Recruiter December 2013

December 2013

www.recruiter.co.uk

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR RECRUITMENT AND RESOURCING PROFESSIONALS

Game changers 2013!

The latest British ‘rec-techs’ taking recruitment technology to a new level NOTHING TO FEAR? InterQuest’s CEO Mark Braund warns recruitment’s ‘Big Boys’ to watch their backs

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GLOBAL MOBILITY

THE RIGHT FIT?

Talent is on the march across the world and firms need to manage their global workforce

How do you shape up for a life in recruitment?

What to look for when recruiting recruiters

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Contents

As Recruiter goes to press for its final 2013 edition, the Autumn Statement has been made, and Chancellor George Osborne has bared his teeth for a year-end growl at some of the government’s long-standing hobby horses in the employment and recruitment arena — tax avoidance, offshore intermediaries and youth unemployment, to name a few.

Particularly imaginative elements in the Statement were provisions for, first, Jobcentres to help 16- and 17-year-olds not in employment or education find apprenticeship and training opportunities, and second, for 18-to-21-year-olds lacking basic maths and English skills to be denied benefits if they didn’t take training “from day one” to acquire these skills.

With regard to the latter, will young people be tested for these skills at the benefits office? How will those lacking the skills be identified? And for the first, we refer to the Work Foundation’s post-Statement comment that no provision had been made to improve the careers guidance and advice system: shouldn’t careers guidance and advice system improvements be tied to increased responsibility for Jobcentres for working with youth on pinpointing apprenticeships and training?

Details on some of the proposals contained in the Statement are yet to be published. However, we would like to see more than brave noises but indeed brave actions by the government, which would include abolishing the VAT on the placement of temporary healthcare and social care workers, introduction of a basic, pragmatic employability attitudes and skills programme and implementing a simple 10-point test as to whether someone is genuinely self-employed. ecruitment iindustry are here to Chancellor, we in the recruitment help.

DeeDee Doke Doke, Editor

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NEWS APSCo offers fresh talent

5

Interns from UK and Asian universities can look to get real training in recruitment

Timpson’s Mr Men method of interviewing Cross-selling Bull wants to build on Randstad progress

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CEO Mark Bull is looking to cross-sell to existing clients to increase profits

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FEATURES 26 COVER STORY Game changers 2013: Recruiter’s latest rec-tech firms are set to change the way you work with their innovative recruitment technology offerings 34 Global mobility Workers are on the march — across the international offices of organisations

The big picture for Big Data

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A new survey by MBN Recruitment Solutions reveals use in its infancy 8 HOT 100 event in pictures 10 Special report: Figures for recruiters in administration are at their lowest since the start of the recession

ANALYSIS 14 Sector Analysis Construction 17 Global Spotlight on The US 22 Insight Are you the right fit for life in recruitment?

REGULARS 8 On tumblr this month 19 Interaction

Soapbox: Mark Braund Ricky Martin Soundbites Feedback 24 The Challenge 19 19 20 20

Allen Recruitment Consultancy and Bullhorn 38 Movers & Shakers Industry moves 42 Bloggers with Bite:

Alistair Blair

WHO’S HIRING?

Scan here to get your own copy of Recruiter

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39 Ruth Moran 40 Pure

EDITORIAL Editor: DeeDee Doke T: +44 (0)20 7880 7601 deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk Senior reporter: Colin Cottell T: +44 (0)20 7880 7603 colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk Reporter: Sam Burne James T: +44 (0)20 7880 7606 sam.burnejames@recruiter.co.uk Contributing writer: Sue Weekes Production editor: Vanessa Townsend T: +44 (0)20 7880 7602 vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk Art editor: Adrian Taylor ADVERTISING Display sales executive: Jasmine Pengelly T: +44 (0)20 7880 6205 jasmine.pengelly@recruiter.co.uk Recruitment advertising: Amalia Zafeiratou +44 (0)20 7880 7608 amalia@redactive.co.uk Fax +44 (0)20 7880 7553 PRODUCTION Deputy production manager: Kieran Tobin T: +44 (0)20 7880 6240 kieran.tobin@redactive.co.uk PUBLISHING Publishing director: Anne Sadler T: +44 (0)20 7880 6213 anne.sadler@redactive.co.uk RECRUITER AWARDS Events: Juliette Bond T: +44 (0)20 7324 2771 juliette.bond@redactive.co.uk CIRCULATION and SUBSCRIPTIONS To receive a regular copy of Recruiter, the leading magazine for recruitment and resourcing professionals, telephone +44 (0)20 8950 9117 or email recruiter@alliance-media.co.uk • Recruiter is also available to people who do not meet our terms of control: Annual subscription rate for 12 issues: £29.99 UK £35 Europe and Rest of the World • To purchase reprints or multiple copies of the magazine, contact Ryan Hadden T: +44 (0)20 7880 7618 ryan.hadden@redactive.co.uk

Total average net circulation between 1 July 2012 & 30 June 2013 – 19,289. Recruiter is also sent to all REC members

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

CONTRIBUTIONS Contributions are invited, but when not accepted will be returned only if accompanied by a fully stamped and addressed envelope. Articles should be emailed. No responsibility can be taken for drawings, photographs or literary contributions during delivery, transmission or in the editor’s hands. © 2013 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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News

APSCO TURNS ON ASIA, UK TALENT TAPS THROUGH INTERNSHIPS Three leading UK universities and two in Asia will participate in the Association of Professional Staffing Companies’ (APSCo’s) soon-to-be launched intern programme aimed at attracting fresh, high-calibre talent into the recruitment profession.

Three-month summer placements for undergraduates attending the Universities of Manchester, Reading and Warwick in the UK, and in Asia the National University of Singapore and the University of Hong Kong will be offered from July 2014 within APSCo member firms.

APSCo chairman Miles Hunt described the programme to Recruiter as “a major step in the growing establishment of recruitment as a primary career choice and the attraction of the next generation of professional recruiters”.

APSCo chief executive officer Ann Swain told Recruiter: “We are aiming for over 50 interns within the UK and would expect a smaller number initially within Asia.”

A training salary of “not less than £16k (S$32k)”, pro rata depending on location, is one of the requirements that participating APSCo members must agree to.

Participating recruiters must also provide a minimum of three days’ formal classroom training and development to give interns transferable skills within the profession. A named mentor is an additional requirement, according to a scoping document for the programme seen by Recruiter.

“Each participating company will have their own culture and style, but we have put best practice measures in place to ensure that the experience of each intern will be equally good,” Swain said.

International benefit for APSCo members APSCo members participating in the programme will be confirmed in February, with students applying in March and firststage selection taking place in April.

Once members have been accepted into the programme, APSCo will charge them an administrative fee of £395 for which they can request up to two interns, or £595 for up to five interns.

The international aspect of the programme is a crucial benefit, Swain said,

FOR MORE NEWS AND COMMENTS GO ONLINE

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CV? A LOAD OF COBBLERS, SAYS TIMPSON FORGET PSYCHOMETRIC testing and take CVs with •a liberal dose of salt. The best way to recruit is using g

a ‘Mr Men’-style interview form that helps hirers to identify candidates with specific personality traits, says John Timpson, chairman of high-street cobblers and key-cutters, Timpson.

Timpson explained to Recruiter how interviewers simply tick the boxes under those cartoons that are most like the applicant. He agreed that the unconventional approach he introduced 20 years ago, despite opposition from the company’s recruiters, “might be simplistic, but it works”. He continued: “We don’t go within a mile of psychometric testing… and a lot of CVs are [in] fairy land.”

He said the company only wanted to hire those with a 9/10 rating for a customer-service focused personality: “Give me someone with personality, and I can train the rest. Recruitment is not a process, but a subjective thing. There is no substitute for sitting down and talking to people and making up your mind. No psychometric testing can compete.”

Timpson said proof that Timpson’s approach worked came “from the number of people who tell me about their visits to the shops, who ask me how do I find the staff”.

He added that another test he likes is “the lunch test”. “Would I be happy to have lunch with the person? If not, they are probably not for us,” he said.

However, Ruth Williams, a business psychologist at Criterion Partnership, disagreed. She told Recruiter that focusing only on candidates’ customer-facing skills ignored other important aspects of the job, such as quality of work cutting keys, capacity to apply health & safety training and skills in keeping financial records.

“A range of selection tools are more likely to enable the recruiter to gain insight into all these areas of performance and you may include psychometric testing within this wider range of tools because they offer a robust means of gaining insight,” she said. “It is considered best practice to use a range of selection tools… that measure the areas relevant to performance in the job and keep track of this process.”

• How would you rate candidates according to a Mr Men approach? Tell us at recruiter. editorial@redactive.co.uk COLIN COTTELL colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk

pointing to “the strong relationship” between the Manchester and Singapore universities.

This means, she said, “there will be a superb opportunity for Asian students to be placed at an APSCo UK member for their internship, and for those that are interested in moving into recruitment, there is the very real chance that — once graduated — they will have the opportunity to start their career at an APSCo member in Asia”.

Tap into talent earlier The APSCo programme will help members “by removing a great deal of the timeconsuming identification and initial sifting of candidates, and providing a robust supporting programme to make sure all

parties (companies and interns) derive the maximum benefit internship”, Hunt noted.

When Swain first revealed the programme to Recruiter this autumn (‘Brightest stars in the firmament’, Recruiter, October 2013), she explained that offering internships would allow recruiters to tap into high-calibre talent earlier than through graduate schemes: “If we wait until they graduate and get the leftovers from PwC or whoever, we’re not going to find the people who can take our businesses forward.”

Step, a leading organiser of paid student work placements and internships, is support APSCo to establish and manage administration for the initiative DEEDEE DOKE deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk RECRUITER

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News Online Recruitment Conference: The Year Ahead 2014 30 January, Royal Geographical Society, London enhancemedia.co.uk

HR Directors Business Summit 4-5 February, ICC Birmingham, UK www.hrevent.com

Future staffing contract models seminar 6 February (2pm), Osborne Clark offices, London frances.lewis@ osborneclarke.com

TEAM National Networking Conference 7 February, Whittlebury Hall Hotel, Northants jobsatteam.co.uk

SourceCon 2014 Atlanta 19-20 February, Atlanta Marriott Buckhead Hotel, US sourcecon.com

CIPD Recruitment Conference 4-5 March, Cavendish Conference Centre, London cipd.co.uk/events/ recruitment

“Research used to be 25 ladies on bikes going round London having good lunches” SIMON STEPHENSON, JOINT CHAIR, EXECUTIVE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION

CROSS-SELLING BULL BUILDS ON RANDSTAD DEVELOPMENT The chief executive officer of Randstad for UK and the Middle East has told Recruiter that he is pleased with recent financial and organisational development progress at the company, but that more needs to be done.

Mark Bull pointed to “a tripling of its profitability”, the best month in terms of permanent revenues in September in three years and staff turnover falling to 30%.

However, Bull said he wanted to build on this. He identified engineering, finance, IT and education as key sectors.

Following Randstad’s acquisition of multi-brand specialist Vedior in 2008, Bull, who was appointed in April 2011, said it had taken some time for Randstad to develop in its new guise as a more cohesive joinedup structure, while still offering the diversity of specialist service and expertise.

Bull said that the company was now ready to relaunch an unsuccessful initiative begun almost two years ago to crosssell to existing clients. “Business development tends to focus on new clients, but actually there is a huge opportunity to expand what you do with existing clients,” said Bull.

PETER SEARLE

Events

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

Mark Bull: Randstad is culturally ready to capitalise on targeting cross sales to clients

The previous attempt to supply a minimum of eight of the company’s 12 business lines (which has since grown to 15) into a hit list of 20 clients had been “too ambitious… We weren’t ready internally”, he said.

Bull said that with the recent appointment of Alison Starmer to a new post of strategic accounts director, “we are now culturally and structurally ready to capitalise more effectively”.

The first stage of identifying around 20 key clients to target for cross sales will be completed by the end of December, and following this, he expected quarterly gross profit targets to be set for each client on a rolling basis.

Bull attributed some of the improved performance to Randstad’s business accelerators that operate outside the company’s normal profit & loss for up to two years. These allow the business to recruit extra staff without being under the normal pressure to make a quick return on this investment.

An accelerator for automotive and aviation within its construction, property and engineering business division saw Randstad win new clients, including Jaguar Land Rover.

Randstad has now launched an accelerator within its education business.

COLIN COTTELL colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk

Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2014 7 May 2014, Grosvenor House Hotel, London recruiterawards.co.uk **entry deadline 6 January**

FOR MORE NEWS AND COMMENTS, GO ONLINE

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NEW SPONSORS LINE UP FOR 2014 AWARDS •

CONTRACTOR SERVICES FIRM ICS and job site CV-Library have been announced as the latest sponsors for the Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2014.

Next year’s Recruiter Awards are on Wednesday, 7 May and the deadline for entries across 29 categories is Monday, 6 January.

Lee Biggins, managing director of CV-Library, said he was “proud” to be associated with the awards, while ICS’s MD John Lyons added that the sponsorship “gives our brand great exposure”.

Last month, umbrella firm FPS was confirmed as the first sponsor for the event.

• See the Recruiter Awards for Excellence website for more on the benefits of becoming a sponsor, or contact Jasmine Pengelly on 020 7880 6205 or jasmine.pengelly@recruiter.co.uk www.recruiterawards.co.uk

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News

“600 offices: that’s still only single-digit marketshare”

“We’re very good hunters. We need to be better farmers”

DOUG BUGIE, ADVISOR TO THE BOARD OF ANTAL INTERNATIONAL, DOWNPLAYS THE MAGNITUDE OF ITS GLOBAL AMBITION

STHREE CEO GARY ELDEN SPEAKING ABOUT STHREE’S OPERATIONS

“I don’t want a heart surgeon to work from home” EX-NETWORK RAIL RESOURCING CHIEF ADRIAN THOMAS ON FLEXIBLE WORKING

BIG DATA USE AT ITS INFANCY BUT BUSINESS CAN SEE FUTURE ROI The most popular use of ‘Big Data’ in UK businesses is for sales and marketing activities, according to MBN Recruitment Solutions’ ‘Big Data Survey 2013’. the 135 respondents have used data analysis to aim to predict and analyse “future business activities across a wide range of functions”.

“Interestingly, as companies get larger they are more likely to also use data for competitive intelligence and modelling against peer competitors,” Paul Forrest, MBN non-executive chairman, told a London audience of decision makers and senior analytics and marketing professionals at a November event, which Recruiter also attended.

DEEDEE DOKE deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk

GETTY

In fact, over 80% of the 135 survey respondents indicated that generating new revenue was the main objective of harnessing and leveraging their data. And 95% said that this emphasis on revenue generation would become “increasingly more acute” in the years to come.

MBN is a Glasgow-based recruiter of data analytics and insight professionals. In MBN’s first annual Big Data survey, the results also revealed that 71% of

Respondents suggested that they currently see “a reduced return on investment [ROI]” in harnessing and leveraging their Big Data but also were optimistic about the future prospects for greater ROI. “More than 40% believe the initiatives will eventually deliver what is expected,” Forrest said.

A frequently referenced issue was, Forrest said, “the ongoing problem of the importance of the tools. Our survey indicates that 72% of respondents consider that tools are only the start, and that people are the real key to unlocking the value in promise”.

• For more on the survey, see p12.

NUCLEAR AMBITIONS FOR CERN RECRUITMENT

RECRUITMENT TARGETS at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, are set in proportion to its •23-member countries’ financial contributions. As a result, efforts to ensure that selection is based on merit have

intensified, according to CERN’s head of talent acquisition.

Based in Switzerland, James Purvis told Recruiter the countries that finance CERN expect to get a return on their investment, which include a 14% contribution and employment target for the UK, 20% for Germany and Norway 2.5%.

With only 9% of CERN’s permanent workforce made up of UK citizens, 8% Germans and Norwegians 0.5%, Purvis said special efforts were made to attract staff from these and other countries in a similar position. “It’s an additional challenge of recruiting at CERN,” said Purvis.

However, he explained the way to address it. “In recruitment terms we are just trying to get more applications from under-represented countries. Once the applications come in then its merit and excellence.”

Purvis said one approach was using multi-posting to job boards in target countries. Purvis said that because of the ability to flex the number of applications from each member country, he could say “hand on heart” that the best person always got the job.

He added that this approach had led to an increase in candidates from between 20-30 per job three years ago to between 200-300. The challenge is now “finding a needle in a haystack” and having scalable recruitment processes that can cope, Purvis said.

COLIN COTTELL

“LinkedIn is not your friend, LinkedIn doesn’t care about the staffing issue” CONSULTANT GREG SAVAGE SPEAKING AT AN ELITE MASTERCLASS IN LONDON

Contract News CRS: The US recruiter has bought Leicestershire’s Flex Recruitment Plus… Driver Hire: The transport recruiter has taken over rail services firm ISS Labour… FWB Park Brown: Scottish exec recruiters FWB and Park Brown have merged…

Heidrick & Struggles: Australian search firm Scambler MacGregor has been bought by the global search firm… InterQuest: Digital recruiter ECOM has been acquired by the IT staffing group… JSA Services: The contractor services firm has acquired rival provider PlanIT… On Assignment: The US recruiter has acquired staffing firms CyberCoders and Whitaker Medical, and sold its Allied Healthcare recruiting business to Cross Country Healthcare… Penna: The HR firm has acquired HR and talent management firm Savile Group… Pertemps: Commercial recruiter Red Personnel has been bought by the staffing group… Progility: The project management services group has purchased research and analysis recruiter Sue Hill… Quantum: The executive recruiter has filled seven roles at a new Hitachi Rail project in the North-East… Rethink: The IT recruitment and talent management firm has sold non-core subsidiary Aiimi…

Staffline: Leicestershirebased Magna Recruitment has been acquired by the recruiting and outsourcing firm…

Synergie Group: The French HR and recruitment firm has acquired Spanish temp firm Solempleo… UEFA: Specialist job sites GlobalSportsJobs and Technojobs are to work with the football governing body

colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk

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News

On tumblr this month November was mostly about two of the finer things in life — cake and sport, of course — on the Recruiter magazine tumblr feed, where we highlight the lighter side of recruitment.

Blue Arrow The spirits of competition, charity and baking came together as the recruiter raised money for Help for Heroes with a Halloween bake-off. The pictured effort was good, but not ultimately the winner — go online to see what won top prize.

Solutions Recruitment Some delicious-looking cakes, and their owners, were battling it out at the Newcastle-based recruitment firm’s Bake Off. Recruiter was also impressed with the poster announcing the event. “We are super sad [in an ironic sense!], but it was great fun,” marketing exec Becky Mortimer says.

Acorn Tonga’s rugby union team gave a good account of themselves, despite losing 17-7 to Wales in Cardiff last month — and eagle-eyed fans will have noticed Welsh recruiter Acorn represented on the pitch by sponsoring the Tongan kit. Pictured in the middle of a mini-scrum is Acorn’s Dan Langford.

Aspire People The education recruiter has got its name on to the local sporting scene, sponsoring hockey team Bournville Ladies.

Go to recruitermagazine.tumblr.com for more including another education recruiter sponsoring a local rugby club, charitable fun at Human Capital Investment Group and video from APSCo’s Flamenco Charity Ball.

And with Christmas party season coming up, why not share your festivities, immaculately decked-outt offices or a picture of the boss being Secret Santa with us at recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk?

recruitermagazine.tumblr.com

Toasting success

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PHOTOGRAPHY: DEEDEE DOKE

Some of the best and brightest of the UK recruitment industry gathered at last month’s celebration for firms making the Recruiter 2013 HOT 100 league table, listing the 100 UK recruiters with the greatest gross profit per employee. Craig Aston (pictured bottom left), managing director of sponsor Flo Software Solutions, and Sean Dixon (pictured top left), head of services sector at host RBS, both shared their thoughts at the celebration event on 14 November at RBS’s glitzy City premises.

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05/12/2013 11:53

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News

SPECIAL REPORT

Web comments You can’t prosecute away labour exploitation, says GLA boss (recruiter.co.uk, 13 November) Paul Broadbent has yet to get a basic grasp of his line of work, doesn’t he? Paul, if you’re reading, here are some clues: 1. Trying to prosecute your way out of exploitation is wrong in principle, not just practically difficult on account of courts’, prosecutors’ or witnesses’ attitudes.

2. Because you never could prosecute your way out of worker exploitation, your authority’s obsession with prosecution was always misguided.

3. The GLA has been harping on about its “intelligenceled approach” since its beginning. Nothing new about that rhetoric.

4. The GLA has promised “to work closely with other organisations such as HMRC and the police” since its inception. What’s new?

5. It is not for the GLA to interfere with our independent judiciary.

Anyone who sees doing so as “a job of work to do” is unfit to run a public authority in the UK. 6. It is not the case that practices in the sector have changed significantly or that criminality is rising. What is changing is the GLA’s self-depiction trying to look increasingly like some kind of FBI-style force.

7. Contrary to what Broadbent alleges travel & subsistence schemes have been around as long as the GLA; licence holders have operated them since its start; GLA board members have acted as consultants to operators of these schemes.

Operators of these schemes have kept their licences following recent compliance inspections.

John Lerner

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ADMINISTRATIONS LOWEST SINCE START OF RECESSION IMPROVING ECONOMY LEADS TO REDUCTION IN RECRUITMENT AGENCY ADMINISTRATIONS, REPORTS CHRISTOPHER GOODFELLOW Improvement in the UK economy, which has recorded positive growth for the last three quarters, has helped reduce the number of recruitment agencies going into administration.

In the first three quarters of 2013, 14 recruitment agencies were put into administration, compared to 27 during the same period in 2012, according to Recruiter’s analysis of Business Sale Report and Companies House records (see map and table overleaf).

The number of recruitment agencies being put into administration has not been this low since the recession started in 2008. The problems experienced by the staffing sector appear to have peaked in the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010, when an average of seven agencies were being put into administration every month.

Economic reflection Nick Winks, turnaround director at WayPoint Change and fellow of the Institute for Turnaround, tells Recruiter that the reduction is a reflection of what is happening in the wider economy.

“There’s been a general decline in the number of administrations. The decline in the recruitment sector is not specific to the sector, but general to SMEs [small and mediumsized businesses],” says Winks.

Many recruitment agencies that go through the process are able to continue to trade with either existing directors or an outside company buying the assets.

A director who went through the process, but asked not to be named, explains to Recruiter: “We suffered a very considerable bad debt, which was irrecoverable. After seeking advice from a number of sources about the options available, it

was decided to go through an administration process. This enabled the continuation of a viable business and to continue trading with little disruption.

Absolutely everything was retained — permanent staff, clients and temporary workers, whose accrued holiday pay was also honoured in full by the new company. It was a stressful time but the ability to protect people’s jobs and maintain the goodwill of the client and candidate base was important for all concerned.”

Neil Bennett, director and licensed insolvency practitioner at Leonard Curtis, tells Recruiter that recruitment businesses lend themselves to being purchased from administration by existing directors: “If we go to the market and say that ABC Ltd is insolvent and we are looking to sell, then it is possible that any value could quickly dissipate.

Although we try to do this discreetly, it is difficult to trade in administration because the goodwill is usually tied up in the directors or key staff. As you can imagine, any key employee who is working for a company in administration or one that

has notified the market that it is insolvent, may look to find another job as soon as possible.

In the recruitment sector, a key employee leaving can be like an asset walking out of the door,” says Bennett.

The biggest debt owed by struggling staffing firms tends to be to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), through corporation tax, PAYE, NIC and VAT. Of the 13 Winding-Up Petitions, which are made by creditors unable to recover debt, filed against recruitment businesses during 2013, 10 were made by HMRC. Struggling with debt Recruiters worried about HMRC debt are able to access Timeto-pay (TTP) arrangements, a scheme where a business owner agrees to arrears being paid back over a set period of time.

Bennett says that almost all of the TTP arrangements he’s worked on with recruitment companies have been permitted

by HMRC. Winks says the key to securing a TTP arrangement is to demonstrate that the cash flow problems being experienced by the business are short term. Examples include a

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05/12/2013 11:55

EXPERT OPINION

Trends and Predictions in Online Recruitment for 2014 2013 has been another busy year for online recruitment professionals. We’ve seen the digital sphere expand and evolve at an accelerated rate and there have been lots of exciting developments to help with more effective direct sourcing.

Facebook announced Graph Search last January, which has turned the world’s largest social media platform into a credible sourcing tool. In that same month Twitter introduced Vine, so you can now offer candidates a seven second snapshot of your company. The recruitment specialist platform LinkedIn continues to expand and reached 1 billion endorsements and 300 million company pages. But enough about last year, let’s look to The Year Ahead.

Mobile Mobile should be a crucial part of your online recruitment strategy for 2014. Already 51% of the UK population use their mobile phones as their primary internet connection. In fact, by 2017 an overwhelming 97% of UK users are projected to own a mobile phone and even more importantly, mobile internet usage is estimated to overtake desktop internet in early 2014. So not having a mobile optimised website or app means you’re missing out on key candidates. 7 out of 10 people have already searched for jobs via a mobile device and 3 out of 10 have already applied for a job via a mobile device. The stats are illuminating: •

72% of jobseekers want to receive career opportunity information on their smartphone

•

84% of jobseekers think job organisations should have mobile-friendly sites

•

86% of jobseekers who have a smartphone say they would use it to search for jobs

Social Media Social media, previously the remit of marketing professionals will be essential for HR and recruiting professionals. It’s no longer the thing that you “must be seen to do” but it’s something you have to do. Social media is a great tool for communicating with candidates throughout the hiring process.

Candidates who are engaged with your employer brand are going to be better informed about your company and therefore able to hit the ground running when you hire them. Beyond employer brand, social media should be used as a listening tool to hear what both jobseekers, and even your employees are saying. We’ll see the rise of employer review sites such as Glassdoor and as employers it’s critical to be able to respond to both positive and negative feedback.

Big Data Another crucial trend for 2014 is the continued growth of big data. The rise of big data means that we can now invest in online channels with confidence because we are able to determine the best channels to use for our target candidates.

Furthermore, sophisticated analytics have made it possible to analyse the success of our campaigns and the areas that we need to improve, saving both time and money.

This is only a sample of the many key trends we predict for 2014. We’ll examine these further at our Online Recruitment Conference: The Year Ahead 2014, Europe’s largest industry event of its kind. This is your opportunity to hear from leading brands such as Google, KPMG, BT and Glassdoor to prepare for The Year Ahead. To find out more, visit: www.enhancemedia.co.uk/conference.

The message is clear; ignore mobile at your peril.

11

RECRUITER WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK DECEMBER 2013

REC.12.13.011.indd 11 1 Expert Op Template.indd

RECRUITER WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK DECEMBER 2013 11

16:16 05/12/2013 16:13

SPECIAL REPORT

Recruitment companies in administration (Q1-Q3 2013) Administrators Company name appointment

Company number

Nature of business

04/02/2013

Backup Staff Ltd

2799454

Employment recruitment

07/02/2013

Kehoe Rail Services Ltd

6510600

Recruitment of staff for the rail infrastructure and construction industry

27/02/2013

Mount Perry Ltd

5013567

Recruitment consultants

22/03/2013

Gold Recruitment Services Ltd

6942218

Recruitment

25/03/2013

Adhoc (agency) Additions Ltd

7920205

Recruitment

27/03/2013

Charitas Recruitment Ltd

7120680

Human resources (HR) provision and management of HR functions

16/04/2013

Strategic Moves UK Ltd

6386932

Recruitment agency

26/04/2013

Talent Intelligence Ltd

5066843

Labour recruitment & provision of personnel

07/05/2013

Jds Recruitment Ltd

7210522

Recruitment agency

20/05/2013

The Cornhill Partnership (holdings) Ltd 7176792

Executive recruitment agency

24/05/2013

Steel Hunter Ltd

Recruitment agency

17/06/2013

Contract Recruitment Consultants Ltd 6941820

Temporary and permanent recruitment

30/08/2013

Core Connexions Ltd

5902393

Healthcare recruitment

30/09/2013

Anthony Alexandra Ltd

5547353

Recruitment

Struggling with debt What does the future hold for the industry? The signs are positive, the number of administrations is falling and listed recruiters have posted positive results. However, Bennett warns the problems caused by the recession could affect staffing businesses for some time: “We were flat out for a

long period of time after the industry came out of the last recession [in the early 90s].

There are problems to come for all industries, including recruitment, but only time will tell,” he says.

Recruiter made an express effort to contact the directors or representatives of every company mentioned in this article.

92

of British small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are cautious about adding full-time staff over the next 12 months, according to online work platform Elance research

5

THE BIG PICTURE FOR BIG DATA Does your organisation intend to use Big Data initiatives to specifically target increased revenues in the future?

Participants who know how to measure Big Data benefits

What job roles do you have within the business to work in the areas of Big Data?

Data scientists 19 Econometricians 8 Data analysts 84 Business intelligence 63 analysts Data architects 36 Data visualisers 9 Data change agents 8 Data engineer/operators 34

MOST VIEWED JOBS ON OUR WEBSITE

1. Harvey Nash, In-house recruitment manager

2. Aspen In-House,

Sourcing specialist/ resourcer, Central London

3. Newcross Healthcare Solutions, Staff allocation officer, Truro, Cornwall

4. Futura Rec2Rec,

Resourcer, Greater Manchester

5. Fresh Partnership,

Resource consultant, London

TOP

recruiter supplying labour to the construction industry that lost business because of bad weather and a company recovering from a bad debt incurred by a customer.

Both Winks and Bennett say directors or managers that believe their businesses are becoming financially distressed should seek expert advice as soon as possible.

2579173

%

TOP

News

5

MOST VIEWED ARTICLES ONLINE

1. Recruiter 2013 HOT 100: HOT 10 public sector recruiters revealed

2. 2013 HOT 100: HOT 10 technical recruiters revealed

3. 2013 HOT 100: HOT

10 professional recruiters revealed

4. 2013 HOT 100: HOT

10 IT & telecoms recruiters revealed

5. Sainsbury’s brings

16,000 Xmas jobs, one in eight may go perm

Business data stewards 17

69% Yes 12

RECRUITER

DECEMBER 2013

10_12_Recruit_Digest_dec13_V2.indd 12

8% Yes

Data virtualisation/ cloud specialists

<5 WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

05/12/2013 11:55

REC.12.13.013.indd 2

05/12/2013 10:06

Sector Analysis

Construction

Views from the market

BOTH RETENTION AND SUCCESSION PLANNING ARE KEY IN THE SECTOR, WITH GEOGRAPHY CERTAINLY PLAYING A ROLE A report last month from job aggregator Adzuna suggested the UK’s North-South divide was being keenly felt in the construction labour market — with half of industry vacancies registered in London and the South-East, despite it being home to just 28% of the workforce.

Indeed Mike Barber, managing director of technical recruiter NRL, says “London is exceptionally strong, but I don’t see that elsewhere”, aside from select exceptions including, he notes, Cardiff.

Some in the sector don’t see the regional split quite that dramatically, although geography is nonetheless a recurrent theme across the market.

Helen Charles, recruitment manager at international construction firm John Sisk & Son, says residential has been the firm’s most buoyant sector, “particularly in London”, and especially since an uptick in demand since October.

As the market expands, candidates within an already “diminishing-quality workforce” are becoming more prized, “and obviously recruitment agencies are putting up their fees”.

Getting hold of the “genuine quality candidates” will be increasingly challenging, Charles predicts.

Similarly Andrew James, MD at Michael Page Facilities Management, Construction and Property, calls his markets “very candidate-led”, but with the caveat that “it’s all about the people who are work-winning, who have got bid management experience or will bring work with them”. A good surveyor or project manager can easily get five offers, he says.

But while technical disciplines are suffering

IT’S AS LUCRATIVE AS EVER AND I THINK PEOPLE ARE SUCCESSION PLANNING BETTER THAN THEY EVER HAVE DONE

with an ageing demographic and sparse young talent, James says this is not the case for property.

“It’s as lucrative as ever,” he says — and thus as popular as ever, “and I think people are succession planning better than they ever have done.”

Page has recently hired a specific resourcer for this market for the first time, James adds, and says they have been “getting pretty quick returns out of it”.

Also adding a string to its bow is consultancy and construction group Mace. With the hiring market hotting up, retention is key, and UK recruitment manager Mikyla Dodd says Mace has created a better structure for the company’s graduates.

“Often people come in on a graduate scheme and once they’re past that, they’re kind of in noman’s land, so we wanted to provide something to help with that transition to manager level,” she tells Recruiter.

Another priority for Dodd, as Mace continues a significant growth plan, is finding recruits willing to take on international roles, being moved around different projects in different countries.

“It’s so often dependent on their personal circumstances,” she says, adding that such individuals need plenty of ambition and flexibility.

Indeed, construction and property is an ever-more global industry, and this ups the ante, Adrian Adair, operations director of recruitment firm Morson, says. “Manager level and above is always challenging, because we’re not just competing on a UK basis any more,” he comments.

Something the UK can compete on is two major projects on the horizon: High Speed 2 and the Hinckley Point C nuclear plant. But when the construction sector turns its mind that far forward, long-term talent issues return to the fore.

“There are fantastic, exciting projects and there are some great jobs there, so it’s important to put it across to the next generation at an early stage as to what the opportunities are,” Adair says.

Mike Barber Managing director, NRL “Away from high-end specialists, if you want electricians, they’re still available; if you want bricklayers, they’re still available; recovery hasn’t picked up the slack yet.

There is an upturn, but it’s not on fire.”

Mikyla Dodd UK recruitment manager, Mace Group “Managing quality and keeping our identity as a company during a period of growth is always a challenge — and investing in an in-house recruitment team is what the company has done to safeguard that. Our commission structure would mirror what an external agency does.”

Steve Girdler EMEA MD, HireRight “Demand in construction is fluctuating — you get one month when it jumps and one where it dips down; that’s the nature of recovery.

But I would say in general our volumes are going up.”

Jonathan Owen Owner, United Recruitment Solutions “This summer it got to a point where there weren’t any guys available. I’ve picked up business as other agencies turned round and said to clients ‘we can’t help you’.”

SAM BURNE JAMES sam.burnejames@recruiter.co.uk

REED JOB INDEX AND SALARY INDEX 300 250

Job index ■ Construction & Property ■ All sectors Salary index ■ Construction & Property ■ All sectors

200

REC RECRUITMENT INDUSTRY TRENDS SURVEY 2012-13

PROPERTY AND CONSTRUCTION ROLES From CareerStructure.com

Construction jobs accounted for 2.7% of all UK permanent placements through agencies, and 5.1% of temporary volumes. Both have fallen year-on-year:

15000

9000

150 Average daily temporary placements: 100 50 0

14

12000

2012-13:

58,000

2011-12:

63,000

6000 3000

Annual permanent placements: Oct

Nov Dec 2012

RECRUITER

Jan

Feb

Mar

DECEMBER 2013

14_Recruit_SectorAnalysis_dec13.indd 14

Apr

May Jun 2013

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

2012-13:

17,000

2011-12:

20,400

0 Q4 2012

Q1

Q2 2013

Q3

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

05/12/2013 11:56

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05/12/2013 10:11

Market Indicators

Global Spotlight on the US

DESPITE BEING A MATURE MARKET, THE US HAS MUCH TO OFFER FOR RECRUITERS — IF THEY CAN OFFER EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE IN A TOUGH ENVIRONMENT “One thing I love about America,” says Morgan Kavanagh, a director at recruitment firm SThree’s New York office, who moved from the UK in 2006, “is that being a commercial person or in a sales-orientated business is not a dirty word. It’s very much a culture that celebrates success in business.”

Although ambitious UK recruiters often look to the Far or Middle East, Kavanagh says the US has much to offer. But as a mature market, there are no easy wins. “If you are a good recruiter and you do have a genuinely valuable service… I think you can do more in the US than you can do anywhere else on earth,” he says. “But you’ve got to be good enough.”

The US agency marketplace may be in relatively rude health (see data right and below), but there are serious concerns about the country’s labour force, say two experts at the US-based Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Senior government affairs policy counsel Nicky Hammer describes “an unprecedented challenge of long-term unemployment”, with over 4m Americans out of work for over six months. In a country where ‘unemployed need not apply’ appears frequently on job ads, SHRM is championing the value of diverse talent pools.

Mark Schmit, executive director at the SHRM Foundation, SHRM’s separate research body, says an ageing workforce poses “a substantial problem — the loss of knowledge and experience”. He continues: “Business leaders are growing increasingly concerned about how they will replace these existing workers, especially those with high indemand skills and education.”

John Wilson, chief executive officer of recruitment process outsourcer (RPO) WilsonHCG, adds: “The talent pools are tightening, and you’re seeing a focus really going back on the RPO side for being recruiters first and process handlers second.”

An IBIS World report in September projects total 2013 revenue in the US permanent recruitment agency market to be $16bn (£9.8bn), down 1.5% since the start of the recession in 2008. For temporary staffing, revenue should total $95.8bn, down just 0.1% in the same period.

The state of California is the biggest in terms of revenues generated for both perm and temp recruitment.

By comparison, the REC’s Trends survey for 2012-13 shows the UK perm market is worth £2.4bn (down 42% on 2007-08) and temp revenues £24.1bn (up 5.9%) A Bullhorn survey in 2011 found the US has 65 recruitment professionals per 100,000 population, half as many as the UK with 129.

Sponsored by SAM BURNE JAMES sam.burnejames@recruiter.co.uk

AMERICAN STAFFING ASSOCIATION’S STAFFING INDEX 105

100

This is key, given what he calls the “vast difference” in RPO either side of the pond.

WilsonHCG has US clients where they recruit 99.8% of roles direct, while “in the UK, many RPO firms are more a managed process offering,” he notes.

Another key when operating in the market, Wilson says, is “a lot of regulation on the diversity and fairness of recruitment”, in particular the “very confusing” OFCCP laws, which apply to those wanting to work with Federal government.

Adrian Kinnersley, founder of London-based Twenty Recruitment, which opened in New York in 2011, illustrates a further bureaucratic difficulty. Placing contractors in different states, “you have to technically be set up to payroll and operate in that [individual] state”, or else supply through a third party, he says. Challenging, but surmountable. With only one office in the country, Twenty can supply into 49 different states.

Choosing a location for a physical base is key in such a huge country. Tech and telco specialist ConSol Partners, another UK-based recruiter, chose a less obvious one: Santa Monica, California.

Before relocating to California early this month, founder Marc Cohen told Recruiter: “New York might seem to beckon, but it is a stifling environment for tech start-ups as they compete with financial giants for talent and investment.”

ConSol illustrates that while New York might be ‘a helluva town’, there’s a helluva a lot more out there — lest we forget, the US is still by far the world’s biggest economy, with GDP twice the size of China.

Key indicators

JOB OPENINGS In September 2013 the Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded 3.91m job openings in the US, up from 3.84m in August, and from 3.6m in September 2012. The top five industries for vacancies in September 2013 were: Professional and business services

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REC.11.13.052.indd 2

06/11/2013 11:46

Interaction

SOAP

BOX

Who should we fear the most?

Mark Braund, chief executive officer of InterQuest Group, argues that the ‘Big Boys’ face attack from bigger and smaller firms alike Although the largest global recruitment firms are well positioned for growth as the economy re-inflates, their most serious competition is no longer each other, but firms in other categories vying for their customers’ attention.

The largest firms have reached their position at the top of the size and global reach charts through a mix of consolidation and presenting themselves as outsourcers of recruitment processes (ie. RPOs), delivering as many recruitment services as possible, at the lowest possible price.

During this process they have encroached on two areas where they operate at a disadvantage because they do not inherently have the skill or business model to be world-class: namely the recruitment of specialist resource and business process outsourcing (BPO).

During a downturn, many organisations — especially the largest — look for ways to reduce costs. While innovation and specialisation are still factors, the priority is often the relentless search for reduced cost and compliance. As a market turns, priorities quickly change; investment focuses on growth, innovation and talent. The talent most eagerly sought is often in high demand and can become the difference between winning and losing. This is not just senior resource but cuttingedge skills that can be key to an organisation’s success in advancing their technology, analytics, business intelligence and income generating roles.

As a result, four steps have evolved: 1. Large, low-cost recruiters often fail at delivering because as generalists they attempt to cover recruitment for all parts of an organisation and frequently do not understand specialist requirements, nor have access to the best candidates. Their model is built on low-cost techniques that typically attract candidates actively seeking employment only.

RICKY MARTIN

All of this may not be conclusive, however we speculate consolidation in the future will involve BPO providers acquiring recruitment firms at a greater pace and on a larger scale.

The largest recruitment firms may have gained marketshare over recent years and in doing so have reduced the cost for many employers of resourcing. However, as the market matures, their position will be challenged through consolidation by bigger, higher-value service organisations such as BPO providers and be undermined by smaller, more agile specialist recruiters essential to filling the most important roles of their customers.

Keeping a young firm up to date

Since leaving a large recruitment company to set up my own consultancy, Hyper Recruitment Solutions (HRS), there has been one thing I always struggle to have enough of — time! In any fast-paced recruitment business this will always be the case, probably something to which you can relate.

With the stage my business is at today, I find my time gets zapped up in marketing, accounts, internal recruitment, training, development, supplier relations etc before I have even thought about recruiting. The challenge is how to keep up with industry trends and advances in recruitment to ensure my business always retains its competitive edge.

Well-established companies genuinely have broader resources than newly-formed businesses, so when time is in short supply, a newer company really has to consider how it can keep up to date.

HRS is a specialist recruitment consultancy supporting the science and technology sectors. Both of these markets can change overnight, making them extremely exciting to be involved with. However, it does mean that as the business owner of a relatively young company, I need to invest significant amounts of time, no matter how in supply it may be, in keeping our services and knowledge short supp markets up to date. If I don’t do this it would mean my of our m company (or any recruitment business following a similar journey tto HRS) would struggle to survive and remain competitive. So how do I go about this? competit me, the way I ensure we are always up to date is For m by surrounding myself with very good people. This iis in terms of staff, suppliers, advisors, coaches and recognised industry bodies. To really maintain our competitive edge of being a true specialist consultancy,

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

19_Interaction.indd 19

2. Specialist roles are in high demand with short supply; different techniques are needed to source candidates. Specialist recruiters continuously develop their network of passive candidates, who are in work and will only move if the right opportunity comes to them.

3. The largest recruiters come under pressure; having once been seen as the heroes of cost reduction and containment, they quickly move to being the villains because they fail to deliver in project or business critical roles.

4. At the other end of the spectrum where the BPO providers operate, we speculate that as both large- and mid-sized recruitment firms have begun to penetrate BPO space, challenging the profitable periphery of traditional providers, those providers are in turn looking at the RPO space to extend their service streams. While RPO does not generate the margins BPO providers operate at, it does provide market access to opportunity and projects in their core business offering.

Add to this the benefit of a low-cost business model to access talent, an inhibitor to growth in the BPO space and you begin to see the rationale for large BPO providers looking into the recruitment industry for acquisition targets.

it is vital that I’m not afraid to ask for help, and I must continually develop my knowledge. Complacency or arrogance is never a possibility for me — nor should it for any young company.

When it comes to industry knowledge I have key mentors in both the science and technology communities, who I meet and speak to regularly about changes in their business, the market, how this positions them with their competitors etc. This includes mentors from SMEs [small to medium-sized companies] and blue-chip companies, both local and global. And one of my suppliers, who is also a technical person (I am a biochemist myself), really goes out of their way to help me to develop my sector knowledge. This is reciprocated in turn by the services my business offers their company, as well as my recruitment insight.

As well as my mentors, I regularly attend key events and conferences put on by the science and technology industry, and the recruitment sector. Such events are invaluable to the professional development of my business, my staff and myself, which helps to ensure we always remain a company of today!

So if you are a business owner of a young recruitment company, you need to have the right network to remain current. You need to be proactive about engaging with that network and you need to build on it. You should never rest on your laurels of being a specialist in your field, as that field can quickly become out of date.

Time may be hard to find when you run a business, but there is nothing worse as a business owner than working with a supplier who ‘once’ provided a great service.

RICKY MARTIN is managing director and founder of Hyper Recruitment

Solutions. Find out more at www.hyperec.com or @Hyperec_HRS on Twitter

RECRUITER

DECEMBER 2013

19

05/12/2013 11:57

Interaction

FEED

SOUND

BACK

BITES “With the Christmas season beginning earlier and earlier each year, is it best to write-off December and early January? If not, how do you encourage your staff to keep their foot on the gas?”

Matt Gregory Head of recruitment, Gumtree.com

Bonfire of the licence was the real crime

•

I HAD to write in response to David Scarlett’s comment on your story ‘Initiative aims to explode myth that engineering is not for women’ (recruiter.co.uk, 1 November).

Your commentator, David Scarlett, rightly castigates Margaret Thatcher for her antipathy towards manufacturing. The real myth is that a country with a particularly dense population such as ours can make a living out of banking and selling each other overpriced houses. We are still paying a heavy price for that particular fixation.

But with respect, David has overlooked another serious crime a little closer to home. In the famous ‘bonfire of red tape’ in the 1990s, Mrs Thatcher’s government abolished the recruitment agency licence. The result — a free for all and the descent of the recruitment industry’s reputation to a level similar to that of today’s politicians. Eventually, things reached such a state the REC [Recruitment & Employment Confederation] had to be born to put matters right, no thanks to the politicians.

And I know ‘dense’ (see above) in this context has more than one meaning. I’ll leave you to decide.

Terry Knight, managing director, Knight Selection

20

RECRUITER

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DECEMBER 2013

Summer or winter, the key to keeping your staff motivated is always to use incentives. At Gumtree we concentrate our rewards on the quieter times of the year to keep motivation high. For example, this year December’s top performer wins a weekend in New York City. We’ve decorated the office with American flags and there is a real buzz as the teams battle it out for the prize. To survive the winter freeze, find the right incentive for your teams: perhaps it’s a certificate for the highest performer, or an extra day off in December after the office party. Whatever you choose, don’t forget: everybody loves to be rewarded in front of their peers.

Helen O’Hanlan HR manager, Atlantic Umbrella At Atlantic we don’t take our foot off the gas because our customers don’t. Contractors still need to be paid and we still follow our ultimate goal of paying everybody on time, every time, correctly. To ensure we still have festive fun, we make sure celebrations happen when the work is done, so instead of going out for Christmas lunch, we have after work events. We also ensure all holiday is scheduled fairly. If low staff attendance happens because of the usual winter bugs, the directors are more than happy to get their hands dirty and go on the phones.

Carol Scambler Global HR director, Lingo24 Most businesses can’t afford to slow down, and for most of the month things move along at the same pace. If there’s something important, I expect staff will work just as hard, whether it’s June or December. But there is room for a bit of flexibility when it comes to Christmas lunches and parties, and these can have team-building benefits for the whole company. Of course, when you have global offices it’s important to take into account different holiday schedules, and to be sensitive to cultural and religious differences at any time of year.

Chris Parsons Director and co-founder of IT recruiter, Hancock and Parsons At Hancock and Parsons we’re fortunate on two fronts, one that we have very dedicated employees and secondly a client base which keeps us busy all the year round! That said we find that December and early January are good times to speak with our employees and reflect on the year, work out what they did well and where they can improve. This is also the time of year we review our commission and benefits to make sure it is motivational for the year ahead; experience has shown us that our employees’ needs and ambitions change from year to year.

IF YOU HAVE A LETTER OR WOULD LIKE TO BE A CONTRIBUTOR TO SOUNDBITES, EMAIL... VANESSA.TOWNSEND@RECRUITER.CO.UK

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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05/12/2013 10:13

Insight

Shaping up to a life in recruitment IS A CAREER IN RECRUITMENT FATAL ATTRACTION OR A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN? GEOFF TRICKEY INVESTIGATES It seems that people may be attracted to the careers and roles they are going to devote their lives to, rather than directed to them. In some cases, future career paths are established from a very young age (16% from childhood, according to a recent survey).

Research confirms that different professions do attract people with a distinctive set of personal qualities. For example, in a recent recruitment project that involved personality assessment of 300 applicants, even though there were four distinct recruitment pipelines, the personality profile for candidates from each was uncannily similar — although distinctly different to the wider population.

Not only that, it replicated the pattern of characteristics identified by researchers working with that same profession in 1984 and in another study in 1980. People seem to be attracted by the prospect of working with people like themselves. Is the same likely to be true for recruiters?

If people are somehow drawn to a particular occupation, then it seems paradoxical that gaining a clear appreciation of one’s own talents and limitations is so difficult. But this is an area of rampant subjectivity and self-deception.

Facing up to our limitations can certainly be an uncomfortable experience. On the other hand, we can easily take our own talents for granted; just a commonplace part of our everyday experience.

Similarly, distinctive features shared throughout a profession may be undervalued, considered ‘normal’ or unremarkable. As a result, incumbents steeped in their own professional culture may develop significant blind spots when it comes to identifying what is key for the job.

So, what should we be looking for when recruiting recruiters? Researching the industry and reviewing the content of ads for recruiter roles, as well as referencing against the Job Analysis Survey (JAS), an online tool used to identify the competencies that are most important for any role, six themes recur as characteristics critical for high performing recruiters. ● Firstly, they need to be self-confident; sure of themselves and untroubled by doubts about their abilities, their viewpoint or their entitlement to state their case.

● Secondly, they must be serial problem solvers; have a good practical understanding of the issues, deal with the challenges and consider both conventional and unconventional solutions. ● Thirdly, they must be convincing communicators; able to get their message across clearly and persuasively and in a form appropriate to clients and candidates. ● Fourthly, they need the desire and the temperament to deal with clients, candidates and contacts on an almost continuous basis; engaging in the professional and courteous manner required to cement relationships. ● Fifthly, they need business savvy and an appreciation of the commercial imperative for both their employers and for their clients. ● Finally, they need the enthusiasm, drive and results focus to fuel a demanding schedule and make sure it all happens.

Someone fitting these criteria will be composed, socially confident and engaging; they will readily express their opinions and be keen to take on responsibilities. They will be ‘can do’ problem solvers who recognise the importance of customer and networking relationships, and be tuned in to the commercial dynamic.

Does that seem comprehensive? Well, as it happens, this is not the last word on the subject of recruiting recruiters. The elephant in the room may just be ‘risk taking’ — something only once mentioned explicitly in our internet sources.

Results of a survey carried out in 2010 for this magazine are instructive on this point.

These findings were published in Recruiter 24 November 2010 under the heading ‘Who dares wins: risk-taking recruiters’. The title reflects the fact that the recruiter sample included twice as many of the Adventurous Risk Type, and more than three times the number of the Carefree Risk Type compared to the incidence in the wider population; candidates for the recruitment industry are quite distinctive in this respect.

Wave upon wave of technological advances, computerisation, internet and now social media have provided opportunities for innovation which the industry has grasped with both hands, and to impressive effect. Innovation is never risk free and, on this scale, it confirms the ‘Who dares, wins’ dimension of the recruiting professions.

Power Points Different professions attract people with a distinct set of personal qualities Gaining a clear appreciation of one’s own talents and limitations is difficult and is an area of rampant subjectivity and selfdeception Distinctive features shared throughout a profession may be undervalued, considered ‘normal’ or unremarkable

How do you shape up?

Recruiter has worked with Psychological Consultancy to develop a PROFILE:MATCH assessment that matches personality characteristics and competencies to the role of recruitment consultant.

If you’d like to see whether you have the core competencies for a career in recruitment use the link below http://www.psy-key. com/has. asp?Accesscode= RECRUITER2 You’ll receive an emailed report showing your degree of fit with the recruitment consultant template. www.psychological-consultancy. com

GEOFF TRICKEY is managing director, Psychological Consultancy

Share your insight and blue-sky thinking. Contact the editor: deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk

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The Challenge

Get more social to Reach more candidates Brian Cunningham Director

BULLHORN REACH TEAM GAVE ALLEN RECRUITMENT CONSULTING A WAY OF ENGAGING WITH SKILLED TALENT AND THEN CONVERTING THEM INTO CANDIDATES

THE CHALLENGE The use of social media, especially as a talent attraction tool, has increasingly become an essential part of the recruitment process.

Nonetheless, if recent reports are anything to go by, recruiters are lagging behind the social media curve and in danger of losing out if they do not take it seriously (see articles on recruiter.co.uk from a London masterclass by Greg Savage in November).

So given that recruiters are successfully finding new talent through whichever social media tool works for them — be that on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Bing (an exhaustive list could take up the rest of the article!) — how can new contacts best be managed and, ultimately, converted into candidates? This was the dilemma faced by Irelandbased recruiter Allen Recruitment Consulting.

Headquartered in Dublin, and with offices in Cork, Allen Recruitment specialises in IT — a

“A lot of recruiters are worried about what individual recruiters are doing in social media” PETER LINAS

tough market to be in if you’re based in Ireland, director Brian Cunningham told Recruiter.

With IT giants such as Apple, BT Telecoms, Citrix Systems, Google and Microsoft having offices situated there, “there’s huge competition from other [recruitment] agencies and companies who can’t find enough skills”, Cunningham said.

Job advertising has also changed, he added. “When we put a job up on a job board, there may well be 96 views but only seven were applying. What were the other 89 doing?” he asked. “We wanted to improve this rate, so we started to carry out research.”

The challenge was to post numerous job vacancies on all the social media sites, capture website visitors and flow future candidates through their existing recruitment software system — without the expense of creating a personalised job site and the continuing development maintaining such a platform would entail.

Cunningham discovered that although mobile traffic to Allen Recruitment was increasing, as a result of all the social media platforms the company was using, applicants were still finding it difficult to send a CV on a mobile phone. “A big shift is going on,” Cunningham told Recruiter.

Allen Recruitment had been using Bullhorn’s recruitment platform for around three years, tracking and managing applicants through it. With the new social

media traffic the individual recruiters were getting, posting jobs and uploading applicant details was time-consuming and prevented them generating more candidates online.

THE SOLUTION After researching various options, Allen Recruitment had yet to find a solution that would post vacancies to the company website and flow candidates through smoothly into the Bullhorn platform. Bullhorn’s international managing director Peter Linas spoke to Cunningham about Bullhorn Reach Team, Bullhorn’s integrated social media platform. “The great benefit is you can manage all your jobs on social media within one place,” Linas told Recruiter.

The most compelling aspect of the solution for Allen Recruitment was that Bullhorn Reach Team built a modern, branded job website, showing candidates the company name, logo etc, but without thousands of pounds of expense and a lengthy wait for development. Jobs are published across all social media networks and updated automatically. Linas said this was a great advantage for recruiters. “Until now, recruitment agencies would encourage recruiters to put jobs up in social media under their own personal accounts,” he explained. “A lot of recruiters are worried about what [their] individual recruiters are doing in social media. It’s a concern for owners. With Bullhorn Reach Team, it can all be pulled together in one place.” What’s more, it all

Peter Linas International MD

comes back into the customer relationship management (CRM) system, he added.

As for candidates, it gives them the ability to apply for jobs on their mobile using their LinkedIn profile, without having to upload their CV. There are also special buttons, in whatever social media platform they are in, which have increased the response rate to jobs, Cunningham said. He describes a certain type of ‘candidate’, who has been half-heartedly looking for a job but has grown jaded by the whole jobseeking process and given up, as an ‘active/passive’ jobseeker. The ‘Silent Follow’ button gives this type of person the ability to keep an eye on the jobs that Allen Recruitment is posting — without either the recruiter or the company knowing.

There is also a ‘Let’s Talk’ button, which triggers a response from a recruiter to get in touch, without the jobseeker applying for a role.

There has been a 35% increase in the response rate with ‘Let’s Talk’, Cunningham told Recruiter.

As all Allen Recruitment’s consultants are ex-IT people, the company can post relevant articles from the industry onto the job site, which visitors to the site can share with their own network. All this engagement comes straight back into the CRM system and into the company database. As Linas pointed out: “You can gain value from those interactions … not just the ‘I’m applying’ but the ones who are just interested.” The ‘I’m interested’ visitors can turn out to be the ‘Talent gems’ of the future.

Would you like to be involved in The Challenge? Contact Vanessa Townsend at vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk

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BULLHORN: POWERING THE WORLD’S FASTEST GROWING R E C R U I T M E N T AG E N C I E S.

See how Bullhorn can help you: • Run your business by the numbers with Bullhorn business intelligence • Master social recruiting with Bullhorn Reach • Win business anytime, anywhere with the NEW Bullhorn Mobile

Schedule a demo today!

UK 0800 50 88 600 INTERNATIONAL +44 203 617 6262 EMAIL sales@bullhorn.com

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Game changers 2013

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CALL THEM START-UPS OR UPSTARTS, BUT THESE PEOPLE AND THEIR PRODUCTS COULD CHANGE THE WAY YOU WORK. SUE WEEKES LOOKS AT THIS YEAR’S CROP Recruitment software used to be dominated by a handful of names but in recent years there has been a proliferation of smaller developers offering the sector a range of technological solutions. Many such solutions come from recruiters themselves, having developed a product that addressed their own challenges initially and which they believe has wider market appeal.

In this issue, we showcase five products and startup developers that Recruiter considers to have the potential to disrupt traditional recruitment models and change the game when it comes to how agencies and direct recruiters find, assess and recruit their future talent.

The products featured make use of exciting new tools and methods for the recruiting industry, such as gamification, crowd-sourcing, intelligent matching, and they have some cutting-edge technology driving them behind the scenes. Some are already making a significant impact and saving clients time and money and improving the candidate experience while others show great potential for doing so in the near future.

Technology will continue to play a major role in the future of recruitment — just look how it has already changed virtually every aspect of it! For example, consider the impact LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter each have had on agency and in-house recruitment.

Just 10 years ago, few had heard of LinkedIn, while Facebook and Twitter had yet to be born.

Recruiters must be open to innovation and new ideas, especially because of potentially radical alterations to how their jobs are done. Embracing fresh, exciting and, above all, practical technology can bring a new world of opportunities. Technology is at its most powerful when it removes hard work and drudgery so recruiters can spend more time adding value to what they do and make their face-to-face experiences with clients and candidates all the richer.

ELEVATE DIRECT CEO & CO-FOUNDER: DAN COLLIER The background Dan Collier has 15 years’ experience working in recruitment, both agency and in-house. Co-founder and chief technology officer Michael Delaney has previously been a web architect and career contractor.

The team felt there must be an easier way to connect contractors with job opportunities, especially as the rise of social networks meant online profiles had become commonplace. Work started on Elevate around three years ago (“in stealth mode”) and it came out of beta earlier this year.

What makes it a game-changer?

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The industry is moving away from software development being a one-way street. Users are given the opportunity to provide far more feedback and input into products. Those who remain passive will get what they are given but those who are prepared to consider how a piece of software could be improved, or put to better use, stand to gain a great deal.

Software developers often tell us that while they research their markets and thoroughly road-test products, a recruiter will sometimes use them in a way in which they hadn’t thought.

We believe those developers featured here deserve a pat on the back for trying to bring real change that will benefit both candidates and recruiters.

And bear in mind the risk involved; the world of tech start-ups is precarious. Those who lived through the dotcom boom will know how often a good idea can fail.

Clearly, funding is a major challenge all start-ups face. Matthew Ogston, co-founder of JobPage, says that based on his own experience, it is much harder to secure in the UK than in the US. In the US Silicon Valley particularly, investors are more likely to put their money into potential.

Meanwhile, Darren Ryemill, founder of Talentcubed, reports that even for a successful businessman like himself, some so-called investors can see the tech sector as too risky but he advises: “You just need to keep the faith and believe in what you are doing.

Everyone wants to buy into Facebook or Twitter now but how many would have from the outset? There are some great schemes out there and there are some investors that want to be involved in exciting new tech businesses.”

No doubt there are other potential recruitment technology game changers on the horizon. Recruiter wants to hear about the products and the people behind them to generate even more ideas and create a forum for discussion on the subject.

with live jobs and employers directly in touch with contractors, and eliminates the need for an intermediary, saving time and money. Collier believes existing social recruiting tools largely display results from sites and networks such as LinkedIn in a different format, or are reliant on referral schemes.

“We’re different in that we are a closed network,” he says. “There are no third-party voyeurs on our site, it’s just for jobs.”

Contractors create a profile, employers create a vacancy and the site’s intelligent matching algorithms filter and match not just on skills but a number of other factors, such as job titles, rate, location and industry experience.

Funding Elevate raised just over £500k as a seed round from a series of business angels and has attracted some

Dan Collier

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EXPERT OPINION

Technology must be a business enabler that’s how it can be a game changer

By Adrian Kruger, Sales Director Intersoftware Recruitment Solutions

I

beware bespoke or in-house developments – unless your business is very unorthodox they are expensive and take forever to deliver.

In a recent series of road shows we staged with the REC on the new Pensions legislation we found that a big concern was cost – and a need to be assured that any supporting technology being used had to have the ability to automatically (and accurately) charge pension costs individually to each client. So for example; if an employee ended up working at 4 different clients in the space of a week the software would need to accommodate this – and ensure accurate passing on of costs.

So, in addition to all the legal and compliance issues that technology needs to cater for, there’s a need for the developer to have a true understanding the nature of the recruitment business itself. Ultimately technology should give management more control over the business, make staff more efficient and customer and worker relationships become more measurable.

n todays’ recruitment environment technology has to be constantly on the move to keep up with new business pressures and external influences. Two key areas are influencing how technology is developing and how businesses need to operate: pressure to comply and pressure on margins and profits.

A Big Issue Increasing legislation – Travel & Subsistence, Pensions auto-enrolment and Real Time Information to name but a few – are all combining to add processes and cost your business money.

Good technology will not only save on administrative time and cost and ensure human error is avoided but make sure you are adhering to legal requirements. There’s a lot of extra data to be managed – and it’s especially complex if you operate in a temp environment. In practical terms it just cannot be done without the right software.

That software needs to be bang up to date. There should also always be a product “roadmap”. The fees you’ll be paying should go to support the future development of product you’re buying. Software that has no roadmap can be a dreadful waste of money.

If you want to remain competitive and also comply with your responsibilities as an employer, it is crucial that the technology you use is robust enough to minimise administration but flexible enough to change with the rules. It is also key that the provider is working with recognised sector specialists to keep up to date on changes in employment and tax law. That’s how they – and you - can stay ahead of the game.

Joined–up automation So called “best practice” can only really be upheld through using integrated systems. It’s no good any more relying on spread-sheets, paper and what’s in the consultants head! Also, it’s really important to make sure that your front office and back office functions connect up seamlessly. That doesn’t mean that it’s obligatory to get both from the same supplier – but it is advisable. Just imagine if something goes wrong – you could end up playing piggy-in-the-middle with two vendors pointing fingers at each other! And

Another advantage of making sure all the functions in the business are properly integrated is that there should be no need for any duplication or double entry. Likewise, the system should be modular so that so that no matter how many offices you have, information can be made available instantly to anybody - anywhere. And don’t forget – make sure it’s easy for you and your staff to use. There’s no point having something that people find too complicated.

Game changing recruitment technology must be flexible and constantly adapting to business and market forces – but it also needs to be grounded in good provenance and never lose sight of the main raison d’être – the success of your business.

Intersoftwares “enterprise” all-in-one recruitment agency technology integrates back and front office functions and can also be modular. It has some very specific features and advantages for Temp agencies operating in fast paced high volume and shift environments •

“enterprise” streamlines processes, reduces costs and assists the bottom line.

•

It has a single database ( Microsoft SQL based ) so there is no export between font and back office and unlimited users can be supported

•

The elements can work with other systems if required

•

It has integrated compliance modules (eg T&S, AWR, Pensions, RTI)

•

It supports email and sms modules

•

Online Timesheet & Payslip Portals are supported

Call: 0844 5832134 and quote ‘intersoftware’ or email us at: sales@intersoftware.com www.intersoftware.com For innovative, state-of-the-art recruitment software

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high-profile investors, known for spotting winners. Its chairman is Tom Teichman, of Spark Ventures, an early investor in internet ventures such as lastminute.com and Mind Candy, the company behind the animated Moshi Monsters phenomenon. Meanwhile, Sir John Hegarty, a founder of the renowned advertising agency Bartle Bogle & Hegarty (and the first to pick a young model/actor called Brad Pitt for a commercial), has also joined the board.

“It’s reassuring to be working with guys like this,” says Collier, who adds: “The money men can make it hard though and it is important to pitch the idea at the right kind of investors. Don’t waste time chasing premier VCs [venture capitalists] if you haven’t even written any code.”

How can it help recruiters make great placements and save them time and/or money?

Collier claims that Elevate can save firms up to £12k per head, per year and employers using large numbers of contractors could be looking at saving millions.

Although the claims might seem bold, it has already saved one of its larger clients, Gazprom, close to £200k in agency fees this year. Customers range from global enterprises such as Gazprom and Tata to small startups that can’t pay large agency fees. “We’re particularly relevant to SMEs [small to medium-sized enterprises] who want to manage their recruitment in-house, especially if they already have some direct recruiters.”

What are the future aims?

Elevate would like to become the LinkedIn for contractors. “As the contractor database builds — we’ve had almost 10,000 people sign up — we feel we can only get stronger, and should be able to fill most contract roles,” claims Collier. “There will always be a need for very niche agencies but we are making a dent in that at the moment, and building talent pools and pipelining resources for a number of large firms, including RPOs [recruitment process outsourcing firms].” www.elevatedirect.com

I-INTRO MANAGING DIRECTOR: PAUL HICKEY; EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN: PLAMEN IVANOFF The background Executive search is not a traditional development stomping ground for innovative software but i-intro is the brainchild of the GrassGreener Group, which specialises in sales and senior management placements.

MD Paul Hickey explains that like many recruitment firms he was frustrated with the industry’s “obsessive focus” with offering the lowest prices and the fastest service, when the real emphasis should be on matching the right candidates with the right employers. i-intro was developed to counter these and other issues, and proved so successful that the next logical step was to turn it into a standalone business and offer it to other recruitment firms.

What makes it a game-changer? i-intro blends traditional headhunting techniques with an innovative web platform and streamlined processes to make better matches and increase retention. Key

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employees already working for the client complete a behavioural assessment and the results are combined to create a benchmark that could represent the ideal aptitude and attitude type. Suitable candidates are then given a private login for i-intro where they can upload a photo, introductory video, CV and references, and complete a competency questionnaire and behavioural assessment. The recruiter can add additional information for the client’s eyes only, such as expected salary and competency ratings. The client then logs in to view the shortlist and additional notes, and comments on each candidate can be posted online for all decision-makers to respond to.

“It allows the client to avoid wasting time interviewing unsuitable candidates and produces better matches,” says Hickey. “It completely changes the playing field in terms of what we can offer to clients. He adds that it also puts power back into the hands of the candidate, allowing them to “speak for themselves” and present the elements of their knowledge and job history they consider to be most compelling.

Funding i-intro is currently funded internally but says it would now welcome interest from investors.

Paul Hickey

Plamen Ivanoff

How can it help recruiters make great placements and save time and/or money?

GrassGreener Group has effectively been the official beta tester for i-intro and put forwards some impressive tangible data: in excess of 96% of candidates placed via i-intro are still in place after 12 months; GrassGreener Group has transitioned from a contingency-based firm to a 100% retained business recruiter; and its average fee has increased by 87%.

What are the future aims?

In short, GrassGreener wants i-intro to be the standard recruitment system for recruiters in the UK and eventually the rest of the world. “i-intro is a win for everybody and is what the recruitment industry needs if it’s going to pull itself out of its current race to the bottom,” states Hickey. Development of version two, which includes additional features based on user feedback, is well underway and the company is further streamlining the administration side and the client and candidate interface. It is creating an API [application programming interface] for i-intro, so eventually integration with other systems will be possible. www.grassgreener.co.uk

JOBPAGE DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER: MATTHEW OGSTON The background Serial entrepreneur Matthew Ogston has a passion for big ideas and making them happen. His experience blends recruitment, design and development, online marketing and business management. “I’ve been creating little pieces of the internet for 15 years,” he says (his first proper start-up was actually a recruitment magazine in 1999). For the last three years, he has been working with a small team of freelancers developing the social jobs network JobPage.

Matthew Ogston

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JobPage helps employers recruit young people who aren’t on LinkedIn and for roles which using an agency would be cost-prohibitive. “These people are typically under 25 and in their first 10 years of their career where their biggest asset is themselves and their personality,” explains Ogston. “One of our main goals is dramatically reducing unemployment.”

What makes it a game-changer?

Ogston describes himself as being on a mission “to democratise the job search process” making it more open, social and transparent. “Our network is free to use for professionals and jobseekers, and all communication is done in the open,” he says. “While this does not work well for more senior roles where closed private conversation is best suited, for young people under 25, who are more comfortable using social networks, this is ideal.”

What sets JobPage apart is that it uses a combination of technology and human ‘crowd-sourcing’ to deliver results. Employers and recruiters can advertise their jobs but the key difference is that most jobs are posted by members of the community (volunteer mentors, professionals and even other jobseekers) who find jobs and share them with each other.

“From a social perspective, the JobPage community provides a free and highly valuable mentoring service to young people through the first 10 years of their career,” Ogston says.

Funding At the moment JobPage is funded entirely by the money raised through Ogston’s consulting work. It received some early offers of investment but took a decision early on to continue “bootstrapping” until the platform and community were developed to a certain level. “I believe one must be confident in what you’ve built, and where you are going, before asking for anyone else’s money. We are now actively speaking to investors.”

How can the technology help recruiters make great placements and save time and/or money?

Signs suggest JobPage is filling a much needed gap in the social recruiting landscape. Removals firm TFM successfully hired two people using JobPage, which it claimed saved thousands of pounds in advertising costs.

It reports receiving more than 90 quality applicants in five days. The community is growing organically through word-of-mouth and has more than 18,000 jobseekers, professionals and mentors in its network.

What are the future aims?

Ogston says that JobPage’s goal is to become the world’s largest recruitment agency but “powered by the crowd”, the community it serves. He believes the recruitment agency role will change and become more open and more transparent in how it engages with networks: “Rather than gate keepers, they will become super mentors. They need social networks like JobPage to support them.” Ogston adds: “Our objective is to make sure that every young person coming out of school, college and university has the opportunity to work.”

JobPage is releasing a film in January [2014] that highlights the challenge of youth unemployment. www.jobpage.com

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RYOPO FOUNDER: JAMIE BELLMAN-JEFFREYS The background Psychology and business graduate Jamie BellmanJeffreys is a consultant in occupational psychology and has previously worked as an HR manager at Proctor & Gamble. While exploring his next career move he came up with the idea for ryopo (realise your potential) when looking at employer review websites.

“I found that many amounted to a ‘good or bad?’ view of companies and felt that while this information had value, reading the ratings and comments presented no real tangible insight in to what was good or bad about the company as comments could be contradictory or ambiguous,” he explains. “I felt that a service was needed that identified why different companies and jobs could be good for different people.” ryopo went live this summer but updates are still being made.

Jamie Bellman-Jeffreys

What makes it a game-changer? ryopo wants to change the way people think about their career search, changing the focus from financial gain, reward and recognition to personal fit, happiness and wellbeing. It aims to help candidates find a company that matches their personality, a work environment that fits their preferences and a job in which they do what they would like to be doing every day.

A tailor-made psychometric assessment analyses characteristics such as work style, preferred work tasks and preferred work culture, and users receive a profile.

These are then matched to company and job role profiles created from a combination of information from current and recent employees and recruiting managers.

“The process is much more akin to a dating website than a job site,” says Bellman-Jeffreys. “Even if a person thinks they know what type of job they want — for example, accounting — we can show which accounting roles are best shaped to their preferences and in which companies they will find them.”

Funding To date ryopo has been funded by its founders and revenue generated is reinvested in its development.

How can it help recruiters make great placements and save time and/or money?

In theory, applicants who come through ryopo are a better fit for the company and role, so Bellman-Jeffreys believes they are statistically more likely to be higher performers, show higher levels of wellbeing and stay longer. With every new user and new role created, more data is collected to further validate the site’s information. He adds: “The great body of research we have collated thus far suggests that, in general, one in three close matches will be a great employee.”

What are the future aims? ryopo wants to bring this statistical advantage to the SME market and also provide a way for smaller companies to promote themselves to top candidates. It is also working closely with universities to help their students benefit from the insights provided and

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EXPERT OPINION

How is Technology Changing Recruitment?

By Craig Aston, Managing Director of Flo Software Solutions

T

echnology in the workplace has come a long way, but the acceleration of the change is only getting faster. If we look at history, the IBM Mainframe is 50 years old next year, and yet the rate of progress since those early days has been phenomenal.

In those early days, computers were only available to either the Government or large multi-national organisations, and in relative terms were very expensive, very large and could only be operated by a small number of people worldwide. Even then they changed the way people worked, in ways that were not imagined previously.

This subject got me thinking. What has changed in the workplace of the recruitment industry in terms of technology, and what are going to be the next big changes for 2014, and the next 5 years after that?

A major change we are seeing at the moment is small recruitment businesses accessing industry leading software through the cloud; meaning they can compete with larger competitors who continue to invest significantly in technology. These cloud services mean there is no requirement to own infrastructure or employ an IT team, you just tap into, and pay for, the technology as you use it. Flo is a system such as this, and smaller recruiters have told us that being able to access enterprise level software solutions with no set up costs, levels their playing field with the larger competitors in the industry.

A second big change that presents a major challenge to recruiters, and one that is continuing into the future, is the changing methods of communication with prospective candidates. It is not exclusively related to technology, but the different generations have very different requirements from communication, and expect a method and style that they are comfortable with.

to a lack of candidates, the recruiters will have to contact the candidates how they want to be contacted, as skills will be scarce.

This leads neatly onto the second challenge, this communication needs to be through whatever device the candidate chooses to use, be that mobile devices or devices within the workplace or home. We are now at an inflexion point where the PC is beginning to become obsolete, with tablet sales now outstripping PC’s. In a recent report analysis firm Canalys predict that in 2014 tablets will account for 50% of the total market, with notebooks totalling 33% and desktops just 17%. With this in mind communication needs to be tailored to the devices the majority of candidates are using, both in content but also in style and volume. We have spent a significant amount of time at Flo considering the look and usability of both the Flo System and the Flo website (www.flo.co.uk), on a range of different devices, and tailoring the content accordingly. One size certainly does not fit all, and if you take a look at our website on a smart phone or a tablet, you will see the differences from looking at it on a laptop screen.

So how do recruiters deal with these changes, well firstly we are not all going to become social media and website experts. Social marketing means we need to understand these channels, but the real experts are those who are using them day-to-day. These experts could potentially be your employees, and could be an untapped resource in these areas.

Segmentation of your candidate population is obviously vital, as is tailoring the content. However understanding on what device someone will read your content; can be the difference between a candidate staying with you, or moving onto the next site. Get this right and prospective candidates will stay with you, get it wrong and the candidate will move onto the next shop window.

With this in mind, recruiters have had to get on board with new media or face cutting themselves off from all of Generation Y and some of Generation X. In 2010 Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook stated that “e-mail is too slow” and he has been proved right. If you talk to many people under 25 they will tell you that they don’t use e-mail but instead communicate through either instant messaging (be that texting or smartphone messaging) or through social media channels.

This is a very difficult change for recruiters to deal with. As we all know recruiters like to send significant amounts of information about jobs to a large number of people; effectively through newsletters or job boards in a one-size-fits-all fashion. But as the marketplace moves from a lack of jobs

For further information, please call Craig Aston, Managing Director of Flo Software Solutions on 0844 322 1100 or email info@flo.co.uk

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wants to expand its career guidance and company profile offering to users.

Bellman-Jeffreys says: “We also want to find out what further scientifically validated occupational psychology solutions we can provide at below market rates to users and hiring companies, and continue to level the playing field between jobseekers, SMEs and large companies.” www.ryopo.com

TALENTCUBED FOUNDER: DARREN RYEMILL The background Commerce and engineering graduate Darren Ryemill joined Rolls-Royce’s graduate training programme straight from university but confesses he was probably its “worst ever hire”. “I lacked any real interest in engineering and as soon as I had graduated through the scheme I left to follow a career path that was more aligned with my personality,” he explains.

The path led to the recruitment industry in which he has worked for more than 11 years and during which time he founded a number of businesses, including Opus Recruitment Solutions (ranked 19th in Recruiter’s HOT 100 2013). More recently he has been developing the social networking platform, Talentcubed, which aims to link “tomorrow’s talent with today’s leaders”.

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How can it help recruiters make great placements and save them time and/or money?

Talentcubed has only just launched but has generated a lot of interest with 12,000 Twitter followers, 30,000+ page impressions, thousands of unique visits and user sign-ups. Significantly, former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy and Lord Young, enterprise adviser to the prime minister, invited Ryemill’s company Opus to become a founding member of Accelerate 250, identifying it as being in the UK’s so-called ‘vital 6%’ of businesses that will create more than half of the nation’s new jobs by disrupting industries and creating new markets.

Darren Ryemill

What are the future aims?

Ryemill wants Talentcubed to become the standard for innovative “new generation” recruitment platforms.

“Working with all of the UK’s major employers, designing and hosting world-class business simulations directly and effectively addressing the issue of getting young people into work and assisting employers with finding the right young people,” he says. “The potential is simply unlimited. We just need to make sure we fulfil the potential.” www.talentcubed.com

MENTIONED IN DISPATCHES

What makes it a game-changer?

Talentcubed brings together a range of new generation recruiting concepts such as gamification, business simulation and video interviewing to give both employers and candidates the opportunity to develop real relationships with each other. Ryemill reckons that with 1m young people unemployed and LinkedIn reporting that employers claim graduates are the fifth hardest to recruit skillset in the UK, the current system clearly isn’t working. “We have more talented young people, with better education and more motivation to work (if not just to clear student loan), yet something isn’t working,” says Ryemill, who is also a lecturer in entrepreneurship. “Innovation has to step in.”

Talentcubed’s gamification allows candidates to “try before they apply”, Ryemill says, while business simulations uploaded by employers provide further insight. One of its current games focuses on being a carbon trader, built in conjunction with investment bank professionals.

“Candidates can see what the role entails and employers can monitor performance and identify and engage with talented individuals.” It has been careful to blend new techniques with traditional recruiting tools such as personality profiling, CVs and job boards.

A round-up of some of the start-ups featured in Recruiter over the past 12 months which also have potential to change the game

Funding Funding comes via Ryemill’s main recruitment business, Opus Recruitment Solutions. He admits that initially securing funding “can be soul-crushing, depressing and tough”. “I have had numerous conversations with people who call themselves ‘investors’ in the sector and even before we get to any sort of pitch they say ‘no thanks, not interested; tech is too risky’,” he says. “I just smile and think ‘standing still is more risky’ but that is a mentality thing that you will always face.”

WorkFu

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3Sourcing A people aggregator, powered by a clever algorithm that brings together all of the unstructured data that makes up a person’s online footprint in one tidy profile.

3Sourcing currently focuses on technology, and the developers will be targeting other areas but acknowledge that it takes a lot of indexing and work to do one sector thoroughly.

Job Bounties After launching in beta, the developers of this referral website, which financially rewards those who make a successful candidate recommendation, will be incorporating it into the BrightNetwork.co.uk top talent site in the spring. “We learned a lot,” says founder of both ventures, James Uffindell. “The referral aspect really flew but we found that quality of candidate was really important, so it makes sense to run it from within Bright Network.”

MyJobMatcher A reverse aggregation site that reads and parses a person’s CV and sends candidates daily lists of the most relevant jobs from an extensive network of employment sites. Relevance is its guiding principle, neatly summed up by MD Chris Smith: “If you are a butcher, baker or candlestick maker we’ll show you butcher, baker or candlestick maker jobs.”

Gathers data from all over the web and uses it to rate an individual’s influence and expertise. It effectively flips the social recruiting model: rather than using such networks to find people, it uses the information they contain as a metric to endorse a person’s skills, experience and knowledge. It will shortly launch a service dedicated to supporting freelance web developers and designers.

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05/12/2013 12:01

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05/12/2013 16:02

Global mobility

AS THE BUSINESS WORLD BECOMES A SMALLER PLACE, FIRMS NEED MORE PEOPLE WITH THE SKILLS TO WORK AND BUILD TEAMS INTERNATIONALLY. COLIN COTTELL INVESTIGATES THE LATEST GLOBAL MOBILITY TREND Global talent is on the march. Explosive growth in emerging economies and critical shortages in certain markets and disciplines is increasing the number of employees working outside their home countries. According to PwC, assignee levels have increased by 25% over the past decade, with a further 50% growth predicted by 2020.

“I MAKE SURE THE PERSON IS UP TO IT, AND IT’S NOT ON A WHIM OR JUST SEEN AS A HOLIDAY OPPORTUNITY” SUSANNAH TIMLIN

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For many international organisations, giving their staff experience overseas is seen as essential to ensure access to a pool of talent with the right skills and background to build their businesses successfully round the world.

Susannah Timlin, group head of talent attraction and global mobility at Hays, which operates in 33 countries, was recently involved in transferring one Hays employee from Tokyo to Sao Paolo in Brazil.

“Global mobility is a critical part of talent management.

Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to grow our business successfully internationally,” says Timlin.

At the same time, there is increasing recognition among employees within international businesses that a stint, perhaps in an emerging market, is essential for a successful career. As Helen Root, international HR and corporate relocation lead at Nestlé, says: “If you are ambitious and want to reach a senior level in the business, there is a recognition that it will accelerate your career.”

For those operating in the global mobility and talent arenas of international organisations, this convergence of employees’ aspirations with companies’ international ambitions would appear to be an ideal scenario. Yet in reality, marrying up the career aspirations of employees with the talent needs of the company so that it results in a win-win situation is fraught with difficulties.

DECEMBER 2013

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GETTY

Global merrygo-round “There are all sorts of reasons why people want to move: a better lifestyle, family members abroad or to experience a completely different culture,” says Timlin. “I make sure the person is up to it, and it’s not on a whim or just seen as a holiday opportunity.” An interview with Timlin is followed by interviews with the local business. “It is not a given that you will be given a job in a certain country,” she adds.

However, according to Iain McCluskey, a director in the international assignments team at PwC, who contributed to a PwC report ‘Talent Mobility 2020 and beyond’, published earlier this year, organisations need to respond to the aspirations of their employees, and particularly the ‘Millennials’, those born between 1980 and the early years of this century. “This group want to work across borders maybe several times in their career,” says McCluskey. The PwC report shows an increasing preference for short-term assignments, something confirmed by Root, who points to a “much higher acceptance rate” among Nestlé’s younger employees for short-term assignments of three to six months than for longer assignments.

This demographic is also characterised by the desire for experiences, and for richer experiences as members progress through an organisation, McCluskey explains.

This view is not confined to one part of the world, but is shared by Millennials across the US, Europe and Asia, he adds.

Marcus Wainer, group head of talent acquisition and global mobility EMEA at Starcom MediaVest Group (Publicis), acknowledges that a good starting point for marrying up talent management and mobility is to take on board the expectations of employees. “People expect a career matrix, where they are able to move

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sideways across borders, office and departments,” he says. This is especially the case within predominantly young workforces, such as in media, he says.

“It’s about listening to your employee base,” he says, adding that “we have to be mindful that even without a job some people will move to a market where they are desperate to be, and will find a job”.

However, this does not mean always acceding to employees’ wishes. Wainer says that part of his role is to counter the expectation among some of the younger generation “of wanting to go to Australia in January because it is nice and sunny”. “We are trying to build mobility into employees’ mid-term to long-term development and linking it to the appraisal process,” he explains.

Wainer argues that ensuring both employees and the company get what they want from the company’s mobility programme requires the two functions of talent acquisition and global mobility to work more closely together. “For any business to separate out mobility from their wider recruitment and talent acquisition strategy is foolish and shortsighted,” he says.

However, a report by EY published in October suggested that lack of joined-up thinking between the two functions is the norm, with more than half (56%) of mobility executives saying they played no role in talent management and in wider business objectives.

Wainer emphasises the need for a two-way conversation, not only between the individual employee and the business, but also between the business in different countries. For example, while the business in Poland might see the need to fill a job from local talent, from the company’s perspective bringing someone in from another country with the skills to

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help fulfil its objective of digitally upskilling both the company’s employees and its clients would be more beneficial.

At the same time, he recognises that apart from the most senior leadership appointments “it would be unfair to mandate to local markets or to local HR that we have this employee and we are just dropping them in”. There is also an important role for HR and those working in mobility across the company to network regularly “to understand what we have going on in Granjon [China], and what the pressures are in South Africa and to talk about the company’s specific talent needs,” says Wainer.

An essential solution Ultimately, Wainer says he sees mobility as a recruitment solution — though only one of many. That said, he adds, “it is an effective one”.

Ali Gilani, global head of talent acquisition and strategic workforce planning at global steel company ArcelorMittal, says there is no master plan for the company’s mobility strategy. Instead as he puts it, “in each situation we plan accordingly”.

Gilani, who was one of Recruiter’s 11 Most Influential In-house Recruiters in 2013, says employee mobility is linked to the company’s succession planning, under which international exposure might be deemed an essential element in making an individual ready for promotion, say within the next three to five years.

Not only might this be vital for the individual’s development, for instance by giving the person experience that would allow them to take up a bigger role in the future, but the company can also benefit, says Gilani. One example would be tasking the

“PEOPLE EXPECT A CAREER MATRIX, WHERE THEY ARE ABLE TO MOVE SIDEWAYS ACROSS BORDERS” MARCUS WAINER

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Global mobility

international assignee with developing their successor while they are abroad. An individual’s personal development and achieving the company’s talent management objectives are “not mutually exclusive”, says Gilani.

To assess the extent to which an overseas assignment is of value to the company, the employee, or indeed both, Gilani says ArcelorMittal has developed a four-box matrix. Where an international move is of high value to both (HH) that’s a win-win situation, Gilani explains, while at the other extreme a LL (low low) outcome indicates the move shouldn’t take place.

An assignment that is of high value to the company, but lower value to the employee means that there is little incentive for the employee to take the risk unless they are incentivised, by for example, the guarantee of an attractive job when they return, he explains. The four-box matrix is “the direction we are moving towards”, says Gilani, though it has yet to be implemented.

Long-term issues Gilani believes the matrix could prove useful, especially in solving the problem ArcelorMittal has with its two to five-year expatriate assignments. He explains that if the company’s “top-tier best people” are to be attracted to take up such assignments, then they have to be guaranteed a job in their home country or in a developed country once their period abroad is over.

“That’s the biggest problem we have with mobility,” says Gilani. He says it is easier to interest staff in short-term assignments of three to six months, and where they are employed directly by the company on local contracts.

Nestlé’s Root is aware of the risk of disenchanted returnee assignees leaving the company. “No one is sent on assignment without a return plan,” says Root.

And this is supplemented by each assignee having twice-yearly conversations with a sponsor in their home country. All assignments are integrated into the employee’s career and development plan. Clearly this works, as Nestlé has a 100% retention rate.

Hays’ Timlin recognises that the link between global mobility and talent management is not always seamless and well-defined. However, she illustrates how the two can work in tandem by citing how Hays appointed two senior managers with international experience to set up a new office abroad, with the aim of “building it out with local talent”.

As economic globalisation drives the need for people with the skills to work and manage internationally in greater numbers than ever before, such examples could become the norm.

Key to this will be treading the fine line between meeting the demands of individual employees, and the strategic talent needs of the business. It is often said ‘you can’t please all of the people all of the time’, but increasingly that’s just what talent and mobility professionals will be expected to do.

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Movers & Shakers

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9-20 RECRUITMENT: The •Scottish IT specialist has taken

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on Matthew Johe as head of business development.

Emma Mirrington, co-founder of The Forum for In-House Recruitment Managers (The FIRM), becomes talent director at Capita-owned resourcing firm Write Research in January.

She moves from the position of head of talent at Mars Chocolate, having previously recruited at BSkyB and Unilever.

Mirrington’s new role is on part-time basis, giving her the opportunity to continue to develop The FIRM, which she co-founded as a LinkedIn group in 2007.

Write Research, which has a staff of around 30, creates and maintains talent pipelines for client firms and was acquired by outsourcing giant Capita in October, being incorporated into the Capita Managed Services business.

has taken on Tom Dinwiddy as manager of its sales & marketing practice, and Alan Lloyd to launch a new analytics practice.

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HARVEY NASH: Tom Crawford, the recruiter’s co-founder, former MD and currently a non-exec director, is to retire next year.

Stupple is promoted to operating director of the secretarial and business support division of the Page Personnel brand.

to the role of director of global operations at the pharmaceutical recruiter.

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• PEDERSEN & PARTNERS: Beryl Chu joins the exec recruiter as

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partner in Shanghai with new principals Alexander Terpigorev and Zuzana Vrbová arriving in Moscow and Bratislava respectively.

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Bloggers with Bite

PLANET EARTH CALLING PROCUREMENT… For all procurement people working on recruitment-related projects: please get real!

‘T

enderers will be expected to submit ex-VAT prices for the duration of the contract (four years).’

What, you really expect us to hold our prices for the duration of the contract? I take it that you will not have any pay rises for the next four years in procurement then? Or do you not understand that you are, in effect, saying ‘reduce your profit margin and consequently lose your good staff to someone else who will pay them more, then with the losers who are left provide us with a worse service and lose the contract when it comes up again?’

Procurement can be the bane of our lives.

Box-ticking jobsworths who, in the famous phrase, “know the price of everything and the value of nothing”.. We We’ve nothing ve all burned the midnight oil on a tender only to have it rejected because it was a nanosecond after deadline or because you didn’t know your ISO from your elbow.

Actually, some procurement people are very good, and they get just as frustrated with the useless ones as the customers do. I know.

I’ve worked in the last year with a major

Alastair Blair works as thePotentMix, an independent expert on recruitment, media and marketing. www. thepotentmix. co.uk/medianewsletter

procurement group and specifically with a brilliant procurement manager who really did learn about the industry and was prepared to innovate and employ a degree of common sense. She and her organisation were a pleasure to work with. But there are still too many others who don’t ‘get it’…

The one thing I did learn from working ‘on the other side’, was that compliance is everything. EU rules mean that no procurement person wants to take a risk with anything that might lead to a legal challenge.

That’s why we all have to fill out those forms about insurance, accounts, elf’n’safety, how many wind turbines your company has, etc etc.

I am afraid that, a bit like Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, you soon learn that resistance is futile. Learn to play by the ‘rules’. What any normal person would regard as common sense doesn’t apply. Answer the questions not with what you want to say but with what they want you to say.

You’ll have an opportunity, admittedly usually in response to a really badly-drafted question, to say how great you are, but most of the time, and especially for PQQs [pre-qualification questionnaires], they want to see how good you are at box-ticking, and how you are going to minimise any chance whatsoever of the teensiest risk knackering the contract and leading to a successful legal challenge based on EU procurement requirements (the one thing procurement people fear).

However, that still doesn’t solve the fouryear pricing problem. So here’s a request to all procurement people working on any recruitmentrelated tender. Get expert advice, learn about the subject, don’t make unrealistic demands on pricing, do monitor the contract properly (very rare indeed!), and if your supplier delivers quality at a reasonable margin don’t screw them down even further. Not much to ask for, is it?

Procurement can be the bane of our lives. Box-ticking jobsworths who, in the famous phrase, “know the price of everything and the value of nothing” What do you think? Tell us at recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk

TO POST YOUR COMMENTS, GO ONLINE

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