Business intelligence for recruitment and resourcing professionals
November 2016
INCORPORATING Recruitment Matters
GETTING ON THE PLAYLIST www.recruiter.co.uk
Ian Woodward, group HR director, Caesars Entertainment UK, invites Recruiter behind the scenes of recruiting for the latest Playboy Bunnies
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THE FIRM In-house teams get proactive in hiring INSPIRING INNOVATION Recruitment leads the way in staff investment THE LAST WORD Greg Allen: what is your karaoke moment?
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ING PORAT INCOR itment ru c e R Matters
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05 Brexit Summits
18 THE BIG STORY Getting on the Playlist
Recruiter’s Summits in Leeds and London advise on protecting EEA workers’ status 06 Executive Briefing: Innovation is key Panellists from Recruiter’s ‘Inspiring an Innovation Culture’ event give recruiters vital tips 07 Executive Briefing: How to embed a highperformance culture Advice from keynote speaker, ex-Red Arrows pilot Justin Hughes
Ian Woodward, group HR director, Caesars Entertainment UK, opens the doors on a Playboy recruitment day
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26 Tried and tested
Give candidates a better experience of assessment
32 A FIRM approach to proactive recruiting The FIRM’s latest report on in-house challenges
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07 Star recruit: Mel and Sue, who are not moving to Channel 4 with The Great British Bake Off 08 This was the month that was... 10 Contracts & Deals
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FEATURES
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Social Network Employability Performance Advice Careers Peer to peer Careers The Great Divide My brilliant recruitment career: Susie Ives 48 Movers & Shakers 49 Recruiter Contacts 50 The Last Word: Gregory Allen
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12 Insight APSCo-Deloitte: keeping the recruitment momentum going
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Tech & Tools Recruiting with Instagram
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INTERACTION Agency View: Vaseem Ahmed Soundbites
I M AG E S | PA L H AN SEN /P ETER SEA R LE/IKO N /SYCO/TH AMES
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UPDATE
WE LCO M E
LEADER
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nnovation in business, our 2016 Investing in Talent Awards and Brexit kept Recruiter’s team stimulated and on the go in the past month with events in Leeds and London. Meeting readers and being challenged by high-level thinking – what an enjoyable way to spend the day! Thanks to all who participated, and a very big ‘thank you’ indeed to our panellists plus Irwin Mitchell, Squire Patton Boggs, the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC), Northstar and hiredbyme.com. The irony of the “The UK initial discussions needs a around a dynamic, post-Brexit UK is healthy that the very recruitment issues the ‘Leave’ industry and campaign focused job economy on as persuasions now more to join their than ever” movement are those seeming the unlikeliest to be viable. ARC’s bold new Post-Brexit Manifesto offers some common-sense concepts that could benefit the recruitment industry while one suggestion – a joined-up tax approach – would benefit the entire country. Yet is anyone listening? The UK needs a dynamic, healthy recruitment industry and job economy now more than ever; the UK needs the business expertise, the natural entrepreneurial capabilities and understanding of jobs, skills, workplace and employment our sector has to offer. Recruitment must have a place at Brexit planning’s head table.
DeeDee Doke, Editor
Brexit Summits advise on protecting EEA workers’ status BY COLIN COTTELL
EMPLOYERS AND RECRUITERS have been advised to act now to help protect the immigration status of their EEA (European Economic Area) workers following Brexit. Padma Tadi, an employment and business immigration associate at law firm Irwin Mitchell, told recruiters at Recruiter’s Brexit Summit in Leeds, hosted by Irwin Mitchell, that there were a number of actions that employers could take to protect their EEA workers “should the worst happen” and Brexit lead to EEA nationals no longer enjoying freedom of movement to work and live in the UK. Tadi said one action that many companies were already taking was paying the £65 fee for a permanent residence card for their key staff, with some also paying their family’s residence cards fees. This card certifies that a person has permanent residence in the UK, and is free from immigration restrictions. Supinder Sian, a partner at law firm Squire Patton Boggs and a specialist in business immigration, advised attendees at Recruiter’s London Brexit Summit (sponsored by the Association of Recruitment Consultancies [ARC] and hosted by Squire Patton Boggs), that another benefit was any transitional arrangements, which are as yet unclear, between when EU immigration rules end and UK immigration rules begin after Brexit, shouldn’t apply. Sian said the actions available to EEA nationals to maintain their existing treaty rights under freedom could be broken down into three categories: ● Those workers or self-employed people in the UK for less than five years could apply for a Registration Certificate, valid for five years. This certificate indicates that an EEA worker is exercising their freedom of movement rights. ● After five years’ continuous residence in the UK, an EEA worker could apply for a document certifying they have permanent residence in the UK. ● Having acquired permanent residence status after five years, after a further 12 months continuous residence in the UK, an EEA worker could apply to naturalise as a British citizen. ●
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UPDATE
32,817 FOLLOWERS AS OF 13 OCTOBER 2016
Inspire to innovate BY COLIN COTTELL
INNOVATION IS THE KEY to staying ahead of the competition in recruitment, recruiters at Recruiter’s ‘Executive Briefing: Inspiring an Innovation Culture’ have heard. “If you are not innovating, you are stepping backwards,” said Tom O’Loughlin, executive director, of international recruiter Nicoll Curtin Technology, a panel member at the London event sponsored by Northstar and hiredbyme.com. Fellow panel member Yvette Cleland, chief executive at pharmaceutical research and development recruiter Clinical Professionals, said innovation was essential for her firm to help it stand out from the competition. “Unless we can differentiate ourselves from the in-house team we will become a redundant entity,” said Cleland. By way of example, Cleland
explained how Clinical Professionals had created a new market for itself by training newly qualified life science graduates, and placing them into roles. “In 18 months, we have placed 50 graduates into roles they would never have got. It’s changed the dial, and we are perceived as putting something back into an industry that we care about,” she said. Panellist Guy Hayward, CEO at financial recruitment specialist Goodman Masson, explained his firm’s novel approach: the starting point was its focus on staff retention, and using its own approach to providing its staff with “a great work experience” to advise potential and exiting clients. Goodman Masson is a multiple winner of Recruiter Awards and Recruiter’s Investing in Talent Awards over several years for its innovative approach. This incorporates a generous staff benefits package including help with repaying student debts and buying a house. “Going back to a client and saying ‘this is where you
L-r: Guy Hayward, Tom O’Loughlin, Oliver Donoghue and Yvette Cleland
are going wrong, and this is how you can improve’ is slightly innovative,” said Hayward. O’Loughlin said recruitment firms could innovate by borrowing best practice from other industries. Nicoll Curtin had done this by introducing the net promoter score, which uses client feedback to improve consultants’ performance, said O’Loughlin. Fellow panellist Oliver Donoghue, managing director of multi-sector UK and Continental Europe recruiter NonStop Recruitment, said a lot of businesses fail because they don’t allow for innovation. One reason innovation was stifled, he said, was because many companies had a culture in which “the more senior your position the more your word is verbatim”. “You have to have a forum for new ideas,” said Donoghue. ●
See the December issue of Recruiter for an in-depth view into our 2016 Investing in Talent Awards. But for now, visit www.investingintalent.co.uk/winners-2016 for a look at our winners guide. IM AGES | COLIN COT TE L L /C ARM E N VAL I N O
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THOUGHTS FROM…
UPDATE
ANGELA MORTIMER
SPE AKING AT HER EPONYMOUS AGENCY’S 40 T H BIRTHDAY CELEBR ATION
“It’s just terrific to have all you people, all you past consultants, who have worked so hard and been so committed to the standards of the company. The most difficult thing for any entrepreneur, when they start a company, is to let go and let other people do stuff that needs doing…”
JOHN AMAECHI OBE
PSYC HOLOGIST, HIGH PERFORMANCE COACH A N D FORMER NBA BASKETBALL PLAYER
“In Britain – we know what ‘nice’ means. It’s a Trojan horse word. When people start to talk about inclusion as a ‘nice to have’ you know you’re in trouble. It’s a word that is carved out, and at its centre is apathy at the very best and at the worst, outright contempt.” TONY GOODWIN
G ROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND CHAIRMAN , ANTAL INTERNATIONAL
“I voted to leave the EU. I didn’t vote to leave Europe.” Y VETTE CLELAND CHIEF EXECU TIVE, CLINICAL PROFESSIONAL S
“Our happiness metric is our attrition rate.”
IM AG E R E X
STA R RECRUIT
MATT GRADY, MANAGING CONSULTANT AND MANAGER OF THE HOSPITALITY RECRUITMENT TEAM AT VENTURE RECRUITMENT, SHARES HIS INSIGHT FOR WHAT ROLES COULD LIE AHEAD FOR THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF DUO MEL AND SUE FOLLOWING THEIR DECISION TO QUIT AFTER THE SHOW WAS BOUGHT BY CHANNEL 4. The intellectual pair met at the University of Cambridge and have had similar careers in the public eye, not only as
Take your company culture to the skies COLIN COTTELL
DON’T GET WEDDED TO YOUR OWN BRILLIANCE if you want to create an innovative high performance culture in your company. That advice was given by Justin Hughes (right), managing director of business consultancy Mission Excellence, at Recruiter’s ‘Executive Briefing: Inspiring an Innovation Culture’. “We all get wedded to our own brilliance, but the competition has got a different opinion, and can see through it and jump all over it,” said Hughes, a former Red Arrows pilot. Based on his own experiences in the military, Hughes outlined a number of ways that businesses could embed a high performance culture:
● Look at yourself in the mirror. “Otherwise you are on your way to mediocrity and average” ● Be objective. “Analyse yourself in the way an outsider would” ● Set up a team to stress test your own assumptions, and to avoid confirmation bias, the tendency for people “to see what they want to see” ● Use debriefs to learn from your mistakes and avoid making them again ● Allow people to be open and honest and to admit their mistakes ● Make people accountable for what goes wrong, broadcasters but actresses Mel: Well, it had a good and comedians, so with forking, perhaps it’s got a no matter their their variety of comedy soggy bottom. talents, what could be Sue: The terror of the level of seniority next on the cards? soggy bottom kept me up ● “Ask yourself how The branded food all night. hospitality industry is Customer: In that case I’ll badly do you want growing from strength take two of your biggest to get better – to strength. Mel and baps please. Sue would be naturals in that is the killer Britain’s most well-known Leading by example with question,” said coffee shops such as Pret their blend of comedy, A Manger, Eat, Starbucks, witty banter and solid Hughes. However, Costa and Caffe Nero. knowledge of what a good scone looks like, I’m “it’s not going to Picture the scene… certain customers would happen over night. Customer: Mel, I’m not be happy to take advice sure this Victoria Sponge is on what pastry goes best It’s a long burn”, he up to scratch. with their cappuccino! warned ● WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 7
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THIS WAS THE MONTH THAT WAS… Here is a round-up of some of the most popular news stories we have brought you on recruiter.co.uk since the October issue of Recruiter was published S E P T E M B E R •‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒→ T H U, 2 2 S E P 2 0 1 6
UNILEVER UNVEILS GAMING SELECTION FOR RECRUITS
MON, 19 SEP 2016
LESSONS FOR BUSINESS FROM DOUBLE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNER ALEX GREGORY Recruiters drew important lessons from the inspirational story of double Olympic gold medal winning rower Alex Gregory about how to build and sustain a high performance business culture. At an event organised by mid to senior-level white collar recruiter Stanton House held in Reading, Gregory told the audience of his journey to sporting glory, about the setbacks he had overcome and the lessons he had learned along the way. Gregory won a gold medal at both the London 2012 Olympics and just recently as part of the Team GB’s Coxless-four boat in Rio. One of the other key lessons from Gregory’s story that could be translated to the business world was the importance of staying focused on your goal. Gregory told the audience how despite injury, illness and being overcome with nerves in the earlier part of his career, he had never lost hope of realising his Olympic dream. More: http://bit.ly/2dNY3Ut
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Unilever has launched a new digital recruitment programme that uses online gaming to select the best candidates. The global company’s new digital process mixes gaming with video interviews and uses digital analysis, removing the potential for unconscious bias in the recruitment process. Under the process, candidates first fill out an online application that they can sync with their LinkedIn account, with successful candidates then invited to play a series of games, taking no more than 20 minutes. The way in which applicants play these games enables Unilever to get an insight into the candidate’s potential and how well they connect with the company’s goals and purpose. More: http://bit.ly/2dFfOcA
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FAKE RECRUITER ARTICLE ALERTS FCA TO SHARE RAMPING Adecco Group UK has rejected as “incorrect” an article circulating on Twitter that claimed it had reached agreement to acquire AIM-listed recruitment and conference business RTC Group to expand its presence in managed services. The fraudulent story was circulated in such a way to make it appear as though it had been published on Recruiter’s website, recruiter.co.uk. Recruiter was alerted to the story by eagle-eyed Twitter followers, some of whom speculated that the fake article was intended to affect the share prices of either or both companies. The RTC Group could not be reached by Recruiter for comment. A tweet by Adecco Group UK has said the company “can confirm 100%” that the story was “incorrect”. Recruiter reported the incident to the Financial Conduct Authority. Editor DeeDee Doke said: “Obviously, we’re not happy about the misappropriation of our brand and our reputation as an authoritative news source. This flags up the dangers of irresponsible use of social media.” The Evening Standard and The Times also picked up on the scam. More: http://bit.ly/2eiXjZS
IM AGES | REX/SYCO/T HAM ES/PA/SYCO/T HAM E S /S H U TTE RSTO C K
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Five recruiters make 2016’s Top Track 250 list Five recruiters have made the latest The Sunday Times Grant Thornton 2016 Top Track 250, a league table that ranks mid-market firms by sales. This year’s list features five recruitment agencies, down from nine last year. By ranking, agencies appearing on the list are: Pertemps Network Group (2), Resource Solutions Group (82), LA International (108), ID Medical (131) and Search Consultancy (150). More: http://bit.ly/2dIjhXA
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‘NOT IN MY NAME’: RECRUITERS SLAM ‘DISASTROUS’ POST-BREXIT PLANS FOR WORKERS The government’s latest proposals to restrict the free movement of labour in a post-Brexit Britain “are a recipe for division and disaster” and not what vote to leave was supposed to be about, according to recruitment industry experts. Home secretary Amber Rudd warned that UK companies would need to introduce tougher recruitment tests, including tighter curbs on foreign workers, as well as invest more resources into training British employees before seeking to employ foreign workers. Addressing the Conservative Party conference, Rudd said that companies would be required to publish the numbers of foreign workers they employ as well as outline their impact on the local labour market. Prime Minister Teresa May is committed to reducing net migration to 100,000 from 327,000. Tony Goodwin, group chief executive and chairman at pan-European recruiters Antal International, says the industry needs to make its distain heard. “I voted for Brexit but I didn’t vote for restrictive practices such as this that will hold the economy back. We didn’t vote for decreased economic activity and hardship. Controlling immigration to this point would stifle the economy,” says Goodwin. Gethin Roberts, managing director at Drivers Direct, which provides temporary and permanent drivers to commercial organisations, puts it more succinctly. “I understand we can’t have an open door policy but I would ask the government to look a bit more closely at the low-skilled sectors such as ours, logistics,” says Roberts. More: http://bit.ly/2dhwaF3
TUE, 11 OCT 2016
WILD MOGGIE HUNTING MIGHT FELINE LIKE THE PURRFECT JOB
MON, 10 OCT 2016
WHEN I SAY HONEY, YOU SAY… REALLY?!
More: http://bit.ly/2e3bmPg
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More: http://bit.ly/2dhu0W3
SCOTTISH NATURAL HERITAGE IS SEEKING A CONTRACTOR TO TRAP FERAL CATS TO SAVE ITS DWINDLING WILDCAT POPULATION
→‒‒‒‒‒•
Rapping recruiter Honey G has made it through the first stage of the ITV X Factor live shows. ‘Honey G’, the alter ego of Anna Georgette Gilford, managing director of recruitment firm ARG Search, closed the first live show of this latest series of the TV singing competition the X Factor with her rendition of the late Tupac Shakur’s California Love. Gilford’s successful negotiation of the first round of live shows made it a double for the recruitment sector in terms of TV talent shows. In the BBC’s The Apprentice, professional search agent at IBM, Trishna Thakrar, who previously worked for SThree firm Real Staffing and before that technology recruiter TRG, avoided being fired by Lord Alan Sugar in the first episode. Thakrar was hailed by an ex-colleague as a contender to win the latest series of The Apprentice due to her energy and strong opinions. Go girls, the recruitment industry’s rooting for you! We think…
The Courier.co.uk reports Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish public body responsible for the country’s natural heritage, is seeking a contractor to trap feral cats in the Angus Glens to save its dwindling wildcat population. To protect the remaining wildcats, the project team will trap, neuter and vaccinate un-owned domestic cats and obvious hybrids before re-releasing them into the wild under licence from Scottish Natural Heritage. Check the claws in the contract in case they’re just kittening you for meow – [enough cat puns, Ed].
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£9.4m
NE WS
CONTRACTS
IS THE AMOUNT STAFFING GROUP EMPRESARIA HAS AGREED TO PAY FOR 65% OF IT SPECIALIST RECRUITER CONSOL
CONTRACTS & DEALS Liaison Liaison, a provider of temporary workforce management solutions to the NHS, has acquired HR analytics business Activ8 Intelligence. Activ8 provides analytical HR software that helps organisations more effectively manage their workforce, develop and retain key talent and provide relevant and important insights to HR and management. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
Encore Personnel Industrial, technical, transport and energy recruiter Encore Personnel has partnered with fresh cut herbs supplier R&G Herbs to find and train staff for its new factory. R&G Herbs, which is currently headquartered in West End just outside Woking, is set to open its new, larger purpose-built facility in Farnborough this month as part of strategic growth plans.
AndersElite AndersElite has undergone a management buyout. The professional services staffing firm has been acquired from US-based parent CDI Corp by AndersElite’s management team and employees, led by managing director Simon Trippick and finance director Steven Smith. Under the deal, CDI will maintain a minority stake in the new entity, AndersElite Holdings, while AndersElite will continue to serve its clients and support its contract associates from offices in Southampton, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester and Newcastle.
Adecco Recruitment giant Adecco has acquired eDiscovery solutions provider D4. D4 specialises in identifying, collecting and producing electronically stored information for use in legal proceedings, providing a range of managed data and discovery services to law firms and corporations. New York-based D4 will be combined with the Adecco subsidiary Special Counsel, a US legal staffing and recruiting solutions provider.
Connections UCFB, a higher education institution offering undergraduate and postgraduate university degrees and executive education in the football business, and recruiter Connections Recruitment have entered into a partnership to ensure students are industryready for the world of sport after graduation. Students at the newly opened UCFB Etihad Campus, in and around Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, will benefit from employability advice from Connections staff, help with producing CVs, interview techniques and how to maximise their initial job applications.
Impact Recruitment Northampton-based recruiter Impact Recruitment has undergone a management buy-out. The supply chain, logistics, technical and engineering staffing specialist, which has three offices across the East Midlands and employs 28, was founded in 2002 by shareholders, Neil Kitchener, Nigel Buller and Paul Hooper. As a result of the MBO, Kitchener, the finance director, and Hooper, who is operations director, have acquired the shareholding of their fellow co-founder Buller. Buller will remain with Impact as a consultant focusing on sales and new business.
DEAL OF THE MONTH
de Poel de Poel has been acquired in a multi-million pound management buyout led by group managing director Andrew Preston and his senior management team. In a statement, the neutral vendor recruitment outsourcing specialist revealed its management
team has acquired a majority stake in the Knutsford-headquartered firm from previous owner and founder Matthew Sanders to support further expansion of the business and continued development of its products, technology and sector-specialisms.
Essential Recruitment The senior management team of Chesterfieldheadquartered Essential Recruitment has acquired a majority stake from previous owner and founder Gary Wilson. The management buyout (MBO) team includes Marc Orli, Kristyan Rachael, Carl Wootton, Lisa Hadfield and Alison Wilby. The firm manages temporary workforces for clients in the East Midlands and Yorkshire regions, operating from an eight-branch network supplying more than 1,000 temporary staff each week.
John Walker, previously of investment firm Equistone Partners Europe and Barclays Bank, will become de Poel’s new non-executive chairman supporting the group’s board in all aspects of corporate governance and helping to deliver strategic growth plans.
Empresaria International staffing group Empresaria has agreed to buy 65% of IT specialist recruiter ConSol for around £9.4m, with the remaining 35% to be held by the senior management team. ConSol focuses on niche sectors of communications and mobile, cloud technologies and the digital supply chain, operating in the UK, the US and Continental Europe, and provides both contract and permanent staffing services, with 57% of net fee income in 2015 coming from contract services.
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INSIGHT
KEEPING THE MOMENTUM GOING Although latest reports reveal a rosy picture for the recruitment industry, the sector needs to look internally at how to attract and maintain their own talent to keep riding the success story wave. Colin Cottell reports
T
he fourth edition of the UK Recruitment Index, compiled by professional services firm Deloitte in association with APSCo (Association of Professional Staffing Companies), portrays a buoyant and successful recruitment industry replete with ongoing opportunities. However, it also shows an industry that is grappling with how to maintain that success. Looking ahead it suggests recruiters should consider tapping into a number of key trends to continue to profit and build a sustainable future. The report entitled ‘Riding the Waves’ finds the strong UK labour market has benefited the recruitment sector, with 79% of those responding to the survey reporting growth in net fee income (NFI) for 2015. NFI growth was highest among recruiters in health and social care, professional services and pharmaceuticals. An analysis of NFI growth by firm size shows the smallest firms, those with NFI of less than £2m, reported the highest NFI growth (28%). Firms with NFI of over £100m saw the slowest rate of NFI growth (11%). The strength of the labour market and the continuing demand for talent is attracting new businesses into the market, with the number of recruitment businesses increasing by 14% between 2014 and 2015. The report acknowledges that
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Many recruitment businesses see international expansion as a pathway to growth ultimately a company’s financial results are driven by the productivity of its workforce. It finds that company productivity expressed by the proportion of NFI available to reinvest in the business, pay out dividends or cover overheads remained static overall in 2015, compared to the previous year. However, for permanent and retained executive search, the average proportion of NFI kept in the business fell from 61% to 54%. The report suggests this could have been the result of higher levels of recruiter churn as consultants looked to take advantage of better career opportunities in a buoyant market, with some recruiters raising remuneration to retain key staff.
The report accepts this is indicative of the strength of the UK labour market. A nice problem to have, perhaps, but as the report goes on to suggest, it is also a warning that despite its current robust health not all in the recruitment industry garden is rosy. Indeed, the report, based on responses and data from 110 UK-based recruitment businesses highlights how concerns about internal staffing issues are now on the radar of recruiters, with staff retention and growing their own headcount identified as the number one (cited by 42%) and number four (by 61%) challenges respectively faced by recruiters in 2016. Recruitment businesses’ awareness of the integral role their own staff have in driving growth is reiterated in another finding that around two-thirds see access to new recruiters and staff training as ‘very important’. External factors, such as the health of the UK economy are also much to the fore in the minds of recruiters, according to the report. Although the survey was being carried out before the UK voted to leave the EU in June, those concerns about the UK economy
IMAG E | SHUT T ERSTOCK
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T R E N DS
INSIGHT
in North America, five in continental Europe, two in Asia and one in Australia. However, how this will pan out postBrexit remains to be seen. Longer term, the report suggests that recruiters bent on sustainable growth should consider tapping into three key trends likely to “impact demand for talent and talent search in the future”:
Increasing use of technology Businesses that innovate quickly and apply new technologies are likely to see both cost and time savings, allowing them to become more competitive and enhancing their relationship with clients.
will only have been heightened by Brexit, which the report acknowledges. However, while it recognises the UK has now entered a period of uncertainty, the report argues this “could also bring opportunities for the recruitment sector” as clients seek advice on flexible recruitment strategies, along with potential increases in demand for contract and interim staff. This year’s UK Recruitment Index, shows that many recruitment businesses see international expansion as a pathway to growth, with seven respondents planning to open offices
Automation Recruitment businesses need to be aware that increasing levels of automation could change the skill requirement of their clients. Further automation of tasks within the recruitment industry itself has the potential to raise efficiency and staff retention, allowing recruiters to focus on more challenging and rewarding aspects of their role. Flexible workforce Rapid developments in crowdsourcing and the growth of the ‘gig economy’ open up opportunities for the recruitment industry to build relationships with clients, and to work with them to identify skills needs and to utilise new sourcing methods to find talent.
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POWER POINTS: RETAINING STAFF Focus on increasing staff productivity, allowing you both to remunerate them well and retain profits in the business Evaluate your recruitment strategy Staff training and employee engagement are key to retaining staff Take advantage of Brexit uncertainty by helping meet clients’ changing needs Tap into broader, longer-term technological and labour market trends
Rather than basking in the recruitment industry’s current success, this report sends a timely warning that to continue to successfully ride the waves, recruitment companies must both look internally at how they recruit, retain and manage their own staff, and externally to take advantage of wider technological, economic and labour market trends. ●
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TECH & TOOLS
Picture sourcing How Instagram can help you recruit SUE WEEKES
Instagram has shown the world the sense of community that can be built largely by sharing pictures and video. Since launching in 2010, the social network has acquired 500m active users per month but what relevance does it have for sourcing? For some recruiters, Instagram is yet to get on to their radar but for others it is an important social recruiting tool. “It can be a slower win but you might just uncover someone who you won’t find anywhere else,” says Katrina Collier, founder of The Searchologist and a global social media recruitment trainer and speaker. Andrew Robson-Graham, talent acquisition and training manager at technology recruitment agency Redline Group, agrees: “Even if it gives you a sliver of a person’s capabilities, it can be really valuable.”
BE HUMAN When a recruiter sets up an Instagram account, there can be a tendency to be too formal. To make the most of the medium, Collier recommends adopting a more human approach. It is very different to using LinkedIn. “On Instagram, people might not have the same user name [as their own] so you have to be more creative,” she says. “You need to fill out your bio, have a recognised profile picture and show content from your professional life but also insight into who you are as a person. Give them something to engage with and a reason to follow you.” So along with social recruiting content, Collier
also shares photos about her two big loves of travel and dogs.
WHO’S ON IT? Instagram has a much bigger demographic than just young people so don’t pre-judge it as only a medium for Millennial talent. Typically, Redline uses it for searching more creative people. “If you can physically see an example of what a person has done it’s always going to be better than just hearing people talk about it,” says Robson-Graham. He adds that if he was looking for high-end chefs, Instagram would be the first place he’d look as many post images of their creations.
Collier agrees recruiters should play to Instagram visual strengths but says all types of professions use the platform. “On one of my courses, someone said I’d never find a quant [quantitative] developer, but I did,” she says.
DIRECT SOURCING Potential talent can be found by using hashtag searches but with 95m photos and videos shared each day, prepare for a lot of posts to be returned, especially on general searches like #chefs or #designers. Applying x-ray searching techniques such as the ‘site:instragram.com’ approach will obviously
WHAT IS INSTAG RAM? Instagram was launched in 2010 and has made its name as a simple-to-use platform for sharing stories and experiences with photos. It is used by brands, celebrities and organisations of all sizes, as well as individuals, to tell their story visually. Instagram has more than 500m monthly active users and 300m daily ones. More than 95m photos and videos are shared each day and 4.2bn ‘likes’ are clicked.
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provide more targeted returns but experiment and invest time in understanding how the medium is used by its community. Collier says as well as searching for talent, she also seeks out content that she can share with her community. “If recruiting nurses, I’ll follow #nurse problems and re-post content that I think is interesting,” she says.
MAKING CONTACT Instagram is more likely to form the starting point of tracking down talent rather than where you open a full dialogue. Robson-Graham says that it can be more of a “one-way street” and he tends to search out contact details elsewhere. “It doesn’t have the functionality to enter into a dialogue in great depth. You can post that you like their work but it won’t necessarily be the quickest way to find a person,” he says. “I always tell people that being a recruiter is like being part detective and part diplomat, so you need those skills to come into play.” He
adds that Redline finds it particularly valuable for overseas talent, especially in the US, where Instagram is huge, and increasingly, South-East Asia.
BUILD TRUST Bear in mind that Instagram is a community. It may be a valuable social recruiting tool but users are on it to share experiences and stories. “What you really want is for someone to follow you back so you can send them a message over the platform. This can take time and you have to gain trust,” says Collier who stresses that this means being upfront about being a recruiter. “A lot of recruiters follow me on social media but I wouldn’t necessarily know it from their profile. But then I’ll speak at a conference and know they are there because of the conference hashtag,” she says. “This makes them look like they are hiding something. If a person doesn’t know you as a human being, they won’t trust you.”
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C
INTE R AC TIO N
AGENCY VIEW
Don’t panic… be happy! C-level recruitment in a post-Brexit world BY VASEEM AHMED
was tempted, hugely tempted, in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote to write a blog about how awful it was and how we were all doomed. But then it was too early, too dramatic, too emotional to write about all the thoughts and questions whirling around in my international outlook mind about how the UK was the centre of the international universe. How would my clients around the world view Great Britain – maybe as not so Great? Then my years of experience – working for great international companies from British Airways to Vodafone and now as an entrepreneur finding the very best executives for my clients around the world – kicked in. What skills do my very best, most senior candidates excel at? What are we all great at? We manage change – we manage it better than anyone. After the usual shock, we accept, we start to manage the downside and we accentuate the upside, we mitigate the risks, we optimise the opportunities, we bring calm and considered thought for the people we lead, and convert hysteria into practical meaningful action. We make it better for everyone, because even in the most complex of situations and circumstances, we manage the change – whether that be political, and this was political with a capital P, or any other seismic change. That’s why we are leaders, that is why we rise to the top and that is why we are the very best in the world. So as a British company that searches for and places the very
I
+ VASEEM AHMED is managing director at Capumen Executive Recruitment.
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“We in the corporate and political leadership world are in hugely important positions”
best in the world – for the very best in the world – we know that what makes us great will still make us great post-Brexit. We still love Europe and, really, they love us. The greatest lesson I take from Brexit is that we in the corporate and political leadership world are in hugely important positions. We do not operate in a vacuum. And that places huge responsibility on us to make sure that in every strategic business decision we make we consider not only the needs of our customers, our shareholders and employees, but our communities too. This has been a huge victory for communities, whether we like it or not. We ignore them at our peril; this is not something we can just blame on the politicians. What is the social deficit and what is the social benefit in what we do? It is a brave leader that goes out on a limb, but damn it, that is what makes great leaders. If we can spend billions on creating logarithms for complex problems, then let’s add some extra coding to make our decisions sustainable and inclusive. This is more, much more than a rewrite of your corporate social responsibility plans or a few extra millions to your grant-giving budgets; this is so much more fundamental and central to your core than that. So as we look forward to an exciting, maybe uncertain world, we are planning to rise to the challenge and we know our global network of C-level executives will too. LET’S DO THIS!!●
IMAG E | SH UTTER STO CK
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I N T E R AC T I O N
SOUNDBITES
WEB CH AT DRIVING THE TALENT AWAY Proposals to push UK employers to prioritise British workers, assumes a ready queue of qualified and enthusiastic candidates (‘Not in my name’: Recruiters slam ‘disastrous’ post-Brexit plans for workers, 6 October, recruiter.co.uk). In the transport and logistics industry, that is patently not the case. Debating the pros and cons of tighter curbs on foreign workers in a post-Brexit Britain does not address the real issue faced by this sector, which is encouraging young people into the industry as established, highly experienced drivers retire or opt for work in other sectors. The Freight Transport Association estimates a UK shortfall of some 60,000 Class 1 drivers and that can only increase as our demand for online shopping and home delivery continues to grow. The requirement for continual assessment, long hours and extended periods away from home have all contributed to the sector losing its appeal. Young people need to see the professional driver industry as a viable and rewarding career path, where training and development is a worthwhile investment. If that doesn’t happen, recruitment agencies will continue to struggle to supply qualified drivers from a dwindling agency pool. Without newly-qualified professional drivers coming into the industry – order backlogs are almost inevitable and frustrated, unhappy customers an absolute certainty. MARCUS GREEN, NOVA CONTRACTING
I really fear that soon they will be proposing concentration camps and later gas chambers and other forms of repression for foreigners not unlike Milosevic and Hitler. DISGUSTING...
What is the best business advice you have ever received? NEFINO JOANNIDES A S S OCI AT E D IREC TOR – F I N A N CE, L MA RE C RU I T M E N T
“When I was considering a move to LMA – a boutique recruitment firm aspiring to create a new division in finance, a good friend advised me that ‘it is always better to be a builder, than a decorator’. I liked the analogy as it spoke to my entrepreneurial aspirations: to be an architect of the company’s future was an exciting prospect. One year on, it has been rewarding to see LMA’s finance division grow to become the second biggest team in the company, covering three main finance industries, and its growth is designed to continue.”
LUCY HODGSON D I REC TOR , T H E G REAT RECRUIT MEN T CO
“If you want to make something happen, plan it. That includes both work commitments and personal life. Whether that’s the strategic plan for your business, simply scheduling in piano lessons or personal training sessions, time to read to your children, or ensuring you’re holding regular meetings with your staff – plan. It is also important to schedule in time to review the plans. You’ll see when you look back that it’s the times you’ve planned that will deliver the greatest successes, in every area of your life.”
LESLIE MASTERS
STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE From your report on the Conservative Party conference (Blog: REC’s Hadley reports from the Conservative Party conference, 6 October, recruiter.co.uk), as always, education and training seem to be key pillars of strategy. Unfortunately, all too often they are more style than substance. Until the government realises that sadly, over-education, celebrity culture and media are creating an unrealistic, under achieved and eventually unrewarded aspiration in the youth market will we actually start to make progress. JOHN FARMER
MARK KIEVE CH IEF EX ECUT IV E, A MRI S AT S / Z AO S OCI A L R E F E R R A L
“Don’t sit across the table when you should be next to your clients. The market today is changing at lightning speed. If you cannot appreciate this from your clients’ unique perspective and position, and add value, you won’t be able to help them engage with change. Complacency and the pace of change are putting many recruitment consultancies at risk, but true partnerships will continue to flourish.”
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13/10/2016 11:56
TH E B IG STO RY IAN WOODWARD
GETTING ON Ian Woodward, group HR director for Caesars Entertainment UK, owners of the Playboy Club
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T H E BI G STO RY I A N WO O DWA R D
THE PLAYLIST PHOTOGRAPHY: PAL HANSEN
What is the recruitment process like for the next intake of Playboy Bunnies? Well, Recruiter’s Colin Cottell went along to the latest casting day to find out
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TH E B IG STO RY IAN SAMANTHA WOODWARD R AMSAY
Candidates have to introduce themselves to everyone and come up with a short routine in groups to entertain the audience in the room
ICONIC AND LIBERATING to some, to others demeaning and exploitative of women, the Playboy Bunny divides opinion. But such controversy seems a million miles away as 25 prospective Bunnies are put through their paces at a recruitment day at the Playboy Club at the heart of London’s Mayfair. As the candidates file nervously through the Tale Bar into the club’s dimly lit ground floor Baroque Room, normally used for hospitality events, it is impossible to miss the photos of glamorous Playboy Bunnies as they pose with stars and celebrities from the club’s much publicised heyday, including Playboy Club and Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner. After closing in London in 1991, the Playboy Club reopened on its present site in Mayfair off Park Lane in 2011. Today’s recruitment day, or in Playboy Club parlance ‘casting’, is one of a regular series that occurs roughly every eight weeks to recruit Bunnies for a mix of roles – either valets to serve in the club’s bars and restaurants, or croupiers or dealers to work on gaming tables upstairs. “Really show us your personality! Take advantage of this opportunity. Presentation is important. Bunny standards are required, and if you are successful, you will be given the
opportunity to earn your Bunny ears,” urges Theresa John, the club’s recruitment and training officer to her expectant and hushed audience. A short video about the Playboy Club gives a flavour of what is expected. “You
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“When you go to the beach you wear a bikini… the Bunny uniform is right for this environment”
must always be willing to smile… It’s not just a job; it’s an experience… Want to join us?” And the club’s mission statement ‘Inspire grownups to play’ is indicative of the sort of culture that those who are successful today will be expected to buy into and embrace. As the pictures adorning the club’s walls portray, when it comes to being a Playboy Bunny, glamour and looks play a part. Playboy Bunnies routinely spend at least an hour putting on their costume, applying make-up and doing their hair, before coming onto the club’s floors. Being photographed with club members is part and parcel of the role. So it’s no surprise that candidates
13/10/2016 12:00
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TH E B IG STO RY IAN WOODWARD
who get through to the afternoon session of today’s casting are required to pose for photographs in full Bunny costume. In most other walks of life, selecting staff on this basis could lead to an Employment Tribunal. But at the Playboy Club, the uniform comes with the territory. Indeed, according to Ian Woodward, group HR director for club owners Caesars Entertainment UK, the uniform is integral to becoming a Playboy Bunny. Woodward explains that the ‘Bunny standards’ referred to by John at the start of today’s casting are a mix of key customer service behaviours, such as smiling, and adopting an enthusiastic tone, as well as “how candidates wear the uniform” and standards of personal appearance and presentation that are “more around the costume and the bunny image”. Certainly, the girls here today have no objection to the uniform. “When you go to the beach you wear a bikini, the Bunny uniform is the right uniform for this environment,” says Maria, originally from Italy, who is applying for one of the dealer roles on offer. “The reason why we put the girls in costume is because sometimes when they put it on they feel too exposed, so this gives them the opportunity to selfselect out,” says Woodward. “If we don’t do it we could spend three months training them before they actually get into their costume [before finding this out],” he explains. Before actually getting to wear a full Bunny costume, including its Bunny ears, today’s successful candidates must first go through a training and probationary period of up to 90 days to get them up to the Bunny standard. Woodward makes no bones about the fact that interviewers – interviews are the final stage in today’s process – go into great detail about appearance, and whether it is appropriate for the club’s brand, whether that be hair style
it’s Playboy and it’s cool” or because “it’s a dream job” or variations on those comments are a common theme. The candidates are also asked to say three things about themselves – two true and one a lie, with the audience asked to show a red card if they suspect the latter. Most candidates aren’t good liars. What is more revealing is that many are fluent in several languages, and that working out and keeping fit are popular hobbies. Many of today’s candidates currently work in casinos and clubs in other parts of London, although several have come from as far afield as Birmingham and Manchester. A number of candidates are originally from Eastern
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or length of nails. That said, the latter criteria is based on practicality. “We advise girls to shorten their nails as they are going to pick up the gambling chips all the time,” he explains. The job is open to men, says Woodward, although two men who did apply “probably as a joke” decided not to continue their application when they realised the job involved wearing high heels, he says. The day began with each candidate being asked to introduce themselves in front of the other candidates and assorted Playboy Club staff involved in the casting. Asked to explain why they want to be a Playboy Bunny, “Because
C O M PANY
Playboy Club ▶ 1960 - First Playboy Club opens in Chicago ▶ 1965 - Playboy Club opens in London’s Park Lane ▶ 1991 - London Playboy Club closes ▶ 2011 - Reopens in Mayfair as part of Caesars Entertainment ▶ 2016 - 190 staff including 67 Playboy Bunnies
Europe, with women from Poland and Romania making up a significant proportion of that group. After the first stage, during which many candidates admit to nerves, the girls are divided up into smaller groups and given a minute to come up with a song-and-dance routine to entertain the whole audience. Several of the routines feature impressions of reality celebrity Kim Kardashian. One group innovates and sings along to music using a smartphone app. “We are looking for who came up with the idea, who is the strong personality, do they work as a team, and is there somebody who just sits on the fence and just goes along with it,” says casino manager Gary Dixie. The girls clearly get into the swing of it, kicking, singing, smiling and dancing their way through their routines, their earlier nervousness a thing of the past. The audience responds in kind with enthusiastic applause. Not all will make it through to the afternoon session, however, and as six young women are called out and depart the room, the sense of relief among the remaining 19 is palpable. Woodward explains the exercises are all about identifying those candidates with the right personality for the club. “Are they right for what we are trying to achieve as a brand and as an experience?” He continues: “They have to engage with the customer perhaps more than in a normal bar. Can they start a conversation or create a special moment?” Playboy Bunnies are expected to be on first-name terms with the club’s wealthy members, to ask them “How are you doing?” and enquire about what sort of day they have had. That takes a special type of confidence, says Woodward. Woodward, who earlier in his career held a regional HR role in Rank Group’s gaming division, says the essential difference between a Playboy Bunny and staff working in other clubs
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T H E BIG STO RY I A N WO O DWA R D
“They have to engage with the customer perhaps more than in a normal bar”
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TH E B IG STO RY SAMANTHA R AMSAY
Communication and customer service is crucial
across the hospitality and entertainment industry is that customer service must be a natural aspect of a Playboy Bunny’s personality. “With other organisations, it is more taught,” he says. If personality can seem a nebulous and fluffy notion on which to base selection, Woodward says there is a degree of rigour behind today’s casting. During the morning, each candidate is observed and given a score for their communication skills. This ranges from ‘Below expected standards’ for ‘Defensive body language, and not engaging with groups’ to ‘Above expected standards’ for someone “who smiles, has an upbeat positive attitude, is energetic and communicates with the whole group”. ‘Minimum standards’ lie somewhere in between. Those applying for a dealer role are expected to have a personal licence from the Gambling Commission. They are also required to go through a table test, undertaken by the club’s dealers. “We are in Mayfair, and we need good dealers. A dealer is a dealer, and a skill set is required,” says John. Woodward adds that by involving the Playboy Club’s dealers in the selection process, candidates get a truthful picture of what the job actually involves. The final stage in today’s casting is 24 RECRUITER
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an interview. Based on a standard competency framework, Woodward says, it revolves around two key questions: “Tell me about a time you had a really great customer experience”, and “about a time when you resolved a customer service issue”. “This helps tell us what the candidate understands by customer service and what their own benchmark is,” Woodward explains. An added benefit is that it identifies any specific areas of training that a successful candidate needs, “allowing them to ‘earn their ears’ quicker”. Maria, one of the 19 to get successfully through to the afternoon, says she is happy with the whole casting process. “It’s a good way to select people because these are the sort of things you have to do to entertain people in this environment,” she says. Woodward says the club rarely if ever has to advertise, as it receives more than enough speculative applications through its website, and via referrals. Indeed, when the Mayfair club opened its doors in 2011, it was inundated with 2,500 applications, he says. Woodward pulls out a card, which he keeps close to hand so he can give
it out to potential Playboy Bunnies when he has received particularly outstanding service, say, in a café. Adorned prominently with the famous Playboy Bunny ears logo, it reads ‘It takes something special to be a Bunny – and we think you might have it’, and invites the person to apply. Woodward says the biggest challenge is combating “quite a lot misconceptions” about the club, “what the Playboy Club actually” is “and what is going on behind the doors”. “Some people think it is a strip club or a gentleman’s club but it is open to all,” he says. The only difference between other private members’ clubs, such as Soho House, is the gaming floor. Natalie, who joined the club in 2012, before being promoted to Head Bunny, agrees the reality is very different from those misconceptions. “We are never put in a position where we feel uncomfortable,” says Natalie, who in accordance with the Playboy Club’s privacy policy for its Bunnies does not reveal her surname. And while she accepts there may be glitz and glamour ahead for today’s successful candidates, the other part “that people ignore”, she says, “is that we work hard”. ● Postscript Of the 25 candidates who attended the recruitment day, three were recruited as Bunny Valets, five as Bunny Dealers and two as Trainee Bunny Dealers.
IMAG ES | AKIN FALOPE
13/10/2016 12:09
we have Europe covered
Software with a bang www.itris.co.uk
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12/10/2016 10:09
CA NDIDATE ASSESSMENTS
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IM AGE | SHUT T ERSTOCK
13/10/2016 12:12
CA N DI DAT E A S S E S S M E N T S
The range of online testing and assessment tools is vast and readily available, so recruiters have no reason not to take them up and offer candidates a much better recruitment experience. Sue Weekes explains The world of online assessment and testing has been democratised by technology and the online environment. Whether psychometric, situational judgement, skills-based or focused on behaviour or cultural fit, there are a range of options for agencies that want to add value to their service by assessing candidates before they put them forward to an employer. Many agencies are still not exploiting the potential of online testing though, and remain fixed in the old mindset of thinking when it needs to take place in the recruitment process. For example, certain types of testing may have been cost-prohibitive in the past but is now more accessible for even entry-level jobs. Nik Plevan, managing director of e-Talent, set out to make testing better value for money for direct recruiters with a system designed to assess personality and behaviour as well as culture fit. With a growing interest from agencies, he is also making his product available to recruitment consultants and turning the traditional per head testing pricing model upside down by offering a per consultant service for £150 monthly flat fee (the price drops for more consultants). “In the past psychometric testing hasn’t always been used for frontline roles because of the cost implications,” he says. “Testing is more effective than a CV, though, which is a document produced by the candidate to market themselves. And it makes sense to do
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it at the start, as personality is the one part of an individual that won’t change throughout the recruitment process.” By introducing testing earlier in the process, agencies add value for both the candidate and the client, and can help a recruitment firm to stand out in the best way. “As a recruiter it shows how seriously you take finding the right role for the individual,” says Amanda Davies, managing director of online skills testing company ISV. “You want to put them forward for a role where they will flourish rather than flounder.” She adds that it also reduces risks to the agency’s reputation: “If you put the wrong candidate forward even just once, it will risk your chance of gaining any repeat business. In the uncertain world of recruitment, screening and assessments add a degree of certainty.” Technology and advances in integration also make it much easier to embed testing into the recruitment process, reducing the risk of candidate
“As a recruiter, [testing] shows how seriously you take finding the right role for the individual”
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CA NDIDATE ASSESSMENTS
drop-outs and, once again, enhancing their experience. For too long, many agencies have seen testing as something that happens outside of their recruitment system but this is changing. Davies says any testing company worth their salt is making sure their product can be integrated with other systems. ISV has integrated its testing with the recruitment system RDB ProNet for several years, and Davies adds that last year the company unveiled its most advanced integration yet with Voyager Infinity software, which aims to become the hub of a recruitment business. “Recruiters can access and search candidate information all from one platform,” she says. “It’s a great time saver. Plus we also integrate with job posting tools like Logic Melon and our psychometric partners cut-e.” As well as integration, recruiters can go one step further and brand the system. Like others, ISV can be sold as a white label product and the testing system, results pages and candidate communications can all be branded, explains Davies. “Of course, this is going to make for a better candidate experience and brand recognition,” she says. “It gives continuity to the candidate. Even little touches – like at the end of the tests candidates can be redirected to the agency’s website or a dedicated web page – all help reinforce a seamless experience.” Plevan began with the testing and then found it made sense to build a recruitment system around it to offer a “one-pass” process for the candidate and recruiter. As well as testing, e-Talent is designed to gather all of the information a recruiter needs and includes the ability to customise questions in areas such
“It is vital that companies create an engaging assessment experience”
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as qualifications, as well as capture a candidate’s work history. It takes around 20-25 minutes depending on how many questions are asked. “At the end of the process, there is no further input required from the candidate for the recruiter to make an interviewing decision,” he says, explaining that the recruiter is given a percentage fit and a red, amber or green light for each candidate. As well as seamless, the testing experience also needs to be a comfortable one for the candidate – in terms of ensuring that they understand the process and purpose of it. Davies says candidates know that they will be screened in some way but fear comes into play when people don’t know what to expect. “The better testing providers have clear on-screen instructions for the candidate, practice tests are often available and we even developed a FAQs [frequently asked questions] document for candidates to help allay any concerns,” she says. Davies says candidates should be encouraged to take the tests on a PC or laptop as opposed to a mobile device or tablet, where they are free from distractions and is more reflective of a working environment. “And don’t overload your candidates with irrelevant tests at the initial application or registration stage,” she says. “They will be seen as a barrier and candidates could head elsewhere.” In many ways, agencies need to take a leaf out of the book of in-house recruiters, who are ever-conscious that candidates are also potential customers whether or not they succeed in ultimately landing the role. A poor, disconnected experience at the testing stage can be damaging to the brand and may mean the candidate chooses not to take the test. Nick Shaw, talent expert and MD of CEB, says based on their experience and research in the corporate world it is not the tests that put candidates off but rather the lack of transparency in the application process. “It is vital that companies create an engaging assessment experience that delivers
FIVE THINGS TO CONSIDER
1 2 3 4 5
Explain to the candidate why they are being assessed and how results will be used Ensure the testing is relevant to the job role Consider branding the testing to provide more continuity in the candidate experience Provide clear on-screen instructions and give the candidate every opportunity to perform at their best Provide feedback to the candidate and use data gathered for other stages of the recruitment cycle such as onboarding
value to all candidates, regardless of hiring outcomes,” he says. “The real issue is that candidates are expected to put in a lot of effort upfront with limited knowledge of the day-today requirements of the position and even less clarity on the steps involved in the process.” Candidates should also be able to see the relevance of the testing to the role for which they are applying. A huge range of excellent quality off-the-shelf tests is available but for some roles it may be worth investing in more tailored testing, as technological advances have made customisation more affordable. In the era of data-driven decisionmaking, also bear in mind that any information gathered about candidates can be fed into onboarding plans for the candidate. And as Shaw points out, don’t shy away from using the testing to turn recruitment into a two-way street: “Provide candidates with actionable feedback to help them determine whether the job is a good fit for them.” ●
NOVEMBER 2016
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Issue 43 November 2016
RECRUITMENT MATTERS The View and The Intelligence
Member of the Month
Legal update and the IRP
Party conferences
O’Neill & Brennan Group p4
10 years of age discrimination law
p2-3
IRP AWARDS BOASTS RECORD ENTRIES The 2016 IRP Awards will be the most hotly contested yet, with a record number of REC and IRP members putting themselves forward. The number of entries rose by 20% on 2015. Fifty individuals and 48 companies were shortlisted and will contest a record 17 categories at this year’s awards. Head of the IRP Richard Charnock says record number of entries reflects a strong year for the recruitment industry.
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Events and Training p6-7
professionalism is continuing to grow. “This promises to be the most tightly contested IRP Awards ever and the judges will have a big task in front of them to choose this year’s winners,” Charnock says. This year’s IRP Awards will be presented at a glittering
IRP Awards shortlist p8 ceremony in London on 7 December. For more information about the IRP Awards, visit www.irpawards.com • Turn to page 8 for the full shortlist.
“We’re extremely pleased to have received a record number of entries for this year’s IRP Awards. 2016 hass been a great year for the e recruitment industry and the level of professionalism on display has been fantastic,” he says. “Shortlisting was extremely difficult. Not only did we have the highest number of entries this year, but the standard of entry is the best we’ve ever seen. It’s clear the industry’s high level of
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Leading the Industry
THE VIEW
Brexit dominated this year’s party conferences, says Tom Hadley, REC director of policy and professional services
Getting the right people to lead your fee earners is critical, says Kevin Green
The number one issue that recruitment leaders say hinders growth is their ability to find and retain good people. At a recent Scale Up event, we explored this issue with 80 recruitment leaders. The answer was easy and difficult at the same time. I mentioned in my introduction to the session that the industry needed 20,000 new consultants across the next few years. It became apparent that most recruiters attempt to grow their own talent, be that via apprenticeships or graduate programmes. In the process of attracting potential to their businesses, most said they had learned to be transparent and open about their expectations and culture to avoid a high failure rate. Most recruiters were investing in training and development, but the key factor between those who got it right or not was the capability of their front line managers. Do your mangers inspire and motivate your future capability or do they micromanage?
PARTY ON
Getting the right people to lead your fee earners is one of the critical success factors in scaling up a recruitment business. Our research points this out time and again. It’s also clear that the more training is linked to professional qualifications, the more it’s valued by trainee recruiters. The REC is there to help you – whether that’s taking on an apprentice or training your managers, talk to us about how we can help you succeed. Finally, I wanted to let you all know that our global body previously known as Ciett has had a rebrand and is now known as the World Employment Confederation. It an exciting time for our industry and it’s great that we have a global body seeking to influence how the industry is perceived by global stakeholders. If you want a more regular feed on what’s going on in the world of recruitment, why not follow me on Twitter @ kevingreenrec or on LinkedIn
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Just over a year ago you’d have got long odds on Theresa May being Prime Minister and Jeremy Corbyn winning not one but two leadership contests. The recent party conferences were an opportunity to take stock of the political scene and to ensure that our industry is at the forefront of post EU referendum debates. The Conservative Party conference was a high octane, highfiving affair. The PM’s speech focused on the value of work – a good hook for our ongoing engagement with government – and support for strategic sectors like life sciences, technology and the creative industries. Elsewhere, it was good to discuss the government’s review of working practices with Employment Minister Damian Hinds. This will provide a good platform for driving our industry’s agenda around compliance and good recruitment practice. Access to staff and skills remains a major concern for recruiters. Chancellor Philip Hammond acknowledged the need to “attract the brightest and the best to work in the UK” and at a number of fringe events we underlined the fact that recruiters are regularly reporting shortages of workers in sectors like hospitality, logistics and care. We got this point across to key figures including David Davies, Secretary of State for Exiting the EU. The previous week we were checking the latest vibes following Jeremy Corbyn’s re-anointment. At the ‘Labour Business’ reception, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell underlined the party’s commitment to building a better relationship with business. Although different ways of working are still seen by some as reprehensible, we took forward our message that flexible working options are a genuine choice for many people, providing a stepping stone into work for millions of jobseekers. The strapline of the Conservative conference was ‘A Country that Works for Everybody’; we need an apprenticeship levy that works from everybody, which clearly isn’t the case at present. Our underlying priority is to take forward a clear vision of what a post-EU jobs market should look like, and to inform key debates around jobs, skills and immigration so that our industry has a voice in developing the post-EU landscape.
You can follow Tom on Twitterr ment @hadleyscomment
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THE INTELLIGENCE WITH REC SENIOR RESEARCHER, NINA MGUNI-JONES Persisting labour shortages According to the September report for the Office for National Statistics, there are 31.77m people in employment in the UK, an employment rate of 74.5%, a joint highest rate since records began in 1971. And yet we may see a further tightening of candidate availability. In the ‘JobsOutlook’ report published in October, one in three employers (33%) stated that they have no capacity and they would have to take on new staff if they were to take on more work. In addition, one in five employers (22%) plan to increase the number of permanent workers in the next three months, and one in four (25%) plan to increase the number of permanent
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workers in the next 4 to 12 months. The data suggests that staff availability is already contracting. The ‘Report on Jobs’ survey published in October found a deterioration of availability amongst temporary and permanent staff, though the rate of contraction has slowed when compared to the previous month. But skill shortages persist. In the CBI education and skills survey, published in July 2016, 77% of businesses expected to have openings for higher level skill roles. Also, 69% of businesses are not confident that they will be able to find available people with the higher level skills to fill these roles – the highest yet recorded, an increase from 55% in the previous year. Some of the demand for high skilled workers is met and will be met by labour from overseas. At the end of June
74.5% ONE IN THREE EMPLOYERS (33%) STATED THAT THEY HAVE NO CAPACITY AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO TAKE ON NEW STAFF IF THEY WERE TO TAKE ON MORE WORK
THERE ARE 31.77 MILLION PEOPLE IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK, AN EMPLOYMENT RATE OF 74.5%, A JOINT HIGHEST RATE SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1971
33%
2016, 93,935 Tier 2 skilled work visas were granted, which was 1% more than the previous year. Tier 2 visas are issued to migrants with a job offer from a Tier 2 licensed employer (otherwise referred to as the sponsor) based in the UK. There was a 2% rise in the number of sponsored visa applications, with 56,914 applications in the year ending June 2016. The four largest sector areas were information and communication (up 1%), professional, scientific and technical activities (up 1%), financial and insurance activities (up 2%), and human health and social work activities (up 8%). But changes to migration
IN ADDITION, ONE IN FIVE EMPLOYERS (22%) PLAN TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PERMANENT WORKERS IN THE NEXT THREE MONTHS
22% law and changes in sentiment towards EU migrants following the EU referendum may hinder access to skills. For instance, a survey by the London Chamber of Commerce found that less than a quarter of London business executives believe that their business can pay the £1k annual charge for non-EU employees, which comes into effect in April 2017. So despite high levels of employment, the question persists on how to access the skills they need to meet demand.
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Member of the Month
O’NEILL & BRENNAN
CONSTRUCTING SUCCESS
Recruitment Matters talks to O’Neill & Brennan Group’s Julian King about why they’re keeping optimistic 4 RECRUITMENT MATTERS NOVEMBER 2016
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Recruitment Matters: How did you get into the industry? Julian King: I graduated from the University of Limerick with a degree in Manufacturing Management back in 2007 and things weren’t looking too optimistic at home on that front. So I went to a trade fair and learned about recruitment as an industry and career. Next thing, I was on a plane to London for an interview, and I’ve been in the industry ever since. I started out in O’Neill &
Brennan’s London office until I was drafted to Fareham to head up the branch there. We started out turning over £2m but we are now posting more than £14m.
RM: What’s your focus? JK: We have three core sections: white collar recruitment – so everything from administration through to executive level in construction – through to blue collar jobs focused on labour
and fixed price logistics. We started as a labour supplier but have become a more rounded recruitment company across different disciplines in the construction industry. It’s what we know – you don’t want to get too wide and into areas you’re not familiar with. The future looks bright, particularly around the construction of the Hinkley Point nuclear plant. In fact, we had a meeting in October to discuss ways we can help with that project.
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permits or what the state of workers from the EU will be – a lot of labourers and trade people are from the EU, as well as myself of course. That said, we’re pretty optimistic about the recruitment industry and hopefully this is a chance to build a larger and more diverse candidate pool for our clients from labourers up to executive positions.
RM: Candidate shortages mean recruiters will be looking further afield for talent. What kind of recruiter appeals to you?
JK: Fundamentally, they must be well-educated. If you’ve gone through uni and got a degree, it shows you can work without being pushed – that’s important. It also comes down to personality. If they’re too extroverted or introverted, they’re going to alienate people. We need to be able to adapt and work with people from all industries, blue collar and white collar. We’re on a massive internal recruitment campaign right now and we’re proud of the fact we don’t have a high turnover of staff. Once they’re in, that’s it. RM: So 2016 has been good? JK: Turnover has been steady but our margins have decreased. We have clients keen to work with only one company – one of our clients wants to spend £140m on recruitment alone. There has been a lot of change in the construction industry, particularly around payment methods, which has created some difficulties for us. And of course, the candidates aren’t there either. It’s difficult finding
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people on a regular basis, particularly in skilled areas of construction.
RM: You’re looking to grow – what kind advice would you give another company looking to move up?
RM: How will Brexit affect business?
JK: It’s difficult to say – we haven’t seen any negative side effects from Brexit at the minute. All of our clients are still busy. Our regional offices are still quite strong but London has slowed down. We’re keeping an eye on how Brexit affects things like work
JK: You need a strong client base. You’ve got to work with companies who will pay you on time since it’s a very cashintensive business – money comes in and goes out quickly. Secondly, as I said, it’s about having the right staff. We need to treat our candidates as well as our clients – perhaps even better. Treating people with
“ IF YOU’VE GONE THROUGH UNI AND GOT A DEGREE, IT SHOWS YOU CAN WORK WITHOUT BEING PUSHED – THAT’S IMPORTANT” respect is important because it builds your reputation within the industry, particularly the construction industry. It helps when you do the basic things well. We’re not scientists, we’re not reinventing the wheel, so doing the simple things correctly makes a huge difference.
RM: What’s the focus for 2017?
JK: I’m excited by infrastructure work coming our way, like Hinkley Point. A lot of our clients are getting involved there. Internally, we’re changing the way we do things. We’re moving our timesheets online and investing in new systems to become more of a paperless business. We’re also developing an app which will allow job searching, job posting, timesheets, and checking cards to ensure compliance. It’s a bit slow in the construction industry but we’re looking to embrace any advance we can to make our candidates’ and clients’ lives easier.
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Legal update
AGE DISCRIMINATION 10 Years of Age Discrimination Law Bunmi Adefuye, REC solicitor UK age discrimination law is now 10 years old. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 came into force in October 2006. They have since been subsumed into the Equality Act 2010, together with all other antidiscrimination law in force at the time. Subsequently in 2011 the default retirement age was also repealed. Age is one of the nine protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act. Section 5 broadly defines age as a reference to people of a particular age or people who fall within a particular range of ages or are in the same age group. It is unlawful to directly or indirectly discriminate against or to harass or victimise a person because of their age. Both workers and employees are protected from less favourable treatment because of their age, as are both
younger and older people. Age discrimination can occur during the recruitment process as well as during employment; a recruiter or employer will only have a defence to an age discrimination claim where they can objectively justify their decision to treat an individual less favourably – eg. simply trying to save costs by employing younger people will not necessarily be an objective justification. Damages in age discrimination claims are uncapped. There have been a number of age discrimination cases in recent years. One of the most prominent cases, Seldon v Clarkson Wright & Jakes, dealt with the forced retirement of a partner from a law firm. This case reached the Supreme Court, which referred the matter back to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which ultimately concluded that 65 was a justifiable
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retirement age. It also concluded that implementing a compulsory retirement age for partners in a law firm was a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim, as it assisted with workforce planning and supported staff retention. Later cases have found that the use of the nickname ‘gramps’, together with ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘long in the tooth’ constituted harassment of an older colleague – he was awarded over £63k against his employer (Dove v Brown & Newirth Ltd [2016]). In contrast, a teenager was successful in her claim for harassment. Her line manager described her as a “kid” and “a stroppy little teenager”, stereotypes relating to her age and therefore discriminatory (Roberts v Cash Zone (Camberley) Ltd and another [2013]). The National Minimum
Wage and its latest incarnation, the National Living Wage introduced in April 2016, raise interesting questions about age discrimination by making workers aged 25 and over more expensive. In Greer v Coulter (t/a Alphreso Café) (2011), a claimant succeeded in her ET claim when she was dismissed on reaching the age of 18 as she was entitled to a higher NMW. The judge described the actions of her employer as “callous”. The age discrimination provisions of the Equality Act stem from an EU directive. We still don’t know whether or how any EU-based legislation will change after Article 50 for Brexit is triggered but we will watch this space. This article is a summary of a lengthier article which appeared in the September/ October edition of the REC’s legal bulletin.
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Inspiration
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE INSTITUTE OF RECRUITMENT PROFESSIONALS
The View
Emily Bruce iss an ctor associate director at Send Resourcing
Mandy Brook is the managing director at RSE Group Ltd
Q&A
WHAT I KNOW
How did you get into recruitment? Having worked in internal recruitment during my summers at uni and then having temped through various great agencies, I’m a typical recruiter who after seven ski seasons fell neatly into recruitment as a second career.
How did you get into recruitment? I’d gone on holiday and decided to leave my very highpressured, 90 hours a week sales role. I walked into an agency and said I needed a temp job until I had decided what I wanted to do. They said: “Come and temp for us!” They gave me a copy of the Yellow Pages and a phone and told me to get on with it. I’ve been in recruitment ever since.
What do you love about the job? I love working in recruitment because (at the risk of sounding overblown and cheesy) we change people’s lives. There is no better feeling than matching a candidate with a job that you know that they will absolutely love or knowing that you’ve perfectly answered that hiring manager’s prayers in a way that will transform their team. I love working for Send because I still get to experience all of the above at the same time as having complete professional freedom. I work when, where and how I want, set my own fees and don’t have to worry about invoicing, credit control, marketing or any of the hassle of running a recruitment business. If I want to go to the gym for two hours in the middle of the day or move my office to the South of France for a week, then I do it. I honestly feel like I’m living the dream. What keeps you in this industry? Being at a point in my career where I have gained great work/life balance, real professional freedom and a deep level of industry expertise, I’d be crazy to consider a change. Given your time again would you do anything differently starting out? Wow! It’s the first time I’ve been asked that and I’m delighted to find that no, I don’t think I have any professional regrets. My path has not been straight, but as Sheryl Sandberg suggests in her book, Lean In: Women, Work, and The Will to Lead, it’s better to think in terms of a career jungle gym than a career ladder.
What do you love about the job? I love the variety, meeting people from all walks of life. The difference you make is measurable and so rewarding. It’s challenging and different every single day. You are part recruiter, part counsellor, part employment expert, happiness giver and superhero rolled into one. What would you say to jobseekers thinking about a career in recruitment? If you love people, can easily start conversations and want to make a difference as well as earning good money, and you are excellent at people matching, then this is the job for you. Honestly, don’t do it if you aren’t the person in the room ‘that matches your mates up with the one’! If you can do that, then either recruitment is for you or working for a dating agency – similar principle. You need to make people feel comfortable and be the best that they can be; you need to educate clients and make people feel special because they are. If you think you bring out the best in people and can people match – not just skills but ethos, work ethic – then this job will be the best job you have ever had. What keeps you in this industry? It’s ever evolving, never boring and a challenge every day, mostly in a good way. My team rock and exemplify what is great about our industry – they just ‘get it’.
To keep up to date with everything the Institute of Recruitment Professionals is doing, please visit www.rec-irp.uk.com
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Events and training
IRP AWARDS SHORTLIST 2016 The wait is over! We’re pleased to announce the full shortlist for the 2016 IRP Awards. If you’ve been shortlisted below make sure you’re with us on the night and book your table or place at irpawards.com INDIVIDUAL AWARDS Best Newcomer of the Year Robert Michael Hingley, Advanced Resource Managers Laura Garratt, Chefs Job UK Alina Taslaca, Human One Despina Kefala, Hyper Recruitment Solutions Alexander MacGinty, Lawes Consulting Group Anj Popat, Penna Matthew Covell, Search Consultancy Ltd Michael Walker, Search Consultancy Ltd Dominic Joyce, Sheldon Philips Ltd Jodie Vaughan, Supertemps
Kirk Willoughby, Cento Claire Donaldson, Give A Grad A Go Sarah Lane, Meridian Business Support Andy Cox, ReThink Group
Recruitment Apprentice of the Year Bradley Carton, BPS World Mac Christian, GPRS Recruitment Chloe Vincent, MiddletonMurray Shannie Cole, Morson Human Resources Limited
Business Manager of the Year Kelly Laine, BPS World Leanne Storey, Dynamite Recruitment Lee McDonald, ICG Medical Ltd Cheryll Breed, ID Medical Group Mel Trott, Meridian Business Support Tracy Murphy, University of Birmingham Chloe Baptiste, Veredus Executive Search and Selection
Best Candidate Experience Jamie-ann Wall, Boyce Recruitment Susannah Lawson, Chefs Jobs UK Laura Cannon, Darwin Recruitment Katherine Anderson, Guidant Group Sophie Webster, Headway Recruitment Shamella Shahid, ID Medical Group Jacqui Maxwell, Love & Tate Plc Simon Hill, National Locums Ltd Permanent Consultant of the Year Peter Donnelly, Appointments Personnel Ltd Graham Brown, ARV Solutions Natalie Mitchell, Boyce Recruitment
Temporary Consultant of the Year Adam Razzell, Advanced Resource Managers Blayne Cahill, Carrington West Danielle Dorney, ICG Medical Ltd Dale Robinson, Kennedy Recruitment Les Berridge, Gattaca Mandy Wheeler, Redline Group Ian Barnett, Total Assist Group
Business Leader of the Year Gary Irvine, 4c Executive Search Tony Goodwin, Antal International Ltd Paul Kirby, Darwin Recruitment Ricky Martin, Hyper Recruitment Solutions Deenu Patel, ID Medical Group Nick Simpson, MSI Group Sam Martin, Quintessentially People Helen Lacey, Red Berry Recruitment
COMPANY AWARDS Advocate Company of the Year Serocor Solutions Meridian Business Support Best Back-Office Support Team Cathcart Associates Ltd DP Connect Ltd ea Change Group GPRS Recruitment ID Medical Group Impellam Group Plc Liquid Personnel Ltd Morson Human Resources Ltd Total Assist Group Best Company To Work For (up to 20 employees) Class People Dynamite Recruitment Solutions Ltd Give A Grad A Go Holt Recruitment Love Success People First (Recruitment) Ltd Think Global Recruitment Best Company To Work For (up to 50 employees) Carrington West Charity People Group Consilium Group Ltd DP Connect ea Change Group Hyper Recruitment Solutions Oscar Primary Care People Understanding Recruitment Best Company To Work For (up to 150 employees) Amoria Bond Limited BPS World Caritas Recruitment Darwin Professional Staffing Group Ltd One Way Total Assist Group X4 Group
Best Company To Work For (up to 250 employees) Encore Personnel Evolution Recruitment Solutions Ltd ICG Medical Ltd MSI Group New Directions Penna Best Company To Work For (more than 250 employees) Blue Arrow Group Capita Resourcing ID Medical Group Nurse Plus UK Ltd Pertemps Network Group Phaidon International Search Consultancy Ltd Your World Recruitment Group Best Corporate & Social Responsibility Practitioners Charity People Group Equal Approach Gi Group Hyper Recruitment Solutions MiddletonMurray Morson Human Resources Ltd Best Recruitment Campaign Pertemps Network Group Total Assist Group Penna Best People Development Business Award Amoria Bond Ltd Carbon60 GPRS Recruitment ID Medical Group Liquid Personnel Ltd MiddletonMurray Phaidon International Serocor Solutions
Congratulations to everyone on the shortlist. Make sure you’re there to celebrate your success in person on 7 December. Visit irpawards.com to book now.
RECRUITMENT MATTERS
Membership Department: Membership: 020 7009 2100, Customer Services: 020 7009 2100 Publishers: Redactive Publishing Ltd, 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP. Tel: 020 7880 6200. www.redactive.co.uk Editorial: Editor Michael Oliver michael.oliver@redactive.co.uk. Production Editor: Vanessa Townsend Production: Production Executive: Rachel Young rachel.young@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6209 Printing: Printed by Precision Colour Printing
The official magazine of The Recruitment & Employment Confederation Dorset House, 1st Floor, 27-45 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NT Tel: 020 7009 2100 www.rec.uk.com
© 2016 Recruitment Matters. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, neither REC, Redactive Publishing Ltd nor the authors can accept liability for errors or omissions. Views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the REC or Redactive Publishing Ltd. No responsibility can be accepted for unsolicited manuscripts or transparencies. No reproduction in whole or part without written permission.
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Advertorial SPO NSO RE D COLUMN T H E K I N G S F E R R Y L T D
The Kings Ferry – Getting your people in place, on time
W
ith temporary staff recruitment levels soaring in preparation for Christmas, UK Coach Operator of the Year, The Kings Ferry, has created bespoke transport solutions to ensure the safe arrival of temporary and permanent staff, to and from their place of work.
closely with the recruitment companies to find out how we can tailor transport solutions to help them.
The Kings Ferry, part of National Express, run one of the largest coach commuter operations in the UK, carrying out over half a million passenger journeys each year. Drawing on their many years of experience in transporting people, the company has been actively working alongside a number of large-scale recruitment companies to ensure they are hitting their peak hiring volumes in the lead up to Christmas.
The Kings Ferry can set up fare paying routes where travel can be paid for on the day to help alleviate the additional administrative time in setting up any in-house salary deductions, as well as potential HMRC implications. This is often more convenient for passengers, particularly with flexible working hours, whilst also driving down administration time to allow recruiters to focus on what they do best – the hiring of staff.
Seasonal work often involves shift patterns during unsociable hours where scheduled public transport may not be available, ensuring that your staff arrive safely is a number one priority for The Kings Ferry. By offering passengers a safe, direct route into the workplace from a location close to their homes helps eliminate any risk to the staff, thereby increasing productivity and allowing the company to focus on the demands of their business.
Having the enhanced operator network also enables The Kings Ferry to deal quickly with scalability, as and when recruiters see demands from their clients, to help smooth the process of the unpredictability of seasonal peaks and troughs.
Ben added: “It’s an exciting time for our business as we expand into this market. We are able to provide dedicated account managers who really understand the recruitment market and the forecasted hiring volumes, whilst being able to effectively plan routes based on geographical data for recruitment pools.” ●
↗
All of The Kings Ferry fleet are fully compliant and subjected to daily and scheduled safety checks, over and above what is required by law. They work with a number of partner operators throughout the UK, all of whom are subjected to a strict auditing process to ensure compliance throughout their business. This is passed down to the client to ensure it covers all aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR), with regards to the safe transportation of staff to and from their place of work.
“We often find, during peak hiring, that recruiters have to go further afield to source the candidates they require. There are often poor transport links or no public transport that coincide with shift times.”
THE KINGS FERRY LTD For further information please visit: www.thekingsferry.co.uk Telephone: 0845 643 4123 Email: sales@thekingsferry.co.uk
Commercial director Ben Bhattal says: “With the ability to cover the whole of the UK, we have been able to work
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IN- HO USE RE C RUITING
A FIRM APPROACH TO PROACTIVE RECRUITING According to a recent report from The Forum for In-house Recruitment Managers (The FIRM), in-house recruiters are becoming far more proactive in their approach. Colin Cottell reports A GREATER FOCUS on metrics, reporting and analytics, the continuing rise of video interviewing, and a decline in diversity recruitment specific programmes are among the key findings from The FIRM Annual Membership Report 2016/17. Among the challenges facing inhouse recruiters, the report, based on an online survey of 195 of The FIRM’s members, highlights the potential threat of Brexit, and how in the absence of a clear employer value proposition (EVP) recruiters can struggle in today’s competitive market for employers. The report reflects the views of employers across a broad range of 32 RECRUITER
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sectors – retail, finance, education and engineering to name but a few. The FIRM’s corporate members include household name companies, such as PepsiCo, Rolls-Royce and BP. Emma Mirrington, The FIRM’s director, tells Recruiter that the overall message from this year’s report is that in-house recruiters are increasingly “adopting a proactive rather than reactive approach”. “People have really focused on being as proactive as possible,” she says. “There has been a real shift in how they structure their teams,” she adds, citing how the resourcing function is responding to the need to tap into the power of social media and raise employer brand awareness, with 32% now having a dedicated employer brand person or function, up from 25% in 2015. “People are thinking strategically, something that has been evolving over the past few years,” says Mirrington. The report indicates other significant changes are taking place across the recruitment sector too, as apparent trends that were observed and spoken about largely anecdotally are confirmed by hard data as accepted practice. IM AGE | IKON
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I N - H O U S E R E C RU I T I N G
ANALYTICS AND METRICS A marked change compared to last year’s report is the ever-increasing reliance on analytics and metrics to track recruitment activity and performance. The survey shows a sharp drop in the proportion of recruiters not tracking recruitment metrics at all, falling from 22% to 8% in just one year. Applicant tracking systems are the most popularly employed tool (56%), although Excel is still used by a quarter of respondents. Time to hire, cost per hire and quality of hire are the most commonly used metrics. Mirrington says the increasing popularity of metrics and analytics is due to two factors. “The technology has improved, so people are better able to track which source candidates are coming from,” she says. The second driver is that recruiters are increasingly making decisions on cost. Mirrington says she welcomes the rise and rise of metrics. “It’s a good thing because people are making far more decisions based on facts rather than supposition or guesswork. Tracking metrics about job boards, for example, means you are able to spend your money on the right job board.” Looking at key metrics from the report: ● A steady decline is revealed in jobs filled for which the sourcing and attraction costs were more than £4k, down from 18% in 2013 to 7%. ● However, the number of vacancies filled for which the cost per hire was between £1k and £4k increased by 6% since 2015. ● After rising last year, time to hire has been reduced, with 8% of hiring completed within four weeks, up from 4% in 2015.
AG E NCY I NVO LV M E NT The FIRM’s 2016/17 Membership Survey makes mixed reading for recruitment agencies. Among respondents, 47% used staffing firms for less than 10% of their vacancies. However, those that do use agencies tend to use them heavily, with 11% of the 195 respondents filling more than half of all their vacancies through this channel. Only 18% of respondents say they outsource all or part of their recruitment process.
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IN- HO USE RE C RUITING
● The survey reveals big differences between sectors. While 100% of all advertising/PR jobs and property jobs are filled within four weeks, 33% of jobs in the law, and 27% of engineering jobs take more than 12 weeks to be filled.
MOVE TO ONLINE RECRUITMENT The digitalisation of recruitment is gathering pace. Describing it as “a remarkable improvement”, the report reveals a dramatic and sudden fall in the percentage of respondents not using online recruitment options from 40% in 2015 to 28% in 2016. The report says: “This highlights the continuing shift of both jobseeking and recruitment from traditional to digital touch points.” Use of online marketplaces saw a significant increase from just 6% to 25%. However, aggregators, used by 56%, remain the most consistently employed online sourcing mechanism. Pay per click continues on an upward trend, and is now used by 27% of respondents. When it comes to specific digital channels, there is evidence the increase in the number of job boards used in previous years has stalled, with most (69%) using only two to five job boards. The report attributes this to the increasing rise of LinkedIn and members’ own career sites, which are the top two sourcing channels. Certainly, LinkedIn is among the beneficiaries as the lines between social media, professional online networks and recruitment have blurred (just 4% of respondents don’t use it). After LinkedIn, Twitter is the next most popular online networking platform for sourcing candidates, and then Facebook.
VIDEO INTERVIEWING Video interviewing has seen a steady increase in use, rising from 22% of respondents in 2014 to 31% in this report. “With the workforce increasingly mobile, it can often prove more fruitful to hold video interviews, especially in the initial part of the evaluation process,” observes the report. More than half (56%) of recruiters surveyed expect their use of video interviewing to increase this year. 34 RECRUITER
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Mirrington says the figures on video interviewing show the debate has moved on from whether it is a good thing to which type of video interviewing is best; live or asynchronous, where the candidate is given a pre-determined set of questions, and on how to enhance the candidate experience.
DIVERSITY PROGRAMMES One of the more surprising results of the 2016/17 report is the decline in the proportion of in-house recruiters using diversity recruitment programmes. This figure has fallen from 33% in 2015 to 26% in 2016. As the report points out, this is despite the increasingly diverse population of the UK, as well as studies showing the financial benefits of having a more diverse workforce. “This raises some questions about whether clear cut, structured initiatives are required to promote diversity, or whether having an overall diversity policy with respect to hiring is sufficient,” the report says. Other challenges exercising the minds of The FIRM’s members are how to stand out from the crowd amid the intense competition for top talent. As the report’s executive summary notes: “The sourcing of quality talent especially with technical or digital experience remains a struggle, as does meeting the expectations of ‘millennials’ in terms of the reward packages and types of role that can be offered.” In-house recruiters’ frustration at being asked to prioritise filling vacancies “as quickly and cheaply in the short term” rather than being given the opportunity to adopt a more medium to long-term and strategic approach based on workforce planning is also noted. No analysis of the state of UK recruitment would be complete without some reflections on Brexit, and what the country’s post-Brexit future might look like. “Recruiters feel rather insecure about the impact of Brexit on the recruitment industry, when UK skill shortages are already supreme barriers to performance, despite access to the open EU labour market,” notes the report. No surprise there then, but as this report shows, even leaving Brexit aside, uncertainty and change, and in-house recruiters, are not exactly strangers.
POWER POINTS: IN SUMMARY Recruitment volumes are expected to fall this year, with only 50% of employers expecting an increase Greater emphasis on employer branding and the EVP Recruitment budgets have remained stable since 2015 Budgets increasingly likely to be held by HR and less by line managers Graduate recruitment programmes followed by apprenticeships remain the most popular structured initiatives Employee referral schemes are a good source of quality hires though volumes are low Corporate career sites, followed by LinkedIn are the top two sourcing channels More than half (52%) of in-house recruiters use generalist job boards, and this proportion is rising Telephone interviewing, used by 90%, remains the most popular method of assessment and selection Brexit is adding additional uncertainty In the digital media space LinkedIn continues to dominate both in usage and in effectiveness Applicant tracking systems still need to improve, with nearly a third of users saying they had a negative experience
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A DV E RTO RIA L
Compliance Brought to you by
TAX AND EMPLOYMENT STATUS COMPLIANCE NEEDS RADICAL OVERHAUL Recruitment and contract supply have been a massive success story for our unique way of doing things in the UK. Yet one of the drivers behind this result, our innovative and world-leading approach to flexibility and the necessary efficiencies that this requires, is under attack. Tax avoidance is the legitimate application of tax rules to gain a tax advantage. However, where global corporations seem to be able to avoid tax by keeping their servers abroad and there is no mechanism to collect tax from gig workers, is it reasonable for agencies to be singled out? For example, what reports does Uber have to provide? Understanding that HMRC has to collect tax from the ever-growing band of contractors and agency workers, with Brexit demanding a brave new world, isn’t it time for a total overhaul? With complex Real Time Information (RTI) requirements, IR35 issues, expenses tax relief, a requirement to assess different umbrella models, workers and contractors who want one status or another, all in play with consequent tax and employment risk, the case for simplification and clarity is obvious. This is why we at the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC) have devised a manifesto for change to the rules that drive us all mad and do nothing other than confuse, create excessive administration and hamper business. Not only that, but also these rules are unfair, as they do not provide for equal treatment. Two people – a project leader and a support worker – can be living next door to each other, go to the same place of work and work on the same project, yet the project leader could get tax relief on travel expenses, whereas the support worker could not. Similarly, if one has a personal service company and the other doesn’t, one can be paid gross, the other net.
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The rules are all based on antiquated employment law definitions, good for the lawyers but bad for recruiters who simply have to put up with what is thrown at them. Surely, regardless of Brexit, recruitment businesses deserve better than this? After all we are working for the economy and employment, not against it.
ADRIAN MARLOWE Chairman, The Association of Recruitment Consultancies
36 RECRUITER
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The key point right now is that ministers are tasked with deliberating over what the UK will look like post Brexit. This demands thinking outside the box, and so there is a great opportunity to influence their mindset.
Adrian Marlowe Chairman, The Association of Recruitment Consultancies We should be proud that our flexible workforce does not rely on the principle, which exists in other European countries, that all workers must be, or be treated as, employed. It’s the modern way; agency workers and contractors are supplied temporarily as a fact, so let’s build on that. They are not employed by hirers in law. They do not have the security of a permanent engagement, so they need some tax relief when travelling to work, particularly further away from home. All are supplied through agencies, the obvious common factor. So why can’t HMRC accept the reality and the law be changed to reflect that? Imagine RTI without intermediary requirements, without the risk of a claim by HMRC arising from some tax avoidance vehicle run by a service provider or contractor you deal with, a world where tax avoidance and tax status and unequal treatment become things of the past so leaving you to do what you do best. Allowing also for service providers, the win in terms of compliance would be substantial for both agencies and HMRC, with no loss to the Treasury, and the attraction to hirers, investors and candidates home and abroad is clear. This is the future that ARC wants for our industry, and the solution is straightforward. ARC’s manifesto ‘Post Brexit UK: a better place to do business’ sets this out. Let’s all, within this industry, work together to make sure this happens. For full details see www.arc-org.net. ARC was formed in 2009 to provide, among other things, lobbying to government on issues that really matter. The issues, which this article addresses, are critical for future efficiency of the market. Any reader liking this article can support ARC by joining our core membership. Contact ARC on 01273 777997 or info@ arc-org.net. Comments also welcome.
NOVEMBER 2016
12/10/2016 11:59
CO M M U N I T Y
SOCIAL NETWORK WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO? GET IN TOUCH! Running, cycling, trekking and baking – you’ve been pretty busy outside your usual recruiting day…
E
JAMES KINGSTON GETS A CONGRATULATORY KISS FROM WIFE LUCY AFTER FINISHING
IRONMAN RECRUITER KINGSTON VIA James Kingston, managing director of Bristol recruitment firm Kingston Barnes, went from desk jockey to Ironman in a matter of months to help raise funds for Bristol children’s hospital Above & Beyond. The Ironman 70.3 (the 70.3 refers to the total number of miles covered) consisted of a 1.2-mile swim in Weymouth Bay, 56-mile cycle and 13.1-mile run through the Dorset countryside. An extremely tired and relieved James said: “Seven hours and 50 minutes of nonstop exercise is a lot for the body to go through. But the support of family, friends and even work colleagues on the day really did drive me on. You have to find the motivation to keep going and not give up, which at times was certainly testing!” Kingston Barnes’ fundraising for Above & Beyond to refurbish a sensory room in Bristol Royal Hospital for Children now stands at £7,778, exceeding its £7.5k target.
EDUCATION RECRUITERS WEAR DENIM FOR KID’S CHARITY VIA Education recruitment specialists Class People took part in various fundraising activities to raise money for Jeans for Genes day, which provides funds to help those affected by genetic disorders. Staff donated money for the right to wear their jeans on the day, the company managed to raise £350 – we’re not surprised, with all those yummy cakes on offer!
MERJE STAFF CLIMB TRIGLAV MOUNTAINS – AND FORD EVERY STREAM VIA
Class People baked some truly classy cakes for the firm’s Jeans for Genes day
Staff from financial services recruiter MERJE, based in Manchester and London, have taken part in a three-day trek through the mountains of the Triglav National Park in Slovenia, raising more than £25k for The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust ((CAFT).)
PROCORRE RAISES £7K WITH LONDON-PARIS BIKE RIDE VIA A team of intrepid cyclists from professional services consultancy Procorre has raised more than £7k for the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) after completing a gruelling 165-mile bike ride from London to Paris – exceeding Procorre’s original £5k target.
ian kked through Sloven MERJE employees tre for CAFT ney mo e rais to s ain mount
TW I TT E R
Recruiter Magazine @RecruiterMag Oct 5 #Investingintalent speaker @rachelbridge100 “make the most of what you’ve got and make the most of your time”
Procorre staf f smashed th eir with their Lo ndon-Paris rid target e
@RecruiterMag instagram.com/recruitermagazine/ recruitermagazine.tumblr.com/
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E EMPLOYABILITY CO M M UNITY
ACTIVE BLACK COUNTRY GIVES JOBSEEKERS A SPORTING CHANCE BY CAROLINE ROBERTS
I
t’s taken as read that being involved in sport enhances a candidate’s CV. But Active Black Country, a West Midlands county sports partnership, is planning to focus more closely on the transferable skills that participation can develop in a bid to increase general employability across the region. Along with the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), it has recently launched a Sector Skills Action Plan for sport and physical activity, the first of its kind in the UK. In its development, more than 100 organisations, both in the fitness industry and across a range of other sectors, were consulted on the skills shortages they were facing. It found that a lack of soft skills is holding back growth in all sectors, and in the physical activity sector this skill shortage is of concern to 82% of employers. Sport can help bridge this gap by developing qualities and skills such as confidence, drive, perseverance, teamwork, problem solving and the ability to respond positively to setbacks. And even non-competitive activities involve setting and working towards goals and moving out of your comfort zone. But Ian Carey, who led on the Skills Sector Action Plan, feels that recruiters don’t always fully recognise its benefits. “There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence regarding the enabling power of sport and physical activity, yet it’s technical skills that are often promoted as the vital ingredient on a candidate’s CV.” The potential benefit of engaging with sport and physical activity to employers is not limited to skills development, he adds. “A healthy and
“A healthy and productive workforce is vital to driving economic growth” 38 RECRUITER
CASE STUDY Volunteering with Black Country in Motion, a local sport engagement scheme, set Aaron Henworth on the path to a new career. “I’d been laid off from a string of dead-end warehouse jobs and was unemployed for a year. It had crushed my self-esteem,” he says. “I’d left school with no qualifications 10 years before so I felt the time was right to start building up a portfolio.” He was soon running community exercise sessions, including walking football, sports for people with disabilities, and sessions for troubled teenagers, and was supported to gain a range of qualifications in first aid, safeguarding as well as sports coaching. “It really helped me develop my leadership skills. I learned how to deal with challenging situations and challenging people. Some of the teenagers were hard to deal with and had been suspended from school but I had to go in with an open mind, and learn how to defuse situations and resolve conflicts. We also had a lot of demotivated people and you have to learn how to encourage them.” Henworth now has a full-time job with care provider the Huntercombe Group, working with people with learning difficulties. “Volunteering helped me empathise with people’s situation and understand their different needs and treat them as individuals. When I went for the interview I told them I had no experience in care but had loads of transferable skills and I was offered the job there and then.”
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productive workforce is vital to driving economic growth. If we can advocate the power of sport to develop skills employers are seeking and a workforce that realises the benefit of sport and physical activity, it’s a win-win for employers, the workforce and the public purse.” By developing soft skills throughout the sector, Active Black Country hopes that it will be better placed to engage the area’s hard-toreach inactive population in sport and physical activity and so enhance its employability too. Aspire Sports, a local provider of physical activity coaching and opportunities, is already ahead of the game. “Soft skills such as punctuality, communication, adapting to change and problem solving were lacking in new employees,” says director James Trowman. “We’ve now created our own induction process, which includes a lot of role play, presentations, help with communicating by email, and mentoring and shadowing in all new situations.” Active Black Country now plans to launch a virtual Sport Skills Factory to broker training and establish a demand-led skills development system for the industry. ●
“If we can advocate the power of sport”
Akil Maylor launched a yoga and martial arts studio in a deprived Wolverhampton estate to bring sport & physical activity to a community in need
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M O
G 17 IN 20
Compliance
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Off-payroll Legislation is
NOW A REALITY
IS YOUR AGENCY PREPARED FOR CHANGE? tŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŶƐƵůƚĂƟŽŶ ƉĞƌŝŽĚ ŽǀĞƌ ĂŶĚ ůĞŐŝƐůĂƟŽŶ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ďĞ ƉƵďůŝƐŚĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƵƚƵŵŶ ƵĚŐĞƚ ^ƚĂƚĞŵĞŶƚ ŽŶ ϮϯƌĚ EŽǀĞŵďĞƌ͕ ƌĞĨŽƌŵ ƚŽ KīͲƉĂLJƌŽůů ůĞŐŝƐůĂƟŽŶ ŝƐ ŶŽǁ ŝŵŵŝŶĞŶƚ͘ ,ŝƐƚŽƌLJ ƐƵŐŐĞƐƚƐ ƚŚĂƚ ĨĞǁ ;ŝĨ ĂŶLJͿ ĐŚĂŶŐĞƐ ĂƌĞ ŵĂĚĞ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ŝŶŝƟĂů ĚƌĂŌ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ůĞŐŝƐůĂƟŽŶ ǁŚŝĐŚ ǁŝůů ŚĂǀĞ Ă ƐŝŐŶŝĮĐĂŶƚ ŝŵƉĂĐƚ ŽŶ ƚĞŵƉŽƌĂƌLJ ƌĞĐƌƵŝƚĞƌƐ͕ ĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƚŽƌƐ ĂŶĚ ŚŝƌĞƌƐ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŶŐ ǁŝƚŚŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƉƵďůŝĐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌ͘ ůů ƚŚŽƐĞ ŝŶǀŽůǀĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƐƵƉƉůLJ ŽĨ ĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƚŽƌƐ ŝŶƚŽ ƚŚĞ ƉƵďůŝĐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌ ǁŝůů ĨĂĐĞ ƵŶĂǀŽŝĚĂďůĞ ƌĞƐƉŽŶƐŝďŝůŝƟĞƐ ĂŶĚ ůŝĂďŝůŝƟĞƐ ĨƌŽŵ Ɖƌŝů ϮϬϭϳ͘
BROCHURE AVAILABLE NEW LEGISLATION Compliance
APRIL 2017
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racsgroup.com
Any organisation involved in the Public Sector recruitment supply chain
racsgroup.com | 0345 604 0571 | agencycare@racsgroup.com REC.11.16.048.indd 48
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CO M M U N I T Y
PERFORMANCE ORMAN NCE A ADVICE DVICE
E
THE PURPOSE MYTH When asked who you think experiences a greater sense of purpose in their job, a hospital cleaner or a surgeon performing life-saving procedures, the answer at first seems obvious. Doing ‘important’ work might have more cachet now than being a high earner or a recruitment business leader. Yet the search for purpose seems to confound us all. More than a third of British workers say their job makes no meaningful contribution to the world. And 33% of us say we do not find our jobs personally fulfilling, recent surveys say. Many industries have emphasised a sense of purpose to attract talent and balance perceptions of being mundane. Education: ‘Those who can, teach’. Army: ‘Be the Best’. Police Community Support Officer: ‘Same uniform, same pride, same purpose’. Any job, at any level can be meaningful if we create the right environment. It will be easier for some to find purpose than others – but it’s possible for everyone. Even if you wrestle spreadsheets. Because studies show that the extrinsic factors of our work (what industry we work in and at what level) in fact make little difference; whether we are a surgeon or a cleaner, the important thing is how we view what we do, and seeing our contribution as purposeful. Of course we can’t all change the world. But our search for purpose can still be satisfied. This is how.
The task at hand We need to know that what we do matters. That it matters greatly to our team, which helps our department achieve a goal, which enables our company to hit a target and perhaps even changes our industry for the better. In an experiment, participants were asked to build Lego figures and were paid decreasing amounts for each one they built starting at $2 for the first, then $1.89 for the second, $1.78 for the third and so on until they decided to stop. In Group 1, the completed figures were displayed as they were built on an adjacent table; in Group 2, each figure was broken down and the pieces handed back to the participant to use for their next figure. The group who watched their Lego figure being taken apart completed 30% fewer figures than their peers, at a 15% higher unit cost. For the first group, simply the sense that their work wasn’t pointless led to a significant productivity gain. The experiment was written up in Dan Ariely’s 2008 article ‘Man’s search for meaning: the case of Legos’, which was published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. Believing that our work isn’t futile can have a significant impact on our performance and productivity. This is known as having ‘task purpose’.
Feeling part of a group that is moving in the same direction with energy and enthusiasm greatly increases our sense of purpose. The sense of being in it together. Affiliation, feeling connected to the
The Personal Coach people we work with, requires us all to be working towards the same, collective objective and to understand how our particular contribution increases the chances of achieving it. In high-performing businesses, it is 20 times more likely that managers have goals aligned to the company strategy, according to a 2006 article by Berggren & Fitz Enz for Success Factors and Workforce Intelligence Institute, ‘How smart HCM [human capital management] drives financial performance’. So a strong ‘collective purpose’ fuels performance at both an individual and group level.
The greater good Then there’s ‘social purpose’. Seeing a benefit of our work for society makes us happier, more fulfilled and more productive. Those of us who are able to derive this even wider sense of purpose from our work are significantly more likely to be satisfied with our job and the rest of our life. Whether we work in the back office of a bank or the front line of a charity, we can derive purpose by focusing on these three areas: satisfaction for a task well done, achieving goals as part of a team, and paying attention to our social impact. Don’t believe the myth. The opportunity to have a meaningful job is available to us all. ●
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Collective purpose – in it together
Octavius Black
OCTAVIUS BLACK is CEO of Mind Gym, a psychology-based performance consultancy
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E PEER TO PEER CO M M UNITY
Peer to peer: Five emerging trends in global recruiting to act on now BY GREG KARR
➊ PRIORITISING THE CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE
It’s increasingly becoming a chief differentiator for companies. You have to get this right. Higher levels of communication, more responsiveness, efficiency in the recruiting process – the candidates you most want (need) to hire expect it. And when they don’t get it, well, bad news travels fast. In global recruiting, you have the challenge of managing the candidate experience across different cultures, local expectations, regulatory and compliance requirements, not to mention languages. All of this has to be proactively and thoughtfully considered and coordinated.
“Companies need to ramp up strategies designed to personalise the candidate's experience” 42 RECRUITER
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AS TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS ADVANCE, the world feels like a smaller place. Today’s recruiters need to be global agents in sourcing, assessing, and securing top talent from multiple countries and regions. Macro and micro shifts in recruiting require talent acquisition professionals to expand their expertise, thinking and working in new ways. The following are five emerging trends in global recruiting that require our attention and action.
GREG KARR is executive vice president, Seven Step RPO
➋ DATA AND ANALYTICS The market is
frustrated with antiquated applicant tracking system (ATS) tools that do not parse data, facilitate reporting and comparison, or offer deep analytic capabilities. Data informs our decisions. An increasingly fact-based set of systems are emerging that provide triggers and alerts, directing the user in real-time. By making predictive decisions that improve efficiency, you can drive down costs and improve revenue.
➌ SHIFTING WORKFORCE WORKSTYLES
Many companies are playing 'catch up' on developing workstyles: for some, the value of life first, work second; the rising Gig Economy, and the fact that people expect to change jobs roughly every three years. Being flexible in letting people choose how they work is almost an expectation, not a nice-tohave. Running an efficient recruiting process while incorporating a finelytuned employee value proposition (EVP) pressurizes organisations to
think about what the process needs to look like. Recruiting never had to rise to this level of agility in the past.
➍ CHANGING HOW PEOPLE FIND JOBS Job
boards used to be king. Now we’re marketing job postings with a focus on steering towards having conversations about jobs. Companies need to ramp up strategies designed to personalise the candidate’s experience. It’s far more about relationship building early on, getting that pool of candidates and creating an engaged pipeline. How you attract talent is going to have to become far more creative and relational.
➎ LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED
RECRUITING One of the biggest advantages
of technology and machine learning is that it lifts the burden of repetitious acts and frees us up to relate to each other. Candidates expect us to have all the same tools and technology that they do. If they can text us, why can’t we text them? Can we automate scheduling? Can we have people fill out the application, upload a 30-sec video interview, automate screening, and then deliver a batch of pre-qualified applications to a recruiter every morning? These tools will increasingly have an impact on how we recruit. ●
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CO M M U N I T Y
CAREERS
The Great Divide – which side are you on?
E
Find your next move in recruitment on jobs.recruiter. co.uk
BY TARA LESCOTT
↗ TARA LESCOTT is managing director of rec-to-rec agency Recruiter Republic
2.7M MORE JOBS THAN IN 2010
DESPITE CERTAIN FEARS concerning fallout from the Brexit vote in June, the recruitment market is enjoying a period of real strength. Employment figures from the ONS show that employment is up 173,000 and we have now have more people in work than ever before. We have 2.7m more jobs than in 2010, despite the public sector losing 1m jobs, meaning that the private sector has actually created 3.7m new jobs. So, this suggests that most recruiters should be performing at optimum levels. However, it doesn’t necessarily feel this way for consultants in every firm. This is because many management teams did not learn the lessons they needed to during the recession, or else they have forgotten them! Some firms have become lazy again and over-dependent on large key accounts or major corporate preferred
EMPLOYMENT UP BY
173k
supplier list (PSL) partnerships. As a result, they are overexposed to specific sectors or clients and have failed to ensure their business is diverse. Under those conditions, the smallest ripple of unease has a major effect. This over-reliance on specific client accounts has led them to develop teams that don’t know how to go out and win business – or perhaps don’t even want to. So while trading conditions are very strong there is a marked difference in how some businesses are performing. In essence it boils down to the culture and focus of the company as a whole. Essentially, we are once again seeing strong performances from the independent recruitment brands over the PLCs. ‘Independent’ doesn’t mean ‘small’, by the way; it refers to the non-corporates, the ones with flatter management structures, where leaders stay connected to the heart of their business and where dense layers of management are not strangling their business through over-zealous key performance indicator (KPI) management and demotivating cost-cutting measures. The market literally couldn’t be more extreme in terms of look and feel for its employees. There are consultants out there in major firms literally not knowing what to do
and genuinely believing the market is flat, running for what they think is the safety of in-house. On the other side of the recruitment fence are well-trained recruitment professionals, networking, generating vacancies and making placements in roles on strong fee scales. The difference is company direction, strong hands-on leadership and consultants that know, and more importantly, love to go out and actually network and meet people. So as a recruiter you have to ask yourself the following: ARE YOU SURROUNDED BY SUCCESS? There’s a theory that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Are you surrounded by successful, high-performing people at work? ARE YOU INSPIRED BY LEADERSHIP? Do the management team in your firm inspire you? Do they have a plan you believe in, and are they investing in you and your team? IS YOUR FIRM EXPANDING OR CONTRACTING? Is your firm investing in more people, tools and training? If your answers are mainly ‘no’, then it might be time to join a firm that can provide you with more 'yes'es. ●
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E CAREERS CO M M UNITY
‘From nine years old I wanted to work at Manchester Airport’
MY BRILLIANT RECRUITMENT CAREER What was your earliest dream job?
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From nine years old I wanted to work on British Airways check-in at Manchester Airport. But then I left college and worked in a nursery. However, I then got a job as cabin crew for Flying Colours Airlines, which is now Thomas Cook.
SUSIE IVES, aviation recruitment delivery manager, Search Consultancy
What was your first job in recruitment and how did you come into it?
Susie Ives
During some of the winter months at my time at Flying Colours, I joined the recruitment team to recruit for cabin crew for the next season.
What do you love most about your current role? No two days are the same. I’m meeting people from all walks of life but I particularly love it when candidates call me to say how much they are enjoying their assignment.
What would you consider to be the most brilliant moment of your career? It’s still early days at the moment but I got a phone call from a client, who is one of the largest global companies, asking us for some temps.
Do you prefer a staycation or holiday abroad? Abroad definitely because I like to see the way of life in different countries and cities around the world. My favourite destination has got to be the Caribbean.
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NOVEMBER 2016
Outside the office,, where would you like to interview a candidate or be interviewed? I’m quite fortunate in that I do conduct most interviews in airport hotel lobbies, but to interview on someone at the London Mandarin Oriental hotel otel would be amazing.
What’s your top job to fill at the moment? They are all similar roles that we have at the moment. At Leeds/Bradford Airport and Manchester Airport our challenge is we have got to find people who can work in a fast-paced environment, and who are flexible so we can provide the best quality candidates for the client.
Lau or cry, what did Laugh your most memorable yo candidate make you c want to do and why? w One candidate made us bend over backwards to ensure that she secured an assignment at Leeds/ a Bradford Airport. She was Br from the care industry and she wa was able to transfer these existing sk skills and put them into practice at the airport.
What’s the best or worst interview question you’ve ever heard? Somebody walked into an interview and immediately said to us ‘Can I go to the airport now?’ because they weren’t aware of the compliance and referencing that goes on before somebody can start.
Make us an offer we can’t refuse As we specialise in aviation, we can offer opportunities in most major UK airports. If you really want to work in aviation, come to Search.
IMAG ES | SHUT T ERSTOCK /ISTOCK
13/10/2016 12:24
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E RECRUITMENT WWW. RE CRUITE R .CO.UK
View the latest jobs at jobs.recruiter.co.uk To place your advertisement E: jude.rosset@redactive.co.uk or T: 020 7880 7621
Senior Manager Salary £30 - 40k plus commission & benefits package Jark Industrial Ltd, a subsidiary of Jark PLC, is one of the UK’s leading and largest independent recruitment consultancies. Established in 1996 and operating throughout the UK, we are seeking an experienced and driven individual to join our team in Kings Lynn. This is an outstanding opportunity for a capable and highly credible recruitment professional with a proven track record of sustained business growth. Reporting directly to the Managing Director you will be responsible for managing all aspects of the Business and this includes the sales strategy, people management and full P&L accountability. You will need to have a comprehensive knowledge of both white and blue collar business across a number of sectors including Industrial, Driving and Healthcare along with a strong intellect to operate effectively in this role. In addition you will need well developed management skills and have the ability to lead, motivate and inspire.
In 2017 Nurse Plus will continue our expansion with plans for an additional 12 new offices throughout the UK Established in 2005, Nurse Plus now has 50 offices located strategically to provide care/nursing staff to the healthcare sector. We want to hear from experienced Recruitment Managers or Senior Consultants who are ready to take the next step in their career!
This role will offer the successful applicant a market leading salary and benefits package in addition to an exceptional career development opportunity.
Email your CV to: sophiehartley@nurseplusuk.com
Please apply in the first instance with CV to Julie Gover, PA to Group Managing Director, at jgover@jark.co.uk or telephone 01362 656136.
Join one of the UK fastest growing agencies!
All applications will be dealt with in the strictest confidence. Closing date 21st November 2016.
PLAN YOUR NEXT MOVE
on the move See latest job listings Create job alerts by email Save and email jobs from mobile Apply for jobs by saving your CV to your profile Keep track of your activity
» Go to www.recruiter.co.uk/jobs 46 RECRUITER
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View the latest jobs at www.recruiter.co.uk To place your advertisement E: jude.rosset@redactive.co.uk or T: 020 7880 7621
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E CAREERS CO M M UNITY
SPOTLIGHT
I M AG E | PAL H AN S E N
A R GY L L S C OTT: Russell Hughes joins the specialist permanent, temporary and interim recruiter as a director of accountancy & finance within its commercial professional and financial services division. ATHON A R EC RUI TME N T: Senior business development manager Richie Daysh moves over to join the company’s health and nursing division.
B ER RY R EC R UI TME N T: The driving, industrial, office and construction recruiter has appointed Rebecca Esplin as operations manager in Stafford – five years after she joined as a trainee consultant.
has launched a North of England division in Manchester led by head of Digital Gurus North, Toni Phoenix.
E AME S CON S ULT ING GROUP: The international recruitment and search consultancy has promoted Jon Price to partner.
E RE SPON SE G ROUP: Trudy Harding has been hired to lead the Midland’s recruiter’s new HR department overseeing training and development of more than 100 staff.
GATTACA: The engineering and technology recruitment specialist welcomes Matt Evelt as regional director of the Americas.
HE I DRI CK & ST RUGGLES:
C R OS S C O UN TRY HEA LTHCA R E: The US healthcare staffing specialist has added Buffy Stultz White as senior vice-president, recruiting strategy & operations.
D IG ITA L G U R U S : The digital recruiter Digital Gurus 48 RECRUITER
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Luis DeAnda has been appointed partner at the global executive search firm’s Los Angeles office. Louis Besland is a partner in H&S’s industrial practice and head of chemicals for Europe and Africa based in London. Jackie Zavitz and JJ Cutler join the firm’s education, non-profit & social enterprise practice and will be based in Philadelphia as principals.
Morgan Hunt’s appointment of joint managing directors reflects a strategy of focusing on looking after its core markets and growing its product lines and regional footprint. The multi-sector recruiter recently appointed Sarah Wynn and Dan Taylor as joint managing directors, while current MD and chief executive Sue Cooper, who joined the business in 2011, has stepped down from these roles to become non-executive director at the company. According to Wynn, Cooper’s decision to step back has long been planned for since Taylor and herself took up deputy MD positions back in February. Since then, the duo has been looking at the role of MD and working out how their respective skills can best help further Morgan Hunt’s growth plans. Cooper told Recruiter while Taylor and herself will work together to develop strategy, her focus will be on the group’s managed service and contracted business, as well as supporting business functions such as HR, IT, marketing and talent. Taylor, meanwhile, will focus on contingent sales, development of new markets and winning new business. Cooper added while Morgan Hunt will continue to focus on its core markets of education, housing and health, it is also starting to build new product lines around social work and blue-collar trades, and is considering where next to expand regionally. “We’ve got Manchester and Birmingham at the moment, we are planning a new office that will come live in January – that is a new area of focus. “We’ve made a soft launch into Bristol and that will go live in January. That will look after our corporate service offering and our charities offering to start with, and probably education. “Traditionally we’ve worked out of London in that space, so we do have some teams that already deliver into that area; what we would like to do is have a local presence there to make sure we can develop the market with a local focus.”
Email people moves for use online and in print, including a short 13/10/2016 12:25
HUN TER/G ATHE RE R: Russell Clements, former CEO of international recruiter SThree group, is non-executive chairman of the group, which invests in building and growing healthcare recruitment companies.
LOV E S U C C E SS: The London-based recruiter has launched LOVE PAs, a new division for personal and executive assistants headed up by Susan Guthrie.
MACILDOWIE: The Midlands-based recruitment consultancy has hired Richard Haaker as associate director in its Nottingham office.
N OR MA N BROADBE N T: Non-exec chairman Scanes Bentley and non-exec director Richard Robinson have stepped down from the board at the senior and board executive recruiter.
PA R ITY G ROUP: Neal Ransome has stepped down from the board and David Firth takes over as chairman of the audit committee.
R U S S A M G MS: The provider of interim managers and executive search services has hired Nicki Lawrence as associate director for HR to set up an HR ‘centre of excellence’ for the firm.
S E RVOCA: Bob Morton has stepped down as nonexecutive chairman at the specialist recruitment and outsourcing solutions provider due to ill health. S URGE RE C RUIT MENT HOUS E : The Midlandsbased property staffing specialist has hired Robert Hall as commercial director.
THE GRE AT RECRUIT MENT COMPAN Y: Director Lucy Hodgson has launched a new agency focusing on mid-senior to board level appointments working with clients on both a retained and contingent basis.
THORN E & WAIT: The specialist supplier of permanent and temporary staff to commercial, industrial and driving sectors welcomes Emily Owen as commercial team manager.
The online luxury fashion retailer has appointed Deborah Lee as chief people officer.
YOU R NE X T M OV E A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk Pro-Recruitment Group IT recruitment consultant £25k-£30k + bonus + bens London
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust Recruitment consultant £26.3k-£35.2k pro rata Bristol, City Centre
S EA R C H C ON SULTAN CY:
EDITORIAL +44 (0)20 7880 7606 Editor DeeDee Doke
RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING +44 (0)20 7880 7553 Jude Rosset
deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk
jude.rosset@redactive.co.uk
Reporters Colin Cottell, Graham Simons colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk graham.simons@recruiter.co.uk
Contributing writers Caroline Roberts, Sue Weekes Production editor Vanessa Townsend vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk
Senior designer Craig Bowyer Picture editor Akin Falope
PRODUCTION +44 (0)20 7880 6209 Production executive Rachel Young rachel.young@redactive.co.uk
PUBLISHING +44 (0)20 7880 8547 Publishing director Aaron Nicholls aaron.nicholls@redactive.co.uk
ADVERTISING +44 (0)20 7880 7607 Sales manager Tom Culley Senior sales executive Josh Hannagan
RECRUITER AWARDS/ INVESTING IN TALENT AWARDS +44 (0)20 7880 6236 Events Rebecca West
josh.hannagan@recruiter.co.uk
rebecca.west@redactive.co.uk
tom.culley@recruiter.co.uk
CIRCULATION and SUBSCRIPTIONS To receive a regular copy of Recruiter, the leading magazine for recruitment and resourcing professionals, telephone +44 (0)20 8950 9117 or email redactive@abacusemedia.com • Recruiter is also available to people who do not meet our terms of control: Annual subscription rate for 12 issues: £35 UK; £45 Europe and £50 Rest of the World • To purchase reprints or multiple copies of the magazine, contact Abacus e-Media T: +44 (0)20 8950 9117 or email redactive@abacusemedia.com CONTRIBUTIONS Contributions are invited, but when not accepted will be returned only if accompanied by a fully stamped and addressed envelope. Articles should be emailed. No responsibility can be taken for drawings, photographs or literary contributions during delivery, transmission or in the editor’s hands. © 2016 Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. This publication (and any part thereof) may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in print or electronic format (including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the internet) or in any other format in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of Redactive Media Group. Redactive Media Group accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein. The publishers cannot accept liability for any loss arising from the late appearance or non-publication of any advertisement for any reason whatsoever. ISSN 1475-7478
Total average net circulation between 1 July 2014 & 30 June 2015 – 18,667. is also sent to all REC members
For more jobs, people moves and career advice go to ● recruiter.co.uk/jobs ● inhouserecruiterjobs.co.uk ● internationalrecruiterjobs.com
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CONTACTS
YOOX N E T-A-PORT ER:
Allen & York Recruitment consultant Construction, built environment £18k-£26k + comms + bens Wimborne, Dorset
The multi-sector recruiter has appointed senior recruitment manager Lisa McLean as head of medical for England.
Redactive Publishing Ltd 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP 020 7880 6200
Scan here to get your own copy of
13/10/2016 12:25
E THE LAST WORD CO M M UNITY
Gregory Allen What’s your karaoke moment?
This past weekend, I was picking up the microphone in a London karaoke bar, preparing for an amazing rendition of Bring him home from Les Mis. In the room was a seriously eclectic mix of friends and friends of friends. All of us with one goal, to have a huge amount of fun and to make sure we belted out our signature tune, with the support of everyone. But as I scanned the room, I was more buoyed by the thought, if this was a company and we had to interview each other, would we get on the list? Collectively, we were a broad brush of personalities, mindsets and, of course, singing potential. When we meet people, we do make judgements straight away. But we also give people a caveat of ‘Well, it’s Bill’s friend’ or ‘She is a bit mad, but what a hoot at a party!’ All our preconceived beliefs, values and behaviours blend and merge to form, ultimately, acceptance and community. But we don’t have formal interviews and we don’t measure potential – and in this instance, we don’t measure singing ability. Diversity of mindsets: it is the outliers of personality, friendships and behaviours
which makes it work. If everyone were truly awesome singers, sooner or later those who came ‘just for fun’, the outliers, would fade away and the whole chemistry and objective of what a karaoke night is would change and mutate into a homogenous landscape. It is this diversity of mindset you see in the YouTube video ‘IDEO Shopping Cart Project’. This project uses a broad range of people from opera singers, IT developers, stay-at-home mums, retailers, bankers etc to come together to ‘create’ products; to work through ideas and develop outcomes and prototypes. This video is old now, in cyber terms, but its essence still rings true. The broader the mindset, the more powerful the synergy and outcomes, even in small teams as well as large corporate communities. But how do we influence this in our recruiter roles? Sometimes it’s about
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‘When you get up to have your karaoke moment, sing your heart out, whoever is in your room’ raising flags, to observe and call out unconscious bias, wrong decisions and even pushing the envelope around team dynamics for our companies. Measure what matters. Make sure you analyse the data and not just measure it for audits. From this, make broader channels. Open new channels and get
excited about what comes to the table. Get excited as well about the potential impact on your brand and how this new flow may even encourage a broader customer base. So when you get up to have your karaoke moment, keep it fun, keep it broad and sing your heart out, whoever is in your room. ●
+ Gregory Allen is global head of resourcing at Lloyd’s Register
13/10/2016 12:31
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