Business intelligence for recruitment and resourcing professionals
November 2019
INCORPORATING R uitment Recruitment Matters
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FEATURES
18 THE BIG STORY
recruitment indefinitely The latest Recruitment Sector Barometer shows the strain on the industry Consumers fuel rise in recruitment tech tools Tech helps fulfil the need for faster responses Fill the undesirable roles Stress the benefits to attract the candidates Choose the right tech, not just any tech With so many options available, recruiters must filter the many solutions Start-up of the Month: Citizen Kind Emma Osborne launches her ethical recruitment agency This was the month that was... Contracts & Deals
Autotech Recruit Gavin White lifts the presence of temp technicians with his specialist agency 24 Care home residents prepare for recruitment Residents at a care home help recruit staff
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Candidates look to job brand, not employer brand Tech & Tools Beamery helps operate talent more effectively
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INCORPORATING Recruitment Matters
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Smart way to help students ACE work assessments Social Network The Workplace: Guy Hayward Workplace Innovation: Mark Braithwaite Business Advice: Alex Arnot My brilliant recruitment career: Emma Lowden, NRL Group Movers & Shakers Recruiter contacts The Last Word: Rob Brouwer
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INTERACTION Viewpoint Paula Rogers, founder of Admiral Recruitment Soundbites
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UPDATE
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n mid-October, the UK is still living on a knife edge as we and the world await the final reckoning on Brexit. At press time, no clearing has become visible – not even a gateway to oblivion – and the Brexit ‘negotiations’ can only be characterised as shouty phone calls between politicians and their tough-talking social media messages. How did it come to this? It’s no better on the other side of the Atlantic – shouty phone calls between politicians and their tough-talking social messages that seem to emanate from some strange science-fiction film or TV show, bearing no resemblance to what we think of as reality. You really couldn’t make it up. But leave it to recruiters to keep the planet moving. Fortunately, enterprising recruiters are still “Join us on 27 doing deals and November in some, like the quietly assured Gravitas Manchester for a showcase Recruitment Group, are getting injections of innovation from Northern of investment. The pace of recruitment Powerhouse technology continues recruiters” to ramp up in new and exciting directions (see pp6-7). And innovation in recruitment terms – such as finessing a niche – is also very much alive, as Autotech’s Gavin White exemplifies from p18. And join us on 27 November in Manchester for a showcase of innovation from Northern Powerhouse recruiters, as well as for our HOT 100 2019 festivities. Sign up at https://bit.ly/2ME7KGv. Look forward to seeing you there!
Optimism can’t bolster recruitment indefinitely BY COLIN COTTELL
AFTER CONFOUNDING BREXIT uncertainty over recent quarters, the latest Recruitment Sector Barometer indicates that even such an optimistic industry can’t withstand indefinitely the market realities that accompany one of the most turbulent periods in recent UK history. As Alex Arnot, a non-executive director to more than 20 recruitment companies, who produces the Barometer in association with Recruiter, says: “While the recruitment sector is on balance positive, there are some areas that are less so. The timing of this Barometer (Q4) falling just before the 31 October Brexit deadline, causing candidates and clients to defer decisions, may have depressed results.” Although industry optimism remains positive, with 40% of companies expecting to grow their headcount in Q4 2019, this figure is lower than in recent Barometers. Similarly, the 30% of recruitment businesses that expect net profit for the next 12 months to be up on the previous 12 months stands at +30%, well below the three-year average of 53%. Perhaps the most telling figure is that a record net 43% of respondents reported the length of recruitment processes is increasing. While this is consistent with the lowest unemployment rate since 1971 making it harder for employers to find the right candidate, it is also consistent with organisations slowing down or delaying hiring decisions until they see the outcome of the current political machinations. Reinforcing this message, the Barometer shows that economic conditions/uncertainty is now seen as one of recruitment business’s top three challenges by a record 63.6% of respondents. On the positive side, 54% of respondents exceeded their targets compared to only 21% in Q2, while permanent recruitment is performing strongly with 38% expecting it to improve. Fee rates are another bright spot, with 16% of respondents reporting higher fees than 12 months ago. “After each previous deadline, where nothing has happened there has been a positive rebound, so it will be interesting to see what happens this time,” adds Arnot.
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DeeDee Doke, Editor
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Consumers fuel rise in recruitment tech tools BY DEEDEE DOKE
TODAY’S “EXPECTATION ECONOMY” in consumerism is fuelling the creation of increasing numbers of recruitment digital technology tools. So says Faye Walshe, global head of innovation at Robert Walters, explaining the market is also undergoing a continuing wave of consolidation. She highlighted “mega trends” affecting and being created by the recruitment technology market at an exclusive breakfast event on 3 October. The last three or four years have seen “huge tech companies starting to move into recruitment”, with a view towards capturing the massive data available to recruitment-focused organisations, Walshe said. One such “big data play” was Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn, while global recruiter Randstad made its own bid to increase its access to data through buying job board Monster. More big deals could yet be on the horizon, with job board CareerBuilder still up for sale, Walshe suggested. Referencing the “expectation economy” driven by consumer services such as Amazon, Uber, Deliveroo and others, she said that consumers then turn their expectations to recruitment; for instance, why would someone wait a
Recruiters’ role in filling the undesirable jobs BY COLIN COTTELL
ORGANISATIONS THAT WANT to fill their most “undesirable jobs” can’t afford only to focus “on what they need as an organisation but on what candidates want from those roles”. That was the key message from a presentation given by Alexia Cambon, 6 RECRUITER
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week for a feedback experience after an interview? As a result, numerous bits of tech are appearing on the market to speed up processes, solve problems, predict candidate activity and to support the creation of communities. “There’s never been a better time to start up in HR/[rec] tech and get funding,” Walshe said. However in this environment, start-ups tend to get acquired by larger organisations, pivot into new directions or disappear, she added. Noting examples such as Invitation Only – an executive online network aimed to help recruit top women leaders, and PwC Talent Exchange for contractors, Walshe said: “These talent communities are growing in all kinds of spaces.” While some job boards may struggle, she said, new model versions such as The Muse, which helps jobseekers find potential employers by culture, are finding a niche. During an hour-long presentation, Walshe outlined some key products that could influence aspects of recruitment such as diversity, as well as organisations’ culture, retention and how individuals within companies use social media.
senior principal, Gartner, at Gartner’s ReimagineHR Conference in London. Cambon said where there was “a relatively high supply of people but those roles were taking time to fill”, organisations needed to identify the brand attributes that were making those jobs undesirable. This needed to done for different segments of their target audience, she explained, citing Gartner research that while compensation remains a top motivator for the global benchmark of candidates, it is less important for specific segments of the labour market, for example, Gen Z. Rather than trying to change your brand attributes, such as an unattractive location, which was “hard to do”, Cambon advised employers to contextualise or mitigate elements of their employer brand that made their
organisation undesirable to candidates. She suggested one way to compensate for concerns about poor financial compensation, for example, was to emphasise the range of benefits. Cambon said that when a role was so undesirable in the eyes of candidates that “they were not even going to have a conversation with you” one option – in particular for critical roles – was “to change the nature of the role so the undesirability disappears” by taking into account both organisational needs and candidate motivators. Cambon said recruiters had a vital role to play in filling undesirable jobs, and should not shy away from having “awkward conversations” with candidates, explaining that it is better they learned about the organisation from them than from another source. I M AG E | I STO C K
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THOUGHTS FROM… VITORIO BRETAS SE N IOR PRINCIPAL ADVISER AT GARTNER HR PR AC TICE
“One of the things about airport security is I often find myself stuck behind someone, to put it politely, who doesn’t seem to know what they are doing… The person going through [airport] security, really failing to recognise how things operate now – that’s how I see the hiring managers of today.” JULIA KERMODE
Choose the right tech, not just any tech
CE O O F THE FCSA ON THREE BBC PRESENTERS LOSING IR35 CASE BY COLIN COTTELL
“If judges can’t reach an easy conclusion [on IR35], how on earth can firms without access to expertise be able to reach a conclusion?” RICKY MARTIN M ANAG IN G DIREC TOR , HYPER RECRUITMENT SOLU TIONS
“While I don’t think there is anything wrong with a few drinks on a work night out – and I don’t think there is anything wrong with champagne to celebrate small successes – I do believe a boozy culture is old hat and that recruitment companies today need to cater for all, not just give them what we had back in the day.”
TALENT AND HR professionals need to “filter” technology solutions if the sheer number and range of solutions available to them is not to become a problem, according to Ryan Hill, senior principal, Gartner’s HR practice Speaking at Gartner’s ReimagineHR Conference in London, Hill said: “Technology is where we are spending most and it is the biggest priority, but technology is not going to get us there itself because when we look at the cost of talent acquisition it has gone up 26% and time-to-fill has gone up by 41% in the last three years.” Responding to his own question of “So what’s the solution?”, Hill advised talent professionals “to ask yourself where in your recruitment process you are most vulnerable to disruption in the market, and then to make an assessment of where you see the biggest impact and use that find the technology that is best designed to deliver your desired business outcome”. He continued: “What you don’t want to do is talk to the vendor first without going through that process. That is when you end up with that new shiny widget that you don’t really need.” Hill gave a number of examples of where introducing technology had enhanced talent acquisition and led to a desired business outcome. These included Charles Schwab, who introduced chatbots for routine information gathering from candidates, and Walmart who introduced VR headsets to simulate in-store scenarios, such as spills in the aisle, that successful candidates were likely to face.
I M AG E S | I STO C K / PA L HA N SE N
STA RT-UP OF THE MONTH CITIZEN KIND The founder of Citizen Kind wanted to launch a recruitment agency connecting candidates and clients who believe in minimising their environmental impact on the planet. Emma Osborne, the London-based recruitment agency’s vegan founder, who became a vegan four years ago, told Recruiter the agency is focused on helping sustainable, ethical and vegan businesses find brilliant people. “In terms of the people I am finding for the businesses, they don’t
necessarily have to be vegan but they do have to be conscious consumers in a similar way … They don’t have to absolute or extreme in any way but it’s more for people who really care about the planet and want to put some more meaning into their careers by going to work for a company that’s doing some good in the world.” But Osborne added she wanted to make sure the agency minimised its own impact on the planet. One example of this is that her business cards are printed on recycled
cardboard using vegan ink. And while the agency recruits across all sectors, initially mainly at senior level, Osborne said she was prepared to turn away candidates and clients who didn’t share her beliefs. Although she didn’t foresee this being a problem. “I anticipate I’ll only be attracting companies and candidates who share those values. It’s very unlikely that I’m going to have a meat farm come to me to find them someone, so I’m not anticipating that is going to be an issue.”
Find more daily news stories at recruiter.co.uk/news
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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 •‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒→
MON, 16 SEPTEMBER 2019
MON, 23 SEPTEMBER 2019
WEBINAR ADVISES RECRUITERS TO WORK WITH CLIENTS AND CONTRACTORS AROUND IR35 OBLIGATIONS
RECRUITERS RALLY ROUND TO ASSIST STAFF FOLLOWING THOMAS COOK COLLAPSE
Recruiters have been warned to develop a collaborative approach straightaway involving clients and contractors alike to determine IR35 status. The warning was one of the key messages of Qdos/Recruiter’s ‘How to manage IR35 (offpayroll working) in the private sector’ webinar, ahead of the extension of off-payroll rules into the private sector next April. Elaborating on recruitment giant Hays’ experience of the off-payroll rules in the public sector, which were implemented in spring 2017, Paul Coward, operations director, Hays Talent Solutions, explained it held a series of regional customer events on the rules between January and April 2017. He explained a lack of preparedness for the new rules meant some organisations stopped hiring personal service company (PSC) workers altogether, while some made blanket PAYE determinations. However, some opted to determine IR35 status on a case-by-case basis. Meanwhile Nicole Slowey, operations director at Qdos, warned with just six months to go before the rules are implemented in the private sector, agencies need to start preparing immediately – not least because recruiters will be advertising roles that contractors will be working in post-April 2020. Touching on HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool, Slowey urged recruiters not to solely rely on the tool to make determinations due to issues around its inability to determine mutuality of obligation – a cornerstone of determining IR35 status. Slowey added that Qdos’ own approach incorporates the contractor and the client gathering information from both so determinations are based on the facts of the engagement. Recruiters can view the webinar (see link below). More: https://bit.ly/2Iwfj0p
MON, 23 SEPTEMBER 2019
FORMER MD OF RECRUITMENT AGENCY JAILED FOR COCAINE DEALING The former managing director of a Portsmouth-based recruitment agency has been jailed for having £14.5k worth of cocaine in his desk drawer. The Portsmouth News reports Dutch national Pieter van Oorschot was jailed for two years and nine months after he was caught with the cocaine at work. Van Oorschot was MD of Portsmouthbased agency NRS Recruitment until it was dissolved in July this year. Van Oorschot was stopped by police in Portsmouth while driving a Mercedes and had four small packets of cocaine on him and two mobile phones – one with messages revealing he was involved in street dealing. When police searched his office at Challenge Enterprise Centre in Copnor, a judge said they were ‘startled’ to find a huge lump of cocaine. In total the defendant had 147g of the class A drug at 85% purity, while prosecutor Timothy Moores said the high purity “suggests that he has been supplied by someone relatively close to import level”. Jason Halsey, mitigating, said he was a “young man with a drug addiction… He’s run a business, the business gets into debt. He gets into debt with his dealer. He made the rather stupid and obvious decision to deal drugs. “What he wants to do is to become that young man portrayed in the references that he once was, and turn his back on peddling drugs and misery.”
Thousands of UK workers affected by the collapse of Thomas Cook may have to relocate or retrain in order to land new jobs. This is according to travel staffing specialists Recruiter has spoken with in the wake of the announcement that the 178-year-old travel company has entered into compulsory liquidation, putting 9,000 jobs in the UK at risk. Jayne Peirce, managing director at Jayne Peirce Recruitment, told Recruiter there are plenty of highly skilled, placeable workers at the firm’s head office in Peterborough but they may have to seriously consider relocating. Ian Brooks, director at Gail Kenny Recruitment, told Recruiter it would be a challenge for these workers to find work in other retail travel businesses, so they may need to retrain. Meanwhile Lakshmi Thurairatnam, recruitment director at Platinum Travel Recruitment, told Recruiter her team is reaching out to affected workers. Sarah Merry, director at Rockpool Recruitment, told Recruiter her agency would also be reaching out to employees to offer help and support. MD of MBM Travel Executives Marie Moore told Recruiter: “We have already started the process through various social media channels and our network of travel professionals. We will also directly contact candidates matching our available opportunities over the course of the next few days.” Barbara Kolosinska, director at C&M Travel Recruitment and C&M Executive Recruitment, revealed her agency has set up a dedicated email helpline for all Thomas Cook staff and would be hosting an open day at their offices in London on 1 October. More: https://bit.ly/2Onzodc
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BANKING APP REVOLUT TO RECRUIT OVER 3,000 STAFF UK-based digital banking app Revolut has launched a recruitment drive for around 3,500 staff thanks to a new global deal with payments giant Visa. The deal is an expansion of an existing agreement between the two firms. Revolut will expand into 24 new markets from its current markets of Europe and Australia, opening in the US and Singapore by the end of this year, with Canada and Japan to follow. More: https://bit.ly/35eFNxi
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RECRUITERS WILL HAVE TO JUMP THROUGH MORE HOOPS WITH IMMIGRATION PLANS
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RECRUITMENT REPRESENTATIVE STARTS HER APPRENTICE JOURNEY TONIGHT It’s nearly ‘Apprentice Time’ – the time for recruitment’s latest representative on the BBC programme to show her “strongwilled” and “methodical” credentials. Scarlett Allen-Horton is a senior partner for global transport engineering leadership search at Harper Fox Partners. The former diversity champion for international specialist staffing SThree is bidding to be the recruitment sector’s first female winner on The Apprentice. Huxley Engineering alumni – Kirsty Seymour, now head of engineering at Monarch Engineering – has given her former colleague her backing. “I found her to be a strong-willed and methodical recruiter, who put a strong emphasis on delivering a great customer experience. “I believe she is definitely an applicant to watch out for. If anyone is to be the sector’s first female winner, I would back Scarlett.” And it turns out Scarlett’s brother Henry Allen-Horton is an apprenticeship consultant at LMPQ, a provider of work-related vocational training.
Recruiters are likely to have more “hoops to jump through” if government plans for an Australian points-based system postBrexit are given the go ahead. So say immigration experts Recruiter has spoken with regarding the plans featured as part of home secretary Priti Patel’s speech to the Conservative Party conference. Stephen Jennings, partner solicitor at Tozers Solicitors, told Recruiter while the plan is thin of detail thus far, it is clearly designed to limit immigration quite drastically, even more so than was previously proposed by Patel’s predecessor Sajid Javid. Dr Sybille Steiner, partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell, agreed that while it is currently unclear what the plans mean in practice for recruiters, they do seem to indicate that the new system was going to be even tougher and less liberal than the proposals in the immigration White Paper. Meanwhile Fraser Vandal, employment solicitor at UK law firm TLT, said the Home Office needs to strike a delicate balance with this new immigration system. Danielle Cohen, owner of Danielle Cohen Solicitors, told Recruiter: “A move towards the Australian pointsbased system would be based on the characteristics of the individuals and not on whether the individual has a job offer. Recruiters will be able to attract the best talent to fulfil jobs and the points could be awarded for areas such as educational qualifications, work experience, language proficiency.” Sophie Barrett-Brown, senior partner and head of UK practice, at law firm Laura Devine Immigration, said the debate around the new system is often confusing, not least because the Australian immigration system is made up of myriad subcategories, only some of which involve an element of point-scoring. More: https://bit.ly/2nePRFr
More: https://bit.ly/2LRSDd6
Find more daily news stories at recruiter.co.uk/news
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MON, 7 OCTOBER 2019
MUSLIM CONSULTANT AWARDED £22.5K FOR RACIST COMMENTS FROM DIRECTOR A Muslim recruitment consultant has been awarded more than £22.5k in compensation after an agency director made racist and religious discriminatory comments about her. A Bury St Edmunds employment tribunal found claimant Miss Noreen’s former employer, Peterborough-based recruitment agency Recruitment Finder, discriminated against her, and failed to pay redundancy or bonuses due to her. The tribunal heard derogatory comments from agency director Paul Clarke about British Pakistani Noreen’s race and religion were commonplace. She was lumped in the phrase “You Pakis”, her adherence to fasting during Ramadan was described as a “lot of bollocks to me” and the food she brought from home, even a pasta dish, was referred to as “curry”. At the start of July 2017 Clarke called her into his office and gave her two months’ notice of redundancy. While Noreen was promised she would receive all sums due to her, she received nothing but her basic pay. Recruiter contacted Recruitment Finder for comment but had not heard back by deadline. More: https://bit.ly/30U3XtJ WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 9
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CONTRACTS & DEALS
24 Seven 24 Seven, a US-headquartered, privately-held, digital marketing and creative staffing and recruiting firm, has acquired San Francisco-based staffing and consulting firm The Sage Group. Through its Marketers that Matter (MTM) programme, The Sage Group provides mid to senior-level marketing consultants and contractors and permanent talent to companies. 24 Seven has offices in New York, London, Toronto, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Denver.
Mackenzie Stuart Group Executive search firm Mackenzie Stuart Group has completed a management buyout from its major shareholders by the current executive team of Dominic Paglia and Nick Jenkins. The duo purchased an additional 46% equity from the other shareholders to now own 74% of the business.
Bullhorn Cloud computing company Bullhorn has acquired Erecruit, a provider of applicant tracking, and pay and bill solutions, and a leader in candidate experience for the staffing and recruitment industry. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Erecruit’s management team, including founders Judd Hoffman and Danko Fatovic, will join Bullhorn in its extended leadership team to support and drive success for Erecruit customers.
Whitehall Resources Specialist SAP, Oracle and IT recruitment company Whitehall Resources is the new headline sponsor for University of Essex basketball team Essex Rebels’ 2019-20 season. The full Rebels programme includes academy teams, men’s teams and the women’s professional team, who are currently in the WBBL (Women’s British Basketball League).
Heidrick k & Struggles Global executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles has acquired 2GET, an executive search firm in Brazil. Paulo Mendes, a founder and executive board member of 2GET, will lead the newly combined Heidrick & Struggles operation in Brazil. Termss of the closed. transaction were not disclosed.
Cathcart Associates Scottish IT recruiter Cathcart Associates has been named as a supplier of IT candidates on the government’s Crown Commercial Service (CCS) and NHS Procurement in Partnership RM6160 Non-Clinical Temporary & Fixed Term staffing framework.
jobpal European software firm jobpal has raised €2.5m (£2.2m) 2m) in pre-series A apital fund seed funding from InReach Ventures, an AI-powered venture capital t-ups, and Acadian Ventures, a new investing in early stage European start-ups, unded by Jason Corsello, Corsello ex-CEO ex CEO of early-stage venture capital firm founded Cornerstone. The funding will be used to further product development and to triple the company’s headcount over the next 12 months.
DEAL OF T HE MONT H
Dartmouth Partners Financial services recruiter Dartmouth Partners has acquired tax, legal, risk & compliance recruiter Pure Search. Pure has been led by Chris Nelson and Charles Ferguson for the past 20 years, and has offices in London, New York, Berlin, Hong Kong and Singapore. Dartmouth Partners was founded in 2012 by Logan Naidu and, while also headquartered in London, has offices in France and Germany.
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The firms say the partnership will enable Dartmouth to continue further international expansion, complementing its offices in London, Frankfurt and Paris, bringing group international headcount to 200. Dartmouth’s CEO Naidu will become Group CEO and the group adds it will continue to look for further acquisitions. The deal was backed by Dartmouth’s investors Literacy Capital and the two companies.
Groomfield Recruitment Multi-sector recruiter Groomfield Recruitment has secured new funding to diversify its offering. The recruitment agency took advantage of the Business Banking Switch (BBS), securing a £25k incentive funding, as well as a £1.2m invoice finance package from Santander UK. The additional funding will see the agency recruit specialists – both permanent and temporary – in a newly-created engineering division.
More contract news at recruiter.co.uk/news
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JOBSEEKING CONTRARY TO COMMON THINKING Why is ‘job brand’ becoming increasingly important to jobseekers when compared to ‘employer brand’? BY CHARLES HIPPS
etting a job can often feel like a sporting contest. The experience has become a race. Candidates are applying to more companies than ever before, and because of this the celebrated ‘purpose’ of an employer value proposition is having less impact than we might think. What’s driving this? The frenetic pace of the market means that jobseekers look for a particular job spec first and will apply across a range of industries to find opportunities suited to their skills. The job brand is taking precedence over the employer brand. To win talent, businesses need to follow suit. This new trend is driven by the rapid progression of the digital era. Candidates are now behaving in ways contrary to common thinking. Employer brand is having less impact on determining whether to apply to a company or not. It doesn’t look like potential candidates are ‘shopping’ like consumers, comparing one brand to another and limiting applications.
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brand content before hitting ‘apply’ and starting the process. There is little evidence of consuming content, looking at review sites or conducting hours of research. What we are seeing is a concentration of attention on the job pages to determine suitability before applying. This digital footprint of career site visitors (we can track page views, linger time and bounce rate) suggests that candidates are making decisions on the job based on criteria like location, salary and minimum requirements. We can consider this the emergence of ‘job brand’ over ‘employer brand’ at ‘apply’ stage. What is clear is the need for single job landing pages that clearly show job titles, salary, location and disqualifiers. The answer as to what drives this behaviour perhaps lies in the expectation that the likelihood of hearing back or anything happening is limited. Indeed, internationally the candidate black hole is consistently named as the number one complaint from candidates to employers. Feedback they offer shows that frustration is normally due to a failure to consistently acknowledge initial jobseeker interest and provide definitive closure when no
“Not providing definitive closure to candidates is not a new concept”
Change in thinking Tracking from websites shows they are not paying too much attention to the
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longer pursuing candidates. Or when moving through the hiring funnel, failing to deliver consistent candidate communication from pre-application to onboarding. Not providing definitive closure to candidates is not a new concept. Indeed, it seems to be a consistent theme in all candidate experience research. The expectation being that at the end of the ‘apply’ process candidates are just not going to hear back, hence the reason for not spending lots of time researching before applying.
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The volumes applying only add to this, making communication without automation almost impossible. Of the close to 9m applications tracked by Oleeo and industry commentator Bill Boorman, only 10% of candidates are invited to first-stage screening. Interestingly this did not differ much from sector to sector. First-stage screening consisted of a first-round interview, telephone screen or video interview. If the trend for increased volumes continues, and we believe it will,
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Automated communication
organisations need to have a clear strategy for managing volume in an automated way, including screening and scheduling in the ‘apply’ process. The advent of chatbots in this process has had dramatic results, combining job discovery with apply and screening in one action. The volume of applicants also gives a clear indicator that organisations either will or have reached what we have called the ‘talent tipping point’. The talent tipping point is a notional number of contacts in the ATS from previous applications, at which point an organisation is connected with enough people to fulfil their future hiring requirements. Organisations need to consider how they communicate factors that lead to disqualifiers in job ads, content and job landing pages to reduce these high volumes. Where video was used as a screening tool (the first action in the hiring funnel), we witnessed the highest rejection rate, compared with telephone screen. All of this involves moving away from a single hiring funnel by employing multiple funnels divided by job disciplines. This changes thinking towards job brand from employer brand, and calls for engagement and personalisation throughout the process, thinking of targeting-to-hire as one flow, with candidate experience as a core priority and constant theme. Developments in machine learning enable us to make better use of all the data available, whilst shifting thinking to prioritise factors such as diversity. Changing messages and smarter selection approaches are in line with the demands of the digital world – be there or miss out. ●
CHARLES HIPPS is CEO and founder of Oleeo.
POWER POINTS Candidates are behaving in ways contrary to common thinking. Employer brand is having less impact on determining whether to apply to a company or not. Job brand is more important. Here are some top tips:
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Apply tracking to your careers website and identify if candidates are paying attention to the brand content before hitting ‘apply’ and starting the process.
2
Monitor the digital footprint of career site visitors (you can track page views, linger time and bounce rate) to identify what candidates are making decisions on – this is usually information such as location, salary and minimum requirements.
3
Make disqualifiers clear to discourage unsuitable job applications. Disqualifiers are the minimum requirements to progress in the hiring funnel. Consider how to communicate factors that lead to disqualifiers in job ads, content and job landing pages to reduce high volumes.
4
Make your screening more competency-based to match candidates to job rather than organisation in the first instance. Typically you can witness the highest rejection rates using video screening compared to telephone screening, for example.
5
Don’t stop at screening. Continue candidate tracking to identify who stays engaged pre and post-rejection once they are outside of the hiring funnel.
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09/10/2019 09:51
T R E N DS
TECH & TOOLS
Operating talent more effectively Beamery helps recruiters attract, engage and retain SUE WEEKES
We’re used to technology racing ahead, often offering more functionality than we know what to do with. While there is no shortage of advanced software in the recruitment sector, recruitment technology company Beamery believes too many companies are still shackled by legacy systems that hold them back in areas like candidate engagement and relationship building. It has come up with what it believes is one of the first talent operating systems (TOS) for the industry that is more aligned to how recruiters want and need to work today.
WHY DO WE NEED A TOS? Recruitment practices have been changed by technology, along with the appearance some 15 years ago of professional and social networking sites. Beamery contends that many systems don’t support the new recruiting behaviours and specialisms that have emerged such as sourcing, employer branding, operations and marketing. It claims that its TOS supports teams working in these disciplines with the right workflows, allowing companies to use one platform across the business. While end-to-end recruitment systems have been doing something similar
for years, Beamery is extremely data-driven and has clever features that are far more suited to the new world of recruitment – and more able to meet today’s candidate expectations.
THREE CORE MODULES Beamery comprises three core modules: Attract, Engage and Retain. Within Attract, employees can adapt the pages, content and job search for an individual talent journey. It also features an online conversion toolkit to capture candidates that aren’t ready to make a full application and also has an end-to-end event management solution specially built for campus events, job fairs and open days. Ben
Slater, vice president of marketing at Beamery, says that the ‘asks’ that are being made of teams, even individual recruiters, are different from five years ago: “The next frontier is built around personalised engagement – a truly candidate-centric process, and supported by a foundation of consolidated, enriched data across the enterprise.”
DATA ENGINE AT ITS HEART The personalised approach is facilitated by a powerful data engine called Sherlock. Its latest iteration performs tasks such as de-duplicating candidate information, and mapping behavioural and
W H AT I S A TO S ? A computer operating system manages the computer’s hardware and software, and a TOS seeks to do the same with the elements that make up the talent acquisition and management process, centralising an organisation’s data and operations in one platform. Beamery is among the first to bring a TOS to recruitment but we can expect more. US talent management software provider ClearCompany, for instance, also uses the term. I M AG E | S H UT T E R STO C K
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professional data to every candidate record. “The way employers engage with candidates, the way they make them feel, is crucial across the entire talent journey,” says Slater. “Candidates expect the same level of personalisation they receive from most marketing departments from your recruiting team. The data exists for companies to do this, but they need technology to do it effectively and at scale.”
RESHAPING STRATEGIES Among those to have used the platform is online fashion store Zalando. Talent sourcing lead Dr Magdalena Masluk-Meller explains that the company has reshaped its whole strategy and developed a new mindset in how it approaches candidates. “We’re able to keep conversations going with talent from whom we get a warm impression, or
who we meet at events and who attend our webinars,” she says, adding that the system allows them to use “these first touches” to engage with talent with “the right content at the right time and at scale”.
INTEGRATION AND COMPLIANCE Beamery can integrate with other software and also provides compliance management functionality to help organisations deal with GDPR and other data protection legislation in countries such as Russia and China, so they can more easily extend their reach for talent. “For many roles, given the competitiveness of the market, companies can’t just rely on the moment of serendipity when the perfect candidate sees their job at the moment that they’re looking,” says Slater. “Ultimately it comes down to the need for employers to recruit more proactively.”● WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 15
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INTE R AC TIO N
C
VIEWPOINT
Value your staff Why recruitment companies have to be FIT BY PAULA ROGERS
f recruiters hope to attract the best staff and candidates, we have to get FIT – Fit for purpose, Inspired and Teched up. Candidates and the staff are discerning and tuned in. While pay and salaries are paramount, there is also an aspiration to work for companies with inspirational cultures that actively show their commitment to staff health and wellbeing, from work/life balance and development opportunities right through to technical support and healthy food in the workplace. Young people coming into the recruitment sector, in particular, are looking up to their agencies for leadership, guidance and support in this. If we are to continue to attract, retain and develop staff, employers have to be parents, teachers and mentors. By taking a more maternalistic approach, we can lead by example. Take food in the workplace, for instance. At Admiral Recruitment we have two kitchens in our building. We actively encourage our teams to bring in their own food and eat together, so that lunch and breaktimes are opportunities to socialise and eat healthier food away from their desks. This is not just about the monetary savings made; it’s about encouraging healthy eating habits and supporting mental health and wellbeing. When younger members of the team see others eating last night’s home-cooked meals, it lets them know that this is OK to do too; they don’t always have to buy food in from the high street.
I
+ PAULA ROGERS FIH (Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality) is founder of Admiral Recruitment
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NOVEMBER 2019
There is no doubt that unhealthy eating, and particularly unhealthy snacking, is contributing to the growing levels of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Small in-house initiatives like providing free fresh fruit so that healthy snacking options are always at hand, can make a big difference. Something else we do is to encourage everyone to use the stairs – all four flights – so that they keep fit and active during the day. But there is so much more to do and we need to be consistent. Recruitment is the ideal sector to take on a FIT approach, as it can be a stressful working environment. Perhaps it’s the mother in me, but if we don’t look after our staff properly, who will, and what signal does that give potential candidates and clients? Everything we can do as recruiters to support a happy and healthy workplace will reap benefits in terms of staff morale, loyalty and motivation. Flexible working, counselling, subsidised gym memberships, healthcare, parental support and mentoring can all make a massive difference to one’s working life and sense of wellbeing. Inspirational cultures that encourage team spirit and healthy activities outside of the agency such as sporting events and cultural pursuits all enhance the health and wellbeing of staff. When it comes to technology, the recruitment sector is very good at harnessing leading-edge technology to streamline the recruitment process, but a key consideration must be how it benefits agency staff so that it makes their job a little easier and less stressful. If we are to be FIT employers, we have to be fit for purpose on every aspect, from heathy eating in the workplace to supportive and inspirational working environments, and the use of technology to its greatest benefit for staff wellbeing. It’s essential that we become objective about how we operate our businesses and view things from the employees’ perspective to ensure that we are the fittest employers we can be. After all, who doesn’t love to be looked after and feel valued? ●
I M AG E | I STO CK
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I N T E R AC T I O N
SOUNDBITES
WEB CH AT/INSTAG RAM DEVELOP YOUR STAFF, DON’T JUST MANAGE THEM In response to your article ‘Healthcare social enterprise to recruit professionals to work in Cumbria’ (recruiter.co.uk, 1 October), organisations are only as strong as their people. By building a strong management strategy, your company can help its employees grow. Leadership should spend their time developing their employees instead of trying to manage them. MARIA JOE, PEOPLEHUM
ONLY HEAVILY UNIONISED WORKPLACES WOULD BENEFIT FROM LABOUR’S PLANS I read your article ‘More clarity needed on Labour’s 4-day working week, say recruiters’ (recruiter.co.uk, 24 September) with interest. It would only be heavily unionised environments with collective bargaining arrangements that would benefit and even that would probably have a negative impact on businesses and may encourage some to relocate abroad, especially contact centre and manufacturing companies. ADAM JONES
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!
The TUC has called for a ban on class discrimination – what’s the best way of achieving this goal when recruiting? NATHAN OTT D IREC TOR , EG . 1
“There is a real need to shift thinking and start basing decisions on the impact candidates can make, rather than where they have come from. We help clients to base their recruitment decisions on impact. Organisations may need to actively look for these individuals if they don’t sit within their traditional talent pool. We also advise our clients to create a diverse interview panel to give candidates confidence in their commitment to diversity. We need to shift thinking and encourage organisations to hire people based upon the impact they want to make, to value people based on the impact they do make and to develop people based upon the impact they have potential to make.”
S A R A H M E R RY D IREC TOR , ROCK P OOL RECRUIT MEN T
“If we are really going to look at judging people on their ability and experience rather than their upbringing, then perhaps a blind application form at the first stage of applying instead of a CV may help. A form with three or four competency-based questions delving into the candidates’ experience for the most important requirements for the job could potentially help to screen that first stage objectively.”
PAUL FARRER CH A I RMA N , A S P IRE
dbcharlesrecruitment @recruitermagazine loving the latest edition, kept me nicely entertained in between meetings today #recruitmentmagazine #recruitment #latestedition recruitermagazine We aim to please! ;-) Glad you like it – working on the next issue as we speak... #recruitment #bestintheindustry
“I have a lot of sympathy with the TUC stance on class discrimination. Just one example is an element of the annual graduate recruitment milkround that only targets Russell Group of Universities. Who might make a better candidate? The privately educated Oxford University student with a 2:1 in Computer Science or a comprehensive educated student from Swansea with a 1st in the same subject? The latter doesn’t get a chance because Swansea isn’t a Russell Group establishment. It’s not so much about discrimination, it’s more about equal opportunity. For recruiters, it’s easy: understand our clients’ needs, consult on the possibilities and provide what is required. Overcoming bias and introducing real diversity will help solve the class issue, not more regulation.” WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 17
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09/10/2019 16:14
TH E B IG STO RY: AUTOTECH RECRUIT
TAKING T EMP T ECHS
TO
W
hen Gavin White, founder and managing director of Autotech Recruit left school, he hadn’t a clue what he wanted to do, beyond earning some money. But as a self-confessed petrol-head – this is a man who’s raced motorbikes around Brand Hat ch and Silverstone – he probably always knew he was going to end up in the motor trade. Which indeed he did. The rout e there might have been as circuitous as a professional race track, involving servicing watercooler machines, selling forklift trucks and working as a recruitment consultant supplyin g gas engineers, but eventual ly White found himself in a serv ice manager role at Suzuki and then group after-sales manager. It was at this point that he spot ted a gap in the market for a recruitm ent agency dedicated to placing temporary technicians into the motor trade. “Unfortunately, the automotive industry had been plagued by a lack of MOT testers and technici ans for about 30 years, which is mainly due to a lack of investm ent in upskilling our people,” says
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NOVEMBER 2019
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T H E BI G ST STORY: TORY AU TOT E C H R E C RU I T
Autotech Recruit is first place on the grid when it comes to placing temporary technicians into the motor trade. Dean Gurden met founder and MD Gavin White to find out how it all began
TO A HIGHER LEVEL White. “I found it was becomin g increasingly hard to implement strategy plan s and make any money if we didn’t have the skill ed workers in place. “There was also zero flexibility because 99.9% of employees working in the UK motor trade, certainly in the workshop or tech nical areas, were PAYE. Temporary or contract solutions just didn’t exist.” UK car manufacturing in gen eral might have had lots of contractors, but it had never filtered down into after-sales. So Whi te and two friends, Andrew Sly and Stephen Hug hes, formed Autotech Recruit in 2010 to answ er that need. “The banks laughed at us whe n we asked them for money,” says White. “So I borrowed £40k from
I M AG ES | J ON ENOC H / ISTOC K
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my grandmother, Andrew borr owed £25k from his father, and we scratched eno ugh together to get us working from home, with board meetings around one another’s kitchen tables.” In the early days White approac hed the big network companies like Kwik Fit and Halfords Autocentres because they had huge national footprints and, as large organisa tions, a higher staff attrition. “When we app roached Kwik Fit and said we could lend it tech nicians on an ad hoc basis for either a day or six months, it was a no-brainer as its business is alm ost entirely built around MOTs and its worksho ps,” says White. “With the majority of garages moving to web-based booking portals, they realised they
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TH E B IG STO RY: AUTOTECH RECRUIT
Autotech in numbers
and always saying needed to be responsive, agile a competitive such yes to their customers in market.”
Competition, what competition?
.5m + 9 0 £ 0 6 30 5 30%
Total HQ staff
Contractor base, around 250 of which work every week
£998,48
eciation Earnings before interest, tax, depr tion rtiza and amo
Projected turnover for 2019
Overall gross profit (27% contract, 3% permanent)
grown organically The recruitment company has staff working in its 30 has now over the years and shire head office Newport Pagnell, Buckingham year. As to and saw £10m in turnover this et – well, outs the at competition they faced ket. mar own its ted crea Autotech literally never done ost alm was ent uitm recr t “Contrac . “A BMW in this sector before us,” he says accountancy odd the dealership might take on ty leave, for erni mat ths mon clerk to cover six
January 2020 Autotech will move into its new
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5,500 sq ft office space
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T H E BI G STORY: AU TOT E C H R E C RU I T
benefit of example, but they didn’t see the r workshops. We thei in ors ract cont ry pora tem a vacant vehicle had to point out that they had ing £3k a week in earn them be ramp, which could spend a couple of profit. All they had to do was a technician from hundred pounds a day renting your customers keep us. It’s simple – either you ’t get that ramp don you or ey happy and earn mon active and earn nothing.” the business case White had to go out and build ortunities they opp the and show the workshops ng the clients cati edu as well as were missing. But ractor, it was also a on the benefits of using a cont workforce of case of educating the entire UK 68,000 MOT and 350,000 vehicle technicians d work in a coul they that testers to show them
essional, reliable different way. If they were prof le would pay good and good at what they did, peop money to hire them. see this as their “A lot of our contractors now ’t go back to taking career,” says White. “They won we’ve done what a permanent contract because busy with work. them we said we would and kept – it’s about ey mon t abou just But it’s also not work/life good a ning ntai mai and g achievin these days.” ility balance. People want more flexib to ‘join the ors visit its tes Autotech’s website invi was ine tagl that ng “Usi n’. freelance revolutio “We never its. adm he us,” for e mov e quite a brav organisation that wanted to be perceived as an from the industry. y awa le that was stealing peop we’re the reason that k thin to t People would star use we’re turning there are no technicians beca them all into contractors.” is that most of The reality, according to White, the industry left ors ract cont ent Autotech’s curr of wind likes the on k wor to ago de over a deca astructure infr ent farm projects and big governm s and ition cond k wor er projects that offered bett we use beca ine tagl that with pay. “We went people back into honestly think we are winning this sector,” he says.
Inch wide, mile deep
eves they are doing Another thing that White beli deep’ approach mile right is taking an ‘inch wide, agencies ent uitm recr of to recruitment. “A lot have their fingers in too many pies,” he says. “They are a jack-of-all-trades but master of none, and they tend to just chase the money.” White was adamant about sticking with one market and penetrating it as far as it could. “We get people asking us all the time if we can find a salesperson or
“A lot of recruitment ci s have agencie their fingers in too many pies.They e a jjack-of-alla arre trades but master ne, and they of non tend tto just chase the money”
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09/10/2019 16:50
EVENTS PRESENTS
FUTURE GAZING: A 2020 VISION FOR RECRUITMENT IN THE NORTHERN POWERHOUSE As 2020 approaches, Recruiter and expert speakers look at how the government’s strategy for the Northern Powerhouse is progressing in the context of the recruitment industry. Our mini-conference examines the current economic state of play in the North, the region’s climate for job creation and vacancy filling, and trends being led by innovative recruitment businesses.
BOOK YOUR PLACE recruiter.co.uk/conference 27 NOVEMBER 2019 NATWEST, 1 HARDMAN BOULEVARD MANCHESTER M3 3AQ
followed by Recruiter’s HOT 100 celebration
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REGISTER NOW FREE TO ATTEND
STAY TUNED FOR ANNOUNCEMENTS ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS AT THIS AFTERNOON ‘MUST ATTEND’ EVENT. OPEN TO ALL RECRUITERS.
And in the evening… Has your recruitment business ranked in our HOT 100 since its establishment in 2006? Then you’re invited to our evening celebration in Manchester of the HOT 100 2019! This exclusive event is open to recruitment consultancy leaders: owners, C-suite, managing directors and board members.
09/10/2019 09:52
T H E BI G STORY: AU TOT E C H R E C RU I T
CESHIPS TRAINING AND APPRENTI Autotech Recruit did a survey of t 11,500 vehicle technicians abou a a year ago and the results were damning indictment of an industry that simply wasn’t looking after its people. As many as 70% of respondents said they had left their previous job because of broken promises around training. As White points out: “There are the 350,000 vehicle technicians in any UK and only about 5% have had electric or hybrid vehicle training.
you That’s alarming, especially when in consider the Toyota Prius has been ” now. s year 15 t abou for the UK Having spent a lot of time talking about how the sector needed to ght upskill its technicians, White thou and walk the ed walk it time he set up Auto Training a couple of hip years back. Working in partners with industry-recognised training it providers and awarding bodies, y aims to provide the highest-qualit ces MOT and technical training servi
ple, but that’s warranty administrator, for exam in the with k wor we Yes, not what we do. religiously stick we but , stry indu ive automot within the technical sector.” te says Britain’s As for the dreaded B-word, Whi d the sector ecte aff ly real ’t hasn pe exit from Euro years ago, we were until relatively recently. “Two UK,” he says. “The still having record car sales in n now has nothing dow are reason why car sales so many people use beca but it, to do with Brex on personal went out and bought vehicles only so many are ere contract hire agreements. Th cars you can sell to people that are tied up in finance
“We earn good money out of what we do, but we’ve never been greedy as directors. We’ve always invested money back into the business. We could all be driving around in Porsche 911s if we wanted, but it’s about putting back into the business for the staff and the next generation”
agreements.” Yes, clients are starting to implement recruitment embargoes and pull things in a little bit due to the uncertainty, he admits, “but this only started at the beginning of August, and cars still need to be MOT’d and serviced, regardless of Brexit”. White won’t go so far as to say the company is recession-proof, but proudly talks up the fact that Autotech has steadily grown through one of the worst recessions in a generation. He also applies a seesaw metaphor to the sector. When people have
the to workshops and individuals in UK’s aftermarket. “We do a bit of training ourselves in-house,” says White, ity “but mainly we go out and qual check other people’s training establishments, partners and then get preferential rates for their k training courses. We recently struc a deal to give our guys access to e-learning platforms and in-house training around electric and hybrid vehicles.”
and spend it in money in their pocket, they go tough, they go dealerships, but when times get Fit and Halfords. k Kwi of and spend it in the likes is. If the and dem the re whe “We just pivot to to make sure need we e, ther out still is demand clients at the right we’re distributing to the right time.”
Franchise drive abroad
nities to White believes there are opportu tinental Con in ices franchise Autotech’s serv e due to sens es mak e rout e chis Europe. The fran scapes land lated what are often differently regu the ws kno and the need for somebody that out. individual marketplaces inside roaches from as app had also has y The compan tralia and the US. far afield as New Zealand, Aus at’s a place that’s “Even Iceland,” adds White. “Th and for vehicle dem of s really taking off in term g some work in doin ted star also technicians. We looking at moving Northern Ireland too and are We’re obviously into the Republic [of Ireland]. what happens with see ing hanging back and wait er is going to look.” bord the how the backstop and could accuse It’s probably the only thing you a man always is is White of hanging back on. Th money out of good earn “We looking to the future. r been neve e we’v “but its, adm what we do,” he sted money inve ys alwa ve We’ s. ctor dire as greedy d all be driving back into the business. We coul ted, but it’s about wan we if around in Porsche 911s the staff and for ness busi the putting back into the next generation.” che, but his White may not be driving a Pors tion. ● posi pole in y business is well and trul
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09/10/2019 16:16
RE CRUITM E NT PROCESS
CARE HOME RESIDENTS RECRUIT STAFF When W hen rresidents esidents at a care home were asked d tto o ttake ake part in the recruitment process, ttheir heir surprise soon turned to enthusiasm, aass R Roisin oisin Woolnough discovered hen residents at a care home in Scotland were asked to help recruit a new deputy manager, many of them were taken aback at the request. “The most common response was ‘Oh, I thought my days of recruitment were over’,” says Jozi Stables, manager at Renaissance Care’s Glencairn Care Home in Edinburgh. That’s just what Ian Arnott, a 94-year-old former architect, was thinking. “But I did enjoy taking part,” he says. Once the initial surprise had subsided, several of the residents took up the challenge of sifting through and choosing candidates with real enthusiasm, coming up with lots of questions and ideas. The recruitment process is now well underway, with the first round of interviews having taken place and a shortlist being drawn up. Three of the residents elected to be part of the interview panel, so they got to ask questions and assess the candidate’s responses as well.
W
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Stables says her decision to involve the residents was a simple one: she believes residents should have the option to be involved – fully involved – in all matters includiing in related to how the care home is run, including staff appointments. When she joined the
“It is important that the future deputy manager has a range of management skills but isn’t bossy, that they know how to get the best out of people and that they are calm, cool and fair” Dorothy Goate, 93-year-old former school teacher
NOVEMBER 2019
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REC R RU U I TMENT T M E N T PRO CES CESS
“I think residents should have a say in any decisions in the home. We could make decisions without their input, but I think it’s really important that they say ‘this is important’” Jozi Stables, manager at Renaissance Care’s Glencairn C Ca Car e Home in Edinburgh Care
home in July this year ther there ere e wasn’t wasn’t wasn ’t much much resident engagement, a situ ssituation ituati ation on she immediately set about ut ch chang changing. anging ing.. “I think residents ts sh shoul should ould d have have a say s in an any y decisions in the h home,” ome,” ome ,” she sa says. ys. “W “We e coul c could ould d make decisions ns without withou wit houtt thei ttheir heiir input, input, inpu t, but I think it’s real really ally ly important import imp ortant ant th that at the they y say say ‘th ‘this is is important’. important ant’.’. We work work in in thei ttheir heirr home home and and it’s i essential al th that at the they y feel feell co c comfortable omfo mforta rtable ble with with staff, and are arre happy happy happ y within within with in the ho home me environment, enviro env ironment, so who better bette be tterr to to interview inte ntervi nt rview ew can candid candidates didat ates than the he residents resid re sident entss them tthemselves.” hem emsel selves ves.” .” Arnott Arn ott agrees agree ag ree eess that that h re resid residents sident entss should s be involved involv inv olved e and nd co c consulted nsulte nsu lted d on on such su matters. “It’s important import imp o antt to be involved invol in volved ved in these decisions within withi wit hin in th the e home h home,” ome,” ,” he say says. ays. s. “And I found it really reall rea lly y interesting in nte ter erest esting ing he heari hearing aring ng n gp people’s eople’s respon responses nses
to the qu questions and thinking how they would wou ld fit into the home.”
Setting a precedent It’s not the first time that Stables has done this – residents at previous care homes she has worked in were also encouraged to participate in recruiting new members of staff. However, it is far from standard practice in the industry. Glencairn Care Home hasn’t had a deputy manager before so Stables wanted residents to think about what kind of person would suit the role, what skills they would need and what questions needed to be put to them. “It is important that the future deputy manager has a range of management skills
“It’s important to be involved in these decisions within the home, and I found it really interesting hearing people’s responses to the questions and thinking how they would fit into the home” Ian Arnott, a 94-year-old former architect
I M AGE AGES AG E S | I STO ST O C K
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RE CRUITM E NT PROCESS
but isn’t bossy, that they know how to get the best out of people and that they are calm, cool and fair,” says 93-year-old Dorothy Goate, a care home resident who is a former school teacher. Early on in the process, Stables had one-to-one meetings with residents to get their views and find out if there were any questions they would like to ask or have asked on their behalf. They could also send in their thoughts and questions on email. Some residents don’t have the capacity to participate and in those instances, Stables approached their relatives to see if they would like to provide some input instead.
recruitment process. “I thought it was a great idea and I’ve enjoyed it very much. It’s good to be involved and it keeps you in touch with the real world out there.” Following the first round of interviews, residents are providing feedback on the candidates to create a shortlist. Each candidate is scored against a set criteria, with residents being involved in this process as well. Once that shortlist is decided upon, the selected candidates will be invited back for a second, more informal interview. This time all staff will also get to meet the candidates and have a chat with them. “Everyone will have their input,” says Stables.
Resident recruitment panel Norma Christie, an 84-year-old who used to work on the Scottish Examination Board, suggested a few questions and sat on the interview panel, alongside Goate and Arnott. One of the questions Christie put forward was asking candidates how they had prepared for the interview. She also thought it was important to ask what the person would do if they disagreed with the care home manager. Arnott agreed with her that this was an important issue: “It’s important that the future deputy manager is someone who is a supporter of the current manager and uses their initiative, but takes no offence when any ideas are knocked back,” he says. Another resident suggested candidates were asked what they think it is like to live with dementia. All of the questions that residents suggested were followed up on and used during the interviews. Christie thinks it is really good that residents are now being encouraged to participate in making decisions about the care home and says it has been very exciting being involved in all aspects of the
All on the same page
“I thought it was a great idea and I’ve enjoyed it very much. It’s good to be involved and it keeps you in touch with the real world out there” Norma Christie, 84-yearold who used to work on the Scottish Examination Board
INVOLVING ‘CIVILIANS’ IN A RECRUITMENT PROCESS ● Be completely transparent and professional throughout the process ● Be open minded ● Involve everyone from the start to the finish ● Properly listen to what residents have to say ● Don’t just listen to one group of participants – ask all of them for input ● Think about why you are doing this so that you approach it in the right way ● Don’t pay lip service to it
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So far, Stables says the process has been pretty straightforward. Everyone has agreed on the important characteristics that the deputy manager should possess, they all agreed on the same set of questions and they have worked together well. “Everybody seems to be on the same page,” says Stables. “They seem to be well aware of the type of person that would work well.” It has been so successful that from now on, the care home will involve residents in every new appointment, whether it’s for a management role, a carer role, a kitchen role or anything else. Stables says residents have given positive feedback about being involved in the recruitment process. “One lady said it gave her a sense of purpose again, while someone else said he felt honoured to be part of it. A lot of our residents are keen to be involved in things like recruitment to keep their brains active. “We did it as a team, and for me,” Stables says. “It’s been a rewarding process getting the residents involved.” Many of the residents have found it rewarding as well and say have got a lot out of it. Goates said she really enjoyed taking part. “The people were good and it was nice to meet different people. I had fun.” What would Stables have done if the residents couldn’t agree on which candidates to take forward? Fortunately, that has not happened. Had there been disagreement, she is sure they could have worked it out. ●
NOVEMBER 2019
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THE VIEW AND THE INTELLIGENC E
Championing the value of agencies P2 BIG TALKING PO INT
Changing attitudes to flexible working P4 LEGAL UPDATE
RECRUITMENT Issue 79 MATTERS November 2019
The latest on the Good Work Plan P6 AWAR DS
IRP Awards 2019 shortlist P8
I R P AWAR D S
“In uncertain times, brilliant recruiters set themselves apart.”
Celebrating a ‘national success story’ N
early 100 recruiters and businesses have been shortlisted for the 11th annual Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP) Awards, the REC has announced.
@RECPress RM November 2019.indd 1
The awards have been hosted by the REC each year since 2008 to recognise significant achievements in the recruitment industry. This year will see recruitment professionals awarded across 15 individual and
organisation categories including newcomer of the year, best company to work for, and CSR practitioner of the year. In its 11 years, 190 recruiters and businesses have received an award for their work, while more than 1,000 others have been shortlisted. As the REC’s chief executive Neil Carberry explains, celebrating the sector’s achievements sends an important message: “In uncertain times, brilliant recruiters set themselves apart. The Institute awards recognise this. Being shortlisted for the IRP Awards is a huge achievement in itself and a cause for celebration. Recruitment is a massive national success story. In the last year, many politicians have told me that they understand how important recruiters are to the prosperity of the whole UK.” The awards are also seen as important for company brand and staff retention. Eighty per cent of recruiters think winning an industry award helps with career development, according to an REC survey. “For us as a business we really put a lot of value on these awards. There are a lot of recruitment companies that say they are the best at what they do and this [award] really validates that we are,” says a spokesperson from Amoria Bond, winner of the Best Company to Work For (over 150 employees) award 2018. Find the full shortlist on p8 – and join your peers as the winners are revealed on 27 November at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. www.irpawards.com
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L E A D I N G T H E I N D U S T RY
the view... In the future our human skills will drive growth, says NEIL CARBERRY, REC chief executive
Y
ou know that feeling when you show up at the bus stop just as the bus pulls in? That’s how I felt back home in Glasgow recently, spending time with REC members. I’m not talking about my travel arrangements (which featured an hour stuck in the underground on the way to Heathrow), but that feeling of being in exactly the right place, at the right time, just as the thing you need comes along. In September we invited Greg and Chris Savage over from Australia to give members the latest insight on cutting edge sales and negotiating tactics. The ‘Savage Sell’ masterclasses in Glasgow, Manchester and London were all about recruiters having the tools and knowledge needed to be the best. They sold out. That isn’t a surprise given the Savage star power. Their events are part training and part Vegas! And they were a timely reminder that in the future our human skills will drive growth, as technology improves our processes. In these tricky times this will set the best recruiters apart. Persuasion, empathy, explanation. We have influence in our ability to take actions that shape better outcomes for our businesses. The power of exclusivity with clients and candidates is at the heart of the Savage message. That means not accepting the push to ever-smaller margined, multi-briefed, contingent work. Instead, we should look to arrangements that demonstrate the professional services skills we bring. Let’s not shy away from saying we want to do things differently – when we succeed the benefits are shared by recruiters, employers and candidates. This prompted me to reflect on the REC’s role in creating the learning opportunities that make our members fit and ready to win big. In the future you can be guaranteed more great training events to help you perform, more intel and research to give you the edge, and more expert advice you can rely on. Now is the time to make a strong case for the value our industry will create by working with clients and candidates in the right way. Through our Good Recruitment Campaign, we are talking directly to almost 500 businesses about effective hiring. That message echoes the Savages’: if it’s people that make the biggest difference to clients, why bring them in the way you buy paper clips? Everything we know about productivity and success tells us how firms recruit and on-board can transform their business. Exclusivity works for everyone. It’s a case the REC will keep making. Miss out on the masterclasses? There’ll be an encore in the spring…. If you want to keep up to speed with all things recruitment, then follow me on Twitter @RECNeil
2 RECRUITMENT MATTERS NOVEMBER 2019
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The recruitment sector is part of the solution to challenging times, says TOM HADLEY, REC director of policy and campaigns HADLEY ’ S C O MMENT
The multiplier effect In the face of an intensely volatile political scene and an evolving regulatory landscape, businesses across all sectors are looking for support. ‘Help’ is the cry. Forward-thinking recruiters are using this time of chronic uncertainty to nurture links with clients and candidates. From an REC perspective, we are also using this to make sure policy makers from all parties recognise the recruitment sector’s role within a dynamic jobs market and the ‘multiplier effect’ of harnessing this contribution. Since the start of the year we have engaged directly on Brexit-related issues with more than 1,000 REC members through webinars, regional workshops and sector groups. It’s been emotional. The feedback is that clients are increasingly looking to their recruitment partners for help in addressing immediate staffing needs as well as longer term workforce challenges. This ties in with ‘JobsOutlook’ data, which shows 90% of employers citing ‘access to expertise’ as the determining factor when choosing a recruitment partner. With Brexit all-encompassing, a further core role for recruiters is to ensure that clients do not lose sight of other developments and priorities. These include regulatory developments such as IR35 and the new ‘Key Facts Document’, driving positive change on inclusion and finding new ways of attracting candidates and workers in high-demand sectors. Ensuring the regulatory environment is workable and helps compliant recruiters to thrive is the main non-Brexit related ask we took to the Party Conferences and continue to make with government departments. At the front line Recruitment businesses are at the front line of the UK jobs market – equipping them to deal with Brexit-related transitions, as well as regulatory changes, will ensure that individual jobseekers and employers they work with are also as prepared as possible. This ‘multiplier effect’ is increasingly recognised by policy makers and is – for example – at the heart of our formal partnership agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions. Looking ahead, our parallel priorities are to provide practical business support to recruiters – for example, through our series of Greg Savage masterclasses – while continuing to amplify our industry’s external voice on key issues of the day. As ever, the insight and drive of REC members is at the heart of our campaigning formula; harnessing this engagement is another example of a multiplier effect. You can follow Tom on Twitter @hadleyscomment
www.rec.uk.com
08/10/2019 16:43
33%
the intelligence... The value of agencies for temporary workers BY JOSH PRENTICE, RESEARCH OFFICER AT THE REC
A
lthough the world of work has evolved a great deal over the past decade, temporary work has remained a significant feature of the labour market. On any given day in the UK more than 1 million people are working in temporary or contract assignments. People on flexible contracts choose to work in this way for a wide variety of reasons, from finding work and earning money more quickly, to working flexible hours and using the experience to progress into a permanent job. And many of them choose to work through an agency as the primary method of finding temporary work. Temporary workers value agencies for their expertise, advice and support, as well as their employment services. The REC surveyed more than 4,000 workers for our upcoming report into temporary work and found that of those people who had previously secured temporary work through an agency, almost half (45%) most valued them for access to work opportunities and a third (36%) for access to flexible work. One in three (33%) also found the information provided to them before their assignment was the most valuable service provided by their agency. Older workers especially said they found this valuable. Employment agencies and businesses are of course required by the conduct regulations to provide certain information – however, it is encouraging to know that this is valued by work-seekers, and is not just a box-ticking exercise for agencies. But it’s not the only support that people working through agencies find helpful. One in six (16%) most value
NEW CLIENT OPPORTUNITIES SLOWING 7.0% 6.0% 5.0% 4.0% 3.0% 2.0% 1.0% 0.0% -1.0% -2.0% -3.0%
6.2% -1.7% Apr-Jun 18
Apr-Jun 19
Percentage change in the number of clients billed versus last year (%): Q2 2018-19
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the information on employment rights and payment terms that agencies provide, rising to one in four workers under the age of 25. These younger workers also valued access to flexible work and advice on training and development significantly more than any other age group. These important services contribute to the high levels of satisfaction that people who use employment agencies express with them. Three in five (62%) of those
73% According to our ‘JobsOutlook’ report, in June-August 2019, three in four (73%) employers said they were satisfied with the overall service provided by their recruitment partners.
The average recruiter in the RIB Index billed 1.7% fewer clients in Q2 2019 compared to the previous year. This contrasts with the situation last year when 6.2% more clients were billed in Q2 2018 compared to the year before. The change, in the year to Q2 2019, was driven by a tail-off in recruiters’ success in signing up new
One in three (33%) workers found the information provided to them before their assignment was the most valuable service provided by their agency.
who had secured temporary contracts through an agency said they were satisfied with the overall service they provided. Satisfaction levels rose even higher to two in three (67%) among contractors and freelancers. The majority of businesses are also pleased with their partner recruitment agencies. According to our ‘JobsOutlook’ report, in JuneAugust 2019, three in four (73%) employers said they were satisfied with the overall service provided by their recruitment partners. Meanwhile, despite the tight labour market conditions, two in three (65%) said they were happy with the candidates that were presented to them by recruitment agencies. It is clear that, despite the ongoing uncertainty and demands on both workers and businesses, recruitment agencies still have an important and valued role to play in the jobs market. At the REC, we will continue to support recruiters and help them provide valuable services and advice to their clients and candidates.
clients. In April-June 2019, a quarter (24.9%) of the average recruiter’s clients were new. This compared to 38.1% of customers being new accounts a year earlier. As such, recruiters are having to focus more on servicing existing clients as a means of driving their business, as the opportunity to capitalise on fresh opportunities has dwindled.
BELINDA JOHNSON runs employment research consultancy, Worklab, and is Associate Knowledge & Insight Director of Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB). The RIB Index provides bespoke confidential reports on industry benchmarks and trends. See www.ribindex.com; info@ribindex.com: 020 8544 9807. The RIB is a strategic partner of the REC.
NOVEMBER 2019 RECRUITMENT MATTERS 3
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FLEXIBLE WORKING
big talking point
Working 9 to 5 isn’t the only way to make a living Despite the benefits of flexible working, roles advertised as such are still limited. Here’s how recruiters can influence change ust over 15% of jobs are advertised as being flexible, according to Timewise’s latest Flexible Jobs Index. That’s up from 9.5% in 2015, but progress is slow when the demand for working something other than the standard 9-5 is higher than ever. The same research has indicated that as many as 87% of UK employees want to work in this way. Why does this matter? At a time of widespread skills shortages, looking at what attracts people to a role – or to stay in it – is vital. Flexible working is one of those factors, as people hunt for that elusive work-life balance and try to juggle other commitments (such as caring or education) with the work they do. In a nutshell, flexible working can support talent attraction and retention, improve productivity, and health and wellbeing – and it’s an important tool for driving greater diversity and inclusivity too.
some jobs that are suitable for flexible working and others that are not. Then there’s the possible effect on teamwork, face-to-face interaction, management and the ability to learn from one another – and many employers are unsure of how to adapt to minimise these issues. On the flip side, the ability to work from anywhere – and the availability of technology to facilitate that – means that there’s a risk that the boundaries between work and home life erode even further. So although flexible working is often used to address employee wellbeing, employers can harbour concerns about the potential negative impact it can have on both employees and on company culture, which again takes time and effort to manage. Making matters harder, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to flexible working. Tailoring the right approach takes knowledge of the cultural biases and operational constraints of a specific sector or type of business. And many employers need help to understand what can work well – and why the effort will be worth it.
This is where recruiters can help So what’s holding employers back? Some jobs and sectors are better suited to working flexibly than others. Even within one organisation there may be
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Each recruitment business works with dozens – sometimes hundreds – of employers, many of them SMEs. By ensuring the benefits of flexible working form a central part of all
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FLEXIBLE WORKING
briefing discussions with hiring organisations, they can challenge the status quo and accelerate change. And here are just some of the arguments they can use: • Diversity and inclusion The business case for diversity and inclusion has been made successfully, but firms are still grappling with turning the theory into practice. Offering flexibility from the outset – or at least being clear it will be discussed during the recruitment process – can help in reaching out to, and ensuring applications are received from, more diverse backgrounds. The link between flexible working and returning mothers is well established. The same attitudes are gradually broadening out to include carers and those with disabilities unable to work full-time. But a lack of flexibility was identified by Lord Davies’ review on women on boards as a key barrier to improving diversity at senior levels, and more recently by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee as a cause of the gender pay gap. Both of these issues are increasingly visible to, and important considerations for, jobseekers, so businesses wanting to be employers of choice are looking to act. Recruiters are well
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15% of jobs are advertised as being flexible, but 87% of UK employees want to work in this way placed to offer advice around how flexible hiring can make a difference. • Employee needs and expectations are evolving Even if jobseekers don’t ask about headline boardroom diversity and gender pay gap figures, employers will have noticed a marked increase in the number of individuals asking about working patterns and organisational culture. REC members certainly have – suggesting that although pay and progression opportunities remain priorities for candidates, they’re using the tight labour market in their favour and placing greater emphasis on work-life balance and workplace environment. • Retaining the best talent for business success And it’s not just about jobseekers either. The REC’s ‘Report on Jobs’ data shows that demand for staff is increasing month on month while candidate availability is decreasing. This has made better employee retention a major priority for most employers. Ensuring jobs work around people’s lives can help build trust, respect and help to retain staff. • Now is the time for employers to think differently. The tight labour market has added urgency to the need for employers to respond to the current focus on D&I, the evolution of employee expectations and the importance of retention. And it’s possible the government will do more to force employers’ hands. The government’s Good Work Plan includes progression as one of its key pillars – and the latest Timewise research highlights the lack of flexible working as a barrier for workers trying to move up from very low paid jobs. Flexible working is offered in 23% of job ads where the salary is less than £20,000 (FTE); but at the next salary band (£20-34,000 FTE), the availability of flexible jobs drops to only 14%. So it should come as no surprise that one strand of the government’s consultation on this policy – which closed in October – has been looking at whether employers should have a duty to consider if a job can be done flexibly and make that clear when advertising a role. And with the increasing scrutiny on modern workplace practices and how they are regulated, recruiters have the opportunity to be at the heart of establishing best practice across the economy. The REC’s Good Recruitment Campaign was designed with this in mind – and considering flexible working options is a strong part of the pledge, that so far, nearly 500 employers have taken. Watch out for the latest research on flexible working in the UK, including why people choose to be agency workers and contractors, in the next issue of RM.
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L AT E S T C O N S U LTAT I O N S
legal update Good Work Plan: change on the horizon
is to bring forward legislation that introduces a right for all workers to potentially move towards a more predictable and stable contract. Such a right would be enforceable via Employment Tribunals. While certain aspects of the recommendations are to be welcomed, the REC is cautious about others and will highlight this and the impact that the proposed changes could have on employment businesses.
By JANE O’SHEA, Solicitor at REC
2. Establishing a new single enforcement body for employment rights
F
The government consulted on establishing a single enforcement body to ensure the effective enforcement of employment rights and to create a level playing field for those organisations that are complying with the law. The new proposed body would deal with the work currently being done by bodies such as the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EASI).
ollowing the publication of the Good Work Plan (GWP), the government has set out an ambitious programme of reform to ensure the labour market works for everyone. In October it sought responses to a number of consultations. Here’s a run-down of the main things to expect:
1. Addressing one-sided flexibility Flexible working that only benefits the employer is widely recognised as a problem and this has been acknowledged by the government.
It asked the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to report on this and they made the following recommendations: • A right to reasonable notice of work schedules; • Compensation for shift cancellation or curtailment without reasonable notice; and • The use of improved guidance or codes of practice to assist employers in dealing with one-sided flexibility. The LPC proposed a “right to switch to a contract which reflects the normal hours worked”, requiring an employer to justify any refusal according to conditions clearly defined in legislation. The government’s intention
3. Flexible working and proposals to support families The government is considering the introduction of a new statutory requirement whereby employers would have to publish information in relation to their family-related leave, pay and flexi working policies. The consultation sought views in relation to how such a requirement could be beneficial in terms of increasing transparency and how the new proposed system could be enforced. The government sought views on the overall approach to parental leave and pay. It looked at how the government should prioritise and balance the different levels of support, and how it can ensure that parental leave and pay arrangements meet the needs of parents and employers. In October, the REC responded to these consultations having gathered insight from our members. These responses are available to view from both the REC and gov.uk websites.
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I N S P I R AT I O N To keep up to date with everything the Institute of Recruitment Professionals is doing, please visit www.rec-irp.uk.com
NICK MOCK, managing director at
at Driver Hire, on finding success as a franchise
Recruiters can make a difference.
Driver Hire Nationwide was named the UK’s top franchise at the British Franchise Association HSBC ‘Franchisor of the Year’ 2019 awards. What does that mean to you?
Nurturing the next generation – especially at a time of talent shortages – builds strong relationships. We’re driven by wanting to give something back
RM November 2019.indd 7
JEREMY NEALE, managing director
One Step Recruitment, on nurturing the next generation
We’re based in Somerset, which is made up of a lot of small, farming-based communities. We know the local market inside out, but young people in particular don’t know their options when it comes to employment. They lack confidence and ideas. They don’t know what to put on their CVs or where to look for jobs. It’s why we have made a commitment to working in schools and with school leavers – first setting up a local recruitment fair, and now running group seminars, individual mentoring, work experience days and talks about how to get ready for the world of work.
www.rec.uk.com
Q&A
What I know
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE INSTITUTE OF RECRUITMENT PROFESSIONALS
to our local community. Clients appreciate what we’re doing and want to play their part in creating local success stories. And giving young people a break creates trust – they appreciate the opportunity they’ve been given, so they’re often more reliable, more loyal and happy to learn. We’ve been doing this for seven years, and now people we have helped place are starting to come to us for their recruitment needs too.
Staff training comes in many different forms. We train our consultants through the REC and other organisations, but working as we do with young people helps them grow. They learn to treat people better, not to judge by appearance. They’re enthused by individual achievements and understand recruitment that bit better as a result.
It’s obviously a good story for Driver Hire, but it’s also a good story for recruitment. Franchising is big, worth £17bn to the UK economy, but very few recruiters follow this model – and many aren’t even aware that’s it’s an option. We’ve been doing this for over 30 years, and this award shows what can be achieved. Franchising provides a safer opportunity for ambitious people, willing to work hard, to set up and run a profitable recruitment business – with the support to help them run business the right way.
And what is the right way? It’s nothing people don’t already know. Training matters. And one thing customers dislike about our industry is when candidates are just fired at them, with little more than a superficial skills match. We spend 90 minutes with every candidate, and we’ve got a 150-point checklist at the start of the process. It might not follow the trend for reducing face-time, but our surveys show that 96% of our customers rate our service as good or excellent, while 94% of candidates are proud to work for us. We’ve also invested £3m in technology over the past three years to increase transparency with clients around driver checks and skills assessments, for example. Our systems help our franchisees with compliance. But ultimately technology for us is about making our processes slicker without losing that allimportant human interaction.
NOVEMBER 2019 RECRUITMENT MATTERS 7
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AWA R D S
THE IRP AWARDS 2019 SHORTLISTS
HEADLINE SPONSOR
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS SHORTLIST NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR • Krishan Adams, Carrington West • Ayo Adesina, Extrastaff • Keegan Cooper, Evolve Hospitality • Bethan Dixon, New Directions Education • Rhys Evans, Hyper Recruitment Solutions • Amanda Lees, Search Consultancy • Ben Marsh, Human One • Haseena Mooncey, Hyper Recruitment Solutions • Ben Neale, Medlocums • Marianne Wills, Pro-Recruitment
TEMPORARY CONSULTANT OF THE YEAR • Ilya Donets, Carrington West • Heather Eaves, Term Time Teachers • Chris Hornbuckle, C&D Group • Josh Howell, Evolve Hospitality • Isabel Muller, Search Consultancy • Bernard Murphy, Jane Lewis Healthcare • Laura Preston, Redline Group • Andreea Roman, Human One • Tim Stevenson, Gattaca
PERMANENT CONSULTANT OF THE YEAR • Graham Brown, ARV Solutions • Amy Court, Taylor Herrick Recruitment • Nathan Darnell, Oakwell Hampton • Matt Davidson, Pro-Recruitment • Kate Green, Pro-Recruitment • Jamie King, Redline Group • Georgia Walden, Hyper Recruitment Solutions
IN-HOUSE RECRUITER OF THE YEAR • Samantha Green, Encore Personnel Services • Charlotte Hawkins, Virgin Media • Vanessa van de Venter, Siemens Plc
CORPORATE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PRACTITIONERS OF THE YEAR • Girling Jones • Human One • Search Consultancy • Taylor Herrick Recruitment • VGC Group
• Oaklands Global • People First • Robertson Recruitment • SSA Recruitment
BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR • Saffa Ayub, Bramwith Consulting • Danny Brooks, VHR • Jessica Marchant, Sidekicks • Ed Vokes, Evolve Hospitality
BUSINESS MANAGER OF THE YEAR • Fiona Blackwell, Girling Jones • Madona Dartsimelia, Term Time Teachers • Nadia Gilmartin, Jane Lewis Healthcare • Samantha McCune, Evolve Hospitality • Lindsey Thompson, Search Consultancy
COMPANY AWARDS SHORTLIST BACK-OFFICE TEAM OF THE YEAR • Carrington West • Impellam Group • InterQuestGroup • New Directions Holdings (HR Team) • PMP Recruitment • VHR • WorkwithYork & WorkwithSchools
RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR • Guidant Global • Meridian Business Support • VHR PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT BUSINESS OF THE YEAR • Admiral Recruitment • Amoria Bond • Bespoke Careers • VHR
RECRUITMENT TEAM OF THE YEAR • Medlocums Recruitment • New Directions Pharmacy • Oracle Contractors • Randstad • Term Time Teachers • VHR
RECRUITMENT MATTERS
The official magazine of The Recruitment & Employment Confederation Dorset House, 1st Floor, 27-45 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NT Tel: 020 7009 2100 www.rec.uk.com
8 RECRUITMENT MATTERS NOVEMBER 2019
RM November 2019.indd 8
BEST COMPANY TO WORK FOR (UP TO 20 EMPLOYEES) • Brandon James • Cityscape Recruitment • Girling Jones • Human One • Inspired Search & Selection • Medlocums Recruitment
BEST COMPANY TO WORK FOR (UP TO 50 EMPLOYEES) • Blayze Group • Bramwith Consulting • C&D Group • Evolve Hospitality • Give A Grad A Go • Hyper Recruitment Solutions • Nurseline Healthcare • Oakwell Hampton • Oxford HR • White Recruitment
BEST COMPANY TO WORK FOR (UP TO 150 EMPLOYEES) • Bespoke Careers • Carrington West • Extrastaff • Jane Lewis Healthcare • McGinley Group BEST COMPANY TO WORK FOR (OVER 150 EMPLOYEES) • Amoria Bond • Encore Personnel Services • Pertemps Network Group • PMP Recruitment • Search Consultancy
Membership Department: Membership: 020 7009 2100, Customer Services: 020 7009 2100 Publishers: Redactive Publishing Ltd, Level 5, 78 Chamber Street, London E1 8BL Tel: 020 7880 6200. www.redactive.co.uk Editorial: Editor Pip Brooking Pip.Brooking@rec.uk.com. Production Editor: Vanessa Townsend Production: Production Executive: Rachel Young rachel.young@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6209 Printing: Printed by Precision Colour Printing © 2019 Recruitment Matters. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, neither REC, Redactive Publishing Ltd nor the authors can accept liability for errors or omissions. Views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the REC or Redactive Publishing Ltd. No responsibility can be accepted for unsolicited manuscripts or transparencies. No reproduction in whole or part without written permission.
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08/07/2019 12:56
E UPSTART EARPIECE CO M M UNITY
SMART WAY TO HELP STUDENTS BECOME ACE AT ASSESSMENTS BY COLIN COTTELL
s a Premier League football ground, Watford FC’s Vicarage Road Stadium is well used to crowds. However, in November, the 3,200 or so people, who are expected to flock to the Hornet’s Hertfordshire ground will not be the usual football crowd. While they may be as nervous and excited as any football fan, it won’t be the fate of the local team that is on their mind, but how they will fare at what is believed to be the UK’s biggest assessment centre event. Starting as a pilot in 2016 for 400 students, the University of Hertfordshire’s Assessment Centre Experience (ACE) programme has grown year on year, and has now become a compulsory module within most of the university’s undergraduate degree courses. As Sophie Milliken, managing director of Smart Resourcing Solutions (SRS), the firm that runs the ACE programme for the university, says the Vicarage Road assessment centre “has just grown crazy amounts”, and this one is set to be the biggest yet. It all started back in 2015 when Milliken invited Judith Baines, the University of Hertfordshire’s head of careers and employment service, to observe one of SRS’s other ACEs at another university. “I was a bit stunned by how well organised it was, but also the scale of it – seeing that huge number of students, all smartly dressed and taking it really seriously. It had never crossed my mind that this was something you could run for students,” says Baines.
A
says it is not uncommon to hear of students who describe the experience as “the most useful thing I have done”, and even “life changing”. Baines says one of the most positive outcomes of the programme has been an increase in the confidence of students in applying for graduate schemes, and student work placements, with an online survey showing a rise in the number feeling confident or very confident from 14% to 58%. Although Baines says it is difficult to make a direct link, the introduction of the ACE programme clearly isn’t doing any harm to the students’ employment prospects. The university’s latest published overall employment rate for 2016-17 stands at 96.5%, with the percentage going into graduate-level work at 80.4% – each figure showing a steady rise in recent years. Milliken says one of the main reasons why ACE has been so well received by students is that the interview, the presentation they are asked to give and the group exercise that they go through during the half day at the assessment centre have been designed to be as close as possible to what students are likely to face when they do it ‘for real’. This is reinforced by Milliken’s own background in graduate recruitment at John Lewis, as well as the experience of SRS’s pool of up to 50 assessors. This is made up of a core team and a pool of associate assessors, who, when they are not working for SRS, work for agencies doing assessment centres for employers. “This is really valuable that they are doing that in the real word, and can apply that knowledge and experience to give the students really useful feedback,” says Milliken. To add to that sense of realism, each student’s ACE experience, which at the University of Hertfordshire takes place in a student’s second year to help them secure work placements, is
Student approval However, it is not only Baines who is impressed, but also the students themselves (see p31). Baines
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IM AGE | ISTOCK
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CO M M U N I T Y
UPSTART UPSTAR
designed around a particular job, or least in a job “that they think they would be interested in”. Milliken says another selling point is that with SRS being registered with the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, an awarding body for qualifications, students can get a qualification in employability skills. However, unlike the real world where employers will expect graduates to be proactive in their research before applying for a role, SRS’s ACE programme puts the emphasis on helping to prepare students for what lies ahead during the selection process. Milliken says this includes giving students lots of information in advance, including a briefing video that covers the techniques that employers use, and advice about how to get ready. “There is a balance between that nurturing and preparation stage and keeping it as real as we can on the day,” she says.
Feedback matters While one of the big bugbears of those applying for jobs is lack of feedback from employers, this is one of the most important features of ACE, with assessors giving each participant on-the-spot feedback, verbal and written, about how they performed during the day. Milliken says the main area that students fall down in is “they are not spending enough time preparing for the interview and their presentation”. With the group exercises, she says a common failing is “not saying anything and not contributing, and at the other end of the scale trying to get their point across so forcefully that it is to the detriment of the group”. Baines says that much of the ACE programme’s approach “goes against the grain” of how its own central programme is designed and operates. So whereas the university’s own mini Fast Track assessment centres that began in 2013 were characterised by “students kind of being talked at about the theory of interviews and group exercises”, what they didn’t get “was this kind of end result practice”. Baines admits that the university’s own central programme “is not everybody’s cup of tea”, something that can’t be helped by holding Fast Track in September before students return after the summer break. “It is easy for students to be distracted; they can be on their way and they bump into a friend or something, so they weren’t turning up,” says Baines.
One of the most positive outcomes of the programme has been an increase in the confidence of students in applying for graduate schemes, and student work placements, with an online survey showing a rise in the number feeling confident or very confident from 14% to 58% Sophie Miliken, managing director of Smart Resourcing Solutions (SRS)
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Another clear distinction that whereas for Fast Track students were encouraged to come along “when they felt they were ready to start applying for jobs”, attendance at ACE is not optional but embedded in the curriculum of most second year students at the university. While some students receive an academic credit for attending, for others it is the difference between passing and failing. Baines argues this is essential. “It is because it is in the curriculum that they are turning up,” she says. However, Baines says that what really stands out is the scale at which the ACE programme operates. “With 25,000 students at the university it has just got to be scalable,” she says, something that simply isn’t possible just by using the university’s own resources. And even though the university has now ramped up the number on its Fast Track programme to 200 students, Baines admits this is “a drop in the ocean”.
Joint input Baines says she has also been encouraged to provide input into how the assessment centre could be further improved. She says she has suggested that the feedback to students on the day “should be as realistic as it can be to what an employer would say”. However, she acknowledges that getting the right balance “between not destroying their confidence, and not having them walk out of the room thinking they are fantastic is quite difficult”, especially following group exercises when an assessor is giving feedback about individuals to the whole group. Although the university’s careers service doesn’t receive feedback for individual students that attend the assessment centre, Baines says the event serves as a trigger for follow-up action by the careers services. She explains that following the event emails are sent out to each of the
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cohorts highlighting the type of support the careers service can offer. Baines says the wording of one such email might read: “If you were struggling in the group exercise, this one-to-one support is available, and these resources are available online.” There is additional follow-up in students’ final years and during the peak recruitment season, she says. Baines says the ACE programme has also coincided with a rise in use of the University’s own core programme by students. In particular, she says it has given its own Fast Track mini-assessment centre held in September, that also includes visits from employers and psychometric testing, something of a shot in the arm, with numbers enjoying a steady rise to around 200, “with some seeming to use it as practice for ACE”, she explains.
SRS support Baines says that what she is particularly impressed with is the support that SRS and Milliken’s team give to students who are anxious about attending the assessment centre, especially those with special needs such as those with dyslexia or who are visually impaired, or just those that want to share their nerves. “I once tried to calculate how many staff I would need to do that, and it was just off the scale. I simply couldn’t replicate it, and it would cost me more to employ all those staff myself,” she admits. Baines says that what is particularly encouraging is that even without any hard evidence or metrics to prove a link between the
Life-changing experience Luisa Jones, who is in the final year of her BA in marketing degree course at the University of Hertfordshire, attended the ACE programme event at the Vicarage Road Stadium in October 2018, as a compulsory part of her Employability Module. “The event was well organised, and I liked that everything I was assessed on was treated like it was a reallife job interview,” she says. “I found the experience very helpful as we received faceto-face and written feedback, which also gave us tips on what employers look for. “Before the event, I did not realise the importance of presentation and preparation. I liked that we had to write a reflection piece about our assessment centre experience, which allowed me to see how I could improve in the future.” Jones recently finished an internship for Frontier, a not-for-profit organisation in Shoreditch, London.
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ACE events held since 2016 and student employment, the university is committed to continue funding it. “I think it is what senior staff have heard,” says Baines. “They have seen the feedback and they are seeing students saying it is life-changing, and they hear that positivity. For the same reasons, she says the university’s academic staff are also supportive. However, Baines, the students and staff the University of Hertfordshire are not the only ones to be impressed by SRS’s ACE programme. According to Milliken, the programme is growing in popularity, with SRS running similar, albeit smaller, programmes at around 20 universities, including Liverpool John Moores University, Manchester Metropolitan University and Lincoln, with another 10 potential university clients in the pipeline. Milliken says this aspect of SRS’s work has become so popular that universities now account for about 80% of the company’s turnover, compared to 20% with employers. “It is huge for us as a company,” says Milliken, although on this evidence the positive effect on thousands of students, who are about to enter the labour market, is every bit as great. ●
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SOCIAL NETWORK WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO? GET IN TOUCH!
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Whether you’ve been in a car, on foot, on a bike or swinging a golf club, you’ve been getting up to some fantastic fundraising since the last Recruiter…
DRIVER HIRE GOES ALL SPORTY As well as distributing a Rugby Union World Cup sweepstake poster to its customers (above, right), a team of nine cyclists has won the inaugural ‘Great British Franchise Cycle’, a competition open to businesses in the franchise industry, seeing how many miles they could ride as a team during August. Driver Hire rode a collective 2,527 miles. One team member rode 100 miles on the final day to ensure Driver Hire were first past the post – by just 19 miles.
SIMPLICITY’S ANNUAL GOLF DAY RAISES £12K FOR CHILDREN’S CHARITY Simplicity, a provider of finance and back-up support for recruitment agencies, hosted a golf day at Brickhampton Court Golf Complex in aid of the Pied Piper Appeal. With 32 golf teams, the day raised an amazing £12k for the children’s charity, nearly doubling the previous amount of £6.5k raised at last year’s event.
THE INVERNESS JOB – FOR MIND
DRIVER REQUIRE POWERS ACROSS THE PEAKS Team Driver Require survived 10 hours and 45 min, 24.6 miles and 10,000ft combined ascent and descent to conquer the Yorkshire Three Peaks. As well as breaking the 12-hour barrier, the team raised an incredible £1,853 for Cancer Research UK.
Lisa Graham, director of recruiter E1EW, took part in the Inverness or Bust Rally – the ultimate banger rally challenge, driving 900 miles from York to Inverness in a car worth less than £500 – in memory of her lifelong friend Mark, who tragically took his own life back in February. Driving with two of Mark’s friends, the three Minis – with the numbers 26, 01, 77 representing Mark’ss date of birth – managed to make the distance and raise £2.5k for mental health charity MIND.
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The Workplace BY GUY HAYWARD
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common as I instinctively thought and having had my four weeks off, they certainly should be. They will certainly become part of The Experience of working at Goodman Masson. Associate director Oli Ottey’s heading off to South America for eight weeks... the very least we can offer after his contribution over the years. And associate director Rachel Webster’s partly emigrating to Canada! Digital agency Deeson has taken it a step further. They have made it mandatory. After working there for five years you are sent away for your five-week sabbatical. Software firm Epic actually part-funds your trip if you are going to a country you haven’t been to before. Deloitte offers a three or six-month sabbatical to pursue personal or professional growth opportunities including volunteerism. Paid or unpaid sabbaticals? Well, my view is never offer a benefit with a ‘but’. If you are saying you can have a one-month sabbatical after five years, thanking that
“Sabbaticals have existed for years, but the more I asked the more I discovered that they are surely the most underused perk around”
person for their loyalty, commitment and contribution to the business, you shouldn’t then say ‘but you must take your four weeks as unpaid’. The power of time away. There’s a multitude of hidden benefits for organisations and the individual: rejuvenation, old interests can be rediscovered, others have opportunities to shine at work, increased loyalty of your people, greater connection to the company. You are seen as a business that cares about its people, and for the individual, time away is a memory… and life should be about creating memories. ●
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IT WAS CHRISTMAS last year that I first shared the idea with my wife Sasha that I was thinking of taking four weeks off over the summer. Our son was about to head off to boarding school, work was great and in the 25 years post-university, that sort of thought had never crossed my mind. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more it excited me. So with my friends and colleagues at work supportive of my decision, I headed off to the States with my wife and kids in tow… Four weeks later I was back in the Barbican in London in the office. Nothing had changed. The business didn’t fold, decisions were made and (sadly) I wasn’t missed. I felt great though; three months on I still do – four weeks of no work, why wouldn’t I feel good? If I saw the benefits, then others doing the same surely would. Sabbaticals. Not a new phenomenon; they have existed for years, but the more I asked the more I discovered that they are surely the most underused perk around. They are not as
GUY HAYWARD – redefining the modern workplace CEO, Goodman Masson
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WORKPLACE INNOVATION
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BRING ON THE BRILLIANCE Changing business models ↗ MARK BRAITHWAITE is the Asia-Pacific managing director of global executive search firm Odgers Berndtson and author of Leadership Disrupted
“We have changed our thinking to meet a changing market… There is no way we can succeed with our current set of competencies”
BY MARK BRAITHWAITE
MOST GLOBAL COMPANIES are talking about how they will be disrupted, in the midst of a transformation or riding the success of being a first mover. All are responding to forces that are huge, fast and complex. For my book, Leadership Disrupted, I interviewed 63 Asia-Pacific leaders of global companies and seven CEOs of Western multinational companies based in Asia to explore what they’re doing differently to ensure the success of their organisations in future. Broadly, they fell into two main groups: those who are initiating disruption in their markets and those who are largely reacting to disruptive forces. Technology companies feature strongly in the first group, often aggressively investing in technology and innovative business models to disrupt competition. The ‘reactors’, however, are in the majority, representing almost two-thirds of the total. All these leaders are experimenting with new business models and moving into uncharted waters – taking a lead in APAC before exporting the learnings into other regions of their companies. Almost all said one of their biggest challenges is how to take their people with them.
Overcoming the internal challenge For most large and successful companies, the internal challenge is greater than the external one. Getting employees, including middle managers, to accept change is difficult, because leaders and employees see change differently. Top-level managers see change as an opportunity to strengthen the business, align strategy with external realities and advance their careers, while employees usually see it as disruptive, intrusive and unwelcome. Part of the problem is that leaders often need to drive change when the business appears to be doing well, so struggle to convince employees that the current model is no longer appropriate. IMAG ES | ISTO C K
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As one CEO put it: “We have changed our thinking to meet a changing market. We understand conceptually what this means, but we have not worked out how to articulate this to mobilise the organisation. There is no way we can succeed with our current set of competencies.” Resistance to change can permeate an entire culture and is often an unconscious condition among those at the top – a wholesale change of mindset is often required.
Thinking differently, from Asia Many companies recognise they need more diversity of input and to generate new ways of thinking. Sometimes very simple initiatives can reap unexpected results. “We ran a workshop with people from other areas of the business to help us look at our future,” one CEO said. “Only 10% of them came from our space. What blew our minds came from those outside of our space. We had no idea – our heads were in our own box.” Another recurring theme is how business model innovation in global companies is increasingly driven from APAC, not HQ in Europe or the US. This may be because ‘one size does not fit all’, and APAC leaders are used to adapting to complexity. To mirror business models that work elsewhere without due consideration for local conditions, is a recipe for disaster. A localised, ‘bottom-up’ approach is gaining traction, often as a precursor to developing models that promote agility across the wider organisation. As one leader put it: “We are trialling grass-roots models in Asia and seeing what works, then sending this back to HQ. Once you outperform the industry, it is hard to argue that the model is wrong.” ●
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ASK THE EXPERT I don’t think we are making best use of our database. What should we be doing? A database is only as valuable as the information it contains. In other words, entries need to be updated regularly and you need to be able to easily find relevant records when searching. A good database and supportive culture will generate a significant proportion of a company’s fee income. However, too many recruitment companies allow their CRMs to become repositories where candidates (and to a lesser degree clients) are uploaded, poorly tagged and then forgotten. It is a chicken-and-egg situation. While data on the CRM is stale, it offers little value to the recruiters; and because recruiters don’t value it, they put little effort into adding and updating the data. Instead, they prioritise advertising roles and searching LinkedIn, often using the database as a last resort, if at all, and the situation never improves.
Creating a database culture If consultants don’t understand the value the database can offer, they won’t invest time and effort in maintaining and improving it. Even if the data is good quality and consultants do value it, the quality quickly erodes if management doesn’t enforce a culture of systematic and comprehensive updates. Performance review targets should leave consultants in no doubt that database updates are a non-negotiable, core activity.
Educate consultants
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The SME Coach Job alerts fill positions and build brand – the chances are thousands of emails are going out every week to active and passive candidates registered on your website alerting them to relevant opportunities. These emails drive applications, but also reinforce your brand – even if the candidate doesn’t open them. This means when they become active they are more likely to think of you. Communication campaigns build brands – your CRM forms the basis of your mailing list, enabling you to share content that builds your brand with candidates and differentiates you from competitors. If you share the right content you can reinforce the breadth and depth of your expertise with candidates and clients, moving your relationships from ‘transactional’ to ‘consultative/trusted’. Provide ROI [return on investment] on marketing activities – if recruiters systematically complete the ‘source’ field identifying where candidates come from, this can be used to calculate the cost per application and cost per £(revenue) of different marketing activities to refine where marketing spend is allocated and negotiate better rates. Create candidate lifecycle campaigns – big-billing recruiters all have a relationship-based approach. They call candidates and clients regularly to ‘check-in’ irrespective of whether they have a relevant role or candidate. It takes time for this approach to deliver rewards but it can be transformational – as trust builds clients will offer head starts on more roles; candidates engage better, as well as being more forthcoming in providing referrals. Their relationship approach is invariably built on a systematic approach to using the CRM. ●
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Metrics on their own won’t create a database culture. Recruiters need to understand how the database provides value: It is an easy-to-search, target-rich environment – candidates who make it onto the database will generally be a good match to your recruitment specialism, so it should be the quickest source for consultants to identify relevant candidates in the first instance. Those contacts should also know your brand and so should respond more readily than cold contacts on non-proprietary databases – where recruiters are racing against one another, this matters. One big biller I work with found the successful candidate for a £24k fee on their database (second in the search) but they’d initially trawled LinkedIn and relied on jobs boards. In the meantime another recruiter had sent through the successful CV, so they lost out on the fee.
Alex Arnot
ALEX ARNOT is founder of MyNonExec and board adviser to more than 30 recruitment companies
NOVEMBER 2019
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ly “My father always said, you never really understand a person until you considerr things from their point of view” MY BRILLIANT RECRUITMENT CAREER What was your earliest dream job?
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When I was little, I always wanted to be a candyfloss maker!
EMMA LOWDEN North East branch manager, NRL Group, alongside CEO Andrew Redmayne
What was your first job in recruitment and how did you come into it? I was at university and I was looking for some work just over the summer. I walked into NRL, which is an agency local to me, and they took me on in reception to cover somebody’s holidays. When I went finished uni, I contacted them again and asked, ‘Have you got any work?’ and they took me on as a trainee.
Who is your role model – in life or in recruitment? I don’t have a specific role model, but my director Gillian Gomersall has been a massive influence for me. When I first met her, she really inspired me. When I joined 20 years ago, it was unusual to be female in such a male-dominated industry – NRL specialises in the construction industry – and she was leading the way. I’ve never met anyone with such drive and tenacity. Outside work, my father always said, you never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view. What I take from my dad is that sense of fairness and tolerance, which he always tried to instil in us as well.
What do you love most about your current role? My team. The recruitment industry is
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EMMA LOWDEN such a tough industry, with lots of ups and downs, and it’s made so much easier working with such a capable, committed and passionate team. I genuinely walk into this office every morning and look forward to working with that team.
What would you consider to be the most brilliant moment of your career? We recently moved into new offices having been in our old office for 20 years. The first morning when I drove up to the new offices, the sense of pride that I had when I saw the big NRL logo outside on the wall of the office – it choked me up. I think that’s been the most brilliant moment.
Laugh or cry, what did your most memorable candidate make you want to do and why? The excuses! The latest one was somebody who couldn’t go onto the project because he’d started a low carb diet and it wasn’t suiting him, so he needed a few days off to adjust.
What’s the best or worst interview question you’ve ever heard? ‘Tell me something interesting about yourself’ always makes me cringe.
What would you regard as your theme tune? Oasis, Live Forever.
What’s your top job to fill at the moment? A prestigious infrastructure project in London at the moment and a petro-chemical contract in North-East Lincolnshire.
What is your signature dish? Medium rare rib eye steak, skinny fries and béarnaise sauce.
IM AG E S | I STO C K / AL AM Y
10/10/2019 10:46
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0203 819 7970 enquiries@solutio.com Solutio REC.11.19.047.indd FP.indd 2 47
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BEAMERY
CLAREMONT CONSULTING
The talent operating system has appointed Steven Bianchi as chief people officer.
Rosemary Gantz joins the international recruitment firm as vice-president, strategic talent solutions, Americas. Raymond Mo joins the Hong Kong office as regional director, while Jonathan Ho joins as recruitment manager.
BRIGHTWATER GROUP The Irish recruiter welcomes former Irish Rugby star Gordon D’Arcy as its commercial director.
Smart infrastructure solutions company Costain has appointed Catherine Warbrick as group HR director and a member of its executive board. Warbrick joined Costain in 2006 and has performed a number of senior leadership roles, most recently as director of learning and development and corporate responsibility and before that as investor relations director.
partners Andrea Colantoni and Lenka Kholova in the Czech Republic, Zoltan Korpas and Balazs Gyenese in Hungary and Jonathan Jordan and Alex Barry in the UK.
COOPLE The on-demand staffing platform has appointed Kit Glover as MD in the UK.
CULTURE TRIP CLASS PEOPLE CASTLE EMPLOYMENT The Yorkshire-based recruiter has promoted Anna Wilson from manager to director.
Naomi Howells has been promoted from operations manager to managing director of the regional educational recruitment specialist. Howells will now work with CEO Lynis Bassett on strategic development of the business.
CNA INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE SEARCH The search firm welcomes
CITY EXECUTIVE SEARCH The headhunting business has appointed Alex Pughe as associate director in its Cardiff-based team.
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The travel, media & entertainment start-up has appointed Karen Kesner as chief people officer. Faye Towers also joins the business as vice-president people. Other appointments include Gemma Jones as people director; Erika Harris as people director, New York; Dipo Osho as recruitment director; Sharon Artsi as HR director; and Sarah Nepomuceno as people co-ordinator.
Email people moves for use online and in print, including a short biography, to recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk
FEMALE EXECUTIVE SEARCH The executive recruitment platform designed to promote boardroom equality, has promoted France Dequilbec to MD. Dequilbec was previously head of international talent acquisition at the company.
GATENBYSANDERSON Mark Powell has joined the executive public sector staffing specialist as partner and practice lead for leadership assessment and insight, to grow its leadership and talent consultancy practice.
THE INSTITUTE FOR EMPLOYMENT STUDIES Kathy Poole, director of people at the Wellcome Trust, has been appointed as
NOVEMBER 2019
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chair of the IES board of trustees.
Wong as a client partner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Redactive Publishing Ltd 78 Chamber Street, London E1 8BL 020 7880 6200
CONTACTS EDITORIAL +44 (0)20 7880 7603 Editor DeeDee Doke
JUREK TALENTS
RESOURCE SOLUTIONS
The Swedish recruitment agency, launched in the UK this spring to help Swedes affected by Brexit find new job opportunities, has appointed Krishna Patel as UK country director.
The RPO and managed service provider welcomes Sarah-Jane Walker to its senior management team as global operations director.
MORGAN PHILIPS The headhunting, recruitment and talent consultancy has appointed Jackie Fullerton as client partner to oversee its executive search division.
VIBE RECRUIT The South Wales-based recruiter has appointed Phil Davies as manager of its trade and labour division.
OCEANS GROUP The recruitment and executive search business, part of the Australian-headquartered Harrier Group, has appointed Michelle Rubinstein to the position of MD.
OSCAR The international recruitment firm has promoted Matthew Southworth from sales director to MD of the UK & Europe and Kevin Holt from director to MD of the Americas.
PEDERSEN & PARTNERS The international executive search firm has added Jenny
Recruitment@recruiter.co.uk
+44 (0)20 7880 6215
deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk
Reporters Colin Cottell, Graham Simons colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk graham.simons@recruiter.co.uk
Contributing writers Dean Gurden, Sue Weekes, Roisin Woolnough Production editor Vanessa Townsend vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk
Art editor Sarah Auld Picture editor Akin Falope
PRODUCTION +44 (0)20 7880 6209 Senior 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 6213 Sales manager Paul Barron
RECRUITER AWARDS/ INVESTING IN TALENT AWARDS +44 (0)20 7324 2771
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+44 (0)20 7880 6245 Senior sales executive Joanna Holmes joanna.holmes@redactive.co.uk
MYPEOPLE GROUP The provider of cloud-based relationship and performance analytics solutions has appointed Wendy Kilgannon as sales manager.
RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING
WARREN PARTNERS Korinna Sjoholm has joined the executive search firm as partner.
CIRCULATION and SUBSCRIPTIONS Recruiter is the leading magazine for recruitment and resourcing professionals. To ensure each issue of Recruiter magazine is delivered to your desk or door, subscribe now at https://subs. recruiter.co.uk/subscribe. Annual subscription rate for 12 issues: £35 UK; £45 Europe and £50 Rest of the world • Recruiter is also available to people who meet our terms of control: http://bit.ly/RecruiterCC • To purchase reprints or multiple copies, or any other enquiries, please contact subs@redactive.co.uk or +44 (0)1580 883844
YOUR NEXT MOVE CONTRIBUTIONS A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk Unitemps Recruitment consultant Education Liverpool £22,017-£26,243 p.a. Network Rail Resourcing business partner City of London, £20k-30k p.a.
For more jobs, people moves and career advice go to ● recruiter.co.uk/jobs ● inhouserecruiterjobs.co.uk ● internationalrecruiterjobs.com
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. © 2019 Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. This publication (and any part thereof) may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in print or electronic format (including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the internet) or in any other format in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of Redactive Media Group. Redactive Media Group accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein. The publishers cannot accept liability for any loss arising from the late appearance or non-publication of any advertisement for any reason whatsoever. ISSN 1475-7478
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“With a very targeted audience, you can finally deliver on the promise of good candidates”
Rob Brouwer Is the recruitment industry ready to provide the ‘Amazon’ experience?
ifferent products, different marketing strategies. Or so it would seem. Certainly, 20 years ago this might have been the case. Retailers such as Amazon, still in its infancy stage then, were a little way off creating the full-blown customer experience that is now cemented in today’s purchaser decisions. Fast forward to 2019, and the Amazon experience has revolutionised how customers are ‘sold to’, and how they engage with consumer brands. It knows what you or I want to buy, when we want to buy it. In short, we are given an individualised experience when we shop. The mindset of the jobseeker is not so different. They are still being targeted with jobs, which are often off the mark or targeted with jobs when they are not
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actively looking. Or they receive emails that are too generic. If they can be sold the right watch from an online retailer, then why can’t the recruitment world get it right, too? What can the industry do to ensure digital marketing strategies are on point and bridge the disjoint? With the huge advancements in technology enabled by artificial intelligence, we can gain valuable data insights that help significantly to fill the black hole in the talent acquisition world. So-called ‘Intent Data’ can tell recruiters who is looking, the exact role they want, how active they are in their job search. It can build up detailed candidate personas and behavioural profiling. It can provide far more accurate matches than ever before: the moment you register, you don’t have to search
– simply apply. And the more you click, the smarter – and therefore more relevant – the system becomes. This has a direct influence on the quality of the response. With a very targeted audience, you can finally deliver on the promise of good candidates. A new era is upon us: Programmatic recruitment means that integrated campaigns have replaced job posting. Campaigns that deliver automated matching in real time and with content that is relevant to a specific customer. Instead of pay per job posts and clicks, it’s about pay per performance. Instead of keyword matching, it’s about taxonomy and semantic matching. Instead of broad audiences and mass marketing, communication is personalised. The results of the new approach already speak for themselves. Take the case of a
global network of transportation companies who needed to hire drivers and riders globally at specific performances. Based on specific socio-demographic data insights and on professional categories, a display native and job posts campaign was driven to a dedicated landing page built in partnership with the recruitment agency. Spend per applicant was reduced and at the same time efficiency was improved by 100%. Perhaps the biggest challenge for the industry is how quickly they can embrace the new way of recruiting to ensure they meet talent acquisition targets. The time for ‘Amazon experience’ recruitment is now. ●
ROB BROUWER is CEO of global search engine Jobrapido.
NOVEMBER 2019
09/10/2019 16:24
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