Recruiter - December 2016

Business intelligence for recruitment and resourcing professionals

December 2016

INCORPORATING Recruitment Matters

LEVY: UNFIT FOR PURPOSE? www.recruiter.co.uk

Randstad UK fights back on Apprenticeship Levy terms

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ING PORAT INCOR itment ru c e R

Matters

COV ER IMAG E | A K IN FALOPE

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NEWS

05 Phaidon staff reap investment rewards An £18m investment is already reaping rewards for company and staff alike 06 Nicoll Curtin staff learn to tame their inner chimp The fintech recruiter has seen ‘dramatic improvement’ thanks to adopting mind management techniques 07 US Expand staff struggle with flexible culture Unlimited holidays for staff is one benefit Expand’s US employees aren’t used to

07 Star recruit: Alan Carr, whose Chatty Man talk show is finishing 08 This was the month that was...

10 Contracts & Deals

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TRENDS

12 Insight Building tomorrow’s workforce in emerging technologies

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Tech & Tools

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FEATURES

18 THE BIG STORY Investing in Talent Awards Meet some of the winners in the industry who live out their principles of passion for their people

26 Apprenticeship Levy

Randstad asks if impending levy is fit for purpose

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32 Job boards: Searching for a better solution Jobseekers drive new technology demand

E COMMUNITY 37 38 41 42 43 44 48 49 50

Social Network Employability Business Advice Peer to peer James Lloyd-Townshend Careers You’re only as good as your network My brilliant recruitment career: Brett Smitheram Movers & Shakers Recruiter Contacts The Last Word: Matt Churchward

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Make it Snapchatty

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INTERACTION Agency View: Sachin Ruparelia Soundbites

I M AG E S | A K I N FA LO P E/C A R MEN VA LIN O/SH UTTER STO C K

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UPDATE

Phaidon staff reap investment rewards

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ebate around the ‘gig economy’ has risen to a fever pitch this autumn,

BY COLIN COTTELL

punctuated with blasts from unhappy Uber and Deliveroo workers about the nature of their employment.

The expression ‘gig economy’

generally refers to having multiple jobs or ‘gigs’, with the inference that a lot of people have more than one job. Perhaps a more appropriate view of the gig economy is having a number of micro assignments – picking up and delivering a Nando’s, then a meal from Pizza Express – under one overarching ‘gig’, ie. Deliveroo.

“Surely there’s a way to modernise and improve this unwieldy tax and employment classification system”

That’s comparable to an agency worker having a series of different assignments from one recruitment company. Perhaps there needs to be a new classification for employment that falls between the definition of self

employment and full employment.

What we have today isn’t working for workers. It’s not working for employers or those operating either recruitment agencies or companies like Uber and Deliveroo. Another example of this current confusion will be found in our article on p26 about issues surrounding the impending Apprenticeship Levy, where large recruitment companies must contribute to a fund that no one – the agencies themselves, clients or the agency workers –

AN £18M INVESTMENT into international micro-specialist recruiter Phaidon International earlier this year is already reaping rewards both for the company and individual members of staff.

It also provides a strong platform to drive future growth by incentivising staff, Adam Buck, Phaidon’s executive chairman, has told Recruiter.

Buck said the investment by global institutional asset manager Muzinich & Co and HSBC Bank in April “had been very positive” by allowing the company “to accelerate its growth”. Since the investment, which took the form of an £18.5m loan and a £3m working capital facility, Phaidon – whose brands include banking specialist Selby Jennings and life sciences recruiter EPM Scientific – has opened offices in Boston and in Chicago. According to unaudited figures released last week, for the 12 months ending 31 October 2016, turnover rose 48% to £49m, net fee income was up 27% at £32.7m and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was 66% higher at £6.5m.

James Slipper, Phaidon’s International’s chief financial officer, told Recruiter the investment both rewarded managers “for getting Phaidon from where it was 10 years ago to where it is today”, and incentivised them and others to drive future growth.

Among those to have gained financially are chief executive Harry Youtan; James Brown, managing director of Eurasia; Kieran Behan, director of North America; chief commercial officer Andrew McNeilis; and Buck. “The institutional investment allowed them to turn their previous share options into shares that were then sold, giving them a proportion of cash, loan notes (corporate IOUs) and new shares in the business,” Slipper explained.

Previously, Buck had held 100% of the shares. Buck said the number of equity partners, who stood to gain financially from the firm’s future performance, had doubled to about 50.

Under the rules of the company’s previous Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme, only UK staff could really benefit, with the

except the government will benefit from.

Surely there’s a way to modernise and improve this unwieldy tax and employment classification system that insists on jamming square pegs in round roles.

DeeDee Doke, Editor

Adam Buck

Harry Youtan

James Slipper

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UPDATE

total number allowed to sign up limited to 250. However, with most of Phaidon’s staff overseas, including 55 in Asia-Pacific and 150 in the US, Buck said the old EMI model was UK-centric and therefore not fit for purpose. “More people can join this scheme, and more people can be incentivised globally,” he said.

Speaking as one of those new equity partners, Slipper said an added benefit from the deal was “it allowed Adam [Buck] to attract people like myself and non-executive chairman Stewart Batchelor, who also became an equity partner as part of the deal”.

“Further equity has been set aside to reward existing talent and to attract new talent into the business,” he added.

Buck said an important aspect of the deal was that control of the business stayed in the hands of those in the business.

“Over 70% of the equity sits in staff ’s hands,” he said. This was one reason why, when looking to enter the next phase of its expansion, the company had chosen not to go down the “traditional private equity (PE) route, where PE looks to take a big share of the equity”, he said. ●

33,017 FOLLOWERS AS OF 9 NOVEMBER 2016

Nicoll Curtin staff learn to tame their inner chimp

BY COLIN COTTELL

FINTECH AND CHANGE RECRUITER NICOLL CURTIN has successfully adopted mind management techniques used by elite sports people such as goldmedal Olympic cyclists Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton, as well as exLiverpool and England football captain Steven Gerrard.

The company has been working with consultant psychiatrist Professor Steve Peters and his team, with the aim of boosting individuals’, and thus the company’s, performance. “We had a nice culture and good performance, but it is about getting to that elite level,” Nicoll Curtin’s group chief executive James Johnson told Recruiter.

Since the company began working with Peters in June 2015, Johnson said there had been “dramatic improvement” in core business metrics, including financial turnover, which has risen 26%, and staff churn, which has fallen to 15%.

Peters told Recruiter the model focuses on “getting people into a really good place and then trying to improve performance using the mind”.

Peters’ approach, explained in his book The Chimp Paradox, is based on the idea that the brain is divided into three ‘teams’, each with its own agenda and way of working: Chimp – driven by emotion and impulse; Human – associated with logical thinking Professor Steve Peters (left) chats to and recognising Nicoll Curtin CEO James Johnson actions have

consequences; and Computer, which acts as memory and can be programmed.

Peters explained how in a high-stress environment such as recruitment, behaving in chimp mode can be destructive, effectively hijacking a person’s feelings and actions. He cited the example of a consultant slamming the phone down after a difficult call, leading to conflict with the consultant’s manager.

He said his team had been teaching Nicoll Curtin staff to recognise when they themselves or others were in chimp mode, and how to manage it, a process often called ‘managing your inner chimp’.

“They can then come back in when they are back in human mode, and this stops this conflicting interaction. It is very much about learning about yourself and understanding yourself, and making sure the machine [mind] does not run amok.”

Cameron Atkinson, Nicoll Curtin’s head of learning and development, said the techniques have been incorporated into the company’s training, and have already proved their worth. “In sales/recruitment, there are a lot of stresses, strains and frustrations, so being able to relate that back to the chimp model and being calm and rational has helped staff see potential solutions,” he said.

Andrew Hathaway, co-head of financial services UK, said in chimp mode, a consultant’s reaction to a candidate declining their offer would be to panic or to be miserable, “neither of which is helpful”. However, by developing the skill of being able to switch to human mode allowed a more rational response, along the lines of: “This is the industry we work in, it happened to me before, and this is how I dealt with it and managed to save the relationship with the client.”●

IMAG E | RO LA ND DANIELL S

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THOUGHTS FROM…

UPDATE

LIZ NICHOLL CEO UK SPORT SPEAKING AT ATHLETE F UT URES JOB FAIR IN COVENTRY

“My message to employers is that world class athletes are a great asset to the nation, and they can be a great asset to employers.

It’s a win-win.”

US Expand staff struggle with flexible culture

IM AG E R E X

BY COLIN COTTELL

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES between the US and the UK are a major factor in USbased staff being slower to take up the offer of unlimited holidays than their UK PROFESSOR STEVE PETERS counterparts, according to PSYCHIATRIST AND AUTHOR OF THE CHIMP PAR A D OX S P EA K I N G TO STAFF AT NICOLL CU RTIN Samantha Maxwell-Reed, group chief executive at search firm Expand.

“If you work on your skills and even The new employee achieve a small success, never forget to benefit was made available last January to staff across the pat yourself on the back because your chimp company, which has an office in New York along with offices won’t do it. All it will do is diminish in Brighton and London. It was introduced as an extension of your achievement.” the company’s health & well-being strategy launched in 2013.

Maxwell-Reed told Recruiter that the strategy is based on the principle: “If you treat people very well, everybody wins.” (See p20 for how this led to Expand picking up the Most Effective Flexible Working Strategy honours at Recruiter’s 2016 Investing in Talent Awards.)

Maxwell-Reed linked the reluctance of the firm’s US staff to take up the opportunity for more days off to the American culture of workplace presenteeism, which in her experience is particularly prevalent on the East Coast. “I think that is a MARK BULL C E O, R ANDSTAD UK AND MIDDLE EAST, SPEAKI N G A BOUT T H E cultural thing,” said Maxwell-Reed. “They even struggle with APPRENTICESHIP LEV Y flexible working.”

Maxwell-Reed said when she urges US staff “to take a week “They’ve just thrown a duvet over the off because Thanksgiving is coming”, a typical reaction is ‘A whole world of work, and said ‘This is how week? Friday maybe’. In contrast, UK staff have been taking it must work’.” about five more days off a year, compared to their previous 25-day leave allowance, since the STA R RECRUIT new flexibility was MARC MORESO, for a department store. was about to fall from a CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF Or utilising his quick wit pier in Blackpool. Why not put in place.

LEISUREJOBS.COM, and exuberance, he could become a lifeguard, so he OFFERS INSIGHT INTO be a host at any branded is equipped if the same Maxwell-Reed A POTENTIAL ROLE FOR restaurant, telling a scenario should ever occur added another ALAN CARR, NOW THAT joke or two as he guides again?

HIS TALK SHOW CHATTY customers to their tables. contributory factor MAN IS TAKING A BREAK Good humour could “And as he often grumbles was the New York FROM UK SCREENS. lighten a long late-night about his weight, or shift in a kitchen; perhaps laughs at himself on stage, office that opened “He has certainly got Alan could turn his hand to perhaps he could turn his in May was so busy. the gift of the gab, rarely a sous chef role. hand to the fitness sector. letting anyone else talk Train to be a personal “The guys are wellon his many chat and “Alan is also pretty nifty trainer, trimming up for his [BBC] Radio 2 shows. on his feet as his rescue upcoming nuptials after motivated, so that is With his chatty, upbeat operation in 2006 a recent engagement probably a factor too,” persona, Alan could be demonstrated when to long-term boyfriend very successful in sales; he and pal Lionel Blair while achieving a healthy she said. ● perhaps a retail adviser

helped save a man who

career.”

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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 November issue of Recruiter was published O C T O B E R •‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒→

MON, 24 OCT 2016

HMRC LAUNCHES NEW EMPLOYMENT STATUS UNIT

FRI, 21 OCT 2016

HONEY G’S EX-RECRUITMENT BOSS BELIEVES SHE WILL ‘SHUT IT DOWN’ AS THEY SAY… Honey G’s remarkable performance in this year’s X Factor is down to her fearless attitude, according to the recruiter responsible for giving the rapper her first job in recruitment a decade ago.

Honey G, the alter ego of Anna Georgette Gilford, managing director of recruitment firm ARG Search, worked for IT recruiter InterQuest between 2005 and 2006.

Lloyd Moore, who recruited Gilford into InterQuest and has since gone on to set up his own recruitment training provider Mooresby Associates, told Recruiter he was struck by her boldness upon meeting her for the first time.

“We gave her the nickname of Fearless. She was very, very driven and very motivated to succeed. She would just pick up the phone and speak to anyone.

“You would just give her a call list with CTOs and IT clients and she would just fire off these cold calls but she just had absolutely no fear whatsoever about picking up the

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Recruiters have been urged to review their practices to ensure individuals are not being misclassified as self-employed.

The warning comes from employment lawyers after it emerged HM Revenue & Customs is launching a specialist unit to investigate firms suspected of withholding employment protection from workers, by using agency staff or calling them selfemployed.

The move was confirmed in October in a letter from financial secretary to the Treasury, Jane Ellison, to Labour MP Frank Field, published on Field’s website.

More: http://bit.ly/2fLIsI8

MON, 31 OCT 2016

UBER RULING SETS OFF SHOCKWAVES FOR IN-HOUSE RECRUITERS

phone and making the calls. That was the thing that really stood out when we got her on the job.”

According to Moore, from what he has seen of Gilford’s alter ego Honey G she clearly has no problems putting herself out there – adding she may have the “worst dance moves ever” but at least she is giving it a go.

In-house recruiters have been urged to review terms and conditions of working arrangements of ‘gig’ workers following a landmark ruling handed down last month.

A ruling by a London employment tribunal, which looked into the claim brought by drivers for ride-hailing app Uber, means Uber drivers will now be entitled to holiday pay, paid rest breaks and the National Minimum Wage. Uber has said it would appeal the decision.

According to employment lawyers, the ruling has far reaching implications for firms operating in the so called ‘gig economy’ characterised by an environment in which temporary positions are common and organisations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements.

More: http://bit.ly/2fkg13n

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

IM AGES | GET T Y

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MON, 7 NOV 2016

The Apprentice spells good fortune for Trishna T A each week passes there is the increasing likelihood of a recruiter winning one As o of reality TV’s top shows. Trishna Thakrar, professional search agent at IBM, made iit through week five of the BBC show The Apprentice.

This is despite persuading her team to change the spelling from the correct ‘‘gilet’ to ‘gillet’, meaning that the group was now advertising that a ‘loose woman’ w was riding around flashing, instead of a flashing cyclist’s jacket...

More: http://bit.ly/2eU7e4Z

30 DAYS

←‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒• N O V E M B E R

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MON, 7 NOV 2016

FIVE FAMILY MEMBERS JAILED FOR LABOUR EXPLOITATION

GOVERNMENT SEEKS MORE CLARITY AROUND EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS FOR INTERNS

Five members of a Plymouth family have been jailed for a total of 20 years and six months after being prosecuted for human trafficking offences in Devon and Cornwall.

A statement, released by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, revealed two men and three women, of Czech origin and all members of the same extended family, were convicted by Plymouth Crown Court.

Martin Tancos, Katerina Kurejova, both of North Road East, Stonehouse; Nela Dzurkova and Petr Tancos, both of Baring Street, Greenbank; and Ruzena Tancosova (pictured below, far right, and ring leader of the gang) of Southern Terrace, Mutley, Plymouth, were all convicted of conspiracy to traffick persons into the UK for the purpose of labour exploitation between 6 April 2013 and 16 September 2014.

An inquiry began after police were presented with a profile of the group by the GLA’s intelligence team who had completed detailed development work concentrating on their activities.

All five were arrested following an operation by Devon and Cornwall Police and partner agencies that saw seven male victims freed from modern slavery conditions at Plymouth addresses.

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

GATTACA FOCUSES ON INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION AS REVENUE RISES Brian Wilkinson, chief executive of Gattaca, says the engineering and technical recruiter’s current focus is on an international consultant recruitment drive as it seeks to moves into larger premises at its sites across the globe.

In a wide ranging discussion with Recruiter, Wilkinson said he also expects greater clarity on the government’s Brexit negotiating position following last month’s High Court ruling that government will need to seek Parliament’s approval for triggering Article 50, the process for starting Brexit.

Gattaca’s preliminary annual results revealed group revenue rose 23% year-on-year. With regards to growing overseas headcount, Wilkinson said the group has already taken on additional space in eight of the 10 cities it operates in.

More: http://bit.ly/2fofkm2

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More: http://bit.ly/2fvC879

WE BELIEVE THAT GOOD, WORTHWHILE, GENUINE INTERNSHIPS CAN HAVE A PART TO PLAY ALONGSIDE OTHER ROUTES, SUCH AS WORK EXPERIENCE

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I M AG E | E L I Z A B ETH CO O K

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A new requirement on in-house recruiters to ensure interns receive at least statutory minimum levels of pay moved one step closer after business minister Margot James called on Matthew Taylor to include internships in the scope of his modern employment practices review.

Prime Minister Theresa May appointed Taylor, a former policy chief to ex-PM Tony Blair, to lead the review to look at job security, pay and workers’ rights, and whether current regulations need to change to keep pace with what Downing Street says is a growing number of people registered as self-employed, on zerohours contracts or in temporary work.

Last month, the business minister told the House of Commons that she would ask Taylor to include internships in the scope of his review.

James said: “We believe that good, worthwhile, genuine internships can have a part to play alongside other routes, such as work experience, apprenticeships, work placements and work shadowing, in bridging the gap between formal education and the world of work.

“But we also believe internships should be accessible to everyone. That is why, where an intern is classed as a worker, they must be paid at least the statutory minimum wage.”

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£14m

NE WS

CONTRACTS

IS THE AMOUNT RAISED

BY SONOVATE IN ITS LATEST FUNDING ROUND, LED BY GLOBAL FOUNDERS CAPITAL

CONTRACTS & DEALS Acorn Specialist recruitment and training agency Acorn has been awarded a place on the government’s new National Clinical Staffing Framework from the NHS Collaborative Procurement Partnership (NHS CPP). The twoyear agreement, which will be managed centrally by Acorn’s professional nursing division, sees Acorn supply temporary, permanent and fixed-term staff to clinical positions under the NHS CPP framework.

JSA Services JSA Services, a provider of specialist accountancy, payroll and employment services to UK contractors and freelancers, has acquired Cheshire-based contractor accounting firm Paysure. Paysure specialises in the freelance and temporary worker sector. Partners in Paysure Loren Taylor and Glen Dibley join JSA as consultants with immediate effect.

Minstrell Recruitment Permanent and temporary staffing specialist Minstrell Recruitment has acquired the business and assets of construction, rail, technical and engineering recruiter Spectrum Contracting Services.

A statement released by administrators FRP Advisory reveals Lila Thomas and Ben Woolrych, partners at the business advisory firm, were appointed on 6 October 2016 as joint administrators to Spectrum. The statement confirmed that the sale to Minstrell has saved 121 out of 131 jobs at the agency. The agency currently operates five offices across the Midlands and North-West of England, and is now trading under the Minstrell Recruitment brand.

Devonshire Investment Group Venture capital funded Devonshire Investment Group (DIG) has bought the German and Polish assets of Devonshire from global marketing and communications organisation RR Donnelley, and plans to merge the firm with two other recruitment businesses. Terms were not disclosed.

The chief executive of the new venture will be Michal Mlynarczyk, a previous regional director at recruitment giant Hays for Central and Eastern Europe. The Devonshire brand that was established in 2001 in the CEE region will remain for a transition period during the integration with Polish IT contracting company VLOG and engineering permanent staffing firm CERN. The companies following the merger will comprise 70 consultants, with 300+ outsourced IT and engineering contractors, and will operate from four offices in Poland and two in Germany.

Sonovate Recruitment finance provider Sonovate has raised a £14m Series B funding round led by Global Founders Capital, the investment vehicle of Rocket Internet, and supported by Dawn Capital. Comprised of £9m in equity and £5m in debt funding, this round of investment follows the £20m funding round announced in February this year in a Series A funding round led

by Dawn Capital, with debt funding provided by Shawbrook Business Credit. The firm said this round of capital investment will help fuel Sonovate’s international expansion – with the aim of launching in Europe and North America over the next year.

Sonovate adds it will also be investing in developing new products focused on winning more established recruitment agencies and other businesses using contingent staff.

Bond International Software Private equity firm Symphony Technology Group (STG) has completed the purchase of Bond International Software. In a statement revealing the acquisition, STG said it plans to invest in innovation, adding “significant” customer value in Bond’s AdaptUX recruitment software platform. Founded in 2003, STG is a private equity firm with a history of building global companies operating in the software, analytics and services space that is present in the human capital management arena.

DEAL OF THE MONTH

Airport Placements and HR GO Recruitment firms Airport Placements (APL) and HR GO have entered into a joint venture (JV).

APL is based at Birmingham Airport and was founded in 2009 by Jez Heenan and Kevin Wells. It supports the aviation industry by finding and placing staff at a

dozen airports nationwide, including Birmingham, Manchester (the UK’s thirdbusiest airport), Newcastle, Glasgow, London Stansted, Bristol, Cardiff and Nottingham East Midlands.

The JV gives APL access to more than 30 HR GO outlets in key centres across the UK, making it easier

to recruit staff to work at the airports. Both firms say they hope to extend their services to overseas airports. Typical job roles include technical engineers, air traffic controllers, baggage handlers, passenger service agents, ramp operatives and aircraft servicing personnel.

gap Personnel National staffing and training group gap Personnel has appointed Ryecroft Glenton Corporate Finance to support its acquisition strategy. Most recently, gap acquired Cheshambased Driving Forces Recruitment, which has increased its geographic coverage and cohort of experienced drivers. This is the second acquisition the company has made following the purchase of Bristol Driver Solutions in 2013. The Wrexhambased company, which has 44 locations across the country employing 260, owns and operates a range of companies, which provide temporary and permanent staff and training across the commercial, logistics, FMCG, manufacturing, waste management and recycling sectors.

SP O NSO RE D BY

N° 1 QUALITY 10 RECRUITER

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07/11/2016 11:00

TRE NDS

INSIGHT

BUILDING TOMORROW’S WORKFORCE Research from best practice insight and technology company CEB reveals a worrying demand for skilled talent, particularly with the rise in emerging technologies – a demand that traditional sourcing can’t keep up with. CEB’s Jean Martin explains

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ecruitment leaders have long talked of the increasing competition for talent. Emerging technologies are disrupting business models and thrusting new skills and work styles onto the labour market. Subsequently, the demand for skilled talent is growing at an ever-greater pace and outstripping the available supply.

CEB research shows where demand is particularly high: marketing managers, computer systems analysts, software developers and industrial engineers.

This reveals a multi-industry reliance on digital skills and advanced data analytics.

We are seeing a convergence of particular skills that are needed across the economy. This is putting extreme pressure on the supply of critical talent.

Worryingly, 75% of organisations report they will face critical skill and capability gaps in the next three to five years. This means that firms are facing an era of hypercompetition in key labour markets, characterised by salary wars and aggressive poaching strategies.

DEMAND FOR TALENT SIGNIFICANTLY OUTSTRIPS SUPPLY

Critical Talent

S O U RC E : C E B AN ALYS I S

Aggregate demand

Aggregate supply

The bigger the gap between talent demand and supply, the more competitive the labour market will be

Timeline PAST ERA: Employer’s market Surplus of critical talent Reliance on active candidates Predictable talent needs

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CURRENT ERA: Talent crunch Skill shortages Need for sourcing expertise Plug vacancies with contractors

FUTURE ERA: Hyper competition Salary wars Aggressive poaching strategies New employment models (eg. gig economy)

Traditional sourcing and hiring techniques can’t keep up with the demand. This results in widening skills gaps and a sharp rise in time to hire. It also puts productivity, innovation and business growth at risk.

Moreover, companies struggling to hire have an imperative to take a more aggressive approach to developing the workforce of the future. This is about finding the right balance between building talent within the business and buying it in. Companies that are able to strike a balance adopt three principles.

Break through the myopia with data Talent management professionals face a significant challenge in driving internal consensus around the urgency of constrained talent pools – and the need to take action well in advance. Often, just having a conversation about long-term talent requirements and uncovering leaders’ beliefs about the future business can be considered a win.

Stronger analytic profiling of in-house talent can bring valuable insights to this discussion. Recruiters need workforce data – from assessments, development plans and performance management systems – to create a snapshot of the skills, strengths, development needs

IMAG E | SHUT T ERSTOCK

09/11/2016 11:34

Expand the labour market opportunity Organisations make it hard for themselves to compete in competitive labour markets because they tend to over-specify the skills and experiences required. They also focus too heavily on recruiting the best and brightest people.

This forces recruiters to source from very shallow talent pools, which creates unprecedented levels of competition and demand for the same top talent. Yet our data shows that nearly 40% of jobs can be done without these technical qualifications.

To persuade hiring managers to flex the search criteria, recruiters need deep market expertise and credible data analysis on the labour market and skill pools. They have to create a credible case for relaxing the technical requirements in the job description and be prepared to discuss the best requisition strategy given the labour market context.

Grow the talent asset and enable performance Top companies know that success in capturing the best talent for a company’s strategic needs is only half the battle in building the workforce of the future.

Anticipating the development needs of new hires and providing the right support to new starters is crucial. Staff from non-traditional backgrounds or profiles will have different training needs to those with traditional technical credentials. So the on-boarding experiences and development journeys need to be different.

Bridging from the workforce of today to the workforce of the future requires commitment to forward-hiring, bringing in people and creating roles that will be critical to the business in the medium-term, rather than just backfilling open positions.

Similar to financial assets, companies should to be placing their bets now to see the returns they need later.

In this new world, the answer to building tomorrow’s workforce is clarifying strategic talent decisions and investment choices well in advance. It’s critical to implement the right strategy according to market realities and organisational needs.

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POWER POINTS: TALENT BUILDING Talent data is the critical connector between people planning, investment decisions and business outcomes. In building the workforce of the future, every organisation needs to leverage data. Data can help determine the extent to which a firm should invest in a pre-hire strategy to ‘buy-in’ the skills or a post-hire strategy of ‘building’ the talent they need.

The most successful companies follow four rules in managing their buy/build strategy: Determine the specific skills, strengths and development needs of the current workforce and talent coming into the business Clarify future talent needs through recruiters, business leaders and L&D teams working closely together Adopt a forward-looking approach to sourcing and hiring programmes to build stronger talent pipelines that meet both short and long-term business needs Leverage labour market intelligence and insights captured during recruitment to inform onboarding programmes and long-term development investments.

↗

and limitations at a group level. These insights are vital for showing senior stakeholders how well-equipped the workforce is to capitalise on business opportunities. Recruiters must partner with learning & development to make talent blindspots visible, as they seek to frame requisites for future talent profiles.

Recruiters also need access to external labour market intelligence on talent supply and demand. This data will provide context on the talent ecosystem and identify emerging innovative and disruptive skills. These insights will create a sense of urgency around discussing the critical skills that are harder to acquire, and also around achieving the investments needed for training and development.

JEAN MARTIN is a talent solutions architect from best practice insight and technology company, CEB.

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T R E N DS

TECH & TOOLS

Make it Snappy Recruiting with Snapchat SUE WEEKES

The photo-messaging app Snapchat is a lot of fun. It allows users to send often-amusing images and videos along with their message. But the difference is that the ‘Snaps’ only stay visible for one to 10 seconds.

While not yet on every recruiter’s list of ‘must-use’ tools, some of the world’s biggest brands such as Cisco, GE and Jaguar Land Rover have made use of it in campaigns. And, if you believe in having a presence where a vast number of potential candidates hang out, the statistics are impressive: 150m people use Snapchat every day, and 9,000 Snaps are shared every second. “Snapchat has its place, and is part of the rich kaleidoscope of choice we have as marketers,” says Tsz Wu, co-founder and technical director of creative digital agency Pink Squid. “But it still needs a compelling reason or idea behind it.”

F IVE KEY POINTS

➊ WHAT USE IS SNAPCHAT?

➋ BUILD UP YOUR

➌ THINK IT THROUGH

➍ HAND IT OVER

➎ REMEMBER WHY

Síofra Pratt is content marketing executive at Social Talent, which provides online and social media training to the recruitment industry. Initially, the firm encouraged candidates to use Snapchat to send fun and alternative job applications. While it can be used in recruitment campaigns in this way, she believes the platform’s real strength is in employer branding. “Along with other visual-based media channels, Snapchat is becoming an incredible vehicle on which to present and show off your employer brand,” she says. This could be by producing content about the company behind the scenes, sending images from a live event such as a careers fair or a volunteering day, or even when a member of staff is celebrating a birthday in the office. “It will show off your company’s character more than any staged photo.”

To have an effective Snapchat recruiting channel, you need to attract followers. Like WhatsApp, the app will help you find those people in your device’s address book who are also on Snapchat, and they can then decide if they want to connect with you. To further build your network, it’s imperative you take every opportunity to promote your Snapchat handle on other social media channels, email marketing, recruiting material, and good old-fashioned print.

“Most Snapchat initiatives are high-impact burst campaigns, so promote as much and as widely as possible to build traction,” says Wu. “Put the little Snapchat ghost logo and the handle on every flyer, banner, brochure or links from websites and other social channels.”

Snapchat is transient and disposable in some respects but its use still needs to be carefully thought through.

Ensure there is a defined strategy behind your activity. As well as applying it to build employer brand, consider what else you want to achieve. “At Pink Squid, we used it as an industryfirst in 2013 for a Jaguar Land Rover Apprentice competition for school children to win a JLR factory tour,” says Wu, “and then to raise the awareness of 13-year-olds around STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics] subjects.”

Think about who can tell your story the most effectively. One method is to hand over the Snapchat recruitment account to someone else. Pratt explains that this could be an “influencer”, or else an employee. “If you’re hiring for a marketing role, get a member of your marketing team to give a day-in-the life picture of what happens in the marketing department such as daily tasks, funny team rituals and the clothes they wear.” Obviously, the person must understand their responsibilities to the organisation and the community.

Like all social media, you won’t win any points if you don’t use it in the spirit it was designed to embrace. As Wu points out, branding is “done best” when the candidate doesn’t recognise it as employer branding, “but it’s just part of sharing good stuff”. Pratt reminds recruiters that people go on Snapchat because they can send a “duck selfie”. She adds: “They know they can have fun with it because it’s going to quickly disappear. To sum up, your company should be doing whatever the equivalent of a ‘duck selfie’ is for their own brand.”

P H OTO G RA P H Y | ALAMY

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FOLLOWERS

PEOPLE USE IT

W H AT I S SNAP C H AT? Snapchat from Snap Inc launched in September 2011. The app allows users to accompany a message with an image or short video, but these ‘Snaps’ are only seen for up to 10 seconds. Its range of creative features lets users distort or transform themselves and even swap faces in a selfie. Snap, which describes itself as a ‘camera company’, is continually adding new features, and will shortly launch a new product, Spectacles, which features an integrated video camera that allows the user to “create memories”.

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09/11/2016 16:59

C

INTE R AC TIO N

AGENCY VIEW

Stop bleating and get recruiting Show the world that we’re strong

BY SACHIN RUPARELIA

n the wake of the Brexit vote, with the pound plummeting and reports that business confidence has taken a hit, there are reasons for recruiters to be concerned. And boy, are networking events and online forums stoking this fear. And yet there needn’t be concerns. To quote the well-used phrase, recruiters should ‘keep calm and carry on’.

The way people have reacted over the last three months has been wildly different to anything we have ever seen before.

Because we at Camino Partners supply recruitment businesses with their back office support staff, we often see confidence or negativity in the sector before anyone else. Also, we get to see plenty of different industries. And we feel confident.

The UK economy is growing. It may be at a lower level than before the referendum, but it is growing nonetheless. Slower than hoped, yes, but this doesn’t represent the decline that some of the rhetoric led us to expect.

In truth, the government needs Brexit to be a success.

Boosting business is a key element of its plan for the coming months. Prime Minister Theresa May has given us transparency on the timetable for triggering Article 50, and there is also clarity on short-term regulatory and legal issues. We know what the trading landscape will be like for, realistically, the next three years at least.

I

+ SACHIN RUPARELIA is joint managing director, Camino Partners

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“The government needs Brexit to be a success.

Boosting business is a key element of its plan for the coming months”

Chancellor Philip Hammond has also signalled that his Autumn Statement will look to incentivise business investment and overseas trade. This will have a knock-on impact for recruitment companies, both directly and indirectly. Furthermore, by dropping George Osborne’s budget surplus target, the chancellor has also signalled his intention to invest in long-term infrastructure projects, which would again boost opportunities for recruiters.

Those industries feeling bullish about the economic outlook are projecting that onto the recruiters working in that sector. Conversely, the opposite is the case. We shouldn’t be naïve to the challenges, but neither should they paralyse us.

For example, some international recruiters we talk with have become gripped by ‘exchange rate fear’, while others are seeing the situation as an opportunity to make their services more attractive to foreign-based companies.

As an industry we also need to be wary of those clients who are making negative statements about the economy in order to use Brexit as a shield. This is particularly true when unpalatable decisions are taken, such as mass redundancies, which an organisation wanted to make anyway.

As a country we should be proud. Our confidence should be high. After all, we won two world wars, came through a multitude of recessions and have constantly adapted to the ever-changing global political landscape. As recruiters, we have made great strides in professionalising who we are and what we do. Whenever we speak to our clients we always get a sense that they are taking their responsibilities to the industry extremely seriously. We are survivalists by nature. And we are seeing that recruiters are bolstering their back office departments – a sure sign that they are confident.

So let’s come together as an industry and show the world that we are strong. ●

IMAG E | SH UTTER STO CK

10/11/2016 10:41

I N T E R AC T I O N

SOUNDBITES

WEB CH AT

“What impact do you think the result of the US election will have on UK business?”

PAULA ROGERS FOUN D ER , A D MIR A L RECRUIT MEN T

ABOUT TIME DISABLED PEOPLE GOT AN EVEN BREAK Running a not-for-profit job board specifically aimed at helping employers to attract more talented disabled candidates, I am delighted that employers are getting on board with this issue (‘New Disability Confident scheme seeks to find untapped talent’, 3 November).

There is so much wasted talent out there that businesses can benefit from.

JANE HATTON, FOUNDER /DIRECTOR O F E V E N B R E A K , A N O T-F O R-P R O F I T SOCIAL ENTERPRISE.

WOULDN’T TOUCH IT WITH A BARGEPOLE On the basis of what we understand at this point in time, I do not know of any recruitment business that would be prepared to take the risk of becoming an unpaid tax assessor for the government (‘APSCo members give HMRC the third degree over IR35 reforms’ 21 October).

We will all suffer from this scheme.

DON TOMLINSON

TIME TO WAKE UP TO LABELS FOR WORKERS I also work in an industry that uses myself and all its ‘staff’ and classes us as self-employed IT contractors (‘In-house recruiters must learn from Uber selfemployment case’, 25 July).

If they have no calls for us the next day, we have a day off without pay, though we still have to be available to work if they call us. We are directed by them to what we do on a daily basis and have to ‘apply’ for days off and holidays.

This type of employment is rife in the UK, employed classed as self employed but managed by our ‘employers’.

PETER MCKENZIE

Editor’s note: See also later stories on recruiter.co.uk, such as ‘Uber ruling sets off shockwaves for in-house recruiters’, 31 October.

I M AG E | I STO C K

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“There is a real danger markets will plummet and will be slower to recover. In times of uncertainty and insecurity, corporate confidence remains low and the private sector is more cautious and less likely to commit to spending on capital investment and expansion so this will have a knock-on effect on recruitment. I do not believe there would be any real change in the so-called ‘special relationship’ between the UK and the US. Trump is no fool, and despite all the bluster, is a canny businessman. And remember, he already has sizable business interests in Scotland.”

PETER SEARLE CH IEF EX ECUT IV E, A I RSW IF T

“Trump did have a more positive view after Brexit on the UK as a whole. He is obviously ‘pro’ the UK. I think on a ‘just us’ basis it may not be such a bad thing if a trade deal comes in. I think it’s more about the global economy. I think the macro view will be one of uncertainty about what his policies are going to be and regardless of a potential trade deal, which will obviously positively affect the UK in the medium to long term. In the short term, the uncertainty will cause a slowdown in recruiting as people wait to see what his policies will be – both domestically and overseas.”

BRIAN WILKINSON CH IEF EX ECUT IV E, GAT TACA

“Clinton promised a five-year $275bn (£221bn) programme to deliver infrastructure. Trump said he would spend at least twice as much and that it would be financed with debt. If anything like that amount of money is spent on repairing and replacing US infrastructure that will be a massive boost for their economy and it will be very good for us because we have just launched our Matchtech engineering infrastructure service line in the US. With regards to a potential post-Brexit trade deal with the US, we need some friends and allies on trade deals if there is to be a hard Brexit.”

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I MAGE S | C AR ME N VA LI N O

PASSION FOR PEOPLE 18 RECRUITER

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10/11/2016 14:28

T H E BIG STORY IN V EST I N G I N TA L E N T 201 6

Recruiter’s Investing in Talent Awards showcase the recruitment companies and people that recognise the value of investing in its current and future talent. At the third annual award ceremony, which took place on 5 October at The Brewery in London, 22 categories all found a highly deserving winner. Among the recipients of the awards, Recruiter shines a spotlight on executive search firm Expand Executive Search, for its approaches to flexible working and staff holidays, and also highlights the five individual winners WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 19

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TH E B IG STO RY INVESTING IN TALENT 20 16

Expanding the limits What happens when you give your employees unlimited holiday? A more productive business, if executive recruiter Expand is anything to go by.

Colin Cottell reports THE EXPERIENCE OF Expand Executive Search, winner of this year’s Most Effective Flexible Working Strategy award at Recruiter’s Investing in Talent Awards, is proof that sticking to your principles pays off. Even if others feel it is counter-intuitive or potentially disastrous.

Samantha Maxwell-Reed, Expand’s group chief executive, told Recruiter that when the announcement was made to staff in January that they would be allowed to take unlimited holiday, their reaction “was everything from jubilation to complete disbelief. ‘Wow, how do we do this?’ they asked”.

“There were lots of questions from staff afterwards ‘so what does unlimited mean?’,” Maxwell-Reed continued. “I told them ‘Unlimited means unlimited’,” she said.

Other fears voiced by some of Maxwell-Reed’s peers were: what are you going to do if nobody turns up for work, what if the work is not getting done, and how are clients going to react?

Almost a year on, however, MaxwellReed said the decision, described by the Awards’ judges as “brave and against the industry norm”, has proved to be a great success. Net fee income is up 40% on last year at £2.5m, the firm, which operates as a partnership, has opened a new office in New York and staff churn remains low at 15%.

People are using it responsibility,

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with no evidence of any detrimental effects on the business; indeed, quite the reverse, said Maxwell-Reed, citing the example of one consultant who, despite taking more than 40 days’ annual leave so far this year, is ahead of his sales targets. Maxwell-Reed said the consultant works “incredibly hard”, sometimes working up to 10 or 11 at night to deliver international projects.

“This gives him the opportunity to balance his life and spend time with his family.”

Maxwell-Reed said these benefits

Samantha Maxwell-R eed (blue dress) and some of her Expand team collecting their award

have been replicated throughout most of the company, although staff in its New York office have been slower to embrace the idea (see news story on p7).

“There has been an incredible uplift in from a morale and emotional perspective. People just feel they are empowered to make their own decisions about what is the right thing to do,” she said.

Maxwell-Reed emphasised that decisions on staff holidays are made within each of its divisional teams.

“There is no formal policy. There are

The event showcased those recruiters who really valued their staff

DECEMBER 2016

10/11/2016 12:37

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08/11/2016 16:57

TH E B IG STO RY INVESTING IN TALENT 20 16

The roll of honour: the winners on stage celebrate their awards

some guidelines and people work together as a team to decide if it is the right time to take a period of time off.”

She said concerns that staff might abuse the right by taking excessive holidays had proved wide of the mark.

“Two of our values are ambition and success, so if you are somebody who wants to sit on your sofa taking 50 days’ annual leave you are probably not very ambitious,” she said.

This is borne out by the figures, which show that as of the end of October the average number of days taken or booked stood at 30. This compares with the previous 25 days’ annual holiday allowance.

Fears that clients would take umbrage that the consultant they were used to dealing with would not be so readily available have also not materialised. “We make sure that clients have other well-understood relationships and contacts, so they don’t feel bereft if a particular consultant isn’t available,” MaxwellReed explained. Indeed, she said the

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more common response from clients is curiosity, and “how maybe they could adopt it”.

The opportunity to take unlimited leave was introduced as an extension of the company’s health and wellbeing strategy launched in 2013. This is based on the principle, “If you treat people very well, everybody wins,” said Maxwell-Reed. As part of the strategy, the company got rid of the old 9-5 culture and introduced flexible working, a measure that proved “hugely popular” among staff.

“Introducing unlimited holiday leave is borne out of our confidence in our people,” Maxwell-Reed continued.

“We trust them – that is absolutely what it is about. We trust them to make the right decision.” It also ties in with the idea of collaboration, another of the firm’s values.

All the indications are that the trust vested in Expand’s 26 staff is being reciprocated. Far from abusing the new benefit, if anything, MaxwellReed said it worked the other way

round, and she knew of two instances where staff cancelled their annual leave because of the need of the business for them to be in the office.

“When you have a well-engaged workforce, which is ambitious to be successful, and given I fight to get people to turn their smart phones off when they are on holiday, then it has got to be a good thing to give them choices,” said Maxwell-Reed. ●

DECEMBER 2016

10/11/2016 12:38

T H E BI G STORY IN V EST I N G I N TA L E N T 201 6

Inspiring individuals with a passion for people Catherine Turner, Most Inspiring Recruitment Leader, owner and director, Rapid Search & Interim and Firefly Human Capital After 20 years as a leader in the recruitment sector, Catherine Turner still aims to have 10 meetings with clients and candidates a week.

“I don’t believe in non-operational recruitment leadership at all. It’s about leading by example, and showing people that they can achieve,” Turner told Recruiter. “It is very easy to sit there and to say 10 years’ ago I billed £600k, but unless they can see that it is doable, they will just think the market was easier then.” The judges recognised that Turner’s hands-on approach inspired others in the company. They also liked her commitment to best practice and candidate care, and how this tied in with her sense of wider responsibility to raising standards across the recruitment sector. Turner said her strongest trait when leading others is her consistency. “Every day people can come in and they know what they are getting, regardless of what may have gone on at home the previous evening.

I understand that you are dealing with people and that everyone is an individual.”

Abid Kanji, Most Inspiring Director/ Senior Manager, NonStop Recruitment Abid Kanji stood out because of his proactive and entrepreneurial approach.

After joining NonStop Recruitment in 2007, he single-handedly undertook a huge amount of research, before setting up a brand new chemicals division. Not content with this, however, he then went on to open an office in Switzerland. Kanji told Recruiter how he draws on this experience to motivate others. “A lot of the team have gone on to look at that and said ‘we are being led by someone who didn’t have anyone to motivate him; he had to motivate himself’.” Kanji adopts a ‘show don’t tell’ approach. “Not only does this help staff understand why they are being asked to do something, but also, they know that they have that support behind them to drive them on,” he said.

Cerian Williams, Most Inspiring Support Professional, strategy director, Nicoll Curtin The judges recognised Cerian Williams’ huge contribution to the company in a short space of time. Since joining Nicoll Curtin from Lloyds Bank two years ago, not only has she has been a driving force behind the success of the company,

which achieved record results in 2015, but she also made history by becoming the company’s first female board member. Commenting on the impact of her appointment to the board, Williams told Recruiter: “People don’t see it [being a woman] as a barrier, but also there is a voice to represent people and to give a different perspective,” she said. “We now have the highest ever number of females in sales leadership positions in the company,” she added.

Adam Knight, Most Inspiring Team Leader/Manager, TXM Recruit The judges were impressed by how Adam Knight’s passion for his job and his devotion to his team inspired others. “I am very much one of the team. I don’t have a ‘them and me’ mentality,” Knight told Recruiter. The judges were impressed with how Knight had taken a personal interest in helping Ben Grant, the first member of his team, get his career off the ground after his professional football contract at MK Dons Academy ended. Ben didn’t have a driving licence, “so I picked up him for work from his house every day”, Knight explained. “TXM Recruit has managed to give me a new career and a good life, and he [Ben] had had a hard time, and I wanted to help him get a career,” said Knight. He believes the secret to inspiring others is to get to know everyone on his team. “I make sure I am very approachable and available to talk about work-related or personal issues,” he said.

Ben Grant, Most Inspiring Newcomer, TXM Recruit The judges noted how Ben Grant managed to pick himself up after the disappointment of having his childhood dream of becoming a professional footballer shattered (see above). “For about three months, I wasn’t in a particularly good space,” Grant told Recruiter. However, with the support of his manager Adam Knight, Grant, who joined TXM Recruit as an apprentice, soon picked himself up, and in his first year as a trainee consultant delivered net fee income of £126k. After three promotions in his first two years, Grant makes sure he takes time out to share his experiences with TXM’s apprentices, who see him as a role model. “I don’t see myself as a typical recruitment consultant, I am not especially loud or in your face, but am quietly confident, and look to quietly go about my business,” he said.

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10/11/2016 12:39

TH E B IG STO RY INVESTING IN TALENT 20 16

The 2016 Investing in Talent Award winners:

BEST TEMPORARY WORKFORCE CARE Winner: Berkeley Scott

MOST EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME Winner: Amoria Bond

BEST EMPLOYABILITY RECRUITMENT INITIATIVE FOR THE UNEMPLOYED Winner: Aspire Recruitment

MOST EFFECTIVE TEAM MOTIVATION EVENT Winner: The SR Group

MOST EFFECTIVE FLEXIBLE WORKING STRATEGY Winner: Expand Executive Search

BEST WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT Winner: Goodman Masson

BEST CONTRACTOR CARE BEST TEMPORARY RECRUITMENT COMPANY TO WORK FOR

MOST EFFECTIVE PAY AND BENEFITS STRATEGY

Winner: Morgan McKinley Highly commended: Caritas Recruitment

MOST INNOVATIVE BENEFIT Winner: Expand Executive Search

Winner: TXM Recruit Highly commended: Morson International

BEST BANKING/FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPANY TO WORK FOR Winner: Morgan McKinley

Winner: Tangent International

Winner: Amoria Bond

BEST ENGINEERING RECRUITMENT COMPANY TO WORK FOR

BEST PUBLIC/THIRD SECTOR RECRUITMENT COMPANY TO WORK FOR

MOST INSPIRING NEWCOMER Winner: Ben Grant, TXM Recruit

MOST INSPIRING SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL Winner: Cerian Williams, Nicoll Curtin

Winner: Morgan Hunt

BEST EMERGING TALENT EMPLOYER IN RECRUITMENT Winner: J1 Consulting

BEST PROFESSIONAL SERVICES RECRUITMENT COMPANY TO WORK FOR Winner: Goodman Masson

BEST IT AND TELECOMS RECRUITMENT COMPANY TO WORK FOR Winner: Sopra Steria Recruitment

BEST HEALTHCARE RECRUITMENT COMPANY TO WORK FOR Winner: Meridian Business Support

24 RECRUITER

MOST INSPIRING TEAM LEADER/MANAGER Winner: Adam Knight, TXM Recruit Highly commended: Marketa Littlemore, NonStop Recruitment

MOST INSPIRING DIRECTOR/ SENIOR MANAGER Winner: Abid Kanji, NonStop Recruitment

MOST INSPIRING RECRUITMENT LEADER Winner: Catherine Turner, Rapid Search & Interim and Firefly Human Capital

DECEMBER 2016

p18_24_recruiter_bigstory.indd 24

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08/11/2016 12:05

APPRE NTIC E SHIP LEV Y

BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW On the surface, the Apprenticeship Levy seems like a good move for the UK and its workforce.

But as DeeDee Doke reports, Randstad is leading the charge for common sense to prevail as its abiding principles don’t add up for recruiters, businesses and apprentices alike “IF THE PURPOSE of the Apprenticeship Levy is to upskill the UK workforce… it just doesn’t work.”

So says Mark Bull, chief executive of Randstad UK and the Middle East, in offering his bottom line view of the levy – or payroll tax as he sees it – that from April 2017 will add more than 8% to the UK organisation’s annual pay-outs to the government without it, clients or workers being able to realise any of the intended benefits.

Few would dispute apprenticeships are good for the UK. Certainly Bull is a believer in apprenticeships as a practical path for future workforces to earn as they learn career-building skills. They serve as a valuable pipeline for UK plc to build a solid bank of skills knowledge and expertise. Apprenticeships are also 26 RECRUITER

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DECEMBER 2016

seen as a critical force in building UK productivity.

However, an Apprenticeship Levy announced last year to help fund 3m new apprenticeship starts by 2020 has received mixed reviews. And for large recruitment businesses running high numbers of temporary workers, the levy looms as a particularly bitter pill to swallow: the levy will be charged not only on their corporate staff but on temporary workers for whom they pay National Insurance Contributions (NICs).

It’s certainly not a pill that Bull and Randstad UK and MENA legal director Chrissi Evans are agreeing to ingest just yet. “Many of us did not anticipate that this levy would be applied to an agency workforce,” Bull tells Recruiter during a meeting at the company’s

new UK head office in Luton.

“The whole premise is built around a fixed, static model of employment, and that’s not how the [recruitment] industry works,” Bull says.

A roundtable meeting of recruiters called by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) to discuss the levy with government representatives soon after it was announced found the conversation “much more around apprentices within the recruitment business”, recalls Evans. “We were all very comfortable about supporting that.

All the other people around the table originally were very proactive about the concept of the Apprenticeship Levy… We just did not believe they intended this.”

IM AGE | AKIN FALOPE

10/11/2016 14:33

A PPR E N T I C E S H I P L E V Y

Randstad’s Chrissi Evans and Mark Bull discuss the implications for business arising from the Apprenticeship Levy

FACTS – TH E AP P R E NTI C E SH I P LE V Y

▶ Takes effect from April 2017 with first payments to be made in May 2017 ▶ .05% levy to be collected each year, minus £15k allowance, on payrolls of over £3m I M AG E | I KO N

p26-28_Levy.indd 27

▶ Levy to be paid by organisation that pays workers’ NICs ▶ Aims to raise £3bn to fund 3m new apprenticeship starts by 2020 ▶ Organisations have 24 months to use their levy funds on approved

apprenticeship training ▶ Government will apply a 10% top-up on funds for every £1 paid in ▶ Affects less than 6% of UK employers WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 27

10/11/2016 14:33

APPRE NTIC E SHIP LEV Y

CASE STUDY: RANDSTAD UK The Apprenticeship Levy will be raised on a company’s corporate employee payroll.

It also will be raised on the temporary worker payroll because the employment agency pays employers’ NICs on the temporary workers even when they are not employees of the agency, but instead are on contracts for services.

In Randstad UK’s case, the bill will cover: Corporate staff: £334,273 PAYE temporary workers placed direct: £984,401 Total charge to Randstad UK: £1,318,674 or equivalent to additional 8.2% in tax Average tenure of a Randstad temp: nine weeks Minimum length of apprenticeship before they can reclaim the levy: 12 months

Bull goes on to explain his view of how what he calls “the abiding principles” of the levy don’t fit with provision of a flexible workforce. The purpose of the Apprenticeship Levy is to upskill the UK workforce. If you’ve got 1.2m, 1.3m people a week working through agencies in the UK, you are striking out by definition a huge proportion that the apprenticeship scheme cannot work for. It cannot work for the clients employing them,” he says, “and it cannot work for the agencies employing them. And that’s our fundamental issue.”

His first point is, to reclaim the levy paid in return for providing an apprenticeship through an appropriate authorised body, the person taking the apprenticeship must be in the role for a minimum of 12 months.

“Take Randstad UK as an example, and I’m sure we’re no different to any other recruiter; our average tenure is nine weeks. So we will pay the levy, but actually under the rules of the 28 RECRUITER

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scheme itself, it’s effectively impossible for that individual to benefit from the apprenticeship sums we raise,” Bull says.

“The principle of how flexible labour works when you have limited tenure in that role doesn’t lend itself to the way the levy funds are accessed back to provide the training. That’s point one.”

Secondly, he continues: “We don’t oversee the worker so we’re not directing them. The client clearly is. Many of our individual workers are on contracts for services, therefore they are working under the client’s direction, and then even identifying what the appropriate apprenticeship should be … is effectively impossible.”

In a view that might see smaller agencies enjoy this twist of fortune, Bull also sees the levy as creating an uneven playing ground within the industry itself. Clients will have to be charged more to cover Randstad’s higher costs, while smaller competitors won’t have to take that step. “We all know that a particular client will often go to multiple agencies to try and fill a role, and in many cases, they’ll often get the same candidates put forward. That’s how the industry works.

“If you’re a large agency like us, the levy will be charged. An agency with a payroll lower than £3m a year won’t be charged the levy. Same worker, same job – under one scenario, there’s a levy paid, under another there isn’t, purely determined by the size of a payroll,” he says.

Last May, Bull was among 16 recruitment business leaders who signed an open letter organised by the REC to then-Chancellor George Osborne urging that the levy be charged only on recruitment companies’ permanent payroll and to ensure that recruitment and contingent labour experts were represented on the Institute for Apprenticeships.

REC head of policy Kate Shoesmith told Recruiter: “We have spent a significant amount of time explaining the labour supply chain to officials within the Treasury and the Department of Education over the last year – including securing two well-attended meetings for members where we made the industry’s views very clear.” She went on to say: “We will not stop pushing for a better solution for recruiters but it is

almost certain the government intends to go ahead with the levy.”

For its part, Randstad has written to over 40 MPs, advisers and industry bodies to make the case, and submitted its own proposals directly to the government’s apprenticeships director, David Hill. Randstad has also met with advisers at the Skills Funding Agency, and last week met with members of the Treasury. Evans said of the latter meeting, “Their response to our proposals were negative.” A suggestion to have clients pay the levy on indirect staff was considered “too complicated” and another to exempt agency workers “would set a precedent”. Evans said she responded that exempting agency staff was “a fair exception as temp workers were our stock-in-trade, not our staff ”.

When asked by Recruiter for comment, the Treasury referred the enquiry to the Department for Business, Innovation, Energy & Skills. The Department for Education had not responded to Recruiter’s enquiry for comment by press deadlines.

Bull says: “We’ve engaged from day one, trying to find a different way to look at this and putting some suggestions on the table that could work, or at least work a lot better than the current proposal, and we’re not getting anywhere with it.

“I think the final point, as an overarching principle, is: is this really the time to introduce a payroll tax into the UK economy when there’s so much uncertainty with the Brexit scenario?

Will it be hard, will it be soft, are we going to continue to have inward investment, what does it mean? There are so many unanswered questions, it seems foolhardy. At a time when UK plc needs to be at its most agile, fleet of foot, its most responsive and adaptive, this fixed-levy charge is coming in. And it does not seem to make sense.” ●

“Is this really the time to introduce a payroll tax into the UK economy?”

DECEMBER 2016

10/11/2016 14:33

LAUNCH YOUR OWN BUSINESS

RECRUITER?

www.recruitventures.com RV_Recruiter?_AD_V11

REC.12.16.029.indd 29

07/11/2016 11:03

Expert opinion A DV ERT IS IN G F EAT URE A N D E R S O N G R O U P

Save money with Infrastructure Enhancement from Anderson Group Post-Brexit economic uncertainty, introduction of the National Living Wage and ever increasing legislative burdens are just some of the many challenges facing recruitment agencies, squeezing their margins, distracting them from core tasks and deterring them from growing their business and their profits.

+ Andrew Burton Sales Director, Anderson Group

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) or, as Anderson Group define it, Infrastructure Enhancement (IE), is the most practical and cost-effective way to grow your recruitment business rapidly. Once where only large agencies could afford IE to ensure resilience in uncertain market conditions, with Anderson’s approach to IE, so too can smaller firms, enabling them to compete with their industry peers.

Whether you’re an SME or a large corporate, IE can make all the difference to your growth and your bottom line, at a cost that’s far less than you’d pay to bring in the extra support yourself, and at a pace that most businesses would find impossible to match.

In the time you’ve found new offices, relocated existing staff, recruited new staff and implemented the additional infrastructure required, IE could have had your business up and running in half that time, leaving you free to focus on the tasks that generate profits.

The flexibility of outsourcing followed by ‘insourcing’ is IE’s biggest draw. With the quick addition of staff and immediate access to technology to exactly suit what your business requires to grow, followed by the option to bring processes, personnel and technology back in house when the time is right, sets IE apart from traditional BPO solutions.

A further clear advantage of IE is the ability to rapidly access specialist advice in areas where you may not have sufficient knowledge in house. This is particularly pertinent in recruitment, where constantly changing employment law and tax legislation can easily trip up the inexperienced and land your business with a hefty fine, or worse, if you get it wrong. Where time is limited and it’s simply not practical for you and your staff to spend hours learning new skills, regulations and information, an outsourced expert could be the answer and all for less than what you would pay to recruit someone on a full time salary.

So why isn’t everybody doing it? Our research shows that the two reasons most companies cite for not outsourcing are ’loss of control’ and ‘lack of trust’.

These are perfectly understandable concerns, but they are concerns that Anderson Group are happy to meet and

30 RECRUITER

REC.12.16.030.indd 30

We now boast an impressive track record of helping businesses reduce their costs and grow exponentially, whilst providing the access and visibility to give greater control to our clients than they had before and the management expertise to guarantee results.

We offer a wide range of support services and a global infrastructure of highly trained staff all of which are available 24/7 as required. We also offer all the flexibility you could want, with long-term contracts available or short-term project work to get you over a busy period.

With IE, we could take on many of the tasks involved in recruitment, leaving you free to find the ideal candidates for your clients. We offer CV verification, candidate screening, call centre services, timesheet processing, payroll processing, invoicing, credit control, accountancy services, and much more, allowing you to focus on what you do best – making your business profitable.

With ever more demanding market expectations, this is the perfect way to wow your clients and over-deliver, while keeping costs to a minimum. And remember with IE you always have the option to take back in house what you’ve outsourced as soon as you are ready.

Why wait to expand when IE means you are ready to grow now? Talk to our friendly team on 0333 8000 800.

Anderson Group specialise in providing employment management solutions and back office services to the recruitment and contracting sector throughout the UK. ●

↗

With tighter margins and an ever-changing business landscape, it’s no wonder so many companies are now turning to outsourcing as the best way forward for their business.

match head on both by evidencing our own experiences and by referencing what we have achieved for others. We’re not just talking the talk here. We’ve done this ourselves for our business, making it work to expand and grow in ways we couldn’t possibly have achieved without Business Process Outsourcing. The flexibility and cost savings enabled us to make bold decisions about the future of our business as early as possible and, when we were ready, we took back some of the processes that we had outsourced acquiring skills, resource, technology and infrastructure we would otherwise have never had. That showed us the value of IE and what it can deliver for any business.

ANDERSON GROUP For further information please visit: www.andersongroup.uk.com Telephone: 0333 8000 800 Email: enquiries@andersongroup.uk.com

DECEMBER 2016

07/11/2016 11:04

Issue 44 December 2016

RECRUITMENT MATTERS The View and The Intelligence

Member of the Month

Legal update and the IRP

Events and Training

The Uber decision p2-3

Fidelis Partners

Gender equality issues p6-7

Jobs Transform Lives story p8

p4

REC TAKES LEAD IN DISABILITY TALENT PUSH The REC will be at the forefront of a new scheme designed to promote the talent of disabled workers.

The Disability Confident scheme was launched at the REC’s London offices in early November by Minister for Disabled People, Work and Health Penny Mordaunt.

The scheme will acknowledge employers who promote and recruit disabled people.

Minister Mordaunt (right) says the scheme will create opportunities.

“More than 2,400 businesses have signed up so far and this is a great start, but I want to see all employers challenging the misconceptions of the past and realising the many benefits disabled people can bring to the workplace,” she says.

@RECPress RM_DEC_16-NEW.indd 1

“I urge employers everywhere to become Disability Confident and make the most of this untapped pool of talent.”

REC director of policy Tom

Hadley says recruiters will have a unique opportunity to open the doors for disabled workers.

“People transform businesses and jobs transform lives. Dismantling barriers and

misperceptions about hiring disabled people is not just the right thing to do, it’s also a way to address candidate shortages faced by employers in many sectors,” he says.

“Recruiters have a responsibility to advocate to their clients the social and business benefits of building an inclusive and diverse workforce. Many REC members are already stepping up and making a tangible difference. We’re very proud to support the Disability Confident scheme, which will play a pivotal role in raising awareness.”

The new Disability Confident scheme has absorbed and built upon the Two Ticks programme. Employers sign up to one of three new levels: • Disability Confident Committed (Level 1), encouraging employers to start the journey • Disability Confident Employer (Level 2), where employers are recruiting, retaining and developing disabled staff • And Disability Confident Leader (Level 3), where they ensure they are helping others be Disability Confident too.

www.rec.uk.com 08/11/2016 16:34

Leading the Industry

THE VIEW

The UK is a big player in global work movements, says Tom Hadley, REC director of policy and professional services

Uber decision raises flexible work questions, says Kevin Green

A few weeks ago an employment tribunal upheld two Uber drivers claim that they should be entitled to holiday pay and the National Living Wage.

At the REC we feel it’s important that the government looks at ‘gig’ working quickly, because this verdict raises more questions than it answers. The good news is the prime minster had already asked Matthew Taylor, CEO of the RSA, to do exactly this.

We need a new way forward, which will support workers who want the ability to choose the hours they work.

This flexibility often enables individuals to balance work with other responsibilities in their lives.

But the option to work flexibly needs to be balanced.

Individuals need access to a pension so they can save efficiently for retirement. They also need access to training so they can progress and get a decent return on their efforts.

Individuals should always earn at least the National Living Wage, so we need new mechanisms which can ensure this. We need to explore alternatives to the outdated model of full time employment and self-employment as the only options.

We will also be asking the Taylor review to ensure there is a level playing field in terms of regulation. Recruiters have

GLOBAL EYES

extensive regulations including the conduct regulations, AWR. Many of the new work platforms, such as Task Rabbit, freelancer.dot.com and Upwork, are not beholden to the same regulatory and compliance framework.

The world of work is changing. We hope that the Taylor review will take a hard look at the future of the UK jobs market, and makes recommendations which will benefit both employers and individuals. There’s no getting round the fact that platforms like Uber and Deliveroo are very popular with consumers.

We need new thinking so that consumers can continue to benefit from technical advancements, while ensuring a fair and transparent system for workers who choose to work flexibly.

But with more candidates becoming available globally via technology, clients will become more dependent on experts to help them screen and check prospective employees. Digital work platforms could therefore provide recruiters with the opportunity to enhance their service offerings. We can show employers and candidates what good recruitment looks like.

I am keen to hear members’ views. My email is Kevin.green@rec.uk. com or via twitter @kevingreenrec

2 RECRUITMENT MATTERS DECEMBER 2016

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Post-EU referendum, the message is that Britain remains open for business and a key player on the global stage.

In relation to this, the REC formed part of the official employers’ delegation alongside other members of the World Employment Confederation (WEC) – the representative body for the global recruitment industry – at the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) recent Fair Recruitment negotiations in Geneva. Discussions with national governments, trade unions and business organisations were lively but constructive. Here are a few key messages: Tackling abuses is in everybody’s interests. According to the ILO there are 232 million migrants working across the globe.

Reported abuses include deception, retention of passports and illegal deductions. Addressing exploitation is about protecting basic human rights and is also about protecting legitimate businesses. Governments must work in partnership with national recruitment federations, and industry-led certification schemes can help jobseekers and employers identify compliant providers. In emerging markets, where it remains common practice for jobseekers to be charged fees, the priority is to promote new business models.

Being proactive at the global level is boosting perceptions.

The ILO is part of the United Nations and brings together representatives of 187 member states to set labour standards.

Non-discrimination, transparency and other key Fair Recruitment principles are already embedded in the REC Code of Practice, as well as in the Code of Conduct for the worldwide recruitment sector. Discussions in Geneva were a further opportunity to showcase the positive contribution of compliant recruitment businesses across the world.

There are specific implications for UK recruiters. Principles agreed at an international level can set precedents and influence national policies, which is why we need to be in amongst it. Secondly, addressing rogue providers and creating a level playing field can open new market opportunities for UK recruiters.

Finally, leading employers will be asked to promote Fair Recruitment through their supply chains, so awareness of the initiative will serve REC members in good stead.

The REC is a board member of the World Employment Confederation and we will continue to work with other national federations to amplify our global voice.

You can follow Tom on Twitterr ment @hadleyscomment

www.rec.uk.com

10/11/2016 09:41

0.5%

THE INTELLIGENCE WITH REC SENIOR RESEARCHER, NINA MGUNI-JONES To date, the last quarter of 2016 feels relatively calm and the UK will not experience a recession this year, as was predicted following the referendum. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures published in October 2016 showed that in July to September, the economy grew by 0.5%, which followed on from a growth rate of 0.7% in April to June.

Similarly, our Report on Jobs data suggests that there has not yet been a slowdown in the labour market. In October, 39.5% of recruiters stated that the number of permanent placements was higher than the previous month. This compares to 28.1% in July of this year.

Looking at temporary and contract recruitment, 34.6% of

CONTINUING SLOWDOWN

recruiters stated that billings were higher than the previous month, which is in line with the reported figures in the post referendum period. Demand for staff month-on-month continues to show growth, but has shown acceleration in the months since June.

Recruiters also report that starting salaries continue to grow month-on-month.

For permanent placements, 18.4% of recruiters stated that starting salaries were higher in October compared to September. Whilst month on month temporary hourly pay rates continued to grow in October, this has been more muted when compared to permanent salaries. In total, 15.8% of recruiters stated that hourly pay rates were higher in October compared with the previous month.

Despite the collective sigh of relief, looking ahead, there may be some cracks appearing

THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) FIGURES PUBLISHED IN OCTOBER 2016 SHOWED THAT IN JULY TO SEPTEMBER, THE ECONOMY GREW BY 0.5%, WHICH FOLLOWED ON FROM A GROWTH RATE OF 0.7% IN APRIL TO JUNE

Figure 1: Recruiter turnover growth 40 ■ Upper Qtile ■ Median ■ Low Qtile

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RM_DEC_16-NEW.indd 3

20 %

10 0 -10 -20

Aug 14

Nov

Feb 15

May

FALLING by mid-teens for nearly a year. This extreme divergence in revenue growth demonstrates the importance of bench marking performance against other recruiters to maximise performance.

The shrinking revenue picture is causing a similarly

39.5%

OF RECRUITERS STATED THAT THE NUMBER OF PERMANENT PLACEMENTS WAS HIGHER THAN THE PREVIOUS MONTH. THIS IS COMPARED TO

beneath the positive data.

Firstly, although estimates for GDP showed that the services industries increased by 0.8%, the other sectors decreased in output, with construction contracting by 1.4%, agriculture by 0.7% and production by 0.4%. A 1% contraction in manufacturing suggests that this sector has not benefited from the fall in the value of the pound. In addition, whilst Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reported a seven-month high in growth rates in October, the increase in input costs and fall in orders suggests that inflationary pressures may impinge on growth.

30

The latest information from the RIB Index sponsored by Bluestones Group shows that the slowdown in recruiter revenues has sadly continued into the summer with median recruiter revenues in August DOWN 5.1% – making now 11 consecutive months of falling revenues (Figure 1).

The picture is not so bleak for all, with some recruiters seeing a much rosier picture, with a quarter of RIB members seeing revenue growth of over 5% – although a much less fortunate quarter of recruiters have been seeing revenues

REPORT ON JOBS DATA SUGGESTS THAT THERE HAS NOT YET BEEN A SLOWDOWN IN THE LABOUR MARKET. IN OCTOBER,

Aug

Nov

Feb 16

May

Aug

bleak outlook for profitability, with Total Employee Costs to Net Disposable Revenue now at its highest level for two years, rising from 50% a year ago to 62% in August 2016.

Worryingly, this increase in staff costs is leading to worsening profitability, with more than a quarter of RIB

28.1%

IN JULY OF THIS YEAR

Yet, it still remains to be seen how the wider economic conditions will impact on hiring intentions. REC’s JobsOutlook survey shows that one in five (22%) employers plan to increase the number of permanent staff in the next three months and one in four (25%) plan to increase permanent staff in the next four to 12 months. Which suggests that whilst cracks may emerge in the wider economy as we head into the New Year, 2016 will end on a sounder footing than previously forecast. recruiters now making a loss, with the lower quartile net profit margin being -3%.

Median net profit margin is below 1½%, compared with nearly 4% a year ago. More than ever this emphasises the importance of careful company financial management, aided by timely industry specific benchmarking a necessity.

Chris Ansell is chief financial officer at Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB). The RIB Index provides bespoke confidential reports on industry trends.

See www.ribindex.com; info@ribindex.com: 020 8544 9807. The RIB is a strategic partner of the REC.

RECRUITMENT MATTERS DECEMBER 2016 3

10/11/2016 09:41

Member of the Month

FIDELIS PARTNERS

QUALITY TO THE HILT Recruitment Matters talks with Fidelis Partners’ talent acquisitions director Jacqueline Hilton about why recruitment is about the long game

Recruitment Matters: How did you get started in recruitment?

years, where I completed my tenure as a company director.

I am ambitious and as such I wanted to experience new innovative ways of working, and as a result launched Fidelis in 2007. In my role I see myself as a detective, delivering roles for our clients and seeking out and engaging the best talent. I don’t ever want to get to the stage where I feel like recruitment is simply transactional – it’s so much more than that.

Jacqueline Hilton: I had been working in retail HR and felt hugely frustrated at being stuck in one place and so moved into sales in the FMCG market. I was looking for a new challenge and I thought, why not combine my HR and sales skills and go into recruitment, which felt like a natural fit for me. I’d be mobile, and I’d meet a wider variety of individuals and organisations.

RM: You live and breathe your mission?

RM: So you feel good about it?

JH: I am building a business

JH: Definitely, when I speak with other like-minded recruiters they see themselves as members of the business they recruit in, rather that the staffing industry. It’s a great environment and I can honestly say I don’t experience that ‘Sunday Evening Dread’.

RM: How did Fidelis start?

JH: I have only worked for one other recruitment business and that was for 10

4 RECRUITMENT MATTERS DECEMBER 2016

RM_DEC_16-NEW.indd 4

along with more experienced individuals, many with whom I still keep in regular contact.

RM: You’ve got to build a business on a foundation of trust, right?

personal ones as I believe that jobs do transform lives. That is something

JH: Absolutely, it is key to a successful working relationship. I need to understand not only the professional drivers to move jobs, but also the

and reputation that is founded on our core values and beliefs, and bringing that to life in everything we do. During my time in recruitment I have had the privilege to have a glimpse into people’s lives. My focus it to build trust with people, as it is crucial to understand what makes people tick; this is how I ensure people have careers that work for them. I have had the pleasure of working with graduates new out of university who have gone on to build rewarding careers,

www.rec.uk.com

09/11/2016 09:15

we should all take time out to think about for a moment when considering a change of job or career. That trust also extends to our business, to the organisations that keep us up and running. It is paramount that we equally build the same strong relationships with our suppliers.

RM: You’ve been involved in recruitment for 20 years and operated your own business for 10. What would you say to any young female recruitment entrepreneurs?

JH: There are more and more women moving into senior roles, which is great to see and thank goodness this is becoming the norm. To be honest, I wish I had launched my business sooner; it’s a contradiction really as I am not afraid to put my neck on the line for anything I believe in.

So I would say to my younger self, have self-belief and manage the fear, which is a great driver and motivator.

RM: What do you think about flexible work?

JH: I am a massive fan of flexible working. Modern technology is such that you could work anywhere in the world at any time. The talent market and ways of engaging have changed significantly over the past few years, whatever sector you are working in. The core hours are very fluid, you could find yourself taking calls at 7am in the morning or 7pm at night. It’s about working effectively with your talent pool and clients alike, whilst also

“THERE ARE MORE AND MORE WOMEN MOVING INTO SENIOR ROLES AND PEOPLE NEED TO GET USED TO IT. I’M NOT A FOLLOWER, BUT I WOULD CALL MYSELF A KINGMAKER” maintain a healthy work-life balance to ensure you are fit for the job.

RM: Which plays in nicely with social media and mobile work too, right?

JH: Exactly – how many people pick up a phone in the first instance? It’s super important to engage on a personal level with people either by phone, WhatsApp, skype or face-to-face – but you have got to get there first.

Social media and the various platforms are great tools to identify and hopefully find a common ground upon which to engage initially – so that you can get that elusive phone number!

RM: What’s in store for 2017?

JH: We’re looking at keeping it simple. Our number one driver is to

www.rec.uk.com

RM_DEC_16-NEW.indd 5

retain our existing clients and candidates, and secondly to grow our acquisition of both significantly throughout 2017.

We’ll be looking to achieve this whilst simultaneously further developing our core skills to deliver in an everevolving industry.

RM: How do you feel about being in this industry?

JH: I love the industry and its ups and downs – never a dull day! I am in it for what I believe are the right reasons; it is one of my many drivers as to why I joined REC and why I am a member of its council. I am not in need of some fancy job title or status, I genuinely want to give something back to the industry. I believe that if you treat people in the way that you would want to be treated yourself, you’ll achieve success – which is not always measured in monetary terms.

It’s that simple.

RECRUITMENT MATTERS DECEMBER 2016 5

09/11/2016 09:15

Legal update

GENDER EQUALITY Lewina Farrell, solicitor and head of professional services Last month we reported on the 10th anniversary of age discrimination legislation.

Now we turn to gender equality issues.

Despite over 40 years of equal pay legislation, pay inequality remains a key issue for women. In April 2015 the overall UK national gender pay gap was 19.2%. The reasons for pay inequality are well known – women are the majority of the workforce in the lower-paid, caring professions. They are also more likely to work part time are also less represented in senior roles.

Equal pay claims have been around for some time. In October, more than 9,500 women who work at Asda won a step forward in their battle for equal pay. An employment tribunal ruled that the women, who mainly work in-store, can compare themselves to higher paid men who work in warehouses.

Importantly this preliminary hearing has only ruled on

whether jobs in a warehouse are comparable to those in its stores. Another tribunal must now consider whether the jobs are of equal value. The difference in pay is between £1 and £3 an hour. If the claims are successful, it could cost ASDA more than £100m in back pay plus pay rises in the future. Long-awaited gender pay gap reporting, intended to tackle pay inequality, is finally expected to come into effect in April 2017 for private and voluntary sector employers with more than 250 employees.

Women continue to face other discriminatory practices, including demotion or redundancy during pregnancy or on returning to work following maternity leave.

Despite legislation in place, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission believe that 390,000 women per year suffer pregnancy or maternityrelated discrimination. In response, the EHRC launched its ‘Working Forward’ initiative

6 RECRUITMENT MATTERS DECEMBER 2016

RM_DEC_16-NEW.indd 6

to “make British workplaces the best they can be for pregnant women and new mothers”.

Issues also arise during the recruitment process.

Agencies have been in the news recently for recruiting only women who meet particular physical requirements.

Clients can be demanding in their requirements but agencies must not accept discriminatory instructions – to do so is to invite claims under various discrimination legislation. In terms of physical requirements that could include all of sex, race, age and religious belief discrimination, both direct and indirect.

Direct discrimination includes specifying particular requirements for candidates eg. aged between X and Y or a particular race only. Indirect discrimination occurs when a provision, criterion or practice is applied to everyone but this results in people who have a

protected characteristic (eg. sex or age) being placed at a disadvantage in comparison to people who do not have the same protected characteristic.

To avoid allegations of sex discrimination ads should specify where the role can be performed on a part-time basis or through job share arrangements. They should also use gender neutral terms such as ‘waiting staff’ rather than ‘waitress’ in an advert.

Also consider interview timings: although more men are taking on childcare responsibilities, a woman with small children might struggle to attend an interview early in the morning or the evening.

Outside of legal requirements agencies have a valuable role in helping to dispel stereotypes and to build a more diverse workforce for their clients.

We are limited in what we can cover in this article but REC Legal can give more detailed advice to REC Corporate Members.

www.rec.uk.com

08/11/2016 16:35

Inspiration

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE INSTITUTE OF RECRUITMENT PROFESSIONALS

The View

Samantha Bosher is an executive recruitmentt consultant at Westray ants Recruitment Consultants

Rob Harvey is a market sector S specialist at GPRS Recruitment

Q&A

WHAT I KNOW

How did you get into recruitment?

Following completion of my A Levels I secured a conditional offer to study medicine at Oxford University. Unfortunately, my father took ill, so I decided to stay closer to home in a carer capacity. When I put my focus back onto my career I wanted to stay in an industry that helped people. Westray gave me the opportunity to join the business as an administrator and… well, here I am!

How did you get into recruitment?

I got into recruitment by chance really. I was working in hazardous waste management, and it really wasn’t what I wanted to be doing forever, so one night while looking through the job boards I noticed a very catchy advert for a ‘Recruitment Rockstar’ and based on the job description I thought it would be a good match for me and my skillset.

I went for interview in January 2015, but just fell short of obtaining the role; however, the feedback I received was beneficial and helped me understand what I might need to improve if I wanted to get into recruitment. November 2015 came around and I phoned up the MD of the company to see if there were any positions available. I was re-invited into interview, and to cut a long story short I was successful and the rest is history, as they say.

Are there any challenges facing your sector at the moment?

Working predominantly in the North East sector, historically there has been a lack of senior appointments in comparison to the exceptional senior talent. However, we have seen a sharp increase in this, which is a positive representation for the entire job market!

What do you love about your job?

The pleasure of working with both inspirational businesses and candidates on a daily basis. It is often uplifting to see how positive the market place really is, despite the ‘doom and gloom’ depicted in the media! The joy of presenting someone with the ideal job offer never loses its magic.

What’s the biggest challenge about working in recruitment?

The saturated market place – statistics state that 9,000 new agencies were formed in the UK in 2015. Inevitably this brings a host of issues from depletion of service to reduced reputation, it can often feel as though you are fighting an uphill battle.

What’s the top thing a great recruiter needs in their toolkit to succeed?

You need to be a genuine and resilient person with passion for the industry. Many people come into the sector purely in pursuit of financial reward; they soon see the error of their ways!

What do you love about your job?

I love the variety of roles I get to see and speak about in terms of the industries that fall under the training umbrella, and I also enjoy being able to speak to people who genuinely require my help and put their trust in me to secure them their perfect next job within the WBL [work-based learning] arena.

This job throws up something new every day that I never knew before, which only provides additional benefits for me, my clients and our candidates.

What’s the number one tip you would give someone who was thinking of joining the industry?

For anybody thinking of joining the industry, the number one tip I would give them is to ensure they have a full understanding of what the job will entail, as it isn’t for everyone. Recruitment is fast paced and hectic, and can sometimes be very stressful, but through all of that it is still a lot of fun, I find. If you’re still torn between joining the industry or not, my personal advice would be to take a leap of faith and believe in yourself. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn!

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

RM_DEC_16-NEW.indd 7

RECRUITMENT MATTERS DECEMBER 2016 7

08/11/2016 16:35

Events and training

WHAT’S COMING UP?

JOBS TRANSFORM LIVES STORY OF THE MONTH: Daniel Griggs from Delta Genesis Consulting Ltd shares his #JobsTransform story In 1997 I placed an engineer to do two weeks’ worth of structural assessments and calculations in Antarctica.

However, because of the harsh environment and the fact that getting there and back is not

a simple task, the assignment had to be six months long to coincide with the supply ships timetable.

If you also add in the fact that without email, a portable device or a mobile phone, it

was left to a tea chest of books to provide any entertainment, you can probably work out how pleased I was to fill the role.

Especially as I was told by the client it was an impossible role that should have been filled in

the last weather window the year before.

But to also find out from my candidate on his return what a truly life-changing time he had had was just priceless and difficult to top.

NEW COMPLIANCE TEST WORKSHOP IN EARLY DECEMBER Passing the REC Compliance Test shows you’re serious about upholding standards.

It’s proof you value an industry that operates with integrity.

Sitting the test doesn’t have

to be hard. We run several Compliance Workshops throughout the year.

These sessions cover all 11 areas of the test, including permanent introductions and temporary supply (PAYE and

contractors).

You’ll be able to take the test under the assistance of our Compliance Executives at

the end of the workshop.

Our next Compliance Workshop is Wednesday 7 December and is free for all members.

Beat the rush and prove you value good practice.

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 DECEMBER 2016

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08/11/2016 16:35

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by 07/11/2016 11:06

JO B B OARDS

Sue Weekes looks at how jobseekers are demanding a lot more from the new technology now available to job boards RECRUITER’S ANNU ANNUAL ‘GAME CHANGERS’ FEATURE is a testimony to the spirit of disruption that exists among tech entrepreneurs in the recruitment recru technology sector. Looking inward, however, wever, it is perhaps surpr surprising the job board model that emerged iin the 1990s remainss relatively undisrup undisrupted. Plenty of boards ds have come and gon gone, and variations ions of the business m model have appeared. But the overarch overarching proposition of being an online meetin meeting place for candidates and job ads re remains the same.

Technology continu continues to develop apace, however, and shows no sign of slowing up. Accenture’s global technology survey of more tha than 3,100 IT and business executives fou found that 86% believe the pace of technolo technology change will increase rapidly, or at an unprecedented un rate, in their industry over th the next three years.

Big data, artificial intell intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things, smart devices and augmented and virtual 32 RECRUITER

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DECE DECEMBER 2016

reality are all likely to play an increasingly important part in future technology applications and platforms.

As well as threats, such change brings plenty of opportunities though with more tools and technologies to add value for the client and candidate. According to the annual Job Board Doctor global survey of the market, around 60% of boards plan to add new products for employers over the next 12 months.

Andy Sumner, managing director of Monster.co.uk, which was recently acquired by recruitment giant Randstad, believes the job boards that will survive and thrive in the coming years will be the ones that follow its lead and prioritise innovation. It is launching expanded functionality for both candidates and employers, and has announced a new employer branding solution that enables firms to boost their recruitment marketing abilities.

Meanwhile, the firm is launching a new mobile offering after acquiring mobile app Jobr.

Jobr has been likened to online dating app Tinder, and is designed for the increasingly on-demand online environment. “Candidates can run a job search and swipe right when looking for jobs and swipe left to apply.

“They can apply instantly and engage with a messaging service more like WhatsApp,” he explains. “We’ve looked IM AGE | SHUT T ERSTOCK

09/11/2016 17:00

J O B B OA R DS

at how millennials consume their media and made it more in tune with them.”

CV-Library is also investing heavily in its mobile offering. But MD Lee Biggins reckons ‘Tinder-style’ apps are limited in terms of their scalability. “As they are better suited to the lower-tier, temporary roles, not necessarily permanent jobs that require in-depth interviews to check candidates are the right fit.”

Biggins maintains that recruitment “isn’t a desk job any more” and argues that the tools that recruiters use should reflect this: “With increasing competition when it comes to finding and placing candidates online, speed is of the essence WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 33

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JO B B OARDS

and it’s vital that recruiters aren’t delayed when they’re on the move.”

Clearly, the mobile territory is one where battles will be won and lost in the coming months. A recent Glassdoor survey revealed that nine out of 10 people would use a mobile device during their job search. Sumner believes that those able to take their offering beyond the “confines” of the job board environment will also prosper.

Monster’s Employer Branding Solution allows employers to create a shop window with rich content but also use targeted programmatic marketing to take employer messages to the wider web and out to social media. “The threat for job boards is that they are a little insular and their strategy relies on people coming to them,” he says. “A job board is only as good as the audience it manages to attract. We also want to use technology to help recruiters become marketers.”

For Totaljobs, it isn’t about merely adding new products to the range, but listening to what customers want, says sales and marketing director John Salt.

“Ask any employer what they want from a job board and they’ll say ‘make it quick and easy for me to hire great candidates’ – that’s our focus,” he says. “It’s about refinement and delivery, not simply to say, ‘look at the size of our database’.”

While Salt believes that technology will continue to evolve, it will only be disruptive for those who aren’t prepared for it or able to embrace it: “The pace of change may well be rapid over the next five years. But new business models will only be seen as ‘radical’ by those who have not remained connected to their audience and market, and continued to evolve with them. Innovation and agility need to be part of a job board’s DNA.” Of course, the job board market has already faced disruption with the arrival of the aggregator sites many years ago.

The Job Board Doctor survey found that these were seen as the most significant threats over the next 12 to 24 months by more than two-fifths of respondents.

Martin Rhodes, marketing director of reed.co.uk, believes sites that scrape content from other aggregators in a seemingly endless spin cycle of clicks “is of really questionable value” in the market. “We’d be hard pushed to see that 34 RECRUITER

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model thrive, so consolidation among aggregators is inevitable,” he says.

Like others, reed.co.uk is continuing to develop its mobile app and will be adding new features to increase recruiter productivity and to help consultants and hiring managers connect and match candidates more effectively. Rhodes says that since reed.co.uk was launched from an established recruitment business 21 years ago, there have been “profound changes”, in particular, the global move to mobile the predominance of social media.

“At the same time, we’ve continued to flourish and develop our services by obsessing over how we can be more effective at connecting people and jobs,” he says. “We don’t really care too much for a label like ‘traditional job board’.

“A job board is only as good as the audience it manages to attract”

Whatever digital disruption is around the corner, we’ll be there to embrace it no matter what it’s called.”

Generalist boards also continue to add and improve the advisory services they offer candidates – and Totaljobs made this the focus for its #MillionPoundJamie campaign, where it took real-life jobseeker Jamie Mudle and gave him support and guidance to help him find his dream job. “It’s about playing an advisory role [to candidates] and making it as simple as possible to find a job they love,” says Salt.

While job boards say that candidates value their support services, many simply want their skills and experience matched with a relevant job. And in the vast majority of cases, this will initially come down to a set of computer algorithms.

Not all candidates are convinced that relying on algorithms will benefit their job searches. Current jobseeker

Casper Gorniok is among the critics.

“I’m a marketing manager and my background is in food and drink, so why do I get alerts for lawyers, undertakers, nurses, pharmaceutical professionals or even a programmatic trading manager, whatever that is?” he says.

Gorniok claims two aggregator sites he uses deliver between 85-100% irrelevant positions in their emails, while a niche site performs better but still only delivers 50% accuracy. “My fundamental question is, who is a job board supposed to help?

“It can’t be much good for the recruiter either since surely they want someone who is at least 85% suitable to do the job?

For the candidate, it just becomes timeconsuming going through a list of jobs that aren’t any good.”

Job boards acknowledge that search technology doesn’t always deliver the targeted response that candidates are expecting. As Sumner explains, “it isn’t a binary process”, and some boards rely on candidates having some expertise in search. Monster’s 6Sense contextual search attempts to deliver as precise results as possible but Sumner comments: “We can’t profess to be perfect because it isn’t a perfect world.” He also adds that it doesn’t help that some boards believe quantity is better than quality.

Biggins agrees and suggests that this stems from recruiters still buying job board services on numbers. “Everyone wants quality over quantity, but sadly we’re judged by the number of applications or CVs delivered,” he says.

“We could send one perfect applicant and make a placement but we still look better if we send 10 and one placement is made.

So we are battling against that.”

CV-Library, in common with other boards, has invested heavily in search and employs data scientists to help give the best matches. Biggins says if people fill in fields properly they will get a good match.

At the same time, job boards also have to contend with the ‘front page’ Googletype mindset of candidates just putting in one or two search terms. “That all said, the technology perhaps hasn’t come as far as it should have in the time job boards have been around and the honest answer is, we could all do better,” , Biggins gg says. “And candidates could ld d also feed back more than they do.” ●

DECEMBER 2016

09/11/2016 17:01

Driving your success

by Microdec

Imagine having a personal assistant dŚĞ ŶĞǁ WƌŽĮůĞ ƐŽŌǁĂƌĞ ďƌŝŶŐƐ ƚŽŐĞƚŚĞƌ ƚŚĞ ĐůĞĂƌĞƐƚ ĂŶĚ ŵŽƐƚ ŝŶƚƵŝƟǀĞ ƵƐĞƌ ŝŶƚĞƌĨĂĐĞ ǁĞ ŚĂǀĞ ĞǀĞƌ ĚĞƐŝŐŶĞĚ͕ ǁŝƚŚ ƐŽƉŚŝƐƟĐĂƚĞĚ ĚĂƚĂ ŝŶƚĞůůŝŐĞŶĐĞ ƚŽ ƌĞĚƵĐĞ LJŽƵƌ ĂĚŵŝŶ ĂŶĚ ŐƵŝĚĞ LJŽƵ ƚŽ ǁŚĂƚ ŶĞĞĚƐ ƚŽ ďĞ ĚŽŶĞ ŶĞdžƚ͘

Global Specialist Recruitment Software

With more than 30 years’ experience of helping our clients grow, ǁĞ ŚĂǀĞ ĚĞǀĞůŽƉĞĚ WƌŽĮůĞ ƚŽ ĂƐƐŝƐƚ LJŽƵƌ ǁŽƌŬŇŽǁ ƉƌŽĐĞƐƐĞƐ͕ ensuring consistency in your teams and maximising the ĞīĞĐƟǀĞŶĞƐƐ ŽĨ LJŽƵƌ ƐƚĂī͘

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“ I N 2 0 1 5 2 1 % O F R E C R UI T M E N T B U SI N E S S E S S A W THEIR NET FEE INCOME STAND STILL OR FALL” - The UK Recruitment Index 2016

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S T A R

CASTLEMEAD

LOWER CASTLE STREET

BRISTOL

BS1 3AG

07/11/2016 11:09

CO M M U N I T Y

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

E

From skydiving to triathlons to going the Whole Hog for charity, you’ve been sharing what you’ve been doing outside recruiting…

SELLICK PARTNERSHIP SCORES BIG HIT WITH CHARITY LUNCH VIA Financial and legal recruitment specialist Sellick Partnerships’ annual Manchester Professionals’ Cricket League (MPCL) Awards Charity Lunch raised around £10k for St Ann’s Hospice and The Lord’s Taverners. The charity lunch included guest speaker and cricketing legend Matthew Hoggard.

chats to L-r: Matthew Hoggard Jo Sellick MD ip rsh tne Par ick Sell ch lun the at

Paul Sheldrake, Kelly Earl and Gabrielle Wright brave the mud to take on the Boss Hog challenge

PURE CONSULTANTS GO THE WHOLE HOG FOR CHARITY VIA Three recruitment consultants from professional recruitment specialist Pure’s Ipswich branch squelched their way through seven miles of mud, along with 30 different gruelling obstacles in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice. The intrepid trio chose to take on the toughest of the two races and took part in the Boss Hog race: two miles longer and with 10 more obstacles than the standard Whole Hog route. Looking good, guys…!

ROBERT WALTERS STAFF RAISE £33K+ FOR MACMILLAN CANCER VIA Recruitment professionals in Robert Walters Group offices and Resource Solutions client sites across the UK raised nearly £33.9k in the group’s annual Charity Day. Nick Hodgson (pictured), sales manager at Resource Solutions, cycled 232km from 9am-5pm as part of the charity fundraising efforts.

Adecco’s Team UK at the finish line

ADECCO TEAM SWIMS, CYCLES AND RUNS FOR WIN4YOUTH VIA

TW I TT E R

Staff from Adecco Group UK & Ireland have taken part in a triathlon as part of an Adecco Group global campaign to raise funds through sport for young people from disadvantaged communities.

DAREDEVIL DARREN SKYDIVES FOR CHARITY VIA Darren Ryemill, chief executive of international specialist recruiter Opus Professional Services Group, threw himself out of a plane at 13,000ft last month – but in a bid to raise money for charity. As one of the founding members of the OPERA Global Youth Foundation, set up in June, Daredevil Darren thought it only right to put himself forward for the challenge to fundraise for the charity that helps young people get back into training, education and employment. Well done, Darren – although we’re sure the deep blue, sun-filled skies of Dubai took the edge off any sudden change of heart!

Matthew Grady @askmattgrady Oct 23 #Great to be featured in @ RecruiterMag this week thanks all @ VentureRecLtd @RDLC_PIRATES @ AndrewSillitoe @RecruiterMag instagram.com/recruitermagazine/ recruitermagazine.tumblr.com/

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09/11/2016 11:35

E EMPLOYABILITY CO M M UNITY

EMPLOYERS FIND WINNING WAYS IN ATHLETES

BY COLIN COTTELL

H

igh-performing athletes have all the personal skills and attributes employers are looking for, according to employers and academic research. However, making the transition from full-time athlete to the world of work is not easy, and even Olympic medal winners can benefit from help, support and advice.

That was the key message from a jobs fair attended by around 300 Olympians, Paralympians and other high-performing athletes at Coventry’s Ricoh Stadium in November. Among the 48 employers who attended the Athlete Futures event were P&G, Allianz, Lewis Silkin, London Stock Exchange, Bank of Canada and Adecco.

Gill Pinder, resourcing advisor at Allianz, said athletes were exactly the type of people Allianz and other employers were looking for. Pinder told Recruiter: “The world of work is changing, and people who have shown they can adapt and be flexible as well having determination, drive and competitiveness are what employers want.”

Earlier, Professor David Lavallee, head of sport at the University of Stirling, told the audience that evidence that world-class athletes make great employees was not just anecdotal. His own recent study showed that retired athletes outperformed their peers in the workplace in two particular aspects: ● Proactive behaviour; the tendency to act without being asked ● Ability to craft their job depending on the needs of the organisation.

This built upon his previous work in 2014, in which employers marked out student athletes as highly employable. Their attributes included motivation to get out of their comfort zone, and the humility to put the team ahead of the individual.

“The world of work is very demanding, and it's getting tougher. Employers are interested in employability potential and the ability to work in increasingly complex roles and environments. In terms of the skills that athletes possess, they are exactly what employers want,” said Lavallee.

Athletes at the event agreed their elite sports background gave them many attributes and

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Team GB's bronze medallist in the hammer Sophie Hitchon throws in Rio

“Start planning as soon as possible”

skills. Mandip Sehmi, a three-time Paralympian, who represented GB at wheelchair rugby, told Recruiter top level athletes are “very driven, have great determination”, as well as the ability to dig deep in themselves. “These are skills which are transferable, and can give provide employers with a different dimension.”

However, Sehmi admitted his own transition from athlete to work was “very scary”. “When you have been an elite sportsperson for so long you are blinkered from the outside world,” he explained.

Sehmi, who has a degree in engineering, said the workshops at the event, giving practical advice on how to make the transition from full-time athlete to the world of work, had been “really useful” in helping him “to package” himself in a way that was attractive to employers. Workshops run at the event included personal branding, networking, and how to produce a professional and attractive CV. In her address, Liz Nicholl, chief executive, UK Sport, urged athletes to make use of the UK’s network of lifestyle performance advisers, who could “help them plan their career”.

Sophie Hitchon, who won a bronze medal in the women’s hammer competition at the recent Rio Olympics, attended the workshop on networking.

Hitchon, who is studying for a degree in business and sports management at the University of Hertfordshire, told Recruiter it was important for athletes to start planning for their career after sport as early as possible.

“By doing this as early as possible, you can build up your qualifications in different areas, meet and build relationships with new people, and avoid the panic at the end of your career to find a job,” she said. ●

IM AGE | GET T Y

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CO M M U N I T Y

EMPLOYABILITY

ASPIRING TO ROLL OUT RECRUITMENT BEYOND UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

BY GRAHAM SIMONS

N

ot-for-profit social and ethical recruiter Aspire Recruitment has set its sights on rolling out the high volume recruitment model it operates with the University of Manchester to other organisations in both the public and private sectors.

Winner of Best Employability/Recruitment Initiative for the Unemployed at Recruiter’s 2016 Investing in Talent Awards, Aspire began working with the university in 2008. In partnership together, Aspire developed The Works, a onestop shop that helps local people in some of Manchester’s most deprived areas find jobs and access training courses and services. These roles range from entry-level full-time, part-time and term-time posts across admin, secretarial, retail, catering, cleaning, construction and IT. An emphasis on developing candidate employability combined with the agency’s operating model has been key to the agency standing out in the recruitment marketplace, Julie McMenamin, Aspire’s recruitment service manager told Recruiter.

Below right: University of Manchester construction academy group who completed training for construction work.

Below left: building attendant starts at the University

E

“Because of the way we operate, our candidates often say that the staff at Aspire really take the time to get to know them, and match their aspirations with suitable vacancies, rather than being made to feel like they are just part of an impersonal process, as they have felt with other agencies.

“The work that we do on pre-recruitment initiatives also marks us out as different from other agencies,” she added.

With many candidates lacking experience and qualifications, Aspire supports them through providing pre-employment training through developing transferable employability skills such as teamwork, resilience, communication and problem solving with the help of The Skills Company, also part of its parent company Manchester Growth Company.

Candidates also benefit from impartial careers advice from the National Careers Service, a publicly funded careers service for adults and young people aged 13 or over in England.

To date, Aspire has filled 2,787 temporary vacancies for the University of Manchester, with 98% of the candidates being unemployed previously and 88% of candidates coming from priority wards

local to the University of Manchester.

This success has meant Aspire is committed to expanding the initiative, McMenamin says.

“Looking forward, we would like to replicate the kind of high volume recruitment model that we operate with the University of Manchester with other socially responsible organisations in the public and private sectors.” ●

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10/11/2016 12:40

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07/11/2016 11:17

CO M M U N I T Y

BUSINESS BU USINESS ADVICE

E

THE SECRET OF GRASSROOTS INNOVATION Innovation is currently a hot topic for business.

Many technology-based tactical productivity aids over the past decade have been touted as innovation – but none have been the key to a sustained quantum leap in business performance.

While the ‘innovation imperative’ doesn’t cause too much debate – too few SME recruiters know what or how to go about implementing doing anything that truly resembles innovation or how to bake innovation into the DNA of their business.

This is particularly thematic with recruitment businesses launched in the tradition of command-and-control approaches and top-down leadership as the only known and accepted model.

If we look to the disruption and innovation that are synonymous with Generation Z there is a clear cultural difference of collaboration, technology reliance, the notion of ‘entrepreneurship’ and mobile first visual-based interaction.

So is ‘grassroots innovation’ this year’s fad? Or does it really bear fruit? Our experience is, grassroots innovation is an attainable management science, which has enabled many recruitment companies to break through those invisible barriers that forced their businesses to plateau after enjoying an initial period of growth.

Yet organisations that have flatlined for years can kick-start and outperform their competitors when they empower all staff to take greater control and responsibility to tackle the hidden bottlenecks that hold them back. This is especially powerful when coupled with a method to sustainably change aspects of company culture that currently prevents the business from scaling further. The key is to understand that grassroots innovation happens where there is scarcity, hardship and a lack of resources. Usually, this occurs more at the coalface.

Grassroots innovation when embraced and celebrated not only drives top-line growth, but proves itself to be the antidote to the perennial problem of staff attrition as a by-product of building a more engaged, collaborative and supportive workforce. Unleash the ideas and talents of the most creative and innovative players in your company to ensure your business’s future success by following the following tips.

Five ways to harness innovators

➊ Adapt Command & Control approach – Consciously look for both top-down and bottom-up ideas. Intentionally involve different demographics in idea generation and problem solving, include your wider supply chain in problem solving and innovation.

The SME Coach

“Is ‘grassroots innovation’ this year’s fad or does it really bear fruit?” ➌ Use immersive visual or social-based

innovation culture change tools – Great results occur by shifting culture through companies using online suggestion boxes, either on their intranets or company social channels. Rewarding or celebrating every idea and creating a digital forum for people to ‘like’ or comment on ideas creates a virtuous circle of a free-flowing grassroots innovation with its own community-based filtering system.

➍ Commit to collaboration – Often collaboration is limited to external collaboration at industry events or idea-sharing roundtables. Transpose this to within your organisation; hold internal roundtables, creating an environment where all can contribute; take cues from IT Hackathons. ➎ Continuous feedback – Annual reviews are a dying art form. Adopt systems that embed continuous improvement into your culture.

Become agile so you can react and adapt to changing workforce and markets. ●

↗

➋ Empower Gen Z through excellent technology – Millennials, who grew up with iPads and Xboxes, disengage when put in front of CRMs [customer relationship management systems] and other technology that isn’t naturally intuitive. The notion of being trained to use a system is somewhat alien and our research shows that legacy technology is an inhibitor to fostering innovation from millennials.

Glyn Blaize

GLYN BLAIZE is managing director of management consultancy Addocura

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09/11/2016 11:36

E PEER TO PEER CO M M UNITY

Peer to peer: Carve out your niche and be brave B Y J A M E S L L O Y D -T O W N S H E N D

HAVE A VALUE-BASED HIRING STRATEGY

Instead of simply looking at whether a potential employee has the right skills

↗

WE’RE VERY OPEN AND HONEST ABOUT THIS: we’re not the company to help our clients fill out every vacancy. Lots of recruitment agencies out there can help fill those generalist positions. We place candidates in specific technology roles.

We have our niche and that’s what we focus on – even if it means being brave and leaving money on the table.

With one exception, our brands are software-led. We’re never reliant on one particular industry and so can generally sidestep an economic downturn. These products tend to be in high-growth markets where there is a candidate shortage – but there are people out there to fill these roles. It’s also important that these products are immature – ie. the software is at the beginning of its life cycle and it can grow.

Another important aspect is whether there is already a dominant player in the market. If there is, we’re happy to leave them to it. If there isn’t, and a product ticks all the right boxes for us, we’ll take a second look at it.

JAMES LLOYD-TOWNSHEND is chief executive, Frank Recruitment Group, Microsoft recruitment specialists employing over 1,200 people across 14 offices on four continents. It has six niche IT recruitment brands

for the role, we actively hire on values.

Is this person going to thrive in a competitive work environment? Are they keen to learn? Are they able to grow with the company? If the answer to any of these is no, then they’re probably not right for us.

The potential of an employee is particularly important to us as we have a policy of promoting from within. Over 90% of our current managers started out as trainee recruitment consultants.

SET GOALS

“How do you scale a business so quickly without compromising the culture you've built up over 10 years?”

42 RECRUITER

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What do you want to achieve?

Everyone on our team knows what they’re aiming for and how to get there. Our consultants have monthly, and annual, targets – with incentives attached to each. In April we received our second round of private equity investment. Our first investors earned

a significant financial return, and we plan to deliver the same value to current investors within the next three years.

NURTURE YOUR CUSTOMERS

Our customers are king; without them we have no business. Every business needs to have that mindset. Ask yourself: are you giving your customers the best possible service? Do you give them regular updates and expert advice about the market? Do you listen and adapt to them? To continue to grow your brand you need to ensure that you nurture your customers and don’t give them any reason to use one of your competitors.

SCALE THE BUSINESS WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE CULTURE

The toughest challenge for us has always been about bringing the right people into the business. How do you scale a business so quickly without compromising the culture that you’ve built up over 10 years? To overcome this, we’ve added various levels of management and created a bespoke management development programme covering skills as diverse as building effective teams, driving results, leading people, and motivation and resilience.

To date, 111 UK and US team leaders have enrolled on the course. ●

DECEMBER 2016

10/11/2016 10:42

CO M M U N I T Y

CAREERS

You’re only as good as your network

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

YOU KNOW THAT moment when people ask you about what you’ve done that’s innovative?

It can be a bit of a challenge in recruitment. After all, we’re not all sitting on big budgets in environments open to change. We’d all love to implement the sparkly new applicant tracking system (ATS) with candidate/client relationship management (CRM) functionality, but it’s not always up to us or realistic.

However, there is this ‘new’ thing that people keep on talking about at the moment: ‘the event’. To older readers (well, of my age at least) it may be a familiar concept.

Remember those days when you met with people face-to-face? Well, they are right back in vogue and, as a recruiter, there are lots of great learning opportunities out there for you. Add in a spot of ‘second screening’ and you can hang out with all the cool kids in the industry and learn.

Sourcecon was live streaming from their Facebook page this autumn, while there’s a stack of Periscope content coming in from around the world. And then there are the Twitter and Facebook conversations, supporting the more formal Slideshare and LinkedIn content.

This emerging trend of having physical host events around the world that anyone can interact with is an awesome opportunity to learn and build networks. It can help you when finding a new role to gain skills you may not be able acquire in your normal environment.

Equally there’s a great opportunity to build your sourcing skills and own network in your sector – or those you want to target.

What’s available to you is likely magnified in your candidate fields too. And now you can check them out up close and discreetly in a city near you in person or from afar online.

As we see increasing pressure to stand out from the crowd and complain that everyone is identifiable, here’s your opportunity to be the person that people in your field want to engage with. It’s all possible if you build the right online persona.

So as we run through the back end of conference season and end-of-year meet-ups, try and get out there a little more often. You might just find that perfect new role. But more likely you’ll strengthen your own candidate networks and build some credibility. ●

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E CAREERS CO M M UNITY

‘How would you like to interview the only world champion in recruitment at the moment?’

MY BRILLIANT RECRUITMENT CAREER What was your earliest dream job?

Nuclear physicist.

↗

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

BRETT SMITHERAM, senior consultant, Macmillan Davies, and current World Scrabble champion

I was an HR recruitment consultant for HR Staff Search in Maidenhead. I registered with another agency and told them I didn’t want a job in sales and they put me forward for a recruitment job that actually turned out to be pretty good. That was 12 years ago now.

What do you love most about your current role?

For me, it’s the exposure to people. As much as you need to make sure you get the skills right, you are putting in people to form a certain culture of the business.

What word best describes you?

I would go for ‘gregarious’.

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

There’s one moment that stands out just before one Christmas. I was filling a number of roles for a big national client of mine and there was one candidate who was an out-of-work single mum.

She was very, very close but it was a ‘no’ for the actual role. I remember asking the client where else they could use her.

They thought about it and there was a job that suited her. I 44 RECRUITER

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Brett Smitheram managed to get her settled in, and she received her cheque before Christmas so she could buy presents for her kids.

Do you prefer a staycation or holiday abroad?

Holiday abroad. I’ve already got plans to go to Machu Picchu [an Inca citadel set high in the Andes Mountains in Peru] for the first time next year.

Outside the office, where would you like to interview a candidate or be interviewed?

I like swanky hotels generally. It’s tough to choose because I used to work over in the West End and we had our pick of the places.

What’s your top job to fill at the moment?

A global head of people – a really fascinating role but with some very specific dynamics in terms of the people and culture. I need to make sure I’ve got everything right for this one.

La Laugh or cry, what did your wh most memorable m candidate make you ca want to do and why? w H made me want to He cry. I interviewed this cr guy and asked him g all the traditional a questions about q previous convictions. p Then he called me on the way to his interview with a police organisation to tell me, “actually I do have a previous convicition for actual bodily harm – I hope that won’t be a problem”.

Fortunately, he’d called the client to tell them this as well.

What’s the best or worst interview question you’ve ever heard?

I had a client say to a candidate: “You look great – are you planning on having any children soon?” Needless to say, she didn’t want to go back for second interview.

Make us an offer we can’t refuse How would you like to interview the only world champion in recruitment at the moment? ●

IMAG ES | AKIN FALOPE, SHUT T ERSTOCK

09/11/2016 11:38

IRP QUALIFICATIONS As the representative body for individuals working within the staffing and recruitment industry, the Insitute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP) is passionate about helping you develop your career.

The IRP’s regulated recruitment qualifications are designed for recruitment professionals working in all areas of the industry.

From GCSE all the way up to degree standard, we provide a defined routeway of qualifications to support your career in recruitment. Enrol now and place yourself on a routeway to success.

Find out more www.rec-irp.uk.com/qualiďŹ cations

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08/11/2016 16:58

E RECRUITMENT WWW. RE CRUITE R .CO.UK

View the latest jobs at jobs.recruiter.co.uk To place your advertisement E: jude.rosset@redactive.co.uk or T: 020 7880 7621

Recruiter Jobs helping you to attract the best candidates for your vacancies.

Jude Rosset jude.rosset@redactive.co.uk +44 (0)20 7880 7621

Recruiter Jobs is the online recruitment site for Recruiter magazine, the principal magazine for recruiting prin and resourcing professionals. You can search through a wide range of roles; from recruitment consultants to in-house recruitment, based in both the UK and International markets.

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View the latest jobs at jobs.recruiter.co.uk To place your advertisement E: jude.rosset@redactive.co.uk or T: 020 7880 7621

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10/11/2016 10:45

E CAREERS CO M M UNITY

CA P ITA : Paul Bowtell, currently chair of the business outsourcing services provider’s audit and risk committee, is to step down from its board early next year.

C O G N ITIV E G ROUP : The Microsoft Dynamics staffing specialist has appointed Chris Hemming to the newly-created role of head of public sector. Sean Gorman is promoted to director of performance from head of delivery.

CON SE L I UM: The global executive search firm has made Steve Harrison a partner.

COOPL E : David Klein joins the on-demand staffing platform’s board of directors.

Fabio Selmoni and Humbert de Liedekerke join as board observers.

DHR I N TE RN AT IONAL:

Global recruitment and talent management business Rethink Group has appointed Andy Lord chief executive.

Lord, whose recruitment career spans more than 20 years, has held senior positions on Rethink’s board since its launch in 2005 and is one of the firm’s founding directors.

Previously managing director of the group’s business and technology recruitment consultancy ReThink Recruitment, Lord will now manage all of the group’s divisions – Berkley in Ireland, Cognita, ReThink Recruitment, RTM, as well Digital Gurus.

It is understood previous CEO Steve Wright left the organisation in June after a threeyear stint, having been promoted from chief financial officer.

Stefan Diemer joins the executive search firm’s Munich office as partner.

DIAGEO: Nimai Swaroop joins the British multinational as global talent engagement director.

promoted Martin Bennell to managing director.

E AME S CON S ULT ING GROUP: The international recruitment and search consultancy has appointed Mark Weller as director of contract & interim.

Lindsay Cascarina joins as associate director for key accounts. Ben Whalley joins as director of actuarial in the UK from exec search firm Mansion House.

FASTSTRE AM: The specialist maritime recruiter has 48 RECRUITER

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FREELANCER & CONT RACTOR SERVICES ASSOCIATION (FCSA) : The trade association for umbrella employers and accountancy providers, has elected a new board

comprising accredited members and associate members. Board members include: Mark Beal-Preston, First Freelance – fully accredited member; Graham Fisher, Orange Genie – fully accredited member; Matt Fryer, Brookson – fully accredited member; Paul Gough, Intouch Accounting – fully accredited member; Nick Holmes, Umbrella. co.uk – associate member; Louise Rayner, Numbermill – associate member. Chair David Mount of 1st Option and chief executive Julia Kermode complete the board.

Email people moves for use online and in print, including a short 10/11/2016 09:44

HY D R O G EN : Chief financial officer Colin Adams is to step down from the global recruiter’s board to “pursue other interests”.

MC G R EG O R BOYAL L : The global recruiter has appointed Myran Perry as associate director of its commerce and industry division.

THE MU S E: The US-based careers site welcomes Sharon Feder as chief content officer; Owen Adams as senior vice president, product; and Kara Walsh as chief marketing officer.

as associate director for its office services and call centre division.

STAN TON HOUSE: Bex Pearce is the recruitment specialist for the financial and digital sectors’ new client relationship director.

WE BHE L P: Christine Scheffler joins the global business process outsourcing and customer experience company as chief HR officer.

RSA GROUP: The life sciences talent consultancy has appointed Thomas Schleimer as partner.

SACKERS: The commercial law firm has hired Debbie Holmes as director of human resources.

S EA R C H C ON SULTAN CY: The multi-sector recruiter has appointed Claire Bartlett

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

RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING +44 (0)20 7880 7553 Jude Rosset

deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk

jude.rosset@redactive.co.uk

Reporters Colin Cottell, Graham Simons colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk graham.simons@recruiter.co.uk

Contributing writer Sue Weekes Production editor Vanessa Townsend Senior designer Craig Bowyer Picture editor Akin Falope

PRODUCTION +44 (0)20 7880 6209 Production executive Rachel Young rachel.young@redactive.co.uk

PUBLISHING +44 (0)20 7880 8547 Publishing director Aaron Nicholls aaron.nicholls@redactive.co.uk

ADVERTISING +44 (0)20 7880 7607 Sales manager Tom Culley Senior sales executive Josh Hannagan

RECRUITER AWARDS/ INVESTING IN TALENT AWARDS +44 (0)20 7880 6236 Events Rebecca West

josh.hannagan@recruiter.co.uk

rebecca.west@redactive.co.uk

tom.culley@recruiter.co.uk

ZRG PARTNERS: The executive search firm has appointed Philipp Sturm as MD and country head for Germany.

YOU R NE X T M OV E A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk SmithCarey Recruitment director £High rewarding earnings potential Midlands/South (flexible) fdu Interim researcher Rec-to-rec £100-175 day rate London Alexander Mann Solutions Recruitment business partner £competitive salary Wimborne, Dorset

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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CONTACTS

vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk

P HA ID ON I N TE RN ATI ON AL : The global micro-specialist staffing group has promoted Harry Youtan to CEO from MD of North America.

James Brown steps up into the role of MD of Eurasia; Kieran Behan is MD of North America; Adam Buck moves into the role of executive chairman. Chief operating officer Andrew McNeilis moves into the new position of chief commercial officer, while Stuart Batchelor, the group’s chief strategy officer, becomes non-executive chairman, replacing Andy McRae who steps down.

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

Scan here to get your own copy of

10/11/2016 10:01

E THE LAST WORD CO M M UNITY

Matt Churchward What next, nano-niche?

I was recently sitting in a conference and the phrase ‘micro-niche’ came up in relation to recruitment agencies. The context was, in order to have value in today’s brave new world, you need to be ‘micro-niche’. I sat back smugly, reflecting on our decisions to operate in the green energy and digital spaces, among others. My self-satisfaction quickly evaporated when it transpired that this was not in fact ‘niche’ enough.

A number of thoughts ran through my head, ranging from “I need to hand back the keys to my leased Dacia Sandero, the dream’ is over”, and ending on “what the **** is micro-niche?” A brief investigation was needed.

If I track back to what was considered niche in the 1980s, ’90s, noughties and early 2010s, then I may stumble into my answer.

To break it down for my own limited attention span and your even more limited spare time, here’s a snapshot of what was considered niche and how this may have been sold to clients:

1980s Niche = Not being an IT recruiter Example phone call…

Recruiter: “Hello, Mrs Finance Director. Can I help you with your management accountant vacancy?”

Client: “I am sorry but my current recruitment company does all of our IT vacancies, and they are great!”

Recruiter: “Aaaaah, but we are a specialist finance recruitment agency!”

Client: “Mind. Blown. Post me three CVs immediately and I’ll review them when they arrive at the end of the week.”

Example phone call…

Recruiter: “Dear Mr Client, would you like to take one of my wonderful financial accountants?”

Client: “Sorry, but I already use Michael Page.”

Recruiter: “Do not worry, I ONLY work in the public sector, so rest assured I am a specialist.”

Client: “My interest is piqued.”

1990s

2010s

Niche = Not being an IT or finance recruiter

Niche = Being an IT, financial or engineering recruiter

Example phone call... as above but insert ‘engineering’ for ‘specialist finance’ and ‘fax’ for ‘post’.

Example phone call…

Client: “Hi Matt, you’ve done such a great job finding us wind turbine technicians, I wondered if you could help us out with a finance assistant role we have on.”

Recruiter: don’tt d Recruit R e u ter: er r: “Sorry, Sorry, S o ry, y, w we ed don do o nance.” finance n nance. nc ”

2000s Niche = Not being an IT, finance or engineering recruiter. This h c could ould also ls include such ch h craziness ra ine s as specialising sing ing iin na different vertical er ca sector

Facetime communication cation ca ati t on via Google glasses es es goes as follows… …

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Matt Churchward is director at The Green Recruitment Company

Client: “Oh… ok. Well, do you know anyone that does?”

Recruiter: “No.”

2020s Niche = No-one Facetime communication via Google glasses…

Recruiter: “Hello Ms Client, I am calling from The Green Recruitment Co and saw you are looking to recruit a Great Crested Newt Specialist in Norwich. Could I help please?”

Client: “Apologies, but we already work with Norwichbased nano-niche recruiter New To Newts, and they fill all our vacancies.”

Recruiter: “Great choice – that is our sister agency! Our director set them up in 2017 after attending a conference.”

So o am am I any closer to understanding micro-niche? unders nd de s Well, We , not Well n really. I know that being can bei g uber-specialist u create re e t competitive advantage, but but g go o too deep and you could cut ut off ff your nose to spite your face.

Saying, “We specialise in fface ac c Sa S placing placin p lla a ing high-ranking Catholic offi fficials cia cial ial based in Vatican City” looks on the website but l oks great g the sheet may look a he balance b ba bal al little come year end. ● tt light lii

IMAG E | AK IN FALO P E/SHUT T ERSTOCK

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