Recruiter February 2015

February 2015

www.recruiter.co.uk

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR RECRUITMENT AND RESOURCING PROFESSIONALS

Gatenby Sanderson

Sponsored by

Joint managing partners Mark Turner and Martin Tucker: how the public sector specialist topped Recruiter’s r FAST 50

IN-HOUSE BENEFITS: WHAT ARE YOU WORTH?

MARKETING STRATEGIES

The FIRM’s 2014/15 survey looking into reward and job satisfaction

The rise and rise of the marketer within recruitment agencies

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FOCUS ON GERMANY Understanding cultural differences is key to recruiting in this European economic powerhouse

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Congratulations to GatenbySanderson for running at the head of the pack in the 2015 Recruiter FAST 50! As you will no doubt have seen, 2014 was particularly eventful for this forward-thinking public sector recruitment firm, with a management buy-out taking place near the close of the year. See our profile interview with the company’s Martin Tucker and Mark Turner in which they share the winning strategy that has seen them defeat the austerity era to come out on top in the growth stakes. Their story demonstrates that it’s certainly possible to make mighty fine lemonade when life hands the world at large especially sour lemons.

Thanks to the experts at Boxington Corporate Finance for their in-depth research and analysis in providing the FAST 50 data for this very special benchmark league table.

Richard Lea-Hair

Contents

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NEWS Rethink looks to a talent management-led future

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Rethink Group’s AIM delisting allows more flexibility for its future

Councils go for collaboration Does a New Year herald in a new approach to recruitment?

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We would also like to thank the sponsor of our 2015 FAST 50 print and online content, Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance, for joining forces with us this year on this most important project.

Recruiter asked the great and the good in the industry what 2015 might bring

Tech & tools: Writing compelling web copy 10 Special Report: Recruiter’s

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FEATURES 27 FAST 50 firms: Shrugging off the recession Recruiter’s FAST 50 list, compiled by Boxington Corporate Finance and sponsored by Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance, shows that the fastestgrowing recruitment companies are leading the way as the economy comes out of recession 34 Top of the list Public sector recruiter is the leading company in Recruiter’s FAST 50 list

What will 2015 bring to the recruitment world? Check in with those ‘in the know’ — from in-house and agency alike — from when it comes to recruitment issues and trends in our compilation of 2015 predictions on p6 and p7. Some intriguing insights can be found there, and watch for us to follow up on some of these forecasts in the months to come.

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ANALYSIS

19 Interaction

Hope your year has begun with the right kind of fireworks!

14 Sector Analysis IT & Telecoms 17 Global Spotlight on Germany 25 Insight The FIRM’s in-house rewards survey

19 19 21

marketing roundtable discusses the changing role of marketers in recruitment

REGULARS Soapbox: Rob Mallaband Emma Mirrington Soundbites 41 Movers & Shakers Industry moves 42 Bloggers with Bite:

Robert Woodford

WHO’S HIRING? DeeDee Doke, Editor

Scan here to get your own copy of Recruiter

38 Now Education 39 GatenbySanderson, Jark 6

EDITORIAL Editor: DeeDee Doke T: +44 (0)20 7880 7601 deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk Reporters: Sarah Marquet T: +44 (0)20 7880 7606 sarah.marquet@recruiter.co.uk; Graham Simons T: +44 (0)20 7880 7603 graham.simons@recruiter.co.uk Contributing writers: Colin Cottell, Nicola Sullivan, Sue Weekes Production editor: Vanessa Townsend T: +44 (0)20 7880 7602 vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk Art editor: Adrian Taylor ADVERTISING Business development manager: Tom Culley T: +44 (0)20 7880 7607 tom.culley@recruiter. co.uk Senior sales executive: Lisa-Jane Parker +44 (0)20 7880 7610 lisa-jane.parker@recruiter.co.uk Recruitment advertising: Amalia Zafeiratou T+44 (0)20 7880 7608 amalia@redactive.co.uk Fax +44 (0)20 7880 7553 PRODUCTION Production executive: Rachel Young T+44 (0)20 7880 6209 rachel.young@redactive.co.uk PUBLISHING Publishing director: Aaron Nicholls T: +44 (0)20 7880 8547 aaron.nicholls@redactive.co.uk RECRUITER AWARDS Events: Juliette Bond T: +44 (0)20 7324 2771 juliette.bond@redactive.co.uk CIRCULATION and SUBSCRIPTIONS To receive a regular copy of Recruiter, the leading magazine for recruitment and resourcing professionals, telephone +44 (0)20 8950 9117 or email recruiter@abacusemedia.com • Recruiter is also available to people who do not meet our terms of control: Annual subscription rate for 12 issues: £29.99 UK £35 Europe and Rest of the World • To purchase reprints or multiple copies of the magazine, contact Ryan Hadden T: +44 (0)20 7880 7618 ryan.hadden@redactive.co.uk

Total average net circulation between 1 July 2013 & 30 June 2014 – 18,994. Recruiter is also sent to all REC members

Redactive Media Group 17-18 Britton Street London EC1M 5TP

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. © 2014 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

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RECRUITER

FEBRUARY 2015

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Visit: www.eploy.co.uk

15/01/2015 14:10

News

RETHINK LOOKS TO TMLED SERVICE FUTURE Newly delisted from the London Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and re-registered as a private limited company, Rethink Group is now looking ahead to making up to three acquisitions in 2015 as part of its refocused future as a talent management (TM) services-led business “that does a lot of recruitment”.

To drive further into TM, Rethink will ramp up its employer branding, assessments and workforce planning offerings while also potentially offering recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) services. Acquisitions will “accelerate” their move into TM, Rethink chief executive (CEO) Steve Wright told Recruiter. He added: “We’ve got to try and find acquisitions that turbo charge that strategy.”

Wright revealed further: “We’ve got a couple of acquisitions bubbling away, and…the first one we close will be an entry [point] for new investment. We’re a long way down the track with this [first] one.”

Operating in the business & technology, retail, pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors, Rethink announced in November that it would seek to delist from AIM because the burdens outweighed the benefits of being listed. Wright also told Recruiter that delisting would allow Rethink to attract investors willing to inject smaller amounts of cash into the company’s growth.

“The first cheque we’re going to ask someone to write would have been too small for an institutional fund to write,” Wright said.

“I’m sure we could have done

what we wanted to on AIM, but it would have taken between seven to 10 years as opposed to three to five.”

The company has been operating in TM areas for some time, “but we didn’t really call it that”, director Steve Wright Michael Bennett told Recruiter. “We had a great relationship with a client and formed a new business to manage relationships like that. We’ve had Rethink Talent Management as a brand for about nine months.”

With businesses such as ASOS, Boots, Marks & Spencer and Skype already clients of Rethink’s TM services, Bennett said that probably “50%-plus of our TM pie started off as a recruitment piece. That’s classically where we start with one part of the relationship, and as it works, extend it out”.

The primary focus will be on the UK, but at the same time the company handles some international work. “It’s difficult to go charging off into foreign climes,” Wright said. “Let’s create our models and our service capabilities in our home territory first before we get too adventurous.”

Internally, management changes are also underway to support the refocusing of the business. Iain Blair, who previously oversaw Rethink’s business in the South, is now managing director of the talent management business. Rob O’Callaghan moves to heading up the ‘open market’, or recruitment, business from managing Rethink in the North.

The firm delisted on 9 December and the re-registration took place on 29 December.

DEEDEE DOKE deedeedoke@recruiter.co.uk

ANDERSON ‘PROUD’ TO SPONSOR 2015 AWARDS BARRY ROBACK, director of Recruiter Awards for Excellence headline sponsor Anderson •Group, says he is “proud and honoured” to once again be involved.

The Awards ceremony, which will take place on 6 May at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, recognises agencies, in-house teams, recruitment process outsourcing businesses and the use of marketing and technology.

Roback said: “In these legislatively challenging and uncertain times, we believe that the recruitment industry still presents great opportunities and we are therefore proud and honoured to once again commit ourselves to Recruiter magazine for both this year and the years to come.”

New sponsors this year are: Best Banking/Financial Recruitment Agency – accountancy and finance member organisation FOR MORE NEWS AND ICAEW COMMENTS GO ONLINE Recruitment Agency of the Year (more than 100 employees) — umbrella company My Key Pay Recruitment Industry Entrepreneur of the Year — industry investor Invest|R Group.

RECRUITER.CO.UK

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COUNCILS ADOPT SHOESMITH’S JOINT APPROACH IN RECRUITMENT A recruitment initiative that initially •harnessed the buying power of three London borough councils to save money has now been rolled out to 171 local authorities nationwide and will go live in April.

Led by Sutton (London) Council and Dean Shoesmith, head of HR at Sutton and Merton Councils, the strategic procurement initiative, known as the London Boroughs Recruitment Partnership, started in 2006 with three councils, then expanded to eight, then 30.

The original contracts, let in 2011, were for the provision of recruitment services for both permanent and interims. They expire on 31 March this year. Prompted by interest from outside of London, Shoesmith told Recruiter the opportunity to participate in the initiative was offered to local authorities across the country.

The result was almost half of all local authorities — 171 — expressing interest in joining.

The new partnership has been estimated to save £3-4m a year across the members.

The new contracts were awarded on 16 December and take effect in April, lasting up to four years. They cover four key areas: • Strategic HR — to enable the authorities to get the support they need to make largescale change. Awarded to Penna.

• Executive search & selection, both permanent and interim. Awarded to Penna, GatenbySanderson, Hays Executive, Allen Lane, Solace Enterprises and Green Park Interim & Executive Search.

• A new area Shoesmith calls “talent wave” — a portal where jobseekers can build profiles and hiring managers can advertise jobs and then the two can connect.

This ensures worker mobility in being redeployed and transferred to other local authorities when job cuts loom, therefore helping avoid redundancies and/or people falling into unemployment. Awarded to GatenbySanderson.

• Recruitment advertising — a new approach that effectively replaces advertising agencies through the use of software.

Awarded to Papirfly, a Norwegian company.

SARAH MARQUET

RECRUITER

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News

Thoughts from recruiter.co.uk, Twitter and beyond…

“There is an age penalty for jobseekers. We need to overcome it because the people themselves want to work, need to work and have so much to offer” OLDER WORKERS’ CHAMPION ROS ALTMANN

Events The Work & Family Show 20-22 February ExCel, London www. theworkandfamilyshow.co.uk

Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) Conference 2 March iPro Stadium, Derby www.regonline.com/ glaconference2015

SourceCon 24-25 March Westin Seattle, Seattle, USA http://www.sourcecon. com/2015

Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2015 6 May Grosvenor House Hotel, London recruiterawards.co.uk

FOR MORE NEWS AND COMMENTS, GO ONLINE

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NEW YEAR, NEW FOR RECRUITMENT What lies ahead for the world of recruitment in 2015? Recruiter asked agency and in-house recruiters to share their expectations and forecasts for the coming year. Here’s what they had to say...

Rob Allen, manager, talent acquisition — EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa] delivery, Red Hat: “I have been impressed with how fast this industry [recruitment] is progressing, and I truly believe that the theme of progression will remain for 2015.

We should all feel a responsibility to network, learn and share next year, and continue to propel the world of recruiting.”

Jason Atkinson, managing director, Russam GMS: “We are planning for 20% of our placements to be overseas work by end of 2015.”

Kevin Barrow, partner, law firm Osborne Clarke: “We think 2015-16 will see major changes in the way contract workers are supplied in the UK. Hirers may in time insist that the UK contingent workforce will mainly move into the binary model of leased employees and genuinely self-employed contractors which is increasingly the norm elsewhere in the world.”

Theo Camurca, director of people, Burger King EMEA: “In addition to our leadership development programme, the new graduate and MBA talent acquisition & development programmes will represent the main pipelines for recruitment at Burger King EMEA. These programmes will search for candidates with an entrepreneurial mindset that align strategically with the company’s values.”

Brian Dean, chief people officer, Anchura Group: “A

new skills shortage will emerge in 2015. An increase in demand for specialist skills — both new and ones we haven’t seen before — and supply cannot meet demand. Whether it be compliance and regulatory skills in banking or technical surveying in construction, the demand will become far more focused and intensify around certain specialist skill sets. It will be a talent-driven market for these skills which will see companies having to pay a premium for these skillsets.”

Kieran Delaney, director, ASG: “Being a largely ‘permanent’ marketing recruitment business, we will be focusing our attention on our newly-formed and already successful IT contract division.”

Umit Erdem, business development director, Civitas HR: “We feel 2015 will be a competitive year for recruitment here in Turkey. As of now, there are expected to be 500,000 open positions all around the country, so sourcing is the number one issue for all of us. We also believe that RPO will be considered the most strategic category of business service than ever before.”

Julia Harvie-Liddle, group head of resourcing, BP: “We expect to see four key themes. Firstly, a global approach to talent management is crucial — we’re an international company and our workforce needs to reflect the countries in which we operate.

Additionally, we will continue to focus on graduate talent and build for the future whilst focusing on highly skilled and hard-to-fill roles. Improving our workforce diversity alongside our long-term

objectives will also be critical to us.”

Isabelle Hung, senior director, talent acquisition EMEA, ADP: “2015 holds a year of opportunity. The economy is in recovery mode, with an increase of new talent acquisition roles across the industry. Employer brand and engagement will be key, and with budgets back in play, we will see creativity start to evolve. We will relearn sourcing, adapting to the new connected world, and recruiters must become business partners to survive.”

Tara Lescott, director, Recruiter Republic: “This is most definitely the year that will see recruiters and employers manage the resignation process and counter-offers more effectively.

With so much churn in the market, employers will need to build far more robust retention programmes than in prior years.”

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News

“HR will be judged on the actions we take, not what we say” MCDONALD’S SENIOR VP, INTERNATIONAL HR AND STRATEGY DAVID FAIRHURST, REGARDING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Jeanne MacDonald, president, Global Talent Acquisition Solutions, Futurestep: “2015 will see many global organisations operating with a global v multi-country strategy.

Leaders will be implementing shared services structures allowing them to select and leverage one RPO provider when they move to talent outsourcing in a more effective way. Looking ahead, businesses must be sure not to adopt a ‘one size fits all’ model, being conscious of the maturity and priorities of different markets, as well as specific cultural nuances to attract desired skill sets.”

Martin McCrum, director, Aspirare: “Our aim for 2015 is to double our contractor base and build all divisions in-depth, and look at opening an additional office in 2016.”

Chris Marsh, director — group resourcing, Atkins: “2015 will be the year we finally start to

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“Workplaces should integrate standing and lower level activity, things like taking the stairs or walking a little bit more — lots of small activities that don’t affect your productivity. It’s a disgrace the UK is so inactive” DR MIKE LOOSEMORE, CONSULTANT PHYSICIAN IN SPORTS EXERCISE AND MEDICINE AT ENGLISH INSTITUTE OF SPORT

benefit from the economic recovery. Low oil prices will keep inflation down which will enable salary growth to outstrip inflation. It will also benefit business giving more room for investment, including increasing staff numbers.”

Gillian Ong, head of talent acquisition — technology, Pearson: “Talented people who have been waiting for the right thing to come along will find it. Mobile will be the recruiting platform of choice. There still won’t be enough female technologists to go around.”

Richard OwenHughes, group marketing director: “Our theme in January 2015 is ‘Proud to be Driver Hire’. Identifying the best ways to fulfil the strong demand for top quality candidates will certainly be a big part of our… agenda.”

Denis Pennel, managing director, Ciett: “2015 presents a year of opportunity as economies around the world start to grow again and look to boost employment levels.

Work mobility and migration are crucial to delivering this in today’s economy. Ciett fully supports initiatives by the ILO and the IOM to foster fair international recruitment practices as well as the EU mobility package.”

Dona Roche-Tarry, managing partner, European board services, CTPartners: “I expect the debate around executive pay to continue. Organisations will need to address a global compensation structure as opposed to national or countryspecific structures. Big data will be the other defining issue of 2015.”

Anthony Sherick, MD, Technojobs: “Employer branding is often strongly underestimated, especially at small to mid-sized businesses. We will be making sure we have a consistent and positive message via our website, our social media and recruitment communications.”

Raj Tulsiani, CEO, Green Park Interim & Executive Search: “On the first working day of 2015, I asked myself how can we make ourselves as relevant as possible — so that the value we offer clients is more than just transactional.

You have to become ‘sector geeks’ to stay ahead of the information curve, to gain client trust and show them that you really do understand their issues.”

Chris Underwood, MD, Adastrum Consulting: “We’ll be urging our clients to keep two main issues at the top of their agendas — digital innovation and gender diversity.”

Hugh Woods Ballard, MD, Day Webster: “In 2015, we will grow our nursing recruitment services outside London and expand our services to introduce doctors and non-medical/non-clinical staff recruitment services.”

Contract News Assist: Acquired Flexible Staffing to extend its driving and logistics capabilities … Better Placed HR Recruitment: MBO by co-founder Paul Duffield and rebrands to Eyzon … Castlerock

Recruitment Group: Won a £5.8m, three-year contract with Merseyside Police … CTPartners Executive Search: Acquired Austrian-based executive search firm Neumann …

Empresaria: Acquired a 75% stake in marketing recruitment consultants Ball and Hoolahan ... Fircroft: Awarded a four-year payroll contract with BG Group …

Frazer John Recruitment: Received £320k investment from the Greater Manchester Loan fund to aid with expansion … Hays: Won master vendor contract with Transport for London … Invenias: Raised £1.3m to fund expansion … Nurse Plus: Underwent secondary MBO, funded by private equity specialist Sovereign Capital … Optionis: Bought tax specialists Brian Alfred Associates … Recruit: Announced intentions to acquire Australian firms Chandler McLeod Group and Peoplebank …

Raw Talent Academy: Appointed by telco company Sunrise Associates to lead a recruitment campaign …

Recruitive: Integrated with jobsearchboard.net and ourjobsboard.com … TEAM

(The Employment Agents Movement): Reappointed Brabners as principal legal adviser

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Tech & tools

WRITING COMPELLING WEB COPY TO ATTRACT GOOGLE’S ATTENTION NEITHER GOOGLE NOR VISITORS ARE TURNED ON BY HASTILY WRITTEN COPY STUFFED WITH KEYWORDS. HERE’S HOW TO INCREASE THE QUALITY OF YOUR WEB CONTENT AND HELP YOUR SITE RISE IN THE RANKINGS Writing for the web is neither a black art nor rocket science.

And savvy website owners are finally realising that attracting Google’s eye is as much about providing wellwritten, original and engaging copy as performing clever techie tricks behind the scene.

Bruce Stander, chief executive and founding director of Optimal Internet, which specialises in recruitment website design and marketing, and the jobs search engine Go Job Search, says many recruiters make the mistake of producing dynamic content with low word counts and using “typical keyword cannibalisation” because they think it will increase their site’s relevance.

“The Google algorithm is an advanced piece of technology and content these days needs to be of a substantially high-quality with visitor value,” he says. He adds that techniques such as inserting multiple “cloak” pages — meaning the use of a technique to try to trick search engines into giving relevant sites higher rankings — can result in a heavy penalty.

Moreover, Andy Drinkwater, founder of internet marketing specialists iQ SEO, believes that many recruiter websites simply lack interesting content and that their pages are too similar to that of their competitors. “If you want to write about ‘hiring sous chefs in London’, then just stating this along with the fact you offer ‘the best rates’ won’t cut it,” he says.

“Put yourself in the eyes of a client: what will they want to see?

Testimonials, hiring techniques, easy-to-read content; your strengths? The list can go on.”

Too often the first page of online news sections displays stories from not just one, but sometimes two years ago.

This sends a terrible message to visitors, let alone Google.

“Information that is outof-date provides no visitor value and Google will not position you well for poorly researched content,” says Stander.

the website, think carefully about your message and how to ensure the company stands out from the billions of other pages and lines of copy indexed by Google.

Ensure the copy is cleanly written, gets to the point and engages the visitor. Drinkwater says many site owners believe that taking copy from another website and making a few changes will be enough to satisfy Google.

“Write copy that is heavily ontopic to the page in question,” he says. “When someone arrives at a page, you want to make sure that they don’t leave again — causing a bounce in Google’s eyes — because they didn’t find the information they were looking for.”

2. Don’t go overboard with keywords Using the right keywords is essential in order to be found — but don’t overuse them. Stander emphasises that content needs

1. Be original and relevant Whether it’s the home page, the ‘about us’ or any other section of

to be written for the reader, not the search engine. “Methods of keyword cannibalisation and keyword stuffing are all now penalised by the algorithm as content of low and poor quality,” he says. Meanwhile, Drinkwater advises using a thesaurus to research synonyms or when conducting a search, to find out what other words crop up in a Google search.

3. Avoid duplication Don’t repeat a piece of content throughout your site. Drinkwater describes this as “a huge problem”, which can lead Google to devalue or even penalise a site for overuse of this technique. “It says to Google ‘I wanted to rush through this page and decided to copy elements from other pages’,” he says. “You also want to make sure that any content that you have had written has not been re-written (spun) from content that has been published hundreds of times before.”

4. Be up-to-date Ensure your site carries fresh and regularly updated articles.

5. Use links to increase your authority Make sure other sites link to yours from relevant content as Google favours this as a method of using content to improve popularity.

And if your pages include a statement about a particular subject or issue, back up your position with citations and links through to the original research. “You can also help by including testimonials or reviews from current and past clients,” Drinkwater says. But, he adds, it is important to strike the right balance between your voice and that of other people: “Don’t overdo it: no one wants to read a page that either appears to consist of someone else’s work or that is littered with ‘glowing’ reports.”

6. Test your page If preparing a speech or presentation, you would test it on an audience — so adopt the same approach with your website copy. “Remember that your own personal opinions of what makes a compelling page might not be the same as those clients and candidates who are visiting them, so employ live-user testing to help you see how others view your pages,” says Drinkwater.

“Critiquing page content can often be the biggest eye opener for you.”

SUE WEEKES

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SPECIAL REPORT

ROUNDTABLE PARTICIPANTS Sinead Canny, Morgan McKinley head of marketing, UK and EMEA Francesca Elford, Idex Consulting marketing manager Jo Lee, Meridian Business Support head of marketing and digital media Adam Nicoll, FiveTen Group head of marketing Glenn Southam, Staffgroup marketing manager Robert Woodford, founder, principal consultant and director, GKS Associates

THE RISING VALUE OF THE RECRUITMENT MARKETER

Tenille Woodford, Human Capital Investment Group group marketing manager

THE RECESSION, THE NEED TO INNOVATE AND THE NEED TO REMAIN COMPETITIVE HAVE GIVEN RISE TO THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING DEPARTMENTS WITHIN RECRUITMENT COMPANIES. WORDS AND PICTURES BY SARAH MARQUET The role of a marketer within a recruitment company has evolved into more of an information manager. This was one consensus reached by recruitment industry marketing professionals who participated in a recent roundtable event hosted by Recruiter editor DeeDee Doke.

Rising value FiveTen Group head of marketing Adam Nicoll believes no other function in a recruitment business is as important — except possibly the finance department — in respect of information management responsibilities.

“Our stock has risen hugely in the past decade, certainly in the last five years,” Nicoll said.

The group agreed the marketer’s value has significantly risen in an industry heavily affected by both changes in communications such as social media and greater competition for candidates and clients.

Meridian Business Support

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PUTTING A DIVERSIFIED MARKETING STRATEGY INTO ACTION In a highly competitive market, diversified marketing strategies are necessary to differentiate between recruitment businesses.

At Morgan McKinley, for example, there is a huge push on bespoke content, Sinead Canny said. Employees are actively encouraged to regularly write blogs which are then posted to the company’s website and pushed out through LinkedIn and Twitter.

Blogs about issues such as skills shortages can be pushed out as alternatives to job ads and more appealing to readers, particularly passive candidates. Canny said the blogs had made a massive difference to traffic to the company’s website.

“I wouldn’t say it’s ground breaking but what it allows you to do is rather than putting jobs through LinkedIn, it allows you to post an interesting blog on LinkedIn which may attract passive as well as active candidates, because blogs are more likely to be read by a larger audience rather than ads which are for your fairly active, job seeking people,” Canny said.

She said the blogs had made a massive difference to traffic through the company’s website.

Another innovative approach was designed by a relatively new consultant at Staffgroup. As marketing manager Glenn Southam explained, the consultant, who had a passion for cars and who was working within the automotive design niche, set up a chat forum for people working in or with an interest in that niche. It now has 3,000 to 4,000 active and interested members. Once a week, that consultant will round up the news and send a group email, rather than sending the people jobs everyday.

“He’s in his industry, he knows what candidates want … he has the passion for it … he’s connected with them at a level they want,” Southam said.

Southam said others in the company have tried similar approaches, but not every attempt is successful. However, it has certainly worked for that individual consultant, who is now one of the top billers in the company, Southam said.

Roundtable participants gathered at Recruiter’s offices in London to discuss the role of the recruitment marketer

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Staffgroup’s Glenn Southam said marketing success, although led by people in dedicated roles, also comes down to individual consultants.

“It was once a marketing department’s responsibility to push the brands and the individuals’ [consultants] brands and now it’s just shifted down the whole company to the consultants. It’s their responsibility to do the marketing for themselves, for their jobs and for the company.”

Those circumstances create brand issues, as most around the table agreed, because consultants, particularly younger ones, do not devote the necessary care into the writing of job ads.

FiveTen’s Adam Nicoll said: “The younger guys in contingency recruitment businesses just don’t get it [the writing of a good ad], don’t get the importance of it and you can see that the difference between a search consultant and a contingency recruiter is enormous.”

The mass posting of job adverts is generally to blame, the marketers agreed.

Morgan McKinley’s Sinead Canny said that technology had made the logistics of posting, amending and removing job adverts from multiple locations and job boards easier. However, more attention had been paid to detail in traditional print advertising. She said before job boards, when placing an advert in the Financial Times, for example, it could take 50 rounds of amends before the ad was considered ready for print. “You did not sign off a job advert with a missing comma or full stop,” she said.

Some argued that the dual needs of getting the ad out quickly and maintaining the company name’s external presence were to blame. However, marketer Robert Woodford of GKS Associates suggested that some such problems might stem from a marketing department’s lack of involvement in their company’s recruitment strategy.

In the past, he said, a marketing department was the buffer between bad content going out or not, which is no longer the case. He said he thought few companies were testing the writing skills of prospective consultants before hiring them.

%

63

of executives believe their employees need to improve their multilingual skills, according to a survey by language provider Rosetta Stone

TOP

GETTING THE ADVERTISING MESSAGE RIGHT

5

MOST VIEWED JOBS ON OUR WEBSITE

1. 33Six Consultancy, Consultants/team leaders, London

2. Expedient

Recruitment Consultancy, Trainee consultant

3. TRL, In-house

recruiter, Crowthorne

head of marketing and digital media Jo Lee explained that marketing is now a strategic function.

“When I started, marketing didn’t have a voice… now it’s much more of a strategic role.

I’m on a senior leadership team now,” Lee said.

Strategies shaped by the need to account for and save money mean that marketing departments know which avenues of getting their message out perform best and what return on investment (ROI) has been achieved.

Job board spend is one such channel under the spotlight.

As Sinead Canny, Morgan McKinley head of marketing, UK and EMEA, said, it is being able to prove ROI and using data to back up activities that adds credibility to their roles.

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Nicoll said in the past, as a marketing strategy, “recruitment companies just chucked lots of money at job boards and that was kind of it”.

Now, through meticulous recording of data, marketing departments can see how many placements are made against money spent on each particular job board or outlet.

Planned approach Post recession, Lee noted, Meridian takes a much more planned approach to how it uses job boards: “Everyone was just posting absolutely everywhere. It was there so we were doing it. Now what we do is, we slice up all of our contracts so we know exactly what ROI we’re getting for advert posting, CV searching — what the pure margin is.”

4. Barker Ross Group, Senior consultant, Milton Keynes

5. Star Medical, Consultant, Manchester

TOP

At FiveTen, Nicoll said they also take a more integrated approach. “All marketing elements in the mix all react — it’s all joined up, and it’s all integrated, and they all rub off one another. So if your job advertising is strong, and your PR is strong, your website will get good traffic. If your website has good traffic, your job ads will get a better response because people kind of know you’re worth it.”

At the end of the day, it is through good marketing that a company can clearly differentiate itself from its competitors.

“The product of a recruitment company is a CV,” Nicoll said. “The CV doesn’t differentiate you … because candidates often register with more than one agency. So how do you make yourself different? That comes down to marketing.”

Canny agreed, saying marketing should be getting the “best candidates to apply for our jobs first.

“If you want to cut it down to basic level, candidates are our product. If we don’t have candidates, we don’t make fees; the business doesn’t survive.”

5

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RECRUITER

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Sponsored Sponsoredfeature Q&A

THINK PEOPLE. THINK PENNA CEO Gary Browning and MD for Recruitment Solutions Julie Towers believe it is the people at Penna who make all the difference to their clients, and have created the fast-growing recruitment business that is now a clear part of the Penna proposition.

“We provide recruitment solutions for over 400 organisations across the UK, from multinationals to high-tech startups, from large public sector bodies to high-profile not-for-profit organisations.

Finding the people who make a difference “We believe it is the people in these organisations – from the C-suite to the frontline – that make the difference between average and excellent. Penna’s professional recruitment experience and expertise focus on securing the right people for our client organisations quickly and cost effectively.

“Everything we do is driven by insight and inventiveness. We are interactive, not just in a digital sense but also in how we choose to work with each other and our clients. We’re proud to be behind award-winning resourcing solutions and work that is important for the nation and the economy.

Getting results the Penna way “A successful outcome for us isn’t just about results; it is about how those

results are achieved, and the experience of the client and the candidates. We live and breathe our values of accountable, collaborative, inspiring and supportive and want to encourage recruiters of all experience levels to join us if they feel as passionate as we do about the impact good recruitment has.

“Working at Penna is about more than financial reward. People join to make a difference; it’s a place they can develop themselves and their careers and a place where they can be proud of the work they do… and be part of a great team.”

Penna is a global HR people management business spanning the entire employment lifecycle – from attraction, managed recruitment and assessment, executive search and interim to onboarding and career development.

But don’t take our word for it. Recruiter’s Vanessa Townsend recently met some of Penna’s staff to find out what made them join the company – and what makes them happy to stay…

David Mackey Head of HR Executive Interim and Search Practice

12

RECRUITER

David Mackey said he was surprised at how large Penna’s executive business was when he looked into joining the company. “It was a sound, well-run executive interim and search business, but Penna wasn’t shouting about it,” he says.

“The culture is empowering. You’re encouraged to take a risk but you’re well supported. It’s a very grownup, autonomous environment to work in. I regularly work remotely.

When Penna says they offer work/ life flexibility, they mean it. There’s mutual respect.”

FEBRUARY 2015

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Peter Rice Head of Brand Peter Rice has been with the company since July 2013 and says working there has fuelled his professional ambition. “There’s a huge amount of trust that has really empowered me in my role.

It’s hard work, but a lot of fun.” And part of that fun is playing bass in the company band, Fleet Place Mac, which performs at company events for charity.

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15/01/2015 13:01

If you want to take your career in recruitment to a new level or you’re interested in finding out how Penna can improve your company’s recruitment go to www.penna.com Penna people – making a difference

“The backing is always there, with a willingness to listen to new ideas” Anthony Lewis Senior Consultant, Executive Interim Public Sector Even staff who have left the company can’t keep away for long. As an undergraduate Anthony Lewis did work experience with various departments at Penna but decided to work at another recruiter after graduating.

However, he kept in touch with people at Penna and following two years away he felt the time was right to return. “I always liked the culture at Penna. There are people here of all ages but it works. We all get on very well – it’s a good mix. It’s the most non-hierarchical business you’ll ever work in.”

Toni Hall Sector Lead, Executive Interim Public Sector

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Sandeep Bhandal Head of Strategic Development, Resourcing

“Penna’s senior leadership team listen and work with your business plan; they nurture and develop you”

Toni Hall came to Penna two and a half years ago. “In my job I get loads of autonomy, and there’s no micro-managing. Penna is keen on retaining staff. Management would rather work with you to grow and develop you. It’s a very liberating company and brilliant fun. Clients love coming into the office. In fact, a long-standing client even noticed a change in me since I started working at Penna,” she revealed. “They said I was exuding positivity!” And as a mark of her success, she won the IIM [Institute of Interim Management] Consultant of the Year 2014.

Tristan Moakes Head of Digital & Social

Laura Damon Junior Client Partner Laura Damon joined the Search team as a campaign co-ordinator back in 2009 and is now seven months into a year’s Client Partner Apprenticeship. The professional apprentice scheme is offered to all employees as a way of improving career mobility and offers the opportunity to try a new role knowing that you can go back to your previous role if you decide it’s not for you.

“Penna is one of the nicest places I’ve worked so far,” she says.

“It’s a family feel, very down-to-earth. The CEO walks around the offices and the senior leadership team all ‘hot desk’. For a big City company, that’s rare.”

Alice Hargreaves Senior Client Partner

Alice Hargreaves is only in her second month with the company and was attracted to Penna because of its reputation. “I was hired due to my commercial background,” she explains. “It was clear they wanted to carve a role out for me, which made me feel special. I liked the challenge and opportunity to make an impact. All ideas are listened to.

Because it’s a very adult environment, you are left to get on with it but there’s plenty of support too.”

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Sector Analysis

IT & technology WHILE VACANCIES ARE PLENTIFUL, THE TEST IS FINDING CANDIDATES WITH CUTTING-EDGE SKILLS FOR THIS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING SECTOR Employers’ appetite for data management and analysis, user-friendly websites, business transformation and increased security is shaping recruitment in the IT sector.

Andy Almond, partner for the UK and Ireland for Computer Futures and SThree, told Recruiter that as organisations start to “overhaul” how they interact with suppliers there is an increased demand for user interface and user experience professionals to ensure websites and e-commerce processes are engaging and easy to use.

Ian Blackburn, senior recruitment consultant at IntaPeople, says: “More and more organisations need to make sure their products and their solutions are customer centric … we have seen a big push on the user interface and user experience skill set within the market recently.”

Another key challenge for businesses, says Blackburn, is managing and storing increasing amounts of data. Many organisations, he says, are using cloud-based technologies to handle the amount of data that is being processed and produced. So-called “open source” database technology, which can be altered to fit the organisation’s specific requirements, is also being used, driving a demand for data analytic roles and data scientists.

An increasingly acquisitive business environment also requires integration specialists to consolidate IT infrastructure after a merger or acquisition. At the same time project managers are recruited to oversee new software development and infrastructure projects, reports Jan Stevens, corporate services director at DP Connect.

Also in demand, says Mark Braund, chief executive of InterQuest Group, are marketing analytics and econometrics professionals, who trawl through data to identify “patterns, trends and buying behaviours”.

Arguably, one of the hottest topics in the sector is cyber security — an issue that is very much at

the forefront of the national agenda. Last year (December 2014) the government announced a number of steps to build skills for this growing sector. These include grants for colleges and universities to improve cyber security and learning, improved careers information and resources, and mentoring schemes, as well as the UK security and intelligence organisation GCHQ’s new app to teach school students basic encryption techniques.

At the time of the announcements, Tony Samuel, sales director of CyberSecurityJobsite. com and Securityclearedjobs.com, told Recruiter that among the jobs most in demand are penetration testers. “Once [an organisation] has implemented the cyber security practice, a penetration tester is someone that tries to hack the site to make sure there aren’t any gaps.” Hirers are also looking to recruit security architects and digital forensics.

Skills shortages are acutely felt in the IT sector.

“Every time a new technology is introduced it takes a degree of time for there to be candidates with the level of skills that are required,” explains Blackburn. He adds it is increasingly important for hirers to be “proactive in building a talent pipeline” by visiting schools and universities.

However, Stevens says more can be done to “promote IT as a career option to a wider and more diverse audience” and “ensure better funding for training”. She adds: “Universities are not typically up to date with the latest technologies, so IT graduates still need a lot of coaching and investment by employers.”

On the executive side, there are more vacancies but the list of skills needed has increased, she says. Desirable candidates will have international experience, language skills, legal and financial knowledge, and a capacity for managing bids and tenders associated with third-party suppliers.

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is improving people are saying ‘let’s reinvest in our IT, change how we interact with our supply chain and customers to get it on track with the competition’.”

Ian Blackburn, senior recruitment consultant at IntaPeople: “The days of putting out an advert and finding the right candidate for the role are diminishing. It’s a case of finding those passive candidates with skill sets that aren’t necessarily looking for a new opportunity.”

Jan Stevens, corporate services director at DP Connect: “With higher spend on IT … clients with volume-hiring requirements are turning again to RPO [recruitment process outsourcing] providers to manage their recruitment — which dilutes the relationship with the supplying agencies.”

13.9% INC RE

3.1% IN CR EA

SE

6.9% increase on the 133,555 in 2013

Andy Almond, partner for the UK and Ireland at Computer Futures and SThree: “As the market

E AS

the number of active IT enterprises in the UK (2014)

environment the contractor (often the person that’s got the ‘bleeding edge’ skills) can be more valuable to companies if they come in, deliver those skills and move off. They can enhance that skill quickly by moving from project to project.”

Source: ONS and Nixon Williams

SE

143,450

Mark Braund, CEO of InterQuest Group: “In our

NICOLA SULLIVAN

JOB ACTIVITY IN THE IT SECTOR 6.9% I NC RE A

Views from the market

459,000 the number of IT sector jobs in 2013/14

13.9% increase on the 403,000 roles in 2008/09

25,010,000 the number of jobs across the whole economy in 2013/14

3.1% increase on the 24,256,000 jobs in 2008/09

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Market Indicators

Global Spotlight on Germany THE RECRUITMENT MARKETPLACE MAY BE SEEN AS A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY BY SOME, BUT RECOGNISING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IS INTEGRAL TO SUCCESS IN THE COUNTRY The growth of professional services company SThree’s business in Germany puts the evolution of that market into a dynamic perspective.

“A couple of years ago SThree’s German business was half its UK market. Next year it may be bigger than the UK,” says Dave Rees, SThree’s managing director for DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), whose brief includes the Teutonic economic powerhouse.

“There has been a big change in Germany,” says Rees, where an ageing population, job growth and low unemployment, as well as liberalisation of the labour market that began in 2003, have produced what many recruiters see as fertile ground for staffing firms.

What makes it even more attractive is that German employers “have more of a propensity to pay a quality fee for a good service and candidates”, adds Rees. Looking ahead, he sees only further upside. “The German recruitment market has no way near reached the maturity of other Western countries, so there is a huge opportunity here,” he says.

However, Wolfgang Brickwedde, director of the Institute for Competitive Recruiting, a firm providing consultancy services in Germany, offers a more sombre assessment. He points out that the temporary market reached its peak around two years

ago and has since fallen, as “more firms start to source people themselves”. Indeed, German Federal Government statistics show that the number of temp workers in 2014 remains below the 2013 monthly average of 838,820. Alongside direct sourcing, Brickwedde says the big trends are for fees based on success, research-based services and self-employment.

Thomas Leister, partner and director of German operations at law firm Osborne Clarke, agrees that the temp market has declined, but says the prospects for the staffing industry are good.

However, he warns that promised legislation due to come into effect during 2015 is casting uncertainty over the sector. Under a Coalition Agreement between the CDU and SPD ruling parties, temporary assignments will be limited to 18 months, and pay between temp workers and their non-temp worker colleagues is set to be equalised after nine months. A planned crackdown on the use of employment contracts for workers that should come under AUG (labour leasing) legislation that give them better rights and protection is also expected. “Employers are worried,” says Leister.

That said, Leister doubts the changes will have damaging longterm consequences for the staffing sector. “It’s not a case that the German market will become less attractive, because the German economy is doing well,” he says.

Nor is he concerned about the threat from Germany’s first National Minimum Wage of €8.50 (£6.76) an hour, which took effect from 1 January. “We have collective bargaining in almost all areas, which already includes a minimum wage,” he says.

Richard-Emanuel Goldhahn, MD of Cobalt Recruitment, says the potential changes won’t affect companies such as his.

“We aren’t a temp agency; we supply interim mangers and selfemployed on a day rate.” And in any case, Cobalt like many other UK recruiters in Germany operates at the professional end of the market, where wages are generally above the new minimum wage.

Connor Roughneen, MD of Roc Search, says one of Germany’s attractions is that it is less saturated with recruiters than markets such as the UK. That said, there are challenges. “It’s a much more passive market for candidates,” he says. This means recruiters have to spend a lot of time finding candidates. Recruiters must

KEY FACTS

Oct 2014

80.8m 43m

people in employment Oct 2014

515,000

Notified job vacancies

73%

of temporary agency workers still in sustainable employment six months after ending unemployment

Number of temporary agency workers employed in Germany in 2003

300,000 909,000

Nov 2014

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Number of temporary agency workers employed in Germany Aug 2011

7%

34%

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6%

18%

from social media

via company career sites

Institute of Competitive Recruiting study 2013

Unemployment rate

German Federal Statistical Office

COLIN COTTELL

German Federal Employment Agency

4.7% Population 2013

also tailor their approach to German cultural norms that includes a preference for face-to-face meetings, and long-term relationships. “It takes a bit longer to get to know clients in Germany,” says Rees, though he adds that once a relationship is established it is “usually stronger, and harder to break”. Aggressive ‘sales tactics’ such as sending unsolicited CVs are not perceived well by clients, says Brickwedde.

“It’s understanding the subtle differences that will make recruiters successful in Germany or not,” says Rees. “It is quite easy to get five or six recruiters from London to do the German market, but getting to 40, 50 or 100 staff — that is more difficult.”

German Federal Employers’ Association of Staffing Services

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think this is clever?

discover the ultimate in recruitment software REC.01.15.018.indd 18

www.itris.co.uk 15/01/2015 14:18

Interaction

Why investing in staff will BOX aid retention tenfold SOAP

It’s no secret that there is a skills shortage in many industries.

High-quality candidates are hard to find, and competition is fierce. It’s no longer about who offers the biggest salary; candidates want more benefits from employers. They want career progression, opportunities and development.

So, with new candidates hard to find, how do you hold on to the star talent you already have and ensure they aren’t snapped up by the competition?

In my early career, I had a few jobs with limited opportunity to progress, so I moved on. I wanted a career, a chance to develop my skills and earn rewards. I found that with Crimson: they were willing to take a chance on me, and I made sure I paid them back tenfold.

I am a firm believer that if you look hard enough at your staff, you will see something in them that they themselves may not see; and, if you give them the right tools to progress, they will usually surprise you. And then they will pay you back tenfold.

It’s all too easy to start recruiting when you need to fill a role in your company, but no business will ever have the funds for the amount of people they need in their business. That’s why it’s important to grow your team, give them tools and opportunities to progress, and let them surprise you.

Crimson is 13 years old as a business, and today we have four members of staff who have been with us for 10 years. That’s because we have given them the opportunities and tools to develop.

In the early days of the company, we had to work to attract

EMMA

MIRRINGTON

ROB MALLABAND is managing director of IT recruitment specialist Crimson

Looking ahead to more agile and flexible recruiting in 2015

I have been speaking to many colleagues in in-house recruitment to understand what their priorities and needs are this year. A lot of challenges are actually age-old ones, such as moving from a transactional recruiting function to one that is more strategic and proactive. So workforce planning and talent pooling and pipelining are still key priorities.

Creating an agile and flexible recruiting function is a task many resourcing leaders are setting in 2015. How do we manage the peaks and troughs in the team to be as agile and flexible as possible? There is a clear interest in exploring recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) solutions as people aim to keep their headcount down but not compromise on delivery.

Internal mobility is on the up, too. With the rise of talent management as a function, people are very interested in how the two functions can work together so we optimise both the ‘build’ and ‘buy’ strategies, and work together seamlessly. At the moment, it appears there is a disconnect between the two.

In-house recruiters are increasingly focused on metrics and measuring the success of their function. Apart from the basic measurements of cost and time to hire people, they are looking at other measurements, such as quality. The measurement of social media is an interesting one. How do you optimise it and then measure it to report back to the business and justify the investment?

With social media now the norm, people are increasingly focused on how they can leverage and manage their brand online. One US recruiter even commented that candidates are

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people to the business. I had to persuade them to take a risk with us, show them our long-term ambitions. To have four people still with us 10 years later is a great achievement.

Take the latest member of our 10-year club, my assistant Emma. She joined us at the age of 19, saw a job as a job, went on maternity leave for a while and then returned, unsure what she wanted to do.

We sat down with her, asked her what she wanted to achieve and what she needed from us in order to develop. I had been told I needed someone to manage me so I could focus on making Crimson more entrepreneurial and it needed to be someone who knew me. Emma had grown up in the business and knew me well; she was the perfect fit for the role. Today she challenges me, knows everything that happens in the business and adds huge value to my role and the wider team.

Now we need to consider how we can grow her role further and build a succession plan.

Next year, we welcome two more people into our 10-year club, and we’ll build a succession plan to help them grow their roles, too.

As a start-up, Crimson couldn’t have grown without great people with well-defined roles; and to grow further, the same is required.

So, when quality candidates are sparse, ask yourself how people in your company can step into a new role and repay you tenfold.

If you give them the opportunity, you will change them and your business for life.

bringing Glassdoor print-outs about their company to interview and basing their questions to the interviews on this feedback.

Technology is a key focus for many in 2015. As well as the applicant tracking system (ATS), in-house recruiters are keen to explore candidate relationship management (CRM) technology and we have seen a huge rise in interest in video interviewing, not just from a recruitment perspective, but also as an engagement tool. I think this will be huge in 2015.

Next, candidate experience — how do we leverage technology to aid this, and are our expectations aligned to those of candidates? One recruiter mentioned that although we see it as acceptable to send a text invitation to interview, we would balk at sending a text rejection. But, actually, a lot of generation Y candidates would prefer this because it is immediate.

For resourcing leaders, building the capability of their team is a priority in 2015. Firstly, ensuring the quality and fit of the recruiters that are brought in and also making sure the skillset balance in the team is right. A few are bringing in ex-marketers to focus on brand and social media, which is a trend in recent years.

Future talent (FT) is an increasing priority. We have seen a rise in the number of apprenticeships and school-leaver programmes over the past year and this is set to increase in 2015 as firms look to have diverse FT programmes with various entry points to reduce the reliance on graduate programmes.

So it looks like 2015 will be a busy, diverse and exciting year for in-house recruiters.

EMMA MIRRINGTON is talent director for Capita’s Write Research and co-

manager of The FIRM (The Forum for In-house Recruitment Managers)

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EXPERT OPINION

The Real Benefits of Cloud Computing

By James Newson, Director, Sansom IT

C

loud computing is changing the way recruitment companies are delivering IT resources to their staff. A lot of the benefits have been well documented by all in sundry however there are some key initiatives that are being lost in translation. Cloud is delivering more Choice and finally real IT Cost Transparency, and these benefits are changing the way business leaders engage with technology.

To understand what these benefits represent we need to acknowledge where enterprise IT has come from. Traditionally most businesses invested heavily in hardware, software and expertise to build, operate and maintain their technology services. The business had to purchase for peak usage and there had to be regular investment to keep the environment fit for purpose. This lead to bloated, inefficient IT and performance and reliability differed between organisations. This model also meant the business was locked into the technology they invested in.

Generally all business applications such as Messaging, CV Parsing and Job Posting tools were hosted on a single, logical data centre environment. Applications depended and competed for the same infrastructure resources (Server, Storage and Network). If there was an upgrade or a change to an application that required more performance or capacity from your infrastructure then further investment was required. This made it difficult to identify and calculate the real value of investing in new technology to drive efficiencies and business growth.

Low latency network, increased resilience and server virtualisation led to a series of innovations that have been termed as Cloud. These innovations allowed business to procure and utilise IT services that are delivered from the vendors data centre.

Essentially the enterprise is now able to buy the solution, not the underlying technology. Paying for these solutions as a utility in a number of different charging models has bought about a flexibility that hasn’t been previously available. The industry is now treating IT applications and infrastructure as a common utility, albeit a complicated one.

lowering costs and driving efficiencies. A real emphasis needs to be put on sourcing, procurement and negotiation to make sure the solutions, vendors and commercials you pursue suit your business.

Having your IT needs delivered as service alleviates the constraints on the dependency between applications and infrastructure. If your business wishes to change a key application and purchase as a Cloud SaaS solution, the application operates from the vendor’s infrastructure not yours.

If you wish to host the application on a Cloud IaaS solution you simply request the amount of infrastructure resource you need, and expand as you need more. No more investing upfront for a set quantity of infrastructure and no more technology lock in.

This flexibility and freedom gives the business the choice to distinguish where they spend their IT budget, without the added taxation and constraints of investing in their own infrastructure.

Cost transparency Traditionally calculating the value you are receiving from your IT service has been very difficult and the business leaders have little visibility over where the IT spend is going. If you think back to how IT was traditionally deployed you can see why. Investment was sporadic and technology was bought in set quantities up front. There was no mechanism between the business IT function and senior stakeholders to show resource utilisation and therefore justify further investment.

Visibility into how much IT resource is being consumed is fundamental to controlling costs and making sure infrastructure is aligned to business demand. Sansom IT’s Infrastructure Metering service will show in a simple format how efficient or inefficient your IT really is. By analysing pricing schedules and historical information we can show how much your IT is costing per service, based on actual consumption metrics.

So how does Choice and IT Cost Transparency fit into the new world of IT?

Fully understanding how much your IT is costing you will enable reductions in IT spend and show in real terms the value you are receiving. We have seen one customer reduce their IaaS spend by 40% after metering.

Choice

Sansom IT

One of the key benefits of the Cloud evolution is there are now multiple ways to deliver an IT service to your users. There is more choice of vendors and solutions than ever before and consumers need to consider the wider picture before embarking on a Cloud strategy. Understanding business and technical requirements and what solutions are on offer is important for

Sansom IT is an independent IT consultancy that focuses on the needs of the consumer. We add value by sourcing and procuring Cloud infrastructure solutions that meet the needs of the customer. We also manage and contracts and vendors and meter infrastructure to give your business full IT cost transparency and make tangible savings.

Please contact us if you wish to discuss the content of this article further.

Phone: 033 577 0350 E-mail: contact@sansomit.com Website: www.sansomit.com

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Interaction

SOUND

WEB

BITES

COMMENT

“How can recruiters exert more influence on employment issues and industry in general during 2015?”

David Forsdyke Managing director, Michael Page Legal

Given the market challenges over the past five years, many organisations have not really invested in hiring at an entry or junior level, particularly within qualified professions such as accountancy and legal.

As real growth returns to the UK, high-calibre individuals with three to five years’ experience are now in short supply.

Organisations that are brave enough must have a good look at their employer brand, recruitment strategy and engagement.

Those are the ones more likely to turn the heads of potential candidates while others may be left wondering where all the talent has gone. Organisations must not assume previous recruitment strategies will be as effective as before.

Cath Harrison Managing director, JobVacancyPortal.co.uk

Open communication is king for progression. Having accumulated a wealth of ‘real life’ knowledge within the employment market, recruiters are ideally situated to gather and share key information and experiences relating to employment issues and industry challenges. And not solely to liaise with employers and jobseekers, but to collaborate with each other and associated professionals. Online technology, including an array of social media channels, provides valuable wide-reaching platforms to share ideas, feedback and advice on important topics; through blogs, online seminars and forums. The value of face-to-face debate and support is as important, whether via meetings, networking or seminars.

Nick Peacock

LinkedIn InMail changes lead to mixed feelings in recruitment (6 January) The problem with this change is that LinkedIn assumes everyone on their platform engages with it constantly. Also there is no mechanism or flag that helps recruiters identify people who are open to an approach.

We all receive emails everyday that are not relevant to our needs at that time and we just delete them without opening them. You might write the best email in the world but if someone is not looking for a job then it’s unlikely they are going to open it. I think the big users of LinkedIn’s Recruiter Services will find the proposed increased number of InMails not enough.

Russell White I totally agree with Russell White (above).

Regardless of the quality or relevance of the InMail, some LinkedIn users do not engage regularly with the platform.

On more than one occasion, I have InMailed a prospective candidate and not received a reply (even just to say ‘not interested’). I have later managed to engage with the same candidate through other means, and when I’ve asked about the LinkedIn approach they either haven’t seen it, no longer bother with InMails or it has been lost in the mountain of other LinkedIn correspondence.

This is by no means a reflection on the quality or relevance of the message, but rather that a good number of LinkedIn members are not that active.

As Russell also mentions, there is no reliable mechanism to help recruiters identify which members are open to an approach. Even if their settings indicate they are interested in ‘career opportunities’, this is usually because this is a default setting and users aren’t aware they can change it (again, direct testament from users I have asked about this).

The extra credits are all well and good, but as I’ve found the average response to be somewhere between 10% and 30% (depending on the sector), I only see this as a bad move as far as recruiters are concerned.

Nick Blunt

Owner and managing director, Ascendant Recruitment

Recruiters could forge stronger links with local education providers.

For instance, this year Ascendant Recruitment will be speaking with students at universities and schools that are local to us. As recruitment industry specialists, we’re in a unique position to offer insight into the skills employers need. I recently met with a law firm that struggles to recruit legal secretaries as very few people now enter the profession, despite there being huge demand for such skills. Many could enter the world of work so much better prepared if educational establishments forged a dialogue with recruiters to learn what employers really want and need.

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21_Interaction_Soundbites_FEB15.indd 21

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Recruitment Matters Issue 31 February 2015

Global brands join Good Recruitment Campaign More big name brands have signed up to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation’s (REC’s) Good Recruitment charter.

Kellogg’s, Diageo, Yell, PepsiCo, McDonald’s and Mercedes-Benz have all pledged to join the campaign.

Signatories agree to follow and promote good recruitment practices to candidates and other business partners.

REC chief executive Kevin Green says having more bigname brands on the charter shows it has momentum.

“As the economy picks up and businesses look to hire more staff, the Good Recruitment Campaign promotes the crucial role of quality recruitment in business success,” he says.

“We encourage more businesses both large and small to demonstrate a public commitment to good practice in recruitment. The benefits of this include being able to attract the best talent and ensure they are seen as employers of choice.”

The new signees say they’re excited by what the campaign offers and hopes it sets a benchmark for

other businesses to reach.

McDonald’s UK senior VP of people Jez Langhorn says the campaign mirrors its own values.

“At McDonald’s we want to attract and retain people with the right attitude to fulfil their potential and I’m particularly proud of the development opportunities, benefits and flexible working we offer at all levels to help our people do this,” he says.

Yell head of recruitment, CSR & wellbeing, Andrew Groves says: “The REC’s Good Recruitment Campaign backs up exactly what we have always tried to do at Yell, namely put the candidate at

the heart of everything we do and ensure that recruitment is a two-way process where values and objectives are aligned.”

Kellogg’s talent and diversity director Ben Lamont says the campaign supports their efforts to develop a strong work environment.

“Our people are our greatest asset and so ensuring that we acquire and develop the very best talent is critical to our future performance and growth,” he says.

“At its core, the campaign has a responsible and candidate-centric approach, which we strive to demonstrate in every single interaction we have.”

The Good Recruitment Campaign spurred the REC’s latest research report, ‘Chain Reaction’, which examines supply chains in the recruitment process.

The report examines the recruitment supply process from a candidate perspective, which the REC says is crucial in growing the values of good recruitment.

To find out more about the Good Recruitment Campaign, visit www.rec.uk.com/ goodrecruitment

What’s inside The 2-3 Intelligence and REC Talk The future of wages in 2015, the REC’s ‘Chain Reaction’ report, and politics and the economy

in 4-5Best Business The IRP Awards recognise the best recruiters, so who were the winners in their field?

6Legal lowdown

The changes for employment law and regulations in 2015

Institute of 7 Recruitment Professionals IRP Award winners Bally Sethi from ITHR and David Head from Recruitment International

8 Recruitment Business Academy Don’t miss out – sign up for the latest training courses to start the new year off

www.rec.uk.com RM p1-FEB.indd 23

15/01/2015 13:03

Leading the Industry

the intelligence Are we there yet?

Pay in 2015

By Nina Mguni, senior researcher at the REC 2015 is set to be an interesting year. A general election is always a cause for economic uncertainty, and potential turbulence in the Eurozone will also add to this insecurity.

Nonetheless, this uncertainty comes on the back of an economy that is estimated to have grown by 3% in 2014.

And falling oil prices in the last quarter have offered a boon to consumers, as has the recent rise in real wages.

Looking forward, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) forecasts that CPI inflation will hover around the 1.8% mark in 2015 and 2016, having hit 1.7% in 2014.

Therefore, any changes in real wages will rely on improvements in nominal wages.

Wages are showing signs of improvement. At the time of writing, pay growth stood at 1.6% excluding bonuses, compared to the previous year (August-October). In contrast, pay growth stood at 0.8% the previous year, so this year was a marked improvement.

And earlier this month, in data from REC/KPMG’s ‘Report on Jobs’, recruiters continue to report growth in permanent starting salaries. One in four (24.3%) recruiters stated that permanent starting salaries were higher than the previous month.

While the proportion reporting higher salaries has fallen, the index continues to

2 Recruitment Matters February 2015

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indicate positive growth in starting salaries. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that in 2015, average earnings will grow by 2.4%.

What is clear is that skills shortages are beginning to play a role in pay settlements and starting salaries. The REC JobsOutlook data also shows that the proportion of employers reporting redundancies, headcount freezes, reduced hours and reduced pay has generally fallen in the last year.

Nonetheless, there are a number of factors that may make employers hesitant to increase pay. Economic uncertainty in EU export markets, the recent decision on holiday pay as well as pension auto enrolment may also make employers cautious.

However, bosses will also be aware that they need to make competitive offers to prospective employees. As the Institute of Leadership and Management found in a survey of over 1,000 workers and managers, just over one in three (37%) intend to get a new job in 2015. Alongside this, the JobsOutlook survey in December found that seven in 10 employers (71%) would like to increase the number of permanent workers.

Employers will be keen to hold onto existing staff as well as attract those that are looking for new opportunities.

This is set to be a busy year for recruiters.

The latest REC research:

Chain reaction Large organisations have a constant need for new people and an ongoing recruitment process to find them.

Between the vacant position and the perfect candidate is the recruitment supply chain.

The REC, in association with CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), has produced a report that examines the effect supply chains have on recruitment and how HR, procurement and recruitment professionals develop more strategic working relationships to improve efficiency and quality in recruitment.

Most large employers use a resource model to support recruitment in their organisation and almost a third use two or more models.

‘Chain Reaction’ examines how effective those different supply models are, what challenges each present and what the future holds. It answers questions such as: what impact does putting pressures on timescales and driving down cost have on good candidate experience and effective communication of the employer brand?

This report is supported by the REC’s Good Recruitment Campaign, which has been developed by the REC with a coalition of business organisations. At the heart of the campaign is a charter that outlines what good recruitment means (see also p1 of Recruitment Matters).

Visit www.rec.uk.com/chainreaction

www.rec.uk.com 15/01/2015 13:03

Leading the Industry

Tom Hadley, director of policy and professional services, looks at politics and recruitment

The View

What political factors can have an impact on the recruitment market in 2015?

Let me take you back to 2008/09. In an 18-month period, while the UK economy shrunk by just over 7%, the recruitment industry lost £8 billion or 30% of our revenue. We closed branches, restructured, cut costs, and we reduced our workforce by 30,000.

We did this to survive.

Now as we enter 2015 the economy is growing: we have a record number of people in work and unemployment has fallen fast to 6%. Last year recruiters placed more than 630,000 people into permanent jobs, and we had 1.1 million contractors and Last year was a good year for recruitment; 2015 can be a great one. temps out working each day. Our industry grew by over 8% last We predict industry growth of 9% but a number of external factors will have an impact on our market over the coming year, not least the year to £28.7 billion, making us larger and more successful than ever before. general election, which is less than five months away.

But as always in business we have a few dark clouds on the The outcome of the election is incredibly hard to predict. But what is clear is that we need to present a strong collective voice to engage horizon. It’s no longer the economy or the jobs market that is causing us a problem — it’s the politicians. positively with all the political parties. The REC’s Manifesto for Jobs Recruiters help UK businesses find the talent they need, and calls on the next government to work with us to build the best jobs we help individuals get jobs that transform their lives. For us to market in the world and showcases the positive role of recruiters. continue to do this effectively we need the politicians to prioritise What might a new government mean for our industry? A steady three issues. stream of legislation by a new administration keen to make its Firstly, improve our education system and end the obsession mark? Possibly. It is also true that the next government, whatever its colours, will be seeking solutions to major labour market challenges with exams and academic grades. We want to see work such as skills shortages, boosting social mobility and building better experience back in the national curriculum. We need world-class careers advice, better vocational education, and we need the bridges between education and work. Our goal is to position our right subjects to be studied so that young people are properly industry at the forefront of these and other debates through our regular data and labour market research and initiatives like our Youth prepared for the world of work.

Secondly, we want a government that is business-friendly. That Employment Charter.

We need to come together as an industry to drive one underlying means not regulating unless it’s absolutely necessary and creating priority: raising external perceptions of our sector. Perceptions drive a tax system that ensures a level playing field for legitimate businesses. If government works with industry, we can create behaviour, whether that is calls for new regulations or employers hundreds of thousands of new jobs and prosperity for all. bringing recruitment activities in-house. The fact that all REC Thirdly, businesses must be able to recruit the talent they need, member agencies have now passed a required compliance test is regardless of where that talent comes from. We have severe skills a crucial step forward, and complements the work of the Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP) to elevate professional standards shortages in the UK, so we need a visa regime that is easy to use – and it’s critical that we remain part of the EU, our major trading through qualifications and ongoing personal development.

Which is why in the run up to the election this year we are issuing partner.

The REC’s Manifesto for Jobs highlights our demands for the a call to action to all REC members: work with us to influence forthcoming consultations, use our Manifesto for Jobs to build links upcoming election and we need your help to spread the word.

We’re calling on our members to talk to prospective MPs. We with local MPs, and promote the Good Recruitment Campaign want you to shout about our positive role in the economy and to your clients. We need to continue driving up standards and explain how – with political support – we can collectively build compliance. the best jobs market in the world.

Find out more: I’d like to wish all our members a prosperous new year and I’m www.rec.uk.com/manifesto looking forward to meeting many of you during 2015. www.rec.uk.com/goodrecruitment • You can follow Tom on Twitter @hadleyscomment

www.rec.uk.com RM p3-FEB.indd 25

• For recruitment industry insight and advice follow @kevingreenrec

Recruitment Matters February 2015 3

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The Big Talking Point

Best in Business Winners come up trumps at IRP Awards

T

he glittering event, hosted by former Communards musician and current BBC radio presenter Reverend Richard Coles, saw the REC’s Institute of Recruitment Professionals honour the very best in the UK’s recruitment industry.

Now in their seventh year, the IRP Awards recognise professional excellence among individuals and companies working in the recruitment profession.

Resourcing Group’s Francesca Piccolo took the top award for Recruiter of the Year, while Matchtech Group picked up Best Company to Work for (more than 250 employees).

REC chief executive Kevin Green praised the night’s winners.

“Hearty congratulations to all of the 2014 winners. These are people and businesses who continually go the extra mile in their mission to help candidates and employers be as successful as possible,” he said.

“The quality of entries this year was exceptional and all those shortlisted truly are ambassadors for the high standards and inspirational work the IRP expects of recruiters across the country.”

Recruiter of the Year: Francesca Piccolo, Resourcing Group

Permanent Consultant of the Year, Bally Sethi (centre, with Reverend Coles and Karen Ann Allchurch)

Best Newcomer of the Year: Tom Rankin, Understanding Recruitment

Lifetime Achievement Award: David Head

Best Business Leader: Matt Johnson, Proactive Technical Recruitment

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award went to David Head from Recruitment International.

David has been a part of the recruitment industry for 27 years, 21 of which have been spent as the leader of vision, ethics and values at Recruitment International. “It was complete surprise,” David said. “I’m not a recruiter as such, so to be given an award by the industry came as a complete shock, and a very pleasant one at that.”

• Recruitment Matters spoke with David Head about his career on p7.

Best Company to Work for (up to 20 employees)

4 Recruitment Matters February 2015

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www.rec.uk.com 15/01/2015 13:04

2014 IRP Awards winners

The full list of winners Best Newcomer of the Year Winner: Tom Rankin, Understanding Recruitment Highly commended: Lee Anderson, Advanced Resource Managers

Host Reverend Richard Coles

Permanent Consultant of the Year Winner: Bally Sethi, ITHR Group Temporary Consultant of the Year Winner: Francesca Piccolo, Resourcing Group Business Manager of the Year Winner: Donna Thomas, Campion Willcocks Resourcing Business Leader of the Year Winner: Matt Johnson, Proactive Technical Recruitment Best Candidate Experience Winner: David Tait, Redmill Resourcing

IRP Awards 2014

Best Client Experience Winner: Marti Jones, GPRS Recruitment Highly commended: David Tait, Redmill Resourcing In-House Recruiter of the Year Winner: Claire Anderson, Matchtech Group IMA Interim Consultant of the Year Winner: Dan Whitley, Campion Willcocks Interim Management Highly commended:Toni Hall, Penna Executive Search Consultant of the Year Winner: Yvonne Skingle, Penna

Best Corporate and Social Responsibility Practitioners Winner: Gi Group Highly commended: Equal Approach Best Back-Office Support Team Winner: ID Medical Best People Development Business Winner: Serocor Best Company to Work for (up to 20 employees) Winner: Give A Grad A Go Highly commended: Cathcart Associates Best Company to Work for (up to 50 employees) Winner: Consilium Group Highly commended: Thorpe Molloy Recruitment Best Company to Work for (up to 250 employees) Winner: Amoria Bond Highly commended: Evolution Recruitment Solutions Best Company to Work for (more than 250 employees) Winner: Matchtech Group Recruiter of the Year Francesca Piccolo, Resourcing Group Lifetime Achievement Award David Head

yees): Give A Grad A Go

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Recruitment Matters February 2015 5

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Legal Update

Employment law and regulations:

What’s ahead in 2015?

Lewina Farrell, solicitor and head of professional services at the REC, rounds up the issues most likely to affect the industry this year Last year was an exceptionally busy year for the REC legal team with 16,000 queries to our helpline. And 2015 is shaping up to be similarly busy – in the run up to the May election the government has been busy churning out a raft of consultations whilst the various parties have been making pronouncements on what they might do if elected. Listed below are some of the issues we are currently looking at:

Travel and subsistence In December 2014 the government opened a consultation on travel and subsistence, and how it is applied by umbrella companies and employment businesses engaging temporary workers on overarching contracts of employment. The consultation, which closes on 10 February 2015, proposes prohibiting the use of salary sacrifice to reclaim travel and subsistence but it looks like any changes will not come into effect until 2016.

The REC will be submitting a response and we welcome members’ feedback about their concerns.

ITEPA reporting requirements Changes were made to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA) in April 2014 increasing the potential liability of employment businesses supplying temporary workers through intermediaries. New reporting requirements to back up these changes will come into effect from 6 April. At the time of writing we are waiting for the final regulations but we already know that the party with the end contract with the client will have to provide significant amounts of information on temporary workers engaged via intermediaries, including personal service companies. This will increase the due diligence down the supply chain and will see increasingly onerous

provisions around tax and national insurance. The first quarterly report is due in August.

Holiday pay In November the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that holiday pay should include non-guaranteed overtime. A judgement in Lock v British Gas will decide whether commission should also be calculated into holiday pay (expected February), though given the general direction regarding holiday pay it is likely that commission should be included in holiday pay. At the end of December the government introduced new regulations limiting the time period for which a worker could raise an unlawful deductions of wages claim in relation to holiday pay. Finally, the European Commission has opened a general consultation on the Working Time Directive, which will close on 16 March.

AWR and zero hours There has been increasing reference within political debates to the use of both the Swedish Derogation and zero-hours contracts, with the Labour party in particular saying that if it wins the election it will review Swedish Derogation contracts.

Conduct Regulations At the time of writing we are still waiting for new Conduct Regulations. Although hugely important to the recruitment industry, publication has taken longer than we hoped. One amendment should have come into force in early January, prohibiting advertising vacancies exclusively overseas. We do not expect any further amendments to the Conduct Regulations to come into effect until the end of this year or early 2016.

The REC will keep members advised of developments on all of the above.

Business development: Debenhams Ottaway Solicitors Debenhams Ottaway Solicitors is a leading legal adviser to the recruitment and staffing industry.

The firm became an REC Business Partner in September 2014.

As recruitment and staffing specialists the firm draws on its understanding and experience of the sector to provide practical and commercial advice focused on helping its clients to make the most of opportunities and deal swiftly and effectively with any problems.

Three of the lawyers in its sector team are listed as leaders in

6 Recruitment Matters February 2015

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their field by the Chambers guide, an independent guide to the legal profession. With offices located in St Albans the firm is conveniently located for clients based in London, the South East and Midlands. The firm is best known in the sector for its litigation, employment and commercial work, which has included a number of high profile cases reported in local and national media.

REC members benefit from discounted rates, fixed fees and access to sector specific DO Debt Fast, a debt recovery service for unpaid temp, perm and transfer fees.

For more information call 01727 837161 or email recenquiry@debenhamsottaway.co.uk

www.rec.uk.com 15/01/2015 13:05

Inspiration

Behind the scenes at the Institute of Recruitment Professionals

IRP Award winner

What I know

Bally Sethi is the Head of Legal Search at ITHR Group and the winner of Permanent Consultant of the Year at the 2014 IRP Awards

David Head won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 IRP Awards. He is also the Leader of Vision, Values & Ethics at Recruitment International

Congratulations on your award. How was 2014 for you?

Thank you! It was a really good year – a bit of a roller coaster. We’ve been so busy with work in the Middle East and most of our focus has been there.

You’re a qualified lawyer. What was the impetus for becoming a recruiter?

When I finished university, I was very much encouraged to go down the barrister route, but my heart was never in it. I was interviewing for pupillage, but before I started, I was looking for legal recruitment positions. I enjoyed working in a more commercial environment, and I knew fairly early on that was what I wanted to do.

What are some of the challenges of recruiting for the Middle East?

Culturally, it’s very different, and you’ve got to be very mindful of that. It’s a bit harder out there because it’s very relationship-orientated, especially in legal recruitment.

I work more as a talent scout and I cherry-pick candidates I think are very good and take them to companies they want to work for. From there, you start to build relationships with people. If you’re doing a good job and finding good candidates, they will keep coming back to you.

What is the biggest challenge facing the recruitment industry?

Everybody seems to be hiring and there’s a massive demand for talent, but there’s a shortage of candidates. Law firms are very keen to retain their top guys and it’s very difficult to tempt people across.

What piece of advice would you give your younger self on her first day?

Pay it forward. This is an industry about building relationships and building connections. If somebody calls me up in the evening or on the weekend seeking advice, you’ve got to do those things to build up your network, even if you don’t get a placement. I find that has really helped me this year: most of those relationships started that way and are now transactional.

What does 2015 hold?

We need to hire more staff, adding to the team and making it grow. My focus will remain in the Middle East, and we need more to cover London and the US market.

Embracing Vision, Values & Ethics?

There’s still plenty of work to do because we need to get more people into our industry from universities and schools, and we need to show that you can have a really good career in recruitment.

A specialist industry…

If you go back to the 1980s, the skill set was slightly different and most of the big companies were generalists and high street players. Nowadays, the focus is inch wide, mile deep. You really need to be a specialist in your area. … and a more open one too We have owners now that are way younger than I am, and they spend a lot more time talking to one another.

Recruiters in the 80s returned to their ivory towers and never shared anything with anyone. Recruiters have become far more professional and more consultative.

Communication is vital Consultants rely too much nowadays on email, LinkedIn and maybe a bit too much on the technology side. The contact of choice used to be by telephone, and I think a lot of people have lost the art of communication.

One of the things you need to be is very adaptable, and be willing to listen and learn. People need to come in with a very open mind and be very determined.

Election year will be tough One of the big things people will fighting over is the NHS workforce, and if you look at what the government’s record is over the past 10 years it is scandalous. But who gets all the blame? Agencies. It’s easy to blame agencies.

I don’t think any of the current party leaders have any real idea of what we do as an industry, but I think the REC does a good job of educating them.

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

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Recruitment Matters February 2015 7

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Events and training

Get the RBA’s latest training The Recruitment Business Academy is one of the most respected and widely recognised training providers in the recruitment industry. We make our aim very clear: to understand you and your business

providing support in the way you need it.

Whether you are looking for a short sharp sales improvement session to motivate your team or if you need a senior-level leadership programme, we have something to suit you.

The RBA has a host of new training courses coming up in late January and February. If you want to book, contact our training team at info@rec.uk.com or phone 020 7009 2100.

Course

Date

Location

Member Price

Non-member price

Essential Skills for Temporary Recruiter

27th January

Leeds

£389

£595

Successful Interviewing

27th January

London

£389

£595

Telephone Sales

27th January

Manchester

£389

£595

Essential Skills for Permanent Recruiter

28th January

London

£389

£595

Proactive Business Development

28th January

London

£389

£595

Introduction to Recruitment Practice

28th-29th January

Manchester

£649

£875

Successful Account Management

29th January

London

£389

£595

Getting Started with Headhunting

3rd February

London

£389

£595

Recruitment Law – Understanding the Essentials

10th February

Bristol

£389

£595

Telephone Sales

10th February

London

£389

£595

Start Up Your Own Agency

10th-12th February

London

£1,275

£1,275

Recruitment Law – Supplying Limited Company Contractors

11th February

London

£239

£315

Candidate Sourcing and Management

11th February

London

£389

£595

Balancing Act

11th February

Manchester

£699

£915

Recruitment Law – Understanding the Essentials London

12th February

London

£389

£595

Successful Interviewing

12th February

Newcastle

£389

£595

Essential Skills for Temporary Recruiter

17th February

London

£389

£595

Close the Sale

17th February

London

£389

£595

Proactive Business Development

18th February

Birmingham

£389

£595

Introduction to Recruitment Practice

18th-19th February

London

£649

£875

Advanced Management Skills

19th February

Leeds

£699

£915

Perfect Client Meeting

19th February

Manchester

£389

£595

Essential Skills for Permanent Recruiter

24th February

Birmingham

£389

£595

Telephone Sales

24th February

Bristol

£389

£595

Progressive Sales

24th-25th February

London

£699

£915

Essential Skills for Temporary Recruiter

25th February

Bristol

£389

£595

Management Essentials

25th-26th February

Manchester

£699

£915

Successful Account Management

26th February

Leeds

£389

£595

Scale Up Live Join Kevin Green for the launch of the REC’s Scale Up campaign on 27th January in London.

Kevin will introduce the campaign, including exciting new research the REC will launch at the event. He will also be discussing the latest developments in the recruitment marketplace.

To book your place, visit www.rec.uk.com/events

Recruitment Matters 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

8 Recruitment Matters February 2015

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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 Publisher: Aaron Nicholls aaron.nicholls@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 8547 Editorial: Editor Michael Oliver michael.oliver@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7009 2173. Production Editor: Vanessa Townsend Production: Production Executive: Rachel Young. rachel.young@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6209 Printing: Printed by Woodford Litho © 2015 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.

www.rec.uk.com 15/01/2015 13:05

Microdec REC.01.15.031.indd 31

15/01/2015 14:21

R E C R U I T M E N T

S O F T W A R E

#PredictiveRecruitment Are you ready? book your demo online www.firefishsoftware.com T: 0845 619 4443

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Insight

Most in-house recruiters ‘fairly satisfied’ in jobs, survey says How happy are in-house recruiters in their current jobs? And how likely are they to seek pastures new over the next year? The findings of a recent survey suggest that many in-house recruiters across the seniority spectrum could be on the move before 2016 kicks in.

44%

Most in-house recruiters, or nearly 60%, say they are “fairly satisfied” in their current jobs, but only 31% describe themselves as “very satisfied”, according to the newly released In-house Recruitment Salary and Rewards Survey 2014/2015. Findings from the survey, produced for The Forum for In-house Recruitment Managers (The FIRM), said, showed that about 60% of the 306 respondents overall were fairly satisfied, with just under 10% reporting that they were “not very satisfied” and 2% “not at all satisfied”.

48%

Perhaps reflecting their levels of job satisfaction, 19% and 34% of respondents reported respectively that they were “very likely” or “fairly likely” to change employers within the year, with 13% saying they had no intention of leaving. More male (56%) than female (50%) in-house recruiters planned to leave their current employers within the year, the survey found.

£51k

40%

Most respondents, or 53%, have UK-only remits with global and EMEA [Europe, Middle East and Africa] remits belonging to 24.5% each.

70%

of respondents are able to attain

of respondents received a pay rise in 2014, comprising 5% more males than females FACTORS THAT ARE CONSIDERED CRUCIAL WITHIN JOBS

80%

80%

76%

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At the same time, only 26% of respondents have been in their current roles for more than three years, and 32.5% have been in place for up to a year.

Around 40% have been in their jobs for from one to three years.

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earn between

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NON-COMPLIANCE NO LONGER AN OPTION Recruitment agencies, contractors and intermediaries ƐƵďũĞĐƚ ƚŽ ƵŶƉĂƌĂůůĞůĞĚ ůĞǀĞůƐ ŽĨ ƐĐƌƵƟŶLJ ŝŶ ϮϬϭϱ͘ ŌĞƌ ƚǁŽ LJĞĂƌƐ ŽĨ ƌƵŵŽƵƌ ĂŶĚ ĐŽŶũĞĐƚƵƌĞ͕ ƚŚĞ ĂĐƟǀŝƟĞƐ ŽĨ ƵŵďƌĞůůĂ ĐŽŵƉĂŶŝĞƐ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞŝƌ ĐůŝĞŶƚƐ ǁŝůů ĨĂĐĞ ĨŽƌĞŶƐŝĐ ĞdžĂŵŝŶĂƟŽŶƐ ďLJ ,D ZĞǀĞŶƵĞ Θ ƵƐƚŽŵƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŵŝŶŐ LJĞĂƌ͘ EĞǁ ůĞŐŝƐůĂƟŽŶ ǁŚŝĐŚ ďĞĐŽŵĞƐ ŵĂŶĚĂƚŽƌLJ ŝŶ ƵŐƵƐƚ ǁŝůů ĨŽƌĐĞ ĂŐĞŶĐŝĞƐ ĂŶĚ ĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƚŽƌƐ ƚŽ ƉƌŽǀŝĚĞ ĚĞƚĂŝůĞĚ ŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶ ƌĞŐĂƌĚŝŶŐ ƚŚĞŵƐĞůǀĞƐ͕ ƚŚĞŝƌ ĞŵƉůŽLJŵĞŶƚ ĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƚƐ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞŝƌ ƐƵƉƉůLJ ĐŚĂŝŶ ƚŽ ,D ZĞǀĞŶƵĞ Θ ƵƐƚŽŵƐ ƵƉŽŶ ƌĞƋƵĞƐƚ͘

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For an independent compliance review, please contact Adam :ŽƌĚĂŶ ďĞĨŽƌĞ ŝƚ ŝƐ ƚŽŽ ůĂƚĞ͘ Ϭϴϰϱ ϲϬϰ Ϭϱϳϭ ĂĚĂŵ͘ũŽƌĚĂŶΛƌĂĐƐŐƌŽƵƉ͘ĐŽŵ

Head Office RACS Group House, Three Horseshoes Walk Warminster, Wiltshire. BA12 9BT

REC.01.15.034.indd 34

0845 604 0571 info@racsgroup.com racsgroup.com

15/01/2015 14:23

COMPILED BY

SPONSORED BY

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Recruiter FAST 50 2015

New dawn for UK recruiters It appears that in 2014 the UK economy really turned a corner, although as the year progressed this may have slowed a little as the uncertainty of an election year dawns.

This was certainly our experience at Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance, as in our 20-year history of helping new starts and established recruitment companies accelerate their growth through innovative cost-effective funding, 2014 was a record year for growth within the industry.

At the same time we see a few commercial issues facing our recruitment business clients, which we believe are likely to also be affecting other recruitment companies. For instance, clients are taking far longer to pay bills, resulting in cash flow issues.

Anyone experiencing difficulty in this area must ensure that these issues don’t become a restraining factor in the growth of their businesses. We also note that in this fiercely competitive sector, where price is important, innovation and service are expected to move ever more into focus. Differentiation through innovative solutions is the key to profitable growth.

For recruitment businesses, client retention is always important.

But in this year it will be the key to accelerated growth, especially with the potential challenges an election year brings.

Recruiters may also find that as the UK economy flourishes, finding great candidates to maintain growth could be harder if the economy growth slows. And also, the unpredictable business market makes workforce planning more necessary but also more difficult. Data-driven workforce planning will be key.

We look forward to working with even more recruitment companies in 2015. And we are very proud to sponsor the Recruiter FAST 50. Congratulations to all those listed in the FAST 50, and we wish you all a very prosperous 2015, with continued success and growth.

John Atkinson Head of commercial business Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance

Sponsored by COMPILED BY

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Recruiter FAST 50 2015 Sponsored by

Shrugging off the recession WITH A RECORD NUMBER OF NEW ENTRANTS TO THIS YEAR’S RECRUITER FAST 50, COMPILED BY BOXINGTON CORPORATE FINANCE, FIND OUT WHAT IS DRIVING THE GROWTH OF THESE RECRUITERS AND WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR THE INDUSTRY

fter the carnage caused by recession of the late ‘noughties’, this year’s FAST 50 proves that the recruitment industry is finally back on track, according to leading human capital specialist mergers & acquisitions (M&A) advisers Boxington Corporate Finance, compilers for the last seven years of the Recruiter FAST 50 league table. The FAST 50 ranks the fastest-growing private recruitment businesses in the UK, according to three-year compound annual growth and based wholly on audited figures (see Methodology box).

“This is the first genuinely post-recession FAST 50 we have compiled in that it measures company growth over years that are not impacted by the recession.

So it’s representative of the sector’s more natural and sustainable rate of growth,” says Tim Evans, founder and managing director of Boxington, speaking of the 2015 rankings, which show an impressive average annual growth rate across the FAST 50 of 36.3%. This is a significant jump from the 26% achieved three years ago when the sector was still suffering from the effects of the downturn.

This level of growth comes against a backdrop of an industry that in the 2013/14 financial year surged past its pre-recession peak, with total revenues hitting £28.7bn, according to figures from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC).

A

New generation Reflecting on this year’s results, Mark Kingston, assistant director at Boxington, comments that with a record 31 of this year’s FAST 50 recruiters new to the list, “post-recession, we could be looking at a new generation of growth recruitment businesses”.

“The high number of new entrants underlines the inherent scalability and low barriers to entry of recruitment businesses,

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RECRUITERS APPEARING IN AT LEAST FIVE CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF THE FAST 50 RANK

2011 RANKING

COMPANY

SECTOR

11 39

31 12

ID Medical Fircroft [Engineering Services ]

Healthcare Oil & gas

as well as the sector’s ability to constantly self-renew and regenerate,” he adds.

Indeed, new entrants make up nine out of the top 10 companies, including the top-ranked recruiter, GatenbySanderson (69% growth), with only one of the top 10, IT recruiter People Source, remaining from last year. “Some of the new entrants just come out of nowhere, while some from previous years have virtually disappeared from our FAST 50 radar,” says Kingston.

“Conversely, the volume of new entrants is a reminder that many other recruitment companies have come

and gone, and that the challenge of sustainability and longevity remains significant for the sector,” he adds.

Evans comments that “FAST 50 2015 new entrants include both relatively newer brands, such as energy recruiter Spencer Ogden (2nd) and financial services recruiter Grovelands Resourcing (6th), as well as older established brands such as this year’s overall winner, public sector specialist GatenbySanderson, which has used deep sector know-how and relationships to power impressive growth”.

Looking at the FAST 50 as a whole,

METHODOLOGY The Recruiter FAST 50 prepared by Boxington Corporate Finance lists the fastest-growing private recruitment businesses in the UK according to compound annual sales growth rate as measured over each entrant’s most recent three-year financial reporting period.

CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION: The FAST 50 assesses temporary and/or permanent recruitment companies which are registered in the UK as private, independent and unquoted companies. This category includes private companies that are co-owned by private equity. All companies considered for inclusion in the FAST 50 2015 must achieve a level of annual sales of £5m or above in each of their last three financial years.

EXCLUSIONS: Companies that have filed abbreviated accounts at Companies House without disclosing audited sales are excluded from the FAST 50 due to the absence of independently validated sales. Unaudited management accounts are not accepted as proof of sales. Companies that serve the recruitment sector through the provision of IT, payroll, administrative or other services also do not quality.

DATA COLLECTION METHODS: Qualifying companies are identified by Boxington through several research methods including the analysis of sector information from Companies House, financial databases, press coverage and other research and proprietary knowledge. Entry submissions are not therefore required, although any firm which believes that it may not be automatically assessed in the 2016 FAST 50 may contact Boxington Corporate Finance to discuss. Please email fast50@boxington.co.uk

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Recruiter FAST 50 2015

COMPILED BY

30

RANK

2013 RANKING

COMPANY

SECTOR

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

13 3 40 44 20 28 1 21 26 35 33 41 16 18 4 34 5 38 48

GatenbySanderson Spencer Ogden Service Care Solutions Huntswood Oil Consultants Grovelands Resourcing People Source Consulting STR Group Concept Recruitment Group Opus Recruitment Solutions ID Medical Group Transline Industria Personnel Services Dutton International Potensis Nurse Plus and Carer Plus Vital Recruitment NRL Group JAM Recruitment Air Energi Group Direct Medics Roc Search Kin-Tec Interact Medical Eurostaff Quanta Consultancy Services Allen Lane Resource Consulting 24/7 Recruitment Premier Group Recruitment Sanctuary Social Care Quest Energy Resources Outsource UK Pro-Force Bryant Group Maxxima gap personnel Cobalt Consulting Fircroft Eaglecliff Fusion People Independent Clinical Services Montash IRS Recruitment Faststream Human Capital Investment Group Amoria Bond Smart Solutions PPF Tulloch Recruitment

Public sector Energy Healthcare, legal Regulatory and governance resourcing Oil & gas Financial services consultancy, IT IT Technical, professional Multi-sector IT Healthcare Industrial, technical Engineering Multi-sector Construction Healthcare Multi-sector Multi-sector Engineering, IT Oil & gas Healthcare IT Technical Healthcare IT, ďŹ nance, engineering Multi-sector Finance, HR Engineering, technical Logistics IT, Engineering, Media Social care Engineering IT, technical, engineering Agricultural Oil & gas Healthcare Industrial Multi-sector Oil & gas IT Multi-sector Healthcare IT Multi-sector Oil & gas Multi-sector IT, banking, oil & gas Multi-sector Industrial, driving Engineering, industrial

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Recruiter FAST 50 2015 Sponsored by

About Boxington: Boxington Corporate Finance is an international sell-side M&A advisory house based in London and Tokyo and uniquely specialising in the human capital sector. www.boxington.co.uk

COMPOUND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE %

LATEST YEAR

REVENUE £000s

WEBSITE

69.09% 65.90% 64.53% 58.08% 57.08% 54.98% 54.86% 54.71% 49.24% 48.26% 43.91% 42.33% 39.02% 38.27% 37.70% 37.14% 36.85% 36.57% 35.88% 35.66% 34.69% 34.29% 34.24% 33.72% 32.95% 32.53% 31.26% 30.19% 30.08% 29.91% 29.49% 28.56% 28.44% 28.05% 27.92% 27.89% 27.84% 27.68% 27.67% 27.38% 27.29% 26.57% 26.37% 26.23% 24.37% 24.21% 24.07% 23.40% 23.30% 23.23%

2013 2013 2014 2013 2013 2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2014 2014 2013 2013 2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2014 2013 2013 2013 2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2014 2014 2013 2013 2013 2013

24.5 51.3 16.3 190.4 27.9 30.7 20.5 20.9 31.2 13.0 85.2 110.1 13.9 54.0 14.4 35.5 58.7 135.2 17.5 385.4 16.8 14.9 76.5 39.3 42.5 29.5 39.1 17.8 93.7 17.0 61.0 12.1 36.0 13.3 17.9 43.6 98.9 12.5 898.3 44.4 124.7 314.0 23.1 13.4 31.1 189.8 21.8 42.0 98.4 30.6

https://www.gatenbysanderson.com http://www.spencer-ogden.com http://servicecare.org.uk http://www.huntswood.com https://www.oc99.com http://www.grovelands.co.uk http://www.peoplesource.co.uk http://www.strgroup.co.uk http://www.conceptrecruitment.com http://www.opusrecruitmentsolutions.com http://www.id-medical.com http://www.transline.co.uk http://www.industria-jobs.co.uk http://www.duttoninternational.com http://www.potensis.com http://www.nurseplusuk.com http://www.vitalrecruitment.com http://nrl.co.uk https://www.jamrecruitment.co.uk http://www.airenergi.com http://directmedics.com http://www.roc-search.com http://www.kin-tec.com http://www.interactmedical.co.uk http://www.eurostaffgroup.com http://www.quanta-consulting.com http://www.allenlane.co.uk http://www.resourcegroup.co.uk http://www.247recruitment.co.uk http://www.premiergroupuk.com http://www.sanctuarysocialcare.com http://quest-energy.co.uk http://www.outsource-uk.co.uk http://www.pro-force.co.uk http://www.bryantgroup.co.uk http://www.maxxima-group.co.uk http://www.gap-personnel.com http://www.cobaltrecruitment.co.uk http://www.fircroft.com http://www.eaglecliff.co.uk https://www.fusionpeople.com http://www.ukics.com http://www.montash.com http://www.irs-recruitment.com http://www.faststream.com http://www.hcigltd.com http://www.amoriabond.com/en http://www.smartsr.co.uk http://www.ppfplc.com http://www.tullochrecruitment.co.uk

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Recruiter FAST 50 2015

COMPILED BY

Evans concludes that “it yet again confirms the vibrancy of the recruitment sector, with players achieving growth across a range of recruitment sectors in the UK and internationally”.

New normal So what else does the post-recessionary new normal look like? Among the new entrants, Evans highlights “a number of very interesting specialist players including Grovelands and Huntswood in the finance and regulatory sector”.

He attributes the high growth rates of both companies to demand for specialist compliance staff in the wake of scandals such as payment protection insurance (PPI) and a general tightening of financial services regulation.

A number of large private equity-backed companies, namely oil & gas recruiters Air Energi (20th) and Fircroft (39th) and healthcare recruiter Independent Clinical Services (43rd), have all sustained growth rates of more than 25%, despite their large scale, largely on the back of overseas expansion and acquisition. “This may suggest that private equity is a key influence on growth by contributing finance, strategic guidance and experience,” says Evans.

The performance of Fircroft, the biggest company in the FAST 50, with annual revenues of over £900m, is particularly noteworthy, he says, given the inherent difficulty for such a large company to match the percentage-based growth rates of smaller firms. Fircroft has now appeared in six consecutive Recruiter FAST 50s. Healthcare recruiter ID Medical also demonstrated its staying power by retaining a place on the list for the fifth year in a row.

Kingston says that common denominators among this year’s FAST 50 companies include entrepreneurial spirit, the quality of management teams and the fact that irrespective of sector, they are “typically founder driven”. Compared with companies outside the FAST 50, which at times tend to “just chase NFI [net fee income]”, adds Kingston, “most entrants have a sense of overriding strategy”. He cites Spencer Ogden by way of example, which he says “combines a clear sector specialism with aggressive overseas expansion”. IT, banking, oil & gas recruiter

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FINANCE: 6% OF FAST 50 COMPANIES FAST 50 2015 Rank Company 4 6 27

Huntswood Grovelands Resourcing Allen Lane

HEALTHCARE: 16% OF FAST 50 COMPANIES FAST 50 2015 Rank Company 3 11 16 21 24 31 36 42

Service Care Solutions ID Medical Group Nurse Plus and Carer Plus Direct Medics Interact Medical Sanctuary Social Care Maxxima Independent Clinical Services

INDUSTRIAL, LOGISTICS AND CONSTRUCTION: 10% OF FAST 50 COMPANIES FAST 50 2015 Rank Company 12 29 34 37 49

Transline 24/7 Recruitment Pro-Force gap personnel PPF

IT: 10% OF FAST 50 COMPANIES FAST 50 2015 Rank Company 7 10 22 40 43

People Source Consulting Opus Recruitment Solutions Roc Search Eaglecliff Montash

Amoria Bond, which opened an office in Singapore to facilitate its Asia growth, and is founder-driven, also “ticks the boxes”, adds Kingston.

While organic growth has been the main driver of growth in the 2015 FAST 50, Evans says that a small number of companies have expanded on the back of successful acquisition strategies. These include industrial recruiter gap personnel, and IT and technical recruiter Outsource UK. Overall, however, he says that for a number of reasons M&A has not been as big a driver of growth of companies in FAST 50 2015 as in previous years.

With many Japanese, European and US buyer companies currently busy assessing targets across the sector, Evans expects that some current and previous FAST 50

entrants will no longer be independent this time next year.

Sectors matter Industry sector is always an interesting part of the make-up of the FAST 50, and this FAST 50 is no exception. Compared with 2014, one of the biggest differences is the relatively poor showing of IT recruiters, whose numbers have dropped dramatically from nine to five from last year. “We attribute to this to RPO [recruitment process outsourcing] and managed service providers increasingly taking turnover from recruiters,” says Kingston.

Multi-sector recruiters remain the biggest group within the FAST 50 with 15 representatives, albeit down slightly from 18 in 2014. “Multi-sector players

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Recruiter FAST 50 2015 Sponsored by

MULTI-SECTOR: 30% OF FAST 50 COMPANIES FAST 50 2015 Rank Company 1 9 14 17 18 25 26 30 33 38 41 44 46 47 48

GatenbySanderson Concept Recruitment Group Dutton International Vital Recruitment NRL Group Eurostaff Quanta Consultancy Services Premier Group Recruitment Outsource UK Cobalt Consulting Fusion People IRS Recruitment Human Capital Investment Group Amoria Bond Smart Solutions

ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL: 12% OF FAST 50 COMPANIES FAST 50 2015 Rank Company 13 15 19 28 32 50

Industria Personnel Services Potensis JAM Recruitment Resource Consulting Quest Energy Resources Tulloch Recruitment

OIL & GAS: 16% OF FAST 50 COMPANIES FAST 50 2015 Rank Company 2 5 8 20 23 35 39 45

Spencer Ogden Oil Consultants STR Group Air Energi Group Kin-Tec Bryant Group Fircroft Faststream

will always benefit where there has been economic buoyancy because of their ability to generate sales across a wide range of markets,” says Kingston. However, Evans adds that only one firm in the top 10 is a multi-sector player. “This highlights that to get the higher growth rate you really have to be a specialist these days,” he adds.

Healthcare is once again strongly represented, making up 16% of the FAST 50 compared with 12% last year.

Engineering and technical recruiters with a 10% representation also perform strongly,

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although Evans notes the absence of a number of “big international engineers” such as Orion Group, NES Global Talent and Rullion that have been a feature of previous FAST 50s. Evans suggests that their absence and the emergence of smaller, more locally-focused firms reflects international headwinds faced by the larger global businesses.

Oil & gas recruiters continue to feature strongly, with nine companies in FAST 50 2015. According to Evans: “They have benefitted from strong energy and

commodity markets over the past five years, and associated high demand for labour in what has been a tight labour market for specialist labour.” However, he adds: “It has yet to be seen whether this can be maintained given the recent and ongoing volatility in international energy prices and exchange rates.”

Future prospects Looking ahead to the prospects for the 2016 FAST 50, Evans says many good businesses are growing at more than 20%, which are currently just outside the FAST 50. And by way of examples he identifies change and transformation specialist Alexander Ash, and niche technology specialist ConSol Partners as likely new entrants next year.

As to the future for the recruitment sector as a whole, Evans acknowledges uncertainties ahead. In the short term these include next May’s general election, increased scrutiny over healthcare spending and salary sacrifice schemes. In the medium to long terms, he highlights the growing importance of RPO and managed services, as well as the threat of disruptive technology and issues arising from the management of big data. Despite these clouds on the horizon, however, Evans and his Boxington colleagues remain confident about growth prospects for next year’s FAST 50 and its top performers.

“We would expect these growth rates to continue next year and probably [go] higher too,” he says.

If Evans is right, the 2015 FAST 50 could both mark the point when recruitment finally emerges from the long shadow of the recession and, unless the wheels come off the economy again, signal better times ahead for the sector.

About Boxington: Boxington Corporate Finance is an international sell-side M&A advisory house based in London and Tokyo and uniquely specialising in the human capital sector. www.boxington.co.uk

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Recruiter FAST 50 2015

GatenbySanderson COLIN COTTELL MEETS MARTIN TUCKER AND MARK TURNER, JOINT MANAGING PARTNERS OF THE LEADING RECRUITER IN THIS YEAR’S FAST 50, SPONSORED BY HITACHI CAPITAL INVOICE FINANCE

In the recent years of public sector austerity, spending across large swathes of central and local government has been tightly squeezed. So at first glance it is remarkable that the fastest-growing private staffing company in the 2015 Recruiter FAST 50, compiled by Boxington Corporate Finance, is a public sector specialist. What is more remarkable still is that this company is the sole ‘pure’ public sector recruiter in the entire table.

KEY FACTS Founded 2002 Offices: Leeds, Birmingham, London 2013 Turnover £24.5m Staff 65 Gross profit £8.9m

2014* Staff (current) 95 Turnover £37m Gross profit £12m *Forecast

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Yet this comes as no surprise to Martin Tucker, joint managing partner of the 95-strong executive search and interim management provider GatenbySanderson.

“Austerity has actually been a driver of growth for us,” says Tucker, as he and fellow joint managing partner Mark Turner meet to discuss the company’s achievement with Recruiter at the its offices in the City of London.

If public sector austerity and the success of a niche recruitment company serving that sector appears at first to be a contradiction in terms, Tucker soon squares the circle as he explains how pressure on budgets is forcing the public sector to change, and how this in turn is fuelling demand for “excellent leadership that is not necessarily in good supply”. These factors have helped propel the public sector specialist to top place in this year’s FAST 50 table, with a compound annual growth rate of 69.09% between 2011 and 2013.

Even the prospect of chancellor George Osborne’s plans to cuts public spending to 35% of gross domestic product (GDP) should the Conservatives win May’s general election seemingly holds no horrors for Tucker.

“It’s great to be the fastest-growing company in the industry, but the real journey starts now with our next

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phase of growth,” he says. Indeed, on the back of a recent management buy-out (MBO), the company has ambitious plans to become a 150-strong firm within three years.

The public sector’s transformation agenda has undoubtedly boosted the company’s fortunes by fuelling demand for “the top three strands” of public sector personnel that GatenbySanderson specialises in providing. But the two joint managing partners say that the accolade of becoming the UK’s fastest-growing private recruiter would not have been possible without the company taking a number of key strategic decisions.

Opportunity for growth As Turner explains, the seeds of the company’s current growth were sown back in 2009-10, when purse strings in the public sector really began to tighten. “Unlike some competitors, who took the view there wasn’t a lot of money in public service in the next few years and decided to focus on commercial markets, we stayed close to those clients who were suffering tough times,” says Turner. “We stuck with them, showed them loyalty, and as the market has lifted that has served us really well.”

Moreover, whereas some recruiters took fright at what Turner describes as “the biggest public recession

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Recruiter FAST 50 2015

MARK TURNER SECRET OF SUCCESS

PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD LEA-HAIR

“RECOGNISING THAT EVERY RELATIONSHIP CAN HAVE A VALUE”

MARTIN TUCKER SECRET OF SUCCESS

“THERE IS OFTEN NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HARD WORK”

we have ever seen”, GatenbySanderson saw it as “an opportunity to reconfigure the business in a way that would enable us to grow quickly coming out the other side”. That said, Turner admits that the actions to trim the company’s cost base, including the loss of some people, made it “a painful time”.

The company, founded in 2002, built its early success by serving local government, winning contracts with both Liverpool and Barnsley Councils within its first month of trading. However, after Turner joined the firm in 2007, it began to diversify, first into central government and then into supplying interims.

And as public spending cuts began to bite, the company decided to build on its already powerful position within local and central government, the “cornerstones of the business” where Turner says it enjoys around 35% marketshare, by diversifying further. These new areas included the health sector that the company entered in 2010, as well as the education, charity and not-for-profit sectors. The company’s public sector board practice that appoints chairs, non-executive directors and trustees has developed “a dominant position” in its marketplace, says Turner. “The beauty of that market is that it reads across to most of the markets we work in,” he adds.

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Left to right: Martin Tucker and Mark Turner

Interims drive growth Interims have also been a major driver of growth, with the number of interims out working growing by a factor of eight since 2012. “That is because we have hired some very good people, who know the market and are very successful and well networked, and despite the overall public sector budget falling… the requirement for people who can help public sector bodies do things differently with less money has driven considerable demand.”

As Tucker points out, it is quite a transformation from the company’s early days. Then it was an exclusively Northern-based business in Leeds working with local government clients; now it is a company employing nearly 100 people in three offices — Leeds, Birmingham and London — with a diverse range of clients, including higher education establishments and charities, as well as its core local and central government clients.

However, he emphasises it’s not diversification for diversification’s sake. “We have diversified in a very focused way,” says Turner. This means only entering those new markets that are aligned with existing markets, and will add value to the business, he explains.

A big consideration is “have we got someone to lead the company into a new sector?”, he adds.

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Recruiter FAST 50 2015 MARTIN TUCKER’S RECRUITMENT PHILOSOPHY

“BELIEF IN THE DIFFERENCE THAT GOOD PEOPLE CAN MAKE”

CV MARK TURNER 2007- present GatenbySanderson, joint managing partner since 2013

2001-07 Veredus, formerly Pricewaterhouse Coopers Executive Search and Selection, managing director 2005-2007

1989-2001 Hays, director of public sector executive search (from 1996)

CV MARTIN TUCKER 2007- present GatenbySanderson, joint managing partner since 2013

June 2000-06 Veredus, formerly Pricewaterhouse Coopers Executive Search & Selection, board director from 2005

1998-2000 Executive Connections, manager

1993-98 Hays Personnel Services

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that provide services to the public, such as transport and housing. The company has also developed “a real expertise” in placing commercial talent into the public sector. Tucker says that targeted acquisitions that give access to new markets are also a possibility. The company is also keen to build on its proprietary software that Turner says will allow it to become even more efficient as the company grows.

None of this will be possible, however, without maintaining the company’s culture that Turner believes has been so instrumental in its success to date. Turner says this includes “a team-based reward system” and a way of working that is based MARK TURNER’S on co-operation rather than RECRUITMENT PHILOSOPHY consultants pitted against each other. “People have relished “UNDERPINNING EVERYTHING WE HAVE DONE IS that opportunity and have liked AN INNATE FOCUS ON QUALITY OF SERVICE” working in a different teamorientated culture, and therefore have stayed with us on the journey,” he says.

If the seeds of GatenbySanderson’s current success Tucker also highlights the importance of relationships go back to strategic decisions taken in the last four between the company’s employees and clients. “It’s the or five years, the relationship between the two old sales adage ‘people do business with people’ and our managing partners goes back much further. Both men colleagues are very adept at growing and nurturing began their careers in recruitment at Hays, where relationships with key decision makers. They develop their paths first crossed, before they joined what was relationships of trust, and they are often called upon then PricewaterhouseCoopers Executive Search and to offer advice in tricky situations.” It is testament to Selection — soon to become Veredus. The duo joined the strength of those relationships that 70% of the GatenbySanderson in the same year, 2007, becoming company’s work is repeat business. joint managing partners in July 2013. With their careers The company’s commitment to looking after so intertwined, it is no surprise that the two are clearly candidates, including giving feedback irrespective of singing from the same hymn sheet. “One voice, two whether they have got the job, also has paid off, says people,” says Turner, with a laugh.

Tucker. “We’ve found it to be the case that an awful lot of our business comes from people who were once MBO springboard candidates for jobs that we have handled.” The company What has undoubtedly given the two a further spring publishes feedback statistics on its website, and feedback to their step is the recent MBO completed in November. is also incorporated into employees’ appraisal system.

Tucker explains that this came about from a realisation Looking to the future, with Primary Capital on board, among the board that “developing the business at a Tucker says everything is in place for the company to faster pace would probably require some additional continue its current growth trajectory and to realise investment over a period of time”. This allowed Graham its ambition become a company of 150 staff within Goodwin, one of the company’s co-founders and its three years. “It’s going to be tough, but we have a good major shareholder, the opportunity to exit the business. formula, we hire the best people, point them at the The bulk of the MBO funding was provided by private right markets, and in doing that we will maximise the equity house Primary Capital, with whom, Turner says, opportunity for growth,” he says. there is “a real meeting of minds”.

With the public sector certain to be in a continual He explains: “As a private equity house, inevitably state of flux over the next few years, who’s to say they have an appetite for growth, and we were struck GatenbySanderson won’t remain in the upper echelons by their real interest and insight into our business and of the FAST 50 for some time to come. the recruitment sector.”

With the MBO out of the way, Turner says the • Recruiter’s FAST 50 is compiled by international sell-side company has already identified a number of key areas M&A advisory house Boxington Corporate Finance. In for future growth. These include education and not-for2015 it is sponsored by Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance. profit, as well as markets aligned to the public sector

FEBRUARY 2015

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Advertisement Feature

h Has

Recruiting for growth: z Eja

Thrive with freedom and ownership!

Now Education are comfortably the market leader for education recruitment in the Midlands. We’re small but fierce!

Are you a brave character who isn’t afraid to take on a challenge? Looking for a rewarding career in which you can make an impact? r th wo est Alex W

Success in the recruitment industry doesn’t mean that you have had lots of recruiting experience. But what you do need to succeed are: • Drive to achieve and take charge of your own desk • Knowledge of your business and sector • And an ability to handle a little banter!

You may just be starting out in your recruitment career.

Or perhaps you are experienced and want to make an exciting change.

You might even come from an education career. In recruitment, it’s all about making yourself heard and standing out from the crowd.

At Now Education, Managing Director Alex Westworth believes in listening to his consultants and giving them ownership of their work, which makes their vision a key contributor to the business’s success.

He also believes that passion is an essential ingredient for success, for everyone in the company up to and including himself.

Westworth, a former teacher of business and economics, says, “While enjoying success in education recruitment, my passion for teaching never died. I still teach a class every Friday morning for Year Six students who are working towards SATS Level 6 Numeracy at Roberts Primary School in Dudley.”

With a well-deserved reputation for providing quality teachers, recruitment consultant Hash Ejaz works from the inside out, getting to know how the schools operate and the schools’ needs as he aims to recruit the right teachers. “You need to have an adaptable approach to recruiting for primary schools so the ‘one size fits all’ approach will never work. Each school requires a different thought process,” he says.

For more information, visit

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www.noweducation.co.uk

DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

15/01/2015 14:29

Join a recruiter that doesn’t know the meaning of standing still Partners, Senior Consultants and Consultants London, Leeds and Birmingham GatenbySanderson is the UK’s fastest growing recruitment business.* Established in 2002, we have become the market leader in providing permanent and interim executives across public services and Not for Profit.

We find chief executives, senior management teams and non-executive board members within complex, highly visible and regulated markets that frequently undergo change. We are known for our ability to appoint to high profile roles and, increasingly, our ability to attract candidates from the commercial sector to influential positions.

GatenbySanderson

In 2014, the management team completed a buyout of the business and, with new investment, are now poised to grow even faster and further. We have a relentless focus upon quality, a strong team-driven culture and a hunger to use technical innovation to deliver the highest quality customer experience.

If you are ready to step up and be part of our future, working within an environment that offers challenge, opportunity and room for growth, then we’d like to talk to you.

Visit www.join.gatenbysanderson.com or, for a conversation in absolute confidence, call Sinead O’Neill on 0113 205 6073.

*As measured in Recruiter Magazine Fast 50 2015

Operations Manager Remuneration Package negotiable depending on experience.

This is an outstanding opportunity for a capable and highly credible recruitment professional with a proven track record of sustained business growth to head up our Industrial & Driving sector in Scotland.

Jark plc is one of the UK’s leading and largest independent recruitment consultancies. Established in 1996 and operating from 28 locations, we are looking for a forward thinking, passionate and empathetic recruiter. Reporting directly to the Group Managing Director, you will be responsible for managing all aspects of the Business, including full P&L accountability, within a flexible, forward thinking and supportive management structure.

Ideally, you will have a comprehensive knowledge of both driving and industrial sectors along with a strong intellect to operate effectively in this role. In addition you will need well developed management skills and have the ability to lead, motivate and inspire to promote sales and growth.

This role will offer the successful applicant a market leading salary and benefits package in addition to an exceptional career development opportunity.

To apply, email your CV to Julie Gover, PA to Group Managing Director at jgover@jark.co.uk or telephone 01362 656136.

All applications will be dealt with in the strictest confidence.

Deadline of 6th February 2015

www.jark.co.uk

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FEBRUARY 2015

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PLAN YOUR NEXT MOVE

on the move

New features available through your smartphone See the latest job listings View all the jobs from the website Search or browse to find the right opportunities Create and update your live email job alerts View jobs directly from your email alerts Save and apply for jobs Save jobs to your profile Email jobs to yourself or friends Apply for the right jobs first using your saved CV Keep track of all your jobseeking activity

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DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

15/01/2015 14:29

Movers & Shakers

•

ACCENTURE: Gemma Exall joins the management consulting, technology and outsourcing firm as talent acquisition specialist.

ALEXANDER MANN SOLUTIONS: •Tracy Hurst joins the talent

acquisition and management services firm to lead the global client service centre in Belfast.

Martyn Draper joins •theAMBITION: global recruiter as associate

•

APOLLO TYRES: Martha Desmond joins the manufacturer as chief human resources officer.

joins the talent acquisition and diversity advisory firm as a nonexecutive director.

•services company promotes CAPITA: The outsourced

Caroline Baker to resourcing director and Cath Possamai to talent and resourcing director.

• CAPSTONE HILL SEARCH:

Ben Abbotts joins the public relations and corporate and digital communications specialist as regional director, corporate comms and public affairs.

•

COMPASS: Melanie Hayes joins the food service and support services company from Care UK as head of organisational development.

CORDANT RECRUITMENT: Sid •Barnes joins the multi-sector

recruiter as managing director of the professional staffing division.

•

CUBIKS: Dr Rainer Kurz

joins the international people assessment consultancy as managing consultant within its research & development team.

• EDGAR STEWART SELECTION: Craig Jackson and Alan Wallace join the Scottish talent management and recruitment business as directors.

•

A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk Project People Recruitment consultant HR £negotiable Maidenhead, Berks

Jon Hull, one of Recruiter’s 11 Most Influential In-house Recruiters for 2014, joins support services and construction company Carillion as head of recruitment.

He was previously head of resourcing UK and Ireland at facilities management company Sodexo.

Hull told Recruiter his role would be challenging and resourcing “would be at the heart” of it. His team would “spearhead the efforts to attract and develop talent from diverse communities”.

director of legal within its professional services division.

BARRINGTON HIBBERT •ASSOCIATES: Russell Clements

Your next move?

INFLUENTIAL IN-HOUSE’S HULL JOINS CARILLION

group appoints Mark Carriban as chief executive and Chris Herrmannsen as board chairman.

•

HEIDRICK & STRUGGLES: The executive search company appoints Richard Greene as executive vice president and chief HR officer. It also promotes 22 to principal consultants. See www.recruiter.co.uk for more.

•

IIC: The global executive search

firm appoints Pedro Folque de Almeida as VP and partner; Renata Klee de Vasconcellos as director and partner; Felipe Laufer as associate director and partner; Francisco Martin as financial services partner; Mieke Dhoore as partner; and Agnes Chen and Candis Ko as directors.

•

IMPELLAM: The global managed

services and specialist recruiter appoints Darren Mee as group finance director (FD) and Lord Ashcroft as non-exec director.

•Henderson joins as FD.

JIGSAW MEDICAL: Callum

MCGREGOR BOYALL: The multi•sector recruiter appoints Nina

Adair HR and talent management practice lead, and Neil Price commerce and industry senior appointments practice lead.

TALENT: Tig Gilliam •joinsNEStheGLOBAL oil & gas engineering

EXURGO: Lee Purchase and Scott Kay join the retail recruiter as divisional managers.

recruiter as CEO. Lee Anderson rejoins as associate director in the Glasgow office.

• FIVETEN: The global recruitment

• NHS LONDON PROCUREMENT

Fresh Partnership Senior recruitment consultant Commercial £20k-£25k + uncapped comm + bens Liverpool

PARTNERSHIP: Preeya Bailie joins the collaborative procurement hub as workstream lead for the agency and temp staffing team.

Newcross Healthcare Solutions Branch manager Healthcare £30k-£52k Durham

•

NOW CAREERS: Natalie Knight joins the multi-sector recruiter as HR officer.

GROUP: Chris Chapman •joinsOPINIO the digital recruitment

specialist as interim chief financial officer.

For more jobs, people moves and career advice go to

• OPTIONIS: Iain Ferguson joins the staffing industry and

• recruiter.co.uk/jobs • inhouserecruiterjobs.co.uk • internationalrecruiterjobs. com

contractor services group as nonexec chairman.

•

PAGEGROUP: The recruitment group promotes Angela Webb to global talent director; Sharmini Wainwright to MD, Michael Page and Page Personnel Hong Kong; and Richard King to senior MD, Michael Page, North and East China.

PEDERSEN & PARTNERS: The •international executive search

firm promotes Diaga Trumpe to client partner and Guido Bormann to Germany country manager.

It also appoints Anda Marian as Bucharest office principal.

•

RAPID SEARCH & INTERIM: Mark Gillham joins the finance, HR and business transformation specialists as associate director, specialising in the IT and business transformation practices.

David Buist •joinsSECtheRECRUITMENT: pharma, IT and analytics recruiter as operations director.

SPORTS RECRUITMENT •INTERNATIONAL: David James joins

the global sports industry recruiter as managing partner, executive search.

James Slipper joins •theSTAFFGROUP: parent company of specialist international recruitment brands Eurostaff and Earthstaff as chief financial officer.

RECRUITMENT •ANDTRADEWIND SANZA TEACHING AGENCY:

Nick Murphy joins the education recruiter as CEO.

•

WARREN PARTNERS: Julia Fearn joins the executive search firm as director.

CONSULTING: Mervin Chui •joinsZWtheHRAsian headhunting firm

and talent management services provider as MD for its Singapore operations.

Email people moves for use online and in print, including a short biography, to recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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15/01/2015 13:01

Bloggers with Bite

LOOK FOR THE VALUE OF WORK DONE, NOT THE ANALYTICS Relying too heavily on outdated analytics software could damage your business performance

O

ver the years, I’ve witnessed the increasing reliance on analytics software; in fact, I’ve worked with many of them. They certainly have their place, but here is the issue that I have with them as a marketer: they have the potential to damage a business and wreak havoc on branding.

The problem with analytics software is that it only plugs into the database. The metrics that are recorded are therefore the ‘traditional’ ones; a good example is phone times. Flashed up onto screens around the offices and with handy graphics, they show who has been talking the most and, conversely, who has been unproductively sat on their backside.

But do they? What they don’t do, and I believe this is a fundamental flaw, is plug into the entire and everexpanding toolbox available to a consultant.

What some businesses end up doing, because of the software, is encouraging behaviour that is not actually constructive. Take the consultant who is engaging with an online community that has been developed in a niche area; the consultant who creates a blog post; and the resourcer who spends time engaging on Twitter or LinkedIn. Their interactions may reach hundreds of people, be of premium quality and establish relationships based on shared knowledge.

Yet they will be compared negatively with the person who has sat making 15 pointless cold calls and got

TO POST YOUR COMMENTS, GO ONLINE

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Robert Woodford is an independent marketing consultant and director of GKS Associates

nowhere. Why? Because the analytics do not show the value of the work done.

Of course, the argument will be that if that person is billing, then it doesn’t matter if the analytics say they are doing nothing because they will be hitting target. But the issue is that, by having this software installed, companies are managing their businesses through very narrow KPIs [key performance indicators]. Without a strong voice to counter this (normally the voice of a marketer), then innovation is stifled and consultants are forced into narrow, traditional methods.

Take the line manager under pressure at the end of the month. He or she forces everyone in the team to hit the phones and bulk-send emails, abandoning potentially profitable channels in order to massage figures while simultaneously damaging the brand.

As a marketer, I am constantly looking at innovative ways to engage with the candidate and client to drive sales. I also have to look at the medium- and longterm branding issues. This kind of software can often make that an invidious task.

Recruitment is sales-led and has to be, but the impact some leaders are having on their long-term branding and sales success by over-reliance on this type of analytics software is worrying. In short, the software out there seems massively behind the times and not geared up for the digital and social revolution.

Of course, you have the added complication that LinkedIn will shut down any API [application programming interface] that it thinks can make money; job-posting software isn’t integrated into all database systems (at least not in any meaningful way); email marketing software options are limited by preference of database providers — the list goes on.

I understand it is difficult. I also understand that sometimes we can over-complicate recruitment.

But it cannot be beyond the wit of man to support recruitment leaders in ensuring they have a full picture of their business and where they can make money — without the sole reliance on analytics software.

The software out there seems massively behind the times and not geared up for the digital revolution What would you like to have a rant about?

Tell us at recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk

In March: Our must-read guide to starting up your own recruitment business WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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