Issue 35 March 2016
RECRUITMENT MATTERS The View and The Intelligence
Big talking point
The talent search
Apprenticeships
p2-3
Legal update and the IRP p4
Our 500th apprentice
Scale up p6-7
With Sir Clive Woodward p8
NHS SPENDING CAP HURTING AGENCIES Almost three-quarters of healthcare recruiters say tough new restrictions on agency spend is biting hard. A new survey published by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) says almost threequarters of agencies are having trouble finding doctors and nurses to fill temporary vacancies. Eighty per cent of respondents say they’ve only been able to fill about half the requests they receive from NHS trusts, with doctors and nurses reluctant to come in at short notice.
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The government introduced a slew of spending restrictions on the NHS last year designed to curb its spend on agency staff. By April, NHS trusts will not be able to pay agency doctors and nurses more than 55% more for a shift than a permanent member of staff. REC chief executive Kevin Green says the results come as no surprise. “We warned the government that rushing in these caps would exacerbate the staffing crisis faced by the NHS and that is exactly what is happening. Experienced
doctors and nurses are choosing to work for private healthcare providers, seeking opportunities abroad, or changing careers altogether
to maintain their salary and flexibility,” he says. NHS spend on agency staff accounted for 2.9 % of the NHS’s overall annual expenditure in 2014/15, the REC says.
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Leading the Industry
THE VIEW
How will global labour trends affect the UK? asks Tom Hadley, REC director of policy and professional services
Why should you invest in your own talent, asks Kevin Green, REC chief executive
The REC is forecasting that our market will grow by 21% during this and the next two years. We already have skills and talent shortages in recruitment and this is proving a major constraint on the growth of our industry. It’s clear this is only going to get worse as recruitment businesses scale up by looking to hire new staff. So without factoring in the number of consultants leaving our profession, we now need at least 20,000 new people to join our industry in the next two and half years. We need to make recruitment a career of choice. We have a great story to tell, but is the message getting thorough? At the REC we are already proactively taking a positive story about a career in recruitment to schools, colleges and universities, but the industry needs to do more so that more young people are aware of the wonderful opportunities in recruitment. If you want to go into schools, then please sign up to our youth employment
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TALKING FUTURE TRENDS AT THE ‘UNITED NATIONS OF JOBS’ charter at www.rec.uk.com/ youth At the REC we’re doing our bit. We have more than 600 young people on recruitment apprenticeships and we hope to double the number during 2016. We have recently defined a career routeway which maps out how individuals can progress in our profession. We have qualifications available from entry level resourcers right up to a recruitment leader/directors. This year as part of our growth plans for the Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP), we have a new online CPD tool which will enable individuals to test their knowledge and skills so they remain up to date. We deliver more than 400 training courses a year and we expect this to grow. So the REC is helping its members attract and retain the critical talent we need to succeed. Recruitment offers so many great opportunities, that we just need to shout about it a bit louder. You can follow Kevin on Twitter @kevingreenrec
The recent Future of Work forum hosted by the OECD in Paris brought together academics, trade unions, business leaders and government ministers from around the globe. This ‘United Nations of Jobs’ was an opportunity to reflect on key labour market trends that will impact recruiters in the UK and across the world. Angel Gurria, OECD Secretary General, set the tone, declaring that “developments like the ‘gig economy’ are challenging the very notion of what a job is”. How can policy makers reflect this ‘Brave New World’ of work? US Labor Secretary Thomas Perez argued that “sharing different national approaches on labour market policies is the key way forward”. Delegates spoke about flexibility, skills, automation, change, inequality and digitalisation as some of the challenges associated with the future of work – but the outlook was largely upbeat. According to Stefano Scarpetta, Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at the OECD, “technology can drive job creation – for each new high tech job, five complementary jobs could be created”. A core message of the REC’s Flex Appeal was that the future of work will to a large extent be driven by worker choice, and it was encouraging to hear OECD delegates recognise this idea. As the pace of change accelerates some jobs will be lost, new jobs will emerge and existing jobs will change. Recruiters can play a pivotal role in helping employers, jobseekers (and policy makers!) make sense of this everchanging world of work. In the words of Marco de Rossi, founder of the Oil Project: “Social media and technology are providing new channels but recruiters are here to stay... at least till the robots take over!” You can follow Tom on Twitter @hadleyscomment
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35%
THE INTELLIGENCE
In his Summer Budget the Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to introduce an apprenticeship levy as part of a wider strategy to invest in Britain’s future. The levy, which comes into effect in April 2017, is intended to help fund employer apprenticeship schemes in England and ensure that big business takes on the cost of training workers. According to government data, the number of employees attending a training course away from the workplace fell from 141,000 in 1995 to 18,000 in 2014. During the last Parliament, the government made some headway in
NO LONGER SLOWING – NOW SHRINKING Last month I talked about slowing revenue growth – now the picture is much more worrying, with median RIM Recruiter revenue growth now lower than it was a year ago by 2.7% (Figure 1). This is the first time recruiter revenues have been falling for more than two years. Some recruiters are seeing
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addressing this talent deficit by delivering 2.2 million apprenticeships. This Parliament, with the help of the levy, the government is aiming for a 35% increase, with a plan to raise £3bn a year – that’s £12bn over the Parliament – to fund 3 million post-16 apprenticeships starting by 2020. The levy will work by passing on a charge to employers on their payrolls (through the PAYE system) at a rate of 0.5%. However, a £15k allowance will mean employers will only have to pay the levy on pay bills over £3m. The charge will, therefore, affect less than 2% of UK employers. Levy-funded training is not new. The World Bank has identified 62 levy regimes already operating in countries including Denmark, The Netherlands and South Korea. Opinion is nevertheless split over the levy’s introduction in England. According to the latest CBI/Accenture Employment Trends Survey, only 16% of
THIS PARLIAMENT, WITH THE HELP OF THE LEVY, THE GOVERNMENT IS AIMING FOR A 35% INCREASE, WITH A PLAN TO RAISE £3BN A YEAR
employers believe the levy to be the right approach to tackle the UK skills shortage; 47% are also concerned about it being costly and bureaucratic. EEF, the manufacturer’s organisation, supports the move in principle as a means of securing future generations of workers. However, with the cost of a four-year apprenticeship estimated to be as high as £90k for highly technical occupations and a current budget allowance of only £2,567 for each of the 3 million apprentices the levy is intended to fund, manufacturers are sceptical it can really deliver the skills they need. Employees, too, may ultimately find themselves paying a price. The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects the levy to reduce wage growth by 0.7% over the
Figure 1: Recruiter turnover growth
16% ACCORDING TO THE LATEST CBI/ACCENTURE EMPLOYMENT TRENDS SURVEY, ONLY 16% OF EMPLOYERS BELIEVE THE LEVY TO BE THE RIGHT APPROACH TO TACKLE THE UK SKILLS SHORTAGE.
47% ARE ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT IT BEING COSTLY AND BUREAUCRATIC
next five years, begging the question whether it will lower the prosperity rather than raise the productivity of the nation. Either way, the levy is coming and businesses need to prepare.
divergence in revenue growth demonstrates the importance of bench marking performance against other recruiters to maximise performance.
40 ■ Upper Qtile ■ Median ■ Low Qtile 30 20 10
%
DIANA BEECH, SENIOR RESEARCHER, SUMS UP INDUSTRY OPINION ABOUT THE FORTHCOMING APPRENTICESHIP LEVY
0 -10 -20
Dec 13
Feb
May 14
a much rosier picture, with a quarter of RIB members seeing revenue growth of over 15%, although a much
Aug
Nov
Feb
Sep
less fortunate quarter are seeing revenues falling by more than 17% on a year ago. This extreme
Nov 15
Chris Ansell is chief financial officer at Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB). The RIB Index provides bespoke confidential reports on industry trends. See www.ribindex.com; info@ribindex.com: 020 8544 9807. The RIB is a strategic partner of the REC.
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The BIG talking point
APPRENTICESHIPS
THE BIG 3 As the REC celebrates 500 apprentices, now is the perfect time to consider helping someone launch their recruitment career. Recruitment Matters looks at why apprenticeships are great for business
HOW TO HIRE A RECRUITMENT APPRENTICE Apprenticeships in recruitment have been designed with your needs in mind. The REC has devised a comprehensive set of resources to ensure that you have all the facts at your fingertips.
FIND A PROVIDER Any training provider can deliver apprenticeships, but they have to be approved to do so by the REC. They include: • Total People – www.totalpeople.co.uk • Create Skills Ltd – www.create-skills.co.uk • MiddletonMurray – www.middletonmurray.com • learndirect – www.learndirect.co.uk • DFPF – People 1st - www.people-1st.co.uk
FINDING AN APPRENTICE • The usual way recruitment businesses proceed is for you (as the prospective employer) to make direct contact with one of the registered providers, and talk to them what you want. This may mean you ask them to find you an apprentice, or it may mean you have someone in mind already. Whatever circumstances you have, the provider will help you work through funding options. They manage the whole programme on your behalf. Want to know more? Visit www.rec-irp.uk.com/apprenticeships and start your apprenticeship journey.
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WHY ARE APPRENTICESHIPS SO GOOD? HERE ARE THREE BIG REASONS: EARN WHILE YOU LEARN Apprenticeships are unfairly maligned as less work for less pay. The truth is apprentices are just as important as the rest of your team. Recruitment apprentices are expected to carry out the same role as every other consultant. They will meet clients, interview candidates and run desks. They know exactly what the job entails before their qualification finishes. They will also complete a qualification – generally the Level 3 Certificate in Recruitment Practice – while getting paid the apprenticeship wage. It’s a win-win situation.
YOUR COMPANY, YOUR STYLE Recruitment apprenticeships are a great opportunity to instil your business values. Your apprentices will learn the habits that make your business successful and be
more inclined to grow and develop. They form a sense of loyalty and build an acute understanding of what your business wants to achieve.
A WEALTH OF FUNDING OPTIONS Funding may be available to help with training in England. The main funding route is through the Skills Funding Agency. The amount of funding available will depend on your geographical location, the age and the previous academic achievement of the apprenticeship candidate, as well as the size of the employer. * The amount of funding for an Apprenticeship and eligibility is dependent on many areas, but mainly on the job role and the age of the apprentice. The table opposite summarises the amount of funding available for different age groups.
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APPRENTICESHIPS: THE FACTS Building skills
82%
of UK employers take on apprentices to build the skills capacity within their business.
Increased employee satisfaction
88%
of apprentice employees believe they lead to a more motivated and satisfied workforce, leading to greater loyalty and quality.
Lower recruitment costs
75%
of apprentice employers say the programme has helped cut recruitment costs; 80% say that apprentices will play a bigger part in their future recruitment policy.
Attractive to customers
81% Separate funding arrangements apply in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Grants of up to £1.5k
are also available to eligible small and medium-sized companies who take on 16-24-year-old apprentices.
of consumers favour companies that employ apprentices.
Reduced staff turnover
80%
of employers feel that apprenticeships reduce staff turnover.
Greater productivity
81%
AGE
FUNDING
16 – 18
Up to 100% of the cost of the training is funded
19 – 23
Up to 50% of the cost of the training is funded
24+
Contribution to the cost of the training if the apprentice is aged 24 or older
of apprentice employers say they make their businesses more productive. The average apprenticeship completer increases business productivity by £214 per week.
Source: Employer Guide to Apprenticeships www.gov.uk/topic/further-education-skills/apprenticeships
MIDDLETONMURRAY IS ONE OF THE REC’S APPROVED RECRUITMENT APPRENTICESHIP SUPPLIERS. CHIEF EXECUTIVE ANGELA MURRAY EXPLAINS WHY APPRENTICESHIPS SHOULD BE SEEN AS VALID AS UNIVERSITY STUDY... In some cases, young people see the choice between an apprenticeship and a straight university education as a very simple one, and one rather than the other leads them down an obvious path to their end career goal. However, it’s not a case of ‘one size fits all’, and for the
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majority of young people, it can be difficult to decide on one set career path at such a young age. For many, an apprenticeship isn’t instead of university, it’s very much giving people, who already have the choice, an alternative. This could be an alternative to a gap year or a
work experience year before they actually join university, and gives them a year’s worth of industry experience which might shape the course that they end up studying at university. Some young people I come across just want to leave school before their A-level
examinations and they’ve never even considered university. In the case of a young person in this position, an apprenticeship can still be a fantastic steppingstone because it can provide an alternative academic route which can get them to the point where they are educated to degree-level.
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Legal update
LEGAL ISSUES WHEN EMPLOYING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE By Lewina Farrell, solicitor and head of professional services at the REC There are specific requirements when engaging children or young people for work. This includes the age at which they can work, the hours they can work, the rest breaks they need and of course what to pay them. Age: Children can leave school at 16 but must do one of the following until they are 18 • stay in full-time education; • start an apprenticeship; or • work or volunteer for 20 or more hours per week while in part-time education or training. Pay: All workers are entitled to be paid the relevant national minimum wage for their age. For 16 and 17 year olds this is currently £3.87 per hour, rising to £5.30 for 18 to 20 year olds and £6.70 for 21 and over. Apprentices under 19 (or aged 19 and over in the first year of their
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apprenticeship) are entitled to £3.30 per hour.
individual must be paid the relevant NMW.
Work experience and internships: Anyone undertaking a work experience, internship or training programme is entitled to be paid the NMW if they are a worker as defined in section 54(3) of the National Minimum Wage Act, except where there are specific exemptions. Those exemptions include training schemes funded by Government or work experience not exceeding one year as part of certain higher or further education courses. There are no legal definitions of work experience or internship but it doesn’t matter what the role is labelled – what is important is the activities being done. If they are working, rather than for example, shadowing someone, and an exemption does not apply then the
Working time: An individual over the school age but under 18 ordinarily cannot work more than 8 hours a day and 40 hours per week. An opt out is not available. They can work longer hours in limited circumstances where this is necessary to either maintain continuity of service or production, or respond to a surge in demand and provided that (a) there is no adult available to perform the task and (b) their training needs are not adversely affected. Age discrimination: It is direct age discrimination to refuse to provide workfinding services or to engage someone because of their age. It is indirect age discrimination to apply a provision, criterion or practice to all applicants but which results in people who have a protected
characteristic, being placed at a disadvantage in comparison to people who do not have that protected characteristic. With age this is demonstrated by the use of language such as “must be a recent graduate” versus “must have X years of experience”. It is far better to identify the skills required for the role. From April 2016, businesses must be careful not to employ or agree only to supply under 25 year olds simply to avoid the national Living Wage which applies from 1 April 2016. Right to work in the UK: All individuals, irrespective of age, must have the right to work in the UK. When engaging a student from outside the EEA there are restrictions on the hours they can work. Further details on all of these issues are available from the REC Legal Guide. www.rec.uk.com/legalresources/legal-guide
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Inspiration
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE INSTITUTE OF RECRUITMENT PROFESSIONALS
The View
David Bamgbade e is a brand manager at CRG Resourcing and winner of Best Candidate & Client nt Experience at the e 2015 IRP Awards
Rebekah Mayes is an apprentice recruiter at Miller Group. She is the 500th person to undertake a recruitment apprenticeship through the REC
AWARD WINNER
APPRENTICE
Congrats on the win. How has 2016 started? It’s been very exciting. We’ve brought on some new contracts, and things are looking very busy for us for the rest of the year.
What’s your background? I was employed with a company called Convergys, who do the marketing for phone company Vodafone since September 2012. I adapted well to the sales role and became very target driven. Customer service was essential in that role, which made me realise I could further my experience into a career in recruitment.
What makes a good candidate and client experience? I would say building a really strong relationship with our clients to a point where it’s more about the relationship than the money side of things. I don’t differentiate clients from candidates – I want to build a relationship where my candidates work for me and don’t want to let me or the organisation down. It’s all about building and maintaining those relationships. What makes a good recruiter? A good recruiter is one who puts aside the monetary respects of the position. What a lot of recruiters tend to do is put a value above a client’s head and forget the relationship aspects of the recruitment journey. You often find recruiters greet clients with “How are you doing?” without really caring too much about the answer. We want people to show a genuine interest in the clients and candidates. When you get to that point where you’re interested in people, the results speak for themselves. What does the future hold for you? The future is bright, and there are a lot of exciting things happening within the organisation right now – but I can’t say much. It’s going to be a big year for CRG. I think any company always aims to be better year-on-year. It was a great 2015, but we want it to be a better 2016. We’ve got a good leadership team and recruiters and support staff, with good people comes good results.
What interested you in becoming an apprentice? The main reason was to succeed and be good at what the role entails, while generating a revenue and developing myself along with the tools that the Miller Group have to make my job easier giving me more time to build a relationship with clients and candidates. What about recruitment interested you? The work is varied and changes from day to day and even from minute to minute especially with technology, developing a relationship with people and most of all helping them find the career they are looking for. How have you found your apprenticeship? I have enjoyed myself and my tutor Elayne is a pleasure to work with. I look forward to her coming to see me to complete my assessments. I find I have adapted well and know more about recruitment every day as I am working in the office experiencing the recruitment role at Miller Hospitality. What sort of goals do you have? My goal is to become a senior recruitment consultant and gain experience to succeed and further my career to become as successful as possible and enjoy it!
To keep up to date with everything the Institute of Recruitment Professionals is doing, please visit www.rec-irp.uk.com
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Events and training
BUSINESS GROWTH THE REC’S NEW MAN IN SCOTLAND
DON’T MISS OUR MASTERCLASS WITH SIR CLIVE WOODWARD JOIN SIR CLIVE WOODWARD AND A PANEL OF EXPERTS FOR AN ENGAGING MASTERCLASS IN LONDON. It features keynotes on the future of recruitment business growth, panel discussions about the digital revolution and what it means for recruitment businesses and growing a successful business overseas It ends with an insightful keynote from Sir Clive Woodward, one of the
biggest names in UK sports administration and an expert on developing high performing teams and practices crucial to business success. Sir Clive’s keynote incudes an exclusive Q&A session – providing delegates with a chance to probe his views further.
When: 16 March 2016, 12:30pm – 5:30pm Where: The Royal Horseguards Hotel, London Price: £99 + VAT for REC & IRP members, £189 + VAT for non-members
Glaswegian Kevin Deed has spent 20 years growing businesses. He brings experience and expertise to the REC as our new national account manager in Scotland. Kevin cut his teeth in financial services before setting up a successful HR consultancy in 2009. His role with the REC is to engage Scottish agencies and help develop their businesses. He is an expert in operations and talent strategy, with strong knowledge of Scotland’s unique and varied labour market. Talk to Kevin today about how to join the REC and what we can do for your recruitment business. T: 07525 122 992 Email: kevin.deed@rec. uk.com
SAFER RECRUITMENT WORKSHOPS We have launched a new suite of courses on Safer Recruitment and Warner Interviewing. These courses will ensure that your organisation has access to high quality training to help you put in place robust policies and procedures to recruit appropriate staff to work with children and/or vulnerable adults.
With the government’s focus on safeguarding resulting in Child Sexual Exploitation being escalated to the level of a National threat in 2015, organisations need to ensure that they recruit the best skilled and most appropriate staff. There are three courses available to support your strategies in relation to this. Please see
the workshop name below online to see more detail, pricing and special offers: 1-Day Safer Recruitment Workshop 1-Day Accredited Safer Recruitment Training, for the Education Sector 1.5-Day Safer Recruitment and Warner Interview Training
All the courses will be delivered by Deborah Gregory, a leading accredited trainer in Safer Recruitment, with many years’ experience of managing safe staffing, providing advice and guidance around safer recruitment and delivering safer recruitment and Warner Interview training. Book now at www.rec. uk.com/saferrecruitment
RECRUITMENT MATTERS
Membership Department: Membership: 020 7009 2100, Customer Services: 020 7009 2100 Publishers: Redactive Publishing Ltd, 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP. Tel: 020 7880 6200. www.redactive.co.uk Editorial: Editor Michael Oliver michael.oliver@redactive.co.uk. Production Editor: Vanessa Townsend Production: Production Executive: Rachel Young rachel.young@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6209 Printing: Printed by Precision Colour Printing
The official magazine of The Recruitment & Employment Confederation Dorset House, 1st Floor, 27-45 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NT Tel: 020 7009 2100 www.rec.uk.com
© 2016 Recruitment Matters. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, neither REC, Redactive Publishing Ltd nor the authors can accept liability for errors or omissions. Views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the REC or Redactive Publishing Ltd. No responsibility can be accepted for unsolicited manuscripts or transparencies. No reproduction in whole or part without written permission.
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