Recruitment & Co - Autumn 2022

RECRUITMENT & CO Autumn 2022

The faces of Emerge 2022

The Association of Professional Staffing Companies in Australia

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What's inside?

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20 14 6 From the APSCo Chair: Stephen Smith 8 Where to from here? By Anthony Whyte

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9 An exciting decade starts now, says Stephen Veness 10 Delivering tech change, by Andrew Turner 13 Association News 17 Risk and Responsibility in Recruitment 20 Are you making the most of your marketing spend?

22 What do employers want from their recruiters?

24 Legal expenses insurance - the missing link 25 International News from APSCo around the globe 26 Partner News 27 Member News

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Recruitment & Co is published by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies Australia (APSCo Australia).

Editorial submissions: carly@apscoau.org Advertising enquiries: carly@apscoau.org Membership enquiries: paul@apscoau.org

www.apscoau.org

A MESSAGE FROM OUR MD

We're deepening the layers of membership in 2022

Lesley Horsburgh Managing Director APSCo Australia

The market is booming, we are talent short, time poor and knee deep in demand.

While conditions have never been quite so ripe for recruitment to prosper, the backdrop of complex compliance law, relentless changes in legislation – not to mention a looming election and the new world of post pandemic working dynamics we are navigating, means yet more layers to the cake that is recruitment.

And so it seems fitting that we are once again deepening the layers of APSCo Membership during 2022, with new committees in Vic, NSW and Qld, a strengthened commitment to driving policy change that matters to our members with the support of our Global Public Policy Director at APSCo HQ and further development of our certified Staffing Professional Program.

As I write this today, Australia hit an unemployment rate of 4% - the lowest since 2008 and the lowest unemployment rate of women since 1974 (at 3.8%). We’ve well and truly hit unchartered waters and the scales of challenges v opportunities seem to be sitting at an even keel, it’s keeping the balance that will prove the greatest test for most.

As we approach Emerge 2022, our second annual conference, I expect our experts and indeed attendees will have much to say about the environment we all find ourselves operating in. Our line up this year is impressive and once again highlights our strength in areas of quality, compliance and operational excellence in recruitment. From the influential to some of recruitments’ household names, every one of our speakers has been deliberately selected to bring genuine thought leadership and value to our audience.

I hope to see you all there!

LESLEY HORSBURGH APSCo Australia Managing Director

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www.apscoau.org

A MESSAGE FROM APSCO'S AUSTRALIAN CHAIR

2022, the year we begin to get back to normal?

Nearly 3 months into 2022 and although across Australia we started with a bump, things definitely feel (in Australia at least) that some sort of normality and hopefully predictability is returning to our businesses, our general lives and particularly (for me) to the lives of our children.

Steve Smith Director, Sirius People

I have been in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra in the last few days and although there is still a sense that we have all been impacted in different ways and to different degrees, each city seems to have adapted and seems more relaxed and comfortable. There is definitely a feel of more people back in the cities, restaurants and bars and offices themselves, it has a feeling of simply more people.

To me it definitely feels like March is seeing the corporates who have largely been away for nearly 2 years - gradually starting to return in some capacity to the office. I strongly believe human contact not only with family and friends is essential but direct contact with work friends, staff, managers is essential for a healthy human mind. I believe it is also essential for collaboration, higher communication which drives productivity. But I also believe as leaders we have to be incredibly mindful that this may not be an easy shift-particularly for some who have had little to no "office time" or direct human contact with work. Managing this will be one of the biggest challenges in 2022.

What does this mean for APSCo? We hope within the coming weeks to have hosted gatherings across many states and locations culminating with Emerge 2022, the APSCo Conference Lesley and the team have been busy arranging at the Sydney Opera House on 12th of May. It means APSCo can continue its focus of supporting the association's members through information and guidance, but shifting from a solely digital channel back to a blend including face-to-face contact. I look forward to welcoming a diverse group of attendees and speakers to Emerge 2022, who truly lead the way in their areas of specialisation and look forward to a great conference.

I hope to see you there.

STEVE SMITH Director, Sirius People, APSCo Australia Chair

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www.apscoau.org

ANTHONY WHYTE- TALENT

Where to from here?

Whether you're a business leader, hiring manager, CPO and/or talent acquisition or just a humble employee looking for your next career move, everyone is asking the same question ‘where to from here?’

Since COVID hit our shores in early January 2020, many businesses have flourished and gone from strength to strength, primarily the tech sector. Others were, and continue to be hit hard and, in many cases have been decimated such as the local café, pubs, restaurants and the big one, the airline industry.

Anthony Whyte General Manager, Talent APSCo Australia Vice-Chair

Then there is the health/medical sector that sits somewhere in the middle with employees experiencing a myriad of emotions ranging from fulfilment to discontent and sadness. Many staff have resigned due to burnout or fear of contracting COVID; others forced out because they aren’t vaccinated while those that remain continue to work horrendously long hours day-to-day.

As we slowly return to some level of normality in both our personal and professional lives, my concern is that there isn’t a quick fix that many people are seeking. Once again, a lot of factors are in play as highlighted by a few examples below: We are experiencing a global shortage of talent across numerous industry sectors.

The slow opening of borders will assist in the migration of people and much needed skills but will by no means be the solution.

Candidates remain savvy, many chasing the dollars in a lucrative market not seen before, while others are demanding flexibility and now many candidates are pushing the envelope by seeking both.

Employers on the other hand continue to struggle on two fronts: 1. They don’t have deep pockets, nor are prepared to increase salaries by 20-30k or higher.

2. They don’t have a clear EVP, hence aren’t selling themselves well compared to other switched on, progressive organisations.

The emerging talent pool is thin as the number of qualified graduates is small and no match to the high number of vacancies.

Visa processing backlogs are at record highs.

There is a distinct shortage of rental properties for new migrants, making moving states and countries that little bit harder.

On top of all this, even when you offer a candidate a role, the likelihood of that person accepting is now below 50%. The majority of good candidates have several opportunities on the go at the same time with many receiving multiple offers, giving them choice of who they commit to which again highlights who is in the driving seat in the recruitment process.

In summary, the talent pool is finite, so ensure that you: Have a clear EVP that you can articulate to your current and potential employees.

Offer flexibility (WFH/WHO/Remote) as your competitors are.

Make sure that the role is challenging and rewarding to keep your workforce engaged.

Truly value each and every one of your employees.

Engage with an industry specialist if you need to outsource your recruitment needs.

Let’s see what the remainder of 2022 throws at us.

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STEPHEN VENESS - DAVIDSON

An exciting decade starts now 2022 didn’t exactly start in the way it was hoped, but perhaps we should have recalibrated expectations after the last couple of years!

The lingering impacts of COVID (particularly the increase in case numbers) meant that the year really didn’t properly kick off until February. Then along came horrendous and devastating flooding for a large part of the country and major geopolitical events in Europe…and before we blinked, it was mid-March!

It seems that the ‘new normal’ has been defined.

The positive news, is that our industry is absolutely flying and we are witnessing a market that (not without it’s obvious challenges) presents enormous opportunity for all.

My role at Davidson is national, but I am based in Brisbane and it is where I spend most of my time.

The buzz and excitement around SEQ at the moment is extraordinary…with the Olympic and Paralympic Games now 10 years away, it feels as though major sectors within the business community are aligning with a common goal: a world class event, with a lasting legacy for the region.

An event which is locked in, regardless of political cycles and external factors creates a unique opportunity for industry to collaborate and plan effectively. What is becoming increasingly clear, is that the issues surrounding skills, capability and capacity of the workforce to deliver the many programs of work over the next decade are many and that our industry has a huge opportunity to play a role in.

Stephen Veness Group Manager - Strategic Partnerships, Davidson

For many, the focus will be on the placement of talent into critical roles, supporting the organisations who will inevitably need to ramp-up and deliver the array of critical infrastructure to deliver on the event and the lasting legacy.

However, the opportunity to add significant value to the broader conversation is one that we should take advantage of and contribute as much as possible to.

The topic of skills and the workforce is central to the success of the region over the coming decade and we sit in a privileged position to contribute in a meaningful way, and the conversation should be starting now (not once it becomes mad rush and windows of time are tight).

How we contribute toward this conversation will differ depending on our areas of expertise, but it is so exciting for our industry to be in a position to have such a meaningful voice at a time when the eyes of the world will be on our region!

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ANDREW TURNER - MEDACS GLOBAL

Delivering tech change From a young age I have loved technology and robotics, what was almost sci-fi fantasy a few years ago is now reality for many of us; be that using Apple Pay from your phone or being able to manage your personal affairs without ever having to go to a Bank, Post Office or Government Office.

We are living through the fourth industrial revolution, one that will continue the rapid change to technology, business and society for the foreseeable future.

Despite my love of technology and its possibilities, three significant risks / concerns have emerged for me and my team:

In late 2021 we kicked off a project to look at how we can harness technology to provide a better candidate experience, digitalise our processes and ensure our business is well placed to meet current and emerging needs.

1.Building an allencompassing tech monster that simultaneously fixes all our problems whilst also distracting the business with additional complexity. There are various terms out there to describe this situation, but some solutions require so many add-ons that you can end up questioning what you were buying in the first place.

What struck me during our market evolution stage is the sheer array of solutions available. From CRM and ATS platforms that support the management of front, middle and back office processes through to niche offerings that focus on one aspect of the workflow. There is literally an app for that! The sheer number of tech options is verging on overwhelming and can present recruitment businesses with as many challenges and solutions.

2.Backing the wrong solution.

Replacing your technology in its entirety or in part is a big undertaking for any organisation requiring a huge investment of capital and time – getting this wrong can have dire consequences for your business, investors and people.

Andrew Turner Director - Specialist Staffing APAC, Medacs Global Group 3.Our biggest concern is that we get the business change that goes with any tech implementation wrong. That we fail to equip and prepare our people for changes in how they work day to day.

Turning what should be a good news story that helps them to be better recruiters in to a nightmare. How we mitigate this risk will define the success of our investment.

During various stages of this process I have been fortunate enough to call upon my APSCo colleagues for input and expertise, although I am probably considered biased this is a key benefit of belonging to APSCo and the support it can provide to its members.

I can’t say for certain that we will get everything right (ask me again in 18 months) but as we embark on this work, we have taken time to be clear on our goals, our requirements and most importantly how do we get the change right so that our technology investment turbo charges our business for the future.

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JOHN MCCLUSKEY - WHIZDOM RECRUITMENT

The role of a recruiter has never been more important With the current national unemployment rate sitting at 4.2%, economists promoting 4.0% as zero unemployment, and the expectation that there'll be a 3 in front before the years end, we can really see the strain on organisations to attract talent from ponds that have all but dried up. This has really highlighted the value of what a good recruiter can add as a hiring partner for businesses.

No longer is it enough to have a vacancy, every organisation has vacancies, and everyone is in work.

Clients really need to work closely with recruitment partners so they can promote a culture, career, and pathway that is an attractive consideration for change for candidates.

Likewise, clients must work extremely hard to retain existing talent by providing employees and on-hired workers with an environment that they feel challenged, engaged, appreciated, and rewarded in, or someone else will.

This shortage of talent and labour is expected to continue well after this year and is affecting all sectors, and none more so than the professional staffing sectors.

Workers also have more choices than ever before so providing flexibility to work remotely and a supportive culture is a common theme for candidates evaluating a change.

Employers need to understand that going to more recruiters does not help attract more quality candidates. It only makes results and quality worse.

If a recruiter gets a role that a dozen other companies get, they won’t put as much effort into resourcing that role and getting the best candidates, compared to a role they have exclusively, or shortlisted with 1-2 other agencies.

John McCluskey Managing Director Whizdom Recruitment

So, in this tight market a recruiter’s role has become more about promoting a client and workplace, and not just a role.

Clients should also expect a recruitment partner to have a stable workforce and management strategy to accommodate change, so operations of service are not affected by a recruiter’s staff movements or unplanned disruptions such as pandemics or mother nature events such as fires and floods.

Great recruitment partners will really show their value in these times and those that are simply advertising on job boards and expecting applicants to apply may find very slim pickings.

It's never been a better time to be a recruiter…

Recruiters are only paid on placement and success, and they are extremely busy and work within tight margins.

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LAILA BILLBERG - IGNITE

Is your EVP compelling enough to retain your top talent?

The Great Resignation is highly topical amongst all industries at the moment. With research from Microsoft suggesting 40% of the global workforce could leave their job this year. After the pandemic, talent is fatigued, they’re reassessing their values, and many are ready for a change.

The best way to hold on to your employees is to provide them with a compelling employee value proposition that makes them want to stay.

They drive internal standards, culture and performance.

After all, talent wants to work with companies that align with their most important values and needs.

But retain them and safeguard the key pillars of your business through this potentially rocky period.

Ask yourself, what benefits are you offering relative to your competitors?

Two key skills employers will need this year is listening and adaptability. Neither are new business concepts after recent years.

How are you communicating them? How are you delivering them?

Answer these questions well and boost your resilience to departures this year.

In the Great Resignation, competition for talent will be even fiercer, so rest assured that companies are eyeing your top players.

You need to identify who these people are and protect them.

Your top players are those who go over and above in their role.

Lose these people, and watch the dominos around them fall.

Listen to what your staff wants and adapt your retention strategy to accommodate them if feasible.

As rivals dangle enticing offers, use your insights to counter effectively and keep the employees you want.

Talent who sees their employer actively working to retain them is far more likely to stay.

Laila Billberg General Manager Ignite Services

An often-overlooked part of the Great Resignation is the potential hiring bonanza that follows.

As strained talent pools become suddenly bountiful, the opportunity for recruitment agencies to capitalise internally and externally is extremely exciting.

After a tough period of talent shortages, you need to be prepared, agile and targeted in your recruitment approach to secure the skills you desperately need.

Yes, the Great Resignation is upon us in 2022 with many workers potentially contemplating leaving their employer. However, good people still want to work for good organisations.

Good organisations are still those that communicate and deliver a strong EVP, listen to their people and adapt to market forces.

Businesses capable of these things will not only survive the Great Resignation but thrive in the years ahead.

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

Access your free trial of the APSCo Certification The start of the year has certainly been busy with a number of agencies accepting a free trial offer of APSCo's Certified Staffing Professional Program.

Ensuring everyone is on board when it comes to upholding compliance and best practice standards involves all stakeholders, so we were delighted to have managers initially undertake the program before enrolling team members.

Janielle Wilson Member Development and Services Officer APSCo Australia

As a result, we have seen 30 Members now complete the program and another 70 currently enrolled. These numbers are very encouraging and reflect the level of commitment agencies are investing in their people by partaking in quality professional development programs.

If you would like to find out more about APSCo's Staffing Professional Certification, and access a free trial, email janielle@apscoau.org

A shout out to... Finite Group Since my commencement at APSCo Australia late last year, I have been delighted by the ongoing support of Finite Group in APSCo’s Certified Staffing Professional Program.

Tom Sherwen, Group Head of People and Culture, has led by example by undertaking the program and consistently putting forward Finite Group employees to participate.

Members have valued the program for its informative and engaging delivery, noting that it has been valuable training, especially for those new to the industry.

With the ongoing discussion around how to maintain staff, ensuring their skill set is above their competitors provides reassurances for your clients and candidates that compliance standards are being met through certification.

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Emerge 2022 industry heavy weights to headline at iconic Opera House APSCo Australia’s full-day conference; Emerge 2022 promises some powerful insight for recruitment leaders next month.

Chief Economist, Besa Deda of Westpac Business Banking Group will open the day with a real time economic outlook and its likely impact on the Australian employment industry before household names of recruitment such as Greg Savage and Ross Clennett steer some provocative discussions around the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead with c-suite recruitment leaders and some of Australia’s most influential employment and immigration lawyers.

"We’re becoming a bit of a powerhouse for our content across business-critical topics such as the impact of changing legislation, the complexities of compliance and industry best practice, particularly across our webinars.

Emerge 2022 is the big brother to our monthly content and will focus on the key issues that we drive at APSCo to protect our members, reduce risk and inform decision makers,” said Managing Director Lesley Horsburgh.

Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging will also be in the spotlight, with The Diversity Council of Australia’s CEO Lisa Annese joining a panel of pioneers from Michael Page, Talent International and Canva.

Purpose Bureau’s Nick Kamper will share some exclusive data on Australia’s position across EDI&B before he facilitates what is expected to be a lively panel discussion.

Discounted group bookings are available. To find out more and purchase tickets, visit www.apscoau.org/emerge2022

The Speakers Besa Deda Westpac Business Banking Group Nicola Martin Squire Patton Boggs George Haros Gadens Lawyers Martin Richardson Ready Set Recruit Legal Maroun Elias, Ernst & Young Immigration Lawyers

Nick Kamper Purpose Bureau

Ross Clennett Recruitment industry trainer

Rani Nandan Michael Page

Simon Hair Precision Sourcing

Lisa Annese Diversity Council of Australia

Mark Smith people2people

Mark Nielsen Talent International Stephanie Zuniga-Maher Canva

Emily McLeod WOW Recruitment Simon Hammond 50 Crates

Greg Savage Adviser, Speaker and Author RECRUITMENT & CO | 15

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Risk & Responsibility in Recruitment If you aren’t sure of your legal responsibilities as a recruiter, or if you are tired of carrying the risk for clients and contractors, this is for you. Darren Berson talks through risk and responsibility in recruitment with Martin Richardson of Ready Set Recruit Legal, a lawyer that focuses on our industry.

What does PlatinumWFM’s back office solution have in common with Ready Set Recruit Legal's TOBs Toolkits?

Both are tools to help protect your agency against nasty legal surprises and make it as easy as possible for you to keep up with your responsibilities.

If you recruit and manage contractors (also called staffing or on-hiring staff), you have specific legal obligations.

On-hiring is not the same transactional business model as permanent recruitment as it is regulated by laws governing employment, workplace safety, taxation and labour-hire licensing.

Despite those PSA’s your clients expect you to sign, you’re not an insurer for risks in their businesses, so let’s unpack your actual liabilities and how we can help you manage them.

Cross your T’s, dot your i’s The excellent revenue in recruiting and managing contractors comes with some risks, but these can be minimised in your back

Darren Berson Platinum WFM

office processes and by using quality legal documents.

We know you’re not a lawyer, anymore than you’re a software techie. We understand that it’s tempting to use that old legal document template that’s been floating around for years, just as it seems easier to use a different software solution for each step in your back office process.

But, we don’t want you to find out the hard way that this approach to legal documents and software has put your business at risk.

When it comes to compliance and governance, PlatinumWFM’s back office automates as much as possible to reduce human error and tick off your reporting and governance obligations as money flows through your business. We make this possible because our solution integrates the leading software into one seamless back office that’s specifically tailored for recruiters.

Similarly, Ready Set Recruit Legal's tailored legal documents and toolkits are

Martin Richardson Ready Set Recruit Legal especially designed to meet the needs of recruiters. ‘Tailored’ means the documents are created by a lawyer with a working knowledge of recruitment and staffing.

Remember that a legal document is a product, just like software.

You need the right product for your business, one that you understand and use effectively. When you put your TOBs in front of a client, you want to be able to answer questions confidently and push back on changes as necessary.

“Your TOBs need to reflect your service delivery risk - your service is not what your contractors ‘do’ for a client,” says Martin.

“Take a tech agency that supplies a developer – is the agency the specialist I.T. consultant who can sign off on software deliverables?

Definitely, not! I see too many contracts and TOBs that get this fundamental principle wrong and leave agencies carrying service delivery risk and becoming their client’s default insurer.”

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Getting Paid This is one of the biggest risks recruiters face. Often, you need to pay your contractors before your clients pay you, and if you are over-exposed to one client, this can devastate your cash flow (we addressed over exposure in Risk & Reward in Recruitment last issue).

3. Agree your TOBs upfront, even if you feel uncomfortable talking about fees and terms.

Burying them in emails, or sending them after the deal is done, can cause enforceability issues down the track.

4. If you ever need to ‘go legal’, having clear terms in places reduces the wrangling.

Compliance to-do list

PlatinumWFM’s back office process ensures that clients receive an invoice based on approved timesheets. Our Care Team actively chases contractors to submit their timesheets and then follows up on client approvals. The instant the approvals are done, our system issues the invoice.

Once the client has their invoice, getting paid usually comes down to your TOBs. Ready Set Recruit Legal has this great advice for getting paid how and when you expect to: 1. Put an agreement in place with enforceable legal terms, including the ability to charge interest on overdue accounts.

It’s a stick when you need it.

2. Make sure your clients know what you do to get paid. The more clearly you communicate your payment terms and expectations the better.

Let’s tackle some of those issues that lead to nasty legal surprises, because if you don’t tackle this compliance to-do list, you’re building your business on quicksand.

Accurate governance and reporting is absolutely critical in our industry. If you recruit and manage high end contractors, then you need good governance and reporting built into your back office. This is the simplest way to minimise your risk.

At PlatinumWFM, we believe that software should make your life easier, especially when it keeps your business in good standing with the ATO. Our solution connects timesheets and invoices, to payroll and direct payment of PAYG, to Super clearing house management and State payroll tax reporting.

This ticks off the major reporting and governance items on your compliance to-do list.

The Ready Set Recruit Legal team knows how stressful it can be to deal with lawyers, especially if they don’t understand recruitment.

Legal doesn’t need to be hard.

Depending on what you’re comfortable with, you can use the DIY toolkits or guided toolkits or fully customised documents, it’s entirely up to you.

There are only two issues that PlatinumWFM and Ready Set Recruit Legal can’t solve for you.

First, you need adequate insurance in place that covers recruiting and managing contractors. Second, you need a labour hire licence and employment agent licence if you do this kind of work in Victoria, Queensland, ACT, or South Australia.

Disclosure Please be aware that the advice and information in this article is general only and has been prepared without taking into account your particular circumstances and needs.

Please visit our websites PlatinumWMF.com.au or Readysetrecruit.com.au and book a free consultation to talk about your specific needs.

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Are you making the most of your marketing spend?

Year on year, it seems that more agencies are neglecting their own candidate data. They're spending more time and money searching external sources for candidates without realising how much of their marketing spend is being mismanaged and how many great candidates they have sitting within their own database. Sergei Mak, Director and APAC CEO, Daxtra writes.

When we speak to potential customers, particularly recruitment agencies, about the challenges they're experiencing in their recruitment operations, one that comes up continually is the complaint that the overall ‘cost of placement’ has become too high, largely due to the job board spend.

With each job board advertisement costing $250300 and generating 10-20 candidates, this works out at between $15-30 per applicant. This approach also doesn’t capture passive candidates, who often tend to be stronger.

So why is this marketing spend being mismanaged?

There are usually two main reasons. First, a recruiter will often pay the job board for a candidate view with a credit, but the profile won't make its way onto the recruitment database.

Second, a recruiter will often use a job board credit to view a candidate on a job board without checking their database first to see if the candidate is already present there.

If a candidate found on a job board is already on their database, the agency is essentially paying for the same candidate twice (or more!).

The recruiter conducting the search across multiple sources also wastes precious time that could be better spent elsewhere.

Our own research also suggests that only 10-15% of all placed candidates originate from the in-house talent pool database - the rest come from job boards advert responses or job board searching.

Thankfully, recruitment technology can help solve these two problems.

Sergei Mak, Director and APAC CEO, Daxtra

There are solutions available that can automate a lot of the manual candidate data loading processes, such as directly loading resumes from job boards in your database.

The same solutions can also clean and update existing candidate records within your recruitment database, which helps to ensure that candidate profiles remain up to date and easily searchable.

To solve the second issue, recruitment agencies should look for a candidate search solution that can effectively search their database and job boards simultaneously to quickly find relevant candidates for a position.

A tool with this capability will help recruiters identify whether the candidates they find on a job board are already stored within their database.

Advanced candidate search tools that can search different platforms simultaneously are often available as products that can integrate into many leading CRM and ATS systems.

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If you're unsure whether you're mismanaging your job board spend or whether you're making enough placements from your ATS or CRM, consider asking yourself and your team the following questions: Is your recruitment database the first place your recruiters search for candidates?

How many of the candidate profiles that you view on job boards are making their way into your ATS or CRM?

How many placements that you make come from candidates that are already stored within your ATS or CRM? Are your recruiters checking to see whether a candidate record already exists within your database before uploading a new candidate profile onto it?

What percentage of your placement fee is taken up by your marketing spend?

What is the average lead time required to find and select suitable candidates for a shortlist?

If you have analytics suggesting that you're not making enough placements from your recruitment database, or you're unhappy with the amount of money you're spending on sourcing candidates from job boards, it could be time to audit your current recruitment workflows and tech stack.

Doing this will help you see if there are areas of your recruitment process that could be optimised and to see if there are technologies on the market that could help.

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What are employers looking for from their recruiters?

Justin Falk is the Co-Founder and CEO of TalentVine, Australia’s largest recruitment marketplace.

The platform enables specialist recruiters to pick and choose roles that are posted by employers, who then select recruiters based on factors such as reviews, ratings, fees, replacement guarantees and recent placement history.

In the five years since I founded TalentVine, we’ve seen some drastic changes to the recruitment landscape.

This past two years alone, we’ve seen both sides of the spectrum where recruiters struggled to engage employers during Covid, to now where employers are desperate for the amazing recruiters that Australia has on offer.

Add to that a COVIDinspired talent shortage, the great resignation, the rise of hybrid working and the emergence of a candidatedriven market.

Throughout all of this, we have seen some evolving ways in which the employers have been engaging with recruiters, and what top recruiters are doing to win the most work through marketplaces like ourselves.

In this piece, I’m going to highlight some of the key trends and insights that we’ve been noticing in regards to what employers look for, the value they place on certain metrics, the fees they are willing to pay.

When employers select which recruiters to work with on TalentVine, we prompt them to let us know why they made their decision.

This gives us some great insight into what employers most value when selecting their recruiter of choice.

For example, we found that in the IT sector, the proposed fee is cited as a contributing factor 38% of the time. Keep in mind, however, that this isn’t simply a case of employers selecting the bid with the lowest fee.

Justin Falk Co-founder and CEO, TalentVine

On average, the recruiter that gets selected on TalentVine has bid at a fee that is 20% higher than the lowest fee on offer.

The second most common reason for choosing a recruiter was their performance rating (35%) followed by the custom information that the recruiter included in their bid (31%).

Interestingly, the agency that a recruiter is attached to was not a significant consideration for many employers, with only 20% choosing their consultant because they recognised the agency.

This shows the power of building a personal brand as a specialist consultant.

Price being the highest consideration may not surprise many readers, but what is surprising is how closely this is followed by performance rating.

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Priorities are changing. We find that many more employers have and are realising that spending more upfront on a highquality recruiter will save more in the long run.

The empty chair time associated with an average recruiter’s drawn-out search ends up costing the organisation more in time, potential earnings, and resources covering the vacant position.

Other data also supports this. Over the last two years, the average exclusive recruiter fee on TalentVine has increased by 21%.

While exclusive rates have also grown, they’ve done so at a lower rate (15%).

More and more employers are have been willing to pay a higher fee to one specialist recruiter that they know can do the job right.

Something else we’ve noticed happening on TalentVine, and in general, is the rise of the specialist recruiter. Many organisations would rather work with an expert on the niche role that they are hiring for, rather than a generalist.

We see our duty to the recruitment industry as the catalyst that makes it as simple as possible for employers to find and engage with the right specialist recruiter, at fees and terms that inspire exceptional work.

Overall, the recruitment market is not like it was three years ago. With good talent being so hard to find, organisations are needing to rely on external recruiters, and many are willing to pay more for a specialist.

In an environment like this, having a large portion of your business development handled by a platform like TalentVine can be a great benefit so you can focus on the candidates.

Having the roles sent directly to you, having complete autonomy over the roles you’d like to work on, and having access to employers where there were previous procurement roadblocks are just some of the benefits our platform offers for recruiters.

The role of the specialist recruiter is not disappearing anytime soon. We are very proud to serve the recruitment industry, and many APSCo members, as a catalyst for employers to connect with and experience the fantastic value provided by Australia’s recruitment industry.

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The Missing Link Legal expenses insurance Legal expenses cover provides not just for defence costs but also pursuit costs, for certain legal matters.

The typical insurance program for members would be professional indemnity and public liability, workers compensation, and then branching out to include management liability (directors and officers) as well as cyber and business property policies.

These have been the mainstay for many years with each policy developing over time to cater for new risks or practices such as the inclusion of cover for on-hired contractors, changes to workplace health and safety NSW prosecution costs, work from home arrangements, and the increasing provision of consulting services/statements of work projects.

A relatively new product available to Australian businesses has been the introduction of legal expenses cover.

This dedicated policy provides cover not just for defence costs but also pursuit costs, for certain legal matters.

The inclusion of pursuit costs is a significant move away from the traditional defence costs only cover that is provided by the typical legal-based insurance policies mentioned above.

In many legal disputes, having access to ‘before the event’ cover for certain pursuit costs covered via an insurance policy can provide affordable access to legal advice and representation in courts and tribunals when businesses are faced with unforeseen legal action.

There are many areas where businesses can face legal scrutiny, including environmental laws, employment disputes, work health & safety (WH&S), statutory licence appeals, and criminal prosecution defence.

With recent amendments to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) prohibiting insurance and indemnity arrangements relating to WH&S prosecutions, this potentially removes the comfort that was once afforded to directors and employees under standard management liability policies.

Mark Laudrum Director, BrokersOnline

Legal expenses insurance can add to your overall legal risk management program and is a sound inclusion to assist with any unforeseen gaps between your existing insurance policies.

Legal expenses insurance is not litigation or liability Insurance, it is for the defence and or pursuit of insured legal matters.

Due to the complexities of the legal justice system and exorbitant legal costs many businesses may be deterred from exercising their legal rights, however, with legal expenses insurance, you will have peace of mind and protection at the time it is needed.

Legal expenses insurance is not a replacement for your current insurance policies but is an important addition to your insurance program.

In addition to the policy cover, members have access to a vast array of legal document templates in the areas of employment, business operations, company operational agreements and obligations, as well and numerous personal templates relating to wills and powers of attorney, etc.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A round-up of international news from APSCo around the globe

United Kingdom The UK recruitment landscape is still set against a backdrop of skill shortages. One of the big issues is that since Brexit, there has been no visa route for highly skilled professional contractors to enter the UK which has exacerbated an already skill short hiring landscape.

Year-on-year comparisons continue to show significant growth in revenues from placements for UK recruitment firms with our latest data showing a 49% uplift in sales for permanent placements and a massive 80% uplift in contract sales.

The UK public policy team continues to meet with Government to demonstrate the value of a globally focused recruitment sector, a globally mobile talent pool of independent contractors and the benefits of introducing a work visa for self-employed.

Germany APSCo is also arranging a trade delegation to Berlin in Germany and Zurich in Switzerland, in June.

Both the German and Swiss recruitment markets have enjoyed indexed revenue growth of over 30% since 2013. Zurich is seen as Switzerland’s economic powerhouse and is one of the world’s most important financial centres while Berlin is one of Germany’s most important locations for industry and the service sector. This growth makes Germany and Switzerland ideal target destinations for staffing firms looking to expand their global footprint and diversify their growth strategies.

Whatever sectors you are operating in, the business opportunities in Germany and Switzerland are immense and our fully supported programme of seminars and hosted meetings will provide you with all the expert information you need to inform your business planning and drive future growth.

You can download the brochure here.

Asia APSCo continues to ramp up operations in South East Asia and will launch a new dedicated website for the region in mid-April. While historically APSCo has primarily been focused on Singapore, we are now growing the service offering to support organisations across the ASEAN region including Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, The Philippines Thailand and Vietnam. From a lobbying perspective, for example, we have developed strong relationships the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) – an approach we aim to replicate with stakeholders across South East Asia.

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PARTNER NEWS

Access Group acquires Vincere and FastTrack Leading business management software provider The Access Group, has announced the acquisition of recruitment operating system Vincere; and cloud-based recruitment platform, FastTrack.

The addition of Vincere’s recruitment operating system is the latest addition to Access Recruitment’s unique breadth of industry-leading software and significantly expands their international reach. The Access portfolio has been developed and expanded over time, with a successful track record of acquisitions including several key players within the recruitment space including Safe Computing, Microdec, Volcanic and First Choice Software.

Access Recruitment, a division of The Access Group, supports agencies from start-ups to scale-ups, through to large enterprise players with their technology that spans the entire front to back-office ecosystem. The acquisition of Vincere is poised to expand their reach across the UK and Europe and extend their footprint in the Asia Pacific region, established with their Volcanic recruitment website platform.

Paul Vogel, managing director of Access Recruitment commented: “Vincere has built an impressive business serving customers across the globe with their intuitive and pioneering recruitment software. We are excited to welcome Vincere to Access and we look forward to working collaboratively to deliver the best customer outcomes as we accelerate our vision to become the #1 provider of recruitment technology in the world. The experienced talent and service capabilities within Vincere will certainly complement our existing wealth of recruitment experience in the Access team”.

Bernie Schiemer, Founder and CEO of Vincere said: “We have spoken openly about our ambitions for Vincere to become the clear leader globally in our space. To make that a reality and more than just hot air, we needed to partner with a heavyweight who shares our vision of providing a single operating system for the front, middle and back office of recruitment firms, on a global scale. Access Recruitment’s heritage in the temp space, plus their strength in key areas such as payroll and compliance, made them the natural choice and puts our current momentum on steroids. ‘’This acquisition puts the mighty Access machine behind us and turns Vincere into an unstoppable force. There are now no limits on how far we can take the platform and the experience we can provide to our customers. The entire Vincere team here is thrilled to join the Access Group.”

Schiemer added, “At Vincere our mission has always been to help recruiters win. That will never change. Our customers can expect the same platform, the same people, the same vision. But with way more firepower.”

FastTrack is a leading provider of end-to-end recruitment solutions and will bring its 60 members of staff to Access.

Working in harmony with the Access 1,000 strong APAC team and its wider global employee base, FastTrack will support Access Recruitment’s delivery of solutions. The addition of FastTrack’s powerful integrated software for timesheets, payroll and billing will support Access Recruitment’s extensive suite of software and will significantly expand its international reach.

Paul Vogel, managing director of Access Recruitment commented: “FastTrack’s robust recruitment technology has been an invaluable source of support for many recruitment agencies seeking growth. We are excited at the prospect of having FastTrack join Access Recruitment and we look forward to working together towards our goal of giving our customers the freedom to do more and accelerating our vision to become the #1 global provider of recruitment technology. The FastTrack team’s expertise is unmatched in the APAC market and will certainly be a great fit alongside the Access Recruitment team.”

David Page, CEO of FastTrack said: “At FastTrack we have spent over 25 years imagining ways to make recruitment businesses stronger with software that drives better business performance. Being acquired by Access is the natural next step to extending our global capabilities, as increased investment will provide a boost to our innovation. Access has a deep specialism within the recruitment industry and offers the widest portfolio of recruitment technology solutions of any industry provider, in which FastTrack will find a solid grounding for further growth”.

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MEMBER NEWS

Peoplebank’s Salary Guide Peoplebank have released their 2022 Salary Index for the IT and digital industry. This comprehensive guide includes salary ranges broken down by states and job titles, the latest industry insights from their leading experts, and national 3rd party data on IT and digital roles.

The purpose of this guide is to create a resource for clients, contractors, and candidates to ensure they are confident and informed on the market trends and average local salaries.

“We develop and produce our salary guide as a resource for our clients, contractors, and candidates to equip them with a realistic view of the current market landscape.

We also believe offering greater transparency around salary will support income equality, " says Brent Leahy, Executive General Manager, Peoplebank The state salary data is compiled and reviewed by our state talent acquisition teams and is based on their experience with jobs in their region in the past 6 months. The national 3rd party data is sourced from LinkedIn Insights with top statistics summarised and highlighted with graphics. Insights from our state and territory General Manager’s offers a summary from Peoplebank’s local leaders around market shifts in the last 6 months.

SHARE YOUR NEWS WITH US! Do you have a news item regarding your business? A new appointment or an exciting announcement?

Please get in touch with us here at Recruitment & Co. SEND YOUR NEWS TO CARLY@APSCOAU.ORG

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"WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR OWN NETWORK TAILORED TO YOUR OWN INDUSTRY - THAT'S ABSOLUTELY AMAZING." Michelle O'Malley, Genesis IT&T

The Association of Professional Staffing Companies in Australia.

The only dedicated association for white collar recruitment agencies.

To find our more about membership, contact Paul Ferris via paul@apscoau.org