Recruiter June 2014 by Redactive Media Group

June 2014

www.recruiter.co.uk

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR RECRUITMENT AND RESOURCING PROFESSIONALS

Victoria Bourne Cementing g a promise to oil & gas multinational BP’s candidates with the company’s Candidate Charter FINANCING GROWTH AS MARKET CONDITIONS LOOK TO BE IMPROVING, IS THE TIME RIGHT FOR RECRUITMENT FIRMS TO SECURE FUNDING FOR EXPANSION?

THE CHALLENGE

SPECIAL REPORT The results of an online assessment reveal what ‘recruitment type’ the industry attracts

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Manchester City FC didn’t need extra time to find a special type of fan, thanks to Hays and Music

RPO REPERCUSSIONS Legislation from the Finance Bill 2014 could send shockwaves through the RPO world

Recruitment Matters 04/06/2014 16:04

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Contents

The recent ruling by the European Union’s Court of Justice on the so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ poses intriguing issues and raises significant questions for recruiters — and, incidentally, for journalists too. Where they are legal, public records searches will still provide recruiters with a source of ‘need to know’ information such as criminal convictions when necessary to ensure that candidate placements are appropriate. Business information will remain accessible to conduct due diligence on companies and company directors. So public and business safety probably are not threatened on a significant scale under the EU ruling. At Recruiter, we have been occasionally asked to take down news stories about the involvement of individuals’ or companies’ insolvencies, criminal convictions and other potentially unflattering situations — and even some in which someone simply no longer works for a specific company. Our response is, we won’t erase history — but we will correct factual inaccuracies. People have a right to personal privacy. But does the public not also have a right to know about confirmed wrongdoing, business failures or corporate ineptitude that affects others? Should there be a statute of limitations on the public airing of such information? Perhaps this EU ruling can prompt a broader debate.

NEWS Recruiters can be rewarded for Investing in Talent

Recruiter is launching the inaugural Investing in Talent Awards 2014

Right to privacy on Google? Birmingham’s battle

Birmingham City Council’s race to ﬁnd social workers

FEATURES 28 COVER STORY Victoria Bourne, head of resourcing — reﬁning & marketing at BP 33 Financing growth The ground seems fertile right now for recruitment ﬁrms to secure funds for expansion

Sodexo looks to women

The on-site company has introduced a 50:50 gender target for senior shortlists 8 Tech & tools 10 Special report

What recruitment type are you and how does it affect your performance?

ANALYSIS 14 Sector Analysis Hospitality & leisure 17 Global Spotlight on Colombia 24 Insight The Finance Bill 2014 could be a shock for the RPO world

DeeDee Doke, Editor

REGULARS 13 On tumblr this month 19 Interaction

Soapbox: Richard Hillgrove Ricky Martin Soundbites 26 The Challenge 19 19 21

Manchester City, Hays and Music 41 Movers & Shakers Industry moves 42 Bloggers with Bite:

Rob Ryan

WHO’S HIRING? 38 Search Consultancy 39 Assist Recruitment,

Transline Group

Scan here to get your own copy of Recruiter

40 Arrows Group

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 writer: 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 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: Aaron Nicholls T: +44 (0)20 7880 8547 aaron.nicholls@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

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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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RECRUITER

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A fresh approach to contractor solutions

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BE REWARDED FOR TALENT INVESTMENT Does your recruitment business invest in your talent – your staff, and the contractors and temporary workers whose services you provide to clients? How does your recruitment business take care of its temporary workforces and contractors? What are your pay and benefits strategies for your employees, both inside and outside the UK? Do you provide a great workplace environment? Do you offer an especially innovative benefit or a dynamic team motivation event? And what learning and development are offered for your newcomers, your managers and your senior leaders? Recruiter is looking for recruitment businesses that set, and exceed, industry standards as an employer and agency of choice for employees, contractors and temporary workforces in the inaugural Investing in Talent Awards. Entrants can choose from 15 organisational categories covering most aspects of workforce care. Three categories for inspirational individuals at newcomer, manager and senior leader levels will also be opened to competition. “Competition for the talent that can make a difference to a business has never been higher,” said Recruiter editor DeeDee Doke. “Recruitment businesses compete with professional service companies, and with each other, to attract and retain motivated staff.

They also compete to place and represent topquality contractors and temporary workers. “We are introducing these honours to help the best of the best — those recruiters who invest in their talent — to stand out in a crowded field.” A truly unique category within the human capital space will be Best Sustainable Employability Strategy. This category will recognise a company that implements effective workforce planning and ensuring that knowledge, skills and ability training for staff is ongoing to meet the future needs of the business and its clients. It will also relate to ensuring that a company’s internal people policies and practices promote and support optimum health and physical/ mental well-being. “This category will also touch on some key issues for recruiters as contributors to the UK’s future economy by looking at a company’s external initiatives to help various populations access meaningful careers advice to secure meaningful work on a living wage,” Doke said. “Being recognised for achievements in this area should help recruiters not only attract and retain talent, but win business and even additional credibility from their clients.” ● The ‘Early Bird’ deadline for entries will be 31 July. The Awards luncheon and presentation will be held in late autumn at a time and location to be announced. To enter, visit www. investingintalent.co.uk from Monday, 16 June.

The categories will be: • Best Contractor Care (UK) • Best Contractor Care (International/ Global) • Best Temporary Workforce Care (Specialist) • Best Temporary Workforce Care (Volume) • Most Effective Diversity & Inclusion Strategy • Most Effective Flexible Working Strategy • Most Effective Professional Development for Newcomers • Most Effective Professional Development for Managers and/or Executives • Most Effective Pay & Benefits Strategy (UK Staff) • Most Effective Pay & Benefits Strategy (Staff Outside the UK) • Best Employee Share/Equity Scheme • Most Innovative Benefit • Most Effective Team Motivation Event • Best Workplace Environment • Best Sustainable Employability Strategy • Most Inspiring Newcomer • Most Inspiring Team Leader/Manager • Most Inspiring Recruitment Leader For sponsorship enquiries, contact Tom Culley at +44 (0) 20 7880 7607 or at tom.culley@recruiter.co.uk

RIGHT TO PRIVACY ON GOOGLE MAY IMPACT RECRUITMENT The implications of the recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the so-called ‘right to be forgotten case’ could be many and varied, recruiters have told Recruiter. The ruling gives individuals in the EU the right to ask Google to remove links to web pages about themselves by completing an online form (see below for more details). Martin Lee, director of sourcing and recruitment for Social Media Research, a Norman Broadbent company, told Recruiter the ruling “will make it slightly harder to

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find people, but not impossible … We all use Google but there are other search engines”. Lee predicted that it would be the most passive candidates that would take advantage of the ruling. He suggested that this might lead to “a reverse effect”, the irony being that “anybody who does that might be more interesting to sourcers”. Jonathan Coxon, managing director of social care recruiter Liquid Personnel, told Recruiter that he saw the ruling “as a real positive in our market”. He added: “People want a certain amount of anonymity: you don’t want your clients to be able to find you online.” Coxon said that he didn’t expect unsuitable candidates to be employed in the sector as a result of removing themselves from Google. “Social work is a market where it is incredibly important to vet people, and Google would never be used on

its own when assessing the suitability of a candidates,” he said. David Lawrence, MD of specialist telecoms recruiter Vine Resources, told Recruiter that the ruling reinforced the need for recruiters to do “proper due diligence” on candidates, including cross-referencing CVs against other sources of information. The right to be forgotten ruling Spanish citizen Mario Costeja González claimed that Google had violated his privacy rights under the European Commission’s Directive on Data Protection, which guarantees a “right to be forgotten” in cases where information is incomplete or inaccurate. Anyone wishing to have a Google link removed is asked to explain why the link is “irrelevant, outdated or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were processed”. COLIN COTTELL

colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk

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

“I don’t know a disability we haven’t been able to make a ‘reasonable’ adjustment for” RANDY LEWIS, CAMPAIGNER FOR EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS FOR DISABLED PEOPLE

Events RecFest14 A one-day event hosting all things in-house recruitment... 12 June, Rich Mix, Bethnal Green Road eventbrite.co.uk/e/recfest14tickets-8317900063

WiBF: ‘Breaking through the Glass Ceiling in 2014’ Focusing on the barriers women still have in the workplace… 24 June, London wibf.org.uk

Recruitstock 2014 A two-day event bringing together in-house recruiters for networking and workshops… 25-27 June, The New Forest National Park, Brockenhurst recruitstock.co.uk/

Women 1st Conference 2014 3 July, Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Sq, London events/25-women-1stconference-2014

Social Recruiting Strategies Conference 2014 29-31 July, Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown socialrecruitingstrategies.com

The HR Society: Transforming Your Workforce 18 September, London Metropolitan University, 84 Moorgate, London eventbrite.co.uk/e/ transforming-yourworkforce-1-day-conferencetickets

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BIRMINGHAM BATTLES ON IN RACE FOR SOCIAL WORKTALENT Birmingham City Council is “redoubling its efforts” to recruit social workers as it grapples with a serious and persistent shortage, Vincent Clark, the council’s interim service director, has told Recruiter. The council has around 106 vacant permanent positions among a potential full-strength workforce of 382 in its safeguarding teams. That’s virtually the same number of unfilled vacancies as in 2013, with 45 posts for temporary social workers that are used to fill the permanent positions completely without cover. “We are all fishing in the same pond for a finite group of qualified and experienced social workers,” Clark told Recruiter. He acknowledged that highprofile tragedies such as the case of 17-month-old Peter Connelly (‘Baby P’) who was tortured to death while under the supervision of Haringey Council in 2007 “certainly don’t help”. And referring to Birmingham City Council’s own inadequate Ofsted rating, he added: “You are in a no-win situation because you are trying to recruit good people to a failing organisation.” However, Clark said he was determined to work towards the goal of “full permanent staffing” with as few temporary staff as

Vincent Clark

possible. He outlined the steps the council is taking: • starting this month [June] a volume recruitment drive run with HCL Social Care. This is a repeat of a successful campaign in February that included running a recruitment event in Leeds, and which led to the successful recruitment of 25 social workers on six-month contracts. Gary Chatfield, managing director, HCL Social Care, told Recruiter that it had been important “to engage with the social workers prior to interview and enable them to look past the headlines and clearly understand the positive impact that they would be able to make on the service for children and families in Birmingham”. • a dedicated microsite that is constantly open and is advertised

through local and national press • reducing the time between a candidate applying and starting work by carrying out all screening and candidate checks quickly, and getting offers out “as quickly as possible” • creating a working group made up of front-line managers, HR/ recruitment and procurement staff to “constantly review” all aspects of recruitment, including processes and procedures. “It was through this that we realised that we were losing candidates because it was taking them too long to get into a job,” said Clark. • twilight (evening) sessions run by members of the HR team in community locations such as libraries “The bottom line is that there is no magic wand,” said Clark. “It is about having a very clear and rigorous approach to focusing on recruitment across the service. “Recruitment will remain a high priority until we have got full permanent staffing, with the aim being very few temporary staff,” Clark continued, though he acknowledged “it will be months before we are in that position”. • For more on managing the temporary social care workforce, see the July issue of Recruiter. COLIN COTTELL colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk

HOW HOT IS YOUR COMPANY? •

DO YOU QUALIFY for Recruiter’s HOT 100 2014, the definitive list of the UK’s most profitable recruiters? If your business’s gross profit is at least £1.5m, you have at least 20 employees and your gross profit (GP) per employee is at least £40k, you may qualify for a place on Recruiter’s HOT 100 2014. Later this year, Recruiter will publish the HOT 100, listing the UK recruitment companies with the greatest GP per employee. Leading research company Agile Intelligence will undertake the research and analysis for the report. “This is the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the UK’s most productive recruitment companies ranked according to productivity,” Sue Dodd, director of Agile Intelligence, told Recruiter. If you believe you qualify, send your latest set of filed accounts (no older than 2013) along with at least the previous year figures for comparison to sued@theagilitybusiness.com by 31 July. Dodd highlighted the importance of meeting the 31 July deadline, and reminded companies that don’t file their accounts at Companies House until September that they need to send them to her by that date [31 July]. “Any problems or queries, please contact me,” said Dodd. WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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“We are seeing a positive correlation between social channel interaction and customer satisfaction” KRISTIAN LORENZON, HEAD OF SOCIAL MEDIA, 02 TELEFONICA UK

“Phone up before or after you apply” MIKE, A SHEFFIELD RECRUITER, WHO GETS “HUNDREDS OF APPLICATIONS A DAY” AND “DOESN’T HAVE TIME TO REPLY TO EVERYONE” QUOTED IN METRO

“It’s a chicken and egg situation. Which comes first... talent or mobility?” BARRIE GILMOUR, UK SALES DIRECTOR, INTERDEAN RELOCATION SERVICES

SODEXO AIMS FOR 50% WOMEN On-site services company Sodexo UK and Ireland has introduced a 50:50 target for the proportion of men and women on its shortlists for senior executives. Jon Hull, Sodexo’s head of resourcing UK and Ireland, told Recruiter the move was “a way of cementing the company’s commitment to diversity and to make sure it [that commitment] is measured and managed properly”. “It is in recognition of the Davies Report [that aims to increase female representation on boards] and all that has gone on in the last couple of years,” Hull added. Hull said his team had met some of the company’s external recruitment partners to explain their role in implementing the new policy. When it is not possible for the recruitment partner to

Jon Hull

achieve the 50:50 target they “will be asked to explain why that is”, he said. A justifiable reason why the 50:50 gender split might not be achieved, he said, could be for example “particular markets where female representation isn’t as high”. However, he said that

in the markets in which Sodexo recruits — sales, customer service, hospitality, HR and marketing — “we would expect to get there”. He added: “These are areas in which women are equally represented and attracted to.” Hull said one reason for explaining the new policy face-to-face with recruitment partners was so “it’s not a surprise when they only supply one or two women”. All those Sodexo had met were fully behind the initiative, he said. Although no roles had yet come up with which to implement the new policy, Hull said he expected it would be applied to between five and 10 roles a year at senior executive level and the level below that. COLIN COTTELL colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk

ARSENAL’S GOAL OF ONLINE RECRUITING SUCCESS With the domestic football season at an end, now is the time for most clubs to start mulling over their summer signings. For Arsenal FC, it will be a period to invest heavily in new talent. And it’s not just on the pitch that the club will be looking to recruit. With over 3,000 members of staff required to help operations run smoothly on a match day, the club has recently designed a sleek new online recruitment portal. The portal provides information about a range of opportunities with the club, through either direct employment with Arsenal or other opportunities at Emirates Stadium through external contractors. Karen Ann Allchurch, HR director at Arsenal, told Recruiter that one aim of the portal is to make the recruitment process “very visible, very transparent. It shows what actual live vacancies

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we have, and it enables us to start talent banking”. Allchurch says that the portal has helped Arsenal to “streamline the responses they receive” which means they are able to more easily shortlist potential candidates. “Having a portal doesn’t remove the need for agencies, but it does mean you can be a bit more selective with which roles you do use agencies for. “We would always use headhunters for more senior roles; we obviously wouldn’t post the ‘manager’ position on the website, and then cross our fingers that someone would apply for that role, but it does mean we can focus some of our budget elsewhere.” Having spent three years at First Choice Airways as head of HR, and a further three years at easyJet as head of hr operations, Allchurch has spent the past four years as HR director at Arsenal, establishing a growing HR function at the club.

“When I first joined we were doing all sorts of recruitment: from local newspapers, to some of the big websites, but a lot was being handled by agencies and what their recommendations would be. “It doesn’t mean that we don’t do that anymore, but I can’t think of anything recent where we’ve gone hardcopy, everything is really online, and less reliant on [getting the traffic from] other websites. We’re actually filling jobs directly from the website now.” The strategy is still in the early stages, with the website having only been active since the start of the year, but according to Allchurch, the portal has attracted “thousands and thousands” of applications, with recent statistics showing approximately 1,000 people a day logging on to the site. The next phase will be to work on a new applicant tracking system (ATS), which is set to be up and running in the next few months.

Contract News Athona Recruitment: Picked up three new contract wins with East London NHS Foundation Trust, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SWYPFT) and the East of England….

Bond International Software: Acquired managed payroll solutions provider FMP Global for a sum in excess of £8.5m… Bullhorn: Integrated the Bullhorn applicant tracking system and customer relationship management system (ATS/CRM) with LinkedIn Recruiter… Cesium Group: The executive search and HR consultancy has acquired search practice Digital World Search… Ford & Stanley: Acquired UK Sigma Consulting, an automotive and engineering recruiter… MBA & Company: Has raised £800k from existing investors MMC Ventures and Piton Capital… MedicsPro: Named as an approved supplier to all five lots of the new London Procurement Partnership (LPP) National Collaborative Framework for nursing staff… PageGroup: Partnered with women’s charity Smart Works to provide interview clothes to out-of-work women on low incomes… Pertemps Medical

Professionals (PMP): Named as a supplier for the national framework agreement for nursing and nursing-related staff to the NHS… Quarsh: Won a contract from The Environmental & Process Engineering Group (TEPE Group)… s1jobs: Partnership agreement with QA Apprenticeships… Staffline: Agreed to acquire Avanta Enterprise for £65.45m… StepStone: Acquired Jobsite in a transaction that is due to be completed in the autumn.

MATT BODIMEADE Matt.Bodimeade @recruiter.co.uk

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Tech & tools

WORKDAY REMOVES BARRIERS TO IN-HOUSE COLLABORATION S enterprise software developer Workday has launched an endto-end recruiting application that aims to increase collaboration between in-house recruiting teams and managers, and provide greater visibility into an organisation’s talent pipeline. Amy Wilson, vice president of human capital management at Workday, told Recruiter its research had revealed that recruiting teams and managers did aspire to be more far more collaborative, but that some existing applicant-tracking systems (ATS) or other recruitment technology were hindering rather than helping organisations. “Some of the ‘ahas’ for us were around where the recruitment process starts and ends,” said Wilson. “There’s a notion that managers aren’t involved in the process until the CVs come in, but it’s much earlier than that. Every manager was social and collaborative, and every manager was sourcing and not necessarily relying on the recruiter. So if everyone in the organisation is recruiting, everyone needs a tool to recruit better.” Workday Recruiting is not a stand-alone product — it is integrated with the company’s HR and finance applications as part of the Workday 22 upgrade. So far, around 70 of its customers have signed up for the recruiting tool, including global companies with UK offices. Early adopters have been providing feedback on the product, including US consumer credit reporting agency Equifax and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Wilson says that the first UK recruiting team to go live with the product will be its own. Workday Recruiting includes a mobile interface that allows recruiting teams and hiring managers to collaborate and communicate regardless of location, and has social sourcing and recruitment analytics tools built in. Initially, Workday was going to build a tool that sat side-byside with its existing applications. But its research led it to rethink “the whole DNA” of Workday, said Wilson. “For example, we wanted to look at: what succession looked like now we have

external candidates in the mix; what workforce planning looks like now we can see the whole pipeline; what compensation looks like now we are providing offers to pre-hires; and Amy Wilson what core HR and job requisition look like now we can provide more information and job posting,” she said. “Now it’s about the whole talent pipeline, and everyone can be involved.” Another key issue identified by Workday was integration with other systems such as HR. Although in theory integrating systems is much easier than previously, Wilson reports that for some organisations, feeding data from an ATS into an HR system was a “full-time job”. “And that is just to get data in. If they want to get the data out and report on it across the talent pipeline it is impossible,” she said, adding that this was preventing these organisations combining their external recruitment and internal mobility strategies. “Some organisations have high goals around internal fulfilment rates, but we found there were borders between the two areas hindering people.” Workday is still building its brand in the UK, and for the recruitment industry the tool marks the arrival of a significant cloud-based enterprise software player. While Workday Recruiting cannot be bought separately, it is geared to modern sourcing and mobile and social recruiting practices. For those evaluating their in-house systems, the tool is likely to attract attention to Workday’s suite of products. Launched in 2005 by Dave Duffield, who founded PeopleSoft, and Aneel Bhusri, who held several leadership positions at the company including senior vice president of product strategy, its strategy is to closely involve customers with product development. This approach includes holding Workday Brainstorm sessions, where customers get the chance to vote on new capabilities.

Graduates get help to show strengths A UK start-up is hoping that its product will ultimately make it easier for other start-ups and SMEs to hire graduates, as well as help tackle youth unemployment. Aptood.com allows candidates to show their potential to future employers by giving them the chance to take psychometric tests and build a profile based on the results and other information upfront. Anil Bhima, business development director at Aptood, told Recruiter that it has taken a set of market-leading psychometric tests that helps candidates create a comprehensive profile, and built a web-based marketplace that matches them with employers and job opportunities. “You may have someone with a history degree and someone else with a business degree going for a business-oriented role, but it might be the history graduate who has the better leadership potential,” he said. “We are trying to provide an unbiased way of allowing a candidate to stand out.” Candidates can sit the tests and create a profile for free, while employers pay a flat-fee of £600 only when they appoint a person. They can post a job, and specify and weight particular traits and skills. The website manages the various stages of the recruitment process, with automated features to help with tasks such as shortlisting and inviting for interview. Martin Gibson (pictured below), co-founder of Aptood, told Recruiter that he came up with the idea while travelling and meeting graduates who were taking a year off because they couldn’t find a job. He felt one solution would be to make it easier for smaller companies to recruit graduates. He believed that technology held the answer. “If we gave candidates a way of bringing together all this information upfront and just taking the tests once, it removes administration for employers and the two can meet in the middle,” he said. “Individuals understand their strengths and weaknesses and what they can offer, and employers can search and find people who may not have been put forward as an applicant.” Initially, Aptood is focusing on the graduate market, but the model could be used in all areas of recruitment. In particular, Gibson hopes it will help reduce youth unemployment and open up opportunities for those without degrees. For example, a current role on Aptood requested just those with master’s degrees, however the system flagged up an individual who was a good fit but who had only A-levels. “There’s a million 16-24-year-olds who can’t find work, and 40% of businesses are defined as SMEs,” said Gibson. “There should be a synergy there.” www.aptood.com

www.workday.com SUE WEEKES

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SPECIAL REPORT

Web comments Adecco to kick-start the careers of 100 young people (21 May) Don’t know why this is big news. We place 10 unemployed youngsters in work experience with our clients every month in the UK. So far, two-thirds of them go on to secure a permanent job with an officebased apprenticeship. So do lots of other recruitment and training providers.

Over half of UK businesses hire unsuitable staff, finds Talent Party (20 May) It is really rare to find a job spec that is accurate. I’ve seen jobs with a salary of £18k requiring three programming languages and five years of experience. It is no wonder people don’t match job specs when the job specs are so poorly written.

Brian Hartman London jobseeker Gerri takes her search to the streets (20 May) Hi Gerri, All power to you! I finished up a contracting assignment in February and have been job hunting for the past three months with very little reward. Relied on the conventional approach of companies directly and utilising agencies. Hard to believe some consultants actually have jobs!!! You WILL succeed, just stick with it. Have faith, believe in yourself and your experience to date, which is invaluable to the right employer and be passionate in your selfexpression. ‘More good things coming down the road — just keep walking’ is one of my favourite quotes. From a lady who has been there, now employed albeit temporarily!

Debbie Perry

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GETTY

Jim Clarke, Key Recruitment and Training

THE DANGERS OF SERVING THE ‘RECRUITMENTTYPE’ THE INDUSTRY NEEDS TO BALANCE TWO SETS OF COMPETENCIES, SAYS GILLIAN HYDE, DIRECTOR OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSULTANCY In the December 2013 issue of Recruiter, readers in recruitment roles were invited to take part in an online assessment to see where they lay on the personality spectrum, how their personality reflected their level of competency at work and how these might affect performance at work. We received a total of 113 responses, which were then, anonymously, collated as a representative sample of the recruitment industry. Of the respondents, 80% were agency employees and 20% in-house. There was an even split between gender, and most respondents were at mid- to senior-level (58%), working fulltime (96%). The purpose of the study was to ascertain whether there were clear competencies that identify a ‘recruitment type’, and if so, how the ‘type’

compares with the general population. What type of person does the industry attract, and are there any differences in terms of in-house or consultant, age, or length of career? A ‘recruitment type’ Some of the competencies that we identified probably bring few surprises. Recruiters score significantly higher than the general population for persuasive communication, risk-taking, results orientation, self-confidence and creativity. These results are good news, as the demands of the job surely necessitate such outgoing and dynamic characteristics. We found that these competencies were widespread across both in-house recruiters and consultancies, and that they occurred irrespective of length of experience or of gender.

Untypical competencies Our sample also scored below average for other competencies, which could be considered essential for the job: project management; customer focus and interpersonal sensitivity. Skills that are generally believed to be necessary for recruitment consultants fall roughly into these same two camps. So on the one hand, having strong sales skills, a ‘hunter’s mentality’ and an ability to start relationships are often sought after, alongside the more organised and interpersonal skills of following up, listening, and being able to offer consultancy skills and advice to both clients and candidates. Some key gripes from clients and candidates about recruiters were a lack of empathy, attention to detail and too great a focus on chasing

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04/06/2014 10:13

SPECIAL REPORT

Effect on performance The question therefore is: is too much expected from our recruiters? In these times of fierce competition and the need for an agency to offer a unique service that sets them apart, consultants are required to win business in a cut-throat industry, while also building long-term relationships, sensitively managing client and candidate expectations, and meticulously following through. How can the industry get around this dichotomy? If it wants really excellent salespeople, it is unlikely to get excellent relationship nurturers. If fulfilling both requirements becomes the guiding principle for selecting recruitment consultants in the future, then there is a possibility that the skill set of successful applicants will be watered down. Those selected may well be all-rounders, but likely to be average at selling and average at relationship management. This dilemma also poses an interesting question for the future of recruitment agencies and the path they choose to take. The recruitment industry will get more competitive, the industry is moving towards sector niches, and there is a greater emphasis on key performance indicators (KPIs) and meeting business targets for growth. At the same time, there is a danger of candidates becoming more commoditised, and the use of social media to find suitable candidates is growing. So is the number of people who lose the opportunity to develop a more personal relationship during their career transition. All these factors lend themselves to the way our ‘recruitment type’ likes to work, but at what cost? Is this how clients and candidates want to work? Probably not. Recruiters may need to take a good look at whether their working practices are serving their personality type, or whether they are serving their customers’ requirements.

RECRUITER

JUNE 2014

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Power Points Recruiters score above average in the following competencies: • Persuasive communication • Risk-taking • Results orientation • Self-confidence • Creativity These all suit a sales-driven, fast-paced environment. Recruiters score below average in: • Project management • Customer focus • Interpersonal sensitivity All of the above are essential for relationship-building, working with potential candidates, and seeing a placement through to completion. Possible effects of the ‘recruitment type’ on the industry • Strong adherence to KPIs and targets • Over-reliance on impersonal tools — online CVs and social media • Commoditisation of candidates • Loss of long-term client relationships Action points: • Recruit an all-rounder, but be prepared for just satisfactory sales and account management • Recruit an outstanding salesperson and, separately, an effective account handler who can nurture relationships and see through a project from start to completion.

of candidates who experience an ‘unsatisfactory’ recruitment process tell people about their negative experience, according to a recent Shortlister.com survey

TOP

the commission, rather than nurturing the relationship between candidates and clients.

MOST VIEWED ARTICLES ONLINE

1. EU Court ruling on

holiday pay and commissions could affect recruitment firms

2. StepStone acquires Getting the right balance So what might recruiters do to balance their ‘type’ with job criteria? It could be argued that if an agency wants to offer a more personal and committed service to their clients, then they need to either: hire a different breed of recruitment consultant who brings softer skills to the job, but with a danger that sales may fall; or they need two different types of people for two roles — a hardhitting, dynamic salesperson

to bring in new business, and a more interpersonally sensitive, nurturing client and candidate account manager type. All too often, employers draw up descriptions of ideal candidates for jobs, listing myriad combinations of knowledge, skills and abilities that would be virtually impossible to find in just one person. Recruiters need to think carefully about what they really need from their employees, and whether the criteria are realistic.

Jobsite as DMGT exits digital recruitment market

3. Impellam chairman Wilson dies

4. Apprenticeships to

the fore as Bentley creates over 140 jobs

5. Staffline agrees to acquire Avanta

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04/06/2014 16:24

News

On tumblr this month On recruitermagazine.tumblr.com, Recruiter magazine’s tumblr feed, we showcase what recruiters get up to when they’re not recruiting PageGroup

L-r: The Morgan Hunt team of Ross Davenport, TJ McCaw, Adam Hillman, Gordon Montgomery

Morgan Hunt and the Dame Kelly Holmes (DKH) Trust The Dame Kelly Holmes (DKH) Trust, Recruiter’s Charity of the Year, held its ﬁfth annual charity golf day at the elegant Brocket Hall golf course in Hertfordshire. Among the teams taking part was professional recruiter Morgan Hunt, which partners with the Trust to provide specialist guidance services to young people from vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds to get their lives on track. However, unlike last year, Morgan Hunt didn’t bring home the crown. Instead it picked up the coveted prize of… the wooden spoon. As well as the Morgan Hunt golﬁng ‘aces’ were a host of former sporting legends, including Olympic rower Sir Matthew Pinsent, Olympic swimmer Mark Foster, 400m legend Kriss Akabusi, Olympic javelin thrower Steve Backley and, of course, Dame Kelly herself.

GM Recruitment Putney-based GM Recruitment’s George Willis (right) and Mark Foxwell (left) led riders home to Guildford last month alongside former world F1 motor racing champ, Damon Hill OBE (centre). Over 80 riders endured three days of intense cycling from Putney in South-West London to France. At the end of the event, GM Recruitment had raised a total of £680 for Hill’s charity the Halow Project, which gives young people with learning difﬁculties the support to live independent lives. Excellent work, guys!

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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And in other cycling news… Four days, 301.1 miles, 19,981 calories burned, 16,761 feet climbed, £10,000 raised for Alzheimer’s Research UK — and several rather sore posteriors. Those are the stats of a London to Paris bike ride completed by a team from L-r: Allan Waller, Steve Hallam and PageGroup, Amy O’Shea including Steve Hallam, a regional director for Page Personnel. Along with fellow PageGroup compatriots Allan Waller from Michael Page at PageGroup’s Weybridge headquarters and Amy O’Shea, who works for Michael Page in Manchester, the trio set off from Crystal Palace in South-East London on Wednesday, 7 May at 7am and arrived in Paris on Saturday, 10 May at 3pm. Well done to the PageGroup Pedallers!

Apex Recruitment The Mayor of Warwick, councillor Bob Dhillon, found he had to cut through some red tape as he officially opened multi-sector recruiter Apex Recruitment’s new office last month in Tournament Fields, Warwick. Luckily this was one type of tape the directors and chairman of Apex were pleased to have hanging about the office.

Apex directors Neil Johnson (l) and Richard Marchington (r) hold the tape for councillor Bob Dhillon, while chairman Keith Marchington looks on Don’t forget to send us your lighter news with pictures to recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk

RECRUITER

JUNE 2014

04/06/2014 16:24

Sector Analysis

Hospitality & leisure

Views from the market

AS RECRUITMENT IS ON THE RISE AGAIN IN THE SECTOR, THE AGEOLD PROBLEM OF STAFF RETENTION IS STILL A KEY ISSUE The hospitality & leisure sector is emerging from a turbulent period as it continues to face staffing challenges and issues with public spending cuts and inflation, leading to constant pressure on the labour market.

Simon Ker Sales director, Leisurejobs “There is a high demand for staff at all levels — many restaurants are in fierce competition for the same people with the same skill set, personality and background.”

hospitality sector is that candidates “have a wide choice of options available to them, both whilst in a job or when they are actively looking”. “Candidates are aware that they can walk out of a job today, particularly chefs, and be in another one by tomorrow,” which according to Ker, “can be very challenging from a staff retention point of view”, with some candidates quick to leave if they do not immediately settle in. Hamish Stoddart, co-founder of pub chain Peach Pubs, says that recruiting good, experienced people is important, because “as consumer expectations grow, so does the need for first-class service, hosting and food”. And he agrees that recruiting the right candidates is one thing, but keeping them is another, “particularly when there is competition from other sectors for that talent”. He says the best way to go about this is to “bolster the quality of training and development on offer to retain and motivate staff”. And for British pub operator and brewer Marston’s, and its resourcing and talent manager Jenny Williams, attracting and retaining the top talent is now “more important that ever”. “One issue we faced was that our demand for talent was outweighing the external supply, and for the more senior positions within our pub restaurants we were struggling to attract candidates of the required calibre,” she says. To deal with the problem, she says Marston’s developed a structured career path in place internally, so that they could “develop staff and promote from within”. As the economy continues to improve and consumer confidence returns to the high street generally, the market will “continue to expand”, Ker concludes. But according to Caterer.com, despite being the UK’s fourth largest employer, leisure & hospitality does have some “stereotypes to address”, particularly the fact that many view it as temporary employment and don’t see it as offering a long-term career path. This needs to change.

But according to the latest figures from a hospitality index by Caterer.com, the UK-based hospitality job board, recruitment levels in the pubs and bars sector has moved beyond pre-recession levels for the first time since 2008. In the 12 months to Q1 2014, 13,401 jobs were advertised on the site by employers, compared with 12,000 in 2008, representing a 34% increase in the last quarter and a 33% increase year-on-year. Commenting on the findings, Ian Burke, website director of Caterer.com, tells Recruiter that the “war for talent is intensifying” as the industry continues to compete with other sectors such as manufacturing and retail for those with the “best aptitude”. “That’s why we need to keep focused on attracting young talent to the industry to avoid future skills gaps — something we’re already doing through initiatives like the British Hospitality Association’s (BHA’s) Big Hospitality Conversation or Springboard’s youth programmes. “We must continue to work together to safeguard hospitality’s future as a sector of growth, initiative and opportunity,” he adds. Caterer.com data showed that managerial staff represents the majority of jobs advertised in the last 12 months, with the number of assistant manager roles available growing by 4.1% compared with last year, while general manager roles increased by 3.3%. However, according to Simon Kar, sales director at leisure & hospitality recruiter, Leisurejobs, chefs are currently the “biggest in demand role” but he tells Recruiter this is not necessarily the area where an employer can have the most success, as it is “harder to get right”. He says the main issue currently facing the

Martin-Christian Kent Executive director, People 1st “The competitive labour market is likely to make it more difficult to find front of house staff with the right behaviours, customer service and employability skills from the UK population.”

Hammis Stoddart Co-founder, Peach Pubs “Building chef and management teams of the future, who are in it for the duration and able to enjoy the rewards, is vital to continued success.”

Anne Pierce Chief executive, The Springboard Charity “High quality work experience is an effective tool to help young people into a meaningful career within hospitality.”

MATT BODIMEADE matt.bodimeade@recruiter.co.uk

HOSPITALITY INDEX, Q1 2014 Distribution of salaries

■ 12 months to 2014 Q1

440

Source:

0 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-49 50-59 60+ (-10) (-9) (0) (0) (19) (2) (2) (7) (27) Salary band in £

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76,643

426,525

3,416

84,786

431,880

2,908

91,911

474,226

2,862

65,052

349,840

3,246

60,720

352,595

2,270

56,238

380,903

3,027

72,251

504,869

3,422

64,155

461,521

3,261

68,010

503,451

3,310

65,096

473,718

3,556

60,351

448,194

3,190

110

69,159

220

522,021

’000

330

■ Jobs posted ■ Job views ■ Job applications

■ 12 months to 2013 Q1

25 % jobs

[The ‘Jobs posted’ ﬁgure in comparison with the ‘Jobs viewed’ ﬁgure is so low on the graph it is hard to differentiate on this scale]

550

3,400

Figures in brackets for each salary band shows % year-on-year growth for that band

TRAVEL, LEISURE, TOURISM IN ALL REGIONS – TOTALJOBS BAROMETER

0 May 13

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan 14

Feb

Mar

Apr

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04/06/2014 10:16

Market Indicators

Global Spotlight on Colombia

DESPITE MOVING AWAY FROM ITS DRUG-LED VIOLENT HISTORY, COLOMBIA IS IN A SOMEWHAT CHAOTIC STATE AS FAR AS EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION IS CONCERNED “It’s very rare that we get asked about safety,” says Carlos Costa, Morson Group’s senior account manager for the Nokia Solutions Market in Colombia. In a country that was once a byword for drugs, violence and kidnapping, and where according to Costa, only five to six years ago it was common “to have to reassure candidates about their safety”, that is quite a change. Indeed, these days with consistent economic growth of more than 4% a year and an open economy attracting huge amounts of direct foreign investment, the issues faced by Colombia’s recruiters are of a very different kind. “US companies contacted every single member of our staff via LinkedIn,” complains Nick Aldridge, chief executive officer of Kogi Mobile, a mobile application software development company based in Bogota. “There is very little loyalty among staff here.” As a result of high levels of staff attrition, Aldridge has had to hire a total of 50 people in just three years to build his 30-strong company. Aldridge is keen to praise Colombia for its flexible labour market, which means that employers are relatively free to hire and fire, and are not overburdened with legislation, which he says is on a par with that in the UK. However, he points out it is a double-edged sword. Employers are not allowed to include notice periods in employees’ contracts as it infringes their freedom, he explains, something that “has created chaos”. Aldridge claims that “big companies and even the government” use this to their own advantage. “They interview someone on a Thursday afternoon and they tell the person that if they don’t start immediately on Monday they won’t have a job,” he says. Putting such practices aside, with a burgeoning oil & gas sector and many multinationals using Colombia as a regional hub, “Colombia is one of the most sophisticated countries in South America”, says Carlos Ratto, who covers Colombia’s human capital sector for international M&A advisers Golden Hill. However, he adds: “It is not yet sophisticated in human capital.” Ratto continues: “It is early days compared to the UK and the US. Most jobs are not advertised but filled through networking.” However, Costa says the market has matured compared to when Morson first entered the market in 2001. In those days, he says “the requirements were for a skill set that wasn’t available in South America”, with technical staff brought in from the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. Today, Costa says there is greater demand for local support staff that can speak the language. “Locals don’t have the highest skill set but there is a requirement for them that never existed before,” says Costa. He says

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Key indicators Colombian facts and figures Population 47.7m Unemployment 9.2% (Colombian government statistics) GDP per capita $11.1k (£6.6k) Real GDP has increased by more than 4% a year in each of the last three years Size of labour force 23.75m (estimated 2013) Labour force breakdown (estimated 2011) agriculture 17% industry 21% services 62% (CIA World Factbook) According to the 2014 Freedom Index report, published by the Wall Street Journal and Washington think tank The Heritage Foundation, it takes less than 10 procedures to start a business in Colombia, with no minimum capital required.

that Morson has been able to meet this need by using the expertise of foreign workers that it brings in to train local staff. Duarte Ramos, Hays’ country manager for Colombia, says the market has “switched very quickly” from one in which employers held all the cards to one in which companies are now “very worried about attracting, recruiting and retaining the right people for the right roles”. Yet, according to Ramos, HR departments are behind the curve by being “reactive and not planning ahead”. “HR departments are still working as they used to six or seven years ago,” he says. Indeed, so much so that “HR can almost stop the activity because they are so bureaucratic”. He says, by way of example, “they need to see three people”, even though they have the ideal candidate in front of them. Martin Padulla is managing director of Staffingamericanalatina, a website that specialises in the South American labour markets, and former managing director of Clett&a, the Latin American arm of Ciett (the International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies). He warns that despite the efforts of the government skills agency SENA, the country’s education system has failed to keep up with the pace of change in the labour market. “The country is completely unprepared from an educational point of view,” agrees Aldridge. There is just not enough resource for all the markets, the local market, the international market and the outsourcing market,” he says. That said, and certainly compared to Colombia’s troubled past, Aldridge acknowledges “these are good problems to have”.

Sponsored by COLIN COTTELL colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk

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04/06/2014 16:25

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04/06/2014 10:17

Interaction

SOAP

BOX

Self-employed in HMRC sights

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have never gone after the self-employed or the small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in quite the way they do now. Britain’s 4.5m SMEs are living in fear, not so much any more of a phone call for a chat with VAT inspectors, but of a dawn raid on their property by bulletproof vest-wearing HMRC officers, who will throw you in a police cell, question you Gestapo-style, and then get the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute you in a Criminal Court, tipping your world upside down. That’s what happened to me on 12 June 2012. Two cars full of HMRC officers turned up at my house at 6 o’clock in the morning and took me away to Taunton police station. Why? I had called the HMRC twice previously (in October 2011 and January 2012) to request face-to-face meetings to explain two issues. I wanted to explain [what I believe to have been] an accountant’s errors in making an arrangement on my behalf for a Time to Pay arrangement and in electronically incorporating a new company without my authorisation. My argument was that I was servicing the tax debt of one legal entity while delaying submitting VAT returns on another, to buy a bit of time. But I was told that I couldn’t meet anyone from the HMRC face-to-face to explain. Instead, I got a dawn raid. It’s easier to get a dawn raid than to have a face-to-face chat with the HMRC. After an aborted trial in July 2013, I got convicted, this past March, of cheating the public revenue. Worryingly, the last 281 HMRC enquiry centres are set to close by 30 June. Those centres are where taxpayers can make an appointment with the HMRC and talk things through face-to-face, as I was trying to do.

RICKY MARTIN

When I called in October 2011 and January 2012, I was categorically told by the HMRC phone operators that was impossible, and there were no such places to meet the ‘taxman’ on neutral territory. Perhaps because they were set for closure this year, the staff were briefed not to reveal their existence. I discovered recently that these enquiry centres, while still operational, will deal only with self-assessment tax issues, and you’re not allowed to raise any issues with regard to company or personal VAT and PAYE obligations. Why on earth not? The Tories have set the HMRC a brief to dramatically increase prosecutions against anyone and everyone they can get hold of. The party sees being ‘tough on tax’ as a vote winner. High-profile names in entertainment — such as Gary Barlow, Jimmy Carr and Chris Moyles — have been named and shamed for tax avoidance schemes. But while their reputations have been damaged, they have not been criminally prosecuted. To achieve an increase in prosecutions, the HMRC has targeted the self-employed and owners of SMEs. The self-employed and owners of SMEs have to take back control of your finances. Ensure you submit your returns on time, even if you are late in paying. The real danger is appearing as though you are trying to hide information. Unfortunately, it really is war out there in business. And it’s not being helped by our government making normal business people part of a hunt. RICHARD HILLGROVE is the founder of Hillgrove PR. On 27 May, he was

sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. He was also given a £5,000 ﬁne and 200 hours’ community service, following his conviction in March for tax evasion

Well thought-out CSR helps your business stand out from crowd

Recently, I have been speaking to contacts about what else a recruitment business does, above and beyond staffing services. The topic that comes up over and over again is corporate social responsibility (CSR). This got me thinking about what CSR means to different companies, what strategies are being used, and what level of awareness of CSR there is across our profession. So what does CSR involve? It doesn’t just mean donating money to charity, giving your employees an annual bonus or asking them not to print out emails. How can recruitment genuinely embrace CSR? We are still a business and, as with any other, to operate we need to generate a profit. But how can our business have a positive impact on society? It’s not about what we do; it’s about the ‘way’ we do it. How do our products and/or services affect the environment and local community? How do we treat and develop our workforce? When you break down your business activities and see how many people are affected by them, it will probably come as a surprise. Let’s break it down into the following key areas: Workplace: This is about how your company supports its employees – its most valuable resource. How is your company doing this? Are you providing your staff with learning and development opportunities? How are you helping them build their careers? Do they feel valued? How are they rewarded? Why should they work for your company? Marketplace: No business operates in isolation, and those who work in recruitment understand the importance of building long-term relationships with candidates, clients and suppliers. But can you go beyond providing an outstanding service? Are you helping

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candidates to develop their career in the best way possible? Think about how your specialist consultancy is making an impact in its industry. How is your company supporting the industry? Are you aware of changes and developments? Environment: Even the smallest firms can find ways to minimise their impact on the environment. This could involve anything from reducing waste to recycling materials. We can all take responsibility as individuals to help the company to reduce our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment. But why limit this to the office? How about encouraging your employees to take responsibility at home? Or even on the way to work? Get the team involved. Ask them for ideas. Community: What are you doing for society and your local community? If you are a specialised recruitment company, it might be worth exploring the idea of supporting key events in your industry. Why not find out about local community/charity events? Then encourage staff to volunteer or take part in challenges. Your CSR should be based on your company values. What does your company vision say? What are your key values? How can these values be incorporated into a CSR strategy that is unique from your brand? How can you be different from your competitors? Think long-term. How will the decisions your company makes today affect financial and social results 10 years from now? Even the smallest companies can make big changes. So think about how your company can make a difference to society, and to the community you serve. 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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JUNE 2014

04/06/2014 16:26

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Interaction

LETTER TO THE

SOUND

BITES

EDITOR

“In recruitment, can anything other than bonuses be used as a way to motivate your team?” Jonathan Coxon Director, Liquid Personnel

Our consultants have uncapped commission, and we try to foster a professionally competitive environment, with a range of incentives. However, in order to really motivate, it is important that we understand the individual and their response to different motivators. Ensuring everyone at Liquid Personnel has access to market-leading training and a range of progression opportunities (within a meritocratic environment) is essential in keeping individuals motivated and engaged. Celebrating success and fostering a sense of ‘team’ is equally important to ensure that individuals are driving towards personal, and company, objectives.

Jack Johnson Director, Blu Digital Recruitment

Commission is integral to motivate your team. However, as we have seen from running Blu Digital there are lots of other things that can also motivate people, such as weekends away, holidays abroad, clothing vouchers and early finishes. We have found setting weekly or monthly targets in a friendly competition — testing things such as number of meetings with new clients, for example — pushes people further to succeed and beat their counterparts to company prizes. I find the best mix to motivate is providing consistent competition, as well as constant encouragement and praise. Other things such as naming your meeting room after your biggest biller and personal letters of gratitude also work remarkably well.

Battling against ageism — still I am a 56-year-old, extremely skilled and qualified consultant who has just about given up after being rejected at least 20 times now and probably applied for over 500 jobs (approx). My jobseekers allowance has been cut to £48 per week. I have applied for in-house as well as consultancy roles. The other day I met a young consultant who had half if not less experience than I did, who had just got a new role in-house. I just thought “Why?” A pretty young blonde, half my age… of course, why employ an old burnt-out cranky like me? I’ve lost all my confidence in getting another role and am hoping to maybe get into training consultants because many need it — they are more concerned about what they look like than doing the job. I’m very angry and have been fighting this ongoing ageism for years and years. London is the worst of all. Look around on the tube in the morning. In the 80s you’d see people of all ages. As

managers got younger, so did the team, leaving no hope for older employees — after all, to them it’s like employing their mother! I’m very adaptable, easy going and get on with everyone. And I’m not the ageist one — they are! I want every recruitment agency operations director out there to know they have a big problem. Susan Hayward, recruitment consultant

Corrections • In last month’s Profile in Recruiter, we incorrectly referred to the chief executive officer of Acre Resources in the opening paragraphs as Martin instead of Richard Wright. We have rectified this mistake in the digital version of the magazine and in the online text article but we apologise to Richard and Acre Resources for the error. • In April’s issue of Recruiter magazine, the Global Spotlight on Singapore was written by Mun Wai Wong and not Colin Cottell. Again we offer our apologies to the author.

Sue Wait

True motivation (genuine passion) comes from a sense of worth in what you do and through keeping true to your own personal values. When this is achieved you will happily go the extra mile and take great pride in what you achieve. In public sector recruitment the challenge is always to find such people. Using bonuses will only motivate a person to find the quickest and easiest way to get to the end outcome they desire.

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CREDIT: MANCHESTER CITY

Head of people resourcing and business development, HR, Birmingham City Council

Not everyone’s idea of a job interview, but the final five candidates for a membership executive’s position with Manchester City FC had to commentate on a goal by City striker Sergio Aguero in the Etihad Stadium as part of their interview. For more, see The Challenge, p26

RECRUITER

JUNE 2014

05/06/2014 15:17

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05/03/2014 08:25

Recruitment Matters Issue 26 June 2014

Trade Association of the Year

Science salaries soaring, as graduate vacancies open up

The Intelligence 2-3 and REC Talk Wage direction and job application education

4-5

Driving growth

Pay is on the up but not in every industry

Wavebreak Media/Alamy

Job growth is on the up, but as we explore in this issue, the key questions are where exactly. A recovering graduate jobs market has helped push the number of advertised job vacancies up by a ﬁfth over the last year, according to the latest UK Job Market Report from Adzuna.co.uk, and graduate vacancies grew a third yearon-year in April, as graduate recruiters picked up hiring. Salaries are also up 1.2% month-on-month across the UK, with the highest growth seen in Birmingham at 2.2%. A booming science sector has helped to support this monthon-month salary growth, with advertised science salaries rising 7.1% to £36,249 in the 12 months since April 2013. The growing trend for re-shoring manufacturing back to the UK has also driven a pick-up in demand in the manufacturing sector. Advertised manufacturing vacancies have increased 7.6% year-on-year in April, and salaries have increased 6.7% year-on-year. Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, explains: “The UK is re-establishing itself as a centre of science and technology, and many employers are on the lookout for new talent. But fresh blood in these sectors is

What’s inside

hard to come by. The science and technology sectors fell out of favour as subjects to study during the recession, which has led to something of a talent drought. Employers are competing to attract new workers, and are upping salaries to try and gain an edge over their competitors. “The recent media buzz around the proposed takeover of AstraZeneca has moved the spotlight back onto the pharma sector and the wider scientiﬁc circle, and could help encourage more aspiring highﬂiers to consider science as a career option,” Hunter says. On the other end of the scale, sectors continuing to hold back the salary recovery include the retail sector, in which advertised salaries fell 12.6% over the year to April to an average of £27,138.

However, the retail world has been particularly volatile recently, and retail salaries could be set to pick up soon. Future job market growth has to grow from the botom, something which the REC Youth Employment Charter strongly supports. Hunter adds: “The graduate market is growing as employer optimism blossoms. As competition for jobs continues to fall, employers are beginning to invest more and nurture talent from the bottom up – that can only be a good thing for graduates. “Initiatives such as the new engineering A level due to be introduced in September 2016 will help to encourage more of our youth to study subjects in which talent is particularly short – and provide a stream of future workers.”

The legal lowdown and Business Development

Pay deductions and UK-wide newspaper coverage

Institute of 7 Recruitment Professionals We speak to Resourcing Group’s Jason Bowler and Technology Resourcing’s Derek Brown

Best Events 8 The and Training The best speakers at the REC Talent and Recruitment Conference

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03/06/2014 11:02

Leading the Industry

the intelligence Heading in the right direction

Fig 1: Turnover growth year-on-year 40

In the March edition of JobsOutlook we asked employers if they anticipate increasing the wages of their employees this year. Just over a quarter (28%) stated that they intend to increase the wages of at least some of their staff and one in 10 stated that all their employees would beneﬁt from a wage increase. Only 14% stated that they would not raise wages. In May this year the Monetary Policy Committee were cautiously optimistic about growth in wages noting: “Surveys suggested that earnings growth might continue to rise: the CBI measure of businesses’ expected salary cost growth over the next 12 months had remained higher than its 2013 average at 2.1% in Q1; and the REC earnings survey balance, which was indicative of growth in the pay of newly recruited employees, was now some way above its prerecession average.” The Income Data Services similarly reported that median pay growth in the ﬁrst quarter of 2014 equalled 2.5%, and that 60% of pay settlements resulted in a pay rise of between 2% and 2.99%. Public sector staff fare less well, with pay settlements growing at 1.1%. In contrast, people in aerospace, chemicals, defence and food processing industries have been

able to command above average pay deals. This wage growth is long overdue. Between 1997 and 2007 wages increased by 4% yearon-year. In contrast, prices did not creep up by more than 2% in this period. Improved employer confidence will contribute to increased pay settlements. In April 2014, JobsOutlook reached a record high in employer confidence. The following month, JobsOutlook reported that four in five employers intended to increase number of permanent hires in the next year. But much will depend on whether staff are available. As the graph below illustrates the marginal fall in inflation is also contributing to growth real wages. This is all good news. But the focus in the coming months also depends on whether labour productivity mimics improvements in wage growth. In the event that productivity stagnates, improvements in pay settlements will translate into higher costs for business and prices for consumers, leading to possible interest rate rises. But as the graph suggests, productivity is heading in the right direction. Improvements in labour productivity will lessen the threat of interest rate rises and wage growth will come at less of a cost.

■ CPI overall (% change year-on-year)

■ Labour productivity

(Output per worker % change on quarter a year ago)

■ Whole economy

(% change year-on-year)

■ Private sector

-1

(% change year-on-year)

■ Public sector

-2 -3

(% change year-on-year)

Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec Feb Apr 12 13 14

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■ Upper quartile ■ Median ■ Lower quartile

28.84 %

20 13.59 % 10 1.09 %

What will happen to wages, asks Nina Mguni, senior researcher at the REC

-10

-20

-30 Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec Jan Mar 12 13 14

On the up Throughout the whole of last year, Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB) reported on an improving picture for recruiters. With the first quarter of 2014 now completed, it’s pleasing to see that not only has this improvement continued but shows positive signs of a potential acceleration. The graph above shows ‘turnover growth’ compared to the previous year. As can be seen, March figures show a healthy median figure of 13.59% growth, an increase on the 6.32% growth reported in December. Indeed it is good to see that both the January and February figures showed an increase of over 10% on the previous year. The graph also shows the ‘spread’ of improvement, with the upper quartile reporting a 28.84% increase in March – 22.49% in December. It is worth noting that 25% of RIB members are therefore reporting an increase above this 28.84%. It’s also pleasing to see that the lower quartile are now also reporting a positive improvement in March of 1.09%, the first time this has been positive in the two years of the graph. Simple turnover figures do not, of course, show a complete picture but it is a good indication of a generally improving marketplace. It is, however, pleasing to see that net profit margins also continue to improve with a median figure of 4.48% reported in March – an increase on the 2.92% December figure. Of course different sectors are reporting different pictures, and professional recruiters will want to look at other key measurement such as fee earner productivity etc. However, this is a positive start to the year and it will be crucial that management make use of all the tools and industry knowledge available to them to ensure they optimise their performance in this dynamic marketplace. • Crawfurd Walker is chief executive officer at Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB) www.ribindex.com

www.rec.uk.com 03/06/2014 11:03

Leading the Industry

Change enablers and deal breakers Tom Hadley, REC director of policy and professional services, considers how recruiters can help galvanise the jobs market around the world

The View

The headline stat from the latest REC/KPMG Report on Jobs is that candidate availability contracted at the sharpest rate since October 2004. This is emerging as the major challenge for our post-recession labour market. So what is the solution here? What can we put in front of politicians looking for a policy response? REC members have regularly flagged up the fact that too many jobseekers are ill-equipped for the world of work and unschooled in the basics of present-day job hunting. One priority is to raise awareness of where the jobs are and what employers are looking for amongst future generations of workers. The business community has a key role to play here by building links with local schools and colleges through initiatives such as Inspiring the Future and our own Youth Employment Charter. A renewed focus on helping long-term unemployed build skills and rebuild confidence is also long overdue and is something we have been feeding into our discussions with ministers and shadow ministers. Being solution providers and deal breakers is not just a trend in the UK. Speaking at the Ciett World Employment Conference, Ciett president AnneMarie Munz argued that, “improving our image by being thought leaders and working constructively with national governments are key to driving growth and pushing back on regulations that ‘cage’ the industry”. The Ciett ‘Way to Work’ campaign will continue to challenge pre-conceptions, and national federations across the world are now positioning their voice on major issues such as youth employment, skills shortages and the ageing population. Working with schools and influencing education policy is the long-game. How else can we respond to the squeeze on suitable candidates, and what are some of the short-term solutions for UK Plc? The immediate response must be to sharpen up current hiring practices, to review how recruitment currently takes place and who is driving it. Fuelling a national debate on hiring best practice is one of the core aims of our Good Recruitment Campaign, which has been launched as the labour market becomes increasingly candidate driven. There has never been a more important time for businesses to shake things up and look at the best ways of bringing in the right people. Our industry is all about being ‘change enablers’ to clients and candidates and ‘solution providers’ to government. The role of professional bodies like the REC is to galvanise the industry, pressing social issues of the day such as youth employment, diversity, social mobility, long term unemployment and ageing populations.

Over the last year the recruitment market has shifted rapidly from a place where recruiters were searching for jobs, to one of struggling to find the candidates for the abundance of opportunities now available. This means that putting the candidate experience at the heart of your offering is now more critical than ever before. However, all the feedback from candidates indicates that they are getting a worse experience. The internet, the abundance of job boards and the growth of social media have made it easy for candidates to fire hundreds of CVs off every day without much thought or tailoring. This often means that employers and recruiters get hundreds of applications for jobs. However, there is never any excuse for not acknowledging or communicating with candidates. We have the technology to do this. But we need to go back to basics and ensure that we are always explicit about the skills, experience and capability required to do a job. This will avoid random applications from people who are unqualified. We need to educate more people about the application process. The 250 members signed up to our Youth Employment Charter have already helped 20,000 youngsters with this in schools and colleges right across the UK. We want more recruiters to sign up and we are calling on the government to put work experience back into the school curriculum. We are influencing employers to improve the candidate experience directly with our Good Recruitment Charter, which has all the major business bodies committed and over 25 major employers signed up. This will also be a major theme of our first employer-driven talent conference, TREC, on 24 June (see p8). We have much to do to make good recruitment an everyday occurrence. Let’s get cracking. For more information about Ciett visit www.ciett.org

• You can follow Tom on Twitter @hadleyscomment

• You can follow Kevin on Twitter @kevingreenrec

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Recruitment Matters May 2014 3

03/06/2014 11:03

The Big Talking Point

As expanding workforces struggle to find the best candidates, pay rates are on the up. But is that the case across the board, asks RM editor Francesca Steele

hings are on the up in the UK. Everywhere you look there are new statistics and commentators indicating not only that the worst recession since World War II is now over, but that growth is better than it has been in a long time, across a wide range of sectors. So what effect is that having on the jobs sector and subsequently on recruiters? The short answer is: placement growth is accelerating, while a decline in the availability of candidates with the appropriate skills is pushing salaries higher – at least as far as permanent jobs are concerned. The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG Report on Jobs, published in May, showed that for permanent candidates, the latest fall in availability of people to ﬁll roles was the sharpest since October 2004, while for temporary workers it was the steepest since December 2000.

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Meanwhile, the growth of permanent salaries accelerated further in April, with the latest increase the most marked since July 2007. Temporary staff pay increased at a solid pace that was sharper than in the preceding month. In the boxes opposite, you can read more about the issues and pay trajectories in speciﬁc sectors, such as ﬁnance, drivers and education. As these case studies show, there are some industries experiencing a shortage of candidates and pay rises – but there are also some industries where a surplus is still pushing pay rates down.

Radius Images/Alamy

Driving growth Tom Hadley, director of policy and professional services at the REC, notes that an upturn in starting salaries has been one of the biggest recruitment trends of the last six months. “This has largely been driven by the fact that we are in an increasingly candidate-driven market. As well as the REC/KPMG Report on Jobs data, the anecdotal feedback from REC members conﬁrms the fact that employers are having to ‘dig

www.rec.uk.com 03/06/2014 11:04

The fine print in finance There is certainly growth in the financial sector pay levels, however there is a split between professional services and industry. Our legal division, who recruit finance staff to law firms, reports that salaries have grown by between 5-10% over the last 12 months alone, and 68% of legal accountants saw an internal pay rise in March this year. Companies have started hiring again, particularly those law firms that specialise in employment law and merger & acquisitions, and so in order to attract the best people, they have upped their salaries. The industry and commerce division, which includes consumer market, media, retail and technology clients, is also growing but to a much smaller extent. We’re really having to push back on job briefs, explaining that candidates want more now, that there are greater expectations in the current market. Candidates want more but clients haven’t quite caught on yet and in many places starting salaries haven’t changed all that much since before the recession. Tony Vickers, director at Balance Recruitment

On the road deeper’ to attract the right candidates. For example, members of the REC’s Marketing, Media, Comms & Creative Industries sector group recently flagged the increasing use of ‘golden hellos’ (ie. joining bonuses), which hadn’t been seen for many years.” As pay trends continue to evolve, Hadley adds, one of the key areas in which recruiters can add value to clients is by providing updates on market trends and on what candidates are looking for; not only in terms of financial incentives, but also development opportunities and company culture. Bernard Brown, a partner and head of business services at KPMG, says that recruiters and companies looking to hire the best talent ignore newer candidates to their own detriment: “With employers focusing their attention on trying to win over talented people with proven skills and track records, there remains one unanswered question. We have growing numbers of new entrants to the marketplace looking for work and employers will ignore them at their peril. Not acknowledging what they have to offer continues the very real risk of losing a generation of talent – it makes no business sense, because without a blend of youth and experience the workplace will no longer reflect the marketplace.”

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When the recession started in 2008 it took an awful lot of work out of the arena and the industry ended up with a surplus of LGV drivers. Their pay rates – and also the way they were treated – went down, indeed so much so that a lot of them left the industry. I’d say pay went down by up to 10% in a lot of cases. To complicate matters, a law was introduced in 2009 for lorry drivers that means they must do their CPC – 35 hours of training every five years – the deadline for which is coming up in September this year. There’s concern that many don’t feel it’s worth it any more and so just haven’t bothered, which means come September we may have a shortage of lorry drivers. I’m hearing that there could be a shortfall of more than 60,000 drivers. So in just six years we’ve gone from a surplus to a shortage. Recruiters need to ensure they encourage both permanent and temp drivers to do their CPC and that they are paid enough to want to stick around. Mike Cooper, director at The Best Connection Group

Education, education, education In supply teaching, pay varies enormously from location to location depending on whether there is a shortfall or surplus in the local area. For example, in cities like Liverpool we’ve seen a surplus of candidates for a long time because there are several teaching colleges nearby, which puts a lot of young people into the market at the same time. A newly qualified teacher might earn £110 a day for supply teaching in somewhere like Leeds or London, but in Liverpool it wouldn’t be uncommon for the day rate to be just £80 to £90. That has fallen about 10% over the last 18 months as agencies have become more competitive over pay. In certain areas, I’d say the number of agencies has doubled. It’s a challenge for recruiters certainly, but we need to get out of the race to the bottom for teacher’s pay. If you want a supply teacher to do a good day’s work, you need to pay them properly. If you are permanently squeezing their day rate you are not going to make them feel valued and the best people will leave. Stewart McCoy, chairman of REC education sector group and strategic operations manager, Randstad Education

Recruitment Matters June 2014 5

03/06/2014 11:04

Legal Update

Deductions from pay Employers should understand the legalities of pay deductions, says Lewina Farrell, REC solicitor and head of professional services All workers (including employees and temporary workers on contracts for services, but not the genuinely selfemployed) are entitled to the applicable national minimum wage (NMW). This varies according to age; the current adult rate is £6.31 rising to £6.50 from 1 October 2014. Workers must be paid at least this hourly rate, for all hours worked before deductions are made. Section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 states that an employer (including employment businesses supplying temporary workers on contracts for services) may not make any deduction from wages unless it is authorised by one of the following: 1) by statute 2) by the worker’s contract 3) the worker has previously signiﬁed in writing his consent to the making of the deductions. However, the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 outline speciﬁc situations where deductions can be made to bring the hourly rate below the NMW, including deductions in respect of: a. tax and National Insurance b. a worker’s conduct, where the worker is contractually liable c. repayment of a loan or advance or wages d. repayment of an accidental overpayment of wages made to the worker

e. the purchase by the worker of any shares, securities, share options or of any share of a partnership f. the provision of living accommodation (ie. the accommodation offset, which is currently £4.82 per day) g. deductions that are not for the employer’s own use or beneﬁt (eg. union subscriptions or pension contributions). The REC Legal Helpline receives lots of questions about pay and deductions, including about Personal Protective Equipment, ﬁnes and damage to vehicles. • PPE: You cannot charge workers for PPE or for failing to return PPE. However, you can have a contractual clause whereby you will provide PPE free of charge

and without deposit, but if they do not return the PPE, either at all or in a usable state (allowing for reasonable wear and tear), you will recover the cost of replacement PPE by charging an agreed amount. This deduction is allowed even if it takes the worker below the NMW because a deduction in respect of a worker’s conduct, where the worker is contractually liable will not breach the NMW legislation (see point b] above). • Driving fines or congestion charge: You can only deduct driving ﬁnes or the congestion charge if you have the driver’s prior written consent to do so or a contractual clause allowing you to. However, can you question whether the driver could have avoided the ﬁne or charge eg. was the delivery scheduled by the client during congestion charge hours or the hours during which parking was restricted? If not, agree with the client how it will cover these costs rather than deduct from the driver’s pay. • Damage to vehicles: before deducting any sums for damage to a client’s vehicle, a full investigation should be done on what the damage was and how it was caused. The driver may or may not have been responsible for the damage, if an accident; it might have been caused by a third party. REC corporate members can call the REC Helpline on 020 7009 2199 or email us at legal@rec.uk.com.

Business development: read all about it What if you could get newspaper coverage across the country along with jobsites as part of your recruitment process? Well, you can. Fish4Jobs has 2.5 million registered candidates but it also is part of the Trinity Mirror Group, which has more than 100 publications across the country, including the Daily Mirror and plenty of regionals such as the Manchester Evening News, the Liverpool Echo and the Birmingham Mail. Fish4Jobs has also recently become an REC business partner and is offering REC members an exclusive 15% off new

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advertising campaigns on its online and print recruitment platforms. Charlotte Tracy, head of marketing at Fish4Jobs, says: “I think what makes us different is the regional coverage we have and the network of local jobsites We can access active jobseekers through the jobsites, but then we can also target passive jobseekers through the papers.” For more information about the unique offer and to get in contact with Fish4Jobs, contact Jimmy Jobson, head of sales, on 020 7845 0102 or email jimmyjobson@trinitymirror.com.

www.rec.uk.com 03/06/2014 11:06

Inspiration

Behind the scenes at the Institute of Recruitment Professionals

Public service We talk to Jason Bowler, CEO of Resourcing Group, who won Business Leader of the Year at last year’s IRP awards Congratulations! Why do you think you won? Well, we’ve had three years of consistent and substantial growth, both in terms of gross and operating profit. I think what caught the judges’ eyes was our client relationships and the added value we provide there. We are very focused and we’re very specialist. We don’t try to be everything to everyone. Can you give us some examples of this added value? Yes, so for instance we work with some of the biggest housing associations in the country and we help them with their corporate social responsibilities, such as volunteer programmes, local employment campaigns and so on. We’re responsible for day-today recruitment, but clients are looking for more for their money these days. We also offer a flexible payment model that works well. Not every client wants to have a fully outsourced relationship straight away, so this is a different option. Have you noticed much change in the last year or two? Absolutely. Lots of our markets now have 100% employment and we have to coach customers on how to attract the best quality candidates. There are still companies out there that are not as good as they could be at demonstrating all the reasons why someone might want to join them. You can see in the counteroffers that crop up that offers are often about a lot more than just financial gain. How has the public spending squeeze impacted your market? There has been a lot of press related to challenges within the public sector and of course that does represent a challenge. But it also means lots of organisations are going through transformation, and looking for new skills. What would you have been if you weren’t in recruitment? My dream was actually to be a footballer. I get the mickey taken out of me because I say Alex Ferguson is my hero. But he is. He built a football club on sound principals, where no one individual was bigger than the team. That’s how a good business should run.

Things I Know Derek Brown, managing director of Technology Resourcing, gives us his career tips It’s good to know your own strengths What works for us might not work for some of the other, very different recruiters. When I set up Technology Resourcing 19 years ago I wanted to deliver a true consultancy service rather than the commodity service I’d experienced with other recruitment companies. As well as securing the best people for our client’s businesses, we also have the experience and ability to sit down and consult with them, which they truly value. We invest an immense amount of time getting under their skin, asking them what their challenges are going to be over the next 12 months, how we can help them meet those challenges and so on. It all comes down to hiring the best people Part of what makes us different, I think, is that we only hire people who are capable of consulting at that high level. We have a very rigorous hiring process, with two or three interview stages, personality profiling and intelligence tests. The people we end up hiring are able to think on their feet and are instantly credible in front of our clients and candidates. Specialist knowledge is less important than the ability to learn I started life as an electronics engineer, before moving into project management and eventually recruitment, which has obviously been a useful grounding. That said, though, I’ve learned that for our business, where we specialise in very specific technology niches, it remains far more important to hire intelligent consultants with the core competencies we demand rather than industry specialists or sales people. Of course, we then need to develop them further to conduct our highly technical assessments, which they need to be able to understand and be confident on. Our clients often help us with this training, which has been brilliant, benefitting us all. Company politics can be tricky Nineteen years ago I left a large recruitment company because of internal politics and power plays, so I’m adamant that in Tech-Res the best employees are recognised not for how they play the corporate game but for the quality of service they deliver and, of course, the revenue they contribute.

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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Recruitment Matters June 2014 7

03/06/2014 11:07

Events and training

Building a world-class workforce Join the REC and its high profile speakers for the Talent and Recruitment Conference in June The REC ‘Talent and Recruitment Conference (TREC) Hiring for Growth: building a world class workforce’ will take place on 24 June in London at the Grand Connaught Rooms. A series of high proﬁle speakers are conﬁrmed for the event and will be tackling the key issues that employers are facing in the current jobs market. Deputy CEO at CIPD Susannah Clements says: “I’m delighted to be speaking at the Talent Recruitment and Employment Conference. Our latest research shows that recruitment intentions are increasing, meaning there will be more competition for talent – bringing recruitment and resourcing challenges for organisations. The recent global economic turmoil has changed the game. Recruiters need to source talent that has the agility and adaptability to respond to fast-changing organisational requirements, critical to future organisational success. Against this backdrop, it is more essential than ever for HR professionals to continue to network and share best practice, so we are able to consistently deliver the competitive advantage our organisations require.” REC CEO Kevin Green said: “TREC is a big innovation for us and the whole agenda is being driven by the clients and designed to create topical debates around some of the key issues affecting hiring for growth.” Topics for panel discussions and roundtables include: the changing face of sourcing channels; recruiting for growth – identifying, sourcing and developing a broad range of talent; the elements that shape a world-class recruitment service; resource planning; managing top quality talent; staying ahead of the compliance

Susannah Clements, deputy CEO at CIPD burden; talent acquisition and employer opportunities for delegates to network branding; bringing education leavers with their peers at the TREC 2014 World into the mix; international career Cup Event (England vs Costa Rica) development as a tool to strengthen the following the close of the conference. business and innovation in recruitment. Places are going fast so make sure There will also be plenty of that you register now! Quote VIP code 333 to access the Recruitment Matters special rate on tickets. Call 020 7009 2100, email trec@rec.uk.com and more information can be found at www.rec. uk.com/TREC

Who are the speakers? Susannah Clements, deputy CEO, CIPD Caroline Roberts, HR director, (VP) Europe, at Fox International Channels Tom Sayer, talent acquisition lead, Accenture Angela Goldsmith, head of European resourcing, Diageo Kean August, VP global executive recruitment, SAP Neil Morrison, group HR director, Penguin Random House Colin Minto, group head resourcing and HR systems, G4S Charlie Keeling, global HR director, Clyde & Co Katie Jacobs, deputy editor, HR Magazine David Head, leader of vision, values and ethics, Recruitment International Gary Franklin, co-founder, The FIRM Martin Hesketh, managing director, Brookson

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

8 Recruitment Matters June 2014

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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: Aaron Nicholls aaron.nicholls@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 8547 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.

www.rec.uk.com 03/06/2014 11:09

Friday 5th December 2014 Park Plaza Westminster Bridge

THE IRP AWARDS 2014

CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN RECRUITMENT

For further information Email: emilia.tosner@redactive.co.uk Telephone: 0207 880 6226

Supporting:

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04/06/2014 10:18

Insight

Bill sends shockwaves through RPO world THE FINANCE BILL 2014 BRINGS FRESH CHALLENGES FOR RPOS — BUT IT COULD ALSO RAISE STANDARDS, SAYS JEFF BLAKEMORE I was interested to read in April’s Recruiter about the challenges facing recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) providers (‘RPO firms fail to provide transforming solutions’). As the article made clear, a key ingredient of the RPO-client relationship is the RPO’s ability to implement innovative solutions to workforce management and talent acquisition/retention challenges. One way in which RPOs have traditionally sought to earn a reputation for adding value is by offering guidance on legislative compliance. Now, however, new legislation means RPOs have compliance challenges of their own to worry about. I’m talking about the product of policymakers’ attempts to eradicate ‘false selfemployment’ from the British economy: the onshore employment intermediaries legislation. Exposure to risk Few would deny that the overall aim of the new legislation, included in the Finance Bill 2014, is laudable. However, many have argued that the staffing industry has once again been saddled with disproportionate exposure to risk and an excessive administrative burden. RPOs, in particular, have been placed in a difficult position. As the party furthest up the recruitment supply chain in multi-tier arrangements, and the organisation that maintains the direct contractual relationship with the end client, it’s the RPO that will be liable for unpaid employment taxes in the event that workers supplied through it are deemed by the authorities to have been falsely self-employed. In addition to the commercial risks, what’s really focusing minds is the spectre of directors themselves being held liable for unpaid employment taxes through a personal liability notice. Compliance just got personal. The only get-out clause for the RPO is where it can be proven that it was supplied with fraudulent documents, in which case the tax burden would fall on the party that supplied those documents. David Gauke, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, has also confirmed that RPOs — along with agencies that have direct contractual relationships with end clients — will be able to draw on an ‘acted-in-good-faith’ defence in relation to fraudulent documents.

However, most forward-thinking providers will still do everything in their power to avoid becoming embroiled in an investigation in the first place. The reputational damage caused by an investigation could be significant, even if the organisation is subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing. Mud sticks, as the old saying goes. Due diligence Carrying out due diligence on suppliers and workers will be difficult enough for a mid-sized staffing firm, that places several hundred temps and contractors a week. Yet this challenge pales in comparison with the task facing the UK’s biggest RPOs, who in some cases have upwards of 100 second-tier recruitment firms engaged for the purposes of servicing their client base. As an RPO or managed service provider (MSP), how is it possible to ensure that every contingent worker supplied to you and onto your client via second-tier or partner agencies is, to quote the legislation guidance, “not subject to (or to a right of) supervision, direction or control by anyone, as to the manner in which they provide the services?” How can you be sure that the agencies you are working with have carried out due diligence with regard to their suppliers? Faced with questions such as these, and given the financial risk posed by the sheer numbers of workers they supply to clients, many RPOs are reviewing their supply chain arrangements. Several RPOs that we work with, for example, are looking to re-negotiate contracts with secondtier agencies as they seek to enforce a universal preferred supplier list (PSL). Enforcing this tough new approach will naturally be tougher for the RPO when it is acting as agent rather than principal. But the new focus on compliance and governance represents something of a sea change in the RPO world. In the past, even those RPOs with PSLs in place may not have enforced them as strictly as they are now doing. Many RPOs are now hoping to gain client buy-in as they work — often hand-in-hand with their preferred employment/umbrella/ contractor accountancy suppliers — to implement standardised framework agreements that secondtier agencies must abide by. As with the onshore legislation itself, the ramifications of this trend will be felt throughout the staffing industry. If standards are ultimately raised as a result, it should be welcomed.

Power Points What RPOs can expect from the new legislation: The onshore employment intermediaries legislation has heralded a new focus on ‘best practice’ in supply chain management among RPOs. Many RPOs are renegotiating contracts with second-tier suppliers as they seek to enforce universal preferred supplier lists (PSLs) as a means of mitigating their own exposure to risk. Expect to see a rise in the number of standardised framework agreements between RPOs and their second-tier suppliers More than ever, governance and compliance are the watchwords for RPOs when it comes to worker supply chains. Agencies that work – or want to work – with RPOs acting as principals may need to be flexible when it comes to the umbrella companies and contractor accountancy firms they engage.

JEFF BLAKEMORE is a director at Optionis, home to outsourced employment provider Parasol and specialist contractor accountant ClearSky.

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

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JUNE 2014

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04/06/2014 10:12

The Challenge

Come and have a go if you think you’re fan enough

Claudio Borges

Adam Rix

Head of fan relationship management

Associate creative director

SINGING A FAMOUS ANTHEM HARDLY SEEMS THE USUAL INTERVIEW TEST, BUT THIS IS HOW MANCHESTER CITY FC FOUND ITS LATEST RECRUIT, THANKS TO HAYS AND MUSIC THE CHALLENGE Fans are at the heart of any football club and their support can be relied on the world over. For many fans, this allegiance can often be a lifelong, all-encompassing passion. Last season’s English Premiership champions Manchester City Football Club (MCFC) wanted to develop a new membership scheme for the club and decided fan participation must be a key element. Claudio Borges, head of fan relationship management at Manchester City, told Recruiter that initially the club thought about recruiting a membership intern. However, the club then decided to set its sights higher by recruiting a qualified fulltime membership executive position to give the club “a new perspective”. “We needed something attractive, creative, to really engage with fans,” Borges explained. “It certainly shouldn’t be boring but fun.” He

approached creative and branding agency Music, which the club had turned to for more than six years for various projects, to work with him and come up with fun ideas and concepts. Adam Rix, an associate creative director of Music, told Recruiter: “The challenge was to make it entertaining and fun for the fans, but with the result that City came out with a credible candidate.” It would be a simple task to find a die-hard fan, who knew the history and everything about the players and the club. But as well as being a true City fan, the candidate also had to have real job skills in marketing and promotion. This entry-level membership executive would help design and implement creative ways of developing Manchester City’s membership base. Now the recruitment drive could begin, and this next stage was going to be a job for Manchester City’s recruitment partner Hays.

THE SOLUTION

“Hays added a lot to the project, not least in finding credible candidates. It couldn’t have worked better” ADAM RIX, MUSIC

After playing around with several options, Music came up with the concept ‘Mission: Cityzen’. To get a sense of a person’s creativity, in addition to a CV candidates were asked to send in a 30-sec video clip of themselves. As well as the club promoting the role to fans through its own channels — with a video, on the Vacancies section of mcfc.com and their social media channel — Hays also publicised the opportunity centrally and

via relevant job boards through the Manchester City recruitment partnership microsite on hays.co.uk. James Sykes, commercial director, Hays North-West, told Recruiter: “We highlighted the opportunity to graduates from relevant courses at local universities through our ‘milk round’ meetings and presentations.” Sykes and his team also discussed the opportunity at Hays’ own graduate recruitment campaign evenings, which involved over 200 graduates. Music’s Rix said that there was a danger they could be inundated with applications, but thanks to the professional wording of the job description and the criteria set by Hays, despite a short deadline of around 14 days, Sykes sat down with Borges’ team at Manchester City to look through 60 or so CVs and video clips. “At the end of the day, it was for a proper job and Manchester City needed Hays to identify the key skills required to do the job properly,” Sykes explained. “A balance was required. The person had to be a real fan but it was also a real job in marketing, so their skills had to be properly benchmarked.” After three sifting sessions, Borges and Hays eventually decided on a shortlist of ﬁve, who were invited along to Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium for an interview day. Borges said the day had to be fun, as well as professional, so as well as a formal interview, Music devised a series of pitch-based

activities, which included singing the club’s anthem, Blue Moon, commentating on a goal by star striker Sergio Aguero, shown on the stadium’s big screen, and dribbling a ball and shooting into a goal — none of which the shortlisted candidates knew about. Recruiters from Hays gave the candidates a formal competencybased interview. There was even more pressure — not just for the candidates but also the Hays team of interviewers — as it was being filmed by the club’s City TV. At the end of a long day, the five were whittled down to a final three — all of whom were deemed capable of successfully fulfilling the role. Now came perhaps their greatest challenge: to be chosen by the toughest interviewing panel — the fans. “It was important that the fans were engaged in the process,” Borges explained, so clips of their endeavours on the pitch and their interviews were put up online and on City TV. Around 6,000 fans voted for the eventual ‘winner’, Lee John Kenny, who was surprised at home by a visit from Aguero, bringing him the good news. Borges was pleased with the result of this recruitment process. Although he’s quite used to working three ways, “Music is usually involved in the creative element … and it was important that we had Hays’ input in a meaningful way as it was a genuine role”, he admitted “usually it’s not as fun as this one”.

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

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05/06/2014 08:22

Profile

Victoria Bourne DEEDEE DOKE SPOKE WITH BP’S HEAD OF RESOURCING — REFINING & MARKETING

Often aspired to, rarely achieved — for recruiters and job applicants alike, the successful delivery of a quality ‘candidate experience’ has attained near mythic status as recruitment’s equivalent of consumer customer service. But global oil & gas giant BP has gone so far as to codify a promise to job applicants for its roles. Its eight-point Candidate Charter, launched in 2012 but made public earlier this year, spells out what applicants can expect when they throw their hats in the ring for jobs at BP. From the first point — ‘Treat candidates with honesty, fairness and respect’ — to the last — ‘Listen to candidate feedback and act on it to make improvements’ — clarity and simplicity are hallmarks of the charter’s guiding principles. “It’s not rocket science,” acknowledges Victoria Bourne, BP’s head of resourcing – refining & marketing. “It’s not complicated. “We started with the end in mind, and then used feedback from candidates and engagement with candidates about what their expectations were, and what they were after to understand what ‘good’ would look like from a candidate’s perspective,” she explains of what led to the resulting document of commitment. In developing the charter, Bourne worked with resourcers and human resources (HR) staff across BP’s global operations to see how its elements would come across to colleagues in different BP business environments and geographic cultures, “to make sure we’d got something relevant”, she says. “And we kept it really simple, we didn’t overcomplicate it and try to get into too much detail: high level, simple and clear. And I think that made a big difference as well.” Just three months into her current role at BP, Bourne led the drive to deliver and execute the charter in her previous job, BP’s head of global talent attraction & candidate experience, a corporate group role with global accountability. In that role, she was responsible for working with “different business segments so I would partner with the heads of resourcing globally to kind of roll things out”. Now at BP for three years, Bourne launched her recruitment career as a recruitment consultant with the Royce Consultancy, which recruited pharmaceutical sales representatives. “I absolutely loved it,” she recalls of becoming a recruiter. “I really felt I’d found my home.”

Subsequently moving into executive search and later into in-house recruitment in a large French pharmaceutical company, Sanofi-Aventis, she worked in the US for three years. “That’s not a huge amount of time but it was enough to really get a flavour for living and working in another country and understanding the different dynamics that brings,” she says. She finds “a lot of similarities” between the pharma world and the oil & gas arena in which she now works, from long project lead times to the types of scientific and technical professionals populating those industries, for which companies compete hard and long. However, competition for talent around the world doesn’t stop for BP with scientific, technical and engineering professionals. Staff for sales, shared service operations and other aspects of BP’s businesses are needed, and competition for many of the talents and skills BP needs, from Budapest to Kuala Lumpur, is also very hot. “How we present ourselves in the market, how we brand ourselves, how we engage with candidates is really important for a number of different reasons,” Bourne says. A dedicated resourcing function is relatively new to BP, established as recently as within the last four or five years, Bourne explains. “There were pockets of resourcers and recruiters across the business, but very small in number, and the majority of recruitment was done by HR generalists, outside their desk and over and above their day job. “We had different approaches and processes, and globally, it was all managed very locally. A decision was made to work towards having an in-house resourcing function, which was great. That gave us some infrastructure to build from.” At the point that Bourne joined BP, concerns about how the company handled job applications and applicants were surfacing. “What we were hearing was an awful lot of anecdotal feedback that the mechanics were poor,” she says. “A lot of senior leaders were feeding back that they were very uncomfortable with the process.” The rise of social media was also feeding “a bit of a groundswell of reputation externally” that BP did not give a good candidate experience, “and that we had a very slow process, and that we didn’t get back to people”. While BP did have “one saving grace”, Bourne

VICTORIA BOURNE’S CV Apr 2014– Head of resourcing – reﬁning & marketing, BP

July 2011-March 2014 Head of global talent attraction & candidate experience – resourcing, BP

Jan 2008-July 2011 Head of HR excellence, SanoﬁAventis

May 2006-Jan 2008 Head of HR operations, SanoﬁAvenis

Jan 2005-May 2006 Senior director recruiting, Sanoﬁ Aventis

2001-03 Recruitment consultant, Royce Consultancy

Education: BSc, Medical Microbiology

BOURNE’S PHILOSOPHY OF RESOURCING: “Resourcing has got to be in service of the business, for the long term and the short term. Then it’s how do we balance the short-term needs against the long-term needs. That’s the challenge”

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PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD LEA_HAIR

Profile

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Profile

BP’S CANDIDATE CHARTER Our aspiration is to achieve a world-class BP candidate experience. It will help us secure the best talent, ensure high levels of new joiner engagement and performance, and enhance our company reputation. That’s why we’re making a commitment to a Candidate Charter.

BOURNE’S SECRET OF SUCCESS “Being close to the business, listening, understanding what’s important and what is going to lead to the overall business goals” says, an applicant tracking system (ATS), it was being used “very differently and very sporadically”. “We had an awful lot of what we call ‘stranded candidates’ — a lot of people had applied, and then hadn’t got any further through the process and were just kind of hanging,” Bourne says. “That actually indicated we needed to do something. We weren’t engaging in the right way with candidates.” To quantify the problem, BP needed to have a genuine understanding of what was happening, Bourne says: was there a real problem or “was it just a few noisy people?”. That led to the company’s first candidate experience survey, its baseline exercise, which went out to candidates in the UK and the US. Some of the candidates responding were “people who had applied and we just never got back to them, but also we had people who had got through to interview and we hadn’t got back to them with answers or a decision”, Bourne reveals. The survey feedback marked a turning point. “About six out of 10 said they had a great experience, but four out of 10 said they had an ok or poor experience.” Worse, the results suggested that candidates’ view of the BP experience was “a great deal below what our competitors were achieving at the time”, she says. Asked what she and her colleagues thought about this

BP — A SNAPSHOT Countries of operation: Around 80 Number of employees: 83,900 Barrels of oil produced per day: 3.2m Operating cash ﬂow: £21.1bn Main brands: BP, am/pm, Aral, Castrol, Wild Bean Café Internship and graduate programmes available in the following countries: Angola, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Indonsia, Malaysia, Mozambique, Norway, Oman, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, UK, US Source: BP, as at or for the year ended 31 December 2013

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Its guiding principles are: • Treat candidates with honesty, fairness and respect • Set transparent expectations from the outset • Offer an engaging experience and ensure candidates feel welcome • Provide clear, accurate and insightful information that allows candidates to step into the shoes of an employee and decide whether BP is right for them • Enable candidates to perform at their best and take away valuable learning, whatever the outcome • Demonstrate prompt decision making throughout the process • Meet BP’s commitments at each step of the candidate journey and consistently display our company values and commitment to diversity • Listen to candidate feedback and act on it to make improvements

troubling situation then, Bourne is thoughtful. “I think there was a range of thoughts,” she says. “I think what we realised was, there wasn’t one magic answer. There was a whole series of activity, thought and investment of time that needed to go into addressing it, because the candidate experience is not just about hearing back when you apply.” The diversity of the BP business with its different resourcing models across the globe complicated matters. But the complexity also offered an obvious starting point to building knowledge, skills and capability in those involved in resourcing around the world, and to begin to work together more closely to “set some simple standards that are going to help us all, to work and aspire towards the same thing which will meet the needs of the candidates that have told us we’re not doing so great at the moment”, Bourne says. “And that is where we established the candidates’ charter that we worked with teams globally to put together.” And the lessons learned to date? “Real interestingly, what we found out is, candidates’ expectations are pretty standard globally,” Bourne says. “You don’t see massive differences country by country. People’s human needs are pretty much the same: they want to understand the roles, they want to hear back promptly in time, they want some feedback. It’s pretty consistent.” Bourne adds: “It’s a continual journey. I think candidate expectations and behaviours are evolving quite quickly.” No changes to the charter are currently planned. However, she says, “what we have to think about is how you apply that charter in certain markets because there are legislative differences and culture differences.We need to use the local knowledge of resourcing teams, and apply it in various markets. We need to make sure we are really understanding the markets we’re working in.” Ultimately, she says: “I think we’re looking at how can we make sure we’ve got some consistency of standards and of quality across the globe.”

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05/06/2014 15:44

EXPERT OPINION

Elective Deduction Models mean high risk for agencies By Barry Roback, Director, Anderson Group

ith the Onshore Intermediaries Legislation having being implemented only a few weeks ago, new employment models designed to potentially avoid it are already making negative waves within the industry. Concerns with such schemes centre on the lack of protection they offer to workers plus the significant risks to the recruitment consultancies and end-clients that might end up being involved in them. Known as Elective Deduction Models (EDMs), the schemes classify workers as self-employed for employment law purposes but employed for tax and NIC purposes. Travel and subsistence expenses are also used to reduce taxable earnings. Designed to navigate the new Onshore Intermediaries Legislation, the schemes allow workers to continue as self-employed and so avoid AWR (Agency Workers Regulations), NMW (National Minimum Wage) and Pension auto-enrolment regulations. But by subjecting earnings to tax and NIC, the schemes claim that obligations under the new legislation are being met.

Industry concern The schemes have already attracted much negative attention from industry bodies, including the Freelancer & Contractor Services Association (FCSA), the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), who are calling on HMRC to take action and review the models.

protective measures, it is highly likely that any attempt to continue with self-employment in these markets will be quickly challenged by HMRC. In the event of any successful challenge, agencies would have to foot the bill for any unpaid taxes and fines which could be life threatening to a business. Personal liability notices within the Onshore Intermediaries Legislation may also mean that any resulting debts would most likely be passed on to Directors too.

Longer term solutions Anderson Group believes that the future of the temporary recruitment industry lies in the ever continuing development of professional standards. As one of the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest providers of employment management solutions to agencies, the company has been focusing on investing in dedicated teams and infrastructure to help recruiters meet their new obligations. Industry response coupled with HMRC action could mean that EDMs might well disappear as quickly as they surfaced. Agencies should be looking for trusted intermediaries who can offer long-term compliant solutions that help their business grow, not unproven, high-risk options such as EDMs.

Considering that legislation has just been changed to specifically address self-employment in the unskilled labour-intensive sector, with emphasis placed equally on the avoidance of tax and NIC, and low paid workers being disadvantaged by schemes which offer fewer rights and

Anderson Group specialise in providing employment management solutions to recruitment agencies and their temporary contractors. For further information please visit: www.andersongroup.uk.com Telephone: 0333 8000 800 Email: enquiries@andersongroup.uk.com

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RECRUITER RECRUITER FEBRUARY JUNE 2014 2014

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05/06/2014 10:22

Finance

Fertile soil for growth AS MARKET CONDITIONS IMPROVE, IT’S LOOKING LIKE A GOOD TIME FOR RECRUITMENT FIRMS TO SECURE FUNDS FOR EXPANSION. SCOTT BEAGRIE LOOKS AT THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE After all the talk of recovery and growth, if the recruitment industry needed a tangible sign that the good times might just be returning, it would be the public equity markets’ interest in the industry in recent months.

Adrian Kearsey

ISTOCK

Adrian Kearsey, head of small capital research, support services, at financial advisory firm Sanlam Securities, points to strong share price increases over the past year from the likes of Harvey Nash (up 71%) and Matchtech (up 80%) as evidence of this interest, alongside Staffline Group’s having more than doubled (up 112%). The latter raised £16m by placing 2m shares at 800p — at the time of writing they were 910p — to fund its acquisition of Avanta Enterprise. “So that indicates the equity markets are open for financing staffing growth,” says Kearsey, who adds that the industry hasn’t seen a “meaningful staffing” IPO (initial public offering) since 2007. “We have had some small fund raisings, but the Staffline transaction sends a clear signal.” The availability of public market equity as one of the channels for financing growth is more of a symbolic one than a real option for the vast majority of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) recruitment businesses. Nonetheless, many of these with aspirations of growth will be encouraged by the confidence the market is showing in their industry. At the start-up or smaller business end, there are several options, the most obvious being banks that have a specialist arm in the sector. According to Sean Dixon, head of business services covering the recruitment sector at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), it is vital that recruitment business owners not only share their plans and strategy with the bank but are also candid about their strengths and weaknesses. “What is their strategy if things don’t go according to plan? — because the person from the bank needs to be able to articulate the client’s story when they are trying to convince the credit departments to lend them money,” he says.

“The more people are open, honest and share information, the more chance they have of a good hearing. So if you have a weakness, how can we mitigate it? Because one of the things banks don’t like is surprises.” David Roust, relationship director and head of the recruitment industry team at Barclays, reckons that for “prudent banks”, there are several basics that must accompany any request to support a business. “It has to be a business we understand, a management team that we have met and understand, and a business plan that makes sense,” he says. “As a bank that supports the sector, we understand all the issues the industry faces.” As well as the banks, some industry watchers report anecdotally that more angel investors are beginning to appear on the radar, although there are no concrete figures to support this yet. Recruitment entrepreneurs who feel they can put a strong case to such an angel, and want to connect with potential investors, should do their research. Websites such as www. angelinvestmentnetwork.co.uk are good places to start. There are also seed and growth capital companies specialising in the recruitment sector, with the James Caan-founded Hamilton Bradshaw among the biggest names. Last year, James Caan also launched Recruitment Entrepreneur, a seed capital investment company that provides funding of up to £500k, plus a

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GETTY

Finance

package that includes all of the infrastructure required to set up the business, along with mentoring and legal help. The company reports that the first two funding rounds received interest from some 4,000 entrepreneur recruiters and 900 business proposals. The third round has just closed (8 June) but Amy Golding, chief operating officer of Recruitment Entrepreneur, tells Recruiter it will re-open in September for three weeks, and she offers this advice for applicants: “A lot of people think they have to stand out by being original, saying something new or outrageous. It’s an old adage, but often the best entrepreneurs are those who take ideas that work and do them better. The applications that stand out to myself and James Caan, are those that clearly demonstrate credibility, market knowledge and a strong track record. These things speak for themselves above and beyond anything else.” For many recruitment businesses, the only asset available to raise finance are invoices, so hence invoice financing remains one of the preferred options for many recruitment businesses looking to grow organically. RBS’ Dixon describes invoice financing as “a structured and sensible” way of financing a recruitment business over its cycle. “So as contractors and the growth in the business increases, then the facility grows alongside it,” he says, reporting that the bank has supported clients with this service consistently through the downturn. But he adds that firms can borrow more through the service if they have a contractor book, as opposed to permanent staff-only business. “Permanent does have some wrinkles around it in terms of the

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FUNDING CHECKLIST Must do’s when trying to secure ﬁnance for growth • Choose providers that are specialists in the recruitment sector that will understand the issues you face. • Have a clear strategy and business plan, and make sure you can articulate it well. • Be open and honest at all times, including about your potential weaknesses as well as about strengths. • Make certain you understand the implications of the product offering, and run though both good- and bad-times scenarios with the provider.

invoicing and the way the debt is eventually paid,” he says. “But for contractor books, we are firmly open for business.” Roust at Barclays agrees that while at the higher end it might look at options such as revolving credit facilities and access to capital markets, for the majority of clients in this sector invoice-sales financing is the “most appropriate” source of funding, especially for those operating in the contractor and temp space. “If the business takes off, it is that debtor book that increases quickly,” he says. “So as the need arises [for funding], you can increase the availability of that facility quickly and easily to enable the working capital to flow into the business to support that growth. In the same way, it can unwind pretty quickly if the business quietens down.”

David Roust

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Finance

When exploring options for invoice financing, it is likely that business owners will hear several terms bandied about. Steve Hartley, group chief operating officer at accounting and back office support provider Outsauce, says it is important to remember that factoring, invoice finance, sales finance, invoice discounting, recourse and non-recourse single invoice finance, securitisation (for larger entities) are all the same product, offered with different combinations of service and risk management functionality. “These include disclosure (or not confidential), credit control, debt collection, credit/invoice/debtor insurance or protection, ledger mirroring debenture security and more,” he says. “For a short-term bridging need, it is possible to finance single invoices or single customers within ledgers.” Businesses looking for invoice finance should research the market thoroughly. The advice from some experts is to directly contact two or three providers rather than go through brokers. Hartley says that the broker market has tidied up its act but there are some unscrupulous ones that encourage “churn and fees for life” inevitably funded by their clients, so he cautions firms to choose carefully if taking this route. When holding discussions with providers, he advises recruitment business owners to ask them how they propose to react to different sensitivities that might be applied. “Test over-trading scenarios as well as shortfalls,”

he says, and adds: “Don’t buy on price without clear reference from other users. Watch for minimum charges, but understand that provision of a service requires paying for even when volumes dip.” If the economy remains on track and market conditions continue to improve, some recruiters that may have had an anti-acquisition approach in the past could see this as an opportunity to grow. Dixon reckons that several recruiters have acquisition on their strategic agenda, and expects to see activity in this area over the next 12-18 months. Miles Lloyd, chief executive of Outsauce, suggests it may be time for many recruitment businesses to acquire rather than organically evolve. “Building relationships, gathering knowledge and winning contracts takes time,” he says. “It is often more efficient to acquire an established business instead. This approach allows you to take advantage of target markets immediately, while giving you flexibility should market conditions change, rather than committing your core business upfront to a long-term, resource-intensive evolution.” Lloyd adds, though, that it is important for firms to balance their risk profile, because if growth is coming from around 20% of existing clients and business owners focus on these to the exclusion of other clients and new business, the risk will be compounded. “Good times should be used to put more eggs in baskets — achieving a better risk profile, and making a business more robust in a future downturn,” he says.

Steve Hartley

Miles Lloyd

WANTED AMBITIOUS OWNERS Do you own a recruitment business making up to £250,000 proﬁt? If so, do any of the following sound familiar: • I want to grow the business • I need more good consultants • I spend so much time on administration

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Our client has ﬁrst hand experience of addressing all of these issues and is now looking to offer their expertise to work with owners who want to build value in their businesses. Alternatively if you are thinking of selling your recruitment business, we are industry specialists having been advising recruitment clients for 18 years and would be delighted to dicuss your plans in conﬁdence. We can advise on valuation, timing and exit strategy.

Contact Philip Ellis at Optima Corporate Finance, 020 3405 3166, 07973 625211 or email philip@optimacf.com

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10/04/2014 15:31

Recruiting Winning Teams. Making History.

Join an award-winning Recruiter with a difference. Search Consultancy is growing and we’re looking for sales-driven people to join us across the UK as we head for our best ever year. It’s an exciting time for Search and if you have a sales focus and a passion for recruitment, we can guarantee you expert training, fun teams, high levels of support and a leadership team that will guide and inspire you. We’re the Best Recruitment Company to Work for 2013 (IRP) and we placed 37th in the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For 2014. Come and ﬁnd out why. To ﬁnd out more about Search or any of our internal roles, call our Internal Recruitment Manager Peter Barry on 0113 308 8066, peter.barry@search.co.uk or view the latest vacancies on our recruitment site careersatsearch.co.uk

Of ﬁcial Recruitment Consultancy Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

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05/06/2014 13:27

Movers & Shakers

Your next move?

SPONSORED BY CAPITA: The stafﬁng and •support services giant has

appointed Carolyn Fairbairn as independent non-executive director.

•

CESIUM GROUP: The executive search and HR consultancy has appointed Chris Matchan as non-executive director, and Alex Raubitschek as chairman. CIETT: The international •confederation of private

employment services (PrES), has elected a new board. The board is: Annemarie Muntz (president), Hans Leentjes (vice-president), Kevin Green (officer/VP chair of the national federations committee), Pam Berklich (officer/VP chair of the corporate members committee), Mark de Smedt (officer/VP), Aart van der Gaag (quality standards and compliance officer) and Herwig Muyldermans (treasurer).

•

CLAREMONT CONSULTING: The business and technology stafﬁng organisation has hired Gerard Gibson as manager – UK and Europe permanent division, and Ross Carter as contracts team manager.

START

YOUR OWN

RECRUITMENT

business

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•executive search ﬁrm has hired Andrew Duncan as co-managing partner in the UK private equity practice.

• DE POEL CLARITY: The healthcare managed services

Your business - YOUR BRAND

ﬁrm has appointed Vikki Nixon as business development manager, Rebecca Cox as marketing executive and Michelle Lewis as operations executive.

dsimons@recruitventures.com

•

recruitment software provider has appointed Emma Hulse as client services representative.

•

FTI CONSULTING: The global

business advisory ﬁrm has appointed Rob Worrall as regional director of HR for the EMEA region.

Newcross Healthcare Solutions Weekend senior supervisor – homecare Healthcare Part-time/flexible, £20k-25k Kirkcaldy, Scotland

McDonald’s Europe, the fast-food retailer, has appointed Paula Coughlan senior director, talent management, Europe. Coughlan joins McDonald’s Europe from PepsiCo, where she led organisation and management development for the European business. Working with the European management team and the European division HR leads, Coughlan will have overall responsibility for talent management plans, including succession and advancement planning for key positions across Europe.

CTPARTNERS: The global

FLO SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS: The

A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk

MCDONALD’S EUROPE APPOINTS COUGHLAN SENIOR DIRECTOR, TALENT MANAGEMENT

do you want to

Contact David Simons on

07900 263043 www.recruitventures.com FRAZER JONES: The global HR •recruiter has hired Ben Wood to

the ﬁnancial and professional services team as associate director. HARRIER HUMAN CAPITAL: The •recruitment, HR and consulting

provider across Australia and Asia Paciﬁc has appointed Jodie Choyce as director of resourcing.

•The supplier of health and

HCL WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS: