Recruiter February 2014 by Redactive Media Group

February 2014

www.recruiter.co.uk

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR RECRUITMENT AND RESOURCING PROFESSIONALS

andSoMe Putting g a rather more social face on recruitment advertising and employee engagement

GOING MOBILE? SEE P36

REVEALED: THE REVIVAL OF RESEARCH Keeping the conversation going despite all the technological noise

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IN-HOUSE REWARDS

THE CHALLENGE

How to incentivise your recruitment team to consistently produce the right results

Video Arts plays a starring role in Lloyds Register — Marine’s major recruitment campaign

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Contents

Music historians know that the expression ‘Going mobile’ predates the widespread consumer use of mobile phones, and can probably be traced to The Who’s eponymous 1971 song. The song, written by The Who’s Pete Townshend, was said to have been about “celebrating the joys of having a mobile home and being able to travel the highways at will”. Today, going mobile is about travelling the information highway at will and helping others — like job candidates — to do the same. Our Smart Resourcing special supplement focuses on just that. While many organisations have been slow to adopt mobile in their recruitment programmes, others like Marriott International, Morrisons and Thomas Cook are looking to take the candidate world by storm by simply helping them to use their communication tool of choice to get in front of employers of choice. These companies offer some highly instructional case studies of getting mobile to work for them. Standing on Recruiter’s Soap Box this month is Gavin Jones of Energize Recruitment Solutions, who makes a strong case for putting service levels at the forefront of recruiting standards. Gavin argues that his company’s commitment to great service is “the natural evolution for recruitment”. Who could disagree? See Gavin’s manifesto for making our industry and profession better (p19), and consider just how much sense he’s making there. And speaking of recruiting standards: be sure to see our March issue for the shortlist of our Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2014!

D D D k Editor DeeDee Doke,

NEWS 5

Don’t touch our employer brand say resourcers In-house resourcing heads don’t want to relinquish brand control to RPOs

Diversity with a public face Emirati grads in demand UAE employers are keen on snapping up internationally experienced future leaders

FEATURES 28 COVER STORY Manda Crowder and Mark Rice, co-founders of andSoMe 33 Research comes of age Anticipating future skill needs and building a talent pipeline are key to research 36 Special supplement:

Smart Resourcing

Shining lights of stafﬁng

Mobile career sites are no longer a luxury but a musthave for employers

Staffline and Impellam have outperformed their peers despite the recession 8 Tech & tools 10 Special report: Get the inside track on developers’ thinking. Stack Overflow highlights its latest survey findings

ANALYSIS 14 Sector Analysis Charity & Third Sector 17 Global Spotlight on Mexico 23 Insight Incentivising internal recruiting staff

REGULARS 13 On tumblr this month 19 Interaction

Soapbox: Gavin Jones Ricky Martin Soundbites 24 The Challenge 19 19 21

Lloyds Register and Video Arts 46 Movers & Shakers Industry moves 50 Bloggers with Bite:

Jenny Rollinson

WHO’S HIRING?

Scan here to get your own copy of Recruiter

47 Recruiter Republic 48 Call Centre Associates,

Calverton Finance, Consort Group 49 Integra

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: Matt Bodimeade T: +44 (0)20 7880 7606 matt.bodimeade@recruiter.co.uk Contributing writers: Sam Burne James, Christopher Goodfellow, Sam Sachdeva, Sue Weekes Production editor: Vanessa Townsend T: +44 (0)20 7880 7602 vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk Art editor: Adrian Taylor ADVERTISING Business development manager: Tom Culley T: +44 (0)20 7880 7607 tom.culley@recruiter.co.uk 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@abacusemedia.com • 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. © 2014 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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START-UP SUCCESS: WHY NOW IS THE TIME TO BE YOUR OWN BOSS Within just one month, over 35,000 companies have been set up in the UK (StartUp Britain, January 2014). The backbone of the UK economy has been and still is the SME market. In 2013 the FSB released İgures showing that 99.9% of all privately owned companies in the UK are SME’s. Without small businesses the UK’s outlook would not be so rosy. What’s needed now is for the next generation of entrepreneurs to take the step into business ownership – so isn’t it time the recruitment sector started to catch up? When you think about your relationship with work, how often do you consider being your own boss? The recession has hit hard and whilst being made redundant can be unfavourable, it can also force people to make life-changing decisions that would otherwise be ‘stuck in a

rut’. Some choose to start their own business, and for many they have found increased success, money and happiness. However for most, starting your own business can sound daunting and costly. Not so – through our many years of experience we have learnt that you need a solid plan along with the motivation, passion and the willingness to succeed, and being positive helps! There has never been a better time to start-up a business on your own. With the advent of social media and home-based working, gone are the days when you needed a large budget to launch your business and an ofİce that will drain your salary of İrst year earnings! It’s easier than ever to tell people you’re here and to deliver the quality service that your clients want. Across the country recruiters are questioning the standard recruitment model, and in the buzz of the upturn they want a greater share in the rewards of their hard work. High billing recruitment consultants deserve a more equitable share of the proİts, and the industry is always looking for more innovative ways to work.

100 years’ collective recruitment experience. Horizon RCS provides a 360 degree support facility that cannot be matched by other recruitment incubator companies. Horizon RCS offers recruiters the opportunity to break free and start their own successful company without needing to provide any initial capital, bypassing the huge İnancial burdens placed on recruitment start-ups. Janet De-Havilland, Managing Director of Horizon RCS says; “Having worked in the Recruitment Industry for over 21 years which includes start-ups and driving early stage environments; there is no better time for experienced recruiters to break out on their own. Horizon RCS is the ideal partner who will provide everything you need to get started, with no upfront costs.” Horizon RCS is the only recruitment incubator that can proudly boast of

providing all of the expertise needed in-house. Futurelink Group has been in the business of supporting recruiters for over 18 years and with the launch of Horizon RCS, recruiters will have the opportunity to become part of the future evolution of the recruitment industry. If this sounds of interest to you and you want to İnd out more about Horizon RCS can help, it’s easy – just contact Neil Arnett who will explain how to become your own boss. Just think – work when you want, how you want, and take home more pay? Wouldn’t everyone want to start their own business today?

Contact: Neil Arnett on 01923 299660 Neil.Arnett@HorizonRCS.co.uk

With a shift in attitude towards start-ups, and the launch of Horizon RCS, going it alone is as simple as ABC. We are a revolutionary new entrant to the recruitment incubator market, working in partnership with Futurelink Group; a business with a rich history supporting recruiters, and a management team with over The Horizon team, from left: Janet De-Havilland, Neil Arnett, Chantall Bourne, Tiffany Cornwell and Adam Becker

@HorizonRCS /company/horizon-recruitment-consultancy-support

www.HorizonRCS.co.uk | 01923 299660

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DON’T TOUCH OUR BRAND, SAY IN-HOUSE RESOURCING LEADERS Most in-house resourcing leaders want to keep control of their employer brand and not relinquish its management to recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) organisations, a recent discussion hosted by the Work Group in conjunction with The Forum for In-house Recruitment Managers (The FIRM) revealed. Benefits of owning the employer brand internally include greater alignment to the business, global consistency, better employer reputation, a long-term advantage over short-term gains, better ability to build talent pipelines and a better candidate experience, attendees suggested. “No one touches our brand — it’s too valuable,” said Jenni Workman, resourcing delivery manager at the John Lewis Partnership. About 60 senior in-house recruitment professionals attended the inaugural AM Forum event, also attended by Recruiter. Attendees were invited to discuss which

recruitment services they would not want to outsource. Speaker Chris Bones, a leading business educator and former Cadbury-Schweppes HR executive, warned the attendees against accepting “the tyranny of experts” when it comes to understanding and driving a social media strategy. Bones said that too many HR professionals leave responsibility for defining interaction with their external communities, and the understanding of how to interact with them, with consultants. Too often, Bones said, resourcing leaders walk away from conversations with their consultants not understanding either what they have been told or what is occurring

News

with their company’s social media. “They need to make themselves understandable to you,” he added. If the internal recruiters do not understand the strategy and how to work with it, “you’re not going to be as successful”, Bones continued. “There is a challenge around employer brand,” he added. While resourcing and recruitment leaders don’t have to actually conduct the interaction themselves, “it’s important you understand what they [the consultants] are doing to you”. Work Group provides a variety of employee attraction, retention and development services. DEEDEE DOKE deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk

DIVERSITY WITH A PUBLIC FACE AS CIVIL SERVICE CASTS ITS NET WIDER

ARM ALIGNS TRAINING FUNCTION WITH TALENT

•

Aligning the training and recruitment functions is the key to kitting out chip designer ARM with talent, according to Jennifer Duvalier, the company’s new executive vice president, people. Just over four months into the role, Duvalier told Recruiter she is working to ensure talent strategy is at the centre of the business. “Talent acquisition has been moved to sit within a broader, more strategic Talent Centre of Excellence. This enables us to take a holistic view, to align our talent sourcing and talent development activities,” explained Duvalier. Jennifer Duvalier Before joining ARM, Duvalier was group people and culture director at marketing and communications services business UBM. At the moment, 127 positions are advertised at the Cambridge site, where the head office is based, and Duvalier says the company is going to hire “something in the same magnitude” of the 619 new starters they had in 2013.

THE CIVIL SERVICE is casting its net increasingly wide to recruit public servants from diverse backgrounds, engaging with schools and colleges to identify diverse talent at an early age. Civil Service Fast Stream chief assessor and chief psychologist Phil Wilson spoke about identifying “great and diverse talent” at a breakfast discussion on the future of graduate recruitment, hosted by e-recruitment software provider WCN last month [January]. Wilson said the graduate talent management programme had a strong focus on attracting a wide range of candidates, and had improved its diversity levels considerably in recent years. Over half of those in the Fast Stream programme were women, 13% were black and minority ethnic (BME), and 14% were disabled. The programme targeted universities with a higher percentage of working-class students, and also worked with schools and colleges to engage with potential candidates from diverse backgrounds earlier in their lives. “From 13 years old, kids are really getting involved in their career management — some of them are — and that’s what we’re trying to plug into.” Wilson said talented candidates from more diverse backgrounds were easier to identify and support earlier in their lives, as high-ability students from a lower social class often “fell back” academically compared with low-ability students from a higher social class who had better support. From a psychological standpoint, Wilson said stereotyping and FOR MORE NEWS AND unconscious biases against minority COMMENTS GO ONLINE candidates were important issues that needed to be considered by recruiters.

RECRUITER.CO.UK WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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SAM SACHDEVA

CHRISTOPHER GOODFELLOW

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

Work & Family Show 21-22 February, ExCeL, London theworkandfamilyshow. co.uk

Recruitment Agency Expo 25-26 February, Olympia, London recruitmentagencyexpo. com/london

I-COM and LinkedIn recruiter event 27 February (8-11.30am) St James’ Building, Manchester icom.net

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

The Voice of Apprenticeships Conference 4-5 March, The London Film Museum apprenticeships4england. info

Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2014 7 May 2014, Grosvenor House Hotel, London recruiterawards.co.uk *Table bookings open now*

FOR MORE NEWS AND COMMENTS, GO ONLINE

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

“We are seeing a trend for senior executives to go dark — to disengage from social media” CHRIS MOLLOY, CEO OF RSA ON A POSSIBLE NEW DIGITAL DIVIDE

UAE FIRMS SEEK EMIRATI GRADS WITH INTERNATIONAL MINDSET Employers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seeking to develop a pipeline of future Emirati leaders who have been educated abroad brought their talent quest to a London careers fair last month. Emirati graduates with degrees ranging from business to engineering are in high demand with employers that are UAEowned as well as multi-national companies with UAE operations, many of whom had stands at the UAE Embassy-hosted event. Exhibitors included BP, Etihad Airways, Serco and Standard Chartered Bank. The London event was considered sufficiently important that organisations’ key UAEbased resourcing heads flew to the UK to meet and greet attending students and staff stands. One exhibitor told Recruiter that the opportunities on offer would allow Emirati graduates

UAE employers are keen to attract a pipeline of leaders with international experience

to get in on the ground floor of experiencing, delivering and understanding potentially “iconic” products and services that had previously never even been used in the UAE. While degrees are important, even more essential in Emirati graduates was “the ability to understand people from other countries, that international mindset”, said an exhibitor from UAE defence and specialised

manufacturing company Tawazun. “If you are not experienced in that, you will be limited.” The exhibitor said he had also recently attended a similar event aimed at Emiratis studying in the US. The UAE Embassy did not return emails or phone calls from Recruiter for follow-up information on the event. DEEDEE DOKE deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk

AMS BUILDS EMPLOYER BRAND SERVICE RECRUITMENT PROCESS outsourcing ﬁrm Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS) •is putting renewed emphasis on its employer brand management service

(EBMS) by building its staff and fully integrating the operation within the overall business. Having employer brand specialists sitting side by side with the company’s on-site recruitment teams is a key part of the strategy to drive the brand throughout clients’ recruitment process, Adam Shay, AMS’s global head of employer brand management, has told Recruiter. “We’re becoming more integrated with the entire AMS business, so as much as we’re keen to work on big, sexy employer branding and digital projects, we’re equally keen to deliver the employer brand across the multiple candidate touch points. We don’t believe many organisations do this particularly well,” said Shay, who joined the company last August. The EBMS team currently consists of 26 people in three regions. Their roles include employer branding consultants, project managers, and creative and digital specialists. The division is expected to grow by 20% in 2014. “We’re planning on growing our digital capability and we’re always looking at strong talent in the field of employer branding with a specific focus on people who can link the brand to the day-to-day recruitment requirements of our clients,” said Shay, adding that it can be difficult to find people who can combine the implementation know-how with strong consultation skills. The new hires will include project managers for branding and social media in both the US, where the AMS’s business is growing “rapidly”, according to Shay, and the UK. Recent hires include Sarah Lenton, lead consultant, employer brand; Liz Weeks, lead manager USA; and Zenna Smith-Allen, project manager. CHRISTOPHER GOODFELLOW WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

06/02/2014 16:14

News

“The little black book still exists, but it has always been something of a myth” FREELANCE RESEARCHER, JOCELYN BUXTON

“I can’t use up all my energy, I need to save some for tweeting!”

“Profiteering is a very serious allegation”…

OVERHEARD AT ENHANCE MEDIA’S THE YEAR AHEAD 2014 ONLINE RECRUITMENT CONFERENCE

THE REC’S TOM HADLEY RESPONDS TO SHADOW BUSINESS SECRETARY CHUKA UMUNNA’S ALLEGATIONS

STAFFLINE AND IMPELLAM: SHINING LIGHTS OF STAFFING Staffline and Impellam’s share price growth have out-performed their industry peers by a ratio of more than seven-to-one in the last five years. The price of Staffline’s shares increased by 1,720% between 2009 and 2013 — potentially turning a £1k investment into £18,205 — and Impellam’s grew by 1,327%, according to Recruiter’s analysis. By contrast Matchtech, which had the third best performance among the eight large listed recruiters considered, increased by 187%. In 2009, the staffing sector was facing the onset of the worst recession since any of these companies launched. “You have to bear in mind that the sector has been stuck in recession for the last few years. It is highly operationally geared and the more cyclical area of recruitment is perm,” David O’Brien, analyst at Shore Capital, told Recruiter, noting that Staffline and Impellam had much lower exposure to permanent recruitment compared to the rest of the group. Staffline’s on-site model Sue Dodd helped reduce the amount of business it lost during the recession, according to analysts. “Staffline is very much a quality offering in that market and they started to gain traction at the start of the recession. It became attractive because they were saying to clients; ‘we can save you money,’” Sue Dodd, director at Agile Intelligence, told Recruiter. O’Brien added that the company gained around 13 on-site customers per year over the period. The firm also launched a training business and boosted revenue by making acquisitions (in 2012 alone, Staffline

acquired DKM Driving, Go New Recruitment, Select Appointments and GB Resourcing). Impellam was formed in May 2008 through the merger of The Corporate Services Group and Carlisle Group. It then started a major restructuring in 2009. One analyst told Recruiter that at the start of the period the company’s shares were like “penny stocks”. “With the case of Impellam, it particularly reflects the five-year valuation,” Adrian Kearsey, equity analyst at Hardman & Co, explained to Recruiter: “The valuation relative to others was very low.” Since its formation, Impellam has been able to significantly reduce operating costs. “It became a very efficient business over the last three, four years. The chairperson at the time [Cheryl Jones] removed a lot of cost and inefficiency from the business. Five to six years ago it was highly indebted and has since been transformed into a very cash-generative business, resulting in them paying off their debt,” said O’Brien. Talking about the Julia Robertson structural changes Impellam has been through, Julia Robertson, chief executive officer, who started at Carlisle Group, told Recruiter: “One of the key elements of our success … is putting customers at the heart of our decision making. In practical terms, what that has meant for our business success and financial performance is that we have been trusted to run managed service programmes and RPOs for trusted brands, where many would have said we were punching above our weight.” CHRISTOPHER GOODFELLOW

EXIMIUS REFORM REFLECTS NEW FOCUS •

A RADICAL REFORM inside the Eximius Group is underpinning its strategy of being a true specialist, managing director of Eximius Technical, Ed Stevens, has told Recruiter. The restructuring of the group, that began 18 months ago, and its subsequent rebranding, is due to be completed by the end of March. The results saw Eximius Finance, Eximius Operational and Eximius Front Office subsumed into Eximius Financial. A new legal arm, Eximius Legal, was also created. Eximius Technical became Eximius Energy to reflect the focus on the oil & gas sector. Stevens said that these changes went hand-in-hand with internal changes to make the company stand out as a niche player. This meant having specialist consultants, a centre of excellence within each of its brands, more focus on cross-selling and increasing net fee income from existing clients through its client management programme. Much of that programme, Stevens said, “is about understanding what are the client’s hardest-to-fill positions and locations”. Following the restructuring, every consultant has a defined demarcation: a candidate specialism, a location focus — for example, Norway or Aberdeen — as well as being dedicated to contract or permanent recruitment. “By having that three-pronged approach to client management we are able to track, say, Norwegian individuals who could potentially work in different locations around the globe and regularly relocate them back to Norway, which clients find very useful,” Stevens said.

Contract News Alexander Mann Solutions: Talent Collective is acquired by the RPO specialist… Argyll Scott: Acumen Resources’ UK business acquired by the exec recruiter… Barracuda: The search specialist launches a new private equity division… Concept Resourcing: The recruiter has chosen SEO agency Miromedia.co.uk to provide search-marketing services… Cordant Group: The multi-brand recruitment agency has acquired medical, education and social work recruiter Sugarman Group… Debenhams: Partnership announced with The House of St Barnabas to donate suits to the homeless… Data Alliance: The data company has partnered with DataSift… de Poel Clarity: The workforce specialist has acquired compliance companies CompliWithUs and Compliance Passport… Driver Hire: Amanda Jeffries is the new owner of its Wisbech and Fens franchise… Mölnlycke Health Care: The healthcare provider has awarded a new contract to recruitment process outsourcer CPH… NES Global Talent: The engineering specialists have signed an agreement with liquefied natural gas company BG Group… Nicholas Associates: The recruiter has merged with Trinity Recruitment Group… Pertemps: Partnered with Families in Business to provide recruitment services to members… PC Recruit: The agency has secured £50k from invoice finance providers Positive Cashflow Finance… Talent Q: Integrates with Oracle Talent Management Cloud

COLIN COTTELL colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk

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News

Tech & tools

SELF-SERVICE RECRUIT PLATFORM LAUNCHES n online self-service recruitment platform has launched out of beta testing, which allows organisations to manage their recruitment advertising and processes from one site. Ben Barney, managing director of Krooter.co.uk, told Recruiter that with self-service principles being applied to other business processes, recruitment is also “ripe” for such treatment. “Be it email marketing campaigns, online advertising or online accountancy, digitally-savvy individuals are taking more control of their business processes,” he said. “We’re majoring on self-service from end-to-end and using technology to empower people to make the right decisions. So, for example, on job board selection we’ll make recommendations based on job role and location but the user has total control and can choose their own.” Ben Barney Barney explains that the service is typically used by small- to mid-sized companies for “average salary” permanent roles for which agency fees are hard to justify or recruiters do Bridget Kelly not have the time to recruit directly. Users pay a single fee of £299 per advertisement and this allows them to post to five different job boards (it currently has links with 40 of the main job boards but plans to include all UK boards eventually). Those who recruit in larger numbers can buy credit up front, called Krootons, and the more Krootons they buy, the cheaper the service becomes. The price can come down to £175 for one advert to five boards. Krooter provides help when writing job advertisements if required and templates for various tasks, and also acts as an applicant tracking system when candidates apply. What adds real value to the service for the user though is the intelligence built into the system. Algorithms will help to create a shortlist of candidates and also deduce which job boards will be best for that position. “There are a lot of tasks that zap your time and we’ve put effort into the areas that will deliver real value,” explained Barney, who added that a team of account managers provide a human element to the shortlisting to make sure the algorithms are

working as well as they could be. One of the organisations involved in the beta testing was the business-to-business sales accelerator company, SCI Sales Group. Bridget Kelly, head of HR and learning and development at the company, has used it to recruit for a range of positions including business development, account management and data related roles. “The concept is really good and it works,” she said. “I’ve used services before where you pay a fee and a job appears on five job boards, but they don’t offer all of the other functionality. The way it flags up the relevance of CVs is really useful and accurate. You certainly get the numbers and quality of candidates. I recruited five business development managers from one posting.” Kelly said among the other features she liked about the service were the metrics and statistics, presented in a simple graph, which tell you which job boards/channels have been most effective. “I’m more likely to try a niche/bespoke job board, as the risk is minimised because of the luxury of using five job boards,” she said. “We try to be as objective and scientific in our recruitment process as possible but there is always some trial and error. We’re in a period of growth this year so my team are going to be really busy. Krooter helps to make us more efficient with our time.”

Be in the in crowd of resourcing A new recruitment platform that makes use of crowd-sourcing techniques to create a marketplace for recruiters around the world to come together and compete for work has been launched. Although US-based, Mike Achilles, founder and president of Crowd Recruiting, told Recruiter that it has just introduced the availability to post UK job orders and offers GB pounds currency as commission. “We did this as a direct result of recruiters in the UK asking for it,” he said. “We also had demand in Canada, Australia and from various places around Europe, so we now support five currencies.” Achilles, a technologist and entrepreneur who has launched two staffing companies in the US as well as an international job board, said he found it difficult to balance the needs for both sales and recruiting each day. Around 80% of job orders would remain unfilled, so he would contact independent recruiters, sourcers, RPOs and other staffing companies to fill them. While this was successful, he was then left with the problem of managing all of the relationships, administration and communication that went Mike Achilles with this, which is what the Crowd Recruiting platform seeks to address. “Our focus is recruiters helping recruiters,” he explained, adding: “We want recruiters to come to us as their last resort … we’re working hard to integrate with various applicant tracking systems to allow recruiters to push their job orders to us when they aren’t successful on their own.” Recruiters can post their job orders to a worldwide network of recruiters and invite competitive proposals to fill the roles. Alternatively, they can set their budget upfront and invite recruiters they know from the network to work on filling the role. “Any recruiter from almost 200 countries can actively recruit on those requirements if they choose,” said Achilles. “In short, Crowd Recruiting provides the ability to create an on-demand recruiting team that can grow or shrink depending on daily needs.” The platform can also be used by recruiters and agencies that have candidates looking for roles. “An agency recruiter may have a great .net candidate in London but no active job orders. That recruiter can look in Crowd Recruiting to see if any other recruiters are looking for one,” said Achilles. www.crowdrecruiting.com

www.krooter.co.uk SUE WEEKES

RECRUITER

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SPECIAL REPORT

Web comments NHS reduces numbers being paid off-payroll (29 January) Perhaps all the off-payroll staff should describe themselves as locums and be paid £75,249 - £101,451 a year which, according to NHS Jobs, seems to be the going rate for locums. Problem solved?

DEVELOPERS TALK CAREERS Stack Overﬂow is a question-and-answer site for professional and enthusiast programmers. They recently surveyed 7,500 site visitors about market trends. On this page, global results are revealed. See p12 for UK results

Dean Lipscombe Cameron promises to slash ‘crazy’ red tape (27 January) If he [David Cameron] is so concerned at SME crazy red tape, why is he considering directing apprenticeship funding to SMEs direct to tie them up even more? SMEs are reporting that if further paperwork has to be done by them then they will give up taking on unemployed young apprentices altogether!

Jim Clarke UK financial services sector bouncing back (21 January) I still think we’re a little way from this translating in to significant hiring. There is risk aversion which will probably never go away and shouldn’t. Restructures will mean that new skills will need to be hired in the new operating model and this is where most hiring will be, as well as in areas with a spotlight on for regulatory reasons, risk springs to mind.

Tim Baker Recruitment bodies hit back at Miliband’s comments on the Swedish Derogation (7 January) Our view is that this working practice is perfectly valid when used correctly and for the right purposes. We are confident that our customers/employees working on the PBA route do so compliantly and are fully informed of the implications of the contract they are signing into.

Alison Salas

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News

SPECIAL REPORT

Stack Overﬂow’s market trends: UK results

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Interaction

SOAP

BOX

Benchmark your service levels

Gavin Jones, managing director of IT and digital staffing specialist Energize Recruitment Solutions, argues that the time has come to put service levels at the forefront of recruiting standards The recruitment industry is playing a crucial part in the recovery of the UK economy. The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) forecasts that the sector will grow at a rate of 7.3% in 2014-15, with sales reaching an all-time high of £31bn. This is impressive bearing in mind the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) states the UK will grow at only 1.9% in the same period. Yet as the industry continues to grow, how can we measure our service levels? Which recruitment company is the market leader in service standards and who is falling short? Industry leaders constantly advocate that our sector should be recognised as a professional service, but is this possible when we are so focused on growing sales, with service levels taking a back seat? A way of resolving this dilemma is to work alongside independent bodies such as The Institute of Customer Service, which provides a service benchmark across a range of industry sectors. Members of the Institute, including organisations such as Pannone Solicitors and Boots, contact 100 of their customers twice a year to gather feedback on vital areas such as quality and speed of service, competence of staff and communication. These scores are then indexed and every member can compare their performance against other companies in their sector. At the time of writing, no recruitment business is a member of this Institute. Why? Energize is leading the way in setting a benchmark Surely, with the help of governing bodies and other recruitment companies, we can put together our own benchmarking tool that allows us to monitor service. In January 2013 Energize Recruitment embarked on a 360-degree feedback programme with our staff, candidates and clients to better

RICKY MARTIN

So what are the options? As business owners, CEOs, leaders of governing bodies, we have a decision to make. We can continue to allow bad practice to remain hidden, or demand a greater transparency by laying our performance at the mercy of the customer. Sites like www.recruitmentreviews. com have seen varying degrees of success, but until recruiters accept the necessity to measure competency through a certified system, recruitment as a ‘professional service’ is nothing but a wishful daydream. Delivering great service is not at the expense of sales and profits but the exact opposite. They are two sides of the same coin so let’s start measuring both.

Finding excellence in new recruitment consultants

From 2012 when I first opened HRS’s doors, I have been in the fortunate position of growing the business. As any recruitment owner will know a company can only grow if it has the right amount of business, and in turn great people to service it. With this in mind, I have kept my eyes on the market looking for good recruitment consultants who can join my business and become a part of our family. The real question this has made me ask is “What really makes a good recruitment consultant?” Previously I had worked for a major company where bringing one recruiter on board might change the team dynamics but not the business culture. However, going from a company from 1-2, 2-5, 5-10, 10-20 and so on does mean that every time a new person joins any business of this size then the culture of the business is at risk with every hire. Each new person is a significant percentage of your headcount. If you are building your business like mine off the back of strong ethics and values, then a significant cultural change of your company is not necessarily something you want. Agility and flexibility in your market is one thing. But changing the backbone of the company via its culture is another. So when I looked at hiring I asked others what they think makes a good recruitment consultant. The answers I heard can be summarised to the following points: • One that generates a significant ROI via sales. • Somebody who lives and breathes customer service. • A recruiter who socially gets on with the team yet is their own person.

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understand our service levels and what improvements could be made. While this does not create a competitor standard, the insight to our personal performance is invaluable. We believe our commitment to great service is the natural evolution for recruitment, similar to the legal sector, whereby firms are governed for measureable performance. We presented our customer feedback scores to every consultant and there was a clear correlation between the highest service scores and our top performers. Taking this a step further we identified which values and behaviours would help drive service excellence and these now form part of our initial hiring process. To create a culture of continuous improvement, service scores have also been embedded into reward, recognition and promotion schemes. From the survey response we identified the need to invest significantly to improve our market knowledge in each IT vertical. We instantly spent heavily in external training so that each consultant has the upmost understanding of their market. This is just one area of investment that will not only lead to higher service scores, but also allow us to achieve our vision “to become the market leader of service standards in the global IT & digital recruitment industry”.

• A professional who knows their market and is known as an expert. Arguably the answer is all of the above. For me the most important has been anything which shapes the cultural fit of the person to my business. This therefore is not the pound signs and sales history of the person. It is the individual behind the CV. This is very much how The Apprentice hires. I was initially assessed on my ability, passion and character (my competency) for 11 weeks and then final decisions were made on my business plan (a CV) in the 12th and final week. So putting the person before the resumé resulted in my personally getting hired. So each time I hire in to HRS it is about assessing the person behind the CV by interviewing on a competency basis, identifying what is important to that person and why, and genuinely getting to know the candidate. If we share the same vision and values then the cultural fit is not something that needs work; it just happens. As a result, my business has grown, and will continue to, in unity with a shared culture that reflects in our services. You may be looking for a new job as a consultant, or are looking for new staff yourself. If so, make the decisions on what fits your visions/ambitions and values first. Remember, it is about ‘recruitment excellence’ and hiring good recruiters who can ‘consultant’ in your marketplace. The job title is not a recruitment consultant for nothing! Happy hiring all. RICKY MARTIN is managing director and founder of Hyper Recruitment

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

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Interaction

SOUND

BITES

“What is the strangest career change you have come across or instigated?” Leatham Green

Richard Shea

Assistant director, personnel and training, East Sussex County Council

Managing director EMEA, Search, Korn/Ferry Futurestep

The strangest career change I have come across is twofold. Over my career in HR two colleagues have taken a career change late in life — one became a Buddhist monk and moved to Malaysia and the second became a Roman Catholic priest. Both came as a real bolt from the blue as they had been so silent about their faiths — life changing and still inspiring.

Steve Thompson-Martyn Director, CDL Consulting

The most bizarre request started out in a pretty straightforward way. A factory supervisor wanted to retrain as a tree surgeon. All good so far. He was also to supplement his income by providing whole time cover as a retained firefighter. He had invested £1k in equipment and was enrolled on a course. As someone who is not great with heights I applauded him on his ability to master this particular element, to which he replied that he too was scared of heights... he had figured he would only have to work on trees at ground level and as for the fire service there were a lot of bungalows in his area! A very expensive lesson in thinking through all aspects of a career change. ANALYSIS: Government proposals on combatting false self-employment ‘unreasonable’ says APSCo (5 February) At last the government is making it an even playing field for us legitimate recruiters. We will now be able to charge a fair price and compete on quality rather than being undercut by these shady practices. Well done HMRC and the government — it’s not often I get a chance to say that.

WEB

CHAT

Malcolm Elson Umunna wrong on highly-skilled EU workers, says Staffline CEO (17 January) I share Andy Hogarth’s sentiments and his message needs to get through to politicians and many of the electorate who live in the same ‘virtual’ world as UKIP in which the UK’s doors would be closed to foreign nationals, including EU nationals if a UK referendum on EU membership disastrously led to our withdrawal from the EU! Business leaders need to stand up to the ridiculous argument perpetrated by many politicians — particularly

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The strangest career change I have been faced with at Futurestep was when a geologist within a global oil company changed their role and became a software sales executive for one of the largest software companies in the world. This candidate had been a geologist for three years, but had become disillusioned with the oil industry and so took an opportunity to go into sales. They had always had an interest within technology, but no sales background. Since then, they’ve become very successful in their new chosen field.

Kris England-Smith Training and development director, Penta Consulting

A good example is within our own team. Ghassan Latif joined Penta eight months ago with a background in pretzels. For the previous three years he had been running an Auntie Anne’s pretzel franchise in Basingstoke. He came to Penta via a referral and is doing very well working as a product strategy consultant across the Middle East and Africa. His focus on getting the ingredients right in his prizewinning pretzels pays off with his innate ability to find candidates who offer the right skills and qualities to fill difficult ‘rolls’.

Conservative backbenchers and UKIP — that the UK should ‘go it alone’. Migrant workers from the EU and further afield are a massive factor in a sustained economic recovery and good for the UK. I just wish more business leaders would bang the drum in favour of migrant workers, as their businesses would collapse without them.

religion and personal presentation skills. This is why we have laws against recruitment discrimination. It’s much easier to ascertain if any discrimination has taken place, if it follows a candidate actually attending an interview.

David Scarlett

GLA to contact Channel 4 over worker exploitation shown in Benefits Street (14 January) Not for the first time the GLA is finding out about the serious cases through the media — not the other way round! Why are millions of taxpayers’ and licence fee payers’ pounds thrown at the ‘intelligenceled’ GLA if it relies on watching the telly to find out what is going on?

Accident insurance allegations: Staffing companies could face ‘unlimited fines’ (29 January) In response to Chuka Umunna’s comments, I think we can now see that the unions own the Labour Party lock, stock and barrel. They hate temp agencies and have forced through much of the tedious ‘easy to trip over’ legislation which threatens to destroy the industry and the UK’s flexible labour market.

Rebecca Fuller

John Lerner

Tom Atkinson YouTube enabling recruiters to reboot and refresh (5 February) But videos are so discriminatory! They allow shortlisting based on a candidate’s age, sex, ethnicity, pretty/ugly, even

A scene from Channel 4’s Beneﬁts Street

RECRUITER

FEBRUARY 2014

06/02/2014 16:11

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06/02/2014 11:06

Insight

Incentivising internal recruitment staff TO DEVELOP A STRONG INCENTIVE SCHEME, MANAGERS MUST LOOK AT GOING BACK TO BASICS, PETER LOVELL ARGUES Incentivising internal recruitment staff is a key tactical facet for any recruitment manager, and at Jagex I’ve been spearheading that for more than four years. To develop a strong incentive scheme, managers must analyse the structure and strategy architecture relating to in-house recruitment personnel. At Jagex, our shift in recruitment strategy was prompted by the decision to aggressively inflate the size of the studio ahead of the pre-production of our upcoming online computer game, Transformers Universe. Solid foundations Previously, Jagex would mainly look for solid graduates. This was achieved by building strong links with universities, bringing talent through, getting them started in junior roles, and then developing them internally. The reasoning was that because so much of our technology is bespoke and proprietary, more experienced candidates would have to unlearn what they knew before learning our internal systems and software. But with the announcement of the new game, it became clear the company needed to increase staff numbers with experienced individuals that could develop and deliver a game quickly. To achieve that, the company had to grow the recruitment team with specific qualities, so we brought on agency-experienced recruiters. Before Jagex, my background was very much in agency. As many will no doubt testify, transitioning from agency to in-house is significant, bringing with it a fundamental switch in motivation. In an agency environment the motivation is pretty much a financial one, as the hire equals cash. The positive side of that is in-agency recruiters are very good at dealing with huge amounts of candidates and requirements. They have to take on as much as is physically possible in a working day, and have an innate drive to fill the roles to secure lucrative payments with every success. In an in-house environment it’s almost the complete opposite. Recruiters take time to consider candidates and take longer during the hiring process to ensure the match is the right one for the company, and in terms of a cultural fit. We also have a responsibility for retention, again different to an in-agency recruiter. As recruitment manager, I had to find the middle ground in my team: individuals who wanted to own more of the

recruitment cycle that being an in-house recruiter demands, but still find drive in a competitive environment. My team ticks those boxes, forming a tight-knit and multi-award-winning unit. I look for a certain type of individual whose motivations are in the right place — masters in the soft sell, which is linked into the inherent motivation that they’re paid well if they get it right. Incentivising With the right team in place, the challenge was to encourage the right behaviours needed for successful hires at Jagex through an incentive scheme that avoided a ‘bums on seat’ approach, ensured quality hires, but also pushed time to hire to be minimal. This is how the internal commission structure at Jagex was developed. We created a matrix that compares open vacancies with the level of difficulty to fit the position. Through our team experience we know and understand the positions that are difficult to fill; we know where there are specific skills shortages in the UK and so widen our search abroad. The commission structure helps incentivise recruitment staff by determining which roles are difficult and which are easy, against the time it takes to fill a role. Critics of course will ask how this strategy ensures the team isn’t self-serving and isn’t just looking to fill the most challenging positions as quickly as possible without considering the impact on the organisation. This is simple: if there are situations whereby people are hired and it’s obvious they were the wrong hire, the commission can be clawed back as it’s paid on a quarterly basis. We are all accountable to each other and the broader goals of the business; a commission structure isn’t the panacea, it is part of a total system that has to work. Supporting this strategy you have to work towards ensuring every avenue is the best it can be. Our events presence is always comprehensive and as pervasive as possible. We combat negative assumptions and overturn them. We’ve got people joining who had never even considered Jagex. You’ve got to get all of the different streams right: talent pipelines; social media; careers presence; advertising. And behind that you need people you can trust that are passionate about what they do about the company pulling the strings — and that’s what I’m fortunate to have.

Power Points And what qualities should your in-house recruiters have in order to earn those incentives? Be naturally inquisitive, seek to understand Be a master of the soft sell, aggression in closing can kill a cycle Have the confidence and ability to raise your profile internally and externally Know your markets and talent pools. Keep a close eye on movers and shakers. Love and live your company values every day

PETER LOVELL is talent acquisition manager at Jagex Games Studio. Jagex Games Studio has a unique reward structure for internal recruitment staff. Lovell’s processes have helped the recruitment team become a stand-out department that consistently meets its targets in the challenging UK computer games sector

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

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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RECRUITER

FEBRUARY 2014

06/02/2014 09:46

The Challenge

Video Arts stars for Lloyds Register Anne-Marie Krivonjeva Recruitment lead

‘PEOPLE LEARN NOTHING WHEN THEY’RE ASLEEP AND VERY LITTLE WHEN THEY’RE BORED’. VIDEO ARTS FOUNDER JOHN CLEESE’S WORDS RANG TRUE WITH LLOYDS REGISTER...

THE CHALLENGE Lloyds Register is certainly no new kid on the block. Established back in the mid-18th century to give merchants information on the seafaring quality of their vessels, Lloyds Register provides independent assurance and expert advice to firms operating high-risk, capital-intensive assets in the energy and transport sectors. Alongside the Energy and Rail divisions, the Marine division comprises experts in niche areas, which include marine or mechanical engineering, naval architecture, metallurgy, fluid dynamics and electro technical systems. In July 2012, Anne-Marie Krivonjeva was brought in as recruitment lead, Lloyd’s Register – Marine, to build a new resourcing team that would support the proposed move of around 400 people from London to a new purpose-built Group Technology Centre, co-located with Southampton University. The challenge faced by Krivonjeva and her team was that Lloyds Register has had a stable workforce, “with very low levels of staff turnover” and so the hiring managers had very little exposure to recruitment. “Managers were willing but lacked confidence,” Krivonjeva told Recruiter. The aim was for managers to be empowered to take control, without relying too heavily on HR. Krivonjeva consulted with managers, and discussed their concerns and what they were lacking. The overwhelming need was for more training on interviewing skills.

In addition, Krivonjeva said, there has been enormous change in legislation around recruitment over the past six to eight years, such as with equality and immigration laws, “and all this meant that hiring managers had to know an awful lot more than they ever did before”.

THE SOLUTION A two-pronged training approach was decided on, which would cover recruitment legislation, as well as practical interviewing techniques. Previously recruitment manager, global R&D for pharmaceuticals company AstraZeneca, Krivonjeva had used video-based learning provider Video Arts in the past and believed an engaging and stimulating programme would be the best way to train hiring managers quickly and give them conﬁdence. “For senior managers with little time on their hands, we needed the training to have maximum impact, so the choice of delivery methods was key,” she said. Like Lloyds Register, Video Arts also has an established heritage, as it was set up in 1976 by the actor John Cleese and broadcaster Anthony Jay to provide engaging learning content for business situations. Even today, the training ﬁlms have famous actors playing the roles and scripts by talented writers including Hugh Laurie and Armando Iannucci. Sally Winter, head of marketing at Video Arts, told Recruiter: “It’s surprisingly easy to get well-known, recognisable actors on board. It helps that a large, BAFTA-award winning production company is

behind us [Tinopolis]. And of course it’s got a powerful brand name, with John Cleese still involved.” Winter said that Lloyds Register approached Video Arts with a welldefined training need, “a significant recruitment exercise requiring managers to be competent and confident in recruiting global talent”. After looking through the relevant training films in Video Arts’ extensive library, between them they decided that the Behavioural Interviewing film (below) would be the best, as it breaks down the interview process, highlighting the competency-based behaviours that the hiring manager needs to recognise.

So Krivonjeva devised a programme entitled ‘Licence to hire’. Part 1 is an e-learning module around recruitment and selection legislation, written by Krivonjeva. “The content is around the theory of best practice recruiting and key aspects of employment legislation, which made it suitable for an e-learning platform,” she said. After completing the module, managers take an assessment, which on successful completion, they receive a certiﬁcate and apply to take Part 2. Part 2 is a one-day interview skills workshop, consisting of a structured interview format and practical exercises, based

Sally Winter Head of marketing

on Behavioural Interviewing and starring actors Kris Marshall and James Nesbitt among other famous faces. The afternoon concentrates on practical work, where managers split off into smaller groups to put in practice what they have learnt. “Even after attending the one-day workshop, managers may still not do an actual interview for a while,” Krivonjeva explained, “so Video Arts has an ON>DEMAND element, which can be accessed remotely via tablets or home devices as a refresher course.” ON>DEMAND was only launched last October, Winter said, but “more and more clients are using the ON>DEMAND option, as the material can be accessed and delivered on any device, any time, any place”, Winter added. “It’s great for trainers as they can push content out to managers,” she said, as well as make their own clips from the video. Recruitment and selection training will continue into March/ April, Krivonjeva said, however the initial feedback from managers has been extremely positive, with all saying their objectives have been met and “already putting the lessons learned into practice”, according to one hiring manager. Finally, Winter told Recruiter: “We try really hard to put the client at the centre of what we do.” Krivonjeva echoed that sentiment, saying Video Arts “were very supportive in what we were trying to achieve. We were able to preview the relevant products and build a proprietary programme. They’re a very customer-focused company”.

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

RECRUITER

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06/02/2014 11:08

Recruitment Matters Issue 22 February 2014

Trade Association of the Year

What’s inside The Intelligence 2 -3 and REC Talk

Theresa May visits the REC to discuss worker exploitation

Spotting green shoots It is estimated that nearly 30 million people around the world are trapped in modern slavery. Recruiters can often help prevent and spot this type of exploitation, as we explore in this issue of Recruitment Matters on pages 4-5. In October, the Home Secretary Theresa May spoke at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) about her department’s work to crack down on worker exploitation. After the meeting, the REC’s chief executive Kevin Green said: “The REC has a strong relationship with the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) and the Home Office, and a shared commitment to eradicating worker exploitation from labour supply chains. We strongly support Theresa May’s plan for an modern slavery bill to address the infiltration of the UK’s labour market by criminal gangs and human traffickers.” One example of an industry in which worker exploitation is common is flower picking. The GLA is calling on agencies that provide flower pickers in Cornwall, as well as the growers themselves, to join them in helping to stamp out worker exploitation through the current season. Problems have been experienced in past years when daffodil picking gets underway in the county, says the GLA, with migrant workers arriving to find their working and living

conditions in the UK do not match what was described. GLA chief executive Paul Broadbent said: “With a large influx of migrant workers to any area over a relatively short period of time, opportunities exist to exploit these vulnerable people who have little or no command of English. “The majority of operators adhere to the necessary regulations in place to protect workers, but there are some unscrupulous businesses who, driven by profit, may underpay or mistreat their workers – cutting corners to make money. “From our perspective, the messages are simple – labour agencies supplying workers for flower picking need to have a current GLA licence and must comply with our licensing standards. Flower growers using labour provided by a gangmaster should only employ pickers from licensed operators and should treat those workers fairly and with respect at all times. If in doubt, call the GLA and we will help you. “And to everyone else in Cornwall, if you suspect unlicensed activity is taking place or workers are being exploited in any way, contact us free and in confidence on 0800 432 0804.” To learn how you can help – and what red flags to look out for – read our expert advice on page 4.

The skills gap, the year ahead for the REC policy makers and how to make the most of economic growth

The plight of 4-5 modern day slavery The government and labour bodies are trying to stop worker exploitation. Here’s how recruiters can help

Update and Business Matters 6Legal The legal lowdown and REC’s new business partner IT First

Institute of Recruitment Professionals We speak to Steve Perkins from Orgtel and Ian Alexander from MAA International Ltd

Best Events and Training 8 The REC Audited Education and the new City Conference Tours

www.rec.uk.com RM p1-FEB.indd 27

06/02/2014 09:52

Leading the Industry

the intelligence Fig 1: Median recruiter turnover growth

The Skills Gap

Employers lack workforce capacity to respond to growing demand, says Nina Mguni

How much capacity is there in your business to take on more work without creating more jobs in the organisation? 100

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2 Recruitment Matters February 2014

RM p2-FEB.indd Sec1:28

Vacancies (000s)

% of respondents

■ None – we would have to take on new staff

520

■ A little – we might take on new staff if demand grew this year ■ A fair amount – we would take on a lot more work now ■ Considerable – we have a great deal of space capacity ■ Vacancies (ONS Vacancy Survey)

0 -5 %

engineering, computing and IT, and education and training are the areas in which employers expect to have the most difﬁculty sourcing appropriately skilled candidates for permanent roles. Technical and engineering is also the area of greatest concern for employers thinking about temporary roles, followed by driving and distribution, and professional and managerial. As Kate Shoesmith, the REC head of policy, stated: “Employers’ inability to improve their workforce productivity without hiring new staff is likely to suppress pay growth in the foreseeable future, as they invest in increasing headcount rather than pay packets. “Starting salaries and hourly pay rates will rise in certain areas where skilled candidates are scarce and companies have to compete for talent. The shortage of candidates with the skills required for a growing number of vacancies is a looming problem.” While the economy appears to be picking up, it will be interesting to see how recruiters respond to the heightened demands for a skilled workforce. Nina Mguni is senior researcher, REC

-10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 Apr 09

Oct

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Fig 2: Median revenue growth & UK job vacancy growth 20 10 0 %

In January, the REC published a report that looked at the UK’s postrecession labour market, reviewing how the jobs market has changed in recent years. The report also drew attention to the long awaited improvements in the labour market data and highlighted some early warning signals that could suppress growth. The report reviewed data from our monthly JobsOutlook report. First, the good news. Increased demand has led to a growing proportion of businesses that have no more capacity to take on further work without creating new jobs (see below); 31% say they have no spare capacity and would have to hire new staff if work increased. Employers have started to increase their headcount, with 21% reporting they have increased their headcount within the year (up from only 4% in 2009). The rate at which employers are reducing headcount has slowed, with only 12% record having made redundancies in the past year, down from 22% in 2009. However, as demand grows, the pertinent question will be whether there are staff of sufﬁcient quantity and quality to meet the demand for more workers. Technical and

15 10

■ RIB median revenue ■ ONS vacancies

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On the up As can be seen in Figure 1, median recruiter turnover growth showed a welcome uptick in November to 6%, reversing the worrying slowdown that we saw in September and in October, and approaching the growth levels that we saw in early summer last year. Encouragingly, growth in the number of job vacancies in the UK reported by the Office for National Statistics has continued to accelerate to just under 15%. Historically, growth in job vacancies has been a good leading indicator of recruiter revenue growth, although for the last six months or so revenue growth has been relatively flat – over the next few months we will monitor this closely for signs of a structural decoupling or a welcome upward acceleration in revenue growth. Combined with this pleasing acceleration in revenue, we are seeing a very positive expansion in profit margins. Figure 2 shows that median net profit margin has increased to 4.7% in November, the highest we have seen for over two years. A combination of accelerating revenues and expanding profit margins makes a wonderful combination for recruiters. • Chris Ansell is chief financial officer at Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB). www.ribindex.com

www.rec.uk.com 06/02/2014 09:53

Leading the Industry

Secrets of the Lobby

The View

Tom Hadley looks at the stats, facts and the power of lateral lobbying A big part of the policy team’s work is to drive campaigns aimed at challenging misconceptions, and improve recognition for our industry’s contribution to the UK economy and labour market. The recent media attention on locum costs in the NHS is a good example of why we need to remain constantly on the front foot. The contribution to the NHS of locum doctors and skilled temporary staff is something to be praised, not denigrated as an unnecessary cost. Of course trusts must have effective procurement and management procedures in place but the reality is that highly skilled flexible staff are a huge benefit to the NHS and its patients. Other REC sector groups are driving similar issues and we will continue to promote the role of specialist recruiters. A crucial weapon in our counter-offensive armoury is access to robust data on the contribution our sector makes to the labour market and wider economy. The most salient facts are that recruiters placed more than 600,000 people into permanent jobs in 2012-13 and that 1.1 million agency workers are fulfilling temporary roles in workplaces across the UK at any time. Another tool is using the subliminal power of what I like to call ‘lateral lobbying’. This is all about positioning our voice to raise overall perceptions of recruitment and strengthen our hand when it comes to pushing back on government. A good example of this is our Youth Employment Charter, which has resulted in other 20,000 young people receiving customised career support from recruiters. The industry contribution in this area was explicitly recognised by the skills minister Matthew Hancock at our House of Lords reception in early January. The need to get out there and drive positive recognition is increasingly important as the political machine cranks up ahead of the 2015 general elections and party manifestos take shape. The REC’s ‘Good Recruitment Charter’ will be a major catalyst for this in 2014. The best lobbying tool we have through is the work that REC members do every day to ensure compliance and to provide excellent service to both clients and candidates. The latest REC JobsOutlook survey shows a 95% satisfaction rate with agencies, so progress is clearly being made. The priority for the policy team is to accelerate this recognition and respect for our sector in our ongoing campaigning work with government and employers.

Confidence is building and plenty of economic data is now positive, so it’s a great time to be in recruitment again. But as the market improves and permanent hiring comes back, who will be the real winners in our sector? It seems clear that the key drivers of growth and superior performance in our industry are those businesses who are great attractors, retainers and motivators of talent. Yes, we are in the human capital business. Historically as an industry we have not been good at positioning recruitment as a career of choice, meaning that people fall into it almost by accident. But times are changing and the REC is leading the way. Our members have gone into schools and helped over 20,000 young people in the last three years. And while we are helping these youngsters develop their CVs or talking to them about what employers want, we are at the same time also positioning recruitment as a good career. We have over 200 recruiters signed up to our Youth Employment Charter and over the next two years we want to double the number involved. (You can sign up here https://www.rec.uk.com/ news-and-policy/policy-and-campaigns/examplenews-item) We now also have apprenticeships in recruitment to help businesses attract and train young people once they have left school. This brings in some government funding too, which can help recruiters cover their training costs. However, while these are important initiatives, it is the team leaders and managers in businesses who must engage, motivate and inspire young people, not only to sign up to recruitment in the first place but also to produce results day after day. Putting time into training your managers as effective people leaders is vital to success in recruitment. Investing in your people is key. As you would expect the REC is again here to help. We have a wide range of industry expertise to call upon – and don’t forget that we reinvest all the money earned from training back into our industry. I hope to see meet as many of you as I can at our UKwide City Conference Tours. https://www.rec.uk.com/business-support/events

• You can follow Tom on Twitter www.twitter.com/@hadleyscomment

• You can follow Kevin on Twitter www.twitter.com/@kevingreenrec

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Recruitment Matters February 2014 3

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The Big Talking Point

The plight of modern-day slavery A

t last year’s Conservative Party Conference, Theresa May, the home secretary, announced that the British government would be introducing an anti-slavery bill in this parliamentary session to address the issue of modern slavery, a serious problem that persists today in the UK. The issue received a lot of media attention following the news of three women imprisoned and enslaved for 30 years in South London in November. In December, May introduced a draft bill alongside the publication of MP Frank Field’s Modern Slavery Evidence Review. Both agreed the need to consolidate deﬁnitions of trafﬁcking and forced labour, and to beef up sentencing guideline. The draft bill increases the maximum sentence for modern slavery offences from 14 years to life imprisonment, indicating just how seriously the UK is now taking this problem. The bill will encourage the government to work more with businesses to ensure that exploitation does David Camp, not creep into their director of the workforce, and will Association of Labour Providers also look to recover

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more of the monies made from this type of exploitation, something that the REC has long called for. “Bonded labour is an extremely serious issue,” says Ben Farber, senior policy advisor at the REC. “The public and employment agencies are all growing more aware of it and enforcement agencies are taking a more proactive role. The question is, how do we improve business processes and build trust?” The Stronger Together initiative is one such way. Launched in October by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), the Association of Labour Providers (ALP), the charity Migrant Help, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and together with major retailers, it is an educational campaign to tackle labour abuse in UK food production, retail and horticulture. The campaign is based around a website, www.strong2gether.org, alongside other resources, guidance and a toolkit containing multi-language posters and leaﬂets, and a series of workshops across the UK. The aim is to engage with over 1,000 farms, food producers and labour providers, who in turn will reach more than 100,000 workers, to tackle what the campaign refers to as “the scourge of modern day slavery, human trafﬁcking, forced labour and other hidden migrant worker exploitation”.

Recruiters can help clients and candidates avoid worker exploitation by learning about the red flags, says Francesca Steele

National referral mechanisms such as these have already prompted signiﬁcant increases in the number of recorded exploitation cases, which are up 67% in the two years up to the end of 2012, according to David Camp, director of ALP and programme co-ordinator for Stronger Together. “The ALP’s aim is for the provision of temporary labour to the UK food and agricultural sectors to be recognised as a model of good practice for all UK employers,” he says. “This is a pioneering initiative for the industry itself to tackle these issues and it’s as much a collaborative exercise. The project is in phases; the ﬁrst phase was to prepare the guidance, the tool-kit, the

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It can be difficult to explain to clients why paying attention to these things matters Sally Hewick, general manager at GI Group

Marshall Evans

video and the advice for HR managers and for employers on the website. The second stage is to start rolling out regional workshops to employers and labour providers. Six have taken place and about 180 organisations have attended so far, and feedback has been very positive.” The challenge for recruiters, says Farber, is ﬁrstly to implement their own

checks on candidates and to maintain relationships with those candidates, but also to get their clients – in other words, in the case of Stronger Together, supermarkets and other end-users in GLA-related industries – to ensure that a process is in place to check workers’ situations and also to trust recruiters and the GLA enough to share any new

What recruiters can do • Register for the stronger2ether website and download the toolkit • Look out for repeat National Insurance numbers and addresses with candidates • Cross-check bank details to make sure several candidates don’t have money going to the same bank • Engage with candidates (and clients). The better your relationships, the more both candidates and clients will trust enough to confide in you if something is wrong. Plus, if you are familiar with a candidate you may yourself notice if something seems awry • If you do notice that something seems wrong, notify the relevant agency, for example, the GLA

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information with them. “The more that the GLA gets out there in front of endusers, the more effectively we will all be able to work together.” Marshall Evans, group operations director of recruiter Staffline, who is on the board of the GLA, agrees. “The GLA has about 1,000 licence holders and I’d say that most now have faith in the GLA that if they come forward with information they won’t have the finger pointed at them. A few years ago, I’m not sure that was the case. In addition, if people are still nervous, we have a hotline which people can call anonymously. But the authority focus is very much on criminality. “There’s a nasty bunch of illegal gangmasters out there but there is a determination to actually get them and to concentrate resources on getting them rather than concentrating on compliance.” Sally Hewick, general manager at GI Group, says that recruiters can make a huge difference. “It can be difficult to explain to clients why paying attention to these things matters – especially when there is so much pressure on fees and value for money. But the starting point is explaining to clients what it is they are getting for their money: what checks recruiters do on their candidates and so on. And how that can help keep the client avoid acquiring a workforce suffering from exploitation.”

Recruitment Matters February 2014 5

06/02/2014 09:54

Legal Update

GETTY

The legal lowdown What’s new in agency worker regulations and zero-hour contracts, asks Lewina Farrell, solicitor and the REC’s head of Professional Services AWR – the recent case of Moran and others v Ideal Cleaning has potentially put the cat among the pigeons regarding the application of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR). In brief, the claimants had been employed by Ideal and supplied on long-term contracts (one since 1987) to work for Ideal’s client. On being made redundant by Ideal, the claimants argued that they were agency workers, entitled to equal treatment under the AWR. This was rejected by both the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) on the grounds that as they were supplied for indefinite periods they were in fact on permanent contracts and could not be temporary workers for the purposes of AWR. The EAT spent some time looking at the evolution of the Temporary Workers Directive (which is implemented in the UK by the AWR) and concluded that ‘temporary’ means short term. We are aware the members have received calls from clients seeking to use this judgement to avoid AWR. However, before members start to amend contracts to place workers on contracts of indefinite duration they must bear in mind the requirements of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, in particular regarding the provision of assignment details, including the length of the assignment. Read the REC’s full analysis of the case in the legal bulletin of Jan/Feb 2014, available here: https://www.rec. uk.com/legal-resources/legal-bulletin Extension of the right to request flexible working – there has been some confusion as to when the right to request flexible working would be extended to all employees. Originally it was supposed to be 2015, then 6 April 2014 but BIS have just announced that it will be delayed until later in 2014. This is because the Children and Families Bill, which brings in the new right, is now

Business secretary Vince Cable

not expected to receive Royal Assent until 21 March. REC will keep members updated as to the date and the nature of the changes. Zero-hours contracts – the government launched a consultation into zero-hours contracts on 19 December 2013. This follows months of public debate regarding the validity and level of use of these contracts across all of UK industry and business. The REC has a number of concerns about assumptions made, deﬁnitions used and the accompanying impact assessment. The REC will engage with members in the coming weeks before submitting a detailed response by 13 March 2014. Pensions auto-enrolment – in January we reported that REC would be running a new series of pensions seminars in 2014. Businesses with up to 499 workers on their payroll as of 1 April 2012 will stage in 2014. It is essential that members give sufﬁcient time to plan for auto-enrolment, so if you haven’t already got a plan in place, we recommend that you attend a seminar as soon as possible. The locations and dates are as follows: Manchester

18th February

Birmingham

20th February

Swindon

4th March

Leeds

1st April

London

10th April

Manchester

13th May

Glasgow

10th June

London

17th June

Birmingham

24th June

Business development: Put IT First The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) has recently announced a business partnership with specialist IT provider IT First. IT First provides IT support, consultancy, product supply, data security, internet and cloud hosted solutions, as well as telephony support, and will be providing REC members with a selection of unique offers for new start up recruitment agencies, as well as established businesses. Operations director at IT First, Simon Gregg (pictured above), said: “We’re delighted to be appointed as an REC Business Partner. We recognise the role that the REC plays in supporting the industry through its extensive range of products and services, so

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to be able to support REC members in areas where the REC need a specialist provider with an in-depth knowledge of the market, is great for our business and ﬁts perfectly with our plans in the sector.” REC chief executive Kevin Green said: “Technology is an important part of every modern recruitment business and recruiters need to look at different ways of maximising their efﬁciency as we look forward to a positive year of growth ahead.” For more information about IT First, their unique REC member offer and how they can help you, visit the IT First webpage on the REC website: https://www.rec.uk.com/business-support/ business-partners/technology-business-partners/it-first

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Inspiration

Behind the scenes at the Institute of Recruitment Professionals

Reality Check This month we speak to Steve Perkins, 28, of Orgtel, who won Temporary Consultant of the Year at the IRP Awards Congratulations. How did it feel to win? It was amazing. How did you get into recruitment and what did you like about it? I kind of fell in to recruitment. Straight away I liked the fact it was target-driven. I couldn’t face the idea of working somewhere, sat next to someone doing less work than me but getting paid the same. I like the fact that it’s all on me. Why do you think you won this award? I had high billings but I think the main thing is that I’ve maintained good relationships with key people. With this kind of work you have to get to know the individual projects in great detail and to do that you have to have good relationships with contractors. Have you been up to anything in particular this year? Yes, this year I’ve been managing a team of 13 people for the ﬁrst time, which has been interesting. They say management is the hardest job, and managing different personalities can be tricky. But I hope I’ve pushed them and helped them. I like to throw people in at the deep end but be there for them too. Do you think recruitment as an industry is changing? Yes, the previous generation worked more on the phone, and there was a lot more headhunting. Now it’s a lot more about social media and email. That does change the way things work. The negatives are that people become lazier. People rely too much on email and are sometimes a bit less proactive. The positives are that it can make you a more diligent and well-rounded consultant if you can utilise these new technologies properly. It has become a market where you have to be really trusted to do well – and increasing trust is no bad thing. Tell us something about you that your colleagues don’t know. I have a soft spot for really terrible reality TV!

Things I Know Ian Alexander, managing director of MAA International Ltd gives us his career tips Everyday is a school day I feel especially passionate about training, having started my career as an engineering apprentice and then joining a recruitment firm who gave me a pretty intense two-week preliminary training course before I was even allowed to pick up the phone. Recruitment is booming again but there is still a lack of good candidates coming into the industry. I think we often lose good people because they haven’t had the right training or development. It can be good to look around At one point in my career I thought, maybe it’s time to move away from direct recruiting and I actually set up a recruitment training business. After that I bought a manufacturing company. None of them gave me the same buzz I get from recruitment though. Everyone should understand business I was aware by the third year of my apprenticeship that I really wanted to own the engineering company rather than be an engineer. You must understand the business side, accounts, profits, cashflow etc. It’s probably the biggest mistake some recruiters make, thinking that they just have to be good with people. Understanding the business side of things helps make you a manager and a better recruiter. What doesn’t break you makes you stronger My recruitment career started in 1985. I was an engineer and completing my apprenticeship and was made redundant. I decided to complete a HNC, covering marketing economics, a bit of HR. I was 22 and I was four years into the apprenticeship. We were in a recession at the time, much like now. I set up my own business in 1991 and bought a business in 2006, so everything big I’ve done has happened about the same time as a recession really!

To keep up to date with everything the Institute of Recruitment Professionals is doing, please visit www.rec-irp.uk.com

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Events and training

Launched in May 2013, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC)’s Audited Education scheme gives clients the reassurance they need of the high standards adhered to by recruitment agencies that supply teaching and non-teaching staff to schools, academies and education providers across England and Wales. Worldwide recruiter Hays has now achieved the standard and Apollo Teaching Services became the ﬁrst recruitment business in Wales to do so recently. Martyn Best, managing director for Education at Hays, said: “I am delighted that Hays has achieved the REC Audited Education accreditation. This new audit is a great recognition of our high standards and levels of professionalism as one of UK’s leading education recruitment experts. It will help us to continue to attract the highest calibre candidates for our clients and ensure the safeguarding of children. The accreditation will play a signiﬁcant role in ensuring the highest standards in the education industry for years to come.” Faith Olding, co-director of Apollo Teaching Services (pictured above), said: “This award is the culmination of the hard work the team at Apollo Teaching Services has undertaken over the last

In your city

Apollo Teaching Services

REC Audited Education wins support from education recruiters around the UK

Apollo Teaching Services reaches the standard

few years. In our industry, having rigorous procedures in place to safeguard students and to optimise educational progress is essential in relation to supplying the best service to our schools and ultimately to learners.” For more information on REC Audited Education or to ﬁnd out how you can achieve the standard go to the REC website: https://www.rec.uk.com/business-support/audited/ audited-education

The REC’s new City Conference Tours bring the Good Recruitment Campaign to life, sharing all the latest industry insights with you in your home city. Hot topics include market updates, how to use the Good Recruitment Campaign and charter to engage your clients, the latest policy updates from the coalition and the EU, sector updates from peers within your sector, and expert advice on skills development for your team.

Carol Scott, REC head of Corporate Membership, said: “We are delighted to introduce a new conference format to bring all the latest recruitment knowledge directly to our members. These one-day or half-day conferences are designed to give REC members access to all the latest information and knowledge they need to develop their businesses, whatever sector they specialise in and wherever they live.”

Location

Date

Duration

Sector focus

London

05-Feb-14

Full day

Ofﬁce Professional Sector

Newcastle

06-Feb-14

Half day (pm) General sector update

Cardiff

09-Apr-14

Half day

Welsh Policy Forum

Education

Birmingham

13-May-14

Full day

Education

Healthcare

Edinburgh

24-Jun-14

Half day (pm

Scottish Policy Forum

Accounting and FS

Childcare

Aberdeen

25-Jun-14

Half day (am)

Scottish Policy Forum

Engineering (Oil and Gas)

Manchester

09-July-14

Full day

Technology

Construction

Bristol

10-Sep-14

Half day

General sector update

Birmingham

21-Oct-14

Half day

Drivers & Industrial

Leeds

05-Nov-14

Half day

Healthcare

Retail and Hospitality

London

25-Nov-14

Full day

Diversity Forum

Engineering and ‘Big Data’ Sectors (AER, A&FS, Legal & HR)

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

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Membership Department: Membership: 020 7009 2100, Customer Services: 020 7009 2100 Publishers: Redactive Publishing Ltd, 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP. Tel: 020 7880 6200. www.redactive.co.uk Publisher: Anne Sadler anne.sadler@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6213 Consulting Editor: Ed Sexton ed.sexton@rec.uk.com Editorial: Editor: Francesca Steele francesca.steele@redactive.co.uk. Production Editor: Vanessa Townsend Production: Deputy Production Manager: Kieran Tobin. kieran.tobin@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6240 Printing: Printed by Woodford Litho © 2014 Recruitment Matters. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, neither REC, Redactive Publishing Ltd nor the authors can accept liability for errors or omissions. Views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the REC or Redactive Publishing Ltd. No responsibility can be accepted for unsolicited manuscripts or transparencies. No reproduction in whole or part without written permission.

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engineeringjobs.com

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Profile

andSoMe CHRISTOPHER GOODFELLOW SPOKE WITH CO-FOUNDERS MANDA CROWDER AND MARK RICE

When a company’s name evolves, usually there’s a change in actual wording. But the three incarnations of recruitment and employee engagement communications firm andSoMe’s name represent the changing dynamics of recruitment advertising, from the creation of a specialist boutique agency to the latest approach to online recruitment. In this instance, the name andSoMe reflects the development of expertise in social media to the point where this activity accounts for 90% of the agency’s output. “We’ve evolved with the way recruitment’s changed. We did the traditional, and then we moved into digital and social media. Now we’re the only ones that are predominantly social media. Everyone does it as part of what they do, but it’s such a big part — it’s integral to everything,” Mark Rice, who co-founded the company with Manda Crowder, tells Recruiter. This acknowledgement of the business’s evolution was marked by a subtle change of the name: the ‘S’ and ‘M’ in andsome were capitalised, and it’s now pronounced “and so me”, rather than “and some”. As the founders describe it, the offering’s become “a partnership with businesses to promote themselves and to engage with potential candidates and their own employees across social media platforms”. The client list includes companies like Sony Playstation, luxury hotel chain The Dorchester Collection, restaurant Le Manoir and retailer Arcadia. andSoMe’s recent work with Boots provides a good case study to how this works in practice. Crowder says the retailer has a high awareness of the importance of being a digital brand and that the “majority” of Boots’ recruitment advertising currently is social: “Social media isn’t just about recruitment; it’s about engaging the people and speaking to a wider audience about what you’re like as an employer. It’s not about selling the jobs anymore; you’re selling ‘you’ as an employer.” The key to this kind of engagement is to join in, or hang out with the people you want to target, rather than shouting at them. Part of the recent Boots campaign involved targeting fashion and beauty bloggers who frequent social media platforms Instagram and Tumblr, along with their fans, using hashtags like #bbloggers and

“NEVER DEVIATING AWAY FROM WHAT WE ORIGINALLY SET OUT TO DO. BE AUTHENTIC, REAL AND HONEST. AND WORK TO PRODUCE QUALITY, INNOVATIVE WORK THAT’S RIGHT FOR OUR CLIENTS — AND HAVE FUN DOING IT!”

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PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD LEA-HAIR

MANDA CROWDER’S SECRET OF SUCCESS

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Profile

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RECRUITER

FEBRUARY 2014

06/02/2014 09:47

Profile

#fbloggers. To attract their attention, haircut shots and advice based on Boots products or services were posted, and then such discussions became a vehicle for talking about jobs. As with most of its campaigns, andSoMe took over the company’s social media channels. This involves a lot of trust on the part of the client. But without this level of control Rice and Crowder say they can’t offer the kind of reactive service needed to meet the demands of today’s active and passive candidates. Their model offers clients the benefit of managing the social media presence out of hours and the ability to tailor messages to breaking events. This could mean tweeting about Manchesterbased management jobs for café chain EAT when Alex Ferguson announced his retirement, but it also meant handling 200-plus inquiries when a customer site went down over Christmas. The recruitment channel is usually separate to a company’s general social media accounts to avoid confusion, but still represents the whole of the business. “You’re representing whoever the company may be. You learn a lot about people and why those people want to work for you as a business,” says Rice. andSoMe was launched 15 years ago as ‘andadvertising’ when the pair left the large agencies they were working in to focus on client relationships — “It was about working together, rather than just being a supplier,” says Rice — an approach they thought the space was lacking. Even at this stage, several years before the launch of Facebook and Twitter, its campaigns were geared towards creating ideas that were easy to share. An early project was working with Pret A Manger in 2001. To target managers working for other food retailers, yoghurt pots were sent to them as ‘messages in a bottle’. It was a bold move to target them directly and reactions were mixed, with one company returning the product filled with gazpacho soup. However, the campaign generated a huge amount of word-ofmouth and national newspaper coverage. The campaign, which also involved a small number of print advertisements, led to 80 managers being recruited over a year to help cater for Pret’s rapid expansion. The name was changed from andadvertising to andsome in 2008 to mark the shift to digital and increased focus on employer brand. “Recruitment and employer branding has changed so much over that time [from when the company launched to 2008]. It’s not really advertising anymore; it’s about brand, it’s about engaging people,” says Rice. The transition away from print dominance was difficult for advertising agencies because it was unclear how the business model was going to work when the focus was on free, or low-cost digital adverts. Keeping andSoMe to a six-person team made it easier to take advantage this structural change. “We’ve been the size we are now from the beginning. There’s no grand plan to become a big empire, get bought by anybody else or to grow through acquisition,” says Crowder. This team “lives in” the social media space on a day-to-day basis, allowing them to constantly learn about new tools and what’s being shared. This is a process that in-house recruitment teams may find difficult committing time to, says Rice. A recent example is a campaign to recruit a head chef for Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Raymond Blanc’s two Michelin-star restaurant and hotel in Great Milton, Oxfordshire. In spite of having a strong brand, the company had tried without success for eight months to find a head chef when andSoMe took over. The tactic was to use the Twitter feed @RBCookeryTutors to commentate on and provide details about Blanc’s TV show The Very Hungry Frenchman, joining in with the discussion while it was being aired. This took advantage of the company’s brand to promote them as an employer and provided the perfect audience for the campaign. “We would put occasional things about coming to work for the school because of his [Blanc’s] passion,” explains Rice: “We did that for five or six weeks and we had lots of engagement with chefs who wouldn’t have even thought about applying. The first night that ran

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CV Mark Rice 1998– present: andSoMe • Creative and community director • Co-founder 1995–98: Bernard Hodes UK • Creative director • Managed a large creative team producing employer branding and employee marketing

Manda Crowder 1998– present: andSoMe • Client service and community director • Co-founder

Company proﬁle Founded in 1998 Head ofﬁce in Shoreditch, London, UK

we had a direct message from a chef that saw the Twitter stream, and he was the one they ended up taking on.” What does andSoMe recommend to firms to take advantage of social media? Rice balks at the suggestion of providing his top tips, saying the current fad of writing lists on how to use social media is counterproductive. “There are always ‘10 top tips to do this’, how you should tweet. You should ignore those; you should see what other people do and don’t copy, but learn and try things yourself,” he says. “There’s this over-reliance on case studies,” Rice continues. “You can potentially learn from them, but people tend to rely on them to back up their own argument for doing something. That goes back to the old ways of using media; it’s not like that at all.” When pushed, he provides a couple of ideas about what recruiters need to avoid, such as scraping lots of content and putting it under the company’s banner, an approach that andSoMe often finds in accounts it takes over. Another of Rice’s pet hates is scheduling, which involves a tweet being written and set to go live at a later point. This is obvious to social media users, he explains, and ruins the kind of engagement these campaigns need to succeed: “You don’t have to be a visible human face, but the way you react can show the personality of that brand.” In terms of the latest state-of-the-art tools, Rice says it’s important to be aware of what’s around and be ready to take advantage of it. The Boots Christmas campaign used six-second video-sharing platform Vine, which was launched a year ago, to provide easy-toshare messages from Boots employees, for example. Rice says that regardless of the approach the crucial thing to remember is that social media provides a space to try new ideas. One of andSoMe’s first experiments was using Twitter to recruit runners for ITV. The award-winning campaign used three characters’ names with underscores between them, asking the audience to fill in the story lines (eg. Tyrone ___ because ___ Molly ___ Kevin.). It caused lots of discussion online and led to more than 900 applications. “We were fortunate to have a client that was open to new ways of doing things. You put suggestions forward to them six years ago, and it was a trial for them and a trial for us. That was the first time people started recognising what you could do with it [Twitter]. It was using it in a creative way, which no one had ever really done at that stage.” The passion for experimentation has given andSoMe the edge — not only in their own evolution, but in guiding their clients to adapt and thrive as the nature of recruitment advertising itself changes.

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MARK RICE’S PHILOSOPHY

“NEVER STOP LEARNING. ALWAYS TRY THE NEW, NOT JUST THE TESTED. LOOK FOR INSPIRATION OUTSIDE OF THE INDUSTRY AND DON’T EVER BE AFRAID TO FAIL”

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RECRUITER

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EXPERT OPINION

Fragmented Software Platforms Have Become a Weakness Rather Than An Edge

By Brandon Metcalf, Founder and COO of Talent Rover he staffing and recruiting industry has a workflow unlike any other in the business world. We are faced with a complex sales process for not only finding clients, but also recruiting the best candidates. Both require extensive documentation, follow up, planning and speed. Once we make the match we are then challenged with managing timesheets, onboarding, terminations, compliance and invoicing—not to mention calculating and paying commissions. This doesn’t take into account all of the other internal processes like expense reports, internal onboarding, managing fixed assets, IT maintenance and more.

For years, we’ve tried to connect these complex processes with administrative and operational efficiency—and that is where most staffing software has failed. We’ve relied on separate software platforms to manage staffing processes. In fact, we’ve budgeted for extra headcount just to handle the data entry and reconciliations of these systems. It’s like having a railroad track that is disconnected—at specific points, we must unload the train, load the goods into a horse and buggy, then haul them several miles to the next section of the track, load the train back up and then audit the delivery to make sure nothing fell off in the process.

With one CRM, one ATS and a variety of independent software solutions for all the other back office functions, getting systems to talk is expensive and complicated. As a result, a team has to repeat data entry, wasting time and increasing the probability of errors and reconciliation down the road. Moreover, we cannot track revenue and commissions in real-time. We want to run reports, understand what’s happening with the business and make strategic decisions based on data, not intuition. In the highly competitive staffing industry, fragmented software platforms have become a weakness rather than an edge. When software takes time away from making sales, finding talent and locking placements, that software is failing to serve its purpose. During my time in staffing, I held roles in sales, recruitment and regional management at a multi-billion dollar global staffing firm. I learned what it’s like to have gaps in the railroad track. We had a CRM system for sales, a recruitment and matching platform, and an archaic system for handling placements, timesheets and invoicing. We could only access our systems from a work computer connected to a corporate server, and if the server went down or that internet connection crashed, we

couldn’t work. As we all know, whoever presents the candidate first wins. At times, connectivity and server issues caused a delay in the placement process and resulted in lost revenue. Eventually, I moved to a multi-million dollar staffing firm and was responsible for managing all technology. Well versed in the staffing industry and its technology, I was dedicated to finding and implementing software that would make sales, recruitment and placements faster and more cost-efficient. Yet there was no single software platform that could support the complex staffing workflow, overcome unreliability of hosted solutions and address the need for better mobility. This unmet need led me to co-found Talent Rover in December of 2011 with Kent Gray. Our goal was to create software to manage the entire workflow and operations for a staffing and recruiting firm. We built a single solution that handles sales, recruitment, placements, onboarding, timesheet processing and expense reports. We also designed the system to integrate directly with accounting and payroll systems that finance teams were already comfortable using. This eliminated unnecessary data entry and communication between multiple software platforms, allowing staffing firms to finally access realtime business intelligence. Drawing on more than 30 combined years of staffing experience, Kent and I designed a system specifically for our industry and ensured that our solution would be fully mobile. Because Talent Rover is built on the Salesforce Platform, the trusted world leader in cloud computing, the system is also supported by multiple datacenters around the world. Even in the event of a technical error or disaster, Talent Rover data is safe, and our users are still up and running. In essence, we’ve made Talent Rover your “command center” for managing an entire staffing and recruiting organization. Built to be fast, easy and comfortable for every level of tech-savviness, Talent Rover has simple page designs where minimal clicks provide maximum access to information. We minimized the time and steps it takes to find and skill candidates. There’s no hunting for basic information like phone numbers—everything you need appears on the candidate’s profile, meaning you don’t need to have Excel, LinkedIn, a Word document and a job board open just to make a placement. We invite you to join us at the Recruitment Agency Expo on 25-26 February at the Olympia Conference Centre in London. Talent Rover’s UK sales team and I will be exhibiting and offering demos in Booth #15. We look forward to showing you how Talent Rover can help you achieve greater efficiency, faster time to placement and increased revenue.

For further information please call 020 8616 7305, visit www.talentrover.com or email info@talentrover.com 32

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Research

RESEARCH HAS BECOME MORE THAN JUST PROVIDING NAMES TO FILL IMMEDIATE NEEDS. AS COLIN COTTELL FOUND OUT, ANTICIPATING TALENT SKILLS AND BUILDING PIPELINES FOR THE FUTURE ARE KEY FOR COMPANIES GETTY

Research comes of age When Simon Stephenson, joint chairman of the Executive Research Association (ERA), a global forum for talent intelligence and insight professionals, remarked to members at a recent meeting that “research used to be 25 ladies on bikes going around London having good lunches”, there was laughter around the room. However, Stephenson, also director of research firm Corporate Executive Research (CER), was making a serious point: that the nature of research has changed, and continues to do so at a rapid rate making it virtually unrecognisable from this dated vision of its past. Grant Weinberg, director of talent acquisition Europe, Asia and Middle East at Gilead Sciences, neatly lays out the choices for in-house resourcers, who traditionally buy in research, either from individuals, search firms or specialist research firms. “You have

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to be clear: do you want somebody to just map the market and pass the list to your in-house recruiters, or do you want somebody who can also provide some information on the performance of those people? For Weinberg, the latter is the Gold Standard. “That is where I would like it to go,” he says. While Gilead takes the view that research hasn’t yet reached this exalted state, he and Stephenson are in agreement on the direction of travel for a service traditionally associated with ‘the little black book’ of personal contacts, and filling specific role gaps on demand. Stephenson agrees that increasingly research is much more than the purely “transactional piece” of providing a list of names to fill an immediate need. “It is also about anticipating future recruitment needs, building databases of future candidates, understanding what other companies are doing

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Research

“BEFORE IT WAS ‘COME BACK WITH A LIST IN TWO OR THREE MONTHS TIME’; NOW THEY WANT PRETTY HIGH QUALITY REPORTS ON A WEEKLY OR FORTNIGHTLY BASIS” JAMIE NEWMAN and how they are structured,” he says. Increasingly, Stephenson says that clients ask his members to carry out such tasks. “This is often followed up by being asked to do a proper recruitment project,” he adds. Matthew Mellor, managing director of research-led headhunting and information company Armstrong Craven, says there is a link between the increasing focus on talent within client organisations and the types of services companies such as his provide. “We are increasingly providing insights and helping clients make better decisions about talent, to locate talent, what does it look like, what are their skills and aspirations.” Another increasingly common assignment is to compare clients’ employer brand against the market, he adds. “Armstrong Craven is now involved in the talent planning cycle much, much earlier,” says Mellor. For instance, before deciding whether or not to put a shared service centre in Barcelona, he explains that a client might ask his firm to find out whether “they are going to able to find the skills there”. “It’s more of a consultative service. We would consider ourselves as leading a much more consulting-led service,” he says. Asked to put a figure on how the role of his company has changed, he says, “50% of our work is helping clients at the point at which they have a role they need to fill. Five years ago, it was probably closer to 70%”. Weinberg, whose company Gilead Sciences employs two or three researchers as part of its in-house resourcing function in the US, says that researchers can be used to improve decision making, including creating the optimum organisational structure. He explains that in specific countries, research projects can uncover a trend of unfilled roles within competitors, indicating a shortage of skills in the market. “We need to use this data to our advantage when considering our organisational design and not default to potentially chasing an empty talent pool,” says Weinberg. Stephenson notes the rise of in-house researchers, as part of in-house resourcing function within large corporates, citing Centrica as an example, although he says this trend is “still not widely supported”. “A lot of companies are still uncomfortable about ringing up their competitors and asking their staff to come and join them,” he says. Weinberg says that having an in-house research team can be useful in keeping “alive” lists of talent provided by external research. “My research team could add to it and delete from it, and continue to validate it, making for cost effective research tailored to our business needs. This avoids using the recruiter’s time inefficiently,” he says. In-house researchers are also expected to “build some sort of talent pipeline capability”. For instance, the researchers should be networking with the new

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hires building up new and fresh talent pools capturing data that might not be in the public domain. David Steel, client director at talent acquisition & insight solutions company Write Research, says that many of the changes to research in recent years are linked to the rise of the in-house recruiter, and their increasing focus on talent and talent management. With this, he says, has come a trend for workforce planning and for the development of talent pipelines. Clients now look up to 18 months ahead, and as a result the role of the researcher has changed. While, say, five years ago his role at Write Research was largely reactive, “now it is longer term, not just we have a hole to fill in our business”. Steel adds that these days, working with clients is “a lot more collaborative”. In part, he explains this is made easier because the person on the client side is now more likely to have had recruitment experience than in the past. This has fostered the development of longer term-relationships with clients, often on a retained basis. Indeed, Neil Purcell, global chief executive officer of talent sourcing, recruitment intelligence and employer branding solutions firm Talent Works International, says that for many clients, his company has “almost become an extension of those corporate organisations”. In doing so, the company has diversified into new services well beyond the usual definition of research, such as helping clients to target specific candidate groups. “Attracting candidates is high up on everybody’s agenda,” he says, with more emphasis on the passive candidate market, he adds. Jamie Newman, senior managing director at executive search firm Page Executive, agrees that client expectations of what a researcher should be expected to do are changing. Not only are they expected to identify people for a specific role, now they are involved in the preparation and information for client pitches, he says. Clients also often want to see the researcher’s list of candidates before the researcher makes any approaches. “A lot of clients are as equally networked” [as the researchers], says Newman, adding that clients “may want to preclude and include people themselves”. Clients are also much keener for researchers to keep

“ATTRACTING CANDIDATES IS HIGH UP ON EVERYBODY’S AGENDA” NEIL PURCELL

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“THE ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER IS ALL BASED ON THE ABILITY TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH SOMEONE”

“WE ARE INCREASINGLY PROVIDING INSIGHTS AND HELPING CLIENTS MAKE BETTER DECISIONS ABOUT TALENT”

SIMON STEPHENSON

MATTHEW MELLOR

them in the loop, he says. “Before it was ‘come back with a list in two or three months time’; now they want pretty high quality reports on a weekly or fortnightly basis.” Just as client demands are driving what research provides, the economics of research is also a factor driving change. As Weinberg points out, using research firm or an individual freelance researcher to provide a list of candidates can work out far cheaper than engaging a traditional search firm. Where a search firm might charge £15k for its services, a research firm might only charge £5k, he says. And if the client hires two people from the list, the savings go “right to their bottom line”. However, Chris Molloy, CEO of niche pharmaceutical and life sciences executive search firm RSA, doesn’t see it this way, and extols the value of research within retained executive search. “There is still an absolute requirement for high quality human interaction to make the

knowledge that you have up to date, relevant and ultimately useful,” he says. Another significant development is that researchers now use the internet, particularly LinkedIn, as a matter of routine. Techniques such as Boolean search, more usually associated with sourcers, are also becoming a feature, says Molloy. However, Sheana Dudley, MD of Research Direct International, says that despite the increasing use of technology, the human factor remains vital within research. “You can spend an awful lot of time on LinkedIn,” she says. “You might get 20 names for a role, but you need to talk to them to really know if they are right for the role.” The ERA’s Stephenson agrees that despite the increasingly complex and varied demands being placed on researchers, the role of the researcher “is all based on the ability to have a conversation with someone”. That at least is unlikely to change.

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