps it is the experience of running an employment solutions provider through countless periods of fundamental legislative change. Each and every time these changes are considered a disaster / fatal for our industry. Over and over again there are dire predictions of what might happen, what the catastrophic effect on agencies and contractors might be. At each juncture the transition is incredibly hard work, costly and sometimes frustrating but the reality is that we step back, survey the new landscape, work with our agency partners and professional advisors then adapt and move forwards.

As for umbrella companies, perhaps it is too much to hope that the existing EU legislation and red tape around recruitment might be stripped away in the near future.

That’s what FPS Group did with the changes this April. We didn’t make predictions or launch solutions on the back of draft legislation; we waited to see what was happening and changed our service to fit the new requirements. On this occasion we identified that the removal of T&S stripped much of the contractor benefit from the old umbrella proposition and so we made a bold pricing decision to help recompense these workers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Managing Director Matt Huddleston Bsc, FCA has worked at FPS Group for over 12 years having trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst and Young. Matt attributes the major success that the group has enjoyed in payroll services over more than 20 years entirely to the dedication, hard work and exceptional industry knowledge of the colleagues it is his pleasure to work with.

We are doing this because we think the only sure thing for the UK economy over the next 2 years is uncertainty. However, much like umbrellas have been forced to face up to huge changes, the vast majority of UK businesses will now do so and much like us they will adapt and thrive.

Indeed, where recruitment is concerned economic uncertainty has the potential to increase the demand for temporary staff. It is very

↗

Our reduced-fee service is proving so popular that June-16 has been one of our best sales months for years. We have now filled four new roles in our Business Development teams and are providing the new recruits with several weeks’ intensive training before they go out on agency visits.

Clearly some changes surrounding right-to-work checks might be expected given the tone of some of the Brexit debate, but we are optimistic that a break from the barrage of legislative change we have been dealing with in recent years might be possible. ●

FPS GROUP Administration Centre, Ramsey, IM8 1GB For further information please visit: www.fpsgroup.com Telephone: 0800 634 4848 Email: sales@fpsgroup.com WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 35

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13/07/2016 11:19

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR

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OFF-PAYROLL?

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BROCHURE AVAILABLE NOW NEW LEGISLATION Compliance

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ͻ ůŝŵŝŶĂƚĞ ĂŶLJ ĂĚŵŝŶŝƐƚƌĂƟǀĞ ďƵƌĚĞŶ͕ ŝŶƚĞƌŶĂů ƌĞƐŽƵƌĐŝŶŐ Žƌ ĞŵƉůŽLJŵĞŶƚ ĐŽƐƚƐ ͻ WŽƐŝƟŽŶ LJŽƵƌ ĂŐĞŶĐLJ ĂƐ ĨƵůůLJ ĐŽŵƉůŝĂŶƚ ƉƵďůŝĐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌ ŝŶĚƵƐƚƌLJ ĞdžƉĞƌƚƐ ͻ ŽŵƉůLJ ǁŝƚŚ Ăůů ƉƵďůŝĐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌ ĨƌĂŵĞǁŽƌŬ͕ ƚĞŶĚĞƌ ĂŶĚ ĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƚ ƌĞƋƵŝƌĞŵĞŶƚƐ

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To request your copy, please contact our Agency Care team or visit our website.

Reforms to the /ŶƚĞƌŵĞĚŝĂƌŝĞƐ >ĞŐŝƐůĂƟŽŶ tŚŽ ^ŚŽƵůĚ ZĞĂĚ dŚŝƐ͍ Public Sector Organisations who engage Contractors

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ƌƌĂŶŐĞ LJŽƵƌ ŵĞĞƟŶŐ ǁŝƚŚ ŽƵƌ ƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ ĞǀĞůŽƉŵĞŶƚ ƚĞĂŵ ŶŽǁ͘

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And Remember... ͞W^ Ɛ ŚĂǀĞ Ă ƉůĂĐĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ůĂďŽƵƌ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĂƐ ƚŚĞLJ ĞŶĂďůĞ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐĞƐ ƚŽ ŇĞdž ƚŚĞŝƌ ǁŽƌŬĨŽƌĐĞ ĞĂƐŝůLJ ďĂƐĞĚ ŽŶ ĚĞŵĂŶĚ ĂŶĚ ƋƵŝĐŬůLJ ĞŶŐĂŐĞ ŝŶĚŝǀŝĚƵĂůƐ ǁŝƚŚ ƐŬŝůůƐ ƌĞƋƵŝƌĞĚ ĨŽƌ ƐŚŽƌƚͲƚĞƌŵ͕ ĐŽŶƚĂŝŶĞĚ ƉŝĞĐĞƐ ŽĨ ǁŽƌŬ͙͟ (HM Revenue & Customs – Consultation Document – 26th May 2016)

racsgroup.com | 0345 604 0571 | agencycare@racsgroup.com REC.08.16.044.indd 44

13/07/2016 11:20

CO M M U N I T Y

SOCIAL NETWORK WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO? GET IN TOUCH!

E

From trips to the zoo to squelching in goo, here’s what some of you have been up to…

MONARCH IT HANG TOUGH AND GET MUDDY VIA Monarch IT have completed Tough Mudder to raise money for local charity Fisher House, a ‘home from home’ for families in the Birmingham area. This year’s team trained hard and battled through to the end of the course, some sustaining injuries along the way. The team raised £606.10, smashing their target of £500. Unperturbed by the challenge, Monarch IT already have plans to take part in Tough Mudder 2017.

PROGRESS RECRUITMENT BATTLE ON THROUGH THE THREE PEAKS VIA A team from automotive and logistics recruiter Progress Recruitment Solutions (PRS) battled on through some of the worst ‘summer’ weather conditions organisers had ever seen to complete the Three Peaks Challenge. This involves climbing the three highest peaks in England, Wales and Scotland – Scafell Pike, Snowdon and Ben Nevis – often within 24 hours.

The result of their gruelling challenge was an extremely rewarding £2,716.05 raised for Action Medical Research – a charity dedicated to improving the health of babies and young children. Great Progress, everybody!

AROUND

£606.10 WAS RAISED

BY MONARCH IT

SPHERE DIGITAL TREATS FAMILIES TO TRIP TO THE ZOO VIA Digital, marketing and media recruiter Sphere Digital Recruitment had a great day out at Drusillas Park Zoo, East Sussex – along with 50 children and families supported by Family Action. Sphere provided the transport and lunch as part of a Charity Day to support Family Action, Sphere’s 2016 Charity of the Year. Drusillas generously gave free entry to the park for all the families. Looks like it was a roarrrring success…

TW I TT E R

COMPASS GROUP SERVES UP EXPERIENCE IN POP-UP RESTAURANT VIA Graduates from food and support services company Compass Group UK & Ireland partnered with London-based charity 2nd Chance to host a pop-up restaurant on HMS Belfast on the Thames earlier in the summer. 2nd Chance is a specialist education-to-employment training course created to support unemployed 18-24-year-olds develop their careers. The event gave 20 2nd Chance associates the opportunity to gain experience working in a professional kitchen as they took on various roles including kitchen assistants and waiters as part of the ‘Secret Kitchen’ pop-up restaurant.

Recruiter Awards @RecruiterAwards Jul 11 That’s a wrap! Congratulations to all companies and individuals on the 2016 #RITAshortlist. For a recap visit: http://www. investingintalent.co.uk/2016-shortlist/ Recruiter Magazine @RecruiterMag Jul 11 Phew, well done @RecruiterAwards quite a feat! And congrats to all on the #RITAshortlist for #investingintalent! @RecruiterMag instagram.com/recruitermagazine/ recruitermagazine.tumblr.com/

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14/07/2016 12:12

E PEER TO PEER CO M M UNITY

Five tips to setting up an event Time is a precious commodity. With so many events in the business calendar, how can you ensure yours will attract the best people and deliver what they need?

BY MELANIE HAYES

↗ MELANIE HAYES is resourcing & development director, Compass Group UK & Ireland

Compass Group UK & Ireland recently launched its Women in Food programme, which looks at how we can help to tackle the shortage of female chefs in our industry and how we can further support women in developing their careers.

The launch event was the culmination of work by our resourcing team to explore the following: how we attract

chefs within our sector, our development plans to support more women in to leadership roles and our diversity plans.

The event was by far the largest event I have planned in my career and our approach was to open this out to our internal population and external female chefs. What better way to showcase our organisation!

So what did I learn?

FIND YOUR PULL

2

RESEARCH YOUR AUDIENCE You cannot put enough time and effort in to researching your audience and identifying if what you are planning has been done time and time again. I know from my own experience I only attend events where I feel I am going to learn or gain from new experiences

1

Consider what is going to attract your audience – what’s the draw? Is it a great speaker, a new style of session, a great venue or the networking opportunity, or is it all of these things?

PLAN, PLAN AND CHECK YOUR PLANS AGAIN A well-delivered event is successful because you have detailed every role, action and responsibility. We held weekly, and in some cases daily, calls to ensure we were on track and everyone was delivering on their actions. You will be surprised that sometimes even the most glaringly obvious things get missed.

DON’T TRY TO DO IT ALONE One of the only reasons our event was such a success was down to a number of teams both within our business and externally collaborating. While great project management skills are key, the help and support of other committed individuals is the only way you will ensure success.

38 RECRUITER

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4 5

3 FOLLOW UP Once you have launched your event, ensure you follow up. You have the perfect captive audience, and a well-delivered event offers a great way to engage with people whether within or outside your organisation. You could be engaging with potential future employees.

AUGUST 2016

14/07/2016 12:18

CO M M U N I T Y

CAREERS

Recruiter, heal thyself… …and write a better job spec

E

Find your next move in recruitment on jobs.recruiter. co.uk

BY ANDREW MOUNTNEY

↗ ANDREW MOUNTNEY is founding partner at in-house recruitment specialist Aspen In-House

I SPOKE TO an organisation recently that was taking an average of 8% of candidates through from first interview to the next stage. This means the company interviews around 140 people a month. Let that number sink in for a moment.

The word ‘horrible’ doesn’t begin to cover it.

In our game, you’d think recruiters who are hiring talent management professionals would know what they were looking for. Apparently not. Speak to anyone who has been interviewed recently for a talent acquisition role and you’ll typically hear comments like: ‘The actual role didn’t match the description’, ‘The job was described as being strategic but really they wanted an operator’ or ‘The head of talent job title was great, but they were only offering a salary of £30k’.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Well, a few things. First of all, let’s use language that is realistic. Second, let’s not write a list of ‘must dos’ and ‘must-haves’. Third, let’s write a person spec and describe

what the role really looks like, day-to-day. Finally, let’s apply the same expectations that we have for hiring managers to ourselves, and be honest about what we really want in a candidate.

Most of us would like recruitment to make a meaningful contribution to our organisation’s success. But consistently exaggerating the scale of a position and overplaying the ‘strategy’ element is one of the great frustrations of recruiting professionals.

Let’s bring some honesty into describing what recruitment teams actually do.

Often, the successful candidate will find that the interesting elements of the job outlined in the spec are missing from the day-to-day, which can push them into seeking a new role.

These ‘teasers’ can be thrown into job descriptions to attract great candidates. But their failure to transpire is often the reason candidates disengage with the interview processes and leave roles early.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO? We should strive to be clear about what we need and write down what we want from a recruiter. Avoid simply describing who you are supposed to hire because someone has pre-defined it.

Be clear about the scope of the role and careful in your use of language. For example: ● If the main goal is to deliver

hires, be clear about that and make that role compelling for who should want it ● If direct sourcing is critical, explain what that means in the way you ask candidates to be clear about how they are going to source on their CVs; it will help them shape their candidacy ● Finally, dare I say it, let’s put some salary information out there to save everyone’s time as well. If the budget is £30k and you want a head of talent, your advert is probably going to attract the wrong person – that’s a problem for the recruiting strategy and will cost you time and money So here’s to doing better by our own and, hopefully, all the jobseekers out there right now. ●

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 39

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14/07/2016 12:18

Transformational Funding and Back Office Whether you are new start-up, or an established recruiter, having the right funding in place is the fundamental factor for growth and profitability.

Low headline rates can make invoice discounting and factoring seem a cheap option, but closer acquaintance reveals hidden costs and disadvantages. As your business grows, these difficulties multiply. Lack of money to pay temps weekly or concentration limits often prevent you fulfilling hard-won contracts.

We offer 100% funding of your temporary payroll and 80% funding of permanent placements giving your business a weekly cash injection. This comes with payroll, invoicing, credit insurance, credit management, debt collection and weekly management reports as part of our inclusive service. All our services have been designed by recruiters for recruiters. We understand the problems and protect you from the pitfalls, allowing you to prosper.

Our fees are transparent and calculated on your turnover. There are no weekly minimum fees, no chaps draw downs, no set up fees, no audit charges, no concentration limits, no maximum funding limits and in addition, reduction in your valuable time spent on administration.

Unlike invoice discounters and factoring companies, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t charge you interest and so we have no incentive in letting debts mount. We employ the best credit controllers who are professional and proactive in approach, mindful of client relationships and exceptional at debt collection.

As a family run business providing a personal service to recruiters, we can offer flexibility you will not find with more anonymous remotely managed organisations. For instance, unlike other providers, we do not insist on total invoice exclusivity as part of the contract. We will fund all, or some of, your perm invoices as your business needs dictate.

We are fluent in finance and can take your business from survive to thrive. We have transformed the fortunes of countless businesses across all recruitment sectors.

Talk to recruitment finance expert, Simon Jay, and discover the difference our funding and services can make to your recruitment business.

Enabling recruiters to do what they do best 100% FUNDING

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Easypay Services Ltd Call us - 01943 882106 Or email - info@easypayservices.co.uk www.easypayservices.co.uk

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13/07/2016 11:33

CO M M U N I T Y

CAREERS

E

‘I’m also a fire performer and have worked in TV and on a number of events’ ↗

MY BRILLIANT RECRUITMENT CAREER

WILLIAM GRIMWADE, senior consultant HR, PageGroup

What was your earliest dream job?

I started my first recruitment job j with Michael Page in 2013 and II’m m still here today.

What do you love most about your currentt role?

There are several aspects cts of my role that I love. I look after temporary HR recruitment for the South outh of England and really love the buzz and fast-paced ed nature of working with h m roles. contractors and interim I also love the momentt y you ou get g to tell someone you have ave e bu built built a strong relationship with that they have a job or thatt someone has accepted a role with them. hem Above all else, the best thing has to be the people I work with.

What would you consider to be the most brilliant moment of your career?

Over the last few months I have taken on a national project for a well-known facilities management company. We successfully resourced a team of 23 people in the space of 10 days to action a large-scale national HR change project. The project has been a complete success.

I M AG E S | SH UT T E R STO C K

p49_recruiter_brillcareer.indd 49

am illi

What was your first job in recruitment and how did you come into it?

W To

I’ve always been really active and loved every sport growing up. At the age of 13 I wanted to be a professional rugby player. That dream nearly came true, but due to an injury I had to stop playing altogether and moved into the nutrition, strength and conditioning side of elite sports.

William Grimwade Do you pre prefer a staycation stay ycati or holiday abroad? abr road I am to totally in the holiday abroad camp! I holida ssave m my annual leave and h a have one big trip e every year, somewhere new a n and exciting.

This y year, it’s going to be the West Coast of b America.

Am meri

Outside Ou tside the office, whatt are your interests and ho how d does your work affect them?

II’m m al also a fire a fire perform performer and have worked in TV and on a number of work events while working at PageGroup. even I’ve been doing it for years and really enjoy the creative aspects of en performing. PageGroup pe encourages e me

to continue with my hobbies, while also helping me to develop my career internally.

What’s your top job to fill at the moment? I have been seeing a lot of companies reaching out for HR change management and HR project work roles over the last year or so.

Laugh or cry, what did your most memorable candidate make you want to do and why?

Laugh. I have really good relationships with most of my candidates and so I spend most of my time genuinely having a laugh with them while trying to help their career. It’s always touching when candidates or clients write something nice or send a gift for helping them.

Make us an offer we can’t refuse… PageGroup is a great company to work for, with 87% of the directors having been promoted internally. In fact, chief executive Steve Ingham started out as a consultant and worked his way up to CEO, which is an inspiration for any recruitment consultant! ●

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 41

14/07/2016 10:19

E EMPLOYABILITY CO M M UNITY

TRANSITIONING FROM REFUGEE TO WORKER

BY COLIN COTTELL

A

not-for-profit social enterprise company is venturing into an area that most employers and recruitment agencies fear to tread.

Transitions London, founded in 2010, aims to help arguably the most marginalised group in the UK labour market: refugees. The figures tell their own story, with the unemployment rate for refugees at around 70%, according to a Department of Work and Pensions research paper in 2002, far higher than for the general population.

However, according to Sheila Heard, founder and managing director of Transitions London, that could even be an understatement. “As anyone working in the sector will tell you, if anything it has got worse,” she says. Indeed, 2014 figures from the Home Office paint an even bleaker picture, with only five out of a group of 75 Syrian refugees in work 18 months after their arrival in the UK. Although Transitions London focuses on highly skilled and graduate-level refugees, who make up around 25% of all UK refugees, Heard says they face the same barriers to employment in the UK as other refugees. These include employers’ ignorance, bias and general suspicion of refugees, while refugees themselves lack UK experience and understanding of the labour market, and how to best present themselves to UK employers.

Yet standing out against the despair felt by many refugees are examples showing that with the right support, refugees can be brought into the mainstream employment fold. The case of Samira (not her real name), a refugee from Iraq, who landed a job at international engineering consultancy Arup and now coaches other refugees, highlights the value of internships in giving refugees an opportunity to prove themselves.

Although Transitions London may have placed

Above right: Jake Tilley and former refugee Amanzghe Yemane from the National Grid.

Above: Biniam Haddish, a National Grid engineer.

Right: A female geologist who was placed with Crossrail

“Transitions London does a great job in representing people who find it hard to get into the workplace” 42 RECRUITER

only 59 of its candidates into work since 2011, don’t let those numbers fool you. According to Heard, each successful candidate takes on average between 12 and 18 months to place, and takes a huge amount of hard work, perseverance and commitment.

Refugees like Samira and thousands of others face many barriers to employment, says Heard.

The biggest is employers not having the right information about refugees, their status and their right to work. “It is not completely the fault of recruiters,” says Heard, because government websites make it “difficult to find” that refugees have the right to work and don’t need a visa. This ignorance has dire consequences for refugees.

Career gaps caused by the disruption to their lives, and by asylum seekers not being allowed to work in the UK, leaving many in limbo for up to 10 years awaiting a final decision on their asylum claim, also put employers off. In recent years suspicions “whether it is conscious or unconscious” that refugees could be terrorists have also made refugees’

AUGUST 2016

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employment chances even more difficult, says Heard.

“A refugee will do his best not to say they are a refugee.

But anyone looking at their CV and seeing they come from Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan will know,” she adds.

Heard says the key to unlocking the doors of employment opportunity have been internships, with 70% of Transitions’ placements resulting from an internship or work placement.

“If you don’t run internships you aren’t going to get anywhere,” says Heard. “The advantage for the employer is that it lowers conscious and unconscious bias from hiring manager and staff.” Heard cites the example of a mechanical engineer with 15 years’ experience successfully placed at construction services company Carillion: “The way that he worked, it was immediately obvious he knew what he was doing.”

Even when an intern is not offered a permanent position, they benefit by gaining greater self-confidence, better interview and job application skills.

Heard highlights the importance of individuals within organisations who ‘champion’ the work that Transitions does and the business case for hiring skilled refugees. Jon Hull, head of resourcing at Carillion, is one such champion.

Marine conservation charity Blue Ventures is another organisation that recognises the value of the work that Transitions London does. “They [Transitions] do a great job in representing people who find it hard to get into the workplace by giving them a profile,” says Blue Ventures managing director Richard Nimmo.

Nimmo says they enjoyed “a good experience” with a refugee introduced by Heard who was engaged as a freelancer “on a regular and ongoing basis”.

“It is not completely the fault of recruiters”

professional bodies, as well as practical advice on competency-based selection systems, how to complete application forms and prepare a professional-looking CV. Workshops hosted by employers and run by Transitions in conjunction with clients’ own staff have also proved successful. US business consultants Oliver Wyman is one company that has hosted workshops and has now taken on two refugees as paid interns.

One is a woman engineer from Iran, the other an economist from Afghanistan. Professional services firm KPMG have held three workshops aimed at helping unemployed refugees get into business services.

Another initiative is coaching partnerships between a refugee on Transitions’ books and either a previously successful Transitions candidate or a volunteer from a corporate. Heard says one benefit is “it helps them to hear about opportunities because so many roles are not advertised”, says Heard.

Heard is looking for other London employers to step up and provide work placements, host workshops and ultimately hire refugee professionals. She doesn’t care whether they are doing it as part of corporate social responsibility initiatives or because it fits in with their inclusivity policy. “They should already be considering anyone who has the skills,” she adds. ●

Professional placements According to Heard, most of those whom it supports fit into five categories: engineering, business services, international development, medical professionals, and teachers and academics. Almost all are highly qualified to degree level, and have years of work experience from their home countries.

Among the organisations where Transitions has successfully placed candidates are Arup, Carillion, Crossrail and National Grid. Half of the refugees are referred by other refugee agencies and housing associations, while the other half come to Transitions via word of mouth. Heard says the organisation takes around 30 refugees onto its books a year, and has around 40 active candidates at any one time.

Much of Transitions’ work is around breaking down the barriers into employment faced by refugees.

One such offering is the series of workshops it runs for its candidates. A typical workshop might provide information on UK engineering standards, or UK

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E BUSINESS ADVICE CO M M UNITY

THE LIFE CYCLE OF A SUCCESSFUL RECRUITMENT CONSULTANCY – PART 2 In last month’s article I explored the challenges of starting up a recruitment consultancy. Having successfully navigated those challenges, this article will explore how best to grow your business in the momentum phase before discussing the maturity phase next month.

THE MOMENTUM PHASE (TYPICALLY YEARS THREE TO FIVE)

With an established core team, the business is able to gather momentum. The principal challenge will be attracting and retaining the best people. Those owners who didn’t add a senior team member to sit alongside them in the start-up phase really should consider doing so at this point as you formalise the team structure. What may have felt like an intimate, family atmosphere must start to professionalise.

Alex Arnot The SME Coach

The principal challenges businesses in this phase face are: ATTRACTING TALENT – as momentum grows you will be constantly hiring (both to grow and to replace talent you lose).

Finding good people will be your biggest challenge.

RETAINING TALENT – if you are doing well, your competitors will be constantly trying to hire your best people, both to improve their businesses and to disrupt yours.

PROFESSIONALISING THE FAMILY – as the team grows it is no longer possible for you to manage everyone and everything.

Structures, systems and processes need to be put in place. Communications and career plans must be formalised.

MAINTAINING A STRONG USP [UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION] – as the team grows and your influence over the business dilutes, you need to find ways to maintain the elements that have made your business successful to date.

Advice to maximise growth

44 RECRUITER

This is the second article in a series of three. ●

↗

● Hire a hiring manager – you will be recruiting and training people regularly through this phase. Hiring someone to help you with this process will free you up to run the business and bill. ● Formalise and embed your vision and values – it is your vision and values that have made the company successful to date.

As you are able to exert less direct influence over the team (both inevitable and a good thing) you need to make sure that the positive attributes that have built the firm perpetuate. ● Develop and communicate a clear career progression path – this can only be done if you have a strong business plan in place as that will give you the confidence that the career plan is sustainable. To reduce the reliance on using cash to retain talent, focus on developing a system of initiatives and awards

(including an EMI [Enterprise Management Incentives] scheme). Better, serviced or leased offices will give employees pride in where they work, as will applying for awards and other third-party endorsements. ● Invest in support staff – as you grow, so will the time invested in support functions and administrative tasks from accounts through to marketing. There will become a tipping point where making hires to free up your billers’ time will make financial sense. ● Plan, plan, plan – as ever you need to keep operating to a plan or you will find that the company becomes less and less efficient.

Target size after five years: 20-40 employees.

ALEX ARNOT is a nonexecutive adviser to more than 20 recruitment companies

AUGUST 2016

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EXECUTIVE BRIEFING

Inspiring an innovation culture

Innovation: (n) a new method, idea or product. The process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value.

A successful Innovation Culture leads to more motivated employees and increased customer satisfaction – along with higher profits. Join Innovation Insider Nick Lansley, a founding father of Tesco.com, and senior Recruitment Leaders at our Executive Briefing on 5 October to explore the ins and outs of Innovation. You will learn: • How to start your own company Innovation Team • How to get traction on Innovation projects Also hear from Inspirational Recruitment Leaders about the Innovation Cultures within their own businesses and how they drive engagement and growth.

Speakers include: Yvette Cleland, CEO, Clinical Professionals

Guy Hayward, CEO, Goodman Masson

Tom O'Loughlin, Executive Director, Nicoll Curtin

Duncan Powell, Sales Director & Co-founder, Yolk Recruitment

GET INSPIRED BEFORE ATTENDING THE INVESTING IN TALENT AWARDS

BOOK NOW AT: BIT.LY/RECRUITER_EXECBRIEFING Date: Wednesday 5 October 2016 Time: 08.30 – 12.00 Delegate fee: £37.50 plus VAT Venue: CCT Venues, Aldersgate House, 135-137 Aldersgate Street, London, EC1A 4JA Contact us: rhianna.fitzgerald@redactive.co.uk | 020 7324 2771

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WE LISTEN ADVISE DEVELOP PROMOTE NEGOTIATE FOR RECRUITERS

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Harpreet Gill - Divisional Manager I contacted Cheryl to discuss poten al employers in the Cambridge area who would be looking for an experienced consultant and from the moment we first spoke to the moment I accepted an offer of employment Cheryl proved herself to be the most professional Rec2Rec consultant I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.

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Cambridge | 01223 792190

London | 0203 096 6338 15/06/2016 16:16

E CAREERS CO M M UNITY

A B L R EC R UIT ME N T: The language specialist has promoted Tracy Durrant to managing director.

ACORN: The UK multispecialist recruitment and training agency has appointed a new technical and engineering manager, Debbie Cole.

B ER RY R EC R UI TME N T G R OUP : The multi-sector recruiter has promoted Zoe Ellis to national strategic sales manager.

B OY D EN : The global executive search firm has made Laura Zolla principal in its Milan office.

B R IG HTHR : Alastair Brown joins the HR software company as its first chief technology officer.

CA P ITA : Ian Powell will take the role of non-executive director and chairman

48 RECRUITER

AUGUST 2016

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designate at the business outsourcing provider from 1 September. Powell will succeed Martin Bolland as non-executive chairman on 1 January 2017.

Health food retailer Holland & Barrett has appointed Craig Hunter as head of talent acquisition.

Hunter joins from behavioural care provider Priory Group, where he was group head of resourcing. He has also held in-house recruitment roles at online information provider Yell.com and global business Rolls-Royce.

Previously, Hunter also held recruitment consultant roles at recruitment giants Reed and Adecco.

CORE -AS SE T CONSULT ING:

ENGAGE PSG: Ciaran Bullock

HEADNORT H CO N S U LT IN G :

The financial recruitment firm has appointed Rachael O’Neill business manager, financial services.

has been promoted from associate director to director within the firm’s banking & finance division, while Engage has promoted Dan Poulton from consultant to associate director within technology.

James Topan joins the oil & gas, power and construction staffing specialist as a business manager in London.

DHR I N TE RN AT IONAL: Ramona Kühnel-Linnemann joins the global executive search firm as partner in its Frankfurt office.

E AME S CON S ULT ING: The international recruitment and search consultancy has appointed Tom Dunsmore as director of the technology & change management division in Singapore.

E 1E W: The Doncasterheadquartered recruiter has promoted Alan McLucas and Lisa Graham to director.

FUT UREST EP: The division of global executive search firm Korn Ferry has hired Matt Heckler as general manager, global client platform solutions.

GRMSEARCH: The international executive search firm’s Tokyo operation has appointed Tomas Gistren as MD and Simon Tulloch as legal and compliance director.

HIGH ACCESS: The commercial property services firm has made Fiona Carter HR director.

INSPIRED T HIN K IN G GROUP: The marketing technology and services company has appointed Dave Netley as recruitment

Email people moves for use online and in print, including a short 14/07/2016 14:53

manager to help as the company expands.

ITS S R EC RUI TME N T: IT, finance and marketing recruiter has made Adrian Klean managing director.

L A F O S S E ASSOCI ATE S: Peter Ratcliffe is the technology, digital and change recruiter’s new director of operations.

S E N SÉ E : The UK homeworking outsourcing provider has appointed Andrew Rosser as head of change management and Steve Tongue as head of recruitment. Current HR manager Zoe Stewart has been promoted to head of HR.

MOR G A N M CKI N L E Y:

Redactive Publishing Ltd 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP 020 7880 6200

CONTACTS EDITORIAL +44 (0)20 7880 7606 Editor DeeDee Doke

RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING +44 (0)20 7880 7607 Tom Culley

deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk

tom.culley@recruiter.co.uk

Reporters Colin Cottell, Graham Simons

Reina Cheng is the new MD for the global professional services recruiter’s Hong Kong business.

colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk graham.simons@recruiter.co.uk

N OR MA N BROADBE N T G R OUP : Tim Kemp has

THE MAN A GEMENT RE CRUI TMENT GROUP: The

joined executive search and consulting specialists as managing director in its HR and professional services practices.

senior-level recruiter has appointed David Weaving, Nanja Fourie and Stephanie Howe as associate directors.

Contributing writers Sue Weekes Production editor Vanessa Townsend vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk

Senior designer Craig Bowyer Picture editor Akin Falope

P HIL IP S IN TE RN ATI ON AL :

WE STMI N ST ER CIT Y C O U N C I L : The Council has

Toby Culshaw is the global manufacturing firm’s head of talent intelligence.

appointed a new director of people services in the form of Lee Witham.

josh.hannagan@recruiter.co.uk

joins the digital recruiter as associate director to lead its creative services division.

YOU R NE X T M OV E A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk Amberjack Global Client partner HR, rec-to-rec c£25 (dep on experience) Newbury, Berkshire

P U LS E: The leisure supplier to the education sector has a new director of education in the form of Neil Mosley.

R EC R UIT4 VE TS: Mark Colton joins the agency, which provides candidates to the veterinary industry, in the newly created role of head of business development.

Recruiter Republic Divisional manager Construction £35k-£40k + comms Birmingham SmithCarey Recruitment researcher £highly competitive + bens Berkshire

PUBLISHING +44 (0)20 7880 8547 Publishing director Aaron Nicholls

Senior sales executive Josh Hannagan Sales executive Joe Elliott-Walker

RECRUITER AWARDS/ INVESTING IN TALENT AWARDS +44 (0)20 7880 6236 Events Rebecca West rebecca.west@redactive.co.uk

joe.elliott-walker@redactive.co.uk

CIRCULATION and SUBSCRIPTIONS To receive a regular copy of Recruiter, the leading magazine for recruitment and resourcing professionals, telephone +44 (0)20 8950 9117 or email redactive@abacusemedia.com • Recruiter is also available to people who do not meet our terms of control: Annual subscription rate for 12 issues: £35 UK; £45 Europe and £50 Rest of the World • To purchase reprints or multiple copies of the magazine, contact Abacus e-Media T: +44 (0)20 8950 9117 or email redactive@abacusemedia.com CONTRIBUTIONS Contributions are invited, but when not accepted will be returned only if accompanied by a fully stamped and addressed envelope. Articles should be emailed. No responsibility can be taken for drawings, photographs or literary contributions during delivery, transmission or in the editor’s hands. © 2016 Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. This publication (and any part thereof) may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in print or electronic format (including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the internet) or in any other format in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of Redactive Media Group.

Redactive Media Group accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein. The publishers cannot accept liability for any loss arising from the late appearance or non-publication of any advertisement for any reason whatsoever. ISSN 1475-7478

Total average net circulation between 1 July 2014 & 30 June 2015 – 18,667. is also sent to all REC members

For more jobs, people moves and career advice go to ● recruiter.co.uk/jobs ● inhouserecruiterjobs.co.uk ● internationalrecruiterjobs.com

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rachel.young@redactive.co.uk

aaron.nicholls@redactive.co.uk

ADVERTISING +44 (0)20 7880 7607 Sales manager Tom Culley tom.culley@recruiter.co.uk

P R O P E L : Tanya Roxburgh

PRODUCTION +44 (0)20 7880 6209 Production executive Rachel Young

Scan here to get your own copy of

14/07/2016 14:53

E THE LAST WORD CO M M UNITY

Jon Hull Take the power and run with the opportunity ‘War for talent’.

‘Strategic resourcing’.

‘Should HR have a seat at the table?’ ‘Do Generation Y and Z have vastly different needs to Generation X?’ Article after article peddles the same fears and the same myths about talent shortages.

It all amounts to the same thing: a shallow understanding of internal resourcing. Worse, it belittles the great work that in-house resourcing teams have done in the last 15-20 years. The time has come to mount a defence of our place in the world. The real power of an internal resourcing function is measured by its ability to break down organisational silos and enable collaboration across the divisions.

Once the foundations of fulfilling recruitment orders are solid, resourcing is free to become a change agent and enabler. When I was first at Deloitte many years ago, we realised that the supply of newly qualified accountants in the UK would never match the true demand. We suggested scouting trips across South-East Asia and India to fulfil our needs, knowing we would find equivalent qualifications and standards, as well as good language skills. So far, so normal…

But the obstacles were the organisational silos. Several

50 RECRUITER

regions feared the big cities might get an over-supply and that they would miss out. The prize was fostering collaboration between these teams to improve the organisation. Through presentation of the data and stakeholder engagement, this could be achieved.

Crucially, resourcing was the only department with this view of the business: we could see the situation from 10,000ft above of what was happening on the ground.

We see this now in Carillion. The competitive landscape for certain skills is seen to be a business limiter.

Money spent on external searches, wasted hiring efforts and almost distressed hiring was the norm. But by analysing the market and internal data, we can influence a different way of approaching the behaviours of hiring managers both within and across functions.

This has some interesting effects – outcomes change, costs are driven down and wasted time is reduced.

More importantly, a proper discussion starts to take place, as well as the sharing of ideas and talent. Because the leadership isn’t fighting fires any longer, there is a more considered view of what the needs really are, allowing quality and timing to come to the fore.

In addition, hiring managers across functions can take a view of ‘what is

good for the business’, such as where skill sets might fit, rather than fighting the next recruiting crisis. One of the biggest headaches of modern business is finding relevant talent in the right timescales.

Seeing the problem from the point of view of recruitment can also help to spot organisational design flaws.

For instance, failed hires can expose structural flaws in certain areas if they are asked the right questions.

Candidates that have the right skills could be prevented from operating at their full potential if the organisation is poorly designed.

Whatever slick consultants say, there is no other way of doing this sustainably and efficiently unless the organisation takes control of hiring centrally and, crucially, delivers insights back to the organisation.

I have this to say to my consultant friends: until you understand the organisational landscape, you are thinking within the silos of your own product or service; this is exactly the sort of behaviour our

beloved function is trying to mitigate. In resourcing, where more is expected with less, where insight is king, the smart thing to do is take the power and run with the opportunity. ●

+ Jon Hull is head of resourcing at Carillion

AUGUST 2016

IMAG E | A K I N FA LO P E

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