Recruiter March 2019 by Redactive Media Group

March 2019

INCORPORATING Recruitment Matters

www.recruiter.co.uk co.uk

Business intelligence for recruitment and resourcing professionals

01_COVER march.indd 1

05/02/2019 10:19

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C R ONT ENT S

INCORPORATING Recruitment Matters

18 A

NEWS

05 US tech firm digs up dodgy

08 10

behaviours on future hires AI software helps firms avoid potential problems with risky candidates In-house recruiters dubious about D&I success Latest research by The FIRM reveals doubts over the effectiveness of D&I Take diversity & inclusion more seriously or die Stark warning for the executive search industry to get its D&I house in order Start-up of the Month: TT Tech Solutions Trishna Thakrar on launching her technology recruitment firm This was the month that was... Contracts & Deals

TRENDS

12 Insight

C 16

Has the working population’s personality changed? Tech & Tools Joining the dots: Exploiting big data to find talent

FEATURES

18 THE BIG STORY

11 Most Influential In-House Recruiters 2O19 Who are the top innovators finding the much needed talent for companies in today’s fast-moving and uncertain business world?

E COMMUNITY 28 Community: Upstart

33 34 35 36 38

40 41 42

Dyslexia Academy for Exceptional Individuals Social Network The Workplace: Guy Hayward Workplace Innovation: Terence Mauri Business Advice: Alex Arnot My brilliant recruitment career: Madona Rixon, Term Time Teachers Movers & Shakers Recruiter contacts The Last Word: Martin Dangerfield

INTERACTION Viewpoint Kieran Smith, CEO, Driver Require Soundbites

I M AG E S | I STO C K / SH UTTER STO C K

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07/02/2019 10:23

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06/02/2019 16:04

N E WS

UPDATE

WE LCO M E

LEADER

esearch, or so-called research, has become an entrenched staple of the PR arsenal. Because so much of it is, frankly, dubious, repetitive and pretty meaningless, we aim to use only the most insightful, compelling and legitimate research. A report called ‘5 Culture Trends for 2019’ from the O.C. Tanner organisation looked promising. The ﬁrst trend was ‘A lack of connection and renewed focus on social and emotional wellbeing’. So far, so good. Number three was the ‘stop dead in your tracks’ bit: ‘The Switch “Because so from much research Engagement to is, frankly, dubious, we aim Peak Employee Experiences’. to use only the What is a peak most insightful, employee compelling experience at and legitimate work? Says research” Tanner: “Today’s best places to work know that every communication, every tool, every conversation with a leader – from recruitment to retirement – plays a role in connecting employees to purpose, accomplishment and one another.” It’s hard to know whether it’s the jargon or the expectation that’s questionable here, and O.C. Tanner hasn’t yet returned my call to discuss ‘peak employee experience’. We’ve gone from employer brand to candidate experience to peak employee experience. Should we send in the clowns?

DeeDee Doke, Editor

US tech firm digs up dodgy behaviours on future hires BY COLIN COTTELL

A US TECHNOLOGY company, which identifies bigotry, sexism, violence and drug use among potential hires on behalf of clients, says unearthing such behaviour “affects 12-15% of hiring decisions on average”, including clients changing their decision. The Los Angeles-based company Fama, founded in 2015, uses AI-based software to identify such problematic behaviour. It says its technology has identified 82,900 instances of misogyny, 40,200 instances of bigotry, 677 insinuations of violence and 589 instances of criminal behaviour to date. It claims to scan 15,000 candidates and employees a month, including some in the UK, on behalf of 120 clients, including Fortune 500 companies. The software searches all publicly available online information, including text and images, and then produces a report for clients based on ‘the red flags’ that clients ask it to look for. Ben Mones, Fama’s CEO and co-founder, told Recruiter: “Typically, our clients are looking for things like bigotry, sexism, violence and references to drugs. If gone unchecked, these types of behaviours can lead to hostile work environments, increased turnover and reputational harm that damages shareholder value. Risky hires can cost a company that employs 1,000 people at least $1.28m [£990k] a year from increased turnover and absenteeism.” Mones said the “lookback period” depends on local laws and regulations. In the US, for example, he said Fama operates under a seven-year lookback period as per the Fair Credit Reporting Act. According to Mones, Fama always obtains a candidate’s informed consent before conducting a screening. “If a search results in any flags, an employee receives a copy of the report and typically has five to seven days to contest the results,” he explained. “If an employee refuses to give consent for a search, we defer to the hiring manager on how they wish to proceed.”

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37,722 FOLLOWERS

NE WS

UPDATE

AS OF 7 FEBRUARY 2019

In-house recruiters dubious about current D&I success BY COLIN COTTELL

NEW RESEARCH BY The FIRM (Forum of In-House Recruitment Managers) suggests that there are serious doubts among in-house recruiters about the effectiveness of current diversity & inclusion (D&I) strategy and initiatives. The ‘Diversity & Inclusion Key Insights Report’ reveals that while 92% of respondents say D&I “is a key area of focus” for them, only 16% rate their efforts as deserving eight or more out of 10. In contrast, 40% rated their efforts at three out of 10 or lower. Furthermore, only 8% of respondents say they are able to demonstrate a return on investment (ROI) from increased workplace D&I, with 68% saying they are unable to do so, and 24% saying it is too early in their D&I journey. The report shows that individually, organisations are implementing myriad D&I initiatives. These range from setting D&I-based key performance indicators to adapting their recruitment processes, and sourcing from a more diverse talent pool. Other initiatives include working with suppliers, positive action programmes, skills coaching and mentoring, and the development of internal employees networks for groups such as BAME. Some efforts are bearing fruit, with one transport company (all organisations in the report are anonymous), for example, saying that 56% of those recruited into

20 use blind C% AI CV screV and ening

6 RECRUITER

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56% of those recruited leadership rolesintwo ere women

MARCH 2019

leadership roles were women. A public sector organisation says its efforts have resulted in “enhanced retention of diverse groups, and increased brand recognition [among diverse groups]”. However, aggregated together, the report reveals that many D&I initiatives remain at a fairly basic level, with inclusive wording on job postings being used by 72% a prime example. In contrast, there is less evidence of more radical or new thinking, with only 20% using blind CV and AI CV screening. That said, there is evidence that not only are organisations aware of ‘unconscious bias’ but that many are taking action, with 40% saying they take it into account in their selection process, or that that they are training managers in it. The report begs questions about how seriously organisations take D&I, with only 20% of respondents saying they have a dedicated D&I executive or D&I team in place. Similarly, the report raises questions about the depth of that commitment, with 40% of organisations saying that their D&I initiatives operate at a ‘compliant’ standard, against the 36% that operate at ‘leader level’ standard, where the focus is on levelling the playing ﬁeld by addressing systematic cultural barriers.

On ly 20% organisations haveof dedicated D&I ex a ecutive

40% of organisations operate their D&I initiatives at a ‘compliant’ standard

I M AG E S | I STO CK

07/02/2019 10:24

N E WS

THOUGHTS FROM…

UPDATE

DAME FIONA KENDRICK DBE FO RM E R CHAIRMAN OF NESTLÉ UK & IRELAND, W H O WA S RECENTLY AWARDED AN HONOR ARY DEG REE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

“When we’re employing young graduates today we need them to be team players; we need them to actually get along with people, to have great interpersonal skills. But critically, we need people with problem-solving capability. That’s a key employability skill.”

KUSH KHANNA SH IPW RECKED 20 19 STAR AND RECRUITMEN T M ANAGER FROM INTERNATIONAL MEDIA O RGANISATION INTERTALENT RIGHTS GROUP

“I turn mundane into fabulous. Like legit, every single day. At work, people call me Director of Fun. Fun.”

DONALD TUSK PRESIDENT, EU ROPEAN COU NCIL

“I was wondering what a special place in hell looks like for people who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan of how to carry it out safely.”

Take D&I more seriously or die BY COLIN COTTELL

THE EXECUTIVE SEARCH industry faces an “existential threat” and “will die in our lifetime” if it doesn’t take diversity & inclusion more seriously by getting its own house in order, according to a senior executive at Raines International. The threat comes from clients, who increasingly demand that the suppliers they work with are representative of their communities or even of the country in which they are based, said Pauly Rodney (pictured), senior vice president at global search firm Raines International and head of its D&I practice. Speaking to an audience of talent acquisition and executive search professional firms in London, Rodney cited Hewlett Packard, whose chief marketing officer Antonio Lucio cancelled $1bn (£769m) worth of contracts, including executive search contracts, after suppliers failed to take seriously his demand “to radically improve the percentage of women and people of colour in leadership roles” in their organisations. This was after US-based food giant General Mills told external creative agencies it worked with that they had to be staffed by at least 50% women and 20% people of colour. “Many Fortune 50 and Fortune 100 companies are planning to do this in 2019, or at least looking to see what the impact is from the organisations that did so,” said Rodney. “So there is an existential threat, and it might come slowly or it might come quickly, but it is coming.” Rodney was speaking at an event to launch ALC Enable as a full services advisory consultancy for the executive search industry. The firm’s services now include advice on marketing communications, technology and processes, compliance, M&A, finance and legal, as well as advice for corporate in-house executive search functions: “Everything to help them with their growth and their strategy,” Tim Connolly, ALC Enable’s founder, told Recruiter.

STA RT-UP OF THE MONTH TT TECH SOLUTIONS Former Apprentice candidate Trishna Thakrar has struck out on her own to set up technology staffing specialist TT Tech Solutions in Essex. Thakrar, who previously headed up the technology and financial systems division at former Apprentice winner Ricky Martin’s recruitment business Hyper Recruitment Solutions, told Recruiter working with Lord Sugar and Martin had given her the confidence

to launch her own business. “My network, my background, my eight years in recruitment have really given me a solid reputation in the space I recruit within.” Looking ahead, Thakrar added she was uncertain whether she would seek external investment to aid expansion of her Thurrockbased business. “I think I can call on my own savings to make sure I can keep all of the business, but I want it to grow so I would [look again] this time next year. I would love

us to be based in London, somewhere in the Liverpool Street area… and have a solid team of about 10. “We’re not massive but I really want to partner with organisations – to be an arm of their business. I want us to be onsite if we can at places and at organisations, and try and work with brands that are where we are – small brands that are growing, expanding and who really want to make a name for themselves in their markets as well.”

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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 February issue of Recruiter was published J A N U A R Y •‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒→

TUE, 22 JANUARY 2019

T H U, 3 1 J A N U A RY 2 0 1 9

JOBS AD PARODYING THE PM ATTRACTS MILLIONS OF VIEWS

FINANCIALS: STAFFLINE DELAYS RESULTS DUE TO ALLEGATIONS INTO PAYROLL PRACTICES

A London-based production company has produced a jobs ad involving the Prime Minister that has gone viral. The ad attracted more than 20m views across social media and digital channels in just 72 hours. The video ad, the work of Studio Yes, contains the tag line ‘Fed up with your job too?’ and features an exasperated Theresa May returning to the safe haven of 10 Downing Street. According to Studio Yes, it attracted millions of views across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LadBible, UniLad, Imgur and Reddit without any media spend.

Staffline is investigating concerns raised related to invoicing and payroll practices within its recruitment division. The recruitment and training group was due to release its full-year results on 30 January, but said the results would be delayed pending a further update. The update revealed concerns had been brought to the group’s board relating to invoicing and payroll practices within its recruitment division. The group added that given the nature of the allegations, its preliminary results would not now be released until a full investigation had taken place. The board added it was confident its policies in relation to the allegations raised were appropriate, given these practices had been the subject of previous audits, but should they be substantiated, this could have a material impact on the group and its profitability. Pending the group’s investigation, Staffline added it had suspended its shares from trading on AIM, while shareholders would be updated in due course. Recruiter contacted Staffline for comment but was told the group could not comment on the specific nature of the allegations.

More: https://bit.ly/2WNjwCC

T H U, 2 4 J A N U A RY 2 0 1 9

STAY OFF MESSAGING CHANNELS WHEN COMMUNICATING WITH CANDIDATES Recruiters should avoid communicating with candidates over social media messaging channels such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. This is due to the risk of recruiters falling foul of general data protection regulation (GDPR) compliance, according to Patrick Van Der Mijl, co-founder of Speakap, an internal communication app. Research from Speakap showed 53% of frontline workers in the retail, hospitality and entertainment industries said they use messaging apps up to six times daily for work-related communications. Yet 16% said their HR departments were unaware of such usage. And while recruiters do not appear to have taken part in the study, Peter Wright, solicitor and managing director at digital law firm DigitalLaw UK, told Recruiter consultants need to be equally wary of using such platforms when conversing with candidates, or risk massive fines that could be meted out for falling foul of GDPR. “You should only be sharing personal data on secure confidential and workplace-approved platforms. So, if you’re the employer and you’ve said we’ve invested in this secure email server and this end-to-end email encryption system… you could say that’s what we expect personal data to be exchanged on. “If you’ve then got staff going and setting up a WhatsApp group and using that to engage and discuss workplace activity, that then becomes a problem. “We aren’t talking about staff not having their own WhatsApp group for their team, to arrange going out for a drink one night or arranging the Christmas do or summer barbecue, that’s absolutely fine… “As a recruiter, if you’re sharing CVs on WhatsApp – absolutely not. You shouldn’t be using it to share information internally. And you shouldn’t be using it for professional workplace communication.”

More: https://bit.ly/2S6ZfsS

More: https://bit.ly/2ScFvnF

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IM AGES | ISTOCK / SHUT T ERSTOCK / AL AM Y / STU DI O -Y E S

06/02/2019 16:22

TUE, 5 FEBRUARY 2019

BAYFIELD PROMOTED TO CEO AT PARITY GROUP Matthew Bayfield has been appointed CEO from managing director at technology staffing business Parity Group, with current CEO Alan Rommel moving over to chief operating officer. Bayfield joined Parity’s senior management team in May 2018 to drive development and growth of its data offering within Parity Consultancy Services. More: https://bit.ly/2WLomjx

DAYS

←‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒• F E B R U A R Y

MON, 4 FEBRUARY 2019

RECRUITERS REQUIRE ROBUST SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES WHEN NABBING CONSULTANTS THROWING SICKIES

MON, 4 FEBRUARY 2019

HERMES STRIKES ‘SELF-EMPLOYED PLUS’ DEAL WITH UNION The subject of employee status has been thrown back into the spotlight as a German parcel delivery ﬁrm has struck an agreement with a union offering UK workers a ‘self-employed plus’ status. The BBC reports Hermes has reached an agreement with the GMB union to offer UK couriers paid holiday and guaranteed wage rates. Under the deal, Hermes workers can opt-in to receive up to 28 days of paid leave and can also choose pay rates of “at least” £8.50 an hour over the year. For their part, couriers will be required to follow routes speciﬁed by Hermes. While Hermes’s 15,000 couriers can currently deliver parcels in whichever order they want, the company says as it is guaranteeing hourly rates of pay, it needs to ensure that couriers are taking the most efficient route. According to the GMB union, the collective bargaining agreement is on an opt-in basis and “will not affect those couriers who wish to retain their current form of self-employed status and earn premium rates”.

Recruiters must have robust social media policies in place should they use postings to take action against consultants skipping work to go to an interview on National Sickie Day. To mark National Sickie Day [4 February] – the day of the year when traditionally British workers are most likely to call in sick – Arden University has commissioned research that reveals these workers could be at an interview, with 46% of workers claiming they were seeking new jobs at the start of the year. Stephen Jennings, partner and solicitor at law firm Tozers Solicitors, told Recruiter in such cases consultants could be fired for gross misconduct but agency bosses need to be sure of their facts before making any accusations. “It is now fairly well-established that social media postings are unlikely to give rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy. It is always helpful, though, to have an up-to-date disciplinary policy clearly listing conduct that would be considered to be gross misconduct – it is much easier to persuade an employment tribunal that a particular action justifies dismissal if you can show employees have been clearly warned.” Meanwhile Melanie Stancliffe, partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell, told Recruiter agency bosses should investigate suspect absences as they will need evidence to take formal action: “It is important for employers not to ‘jump the gun’ and assert the employee wasn’t ill, as they may have a genuine reason to be off and you don’t want to trigger an allegation of disability discrimination or a constructive unfair dismissal.” Stancliffe adds recruiters should resist checking of the employee’s location using apps, even on a work phone. “However, information may surface on their return to the office that would allow the company to take action and recoup sick pay to which the employee was not entitled,” she added. More: https://bit.ly/2BjLsVB

More: https://bit.ly/2DaaAOw

Find more daily news stories at recruiter.co.uk/news p8_9_recruiter_month-that-was.indd 9

TUE, 5 FEBRUARY 2019

HMRC REFUTES CONTRACTORCALCULATOR CLAIMS OF CEST INACCURACIES HM Revenue & Customs has expressed conﬁdence in the accuracy of its Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) as the tool comes under increased scrutiny. A statement from contracting authority ContractorCalculator claims HMRC has conceded that the tool has still not undergone any formal testing to produce detailed evidence of its accuracy claims since its release almost two years ago, despite repeated claims from HMRC and the Treasury that the tool is under continual review. HMRC had also revealed an informal assessment conducted to ensure that CEST meets the Government’s Digital Service (GDS) Standards, used “to check whether a service is good enough for public use” has also not been carried out. When contacted by Recruiter, HMRC said the CEST tool reﬂected employment status case law and had been “rigorously tested” throughout its development. “GDS Standards assessments are only required for transactional services, which allow users to exchange information, goods or services. As CEST is a tool for guidance purposes … a GDS assessment was not appropriate.” More: https://bit.ly/2SchsoW WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 9

07/02/2019 10:24

NE WS

CONTRACTS

CONTRACTS & DEALS

MG Search Independent executive search firm MG Search has agreed a partnership with former Scottish international rugby union player turned talent and coaching expert Tony Stanger from Stanger Pro. Stanger Pro will identify and develop top talent on behalf of their clients.

Resume-Library US cloud-based candidate and job matching service Resume-Library has agreed a strategic partnership with cloud-based candidate and job matching service Pocket Recruiter. Using machine learning, Pocket Recruiter assesses and scores candidates from a range of different sources, based on the overall content of their resumes. The partnership means that Resume-Library will now act as another source of talent for Pocket Recruiter clients, giving them access to candidates from Resume-Library’s database.

Schulthess Zimmermann & Jauch Swiss-based search firms Jauch Associates and Schulthess Zimmermann have merged to form Schulthess Zimmermann & Jauch. The combined advisory and executive search firm has operations in Zurich, Munich, London and New York.

greenbean by NRG UK manufacturer Formica Group has selected greenbean by NRG as its exclusive partner for head office and commercial recruitment in the UK as the business looks to continued growth.

Ferris Slater Lancashire-based micro recruitment firm Ferris Slater has been chosen by the Scottish Government to provide cyber security consultancy, managed services, training and interim staff for the country’s entire cyber security digital strategy.

Entrust Resource Solutions Recruitment group Entrust Resource Solutions has acquired specialist executive search firm Horton International UK. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

DEAL OF THE MONTH

Acorn UK-headquartered recruiter Acorn has acquired Australian recruiter Entire Recruitment through its Australian subsidiary recruitment business Synaco. The deal sees Acorn take over all of Entire’s assets, including three branches in Sydney, Brisbane and 10 RECRUITER

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MARCH 2019

Samuel Knight International Global recruiter Samuel Knight International has received ‘significant’ investment from specialist alternative asset manager Gresham House Ventures. Samuel Knight will use the funds for its growth plans, which include increasing headcount at the offices in Bristol and London, adding local talent to the Newcastle team and an international expansion with the potential acquisition of two sites abroad. The amount of funding was undisclosed.

Rock Hampton, the agency’s team of over 20 staff and all of its current contracts. Entire will continue to operate under its existing brand for the immediate future but in time will be incorporated fully within the Synaco brand.

Swanstaff Recruitment Multi-sector recruiter Swanstaff Recruitment has been awarded a contract to run family contact services on behalf of Liverpool City Council and will open two family contact centres this spring. The agency already runs Swan Family contact centres in Bedfordshire, Lambeth, Cardiff and Coventry.

Berry Recruitment Group Recruitment business London Staff Bureau (LSB) has been acquired by multisector Berry Recruitment Group (BRG) for an undisclosed fee. Staff at LSB, including manager Iroda Babadjanova, have joined BRG’s Wild Berry Associates brand, which is based in the West End. The acquisition will add around £1m to BRG’s turnover and is the fourth business it has bought in the capital in recent years.

More contract news at recruiter.co.uk/news 06/02/2019 16:23

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06/02/2019 16:05

TRE NDS

INSIGHT

HAS THE WORKING POPULATION’S PERSONALITY CHANGED? Analysis by The Myers-Briggs Company reflects the growing number of women in managerial and professional roles in the workplace BY JOHN HACKSTON

any studies look at different aspects of personality in relation to factors such as age and year of birth. One such report claimed that Extraversion (outgoing and assertive) has increased over time, while another asserted university students had become more perfectionist. It would seem logical that, if this were true, the changes would be reﬂected in the workplace. We decided to look at a 10-year period of our MBTI [Myers-Briggs Type Indicator] personality testing in Europe, in which over 1.3m people completed our questionnaire online, to see what had changed for management and professional personality types. Our sample is from MBTI assessments done in several European languages between 2007 and 2017. The average age was 38, with a gender split of 55% male and 45% female. It’s worth noting that in 2007, 40% were women,

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a percentage that had increased to 48% by 2017. We see this shift as the driver for some of the personality type changes over time. We found a small but signiﬁcant increase in the proportion of those with a preference for Introversion, Sensing, Feeling and for Judging. The increase in the percentage of women over time almost certainly lies behind the increase in Feeling responses, as women are more likely than men to have this personality preference. This has been shown time and time again in many research studies in many countries. Thinking and Feeling are all about how a person makes a decision; is this usually on the basis of facts and logic (Thinking) or by considering values, what seems right and how people will be affected (Feeling)? Ask someone with a Thinking preference what’s happening at work, and they’ll probably start by telling you about the projects or tasks they are working on; ask someone with a Feeling preference and they will probably start by telling you what’s happening to people. Balanced decisions need to use both approaches.

The increase in acceptance, and preference, for Introversion is also worth noting. Historically businesses have been geared more towards progressing people who are inclined towards Extraversion, but it would seem that Introversion is now becoming more acceptable and appreciated. While almost two-thirds of managers and leaders still show a preference for Extraversion, there is a shift towards more balance, making them more representative of employees and the wider population. All types have a role to play in a complex world that relies on diversity and specialisation to progress toward ILLUST RAT ION | ISTOCK

06/02/2019 15:20

T R E N DS

INSIGHT

POWER POINTS: MBTI The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) approach looks at our preferences in relation to four aspects of our personality:

has. The change has been subtle, but it is real and will have an effect on how organisations function. As a group, managers and professionals are more people-focused (due largely to an increased number of women), more introspective and introverted, less focused on ideas and possibilities, and more interested in practical ‘real world’ solutions. ●

↗

important personal and societal goals. Each type has its own special gifts and strengths, its own areas of vulnerabilities and its own pathway for development. The move towards Sensing and Judging suggests that people who lean more towards spontaneity are not necessarily valued as highly, and we may see an increased focus on structure and order in the workplace going forward as a result. Our analysis of a decade’s worth of data shows us that while human nature as a whole may not have changed, the typical personality of managers, professionals and leaders

JOHN HACKSTON is head of thought leadership at The Myers-Briggs Company.

Directing and receiving energy Extraversion – Introversion (E-I): from where do you get most of your energy, and where do you do your thinking? Out in the world, surrounded by people? Or inside your own inner world of feelings, impressions and ideas?

Taking in information Sensing – Intuition (S-N): where does your mind gravitate – to every detail of this present moment and noticing what is real and concrete, or to thinking about and noticing what might be?

Deciding and coming to conclusions Thinking – Feeling (T-F): for an important decision, are you more relaxed deciding with your head or with your heart?

Approaching the outside world Judging – Perceiving (J-P): does planning, structure and making decisions put you at ease? Or do options, spontaneity, casualness and open-endedness? Your preferences in these four areas (for E or I, S or N, T or F and J or P) combine together to give a picture of your whole personality – your psychological type. MBTI feedback leads to greater awareness of what makes others tick, which is helpful in business environments, enabling people to get the most out of themselves and their teams. WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 13

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T R E N DS

TECH & TOOLS

Joining the dots Exploiting big data to find talent SUE WEEKES

Video-interviewing, gamification, artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics are all changing the face of recruiting. The HireVue recruitment platform, previously best known for video-interviewing, acquired predictive hiring and talent analytics platform MindX last year and is one of the first platforms to unite these technologies. So how are they combining to help recruiters make better hires?

REALLY BIG DATA The value of big data has been espoused for many years but it is only now that its true magnitude is being fully exploited in recruitment, with platforms having had several years to collect and analyse information. HireVue draws on data from more than 9m on-demand interviews and is on track to collect them at a rate of 4m interviews per year. It also holds large amounts of data on gameplay behaviour and performance. It has used this as the backbone for a platform that uses AI to identify the definitive traits in top performers. Candidates can then be assessed against these through their own gameplay and video interview, which are

undertaken on the same platform.

PREDICTIVE HIRING The game-based challenges are designed to evaluate cognitive traits such as problem-solving, mental flexibility, learning agility, attention span, creativity and quantitative aptitude. The platform can be customised but HireVue has recently launched pre-built assessments for specific roles and job-related competencies. Currently, they are available for call centre service representatives, sales reps, retail associates and software developers, and feature a combination of video questions, games-based challenges and coding challenges for technical roles. “We aim to predict

whether a person will have the right cognitive ability and thinking style to learn and adapt in a role,” explains Dr Nathan Mondragon, chief industrial and organisational psychologist at HireVue.

CAN ALGORITHMS BE TRUSTED? Platforms such as HireVue introduce a high level of automation into the recruitment process but are recruiters ready to trust AI to identify talent? Mondragon doesn’t believe the industry has crossed this “digital divide” yet: “We need to show that algorithms from a research perspective are more trustworthy than human judgement.” Unilever is one of HireVue’s clients and has used the platform to filter up to 80% of the candidate

W H AT D O A LG O R I T H M S D O I N R E C R U I T M E N T? Algorithms provide recruitment platforms with a scientific and step-by-step set of rules to follow to solve a problem, which typically in a recruitment context is to find the right candidate.

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pool. Its criteria was to ensure that its process felt “human not robotic” and had to be “better and more efficient” at selecting candidates than an in-person interview. The system has helped reduce time-to-hire by 90%, increase new hire diversity by 16% and deliver £1m in savings.

causing a male or female difference,” he says, adding that constant checks are important as the bias can return. The algorithms also understand that there can be traditional differences in how a person performs on certain exercises.

WHAT ABOUT BIAS?

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Algorithms are unambiguous and don’t have grey areas so, in theory, can reduce bias in the recruitment process. They are based on human data, and so are fallible. Mondragon says it is important for developers to continually run manual and automated tests on software. HireVue regularly checks for bias in race, gender, age, culture and disability, as well as other areas that might be relevant to different countries. “For instance, our tools can identify and remove a datapoint that might be

Bringing more predictive technologies into the recruitment process and shifting towards more to data-driven decision-making requires culture change. Mondragon believes it should be accompanied by a change management initiative. The message, says HireVue, is that it is “teamwork” between the algorithms and the recruiters that makes the decision. “Customers use the score to facilitate human judgement,” he says. “We want to stop them making a bad decision.”

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INTE R AC TIO N

VIEWPOINT

Sleepwalking into a perfect storm The LGV driver shortage, Brexit and IR35 BY KIERAN SMITH

he prospect of empty supermarket shelves, disruption to deliveries and the impact on the economy and recruitment industry is drawing alarmingly closer. Government and transport associations agree there is a shortage of around 51,000 LGV [large goods vehicle] drivers in the UK and, according to the REC, 98% of transport recruitment agencies are experiencing a shortfall. We haven’t yet seen critical delivery failures but with the uncertainty around Brexit, EU worker immigration has already dropped substantially. Add in the effect of IR35 in April 2020 and we’re facing a potential exodus of tens of thousands of foreign drivers. Meanwhile, IR35 could force British agency LGV drivers to seek permanent driving jobs or go into other professions. For the first time since 2005 we have increasing LGV driver requirements with no EU nationals to make up the shortfall – the recipe for a perfect storm. A key government report concluded hauliers are depending more on agency drivers, beyond covering seasonal variations, needing them to sustain ‘normal’ operations. Meanwhile agencies have become more dependent on foreign drivers, with over 40% of agency LGV drivers coming from Eastern Europe. We are perilously close to failure point. We’ve had to offer significant pay increases and loyalty incentives to agency drivers during peak periods, while some of our competitors have been offering eye-watering bonuses to satisfy desperate clients. Furthermore, drivers are choosing to holiday in their home countries during peak periods. Since 2003 the combination of recession and the influx of foreign, mainly Eastern European, workers has averted a driver

shortage crisis. Meanwhile restrictive insurance practices preventing newly-qualified British LGV drivers from working through agencies, along with rising training costs, stringent regulations, poor facilities and depressed pay rates have created a formidable set of disincentives to new drivers. The result is an ageing LGV workforce, with 56% of drivers being over 45, and an over-dependence on foreign workers to make up the shortfall. Should we be concerned? Not in the medium-tolong term. The FTA [Freight Transport Association] estimates 370,000 LGV drivers are required to meet demand, with 320,000 already working. According to the Department for Transport there are over 900,000 UK residents with LGV licences: 400,000 are Driver CPC (DQC) qualified to drive commercial LGVs, 80,000 have a DQC but aren’t driving for a living and a further 500,000 are without a DQC. The issue isn’t a lack of qualified drivers but one of insufficient compensation for working conditions. New LGV qualifications are up, generating a yearly net addition of 33,000 LGV drivers to the market, which could eliminate the shortage within 2½ years. This could be accelerated if we can encourage some of the 580,000 to return to driving. Brexit and the devaluation of Sterling have created a hostile environment for our foreign workers, but it’s the impending IR35 legislation that’s likely to be the event that throws the logistics sector into disarray. It’s unlikely that hauliers will rapidly increase charge rates, so agencies will be unable to pay enough to maintain drivers’ net pay, causing an exodus of foreign LGV drivers and an immediate critical shortage. This will force up agency pay and charge rates until enough drivers are attracted back into the UK market or from the 580,000 inactive driver pool to make up the deficit. This could take months or even years. The only other mitigating circumstances could be that IR35 is delayed or before it hits another recession is triggered, perhaps by a botched Brexit, and the demand for LGV drivers drops enough for the IR35 effect to be irrelevant. Watch this space… ●

+ KIERAN SMITH is CEO of Driver Require

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I N T E R AC T I O N

SOUNDBITES

L ET T ER S/ WEB CHAT

ATTRACT TALENT WITH TRUST In response to your article ‘Referring a friend: The best incentives’ (p7, Recruiter, February 2019), foster a workplace that thrives on trust and respect – and protect that culture every day! Word will get out. Your people will talk, and they’ll refer likeminded, talented people who believe in your culture and your mission. HARSH SHARMA, PEOPLEHUM

DON’T TAKE ‘NO DEAL’ OFF THE TABLE I read your article ‘REC CEO claims industry ‘united’ in taking no-deal Brexit off the table’ (recruiter.co.uk, 30 January) with interest. Whilst No Deal is not an ideal situation, taking it ‘off the table’ is a bad idea, as it permanently weakens our negotiating position. The reason we are being handed such a poor deal in the first place is European Commission chief negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier, EC President Jean-Claude Junker, European Council President Donald Tusk and the Irish Premier Leo Varadkar sense that we are a weak target as we have allowed MPs and civil servants to consistently undermine our negotiating position; whereas a willingness to tough it out and use the Irish border and £39bn payment to our advantage could have brought a better deal forward. Whilst we all want to maintain good trading and cultural ties with Europe, the current situation, where the Irish Premier is hinting at encouraging the IRA again by constantly mentioning the Good Friday Agreement being threatened by Brexit, is ridiculous. Common sense must prevail and industry leaders in Europe must step forward and pressure the EU hardliners to abandon their punitive approach to Brexit and move towards a solution where the sovereignty of the UK regarding Northern Ireland and Gibraltar is not undermined and a positive working relationship regarding key projects and bodies that we have previously contributed to being allowed to continue for everyone’s benefit. ADAM JONES

What’s the most rewarding experience you have ever had with a candidate? LISA GR AHAM D IREC TOR , E1EW

“Last year, we ran a competition to ﬁnd the most hardworking driver, which ran from 1 January to 14 February. The prize, a meal out for two, would be given out on Valentine’s Day. We had one driver who didn’t have a lot of money but was such a hard worker and always reliable… He won the competition and was so delighted with his prize he sent us a lovely photo of him and his wife having their meal out. As our aim is to create a great place to work, being in a position to do that and see the smiles on the faces of our driver and his ‘date’ makes all our hard work worthwhile and ultimately very rewarding.”

CHRIS SMITH BR A N CH MA N AG ER , N URS EP L US L IV ERP OOL

“My most rewarding experience with a candidate would have to be one of my first recruits with Nurseplus. The candidate had been out of work and on benefits for a significant period of time, to the point where she could not afford a DBS [Disclosure and Barring Service] payment. I sourced a company to fund it for her. We have since got her off benefits completely and she has been working full time for me since February last year. I have a great relationship with this candidate and I hope it may continue.”

OLIVIA SPRUCE CEO, P OS I T IV E H EA LT H CA RE

“There are some candidates who stick out more than others and I often keep in touch with those I have built a real relationship with. One particular candidate sticks out, but he was representational of a lot of professionals who had had the same unfortunate experiences during the infamous credit crunch, when we all acutely felt the pressure. He needed to secure a permanent and highly specialist position, and I worked very closely with him until he secured the right role. From this point, he also became my client. We have kept in touch over the years and he has often been one of my biggest endorsers/supporters, for which I am most grateful – living proof of what goes around, comes around.” WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 17

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T H E BI G STORY 11 MOST IN F L UEN T IA L I N - H O U S E R E C RU I T E R S

Who are the recruiters ﬁnding the skills and talent to help companies grow in an ever-changing landscape? Scott Beagrie ﬁnds out

Welcome to the sixth instalment of the 11 Most Influential In-House Recruiters Rapid technological development, coupled with political, economic and social change, is transforming how organisations work – as well as what they do. Recruiters within these organisations have massive responsibility to build the talent and skills capability required for this changing business landscape. These individuals have been singled out because we consider they are making a huge difference within their organisations and as a force for positive change. Not only are they identifying and sourcing phenomenal talent, but also they are instrumental in devising and implementing strategies that are helping to re-shape their businesses and ensure they remain future fit. This year, we have both new faces as well as returnees representing a cross-section of sectors and industries. For the first time, we have two resourcing professionals from the same company, selected because of their achievements to build the workforce of the future for their organisation as it readies itself to play a key part in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The expression – “we’re all tech companies now” – has already become a cliché but nonetheless is a truism and is evidenced by the reliance so many recruitment departments have on technology. There can be no argument that automation and technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are the future but not at the expense of the high-touch human skills that are so important to recruitment. What has distinguished many of our 11 is their application of that technology, which manages to add value to the human side by freeing up time and resources. Through their considerable achievements, these individuals are also helping to raise the profile of recruitment. As insiders, we understand how business-critical the function is, but this isn’t always fully recognised in the wider picture. Thanks to our 11, this perception is changing.

Method Information and data were gathered from a range of sources in the public domain. Having arrived at our selection, we then asked the individuals what they saw as their main achievements during the past year and main objectives going forward. Wherever possible, metrics such as cost and time-savings were collected. As always, there will be a degree of subjectivity in a list of this nature, but consistent with other years we aim to apply a set of criteria that qualifies a person for inclusion. This is primarily based on the following: the size, scale, scope and challenge of the position and effectiveness in the role; ability to be strategic and add value, and position the resourcing function central to the business; the degree of innovation or change brought to the current and/ or previous organisation; perceived influence both internally and externally; and the extent to which the individual is considered an industry visionary, trailblazer or thought-leader. Industry or company-specific challenges are also taken into consideration where appropriate. WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 19

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Toby Culshaw HEAD OF TALENT INTELLIGENCE, PHILIPS

Jennifer Candee GLOBAL HEAD OF TALENT ACQUISITION, ON, MONDELĒZ INTERNATIONAL

‘Without data, you’re just a person with an opinion’ is the sign-off line on Culshaw’s email, a quote from US engineer, statistician and professor W Edwards Deming. It speaks volumes about Culshaw and his drive to make data central to recruitment decisions. “Data is the bedrock of all we do,” points out the head of talent intelligence at Philips, who makes the 11 for the second time. He and his team can look back on a successful 2018 in which they delivered €1m (£880k) in savings from

Candee’s second year in role at Mondelēz International has seen “lots of change management” on top of business-as-usual recruiting for the company that wants to empower people to “snack right”, and whose brands include Cadbury, Cote d’Or, Oreo, Ritz, TUC and many more. She has had to handle major restructuring and a $800k (£611k) reduction in headcount but has spent two years “professionalising” the talent acquisition (TA) function and bringing in some top TA talent to ensure ﬁrm foundations for the future. Embedding a global executive TA team into the business has delivered a cost avoidance of more than $3m (£2.3m) for starters. She has led the implementation of Avature CRM across 300 recruiters and TA business service teams, launched a MDLZ Got Talent competition, implemented global onboarding, which involved piloting virtual reality and saved more than £500k in employer brand agency fees (achieved through introducing marketing software Papirﬂy, which enables consistent brand messaging). Its global TA Academy has been brought into the company’s corporate university, and Mondelēz can claim to be one of the few organisations that has invested in a global TA capability development manager. All of this has helped usher in the new world of TA at the company, which in 2019 will see more use of data analytics, launch of a global employer value proposition (EVP), integrated talent management and workforce planning, and a diversity & inclusion agenda focused on women in management. A major challenge is the organisation’s matrixed structure, which requires a multifaceted approach, but it is vital the company has “one voice to the business”, explains Candee, adding: “To achieve global functional co-ordination, we need to think differently about how we lead global account management and agile resourcing.” ⦁ 20 RECRUITER

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potential research ﬁrm spend while doubling the function’s output year-onyear, as well as supporting the business in several high-proﬁle multi-country, cross-functional projects. As a company undergoing huge transformation, his team’s services are in constant demand and this pressure will carry on throughout 2019. The relentless focus on data will continue with projects around operationalising intelligence for talent acquisition, data visualisation and data architecture. For Culshaw, it isn’t just about data but people. “We’ve had births, serious accidents, six new joiners to onboard in the team but we’ve maintained a world-class Net Promoter Score,” he says. “The team has pulled together throughout.” The year may see further geographical expansion for the function and Culshaw is committed to ensuring they have the

right skills and tools: “We need to give the team the capacity and opportunity to develop and learn at a heightened rate to maintain our function’s growth and evolution.” Signiﬁcantly, Culshaw’s focus on data and intelligence has built a momentum beyond Philips, including hosting peer-to-peer learning sessions on talent intelligence to other organisations and launching an event for talent intelligence professionals in Bangalore.⦁

Terri Foulston HEAD OF RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION, ALCUMUS LCUMUS GROUP Statistics don’t always tell a story but, in Terri Foulston’s case, they make pretty compulsive reading. She took up her role in 2017 and was tasked with building an in-house recruitment team, reducing recruitment costs and enhancing employer brand. Cost-per-hire has dropped from over £3.25k in 2016 for 77 new starters to under £700 in 2018 for 195 new starters, and total recruitment spend by two thirds from over £251k in 2017 to around £135.5k across the same period. An entire software development team has been in-sourced, growing the tech division by 230% across six months.

Meanwhile, hile, average time-to-hire has reduced d from 11 to six weeks and two days between tween 2017-18. And by recruiting four people ople into the recruitment team, she has reduced d d agency usage ffrom 79% of roles to less than 5%. There is far more to her achievements than an impressive set of metrics though: she has implemented a ‘refer a friend’ scheme; designed and launched an Army resettlement programme; implemented improved induction and onboarding; and launched an assessment centre selection process. On the agenda for this year are an apprenticeship scheme, a

graduate program programme and a redeﬁned EVP. Her work is far from done though: the company com brand still needs wider recognition reco and is repositioning itself from a niche health & safety business to a technology-led provider. It also has ambition growth plans of 20% year-on-year. Foulston reckons a lot of the growth areas sit within niche, candidate-driven markets such as software development: “Therefore, the need to be creative when recruiting and ahead of the game in terms of knowledge of market changes is high.” ⦁ WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 21

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TH E B IG STO RY 1 1 MOST INFLU ENTIAL IN-HOU SE RECRUIT ERS

Isabelle Hung EXECUTIVE HIRING MANAGER (INTERIM) PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL; DIRECTOR, XVCONSULT Tob Tobacco company Philip Morris International (PMI) says on its website Inte that it is dedicated to doing something “very dramatic”: it wants to replace “ver cigarettes with smoke-free products ciga “as ffast as possible”. Hence it has more than 400 scientists, engineers mor and technicians developing less harmful alternatives to cigarettes at harm two research facilities in Switzerland and Singapore. Meanwhile Hung, former director of talent acquisition form strategy at global business software stra company Sage, has also been on a com

journey. She wanted to develop her own thinking, understanding and execution to give her the courage to work as a consultant/interim, helping to develop operational strategy, build employer brand propositions, and share knowledge and experience. In May 2018, she attained her goal by launching by XVconsult and securing her ﬁrst interim assignments, including as executive hiring manager at PMI and central to one of the biggest and most signiﬁcant business transformation undertakings

Pauline Lewis DIRECTOR OF TALENT AND ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, UK & IRELAND, PLADIS INTERNATIONAL ONAL Global snacking company Pladis was formed in 2016 but its iconic brands, including McVities, Carr and Godiva, combine 300 years of legacy. For Lewis, previously head of resourcing and onboarding/diversity & inclusion (D&I) at Heathrow Airport, it has presented the opportunity to shape an organisation from the ground up. On arriving 18 months ago she led a reorganisation project to create a business unitled operating model introduced in May 2018. Insight gained from this informed her talent strategy, which includes a major focus on the 22 RECRUITER

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subject she has become so closely associated with: D&I. She secured the attention of the board with a white paper espousing the beneﬁts of a diverse workforce to the bottom line. She then instituted a raft of measures designed to “shift the dial” on D&I and build a diverse talent pool: measuring applications for diversity; using dashboards and metrics; eradicating bias from the recruitment process; unconscious bias training; and establishing a D&I forum with 12 colleagues who each represent a diverse stream. Going forward, she has been asked to lead the global

D&I strategy from the UK. Lewis sits on the board of the D&I employer brand platform Vercida, and won Diva magazine’s Best Corporate LGBT Ally. Her message to others is that to tackle diversity “you have to measure”. “And sometimes this is uncomfortable but once you have the data you must use it in the most powerful way to inﬂuence key stakeholders as you can’t do it by yourself,” she says. “Ultimately, the best person must get the job but you can only ensure you get the best person if you have levelled the playing ﬁeld and made the system fair for everyone.” ⦁

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today. Supporting executive talent transformation requires empathy, she says, “to enable senior leaders to hire outside their own areas, comfort zone and capabilities”. It involves both managing up and across and “challenging perspective with integrity and insight”. Hung has a wealth of experience at senior-level resourcing and talent positions, and in future, she wants to continue to work with clients and teams that are looking to develop themselves for the beneﬁt of their employees and customers, as well as for their overall business goals. “It would also be great to become a NED [nonexecutive director] at some point too,” she adds. And, if she can ﬁnd the time, this keen yachtswoman would like to further hone her racing skills. ⦁

Craig Morgans HEAD OF TALENT ACQUISITION,, HR SHARED SERVICES, LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT,, AA Just like any consumer, candidates respond d to activity i i that h excites them, reckons Morgans. And this thinking has underpinned a sea change in recruitment for the AA that focuses on proactive and innovative attraction to support the strengthening of frontline operations and roadside functions. Activity includes a chatbot that encourages potential candidates to explore wider roles, a brand-led film and an experiential campaign featuring rich social media content, as well as a first for the automotive sector: a road operations apprenticeship scheme being rolled out nationally this year. Applications have increased by 266% from 8,000 in 2016 to more than 30,000 in 2017, rising to 56,000 by the end of 2018. In addition, around £2m a year has been saved through a new managed service provider for temps and contractors. The ‘Ready for Anything’ employer brand proposition communicates the AA’s ability to handle the unexpected, and proved particularly prescient for Morgan and his team. The organisation had to contend with exceptional weather conditions in 2018 that led to a 15-year high in the number of breakdowns. This in turn saw it hiring 289% more than its original manpower plan. Despite this, the team delivered more than 90% of hires directly, processed a record number of candidate applications, kept time-to-hire within 30 days and maintained a cost-per-hire of below £800, less than half the rate in 2016. Projects for next year include a new referral scheme and bespoke assessment, which makes use of automation. Morgans opines digitalisation will continue to deliver exponential improvements to recruitment, but he has his own “litmus test” when it comes to technology and creativity: “Will it positively influence someone’s decision on whether or not to join?” ⦁ WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 23

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Samantha Ramsay UK HEAD OF RESOURCING, NG, BALFOUR BEATTY

Elaine O’Loughlin

ction Ramsay has steered the function on in 2018, through a full transformation having devised a new resourcing strategy for the infrastructure company. This involved a complete structural change to a “job family” approach, aligning the resourcing team with the requirements of the business. The recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) model was eliminated and the function

HEAD OF RECRUITMENT, NHS DIGITAL No organisation generates emotions, debate e and opinion like the NHS. So being its national information and technology partner in an age when data is king is a huge undertaking. Indeed, NHS Digital’s role is central to helping the NHS ensure it is ﬁt for the future, and both lives and livelihoods depend on it. Historically, NHS Digital has operated within public sector frameworks but rapid advancement of the tech industry means it has had to adapt to compete for the best in digital talent to support the NHS Long Term Plan. For O’Loughlin, this has meant evolving the recruitment function from an extension of HR to a proactive and specialist team and business partner to serve the organisation’s needs. She has created an ecosystem for a new kind of recruitment process and embedded it within an established organisation. This has included upskilling hiring managers and giving them the tools required to support the vision, as well as ensuring they understand the role automation plays in a great candidate experience. Key touch points in this experience have been reviewed to identify and enhance “the moments that matter most”, says O’Loughlin. Going forward, the team will work with other business leaders to identify skills gaps to balance internal movement and external attraction at a time of huge organisational change. She also intends to showcase the work NHS Digital does and demonstrate the pride colleagues feel in working for such a valued organisation. Bringing colleagues on the journey can be one of the biggest challenges, she adds: “So we need to continue to validate our approach and prove we are adding value as a recruitment function.” ⦁ 24 RECRUITER

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brought in-house. And the company launched its ﬁrst UK-wide employer value proposition and employer brand. Ramsay reckons one of the organisation’s major challenges is that the skills and expertise the company needs are in constant high demand across the UK. A talent pooling and pipelining strategy has also been put in place for scarce skills and a new strategy for attracting and selecting emerging talent – including graduates and apprentices – implemented. She has taken over the operational effectiveness of contractor hiring through a managed service provider. Since arriving from House of Fraser two years ago, she and her team have notched up an impressive set of metrics: 60% reduction in cost-per-hire; 42% improvement in time-to-hire; 40% reduction in overall

resourcing functions operating costs; 67% reduction in agency reliance; and a 41% improvement in female applications for apprenticeships. She describes the function as being in the ﬁnal element of transformation with regards to “truly adding value as a function”, and among her aims for 2019 are working in alignment with the business to better provide resourcing planning and forecasting. And with the industry focusing on diversity, she wants to ensure the company plays a leading part in this: “It’s part of our responsibility to educate and engage people around the opportunities within this sector to help them connect with how they should be thinking about the careers they could have in the future.”⦁

Adrian Thomas HEAD OF EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT, CIVIL SERVICE CE Driving an increased flow of external diverse talent into the senior civil service was the key challenge faced by Thomas. This alone is no mean feat, but then add a backdrop of hiring and pay freezes going back 10 years, as well as leading the departments in one of the most significant peace time challenges ever – Brexit. Thomas and the recruitment teams rose to the task by placing a relentless focus on attraction, never before seen in the Civil Service. The entire resourcing approach was challenged and changed, with its first-ever careers website launched, a supplier framework and supplier

management introduced, candidate communications radically updated, stretching KPIs [key performance indicators] set and an expert recruitment team established together with an in-house executive search capability. The upshot: applications are 300% higher than the previous average; successful candidates are identiﬁed ﬁrst time in 95% of recruitment campaigns; and two or more appointable candidates found in almost half of recruitment (up from 20%). What’s more, diversity of appointments exceeds the Civil Service average in every category and is on target to meet the commitment to be

the most inclusive UK employer. Thomas won’t be throttling back though. As he points out: “Everything we do impacts the citizen and we do it under intense media scrutiny.” One of his challenges is that almost everybody moving into a senior leadership role from the private sector will be taking a reduction in salary. So communicating the impact that candidates will have is key to the “high-touch” approach the recruitment team is taking. “Treating recruitment as a contact sport has differentiated the senior recruitment into the civil service and resulted in excellent vacancy holder and candidate feedback,” he adds. ⦁ WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 25

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TH E B IG STO RY 1 1 MOST INFLU ENTIAL IN-HOU SE RECRUIT ERS

Martin Thomas HEAD OF TOTAL WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT, PHILIPS It is the ﬁrst time two individuals from the same organisation have appeared in the 11 but there was no omitting Thomas from the line-up with his focus on “total talent management”. His joined-up approach creates a link from strategic workforce planning to demand management and looks at total workforce cost. When Thomas was appointed in 2017 from Philips Lighting, he set up a team to focus on all sources of skill and capability as part of an overall acquisition strategy. A demand management tool that models different scenarios helps the team “thoughtfully manage the workforce”, which reduces costs and creates an opportunity to invest elsewhere. “We are the ‘one-stop shop’ for the workforce mix, comparing teams, countries, costs and choices to o optimise the workforce of the future,” he says says. “We ask

managers to manage workforce costs osts within budget, not headcount,” he says. He has taken ownership of the contingent nt labour programmes from procurement and overachieved on cost-savings with the e Philips Flexﬁnder programme. 2019 initiatives atives include making total workforce reporting eporting available to every manager, integrating rating the HR and vendor management system, tem, and directly sourcing freelance and contingent ntingent workers using the Philips brand. He admits the total workforce strategy can mean an ongoing “change management struggle” ruggle” for some functions but with Philips undergoing major transformation, the approach ach seek seeks ks to to ensure the company and the workforce kfo forc rce ar are e ﬁt for the future and ready to take e it its ts place as a key player in the Fourth h Industrial Revolution. ⦁

Chris Wray HEAD OF RECRUITMENT STRATEGY, SAINSBURY’S Wray makes the 11 for the second consecutive time. He was ahead of the game at the Anchor Trust, realising that big tech companies such as Airbnb and Uber were changing the business landscape. And he believes recruitment has to mirror these developments. Making the process easier for the candidate remains one of his drivers and he believes automation is key to this. He joined Sainsbury’s last year, and has already launched a new EVP, introduced video interviewing, via Sonru, to increase candidate applications and launched a new Sainsbury’s jobs careers site with an integrated AI tool that makes it easier to push relevant content to candidates. The site is already seeing great

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results, with increased engagement after just two months. Now he’s put the foundations in place, Wray reckons it’s about upping the ante and bringing his expert knowledge of new recruitment methods and social media to areas such as early careers, and assessment and selection. He also wants to ensure a consistent recruitment experience across Sainsbury’s different brands that include Sainsbury’s Bank, Nectar, Habitat and Argos. “We need to have one tone of voice and tell the same authentic story across all of our brands,” he explains. “I want every single candidate to have a great experience with us and one that’s consistent across our whole group; that’s something I’m really passionate about.” ⦁

06/02/2019 15:26

THE VIEW AND THE INTELLIGENC E

How innovation can be a force for good P2 BIG TALKING PO INT

Simple steps to promoting gender diversity

LEGAL UPDATE

RECRUITMENT MATTERS

What’s in the government’s Good Work Plan? P6 Issue 71 March 2019

TR AINING

How the IRP can help train your staff P8

I M M I G R AT I O N

Will the new immigration system work? W

hen the latest set of migration statistics is published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on the 28 February, it is likely to highlight a further fall in the number of European Union nationals coming to the UK looking for work. And this at a time when REC data shows that candidate availability is declining each month. But this time around, we have a picture of what the government plans to do in the future – when freedom of movement from the EU officially comes to an end. In December, the government published its long overdue immigration white paper. The REC was pleased to see recognition for the importance of ensuring the future system supports a flexible labour market – and that a number of our recommendations had been heeded. Proposed reforms to the Tier-2 visa system – including abolishing the cap on the number of visas issues each month – should make it less bureaucratic and costly for employers. Concern around a salary threshold of £30,000 for Tier-2 visas has been met with the concession of a year-

@RECPress RM_March_2019.indd 1

long engagement process with business on what the salary threshold should be. The government will also consult on its proposal of a transitional measure to help sectors that would find it difficult to adapt to the new system – a 12-month work visa. This will allow an individual to work at all skill levels, move between employers and won’t require any sponsorship on behalf of employers. However, there will be a 12-month cooling off period, and these visas won’t lead to permanent settlement or allow for switching to another visa. The REC will ensure its members’ views are heard on these issues. However, firms will be dismayed by the proposals that require job roles to be on a government-approved list

“The REC will ensure its members’ views are heard on these issues”

before they can get a visa. “No list will be able to keep pace with the changing demand from employers,” said REC chief executive Neil Carberry. And when investors worldwide want to know Britain will be open for business, and UK ﬁrms need to know that shortages that can’t be ﬁlled by local employment and training can be addressed, it is vital that remaining questions are answered quickly. Chris Russell, REC policy advisor

www.rec.uk.com 05/02/2019 10:30

L E A D I N G T H E I N D U S T RY

the view...

Social innovation provides recruiters with the opportunity to lead, says TOM HADLEY, REC director of policy and professional services

Recruiters getting it right makes all the difference, says

NEIL CARBERRY, REC chief executive

he most common thing people outside the industry say to me about recruitment is…. …we could all finish that sentence in different ways! But what has been striking for me since I joined the REC last summer is how often the answer is “…the huge difference it can make”. Those people are right, of course. Recruitment opens up opportunities, and it helps our economy to grow. Done well, the value that recruiters generate is enormous. Clients’ feedback on the industry is on an upward trend. Recent REC data showed that 68% of UK employers were satisfied with the candidates presented by recruitment agencies, with 71% expressing satisfaction with their agency partners. Progress – but there’s always more to do. And for candidates too, good recruitment makes a difference. Late last year the REC produced new research on how brilliant recruitment can help drive diversity in business. By paying attention to issues such as opportunity, flexible working and fairness at work, how we recruit is a driver of what companies achieve. Studies are clear that engagement at work improves competitiveness and productivity – the seemingly elusive goal of every company, as well as the government’s Industrial Strategy. So what we do has never been more important. And clients are responding to this. With over 400 major companies employing more than 3 million people now signed up to the REC’s Good Recruitment Campaign, we are offering clients more support than ever in getting their choice right – and we can bring enhanced levels of client understanding to you. But getting it right is also about doing the right thing. Poor recruitment practice will tarnish our industry if we allow it to happen. And it will strengthen those who see all work that isn’t fulltime, open-ended and directly employed as somehow “bad”. We must stand up to that. Good work is about how people are treated, not the contract they are on. The answer to making sure the future labour market is both flexible and fair isn’t an approach suited to 1973. But it does involve making sure that fair treatment matters. The REC will lead the way in this, too. Our compliance test and code of conduct sets our members apart – a point that more clients are seeing than ever. Good practice starts with us all. And having a care for it is essential to the long-term health of our sector. If you want to keep up to speed with all things recruitment then follow me on Twitter @RECNeil

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HADLEY ’ S C O MMENT

Show, don’t just tell We need new solutions to meet new employment challenges. AI and automation, political uncertainty, evolving skills needs and sectoral disruption are just some of the external forces at play. And a major part of the REC’s work over the coming months will be to showcase our industry’s solutions to 21st century labour market problems. Campaigning priorities for 2019 include promoting flexibility and fairness (as part of our input into the government’s ‘Good Work’ plan), facilitating career transitions, driving inclusion and boosting progression for all by evolving the Apprenticeship Levy into a broader skills levy. We will also continue to focus on promoting good hiring practices through ongoing compliance activities and the wide-ranging Good Recruitment Campaign, which is now supported by over 400 leading employers, representing over 3 million employees. Social innovation is also a major theme on the European and global level and we will be working with the World Employment Confederation (WEC) to highlight and learn from specific examples, such as the pioneering work of the Dutch federation (ABU) to help agency workers access mortgages. Our own Future of jobs ambassadors initiative – which focuses on harnessing the expertise of REC members to build better links between education and work – was recognised as a further positive example at the recent social innovation conference in Brussels. Speaking at the same event, the European Commission’s Manuela Geleng argued that “economic growth and fairness can go hand in hand” and that “boosting awareness, aspiration and skills is the cornerstone of an inclusive society”. We want to continue showcasing our industry’s role in making change happen. UK recruiters place over 1 million people a year into permanent jobs and ensure that 1.3 million workers are in temporary and contract work in any given week. On the European level, our industry helps 11 million people find work and 2.3 million employers find the right staff and skills. We need to shout about what we do and how we do it. In the words of WEC managing director Denis Pennel: “We cannot address 21st century jobs market challenges with 20th century solutions.” It’s why we’re keen to show rather than just tell as we take the innovation message forward on both the domestic and international stage.

You can follow Tom on Twitter @hadleyscomment

www.rec.uk.com

05/02/2019 10:30

the intelligence... Recruiters can help to make post-Brexit Britain a success BY THALIA IOANNIDOU, REC SENIOR RESEARCHER

At the time of writing, employers’ conﬁdence in

lmost two years after the EU referendum took place in the UK, the country is now only weeks away from the date originally set for leaving the EU. And the growing uncertainty has been reflected by REC data, which every month has shown employers’ heightened concerns and declining confidence levels in the prospects for the UK economy. Amid the December 2018 deadlock in Westminster and the possibility of a no-deal Brexit looming, the start of 2019 signalled a particularly worrying time for UK businesses. At the time of writing, employers’ confidence in economic conditions further deteriorated by 2 percentage points to net -14. While remaining positive, employers’ confidence in making hiring and investment decisions declined by a notable 5 percentage points. This was the lowest level recorded since February 2018 (‘JobsOutlook’, January 2019). The UK’s economic strength is built on companies being able to do great business. But there are widespread reports that persistent candidate and skills shortages are hampering overall growth. Sectors such as healthcare, hospitality and accounting stand out as areas experiencing most acute skills shortages. Notwithstanding these challenges, the recruitment industry has a crucial role to play in supporting employers identify and maximise opportunities for growth and, in doing so, making post-Brexit Britain a success. Central to the efforts to ensure the long-term health of the UK jobs market are effective workforce planning

Jan-Dec 2017

Median RIB recruiter Lower quartile RIB recruiter Upper quartile RIB recruiter

14.4% 11.5% 17.8%

17.7% 14.3% 27.0%

PERM MARGINS REMAIN UNDER PRESSURE

Jan-Nov 2018

Average invoice as a percentage the permanent placement salary (%), for the median, upper and lower quartile RIB recruiter, Jan-Dec 2017 and Jan-Nov 2018

www.rec.uk.com

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economic conditions further deteriorated by 2 and improved workplace training. percentage points to net -14. Whatever the UK’s future relationship competitors with homogenous teams. with the EU and beyond, recruiters In light of the growing shortage of are uniquely placed to support workers, it is essential that employers employers in workforce planning take every action to ensure that and with advice on how to upskill their workplace is inclusive of their existing workforce, as well everyone and make the most of all as establishing close links with the talent available. By excluding the education authorities. participation of any groups in the The rise of AI and automation labour force, businesses risk being is another important area where left behind competitors. Recruiters recruiters can help employers – can help employers evaluate their they can support their clients in hiring practices and reconsider their embracing technological innovation workplace culture to create a more and identifying and developing diverse and inclusive new skills required workforce. among their workforce. Indeed, recruiters are Good use of technology best placed to match will help businesses be talent and skills to the right more efficient in their job. By helping their clients operations and become implement good, inclusive more competitive. practices alongside digital There is ample innovation and evidence that Decline in employers’ investment in more diverse confidence in making infrastructure, they organisations and hiring and can help UK businesses leadership teams, in investment boost productivity and, in terms of gender, age decisions turn, increase profitability. and ethnicity, outperform

The latest real-time information from the RIB Index shows that, having averaged 17.7% across 2017, the average perm fee for the Median RIB recruiter has been recorded as 14.4% across the year 2018 (to November). There was also a

deterioration in the average perm margin among the lower quartile performing RIB recruiters – falling from 14.3% across 2017 to 11.5% this year (to November). Similarly, the average margin fell from 27% to 17.8% amongst upper quartile RIB recruiters.

With total perm billings just 1.1% higher, year-on-year, across the first 11 months of the 2018, December’s performance (in relation to volumes, average placement salaries and margins) holds great importance in terms of how it will influence the final 2018 out-turn.

BELINDA JOHNSON runs employment research consultancy, Worklab, and is Associate Knowledge & Insight Director of Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB) – a strategic partner of the REC. The RIB Index provides bespoke conﬁdential reports on industry benchmarks and trends. See www.ribindex.com; info@ribindex.com: 020 8544 9807.

MARCH 2019 RECRUITMENT MATTERS 3

05/02/2019 10:30

GENDER DIVERSITY

big talking point

Closing the gender gap 018 could well go down in history as the year that injected much needed urgency into the debate about gender and the workplace. From high proﬁle examples of poor practice – brought to life through the ‘Me Too’ and ‘Time’s Up’ movements – to the introduction of gender pay gap reporting for large companies, the accompanying calls for progress have grown ever louder. But what steps can recruiters take in 2019 to drive the change that so many of them want to see?

The big picture When 92% of UK engineers in the workforce are men, and only one in 10 executive positions in FTSE 100 companies are held by women, the scale of the problem is clear. And it’s not an easy one to fix – the structural issues and norms that preserve the status quo are complicated to unpick. It’s why the REC is working with the government to drive change from the top and challenge some of the deep-rooted causes of inequality. It is on the Flexible Working Taskforce, for example – a group established by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to promote wider understanding and implementation of inclusive flexible work and working practices. It also sponsored the All Party Parliamentary Group on Women and Work last year, providing evidence for the group’s report, which was due to launch as this magazine went to press. In that, it recommended the government focus on two biggest barriers in the way of female entry into the workplace and their progression: unconscious bias and limited flexible working opportunities.

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Improving gender diversity is not only the right thing to do – it’s good for business. But although many employers understand the theory, they don’t know what to do to make enough of a difference. Recruiters Matters explains the steps to progress

The government and policymakers have a responsibility to set the tone of the debate (among the public, as well as in business), to drive the agenda, commission research and offer the right support. After all, closing the gender gap could add £150bn to the UK’s economy. But good recruitment practices will always be the foundation upon which a fair and diverse organisation can be built – and it’s down to employers and recruiters to get that right.

CHALLENGING QUESTIONS TO ASK EMPLOYERS TO DRIVE CHANGE • Are your business values reflected in the company’s culture, brand and communication? • Are you attracting female candidates to apply for the role? • Is your business a champion of flexible working? • Is your business a champion of enhanced maternity and paternity leave? • Are you confident that the selection criteria used to screen candidates are transparent, impartial and fair? • Do you focus more on experience or on skills and potential of your workforce? • Are hiring managers properly trained and the interviewing panel diverse in composition? • Do you regularly monitor underrepresentation in your organisation?

www.rec.uk.com

05/02/2019 10:30

GENDER DIVERSITY

10 WAYS RECRUITERS CAN PROMOTE GENDER DIVERSITY 1. Be a diversity champion and raise awareness on gender equality processes

2. Ensure job adverts are written in neutral language

3. Use a variety of advertising platforms to reach a diverse pool of talent

4. Offer ﬂexible working arrangements for all applicants

5. Clearly deﬁne a salary range in job adverts

6. Use name and context-blind recruitment processes

7. Call out bad practice and challenge your clients to address unconscious bias

8. Demonstrate your ability and readiness 9. 10.

Adopting best practice In its latest report, ‘Increasing opportunity, supporting growth’, the REC looks at the role of good recruitment in gender diversity. It offers a series of recommendations for employers, HR professionals and recruitment agencies, alongside practical examples of how progress is being made and of recruiters and employers working together to deliver it. For employers, the emphasis is on strong leadership that promotes diversity and its positive impact. This means setting explicit goals, scrutinising the processes that govern both new hires and progression, and seeking external advice. For recruitment professionals, the focus is on their expertise and the unique position they have to inﬂuence and help drive change in the organisations they work with (see box-out, above right). Recruiters and in-house HR professionals are reporting a wide range of ways in which they had seen employers show bias and use discriminatory and other ill-advised practices in their recruitment pipeline. Whether it’s in the job ad and where it’s posted, how applicants are screened or interviews are conducted, it’s important to call bad practices out. Asking employers the right questions will also prompt change (see box-out, left). Simple questions might not have easy solutions, but they help to identify knowledge gaps, biases and the problems companies are facing. Recruitment professionals can then

www.rec.uk.com

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to attract and recruit candidates from diverse backgrounds Set equality targets and train staff in equality processes Introduce new approaches to access different pools of potential talent

work together with employers and their in-house teams to solve them – by putting speciﬁc, ambitious and achievable actions in place to safeguard gender diversity and inclusion during the hiring process.

Working together The good news is that according to a REC survey of 400 HR decision makers, conducted by ComRes in August-September 2018, the majority of respondents are already using a range of inclusive practices as standard when recruiting for a vacancy in their organisation: • 74% ensure the hiring manager is trained in interviewing techniques • 72% assess job advert language • 69% assess whether the role can be advertised as open to ﬂexible working • 62% ensure the hiring manager is trained in dealing with unconscious bias • 60% ensure there is a diverse interview panel. More than a third are also using anonymised recruiting, highlighting that huge change is happening. And importantly, businesses are learning from each other in terms of what best practice looks like. As Bill Richards, UK managing director at the report’s sponsor Indeed, says: “When it comes to diversity and inclusion, there is no competition: we all need to learn from each other.”

MARCH 2019 RECRUITMENT MATTERS 5

05/02/2019 12:06

GOOD WORK PLAN

legal update Government’s Good Work Plan By BUNMI ADEFUYE – solicitor and commercial advisor, REC

n 2016, the government commenced an independent review of employment practices in the modern UK economy, which was led by Matthew Taylor. The Taylor report was published in 2017 with 53 recommendations mainly centered around gig economy workers and agency workers. The government has now published the Good Work Plan, which includes three draft statutory instruments and a number of other changes to employment legislation. These include: • Repealing Regulations 10 and 11 of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 – known as the “Swedish Derogation” contract. • The Employment Rights Act 1996 –

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extending the entitlement to a written statement of employment particulars to all workers and not just employees from day one. • The Employment Tribunals Act 1996 – increasing the maximum ﬁnancial penalty available for aggravated breach of a worker’s employment rights from £5,000 to £20,000. • Employment status – the government will “bring forward legislation” that will clarify employment status together with proposals that will align tax and employment rights. • Continuous service – the relevant break in service for the calculation of continuous service will be extended from one to four weeks. • Holiday pay – increasing the holiday pay reference period from 12 to 52 weeks, and government will also launch a holiday pay awareness campaign. • Key facts document – must be provided to agency

workers conﬁrming who is responsible for paying them, details of their pay rates together with any deductions, how they will be paid, and the type of contract they are engaged on. • The right to request a more predictable and stable contract from the hirer – this is applicable to agency workers who have worked with a hirer for 26 weeks. Workers on zero-hours contracts that have worked for 26 weeks can request a contract that guarantees their hours. • Extending the remit of the Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate – to cover regulating umbrella companies in the supply chain. • A ‘name and shame scheme’ – for employers who fail to pay Employment Tribunal awards. • Staff gratuities – banning employers from deducting from their staffs’ tips. These proposals and the draft Statutory Instruments represent the government’s “vision for the future of the UK labour market”. Apart from the draft statutory instruments, which come into force in 2019 and 2020, the rest of the proposals don’t have substantial details or ﬁrm dates, so we will continue to keep an eye out for more details.

www.rec.uk.com

05/02/2019 10:30

I N S P I R AT I O N To keep up to date with everything the Institute of Recruitment Professionals is doing, please visit www.rec-irp.uk.com

TOM PICKERSGILL founder

at Redline Group, on attracting talent to the industry

The modern jobseeker has changed, the industry needs to change too

You were named Best Newcomer at the IPR Awards, so what attracted you to recruitment?

In low-margin sectors such as security it’s not sustainable to use a third party for recruitment. By using technology to cut back ofﬁce costs and minimise the legwork required for background checks and regulatory compliance, Broadstone can pass on the savings, provide higher wages and attract more jobseekers to these sectors.

Technology can help drive best practice. A CV doesn’t tell you how reliable or trustworthy someone is or how they

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CHRIS FORSYTH senior consultant

of temporary stafﬁng platform Broadstone on embracing technology

perform, but members of Broadstone’s community can achieve all-star status, unlocking extra beneﬁts if they don’t cancel jobs, They’re used to ordering turn up on time and log an Uber or a Deliveroo. their timesheets correctly. They don’t want to have Likewise employer ratings, to go into the nearest town to look at job ads in based on how responsive they are, for example, a window, or have a long interview, for a temporary, enforces things that haven’t traditionally been low-paid contract. tracked.

www.rec.uk.com

Q&A

What I know

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE INSTITUTE OF RECRUITMENT PROFESSIONALS

To make the most out of technology you need a clear strategy But you can start small, with the easiest business problem you’re looking to solve. If you can ﬁnd one way to slither 5% off the resources you need over a year, other opportunities will soon become apparent. Getting your team involved to understand what you’re trying to do will deliver better results. Bringing in specialists will ensure you’re on the right track.

I used to run a golf coaching business, then I secured a sponsorship deal which allowed me to play professional golf full-time on the tour. Injury forced my retirement so I had to ﬁnd another career that excited me. I talked to a few friends in the industry, and realised recruitment is quite competitive. The more you put in, the more you get out. I could see the similarities with my golﬁng life.

What were your ﬁrst impressions? My biggest worry was training. Because of my coaching background, I know how important it is to be taught properly. Over my ﬁrst month, I had some intense training, so I could hit the ground running.

What’s been the biggest challenge? Time management. It went really fast for the ﬁrst six months, and I applied myself completely, maybe too much initially. The biggest thing I’ve learnt is to write a plan for each day and stick to it.

What has helped you to succeed? I work very closely with my manager and she’s been brilliant. The other thing is mentality – I felt I couldn’t fail.

How can more ﬁrms encourage more people to switch careers into recruitment? Recruitment needs to be presented in a way that shows it’s not a die-hard sales environment, where you get sacked the moment you don’t succeed. If you apply yourself, demonstrate the right attitude and you’re willing to listen and learn, from my experience at Redline I’ve found you get the support you need to succeed.

MARCH 2019 RECRUITMENT MATTERS 7

05/02/2019 10:30

TRAINING

Training matters Staff training is as important in recruitment as it is in any other industry. Recruitment Matters talked to Mark Esom, founder of Fuel Recruitment, to discuss the benefits of taking a more structured approach Q. You’ve recently taken a more structured approach to your training, why? A. The main reason is the attraction and retention of people. Our industry is no different from any other at the moment – we’re all competing for talent. And you can decide not to bother training staff, because you think you might lose them, or you can formalise your training, giving people a specific structure to work to. People want to work for a business that invests in them, and the better you support people, the more likely they are to stay and repay that investment. Q. What structure does your training take? A. We created an internal academy covering the first 12 months of people’s careers with us. We’ve got a very in-depth manual built through many years of recruitment knowledge. We test people at three, six and 12 months against that, using evidence gained from their practical experience. We then give them an accreditation to say they’ve reached a level of competence and are therefore more senior. It’s hard. People have to learn – they can’t just sit there

RECRUITMENT MATTERS

Q. How important was it to get the balance right between internal and external training resources? A. Very. Firstly, it’s about getting the right people to deliver the right concepts. We had quite intensive discussions with the IRP about what we wanted for the

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

8 RECRUITMENT MATTERS MARCH 2019

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and coast. But it’s really helped us with retention. We had hardly any attrition last year. Working with the IRP, we then introduced a leadership programme for our more senior people. It’s designed to improve their knowledge and give them more accountability for the dayto-day workings of the business. In smaller companies leaders end up doing a bit of everything: you need to understand legislation, the workings of your clients, how payrolls and invoicing operate, people management and HR issues, as well as how to recruit. Gaining that breadth of experience is one of the biggest appeals to working in a business like ours, but you need support to do it well. With that training in place, we’re now looking at developing more sales-based training for those that sit in the middle.

leadership programme because I didn’t just want to plug our people into an existing module. I wanted something bespoke. Our business is different to every other business and we’re at a different stage of our journey. We wanted a speciﬁc course that would add value. Secondly, it’s about the time that’s required to deliver that course. Often the greatest knowledge to impart is already inhouse, but you need to remember what you are there for and not end up as a training college. Getting an expert can be quicker and more efﬁcient, even though it costs you a bit a money. Q. What was the hardest part of formalising your training? A. The reluctance of people to accept change. There was initial pushback around testing people on something they were already doing. We needed to explain how it would make them better at their jobs. It’s more about communication than anything. Q. How will you make sure your training doesn’t get stale? A. If training is delivered well – and interactively – it shouldn’t get stale. Use small workshops, get

people involved, and talk about current issues or recent legislative changes. We can look at updating certain parts of it when the time is right but we certainly won’t have to change the whole programme. Q. What advice would you give to other firms looking to formalise their own training? A. Every business is slightly different and will have their own perspective on how to do it. The training that the IRP provides is very good, but you still need to invest the time to apply it in the right way to your own business and ensure your staff buy into it. Training helps to strengthen the culture of a business – it creates a stickier work environment that hopefully encourages more of your people to stay. The Institute of Recruitment Professionals represents, educates, qualifies and supports the careers of individual recruitment professionals throughout the UK. Becoming a member of the IRP demonstrates your commitment to professionalism and best practice in recruitment and is signified by letters attached to your title.

Membership Department: Membership: 020 7009 2100, Customer Services: 020 7009 2100 Publishers: Redactive Publishing Ltd, Level 5, 78 Chamber Street, London E1 8BL Tel: 020 7880 6200. www.redactive.co.uk Editorial: Editor Pip Brooking Pip.Brooking@rec.uk.com. Production Editor: Vanessa Townsend Production: Senior Production Executive: Rachel Young rachel.young@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6209 Printing: Printed by Precision Colour Printing © 2019 Recruitment Matters. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, neither REC, Redactive Publishing Ltd nor the authors can accept liability for errors or omissions. Views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the REC or Redactive Publishing Ltd. No responsibility can be accepted for unsolicited manuscripts or transparencies. No reproduction in whole or part without written permission.

www.rec.uk.com

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06/02/2019 16:09

E UPSTART EARPIECE CO M M UNITY

ACADEMY FOR EXCEPTIONAL INDIVIDUALS BY COLIN COTTELL

our out of 10 self-made millionaires in the UK are dyslexic, including household names such as Richard Branson and Jamie Oliver. But with one in 10 of the UK population dyslexic and experiencing co-occurring conditions (see box) with dyslexia, and possibly up to 40% of the unemployed being neurodivergent, millions in the UK are held back from realising their full potential. Now a recruitment agency is set to take a radical step to help those who, because of their condition, struggle to find sustaining and fulfilling work. On 3 March, specialist dyslexic recruitment agency and consultancy Exceptional Individuals is due to open the doors of its new Dyslexia Employment Academy. The first Academy in Chelmsford will be followed by two more in London, which are planned to go live by the middle of the year. Exceptional Individuals has already signed agreements with three organisations to work with the Academy, as part of their employment support programmes: the Department of Work and Pensions based at Colchester Jobcentre, Reed in Partnership and Ingeus in London. While many working with neurodivergent people have emphasised informing and educating employers about dyslexia and neurodiversity, Dyslexia Employment Academy director Nat Hawley says these approaches miss a vital element. “We work with organisations to empower them to understand dyslexia and not just accept someone with a different way of thinking but to utilise it,” Hawley says. “However, we realised we couldn’t reach every single organisation – it just wasn’t possible and the world isn’t changing overnight. “While the vast majority of employers do not understand dyslexia very well, the vast majority of people with dyslexia also do not understand it very well either. So we thought why can’t we create a series of workshops that empower the individual to understand the way the way their mind works and be able to sell that to employers.”

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What’s it all about? A primary aim of the Academy is to help participants understand what their condition means for them. “If you are diagnosed – and a lot of people are not – you are just labelled, and this label does not have much meaning; it just has connotations attached, such as not being able to read, not being able to write, when dyslexia is the ﬂuctuation of abilities,” Hawley says. “You may not be good at reading and writing but you might be exceptional about communication, or innovation and problem solving. We try to teach people what it really means for them so rather than they feel they are swimming upstream, they are able to utilise those abilities.” Siobhan Cunningham, programme manager for the Academy, agrees that the approach is all about accentuating the positive and building on individuals’ strengths. While emphasising that “every individual is different”, she says one ‘positive’ that can be accentuated is that people with dyslexia “tend to be particularly creative and come up with solutions that others might not be able to see”. This makes them particularly suited to jobs in the creative sector, says Cunningham. Another is that some neurodivergent people have an exceptional ability to concentrate on detailed and focused tasks, making them ideal for roles such as coding. “Throughout your life you are trained to be a generalist, a good all-rounder, but people with neurodiversity are amazing specialists,” adds Hawley. “There just weren’t the roles available to use our abilities to our absolute max.” He says that after Exceptional Individuals had been in business for about four years, “it was increasingly clear that something like our Dyslexia Academy was needed”.

MARCH 2019

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CO M M U N I T Y

UPSTART

The six workshop sessions that make up each Academy will start with developing ‘a spikey profile’ for each individual, Cunningham says. This identifies each individual’s particular barriers to employment, the nature of their dyslexia and how it affects them. Subsequent sessions will help participants identify “what they are really good at” and discuss how to disclose and talk to employers about dyslexia. Subjects covered in the following four sessions include a confidence-building workshop, building up to public speaking, understanding how their dyslexia affects their learning style, as well as workshops focused on enhancing their job search. The sessions are tailored to “how far people are away from the job market”, Hawley explains, with level 1 sessions being designed for Left: Participants on one of Exceptional those further away from finding a job, Individuals’ pilot and level 2 and 3 sessions aimed at those workshops successively closer to the job market.

Academy participants

HOW N EUROD IVERGEN T CAND IDAT E S C A N M IS S O UT The negative effects of dyslexia to those with the condition are not confined to the well-known ones such as problems with literacy. Among the less well-known but just as devastating effects are those linked with dyspraxia, whose symptoms include knowing information, but finding difficulty in expressing it. Another condition that comes under the neurodiverse banner is Asperger’s Syndrome. In its mild form, this can result in difficulties in picking up social clues, and interpreting and in socialising with strangers, something that could easily count against a candidate in an interview. While the above appears to paint a very bleak picture for such jobseekers, the conditions also often

convey some very particular and useful strengths. These include: creativity, lateral thinking, 3D thinking, strategic ‘outsight’ and ‘insight’, problem-solving abilities, determination, high energy levels and empathy.

• Dyslexia is the name given to a specific learning difficulty (SpLD), which impedes the typical progress in learning to be literate.

• Dyspraxia is typified by difficulties with co-ordination, with one result being difficulty with handwriting. People may have problems with tasks requiring sequencing, structure, organisation, timekeeping, general work

organisation, and speaking and writing succinctly. However, they may not have literacy difficulties and may be very empathetic with others.

• Asperger’s Syndrome may be due to the same genetic background as dyslexia, and may result in difficulties within social interaction and communicating with others. Often these individuals seek work which requires thoroughness, such as accounting or auditing, and are likely to be very punctual and compliant about rules in employment and contractual obligations. Source: The British Dyslexia Association

Each Academy will have 10-20 participants, with most referred by the DWP and the other two Academy partners. “We kept the number small because we want there to be a lot of one-to-one support,” says Hawley. The Academy programme itself is based on a year-long pilot. “We had people coming in and trying the sessions, worked with the community and got feedback and made sure they were happy with what we were doing and that it was useful to them. “We also work closely with DWP with their disability employment advisers to ensure that what we were doing would help the people they were working with.” Exceptional Individuals also brings its own expertise, with an advisory board, a steering group, qualiﬁed staff to carry out assessments, together with “a vast community we refer to”, says Hawley. After the programme of six group sessions has been completed, participants will be provided with up to six months’ intensive support by Hawley and Cunningham, and Exceptional Individuals’ 10-stong team. Each will also be assigned a one-to-one job coach. This will be tailored “to whatever suits the candidate”, says Hawley, including visiting the agency’s WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 37 29

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CO M M U N I T Y

UPSTART

offices in London’s Liverpool Street, over the phone, or via Skype. Another option is for Hawley and Cunningham to run supplementary workshop sessions in Chelmsford. Cunningham says she expects between 60 and 85 people to go through the three Academies in the first year. One major aim is that those graduating will leave with a higher level of confidence, as well as the practical jobseeking assets of a CV and a video CV. They can also expect to be placed either in a job or a volunteering role, with level 3 candidates (those closest to job ready) the most likely to find paid work.

Credibility A factor that gives the Academy additional credibility is that around 80% of the staff working for Exceptional Individuals have dyslexia themselves. This gives them valuable insight into the challenges and frustrations that candidates face. “The majority of our team have neurodiversity, the vast majority have dyslexia, and all have experienced ﬁnding employment difficult, not through lack of intelligence, but just because the way they came across in the interview was in a way which a neurotypical person couldn’t quite understand without the right knowledge. We all have a similar story in that we are all exceptional individuals, really intelligent, really outgoing, very driven, but the roles we were able to get weren’t reﬂecting that,” says Hawley. That is why alongside working with candidates in the Academy, an important aspect of Exceptional Individuals’ work is with employers “to empower them to understand”, says Hawley. “We teach them the correct terminology and different ways of working, especially at the application stage, where a lot of processes have built up, which aren’t actually relevant to the role. “We question and challenge these and ask employers whether they are unintentionally excluding and discriminating against people with neuordiversity, and if so,

what are the reasonable adjustments they can make to make these roles more appealing for the people that we support.” Hawley says psychometric testing is a good example, which he says “unfairly discriminates against people on the autistic spectrum or who are dyslexic because their minds work in a different way – they [the tests] are not created in a way that is fair for people with a different mindset”. Cunningham says Exceptional Individuals has links with many employers, including Ford and Audi, as well as creative agencies, such as advertising agency network McCann. The Academy has already found favour with employers, says Hawley, with stationers Ryman being one to express its support. Speaking at the official launch event in September, Natalie Truman, Ryman’s learning & development manager, said that “after just an hour” listening to staff and pilot participants talk about Exceptional Individuals and the Academy “we were hooked”. Similarly, although no one has yet passed out through the Academy’s doors, those who attended the pilot are effusive in their praise. “It’s opened up a whole new world to me. I’m learning the reason I am different, and the reason I see things differently from my sisters is my dyspraxia, so actually I am not going to be embarrassed by my dyspraxia or my dyslexia, I am going to embrace it and these people have helped me do that,” says Alice Aggrey-Orleans. A similar reaction when the three Academies go live later this year will mean its approach of helping people to better understand their condition and its potential upsides in the job market is bearing fruit. ●

“I am learning the reason I am different and see things differently to my sisters is my dyspraxia”

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support@staffskillstraining.co.uk www.staffskillstraining.co.uk/recruiters 01920 897663

06/02/2019 16:14

CO M M U N I T Y

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

FAC E B O O K

From sponsoring intrepid rowers, celebrating staff stars to raising thousands for charity, you’ve been busy since the last Recruiter… GOSH, WHAT A CHEQUE! Following on from Source Technology’ss 2018 fundraising mention in January 2019’s Recruiter, the d staffing firm handed over a cheque for £3,030 to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Sixty Eight People Recruitment added 3 new photos The journey to world recruitment domination starts with Recruiter Magazine. Thank you Recruiter magazine We are proper chuffed #hospitalityrecruiter #sixtyeightpeople

TW I TTER

CONCEPT RESOURCING CELEBRATES WITH NIGHT OF STARS Specialist recruitment consultancy Concept Resourcing hosted its Night of Stars 2019 launch event at (appropriately) the Sky Loft on the top floor of Birmingham’s Park Regis Hotel on Broad Street.

NRL HELP AMATEUR ROWERS TAKE ON THE ATLANTIC Technical, engineering and construction recruiter NRL is sponsoring a team of four friends as they embark on the gruelling challenge of rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic. Rowing team Fortitude IV is raising money for West London Zone. NRL will work with Fortitude IV leading up to the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in December.

STANTON HOUSE FUNDRAISING TOPS £20K FOR EDUCAID From climbing mountains to tackling obstacle courses and auctioning their skills off for charity, staff at professional services and technology recruiter Stanton House last year raised £20,615 for EducAid, helping underprivileged and war-affected children in Sierra Leone.

Taste Hospitality @TasteHospitalit Recruitment Consultant required. Taste Hospitality are recruiting, unfortunately Barney just isn’t pulling his weight! Get in touch if you’re looking.

I NSTAGR A M

@dbcharlesrecruitment Loving the positive outlook from the @recruitermagazine amidst all the negativity and chaos around Brexit. Great Feb edition #goodread #somuchnegativity #bepositiveseepositive @recruitermagazine Thanks for liking what we do - (as the song sort of goes) we do it for you!! #recruitment #FAST50 @RecruiterMag instagram.com/recruitermagazine/ recruitermagazine.tumblr.com/

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E CAREERS CO M M UNITY

The Workplace BY GUY HAYWARD

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colleagues who we think will go on to great ‘things’ or become the best version of themselves – only to see the opposite. They’ve become tired, disinterested, demotivated and leave the company – and even worse, for many they leave our industry. We then lose a talent pool that under different conditions would go on to make great contributions and become colleagues that do a super job, are great team members and invaluable to all. Maturity to our approach to looking after our people makes this now possible. There really isn’t any need for presenteeism and the crazy hours of the past; return on input is diminishing. Enjoying free time and an emphasis on health undoubtedly strengthens performance. Giving our people the choice of when and where they want to work ﬁnally pushes the outdated practices of 20 years ago to the pages of history. Twenty years ago, how we worked was consigned to an envelope of privacy; the thought of sharing our USPs [unique selling propositions] we all found offensive. Knowing what I know now I

“The message to ‘get things done’ will always remain the solution… so is to relax and recharge” would have done the reverse. I would have shared, as we do now, our approach to looking after our people with everyone and the reason I set up MyLondonWorks. We could have made change quicker and changed the profile of our industry. We could have kept talent in our sector and made an even greater impact when helping our clients find great people. We could have started to create a world where we were all excited about going to work. We don’t have to burn out to succeed. The message from Geraldine to ‘get things done’ will always remain the solution… so is to relax and recharge. It gives us our health, fitness, family, friends, and a greater opportunity and platform to succeed. ●

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WHAT WOULD WE tell our 25-year-old self ? Over Christmas I found myself trying to explain to my parents how the world of work has changed and if only I knew what I know now 20 years ago. They asked what I meant, and I found that I had made a statement without really asking myself the question. I have thought about it now and I have the answer… and I thought it was worth sharing. Going to work 20 years ago: In for 7:30am, home for 9pm, no lunch (or a disguised five-minute sandwich at my desk), no phone calls to home, friends secondary, a rapid decline in fitness and wellness, and a complete neglect of anything other than my job. I would go back in time and change all of this. Things stick with you. I always remember the words of my first boss Geraldine: “It’s never anybody else’s fault. If you see something that needs fixing, then fix it.” I love these words and they apply as much to the modern workplace as they did 20 years ago, but the old way of working certainly doesn’t. We’ve all worked with

GUY HAYWARD –redefining the modern workplace CEO, Goodman Masson

MARCH 2019

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CO M M U N I T Y

WORKPLACE INNOVATION

BRING ON THE BRILLIANCE How to thrive in the age of overload BY TERENCE MAURI

↗ TERENCE MAURI is a global speaker and author, and has been recognised by Thinkers50 as one of the top 30 new leadership thinkers to watch in 2019

TECHNOLOGY HAS BROUGHT amazing possibilities, but also damaging fragmentation, overload and distraction. Attention spans are under attack. According to a recent global survey by LinkedIn, a whopping 89% of people say they don’t achieve their daily goals and multi-tasking eats 40% of your day. The Japanese have a saying for this – Karoshi – that literally means ‘death from overwork’. This is a fate we should avoid at all costs. Here are three shortcuts to thrive in the age of overload:

do their jobs sitting down. But in reality, their lives are very similar. Thriving under pressure, constant travelling, lack of exercise and sleep, and dealing with uncertainty can easily overwhelm the brain’s cognitive limits unless you put well-being at the core of everything you do. What can you learn from an F1 driver? High-speed decision-making, ﬁghting complexity with simplicity and investing time to recharge are simple rules that anyone can adopt to focus better.

1. Focus like an F1 driver

2. Have a ‘no’ strategy

Formula 1 is the most fascinating laboratory for leaders who want to thrive under pressure. On the face of it, F1 champions such as Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel might have nothing in common with entrepreneurs, other than the fact that they

What’s your ‘no’ strategy? The word ‘urgent’ is one of the most overused words in the age of overload. It forces you to react rather than think. The fact is that everyone will always want you to prioritise his or her needs before yours. You lose control of your day and your agenda, making it impossible to fulﬁl your own priorities. If being productive sometimes means being selﬁsh, so be it. Effective people protect their time and know the difference between busy work and their best work. Having a ‘no’ strategy helps cut through the noise and focus on what really matters.

3. Walk your ‘why’ Think of someone you admire. They could be living or dead. I M AG E | S H UT T E R STO C K

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“F1 is the most fascinating laboratory for leaders who want to thrive under pressure” Chances are they know their ‘why’ – their reason for being – and match it with discipline, speed and courage. First, clarify your purpose and don’t just focus on career; focus on a legacy. Second, simplify everything – that means deleting, replacing and updating all your processes in order to be nimble and fast. Third, multiply your imagination by a factor of 10; whether it’s thinking big on vision or increasing your team’s success tenfold. Walking your ‘why’ means turning talk into action – it’s the golden thread that links all great entrepreneurs from Jeff Bezos at Amazon to Jack Ma at Alibaba.

Summary How often do you get to be the best version of yourself ? In the age of overload, it’s never been easier to lose focus and drown in the tsunami of distractions. Are you ready to survive or thrive? ●

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E BUSINESS ADVICE CO M M UNITY

ASK THE EXPERT

Brexit is stressing me out. What can I do now to prepare? Hopefully by the time this goes to print we will have greater clarity about our country’s future. However, with current levels of uncertainty I will keep my advice more general. Your fundamentals should remain the same (ensure you have a three-year plan; calculate your ratios to achieve targets; build in headroom; and manage consistency) but further to those take the following steps:

36 RECRUITER

The SME Coach could cause shocks to cash ﬂow (lost clients, bad debtors, etc) or opportunities. A Brexit cash cushion will give you time to refocus the business in a worse case scenario, or invest in opportunities. • Line up credit – build relationships with banks (or alternative lenders) now to facilitate access to cash later just in case. The better prospective lenders know your business the more conﬁdent they’ll be about helping you invest for growth or ride out a storm. • Map threats and opportunities – focus on revenue (calculate demand for vs availability of talent) and operations (will Brexit impact your workforce or suppliers?). Many threats offer opportunities. For example, a consultant wanting to return to Germany might be the opportunity to establish a European presence; or a client making redundancies could be a source of candidates. • Be decisive – indecision wastes precious resources whether it is through hoping an under-performing sector or consultant will come good. Monitor performance against the targets in your plan and take remedial action swiftly. • Diversify – if you are tied to one sector, then consider diversifying into a growth sector that will not be subject to the same risks but is closely aligned to your niche. If you are currently UK-only, consider a European presence as across the Eurozone companies are showing increasing desire to work with local suppliers. Initially run the operation from the UK and cover the year 1 costs pre-launch. Put in place clear milestones to trigger further investment. ●

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• Audit your revenue streams by sector and by client – you need an objective and critical view about how resilient or fragile your business is likely to be – if you are too close, then work with someone outside the company. ‘Inch wide, mile deep’ – ie. high marketshare in a very targeted niche – has been the most effective growth strategy for many years and this remains the case. But bear in mind that limited revenue sources increase the probability of extreme impacts (either negative or positive) should there be a seismic economic shift. The ‘diversify’ section below gives a tiny bit more detail about how to spread your risk. As well as reviewing the sectors you operate in, consider the breadth of your client base: if any client accounts for 30%+ of your revenue, then this should ring alarm bells. • Get closer to your clients – to better understand revenue threats and opportunities, ask your clients how Brexit is changing their plans. Will they be hiring or scaling back? What skills will they be recruiting? When? Prioritise conversations with your biggest clients because changes to their hiring processes and plans will have the greatest impact on your business. Next focus on clients with strong European connections (exporters or those with European supply chains). • Communicate with clients and candidates – Brexit uncertainty is unsettling candidates and clients alike. Explaining what you are doing to ensure you are prepared will reassure people. Inviting them to contact you about how you can support them is a good business development opportunity. • Build a war chest – predicting future revenues or what return investing for growth will generate may become the hardest it has been for 10 years. Brexit

Alex Arnot

ALEX ARNOT is founder of MyNonExec and board adviser to more than 30 recruitment companies

MARCH 2019

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Advertorial A DV E RTO RIAL C L A S S P E O P L E

Technology, friend or foe? By Naomi Howells, Operations Manager, Class People

taying ahead of the curve has never been so crucial for SMEs in order to thrive in the education recruitment sector. At Class People we have opted to invest in new technologies, to unfetter employee diaries with administrative tasks and capitalise on our biggest asset: our people.

painting, fundraising or attending education campaign events that focus on driving STEM education within primary schools or even as far as supporting new NQT [newly-qualified teachers] with CV writing and careers advice prior to achieving qualified teacher status -- Class People strive to add value far beyond simply recruiting.

Millennials have grown up with technology and have observed its development and integration into their everyday lives. Most remarkable is technology’s impact within the recruitment sector. Since embarking on my career in recruitment with Class People, I have experienced first-hand business transformation through technological integration of business processes.

Recruitment expert Greg Savage has underscored that while Artificial Intelligence will be essential to future recruitment, it will not make recruiters redundant. And Class People’s company’s USP is our people.

In a decade Class People’s maturing business has changed from a Rolodex system to a cloud-based CRM. The latter change was a long and testing process from initial conception to board-level sign-off and final delivery. Such an implementation is not without risk and likely pitfalls, which lead many to ask ‘Why?’ Why pursue a course of action that could threaten business performance? Transformational change is mandatory for any business to continue to thrive. The rationale was simple: automate/remove laborious administrative tasks from the billers within the business to enable greater productivity to drive the business forward. Utilising technology enables the teams to spend more time building relationships and adding those extras that Class People call “going the extra mile”.

As Operations Manager for Class People, I observe consultants’ day-to-day activities and then assess the market for technologies that may assist them. For every pro there is a definitely a con to any system, but a measure of need and time is a more effective methodology to quantify the benefit to the business in a monetary value. Currently, I wave the flag for the future potential that the cloud CRM system allows for as a Salesforce platform, with integrated video conferencing, telephone recording and visual performance animation in real time all tools that are next in focus. The technologies introduced into Class People have optimised productivity, and now help our consultants capitalise on time without creating stress and excessive workload. Delegating tasks to IT has created a much more dynamic and engaged workforce where individuals enjoy the benefits of increased performance. Recent acquisition means that Class People now sits within the structure of LB Education Group. Next steps are the integration of Cover Teaches and Teacher Hub. ●

↗

Continuing pressures within the Education Sector such as candidate shortages and budget restraints have demanded education recruitment agencies not only re-evaluate their market propositions, but also distinguish themselves as supportive providers -- working in partnership with their clients, demonstrating clear investment into the nation’s education. As a result, liberating consultants’ time to maximise opportunities to drive the business forward is essential. Those opportunities include increasing geographical coverage, developing more creative recruitment strategies and providing greater visual brand presence with clients.

NAOMI HOWELLS Operations Manager, Class People

CLASS PEOPLE For further information please visit: www.classpeople.co.uk

Our consultants regularly step out from behind the computers and into schools to assist with the day-to-day running of school life. Whether it be gardening, face-

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E CAREERS CO M M UNITY

“When I was told I was shortlisted for Recruiter’s Investing in Talent Award it was such an amazing feeling” MY BRILLIANT RECRUITMENT CAREER ↗

What was your earliest dream job? A teacher.

MADONA RIXON branch manager for Term Time Teachers’ Tunbridge Wells office, originally from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi

What was your first job in recruitment and how did you come into it? My ﬁrst job in recruitment was a recruitment consultant for a care company. I started working as a care assistant and about a year later a job opportunity came up as a recruitment consultant recruiting care assistants. It was a temporary position. I think it was for three months, so I applied and thought who can do the job better than me? I actually knew what I was looking for in a candidate because I had been through the entire vetting procedure etc. I applied and was fortunate to be offered it, and that’s how I ended up in recruitment.

Who is your role model – in life or in recruitment? In life it would be my father, and in recruitment it would be my managing director Carol Parisella.

What do you love most about your current role? A mixture of things – I love the fact it’s always busy… I can’t pinpoint one thing. It’s several things – coming in to the workplace, getting stuck in, seeing your colleagues, working altogether as a team. We’re open plan, which sometimes drives me up the wall but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It would just be so boring otherwise.

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MARCH 2019

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Madona Rixon What would you consider to be the most brilliant moment of your career? Recruiter’s Investing in Talent Awards in 2018. The day I was told I was shortlisted was such an amazing feeling.

What is your signature dish? Lasagne.

What’s your top job to fill at the moment? Science vacancies – I’ve got several schools looking for science teachers and it’s just so difficult to ﬁnd them. I’m sure I’m not the only one – schools and several other agencies are probably in the same boat. They’re hard to come by. y

What’s the best or worst interview question you’ve ever heard? The best question was when I was invited to an interview for the Investing in Talent Awards. We were talking about how I motivate my staff and inspire them… and one of the jjudges actually asked me where I get tthe motivation myself to get up at 6 o’clock every morning and come to work. I thought that was the best w question. q

W What would you regard as your ttheme tune? M current favourite tune is My II’ll Never Love Again by Lady Gaga ffrom A Star Is Born. ●

IM AGES | SHUTTER STOCK / ISTOCK

06/02/2019 15:28

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06/02/2019 16:19

E CAREERS CO M M UNITY

APIS ALVI

CAMINO PARTNERS

The international recruitment services group welcomes Jane Deans as chief human resources officer for its outsourced services provider Arbour Services.

The back-office to boardroom-level staffing specialist has promoted Sachin Ruparelia from joint managing director to CEO.

CROSS COUNTRY HEALTHCARE

The health and education recruiter has appointed Isabel Fernandes as head of permanent recruitment of its nursing division.

The US healthcare staffing specialist has appointed Kevin Clark as president and CEO. Clark succeeds William Grubbs, who previously announced his intention to retire.

THE BEST CONNECTION

CV-LIBRARY

The ﬂexible workforce solutions business welcomes Jane Power as business assurance manager at the company’s headquarters in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.

Andy Summers joins the independent job board as its new chief technology officer. Managing director Lee Biggins takes the role of CEO, while deputy MD

ATHONA RECRUITMENT

Email people moves for use online and in print, including a short biography, to recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk 40 RECRUITER

Impellam Group’s technology recruiter onezeero has appointed Justin Hall as its new managing director. Hall has spent the past 14 years at onezeero’s sister company Lorien, where he was a part of its senior leadership team, managing some of its largest customer accounts. Commenting on his new role, Hall said: “I’m looking forward to driving this further and becoming the go-to brand for customers and candidates alike.” With 70% growth over the last ﬁve years, onezeero has plans to expand internationally, and Hall’s expertise is seen as crucial.

John Salt is appointed MD.

FORWARD ROLE Richard Jones has joined the marketing, digital and technology recruiter to head up its FR Executive brand as executive search director.

GANGMASTERS AND LABOUR ABUSE AUTHORITY (GLAA) The GLAA has welcomed Suzanne McCarthy as its newest board member.

GUIDANT GLOBAL Impellam’s group workforce solutions provider has promoted Simon Blockley to CEO from MD of Guidant’s European operations.

HEIDRICK & STRUGGLES Stacey Rauch has been appointed to the global

executive search ﬁrm’s board of directors as an independent director and will serve on its audit and ﬁnance committee.

IT WORKS RECRUITMENT The US-based agency has promoted Amy Cullen to business systems divisional manager for a niche division of IT Works Recruitment.

RANDSTAD Linda Galipeau is to step down from the executive board of the recruitment giant on 26 March. Appointed to the executive board in 2012, she is responsible for the US, Canada, Randstad Sourceright, Monster and RiseSmart. Rebecca Henderson and Karen

MARCH 2019

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Fichuk are nominated for appointment as members of the executive board.

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RESOURCE SOLUTIONS The recruitment process outsourcing provider has appointed Simon Bradberry as MD for the EMEA and the Americas regions.

SHEFFIELD HAWORTH The leadership advisory and executive search has announced a series of senior promotions. These are: Emily Von Kohorn from the New York office has been promoted from executive director to MD within the global real estate practice. Sarah Harte from the New York office has been promoted from executive director to MD within the global markets – equities practice. Jennifer Montalvo from the New York office has been promoted from executive director to MD within the global markets practice. Andrew Thompson from the New York office has been promoted from director to executive director within the wealth and asset management practice. Chris Smailes from the New York Office has been promoted from executive director to MD within the asset management practice. Charles Bruce-Smythe has

assumed responsibility as global head of asset management, broadening his remit across the asset management practice at Sheffield Haworth. Helen Tudor from the London office has been promoted from executive director to MD within the business & professional services practice. Daniel Woodgate from the London office has been promoted from senior consultant to director within the technology practice. William Bown from the Hong Kong Office has been promoted from executive director to MD within the global banking practice. Fergus Adam-Cairns from the Hong Kong office has been promoted from senior consultant to director within the business & professional services practice.

YOU R NE X T M OV E A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk Bridge Recruitment Recruitment consultant Rec-to-rec London £depending on experience City Wharf Recruitment Recruitment consultants Finance, IT, insurance, risk London Highly competitive salary Venn Group Recruitment consultant Rec-to-rec Healthcare Birmingham

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

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06/02/2019 15:30

E THE LAST WORD CO M M UNITY

Martin Dangerfield The Nearly Man

I am not old. Not yet. Although, ask my kids and they will think I’m ancient. Nor am I a millennial – despite them being the next biggest thing, I cannot become one. I am very much Generation X. This means as a middle-aged man, I have seen the end of the yuppie era, survived recession and decline, and beneﬁted from the growth years afterwards. My generation believes you have to take the bad with the good, and that it will ultimately make you a better person. We can’t run away all the time, just because we are doing something we don’t love. In full navel-gazing mode, I have been thinking about my career over the last few years and more importantly what we in the recruitment industry are likely to face in the near future. As is often the case, those thoughts have also led me to think about my personal brand,

impact and recent reputation as the ‘nearly man’. It’s not my phrase; someone who has a large corporate role in talent acquisition coined the phrase, based on me being on the cusp of greatness several times, yet not quite pulling it off. He is one of the highest-paid talent acquisition people I know, and I know a lot. He has been on the cover of Recruiter – I haven’t (yet). But while he is amazing at what he does, I am no worse. People have told me my ideas are sound, sometimes good and on occasion brilliant. Execution of recruitment-based projects and activities range from ‘ok’ to ‘amazing’. That means an average ‘good’. However, ‘good’ does not make you globally recognised as the ultimate recruitment expert. Right now, ‘good’ does not give you a regular income.

‘Good’ does not make you globally recognised as the ultimate recruitment expert 42 RECRUITER

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However, achieving ‘amazing’ every time is incredibly tough – we all know that, especially when you consider I am often brought in to ﬁx a broken process or hiring that isn’t going well. But my real worry is that 2019 – despite all my good intentions, despite a business model that works, despite having my name in capital letters in front of people every day – is going to be an awful year. That’s not pessimism; it’s a combination of fear and doubt caused by Brexit, the mistaken belief that because people see I am busy that I don’t need work (people haven’t called me to talk about consulting, projects and permanent roles because of my marketing) and that the global economy is heading for tough times.

MARTIN DANGERFIELD is a director of talent acquisition

The ‘nearly man’ in me has seen what can happen. Success for me is measured by contribution, by helping people and organisations do things a little bit better. It has to be measured by revenue as well but not in a Dragons’ Den valuation; regular steady income from interesting clients is enough. So the point of my blog today? I have been close to amazing success several times and I am determined that, despite the challenges, I will make the best of 2019. But what do you do to ride out the tough times in your career or business? How are you going to make 2019 better than ‘good’? ●

MARCH 2019

06/02/2019 15:30

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