Business intelligence for recruitment and resourcing professionals
July 2018
INCORPORATING Recruitment Matters
Bev White Purpose, passion and conviction are just some of the values that the Gi Group UK’s CEO shares with the business
“St art wit ht he bus ine ss
you are ”
“Being able to help others”
“We are both values-driven” “En erg y an dp ass ion ”
www.recruiter.co.uk
?” ose p r pu ur o y is hat W “
” hos t e his ke i l ly eal r I “
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I found The Recruit Venture Group and quickly learnt that their start-up and support package was a no brainer. Vicki Lyons - Lyons Personnel Ltd
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Having dreamed of starting my own agency it was great to be introduced to The Recruit Venture Group and launch my business. Glynne Dyer - Vanta StafďŹ ng Ltd
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C R ONT ENT S
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INCORPORATING Recruitment Matters
COV ER IMAG E | JO N ENOCH
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NEWS
05 The prestige of skills
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A radical overhaul of careers advice is called for at a Houses of Parliament event Recruiter reports from the RL1OO conference In-house recruiters met in Kent to debate AI, workers categories and business alignment Challenges for recruiters in 2O18 Quality of hire, talent scarcity are top concerns Start-up of the Month: The Office Club Anouska Mond and Judy Ingber, co-founders of The Office Club This was the month that was... Contracts & Deals
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FEATURES
18 THE BIG STORY
Values driven Bev White, CEO of Gi Group UK, on the values she shares with the firm’s founder and the business itself
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24 Enter the game changer
The job board sector awaits the UK launch of Google for Jobs with a mixture of fear and excitement
E COMMUNITY 28 Employability: Code 4OOO 31 Social Network 32 The Workplace: Guy Hayward
35 Community Careers: Matthew Goddard
36 Business Advice: Alex Arnot 38 My brilliant recruitment career: Megan Barnard
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TRENDS
12 Insight
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Rewards and referrals: ERPs are here to stay Tech & Tools Voice broadcasting: the next disruptive technology
40 Movers & Shakers 41 Recruiter contacts 42 The Last Word: Michelle Mellor, CJUK
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INTERACTION Viewpoint Sheri Hughes, PageGroup Soundbites
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The best partnership I could ever have… I have the support I always needed, and now everything just falls into place. Andrew McGeorge - CareStaff Ltd
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The start-up solution offered is legendary, 100% funding and a full back office support allow me to focus entirely on what I do best. Ian Hope – Ancora Recruitment Ltd
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UPDATE
Transforming the prestige of skills
WE LCO M E
LEADER
GRAHAM SIMONS
F
rom the continuing failure of transport secretary Chris Grayling to deal with the shambolic state of affairs in the UK rail system to Amber Rudd’s series of crash-and-burn episodes during her stint as home secretary, the naked truth
can be avoided no longer: UK leadership is in crisis. The way UK leadership at the national
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT CONSULTANCY MiddletonMurray has called for a radical overhaul of careers advice in its recently launched Limitless Manifesto. The Manifesto, launched at the Houses of Parliament, makes five key points:
government level is handled brings to mind employment practices familiar to recruiters across the country. I’m thinking graduate recruitment and work experience programmes. The existing system of cabinet
We should be thinking ‘permanent placement’ for our government ministers – not ‘bring in a temp’
shuffles is damaging UK productivity, preventing the development of effective solutions to deeply embedded problems within publicly-funded bodies such as the NHS and failing to replace the Kafka-esque morass
of bureaucracy with practical, well thought-out approaches to taxes, visas and more. None of the cabinet ministers in place at the moment – with the possible exception of
⦁ Schools should no longer deliver the bulk of careers advice, with employers and training providers stepping in to pick this up. ⦁ Careers advice is failing – too many young people are L-r: Lord Aberdare, Robert Halfon MP, Angela Middleton, leaving school not Andrew Rosindell MP and Craig Mackinlay MP fully aware of their options. This can mean they fail to take their first step on the career ladder, or take a job that’s not right for them, storing up longer-term career problems in the future. ⦁ Careers advice should be free and open to all, no matter the person’s age or employment status. ⦁ Careers advice should adapt to the jobs of the future, as there is no point advising people towards jobs that will not exist in 10 years’ time. ⦁ Careers should be more accessible and available across an array of platforms such as social networks, podcasts and YouTube.
Tracey Crouch, the undersecretary of state for digital, culture, media & sport – seem to have any connection to their responsibilities or any expertise in their portfolio. They’re dropped into a department with some photo ops and conference appearances, and when their failings get embarrassing, they’re extracted. We should be thinking ‘permanent placement’ for our government ministers – not ‘bring in a temp’.
DeeDee Doke, Editor
At the Manifesto launch, the chair of UK government’s education select committee called for apprenticeships to be held in the same esteem as a degree from the UK’s top universities. Robert Halfon MP told an audience a change in the way apprenticeships are perceived was key to how careers advice is handled across the country. “My dream is that when you’re at events and somebody says they went to Oxbridge or a Russell Group university, people say ‘that’s nice’. And then somebody says ‘I’m an apprentice or I’ve done technical education or I’ve been with a brilliant provider’… and everyone says ‘Wow – how did you do it? What was your experience?’ “That is the way our country needs to be. We need to be like other countries in Europe in terms of technical education and skills. We have to transform the prestige of skills,” Halfon said. “There’s a huge problem in Britain today.”
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UPDATE
37,238 FOLLOWERS AS OF 14 JUNE 2018
COLIN COTTELL REPORTS FROM THE RL100 CONFERENCE IN WHITSTABLE, KENT
It’s an AI world THE ADVENT OF AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning in recruitment will mean big changes for the recruitment function and for the jobs of recruiters, according to some of the UK’s most influential resourcing leaders. The effects of AI and machine learning on the profession was a key theme of the RL100 conference held in Whitstable, Kent in May. Presenter Felix Wetzel of Pocket Recruiter told delegates that AI would give recruiters “more time, more space to be more human, to show empathy, be more creative and to engage more with candidates”. It was time for recruiters, Wetzel emphasised, to recognise that AI was a game changer: “We are already in an AI world, and we need to think about it now.” Jon Hull, head of resourcing delivery at Nationwide Building Society, said that recruiters were becoming “curators of talent”, whether internal candidate or a temp, and “influencers of the business”. “They need to understand the landscape, be knowledgeable, and highly networked [internally or externally] rather than be like a robot themselves,” Hull said. Ali Gilani, head of resourcing and strategic workforce planning at engineering firm Babcock International, questioned whether AI and technology would necessarily lead to less work for recruiters and a consequential drop in the numbers working in the profession. He suggested that with Brexit, greater competition for candidates, and skills shortages in some sectors, any time saved by AI and technology “will soon be eaten up by trying to compete for those candidates”. In such a scenario, he said, “a lot more time would be spent face-to-face convincing people. We are going to go back to being sellers of opportunity as opposed to order takers filling jobs”. Stephen Reilly, group talent acquisition consultant at engineering firm Mott MacDonald, said the problem was that organisations tended to layer new technology onto existing processes. “We say ‘yes, video conferencing is good’, but we still send hundreds of CVs to the hiring manager because they don’t accept it. Rather than becoming more streamlined, processes become longer with the result that our jobs are getting more complicated.” 6 RECRUITER
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Focus on the skills not the category RECRUITERS SHOULD GET AWAY FROM making unhelpful distinctions between various categories of workers and focus on the skills they possess instead, the recruiting leader at EY UK & Ireland has said. Dan Richards (right) questioned the essential difference between gig workers and perm workers, who move every two or three years. “We need to change our mindset and challenge our default thinking that employing a permanent worker is always better.” He added the UK recruitment industry and employment brand marketing “is more sophisticated than anywhere else in the world”. However, there is more to be done: “Absolutely we need to future-proof the brand by bringing in the skills of the future, but what is going to make it [recruiting/ resourcing] great is pushing the organisation around agendas, such as the diversity & inclusion agenda.”
Resourcing must align with the business RESOURCING MUST BE ALIGNED with a firm’s long-term business plan, if it is to have the influence and recognition it craves, according to John Wallace, author of Hire Power, a book on strategic resourcing published last year. Wallace told delegates because resourcing’s performance is often measured against the metrics of timeto-hire and cost-of-hire, quality-of-hire inevitably suffers. A number of conditions must be met for resourcing to become “the critical element of HR strategy”, he explained. Rather than constantly firefighting and reacting to shortterm demands from the business, Wallace said resourcing “must be aligned with a business’s long-term business plan, with a minimum time horizon of three years”.
IMAG ES | ISTO C K
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THOUGHTS FROM…
UPDATE
FELIX WETZEL
Challenges for recruiters in 2018
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER , POCKET RE CRUIT ER
“Our education system is creating more and more robots to fit the cogs in the system.”
JAMES WHITE OWNE R , RIGHT TIME RECRU ITMENT, ON THE BEN EF I T S OF T H E INCREASED PROFILE OF WINNING THE AP P REN T I C E
“I put out a LinkedIn status out a few months ago saying if you were looking for a new career in IT to get in touch. We had 1m hits on it!”
JOE SLAVIN FORMER CEO, FISH4JOBS
“In the past few years, any knucklehead could make money in this business [job boards].”
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING recruiters in 2018 is a combination of getting the right quality of hire and talent scarcities, according to the results of a recent survey by recruitment technology firm Oleeo (formerly known as WCN) in association with Recruiter. Respondents to the survey fell into one of three categories: businesses recruiting for students, those recruiting for head office and those recruiting for volume. The quality of hire/talent scarcities came out as the greatest challenge across all three categories. Perhaps surprisingly, immigration/Brexit was viewed as a lesser problem across all three categories, with only 16% (those recruiting for students), 7% (head office recruiters) and 11% (volume) citing it as their greatest challenge. Also perceived as posing even less of a challenge were levels of recruiter expertise, hiring manager satisfaction and reducing administration. The survey findings also revealed that most (63%) of businesses recruiting for head office roles say that they are currently enjoying their greatest recruitment success in offering a positive candidate experience, a result echoed by 56% of those recruiting for student roles. However, 62% of businesses recruiting for volume reported that they are experiencing their greatest success in the speed of time-to-hire. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are the technology of choice of the highest percentage (44%) of businesses recruiting for students. At the same time, candidate relationship management (CRM) systems are favoured by the highest percentages of businesses recruiting for both head office (44%) and volume (42%). The Oleeo survey took place via recruiter.co.uk earlier this year.
STA RT-UP OF THE MONTH THE OFFICE CLUB Anouska Mond (pictured left) and Judy Ingber (right), cofounders and directors of The Office Club, have told Recruiter how the boutique recruitment agency relies on emotional intelligence to effectively match the right candidate with the right client. The agency specialises in recruiting support, HR, finance and sales roles across a range of industries from property to finance to marketing, media and technology.
Mond explains the agency focuses on connecting people through getting to know candidates and clients properly. “On the candidate side, we always meet everybody in person, face-to-face. We spend time getting to know the reasons why they’ve chosen their last roles, what they’re really looking for in the long term. We really try and nail it down so we can get them the right fit. “The same for the clients. We’ll go into the business. We’ll sometimes spend a day there,
getting on with our work just so we can get a feel for the culture. “We’re very much about matching personalities. Obviously, everybody has to be able to do the job, but we focus on matching the right candidates to the right company culture. That’s where the emotional intelligence comes in.” Mond adds the agency has moved into a new office, has two consultants working for them, with one joining imminently and another hire planned before the year end. WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 7
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THIS WAS THE MONTH THAT WAS… Here is a round-up of some of the most popular news stories we have brought you on recruiter.co.uk since the June issue of Recruiter was published M A Y •‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒→
T H U, 1 7 M AY 2 0 1 8
HMRC LOSES OUT IN COURT TO CONTRACTOR IN IR35 CASE Another contractor has successfully won an IR35 appeal case against HM Revenue & Customs. Ian Wells, represented by IR35 specialist Qdos Contractor, won his First-Tier Tribunal Chamber IR35 case against HMRC. Wells provided business analyst services through a personal service company – Jensal Software Ltd – via agency Capita Resourcing to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) between 28 May 2012 and 4 April 2013. The appeal hearing took place on 4-6 October 2017, with Judge Jennifer Dean ruling Wells’ contract was a contract for services not a contract of service and therefore belonged outside IR35, primarily due to the absence of a sufficient degree of a right of control over Jensal’s working methods, while the judge also disagreed with HMRC’s interpretation of mutuality of obligation (MOO) – the obligation of an employer to provide work and pay for it. More: https://bit.ly/2JqbcBC
TUE, 22 MAY 2018
MEDICAL RECRUITER AND FIVE RECRUITS JAILED FOR FAKE SHIFTS SCAM IN HOSPITALS A medical recruiter and five agency workers he recruited to defraud the NHS have been sentenced for conspiracy to defraud. A statement by the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) revealed Charles Elad, who was working as a recruitment officer for medical recruitment agency ID Medical at the time of the offences, and the five workers – George Kiberu, Violet Nhende, Abosede Amusan, Ernest Anonyo and Rilindis Bessem – were all sentenced for conspiracy to defraud at Kingstonupon-Hull Crown Court last week.
Elad was jailed for three years, while the five workers were convicted of separate fraud conspiracies. Elad and his wife Tanyi Elad were also convicted of a money laundering offence. Elad was found to have enlisted the five workers to submit large numbers of fraudulent timesheets to ID Medical, who were unaware of the fraudulent activity taking place. The workers were subsequently paid for the unworked shift. The agency then unknowingly invoiced the various NHS Trusts for these shifts. The total loss to the NHS was £72,991.11, with various NHS hospitals in the North of England targeted. NHSCFA’s head of operations Richard Rippin, in a letter seen by Recruiter, thanks ID Medical and its staff for their support in the investigation into Elad and his associates, adding the information the agency supplied along with the “excellent” witness testimony provided, ensured they were able to establish the full extent of the fraud offences committed and present that evidence at court. More: https://bit.ly/2x0kRwM
TUE, 22 MAY 2018
LIVERPOOL FC RECRUITS STAFF FOR NEXT SEASON’S MATCHES Champions League finalist Liverpool has launched a recruitment drive for matchday staff. The Liverpool Echo reports Premier League giant Liverpool, who lost out to Champions League holders Real Madrid in the final in Kiev, is running a series of weekly recruitment sessions at Anfield ahead of the 2018-19 season. Roles on offer include bar and kiosk staff to baristas and chefs, with vacancies for tour guides, safety stewards and cashiers also available. More: https://bit.ly/2JkTUtA 8 RECRUITER
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AMAZON LOOKS TO RECRUIT 2,500 THIS YEAR As the UK high street closes more stores by the day, Amazon is on a recruitment drive to fill 2,500 permanent roles. The online retail giant revealed in a statement that roles range from software developers, engineers and technicians. There are also roles for those seeking entry-level positions and on-the-job training. The recruitment drive reflects growing investment in British research & development, increasing customer demand, and continued expansion of its products. More: https://bit.ly/2kTMO0s
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MON, 4 JUNE 2018
JAVID PROMISES TO REVISIT VISA CAPS FOR SKILLED WORKERS The home secretary has made a commitment to take a “fresh look” at the cap on the number of skilled workers being given visas. On the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show, new home secretary Sajid Javid was quizzed about the cap on Tier 2 visas. The cap was introduced by then home secretary Theresa May as a way of limiting the number of skilled workers from outside the European Union who had a job offer. “It is something that I’m taking a fresh look at,” Javid told Marr. “I know a number of my colleagues certainly want me to take a look at this, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. “And I hope to think about this more carefully and see what can be done.”
workforce include looking into senior level staff ’s attitude towards building a diverse workforce, investing in its returnship programme, introducing career progression coaching and ensuring staff have the opportunities to land career defining roles. More: https://bit.ly/2JElRZm
More: https://bit.ly/2y3qrzc
TUE, 5 JUNE 2018
I MAG E | I STOC K / S H U TT E RSTO C K
PWC BANS ALLMALE SHORTLISTS
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STAFFLINE’S HOGARTH LEAVES HIS NED ROLE AND VENTURES OUT INTO THE MARKETPLACE As Staffline’s former CEO Andy Hogarth leaves his non-executive director (NED) role at the recruitment and employability organisation, is venture capital (VC) his next route? Hogarth is exploring his options – including the possibility of moving into the world of VC – following his departure from Staffline. He left his CEO role in January, but stayed on as NED. However, the group revealed that Hogarth is now also stepping down from his non-executive role. Speaking to Recruiter, Hogarth said it was always planned for him to stay on a few months while CEO Chris Pullen settled into his new role. As for future plans, he revealed that while he did not want to work in the same blue collar and industrial sectors as Staffline, he is seeking to bring his experience of rapidly growing the organisation to other areas. “We grew it [Staffline] from £40m to almost a £1bn last year… I’m looking to use that experience in other areas – say VC or public companies. “Other than that, I am open to ideas. My background is in retail and construction in healthcare, hotels, hospitality – I have all that experience as well as recruitment and contracting.”
More: https://bit.ly/2HH7eCS
PwC has banned allmale shortlists in a bid to boost the number of women in its senior roles. Confirming the move, PwC said the measure formed part of wider action tackling the professional services firm’s gender pay gap. The firm’s gender pay gap report, released earlier this year, revealed men on average earned 43.8% more than women. Elaborating on PwC’s move, chief people officer Laura Hinton revealed the firm would be taking the move one step further by setting itself a 50/50 shortlist target for all direct recruitment activity. Other initiatives PwC has introduced to boost the diversity of its
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CONTRACTS SPONSORED BY RECRUITMENT MERGERS
CONTRACTS & DEALS
greenbean by NRG Recruitment solutions business greenbean by NRG has been selected as exclusive recruitment partner for robotic lawnmower manufacturer Husqvarna. Husqvarna employs more than 400 staff in the UK and greenbean by NRG will deliver a range of permanent roles within the manufacturing and engineering disciplines as it invests in new product development.
Green Park Executive search and interim management consultancy Green Park has been awarded a contract by the Houses of Parliament to recruit four external non-executives and a chair for the Palace of Westminster restoration and renewal sponsor board. The board is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the programme for the preservation and restoration of the Palace of Westminster, liaising with parliamentarians and other stakeholders.
Talent Works International Recruitment technology provider Talent Works International has agreed a 12-month contract for Amadeus IT Group, a provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel industry. The contract is for the development and activation of attraction campaigns and direct sourcing activities across the technology platforms & engineering (TPE) business of Amadeus.
Mynt Recruitment Yorkshire-based Mynt Recruitment has agreed a £825k invoice finance-funding package with specialist bank Aldermore. Mynt supplies temporary workers in engineering, production, manufacturing, logistics, commercial and sales roles, and needed the additional funding to support rising demand.
Major Players London-based marketing and creative staffing specialist Major Players has secured a multi-million pounds funding package from HSBC to support a partial management buy-out. The funding gives Major Players’ staff the chance to purchase equity totalling 25% of the business. The funding has been placed into an internal trust, from which staff members can purchase shares in the business.
Kinetic Recruitment and payroll services firm Kinetic has become employee-owned. Managing director Neil Smith had been the majority shareholder of the company with 75% of its shares, while the family of the firm’s late founder Terry Maunder held the remaining stake. While the firm’s shares have now been transferred to an employee-ownership trust, current directors and managers remain in charge of the day-today running of the group.
DEAL OF THE MONTH
WORKDAY Human resource and cloud-based software solutions company Workday has acquired cloudbased planning software producer Adaptive Insights for $1.55bn (£1.16bn). Workday revealed it is planning to combine Adaptive Insights Business Planning Cloud with its
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suite of applications for finance and HR. Adaptive Insights’ team will join Workday upon the expected closure date for the deal of 31 October 2018. Current Adaptive Insights CEO Tom Brogan will report to Workday co-founder and CEO Aneel Bhusri following the deal.
For more information
www.recruitmentmergers.com charlie.watson@recruitmentmergers.com
More contract news at recruiter.co.uk/news 14/06/2018 11:12
ACQUISITION OPPORTUNITY REFERENCE CW0305 LOCATION London, UK
HEALTHCARE RECRUITMENT AGENCY FOR SALE, LONDON
Key business features
Overview
• Significant year-on-year growth since inception
• Leading sector specialist in healthcare staffing – Healthcare assistants / general nurses • Specialist in temporary staffing – 99% temp • Consistent repeat business through excellent client
Recruitment Mergers is representing a leading healthcare agency
relationships with long-term contracts in place
based in London supplying nurses and healthcare assistants of all
• Superb audit pass rate
grades to private hospitals, nursing homes and the NHS.
• 58% private / 40% NHS • Substantial room for expansion
After experiencing many years of successful trading and rapid growth, Recruitment Mergers has been appointed to market the business for sale.
• 20 employees
Financial Information 2017
The shareholder is looking to dispose of all the issued share capital and
Turnover £5.2m
happy to commit to an earn out with deferred consideration.
Gross profit £1.2m Operating profit £336k
Don’t miss out Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us and learn more about this fantastic opportunity.
GET IN TOUCH...
Charlie Watson
Principal M&A Consultant +44 (0)7787 560 553 charlie.watson@recruitmentmergers.com
ARE YOU AIMING TO ACQUIRE OR PLANNING AN EXIT STRATEGY?
WWW.RECRUITMENTMERGERS.COM Mergers & Acquisitions for the recruitment industry
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TRE NDS
INSIGHT
REWARDS AND REFERRALS: ERPS ARE HERE TO STAY When it comes to resourcing, the FIRM’s latest report finds staff are still a good method of bringing in talent BY COLIN COTTELL
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mployee referral programmes (ERPs) are a popular method of recruitment for in-house recruiters, with more than 80% of respondents to The FIRM’s (The Forum for In-House Recruitment Managers) annual survey having a referral scheme in place. Indeed, according to Emma Mirrington, managing director of the FIRM: “ERPs are always one of the top three responses when we ask the FIRM membership about successful sourcing channels.” New research for the FIRM by
Talent Insight Group, ‘Employee Referral Programmes Key Insights Report’, indicates that the success of ERPs as a way of sourcing talent shows little sign of abating. “ERPs continue to be a very effective way for organisations to source new talent,” says Mirrington. “Of the organisations we surveyed in this research, the average percentage of annual hires generated by ERPs was 17%. However, two of the organisations surveyed – both technology firms – had managed to generate 30% of their annual hires from ERPs.” Talent Insight Group carried out qualitative research on ILLUST RAT ION | IKON
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INSIGHT 14 organisations, who are not named, across a range of industries, some with an international footprint. One of the key themes to come out of the report is how ERPs are constantly evolving, says David Steel, joint MD of Talent Insight Group. “While the vast majority of organisations still reward employees who successfully refer new colleagues financially (93% in our research), more and more organisations are introducing a range of non-financial based rewards to encourage ERP referrals from those not motivated by money,” says Steel. “These include lunch with the CEO, use of a desirable parking space for a week, vouchers, extra holidays, experience days/ weekends, charitable donations, etc.”
Keeping ERPs fresh
implementing and managing a scheme. For example, when it comes to working out how much to reward employees for a successful referral, the report reveals big variations, even within the same organisation – from $100 (£74.57) to $5k in the case of a telecoms company. Is there a link between the size of the reward and a scheme’s success? With a sample of only 14 companies, it would be dangerous to draw any conclusion. However, says Steel, “it was interesting to note that the one organisation that paid £2k per successful referral was one of those that returned 30% of its annual hires via their ERP”. Closely linked to this is the question of when the reward is paid. While the most popular option is after probation, the report again indicates that organisations are taking a variety of approaches. These range from “on the day the person referred starts employment”, according to one pharmaceutical company, to “90 days after the employee has been in post”, according to a technology company. Others split the reward 50:50 between the first day of employment and three months in.
Diversity, or lack of diversity, is often flagged up as a problem for ERPs
As well as constantly needing to adapt their schemes, Steel says organisations need to be proactive to keep them front of mind among their employees. “Launching a potentially successful ERP is one thing,” says Steel, “but keeping the scheme front of employees’ minds later in year 1, year 2, year 3 and so on, is another. A lot of effort and regular refreshes are both needed to keep the ERP alive.” Evidence in the report indicates that this is a concern among in-house recruiters, with six organisations saying they are due to re-launch their scheme, or are keen to do so. A case in point is a telecoms company that plans “to reposition the scheme so that we are encouraging people to think wider outside of their immediate network”. Five of the companies surveyed say they are keen to do more to raise awareness of their ERP, using techniques such as text and email reminders, flyers, posters and events.
Differing approaches Another conclusion that jumps out of this report is that while the principles of ERPs are consistent – to reward staff for successful referrals – there is no one way to go about designing,
Diversity issues Diversity, or more accurately lack of diversity, is often flagged up as a problem for ERPs. “There is a fine balance between employees referring in their own likeness versus using the ERP to introduce fresh thinking and a more diverse range of candidates into a business,” says Steel. However, the report does not identify this as a major concern among the companies surveyed. That said, it was mentioned as a ‘key pitfall’ of ERPs by two of the organisations surveyed with one suggesting it “can challenge your D&I initiatives”, and another commenting “it can impact diversity requirements”. On a par with D&I concerns were the
POWER POINTS
1
Work out what motivates your employees to refer candidates. Are they more motivated by non-monetary rewards, such as donations to a charity of their choice than by cash? If in doubt ask your employees
2 3 4
Launching an ERP is the easy bit. More difficult is maintaining the interest and enthusiasm of your staff after the initial excitement.
5
Restricting your ERP to specific active roles makes it administratively simpler than allowing referral into talent pools, but you risk missing out on vital talent.
6
Consider extending your ERP to external groups, with strong links and loyalty to your organisation, such as your alumni network or contractors.
Consider whether an ERP might conflict with your goal of being a more diverse and inclusive organisation. Keeping your ERP simple has definite advantages, but in a complex organisation is ‘one size fits all’ the best approach? Should it be tailored to different countries?
consequences of a badly run scheme, with one organisation warning of the risk of “creating a negative employee experience if not managed effectively and consistently”. While ERPs are a valuable tool in the toolbox of in-house recruiters, not only is there no one blueprint for their success, but as they continue to evolve, they will also need careful managing. WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 13
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support@staffskillstraining.co.uk www.staffskillstraining.co.uk/recruiters 01920 897663
13/06/2018 12:26
T R E N DS
TECH & TOOLS SPONSORED BY NEW SKILLS ACADEMY
Recruitment telephone targeting Voice broadcasting could be the next disruptive technology SUE WEEKES
Voice broadcasting via a telephone is one of the fastest and most effective ways to communicate a message to a big audience – from nuisance calls about PPI claims to thank-you messages from charities. Its uses go beyond telemarketing though. It is an extremely powerful technology that hasn’t been exploited to the full and has clear cost and time-saving potential for recruiters. This year has also seen the launch of the voice broadcast/response service for recruitment in the shape of Telereso.
HOW DOES IT WORK? Put simply, someone records a voice message and then broadcasts it out to their chosen audience via a telephone call, which can be to thousands of people. The technology behind the system enables the user to upload the telephone numbers they want to target from their database. A selling point to recruiters of a job broadcast is that it blends automation with the personal touch. “It is your voice they hear, not a robot’s,” explains Chris Smith, co-founder and director of Telereso. “And it is exactly what you would say to the candidate if you picked up the phone to them.”
HOW COULD IT BE USED IN RECRUITMENT? A typical scenario would be when a recruiter wants to call 100 people in their database or to put a call out for staff at short notice. “Contacting 100 people would take three resourcers the best part of a day, whereas a job broadcast can do it in seconds and using Telereso it would cost between £15-18,” claims Smith. The company has built a ‘tap and connect’ facility into its system, which means candidates can hit any key to call the recruiter back at the end of the broadcast on a specified number. If the candidate can’t take the call, it goes to voicemail like any other call.
DOES IT HAVE AN IMAGE PROBLEM? Because voice broadcasting is sometimes used for direct marketing purposes, some may view it as an unwanted call – but Smith doesn’t believe this is an issue in the recruitment sector. “I’ve never known a person not want the phone to ring when they are looking for a job,” he says. He adds that the company is also looking to reverse the model so the jobseeker could broadcast to a basket of jobs.
(VBS) is first-to-market for recruitment, and other cost models may emerge but it has taken a pre-pay approach. Recruiters buy credits to spend, and larger organisations can assign administrative rights to a team of people to use the credits. The recruiter is not making and therefore not paying for the calls themselves directly so they don’t have to worry about burning minutes on a mobile phone or landline. The calls are made by Telereso’s technology, and this is what recruiters are charged for.
A VIRTUAL RESOURCER A VBS can perform the role of a virtual resourcer, freeing the recruiter to add value in face-to-face areas of the recruiting process, such as interviewing. Smith believes it could also open up new opportunities. “For example, if I specialised in project management, I might not normally take on developer roles even though there are suitable people in my database,” he says. “But a VBS allows me to contact them without diverting labour away from my core area.”
HOW DO YOU PAY FOR IT? Telereso’s voice broadcasting service
THE POWER OF VOICE For more information Some candidates may still perceive a voice broadcast as an automated message but the vast majority are likely to welcome its immediacy. Its potential applications in areas like hospitality and events are evident, when a recruiter needs to recruit in high volumes or at short notice. Voice broadcasting services have been around since the 1990s but could yet prove to be a disruptive technology for recruitment. I M AG E | I STO C K
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www.staffskillstraining.co.uk/recruiters Phone: 01920 897663
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C
INTE R AC TIO N
VIEWPOINT
Are women truly on board? The arduous journey of gender equality BY SHERI HUGHES
018, the Year of the Woman. But what does that really mean? One hundred years since the suffragettes won women the vote, 50 years since the female sewing machinists at Ford Dagenham won equal pay for women and yet the World Economic Forum has said it will be a further 217 years before we reach gender equality – 100 years more than it was in 2016! Surely all of our efforts must be making things better, aren’t they? It’s been seven years since the Lord Davies report asked FTSE 100 companies for a quota of 25% women on boards. At PageGroup (the group name for Page Executive, Michael Page, Page Personnel and Page Outsourcing), we are extremely proud to have 44% women on our main board. What is the picture like further down the chain though? In the UK, we launched Women@Page in 2012; we were losing too many talented women and that was not good for our people or the business. We needed to make a strategic decision to shift our culture and become truly inclusive – the drivers were moral, ethical and commercial. We needed to break down barriers, whether perceived or actual, and promote inclusion to ensure all women felt valued and respected. They needed to have a sense of belonging and to be supported without exception. We needed to disrupt and be brave. Role modelling by showcasing our women globally via ‘A Woman’s Journey’, and a robust mentoring programme has been extremely effective and has seen our female managers
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“It is now 217 years before we will reach gender equality”
SHERI HUGHES is UK diversity & inclusion director at PageGroup
go from 42% to 47% and female directors from 25% to 41% – and 51% of all promotions in 2017 were female. We’ve also seen our maternity return rate rise from 76% to 90% since 2013. It’s now about the next stage of developing our female directors into regional/managing directors. As part of this Senior Female Leadership programme, we are exploring courses on neuro-agility, authentic charisma, action learning sets, external coaching, psychological flexibility and courageous conversations. We know all of our women are different, each with unique personal aspirations and bespoke requirements. It isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ plan and we need to ensure we harness their strengths so they can truly become the best possible version of themselves. We have worked extremely hard in being an employer of choice for women, and having adopted a dynamic working culture as a direct result of our 2015 employee engagement survey, we are a different business to the one of old. Being a completely inclusive and agile business gives all our employees the work-life blend that is so important to us, while allowing them to remain serious about their careers – performance not presenteeism. We were thrilled to recently be accredited with the accolade of being a Times Top 50 Employer for Women 2018 – the only recruitment company to feature. We were also awarded a Gold Award for the Business in the Community Benchmark for Gender. So, I can’t speak for the World Economic Forum, but at the company I work for we are making great strides, and gender equality is well within our reach!
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I N T E R AC T I O N
SOUNDBITES
WEB CH AT
Are company summer parties more trouble than they’re worth? LEE CARPENTER
POOR CAREERS ADVICE? WHAT CAREERS ADVICE?! In response to your news article from 5 June, ‘MiddletonMurray’s Limitless Manifesto aims to shake up poor careers advice’, the challenge is exemplified by many of the people who come to us for career guidance and support. The lion’s share of those in their late 20s to early 30s are disillusioned and realise they are unhappy at work because they are in the wrong career. The challenge was again rammed home by the results of a survey we did where we found only 1% of people consulting us about their careers had sought professional careers advice and taken it before deciding on their career. (We asked, ‘Please tick the method that most closely describes where the advice came from or how the decision was made that eventually led to the first job you took after your education was completed’). DR MIKE WARREN, FOUNDING D I R E C T O R A N D C E O, P RO T E U S C ON S U LT I NG
YOU CAN’T BE PICKY WHEN IT COMES TO FARM WORKERS Reading your story on the lack of fruit pickers on UK farms (‘Recruiters can’t be picky about finding workers for British farms’, 7 June), did not Dominic Lawson [Daily Mail journalist] say: “It’s people like the Romanian fruit pickers that we don’t need”? You Britons voted Brexit for this purpose. Well, the Romanian fruit pickers are not coming any more. Why are you complaining now? Really, why???????? DACUS
Maybe he [Peter Thomson, a director at soft fruit supplier Thomas Thomson, mentioned in the article] should reconnect with agencies a bit more. There are a lot of under 18s who would probably welcome the chance for some work over the summer, but is he reaching out to that age group? ADAM JONES
D IREC TOR , P K ED UCAT I ON
“Our annual company summer party defines the next 12 months’ business and is integral to maintaining staff morale, performance and retention. Planning is key. We spend a year organising a weekend away for all staff culminating in an awards ceremony. Having seven offices throughout the UK, we recognise it’s our opportunity to bring all staff together, get them talking and bonding. We keep the excitement going throughout the year by launching the theme of next year’s awards soon after the previous awards. We’ve been doing this for three years now and the awards are becoming a recruitment tool.”
JAMES WALKER D IREC TOR , BW D S EA RCH
“Companies have endured the traditional Christmas festival party since the dawn of time – so why not have a summer ball or party? If you have employees that have a reputation for misbehaving, it makes no odds if it is at Christmas, a summer party or any other event. We have a good social culture within our company and are happy for that to continue. Along with group events, each division can arrange their own outings. I think employees should be able to unwind more than once a year at Christmas – it’s a way of rewarding their efforts.”
MIKE LEE MA N AG IN G D I REC TOR , CI T Y EX ECUT I V E S EA RC H
“To many, a company event can seem unnecessary and is often something that’s chopped from the budget as a way to save money. However, a summer party can be an excellent motivational tool for employers. Whether it’s a low-key get together or a swanky corporate event, a summer party offers the opportunity to celebrate success and reset goals for the second half of the year. A company event is also a great way to bring your team closer together and highlight core business values and company culture. However, while employees should see summer parties as a time to relax, they should also keep in mind that the event is an extension of the normal working day and their behaviour should reflect this.” WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 17
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TH E B IG STO RY BEV WHITE
VALUES DRIVEN PHOTOGRAPHY: JON ENOCH
Purpose, passion and conviction are some of the values that CEO of Gi Group UK Bev White shares with the company’s founder and the business. Colin Cottell met up with her s far as career coaching goes, it might sound like a standard piece of advice: “If you don’t know why you are doing something it is hard to know if you are going in the right direction, and really hard to motivate yourself.” However, coming from the mouth of Bev White, CEO of Gi Group UK, the words have an added element of authenticity. Not only is White a qualified career coach, but after just a few minutes in her energetic company, it is impossible not to be impressed by her conviction that what applies to the individual should also apply to the Gi Group’s UK businesses she runs. White positively enthuses about how at a recent Gi leaders’ conference in Florence, each of the 200 attendees received a copy of Simon Sinder’s seminal book Start with Why. The nub of his argument that the most successful organisations first focus on why they do things, rather than
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Philosophy of recruitment “Understanding the drivers and goals of both parties [candidates and employers]”
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TH E B IG STO RY BEV WHITE
what they do. White is a believer. “You do need to start with what type of business you are, what is your purpose, what you stand for, and why you are even here,” she says. Joining Gi Group (which turned over more than £240m in 2017) in December 2016, after 14 years at Penna, White says she takes her inspiration from Gi Group founder Stefano Colli-Lanza. “I really like his ethos, the way he thinks about business, his ethics and how his values play out day to day,” she says. “He doesn’t just set up companies to do that; at least once a week he goes to the local business school in Milan and lectures people about what that actually means. He is very much an entrepreneur who puts his time out there.”
Values It is no surprise to hear that when the Gi Group’s founder was looking for a new CEO to run its UK recruitment and workforce management business, alongside its new and much smaller HR consultancy and training businesses, White describes their conversation as “a very easy one for me to have on the basis that we are both values-driven”. When it comes to further understanding what is driving White, a good place to look is the company’s website, where the group’s overall aim “to remain and be universally recognised as the most socially responsible recruitment company in the UK” is set out. The website then refers to the three areas where “we can make a real difference”, such as Engaging Stakeholders, Employment Initiatives and Environment. A list of activities that the company aims to focus on to achieve its overall goal then follows. For example, under the heading Engaging Stakeholders volunteering for internal staff is listed, alongside co-operating with
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Secret of my success
“Energy and passion”
JULY 2018
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T H E BI G STO RY B E V W H I T E
Mary said ‘Hey, you will make a great accountant’ and not knowing any different they went and did that”. White is particularly proud of Gi Group’s work with more than 25 schools to guide pupils towards “the kind of work they love to do” by running workshops. Destination Work, which sees the company open up its doors to anyone who is thinking of changing their career or is unemployed, with Gi staff providing practical advice on dressing for interview and CVs, and generally helping jobseekers to become more employable, is also close to White’s heart.
clients to provide safe working environments. Another clue comes from its 2016 CSR Report, which details the company’s mission, policy statements, and the various strands of its work. Possibly uniquely for a recruitment company, its code of ethics conforms to the request made by the United Nations “to embrace, support and enact the set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and the fight against corruption” encoded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and by the International Labour Organization. These are lofty ideals, ones possibly not at the top of the agenda for the average recruiter. However, White insists they can and do play out for real in Gi Group. The effervescent executive is no fan of some recruitment agencies either, where she claims you will find virtuous “slogans on wall”. “If that is all you have got it’s hard to live up to it every day because there is nothing behind it,” she explains. In contrast, she says, Gi’s approach is not to make platitudinous statements, but to have a system in place: “It’s a thousand small things not one. It’s a lot of things that make us the business we are.”
Support Many of Gi’s initiatives focus on supporting groups that face barriers to employment, including exoffenders and unemployed youth. Apprenticeships are an important element of the company’s work. As well as being worthwhile in itself, White says Gi’s focus on what she describes as helping people find “good work” has other benefits. “Being able to help others, including young people, is a really motivating thing for those who work in our business,” she says. “That plays very strongly to motivators as to why you would stay in a company like this. It helps us attract great people with the kind of values we all have and retain them. Our work with Business in the Community is really key to us.” Asked whether there is a trade-off between the extra time and cost of helping people who are not job ready
Passion The Gi boss is clearly passionate about the value of work itself to change people, their lives and even their communities. “You see people come alive when they are doing something that interests them. They become absorbed,” White explains. In contrast, she says she finds it “desperately sad” that so many people “dread Monday mornings and look forward to Friday evenings and to their retirement”. And her sense of regret that so many people start off their working lives on the wrong foot is palpable as she laments how “so many people start out in their careers because great Aunt
STAFFING 360 SOLUTIONS
UK Financials 2017 Gi Group Recruitment INTOO (UK) TACK International
Turnover £243,885,403 £448,526 £2,459,441
Profit after tax £114,058 (£1,286,134) (£111,503)
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TH E B IG STO RY BEV WHITE
and maximising profit, White says this is a misunderstanding of Gi’s approach. “We absolutely don’t look at it like that,” she says, when it is suggested it would be better to concentrate on the ‘low-hanging fruit’. “If you only look at the low-hanging fruit you will only fulfil part of the deal, but not all of it,” she explains. And with the UK skills gap growing, White says there is plenty of scope for Gi to play its part. “What is the requirement for resources, what kind of skills do we need and can we start forward training some of those skills? Can we run academies to train engineers, coders, data analysts, jobs that currently don’t have a name... that means working with the employed and unemployed,” she says.
Talent With UK unemployment standing at 4.2%, and the market requiring more and more people, White says Gi is also ideally placed to help address skills shortages faced by employers, while 22 RECRUITER
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G I G R O U P
▶ 1998 Générale Industrielle founded in Italy Operates in more than 40 countries ▶ 2017 turnover €2bn ▶ 2011 enters UK market buying Right4staff ▶ 400 UK staff ▶ Company payrolls between 15,000 (steady state) and 27,000 temps (peak)
at the same time support what are often marginalised groups. This could be persuading the unemployed to be employed, or providing opportunities for people to retrain, says White. Advising employers to be more flexible in their working hours, thereby expanding their available talent pool is another way Gi can help employers. Although a lot of what staff do to help people find ‘good work’ has a wider social dimension and benefit, White insists that Gi Group is not a social enterprise but a business. “Profit
is important for us, but it is not the first thing we talk about. The first thing we talk about is what kind of business are we. What kind of work do we do?,” she explains. That said, she acknowledges that two of Gi’s UK businesses – INTOO and TACK International (for which she holds operational responsibility) – have yet to return a profit. However, White says INTOO, a coaching, outplacement, career and leadership development provider, in which Gi Group invested as a start-up business in 2016 “is moving strongly towards profitability”. Meanwhile, TACK – a long-established UK training business acquired in late 2016, in which Gi invested heavily during 2017 – “is also growing”. White says the secret to creating an organisation imbued with Gi’s sense of purpose begins with the conversation with potential staff, and ensuring that their values align with those of the company. “If you get that alignment wrong, you know how it works; it doesn’t.” “Then it’s about how we show up,” she continues. “If I know you need help and I can give you help, perhaps by giving you a little training and changing your CV you could do work that you enjoy versus work that just keeps you ticking over, then that’s what we should be doing and that’s what we teach our people.” That said, any training is only as good as the capacity of staff to take it on board. Good leaders and doing things in the community are also important ingredients in creating the type of organisation that lives and breathes Gi Group’s values. Although White believes employers have an important role too, she is convinced that it is the daily personal interventions of GI staff that make all the difference, and especially to those with supposedly lower life chances. “We can help people see that they have more options, no matter how many options they had in life, or how few,” she concludes. “We can help them see that they are more capable than they thought they were. I take that role seriously, as do our staff.”
APRIL2018 JULY 2018
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Advertorial A DV ERTO R I A L T r u s t I D
Ten tips to protect your recruitment business from illegal workers As a diligent Recruiter, you no doubt have a process in place for making Right to Work checks on applicants and you’re aware of the risks of employing illegal workers. But making the correct checks and maintaining records for candidates can be complex, time-consuming and a worrying administrative challenge. Here’s ten tips to help:
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Deter Letting potential candidates know that you check identity documents thoroughly acts as a powerful deterrent for those who may try to get work using fraudulent or counterfeit documents. Prove it It’s your applicants’ responsibility to prove they have permission to work in the UK. But it could be your business facing prosecution if you employ someone when there is ‘reasonable cause to believe’ that they are working illegally. So, if a candidate is being vague about their visa or right to work document or doesn’t present them when asked, then alarm bells should be ringing.
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Go online The Government publish a list of acceptable Right to Work documents and provide an online tool which covers the different checks needed on documents. Check the list regularly: if a document’s not on there, it’s unlikely to be acceptable but…
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Know when to check again Keep a record of when documents expire and ensure you re-check them before this date. Identity validation software can do the hard work for you but standard calendar reminders work too. Stand up for audit Make sure your records are up to date to pre-empt a potential audit, from immigration enforcement or one of your customers. Take copies of all documents checked (including a record of who made the check and when) before an applicant starts work. You need to keep copies during their whole employment and for two years after they stop working for you.
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Use technology for peace of mind Home Office guidance recommends Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) to help quickly and easily establish the authenticity of identity documents. IDVT can save you time and worry when making identity checks as well as reducing the risk of employing illegal workers. TrustID validation technology helps many Recruiters to lower the cost of Right to Work compliance. Our range of ID validation services are quick to implement, affordable and store a complete audit trail of document checks. And our expert helpdesk team are also on hand to offer advice or help with anything suspicious. ●
Ask for advice With so many different types of passports and visas in circulation and rules constantly changing, things can get confusing. But help is available from the Home Office Employer Enquiry helpline: Tel: 0300 123 5434 / BusinessHelpdesk@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.
Become detectives Get your teams interested in the visual security features which are built into ID documents and they’ll be more confident in spotting counterfeit documents.
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Check and check again You can compare documents and their security features to an online image library – such as EdisonTD or PRADO. Trust your instincts - if something feels wrong, double-check the document and consult with a colleague or with the Home Office.
TrustID 9 Greyfriars Road, Reading, RG1 1NU For further information please visit: www.trustid.co.uk Telephone: 0118 990 1118 Email: info@trustid.co.uk
Have a back-up Sometimes the internet fails or there’s a power cut... so buy an inexpensive UV torch for additional security when making manual passport checks.
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RE CRUITM E NT M ARKETING: JOB BOARDS
ENTER THE GAME CHANGER The widely anticipated launch of Google for Jobs is causing consternation and uncertainty for many in the job board sector. But is the fear justified? Colin Cottell investigates 24 RECRUITER
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JULY 2018
More than two decades ago, when job boards first arrived on the scene, there were fears that these technologically driven upstarts might spell the end of recruitment agencies. Far from these fears being realised, the two rub alongside nicely as part of a recruitment ecosystem, with each playing a vital role in what has become a more varied, dynamic and bigger industry. Once seen as disruptors of the status quo, many in the online job site sector believe that job boards themselves, and specifically those in the UK, are about to face a period of significant disruption, raising questions over both the future of individual job boards and ultimately of the sector as a whole. The reason for such anxiety is the imminent UK launch of Google for Jobs, an AI-based aggregator that many in the sector see as a potential game changer. Originally launched in the US in June last year, and then in India in ILLUST RAT ION | ISTOCK
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RECRUIT MEN T MA RKE T I N G : J O B B OA R DS
April, Google for Jobs scrapes jobs from sites such as CareerBuilder, Monster and LinkedIn and a host of others, cutting out the need for jobseekers to search different sites individually. According to talent technology consultant Bill Boorman: “Candidates will get a better service because they will get better results in their search. It is going to have an impact without a doubt.”
NOT ALL BAD According to an executive of an UK online job site, who wishes to remain anonymous, UK jobseekers will not be the only ones to benefit. As a result of partnering with Google for Jobs – allowing it to take jobs from its site – traffic on some sites has increased by as much as 80%, he claims. “It’s a winwin,” he says, and he looks forward to the same arrangement in the UK.
Nick Gold, chief operating officer of StepStone UK, whose 11 job boards include Jobsite and totaljobs, welcomes Google for Jobs’ arrival in the UK. Asked by Recruiter in May, whether the entry of one of the most powerful and influential tech companies into the UK market has him “quaking in his boots”, Gold replied: “Not really. We met them in this office to work through their plans and how we fit together with them. “Google’s objective is to ensure that the candidate and the job are as close together as possible – and there aren’t a huge amount of different parties in the middle. We have access to candidates, we hold the jobs, we have relationships with the biggest recruiters and the biggest direct employers in the land. Google wants to work with us to manage that inventory, and access those jobs.” Ian Partington, CEO of Simply Job Boards, says “at least initially” Google for
Jobs’ arrival will be “a good thing”. He says it offers a chance for job boards to recoup lost traffic after Indeed decided to only display jobs posted directly by employers, and not duplicates that appear on third-party sites. Mike Fahey, executive vice president at online recruitment software company Madgex, based in New York, says so far the impact of Google for Jobs in the US is mixed. “Some boards are up, some are down,” he says. “Generally, I would say in the short term, a welloptimised job board will likely see an increase in organic traffic heading directly towards job detail pages.” However, he warns that even if job boards see more traffic directed towards their job pages, “they may see a net reduction in organic traffic overall”. He explains: “This is due to the way Google for Jobs directs traffic and allows jobseekers to browse jobs without going to the job board.” WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 25
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CHALLENGES AHEAD Fahey adds: “The challenge for job boards will be engaging this traffic, as when they visit, jobseekers are likely to be less likely to be interested in their brand and more in the individual role. “If you combine this with increased use of external redirect jobs, where the jobseeker is sent from the job board to an ATS, there is increased risk that job boards could be bypassed. Similarly, Google’s increasing use of indexing of direct company sites, means that if a jobseeker is offered the chance to apply directly to a company site or a job board they are likely to pick the direct company site.” Partington says that if UK job sites are to benefit from Google for Jobs’ arrival, they need to be prepared. “It’s not just a case of ‘ok it can crawl [scrape] my site, I am ready’,” he explains. Instead, job boards need to take a number of “behind the scenes” steps first. Among the requirements for jobs to be found by Google for Jobs is they must include a specific location and a salary, rather than a salary range. Failure to adhere will mean “you are going to be Google invisible and you will be disregarded in searches”, warns Boorman. Having learned from the company’s US arm that is “quite well-trafficked” via Google for Jobs, Partington says Simply Job Boards in the UK has made the necessary preparations. “We are quite looking forward to it happening in the UK,” he says.
TITANIC REPERCUSSIONS? Although many in the sector see Google for Jobs as an opportunity, certainly in the short term, almost without exception they say they have concerns about the long-term repercussions of the entry of this technological titan, a company synonymous with search, into the UK market. Google has in the past refuted any suggestions it intends to compete with job sites, with Google for Jobs’ product manager Nick Zakrasek telling techcrunch.com in June 2017: “We want to do what we do best: search. We want 26 RECRUITER
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the players in the ecosystem to be more successful.” However, Rhys Maddocks, director of niche language job board Xpatjobs. com is not convinced. “Google for Jobs is going to go after the job boards, and to remove them from the equation,” he says unequivocally. “Google is ultimately trying to cut out the middlemen and take jobseekers direct to the source … Google for Jobs is not saying ‘We are going out to defeat Monster [and others]’.” But the reality is that is what they are doing, agrees Boorman. Stepstone’s Gold accepts that down the line having to compete with Google is a distinct possibility: “Ultimately they may compete with us directly in time.” “You would have to be naïve to think that this wouldn’t be a possibility,” adds Partington. If this does turn out to be the case, he says, “there is a distinct possibility that some job boards could be eliminated”. Recruiter asked Google whether its plans include sourcing jobs directly from employers, thereby bypassing job boards, but it did not respond to this or other questions. Several contributors to this article suggested that Indeed was particularly in Google for Jobs’ line of fire. Indeed refused to comment. The other big question is whether Google will monetise the product. “I honestly can’t imagine them doing it as a free service for people to find a job, if they know, and they do know, there
is a lot of money to be made out of it,” Partington says.
INTEGRATION RULES Boorman says Google for Jobs must not be seen in isolation but in the context of its ATS/CRM Google Hire. And also in the context of acquisitions and other strategic moves by fellow tech giants, who are all moving in the direction of developing integrated recruitment/ HR-related platforms: Microsoft with Skype, software development platform GitHub and LinkedIn, Facebook with its job posting service, and Indeed parent company Recruit Holdings’ acquisition of review site Glassdoor earlier this year. While many fear for the long-term future of job boards, Joe Slavin, former CEO of Fish4Jobs and Monster UK, strikes a more optimistic note. “We can hear the drum beats in the distance, and it is going to be more difficult than it has been,” he acknowledges. However, he insists job boards have a bright future. “There is opportunity for everybody for everyone to make money in this market,” he says. When huge corporates such as Google enter the market, Slavin acknowledges there is a sense “there is not a lot you can do about it”. So, he suggests: “You may as well focus on the customer, and give them more of what they want. You can’t worry about it really. You have just got to crack on.”
Google for Jobs – What’s all the fuss about? Google for Jobs builds on the Google Cloud Jobs API released in November 2017, which according to Google at the time, “uses machines to understand how job titles and skills relate to one another, and what job content, location and seniority are the closest to the jobseeker’s preferences.” By integrating their site with Google for Jobs, jobseekers who search through Google for Jobs can see a job board’s jobs, while eliminating any duplicates ie. the same job posted on different job sites, from search results. Most search results will also pull
reviews from sites, such as Glassdoor. Google for Jobs also returns jobs where the job title is different, but where the role is essentially the same. Extensive use of filters allows jobseekers to narrow their search. For example, under the broad heading of hospitality jobs, jobseekers can narrow down their search by specifying whether they want a role in a restaurant or hotel, and then further by job title – for example, ‘bar tender’. Other features are the ability to search for ‘jobs near me’ and a ‘bookmark’ feature to revisit job postings.
JULY 2018
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Issue 63 July 2018
RECRUITMENT MATTERS The View and The Intelligence
The big talking point
A united industry
Annual Impact Report
p2-3
Legal Update p4
National Minimum Wage
Policy update p6
REC DISAPPOINTED RECRUITERS DON’T FACTOR IN SCHOOLS
JOBS PORTAL The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) is disappointed the government has left agencies out of plans to introduce a specialist jobs portal for the education sector. Education secretary Damian Hinds announced in early June a list of measures to help schools curb budgetary constraints, including recruitment costs. Measures include the creation of a jobs portal for advertising vacancies, a pledge made in the Conservative’s 2017 General Election Manifesto. REC education policy advisor Chris Russell says changes are needed, but the lack of acknowledgement agencies
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play in education is disappointing. “Measures taken by the ation Department for Education ment to address the recruitment difficulties faced by schools are necessary. But at the same time, it is crucial to recognise the important role thatt specialist recruiters in the education sector play nting daily, and it is disappointing ot the government has not recognised this,” he says. “A recruitment agency is much more ey than a jobs portal. They ecks carry out extensive checks to ensure that those who ools are put forward to schools y are safe, appropriately skilled and the correctt hool. match to work in a school.
They are required by law to set out and agree fees with schools.” The REC will continue to
UK labour market enforcement strategy
p8
highlight the contribution specialist recruiters make to finding talent, while working alongside schools, teaching unions and the government to promote good recruitment practice. The REC is also calling upon members in the REC’s education sector to raise concerns directly with its policy team. Members are encouraged to contact Chris Russell directly at chris.russell@rec.uk.com The next REC Education Sector meeting is scheduled for 19 June.
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Leading the Industry
THE VIEW
The industry must unite, says Tom Hadley, REC director of policy and professional services
The REC continues es to lead the way, e, says Chris Moore, chairman of the REC Council
The REC has recently released its Annual Impact Report and it’s good news for REC members. The numbers don’t lie – our impact on both the recruitment and labour markets is unmatched by anyone in our sector. REC members lead the way in transforming the lives of millions of jobseekers nationwide, and we continue to service the demands of our growing membership. I’m particularly proud of the way the REC demonstrates the powerful and positive impact recruitment has on the UK economy by its extensive media coverage. To be a strong industry and a force for transforming people’s lives, we need to have a voice that is respected and listened to. The REC does that. We have responded to members’ calls for products and services to prepare them for 2018’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Last year saw the REC lead the industry by hosting GDPR seminars nationwide and publishing an exclusive hub with a wealth of GDPR materials to ensure members remain compliant.
LET’S COME TOGETHER The REC is focusing on making recruitment a career of choice. This is something that I am pleased to see the REC working hard on, with its increasing levels of recruitment businesses becoming IRP advocates and individuals joining IRP and taking exams year-on-year. The UK recruitment industry is in a strong position. The REC’s Recruitment Industry Trends 2016/17 report found the industry worth £32.2 billion. We anticipate industry turnover will grow, albeit at a slower pace, which is why we are continuing our Scale Up campaign through to 2020. In 2017, the REC fought recruitment’s corner on GDPR, on taxation policy, immigration, procurement, skill shortages and the post-Brexit landscape for employment. 2018 is a year of change for the REC, marked by the arrival of our new chief executive Neil Carberry on 25 June. But 2017 has proven that we are a strong organisation well-equipped to meet challenges and lead the industry into the future.
“IN 2017, THE REC FOUGHT RECRUITMENT’S CORNER ON GDPR, ON TAXATION POLICY, IMMIGRATION, PROCUREMENT, SKILL SHORTAGES AND THE POST-BREXIT LANDSCAPE FOR EMPLOYMENT” 2 RECRUITMENT MATTERS JULY 2018
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The input from members is the lifeblood of our policy, legal and compliance activities. As well as fuelling our campaigning work and support services, this dialogue provides a unique insight into how the recruitment landscape is evolving and how external developments might have an impact. Our forthcoming members’ week is good opportunity to reflect on the importance of this ongoing two-way exchange. A concrete example is our work on the Matthew Taylor review, which has involved direct engagement with over 400 members, ensuring that our responses to government are built on practical insight. New consultations on IR35 and labour market enforcement will provide further opportunities for involvement. As well as contributing to a strong collective industry voice, members are using the heads-up on policy developments as a key differentiator with their clients; this chimes with the latest REC JobsOutlook, which shows that service quality and expertise are now deemed proportionally more important to employers than cost. The ongoing dialogue with members is also providing a great insight into how recruiters are stepping up and helping clients to address increasing candidate shortages. According to JobsOutlook, eight in 10 (80%) employers said that they were satisfied with the candidates presented by their agencies – up from 75% in the previous quarter. This is a phenomenal outcome considering the tightening availability of talent. Agencies are innovating and working harder than ever to meet employers’ requirements. One of our ongoing priorities is to showcase specific examples of this, particularly in areas such as boosting opportunities for under-represented groups. This was a key theme of our recent discussions with Sarah Newton, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work and is a core component of the Good Recruitment Campaign. Ensuring that a future UK jobs market is ‘allinclusive’ is also at the heart of the work we are taking forward on the back of our Future of Jobs Commission. Members’ week is just one of the channels for driving this ongoing and mutually beneficial exchange of intelligence and thought leadership on current and future labour market challenges. You can follow Tom on Twitter nt @hadleyscomment
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2.5%
THE INTELLIGENCE RETAIL RESEARCH
Thalia Ioannidou, REC senior researcher REC research is always produced with our members in mind, whether that’s through policy and labour market research to promote a buoyant jobs market or member research to help recruiters be as successful as they can be within their own business. One sector of recruitment that we’re often asked about is the retail sector, especially in light of the EU referendum result as this sector is particularly reliant on EU labour. Our June 2017 report ‘Building the Post-Brexit Immigration System’ found that: ‘In the vast majority of UK regions, retail is among the top three sectors hiring EU nationals.’ The REC’s monthly Report on Jobs survey of recruiters now includes a year’s worth of
INDUSTRY WORKFORCE COMPOSITION SHIFTING The latest data from Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIBIndex), measuring participating companies’ performance, shows that there has been a shift in the workforce composition of the median recruiter over the last two years, as evidenced by a decline in the proportion of fee earners. Whilst there was just a small downward movement
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data specifically on the retail sector and will continue to update on this monthly. As we only have one year of data so far, we cannot seasonally adjust the data for the retail sector. Therefore, we rather unsurprisingly saw demand for temporary retail staff fall in both January and February 2018 after the Christmas peak before then increasing again in March. However, for permanent retail hiring, demand for staff fell in April 2018. Moreover, when looking at the data for the year-todate, demand for permanent retail staff was increasing at its fastest rate in April 2017. Other sources have highlighted a range of factors that have led to a challenging period for the retail sector more broadly including rising inflation and low consumer confidence. After several years of low inflation, the Consumer Price Index has been at 2.5% or higher for the past year and the GfK (Growth from Knowledge) Consumer
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX HAS BEEN AT 2.5% OR HIGHER FOR THE PAST YEAR AND THE GFK CONSUMER CONFIDENCE BAROMETER HAS MEASURED CONSUMER CONFIDENCE AS NEGATIVE SINCE MID-2016.
Confidence Barometer (which is reported in the REC’s monthly JobsOutlook report) has measured consumer confidence as negative since mid-2016. Additionally, a number of household names among high street retailers such as Toys R Us and Maplin have gone into administration this year, whilst others such as Mothercare, New Look, and Poundworld are closing stores and putting thousands of jobs at risk. By contrast, the ONS reported online sales reached a new high in March 2018, accounting for 17.4% of all retailing in the UK. From a labour market perspective, this suggests a growth in warehousing and delivery roles at the expense of customer service retail.
Fee earners as a percentage of all employees, for the median recruiter, Q2 2016-Q1 2018 100% 90%
80.1%
80%
78.8%
77.7%
77.1%
78.0%
74.6%
75.0%
71.7%
69.5%
70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Q1 2016
Q2
Q3
Q4
in the percentage of fee earners amongst the total workforce between Q1 2016 and Q1 2017, a more notable
Q1 Q2 2017
Q3
Q4
Q1 2018
change has occurred over the last year. Between Q1 2017-Q1 2018, the proportion dropped from
BY CONTRAST, THE ONS REPORTED ONLINE SALES REACHED A NEW HIGH IN MARCH 2018, ACCOUNTING FOR 17.4% OF ALL RETAILING IN THE UK.
However, recent data suggests there may be some light at the end of the tunnel for high street retailers. The ONS’s May 2018 UK Labour market bulletin recorded pay rising above inflation for the first time since January 2017 and the JobsOutlook report for May 2018 shows that more employers think economic conditions are getting better than getting worse for the first time since July 2017. If economic conditions continue to improve, consumer confidence may begin to rise again and improve the fortunes of both retailers and the recruiters who support them. 78% to just under 70%. An increase in the deployment of resourcers and support staff to improve the productivity of the fee earner, is one key potential reason for the change. Belinda Johnson runs employment research consultancy Worklab, and is associate knowledge & insight director of Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB) – part of the Bluestones Group. The RIB Index provides bespoke confidential reports on industry benchmarks and trends. See www.ribindex.com; info@ribindex.com: 020 8544 9807. The RIB is a strategic partner of the REC.
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The Big Talking Point
ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT BIG WINS... ON POLICY
DEEP IMPACT The REC released its Annual Impact Report earlier this month, highlighting the organisation’s biggest wins over the past 12 months. Recruitment Matters looked into the report and pulled out some of the big numbers
• 36 consultation responses and proactive submissions to government • 34 meetings with government ministers, MPs and government departments • 2 meetings at Number 10 Downing Street • We presented our ‘Ready, willing and able?’ research in Parliament twice – once to the House of Lords Liberal Democrat Brexit Committee and once at the UK Warehousing Association’s annual parliamentary luncheon • More than 70 policy newsletters, briefings and sector group updates sent
REC – BY THE NUMBERS MORE THAN
2,500
recruiters attended an REC event in 2017
25,000 total downloads of the REC Scale Up Podcast
£32.2bn
MORE THAN
68,260
the total industry UK turnover*. What recruiters do matters.
Jobs transform lives. As the largest professional body for recruitment, the REC champions the value that recruiters deliver by working tirelessly to raise the profile of our members and helping to improve the reputation of the industry. Find out more about the impact of the REC at www.rec.uk.com/ourimpact
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* Recruitment Industry Trends 2016/17
minutes of member engagement
137
open and in-company learning courses delivered
10,627 IRP members
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...ON MEDIA • 3,035 total media hits in 2017, 376 more than in 2016 • 721 targeted media hits, 88 more than in 2016 • 77% increase in online media impressions • In 2017 we achieved a 58% increase in coverage by City AM since 2016 and doubled our coverage in The Telegraph. We achieved a 17% increase in coverage by the Daily Mail • We were mentioned on TV and radio 481 times in 2017, including 61 times on LBC, having not featured on the station in 2016 • Our spokespeople were interviewed on TV and radio 49 times
...ON PROFESSIONALISING THE INDUSTRY
...ON LEADING THE INDUSTRY
...ON BEING BELIEVERS IN GOOD RECRUITMENT
• On track to get 11, 500 IRP members by the end of 2018 • The latest two-yearly test cycle was launched in January 2017: 30% of members have passed the test to date (end April 2017). • By the end of year more than 97% of members will have taken and passed the test • Became EPAO for recruitment apprenticeships • Increased numbers of apprenticeship centres by 50% • Launched new L3 Certificate in In-House Recruitment
• Hosted our second highprofile round table of 2018, with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Rt. Hon Esther McVey MP • Re-signed the formal agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions • Partnered with Women in Work All Parliamentary working group • Launched the REC Future of Jobs Ambassadors campaign
• On track to get 400 signatories to the Good Recruitment Charter by the end of 2018 • More than 250 HR directors and key resourcing decision makers due to attend TREC 2018 on 4 July 2018
34
MORE THAN
600
39,568
0
members actively involved in policy work
incoming queries to our legal helpline and customer contact centre.
meetings with government ministers, MPs, and government departments held
p
25%
41,574
2
meetings held at Number 10 Downing Street
of REC members passed the Compliance Test mid two year cycle (compared to 19% in 2015)
views of the REC Blog (14.42 per cent increase compared to 2016)
39,224
ny
answers given
721
appearances in national newspapers or recruitment/HR titles www.rec.uk.com
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3,035 total media hits
RECRUITMENT MATTERS JULY 2018 5
11/06/2018 16:09
Legal update
NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE By Bunmi Adefuye, solicitor and commercial adviser at the REC
UNIFORMS AND NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE National Minimum Wage (NMW) underpayment affects thousands of workers. HMRC’s targeted inspections and enforcement strategy forces employers to pay close to attention to what will constitute a reduction in wages, especially when a worker is paid NMW or a slightly above. In March, HMRC named and shamed 179 employers who did not comply with the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 (NMW Regulations). Surprising, some very large employers were exposed because of their uniform policies, as they misunderstood how the NMW Regulations applies to uniforms. Most workers are entitled to be paid at least NMW provided they work in the UK under a contract and are of compulsory school leaving age. Under the NMW Regulations, certain
deductions from pay or payments due from the worker in a pay reference period will be treated as a reduction for the purpose of calculating a worker’s total pay. Under the NMW Regulations, employment businesses that have directly engaged their workers will be deemed to be employers. The cost of a uniform is expenditure in connection with the worker’s employment and the NMW Regulations prevent employers from either charging workers upfront or making deductions to their wages that will take the pay below the NMW in a pay reference period for such expenditure. If the NMW rates are breached, the employer must make up the difference during the pay reference period and bring the worker’s pay back up to the NMW. The difficulty with uniforms
is that even if the worker can use the items for other occasions because they are not branded but generic – such as black shoes or black trousers or even white t-shirts – the cost should still be considered for NMW purposes because wearing those items is a requirement by the employer for the role. The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 also applies, as it restricts the employment agency and employment business from requiring workers to pay for additional services in order to obtain work-finding services. Therefore, they should not charge workers for a uniform as a condition for providing their service. HMRC has a technical manual (found on the government’s website – www. gov.uk), which provides this advice on required uniforms:
“As a condition of employment an employer may require workers to wear specific uniforms. If the employer requires the worker to purchase specific items, such as overalls, then any deductions made from pay or payments made to the employer in respect of those items will always reduce National Minimum Wage pay. “If a worker makes a payment to a third party for required uniforms the payment will also reduce National Minimum Wage pay since it is expenditure incurred in connection with the worker’s employment.” Going forward, if your workers are receiving pay that is close to the NMW, it may be worth agreeing with the client who will bear the cost of the uniform in order to limit the risk of taking the workers’ pay below the NMW and avoid being named and shamed by HMRC.
IS CONTRACT FLEXIBILITY THE SECRET TO RETAINING TOP IT TALENT? Retaining top talent is a challenge facing most, if not all, recruitment firms. Providing staff with the right technology can facilitate flexible working and promote a better worklife balance. A flexible IT contract can make potentially huge cost savings to reinvest back into staff while providing them with the best tools to do their jobs. When reviewing your IT contract there are three key areas to consider: 1) Staff turnover: if your staff members
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vary month-to-month it could mean you are paying excess IT costs. A fixed price contract does not take into account staff reduction or a gap between leavers and joiners. On a flexible contract you only pay for the support, licensing, telephone and mobile contracts for the exact amount of people employed. Amounting to potentially huge cost savings over 12 months. 2) IT system regret: ever purchased software or IT support that you
regretted? A good IT provider can add or remove systems and software when they are needed, retired or replaced – saving your business money. 3) Upscale, downscale and M&A: businesses change size for all sorts of reasons. A flexible, monthly IT contract means your business can expand or reduce in size while keeping costs low – without being locked in. Laura Tyson, Redstone Connect
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Inspiration
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE INSTITUTE OF RECRUITMENT PROFESSIONALS
The View
Jessica Kitchin in is a permanentt consultant at Hamblin Employment Group
Yasmin Bryant is a divisional manager at CSG
Q&A
DAY IN THE LIFE
My typical day… Typical day? Is there ever such a thing as a typical day in recruitment? I tend to arrive at 8.30am, check all emails and fight fire accordingly. Check in new starters, interview various candidates and assess their suitability for our many vacancies. I attend client meetings and lobby for new business. If it’s quiet in the office I might make some calls but then if new vacancies come in I drop everything to fill them. It’s an ever-changing environment and that’s why I love it.
My alarm goes off... I usually check my emails first thing on my mobile at about 6am. After feeding my cat Tilly and having fruit and yogurt for breakfast, I head into the office for around 8am.
My most memorable work moment… Was meeting with a new start-up company on the Isle of Man and going on to place all their initial staff, some of whom were flown to Australia for training. It was amazing to have been involved from conception and see the company grow. Seven years on we still recruit for them. My most challenging placement… I think every placement is a challenge because you’re relying on so many factors. You secure the role but can you find the candidate? Candidate gets an interview but will they be successful? Candidate gets a job offer but will they accept? Candidate accepts but will current employer counter offer? In most industries, if you provide a service – you get paid; we can work our butts off, but until a candidate has actually started we never know that it won’t all fall through – and even then, we have a 12-week refund period to get through. You can do all the candidate control in the world but unfortunately you can never predict or control people. If I had to name the most challenging placement I would say it was the logistics of recruiting someone from India. It took 10 months to find this person and after four Skype interviews he was flown to the Isle of Man for a face-toface presentation. We then had the challenge of his visa and relocating him to the Isle of Man.
I’m responsible for… … the UK-based Consumer team, managing business and also working on their development and growth. Making sure that the team are all continuously improving whilst also enjoying what they do is a challenge but so worthwhile! I got the job… When I first graduated I was working three jobs and wasn’t sure where I wanted to focus my career. I watch the film Friends with Benefits and after seeing Mila Kunis’s performance as a headhunter, I really liked the idea of doing it for a career. I had found my calling! I knew someone that worked at the headhunting firm BW Penman, one of the recruitment agencies that formed CSG. My contact was able to recommend me for an interview and my career took off from there. My typical day… A typical day for me consists of a wide range of activities, which every executive search consultant will perform. I speak with candidates for the roles I am hiring for, or more generally, listen to their stories to help them in their career progression. Sometimes I feel a bit of an agony aunt but it really helps to be able to understand candidates’ issues. I also lead daily meetings with my team to check their plans for the day, mainly to ensure that our forecasting and pipeline are on track. As manager it is my responsibility to make sure that the team is continuously profitable.
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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What’s coming up?
5 THINGS RECRUITERS MUST KNOW ABOUT THE UK LABOUR MARKET ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY By Philip Campbell, REC policy team leader 1. The Employment Agencies Inspectorate (EAS) should be beefed up The Director of Labour Market Enforcement Sir David Metcalf CBE highlighted that while EAS is responsible for regulating 18,000 agencies who engage over 1.1 million agency workers, it only employs 12 people on a budget of £750k. Sir David recognised that it’s time for EAS to receive some much-needed Tender Loving Care and has recommended an increase in its budget. However, this wouldn’t come without some changes. In fact, he is calling for EAS’ remit to be expanded to include other intermediaries such as umbrellas and potentially the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR). He has also called for EAS to take a more proactive approach to enforcement, not just responding to complaints along with a website revamp and clearer advertising. We support this much-needed promotion of EAS amongst work seekers and agencies. 2. National Living/Minimum Wage Naming and Shaming process could be reformed While recognising that the fear factor of naming and shaming is having a powerful effect, Sir David highlighted some of the inadequacies of this process.
For example, while it tends to work for larger employers, it doesn’t tend to have the same effect for smaller employers. It doesn’t distinguish between serious underpayments and simple administration errors. Finally, it doesn’t allow employers to learn from other employers’ mistakes. Sir David has therefore recommended a review of how naming and shaming is working, for BEIS and HMRC to review guidance of NLW/NMW in collaboration with stakeholders, for case studies should to be provided, and a greater focus should be on serious non-compliance. This is very welcome.
much designed for permanent employment and don’t tend to work for ‘atypical workers’ particularly agency workers. He shows a preference for rolling up holiday pay as this allows agency workers to receive their holiday pay in real time, but recognises that this is currently prohibited. He has recommended that in the long term HMRC enforce the payment of holiday pay, like they do for NMW, and interim EAS and GLAA investigate this as a matter of priority. We believe that before HMRC can do this the regulations need to be clarified for how they apply to agency workers.
3. Holiday pay is in the spotlight One of the areas that Sir David is particularly concerned about is workers not receiving the holiday pay they are due. He cites alarming figures of alleged non-payment of holiday pay and shines the spotlight on agencies in particular. He does admit he has not been able to corroborate these figures, and at this stage, his figures are based on one or two sources. We do not think these figures are correct and will be raising this in future discussions. However, he does raise a valid point, which is that the Working Time Regulations were very
4. Calls for joint responsibility for the endclient of their supply chain In order to ensure compliance throughout a supply chain, Sir David has recommended that some joint responsibility measures be introduced where the brand name at the top of a chain bears some joint responsibility for noncompliance found further down the chain. He doesn’t endorse full joint liability found in some other European countries but instead suggests a softer process where if noncompliance is found, followup action by enforcement agencies, in conjunction with the brand name and supplier,
RECRUITMENT MATTERS The official magazine of The Recruitment & Employment Confederation Dorset House, 1st Floor, 27-45 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NT
would be undertaken in private to provide an opportunity to prevent the infringement. However, if this isn’t correct this could result in a naming and shaming of the brand and the supplier. It is hoped that this would give leverage to greater compliance in the supply chain, with the end client wanting to protect their brand and therefore taking more due diligence for their supply chain. This is something we welcome. 5. Currently isn’t enough evidence for an extension of licensing While Sir David found many stakeholders were enthusiastic for an extension of licensing into other sectors he failed to find any sufficient evidence that this would improve compliance. He also noted that licensing had previously been tried in the recruitment sector and removed as it wasn’t effective. He has, however, highlighted the problems in the nail bar and car wash sectors, so has suggested a pilot licensing system of businesses (a move away from labour providers) in these sectors. For those calling for licensing in other sectors, he has now put the onus onto stakeholders to provide the evidence of why this would be the best option.
Membership Department: Membership: 020 7009 2100, Customer Services: 020 7009 2100 Publishers: Redactive Publishing Ltd, 78 Chamber Street E1 8BL. Tel: 020 7880 6200. www.redactive.co.uk Editorial: Editor Michael Oliver michael.oliver@redactive.co.uk. Production Editor: Vanessa Townsend Production: Production Executive: Rachel Young rachel.young@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6209 Printing: Printed by Precision Colour Printing © 2018 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.
Tel: 020 7009 2100 www.rec.uk.com 8 RECRUITMENT MATTERS JULY 2018
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Advertorial A DV ERTORI A L C L E A R V I E W
The nightmare scenario: slaves in your business or supply chain Couldn’t happen to you? Think again says David Camp, Chief Executive of the Association of Labour Providers (ALP)
R
ecruiters employing their workforce directly may think that they have the controls in place to prevent this, but there are many occasions on which companies big and small bring in contracted staff through recruitment firms or agencies, with little or no control over the standards by which the workers are recruited and managed; With the shortage of labour increasing as it is, the situation stands to get worse. Labour providers offer effective workforce sourcing and staffing solutions to enable their clients to react efficiently and economically to demand variations. However, poor practices by unscrupulous or unprofessional labour providers can leave workers vulnerable to unsafe and unacceptable employment conditions. In a recent report by the Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority’s (GLAA), The Nature and Scale of Labour Exploitation across all Sectors within the United Kingdom (published May 2018), the UK is described as one of the main destinations of trafficked workers in Europe, with forced labour accounting for about 30% of all exploitation. The National Crime Agency believes there are tens of thousands of people held in a situation of slavery in the UK. Victims may be recruited and controlled by organised crime groups and have been identified from over 100 source countries including Albania, Vietnam, China, Sudan, Romania and the UK itself.
To help recruiters and labour providers demonstrate that they operate responsibly, ALP, together with NSF International, a global assurance organisation, has launched Clearview (www.clearviewassurance.com), an independent certification scheme for labour recruiters
The Clearview scheme adds value to all stakeholders in the labour supply chain. In gaining certification through an independently verified audit programme, labour providers gain a competitive advantage over their non-certified competitors. Certification also demonstrates to clients evidence of due diligence, reducing their exposure to potential liability and providing investor and shareholder reassurance about the ethical treatment of workers. David Meller, Director of Ethical Sourcing at NSF, summed the position up; “Driving responsible recruitment through the agency labour market is critical in the battle against exploitation. Managing recruitment well is nothing new to in-house recruiters, but what we are seeing now is the spotlight being shone into the agency space. Clearview gives a platform to those agencies that want to showcase what a great job they are doing.” ●
↗
With its enhanced enforcement powers, in the last 12 months, the GLAA has launched nearly 200 investigations, identified over 1,300 victims of labour exploitation and arrested over 100 people for modern slavery offences. If a business finds itself in the position of utilising slave labour the consequences can be severe, including jail sentences and heavy fines for those deemed responsible. The cases brought to court have attracted wide publicity and have caused huge brand damage to the companies involved.
and providers. The scheme applies to workers recruited and supplied in any country across many industry sectors.
CLEARVIEW For further information please visit: www.clearviewassurance.com Telephone: +44 (0)1993 885 600 Email: clearview@nsf.org
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E EMPLOYABILITY CO M M UNITY
CRACKING THE RE-OFFENDING CODE BY CAROLINE ROBERTS
S
tories like Ashley Fulcher’s are all too common among the prison population: thrown out of school with few prospects; multiple convictions and prison sentences interspersed with failed attempts to get back on his feet. But now he’s turning his life around, thanks to an innovative project to teach computer coding skills in prisons. The non-profit Code 4000 project was launched last July with a pilot in HMP Humber, inspired by a coding programme in California’s San Quentin State Prison. It’s only the third project of its kind in the world, the second being in a South African jail. Government figures show that only around a quarter of inmates gain work on their release. The aim of the project is to equip more prisoners with an in-demand 21st century skill and increase employability, says founder Michael Taylor. “With coding, it doesn’t really matter what your previous educational level or experience is. It’s more about having the right mindset and some people just click with it. We want to give as many prisoners as possible the opportunity to give it a try.”
Pilot projects There are 16 students on the Humber pilot and the project is currently in the process of expanding into Holme House Prison in Teesside. Workshops are led by an on-site facilitator with remote help from industry experts who dial in via Skype and Google Hangouts. After building their skills, prisoners move on to working on real-world projects for external 28 RECRUITER
clients. This is followed by work experience on day release, with the ultimate aim of finding them employment as developers when they leave prison. Fulcher took to coding immediately. “You wouldn’t believe how mind-numbing it is being on the wing. Going to the workshop was like stepping out of prison for the day,” he says. “You know you’re progressing and learning – that makes a big difference to how you feel.” He was released from prison in January and soon
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CO M M U N I T Y
EMPLOYABILITY
E
Code 4000 aims to roll out in more and more UK prisons in the coming months
Left: Former prisoner Ashley Fulcher now works as a developer at London tech company Bulbshare, thanks to Code 4000's programme (above)
“I don't feel there’s a limit to where I can go”
began work as an apprentice developer with London tech company Bulbshare, a co-creation platform that enables brands and their audiences to collaborate on new products, services and campaigns. “Coming to London wasn’t the easiest of moves but Code 4000 has supported me every step. It’s good to know you have people behind you. I’ve only ever worked in dead-end manual jobs before; it’s nice to be in an environment where I have choice over the path I follow. I don’t feel there’s a limit to where I can go with this – I can just keep learning, growing and rising.” Bulbshare’s owner Matt Hay says: “Code 4000 is rooted in a core belief that you can discover and mould talent from anywhere and I think that’s what ultimately attracted us. It was obvious upon first meeting Ash that he had a very clear resolve and
He spoke with passion about his subject and showed a willingness to work hard and listen to advice
determination to make a success on his release. He spoke with passion about his subject and showed a willingness to work hard and listen to advice.”
Extending the Code The plan is to roll out the project to as many prisons as possible throughout the UK, says Code 4000 founder Taylor. “A lot of employers are very positive about recruiting ex-offenders but they often only think about employing them in manual or service roles. We want them to think more broadly as prisons contain people with many different abilities.” One of the biggest challenges is that prisoners are banned from using the internet so all the work has to go on offline. “A lot of modern technology may be free and open source but you need internet access,” says Taylor. “Some things we can download with the permission of the authors but it’s quite labourintensive. We have to spend hours chiselling away at things that are designed to be used on the internet to get them to work in an offline context so it makes things ten times harder. “We need volunteers from the coding community to help with the running of the project, or to teach remotely or on site. And we’re very keen to hear from anyone who might be able to help with job placements, apprenticeships or work experience.” • To find out more, contact info@code4000.com ● WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 29
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13/06/2018 12:31
CO M M U N I T Y
SOCIAL NETWORK WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO? GET IN TOUCH!
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Whether it’s doing laps of the Yorkshire Peaks, running round a racecourse or spoiling a good walk (only joking, golf fans!), you’ve been busy outside of recruiting…
BENEFER’S PEAK PERFORMANCE FOR HEDGEHOGS VIA Glutton for punishment Peter Benefer, a recruiter at Eden Brown Built Environment, has lived up to his promise of completing three circuits of the Yorkshire Three Peaks. In aid of HERBY (Hedgehog Emergency Rescue Bingley Yorkshire), Benefer, along with mascot Harry the Hedgehog, started at 4pm on Friday 23 May and finished on Sunday 25 May at 11.20am. Summing up the feat in his own words, he pronounced: “I’m broken!” However, hopefully the fact that he’s raised well over £1k might go some way to help him forget the agony he went through. Well done, Peter! We’re frightened to ask what’s next…?
ALL THAT GLITTERS… VIA Red Berry Recruitment sparkled at the 5km Glitter Run in scorching conditions at Wincanton Racecourse raising funds for St Margaret’s Hospice. The recruiter sponsored the Glitter Stations, which were dotted around the course, with seven members of Team Berry taking part in the run.
PPHE HOTEL GROUP JOINS FORCES WITH THE PRINCE’S TRUST TO ENCOURAGE YOUNGSTERS INTO HOSPITALITY VIA
TW I TT E R
International hospitality company PPHE Hotel Group has joined forces with youth charity The Prince’s Trust to encourage young people into the UK’s hospitality sector at a Get Hired event held by The Prince’s Trust. More than 80 young people attended (below). Wayne Hodgson, chairman of the foundation (centre), with winning team from Rainbow Greenhouses UK
RED EAGLE SWINGS INTO ACTION TO HELP DISADVANTAGED KIDS IN KENT VIA Red Eagle Foundation, a charity set up by Kent-headquartered Red Eagle Recruitment, held its first fundraising event, a golf day at Chestfield Golf Club near Whitstable. An amazing £12,142.30 was raised towards helping children with mobility, mental health and learning difficulties that are not supported by the NHS.
Recruiter Magazine @RecruiterMag May 21 Dogged determination makes for pawsome ending to search for canine critic https://bit.ly/2LF3qEw @CanineCottages #CanineCritic 2018 #cockapoos #recruitment @RecruiterMag instagram.com/recruitermagazine/ recruitermagazine.tumblr.com/
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E CAREERS CO M M UNITY
The Workplace BY GUY HAYWARD
32 RECRUITER
cycle to work, people living in London on average spend 81 mins a day on their journey to and from work – the equivalent of 38 working days a year. And a recent survey from CIPD appears to support my aim of making working from home the norm: 36% of us would prefer the option of working from home than a pay rise. I’m not sure at Goodman Masson we have our approach quite right, which is why we have engaged with Karen Mattison MBE and the founder of Timewise. I want to understand how our sector can truly embrace working from home (and flexible working) and remove the old-school thinking that presenteeism in the office is essential for togetherness as a team. I would love our industry to influence the wider business community. Look at the business metrics of our people that work from home. The number of candidates that we speak to and CVs sent to clients is some 40% higher than on a normal day. In some workplaces, according to the ‘Work without Walls’ survey by Microsoft, productivity is 71% higher. Surely it affects our health and wellbeing, too. You can introduce down time to your working day: complete a
“I want to understand how our sector can remove the old-school thinking that presenteeism in the office is essential for togetherness as a team” 30-minute workout in front of your TV, go on a run or enjoy a midday coffee with your neighbour, comfortable in the knowledge that when you are working, your intensity far outweighs what you would do on a normal day. I think maybe it is time that working from home becomes the norm. As Ron Friedman, author of The best place to work, points out, with twice the number of upsides to downsides, I can’t see what we have to lose. Unless, of course, the test match is on and then I definitely go into the office! ●
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THE IDEA OF WORKING FROM HOME was a figment of my imagination for far too long – and it shouldn’t have been. Today I hear companies talk about how they have embraced the approach, although I’m not convinced they have. Can we really be disruptive and embrace this in its entirety? Is working from home really embedded in the fabric of our company culture or the working experience of our people? When we think it is, it often isn’t. Do we actually need to be in the office at all? A line of thinking that I am coming closer and closer to believing in. My days at home have made a significant impact on how I feel about my wellbeing. Sounds a little dramatic maybe, but throwing on shorts and t-shirt, taking the kids to school, having a croissant in the local bakery before I even think about work is a wonderful foundation for a great day ahead. The removal of the commute is significant. You can even drop in a 5k run around the local park to get the endorphins flowing before you nestle down in front of your screen. I know my colleagues feel the same. While I personally enjoy my
GUY HAYWARD – redefining the modern workplace CEO, Goodman Masson
JULY 2018
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CAREERS
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Find your next move in recruitment on jobs.recruiter. co.uk
Time to be flexible BY MATTHEW GODDARD
↗ MATTHEW GODDARD is managing director at Rhembo Consultancy, a specialist agency recruiting inhouse resourcing professionals via its Rhembo In-house Recruiters division
AS IN-HOUSE RECRUITERS, we have a great opportunity to champion flexible working from the outset, both for the positions for which we recruit but also to influence the businesses we work for with regard to our own roles. The benefits of flexible working are often reported as quite one-sided, focusing on the advantages it gives the employees, but various studies suggest that those advantages are far-reaching, and also positively impact employers. Increased employee engagement and motivation, higher productivity levels and a reduction in employee absenteeism are some of the key employer benefits of introducing flexible working. So, what about in-house recruiters championing the cause for their own roles either in their existing ones or when looking for a new job? As key influencers in recruitment processes, surely it’s our role to ensure requirements of our own job or
“We should be having these conversations with hiring managers” potential new job is scrutinised, and flexible working arrangements considered where possible. Does a successful resourcing professional need to be at their desk between 9 to 5 Monday to Friday to achieve their objectives? As recruiters, we should be having these conversations with hiring managers about the positions we’re hiring across the wider business, and when resourcing managers hire other recruiters too. We’re finding that more and more of our top performing experienced candidates, as well as agency recruiters looking to move in-house, are looking for employers who have a flexibility mindset within their businesses, particularly after realising earlier in their career that with a laptop, ‘the cloud’ and a company mobile that they’re ‘good to go’ from anywhere. Progressive resourcing managers looking to grow their teams of recruiters understand that to hire the best, the
ability to offer flexible working arrangements needs to be front and centre. Here is an example of how this has worked in action for one of our clients, where senior business leaders were resistant to change. A senior talent acquisition manager was building her in-house team and in order to secure the best candidates knew she needed to get buyin to trial something quite different; she created a flexible working model with a number of options to suit a variety of work-life balance needs. The results after six months were so overwhelmingly positive – an engaged and motivated team, business critical KPIs exceeded, and 0% retention – that she was able to recommend the model be trialled within other business units. Hearts and minds shifted astonishingly. Ultimately, times are changing, and we’re moving speedily towards a time where employers are not justifying why a job needs to offer a flexible working arrangement, but why it needs not to. Talent acquisition professionals have the opportunity to really make a difference in this area that will not only benefit the companies they recruit for and the candidates they recruit, but their own careers too. I’d go as far as saying that smart recruiters have the influence to be the catalysts of change in this area. ●
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ASK THE EXPERT Q: How quickly should my new recruits be billing? My target is to have rookie recruiters bill over £100k in their first year. To make this achievable it is important to provide training and structure that starts them contributing to the business within the first month. Here’s how I approach it.
Step 1: Train them on the basics of candidate engagement By the end of their third day with the company, through shadowing and training new recruits should: • understand the recruitment process • be able to update your CRM [customer relationship management] system • know the basics of engaging with candidates.
Step 2: Get them on the phone From day four rookies should be doing simple candidate calls and updating the CRM. You need to know if they can cope with the critical phone part of the job.
Alex Arnot The SME Coach in a one-in-six ratio. During their first month they will produce shortlists for 15+ roles. If their shortlists result in two placements you would otherwise not have made, at an average fee of £5k that is an extra £10k in fees. And the best news is that the rookie’s confidence grows with every success.
Time management & prioritisation Step 3: Give them a job to work on Every one of your experienced recruiters should have more jobs than they can handle effectively – if not they should be doing more business development to enable them to cherry-pick the best roles. At the start of their second week, give your rookie one of the non-priority jobs, and give them a full day to research a shortlist. The lead consultant for the role should review the shortlist to ensure your client service quality isn’t compromised.
The maths Let’s assume you fill a quarter of roles you service but the rookie’s research is a little less effective, so results
As they develop, what makes the biggest impact to a novice recruiter’s effectiveness is time management. A disciplined approach to activity and prioritisation will often increase monthly revenues by 300%+. Rookies need the confidence to focus their energies on the roles and candidates most likely to generate a fee. Teach them to prioritise tasks into A, B and Cs. ‘A’s must be done that day even if it means staying late. ‘B’s are high priority but without an imminent deadline. ‘C’s are to be chipped away at as and when the opportunity arises. Every Friday afternoon the recruiter should put together their daily plan for the week ahead. ‘A’s should be scheduled into immovable blocks in their day and ‘B’s should also be allotted time. Depending on your structure, that means from month three or four, new business development calls should be a daily ‘A’ priority for at least 2.5 hours per week. In the meantime, your rookie will be delivering c£10k/month of extra fees for your company if you follow my approach.
YEAR 1 BILLING TARGETS
36 RECRUITER
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While £100k may seem daunting to a rookie recruiter when you break it down it is achievable: Months 1-2 £0k (contributing but not billing) Months 3-12 £10k = 2 placements = 10 shortlists
ALEX ARNOT is founder of MyNonExec and board adviser to more than 30 recruitment companies
JULY 2018
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Case Study ADV E RTO RIAL T H E R E C R U I T V E N T U R E G R O U P L T D
How Glynne Dyer launched Vanta Staffing with support from The Recruit Venture Group
Glynne Dyer, Vanta Staffing
H
ow can you possibly consider starting your own business when you have a family and a mortgage to pay, no savings to draw upon and would be abandoning a solid job?
That is exactly what Glynne Dyer did a year ago when he took the plunge to set up his own agency after 18 years in recruitment.
“It was then I knew something had to change, and I knew deep down that if I had my own business, I would not only have full control of my working day, but also more control over what I earned too,” said Glynne. In January 2017, Glynne had his first meeting with Paul Mizen, Managing Director of the Recruit Venture Group, after being put in touch via a colleague. “Paul was great, and we just had a really useful early chat about the possibilities of me going it alone, and how he could help.
But Glynne's new chapter of entrepreneurship is not about him borrowing more than he can afford, putting his house at risk, and living off credit cards month-to-month to keep the wolf from the door.
“My wife Charlotte was very against the idea, because of our position with the children and the mortgage, so she came with me to the next meeting. By the time we had finished our conversation with Paul, she was even more excited about the idea than I was!”
He launched Vanta Staffing in Slough June 2017 completely risk-free thanks to support from The Recruit Venture Group. The Group backs new recruitment businesses with 100% of the finance needed for launch, as well as a swathe of back office support to get things up and running.
Vanta Staffing then launched in June 2017, just six months after Glynne’s initial chat with Paul. Focusing on the industrial, driving and commercial sectors, Glynne says those first six months flew by, as he established the business established, made calls and built trust among clients, both old and new.
Glynne said: "I’ll be perfectly honest, with a wife and three kids to take care of as well as a mortgage to pay, there is no way I would have been able to start this new adventure without the help of The Recruit Venture Group.
Vanta now employs six people and turned over twice as much money in 2017 as Glynne was expecting. He now plans to treble that turnover for 2018.
“Like a lot of people, I was at a stage of my career where I knew that if was ever going to run my own business, I had to do it then. I’m so glad I decided to go through with it.” The Recruit Venture Group model takes care of not just finance, but all essential business functions like payroll, accountancy, marketing, IT, legal and HR. The model is specifically designed to allow talented recruiters to get on with the job they do best – filling vacancies with quality candidates and keeping clients happy. Glynne’s career story is one of continued success, from starting at the bottom of the recruitment ladder to working his way up to area manager positions, with responsibility for setting up and running whole branches. But he knew something had to change when, despite taking on more and more responsibility from his employer, he noticed that his pay packet was actually reducing, because he was no longer able to focus on work that would earn him commission.
The Recruit Venture Group’s Paul Mizen said: "We support 43 businesses just like Glynne's and I'm delighted to see Vanta Staffing going from strength to strength in just its first 12 months. "It is so satisfying for the whole Recruit Venture team to see the potential of these talented recruiters unlocked through owning their own business. "Once we sit down with people and have a chat about how we can support them, like we did with Glynne, you see that fear factor go. That initial trepidation turns into optimism and energy for what their new business might achieve. The 43 businesses that we support daily are testament to the fact that this model really works, and I was delighted when Glynne said he too was ready to take that next step. The results speak for themselves.” Glynne added: “Nothing quite prepares you for when you walk into your own office on the first day of trading and pick up the phone for the first time. It’s exhilarating. It’s also a little bit scary, but ultimately this journey so far has been so rewarding; I wish I had taken this step sooner.” ●
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E CAREERS CO M M UNITY
‘I love the fact you can make contacts with candidates who then become clients’ MY BRILLIANT RECRUITMENT CAREER What was your earliest dream job?
What was your first ent job in recruitment u and how did you come into it? ent My first recruitment urcer role was as a resourcer at Office Angels. I got the role by going to see if they could help me find a job.
Who is your role model – in life or in recruitment? My role models would be my dad in life, as he is such a grafter, and a kind and generous person. In acting,, it would man is be Julie Walters – the woman a legend. In recruitment, itt would be my managers Viv Blake and Stuart Furneaux, who have taught me everything I know but also to find my own way by being myself.
What do you love most about your current role? I love the fact you can make contacts with candidates who then become clients, and that you can really make a difference in helping people’s careers move forward.
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My earliest dream job was ll do acting, which I still ment. I alongside recruitment. d have have an agent and appeared in a BBC drama and commercials. I also ed for recently auditioned nes HBO’s Game of Thrones sful, but wasn’t successful, unfortunately.
MEGAN BARNARD, senior consultant, Search Consultancy
Megan Barnard What would y consider you t be the most to en of your career? brilliant moment One of the best moments would be when I placed an HR business partner in one of the biggest international accountancy firms and she gave me an HR director role to fill in her business before she left, which I filled.
Wh W a your top job to fill at What’s th the moment? Senior HR manager role within a law firm.
What is your signature dish? Pasta bake. I love Italian food and also make a mean bruschetta!
Laugh or cry, what did your most memorable candidate make you want to do and why? Cry, but in a good way! He was at that stage where he had been in admin level HR for a long time but was struggling to
get to the next level. I found him his HR adviser-level role. To hear how ecstatic and grateful he was gave me the most amazing feeling. He sent me flowers too, which was so lovely. He is now an HR manager and is a very valued client.
What’s the best or worst interview question you’ve ever heard? I’m really not a fan of ‘what’s your biggest weakness?’ or ‘where do you see yourself in five years’ time?’. I like questions such as ‘what are your biggest achievements in your career so far’ and asking the candidate to analyse what they have done and what they would do differently.
What would you regard as your theme tune? Run The World by Beyoncé because I’m a firm believer you can do whatever you want if you work hard and want it enough!
IMAG ES | SHUT T ERSTOCK / ISTOCK
14/06/2018 11:14
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W W W. R E C RU I T E R .CO.U K
RECRUITMENT
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HEAD OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES East Anglia Cooper Lomaz Recruitment is one of the largest privately owned recruitment businesses in East Anglia. We have organically grown over the past 28 years and have ambiƟous plans to grow the business further. Due to planned expansion, we are looking for a Head of Professional Services. This exciƟng opportunity will give you responsibility for the growth and development of three key divisions; Accountancy & Finance, Sales & MarkeƟng and Insurance. As part of the Senior Management Team, you will be responsible for driving proĮtability and headcount growth within these teams. • Reports Directly to the Managing Director • Path to Directorship • Full RelocaƟon Package Available • £45,000 - £55,000 + Bonus + BeneĮts We are oīering a highly compeƟƟve salary and package, a collaboraƟve and supporƟve environment and great career progression opportuniƟes. To Įnd out more please go to: hƩps://workwithus.cooperlomaz.co.uk/hops
#BrilliantlyConnected
ENTRY DEADLINE: 6 July 2018 CATEGORIES INCLUDE: Best Recruitment Strategy for Disadvantaged and Underrepresented Groups [NEW FOR 2018] / Best Recruitment Agency to Work For – Micro, Small, Medium, Large [NEW FOR 2018] / Most Effective Pay & Benefits Strategy / Best Workplace Environment / Most Inspiring Recruitment Leader
SAVE THE DATE | WINNERS ANNOUNCED Evening Awards 31 October, The Brewery, London T: +44 (0) 20 7880 6208 |
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E CAREERS CO M M UNITY
AIRSWIFT: The global workforce solutions provider welcomes Meredith Morris as business development manager for global mobility.
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL STAFFING COMPANIES (APSCO): The recruitment trade body’s newly appointed representative committee has elected Pete Holliday, managing director of Sopra Steria Recruitment, as chair. Jon Cox, recruitment director at CCL Global, will take the position of vice chair.
in the Newbury office in Berkshire. Orpin joined Dovetail as an FM consultant in 2012.
FORWARD ROLE: The marketing, digital and IT recruiter has appointed Emma Allison head of marketing. CV-LIBRARY: John Salt, most recently group sales & marketing director at European online jobs careers site StepStone, has joined the independent job board as deputy managing director.
Steve Saville joins international accountancy and advisory firm Mazars as UK HR director. Saville has more than 15 years’ experience within multinational corporations and blue-chip companies. His previous roles include head of HR at banking giant Santander and most recently director of HR business partnering UK & Ireland at multinational media and digital marketing communications company Dentsu Aegis. He succeeds Brendan Collins as HR director, who becomes performance and executive coach. Collins will be working primarily with new partners and senior talent to help them maximise their potential at Mazars.
HAIG & CO: The Birminghambased recruiter has appointed partner Andrew Sparrow to head up its new cyber security and enterprise applications divisions.
Recruitment colleague recruitment manager Kirsty McFarlane.
KENNEDY EXECUTIVE SEARCH & CONSULTING: The global
CJUK: The hospitality recruiter welcomes Beckie Livesey as head of marketing and communications.
DOVETAIL GROUP: The HR specialist recruiter has promoted Hettie Orpin to facilities management (FM) recruitment team manager, managing Dovetail’s existing FM team 40 RECRUITER
JULY 2018
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HARRIER HUMAN CAPITAL: Rachael Kelly joins the talent management business as chief people officer and head of consulting.
HRC RECRUITMENT: Joe McShane, founder and director of Edinburgh-based Application Recruitment, has re-joined HRC to lead its professional services divisions in Edinburgh and Glasgow. McShane, who has provided consultancy to HRC, is joined by fellow former Application
network of privately owned executive search firms, welcomes Carl Lens as MD EMEA.
OYSTER PARTNERSHIP: Carley Malena has been appointed head of marketing at the property staffing specialist.
PEDERSEN & PARTNERS: The international executive search firm welcomes Sean Neo as client partner
Email people moves for use online and in print, including a short 14/06/2018 11:15
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covering the APAC region. Laurent Buratti, Anna Minto and Scott Snyder join as partners in their Paris, Dallas and Philadelphia offices respectively. Sherry Duda and Adam Howe join as principals in the Chicago and London offices. Madrid-based Alberto Bocchieri joins to lead the firm’s new global board services practice group.
THE CURVE GROUP: The outsourcing and talent management company welcomes Simon Pridgeon (pictured left-hand column, bottom) as head of client HR and support services.
CONTACTS EDITORIAL +44 (0)20 7880 7606 Editor DeeDee Doke deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk
Reporters Colin Cottell, Graham Simons colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk graham.simons@recruiter.co.uk
Contributing writer Caroline Roberts, Sue Weekes Production editor Vanessa Townsend vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk
Designer Craig Bowyer Picture editor Akin Falope
SEVENSTEP: The North American-based global provider of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) services has appointed Ian Cluroe head of global marketing.
STAFFLINE: Andy Hogarth has stepped down as non-executive director at the recruitment and employability organisation. Hogarth had been CEO from 2004 to January of this year.
ZRG PARTNERS: The USheadquartered global executive search firm welcomes Bruce Robertson as MD and head of its financial officer practice in New York.
YOU R NE X T M OV E
STANTON HOUSE: The international recruiter welcomes Jo Finch as finance director. Jacqueline Gordon also joins as marketing and communications manager.
TFS HEALTHCARE: The healthcare staffing specialist has promoted Phillip Duke from principal consultant to divisional manager.
A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk Amberjack Senior assessment consultant Newbury, Berkshire HR, IT £competitive Collins Squared Regional director North of England Generalist £70k basic + tailored benefits Cooper Lopaz Recruitment Head of professional services Accountancy/finance/sales East Anglia £45k-£55k + bonus + benefits
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CIRCULATION and SUBSCRIPTIONS Recruiter is the leading magazine for recruitment and resourcing professionals. To ensure each issue of Recruiter magazine is delivered to your desk or door, subscribe now at https://subs. recruiter.co.uk/subscribe. Annual subscription rate for 12 issues: £35 UK; £45 Europe and £50 Rest of the world • Recruiter is also available to people who meet our terms of control: http://bit. ly/RecruiterCC • To purchase reprints or multiple copies, or any other enquiries, please contact mysidekick@recruiter.co.uk or +44 (0)20 8950 9117 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. © 2018 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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14/06/2018 12:05
E THE LAST WORD CO M M UNITY
Michelle Mellor Biting the hands that feed us
Chefs love feeding people – that’s their job. As we increasingly become a nation of food lovers, chefs’ jobs become much more than just putting food on the table. But the big, continuing question throughout the food and drink sector is: “Where are all the chefs?”
the industry due to issues such as stress and a poor work-life balance, which affect virtually every sector of industry today. Nobody wants to work long hours without being paid for it, but too often this is the reality for many chefs.
So, what is the solution? The current state of play Demand remains at an all-time high in the sector. However, the recruitment and retention of chefs is in crisis, despite the industry remaining strong as the trend of new restaurant and food openings across the UK continues. The average staff turnover across the whole sector is 75%. If we are to boost attraction and retention rates, it is crucial that we re-humanise the industry – rather than de-humanise it – by placing our people front and centre of every business. It is clear now more than ever that chefs are leaving
I believe that taking the time to have relevance with your workforce, to understand what they hold of value and of greatest importance, will keep staff engaged. Giving people a sense of belonging at work is vital if we are to make any difference to careers in the sector. Hospitality is all about pleasing people, so it’s vital that we make it an industry where people want to work rather than one that they merely survive in. But for this to happen, we need to start by pleasing our own people. Essentially, chefs just want to be valued, respected and paid fairly for the job
For this to happen, we need to start by pleasing our own people 42 RECRUITER
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that they do, and there’s no reason why this can’t be the reality. At CJUK we are championing the cause of putting our chefs first through our Chef’s Charter, and adding value through extra benefits such as health and wellbeing programmes, free high-quality uniforms and regular feedback. By actively shifting our strategic intentions to really focus on chefs and put them at the heart of our business, we’re seeing positive results across our recruitment and retention levels; they currently run at 26%. I run our family business based on four core principles, striving to ensure my workforce and everyone representing our business has responsibility, recognition, learning and joy in the workplace.
Looking ahead People businesses need to be more people-centric than ever before; ultimately taking care of people is where
Michelle Mellor is managing director, CJUK (Chefs Jobs UK)
we need to make massive improvements. More and more chefs choose to take on temporary roles as opposed to permanent ones, a trend seen in other sectors in the UK that seems set to continue. Careers in hospitality are built on enjoyment and enthusiasm; jobs in hospitality are the first introduction into the world of work for many. The sector is invaluable to young people being introduced to amazing professional skills, such as those of a chef, and to hundreds of job opportunities where skills can be transferred. We must place hospitality talent at the industry’s very centre and see the world from their perspective to ensure there are enough chefs to fill the jobs in the future. We mustn’t bite the hands that feed us.
JULY 2018
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