Recruiter December 2012

December 2012

www.recruiter.co.uk

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR RECRUITMENT AND RESOURCING PROFESSIONALS

Ryan Broad Recruiting the visual effects ‘wow factor’ talent for the Moving Picture Compa any MOBILE RECRUITMENT AFTER MANY FALSE DAWNS, IS IT FINALLY TIME FOR RECRUITING ON THE GO TO COME OF AGE?

IMPROVING PROFESSIONALISM Hays offers new consulting qualification in drive to create ‘trusted advisers’

PHIL CLARKE

THE ASIAN CENTURY

Self-sufficient recruitment on the rise — where does this trend leave outsourcers?

Region’s talent faces university challenge in business transformation

SMART RESOURCING CONFERENCE 2013: Taking recruitment leaders Two Steps Beyond ...

The ‘must attend’ event for in-house recruitment professionals www.smartresourcing2013.com 01_Recruit_DEC12_CoverNEW.indd 1

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Contents 42

28

As a writer, sometimes you wish you had at least twice the number of allowed pages to get across the highlights of a conversation you’ve had with a particularly interesting person you’ve interviewed. Sometimes you struggle to fill the pages you’ve got because the discussion has been, shall we say, a little less than sparkling. I can say that the former case is definitely true with Ryan Broad of The Moving Picture Company, the subject of our cover profile this month. Ryan and the work environment at MPC illustrate how many of the predictions about the future world of work — high volumes of skilled contingent workers, project-based work, hiring decisions based on the ability to deliver outcomes, increased communication with candidates — are already in play. Be sure to hear Ryan speak at Smart Resourcing 2013 (www.smartresourcing2013.com).

One of the trends we’re hearing a lot about is increased investment in training in the recruitment consultancy space. More than a few agencies report that they’re hiring learning and development or training directors to upskill their staff and increase their productivity. This month, we exclusively share with you a bold new offering at Hays, an example of investment in their people (see p5). Their new qualification for senior consultants is a single aspect of a co-ordinated development programme for all levels of their business.

This revitalised interest in training and development across the spectrum of UK recruitment businesses can only benefit and further professionalise the sector.

And to all — a happy and profitable 2013!

NEWS 5

A new report looks at the effects of social media and technology to 2022 6

DeeDee Doke, Editor

Recruiters urged to partner HR more closely The HR buzz is for agencies to show customer focus

7

MPC streamlines hiring Recruiting made easier at The Moving Picture Company

10 SMS influences candidates Norman Broadbent subsidiary sees further social media growth 11 Tech & tools 12 SPECIAL REPORT Recruiter’s HOT 100 event

ANALYSIS 14 News Analysis Autumn Statement throws up questions on tax schemes 16 Sector Analysis Oil & gas 19 Global Spotlight on Canada 14

Scan here to get your own copy of Recruiter

Quality of hire top metric for next decade

FEATURES 28 COVER STORY Ryan Broad, head of global recruitment for The Moving Picture Company 34 Mobile recruitment Has recruiting on the go finally come of age?

42 The Asian Century Talent faces university challenge to transform the region

REGULARS 20 23 23 24

Soapbox Soundbites Letters Trends The rise of self-sufficient recruitment

26 The Challenge The Rank Group and RPOZone 46 Movers & Shakers Industry moves 50 Bloggers with Bite

WHO’S HIRING? 47 48 48 48

Ruth Moran Rullion Build Linsco Capability Jane

EDITORIAL Editor: DeeDee Doke T: +44 (0)20 7880 7601 deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk Senior reporter: Colin Cottell T: +44 (0)20 7880 7603 colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk Reporter: Sam Burne James T: +44 (0)20 7880 7606 sam.burnejames@recruiter.co.uk Contributing writer: Sue Weekes Production editor: Vanessa Townsend T: +44 (0)20 7880 7602 vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk Art editor: Adrian Taylor ADVERTISING Advertising director: Andy Daniel T: +44 (0)20 7880 7607 andy.daniel@recruiter.co.uk Display senior sales executive: Tom Culley T: +44 (0)20 7880 6205 tom.culley@recruiter.co.uk Recruitment sales executive: Richard York T: +44 (0)20 7880 7608 richard. york@recruiter.co.uk Fax +44 (0)20 7880 7553 PRODUCTION Deputy production manager: Kieran Tobin T: +44 (0)20 7880 6240 kieran.tobin@redactive.co.uk PUBLISHING Publishing director: Anne Sadler T: +44 (0)20 7880 6213 anne.sadler@redactive.co.uk RECRUITER AWARDS Events: Anja Rodford T: +44 (0)20 7880 7555 anja.rodford@redactive.co.uk CIRCULATION and SUBSCRIPTIONS To receive a regular copy of Recruiter, the leading magazine for recruitment and resourcing professionals, telephone +44 (0)20 8950 9117 or email recruiter@alliance-media.co.uk • To purchase reprints or multiple copies of the magazine, contact Andy Daniel T: +44 (0)20 7880 7607

Total average net circulation between 1 July 2011 & 30 June 2012 – 17,838. Recruiter is also sent to all REC members R d ti M Redactive Media di Group 17-18 Britton Street London EC1M 5TP

CONTRIBUTIONS Contributions are invited, but when not accepted will be returned only if accompanied by a fully stamped and addressed envelope. Articles should be emailed. No responsibility can be taken for drawings, photographs or literary contributions during delivery, transmission or in the editor’s hands. © 2012 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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News

QUALITY OF HIRE TO TOP NEXT DECADE OF RECRUITMENT METRICS Quality of hire will become the defining recruitment metric as the proven ability to deliver outcomes takes on greater importance than either a candidate’s education or career history in hiring, according to a new report ‘Recruitment — 2022: The Effect of Social Media and Technology on Future Recruitment’.

Factors such as heightened technological connectivity, the economy and increased project-based and contingent work have been exerting significant impact on the recruitment landscape for some time.

However, the report points out associated trends picking up pace that will further amplify the impact of these. They include fragmentation of both the workforce and roles themselves, and emphasis on outcomes-based hiring and reward.

And in news that recruiters will welcome, recruitment will become acknowledged as the most important HR process, the 44-page report predicts.

Commissioned by the Recruitment

& Employment Confederation’s (REC’s) Technology Sector Group, it was researched

by Belinda Johnson of WorkLab through interviews and third-party data.

Sourcing and the current importance placed on being able to reach out to anyone on social media receive particular attention.

Johnson puts forward veiled warnings that the connected population may rebel at some point by refusing to accept invitations to LinkIn with individuals or requests to ‘like’ companies especially if they do not want their contacts cannibalised or ‘scraped’ for someone else’s purposes.

“When you can no longer apply the word ‘personal’ to the word ‘connections’, it will also be interesting to see to what extent connecting, ‘liking’ and following dries up,” Johnson said. “The only boundary is whether we want to continue to LinkIn, ‘like’, etc.”

Among the report’s conclusions: ● A person’s ‘social exhaust’, described as all that is retrievable from digital channels, will increasingly be pieced together to

“The only boundary is whether we want to continue to LinkIn or ‘like’ ”

assess their potential impact. ● Knowledge and insight into who is best placed to deliver the outcomes required by hirers will increasingly come from the communities potential candidates actively participate in. ● Personality profiling will come to the fore. ● Communication and participation will become a high-skilled requirement within sourcing functions, possibly a spin-off in its own right. ● Professional communities will become ‘an inch wide and a mile deep’, reflecting the continuing rise of niche specialities and interests. ● The ability to source, distil, interpret and publish content will be king.

DEEDEE DOKE

TRAINING TRULY ‘TRUSTED ADVISERS’ AT HAYS Global specialist recruiter Hays has launched a new qualification that aims to arm its senior consultants with the same professional standing as a chartered or certified management consultant.

Accredited by the Institute of Consulting (IC), the new Certified Recruitment Consultant qualification is intended to improve the perception of recruitment as a profession and to encourage newcomers to the world of work to see recruiting as a career worth pursuing, James Cullens, Hays’s human resources director, told Recruiter in an exclusive interview.

“There’s a lot of good training around how to make you a technically ‘good’ recruiter, but that actual consultant piece around being a ‘trusted adviser’ is quite difficult,” Cullens said. “There’s not a lot around in the outside world. So we

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partnered with the IC, quite deliberately, to attack that piece of it.”

Earning the qualification, which means consultants can put the letters CRC after their name, involves a formal interview and a business presentation to demonstrate “deep knowledge and competence but also client handling and assignment management skills”, Cullens said.

To embark on obtaining the qualification, Hays recruiters must have a minimum of three years in recruiting. New joiners to Hays with three years’ experience must work at the company for a year before they can obtain it.

“This is about the application of your technical skills,” Cullens said.

“After three years, you’ll be ready to do it because you’ll have a bank of experience that you can demonstrate. It’s not just about knowledge; I can prove that I’ve applied the knowledge as well. It’s not about taking an exam, it’s ‘here’s what I’ve done for clients’’.”

Cullens added: “We’ve also pitched it at a

stage where people will often think, do I stay in the industry or not? To me, it hooks you into the industry.”

Some Hays consultants have already earned their CRC, as Hays quietly launched the programme a year ago and are only now discussing it publicly. Hays has six months left of exclusivity under their agreement with IC. At the end of that period, other recruitment companies can begin to offer the qualification.

“It’s something that will be there for the profession,” Cullens said. “We just wanted to be able to do it for ourselves first of all.”

Cullens went on to say: “We felt that this knocks on the head that issue of ‘Well, I’d rather go and be an accountant because I’ll get a proper qualification’. If you want to go to PwC or Ernst & Young, you’re going to go there ahead of going to us. But to my mind, it gets us onto the pitch.”

The initiation of the qualification is a key aspect of a Hays drive to encourage careers in recruitment and to increase professionalism within both the industry and the company itself.

DEEDEE DOKE

RECRUITER

DECEMBER 2012

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News

Random thoughts from recruiter.co.uk, Twitter and beyond…

“A shovel doesn’t dig its own hole, LinkedIn can’t place people — we place people” ANTAL BOSS TONY GOODWIN AT ANTAL GLOBAL CONFERENCE

Events

WORK AS PART OF HR’S TEAM…

Social, Mobile and Recruitment Technology Summit, presented by Crexia

Agency recruiters need to improve their understanding of HR’s role if they are to build long-term and profitable relationships with clients, a conference has heard.

17 Jan, Cavendish Conference Centre, London, crexia.com/

Recruitment Agency Expo 2013 26-27 Feb, Olympia, London, recruitmentagencyexpo.com

Recruiter presents Smart Resourcing 2013, sponsored by Eploy 28 Feb, The King’s Fund, London, smartresourcing2013.com

CIPD Social Media and Recruitment Conference 14 Mar, London, cipd.co.uk/ cande

Accountancy Worldwide International Recruitment Forum 20 Apr, Chartered Accountant’s Hall, London, accountancyworldwide.com

Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2013, sponsored by Eploy 1 May, Grosvenor House Hotel, London, recruiterawards.co.uk Entry deadline: 11 January

London HR Summit, organised by Forum Events 10 Jul, Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, London, forumevents. co.uk …plus look out for the first edition of Recruiter in 2013, landing on subscribers’ desks on Friday, 18 January

FOR MORE NEWS AND COMMENTS, GO ONLINE

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During a panel session at global recruiter Antal International’s Global Conference, HR professionals talked about the sometimes strained relationship between agency recruiters and HR. Jill Hearst, senior vice president HR EMEA at international information analysis and management company Verint, told the audience: “Most recruiters that contact us want to put their candidate forward, they want us to work to their process and their goals, and there isn’t very much understanding of the kind of pressure we are under.”

However, she asked recruiters to take on board that HR’s role was not just to fill immediate vacancies. “I am accountable for resourcing the business strategy both today and in the future.”

She added that she was also responsible for the performance of all hires, their cost, as well as the talent pipeline.

“A good recruiter is somebody who works as part of my team — that means they understand the goals that I have and its accountabilities.”

Hearst accepted that for an agency to align itself with a client’s long-term goals wouldn’t necessarily yield it short-term results, but she added “it may give you quite a few hires in a year’s time”.

Chairing the discussion, Jill Littlejohn, an experienced talent management professional, now a consultant at Antal International, said that one common source of friction was that recruiters believed that HR slowed down the hiring process.

Narinder Kaur, interim HR director at JPS Accountants, said she had come across this on

many occasions.

However, she told the audience: “I share your frustration.”

She explained that international companies were required to work to global recruitment practices, which often included a second signature, and this could delay the hiring process. She added that another source of delay leading to frustration was when a role changed mid way through the process.

However, she warned that recruiters who got cross with HR and said look ‘I delivered you 16 fantastic candidates, why don’t you hire one?’ were in danger of alienating HR, and “cutting off a huge source of business”. As she reminded the audience “we are the gatekeepers to the business”.

Hearst told the audience: “I am employing you because it is a challenging role… So rather than being exasperated with us, come to see our failings as your business success.”

The panel suggested a number of ways that recruiters could stand out from their competitors: • Provide market data, such as information about the competition and the industry • Keep great candidates warm • Behave as if they are part of the resourcing team • Map candidate performance to job description • Don’t be surprised by changes in the market but expect and understand them COLIN COTTELL

… AND BE MORE CUSTOMER-FOCUSED AGENCIES are becoming more customer-focused as a result of the recession, HR managers •haveRECRUITMENT told Recruiter. Agencies are more willing to invest time to get to know the culture of an organisation in

a bid to win business, participants at a roundtable discussion sponsored by Balance Recruitment said. The event brought together HR professionals from the fashion, telecoms, further education, media and online personalised advertising sectors.

“The recession has forced recruiters to be much more customer-focused and more responsive as well,” said Rachel Woolf, HR director at the University of West London.

“Before the recession started, I was emailed about 100 times a day and they just bombarded you with CVs. Now, because it’s more competitive, it’s forced a lot more of them to give you added value — whether it’s prescreening or more focused CVs.” Holly Franklin, HR director, Europe, Middle East and Africa for fashion brand New Era Cap Company, said more recruiters were willing to invest time to understand their clients’ needs. “I see them being more willing to understand the culture of the business and understand the fit, because they are basically based on results.”

Jos Barnett, HR director at online advertising firm Struq, claimed that there were 15,000 recruitment agencies in London alone, illustrating the depth of competition.

• For more on the event, chaired by Recruiter editor DeeDee Doke, see p7.

BEN JONES

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News

“More than ever during these difficult economic times the recruitment industry is part of the solution for the UK”

“Either go niche or don’t go at all” HYDROGEN OIL & GAS SPECIALIST RORY FERGUSON ON PROSPECTS FOR RECRUITERS ENTERING THE INDUSTRY (SEE P14 FOR MORE)

SUE DODD AT RECRUITER HOT 100 EVENT

“You can’t have a successful welfare to work system without work” SHADOW CHANCELLOR ED BALLS STATES THE OBVIOUS FOLLOWING GEORGE OSBORNE’S AUTUMN STATEMENT

Contract News

FLEXIBLE WORK KEY TALENT BENEFIT IN TOUGH TIMES

• THE ABILITY TO offer flexible working is an important way of attracting new talent, according to a cross-section of HR managers.

In a recession, where salary, pension and benefits packages may not be as high as in previous years, flexible working was one way of persuading talent to join a company, said participants at a roundtable discussion of HR directors and professionals with responsibility for recruitment, sponsored by Balance Recruitment.

“The more flexibility you can offer, the better off you are,” said Jos Barnett, HR director at online advertising firm Struq. “If you can be more accommodating to women, then you’re going to get much more loyalty in the workplace.”

“It’s about give and take,” added Holly Franklin, HR director, Europe, Middle East and Asia at fashion brand New Era Cap Company. “If you’re offering flexibility, then you expect a bit more from the staff.”

Franklin gave the example of one initiative at her company, summer hours, where between May and August staff worked for an extra hour daily from Monday to Thursday so that they could leave at noon on Fridays. “We’ve had 98% take-up on that. The staff love it,” she added.

Shelley Williams, programme lead, global contingent workforce at media giant Bloomberg, said that flexible working went together with task orientation of staff, because “you’re asking staff to do what they need to do and it’s up to them whatever times they do it.”

The event was held last month in London (see also p6, opposite). BEN JONES

EPLOY’S SMART SPONSORING Smart Resourcing 2013, Recruiter’s knowledgesharing event for the in-house recruitment community due to be held in London on 28 February, will be headline sponsored by leading recruitment software firm Eploy.

The company’s technical director Chris Bogh told Recruiter that Eploy was proud to be sponsoring Smart Resourcing, and said: “The event promises to deliver key industry insights to recruiting and resourcing professionals alike.”

Other sponsors of the event are careers site CV-Library and direct recruitment platform Elevate Direct, while recruiting expert John Vlastelica’s keynote speech is sponsored by careers website Jobsite. ● See www.smartresourcing2013.com

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MPC MAKES HIRING MORE STREAMLINED Volume hiring of creative and technically skilled people could keep hiring managers mired in administrative work. However, at The Moving Picture Company (MPC), Ryan Broad, global head of recruitment, has focused on streamlining the role of hiring managers and their responsibilities in the recruitment process.

MPC, a visual effects and post production provider to the international film and advertising industries, receives between 500 and 1,500 applications per month that must ultimately be considered by between 10 to 15 managers spread out at different locations around the world. Broad told Recruiter: “How do we make things really easy for the hiring manager?

“The key thing with technology is, instead of looking at it as really complicated and thinking, ok here’s what the manager needs to do, we take the view that here’s a manager, what do we need to take away from him? What do we need for them to be able to make a decision and tell me why?”

Broad and his team pre-screen applicants. Hiring managers then review the applicants’ CVs and show reels (the applicants’ creative portfolios), take the decision “to progress or decline”, then give feedback in response to a system prompt. “That way, it allows us to get the feedback back to candidates, but it also means the manager can get through 10 or 20 people in half an hour, and that’s it, done,” Broad says.

Broad has worked for 18 months at MPC, where structuring and streamlining the recruitment process has been a priority. He said his philosophy of recruitment was breaking the project into five days worth of work. “Typically,” he said, “if you give me the information I need, I can find what you want in five days. And the second five days, we can agree and screen out, and make sure you’ve got the shortlist. By the third week, you’re going to be interviewing. But I need everything up front.”

His advises recruiters to “keep it simple. Make sure your information is gathered up front … totally know what the proposition is for the individual you’re going to talk to, and then you go and find the right person.

Experience has taught me, as long as you can go to market within five days, you can generate a decent slate of candidates” (see also Profile on p28).

Axica: The IT recruiter has secured £500k of financing from lender ABN AMRO Commercial Finance… Blue Arrow: The recruitment consultancy has appointed NOW: Pensions to provide its auto-enrolment pension scheme from January… Bullhorn: The recruitment software firm has acquired rival providers MaxHire Solutions and Sendouts… Freelancer. com: The freelancer marketplace has acquired competitor firm vWorker…

GlobalSportsJobs: The job site has been named jobs and careers partner of The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry…

Hays: The recruiter has extended its relationship with LinkedIn… HCL: Workforce management platform HCL Clarity will be implemented by Worcestershire Royal Hospital Trust… JobsiteWhite: The job board will power the job sites of consumer media company A&N Media and the Road Haulage Association…

Norman Broadbent: The executive search firm has acquired a majority stake in Belgian executive recruiter Acker Deboeck… Optima Corporate Finance: The financier has become service partner of the Association of Labour Providers…

Outsource UK: The IT recruiter has acquired specialist recruiter Bramlove…

Penna: The HR firm has entered into a partnership with disability experts Remploy for outplacement support… SR Group: Buyout fund Baird Capital Partners Europe has invested in the recruitment group

DEEDEE DOKE

RECRUITER

DECEMBER 2012

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News

Web comments Grass greener in technology, study reveals (16 November 2012) Paul Hancock In the US maybe, but in the UK and Europe it’s very different. The tech industry in the UK in particular is seen as a work-a-day industry where very little innovation ever happens. Every US seminar I attend inspires me, every UK seminar bores me. I wish it wasn’t so.

FS Commercial [FSC] judgement makes crackdown on T&S scheme more likely, says Hogarth (20 November 2012) G Rowl It’s when the system is abused by the minority of unscrupulous recruiters that we’re all left to suffer.

Leave the T&S scheme as it is. It works and recruiters are allowed to make a living in this difficult climate.

Concentrate on the recruiters abusing the system and put them away!

FSC decision sparks further debate on controversial travel & subsistence schemes (21 November 2012) Lisa Keeble, Contractor Umbrella The government should realise the value that agency workers bring to the UK. We seem to have reached a position, thanks to the current media furore, whereby anyone who is not a permanent employee or running a company with two or more staff, must be avoiding tax.

If this manipulation of public opinion continues it will not just be offshore or loan schemes that suffer, it will be umbrella companies, PSCs and recruitment firms. I believe that, unless we work in tandem to redress the balance, the UK will risk losing its most valuable workforce.

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SMS INFLUENCES CANDIDATES A new Norman Broadbent social media subsidiary specialising in candidate generation uses “influential language techniques” to encourage candidates to apply for their clients’ vacancies.

Social Media Search (SMS) charges clients £100 per hour for the candidate generation services of a five-person research team, which is split between Glasgow and India. Clients send SMS a job specification to initiate a search. A search for candidates to fill the jobs, usually office roles in the £20k to £100k range, typically takes about two hours, with up to 40 candidates generated per role.

About half the clients receive the information and act on it themselves. The other 50% ask SMS to approach the candidates on their behalf.

In such instances, SMS founder Adam Gordon told Recruiter: “Getting candidates to apply requires strong influencing skills. We use a specific methodology.” SMS uses “influential language techniques” based on neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) skills to “optimise the likelihood” those spoken to will apply for the vacancies, he said.

Founded in 2009, SMS is one of two digitalfocused services in which international executive search firm Norman Broadbent recently acquired 51% ownership. The other is WinningWork, a so-called “concierge service” which helps senior professionals enhance their online profile. Gordon, whose background is in recruitment consulting and recruitment communications, retains the minority ownership. See ‘Contracts/Deals: Norman Broadbent invests in three new business ventures’, (recruiter.co.uk, 13 November 2012).

Gordon said that he sees the greatest business opportunity for SMS, which is based on “the

Adam Gordon, Social Media Search founder

fact that the world is a more transparent place than every before. It’s easy — although still time consuming — to identify people for your vacancy”.

Speaking about the creation of SMS, Gordon said: “I noticed in-house recruiters spending too much time on the candidate generation and struggling for time to do the qualitative work. We created the service and took it to an Edinburgh-based FTSE100 company who trialled it to support their in-house recruiters. It worked and they continued using the service.” Clients include FTSE100 media and financial services companies.

DEEDEE DOKE

G4S PAYS RECRUITERS LIKE LAWYERS A NEW model of executive recruitment based on •professional services such as accountancy and law,

in which recruiters are paid on an hourly basis, has resulted in global security company G4S filling 14 senior roles, as well as massive savings in the model’s first 18 months of operation, according to the firm’s global head of resourcing.

Colin Minto told Recruiter the model has been used to fill senior executive level positions across the UK, US, South Africa, Asia and the Middle East, saving G4S £317k when compared to fees that would have been charged by headhunters and specialist agencies based on a percentage of salary.

Minto explained that G4S uses online resourcing firm eSift, who sub-contracts the work out to individual recruiters, generally ex-HR or resourcing professionals or ex-senior agency recruiters. “I would firmly say that being an expert recruiter is a specialist service. When you look at accountancy or law, there is no reason why recruitment shouldn’t operate in the same way,” said Minto.

Minto said the model was also a better option than setting up an in-house team, with its requirement

for investment in costly infrastructure and additional headcount.

Although he accepted that headhunters and specialist agencies have missed out on work they would otherwise have got, Minto said this was not about “agency bashing.”

“It is taking a professional service and treating it as a professional Colin Minto service,” he emphasised.

Geraldine Cole, owner of eSift, told Recruiter that one of the big attractions of the model for clients was its transparency, with charges based on an hourly rate reflecting the work done. She said that while one G4S role was filled in 10 hours, others have taken 60 hours or more. eSift had three other clients that used the model for roles with salaries in the £70k to £200k salary range, she said.

COLIN COTTELL

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Tech & tools

NEW RECRUITMENT MODEL TESTED IN US JOBSITE.COM IS IN BETA TESTING IN THE US BUT IT TAKES A MUCH DIFFERENT APPROACH TO ITS UK NAMESAKE venbase, the digital recruitment group which owns brands such as Jobsite.co.uk and Broadbean, is launching a new recruitment model in the US. Although called Jobsite.com, it takes a different approach to its UK namesake and features brand-new semantic searching technology, as well as a new scraping engine and e-commerce system.

Keith Potts, chief executive of Evenbase and founder of Jobsite.co.uk, told Recruiter that the US represents a “massive” digital recruitment market and is a “great place” to test the new model. “We’ve launched it in beta so it’s under test and review,” said Potts. “I’m very much in favour of thinking about recruitment in terms of a multichannel approach and hopefully we’ve created a new channel that is fulfilling our strategy of making the recruitment process easier for both the candidate and recruiter.”

The scraping engine built into Jobsite.com can collect jobs from various sources, including a company’s own website, and apply its semantic search technology called Jobtology to match a vacancy to the most Keith Potts appropriate candidates in its database. It will then ask the candidate if they want to be put forward for the role and sends the employer a list of highly qualified candidates with percentage scores indicating their suitability via email. The employer can view the candidate CVs and will only be charged for contact details. “Digital recruitment is all about speed and relevancy,” said Potts. “Recruiters want to fill their vacancies before their competitors do and they want relevance. Hopefully what we are doing is getting closer to that speed-andrelevance factor.”

Employers don’t have to sign up to the service and the process described above is unknown to them until they receive a list of candidates in their inbox. “We’re hoping that employers who find this happening to them and who have a positive experience will … say they want it to happen again but in a less random way,” said

E

Potts, who admits that the service may not suit everyone. “People have to engage with their inbox for it to work and some may ignore our email but that could mean they bin an email with some amazing candidates in it. It’s a new concept: what we are doing is pointing the eyeballs of the candidate at something that is relevant to them… I think it will be a certain customer segment which engages with the service but we’re not sure who yet.”

Both Jobtology and the scraping technology has been developed in-house

by Evenbase. Being a semantic search technology, Jobtology is far more intelligent than a traditional keyword search engine because it understands concepts and context and therefore the meaning behind the search term. At the moment neither technology features on Jobsite.co.uk but Potts said the UK sites were likely to be “influenced by the learnings” of the new US model by mid-2013. “I think it will be great for all of our products and we are going to learn a lot from this beta,” he said. He believes a similar e-commerce model could work in the UK. “The pay-for-performance model is already starting to gather traction here. We’ve already launched a service that lets recruiters pay per CV rather than have a subscription. If clients want a pay-forperformance model, we’re happy to build it.”

“Recruiters want to fill their vacancies before their competitors do and they want relevance”

www.jobsite.com

News

Plug in to affordable video Plugin Recruiter is a new recruitment platform that aims to make it much easier for employers to integrate video and rich media into their recruitment campaigns.

Founder Chris Heron told Recruiter that while everyone is talking about using video in recruitment, it has been cost-prohibitive for many organisations. “We came to the conclusion that you have to have a decent service provider at the right cost and it has to be frictionless for the employer,” he said.

“There is a definite appetite for using video, especially from direct recruiters.”

After a candidate applies for a vacancy on a job board, they are sent to an employer-branded microsite or bespoke website built by Plugin Recruiter where they can view one or more recruitment videos from that employer. It could be a ‘day in the life’, meet the team or an overview of the company, and they are also able to ask questions on a social media-style wall. The employer’s responses to these are posted on the wall for subsequent candidates to see. The employer can feature as many videos as they want along with Twitter and Facebook feeds, and links and photographs. Once the candidate applies for a job, they are put through an online assessment to give the employer an indication of their suitability.

Essentially, Plugin Recruiter is offering to build clients a rich media career site but rather than charge for its services it is deriving revenue from the mark-up on the job board advertisement placed.

The company is able to offer the service for free because another business in its portfolio is Cast Recruitment Videos, one of the biggest recruitment tment and employer branding ng video companies in the UK.. Former recruiter Heron (right) ht) started using video out of necessity ecessity when he set up a business iness in the South of France. ce.

“I had to find ways of working remotely and starting using video and technology to help a client,” he says. s. www.pluginrecruiter.com om

SUE WEEKES

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DECEMBER 2012

11

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News

HOT 100

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT KEY TO MAKING THE HOT 100 Around 70 recruiters from the UK’s most profitable staffing companies came together in London earlier this month to celebrate their success in achieving a place on Recruiter’s HOT 100 2012, sponsored by Microdec.

The HOT 100, compiled by Agile Intelligence, ranks recruiters according to gross profit per employee, which is regarded as the definitive measure of productivity within the industry.

At the event, supported by law firm Charles Russell, Sue Dodd, director of Agile Intelligence and author of the HOT 100 report, told the audience: “You are the most productive recruiters in the UK, and that spells success.” She added that their achievement was “even more a cause for celebration in these tumultuous economic times”.

After an introduction by DeeDee Doke, editor of Recruiter, who facilitated the event, guest speaker Charles Walker, Conservative MP for Broxbourne, a former director of recruitment agency Blue Arrow, praised the recruiters in the room. “You are clearly the cream,” he said.

Fellow guest speaker Robert Walton MBE, an entrepreneur in the hospitality sector, linked training to filling recruitment needs, and said hospitality and recruitment shared a common thread: “Service is the next thing in this country for all sectors of the economy.”

Afterwards, as recruiters mingled and networked, some of the HOT 100 representatives reflected on their achievement.

Anton Round, sales director of Staffgroup, parent company of 21st-ranked Eurostaff Group, told Recruiter that the firm’s success in driving productivity as measured by gross profitability per employee was its agility “against a challenging backdrop”.

“We analyse the markets and listen to our clients, candidates and own teams, and incorporate the intelligence gathered into our flexible approach to build and grow teams. These teams then hit the ground running and start generating revenues quicker than most would expect.”

He added that “bringing on board our first ever head of learning and development will prove invaluable”, leading to even higher revenues in the future.

Darren Ryemill, chief executive at IT recruiter Opus Recruitment Solutions (ranked 71),

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HOT 100

%

66 TOP

of public sector employers are planning to hire over the coming months, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development UK Labour Market Outlook report

5

consultant

2. Sanderson

Recruitment Germanspeaking recruitment consultant

3. Frazer Jones In-

house HR specialist, Germany

4. Linsco Recruitment

consultant, Scotland

5. Linsco Recruitment consultant, West Midlands

5

Experian Hitwise most popular websites employment and training sites — November 2012 Websites

Domain

Visits share

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

www.linkedin.com www.indeed.co.uk www.reed.co.uk www.totaljobs.com uk.jobrapido.com www.tes.co.uk www.jobs.nhs.uk www.jobsite.co.uk www.cv-library.co.uk www.monster.co.uk jobs.guardian.co.uk www.jobisjob.co.uk www.simplyhired.co.uk www.fish4.co.uk jobs.trovit.co.uk www.sainsburys.jobs www.careerbuilder.co.uk www.jobs.ac.uk www.jobstoday.co.uk www.changeworknow.co.uk

20.54% 8.50% 5.04% 4.39% 3.17% 3.14% 2.77% 2.58% 2.05% 1.55% 1.48% 1.05% 0.77% 0.73% 0.61% 0.60% 0.58% 0.58% 0.57% 0.53%

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MOST VIEWED ARTICLES ONLINE

1. BREAKING NEWS:

Percentage reflects share of visits to most visited sites

LinkedIn Indeed UK reed.co.uk Totaljobs.com jobrapido UK TES Connect NHS Jobs Jobsite UK CV Library Monster UK Guardian.co.uk Jobs Job is Job United Kingdom Simply Hired fish4jobs trovit UK Jobs www.sainsburys.jobs Careerbuilder.co.uk jobs.ac.uk JobsToday Change Work Now

MOST VIEWED JOBS ON OUR WEBSITE

1. Ingeus Recruitment

TOP

Among those attending the event were Green Park’s Raj Tulsiani (top) and Staffgroup’s Anton Round (above)

attributed the firm’s success both to the quality of its people and being in a fast-growing sector.

He explained that since the firm opened for business in 2008, the company had always invested in training.

“Even when we had only six people, we had a full-time training officer,” he said. This investment had led to “a natural return”, he said, adding: “If you invest in people they pay you back.”

Simon Bartington, a senior consultant at engineering and technical recruiter CBSbutler (ranked 34), also pointed to investment in training.

The firm’s three-month training programme “was linked to real job roles, real candidates and real clients”, he said. Another driver of the firm’s success was its share ownership scheme, with “wealth contributors” being eligible to have shares in the firm, said Bartington.

Ben Cowan, a director at banking and financial services recruiter Astbury Marsden (ranked 94), said a key factor was the company’s encouragement of entrepreneurialism. “It’s about allowing people to be business people in themselves, using their own business instincts and acumen and giving them the opportunity to play their part.”

He said one example was two consultants who saw an opportunity to set up and run a new oil & gas desk, even though it was outside the firm’s core sectors and countries.

Steve Carter, a board member at banking, finance, accountancy and professional recruiter Morgan McKinley (ranked 39), said the company “has a very strong leadership team focused on sourcing and nurturing the best talent that fits with our commitment to be an innovative global market leader in professional recruitment”.

“All of us are delighted to have this recognition from Recruiter for the quality of our business,” he added.

News

MPs call for action on expenses schemes

2. Recruiter’s 2012 HOT

100 and the HOT 10+3 IT/Telecoms recruiters

3. Recruiter HOT

100: Focus was on investment and expansion

4. HOT 100 2012’s Hot 10 Technical recruiters

5. FSC judgement makes crackdown on T&S scheme more likely, says Hogarth

RECRUITER

DECEMBER 2012

13

07/12/2012 14:22

News Analysis

AUTUMN BUDGET GOOD NEWS FOR COMPLIANT RECRUITERS

CREDIT: PA

Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement may have thrown up more questions than answers on the subject of tax schemes, but many believe they are still in HMRC’s firing line. Colin Cottell reports

he chancellor, George Osborne, never mentioned the recruitment industry during his recent 50-minute long Autumn Statement, but nevertheless there was plenty of food for thought for those in the staffing sector.

With travel & subsistence (T&S) schemes coming under close scrutiny in the media and from MPs in the House of Commons in the preceding weeks, there were expectations that the chancellor would use the occasion to crack down on some of the more aggressive schemes.

The chancellor may not have had the recruitment industry and such schemes specifically in mind, however Treasury documents published to accompany his statement showed that with tax avoidance high on the government’s agenda — see Key facts — the recruitment sector remains very much in the firing line.

As Andy Hogarth, chief executive and chairman of staffing firm Staffline, says: “Stopping tax avoidance has obviously moved considerably further up the chancellor’s agenda” following the Statement, “with significant additional funding being found to help HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) achieve the coalition government’s targets”.

Hogarth highlights recent publicity by HMRC, where it indicated it is seeking to make the directors of companies involved in tax avoidance schemes personally liable for tax losses.

“This might well be the reason that some umbrella organisations are re-examining their willingness to operate some of the more aggressive products,” says Hogarth.

And he points to HMRC’s intention to investigate offshore payroll companies as evidence that the recruitment sector is one which is specifically being targeted for compliance by the revenue.

“We should all expect to be the subject of more reviews and visits by HMRC,” he adds (see Opinion, p20).

David Thornhill, managing director of Simplicity, which provides an umbrella solution to contractors among other services, points to the government’s

T

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Key facts A further 2,500 tax inspectors will be employed to further tackle tax avoidance and evasion, with an additional £77m provided to HMRC — announced 3 December Introduction of a General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR). Guidance and draft legislation will be published later this month Consulting on the introduction of significant penalty powers targeted at the promoters of aggressive tax avoidance schemes A review of offshore employment intermediaries being used to avoid tax and national insurance Travel & subsistence schemes alone cost the Treasury £650m a year, according to HMRC

intention to bring in a General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR), a catch-all piece of legislation designed to close all tax avoidance loopholes.

He says the effect of this is that “if HMRC thinks you have arrangements to avoid tax they are going to investigate you”.

Those who run travel & subsistence schemes for workers at or around National Minimum Wage rate levels are likely to be in the firing line, he says.

Others likely to be targeted are those with an HMRC dispensation, who he says take this as a green light to pay expenses to workers as a matter of course rather than because they actually incurred those expenses.

John Chaplin, director, global employment tax services, Ernst & Young, says that “broadly speaking” the Autumn Statement was “good news” for the sector, and evidence that the government is taking a sensible approach. He says that the announcements made by the Treasury will increase the scrutiny on unscrupulous operators. However, he adds: “For compliant organisations in the recruitment sector, the news is better than could have been expected.”

Kevin Barrow, a partner at law firm Osborne Clarke, says it is too early to say what the implications of Autumn Statement will be. However, he takes the general view that the measures “will be good for the good [compliant operators]”, though “the devil will be in the detail, and we don’t know the detail yet”.

“It is too early to say that the world of T&S is not directly in HMRC’s firing line,” he adds.

Barrow suggests that the autumn budget has done little to increase certainty. “Maybe the chancellor concluded that it [tax avoidance] can be dealt with by existing legislation and maybe it is all caught by a General Anti-Avoidance Rule and his proposed stepping up of enforcement.”

For those who feared that the chancellor would remove tax relief on T&S expenses schemes, the Autumn Statement was undoubtedly better than expected. However, the government’s general antipathy towards anything that could be construed as tax avoidance, particularly in this age of austerity, suggests that question marks over these schemes and others linked to the UK’s flexible workforce look certain to hang over the recruitment sector for some time.

While there are indicators that the government wishes to focus its efforts on those operating in and around the margins of legality, those calling for greater clarity and certainty from this statement are likely to be disappointed.

“For compliant organisations, the news is better than could have been expected”

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Oil & gas

Sector Analysis

Oil & gas

Stakeholder Comment

RECRUITMENT AND RESOURCING PROFESSIONALS HAVE FOUND THEMSELVES WITH PLENTY TO DO, AS THIS BUOYANT INDUSTRY EMBRACES NEW TECHNOLOGY AND INVESTS IN YOUNGER TALENT

This year our HOT 100 list of the UK’s most profitable recruiters featured eight in oil & gas, compared to five last year — four within the top 25 positions, which no industry representative firm achieved in the 2011 list.

THE MOST CHALLENGING BIT IS THE DRILLING SIDE, BECAUSE YOU CAN’T REALLY COME WITH SIMILAR SKILLS FROM ANOTHER INDUSTRY, IT’S A CLOSED INDUSTRY AS SUCH

“Many companies are investing in rigid training programmes, setting up various schemes to really bring graduates forward.

We’re also seeing a lot of these operators and service companies investing their time in younger resources … taking a punt not just on degree-qualified candidates, but various kinds of schemes from A-Levels onwards.”

the new oil is to be found in much deeper water in the golden triangle between the US, Africa and Brazil. It’s more difficult to extract and you have to operate at water depths of about 3km” — compared to just 100m in places in the North Sea. Under Maersk’s plan to hire 3,000 people by 2016, Nyvold notes three different recruitment areas that reflect wider problems and solutions faced by those recruiting among scarce technical talent. For marine jobs, he says, “we can get people from the shipping fleet as there is no growth in the shipping market right now”.

He continues: “In the maintenance part we can get a lot of people with a relevant background from other industries like the royal [armed] forces and we give them the last details to work in the drilling industry.”

Thirdly, “the most challenging bit is the drilling side, because you can’t really come with similar skills from another industry, it’s a closed industry as such”, Nyvold explains. Thus the need for investment in training in this area — and indeed investing in younger talent.

BP’s recently-announced £4.5m scholarship fund for undergraduates shows this is being taken seriously elsewhere. So too the comments of Kevin Forbes, managing director of job site Oil and Gas People, that after a few years of recession when such programmes were rarer, investing in that future talent is “the only thing” the industry can do to fill its talent pipeline, especially as the high salaries in the sector mean more people can afford to retire younger, he notes.

With Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement announcement promising select glad tidings for the sector, there is at least some degree of political can-do, and if the aforementioned education strategies bear fruit, the talent will also be there. And with money to be made in the sector, there could be no fear of there being enough willing recruits in this sector.

Mads Nyvold BojsenMøller Organisational development specialist, Maersk Drilling “We do use them [agencies] depending on several factors, one being our local presence.

In Angola, for example, we don’t have a large office so we tend to use agencies more than in Norway for instance where we have a larger presence and do more in-house.”

Matt Underhill Managing director, Hays Oil & Gas “Recruitment within the sector remained busy in 2012, driven by high oil prices and a wave of new development. Salaries rose 6% globally and research suggests this is to continue … the global need for energy appears to override any current economic drag.”

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

WORLD’S TOP OIL PRODUCERS TO CHANGE OVER TIME Million barrels/year

DESTINATIONS OF UK OIL & GAS WORKERS ABROAD

■ US ■ Saudi Arabia ■ Russia ■ China ■ Europe 14m

50%

12

40

10

16

2.0 ■ 2011 ■ Q1-Q3 2012

30

8 6

20

4

10

2

0

0 2015

RECRUITER

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2035

HAYS GLOBAL OIL & GAS JOB INDEX

Africa

Australia & Oceania

Asia

Europe

Middle East

North South America America

ACCORDING TO RIGZONE.COM

ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY’S ‘WORLD ENERGY OUTLOOK’

The market has been busy, with recruiters expanding and generating increasing profits from this sector. Oil discoveries and planned investments have been announced, and in the words of Rory Ferguson, director for oil & gas EMEA at professional recruiter Hydrogen, globally there is “more money now than ever available in exploration and production”.

Ferguson says Hydrogen is particular keen on overseas opportunities such as East Africa and, more immediately, Norway. But there is opportunity in the UK too. “It’s easy to write the UK off because it’s quite a mature market,” he says, but adds: “I’m not convinced we’ve seen the end of the cycle.” What would previously have been seen as exhausted fields in mature markets can keep producing, thanks to new technological advances such as high pressure high temperature (HPHT) drilling, he says.

Indeed, the whole industry is finding it is forced to do more and more “difficult” work, Mads Nyvold Bojsen-Møller, an organisational development specialist at oil & gas support services provider Maersk Drilling, explains.

“The growth areas for us right now are the US, the West Coast of Africa and also Norway.

What we call the ‘easy’ oil is running out and

Darren Dickson Associate director, Spencer Ogden Oil & Gas

1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0

Jan 2011

May

Sep

Jan 2012

May

Sep

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Market Indicators

Global Spotlight on Canada FINDING TALENT MAY BE A LONG-TERM CONCERN, BUT WITH CANADA’S REPUTATION AS AN ATTRACTIVE PLACE TO LIVE, THIS SHOULDN’T PROVE TOO PROBLEMATIC

Tipped for the top job at the bank following boss Mark Carney’s appointment as governor of the Bank of England, she said this contrasts to the previous half decade’s global recession, when the prime concern was “creating enough good jobs for workers”.

Canada was less recession-hit than other countries, hiring remaining stronger than elsewhere. But it was not immune. One common hallmark of the recession globally has been demand for recruits able to directly and tangibly influence their employer’s bottom line.

This shows in comments from professional recruiter Robert Half Canada district president Gena Griffin, describing the much-desired mix of “strong technical background in their field, along with proficiency with industry-specific technology systems”. Other in-demand attributes include “international business experience, adaptability and the ability to work in a global business environment”.

Griffin also notes post-recession optimism: “Many companies who had put special projects on hold due to financial constraints may now be in a position to re-visit... as a result, the demand for the project manager role has increased.”

The global lack of technical skills is also felt by Joanne Miller, senior recruiter at design software firm Autodesk in Canada. Broadly, “we’re not getting the depth of talent that we necessarily need”, she says, adding, “we’re known as a traditional software company”. They are now branching out beyond this, but such reputations can linger.

One way to mitigate this is through recruiting internationally and global relocation, which Miller calls “part of our business model” — with Canada a frequently-cited attractive destination for migrants,

CANADIAN FIRMS EXPECTING TO INCREASE STAFF HEADCOUNT 30%

■ All jobs* ■ Professional roles* *

25

having trouble attracting that scarce talent would seem unlikely to be an issue.

Miller believes that the government “does its best to attract educated, specialised and skilled talent”, and adds that “for the right talent we [Autodesk] absolutely make it happen”, but of course the bureaucratic mechanics of immigration can be challenging.

Phil Martin, business manager in Canada for medical recruiter Global Medics, suggests Canada is “very similar to Australia… not easy to get into”. For the doctors he recruits, the path to entry is a long and winding one, further complications arising because in compliance and accreditation terms, “Canada works as if it is 10 different countries”, with different processes in each province. Such regional variance is evident elsewhere, an obvious example being legal requirements around the French language in Montreal and nationally.

Complex though this one aspect of recruitment is, Martin still enthuses about Canada’s quality of life, the “phenomenally high” salaries doctors can earn and the low taxes they pay.

And there is another key advantage to Canada.

It is logistically and practically speaking “very easy” to work across the US border from a Canadian base, using it as a springboard into that bigger, more daunting market, says Zoe Watson, director of technical recruiter Leap29, which opened a Calgary office in August.

“We are doing a lot of work with Houston but why try to go straight there when everyone’s doing that?” she says. “If you’re going to pick a fight with someone, why pick a fight with the biggest guy in the room?”

key indicators Population: 33m. Just over 6m live in the largest city Toronto and the greater Toronto area. Capital city: Ottawa Recent global quality of education survey from Pearson, topped by Finland, put Canada in 10th place (UK 6th, US 17th) Statistics Canada’s most recent national unemployment figure, for October, was 7.4%. It had been over 8.5% for three months in 2009, but lower than 6% back in 2007 Five Canadian cities feature in Intelligence Group’s 50 most desirable cities to work in for 2011: Toronto is 7th, Vancouver 12th, Montreal 27th, Ottawa 39th and Quebec 47th

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

GDP GROWTH VERSUS OTHER COUNTRIES ■ Canada ■ US ■ Germany ■ UK 5%

NO. 1 QUALITY

4 3 2

20

FINANCIAL & ADMINISTRATIVE

1 15

SUPPORT AS AFFIRMED BY

0 -1

10

-3

5 0

OUR AWARD-WINNING CLIENTS

-2 -4 -5

Q4 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2010 2011 2012 2012 2012 2012 WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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-6

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

DATA FROM OECD

* MANPOWER’S EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK SURVEY **ROBERT HALF’S PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT REPORT

In October the Bank of Canada’s deputy governor, Tiff Macklem, predicted that over the next five years the Canadian labour market’s challenge is “likely to be finding enough good workers for jobs”.

01 260 280 290 www.backofficesupportservices.co.uk

RECRUITER

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07/12/2012 09:48

Opinion

Soapbox

Talk tax payments to HMRC RECRUITERS SHOULD TAKE A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO DEALING WITH HM REVENUE & CUSTOMS AND POTENTIAL LIABILITIES BEFORE THE SITUATION GETS BEYOND HELP Tough times in the recruitment industry have seen many cash-strapped companies deferring their taxes to release crucial cash for working capital to meet rising overheads, such as office leases, equipment and the costs of recruiting or maintaining underperforming staff.

When recruiters are in crisis, we have seen HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) increasingly use its powers of distraint* to sell the firm’s assets at auction as settlement of an unpaid tax bill. There has also been an increase in the number of winding-up orders brought by HMRC when business owners have simply failed to communicate the tough trading conditions that they are experiencing.

Just like any other sector, the recruitment industry needs to get the business basics right to survive until an economic recovery is well underway. One way to resolve tax nonpayment and arrears is to improve cashflow, although this is not as easy as it sounds, as * In law, the seizure of someone’s property to obtain payment of rent or other money owed

recruiters are dependent on clients paying on time.

Time-to-pay arrangements — a scheme where the business owner agrees to arrears being broken down over a period of time — can help by enabling firms to refinance and, ultimately, navigate their way out of the downturn. HMRC has stated it is committed to supporting ‘viable’ businesses through these arrangements, but they can still be tough to agree as upfront payments are often required at the outset of any agreement.

According to HMRC statistics, 444,400 time-to-pay arrangements were agreed by HMRC between November 2008 and June 2011, totalling ÂŁ7.7bn across all sectors.

Nonetheless, 23,300 requests totalling more than ÂŁ1bn were refused.

Crisis-hit recruiters should take a proactive approach by contacting HMRC or seeking professional advice about their tax problems at the earliest opportunity.

This will improve their chances of obtaining a suitable repayment period for any

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outstanding tax liability. With a target to increase compliance revenue from ÂŁ15bn to ÂŁ20bn by 2015, HMRC has had to toughen its stance on time-to-pay arrangements, however, a well thought-out, robust plan will always be considered.

Anecdotally, there has been an inconsistent approach to chasing arrears by HMRC. While some recruiters are chased, others are not. Some recruitment firms that pay taxes regularly but default once are often hit hard as the system flags them up, while those who pay sporadically are frequently left alone. It also appears that some firms that owe less are chased harder than those that owe more, depending on geographic location or past history.

With HMRC allocated an extra ÂŁ77m “to increase revenues raised from tackling tax avoidance and evasionâ€? in the chancellor’s Autumn Statement, that chasing will likely increase in both intensity and scope.

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07/11/2012 11:50

Opinion

Letters Cornerstone of career progression IN RESPONSE to the publication of the ‘Richard Review into •Apprenticeships’ (‘Everyone likes apprenticeships, says former

Dragon Richard, but change needed’, recruiter.co.uk, 27 November), we welcome the findings of this thorough report, in particular the recognition that employer support needs to be embedded in apprenticeships and that course content must be rigorous.

The engineering sector has a huge need for a steady intake of talented and motivated young people with the necessary skills to replace retiring employees. At the BITA Academy [established by the British Industrial Truck Association with the City of Bristol College], employers have been actively involved from day one to ensure apprenticeships are tailored to the needs of the lift-truck industry. This benefits employees and employers alike.

A proper apprenticeship is more than just a route into work — the experience and skills it provides allow people to flourish in their careers and rise to the very top. As such, apprenticeships are the cornerstone of career progression in industry. This crucial point perhaps isn’t widely understood but is supported by a survey of our members, which revealed 45% of senior managers in UK forklift truck companies started their careers as engineering apprentices.

At a time when the costs of a university education are higher than ever before, people are rightly reconsidering whether their job prospects reflect the debt they have to take on. With proper industry support, apprenticeships are an attractive option for school leavers.

James Clark, secretary-general, British Industrial Truck Association (BITA)

Let’s be more ethical around tax greatly encouraged to see the breaking news article that •MPsI WAS were finally stepping up to take action on travel & subsistence (T&S) expenses schemes (recruiter.co.uk, 23rd November).

The national debate and recent judgements relating to T&S schemes which led to the Early Day Motion 764 calling for an investigation and subsequent enforcement to prevent tax avoidance raise huge issues for the recruitment industry.

It is so encouraging to see that something will be done to even the recruitment playing field, but most importantly one that balances out the need to protect low paid vulnerable temporary workers. I look forward to competing with our more illustrious colleagues on the basics of the quality of service and one that does not place vulnerable workers at risk either today or in the future and one that meets our obligations to Her Majesty’s Revenue.

I truly believe that an organisation’s ethical values should consider the morality of tax avoidance that meets the spirit of the legislation and not one that survives on legal technicalities or interpretation.

Rafiq Chohan, managing director, Goldteam Recruitment

Cut out the illiterate job specs ALASTAIR [BLAIR], IN your Bloggers with Bite article in November’s •Recruiter, I agree with you completely about shoddy recruitment

advertising, but I wouldn’t limit this to recruitment consultants. The question I ask is just because you can post everything online, should you? If 83% of global recruiting leaders (according to LinkedIn) believe that employer branding is a critical driver of their ability to recruit, then how does cutting and pasting a job spec or pumping out semi-literate copy really help? Maybe it’s time for a few less bullet points and a bit more communication?

Dave Griffin, MD, Publicis Engage, Ireland

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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Soundbites

“Are you feeling positive or nervous about the prospects for recruitment in 2013 and what are your reasons?”

Adrian Dalby Managing director, New Chapter Consulting

Here at New Chapter we have experienced growth of around 50% in the last two quarters and we’re expecting good things from 2013. We keep a close eye on the demand for talent in our markets and have been gathering quantitative and qualitative data for a number of years. Advertised vacancies increased by 15.5% in the consumer goods sector in Q3, while retail vacancies remained constant overall, with a decline in Buying vacancies being offset by growth in other head office roles such as ecommerce. There is a sense of optimism in our markets; in a recent poll conducted on our website 62% of participants predicted an increase in the demand for recruitment services. Let’s hope they’re right!

Jonathan Ellerbeck MD, Gravitas Recruitment Group

Here at Gravitas, we are approaching 2013 with a spring in our step. The performances across all of our teams have been steadily increasing, with no noticeable regional variation. The demand for ‘quality’ IT staff is as strong as ever, and doesn’t show signs of waning across either permanent or contract. The majority of our key clients want to get ahead for next year, and the planning all indicates an significant increase in IT spend. Our only concern would be to find the quality, and numbers, of our own internal consultant resource to cope with their increasing demand.

Chris Futcher Chief executive, The Pulse Umbrella Group

In general, I’m feeling positive about 2013, as are contractors. According to our latest Contractor Confidence survey, 78% of contractors are feeling positive about the demand for their skills into 2013. In the permanent market there looks to be little change as budgets are still tight and headcount closely monitored. In the interim market, however, there is a lot happening as business change continues to be driven from above, therefore with a lack of permanent headcount, flexible workers are being relied upon to deliver. Of course the continued economic uncertainty means that businesses must be prepared for change at any point.

IF YOU HAVE A LETTER OR WOULD LIKE TO BE A CONTRIBUTOR TO SOUNDBITES, EMAIL...

VANESSA.TOWNSEND@RECRUITER.CO.UK

RECRUITER

DECEMBER 2012

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Trends

The rise of selfsufficient recruitment CHANGE IS AFOOT IN THE RECRUITMENT AND TALENT INDUSTRIES BUT THE TRUE EXTENT IS MASKED BY COST-CUTTING MEASURES Organisations no longer need agencies to test the marketplace or build networks of people with the right skills; they can do it themselves.

Welcome to the era of self-sufficiency, in recruitment terms. These days, whatever the size of an organisation, no recruitment strategy is complete without engaging with the full spectrum of social media. In-house recruiters now have social media targets added to their personal objectives; they must create Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, LinkedIn accounts and even YouTube videos. While all this activity appears to be changing the way recruitment works, in reality change is taking place at a more fundamental level.

With almost all companies investing in LinkedIn licences and corporate pages to enhance their hiring capability, in-house recruiters now have direct access to a current database of candidates.

Unlike the arrival of job boards some years ago, LinkedIn’s target market is the clients themselves.

While job boards make it cheaper for agencies to use their services, LinkedIn recognises that the real spending power sits with the clients and ensures the tool is prohibitively expensive for agencies.

Tools such as video and crowdsourcing are also gaining increasing traction in the recruitment sphere. Video allows employers to convey information and brand in a more engaging format, while crowdsourcing, assisted by employee referral software, allows companies to develop and manage a branded employee referral network across social networking sites. As an attraction tool, crowdsourcing can substantially speed up the recruitment process and arguably generates more loyal employees.

Oiling the wheels of this trend towards selfsufficient recruitment has been the HR software industry, which has singularly failed to create a quality, integrated recruitment system that provides access to a comprehensive, up-to-theminute pool of talent. In the shadow of LinkedIn, these HR software tools are being reduced to recruitment process management systems or static databases with limited value. While some might assume that LinkedIn is a passing trend, the arrival of other, increasingly sophisticated, tools is inevitable. We can’t know what their business strategy will be in relation to the recruitment industry, but we can assume that it will accelerate the trend for recruitment self-sufficiency.

However, while employers can be more selfsufficient in accessing and building candidate pools through sites like LinkedIn, they still need skilled recruiters to manage and maximise those tools effectively. The assumption that using recruitment technologies or social media can replace or diminish the need for recruiters is mistaken.

Agencies with strong niche networks, experienced recruiters and a solid reputation among candidates will still continue to build good businesses.

Agencies can often be more agile and adaptable than large employers and have the ‘room’ and expertise to build valuable personal connections with candidates. While it’s vital that firms embed and promote their core values, talented recruitment agencies are vital in taking those values and using them at the frontline of the recruitment process to ensure that every element of the selection process — pre-screening, telephone screening and assessment centres — is focused on drilling down to ‘the right’ candidate attributes and delivering a candidate experience that matches the employer’s ethos, particularly in terms of community, family and passion for their own clients and customers.

In contrast, those recruitment agencies that rely on job boards and on being the quickest to the requirement will be the most threatened.

The contractor market, on the other hand, will probably see the least impact as very few clients in this space want any form of self-sufficiency, preferring a minimum risk model.

So where does this trend towards self-sufficiency leave outsourcers? While the outsourcing industry could benefit, it will be under huge cost and margin pressures. The firms that win through will be those who can supply highly skilled onsite recruiters as part of a flexible, hybrid model that can ramp up or down as the economy fluctuates. Where previously discussions were dominated by the relative benefits of outsourcing and insourcing, they are now focused on transformation. Firms are under huge pressure to focus on accurate resource planning and outsourcers can add value by positioning themselves as ‘transformers’, in terms of resource planning, assessment and selection, and onboarding.

Those agencies which have the flexibility, knowledge and network will be in prime position.

For the rest, the realisation that recruitment selfsufficiency is not a temporary phase brought on by the recession but a fundamental paradigm shift may just come a little late.

Power Points As of September 2012 LinkedIn has 10m members in the UK ie. four out of five British professionals are part of the business network A growing number of employers are posting jobs directly through Twitter including Accenture, BT, H&M, HSBC and PepsiCo Recruiters using LinkedIn for free are now unable to view third tier group members unless they pay to upgrade, having a significant impact on their candidate reach In a recent Hudson HR survey, over a fifth of respondents stated that between 80% and 90% of their recruitment is currently done via direct sourcing and a third are using agencies for less than 10% of their recruitment needs. It also highlighted that the use of agencies was generally restricted to highly specialised roles.

PHIL CLARKE, CEO, INDEPENDENT WWW.INDEPENDENTLTD.COM

Have you researched any recruitment trends recently? If so, please contact the editor: deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk

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The Challenge

Rank Group takes a punt with social media Sue Waldock HR director

THE RANK GROUP NEEDED MORE CONSISTENCY WITH RECRUITING ACROSS ITS BUSINESSES. RPOZONE HELPED THE GROUP INTERACT MORE WITH ITS CUSTOMERS

THE CHALLENGE The Rank Group is a gamingbased entertainment business headquartered in the UK, but with operations in Spain and Belgium.

It also has a strong online gaming and betting presence. Employing around 8,000 people, the business operates around 35 casinos under its Grosvenor Casinos brand and more than 100 bingo clubs under the Mecca Bingo name. Rank Interactive is the online business, known for its Blue Square brand.

Historically, recruitment for roles in these various clubs around the country relied on local initiatives, often using agencies, led by the manager of each establishment. There wasn’t much consistency throughout the group and the process could often prove time-consuming. HR director Sue Waldock told Recruiter that for the online side of the business, “more often than not this meant a heavy reliance on agency hires”.

In 2009, specialist recruitment consultancy RPOZone started managing the high agency provision to try and streamline the recruiting process. Nick Boothroyd,

“There was a strong social media use from customers from a central location” ALAN WHITFORD

RPO director at RPOZone, explained that while managing the “large agency pool of partners”, RPOZone “improved the daysto-hire rate from 65 to around 30 days, as well as a 30% cost reduction”. It was during this managed service involvement that “we started talking about the mechanics of recruitment”, he said. Waldock wanted to rely more on direct channel resourcing methods, as well as a more streamlined approach to recruiting. But how could the different clubs and the digital operation of the business be more consistent across their hiring?

THE SOLUTION Following discussions with Waldock, the RPOZone and the Rank Group’s management team, the entire end-to-end recruitment experience was looked at.

Boothroyd told Recruiter: “The employee segmentation piece looked at how internal employees ticked. We looked at their [past working] experience — did it fit in with the employer brand?”

The information informed the branding piece, both visually and through the language used to attract potential candidates.

Project PRIDE (People, Recruitment, Inclusive, Diverse and Engaged) was born out of the discussions and research.

As well as encompassing the employer branding of the Rank Group, the project was a complete re-engineering of the recruitment process.

Because the Rank Group’s

Key Lessons “Customers are candidates and candidates are customers” Alan Whitford “Using social media for recruitment also resulted in increased visitors to Rank’s general Facebook pages and is having a positive impact on customer numbers” Sue Waldock businesses are very customer focused, the customer and candidate experience needed to be similar, so as well as going online for gaming, customers were using social media sites such as Facebook to interact with the company. However, they were not using it to apply for jobs at local Mecca clubs or Grosvenor Casinos.

To capitalise on this consumer traffic to attract new candidates, Boothroyd brought in the expertise of independent social media consultant Alan Whitford. Whitford told Recruiter: “There was a strong social media use from customers from a central location [the Rank Group as a whole company], but Facebook, for example, certainly wasn’t being used by customers to look for jobs in individual clubs.”

Applications to local clubs were mostly paper-based, he added. To get managers involved and excited in their club’s Facebook page, for

Nick Boothroyd RPO director

instance, microsites were created to drive traffic from the page to a careers site. An important difference for managers of local Rank clubs is that the process of adding a new vacancy was simplified and made much easier.

“Every job had predefined job descriptions,” said Whitford, which could be posted to additional channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn or local Jobcentres with a couple of clicks. The new microsites for the different parts of the business now all have the same theme: ‘An amazing team where everyone counts’.

Another important innovation was the Talent Pool, giving applicants the opportunity to add hobbies, photos, videos and links to social media channels.

Boothroyd emphasised that hobbies and interests are very important: “Candidates can add additional content to their Talent profile. Rank is a customer-facing organisation, so it needs to know what candidates are like on a personal level.” Waldock was most impressed with this aspect of PRIDE: “We are now able to save huge amounts of time on interviewing because we can target the softer skills and attributes that make our colleagues exceptional with the customer, and interview people who we already know have a good fit with the business.”

And what of RPOZone and Whitford’s contribution? “If you are looking for a true partner to take on board your vision, give them a call!” she told Recruiter.

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

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Profile

Ryan Broad DEEDEE DOKE MET THE MOVING PICTURE COMPANY’S GLOBAL HEAD OF RECRUITMENT “Do you see yourself corralling zombies? Battling aliens? Destroying cities? Taking care of giant lizards? Here at MPC you could do all of that and more.”

What a recruitment pitch. That’s the offer Ryan Broad of The Moving Picture Company (MPC) can dangle to attract the creative and technical types whose artistry and skills give blockbuster films like Skyfall, Prometheus, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I and 2, the recently released Life of Pi and upcoming World War Z their wow factor.

Here’s how Broad explains the magnitude of what MPC’s artists create and incorporate into what you ultimately see at the local cinema: “If you were to see what was a visual effect and what wasn’t, you’d probably be pretty flabbergasted.”

Broad is global head of recruitment at MPC, with post-production operations in Bangalore, Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver, as well as London working on high-end visual effects for major film productions and advertising projects. While the public still pays good money to go to the cinema, the Harry Potter monetary magic that ploughed literally millions of pounds of work into the visual effects industry has evaporated with the end of the series. But Broad is still a busy recruiter.

“The challenge is, there’s no more Harry Potters.

Production schedules are very dry at the minute — that means there aren’t a lot of movies going through.

However, we have secured work,” Broad tells Recruiter proudly of MPC. “We’ll ramp up.”

Yes, they will. For instance, Vancouver alone will require “a massive uplift” of 400 people over eight weeks (for projects Broad won’t identify) and nine months out, Broad has recently had to unveil to his North America colleagues his strategy for acquiring those workers. His plan involves recruiting both locally in Vancouver and in Europe, and a youth recruitment programme, while keeping in mind the ever-important wage costs.

“The market in Canada is such that wage inflation

is just going through the roof,” he says. “We want to take people who want to work in the movies at a price we can afford to pay. I don’t want approvals coming through for salaries for 30-40% more than we’ve actually outlined in the budget, which we experienced 18 months ago, previous to me coming in.”

The business of post-production and visual effects is cyclical. Most of MPC’s workforce is contingent labour, which must be mobilised quickly for specific projects then “reverse recruited”, as Broad puts it, when contracts and projects end.

What adds an extra dimension to Broad’s challenge is the need to also keep this contingent workforce on side and engaged, even when they’re not working for MPC. Retention of these highly skilled contingent workers is crucial to the success of MPC’s business and reputation. However, it’s not retention in the usual long-term sense — when new contracts come in the door, it’s about being able to bring back in seasoned, experienced talent that have worked at MPC previously.

“On my third or final interview here, they talked to me about hiring cycles, and having to ramp up and hire people as contingents and then drop down again and keep them in place so you could rehire them again, and drop and rehire, and they didn’t have anything in place to track those individuals, to rate them, rank them, their rates, anything like that — it was non-existent,” Broad explains to Recruiter in MPC’s Arctic-hued, minimalist London Soho offices.

So when he got the job 18 months ago, Broad’s remit was to bring recruitment process and structure to MPC, along with a global perspective and oversight into a creative environment, which had laboured under a regional focus. He set out to build a proactive resourcing operation that could flex with the ups and downs of the workflow, and could keep in touch with and track the contingents.

And at first he envisioned the right solution to the retention issue as creating a club of MPC’s experienced artists, as the creative and technical workers are called.

Today, Broad says, “the club concept exists, but we

SECRET OF SUCCESS “I wouldn’t call it success! What’s the secret of my luck?

Luck and a bit of ‘if you really want it, just do it.’ ”

CV Global head of recruitment, MPC August 2011-present

Director, recruitment — UK Ireland & Emerging Markets, dunnhumby April 2010-August 2011

Manager, recruitment — Europe, Cognizant Technology Solutions 2008-10

Talent acquisition lead — Europe, Yahoo!

2007-08

Resourcing specialist, AEGON UK 2004-07

Project manager, Resourcing, Lloyds Banking Group 2003-04

Account director, Obvious Solutions (through acquisition, now www.lumesse. com) 1999-2003

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07/12/2012 14:25

PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER SEARLE

Profile

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07/12/2012 14:25

IMAGES OF PROMETHEUS © 2012 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Profile

don’t call it a club. Once you put a tag on something, typically people shy away from it. I didn’t understand that 18 months ago”, he acknowledges.

“I understand it now. It’s about how you keep the relevant people in the relevant place and enable them to let you know what they’re doing, and then give you access to feed them information and get them involved with whatever you need them to get involved with.

But ultimately, when you need to hire again, you’ve got 50 people that you can speak to straight away instead of, ‘Where do I find 50 people?’

“The concept of where we would keep all of our ‘club’ members — or guys we would want to be part of MPC — evolved to using the applicant tracking system in a completely different way,” he explains.

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“Instead of using it in traditional career acquisition, we needed to keep members’ requisitions open so that we could pipeline. In effect, our address books, or pipelines, are just standard reqs that stay open constantly.”

Breezy and California-casual in jeans, South Africaborn Broad seems an almost perfect fit with the film industry, flicking phrases like “cool movies, cool people, cool technology” into the conversation. He speaks knowledgeably about what his recruits and retainees do to ply their artistry, from lighting and modelling to animation, grading and beyond.

Yet Broad himself may see the fit for himself and the industry differently. The switch from corporate cultures of previous employers such as retail media company dunnhumby, Yahoo! and insurance provider AEGON, to the more freeform MPC has meant a significant adaptation in mindset, he admits.

To illustrate, he gives an example of how MPC’s long-term employees often progress through the ranks.

“It’s not your typical ‘do your dues and work your way up the corporate ladder’,” Broad says. “If the business changes and there’s someone in there who wants to do something, then just let them do it. It’s kind of nice but it’s kind of scary when you come from a corporate environment. My learning curve has been, well, let’s just go with it.”

He goes on to say: “It has opened up my mind a lot more, and even if I reflect on my past career, potentially I could have been holding people back because of my perceptions of what you need to do, rather than just let the person do it. They’ll figure it out. And that’s what you get here. It’s like, ‘You want to do it? Here are some guidelines. Here’s what I expect.

Just go do it.’

“It does take a bit of getting used to it,” he concedes.

And what does it take to attract and retain, MPC style, the artists themselves? The jobs themselves differ little between those at MPC and their competitors.

“Typically, they will be driven by the productions — being able to do top-end films. We’ve got cool movies,

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Profile

their friends work here, they think ‘I’ve got what I need to do my job, I know what’s expected of me, I have cool work to work on, so I’ve got a personal interest in being there’,” Broad says.

He returns to the subject of tracking the artists whose contracts with MPC have ended. They are kept up-to-date with new projects coming down the pipeline that hopefully will tempt them to be involved.

“That’s key to our strategy — then we can ramp up quicker,” Broad says. “We’ve got a lot of proprietary software and getting ex-people back means they can hit the ground running. Typically, it’s a 10-week learning curve for a new person coming in before they’re actually effective at delivering the shots we need to the grade we need.”

Broad’s long-term vision for MPC has another dimension as well: ultimately, he would like to see regular MPC artists handling their own work project scheduling. “We’ll know how good you are, you can negotiate your rate, start the production you want, pick and choose what you want to do.”

For Broad himself, the variety of geographies, cultures and issues inherent in his global role means that he keeps finding new points of interest in his work, as well as a wealth of business and life lessons to continue to absorb.

“The biggest life lesson I’ve learned,” Broad says, “is, the theory’s important, but you don’t typically need it all of the time. Twenty per cent of the theory’s good, 80% is just get out there and do it. And never look back.”

KEY FACTS The Moving Picture Company

Specialities: VFX, post production, advertising, feature films, TV Recent film projects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2, Prometheus, Skyfall, Life of Pi

For 2013: The Counselor, World War Z

Interesting perk: Weekly life drawing and sculpture classes are open to any MPC film artist

Top London facility perks: 75-seat screening room and Skybar

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07/12/2012 14:26

Christmas has come early. 50% off for all Eploy customers!

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Mobile software

Recruiting on the go comes of age AS THE NUMBER OF MOBILE SEARCHES INCREASES EXPONENTIALLY, RECRUITERS NEED TO ADD MORE TO THE MOBILE EXPERIENCE FOR CANDIDATES TO KEEP AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION. SUE WEEKES INVESTIGATES

After many false dawns, there can be no doubt that mobile recruitment has arrived. Addressing the Mobile Recruitment Conference in November, Emma Frazer, senior industry head for recruitment at Google UK, revealed that one in five job searches are carried out on a mobile device and between January to September this year (2012), mobile recruitment search has grown sixteenfold.

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Much of the talk in this area is still around the need for recruiters and employers to have a mobile presence, borne out by the results of a survey on Orange and T-Mobile users by Educate, an advertising sales house for recruitment and education, which found that 84% felt an employer should have a mobile website.

What shape or form the mobile presence takes is only one part of the discussion though. As crucial is the

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Powered by Microsoft Gold Partners, the technology and recruitment specialists Crimson, Mercury xRM has been specifically developed in response to market demand and has just been launched this month.

Crimson’s Recruitment Services Director Chris Kendrick said: “We have invested heavily in developing a bespoke solution that reflects the needs and aspirations of the UK’s leading recruitment companies. The beauty of Mercury xRM is that it has been designed by recruiters for recruiters.

It allows you to search your entire networks at once and being cloud-based means there are no additional support or hardware costs. Recruitment agencies can operate far more productively with less administration time benefiting from a single solution as opposed to having to use multiple tools. Until now there has never been anything available on the market that can do so much from a single source so, not surprisingly, the response has been phenomenal.”

Features include full candidate CV parsing with skills, qualifications and experience as well as fully automated candidate registration.

A flexible interface looks and feels as familiar as Microsoft Office and allows extensive reporting, personalised dashboards, views and customised workflows. All leading online databases as well as LinkedIn can be incorporated. Other features include on demand creation of branded candidate profiles, automated creation of contract documentation and the creation of marketing lists and campaigns.

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Crimson’s team of technology specialists work closely with you to ensure it is implemented in the way you want and is up and running quickly. Support with training, data migration and consultancy can also be provided.

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For more information contact, Chris Kendrick on 01675 466 477 or visit www.mercuryxrm.co.uk

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08:59 10/12/2012 08:52

Mobile software

progress of the software and apps that will underpin the outward face of mobile recruitment in the coming years, and developers still face plenty of challenges to overcome.

Cristian Bradshaw, owner of Allthetopbananas which has developed a range of mobile apps for agencies, job boards and employers, says the jobseeker is relatively well catered for in terms of searching, but the application process is “frustratingly disjointed”. “The user often has to be already registered on the desktop website or has to jump through hoops to provide their CV,” he comments. “Each of these gaps in the process gives the opportunity for it to be abandoned whether through being forgotten about or just through frustration.”

He believes there needs to be a push from both applicant tracking system (ATS) providers and app/ mobile website providers to smooth the process so that mobile recruitment can mature as a platform.

Allthetopbananas is already taking steps in this direction with several ATS providers and Bradshaw says to expect further development in this area. “Closer integration would make the jobseeker’s life easier and ensure that more, better quality applications reach recruiters,” he says. “The amount of jobseeking taking place on mobile is growing all the time and we need to ensure that we are able to meet the expectations of this audience.”

Mobile applications specialist KeyApps agrees. As well as the candidate benefiting, tighter integration

Cristian Bradshaw, Allthetopbananas

John Edwards, KeyApps

will save time for recruiters who can continue to post jobs and track applications in the same way as they are used to without having to manage multiple systems, suggests the firm’s mobile software consultant and team lead, John Edwards. The developer has already integrated with multi-posting and tracking technologies Broadbean and JobMate, and says it will continue to interface with third parties through its application programming interface (APIs). “We feel it’s an essential service to enable easy applicant tracking,” says Edwards.

As well as tracking applications, a perennial challenge for mobile software developers is the application process itself. Developers are working hard to make it easier to attach a CV in the mobile environment, as well as create more user-friendly applications. Yet a frustrating candidate experience at this stage remains one of the biggest threats to mobile recruitment.

David Spector, global head of mobile for digital agency aia Worldwide, says the underlying issue is that application forms remain too “lengthy and cumbersome” to fill in.

“The legacy of presenting application forms that are online derivatives of the multiple page documents of a bygone era may have sufficed for the desktop, but are completely unfriendly to mobile users, where brevity is the key to successful conversions,” says Spector. “The application form needs to be simplified for the mobile user at the very least and this is not so much a technical issue as it is a change

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Specialist staffing software

Hays is a global business operating across 33 countries and communication between our 8,000 consultants, candidates and clients via the internet is a key business issue.

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Mobile software

of mindset by the hiring organisations themselves.”

It seems this is an area where recruiters should be having direct input into shaping the future of mobile recruitment. Ed Newman, vice president of strategy at US-based mobile talent solutions provider iMomentous, believes the biggest limitation of mobile recruiting is recruitment and HR’s ability to evolve their processes.

Many, Newman says, still expect far too much information to be submitted via a mobile device in the initial stages. “It is a web-based mentality where it is presumed an individual will have a keyboard and mouse, sitting at a desktop with all the time necessary to complete their process,” he says. “People engage on mobile very differently and usually don’t have the time or patience to complete the traditional process all at once. Employers need to start rethinking what they are asking jobseekers to submit to express interest [in a position]. They need to stop thinking ‘web’ and start thinking mobile.”

As well as considering what the candidate can feasibly achieve in the mobile environment, discussion also needs to take place around how much functionality the recruiter wants — or indeed needs to have — when on the move.

Typically, a developer will offer such functionality via an app. This could be a native mobile app, which has been built to take advantage of all of the inherent features of a device’s particular operating system and language such as iOS, Android or Windows 8, or a mobile web app, which doesn’t have to be installed on

David Spector, aia Worldwide

Chris Bogh, Eploy

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the device and is accessed via a standard web browser.

The other alternative is web-based products used at the desktop, which can be accessed on a mobile device.

Eploy, for instance, has always taken the approach to offer its online recruitment and ATS in its entirety on a smartphone and tablet device.

Eploy technical director Chris Bogh says that 41% of its users are using mobile devices to access the entire recruitment system to perform day-to-day recruitment activities.

“Native apps are great, and very necessary if there is a specific purpose for them or if they can achieve things that mobile-friendly pages can’t,” he says. “But so far there are not a lot that benefits recruitment that you can’t have in a browser. Even location-based services are available through the mobile browser.”

One advantage of this approach for Eploy users is that career portals built in the software are also available via a mobile device.

Those who have taken the apps approach include Bond International Software, which has developed both a native mobile and mobile web app. Toby Conibear, business development director at Bond, explains that functionality includes candidate relationship management (CRM), diary and follow-up task management, as well as recruitment workflow management, CV submission, interview arrangement and the ability to record telephone conversations.

“From a recruiter’s point of view, deciding what functionality and data access you want to provide to

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*

Source: Potentialpark Communications. Trend Studies 2011.

Eploy® Delivers

Cloud recruitment software with 100% mobile compatibility.

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Mobile software

your staff remotely is probably the biggest issue to deal with,” says Conibear. “The security of a database of candidate details is paramount; recruitment companies must, therefore, ensure that there are limits to the levels of remote access which recruitment agencies honour their employees with. It is critical that these candidate details remain secure even when they are accessed from a mobile device.”

Bullhorn has just released the fourth generation of Bullhorn Mobile, which makes the most important elements of its software-as-a-service (SaaS) CRM product available for the mobile environment. While EMEA managing director Peter Linas acknowledges that the main technical issues of this approach compared to offering an app is presenting the “right information” in a limited screen space, he believes it has the essential bases covered when it comes to functionality.

“Recruiters can look up candidates, conduct searches, review notes and access reporting so that they’re fully prepared in advance of client meetings,” Linas says.

“Afterwards, they can immediately add notes or open new job vacancies to initiate the recruitment process rather than waiting to get back to the office or trying to reach a colleague via phone.”

He adds that Bullhorn continues to “shout about” mobile as a concept to recruiters as it not only increases productivity but also because it fosters closer collaboration between agencies and their clients “by making it easier for consultants to work alongside clients at their premises”.

“ RECRUITERS CAN LOOK UP CANDIDATES, CONDUCT SEARCHES, REVIEW NOTES AND ACCESS REPORTING SO THAT THEY’RE FULLY PREPARED IN ADVANCE OF CLIENT MEETINGS,” PETER LINAS, BULLHORN’S EMEA MANAGING DIRECTOR

Peter Linas, Bullhorn

In Bullhorn’s most recent Global Trends Survey, more than half (53.66%) of respondents in the EMEA region said it was “extremely important” to have mobile access to their ATS/CRM system while out of the office and a third (34.15%) that it was “somewhat important”.

While there is much more discussion, debate and development to come in the field of mobile recruitment, there can be no doubt it is finally turning into a useful and valued recruiting channel for both the recruiter and the candidate. The future of recruiting is by no means all about mobile though.

At the Mobile Recruitment Conference, Google’s Frazer said how people switch devices during the course of the day using mobiles in the morning, the desktop during the day and then tablets in the evening.

They also do not have to do a task on just one device if it is easier to do it on another. Candidates have already been vocal in surveys about what they want to see from mobile sites and mobile apps, and what needs to happen next is for recruiters to apply their thinking to how the mobile recruiting experience and processes may need to differ from traditional ones.

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RECRUITER

DECEMBER 2012

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How to play a part in The Asian Century

ALL PHOTOS: AKIN FALOPE

Opportunities in Asia

FOR FIRMS ALREADY OPERATING IN ASIA OR THOSE LOOKING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITIES, RECRUITER HELD A ROUNDTABLE TO DISCUSS THE REGION’S POTENTIAL. COLIN COTTELL REPORTS

The seemingly irresistible rise of Asia was the subject of a Recruiter roundtable event held in London last month, sponsored by Telstra Global, a global provider of managed networked services.

Chaired by Recruiter editor DeeDee Doke, recruiters from companies already operating in Asia, or with an interest in working there, discussed the opportunities and challenges in what economists see as the world’s next super region.

The roundtable featured a presentation by Naomi Chakwin, European resident director general for the Asian Development Bank. A recent study by the bank, ‘The Asian Century’, forecasts that on current trends by 2050 Asia will account for over 50% of the world’s GDP and in the process raise average local incomes to $40k (£25k), six times the present level.

Should ‘The Asian Century’ scenario actually materialise, then not only are those staffing companies already operating in the region and those who enter it in the next few years likely to be rewarded, but the bigger picture is that the supply of and demand for talent, and the way it flows around the world, looks certain to be very different.

Graeme Read, managing director of Antal International, told the roundtable that the biggest challenge was finding good people, not only for Antal’s business, but also for its clients. “Our clients have been saying the same thing: ‘There is a lack of people with commercial and entrepreneurial skills’,” he said.

As a consequence, he explained that companies, particularly in China, put a premium on those who had graduated from Western universities or who had spent time working abroad.

Lawrence Hargreaves, managing director of Nicoll Curtin Technology, agreed that “finding local talent was difficult”. Ideally he said the company’s office in Singapore would be run by a local and not by someone from the UK. However, he explained that people with a sales culture and entrepreneurial spirit were thin on the ground, in a culture where employees expected automatic promotion. “Recruitment isn’t like that, you have to put a lot of hard work in,” he said.

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Read agreed with Hargreaves that cultural issues were important when recruiting. However, while hiring those who understood Asian culture had advantages because they were good at working with local clients, “we can’t let the cultural tail wag the business, so to speak”, when sales and marketing skills were equally important.

Toby Fowlston, managing director London at Robert Walters, said it was important to have a balance between local cultural affinity and being true to the business. “We need to make sure that we are maintaining the DNA and values of the business,” he said.

Another recurring theme was the extent to which talent was mobile and indeed between countries in the region. Steve Carter, director, global temporary and contract services at Morgan McKinley, pointed out that China was increasingly looking “to take top quality leadership executive talent” from Singapore and move it into the country. In the past, he said it was more likely they would have sourced such talent from Western countries.

“I think it has all changed,” agreed Dona-Mirelle Battat, executive director at Digby Morgan, citing growing political pressure to recruit local people.

“Having the local language is becoming key,” she added.

However, Carter suggested that it was more cost

PERCENTAGE SHARE OF GDP — 2050 ■ Rest of World 2% ■ Sub Saharan Africa 2% ■ Middle East & North Africa 3% ■ Latin America and Caribbean 10% ■ North America 13% ■ Europe 18% ■ Asia 52% Source: Asian Development Bank

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06/12/2012 13:57

Opportunities in Asia

KEY FACTS The event was attended by

Dona-Mirelle Battat, executive director, HR recruiter Digby Morgan Steve Carter, director, global temporary and contract services professional recruiter Morgan McKinley

Naomi Chakwin, European resident director-general for the Asian Development Bank

pressure than government pressure that was driving change in the market, because expats are “just so expensive”.

And there were other drivers behind this trend, he said, citing Singapore, which had become “a relatively self-sufficient place”. Not only did it have good education system, he continued, but also its borders were “pretty much closed” to expats.

Carter said this raised questions over whether it has any future as a market “where you can just place Westerners into Western businesses”.

No longer was it possible, for example, for recruiters who had failed in London to simply head East. “The reality is that Singapore is well wise to that,” said Carter.

Carter added that that while the firm was doing well in placing mid-level candidates into local Singaporean companies, “we are not making much money at all from Western businesses”.

Read pointed to the difficulties in moving nationals between countries, for example, a Chinese or a Singaporean into Korea. And even within China, he said movement from the countryside into the cities was constrained because medical and pension benefits were tied to people’s home villages.

For Fowlston, many of the challenges facing clients were mirrored in Roberts Walters’ own business. As he explained, while hiring local people and “growing our own talent” was part and parcel of the firm’s strategy, the top positions tended still to be held by people from the UK or Australia.

Carter suggested there was an inevitability that “more developed, better educated markets” such as Singapore will export talent within the region.

Increasingly, being British or Australian was not a passport to an executive job in Asia, he said.

However, Chakwin questioned whether the quality of the education system was capable of producing what Asian countries needed. She identified India as having a particular problem, claiming that of the 250,000 engineers who graduate each year, “240,000 are basically not qualified to be engineers”.

And while she lauded the quality of the very best

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Paul Clark, founder and chief executive of telco and IT recruiter Penta Consulting Matthew Eames, founder of insurance, banking and professional services recruiter Eames Consulting

Toby Fowlston, managing director London of professional and executive recruiter Robert Walters

Lawrence Hargreaves, MD, technology recruiter Nicoll Curtin Technology Paul Huntingdon, founder of technical and IT staffing company Advance Resource Managers

Joost Kreuelen, CEO of specialist recruiter Empresaria Group Graeme Read, group MD of specialist recruiter Antal International Ian Temple, chairman of specialist recruitment business Hydrogen Group

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Opportunities in Asia

universities, such as those in Seoul, which are “harder to get into than the top Ivy League universities”, there were “simply too few”. In her view, until this changed most top graduates would continue to come via Western universities.

Read argued that China was well aware that to transform itself from being “the low-cost manufacturing hub for the world” into one focused on service industries and those based on intellectual property, education was key. Russia had recognised this, “got the education right, and then the skills and knowledge transfer happened, expats left and Russian nationals took over, and they were cheaper”. “It stood them in good stead, and I think the same thing will happen in China,” Read added.

If question marks remain over the ability of Asian countries to generate and nurture its local talent, Chakwin suggested that some countries’ talent pools may currently be receiving a boost. First, she said some Chinese people who were given US permanent residency in the 1990s were returning to China, and second, fewer Asians and particularly Chinese want to go abroad. Indians are also returning home from the West, added Read.

Chakwin pointed out that taking a longer-term perspective, Asia faced a number of other significant challenges if it was to develop in such a way as to make the 21st century ‘The Asian Century’.

Among these were managing the problems of urbanisation and climate change, as well as issues of

ASIAN CENTURY SCENARIO: 2050 Asia’s current share of world GDP 27% today versus predicted share in 2050 of 52% Seven countries will be responsible for 90% of regional growth: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand Asian cities will be responsible for 80% of

output

governance and corruption. She also warned that the middle income trap, through which countries who rely on their exports for growth eventually become uncompetitive due to rising wages threatened economic development and growth.

And she predicted that failure to rise to the challenges would leave average income at $20k only, if half that Asian growth were to continue on its current trajectory.

No one knows for sure what the future will bring for this vast and diverse region, and whether Asia will actually realise its potential and make this century ‘The Asian Century’, allowing an additional 3bn people in the region to achieve European living standards.

However all but the most insular-looking recruiter or talent professional would surely be foolish not to at least take an interest in a region with such huge potential.

Variously described by roundtable participants as “challenging”, “confusing” and “diverse”, all that and more is undoubtedly true about Asia. But for recruiters with an eye on a future that may already be closer than many think, the comment by Antal’s Read is most telling: “I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

GRAEME READ, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF ANTAL INTERNATIONAL: “OUR CLIENTS HAVE BEEN SAYING THE SAME THING: ‘THERE IS A LACK OF PEOPLE WITH COMMERCIAL AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS’.”

Working in Asia — Reed’s recruiters on the ground Jacee Liau is a Principal Consultant, Singapore

When did you join Reed?

I joined in 2008 as the 2nd team member here, four years ago when Reed was unknown in Singapore and I had the opportunity to work with our Head of Business to grow the Reed brand here.

I started working on the retail patch, and it’s been a fantastic learning journey in a great market. Reed has provided me with lots of opportunities: Before joining Reed I was a Researcher, my manager was brave and gave me the opportunity to be a 360 degree Consultant, and I had a lot of training and support.

After four and half years at Reed I’m now a Principal

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Consultant, and my journey could not have been any better.

What’s it like to live in Singapore?

Singapore is multicultural but English-speaking with great weather, food and excellent transportation. It’s clean, safe and the lifestyle is very easy.

The taxation system is also good for the individual.

There are a lot of multinational organisations here, and strong local companies, so there is good potential business.

What’s the market like?

The market is still quite buoyant. Employers can be more cautious, but there are still lots of opportunities and if you work hard, invest time and effort, build specialist expertise in your niche and understand the cultural differences you will do well.

DECEMBER 2012

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Victoria Hallett is a Consultant in Hong Kong How did you get your job in Hong Kong?

I joined the Reed graduate training scheme in 2010.

The scheme offers you the opportunity to work in different areas of the business, in the UK and globally. I wanted to test myself, find out what my strengths were and what I was passionate about.

I started in Cardiff in administration recruitment, temporary and permanent.

After a year, the opportunity came up to work in Hong Kong as a Researcher in one of our specialist teams. It was a good opportunity for me; my brother lives here and I’d always wanted to work in Asia. It was good to start as a Researcher – it’s a new city, new market, new specialist focus.

What are the main differences between Wales and Hong Kong?

It’s a bigger market, there’s more opportunity.

Organisations are open to using agencies, the market is more fluid – and it’s big enough for everybody.

There are so many brilliant organisations, when you speak to the clients they want to engage with you even if they don’t have any business today. So different to the UK. Also the fees are normally higher, with 25% typically our baseline here. In Hong Kong Reed is focused exclusively on the mid-senior market, whereas we had a wider scope in Wales.

Reed in Hong Kong: Supply Chain & Procurement. I work on senior-level positions in that function, and it’s going well so far. I’ve been in this new role since August and I’m currently working on 19 vacancies.

Tell me about your current role After an initial year learning the ropes, I’ve recently started a new specialism for

Anything you miss about the UK? Family and friends – and only when I stop to think about them.

What is it like living in HK? Great fun, always lively, always things to do – there’s no rest for the wicked, it’s exhausting but good. You can go to the islands to explore, boat trips, festivals. HK is a good hub to experience Asia, close to mainland China and other interesting places like Singapore and Japan.

We’re opening our first China office in the New Year and this should create even more opportunities for others.

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

06/12/2012 13:57

Go East Looking for an exciting new challenge? Go East and enjoy the benefits of buoyant economies, a great lifestyle and an opportunity to be rewarded, developed and promoted as you join our global team. There has never been a better time to join us...

As a result of our success we are continuing to expand, creating new opportunities in Asia, China and the Middle East. 2013 will mark the launch of our operations in Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Perth, whilst in Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and Qatar we continue to grow our established teams. We are looking for senior, experienced, successful consultants as well as fee-earning Team Leaders who have a track record in the mid-senior specialist market.

China

South East Asia

After a successful 4 years in Hong Kong, 2013 marks the launch of our Shanghai business. Our existing client base is particularly strong in this market and we are looking for ambitious recruiters with a proven track record to drive our expansion into Greater China, with positions available in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

This region presents outstanding opportunities with Hong Kong ranked as the world’s freest economy and leading global financial hub and China the second largest economy globally. In Shanghai and Hong Kong we’re looking for specialists in Sales & Marketing, Property & Construction, and Accounting & Finance.

As the financial hub of South East Asia, Singapore has the 3rd highest per capita income in the world and represents an excellent opportunity for talented and ambitious recruiters to progress.

Due to the success of our team in Singapore we are also expanding our regional footprint with the launch of our Kuala Lumpur office next year. At the same time, growth continues in Singapore and with 25+ consultants already we are now seeking experienced consultants with a track record in recruiting in Banking, Insurance, IT & Telecoms as well as Oil & Gas for this region.

Middle East

Western Australia

Based in Qatar and Dubai we have a team of 40 consultants benefiting from a growing economy, low unemployment and competition for talent. The oil and gas industry has made Qatar the highest per capita income in the world and in 2012 Dubai returned to good economic growth, creating a demand for good specialist recruiters.

We are seeking consultants with experience in recruiting in Banking, Energy, upstream Oil & Gas, Civil & Rail and Procurement & Supply Chain.

Alternatively, if you’ve a strong billing track record in another specialist area and a proven desire to develop a new market then we’d like to hear from you too.

Australia has one of the largest gas reserves in Asia Pacific making a significant contribution to the economy, this is a buoyant market for recruiters.

Our new Perth team is looking for consultants experienced in the oil and gas sector with a good billing track record to recruit for technical, management and support and professional roles. We are also accepting CVs from consultants with strong business development capabilities, the drive to build a dual desk and a passion to succeed in this sector.

REED is a specialist recruiter with 50 years’ heritage, rapid global expansion plans and a strong track record of enabling people reach their potential. We offer upper quartile commissions, a very competitive salary, great ongoing training and a comprehensive relocation package which includes your family for more senior roles. Successful consultants can expect a promotion within their first year and further opportunities in line with our Career Development Framework.

For a private and confidential conversation please call Sharon Sale, Head of Human Resources on 020 3668 9909 or send your CV to sharon.sale@reedglobal.com

Australia, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Korea, Malta Poland, Singapore, Turkey, Qatar, UAE, UK. reedglobal.com

REC.12.12.045.indd 2 REED.indd 1

07/12/2012 06/12/2012 09:26 11:48

Movers & Shakers

Sponsored by Jark Ventures

•

APSCO: The Association of Professional Staffing Companies has appointed Fiona Lander as head of professional development.

BUCAILLE’S HEADLINE TALENT ROLE AT CONDÉ NAST

Jonathan Jones joins •theBIE: interim management and executive search firm as a director.

Peter Blitz is •theBULLHORN: new product innovation

Condé Nast International, the media company that counts Glamour, Vanity Fair and Vogue amongst its portfolio, has appointed Thomas Bucaille to the newly-created role of director of talent.

Starting his career as a journalist, he spent a number of years in managerial and HR roles at cosmetics producers L’Oréal, before joining luxury fashion brand Christian Dior Couture, where he has been worldwide HR director since 2005. Stepping into the role in January, he will be based in London and report directly to chairman and chief executive Jonathan Newhouse.

officer and Brian Hopcraft the new general manager at the recruitment software firm, after it acquired MaxHire Solutions and Sendouts, where they were formerly chief executives.

•

CARROT PHARMA: Gareth Lee joins the pharma recruiter to head its clinical & market access, health economics outcomes research, pricing & reimbursement and pharmaceutical marketing team.

AS THE MEDIA AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES EVOLVE, WE ARE IN A BATTLE FOR TALENT — AND WINNING THAT BATTLE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER

CIPD: Sky people director •Deborah Baker is elected vice

JONATHAN NEWHOUSE, CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE, CONDÉ NAST INTERNATIONAL

president for organisation resourcing & talent planning at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, president Gill Rider is re-elected.

firm Korn/Ferry has promoted Sonamara Jeffreys to the post of managing director.

SIMPLY HIRED: The job board has taken on James Beriker as CEO and president.

•McCarthy adds the role of head

•Vanessa Hastings has been

•energy recruiter’s new offices

of executive appointments to his responsibilities as director of managed services at the professional recruiter.

promoted to associate director at the digital recruiter.

in Calgary, Canada and Hong Kong are to be led by new appointments Matthew Bushell and Emma Charnock.

FUEL RECRUITMENT: Chris

INDEPENDENT: Vicky Dodd joins •to lead the recruitment and HR

firm’s executive search function, amongst five other hires.

JAGUAR LAND ROVER: The •automaker has appoints new HR

director Simon Lenton, effective 14 January.

JAM: Aerospace industry •veteran Grahame Nix OBE

joins the engineering and manufacturing recruiter as group business development director.

KELLAN: John Bowmer, a non•executive director and previously

co-chairman at the recruitment group, has resigned.

KORN/FERRY WHITEHEAD •MANN: The UK hub of global

talent management solutions

OCTOBER RECRUITMENT:

PAGE GROUP: Michael Page •Sales has promoted Alex Hall to

regional director of the SouthEast, while Sean Rogerson moves from Sales to Michael Page Marketing as regional director of Midlands and the North. James Barrett is promoted to operating director of Michael Page Technology and Michael Page Consultancy, Strategy & Change.

•

SPENCER OGDEN: The global

RECRUITER

DECEMBER 2012

46_Recruiter_movers_DEC12.indd Sec3:46

Eighty Twenty Recruitment Recruitment consultant Construction/Built environment, Engineering, Utilities/Energy £23k-£35k base OTE £45k-£75k+ London

Linsco Recruitment consultant Highly competitive salary circa £17.5k-£25k p.a. + excellent benefits Scotland

Travail Employment Group Area/branch/sector manager £25k-£35k p.a. incl. bonuses UK-based

STAFFGROUP: The recruitment •group has taken on David

Curtis as head of learning and development.

SPONSORED BY

•

STHREE: Gary Elden is the new CEO at the professional recruiter as Russell Clements steps down in January, earlier than announced.

TALENTMARK: The pharma •recruiter has appointed Jurek

CONSULTANTS: •MarkREAL-TIME Bull has been appointed

Q: Sean Howard joins •theTALENT assessment and talent

director at the recently-acquired technical recruiter.

management specialist as MD — international.

The electronics firm •hasPHILIPS: appointed Alan Agnew head

TW NETWORK: The industrial temp agency has appointed James Mallick as operations director.

Sikorski as vice president of its executive search arm.

•

Email people moves for use online and in magazine, including a short biography, to recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk

46

A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk

•

PERTEMPS: Carmen Watson has been promoted to the position of chairman at recruiter Pertemps, succeeding Mike Owen.

of talent acquistion ASEAN & Pacific.

Your next move?

START YOUR OWN RECRUITMENT COMPANY Your business – Your brand www.jark.co.uk/jv Contact David Simons on 07900 263043 dsimons@jark.co.uk

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

07/12/2012 09:50

Appointments www.recruiter.co.uk

View the latest jobs at www.recruiter.co.uk

To place your advertisement E: richard.york@redactive.co.uk or T: 020 7880 7608

The Recruiters’ Recruiter www.ruthmoran.co.uk Leeds Office:

Manchester Office:

10 Butts Court, Leeds LS1 5JS Telephone: 0113 246 0062 Fax: 0113 243 3353

The Chancery, 58 Spring Gardens Manchester M2 1EW Tel: 0161 228 2666

Senior Manager - Sector Open - Manchester Basic salary £35-45k plus quality car or car allowance A rare opportunity to join this extremely well established independent recruitment consultancy. With several offices in the UK they are key players in a variety of markets, are on a number of major PSL’s and have been accredited with various recruitment industry awards over the years. Following internal movement within the business they now have a management role available. Heading a small team initially, there are definite prospects for the role to encompass other areas of the business in the medium term. The ability to manage, motivate, drive and really lead a team from the front is absolutely essential. The team are already billing respectably but with further guidance and support they could be amongst the best billers in the organisation. OTE’s in the business are excellent, training is superb and the business believes in treating managers and consultants alike - with mutual respect. A genuinely superb opportunity.

For further information contact Ruth Moran on ruth@ruthmoran.co.uk, 0113 2460062 (lines open 8am until 9pm weekdays and Saturdays).

Opportunities within Senior Executive Search and Selection Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Harrogate Basic Salaries from £60,000 to £80,000 OTEs £150-200k We are currently being retained by a small selection of Executive search and Selection Practises across the U.K. who are recruiting at all levels. Covering a diverse range of disciplines from Life Sciences and Professional Services generally through to Public Sector and FMCG. Key attributes of candidates would be several years senior Search experience, proven billings in excess of £200,000 p/a (ideally £300,000 to £500,000) and the ability to deal at Board level and above. These clients are the crème del la crème of their markets but vary in size from Global businesses through to quality boutique style operations. All are well known and have developed strong reputations over a number of years. Cultures differ but the basics are the same: a team focussed environment, working ‘ for the greater good’ and a firm commitment to provide a truly professional operation where client and candidate are both given the best possible service and care.

For further information contact Ruth Moran on ruth@ruthmoran.co.uk, 0113 2460062 (lines open 8am until 9pm weekdays and Saturdays).

Commercial Recruitment Area Manager North West - Basic salary £50/60K OTE - £80K to £100K A superb opportunity, to join a highly reputable Commercial Recruitment Consultancy with a reputation second to none. The role will be Regional, but with the focus mainly on the Manchester area. Very much a Senior Operational role, candidate must have experience of running their own P&L. In addition, they must have the capacity to deal at all levels, manage/ motivate teams and further develop an already successful business. This role could progress to a full Directorship and has only become available due to

an internal promotion. Whilst the business has a strong temporary arm, it is essential that candidates understand and are committed to driving the permanent business, as this is a key area in which they want to expand.

For further information contact Ruth Moran on ruth@ruthmoran.co.uk, 0113 2460062 (lines open 8am until 9pm weekdays and Saturdays).

Specialist Recruitment Managers and Consultants - UK wide basics £35-50k plus commission, car etc OTE in excess of £100k We are currently recruiting across a wide range of disciplines for a variety of clients from small independents through to large Global businesses. Our Clients have a huge range of cultures from more structured environments to those where complete flexibility is given in terms of both hours and in some cases an element of remote working. Disciplines range from Legal and HR through to Supply Chain and Finance/Accountancy. Key attributes of candidates for all roles are as follows: sales driven, professional, experienced recruiters at either branch or are level with a forte ideally in Specialist recruitment. That said, for the right candidate, there could, in certain instances, be the opportunity to change sector. The ability to work at all levels is essential in these markets as many of our clients offer a total recruitment solution and are able to service their clients effectively whether they have a need for a Solicitor, HR Director or even a Scientist!

For further information contact Ruth Moran on ruth@ruthmoran.co.uk, 0113 2460062 (lines open 8am until 9pm weekdays and Saturdays).

Regional Manager – Yorkshire - Driving Basic to £40K, High OTE, Car or car allowance, large co bens, profit share This is a fantastic opportunity to join one of THE major players in recruitment today. You should already be working in the Driving sector of recruitment (however successful candidates working in other recruitment sectors will be considered) and already be a successful Area or Regional Manager or a highly successful Branch Manager looking for your next move to one of the major players in this sector. You will have the backing of one of the biggest names in Driving Recruitment, a name which will need no introduction, but carries the credibility and gravitas one would expect from a large operation. You should be a dynamic self starter, enthusiastic, determined and would like the opportunity to be the architect of your own career. This is a client facing role and you will also be expected to lead from the front in developing business for your region. You will need to manage the needs of a constantly changing marketplace and workforce.

Continuously review and develop service provision in line with agreed standards. Contribute to the development of the company through the input of new ideas and initiatives aimed at improving market share profile and contribution to the industry.

Contact Neil Prestwich on 0113 2460062 or his mobile 0797 1094450 or email him at neil@ruthmoran.co.uk

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our clients and candidates for their continued support over the past 14 years.

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! The Recruiters’ Recruiter RUTHMORAN_FUPNEW.indd 36

For current updates or to register online log on to our website on www.ruthmoran.co.uk

RECRUITMENT AGENCY

06/12/2012 08:04

Is your career on track?

Manager – Rail Division London The Rullion Group, is one of the longest established recruitment groups in the UK. With an annual turnover in excess of £270m we are looking to strengthen our London team with the appointment of a manager to head up its Rail Division.

Based in our city office, you will be supported by a team of consultants tasked with growing the division with the placement of PTS trades and labour. We are looking for a talented recruiter either in a current management role or a senior consultant with the drive and determination to succeed by developing your current client relationships.

Rullion can offer a competitive package and tailored management training programme to ensure you have the tools to be a success is this role.

If you feel you have the relevant experience to be successful in this demanding role then apply to: Darin Burrows, Operations Director, Rullion Build Ltd, 6th floor, 145 Cannon Street, London, EC4N 5BP

Email: darin.burrows@rullion.co.uk Tel: 0207 397 6550 Proud to be part of the Rullion Group

We are an Equal Opportunities employer and actively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.

NEW YEAR - NEW CAREER? Are you fulfilling your true potential? Do you feel under valued? Under paid?

Are you ready to be rewarded for your success? Are you ready for a new challenge?

Linsco are seeking experienced Recruitment Professionals with extensive Business to Business sales success and a proven ability to perform in a 360° recruiter role.

You will ideally have experience within the Construction / Retail Fitout industries but candidates with a strong Recruitment / Sales background within other sectors will also be considered.

The ideal candidate will…

• • • • • • • • • • •

Be a self starter / self motivated Possess a strong sense of Business acumen Be well presented Have drive and ambition Be motivated by success Work well under pressure Work to tight deadlines Have excellent communication skills Possess the ability to prioritise workload with excellent time management skills Be able to recognise opportunities and capitalise on them Have a strong sense of personal development

Permanent Flexible

Capability Jane is an organisation on a mission to create and lead the marketplace for high quality part-time positions and increase the number of women in influential roles in business.

Capability Jane Recruitment is the executive recruitment arm of our business, a boutique search firm that focuses on recruiting senior executives on a part-time, job share and nonexecutive basis across a range of industry sectors.

We are leading an exciting and growing niche in the world of executive recruitment and are now actively looking to bring in an ambitious, inspirational and operational leader to build and grow this side of the business.

This is a truly unique opportunity for an exceptional, commercial and entrepreneurial minded individual who is excited about the challenge of driving and leading a fast growth recruitment business.

The successful candidate will have previously led and grown a profitable recruitment business and will have a passion for the industry as well as a strong belief in our vision and values.

You will be responsible for delivering the recruitment growth plan while managing and creating ‘best-practice’ efficiency in the operating model.

Additionally you must be comfortable cold calling both candidates and business clients over the phone and performing cold visits in person.

You will be joining us at an early stage in our growth and will be expected to lead while rolling your sleeves up and delivering to targets.

What’s in it for you?

You will need to be entrepreneurial, a real self-starter. A great communicator and listener and bring a collaborative style, whilst building, managing and inspiring a remote team.

• • • • • • •

Competitive salary circa: £17,500 - £25,000 basic + excellent benefits Uncapped monthly bonus scheme Company mobile phone Company car (depending on position) 23 days holiday per annum (increasing with time served) Career Progression Fully funded weekend’s away and company nights out

If you feel that you are suitable for this position please call our Head Office for an informal chat on 0115 910 6666, alternatively email a copy of your current CV directly to recruiter@linsco.com. We are recruting in the following areas: East Midlands, West Midlands, Bristol/South West, North West and Scoltand.

48

MANAGING DIRECTOR

RECRUITER

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DECEMBER 2012

Commercially astute, you will deliver financial and profitability reviews and manage business performance through targets and KPIs. You will be based in the South East / London region There is an opportunity for remote and flexible working with this role if required. Some travel within the UK will be necessary but should be easily arranged to fit into your home commitments.

Full or part-time candidates considered.

Base salary/commission/profit share/options For further information contact Linda Baldwin, Head of Candidate Management and Communications, on 0845 604 1916 or by email Lindabaldwin@capabilityjane.com

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

07/12/2012 15:27

WE CAN HELPYOU FIND

your perfect role find it by following this link

JOBS BY E-MAIL Be the first to receive your perfect job straight to your inbox. To sign up simply: Enter your name and e-mail address Choose the sector, salary and location you would like to work in Create up to 5 different tailor-made alerts

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>> RECRUITING NOW:

Contact the sales team on 020 7880 7608 | www.recruiter/jobs

REC.12.12.049.indd 2

07/12/2012 11:21

Bloggers with Bite

HAS OUR TALENT PIPELINE GONE UP IN SMOKE?

As the age of austerity bites deep, what’s the impact on public sector recruitment?

R

eeling from an already perceived bad brand, local government is hardly seen as the sexy place to work. Apple, Virgin, John Lewis or Google, we’re not. Certain politicians haven’t helped the cause, as town hall fat cats and beastly bureaucrats are castigated with unfailing regularity across the column inches of daily newspapers.

Add into the equation the fact that of the £81bn reduction in public expenditure, 70% to date has been squeezed from local government (according to ONS statistics) and recruiting is a rare occurrence. During 2011, 269,000 public sector jobs were cut — 195,000 came from local government (63%). We used to be known as the place to work if you wanted “a job for life”.

Working in Southampton or Stafford councils you might have experienced being dismissed and reengaged on lower pay and lesser terms and conditions of employment, as the cash-strapped authorities rities (among others) have taken desperate measures res to reduce the staff overheads — with possible le long-term talent management consequences. s.

Teachers are vociferously discontent with their frozen pay, working conditions and the prospect of pay regionalisation.

Will Hutton in ‘Fair Pay in the Public Sector’ r’ (March 2011) says that the (public) sector is in danger of becoming a second-class citizen n where senior management reward is concerned. ned.

As evidence, top to bottom pay ratios are 10:11 in local government (as reported by the CIPD), 15:1 for the whole of the public sector, compared to the private sector average reported as 262:1 by think tank organisation One Society.

TO POST YOUR COMMENTS, GO ONLINE

RECRUITER.CO.UK 50

RECRUITER

DECEMBER 2012

50_Recruit_bloggers_DEC12-A.indd Sec2:50

Dean Shoesmith is executive head of human resources at the London Boroughs of Sutton and Merton

Does this context make the contemporary job of a local government recruiter an easy one?

In answer to the question there are a number of important strands to understand. First, in common with most of the UK labour market, we are seeing very little employee turnover: churn is almost static at 6% a year.

Lower-skilled and entry-level jobs have witnessed a marked increase in applicants as the labour market has swelled with people who have been made redundant and also from young people leaving school and college seeking work. The impact of many poor souls scrabbling about for employment means that recruiters and hiring managers are deluged with candidates for jobs. This has led us to utilising technology in my organisations to filter out candidates at the front end of our job sites who don’t meet essential criteria.

In some professions we have been dogged by recruitment difficulties pre-recession and the position remains unchanged. The likes of tragic cases such as Baby P and Victoria Climbie have made recruitment to child care social workers a long-term challenge — we are sometimes forced overseas to secure the professional talent we need. Occupational therapy is another hard-to-fill role; however, therapists usually work in the mainstream NHS, rather than local government, and therefore this has been a persistent problem for many years.

So far, we have not experienced significant problems recruiting senior managers. However, churn is low and salaries have dropped, reflecting political and press pressure regarding ‘fat felines’. Would any local authority have the temerity to advertise their top job at over £200k?

While the employment market remains as flat as the proverbial pancake, other than the tough professional roles mentioned earlier, we are sitting relatively pretty.

However, Hutton’s future warning should be heeded, as our supply of top managerial talent might drift off like smoke in the wind as we fail to match the private sector — if and when the economy lurches out of recession.

Will a workforce, shrunken like a woolly jumper on a 90-degree boil wash, attract future talent? Maybe, but the job of the public sector recruiter could become much tougher if private sector pay and rewards improve post-recession.

Churn is low and salaries have dropped, reflecting political and press pressure regarding ‘fat cats’ What do you think? Tell us at recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk

In January: Recruiter’s FAST 50, the UK’s fastest growing recruiters WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

07/12/2012 14:27

IT’S TIME TO STAND OUT,

IT’S TIME TO BE PROUD,

IT’S TIME TO ENTER! ENTRY DEADLINE 11 JANUARY 2013

ENTER NOW Celebrate your success, boost your business and show the industry what you are made of by winning a prestigious Recruiter Award for Excellence. To win, you have to enter, so what are you waiting for?

» Visit recruiterawards.co.uk and join the dialogue on Twitter: @RecruiterAwards

AWARDS CEREMONY Wednesday 1 May 2013, Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London For sponsorship enquiries contact Andy Daniel on 020 7880 7607 or andy.daniel@recruiter.co.uk

Headline Sponsor:

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Supported by:

06/12/2012 11:33

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05/12/2012 12:05