Recruiter July 2014

July 2014

www.recruiter.co.uk

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR RECRUITMENT AND RESOURCING PROFESSIONALS

Dean Royles Staying y g true to his recruitment values in a changing health service

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IT’S FESTIVAL TIME FOR RECRUITMENT

SCIENCE OF SEARCH: TALENT GETS KINETIC

RecFest and Recruitstock have taken off in 2014 — is this a new trend?

The Potts boys — Keith, Eric and Graham — are back in town

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THE CHALLENGE Mission Motorsport helped Caterham F1 off the starting grid with ex-service personnel placements

Recruitment Matters 09/07/2014 12:38

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Contents

What was June like for you?

For Recruiter, it’s been a whirlwind. Your response to the launch of our new Recruiter Investing in Talent Awards has been rewarding, and we are delighted to now announce our panel of illustrious judges on p5 in this issue. We look forward to receiving and reading your entries, so be sure to get your information together and finalise your submissions soon! ‘Early bird’ deadline is 31 July.

Outside Recruiter HQ, not one but two ‘recruitment festivals’ popped up in June for the in-house recruitment community. Reporter Matt Bodimeade attended RecFest in London, and yours truly hit Recruitstock in Hampshire for a bit of sun, torrential rain, communing with nature and juggling lessons with our friends at Eploy. Soaking up knowledge and insight while seated on a tree stump made a definite change to the weekday routine, as did watching some fearless recruiters fly across zip wires — one in a panda costume — and battle with a barrel boat as the rain poured. Let loose with a round of cheers for the organisers of these very different but similarly themed events, and let the innovation journey continue (with apologies to Randy Lewis, who is quoted in the news pages). See the festival report on p7.

There was a surprise twist late in the day to our cover conversation with Dean Royles of NHS Employers.

Dean himself will start a new job in September.

However, the NHS, its patients, its staff, its temporary workers and our own recruitment agencies will be in a better place because of his commitment to values in he be recruitment. We wish him the best.

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NEWS Empresaria back on expansion trail

5

CEO Joost Kreulen speaks to Recruiter about its ‘buy and build’ strategy

Judges for the RITAs The Potts boys are back

5

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The entrepreneurial brothers are back with Talenetic

Festival time in recruitment

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This year saw the arrival of RecFest and Recruitstock 8 Tech & tools 10 Special report

Demystifying IR35 and the rules and regulations on disguised employment

ANALYSIS 14 Sector Analysis Transport, supply chain & logistics 17 Global Spotlight on Kazakhstan 25 Insight Subjective opinion: one element of selection

FEATURES 28 COVER STORY Dean Royles, chief executive of NHS Employers and soonto-be director of HR and organisational development at Leeds teaching hospitals 34 Back office backlogs?

With so much new legislation around, it’s imperative for recruiters to have the right systems in place

REGULARS 13 On tumblr this month 19 Interaction

Soapbox: Rona O’Brien Ricky Martin Soundbites 26 The Challenge 19 19 21

Mission Motorsport and Caterham F1 41 Movers & Shakers Industry moves 42 Bloggers with Bite:

Matt Churchward

WHO’S HIRING?

DeeDee Doke, Editor

38 HCL Workforce Solutions,

Scan here to get your own copy of Recruiter

Coventry University 39 Lorien 21

EDITORIAL Editor: DeeDee Doke T: +44 (0)20 7880 7601 deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk Senior reporter: Colin Cottell T: +44 (0)20 7880 7603 colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk Reporter: Matt Bodimeade T: +44 (0)20 7880 7606 matt.bodimeade@recruiter.co.uk Contributing writer: Sue Weekes Production editor: Vanessa Townsend T: +44 (0)20 7880 7602 vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk Art editor: Adrian Taylor ADVERTISING Business development manager: Tom Culley T: +44 (0)20 7880 7607 tom.culley@recruiter.co.uk Senior sales executive: Lisa-Jane Parker +44 (0)20 7880 7608 lisa-jane.parker@recruiter.co.uk Recruitment advertising: Amalia Zafeiratou +44 (0)20 7880 7608 amalia@redactive.co.uk Fax +44 (0)20 7880 7553 PRODUCTION Deputy production manager: Kieran Tobin T: +44 (0)20 7880 6240 kieran.tobin@redactive.co.uk PUBLISHING Publishing director: Aaron Nicholls T: +44 (0)20 7880 8547 aaron.nicholls@redactive.co.uk RECRUITER AWARDS Events: Juliette Bond T: +44 (0)20 7324 2771 juliette.bond@redactive.co.uk CIRCULATION and SUBSCRIPTIONS To receive a regular copy of Recruiter, the leading magazine for recruitment and resourcing professionals, telephone +44 (0)20 8950 9117 or email recruiter@abacusemedia.com • Recruiter is also available to people who do not meet our terms of control: Annual subscription rate for 12 issues: £29.99 UK £35 Europe and Rest of the World • To purchase reprints or multiple copies of the magazine, contact Ryan Hadden T: +44 (0)20 7880 7618 ryan.hadden@redactive.co.uk

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

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

CONTRIBUTIONS Contributions are invited, but when not accepted will be returned only if accompanied by a fully stamped and addressed envelope. Articles should be emailed. No responsibility can be taken for drawings, photographs or literary contributions during delivery, transmission or in the editor’s hands. © 2014 Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. This publication (and any part thereof) may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in print or electronic format (including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the internet) or in any other format in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of Redactive Media Group. Redactive Media Group accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein. The publishers cannot accept liability for any loss arising from the late appearance or non-publication of any advertisement for any reason whatsoever. ISSN 1475-7478

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RECRUITER

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Friday 5th December 2014 Park Plaza Westminster Bridge

THE IRP AWARDS 2014

CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN RECRUITMENT

Sponsored by:

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

Supporting:

09/07/2014 11:16

EMPRESARIA BACK ON EXPANSION TRAIL Expansion is again on the agenda of multisector international recruiter Empresaria Group after several years of stabilising its existing portfolio.

With “bright rays of recovery” favouring the UK and the continental European markets, “we’re now more confident about picking up on that ‘buy and build’ strategy”, chief executive Joost Kreulen told Recruiter.

This year, Empresaria opened a Hong Kong office for its creative and digital brand Become, as well as bought a 51% stake in Middle East construction & engineering recruiter BW&P. Now Empresaria is in “a quite early stage” of looking at further expansion into Latin America beyond its existing presence in Chile and Mexico, Kreulen said.

At the same time, Asian cities such as Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Manila — not generally the first choices of companies looking to expand into Asia — are proving to offer significant opportunity. However, he warned that companies seeking to move into those geographies needed to “be committed to spending a couple of years there to build up”.

Locals should make up most of the

operations’ workforces, with expatriates assigned there as managing directors “to train up and coach” new recruits, Kreulen said. “We’re not looking for prima donnas [as expat MDs] who want to do the big deal.”

In Kuala Lumpur, Joost Kreulen the first generation of local managers are “now ready to take over an office”, he said. What Kreulen called the “Asia for beginners” cities of Hong Kong and Singapore are “saturated… The cost of launching businesses there has gone up. It’s highly competitive”, he added.

Latin America, Colombia and Peru in particular look ripe for growth, with Chile and Mexico poised for continued expansion, Kreulen said. Brazil is “still the biggest market” on the Latin American continent, he acknowledged, but he added that high levels of bureaucracy and regulation make the country a difficult business environment in which to operate.

“Chile, Colombia and Peru — they are a bit more ‘green field’ in terms of markets,” Kreulen said. “I think it’s a good area.”

Empresaria operates in 18 countries and has 20 brands.

DEEDEE DOKE deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk

JUDGES ANNOUNCED FOR RITAS The panel of judges to ajudicate the inaugural Recruiter Investing in Talent Awards (the RITAs) has just been announced.

With experts representing top global and UK companies and leading organisations, the judging panel will decide winners in 18 RITA categories for companies and individuals operating in the recruitment profession and industry.

Recruiter editor DeeDee Doke will chair the judging panel consisting of: • Margaret Balmer, head of talent & reward, McDonald’s • Scott Beagrie, journalist specialising in employee benefits, pay & benefits • Peter Brown, partner and head of

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human resources services, PwC • Tim Evans, managing director, Boxington

Corporate Finance • Simon Feeke, head of workplace, Stonewall • Tara Lescott, managing director, Recruiter

Republic • Peter Lowman, managing director,

LoveLifeWork • Mark Quinn, partner, UK talent leader,

Mercer • Dan Richards, recruiting leader UK & Ireland,

EY • Matthew Ruck, director of talent acquisition

and career development – Europe, Marriott International • Richard Smelt, human resources director, McCain’s Foods • Rowena Webster, project director, Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability.

The winners will be announced on 22 October at a luncheon event at the Congress Centre in Central London. The ‘early bird’ deadline for entries is 31 July. To find out more and to enter, visit www.investingintalent.co.uk

News GREATNESS IN DIVERSITY A FORMER US corporate executive •visiting the UK has called for the

recruitment of increasingly higher percentages of disabled people into their workforces, following examples set here by retailers Boots and Marks & Spencer and in the US by retail chain Walgreens.

Randy Lewis, author of No Greatness Without Goodness, spent 21 years as Walgreens’ senior vice president, supply chain & logistics. He is also the father of an autistic son. During his 21 years at the retailer, Lewis persuaded Walgreens’ senior leaders to make the hiring of significant numbers of disabled people part of the operating targets for its newest and most technologically advanced distribution centres.

The initiative has worked well. The company benefits from high-calibre, motivated workers, and the percentages of disabled workers hired have steadily increased.

At a Walgreens distribution centre in Hartford, Connecticut, 50% of Randy Lewis the workforce has a disclosed disability. “I don’t know a disability we haven’t been able to make a reasonable adjustment for,” Lewis said.

Performance standards are the same for disabled and non-disabled workers, Lewis told Recruiter during his visit in June. Among the lessons learned to date at the company is that some assessment tests that previously were considered essential to ensure applicants were ready for certain logistics roles were actually irrelevant to the skills needed on the job and have been discarded.

“This is a very small club,” Lewis said about the number of businesses that have made hiring disabled people a priority. “The hardest thing is to decide to do it.”

• See August’s Recruiter for more on similar activity in the UK. For more information on Lewis, visit www. nogreatnesswithoutgoodness.com DEEDEE DOKE deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk

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News Events Breakfast Seminar: Benefits realisation through collaborative working 23 July, Mezzanine level, The Royal Exchange, Bank capitamanagedservices. co.uk/events

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

Return on Investment in HR 2014 12 September, TMP Worldwide, 265 Tottenham Court Road, London eventbrite.co.uk/e/ understanding-the-returnon-investment-for-hrtraining-tickets

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

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

MAJOR JAMES CAMERON, MISSION MOTORSPORT CO-FOUNDER AND CEO ON REBUILDING LIVES OF INJURED SERVICE PERSONNEL THROUGH MOTORSPORT (SEE P26)

THE POTTS BROTHERS LOOKTO THE FUTURE WITH TALENETIC What would a recruitment system look like for it to have been designed in 2014? That’s the question that Keith Potts, founder of job board Jobsite and digital recruitment group Evenbase, and his equally entrepreneurial brothers Eric and Graham asked themselves.

The answer was Talenetic, a cloud-based vacancy and talent management system for a new world “increasingly impacted by social and mobile”, Keith Potts told Recruiter in an exclusive interview.

Potts described the product as “super-scalable recruitment solutions” designed to be used by “anyone in recruitment”. The system will list and post vacancies across a variety of platforms. “To help with this, we provide the recruiter with their own mobilefriendly job board to attract talent from their own website or mobile platform,” he said.

“One new candidate attraction feature we have built in is for

L-r: Graham, Eric and Keith Potts

recruiters to easily see candidates in their social network who match each vacancy. I think recruiter networks are going to increasingly play an important role in recruiting.”

The system will next manage all the candidate applications through an application management system, then allow recruiters to search or browse through candidates who have previously applied to earlier jobs.

Talenetic’s underlying search product is open source technology that Potts described as “state of the art search stuff” being used by major ecommerce and social media sites. “We are putting that power into the hands of everyone,” he said.

Talenetic refers to the movement of talent and is Potts’ first recruitment venture since leaving Evenbase last year.

Keith is the company’s chief executive (CEO), Graham the chief technical officer (CTO) and Eric is commercial director. Rounding out the board is Partha Sarathy, director of emerging markets.

“It’s been so refreshing for us, starting from a blank sheet of paper and overlaying our experience of the market,” Keith said. “We remain as hungry and as excited as ever… so hopefully our story will continue to grow.”

Talenetic will first be rolled out to the UK and Indian markets.

DEEDEE DOKE deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk

TELL YOUR GIRLS THEY CAN DO ANYTHING

Recruiter’s Investing in Talent Awards

MEN WORKING IN the City outnumber women because •women often do not feel comfortable in the banking

22 October, Congress Centre, 28 Great Russell St, London www.investingintalent.co.uk

and financial services’ cut-and-thrust environment, City high-flyer Nicola Horlick has told a London audience.

At a breakfast seminar hosted by multi-sector recruiter LMA Recruitment, Horlick said that she never personally suffered ill treatment from her City bosses during her 30-year plus career as a leading fund manager and had flourished in a male-dominated environment.

“I was seen as a good professional, and gender didn’t matter,” she said.

“The problem is, a lot of women don’t want to work in the City,” she went on to say. She added that she had Nicola Horlick: women don’t feel comfortable in the City seen “girls leave after two or three years. They didn’t feel comfortable. We have to accept that there are some areas where we will never have full representation,” Horlick said.

Self-doubt is actually the greatest threat to professional women, she said. “It’s important to tell your daughters they can succeed. “ In particular, she added, “fathers telling their girls they can do anything they want is really important”.

Currently chief executive of crowdfunding platform Money & Co, Horlick was nicknamed ‘Superwoman’ by the media in the 1990s for achieving success in a traditionally male-dominated sector while raising six children. She began her financial career as a graduate trainee at investment bank S G Warburg.

Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP) Awards 5 December, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, London rec-awards.com

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“80% of our work is confidence rebuilding”

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News

“Some people think kindness is a soft thing.

It’s actually very intellectual”

“Employers can expect a [HMRC] compliance visit every 250 years”

SCIENTIST DR DAVID HAMILTON, SPEAKING AT RECRUITSTOCK 2014

DAVID METCALF, CHAIRMAN, MIGRATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE

FESTIVALS OF RECRUITMENT A new style of ‘tribal gathering’ replaced the traditional suitedand-booted conference to deliver business insight and personal development to inhouse recruiters last month at two separate UK recruitment festivals.

Recruitment events company Reconverse’s RecFest in London featured talks by leading in-house recruiters such as Jennifer Candee of SABmiller, Matthew Jeffery of SAP and Grant Weinberg of Gilead Sciences, as well as food, drink and entertainment.

“We ran a festival theme because we really dislike the usual conference experience,” organiser Jamie Leonard told Recruiter.

“Festivals … are about personal connection, far more than the acts themselves, and we wanted to create an experience similar for the people that attended RecFest.”

At the New Forest Outdoor Centre, The Forum for In-House Recruitment Managers’ [The FIRM] three-day Recruitstock celebrated personal development with talks by Olympic gold medalist Sally Gunnell and former Red Arrows leader Jas Hawkins, held alongside workshops on juggling, effective candidate management, gamification and storytelling. Zip wire flights, a so-called ‘raft race’ and wellbeing clinics also competed for attendees’ attention. Campers ‘glamping’ at the site awoke to greetings from cows and sheep grazing nearby.

Julie Lummas, talent manager for retail chain Bonmarché, told Recruiter she attended “because it’s innovative and inspirational, and about spending time with likeminded people”.

Jose Rubio, talent scout for community coffee shop chain Harris + Hoole, was inspired The Recruitstock event combined educattional workshops and more funtype of activities (Images: DeeDee Doke)

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“Innovation is a journey, not a commute” FORMER WALGREENS EXECUTIVE RANDY LEWIS, SPEAKING TO RECRUITER

Contract News 9-20 Recruitment: Helping technology firm Novarum DX increase headcount… ADP UK: Partnered with Raw Talent Academy as it looks to expand… Brookfield Rose: Acquired Slivers of Time to improve the way they recruit and utilise volunteers…

Carillion: Selected as the preferred bidder to expand Liverpool FC’s main stand...

City & Guilds: Partnered with MyKindaCrowd…

CRG: Won a place on three temp healthcare staffing contracts awarded by Crown Commercial Service… DRC Locums: Merged with Human Capital Investment Group (HCIG)… Employ Recruitment UK: Landed £1.5m worth of contracts…

Exclusive Hotels and Venues: Partnered with

by Gunnell’s talk and described it to Recruiter as “invigorating you for the challenges ahead”.

Recruitstock “had something for everyone. It gave me a fresh take on what I do”, he said, and “encouraged creativity and authenticity”.

Co-organiser and FIRM co-founder Emma Mirrington told Recruiter that one attendee had traditionally spent her June festival time at the annual

Glastonbury Festival but this year opted for Recruitstock. “This was a pilot because it was so different,” Mirrington acknowledged.

But she and co-founder Gary Franklin agreed that the risk paid off. “We’ll probably do it again,” Franklin said.

And as for the future of oldschool conferences? Franklin said: “The old style will still be there — it just needs a bit of innovation.”

DEEDEE DOKE

applicant tracking system TribePad… Hays: Awarded a contract with Amey… ID Medical: Awarded a place on Lot 5 of NHS London Procurement Partnership’s national nursing framework and selected as Master Vender for the nursing staff for Shrewsbury and Shropshire NHS Trusts… Jobsite: Partnered State of Ambition to launch ‘Summer of STEM’…

RAF: Enlisted the help of Echo Managed Services…

REC: Reappointed Brabners to its legal business Remtec: Launched partnership with Talentmark… Rethink Group: Extended its contract with M&S for a further three years… Staffline: Completed the acquisition of Softmist…

Tower Staff Construction: Receiving investment support from Lloyds Bank… Urquhart Partnership: Acquired brand and design agency Hampton Associates…

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News

Tech & tools

MARKETPLACE SITE BRINGS EFFICIENCY TO THE PARTY t would be easy to assume that the recruitment marketplace model, which is typically based on a ‘success-only’ fee arrangement, was a product of the global recession.

A historical look reveals otherwise though: usually considered the first of its kind was US-based Bountyjobs.com, launched in 2006 at least a year before the credit crunch started to hit.

Rather than a reaction to economic conditions, this was actually devised by those who believed the recruitment world needed new or alternative models. While the old one may not have been broken, technology certainly provided an option to do something radically different.

The 2009 arrival of the UK’s first marketplace, Talentpuzzle.co.uk, may have proved timely for those looking for cost-effective ways of recruiting as the economic depression deepened, but it was still principally an attempt to provide a new way of doing things.

Anyone launching what is frequently described as a ‘disruptive’ technology or model knows they are not going to be popular with everyone. And, unsurprisingly, recruitment marketplaces are still seen as a threat to traditional agency fee structures and revenues.

But there comes a time in all sectors when even the most change-resistant have to accept that technology has evolved to a point that failing to use it could be a case of cutting your nose off to spite your face.

The arrival of TalentParty.com in the UK, whose sister site Search Party launched in Australia last November, attempts to move the marketplace model into a new phase by combining it with data science. The company has invested millions of dollars into the algorithms and search and match capability behind the site to create what it describes as a “candidate-first” marketplace. It aims to accelerate the recruitment process but, significantly, also attempts to provide a

I

Jamie Carlisle: Talent Party can ‘supercharge’ the efficiency of recruiters

more profitable and sustainable revenue stream for agencies.

Jamie Carlisle, founder and chief executive of Talent Party, told Recruiter that the site helps recruiters spend less time on the work that they don’t get paid for, such as trying to place candidates in roles that don’t exist yet, and more time fitting them to live opportunities to which they are suited.

“We wanted to develop a site to help recruiters be more profitable again in tough times,” he explained.

“The last six years or so has seen structural decline in the industry. We’re very aware of the cyclical nature of the industry and it being correlated to the economic general health. Each time the cycle happens, the industry gets a little weaker and smaller compared to the strong days. There are some really high-quality recruiters out there and we want to support them and ensure they remain relevant.”

Talent Party has a database of around 5m candidates whose details have been anonymised and turned into an infographic candidate story, featuring career history, key skills and toplevel information. When an employer posts an opportunity, the technology behind the site finds an appropriate candidate. The employer can then engage with a recruiter who already has a relationship with that individual.

“So we have a de-bundled recruitment model,” said Carlisle. “Built around this are the basic marketplace economics that you’d expect with the employer first stating the fee they will pay. If the recruiter is happy, they can accept it but if they feel it requires more work than the fee suggests they can negotiate.”

Carlisle believes the site can “supercharge” the efficiency of the recruiter, adding that the “least efficient” placement that has taken place on the Australian platform took 10 hours’ work for a A$7k (£3.8k) fee, while the most “efficient” was four hours for a $16k fee. London has just completed its first placement, with eight hours work for a £4k fee — £500 per hour.

The marketplace model is not going to usurp all others in the field of recruitment but, by helping the recruiter work smarter, and putting the talent at the front of the process, this new take on an already disruptive model may start to convince the sceptics of its permanent place — and value — in the overall recruiting landscape.

In brief New from the US, Jobcritters.com is a new tool that allows jobseekers to search, find, share and save jobs on Twitter similar to a traditional job board.

Search results only show tweets from the past six to nine days. It also gives jobseekers the option to create a Twesume, which combines a Twitter account with elements from a CV. The starting point for developers Career Cloud was to ask the question, “What if Twitter had a job board”? The company has already created a number of social and mobile tools for recruiters and candidates.

Jobcritters also has a range of features for recruiters: they can post a visual job Tweet on top of search results to drive more traffic to their jobs and also increase the number of Twitter followers they have via a keyword-based profile. www.jobcritters.com

A team of experts from the fields of IT, HR and talent management have come together to design an algorithm that uses big data and predictive analytics to match recruiters with relevant candidates.

The Crowd Works (TCW) widget currently works across LinkedIn and can be installed in a browser by logging into the professional network.

Having invited all contacts to join their network, a recruiter can then upload a job description and click the TCW icon to instantly see job matches, engage with talent or save and annotate candidates for potential future jobs. It’s likely the widget will be extended to search across other networks in the future. www.ourcrowdworks.com

www.talentparty.com SUE WEEKES

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EXPERT OPINION

Driver shortage looms for supply chain and logistics

By Barry Roback, Director, Anderson Group

W

ith the introduction of Driver CPC legislation on the 9th September this year, many in the supply chain and logistics industry are rightly concerned that the shortage in agency drivers will become worse. The new law will add to the existing barriers to entry to an already stretched labour pool, making it even harder for agencies to fulfil customer demands for temporary drivers.

Driver CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence) aims to ensure better trained drivers and ultimately improve road safety. Requiring all LGV (Large Goods Vehicle) drivers, both permanent and temporary, to undertake 35 hours of training every five years, the new licence is being enforced in all European Union member states. Drivers who are not compliant by September will not be able to be used by agencies.

Shrinking labour pool It is feared some of the 30,000 agency LGV drivers in the UK have left it too late to gain the licence by the deadline, or have decided not to carry out the training as they feel it’s not worth it or are nearing retirement. After all, the average age of the several thousand drivers Anderson Group supports is 46 and there are fewer younger drivers joining the labour pool. The cost of taking an LGV licence and the reticence of insurers to insure newly qualified agency drivers are the largest contributory factors. Many newly qualified LGV Drivers also head straight to permanent positions with the companies that have sponsored their training.

Another factor making it difficult for agencies to fulfill clients’ needs is the lack of any common driving assessment across the industry. Drivers who have been assessed by one hirer cannot simply move and drive for another. And as each hirer

has its own specific assessments, most will not accept drivers who they have not assessed themselves.

Change in status The Onshore Intermediaries Legislation also impacts on the earning potential of temporary drivers if they are forced into PAYE. The broad way in which the legislation has been written means it affects many more types of worker than was intended, not just addressing the supposed mass migration of PAYE workers into self-employment. Due to this broad scope, the legislation also affects workers who HMRC would find perfectly acceptable as operating as self-employed for the purposes of tax and NI, due to risk averse agencies taking a blanket approach. This could mean some drivers leave the temporary LGV industry, as many workers move to PAYE.

Deadline approaching As September looms, there will no doubt be a last minute rush of permanent drivers trying to meet the Driver CPC requirements, which will place yet more strain on the limited number of agency drivers.

While there is no easy answer to the resourcing challenge, to try and limit the impact on driver shortage, many agencies are choosing to support drivers through their Driver CPC training or bring in foreign workers. But it remains to be seen what real impact the September deadline will bring.

As one of the UK’s largest providers of employment management solutions to agencies, Anderson Group works with many agencies that serve the supply chain and logistics sector. The Group’s flexible suite of products and services have been tailored over many years to meet the needs of the logistics industry, ensuring the satisfaction of both agencies and drivers.

Anderson Group specialise in providing employment management solutions to recruitment agencies and their temporary contractors.

For further information please visit: www.andersongroup.uk.com Telephone: 0333 8000 800 Email: enquiries@andersongroup.uk.com

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SPECIAL REPORT

Web comments Call for the creation of regional polytechnics to plug technology skills gap (2 July) I agree with the sentiments expressed, and support the view that a more cohesive STEM strategy will benefit employees, employers et al. However some, like Newcastle College, have taken enormous strides in this area collaborating with a range of partners; in effect filling the role of polytechnics. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater!

Falling numbers of skilled migrants ‘raises alarm bells’ with leading recruiter (3 July) Maybe they should stop skimping on opportunities for persons already living in the UK — including migrants of earlier immigration. They hire a person from another country, bring them over for cheap labour and after some time (usually five years) the person is made redundant and they hire a migrant from another country. Instead they should look at the talent pool here. There are thousands of people who have the qualifications and experience for a range of jobs but who are placed at the bottom of the pile as hiring eats away too much at profit as well as closes the market to the country the business is currently based in.

Allow UK citizens to migrate or be offered opportunities in other countries as often as the UK does for other countries. My father has been a civil engineer since the age of 16. He is 54 and unemployed for the past three years. His last employment consisted of training foreign immigrants in his job role — they let him go once they were trained sufficiently. The ‘huge’ difference in pay was a mere 80p cheaper for the immigrants.

Adrastia Masako

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GETTY

Rob Storey, Newcastle College

CAN’T RUN FROM TAX — AND THERE’S NO PLACE TO HIDE RULES ON DISGUISED EMPLOYMENT AREN’T LIKELY TO DISAPPEAR SOON. NICOLA SULLIVAN HIGHLIGHTS THE CURRENT SITUATION Despite being the subject of hearty debate and a damning select committee report legislation designed to prevent contractors paying significantly less tax than they would if they were directly employed will remain in place largely unchanged.

The government will not act on many of the recommendations made in the House of Lords Select Committee report, which looked at the tax implications of Personal Service Companies (PSCs) and the continued feasibility of IR35 legislation introduced in 2000 to ensure contractors don’t pay less tax than if they were directly employed or disguise employment income by using an intermediary, such as a recruitment firm.

One of the report’s key recommendations was that

HMRC published a ‘detailed assessment’ of its calculation that IR35 protected tax revenue of £550m — the central justification for keeping the ruling. This figure was heavily criticised during a debate in the House of Lords for being based on assumptions. Those caught

by IR35 only save the Treasury a direct cost of £30m, while the remaining £520m is protected from the so-called ‘behavioural’ impact of the legislation.

IR35 — here to stay In its response to the final report, the government maintained that its calculations were robust. So IR35 is here to stay, which is a disappointment for organisations such as independent contractor and freelancer association PCG (Professional Contractors Group), which believes it places unnecessary burdens on

recruiters and contractors.

This issue was also flagged up by the select committee report, which said that compliance with the rules ‘demand a great deal of time and effort on the part of the contractor’, who sometimes struggle to define their tax position accurately because of the contract-bycontract nature of IR35 and the need for a sound understanding of case law.

In fact, the existence of IR35 could discourage people from wanting to freelance in industries such as IT and engineering, where PSCs and employment agencies are commonplace, according to George Anastasi, policy development manager at PCG. Anastasi tells Recruiter: “It is certainly plausible that the burden of dealing with IR35 is going to put people off or make them think it is more

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SPECIAL REPORT

Bridget Wood

a contractor they are engaging with is found to be in breach of the legislation.

Nevertheless, engaging recruitment firms and employers are expected to help contractors work in the way they want and are inevitably dragged into HMRC investigations relating to IR35, says Samantha Hurley, head of external relations at the Association of Professional Services Companies (APSCo).

“An investigation will look at the reality on the ground, which inevitably means getting information from clients. This would normally start by getting a copy of the contract.” She adds: “If the investigation goes further they might try and speak to the client and try and get a better understanding of the role and the level of control,

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John Chaplin

which is basically what it comes down to.”

However, Hurley does acknowledge that in recent times HMRC’s IR35 investigations, which were taking an “inordinate amount of time”, have become less time consuming. This, says Hurley, is mainly due to the IR35 Forum, which works with HMRC to improve administration, allowing it to pinpoint high-risk people and effectively manage queries.

Hurley says: “I think HMRC has improved the ways it targets and deals with investigations ... There seems to be less complaints about really ridiculously long investigations, lasting years sometimes.”

Get the contract right In an investigation of a possible breach of IR35, HMRC is likely to want to look at contracts linking the recruiter and the PSC and the recruiter and the end client, so it is important that they don’t contradict each other. Still, recruitment firms shouldn’t bow to pressure from contractors to draw up “IR35friendly contracts” containing self-employed indicators that “don’t reflect reality”, says Bridget Wood, head of the recruitment sector group at the law firm Blake Morgan.

“If in some way the recruitment company is found to have been colluding with the contractor to help get outside of IR35, there could arguably be a conspiracy to defraud HMRC.” Wood also advises recruitment firms to have an indemnity agreement with the PSC so they are not hit with any tax and National Insurance (NI) claims relating to the contractor. It’s worth bearing in mind, however, that “an

indemnity is only as valuable as the entity that gives it”, says Wood. After all, many small PSCs can dissolve easily.

This is also relevant in light of recent legislation relating to onshore/offshore employment intermediaries, or umbrella companies, which many commentators cite as the more pressing issue for the recruitment industry. Enforced in April, the new rules put the burden of proof on the agency to show that workers, categorising themselves as selfemployed, aren’t under direct supervision and control.

This means that where PAYE and NICs [NI contributions] are due it is the responsibility of the intermediary, rather than the end client. John Chaplin, director of the total reward practice at EY, says: “I’m seeing more work being done by agencies to check their supply chain to see how their

%

50

of all finance professionals are looking to move jobs in the next six months, yet only 26% of employers are planning to recruit, according to a survey by financial recruitment specialist Sellick Partnership

TOP

complicated to work in a particular industry.” He adds: “Essentially what IR35 does is it causes individuals who choose to operate through their own limited company an unnecessary amount of burden through lack of clarity as to what their status is.”

Colin Ben-Nathan, a tax partner at KPMG, concurs: “The legislation stipulates that it would have been an employment had it not been for the PSC.” He adds: “You have to sort of imagine the situation as the legislation asks you to imagine it, which is why you have all of the debates as to which of these so-called PSCs are caught by IR35 and which are not because it is a qualitative thing in many ways.”

It is worth pointing out that the relationship under scrutiny here is between the PSC and HMRC, not the end-user employer or the recruitment firm, which are not held liable if

5

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3. Hudson, Onsite recruiters

4. M.H. Alshaya Co,

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5. Phaidon International, Internal recruiter

TOP

News

Samantha Hurley

contractors and umbrella organisations are managing compliance, pushing more down to their suppliers to make sure they are doing what they ought to be doing.”

He adds: “This hasn’t yet pushed too much into the PSC space and there is no reason why it should do at the moment, but I wouldn’t be surprised if over time agencies are required to understand for example who they are contracting with and where that legal entity is registered.”

Reporting requirements, going live in 2015, will require this information to be available.

Recruiters always need to keep one eye open when it comes to disguised selfemployment because it is an issue that is likely to be debated for a long time to come yet.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Bridget Wood

a contractor they are engaging with is found to be in breach of the legislation.

Nevertheless, engaging recruitment firms and employers are expected to help contractors work in the way they want and are inevitably dragged into HMRC investigations relating to IR35, says Samantha Hurley, head of external relations at the Association of Professional Services Companies (APSCo).

“An investigation will look at the reality on the ground, which inevitably means getting information from clients. This would normally start by getting a copy of the contract.” She adds: “If the investigation goes further they might try and speak to the client and try and get a better understanding of the role and the level of control,

12

RECRUITER

JULY 2014

10_12_Recruit_Digest_JUL14.indd 12

John Chaplin

which is basically what it comes down to.”

However, Hurley does acknowledge that in recent times HMRC’s IR35 investigations, which were taking an “inordinate amount of time”, have become less time consuming. This, says Hurley, is mainly due to the IR35 Forum, which works with HMRC to improve administration, allowing it to pinpoint high-risk people and effectively manage queries.

Hurley says: “I think HMRC has improved the ways it targets and deals with investigations ... There seems to be less complaints about really ridiculously long investigations, lasting years sometimes.”

Get the contract right In an investigation of a possible breach of IR35, HMRC is likely to want to look at contracts linking the recruiter and the PSC and the recruiter and the end client, so it is important that they don’t contradict each other. Still, recruitment firms shouldn’t bow to pressure from contractors to draw up “IR35friendly contracts” containing self-employed indicators that “don’t reflect reality”, says Bridget Wood, head of the recruitment sector group at the law firm Blake Morgan.

“If in some way the recruitment company is found to have been colluding with the contractor to help get outside of IR35, there could arguably be a conspiracy to defraud HMRC.” Wood also advises recruitment firms to have an indemnity agreement with the PSC so they are not hit with any tax and National Insurance (NI) claims relating to the contractor. It’s worth bearing in mind, however, that “an

indemnity is only as valuable as the entity that gives it”, says Wood. After all, many small PSCs can dissolve easily.

This is also relevant in light of recent legislation relating to onshore/offshore employment intermediaries, or umbrella companies, which many commentators cite as the more pressing issue for the recruitment industry. Enforced in April, the new rules put the burden of proof on the agency to show that workers, categorising themselves as selfemployed, aren’t under direct supervision and control.

This means that where PAYE and NICs [NI contributions] are due it is the responsibility of the intermediary, rather than the end client. John Chaplin, director of the total reward practice at EY, says: “I’m seeing more work being done by agencies to check their supply chain to see how their

%

50

of all finance professionals are looking to move jobs in the next six months, yet only 26% of employers are planning to recruit, according to a survey by financial recruitment specialist Sellick Partnership

TOP

complicated to work in a particular industry.” He adds: “Essentially what IR35 does is it causes individuals who choose to operate through their own limited company an unnecessary amount of burden through lack of clarity as to what their status is.”

Colin Ben-Nathan, a tax partner at KPMG, concurs: “The legislation stipulates that it would have been an employment had it not been for the PSC.” He adds: “You have to sort of imagine the situation as the legislation asks you to imagine it, which is why you have all of the debates as to which of these so-called PSCs are caught by IR35 and which are not because it is a qualitative thing in many ways.”

It is worth pointing out that the relationship under scrutiny here is between the PSC and HMRC, not the end-user employer or the recruitment firm, which are not held liable if

5

MOST VIEWED JOBS ON OUR WEBSITE

1. Alexander Mann

Solutions, Onsite recruitment specialist

2. Capital One,

Recruitment partner

3. Hudson, Onsite recruiters

4. M.H. Alshaya Co,

Recruitment manager

5. Phaidon International, Internal recruiter

TOP

News

Samantha Hurley

contractors and umbrella organisations are managing compliance, pushing more down to their suppliers to make sure they are doing what they ought to be doing.”

He adds: “This hasn’t yet pushed too much into the PSC space and there is no reason why it should do at the moment, but I wouldn’t be surprised if over time agencies are required to understand for example who they are contracting with and where that legal entity is registered.”

Reporting requirements, going live in 2015, will require this information to be available.

Recruiters always need to keep one eye open when it comes to disguised selfemployment because it is an issue that is likely to be debated for a long time to come yet.

5

MOST VIEWED ARTICLES ONLINE

1. The best job ever?

Travel the UK and earn £150k in the process

2. 10 tips to help you if a presentation goes wrong

3. Advice shop on

health enquiries in recruitment

4. Tottenham Hotspur

spurring young people into jobs

5. Falling numbers

of skilled migrants raises alarm bells with leading recruiter

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

10/07/2014 14:36

News

On tumblr this month

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

Adele Carr Bored of running marathons, Gareth Boyd (left), director at Adele Carr Financial Recruitment, decided to run in Ultras — a mere 30-miles minimum. So far, he has completed the GinPit Double Marathon, the Apocalypse 50-mile Ultra midmonth May, Liverpool Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon, Sandstone Trail 33-mile Ultra and a 210-mile Cycle Challenge in June. We’re sure Brainwave, a charity that helps children with disabilities and additional needs, are equally in awe of his efforts — and incredible stamina.

The FIRM Even torrential rain couldn’t put a damper on the ‘feel good’ spirit last month at the inaugural Recruitstock recruitment festival hosted

by The Forum for In-House Recruitment Managers (The FIRM). The three-day event, which attracted over 100 people, took part in the New Forest Outdoor Centre, where hardy participants took to the water on a barrel boat. (For more coverage of Recruitstock, see p7.)

Tough Mudder team A team of 22 MBN Recruitment, Bullhorn and We Are The Future members of staff took part in Tough Mudder.

Hailed as “probably the Toughest Event on the Planet”, mud was possibly the least of their worries, as the 12-mile course included barbed wire, fire, ice and hanging ropes charged with 10,000 volts. Nice…

Don’t forget to send us your lighter news with pictures to recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk

EXPERT OPINION

Rapid search & interim adds to fast-growing team Rapid search & interim is delighted to announce two more high-calibre consultants to their fast-growing senior recruitment team. Martin Comitti and Marc Harris bring decades of management-level industry to Rapid’s thriving Finance Search and Interim Practices, confirming the company’s position as one of the market’s fastest rising stars.

Martin and Marc will be based at Rapid’s Windsor headquarters.

Martin Comitti joins Rapid as Associate Director, focusing on senior finance search roles in the UK and internationally. Martin has a 15year track record of success on business-critical finance roles, with a reputation for delivering on his promises—identifying and attracting the very top echelon of candidates.

Marc Harris joins as Associate Director concentrating on senior interim finance roles across the UK. Marc has a more than a decade of experience working with organisations of all shapes and sizes, from household names to new up and comers. His clients value his pragmatism, energy, and ability to deliver top talent time and again.

candidates and clients in equal measure. Both Martin and Marc bring passion, dedication and integrity to their work, and we’re absolutely delighted to have them in the team’ Rapid is a specialist supplier of management-level and C-suite executive search and interim management services, focusing on Finance, HR and Project/Programme Management. Based in Windsor, the company delivers right across the UK, with a swiftly expanding international capability. Rapid’s reputation has been built on timely, accurate delivery, with a track record of identifying and attracting the top echelon of candidates to business critical senior roles.

Web: www.wearerapid.com Twitter: twitter.com/We_Are_Rapid

Catherine Turner, Director at Rapid, said ‘ Rapid’s very excited to have Martin and Marc onboard. We’re extremely picky hirers—just great billing isn’t anywhere near enough. It’s about personality and commitment to delivering things in the right way, with respect for

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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Sector Analysis

Transport & logistics THE TRANSPORT, SUPPLY CHAIN AND LOGISTICS SECTOR MAY HAVE TURNED A CORNER BUT NEW METHODS ARE NEEDED TO FIND TALENT While confidence in the transport, supply chain and logistics sector has grown and it is now in a position to hire additional staff, the industry is still grappling with skills shortages.

Rob Riddleston, head of transport and logistics at Barclays, who assists the sector’s largest firms in securing investment and finance, expects business to continue picking up in 2014 and into next year.

“This time [July] last year we started to see the first pick up of confidence since the downturn back in 2008.”

The findings of the UK Logistics Confidence Index H2 2013, released in March by Barclays and Grant Thornton UK, recorded an overall confidence reading of 74.9% among the sector during the second half of 2013 — a leap of almost 25% on the previous six months and 43% yearon-year.

Of the 100-plus senior decision makers who responded to the commissioned report, 61% said operating conditions were more favourable. In addition the index cited the Barclays Employers Survey, which showed 50% of logistics companies were looking to fill roles during the next year.

The increase in hiring, says Riddleston, is likely to be in the operational part of the sector, rather than at senior management, finance and the commercial side. However, the sector struggles to recruit younger workers, particularly drivers.

“The average age of a truck driver is early 50s and [this] has been increasing over the last year.

There is a lack of younger people coming into the industry and a little a bit of a skills shortage,” says Riddleston. Potential new recruits, he says, could be put off by the antisocial hours that truck drivers sometimes have to work.

According to Andrew Waldron, managing director of PPF, which supplies temporary workers to the logistics sector, the driver shortage will further divide the agency driver market, with smaller local agencies looking to establish non-contractual business, but at higher margins. He says: “Larger agencies with contractual arrangements will only maintain service levels by working even more closely with end clients and by providing solutions that increase the pool of drivers. Large agencies must have solutions in place to Sven Hanger

combat the driver shortage if they are to maintain any credibility.”

Sven Hanger, senior business manager at recruitment firm Stark Brooks, says that UK players in the sector see hiring staff as one of their biggest challenges.

He says: “The most successful jobseekers James Gherardi have been those with a Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) qualification and a background in specific category management, especially disciplines such as marketing, technology, HR and professional services.”

The struggle to find the right staff is further exacerbated by the fact that the industry is continually evolving. According to Doug Rode, senior MD, PageGroup, three key changes are shaping the sector: a return to an increase in consumer demand across multiple sectors; a change in consumer behaviour — increased appetite for home delivery and e-commerce; and manufacturers are more interested in doing business in the UK, mainly as the cost differential against making products overseas has decreased.

Rode says: “As supply chains are evolving constantly, it is increasingly hard for clients to find candidates who have actually done similar roles before — it’s hard to be at the cutting edge if you are just following your competition.”

James Gherardi, director — supply chain and procurement at BIE Executive, says organisations in this sector are looking at more efficient and effective operating models, which has led to demand for candidates with restructuring knowledge. Such talent is also being found outside the sector and people with previous experience in FMGG (fast-moving consumer goods), pharmaceuticals and oil & gas industries are being brought in. Talent is also increasingly being sourced from Eastern Europe. Gherardi says: “[There is a] desire for us to search for prospective candidates from a wide geographical selection zone. There is a big increase in demand from eastern Europe (Slovakia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Czech Rep and Poland).”

There is no doubt that the worst is over for the transport, supply chain and logistics sector, but organisations operating in this space will need to work hard to attract the talent they need if they are to fully take advantage of the upturn.

Views from the market Sven Hanger Senior business manager, Stark Brooks “I’m sure we are not alone in seeing London and the South as the most buoyant UK region over the past few years, with interim contracts proving especially attractive as pay rates are much higher than in other parts of the country.”

Doug Rode Senior MD — PageGroup “[We have seen] an increase in operational and planning roles to cope with increases in volumes. In general though, the demand for candidates is for those who are commercially focused and can understand, evolve and add value to the business, rather than purely delivering on an operational role.”

Andrew Waldron MD, PPF “Despite the increased demand for drivers that the economic recovery will bring it is hard to see where extra drivers will come from. This is an industry wide problem and it is possible that if that shortage bites harder costs will start to increase.”

James Gherardi Director — supply chain and procurement, BIE Executive “Procurement is pushing down costs while finance departments are extending payment terms and technical/ quality are demanding higher specification and quality.

Ultimately this leads to an unsustainable supplier strain; organisations are now moving to supplier management as a joined-up approach. This also extends to supplier coaching, development and funding.”

NICOLA SULLIVAN AND MATT BODIMEADE matt.bodimeade@recruiter.co.uk

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Market Indicators

Global Spotlight on Kazakhstan

ALTHOUGH THERE ARE MANY POSITIVES FOR RECRUITERS IN MODERN KAZAKHSTAN, THEY NEED TO BE AWARE OF THE SOVIET LEGACY AND THE CURBS ON EXPATRIATE HIRES Kazakhstan in Central Asia declared independence from the old Soviet Union as long ago as 1991. But according to Natalia Kurkchi, director of regional expansion, CIS, Antal Russia, the legacy of the old Soviet empire continues to send ripples through the country for recruiters.

“Anyone born before the Soviet Union fell apart will struggle in an organisation with an international culture,” says Kurkchi. While she says the situation is better than five to 10 years ago, compared with advanced economies, “it is common to find a chief financial officer aged 28 in Kazakhstan”.

One result of the lack of suitably experienced candidates in mid-career is that instead of progressing steadily up the career ladder, many employees jump several levels at a time, she says. “In many cases they become managers before they are mature enough professionally and personally. There is sometimes a mismatch between their experience and their job title.”

Faced with an absence of candidates with the ‘normal’ level of experience for management roles, Kurkchi says the response of many employers is “to go for [people with] attitude not experience, as well as a desire to learn”.

Kazakhstan’s exit from the Soviet Union has had repercussions for talent management, agrees Maria Lyubushkina, HR talent team manager for Kazakhstan at international professional services provider EY. “The company’s graduates born after the collapse of the Soviet Union tend to be mobile, proactive, looking for opportunities and eager to learn,” she says.

Lyubushkina points to other positives for employers looking for talent, including “a high level of education, talented and ambitious people, as well as the success of women in leadership roles”.

However, Olga Dergunova, HR manager at the British Council in Kazakhstan, says that the quality of education is a concern for employers. “Graduates often enter the labour market unprepared, with many of them not even having the minimum theoretical knowledge,” she says. A lack of sufficient candidates with a good understanding of English “is one of the main complications” for foreign organisations, she adds.

Employers face a further complication in the increasing restrictions being placed on hiring expatriate workers, says Kurkchi. The government is keen to boost employment of local people, and as a result it has tightened up the rules on work permits and visas. “It used to be much easier,” she says.

Aset A Shyngyssov, a partner in law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius’ Almaty office, says that in the country’s oil & gas and mining sectors 30% of

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Key indicators In 2012, Kazakhstan attracted $14bn of foreign direct investment The World Bank’s Doing Business 2013 index ranks Kazakhstan 49th in the world, and includes the country in its list of the world’s 20 most attractive investment destinations By 2016, GDP per capita is expected to reach $15,000 Population 16.9m Labour force 8.975m GDP growth (2012) 5% Unemployment rate (2012) 5.3% GDP composition by sector: agriculture (5.2%); industry 37.9%; services 56.9% Source: EY attractiveness survey Kazakhstan 2013

management and 100% of the rest of the workforce must be locals. Shyngyssov says this has caused problems for some employers, citing Kazakhstan’s oil & gas field in the Caspian Sea. Because it is the country’s first offshore field, there is a lack of local people with the right skills.

Kurkchi bemoans the fact that expatriates must now train up local people to do their job within three years, a requirement that she says “in many cases is just not possible”. Some expats leave the country [after three years] as a result, she says, although “they can be extended… you have to prove they are needed”.

While recruiters come to terms with tighter restrictions on foreign workers, she says the bigger picture is of a growing economy that has been bolstered by the government’s efforts to open it up to international investment.

The country attracted $14bn (£8.34bn) of foreign direct investment in 2012, and according to EY’s Kazakhstan attractiveness survey 2013, its economy is expected to grow by 7.1% between 2013 and 2014. “Astana [Kazakhstan’s capital] is a mini Dubai,” says Kurkchi.

The country is also expected to benefit from the international trade fair Expo 17, to be held in Astana in 2017. The event is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs, including many in hotels and tourism.

However, says Kurkchi, with the country’s service attitude “not very high” and selling viewed as negatively as it was during the Soviet Union era, employers might find difficulty in finding enough people with the right skills and attitude.

For recruiters, it’s a reminder that old attitudes and habits die hard in Kazakhstan.

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Interaction

SOAP

BOX

Higher education must evolve

Traditional graduate employers are looking for new types of recruits. PwC is planning to introduce a higher apprenticeship scheme, and Lloyds/TSB has announced its intention to fund 5,000 apprenticeships, with a 30% target for including people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

It might be argued that these measures are just corporate social responsibility (CSR), or a useful way to bring in people who are cheaper and more malleable. But organisations know that to innovate they need fresh perspectives — and now, increasingly, that an annual intake of more ‘conventional’ graduates isn’t necessarily going to help. They also don’t want ‘standard’ staff, but the kind of diversity that better matches their customers and clients.

To meet the needs of employers, higher education needs to evolve and to celebrate diversity. Growing up in Ireland before the arrival of the ‘Celtic Tiger’, I know what it’s like to have limited access to higher education and worthwhile career opportunities — I was the first female in my family to go to university — and that such limitations restricted not only the individual but also the country as a whole, economically, culturally and socially.

The culture of some universities can still be a real barrier for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, who may feel that they don’t belong or that they can’t be the same as their peers, in what they have or what they do. These feelings change their experience and what they can achieve. And when universities are being judged in terms of ranking places, ‘widening participation’ activity generally takes a back seat.

RICKY MARTIN

However, there is momentum for change. With a long-term future of public spending austerity ahead, higher education is increasingly being asked to think hard about its social role, to address social issues and needs, and to demonstrate a return to the country as a whole in return for taxpayer investment. For example, a recent CentreForum thinktank report called for universities to be assessed in terms of social mobility.

At GSM London — where 75% are from ethnic minority groups and around one-third have children at home — we’re aiming to tap into the new trend, making diversity central to what the institution does rather than treating it like a CSR programme. That approach will mean changing curricula, assessment and support. It will also mean a change in culture to one that recognises the value and contribution of non-traditional students, both while they’re in higher education and in what they offer afterwards.

Many employers still only want to recruit ‘people like us’, and there’s a real job to be done in opening minds to the potential of involving people with different kinds of outlook, experience and abilities. It’ll be a two-way street, as higher education institutions open up and work more with employers. But the outcome, where we have genuine social mobility and resources aren’t used only to power a conveyor belt that best serves only those who usually access higher education, will benefit us all.

RONA O’BRIEN is dean of business and management at GSM London

(Greenwich School of Management), www.gsm.org.uk

Not just a numbers game — it’s about working with ‘real people’

Recruitment is about helping people progress with their careers.

However, the harsh reality is recruitment agencies are usually associated with sales, commission and bonuses. So how can we challenge this perception? How can we show that our candidates’ needs really do come first — and that we are here to help people? This is what any professional recruitment outfit aims to do and we need to change the perception of contingency recruitment being a one-sided relationship!

Firstly, it is important that we recognise the responsibility that comes with our role. Only then can we understand what we need to do. Our role is to help candidates with what they want, not what we think they need. Secondly, it’s essential that we understand our candidates. We all know that looking for a job can be a lengthy and stressful process and our candidates feel exactly the same. The whole point of working with a recruitment agency is to significantly lower the stresses that come with searching for a new job.

The recruitment process requires a great deal of commitment and understanding on a recruiter’s part. A recruitment agency is there to do much of the hard work, thus making the process easier for the candidate. We need to ensure this is reflected in the customer service and experience we provide.

All candidates sign up with an agency in good faith they will receive the best support available to help them with their careers. So recognising each candidate as an individual, and treating them like one is absolutely crucial. Regular contact will show a great sense of your personal commitment to the process and the candidate.

It’s not simply about making a good impression the first time they make contact with your agency. It’s essential to invest time in your candidates — get to know them. This will help give you a clear

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understanding of their knowledge, skills and experience. Not only will this enable you to place them into a suitable position, it may help you to identify jobs that will further enhance their career and exceed their expectations.

The recruitment process doesn’t stop there. There are many other ways you can help. How about offering advice and support with their CV? Preparing them for their interview? Take your customer experience even further: how about a follow-up call or a meeting a few weeks or months down the line to find out how they are settling into their new role? Remember candidates are also your connections.

If they like the customer service experience they receive from you, they are highly likely to recommend your agency. These candidates not only become potential applicants for future roles, but all their connections become potential applicants too — ultimately, you are building your business network.

So when you think of the recruitment process as a whole, you will immediately realise your role as a recruiter is not simply about numbers. It’s about real people. It’s important that your company vision and values are communicated through everything you do. If you are only interested in sales and numbers then ultimately your customers will pick up on this.

So don’t forget to show passion for what you do and for the industries you support. Invest time in trying to understand your candidate’s requirements, build relationships and partnerships. Show you genuinely care about your candidate’s needs and their career progression. After all, they are the reason you are in a job.

Stop thinking about short-term deals, and think more about careers and helping people.

RICKY MARTIN is managing director and founder of Hyper Recruitment

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

RECRUITER

JULY 2014

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UK RECRUITMENT TRENDS 2013 UK Recruitment Trends 2013 is a detailed analysis of the past 12 months, reviewing vacancies, applications and salary trends from across 48 industry sectors.

Request your copy of the report today to ďŹ nd out when, and in which sectors the economic recovery started to take effect and how this has impacted salaries.

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09/07/2014 12:34

Interaction

WEB

SOUND

CHAT

BITES

“What is the recruiting skill-set most needed that you look for in your organisation?”

Rebecca Monk Director of talent acquisition, NBCUniversal

I’ve been asked by our business leaders to focus our recruitment efforts — not only for our team but for the wider business — on hiring people who demonstrate entrepreneurialism. The term can mean a number of things, but we sum it up as having an innovative mindset or being able to spot business opportunities. We don’t just want to keep up with the competition, we need to make sure we’re ahead of the game. It’s so important that everyone who works here is thinking about where the business can go next. Some people might say they don’t work in roles that lend themselves to spotting opportunities for growing the business. But we believe everyone can identify ways to improve things, which means that everyone has a role to play.

David Lewis Managing director, Integra People

When recruiting consultants, the main skills that we look for are personal qualities such as passion and drive. If you have a positive mindset and show dedication to your job, you will succeed. I firmly believe that if you show passion and drive, the rest of the necessary skills will follow. Other key attributes such as attention to detail, forward planning, communication skills, as well as being personable and approachable, are all qualities and skills needed to make a good recruiter.

Anna Stretch Recruitment and training manager, Outsource UK

Outstanding people skills are vital. We need staff who can quickly engage with candidates and clients in a professional and articulate way.

Solid organisational skills are important too, such as the ability to multi-task and prioritise. But it’s not all down to skills; having the right attitude is paramount.

Recruitment is not for the faint-hearted. We look for a determination to succeed and people who understand accountability. Integrity is important too; we want people who are honest, professional and do what they promise to do. Outsource staff are motivated to reach goals but also focus on building long-lasting relationships with candidates and clients.

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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Skills shortage worsens and employers fear school leavers are not equipped for work, says CBI survey (4 July) “I agree our schools do not equip our children for the ‘real world’. League tables are all good and dandy while the pupil is performing whilst at school, but what about the good old common sense and general knowledge aspect? I find that high achievers in school still need to know how the real world works when they are making their way into the field of work. More contact with business leaders, managing directors of companies need to be carried out. There is a real shortage of skilled engineers, and we need to do something like Karen Silk [MD, Capital International Staffing] in the article is doing. I would very much welcome an opportunity to help here.”

Christina Ashcroft Secondary school pupils are worried about their career choice, survey says (2 July) “Recruiters can definitely play a part. Capital International Staffing have produced a video ‘Create The World You Want’ and presentation to be taken into school to inform students looking at A Levels what good careers there are in engineering if they continue with the STEM subjects.”

Hazel Biggs, Capital International Staffing ECJ obesity case could have serious implications for UK recruitment (12 June) “It seems fair enough that everyone should be given an equal opportunity, irrespective of size, nationality, sex or any other factor that is not relevant to their performance in the job. On the other hand, it seems equally unfair that the burden of proof is with the recruiter. Recruiters are generally very fair and equal in their approach to hiring these days. Seems like the legal system constantly requires honest and fair professionals to have to constantly cover their back...”

Dan Midwinter, Completely Care Recruitment Consultants

RECRUITER

JULY 2014

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09/07/2014 12:41

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09/07/2014 12:35

Recruitment Matters Issue 27 July 2014

Trade Association of the Year

What’s inside The Intelligence 2-3 and REC Talk Temporary roles, policy-making and challenging perceptions

4-5

Alex Small of Penman IT was recently named Microsoft Apprentice of the Year

TREC 2014

Talent, Recruitment and Employment Conference

How to help the Young Ones “Young people have the skills but they just don’t know how to communicate them,” said Susannah Clements, deputy CEO at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development at the 2014 Talent, Recruitment and Employment Conference, held at the Grand Connaught Rooms, this year (see more on pages 4-5).

The need to guide, train and help young people into work is a key issue for recruiters, employers and policymakers at the moment. In a new poll, out of 501 employers interviewed by ICM Research more than two-fifths believe it is their duty to help develop the next generation workforce.

Offering work experience to young people through the government’s new Traineeship programme is just

one way employers can satisfy their desire to help. Launched last year, Traineeships is a scheme that aims to unlock young people’s potential by providing them with the work experience, work preparation training, and maths and English skills needed for an apprenticeship or other job.

Traineeships unlock the great potential of young people aged 16 to 23 (16 to 24 from August 2014) and prepare them for their future careers by helping them to become ‘work ready’.

Hundreds of employers, including the BBC, BT, National Grid and Jaguar Land Rover have already committed to helping young people through the Traineeship programme. And of course, once they are on a Traineeship

they have a better chance at securing an apprenticeship.

For example, Penman IT’s Alex Small, pictured above, who was recently named Microsoft Apprentice of the Year at a prestigious awards ceremony in the House of Commons.

Rogers Restoration Ltd is a family run electrical business based in Somerset that has committed to taking on two trainees. Rogers’ MD Mike Rogers says: “Businesses have a responsibility, no matter what their size, to invest in young people. Providing opportunities for them to develop and improve their skills is essential, and that’s why we have committed to offering Traineeships.”

For more information about Traineeships, visit bit.ly/Traineeships2014

The legal 6 lowdown and Business Development Contract talk and simple software solutions

Institute of Recruitment 7 Professionals We speak to Louise Smith of SThree and Robert Fisher of Manning about their career successes

Best Events 8 The and Training The REC Audited Education one year on

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Leading the Industry

the intelligence Long-term vs short-term

30 20 10 %

Nina Mguni, senior researcher at the REC, asks are temporary roles becoming more permanent?

Fig 1: Turnover growth year-on-year

Full Employment’, found that while permanent job starts fell by 25% since 2006, temporary jobs fell by 10%. The proportion of temporary job starts is now at 30%, marginally short of the 33% it was in 1996-97.

The number of temporary billings has continued to grow when compared month-onmonth. The graph below draws on data from Report on Jobs.

Recruiters report continued month-on-month growth for a year of billings received from the employment of temporary and contract staff.

Interestingly, there has been a squeeze on the availability of temporary staff. This has coincided with a slight uptick in growth in number of recruiters reporting that average hourly pay rates for temporary/contract staff are higher compared to the previous month.

Higher wage rates may entice more people to work as temporary workers, but what is also apparent is that flexibility is also driving people’s job decisions. A report by Demos and PCG found that the proportion of freelancing mothers has grown by 24%.

If indeed a structural shift in temporary jobs is in play, the recruitment industry will clearly play a crucial role in tapping into the broader motivations of why people opt to work in this way.

65 60 55 %

50 45 40 35 30

■ Temporary staff billing ■ Temporary staff pay rates ■ Temporary staff availability Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May 13 14

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0 -10 -20

■ Upper quartile ■ Median ■ Lower quartile May Jul Sep Nov Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan Mar 12 13 14

Fig 2: Total employees versus last year 30 20 10 %

Temporary jobs form a substantial part of the labour market and have become an increasingly prominent feature of the labour market in recent years. Some commentators explain the role of temporary work as a response to the recession.

Clearly temporary work is a useful mechanism to allow cautious businesses to manage fluctuations in demand, and trial workers. But as the recession ebbs, could there be a more significant structural shift in which temporary work is not merely counter-cyclical?

In our last analysis of the recruitment industry we found that 90.7% of turnover in the industry is from temporary agency work.

This equals £24bn of turnover in the industry in the year. The Recruitment Industry Trends survey, an annual survey of the industry, found that this proportion was 84.2% in 2007/08.

The number of temporary workers still remains high. In February to April 2014, the number of temporary workers stood at 1.673m, marginally higher compared to last year when this figure stood at 1.594m. This figure does refer to forms of temporary work, including seasonal and agency work but it has remained steady despite an uptick in business confidence.

A report by the TUC, ‘Equitable

0 -10 -20

■ Upper quartile ■ Median ■ Lower quartile May Jul Sep Nov Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan Mar 12 13 14

Long-term recovery We are pleased to say that RIB members continue to report an improving market. Figure 1 above shows the trend line for ‘turnover growth’ compared to the previous year and how this has been steadily improving over the last two years. Most pleasing of all is that 2014 has seen this growth accelerate.

In March and April 2014, median growth was over 13% positive on the same period in 2013. This means that for every month of 2014 the median growth figure – compared to last year – has been in excess of 10%. What is also worth noting is that the upper quartile of RIB members are reporting growth in excess of 25% when compared to last year. So over a quarter of RIB members are reporting growth of over 25% on 2013.

This growth has now been reflected in the profit margin, with March and April 2014 both reporting an improved figure of around 4.5%.

This is a positive picture that would appear to point towards strong growth and therefore not surprisingly we have also seen an increase in staff numbers (see Figure 2). It is interesting to note the rapid increase in numbers in 2014, as previous spare capacity is used up and recruiters become more positive about the longer-term prospects of recovery.

Of course professional recruiters will want to also look at other key measurements such as fee earner productivity, margins and cost control etc. However, the signs are positive and show that it is crucial that management utilize all the tools and industry knowledge available to them to ensure they optimize their performance in this dynamic marketplace.

• Crawfurd Walker is CEO at Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB) www.ribindex.com

www.rec.uk.com 08/07/2014 11:42

Leading the Industry

As policy-makers take recruitment increasingly seriously, let’s make sure they’re looking at the right things, says Tom Hadley, director of policy and professional services at the REC

The View

Recruitment and employment issues continue to rise up both the political and business agendas. And our priority is to ensure our industry’s voice remains at the forefront of all major labour market debates.

Jobs, pay, immigration, personal taxation, social mobility and inclusion are all hot topics. We engage positively with all the major parties on these and other issues, and put forward pragmatic solutions. Some are more challenging than others, in particular immigration, where our calls for policy to reflect labour market needs are likely to be buffeted by the howling populist gale of what remains a highly politicised debate.

Other areas we have increasingly been asked to comment on are youth and long-term unemployment. Our 2010 Youth Employment Taskforce made recommendations on promoting apprenticeships and creating incentives for business to hire young people. Progress has been made in these areas but one major weakness is the lack of an effective careers guidance network. Employer bodies in many sectors are playing a role and businesses (including a number of REC members) are getting involved in initiatives like STEM Ambassadors and Inspiring the Future. Employers and recruiters want to make a difference by working with local schools and colleges but a core message at the recent Westminster Employment Forum on ‘Preparing Young People For Work’ was that there needs to be a coordinated and effective guidance network.

A further priority is to ensure that manifesto murmurings reflect the changing nature of work. Sometimes the political and media debate can unfairly characterise freelance, contract or agency work as an option of last resort for people who would prefer to have a traditional permanent role, rather than a way of working that many people actively choose. The perception among some politicians is that individuals working as agency staff, contractors or interim management are either victims of some sort of mass-casualisation conspiracy or tax-dodgers. Challenging these perceptions and underlining the fact that personal choice is a major driver is the key aim of our forthcoming report on flexible workers.

We held a fantastic conference last month called the Talent Recruitment and Employment Conference (TREC) for the first time and we had as many HR, talent and in-house recruiters in the room as REC members.

Before the conference, both sides had told us that they thought this was a mistake as our differences would come to the fore and progress would be limited. Nothing could have been further from the truth. If we look at the talent and resourcing issues organisations are experiencing then we have a common interest in looking for solutions.

The recruitment industry has had a year of rapid growth and we believe we are now bigger than before the financial crisis and recession. So why do we still see in-house recruiters as a problem? Clients are becoming more sophisticated in their resourcing strategies, they have many of the same tools as us, be that job boards, social media or application tracking systems. The more thoughtful our clients are, the more likely that when they use agencies, it is where we can add the most value.

I was talking to a large IT and engineering recruiter recently, who said two years ago he and his colleagues were very fearful about the rise of the in-house recruiter. He admitted that they had lost a lot of easy-to-do assignments to in-house teams but said they got as many more senior and difficult roles to fill. They were more acknowledged by the client for their expertise and were making more money because the client could see the value.

The impending talent crisis calls for clients and recruiters to work together to innovate and develop solutions. It’s in all our interests that our businesses have the talent they need to succeed because this creates growth and demand for more people.

So let’s stop being defensive, stop looking for differences and work together as partners.

• You can follow Tom on Twitter @hadleyscomment

• You can follow Kevin on Twitter @kevingreenrec

Challenging perceptions

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The Big Talking Point

Hiring for growth The TREC conference was full of inspiring insights into the skills and talent gaps, and how to fill them as the jobs market kicks up a notch

Panel 3, with Neil Morrison chairing

“

Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” That’s one of Richard Branson’s snippets of recruitment wisdom and it was just one of many pieces of advice raised at last month’s Talent, Recruitment & Employment Conference (TREC 2014), where over 100 people in recruitment and HR came together to discuss the differences between talent and skills, the shortages in certain industries and the possible solutions from the UK’s best and brightest.

Kevin Green opened the conference, which took place at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London’s Covent Garden on 24 June, citing sources as diverse as Bruce Springsteen lyrics and his admiration for film director Martin Scorsese’s tough but impressive management style as inspiration for “hiring for growth”, the conference mantra, as well as for effective retention. “We were so pleased to see talent, HR, in-house recruiters and agencies

Young people have the skills but they just don’t know how to communicate them Susannah Clements, deputy CEO, CIPD

Katie Jacobs, deputy editor, HR Magazine at TREC

all in the same room talking about the best candidates and how to find and keep them. It was a great day,” said Green.

For more information on the event go to http://www.rec.uk.com/businesssupport/events/trec-2014 www.rec. uk.com/trec

We would just like to extend our thanks to @RECPress & @kevingreenrec for yesterday’s #TREC2014 great event with some great info!

Brookson Accountancy

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www.rec.uk.com 08/07/2014 11:44

Call good leavers 3-6 months after to see how green is the grass you left for? Good source of rehires.

Flip it on its head Jennifer Candee, head of global talent acquisition, SAB Miller

Who was there?

Live audience response session Led by: Kevin Green, CEO, REC, talking to Jennifer Candee, head of global talent acquisition, SAB Miller and Robert Zajko, director of talent acquisition EMEA, Hilton Worldwide Panel 1: Sourcing new talent: trends, developments and skillsets Chair: Katie Jacobs, deputy editor, HR Magazine Panelists: Susannah Clements, deputy CEO, CIPD; Colin Minto, group head resourcing and HR systems, G4S; Kean August, VP global executive recruiting, SAP

Kevin Green at TREC

Round Tables on subjects including ‘The Changing face of Sourcing Channels’ and ‘Identifying, Sourcing and Developing a Broad Range of Talent’ Led by Tom Sayer, talent acquisition lead at Accenture; Kean August, VP global executive recruitment at SAP; Gary Franklin, founder and director at The FIRM; Jason Silk, talent acquisition director at Randstad; Martin Hesketh, managing director at Brookson; Caroline Roberts, HR director (VP) Europe at Fox International Channels; Neil Morrison, group HR director at Penguin Random House; Colin Minto, group head resourcing and HR systems at G4S; and Angela Goldsmith, head of European resourcing at Diageo Keynote address from Dean Royles, chief executive at NHS Employers

Susannah Clements, deputy CEO, CIPD and Colin Minto, group head resourcing and HR systems, G4S at TREC

Technology is just an enabler of your recruitment & engagement processes. Not the solution itself Kean August, VP global executive recruiting, SAP

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Panel 2: Development and Retention: managing the evolution of talent Chair: David Head, Recruitment International Panelists: Charlie Keeling, global HR director at Clyde & Co; Tom Baker, former director group resourcing and talent acquisition at Barclays; Miles Stribbling, director of strategic partnerships at Phaidon International Panel 3: Creating a Top Class Career Path Chair: Neil Morrison, group HR director, Penguin Random House Panelists: Paul Maxin, head of talent & resourcing at FCA; Chris Moore, COO at Adecco; James Atkins, head of recruitment and learning EMEA at Caterpillar

Recruitment Matters July 2014 5

08/07/2014 11:44

Legal Update

Contract talk How do you ensure that terms have been properly provided and accepted, asks the REC’s Chris Cuckney

Getty

Under the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, employment businesses have an obligation to agree terms with their clients before they introduce or supply temporary workers to the client.

Similarly, although not a legal requirement, employment agencies are strongly advised as a matter of best practice to have their terms of business agreed with their clients before introducing permanent candidates to clients. However, the fast-paced nature of the recruitment industry does not always allow time to have your terms and conditions formally signed by your clients. REC Legal regularly receives queries from members trying to enforce terms (in particular fee clauses) where they have difficulty demonstrating acceptance of terms. REC members also often ask whether they can digitally sign documents to create a legally binding contract with their clients (this is more commonly known as using electronic signatures).

In England and Wales a contract is formed when there is clear acceptance of the terms and conditions. ● A signature is the best way to demonstrate acceptance of terms. This can be a hard copy or a scanned copy of the signed document.

Chris Cuckney, REC legal advisor

● Terms can also be accepted by email (ideally the email would confirm the date terms were sent) or, for example where you are ordering online, you can simply have a tick box to indicate your acceptance of the terms. ● Terms can also be accepted verbally.

However, in the event of a dispute it could be harder to prove that the terms were actually accepted. Where the terms have been discussed verbally, it might be difficult to establish what terms were agreed between the parties. ● Finally, acceptance can also be implied where one party has read the other party’s terms and conditions, and instructs them to go ahead and provide the service/goods that have been offered.

In law certain contracts must be agreed in writing and must be signed traditionally (ie. they must be signed by hand); for example, a will must be signed in writing and cannot be done by electronic signature. However,

for most commercial contracts, including a contract for the provision of recruitment services, electronic signatures can be used as another method of acceptance, provided that the technology has been used by the parties with the intention of creating legal relations.

The Electronic Communications Act 2000 and the Electronic Signatures Regulations 2002, which implement the European Directive on a Community framework for electronic signatures, ensures that electronic signatures can be used in court. All of the normal provisions that are required for a legally binding contract continue to apply (offer, acceptance, consideration and an intention to create legal relations).

Ultimately electronic signatures can be used to agree contracts with clients.

Where you are using electronic signatures you should agree with your client that this method of acceptance will be used and use software that also incorporates technology to authenticate the signatory.

Further information on the use of electronic signatures can be found in the guidance produced by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, which is available on their website. Alternatively REC corporate members can contact the REC Legal Team on 020 7009 2199.

Business development: The fundamentals When you’re looking for front and back office recruitment software, you want to know first and foremost that the one you choose can get the job done quickly, efficiently and for a reasonable price. This, says Adrian Kruger, director of the REC’s new business partner, is precisely what Intersoftware does.

The company’s ‘enterprise’ software is modular, designed for any size of agency, temp or perm, and can be used with other recruitment and accounting systems. The software also has a variety of compliance modules including travel and subsistence schemes, pensions auto-enrolment, AWR and RTI. “We do the fundamentals. There are systems out there that bounce things off satellite systems and do all sorts of flashy things

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with social media. We don’t really do that; not because we can’t but because there are some really basic things that just need doing – efficient pension auto-enrolment, for instance – and those things need doing for everything else in recruitment to run smoothly,” says Kruger.

REC members will now be eligible for a 10% discount on new software licences. “We are especially involved with helping a wide variety of agencies with technology and legislative issues, and are joining forces with the REC in a series of workshops over the coming months on compliance issues – in particular, pensions auto-enrolment,” adds Kruger. “This is very pertinent to SMEs and temp-orientated agencies at the moment.”

For more information contact Intersoftware on 0161 969 4433

www.rec.uk.com 08/07/2014 11:45

Inspiration

Behind the scenes at the Institute of Recruitment Professionals

Recruiting for recruiters This month we speak to Louise Smith of specialist recruitment company SThree, who won In-House Recruiter of the Year at the 2013 IRP Awards

How did it feel to win the award?

2012 and 2013 were definitely my peak years in terms of results for me at SThree. I’m now moving into more of a management role, so it is lovely to have been recognised and have such a defining memory of the more hands-on times. We have some of the best people in the industry at SThree and it’s a great place to work. So it’s important for me to challenge myself to work at that the highest level, and it’s been great to get the recognition internally from my colleagues.

What was it that got the judges’ attention do you think?

My performance meant I was the top talent acquisition consultant globally in 2012, which hopefully helped! I’ve also been interested in getting involved with other projects, such as redesigning our assessment day, introducing new interview formats and SLAs to streamline processes and increase retention. I also became involved with Identity, a programme launched in 2011 to increase representation of women in senior positions at SThree.

Where did you start and how long have you been in your current job?

After gaining a year’s B2B sales experience I started with SThree in 2007 on the centralised Internal Recruitment team in Manchester. I spent two years there recruiting for our France, Benelux and Dach regions before relocating to London out of personal choice. I was approached by SThree two years later in 2011 to return to the UK Talent Acquisition team and in a further two years reached principal consultant level.

What do you enjoy about recruitment?

The rapport I build with candidates, money, incentive holidays, lunch clubs, the fun environment... as well as doing a good job for my internal clients who are also colleagues, some of whom are good friends. Also coaching team members to maximise their potential. Lots of things!

What would you do if you weren’t in recruitment, do you think?

I’ll say something maybe to do with wine tasting or oenology [study of wine and winemaking] – that could be fun!

Things I Know This month Robert Fisher, recruitment manager at Manning, gives us his thoughts and tips on success in recruitment Don’t take yourself too seriously Look, some requests you’ll fill some you won’t.

Some clients you’ll get on with, some you won’t.

When you start in recruitment no two days are the same. You’re dealing with people not products, and so you’ve got to roll with the punches. You need quite a thick skin.

Treat people equally Having said that, you’ve got to go the extra mile.

Treat the candidates as you would want to be treated yourself and treat each client as if they’re your only client. I always have done, and it’s served me well.

Don’t feel you need to move I’ve been at Manning for 23 years, ever since I’ve been in recruitment. I used to be a documentation controller in the energy industry and Manning was one of the agencies I worked through. Then one day the old director at Manning encouraged me to move across – I only meant to do it for six months but really enjoyed it. I’ve been offered other jobs, but I’ve stayed because I always felt I could progress here and help make the business the best that it can be.

You have to change or die Manning has changed a lot. We were once heavily involved in the offshore construction industry but there’s not much of that now. When the recession happened there wasn’t so much recruitment, so we adapted and did outplacements for the job centre. We didn’t just pursue things that we’d always done; we thought, things are hard, ok, what other skills do we have?

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

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Recruitment Matters July 2014 7

08/07/2014 11:46

Events and training

Education, education, education It’s the REC Audited Education product’s first birthday. Here’s how it’s been doing…

It’s been one year since the REC responded to market demand and launched the REC Audited Education product. In that time we have been delighted with the response from REC recruiters and the education sector. Over 40 agencies are working towards, or have achieved, REC Audited Education status and there are another 30 in the pipeline.

At the current rate of interest, we are on course to have just as many members signed up to REC Audited Education as were part of the Quality Mark in its whole ten year history.

REC Audited Education, as you would expect, ensures safeguarding and that agencies are undertaking all the relevant checks when recruiting teachers. REC Audited Education enables schools and education providers to be confident that they are using an accredited supplier, who puts standards at the centre of their business.

The audit goes way beyond just compliance, requiring agencies to demonstrate that they operate best practice in areas such as customer service, staff development, diversity and client management. The package includes a feedback report specific to your business and complementary documents from the REC Business Toolkit.

The process starts with an online diagnostic and is followed by an on-site audit by one of our experts, who will not just check your documentation, but will talk to you and your staff about your processes and systems, providing practical support to ensure you are a best practice recruiter.

REC head of compliance, Angie Nicholls, said: “When the Department for Education withdrew support for the Quality Mark, we knew that we had to

respond quickly, building on all that we had learnt from delivering the Quality Mark over the last decade.

“We have put that experience to really good use by creating something that is even more robust than the governmentinitiated offer and recruiters tell us that this is what has given schools confidence in the product, which is the most important thing.”

Member feedback has been equally positive. Director of PK Education, Karl Housley FIRP (pictured above, far left), said: “Yes the new standards in REC Audited Education are tough and certainly put us through our paces but it was asking for nothing more than I would expect from a high quality agency. The fact that the REC team was with us for a whole day meant that we had plenty of opportunities to ask questions and really hone in on what we could do to improve our levels of service.”

A really important part of the development of REC Audited Education

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

8 Recruitment Matters July 2014

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has been the ongoing support, advice and guidance of the steering group. The group is chaired by Prof John Howson of the University of Oxford and steering group members include the Department for Education (DfE), the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), Voice the Union and The Schools Network (SSAT). The steering group has helped the REC keep fully abreast of developments on the frontline of the education system and in turn, it can share these insights with members.

The regular REC Education sector group meetings continue to be the best channel for members to hear the latest advice from the steering group.

Given the changes to the guidance on safeguarding in schools, DBS checks and at Ofsted, it has never been more important to keep up with developments in the sector.

The next Education sector group meeting is on 23 September.

For more information visit www.rec.uk.com/auditededucation

Membership Department: Membership: 020 7009 2100, Customer Services: 020 7009 2100 Publishers: Redactive Publishing Ltd, 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP. Tel: 020 7880 6200. www.redactive.co.uk Publisher: Aaron Nicholls aaron.nicholls@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 8547 Consulting Editor: Ed Sexton ed.sexton@rec.uk.com Editorial: Editor: Francesca Steele francesca.steele@redactive.co.uk. Production Editor: Vanessa Townsend Production: Deputy Production Manager: Kieran Tobin. kieran.tobin@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6240 Printing: Printed by Woodford Litho © 2014 Recruitment Matters. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, neither REC, Redactive Publishing Ltd nor the authors can accept liability for errors or omissions. Views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the REC or Redactive Publishing Ltd. No responsibility can be accepted for unsolicited manuscripts or transparencies. No reproduction in whole or part without written permission.

www.rec.uk.com 08/07/2014 11:47

The Software

for Global Recruitment Businesses

Profile RPM is much more than a simple

‘off-the-shelf’ recruitment software solution.

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09/07/2014 12:36

Insight

Subjective opinion: one element of selection GET PAST THE OVER-USE OF SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS AND CREATE A MORE OBJECTIVE ‘LANGUAGE OF TALENT’, SAYS ARVINDER DHESI “Bob’s a great guy.” These are words that are guaranteed to make you wince if you have ever facilitated a bunch of senior executives in a review of the internal talent pool — or discussed a potential external hire. The phrase is often expressed with a confident finality that seems closed to any kind of challenge.

Bob might be a great guy — but will he be great at the job? It’s natural to rely heavily on gut-feel and intuition — particularly when making decisions about people. And indeed, personal chemistry, preference and perception are valuable parts of assessing a person’s suitability for a role or for the organisation.

However, not balancing these subjective opinions with objectivity is a risky strategy. The US Department of Labor has recently calculated the average cost of a bad hire at around 30% of the individual’s first-year earnings. These potentially hefty financial penalties of hires gone wrong need to be mitigated by recruitment and appointment processes.

There are two main problems with relying solely on personal judgements. Firstly, it’s backward looking. Secondly, without an agreed, forwardlooking frame of reference to judge potential candidates, the decision will be more of a reflection on the character and relationships of the decisionmaker than a dispassionate judgement based on an agreed future requirement. Too often, internal talent reviews tell you more about the power of patronage in the company than the health of the talent bench.

Therefore, a critical early step in creating an objective foundation on which to build talent strategy and ultimately make hiring decisions is defining the organisation’s frame of reference — or a common ‘language of talent’.

The tool most often used to create a common language of talent within organisations is the Competency Model — another phrase guaranteed to make some people wince. In fact, one of my previous bosses banned all mention of ‘competencies’ from the business. His team found many creative ways to avoid using the phrase because, whether we admit or not, competencies describe the essential ingredients of success at work. Competencies might describe management skills that contribute to better leadership, such as ‘resourcefulness’, ‘courage’ or ‘decision quality’.

Most large organisations use some form

of competency library as the basis for job specifications, leadership development plans or annual performance reviews. Formal competency assessment, however, can add a high degree of accuracy to predicting job performance, including that at the most senior levels.

Some competencies are related to high performance at all levels of management, including ‘ensures accountability’, ‘manages complexity’ and ‘drives results’. Others — such as ‘nimble learning’, ‘cultivates innovation’, ‘directs work’, ‘courage’ and ‘resourcefulness’ — become more crucial as one moves up into the ranks of senior leadership.

Adeptness with a particular competency may suggest an innate gift. But most competencies can be developed over time, in the right context; with the right motivation and support, including coaching, stretch assignments and feedback, almost all individuals can make measurable progress on competencies.

Competency models can be bespoke or offthe-shelf. We know that all of these models will combine, in varying quantities, some aspects of: • Thought — such as ‘business acumen’ or ‘decision quality’ • Results — such as ‘action-oriented’ or ‘plans and aligns’ • People — such as ‘builds effective teams’ • Self – such as ‘resilience’ Whether competency models are home-grown or bought, there is a high degree (up to 85%) of overlap, so there’s not much value in reinventing the wheel. We recommend a hybrid approach, using a standardised, research-based model with some elements that can then be adapted for the organisation’s particular ethos and culture.

Regardless of the model employed, competencies are the building blocks from which the talent structure is built.

But competencies aren’t the end of the story. Korn Ferry has determined that human performance in the workplace is governed by four factors: competencies, experiences, traits and drivers.

The most holistic and accurate view of a potential candidate examines all four of these dimensions, combining objective assessment and experienced judgement to build a robust recommendation for the best person for the job.

By looking at the whole person and balancing the subjective with the objective, it’s possible to decide with confidence whether ‘Bob the great guy’ will also be great in the new role.

Power Points How to create a ‘language of talent’ Defining the organisation’s frame of reference — or a common ‘language of talent’ — is a critical early step in creating an objective foundation on which to build talent strategy and ultimately make hiring decisions.

The tool most often used to create a common ‘language of talent’ within organisations is the Competency Model.

This is a set of specific qualities, behaviours or skills that the company views as essential ingredients among their workforce, required in different quantities depending on the role and level.

ARVINDER DHESI is senior client partner for the EMEA HR practice at leadership and talent consultancy Korn Ferry

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

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The Challenge

Putting squaddies back in the driving seat Alex Bond

Adam MarchantWincott

HR adviser

SOURCING THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO MEET THE METICULOUS TIMINGS OF AN F1 TEAM PROVED TO BE A MATTER OF MILITARY PRECISION FOR MISSION MOTORSPORT THE CHALLENGE When Recruiter comes across case studies for The Challenge, it’s usually one firm helping out another organisation with a particular project or issue. Although it’s beneficial to both sides for different reasons, this month’s Challenge shows two companies working together to solve each other’s problems.

In the world of motorsport, the Caterham F1 team is a relative newcomer, competing in the Formula One World Championship only since 2012. As a new team, the design, production, research & development and the plethora of precision tweaks that is involved in getting the car fit for the starting grid is an expensive process.

Sourcing the right people to work as part of a racing team can also prove costly, in terms of cultural fit, training and recruitment.

In addition to the usual F1 team work, Caterham’s HR adviser Alex Bond explained that the team wanted to find a charity or some form of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the local community, “preferably something with a motorsport angle”, he said. After some research, Bond came across the charity Mission Motorsport (MMS), which — as the name might suggest — “fitted the bill exactly”, Bond said.

MMS was co-founded in 2011 by British Army Major James Cameron.

On returning from commanding the Armoured Group in Afghanistan, a number of his men were wounded

as a result of the tour. He was determined to do something “for the blokes”, and as a result of his love for motorsport took a number of the wounded soldiers out for a day’s racing. “The idea was to provide motorsport as a recovery activity — using the healing power of sport,” Cameron told Recruiter. A number of the soldiers got job offers from firms in the motorsport industry as a direct result of their day’s racing and so his initiative grew into a defencewide charity and MMS was born.

THE SOLUTION Bond thought this could be a solution for Caterham, not only to fulfil its CSR needs but also to find keen armed forces personnel for the F1 team’s workshops, and after speaking with MMS’s career and relationship manager Adam Marchant-Wincott, both were “really excited”, said Bond.

It would also benefit MMS in equal measure, as finding work experience placements for those leaving the services is what the

armed forces personnel need.

“Soldiers all leave with vocational qualifications,” Cameron said, “and they have people-centric skills. In the army it’s all about managing people.” Marchant-Wincott added: “What they lack is commercial experience; this is often quite alien to them. That’s why we’re keen to expose them [to the commercial world] on work placements.”

Starting in ‘civvy street’ can be challenging enough, Cameron explained, but when the decision has been forced upon you due to serious illness or injury, this can be daunting.

The MoD’s Recovery Career Services (RCS) places those injured servicemen and women with various organisations, depending on their individual needs. “The RCS has 19 specialist employment consultants, who have a portfolio of not more than 30 WIS [wounded, injured, sick personnel] each,” Marchant-Wincott explained.

MMS exposes them to the civilian world initially through sport but “taking advantage of the healthy

Can you solve The Challenge?

Across the UK there are several hundred ex-service personnel looking for work placements and keen to show their outstanding work ethic to employers. “Are you willing to take someone eager and willing to learn, someone who is dedicated, task-focused and loyal?”

Marchant-Wincott told Recruiter. Whether you work in a recruitment agency or in an in-house environment, take up the challenge and contact Adam Marchant-Wincott from Mission Motorsport on 03330 338338 or amw@ missionmotorsport.org

Relationship manager

basis of the UK motor industry in particular”, he added. As Bond explained: “It’s a free placement for us and it gives the MMS person an enjoyable work experience.” One of the first work placements was David Colman, who had a lot of problems not only medically but also in building up his confidence following his army discharge.

“When he first came to Caterham he was very shy and quiet,” Bond said. “He was a good worker though. We allow people to become comfortable in the role — we allow them to transform and open up.” So impressed was Bond with his work ethic and attitude that Caterham offered Colman a full-time role once his placement came to an end.

“Everyone starts on a work placement, sometimes for just two weeks but they stay on if appropriate,” Bond explained. “It’s cost-effective for us — we’ve saved on recruitment costs, trialled them already and trained them up for the work.” The MMS placements have also had a “definite positive effect” on the rest of the team, Bond said. Not only are the staff willing to help, on finding out about the MMS work placement person’s situation, it can be very motivating for the team. “Service personnel have a really good attitude to work.

They’re passionate, keen and on time,” Bond said. “It’s not just lip service or good CSR: three or four guys all left at once and it was a real blow to the finishing department.

MMS personnel all added to the productivity of the department.”

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

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Profile

Dean Royles DEEDEE DOKE SPOKE WITH THE OUTGOING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF NHS EMPLOYERS

Three-and-a-half years into his role as chief executive at the NHS Employers organisation, a seemingly out-of-the-blue announcement emerged on 7 July that Dean Royles was leaving for a new job. From September, Royles will join Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as director of human resources and organisational development.

The genial Yorkshireman is likely relishing this new opportunity, which puts him squarely at the coalface of the Leeds hospital system’s workforce transformation. And Leeds is among the NHS centres of care which are very much under an unrelenting spotlight at the moment. Revelations of entertainer Jimmy Savile’s trail of rampant sexual abuse of children, staff and vulnerable adults across Leeds hospitals forced the Trust to spend £1m on an in-depth enquiry, it was disclosed just three days after Royles’

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new appointment was announced. However, staffing and staff values throughout the NHS continue to be under the most intense scrutiny after appalling human failings in patient care at the Mid Staffordshire [Mid Staffs] Foundation Trust came to light. And at the same time, the NHS faces massive downward pressures on staffing budgets and on its costs overall.

This is clearly no time for the faint-hearted within the NHS. But Royles, as pleasant, smiling and welcoming a host to his Leeds office as he was in June, is not the faint-hearted kind. So when the announcement of his new appointment quoted Royles as describing his new job as “a fantastic opportunity to be joining … at such an exciting time” and “a huge privilege”, this was undoubtedly his genuine reaction, and not mere PR speak.

At NHS Employers, Royles has been leading an organisation that calls itself “the voice of employers in the NHS”. He has also been a director of the NHS Confederation, the membership body for all organisations that commission and provide NHS services. And at the onset of our conversation in June, Royles was keen to clear up common misconceptions about the NHS today as he drank from an NHS Employers mug in a room where writing on the walls seemed to be standard.

“I think when you look at the NHS, it is very easy to see it as one organisation,” he

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PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD LEA-HAIR

ROYLES’ PHILOSOPHY OF RESOURCING “Getting the right person in the right job and giving them a more fulfilling job and career. If they are more fulfilled in it we get better patient care. That should be the starting point in the way that we engage with employees. Because if we get that relationship right, then lots of positives flow from it”

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suggests in a 90-minute interview with Recruiter.

Instead, he says, it’s necessary to see the vast healthcare service as a multi-faceted industry, and not a ‘one size fits all’ service provider, “where you can have different solutions developing in different areas. So when we look at the workforce in those terms, if we think ‘industry’, then we start to be more imaginative and creative about what the answer of the ‘possible’ is, rather than being fixated on an organisational mindset”.

But at the same time, while different geographies and facilities within the NHS may experience unique staffing needs and require different kinds of solutions, the realisation has dawned that the values of NHS staff must be non-negotiable. To embed the values of a care and compassion-focused culture, Royles contended that one part of the solution is to start from scratch with future NHS staff members when they are first accepted by universities for their training.

“One of the things we are looking at … on the back of Mid Staffs is, how can we look across the industry and that there is a common set of values here?” Royles explains.

“We might describe them slightly differently in different ways,” he acknowledges, “but we want universities to be working with local employers to make sure they [the universities] are recruiting people with the right values in the first place. As they go through their education and are looking to get into employment, and local [NHS] employers are looking to employ them, then testing on those values that they’ve agreed ahead of time. Then as they come into roles, we see how they perform, we are testing them on living those values and then supporting them with that through training, development and access to further education to do it.”

This, he says, is key to how the NHS can potentially have this “broad understanding” of core values “so that we are all looking similarly. People move around the NHS, so their understanding of expectations becomes common in different parts of the system”.

However, he adds, “you can’t just deal with one bit of it” and simply hope that “eventually in 40 years — if we just relied on the tap dripping in — everything changes”.

Because large segments of the NHS workforce are also recruited straight from the local communities the facilities serve, some NHS organisations are also looking at how to best put situational and judgment testing into their recruitment practises. “How can they measure the people who are coming in? With scenario planning, case studies, group work, exercises, psychometric testing and all those sorts of things,” he explains.

He offers a success story example of an NHS organisation that was experiencing high turnover of healthcare assistants that turned the situation around through their recruitment process. Healthcare assistants support registered staff to deliver care with “very hands on” responsibilities. For instance, they might be called upon to hold the hand of a dying patient, Royles explains, “and there will be things that [they] have to do around blood and vomit and faeces and urine.

The question potential healthcare assistants must ask themselves is, ‘[am I] comfortable to be able to do that in a way that offers a patient dignity?’ ” he asks.

To combat the high turnover and give potential healthcare assistants a ‘warts and all’ look at what the job requires, the organisation launched orientation

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ROYLES’ SECRET OF SUCCESS “Very strong and supportive family connections. The relationship with my immediate and extended family is hugely important to me, and they have been fantastic supporters of what I do and have encouraged it”

DEAN ROYLES’ CV From Sept 2014: Director of HR and organisational development, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Dec 2010present: Chief executive, NHS Employers

Dec 2007-Dec 2010: Director of workforce and education, NHS Northwest

Apr 2006-Dec 2007: Director of HR and comms, United Lincs Hospitals NHS Trust

Apr 2003March 2006: Director of HR Capability and Capacity, DoH

Apr 2001- Mar 2003: Director of HR, East Midlands Ambulance Service

days as part of the recruitment process. Only people who participated in an orientation day are ultimately considered for the jobs. Some candidates subsequently self select out of the running, and others go on to undergo further interviews and assessment in terms of the values. Since the orientation days were added, the turnover of hired healthcare assistants who leave has dropped, Royles says.

“It’s a win-win-win,” he said. “The patients benefit because they are getting people with absolutely core values that are helping and serving them. The organisation wins because they have staff that are respectful, and people talk about the sort of treatment they get, and of course in terms of reducing turnover it is less expensive. So the money that is spent on training, development and recruiting is more focused in a way.”

But for staff not directly employed by the NHS, agencies’ recruitment and values measuring methods come into question. And the answers must be tied up into an overall workforce planning vision, Royles opines.

“I think this will drive a much more strategic approach about working with recruitment agencies. It is not just all about reducing costs of the agency spend, but recognising a more strategic relationship, saying: ‘How can we be sure that the people you are bringing in, that we are using, align with the sorts of values and the care that we want here?’”

Referencing the framework agreements on which many recruitment agencies are contracted (“and there is an ability to go off framework as well”, he adds): “How do we work with those agencies on the framework so we’ve got a better understanding of the expectations in terms of values and not necessarily just about CRB [Criminal Records Bureau, now replaced by Disclosure and Barring Service checks] qualifications and registration with an appropriate professional body?”

He went on to say: “I think at the moment the relationship is typified by saying ‘we have these stopgap opportunities that we need you to send people in for with short notice, and we want you to be able to do that at the drop of a hat. And we want to drive down the costs of you being able to do it.’

“Now a more strategic approach will allow us to be more creative in our planning about, what is a reasonable expectation of the agency workers we are going to need. And how we work with people to be assured that the people we’ve got coming in have the right values? And can we be better at planning and plotting that?”

In the aftermath of his appointment, we asked Royles what he thought his legacy as NHS Employers’ CEO might be for recruitment. Values again was his theme. “I would like to think that we have shifted the dial in two important areas,” he said. “The first is on recruiting staff for values. The second area is the growing awareness of social media in recruitment, and I’m sure this will be significant in the next few years.”

There’s a big job ahead for Royles at Leeds Learning Hospitals. But this looks like a case of the right person for the right job at the right time.

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Entry Tip Please ensure you pay particular attention to all compulsory questions, in order for your entry to be accepted for judging.

INVESTING IN TALENT AWARDS 2014

Start THE AWARDS Talent is like gold dust – there’s never enough of it.

And like great wealth, great talent requires investment – in learning & development and an attractive pay & benefits strategy, for example.

Recruiter's 2014 Charity of the year

But it takes an insightful, strategically clever recruitment business to recognise the value of investing in its current and future talent.

Do your recruiters love working in your business?

Is your company the consultancy of choice for contractors and temporary workers? If so, it’s time that your business receives well-deserved recognition for Investing in Talent.

Entry Tip Unless otherwise specified, initiatives and strategies outlined in the entries should have been in place at least from 1 January 2012.

WHY ENTER? Entry Tip Judges will be looking for innovation and business impact

Recruiter is looking for recruitment businesses that set, and exceed, industry standards.

Recruiter editor DeeDee Doke commented “Competition for the talent that can make a difference to a business has never been higher. Recruitment businesses compete with professional service companies, and with each other, to attract and retain motivated staff. They also compete to place and represent top-quality contractors and temporary workers. We have introduced these honours to help the best of the best – those recruiters who invest in their talent – to stand out in a crowded field.”

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There are 18 categories specially designed to identify the best recruitment companies to work for.

Simply visit investingintalent.co.uk for descriptions on each of the categories and to download entry forms.

Categories include:

• BEST CONTRACTOR CARE • • BEST SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYABILITY STRATEGY • • BEST WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT • • MOST EFFECTIVE FLEXIBLE WORKING STRATEGY • • MOST EFFECTIVE PAY & BENEFITS STRATEGY •

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BOOK YOUR TABLE Book tickets for the ceremony which takes place at lunchtime on Wednesday 22 October 2014 at Congress Centre, London, WC1B 3LS

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Each category has a different Entry Form which can be downloaded from the categories page of the website.

Enquiries @

Call: +44 (0) 20 7880 6226 Email: emilia.tosner@redactive.co.uk investingintalent.co.uk

AWARDS ENQUIRIES Twitter: @RecruiterAwards

Call: +44 (0) 20 7880 6226 www.

Website: investingintalent.co.uk

@

Email: emilia.tosner@redactive.co.uk

LinkedIn: @RecruiterMagazine

Back office

Backlog barriers

GETTY

ALTHOUGH RECRUITERS MAY NOT BE SNOWED UNDER BY A PHYSICAL PAPER MOUNTAIN, THE ADMINISTRATION CAUSED

BY NEW LAWS AND CHANGES TO LEGISLATION STILL NEEDS TO BE DEALT WITH. SUE WEEKES INVESTIGATES

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With the introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations in October 2011 and the arrival of HM Revenue & Customs Real-Time Information in 2013, the pressure has been on for recruitment businesses to get back office systems in order to deal with the extra administration such legislation brings.

If that wasn’t enough, there is also the not-so-small matter of a landmark change in workplace pensions law to deal with. Pensions auto-enrolment means that all employers are legally required to enrol those members of staff who qualify into a pension scheme.

For bigger companies, pensions auto-enrolment staging dates began back in October 2012. Many medium-sized firms have also gone “through the gate” and smaller companies are timetabled to do so between now and 2018.

Unless robust back office systems and software are in place, many recruitment businesses will struggle to cope with its demands. The signs are that it is already proving an issue for some.

Data obtained by outsourced employment provider Parasol under the Freedom of Information Act reveals that between 1 October 2012 and 30 April 2014, The Pensions Regulator recorded 25 breaches by recruitment agencies and staffing firms. Parasol reports that the nature of the breaches wasn’t known but examples could be poor record-keeping, a lack of communication and encouraging or coercing workers to opt out of a pension scheme. The regulator revealed 13 voluntary visits were made to recruitment firms during October 2012 and December 2013 to share “good practice”. Fines of up to £50,000 can be imposed for non-compliance.

Derek Kelly, managing director of Parasol, says the figures should act as a stark reminder to the recruitment industry that it is “being watched like a hawk” over pensions auto-enrolment. “Although no fines have been imposed to date, it’s likely that the regulator’s patience may wear thin as time progresses and that future breaches could result in financial penalties,” he says.

Clearly it is those recruitment businesses which pay large numbers of temporary, seasonal and part-time workers that are likely to have most issues given the changing nature of their payrolls compared to other businesses. And it is impossible to manage this level of information without the right software.

“It means you are dealing with vast volumes of data coming in and out on a regular basis,” says Jason Martin, commercial director of Safe Computing, which provides payroll, HR and financial software and services to recruitment firms. “You might be paying 25,000 people a week but they could be a different 25,000 over the course of several months. It’s the constant changeability that causes problems.”

Preparation and advance planning is everything when it comes to auto-enrolment. Parasol had to implement a compliant workplace pension scheme for thousands of contractors and created a dedicated project team more than a year ahead of its staging date, involving a number of departments including operations, employee support, HR, finance/payroll and IT.

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PENSIONS CHECKLIST Must do’s for those firms whose staging gate is approaching • Plan early, at least one year if not 18 months before the staging date and form a project team • Research your pension provider options • Talk to your software provider about how it can support you through the process • Put a communications strategy in place that aims for clarity and full transparency • Assess who you need to enrol and check employee records have all the information required by auto-enrolment • When recruiting new people, ensure you capture all of this information in your systems at the outset

“Responsibility for administration now sits with the finance/payroll team, which liaises closely with our provider, NEST [National Employment Savings Trust],” explains Kelly. “This is an arrangement that works well for us.”

Not all companies prepare this well though. “Some are only two months away but have still done nothing about it,” reports Martin. “They haven’t worked out how they are going to deal with it or who provides the software. We are even getting calls from people saying their software provider isn’t really helping them and how can they replace their whole middle and back office at the same time. You must plan ahead and check that your technology provider can support you.”

There are two parts to implementing autoenrolment. In most organisations it will be the payroll system that handles the assessment/calculation of autoenrolment since the pension contribution is deducted from payroll like tax or National Insurance. Payroll/ accounting software providers will provide a capability in their software to manage this aspect but ideally firms also need to be able to interface to the pension providers such as NEST or NOW: Pensions.

Martin explains that Safe has built automation into its software and out to the pension providers which, he says, makes it “admin lighter” for clients: “We have a proper data interchange taking place between the two systems.”

Cambridge Recruitment Software Solutions (CRSS) similarly has developed interfaces between the two sides to bring more automation to the process with the majority of its clients using NEST and the remainder NOW: Pensions. Managing director Jeffrey Anderson says further providers’ interfaces could be developed but this isn’t “a five-minute job”.

CRSS has around 10 clients that are up and running with auto-enrolment, of whom some pay 4,0005,000 people a week. Anderson reports that some recruitment firms have found it “more onerous” that they expected in terms of administration and warns that even with automation built in they need to be aware of certain issues. For example, having sent the payroll file to the pension provider, there may well be error messages that arise, especially for those in the early stages of auto-enrolment.

As Anderson points out, there can sometimes be

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40-50 pieces of information relating to a worker in the auto-enrolment file. While errors may be relatively minor, such as not yet having a National Insurance number for a particular worker, they all add up and contribute to the workload.

“There will always be a bedding-in period. One agency I know didn’t get on top of the errors at the start and so these compounded,’” says Anderson. “So it’s better to throw resources at the problem at the beginning so you don’t make mistakes going forward.”

One way to ease the burden initially is to automatically enrol people in stages by using the option to defer for three months. Kelly explains that Parasol did this to combat the high levels of turnover among its temporary agency workers.

Jonathan White, head of sales, Sage HR and Payroll, agrees that deferment can be a good option. “If you have a temporary worker who’s employed for a short period of time then if you have the right system in place, it can automatically manage this postponement,” he says.

“This reduces the number of temporary workers that are opted into the pension scheme, provided they work for less than the three month period.”

As well as the transactional side of pension-auto enrolment, recruitment businesses should also beware under-estimating the level of employee communication that is also required to remain compliant and for many

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this is a continuous process. All eligible employees must receive communication informing them of the scheme and the option to opt-out and the process of deferment, for instance, can bring additional communication.

As White points out, while the responsibility for executing auto-enrolment lies with payroll/finance, line managers and operations personnel should be involved in communication on matters such as opting out. “Regardless of which team has the overarching responsibility, collaboration is the key to ensuring automatic enrolment runs as smoothly as possible,” he says. Some pension providers, such as NOW: Pensions, will handle employee communication for the firm.

Clearly, some agencies are still burying their head in the sand. Kelly warns that when it comes to autoenrolment, leaving things to the last minute could lead to an “administrative, legal and reputational” nightmare.

He also warns that with the explosion in the number of businesses approaching their staging date since last autumn, it could lead to providers shutting their doors due to the inability to handle the sheer volume of complex work coming their way.

“The phenomenon is known as capacity crunch,” he says. “More than 1,000 mid-sized firms were expected to reach their staging data between April and July 2014 and remember this is just one sector of the UK economy.”

HELPFUL LINKS www.thepensions regulator.gov.uk/ www.parasolgroup. co.uk/for-recruiters/ pensions-autoenrolment-a-guide-forrecruitment-firms/

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

10/07/2014 15:34

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09/07/2014 12:36

An exciting opportunity to join one of the UK’s fastest growing healthcare staffing businesses

In association with :

Best Client Services

We are searching for a talented and ambitious

Associate Director To lead, direct and support a growing team for one of our major brands.

Due to our continued expansion we also need: • Team managers • Team leaders • Senior recruitment consultants • Recruitment consultants Benefits for these roles include fast track development, competitive salaries, generous commissions, overseas travel and much more. If you would like to join our award winning team, contact Rachel Dow, our Talent Acquisition manager on 020 7451 1451 or email rachel.dow@hclworkforce.com

We’re going places, are you?

London y Skipton y Leeds y Birmingham y Manchester y Newcastle

Commercial Manager £35,601 - £50,691 per annum

Ref No: REQ002714

Coventry University Enterprise Ltd Coventry University Enterprise Ltd (CUE) is one of the largest university trading companies in the country.

Thefutureworks is the employment and recruitment agency for Coventry University, providing quality services both to the university (students and faculties) as well as to the region’s business community.

An experienced Commercial Manager is required to manage and drive thefutureworks office and staff forward. You will have a proven track record of meeting and exceeding targets both financially and operationally. Having worked in the recruitment industry previously, the ideal candidate will be fully aware of current employment legislation and the importance of being efficient in a fast paced environment.

It would be advantageous if you have had experience of working in both the public sector and the private sector as thefutureworks sits in-between the two. Business development is a key part of this post and the Commercial Manager would be expected to bring in new business opportunities on a regular basis to ensure the department performed in line with budget.

The Commercial Manager will be responsible for writing reports and producing financial documents for Senior Management and should also be confident at presenting to large groups of people. A driving licence and own transport are essential in this role as the Commercial Manager would be responsible for attending company visits and other functions aligned to the development of thefutureworks.

For more information or to apply online, please visit our website; www.coventry.ac.uk/job-vacancies Closing date: 30th July 2014

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10/07/2014 14:21

Share our success Do you know about Lorien?

We are one of the largest privately owned IT recruitment businesses in the UK, we provide IT staffing solutions to some of the UK’s most prestigious organisations.

Excellence defines our culture – our consultants are generously rewarded and recognised for their performance.

250

We’re hiring - this is your opportunity to make our success story your success story:

Employees 45% Growth Since 2009

Senior Account Managers We have Senior Account Manager positions on our most exciting and established blue chip accounts. Supported by industry leading delivery teams you will use your proven recruitment experience and excellent client-facing skills to provide a first class service to our clients. These are key roles and the salary, reward structure and future career prospects reflect this.

Specialist Technical Recruiters In 2014 new business revenues are up by 40%. We’re looking for talented ‘360 degree recruiters’ of all levels. If you’re an experienced consultant who specialises in a specific IT market, we want to hear from you.

For a confidential discussion about our current opportunities contact Nigel Bigger on 0113 200 2356 or nigel.bigger@lorien.co.uk

80%

Placed with over 175 New Clients since July 2013

Revenue Growth in 5 Years

PLAN YOUR NEXT MOVE

on the move See latest job listings Create job alerts by email Save and email jobs from mobile Apply for jobs by saving your CV to your profile Keep track of your activity

» Go to www.recruiter.co.uk/jobs WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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10/07/2014 14:21

A fresh approach to contractor solutions

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04/06/2014 10:10

Movers & Shakers

ANTAL INTERNATIONAL •NETWORK: The global recruiter

Your next move?

has appointed Joseph Devasia as managing director in India.

BACARDI: The international •spirits company has hired

A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk

Elizabeth Dixon as director of talent management for Europe.

BIE EXECUTIVE: The executive •recruitment specialist has

Newcross Healthcare Solutions Homecare business service manager Healthcare Part-time/flexible, £28k-30k Torquay

appointed Fabrice Rodrigue to its business as senior director, and Marc Sigrist as operations director.

•

BNP PARIBAS REAL ESTATE: The property advisory unit of the French bank has appointed Pippa Evans as UK HR director.

MASON JOINS CAPITA

•procurement and supply chain recruiter has appointed Russell Soan as co-owner and director.

CATALYST ADVISORS: The •executive search firm has hired

Simon Bartholomew as partner and executive recruiter.

•

CITITEC: The specialist recruiter company has announced that Katie Collier and Robin Westerberg have joined the IT and banking division as senior consultants.

CUMMINS MELLOR •RECRUITMENT: The East

Lancashire-based recruiter has appointed Helen Jackson as its head of recruitment.

• EAMES CONSULTING: The recruitment and search consultancy firm has promoted Philippa Anderson to partner.

•

FRAZER JONES: The global HR search and recruitment consultancy has hired Shook Liu as manager of the Hong Kong office.

• FUTURESTEP: The recruitment process outsourcing and talent solutions specialist has hired David Aberman as vice president of business development and Christine Sobhani as client solutions director.

HOUSE OF FRASER: The British •department store has hired

Samantha Ramsay as its head of

Salutem Senior recruitment consultant Industrial £30k+OTE: equivalent to £60k Birmingham

David Mason has left the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to take on the role of project director-candidate experience at Capita Managed Services.

Mason became global chief operating officer at RBS in 2012, after being promoted from head of resourcing for UK and Europe — a position he held for almost 12 months.

Before working at RBS, Mason was an international talent acquisition director at CH2M Hill, a global engineering company that provides consulting, design and programme management. He worked there for over three years and was the cover profile for Recruiter back in October 2009.

Mason has also worked for Axa, where he was head of resourcing for the UK insurance group between January 2006 and December 2007.

BUTLER ROSS: The

resourcing and employer brand.

•

IT TALENT: The specialist IT recruitment consultancy has hired Joyti Chibba as its new internal recruitment manager.

•

KELLY SERVICES: A global provider of workforce solutions has appointed Martin Lee as vice president, head of sourcing and research for Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific.

•

LONDON HR CONNECTION: The HR networking organisation has appointed Craig McCoy as its new chair.

PAGE INTERNATIONAL: •TheMICHAEL professional recruiter has

appointed Kelvin Stagg as chief financial officer.

PEDERSEN & PARTNERS: The •international executive search

firm has appointed Michael CoxHill as managing director – Gulf, and head of industrial practice

GNB Partnership Recruitment consultant Medical/pharmaceutical £25-40k plus bens City of London

Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

For more jobs, people moves and career advice go to

PENNA: The international HR •consulting group has appointed

• recruiter.co.uk/jobs • inhouserecruiterjobs.co.uk • internationalrecruiterjobs. com

Tristan Moakes as its new head of digital and social.

RSA: The global life sciences •executive search firm has

appointed Elizabeth McCabe as head of North America.

SAGE: The multinational •enterprise software company

has hired Andy Hill as its global talent director.

SHEFFIELD HAWORTH: The •global executive search, interim

management and human capital research and advisory company has appointed Jon Regan as managing director and global head of electronic markets, prime services and infrastructures (EMPSI).

•

SPENGLER FOX: An EMEA

talent consultancy has employed

three new people: Ian Bird, EMEA business excellence manager — business services; Gokan Ozden, practice group leader — consumer and human capital solutions; and Nilay Ulutas Kezer as practice group leader — business services.

•

THE CO-OPERATIVE: The British retailer has hired Gary Franklin as interim head of resourcing.

TOWERS WATSON: The •professional services company has

appointed Peter Cools as director of its HR, reward and talent management technology practice in EMEA. TRAVELODGE: The hotel chain has •appointed Julia Rosamond as HR

director.

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

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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10/07/2014 16:40

Bloggers with Bite

THE UNDATEABLES Matt Churchward lists 10 very distinct types of recruiter. Do let us know if he’s missed any out… hat a diverse bunch we recruiters are.

However, there are still a number of clear and recurring character types. Do you recognise any from your own office? If you don’t, then one of them is you.

biller but you wouldn’t know it. No one else works hard enough, people have too much fun at work, the commission scheme isn’t good enough, would rather have cash than a Christmas party. However, deep down they love it and will never leave.

1. The Geek Sits in the corner, always on the phone even though you can’t actually hear them. Knows more about their market than even their clients. Shame they don’t have the face-to-face skills to actually meet them.

Probably top biller in the company but no one knows what motivates them.

6. The Megaphone No accomplishment, no matter how insignificant, can be made without the entire office receiving a blowby-blow account. “Boom! Another contractor placed to start Monday.” What they don’t tell you about is the eight they have finishing on Friday. Self-awareness is not high on their list of attributes. Probably count David Brent as a hero but without any hint of irony.

Usually a very average biller. The natural enemy of The Geek.

W

2. The ‘I thought this job was HR?’ Consultant Nodded blankly in interview when told there was a lot of phone work involved. Cites “intrinsic positive feedback for helping someone find a job” as a motivation. Gets let down by a candidate, client or both in first week and immediately starts applying for HR assistant roles.

7. The Contingency Consultant who thinks they do Search Dresses like a presidential candidate and distances themselves from the rest of the wider business.

Looks down their nose at any role below an £80k salary but has never actually pitched a retainer let alone worked one. Will end up in-house while maintaining a healthy contempt towards contingency recruiters.

3. The Wanna-be Trader Can’t quite get their head round that they aren’t actually a trader. Pin stripes, glistening side parting, they probably wear glasses even though they don’t have poor eyesight. Stands up when making phone calls. If they have Bluetooth headsets they pace up and down the office. Heroes: Jordan Belfort (the reallife The Wolf of Wall Street) and Gordon Gekko (the fictional character played by Michael Douglas from the film Wall Street without realising that Gekko actually is a fictional character).

4. The King/Queen of Pipeline The descriptor ‘You’re only as good as your last deal’ doesn’t apply to this consultant. Normally because they haven’t made one. ‘You’re only as good as your next deal’ is their motto, and boy do they have some pipeline. All built on sand. Ekes out at least six months extra from their stay of execution through an unfailing positivity and belief that deals will come. Role models: Count Nostradamus and Derren Brown.

5. The Pessimist The yang to ‘The Pipeline’s’ yin. Nothing is ever right for this consultant. Probably a consistently high

TO POST YOUR COMMENTS, GO ONLINE

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8. The Tea Maid Very willing to make teas and coffees. After six months this becomes suspiciously willing. Appears to have a weak bladder as rarely seen at their desk.

Essentially will do absolutely anything no matter how menial to avoid making a phone call. A short lifespan in recruitment is likely.

Matt Churchward, director, The Green Recruitment Company

9. The Life Coach Far too invested in the lives and drama of their candidates and clients. Will have the highest call time in the business of which 0.1% is spent doing sales.

Lovely person and liked by everyone bar the balance sheet. Will have put ‘R.I.P. Maya Angelou’ on Facebook but won’t know who she actually was.

10. The Blogger Comes up with any reason not to do sales anymore.

Also willing to delegate blog writing.

Do you recognise any of these types from your own office? If you don’t, then one of them is you What would you like to have a rant about?

Tell us at recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk

In August: 2014’s 11 Most Influential In-House Recruiters WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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