Recruiter March 2020

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The place to manage IR35

With new legislation coming in April, this includes compliance requirements and process for managing candidates whether they are inside, or outside, IR35.

With Engage, determining, sharing and managing the IR35 status for thousands of candidates up and down the supply chain becomes effortless because Engage connects end hirers, agencies, umbrella companies and candidates on one platform.

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workers out of poverty Recruiters are asked to drop the ‘temp to perm’ fee to help progress careers Contractors call time on PSCs due to IR35 changes Many limited company contractors are considering shutting up shop Shape up, then ship out Recruitment owners need to sort out their management first to get the most value from an exit Start-up of the Month: J&J Recruitment Joanne Davies and Joe Ebsworth have launched the logistics and warehousing perm staffing specialist This was the month that was...

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18 THE BIG STORY 11 Most Influential In-house Recruiters Who is leading the way in finding and recruiting the top talent in today’s fastchanging business world?

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Aspire to employment equality in the gym Social Network The Workplace: Guy Hayward Workplace Innovation: Graeme Codrington Business Advice: Alex Arnot My brilliant recruitment career: Chloe Stott, techTesters Movers & Shakers Recruiter contacts The Last Word: Jim Ryan

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MAC report dismisses Australian-style immigration system Tech & Tools Speed up pre-selection: Retorio sorts candidates

INTERACTION Viewpoint Liz Gardiner, Protect Soundbites

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hat does ‘sustainable’ mean to you? Is your business a sustainable enterprise, meaning is it built to last and continue in good health?

How do you balance your travel, such as getting to your offices around the globe or to your holiday destination in an aeroplane, with offsetting the carbon emissions planes generate? There are so many everyday situations that require consideration of sustainability and the decision to prioritise or not prioritise sustainable practices or not.

My own efforts pale in contrast to those made by the fiercely committed: I’m a dedicated, perhaps Is your business even strident recycler (ask some of my a sustainable office colleagues), I’d enterprise, rather travel by train if I have a choice and meaning is it don’t eat built to last and Ifour-legged animals continue in or certain types of fish. However, I have good health? a fondness for broccoli and Red Delicious Apples, regardless of the season. So my credentials as a ‘sustainable-ist’ are somewhat limited.

That said, the future for sustainable practices across every business sector is boundless. And Recruiter is launching a new category in our 2020 Awards – Sustainable Recruitment Agency of the Year. Have a look at the category and criteria at www. recruiterawards.co.uk then show us what you and your business have been doing to advance the cause of sustainability – financial, societal, environmental and, of course, employability.

Help us move the industry forward!

DeeDee Doke, Editor

Waive fees to help agency workers out of poverty

BY COLIN COTTELL

RECRUITERS SHOULD WAIVE the ‘temp to perm’ fee in order to help temporary agency workers move on in their career, a recruiter has suggested.

Ruth Rubin, managing partner at transportation recruiter and customer design consultancy Proactive, made the suggestion in response to the launch of a report by think tank the Resolution Foundation that examined whether entering the workforce was a way out of poverty for households.

The report entitled ‘Working hard(ship)’ found that although generally speaking work pays and people and households that enter the workforce are better off, many contingent workers don’t see the same benefits.

Among the report’s findings was that those who move into and out of work after entering the workforce are less likely to escape relative poverty (60% of UK median income after housing costs) than those who enter the workforce and remain in employment.

Speaking at the report’s launch, co-author Lindsay Judge, principal research and policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said that while generally “work definitely pays, and is a pretty good way of reducing your poverty rate, it is not a sure-fire way”.

In the focus groups that fed into this report and in previous Resolution Foundation projects, Judge said: “It was plain that those who have to rely on contingent types of work for their primary income were really struggling. That is partly about planning, partly about budgeting, partly about interactions with the benefits system – a perfect storm really, so that is really problematic.”

Rubin agreed there was a problem. “If it is a purely functional, transactional, unskilled role, the person is at a higher risk of being exploited and under-developed and underpaid, and frankly easily replaced or just stuck,” she said.

However, she suggested recruitment agencies can take steps to help agency workers to progress in their careers. These included waiving the ‘temp to perm’ fee if it was a barrier to an agency worker’s

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progression, looking into government apprenticeship schemes, tapping into funds and resources of mobility charities, and providing information to their workforce about training and educational opportunities. Rubin said that in order to waive their temp to perm fee recruiters could “even repurpose their CSR budget”.

Neil Carberry, CEO at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, told Recruiter: “The labour market is very diverse, and we shouldn’t deal with people working flexibly as if they are one homogenous group. For some people, working as a temp or on a flexible contract meets their needs, as surveys show. Others use it as a stepping stone that may not be available to workers in less flexible jobs markets, which suffer from far higher unemployment. Both those things are good.

“Work is an essential part of addressing poverty, as is the minimum wage. But it cannot carry the weight on its own, as poverty is about household income – not just wages. A sensible, targeted welfare system and investment in skills development and progression by employers and the state is also essential.”

Call for sustainable recruiters Honours for recruiters who have made a commitment to sustainability have been added to the arsenal of Recruiter Awards for 2020.

The new Sustainable Recruitment Agency of the Year category will recognise recruiters who can show demonstrable impact of their organisation’s contributions to one or all of the following: environmental, financial, societal and employability sustainability.

The deadline for entries will be 4 March and the shortlist announced on 17 March.

The entry fee is £175.

Visit www.recruiterawards.co.uk for information and entry forms.

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Contractors call time on PSCs due to IR35 changes

BY COLIN COTTELL

LIMITED COMPANY CONTRACTORS are saying ‘enough is enough’ as they call time on their personal service companies (PSCs), according to an insolvency practitioner who works in the contractor sector.

The introduction of IR35 off-payroll rules into the private sector, combined with persistent rumours that the government may scrap or severely curtail a beneficial tax relief, are the main reason many contractors are considering shutting up shop on their PSCs. John Bell, senior partner at Clarke Bell, told Recruiter: “The phone has rung off the hook” with enquiries from limited company contractors. “They realise the useful life of their limited company has come to an end, so it is time to extract the profits in the most tax-efficient way, which is to get entrepreneurs’ tax relief, or to use members’ voluntary liquidation [where a shareholder appoints a liquidator to close down a solvent company].”

Although any announcement on Entrepreneurs’ Relief is unlikely to be made before the Budget is revealed on 11 March, Bell says that limited company contractors are keen to lock in the tax advantages now, rather than risk losing out when it is either scrapped completely or curtailed.

Currently, the relief reduces the rate of Capital Gains Tax from 20% to just 10% for gains of up to £10m when an individual disposes of their business or shares in a private company they work for.

Commenting on the rumours about Entrepreneurs’ Relief, Matt Fryer, head of legal services at specialist accountancy services and umbrella solutions provider Brookson Group, said: “The sting in the tail of closing a company to benefit from Entrepreneurs’ Relief is that it restricts the contractor from operating the same or similar trade or activity for the next two years.

“If this ‘phoenixing’ were to happen, the tax benefits of the Entrepreneurs’ Relief obtained on the extraction of funds on the closure of the company is removed, so careful consideration is needed before taking this approach.”

Contractors closing down their PSC is among the reactions received from those working in the contractor sector as a result of the IR35 off-payroll changes that are due to come in on 6 April. Other responses seen in the public sector when similar changes were introduced in April 2017 were switching to an umbrella company for payroll services, taking a permanent job, leaving the UK to work overseas, and living on their savings until the dust settles.

HMRC declined to comment when contacted by Recruiter.

• For more on these controversial IR35 changes, and the implications for the sector, please see our special IR35 supplement with this issue.

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THOUGHTS FROM… ALBERT ELLIS O UTGOING CEO, HARVEY NASH

“It is said that the first Monday back at work after a New Yearinduced hangover features two big social spikes, divorces and jobs… When we compare this year’s first Monday back at work with the same day in 2019, it revealed a 50% increase in job applications in the UK – a good sign that the jobs market, which has been in the doldrums since June 2016, may at last becoming unstuck.”

TORSTEN BELL CE O O F THINK TANK , RESOLU TION FOUNDATION

“Even with HS2 or HS3 or whatever it is, the idea that lowpaid people in Leeds are going to travel to Manchester for work is ludicrous. Thirty minutes is a very long commute if you are on the Minimum Wage.”

SANDRA NEWMAN AUTHO R , T WEETING IN RESPONSE TO RESEARCH S H OW I N G 2 1 % O F M E N S AY T H E Y ’ R E A F R A I D TO H IRE WOMEN DUE TO #METOO MOVEMENT

“Weird how no one asks women if they’re afraid to hire men after centuries of sexual assault.”

Shape up, then ship out

BY COLIN COTTELL

OWNERS OF RECRUITMENT agencies who wish to maximise the value of their business before exiting should pay special attention to the quality of the management, and essentially make themselves redundant, recruiters have heard.

Speaking at Future Proofing Your Recruitment Business in London, hosted by accountants Raffingers, Philip Ellis (right), MD and founder of Optima Corporate Finance, said “the most important” factor determining the multiple – the selling price expressed as a multiple of profits – was the quality of non-shareholder management.

This is “crucial”, said Ellis, who advised business owners to ask themselves: “Why would someone give you a nice sum of money to leave the business unless it is sustainable without you? What have you done to make yourself redundant in that business, to build the team, to bring the management through and to upskill the management so the business no longer revolves around you?”

For prospective buyers, Ellis said, “it is all about risk”, and it was less risky to acquire a business in which key client relationships were shared across the team rather than monopolised by the owner. Prospective buyers will also take into account long length of service of staff and staff turnover rates as an indicator of a good culture and happy workplace.

While Ellis said he was in favour of granting staff shares and share options as a way of motivating and retaining employees, which could ultimately drive value in the business, recruitment company owners need to weigh up these options carefully. If staff were kept in the dark about when an exit event would take place and there was no realistic prospect of them realising value from their share options, they might feel “they are being strung along”, he said. This risked demotivating staff, he warned.

Other important factors that improved the chances of a higher multiple were being a niche business and consistently high levels of compliance.

Ellis advised business owners not to wait until they are preparing for an exit to get their compliance in order adding: “You never know when you might get a call from someone like me.”

START- UP OF TH E MO NTH

I M AG E S | I STOC K / PA L HA NS E N

J&J RECRUITMENT Experienced driving recruiter Joanne Davies and industrial & commercial recruiter Joe Ebsworth have joined forces to launch logistics and warehousing perm staffing specialist J&J Recruitment Services.

Davies says the agency plans to stand out in the market by providing a “risk-free” recruitment process.

This includes a ‘free replacement service’, which means if a placement does not work out for whatever

reason within the first six months, the agency will find the client a replacement free of charge.

“We also adopt the attitude that ‘one size does not fit all’. Therefore, all our packages are tailored to each individual client with a full understanding of their requirements.

Our aim is to provide recruitment support that allows our clients to remain in full control of the process without the typical recruitment issues,

allowing them to save time and money. We believe our process eliminates all the stresses many companies experience when recruiting. We do the leg work, so you don’t have to.”

While the future is unknown as a new start-up, looking ahead Davies adds: “Our aim over the next 12 months is to remain consistent in what we do to ensure our long-term goals prosper.”

Find more daily news stories at recruiter.co.uk/news

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THIS WAS THE MONTH THAT WAS… Here is a round-up of some of the most popular news stories we have brought you on recruiter.co.uk since the February issue of Recruiter was published J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0 •‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒→

28 JANUARY 2020

DON’T HIDE BEHIND BANTER IN A JOB AD – IT’S DISCRIMINATION, PLAIN AND SIMPLE 29 JANUARY 2020

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RECRUITMENT TECH FIRMS MERGER CREATES £100M GLOBAL BUSINESS A three-way merger took place, as technology talent solution businesses Xcede, TechStream and Etonwood came together to create a £100m revenue global business.

The merger, funded by private equity firm Universal Partners and Investec Bank, meant that the unified business has more than 650 technology, engineering and digital consultants on client sites, and 220 internal employees across nine global offices.

Led by TechStream founder Paul Beeke, with Xcede CEO William Jacques as chief operating officer, the newly formed group will be headquartered in London, while the three companies now share a group parent company branded as TechStream Group.

Jacques said: “This merger brings together three specialist technology talent solution companies to form a much larger global offering focused on emerging technologies. By joining the businesses, we will expand our service into the US, Asia and MEA markets, whilst expanding our European operations.”

More: https://bit.ly/2Ulch5Z

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Recruiters have been warned that a ‘just joking’ defence at tribunal to a job ad that explicitly discriminates against a particular group protected by the Equalities Act won’t wash.

The warning follows a case in Australia in which a New South Wales post office published a job ad barring ‘entitled’ young people from applying. The Warilla Licensed Post Office, located in Shellharbour on the NSW south coast, recently shared a job listing on job site Seek for a retail traineeship.

While the privately-owned and operated post office said it was looking for an ‘enthusiastic person’ of ‘either gender’ who has a ‘great work ethic’ and is ‘interested in a customer-focused job’ for the full-time position, the ad also stated: ‘Unfortunately, the successful applicant will not be an over-entitled millennial with an inflated sense of entitlement.’

After the ad drew criticism on Twitter, the poster of the ad claimed the additional line to the ad was a “tongue in cheek” comment.

But commenting on the implications of such an ad being posted in the UK, Melanie Stancliffe, partner at law firm Cripps Pemberton Greenish, told Recruiter such a defence would not work at all. “Once you’ve caused the offence, turning around saying ‘it had no impact or it wasn’t intended to impact’ makes no difference. The offence is caused and you’ve committed an act of discrimination,” she explained.

More: https://bit.ly/36ZhraF

VETERAN OF RETAIL RECRUITMENT CRAIG VIDLER DIES At the end of the month, Recruiter brought you the sad news of the death of 73-year-old Craig Vidler, a 50-year veteran of the retail recruitment sector.

Speaking to Recruiter about her father, Vidler’s daughter Claire Newman, managing director and founder of Bluetree Recruits, said he was the inspiration behind her getting into recruitment: “I’m incredibly proud to have Craig as my father – he was inspirational in me starting my career in recruitment. He is just irreplaceable,” Newman said.

Vidler joined Star Agency in 1970 with a brief to develop a retail section, which traded as Star Executives.

Twenty years later, he became the controlling shareholder of Star Executives and 10 years later on he sold the firm to a consortium backed by banks and venture capitalists for a seven-figure sum.

He launched Prima Principia in 1990, a vehicle for raising money for acquisitions, buy-ins, and buy-outs, etc but when his ‘no competition’ clause with Star Executives ended, he moved Prima Principia into executive recruitment in the retail sector. A decade ago, he joined HR GO, initially as a non-exec before becoming group MD until he retired three years ago.

Vidler was also a director at Grey4Gold, an organisation which helps older people into retail work, and was tireless with charity work, as Newman explains: “Thirty years ago he set up a fishing trip with his peers, colleagues and clients, which grew into an annual [charitable fundraising] fishing trip.

“He would work with the Retail Trust as the main charity and he raised over £500k over the 30 years for various charities [but] mainly the Retail Trust.

That’s when a group of his colleagues got together in 2015/16 and nominated him for the Queen’s honours list for his hard work. He was awarded a British Empire Medal for services to charity for raising that money.”

More: https://bit.ly/2ScVhw5

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5 FEBRUARY 2020

THOUSANDS OF CONSTRUCTION JOBS AS DISNEYLAND PARIS EXPANDS Disneyland Paris has launched a recruitment drive to fill 8,000 new roles. The theme park, located in Chessy to the East of Paris, is seeking engineers, architects and works managers – with 1,000 jobs on permanent, open-ended employment contracts and 7,000 temporary roles by the end of 2020 – as part of a €2bn (£1.7bn) extension of the park.

More: https://bit.ly/2SkwKFp

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LEGAL EXPERTS ANSWER POST-BREXIT QUESTIONS ON EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYERS URGED TO HELP CHANNEL APPRENTICESHIP LEVY FUNDING

Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, Recruiter spoke to law firms to find out some of the employment concerns companies are raising with legal experts.

Concerns that are top of mind among their clients include the possible divergence from EU law, such as Agency Worker Regulations, and increased costs connected with recruiting talent from the EU. Melanie Stancliffe, partner at Cripps Pemberton Greenish, told Recruiter one of the top concerns among her clients is how they secure EU talent from 2021: “Post 31 December 2020, how are they going to get the people that they need into the country?”

Natasha Chell, partner and head of risk and compliance at law firm Laura Devine Immigration, warns firms face a substantial increase in cost and resources required to secure immigration permission for workers unless they enter the UK before the end of the transitional period, which is 31 December 2020.

And Anna Elliott, partner at law firm Osborne Clarke, told Recruiter the key employment question her firm is being asked is whether or not the country will see any significant change in its employment laws as a result of the UK leaving the EU. See the full online article (link below) for more comments and concerns from employment law specialists.

More: https://bit.ly/381cUFR

Find more daily news stories at recruiter.co.uk/news

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Employers have a key role to play in ensuring Apprenticeship Levy funding reaches the sectors and individuals who need it most. That was the message from Anna Ambrose, director of the London Progression Collaboration, who was speaking at a launch event attended by Recruiter for the initiative, which seeks to boost apprenticeship opportunities for low-paid Londoners.

London Progession Collaboration, supported by finance giant JP Morgan, business campaigning group London First and the CBI, aims to help more than 1,000 Londoners to progress from unemployment into work, and from low-paid, lowskilled work into better-quality, higher-paying jobs.

Speaking about the reasons for the initiative, Ambrose told the audience at Mary Ward House in London that the capital has the lowest level of apprenticeship starts in the country – about half that of the North-East.

“To take an example, the construction sector in London has the lowest level of apprenticeships in the country and yet 25% of all construction labour is needed right here, according to recent work by the CITB,” she said. “And with increase in higher-level apprenticeship starts – perhaps at the expense of ork and to progress those that support people into work from low-skilled work – it’s an opportunity that is being lost to individuals as well. So it’s an opportunity that is at risk of slipping through our fingers, with apprenticeship funding reaching neither the sectors nor the individuals who need it most.”

More: https://bit.ly/2SxKrB9

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MyKindaFuture Hire Association Europe (HAE), a trade body representing the plant, tool and equipment hire industry, has partnered with UK talent specialist MyKindaFuture to create a workshop to tackle the skills shortage in the hire sector. The new workshop will provide young people with the skills and information they need to consider a career in the industry.

Adecco Group Recruitment giant Adecco Group has selected cloud-based compensation management software provider beqom to manage its salary review and bonus compensation processes.

Cappfinity Strengths-based assessment firm Cappfinity has partnered with law firm Linklaters to launch a customised assessment system based on Cappfinity’s platform, to streamline its application process. Linklaters hopes to improve talent acquisition by unlocking behavioural insight and building a more holistic picture of candidates, with bias-free algorithmic assessments enabling the firm to look past grades, subjects and institutions, and recruit for ability, fit and potential – supporting strategic diversity and inclusion goals.

JSA Services JSA Services, a provider of professional advisory and outsourced employment and payroll services to the UK’s contingent workforce supply chain, has bought end-to-end payment solution MANGOPAY. The deal marks JSA’s 11th acquisition transaction since 2013, consolidating more than a dozen brands in the sector into its operating platform, and sees the group now servicing around 17,000 customers via its online, multi-channel, subscription revenue model.

Saba Software Saba Software, a global provider of personalised talent experience solutions, has signed a deal with UK hotel brand operator Atlas Hotels. Atlas has selected Saba TalentLink and Saba Learning to attract, hire and onboard new talent, and to create learning experiences that support continuous skill development for its 1,200 employees across 49 hotels.

DEAL OF T HE MONT H

TechStream Group Technology talent solution businesses Xcede, TechStream and Etonwood have joined to create a £100m revenue global business.

In a merger funded by private equity firm Universal Partners and Investec Bank, the unified business now has more than 650 technology, engineering and digital

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consultants on client sites, and 220 internal employees across nine global offices.

Led by TechStream founder Paul Beeke, with Xcede CEO William Jacques as chief operating officer, the new group will be headquartered in London, while the three companies now share a group parent company branded as TechStream Group.

Rhino Site Services Rhino Site Services has launched a commercial division through a merger with Barry-based Prince Resourcing. The deal sees Harry Driscoll, former owner of Prince, join the independent recruitment firm. Rhino Commercial will specialise in recruiting for sales, HR, marketing and financial services on both a contract and interim and a permanent basis.

Omni Global facilities services organisation ISS UK is outsourcing its entire permanent and fixed-term contract recruitment to Altrincham-based resourcing specialist Omni in a five-year deal. As part of the deal, Omni will provide ISS with a dedicated resourcing team, based in Altrincham, while Omni’s own recruitment system, Appellia, will be used to build bespoke talent pools for ISS. Omni will also automate and streamline the recruitment process, to provide ISS with full visibility and control of all recruitment activity.

More contract news at recruiter.co.uk/news

06/02/2020 09:30

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INSIGHT

MAC REPORT DISMISSES AUSTRALIAN-STYLE IMMIGRATION SYSTEM The eagerly awaited Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report on the future for immigration was published at the end of January. So what did it conclude?

BY FRASER VANDAL

rriving amid a mass of headline news on immigration, calls for a ‘Scottish visa’ and the government’s announcement of a new global talent visa category, the MAC Report makes interesting reading.

The report responds to requests from Home Secretary Priti Patel to consider a points-based system and from the former home secretary (Sajid Javid) on the use of salary thresholds in UK immigration law. It makes 28 recommendations, most of which will likely be welcomed by employers – including opening up the system to an increased number of medium-skilled roles, and generally simplifying the current rules. However, there is little encouragement for employers in sectors that rely on EU/EFTA (European Free Trade Association) nationals to fill ‘low-skilled’ roles.

Rather, the report suggests that the new rules should cover both EU/EFTA and non-EU/EFTA nationals.

In what many will view as a blow to the government, the report concluded that the current Tier 2 (General) sponsorship framework should be retained and not be replaced with an ‘Australian-style’ points-based system.

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The key recommendations are: • Salary thresholds – Tier 2 (general) currently operates on the basis of salary thresholds. The continuation of this approach has been recommended, with the proviso that the general minimum threshold should fall from £30k to £25.6k, to account for proposals to include more medium-skilled roles within the Tier 2 (General) rules. An immediate pause in salary thresholds for settlement applications was also recommended.

Overall, the continued application of thresholds could have a considerable impact on EU/EFTA nationals not covered by the Settlement Scheme, who would be required to meet salary thresholds to work in the UK under the new rules.

• Regional variations – Despite recent calls from Nicola Sturgeon for the creation of a ‘Scottish visa’ to boost population growth North of the border, the report recommended that salary thresholds be applied uniformly across the UK. According to the report, “differences in earnings across regions are not large enough to justify the extra complication” of the system.

• Part-time arrangements – The report concluded that (i) the current Tier 2 (general) system does not

Despite calls for a ‘Scottish visa, it recommended uniform salary thresholds across the UK

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indirectly discriminate against women and (ii) salary thresholds should not be pro-rated for part time roles. In a recommendation consistent with the government’s Good Work Plan, greater flexibility should be considered for visa holders switching to part-time roles after becoming a parent.

• Shortage occupations – Classifying a role as being in shortage under the current regime carries administrative and cost advantages, but the report questioned the continued need for the Shortage Occupation List if any revised system does not retain Resident Labour Market Test advertising. Lower salary thresholds for shortage roles were considered “perverse”, owing to concerns about downward pressure on salary in these roles.

• Tier 1 (exceptional talent) – The current rules in this area were heavily criticised by the report, which suggested that this area could be

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Despite the number of recommendations, the report heavily criticised the MAC’s ability to access the data that it requires to

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modified to create a genuine points-based system to sit alongside the amended Tier 2 (general) framework. The recommendations focus on a system where expressions of interest could be made by those without job offers, with candidates then being invited to apply via a system with “tradable points” (where points gained for particular strengths could be offset against areas of weakness to achieve the required total across the board). The report did suggest that STEM roles could be prioritised under such a scheme, although it is questionable whether the report’s recommendations will be followed, given the recent announcement of the new global talent visa in this area.

appropriately carry out its role. Indeed, the report expressed concern “that the issues accessing data hamper [its] ability to use the most appropriate and robust data in order to undertake analysis”. This is, regrettably, not a new phenomenon, with previous MAC reports also highlighting issues with data access. Of the 28 recommendations made, four relate purely to how the government should retain data on immigration matters.

Overall, the MAC Report recommends a degree of change that is much less radical than was expected by many – which will likely be welcomed by employers. In effect, it proposes some tweaks to the current Tier 2 (general) system with a limited points-based system in addition – which is certainly not in line with the Conservative manifesto proposals on post-Brexit immigration. The report notes that the end of free movement will likely reduce migration and total GDP, and increase pressure on social care; but could equally increase productivity and public finances.

The MAC was quick to point out in its report that no immigration system is perfect, and that several difficult decisions need to be made.

The MAC Report is, of course, advisory and the Government has no obligation to follow its recommendations. The home secretary has already been quick to point out that “the British public voted for change when it came to immigration”, casting early doubt on whether the recommendations will be followed.

However, with less than a year to go until the planned rollout of the new system, decisions need to be made – and made quickly. ●

FRASER VANDAL is a solicitor at UK law firm TLT

POWER POINTS

1 2

● The current Tier 2 (general)

3

● The implementation of an

4

● The retention of the current

5

● A points-based system more

6

● Regionalisation of the system

system is a points-based system in name only. ● The report considers the

points-based systems used in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Austria. The points-based systems in these countries exist alongside other work visa routes that are not points-based.

‘Australian-style’ pointsbased system has been discussed in the context of controlling the UK’s borders.

However, the report notes the system in Australia is designed to encourage population growth.

Tier 2 (general) framework has been recommended, subject to amendments.

While a recommendation against wholesale changes will be welcomed by some, the system recommended would still result in barriers to EU/EFTA migration from 2021.

akin to the Australian model has been recommended to replace the current Tier 1 (exceptional talent) route for skilled workers without a job offer. However, the recent announcement of the global talent visa casts doubt on whether this recommendation will be followed.

has been broadly rejected, but a pilot visa for remote areas of the UK has been recommended.

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06/02/2020 10:48

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T R E N DS

TECH & TOOLS

Speeding up pre-selection Retorio sorts out the right candidates

BY SUE WEEKES

HOW DOES IT WORK?

OVER-CONFIDENT HUMANS

Retorio is rooted in psychology, computer science and organisational research, and is a spin-off from the Technical University of Munich. It uses AI to analyse video interviews for thousands of cues to predict personality and behavioural patterns, which it claims presents employers with the equivalent of dozens of recruiters taking the time to interview each candidate. Results can be automatically aligned with an ideal search profile for any given job and presented as a ranked list with the best-fitting candidates on top.

Co-founder Christoph Hohenberger reckons humans often have an overconfidence in their own abilities, including when it comes to judging others. “Yet one [judgement] alone is not perfect, nor may a thousand be,” he says.

“So putting judgements together is surely better.

Given that you can statistically supervise those judgements and rule out biases, we see a clear advantage for our solution in recruitment when making pre-selecting decisions.”

By speeding up the pre-selection process, Retorio also hopes to release time for other core functions such as sourcing candidates,

more in-depth interviewing and face-to-face meetings.

UNDERSTANDING CANDIDATES BETTER So far, feedback has shown that users value the software for its ability to help them understand candidates’ personalities better.

“Even better, not the self-rated personality (who I think I am) but the behavioural personality (how I really behave) along a scientific-validated taxonomy,” explains Hohenberger. Retorio is based on the Big 5 or Five Factor personality taxonomy (see box below). Once pre-screening is complete, Retorio allows recruiters to do a ‘deep

THE BIG 5 The Big 5 framework, which has roots going back 70 years, classifies candidates according to five different personality dimensions: agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and extraversion. It is a well-researched personality taxonomy and, in this instance, Retorio uses it as a predictor of a candidate’s job attitudes and performance once in role.

I M AG E | I STO C K

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Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) inexorable march into the world of recruitment continues. It won’t replace recruiters but it is already showing how it can empower them. A good example is the AI-based video recruiting software Retorio, which aims to provide a solution that is equal to a multitude of recruiters interviewing each candidate. The German start-up recently secured funding from a top angel consortium to roll out its software to its first customers, including the BMW Group.

dive’ on their favourite candidates to find out more about their communication style and culture fit for the organisations. It also suggests critical questions to ask at interview, based on the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.

EARLY ADOPTER One of the early adopters is the German-based car rental comparison platform Happycar, which wanted to increase the quality of candidates interviewed by getting faster insights about a candidate’s communication behaviour and personality. This was especially important for customer care positions.

The company achieved time-savings in the pre-selection process of customer support candidates by 78%. They also reduced the number of interviews,

allowing recruitment teams to hold more in-depth personal ones.

It led to the company feeling 40% more satisfied with new candidates.

FINAL DECISION BY HUMANS Hohenberger is keen to stress that neither AI nor humans will ever be 100% perfect and so Retorio is pitched as a ‘decision-support’ not a decision-making tool.

“Humankind has probably always dreamed of having solutions that solve all their problems,” he says.

“AI can surely help to support with tasks that are redundant and where humans have problems. However, it gets problematic if technology makes automated decisions (for example, hired versus not-hired). At the end, a human is still in control of making the final decision.” ● WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 15

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INTE R AC TIO N

C

VIEWPOINT

Wrongdoing in the workplace Blowing the whistle on bad practice

BY LIZ GARDINER

mart employers know staff are the eyes and ears of an organisation, and often the first to be aware of wrongdoing and malpractice in the workplace.

Good internal whistleblowing arrangements help to protect an organisation’s finances and reputation but also safeguard the public interest – staff speaking up act as an invaluable early detection (and deterrence) risk governance system.

Of course, certain sectors such as health and financial services have to have whistleblowing procedures in place.

But stark disparities in how whistleblowing is seen and implemented remain across different sectors ,and there are still so few happy endings for staff who speak out to stop harm.

For 26 years, Protect has been the UK’s leading whistleblowing charity, and runs an advice line to support people who have witnessed wrongdoing in the workplace.

The charity also advises organisations on best practice ‘speak-up’ arrangements. It believes organisations need to do much more to support staff who do speak out, if whistleblowing cultures are to really change for the better.

We know, from the 3,000 cases our advice line handles each year, that many workers still feel afraid to speak up about wrongdoing. Too often, those who blow the whistle on workplace wrongdoing suffer as a result, which sends a poor message to their colleagues about speaking up to stop harm.

Whistleblowers should be thanked, but too many find themselves suddenly facing ‘performance management’, or

S

LIZ GARDINER is acting CEO of Protect, the whistleblowing charity

are subject to bullying from their line manager or team. Worse, some whistleblowers are dismissed on spurious charges.

A recent shocking case of poor treatment of a whistleblower in the West Suffolk NHS Trust was reported in the Guardian, where senior managers had tried fingerprint and handwriting analysis to identify an anonymous whistleblower.

Many organisations need to be educated on how whistleblowing works in reality. It’s not just a policy on an intranet.

The recent Supreme Court case of Royal Mail employee Ms Jhuti reminds employers that, where whistleblowing is concerned, they need to look thoroughly at all evidence given by a line manager to ensure it stands up before dismissing an individual. In this case, Jhuti blew the whistle and was subjected to bullying. Her line manager provided evidence to the dismissing officer about her poor performance. Although the dismissing officer knew nothing about the whistleblowing, the Supreme Court still held that Jhuti had been unfairly dismissed.

Employers considering terminating an employee’s employment should check that the complete information available is used to inform any decision to dismiss.

A key point we drive home in our best practice training is that written policies alone are not enough. Organisations need to ask how those policies are operating, and whether they are effective.

Good governance comes from the top. CEOs, boards and senior managers need to set the tone: encouraging speaking up and making it clear – through both words and deeds – that victimising whistleblowers will not be tolerated. It sounds simple, but it isn’t. Protect can support organisations that want to get it right for whistleblowers.

Protect has drafted a new Whistleblowing Bill, which will call for a duty on employers to better protect staff from victimisation if they speak up about wrongdoing. ●

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06/02/2020 09:32

I N T E R AC T I O N

SOUNDBITES

L ET T ER S TO THE EDITOR SOBERING THOUGHTS I read the article on Sara and John Gaughan of Finlay James about sobriety in recruitment (‘Cut back on the booze and up productivity say Finlay James directors’, recruiter.co.uk, 17 December 2019) with a great deal of interest.

The article certainly rang true with me; firstly as they are my friends and client(!), and I am also teetotal.

I began my sober journey in August 2016 when I fell ill after a post-boozy summer night and then moderated my drinking until June 2017. It was really tricky to navigate in my personal life as so much was centred around going out and getting tipsy, and also in work, where alcohol is synonymous with celebration and commiseration in equal proportions.

Having made the conscious decision to become teetotal in June 2017, I informed people ahead of functions that I would be driving – this seemed easier than saying I wasn’t drinking. And within weeks I felt brighter, more creative and a lot more productive in my output.

Fast forward to now, I know I will never drink again as my favourite time of the day is 5am when I bounce out of bed, energised after a proper night’s sleep (as oppose to alcoholinduced), when I can plan, write, prepare for my day ahead. I am a single parent to two teenage girls, running a full-time business placing recruiters into recruitment. I achieve so much more each and every work day, as I have the same level of energy all the time – no more spikes or dips around hangovers.

I am not evangelical about my sobriety, however I think there is a seismic shift needed in the recruitment sector to encourage those who feel pressurised to drink but don’t necessarily want to that they can choose alcohol-free options with pride – as I do.

LYSHA HOLMES, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, QUI RECRUITMENT

Would you ban recruitment consultants from using LinkedIn and encourage them instead to pick up the phone?

S A R A H E L LWO O D MA N AG IN G D I REC TOR , S UP ERT EMP S

“We encourage consultants to use the appropriate tool at the appropriate time. Human contact in this people business is vital, and building strong relationships pays dividends in the long term. The key is understanding how clients and candidates wish to be communicated with. If it’s a cold introduction, a LinkedIn message followed up with a call could be good or vice versa. The consultant has to use their knowledge and experience to make that judgement. I wouldn’t ban LinkedIn, it’s an essential part of a consultant’s toolkit. But it is just a part of it and the other tools should be used too!”

DENNIS TENNIAL MA N AG IN G D I REC TOR , T EN N IA L P ERS ON N EL

“I would definitely ban recruitment consultants from using LinkedIn. It discourages consultants from picking up the phone, and as a result you lose that personal touch. I believe potential candidates and clients prefer to be spoken to or met personally, forming lasting professional relationships. You need them to trust you to deliver them a new job or workers for their business, and trust isn’t won online.

Recruitment is about relationships. LinkedIn is a great tool if used correctly but it will never replace the importance of genuine relationships.”

LISA GRAHAM D IREC TOR , E1EW

“I definitely wouldn’t ban the use of LinkedIn. If you employ good recruiters, you should trust them to use the right tools at the right time, and prioritise which tool is best depending on what role they are recruiting for. Consultants aren’t children; banning them from LinkedIn would be like taking away the Xbox from a child because they have been naughty! Using the phone is a separate issue and needs to be encouraged in a different and much more positive way.”

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06/02/2020 09:33

3FDSVJUJOH UIF CFTU UBMFOU UP IFMQ PSHBOJTBUJPOT DPNQFUF JO UPEBZsT GBTU DIBOHJOH XPSME JT B NPWJOH UBSHFU 4VF 8FFLFT VODPWFST SFDSVJUFST BU UIF UPQ PG UIFJS HBNF

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06/02/2020 09:38

T H E BI G STORY 11 MOST IN F L UEN T IA L I N - H O U S E R E C RU I T E R S

Welcome to the seventh 11 Most Influential In-House Recruiters As we progress into the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ and the UK enters a post-EU era, organisations across all sectors are preparing for and undergoing great change.

A new war for talent is starting to rage against the backdrop of the digital economy, and many companies will face some of the biggest skills shortages in their history.

This trend places ever more pressure on in-house recruitment departments, tasked with finding the solutions to these, as well as still unknown, future challenges. If our 11 Most Influential are anything to go by, though, many organisations are in good hands.

These individuals have been selected because of the impact they are having not only within their organisations but also in the wider world of recruitment.

Great work continues to be done in diversity & inclusion, and this year sees an emphasis on the importance of early careers and how employment priorities are changing. A sense of purpose is becoming important to candidates, which requires a different employee value proposition.

Our 11 are bringing new thinking, technology and approaches to the profession, and quickly adapting to what could be a very different recruiting landscape in the future.

Method Information and data were gathered from a range of sources in the public domain. Having arrived at our selection, we then asked the individuals what they saw as their main achievements during the past year, and as their main objectives going forward. Wherever possible, metrics such as cost and time-savings were collected. As always, there will be a degree of subjectivity in a list of this nature but, consistently with other years, we aim to apply a set of criteria that qualifies a person for inclusion. This is primarily based on the following: the size, scale, scope and challenge of the position and effectiveness in the role; ability to be strategic and add value, and position the resourcing function central to the business; the degree of innovation or change brought to the current and/ or previous organisation; perceived influence both internally and externally; and the extent to which the individual is considered an industry visionary, trailblazer or thought-leader. Industry- or company-specific challenges are also taken into consideration where appropriate.

Jonathan Briggs (MPCBM IFBE UBMFOU BDRVJTJUJPO JODMVTJPO "WJWB It’s been a busy year for Jonny Briggs and his team at the UK’s largest insurance firm, which is also a global international savings, retirement and insurance business serving 33m customers. After the announcement of Maurice Tulloch as the new CEO in March, six new executives were appointed to his team during the period leading up to October. Meanwhile, the company also announced it intended to reduce expenses by £300m per annum by 2022, which would mean a significant cut in headcount (approximately 1,800 role reductions across the group over the following three years out of a total workforce of 30,000). Briggs says the recruiting teams in all markets reacted quickly to ensure they could assist these goals, as well as continue targeted hiring and maintain the company’s employer brand. He is also responsible for diversity & inclusion, and last year the company launched its Inclusive Recruitment Training programme for line managers. Briggs says that when it comes to D&I, it is important to make sure that “all protected characteristics” are covered, not just those that are high-profile. Aviva also ran an intern programme for individuals who have come from a deprived social economic background, and this resulted in just under half (eight) interns returning to one of its graduate programmes. The company has a presence across Europe, Asia and Canada. Briggs says recruiting teams all face challenges (“some similar, some different”), but quickly learning from each other is paramount, and being part of a global community is essential to that. “Aviva is extremely careful where it spends money, which means taking big calls to stop existing spend, so as to add in other areas that need to be made,” he says. “When you take something away from someone, you will get noise, so confidence in the right decision is essential.” ⦁ WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK W WWW W .RE RECRU RE CRU CR RUITE RU ITE TER.C R.C CO O.U UK 19 19

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Rebecca Foden )FBE PG UBMFOU BDRVJTJUJPO FYFDVUJWF SFDSVJUJOH % * 5SBOTQPSU GPS -POEPO

Toby Culshaw )FBE PG UBMFOU JOUFMMJHFODF BOE FYFDVUJWF SFDSVJUNFOU SFTFBSDI 1IJMJQT *OUFSOBUJPOBM

By 2022-23, Transport for London (TfL) is aiming to be a fully commercial and sustainable business, operating without a £700m annual government grant. At the same time, it is tasked with building the London of tomorrow through projects such as the Elizabeth Line.

Rebecca Foden’s fourth year at TfL has involved supporting this transformation on top of delivering “business-as-usual” senior hiring in one of the most challenging operating environments in the organisation’s history. She leads the strategic talent acquisition function formed as part of a new HR operating

Toby Culshaw makes the 11 for a record third time, consecutively. Electronics company Philips continues to lead the way when it comes to talent intelligence, with Culshaw once again demonstrating how it can positively affect the bottom line. In 2019, the team’s activity secured around €3m (£2.54m) in cost-avoidance, and had an impact on €1bn recruitment and broader business transformation decisions (while achieving a Net Promoter Score of 89 out of 100). Its work is also having an impact outside of Philips. It ran a talent intelligence meet-up in Bangalore attended by representatives from global multinationals, and launched a white paper on the current and future state of talent intelligence with more than 20 companies, research firms and consulting organisations.

Culshaw reports that 2020 will see further development of what he calls the “always on” intelligence pilot, which is designed to have an impact on talent acquisition, executive research and the business as a whole. It is building out a customised tool to help its ‘customers’ (business leaders and HR) have actionable insights at their fingertips. Challenges include ensuring data quality across all the data sources and platforms used, which he says is vital for continued credibility of the function, as well as keeping up with the organic growth for its services, as business units see how effective it can be to embed talent intelligence into the decision-making process. Commendably, he also prioritises the learning and development of his own team. “It is needed for both them as individuals and us as a team to remain at the forefront of talent intelligence,” he says. ⦁ 20 RECRUITER

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T H E BI G STORY 11 MOST IN F L UEN T IA L I N - H O U S E R E C RU I T E R S

model introduced in 2019. With the motto “stay curious, have creative swagger and set an awesome standard on diversity”, her small but ‘mighty’ TA team employs lots of creative thinking to deliver its objectives on a modest budget, which include an ambitious diversity & inclusion agenda to reflect the city that it serves. “We’ve been going hard on diversity, influencing traditional perceptions on talent managing upwards, diagonally, horizontally, and challenging perspective with insight,” she says. In the past 10 months, a diverse leadership hire has been made every eight days, with more than 57% BAME and women leaders hired in the period. In the past 12 months, the focus has shifted to

internal talent and identifying hidden talent gems with hear team applying an external headhunting approach internally. A new CRM platform will be introduced this year, as well as an onboarding platform linked to a leader’s first 100 days. 2020 will also see Foden’s work extend into the wider GLA (Greater London Authority). Indeed, she has already delivered two C-suite roles this year for London Fire Brigade and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, as part of the wider collaboration across the eight mayoral bodies. ⦁

Ben Gledhill #FO (MFEIJMM IFBE PG UBMFOU BDRVJTJUJPO :PEFM Yodel claims to deliver millions of parcels every week to every postcode across the UK. That process requires a lot of people (12,000 colleagues working over peak times and 10,000 all year round). Ben Gledhill wanted to create a volume hiring process that was a positive experience for candidates, as well as achieve the company’s strategic resourcing objectives in areas such as efficiency and quality of hire. And you’d have to say he has pulled it off with aplomb. In 2019, the company had more than 40,000 applications, and every candidate had the ability to pre-screen themselves in their

own time, and book themselves onto a pre-determined assessment day via their mobile device, whatever the time of day. “It is their experience to own and manage, not ours,” he says, adding that automation meant every candidate had an outcome. “No more ‘CV blackholes’. In a highly competitive industry, resourcing must take the initiative when delivering from a strategic, tactical and operational level,” says Gledhill, adding that humans supported by technology and technology supporting effective process will continue to lead the way.

In January 2020, Yodel launched its

new onboarding platform, which will complete the hiring journey for candidates. When he entered the industry in 2005, he was told “you are only as good as your last hire”, and he believes this is still the case – “albeit only as good as your last 1,000 hires”. Year-on-year market challenges are likely to get only more difficult, whether it be economically, politically or socially. But he singles out the biggest challenge for resourcing as being able to adapt to these changes rapidly while continuing to demonstrate a return on investment in its activities. ⦁ WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 21

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TH E B IG STO RY 1 1 MOST INFLUENTIAL IN-HOU SE RECRUI T ERS

Julia Harvie-Liddel (SPVQ IFBE P (SPVQ IFBE PG UBMFOU BDRVJTJUJPO #1 Today, companies traditionally associated with fossil fuel aren’t always top of the list as preferred employers. BP is embracing the energy transition, though, with a range of low-carbon activities, which presents an opportunity, says Julia Harvie-Liddel: “It can provide the clear sense of purpose that people today want from a career, and we need progressive talent and skills that can help solve this challenge.” With this front of mind, her talent acquisition team had a busy 2019, completing its programme to modernise how the company attracts, engages and acquires the best people “in the right roles”. It now delivers 97% of its recruitment activity via dedicated recruitment teams, moving from regional teams to a hub-and-spoke model that mirrors its business growth areas. It also established a new in-house sourcing team,

making it more able to identify diverse, quality candidates, and to provide market insights and build relationships with future talent.

The programme also simplified more than 50 processes to just three, and introduced integrated technology to provide an enhanced and consistent candidate-centric experience.

Going forward, Harvie-Liddel wants to push the BP culture to identify future people needs and put candidate experience at the forefront of attraction activity. She also wants to develop a broader set of enablers for diversifying candidate pools. Competition for early careers talent is fierce, and every sector is interested in engineering talent. Digital is also transforming BP. “Our recruitment strategies need to continue to adapt to consider what new generations want, with digital technology arguably having the biggest impact,” she says. ⦁

Kirsty Jerome )FBE PG HMPCBM UBMFOU BDRVJTJUJPO 4QFDTBWFST A family-run business for more than 30 years, Doug and Dame Mary Perkins set up Specsavers from their spare bedroom on a ping-pong table in 1984. It is now a global company with almost 2,000 stores providing affordable eye, hearing and other healthcare services across 10 countries.

The unique joint venture partnership model means each store is part-owned and managed by its own directors, who are shareholders of their own businesses but who are supported by key specialists in support offices. In nearly eight years at the company, Kirsty Jerome has led the move to a direct sourcing model and implemented an award-winning careers site. For the past year she has been establishing herself in a newly-formed global role. She says it is her biggest challenge yet but equally it is exciting in terms of being able to influence and support a more collaborative way of working across all of the global recruitment teams. As a high-street brand, people really are the 22 RECRUITER

differentiator, which is why attracting cting and then growing its own talent has always been high on the agenda att Specsavers. Jerome wants to explore re how the company can tap into its internal nal talent across the talent acquisition n teams globally, and use data and insight nsight to help inform thinking to support strategic priorities in areas such as digital transformation. Candidate experience is also a major focus going ng forward, with Jerome and her team reviewing the end-to-end journey through the eyes of the candidates.

“We want to use both quantitative and nd qualitative feedback to ensure we get the right balance between consistency, y, accessibility and personalisation,” she e says. “Which will support our desire to o be an employer of choice.”⦁

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Pooja Mangat &BSMZ DBSFFST UBMFOU BDRVJTJUJPO NBOBHFS .POEFMF[ *OUFSOBUJPOBM

Adrian Love 6, *SFMBOE SFDSVJUNFOU EJSFDUPS "DDFOUVSF

Pooja Mangat earned external and internal acclaim and awards in 2019 for several initiatives at the snack food giant whose brands include Cadbury, Oreo and Philadelphia, but there’s no sign of complacency, or indeed rest, for one of recruitment’s rising stars.

She wants to help position Mondelēz International as a key player in early careers, and a raft of initiatives saw it increase its exposure to graduates and interns last year. Attraction strategies and processes are designed to tap into the target market’s mindset. For instance, she created a paper-free

Accenture is instrumental in helping organisations and entire industries reshape and reinvent themselves for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It describes itself as creating the ‘New – now’, and ensuring it has the talent to consistently deliver on this is a big task. The recruitment department’s spirit of continuous improvement, however, means it’s more than up to the job. Adrian Love says he’s always proud of his team, but never more so than in the past 12 months, when it has delivered higher volumes of recruitment, faster and more cost-effectively than ever before – “while simultaneously sourcing ever more niche technical skills and delivering record diversity into the business”. The team has co-created functional and ‘business partnering’ training that has enhanced its ability to use new data tools to drive insights and results. And just as the business is committed to driving innovation for its clients, so is the recruitment department, introducing the use of virtual reality and immersive technology for candidate engagement and assessment in its early talent activity (graduates, apprentices and interns). Aspects of this technology are being developed for its experienced hire recruiting this year. Going forward, challenges include the pace of change and growth in the business as well as the increasing scarceness of talent relative to market demand. “But within that challenge lies the opportunity to do great things,” says Love. “What truly motivates me every day is seeing the great individuals within my teams realise their ideas and potential. In that sense, the objective stays the same: creating and sustaining a culture and environment that allow them to shine individually and collectively in delivering for the business.” ⦁ 24 RECRUITER

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T H E BI G STORY 11 MOST IN F L UEN T IA L I N - H O U S E R E C RU I T E R S

initiative on campus. This allowed Mondelēz to host all of its content digitally, which in turn helped to align early careers with the company’s global sustainability agenda. Mangat is also part of the diversity & inclusion project within TA and a member of the Inclusion@MDLZ team, whose purpose is to create an environment ‘where everyone belongs, can truly be themselves and flourish’. For her part, she is working with functions to trial new ways of working that include mandating unconscious bias training across all line managers, and redacting CVs to remove personal characteristics. Going forward, one of Mangat’s primary areas of focus is the generational shift in the priorities of

employees, from salary to values and ethics. “I plan to share more relevant, real stories so that at our target audience can become more e connected with Mondelēz, before they even plan to apply,” she says. She has also set an ambitious target for the company to become connected ed to more educational providers. To help p with this process, she will use Mondelēz’s delēz’s ‘Everyone is a recruiter’ ruiter’ approach, which involves signing up colleagues gues with an interest in early careers to o support the objective, tive, by becoming an educational partner. ⦁

Craig Morgans (MPCBM IFBE PG UBMFOU BDRVJTJUJPO *8( GPSNFSMZ EJSFDUPS PG UBMFOU BDRVJTJUJPO FNFSHJOH UBMFOU FNQMPZFF FYQFSJFODF UIF "" After five years at the AA in which he fulfilled his remit to transform how the 114-year-old organisation recruits, Craig Morgans’ career begins a new chapter in a new sector as global head of talent acquisition at the flexible workspace provider International Workspace Group (IWG).

Recruiter magazine crowned him In-House Recruiter of the Year in May last year, with judges highlighting his skill, empathy and diligence when it came to implementing change.

The past 12 months have seen his innovation and creativity come to

the fore, though, securing his place in the 11 for the second consecutive year. In one campaign, the company got behind the barefoot runner Anna McNuff in her attempt to run the equivalent of 100 marathons in 100 days, to promote the employer brand to more women. It also partnered with the ex-Special Forces professional and SAS: Who Dares Wins television presenter Ant Middleton. The activities of both people resonated with the AA’s ‘Ready for anything’ employee value proposition, and took the brand to millions of people who may not

have thought of the AA as a future employer. For example, Middleton guided a group of AA employees on a 24-hour wilderness adventure that was broadcast live on social media. One of its aims was to demonstrate that the AA is committed to providing as much support as possible to service leaders and reservists. Expect more transformation and innovation at IWG. Morgans sums his challenge up simply as “to continue to raise the bar in terms of candidate experience and employer brand”. ⦁ WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK 25

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06/02/2020 09:39

TH E B IG STO RY 1 1 MOST INFLUENTIAL IN-HOU SE RECRUI T ERS

Aaron Neale 7JDF QSFTJEFOU PG UBMFOU BDRVJTJUJPO *NQSPCBCMF Improbable believes that the next revolution in entertainment will take the form of huge multiplayer virtual worlds, and it is slap-bang at the cutting edge of developing them. What began as a start-up in 2012 by two Cambridge computer science graduates has grown to a 600-strong workforce, spread across three continents. In 2019, Aaron Neale led the talent team to design and implement a novel operating model, which has transformed its approach to hiring. An overhaul was required to ensure the company could scale in its next phase of growth. “The new model borrows from agile principles and uses a proprietary requisition management and prioritisation tools to manage any backlog,” he explains.

The process has already led to a decrease in time-to-hire and cost-per-hire and helped to deliver critical, high-quality talent in a

“concentration” beyond what was previously achieved, he says. In 2020, the firm aims to further grow its global employee footprint and to take data analytics to the next level across the hiring lifecycle. Also high on the agenda are progression of its diversity & inclusion strategy, implementation of new frameworks to constantly improve how talent is assessed, and evolution of the employer brand across critical talent pools and geographies. “We need to balance flexibility and responsiveness to the changing demands of the business, while developing mature systems, processes and tools to match our size and pace of scale,” says Neale. “It remains important to keep the business aligned to our way of working as we grow and expand into new territories.”⦁

Sally Scales )FBE PG CPBSE UBMFOU BOE BQQPJOUNFOUT /)4 -FBEFSTIJQ "DBEFNZ As well as growing staff numbers, the NHS needs to rapidly become a much better place to work, said the Interim NHS People Plan launched in June 2019 to address the “once in a generation workforce challenges” facing it.

The plan focuses on: recruiting more staff, making the NHS a great place to work, and equipping it to meet the challenges of 21st-century healthcare. The right leadership will be key to delivering on the plan. Sally Scales says the main focus of the past 12 months has been continuing the change from a reactive approach to board appointments to more strategic talent management. This has involved moving away from a traditional internal search-type model to one that focuses more on the development of the talent pipeline. Her team has supported the establishment of Regional Talent Boards, 26 RECRUITER

which oversee the creation of talent pools of aspiring and existing directors. Aspiring director schemes have been put in place, supporting individuals to progress to board level, and these have seen an increase in BAME participants in them. Moving forward, the focus will be on building talent pipelines and supporting the Regional Talent Boards to develop a deployment model where individuals seeking to progress their career can access vacancies and there is more visibility of senior talent. The biggest challenge remains the NHS’s fragmented structure. But it is one that Scales is ready to meet head-on. “We have examples of great talent management, but it’s not consistent,” she says. “Through the new people strategy and the Regional Talent Boards, we have big ambitions to overcome these challenges and make the NHS the best place to work for all staff.” ⦁

MARCH 2020

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06/02/2020 10:49

THE VIEW AND THE INTELLIGENCE

Recruiters can help fill the gender pay gap p2 BI G TALKI NG POI NT

Call for acঞon on #EachforEqual p4

Recruitment Issue 83 March 2020 Ma ers

LEGAL U PDATE

What you need to know about IR35 p6 PRODU CTS AND TRAI NI NG

How video is revoluঞonising interviews p8

Le er to the Chancellor

REC to Sajid Javid: ‘pause and think again’ on IR35

P

ushing ahead with IR35 legisla on could “severely damage the economy, compliant firms, workers and the tax take”, the REC and a number of its high-profile members have warned the Treasury.

In a le er signed by 14 recruitment firms, the REC called for a “more ambi ous and in-depth” review into the impact of the legisla on. It said the government should delay implementa on un l April 2021 to allow for a proper reassessment.

The Treasury announced a review of IR35 in January, following calls from across the industry. However, the REC revealed that this review will look only at how the legisla on will be implemented, not delay it. To meet the 6 April deadline, final legisla on will have to be announced with the spring budget on 11 March. This leaves just 17 working days to prepare for implementa on.

@RECPress RM_MARCH 2020.indd 1

New research by Harvey Nash, a recruitment firm specialising in technology talent, shows that 83% of businesses think the changes will nega vely impact their industry.

A primary concern is the lack of effec ve regula on of umbrella companies, which the REC warns would create tax avoidance opportuni es.

This would “risk workers and compliant companies losing out to those who might bend the rules”, its le er argues. It also calls for an independent chair and body to conduct the review and to learn lessons from the roll-out of IR35 in the public sector.

“We know from experience that the proposed IR35 legisla on, as it stands, will have unwanted consequences,” said Tom Hadley, Director of Policy at the REC. “Everyone should pay the correct tax. But these reforms would provide the perfect environment

The REC’s le er warned the Chancellor that the proposed legislaঞon will have ‘unwanted consequences’

Making great work happen

for unregulated and noncompliant umbrella companies to thrive. This will come at a cost to ethical businesses and workers who want to play by the rules.

This undermines what IR35 sets out to achieve.”

He added that this is why it is “disappoin ng” that the review won’t look into the legisla on itself. “This makes delaying implementa on, and the need to regulate umbrella bodies, even more urgent. Businesses may have just weeks to make sweeping reforms at what is already an extraordinarily difficult me as Brexit uncertainty and skills shortages take their toll on employer confidence. Ge ng IR35 right and learning from the lessons of the past is cri cal.”

www.rec.uk.com 04/02/2020 12:01

Leading the industry

the view...

It’s Internaঞonal Women’s Day and 50 years since the Equal Pay Act. There’s much more to do… says Neil Carberry, REC Chief Execuঞve

I

loved the film Made in Dagenham, the story of workers at Ford’s Essex plant who were instrumental in the campaign for Equal Pay, both in their factory and in law. That story lies at the heart of a century of campaigning by women workers. And, although the Equal Pay Act is 50 years old this year, there is s ll a gender pay gap.

This year the theme of Interna onal Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March is Each for Equal – the idea that all individuals can act to create a more equal and inclusive world. This is a powerful observa on. The drivers of different treatment of different groups in work are too complex to be solved by a simple rate for the job, though equality in that is essen al. Real progress and inclusion has to come from an inclusive workplace. A classic example is progress on flexible working, which benefits everyone. Inclusion is a mainstream issue, not a sec onal one.

Recruiters have a huge role to play – not just in challenging percep ons and opening up progression routes, but in suppor ng plans for workforce change and how we u lise technology. More businesses are also realising that inclusion makes business sense. At the start of the year we welcomed the 500th client business into the Good Recruitment Collec ve, a powerful group of businesses commi ed to change.

Employers turn to recruitment agencies to gain expert management knowledge. They want your advice on how to promote an inclusive workplace.

So take the opportunity on IWD to shout about how our expert knowledge can shi the dial on equality.

And here’s a quick quiz ques on: how many countries celebrate IWD as a na onal holiday?

Tweet answers to @REC_Neil

“Inclusion is a mainstream issue.”

If you want to keep up to speed with all things recruitment then follow me on Twi er @RECNeil

2

HADLE Y’S COMME NT

Sustainability and AI How can we get to grips with drivers of change, asks Tom Hadley, REC’s Director of Policy and Campaigns

T

he jobs market is evolving – fast. Automa on, ar ficial intelligence (AI) and the move to more sustainable regional economies are just three factors. Our latest ‘Future of Jobs White Paper’, in associa on with LinkedIn, focuses on what these forces of change mean for recruiters across the UK.

The regional impact

AI is one of the four challenges iden fied in the government’s Industrial Strategy and its impact is likely to be felt first in regions with more low-skilled workers, such as the Midlands, North and East Anglia.

The REC has consistently called for more agile and effec ve structures to facilitate career transi ons for those affected. In par cular, we are engaging with the Department for Work and Pensions through our Partnership Agreement, which seeks to find solu ons to emerging labour market challenges. Industry leaders and recruitment professionals can feed into this debate and pre-empt future skills needs.

Growth in a green economy

Clean growth is a ‘grand challenge’ in the Industrial Strategy, and Local Enterprise Partnerships have developed projects from an Offshore Wind Sector Deal in the West of England to a coastal arc ecoinnova on partnership for low-carbon energy in the North West. Recruitment professionals’ access to local data and prac cal tools will be pivotal to aid this transi on. This was at the heart of our regional Future of Recruitment Forums with LinkedIn and remains a focus for our Future of Jobs Observatory this year. Let’s take a lead on the future of jobs.

You can follow Tom on Twi er @HadleysComment

Recruitment Ma ers March 2020

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04/02/2020 12:01

Leading the industry

the intelligence...

23%

A clearer outlook – but drought warnings ahead Thalia Ioannidou, Research Manager, REC A er a year of uncertainty, what should we expect in 2020?

At last the path ahead is looking more predictable. Recruitment ac vity picked up at the end of 2019 and we saw permanent placements rise for the first me in a year. This upturn was linked to increased business ac vity and organisa ons approving new hires a er a long period in which they delayed making decisions.

Temporary billings also rose (‘Report on Jobs’, January 2020).

Employers’ hiring inten ons in the short and medium term were encouraging. Forecast demand for permanent staff in the last quarter of 2019 was posi ve, at net: +21 in the short term and net: +26 in the medium term. Short-term demand for temporary agency workers rebounded by nine percentage points from the previous rolling quarter, while medium-term demand also rose by four

percentage points (‘JobsOutlook’, January 2020).

50% of employers quesঞoned feared too few workers were available for permanent roles.

The number of people coming to the UK to work has fallen since June

2016

Staff and agencies s ck together Average term of employment of full- me recruitment agency staff (months) 60 50

51%

50.3%

40.8%

40 30 20 10 0 2017

www.rec.uk.com

RM_MARCH 2020.indd 3

2019

Jan-Nov 2019

Where have all the people gone?

The declining number of people available for new roles remains a concern. December 2019 saw a further reduc on in staff supply as the number of people available for permanent jobs fell faster than for short-term work. Similarly, in a survey conducted by the REC in December, one in four employers (23%) iden fied a lack of suitable candidates for jobs as the main challenge for their business – higher than a lack of skills or experience in the organisa on (12%) and compliance and/or legisla on (12%).

In the last quarter of 2019, half the employers ques oned feared too few workers were available for permanent roles.

The main skills shortages were in the construc on, health and social care, and engineering and Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, the length of me recruitment professionals stay at their firm is holding steady, averaging 50.3 months across January-November 2019, according to the median recruiter in the RIB Index.

of employers iden fied a lack of suitable candidates for jobs as the main challenge for their business

technical sectors. Meanwhile, 27% of employers of temporary agency workers had similar concerns. This may be linked to worries about IR35 reforms.

Eyes on the EU trade nego a ons The number of people coming to the UK to work has fallen since June 2016. Fewer EU ci zens, in par cular, are immigra ng, so how will businesses and public services cope with further reduc ons?

It is vital that the government makes the supply of workers a priority in its nego a ons with the EU. If not, they will fail to reassure businesses and workers or build confidence in the economy.

Note: Data is from the REC’s monthly surveys of employers (‘JobsOutlook’) and of recruitment consultancies (‘Report on Jobs’).

Recruitment agency staff stayed at their firm for an average of 40.8 months in 2017, rising to 51 months in 2018, according to the median RIB recruiter. Economic and poli cal vola lity in the UK appears to have prompted agencies and their

staff to s ck together for longer. The median recruiter billed 2.6% fewer clients in 2019 than in the previous year, so client sa sfac on has become more important – and a steady team generally offers greater service poten al.

Belinda Johnson runs employment research consultancy, Worklab, and is Associate Knowledge & Insight Director of Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB). The RIB Index provides bespoke confiden al reports on industry benchmarks and trends. www.ribindex.com

March 2020 Recruitment Ma ers

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04/02/2020 12:02

Industry trends

big talking point

How #EachforEqual are you?

Despite advances in equality and inclusion at work, gender pay gaps and male-dominated boardrooms persist – damaging both equal opportuniঞes and business performance.

The recruitment industry can help change that

S

unday 8 March is Interna onal Women’s Day and people are being encouraged to post their support and stories under #EachforEqual.

The campaign’s website states: “The race is on for the gender equal boardroom, a gender equal government, gender equal media coverage, gender equal workplaces, gender equal sports coverage, and more gender equality in health and wealth… so let’s make it happen.” We’ve come a long way, but not nearly far enough.

This ma ers – not just to women, but to men, families and businesses. If educa on, training, management or workplace cultures are excluding half the popula on from applying for jobs, then employers are missing out on a vast pool of talent. Of course, the

8.9%

the gender pay gap among full-ঞme employees in 2019 – a decline of just 0.6 percentage points since 2012.

22%

the percentage of girls taking A-level physics in 2017/18.

4

Recruitment Ma ers March 2020

RM_MARCH 2020.indd 4

issue goes beyond the recruitment industry, but if recruiters can help employers to reach more applicants by adap ng their job criteria and applica on policies and by refreshing their ways of working then they can facilitate change.

“There are more women in the UK workforce than ever before – however, there is s ll a pay and equality of opportunity disparity between women and men at work.

Increasing gender diversity in the workforce is not just the right thing to do – it makes business sense,” argues Ornella Nsio, REC Stakeholder Engagement Manager. “Businesses have been shown to perform be er when they draw on a diverse workforce with a wide range of exper se.”

Nsio believes that recruiters and HR managers are uniquely placed to promote this business case and guide employers on how to a ract and retain talent, as well as to offer support to candidates. “Now is a good me to do so,” she adds.

“With a shortage of candidates and an obliga on on companies to report their gender pay gap, the pressure to make progress is growing. Recruiters who can show exper se in this area will gain a compe ve edge and those who can’t will struggle in this climate.”

Jobs for the boys?

Career aspira ons start early and the government’s commission on gender stereotypes found that stereotyping begins at school. The www.rec.uk.com

04/02/2020 12:02

77% Act as an ally

9%

the percentage of girls starঞng STEM apprenঞceships.

34%

the real-terms fall in the the government’s Adult Skills Budget between 2010-11 and 2015-16.

26%

the percentage of women in senior management posiঞons in the hospitality, travel and leisure (HTL) industry.

REC’s Inclusivity and Intersec onality consulta on response, produced last November, suggests that recruiters are in an ideal posi on to provide careers guidance and raise awareness of opportuni es in schools. They are in a prime posi on to dispel myths about ‘suitable’ jobs for women and for men.

The REC’s Future of Jobs Ambassadors ini a ve partners REC members with schools, colleges and universi es, and provides students with work experience placements, jobs, advice and coaching.

Recruiters can also help companies to reach out to schools and colleges to encourage more people to enter their sector and gain the skills they need.

This is necessary because the UK spends just half the EU average on voca onal skills training. The REC believes that extending the exis ng Appren ceship Levy to cover agency workers would help many women break out of the lower skill, low-pay cycle. In its report, ‘Ge ng On’, it found that many temporary workers in key sectors were unable to access or afford quality skills development. Upskilling could give almost one million of these people new job opportuni es.

Some REC members already run programmes to tap this poten al workforce. In 2018, for example, Harvey Nash launched the Future Skills Programme, which used the Appren ceship Levy to help organisa ons cross-train people from outside the tech sector and, therefore, a ract more diverse candidates. www.rec.uk.com

RM_MARCH 2020.indd 5

Recruitment agencies can act as allies to help women progress in work. The government’s fourth Hampton-Alexander Review recognised the role of execu ve search firms as a key agent for change and the REC’s best prac ce guide for execu ve search firms highlights ways they can do this.

For a start, they can help candidates to see where their skills are in demand. Many provide coaching, which can enhance the confidence of women candidates (famously, a Hewle Packard report found that women were unlikely to apply for a posi on unless they met 100% of the prerequisites, while male candidates would apply when they met just 60%).

Women may also be put off applying to work in an organisa on where they see few women working – a vicious circle. Recruiters can encourage diverse candidates to apply for a role, suggest ways to ensure the selec on process appeals to the widest range of candidates and advise companies on how to reduce unconscious bias. Small changes such as anonymising CVs and rewording adverts can have a dispropor onate cumula ve effect. Many employers believe they already do enough, but recruiters can provide an external viewpoint and evidence, and

51%

of women candidates do not ask about maternity packages in case their prospecঞve employer thinks they are pregnant and 31% fear that asking about maternity packages would hinder their career progression.

of organisaঞons in London and the South assess a role for flexible working as standard for new vacancies, compared with 63% in the Midlands and 65% in the North. encourage them to analyse their success. Their unique view on recruitment in specific industries enables them to offer more tailored support in industries such as engineering and construc on that have par cularly low numbers of women employees.

Enabling more flexible ways of working is also likely to increase the number of women (and men) who can apply for a job. The REC’s response to the government’s Good Work Plan supported the proposal that companies should have to disclose their familyfriendly leave and pay policies on their websites, as well as their gender pay gaps.

Once women join an organisa on, networking groups can encourage them to mentor each other and share ps on how to break the glass ceiling. These networks are usually coordinated by businesses, but a growing number of recruitment businesses are using them to promote female talent. REC member WiHTL (Women in Hospitality, Travel & Leisure), for example, runs a network for future female leaders.

Furthermore, while many businesses are promo ng the recruitment of women, few share this good prac ce externally.

The REC’s Good Recruitment Collec ve is a network that enables almost 500 employers to benchmark their recruitment methods and reinvigorate their strategies using the online Good Recruitment Hub. There is s ll much to do. So use this year’s Interna onal Women’s Day to start new conversa ons.

For more, visit www.rec.uk.com March 2020 Recruitment Ma ers

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04/02/2020 12:02

Off-payroll rules

legal update IR35: 17 days to get it right

By Jane O’Shea, REC Solicitor

R

ecruiters lobbying for a delay to the implementa on of IR35 have not been reassured by the government’s announcement in January that it will conduct a review. They fear that rushing the legisla on, which extends the off-payroll rules in the private sector, will impact businesses and individuals unfairly and affect compliance.

The review looks only at how the reforms can be implemented in prac ce and what support those affected may need to transi on to the new rules. It is not considering a delay or extension.

17 working days to get it right Recruiters have li le me to prepare. Updated legisla on is likely to be introduced with the spring budget on 11 March and

A survival kit for the future Find out more at www.rec.uk.com or or call us on 020 7009 2100

6

Recruitment Ma ers March 2020

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“Updated legislaঞon is likely to be introduced with the spring budget on 11 March.” the new rules come into force on 6 April. Employment businesses therefore have just 17 working days to study the legisla on in its most recent format, update contracts and terms of business accordingly and, poten ally, implement new business systems – while also preparing for other significant legisla ve changes also coming into force in April.

The REC will update its template contracts once the legisla on is finalised and these will be available for members to download from our website. In the mean me, members must ensure that their business is as ready as it can be: • Con nue to engage with affected clients and contractors in order to clarify before April whether

A

re you a leader who holds back during uncertainty, or someone who isn’t scared to dive into the unknown?

Accelera ng technological advancements, unpredictable economic factors, shi ing client needs, IR35, the dreaded B(rexit) word and new itera ons of recruitment legisla on all form a list to make even Bear Grylls quake.

You’ll need a survival kit to deal with this apocalyp c scenario – and in recruitment your kit consists of your team, their knowledge, their experience and a collec ve mindset to adapt and survive. With these in place, you need to: • Polish up your team’s knowledge with recruitment training: make sure your consultants are up to speed with

roles are likely to be determined as falling inside or outside the scope of the new rules, and plan and communicate with contractors accordingly.

• Ask clients to confirm now whether they will be exempt under the proposed small company exemp ons rules.

• Audit the workforce to iden fy which roles will be affected by the changes.

• Consider payroll op ons – will your business be in a posi on to put contractors on your internal payroll or should you consider outsourcing your payroll? Always conduct thorough due diligence before engaging with any umbrella companies and ensure that they are FCSA-regulated.

These are challenging mes.

The REC advises members to plan ahead, following the steps above.

Stay up to date with the changes by watching for REC updates and reach out to stakeholders before the implementa on date of 6 April.

The REC will update members on developments as they happen and will be the road again with our interac ve seminar ‘Are you ready? Naviga ng April 2020 new legal changes’. See our events page for more details and keep an eye on our IR35 hub for updates.

everything from the latest legisla on to essen al skills to win business • Give your recruiters an extra edge with recruitment qualifica ons: equip them with in-depth understanding and prac cal skills from resourcing to leadership • Grow an ethical and professional mindset with REC Professional membership: learn recruitment best prac ces and achieve recogni on with your clients through postnominal le ers (AREC, MREC and FREC) and industry-recognised awards.

REC Professionals is here to drive standards and empower your recruiters to be brilliant. Sign up your team to become REC Professionals, book a course or enrol them for our government-accredited qualifica ons. www.rec.uk.com

04/02/2020 12:02

Inspiraঞon

www.rec.uk.com

RM_MARCH 2020.indd 7

Jenna Beard, Sales Manager, VHR, on a racঞng women into engineering

We need to make engineering exciঞng at school.

Q&A

What I know

Behind the scenes with REC Professionals

this job as she may ruin her nails”.

When you have a skills shortage, you can’t focus on gender diversity.

The biggest barrier to recrui ng strong candidates into engineering is that it is s ll not seen as a ‘sexy’ subject.

We need to get a message to schools that engineering is exci ng. In Asia, it is seen as a good career.

Here, kids know what a vlogger does, but not an engineer.

Only two of the senior technical managers I’ve dealt with in 14 years in this sector have been women.

There is such a skills shortage that most firms focus on ge ng any good applicants, regardless of their sex.

Slow improvement.

Posiঞve message.

The sector has targeted training schemes to boost the number of homegrown engineers, but not specifically girls. It has a laddish reputa on and at some sites I will see only one or two women in the building. Things have improved. In the past I heard managers say things like “I wouldn’t want a woman to do

Contractors in their 20s who have done appren ceships can earn £50-£60 per hour and avia on engineers can find contract work anywhere in the world. We need to tell companies if good candidates are being put off, and if a client repeatedly rejects good women engineers we will ask ques ons.

Alfie Blagg, student and flexible worker in London and Cornwall, on what flexibility means to him

What jobs do you do – and when?

I have three jobs in addi on to studying for my geography degree at Exeter University.

Two of these I do in the holidays. In term mes I work at a Spar supermarket and in the holidays I work on the recep on desk at a sports club and do hospitality and waiter jobs via Reed employment agency.

This suits me because I can choose how much I work and when I do it. At the moment I’m doing about 8-12 hours a week at Spar, a li le less than last term.

What are the advantages?

I’ve learnt a lot – not just work skills, but also things like how to deal with difficult customers. You also learn how to work in a team. I’ve met lots of people who like this

kind of irregular shi work. For example, I met a grandmother who fi ed work around looking a er grandchildren.

What has it taught you that you could use in future jobs?

I have become more aware about what I want from an employer. When I was 16, I worked at a gym where the owner was horrible to his manager and the manager took it out on me. It showed me how bad management affects everyone and I quit.

The sports club where I work now is well run and the staff are nice to each other.

Similarly, working in hospitality you see how different managers react under stress.

You learn much more about management than you ever would from a course.

March 2020 Recruitment Ma ers

7

04/02/2020 12:02

Products & training

As seen on video Nick Kirk, Managing Director UK&I, at PageGroup How is video technology revolu onising recruitment?

In the fast-paced world of recruitment, anything that encourages efficiency whilst enhancing human-to-human communica on is welcome. Therefore, it’s perhaps not surprising to learn that the advent of video technology has been quietly revolu onising the hiring process.

At PageGroup, we’ve been at the forefront of embracing video pla orms such as HireView and Hinterview, and have seen their use by our consultants rise steadily by 25% to 35% each month. The following is what we’ve learned.

How and why is this happening?

The speed and efficiency of these pla orms are the primary a rac ons for recruiters. In recruitment, peer-topeer communica on, assessment and consulta on remain the same. In terms of how things might evolve in the future of recruitment, we’re seeing video interviewing come in a lot more. This could mean recording short interviews with candidates so the client gets a flavour of them, above and beyond their CV, or recording videos of ourselves as recruiters.

We become more than a voice on the phone or a person sending an email.

The need for the human element The technology is exci ng, but there are also reasons to be wary. We need to ensure that video is being used in the

Recruitment Ma ers

8

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

Recruitment Ma ers March 2020

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right way. Recruitment will always be a person-to-person exercise, and although technology con nues to advance the way we work, it is obvious that our people fuel the organisa ons as much as the candidates and our clients do. In terms of white-collar recruitment and more senior roles, it will always be necessary for candidates to meet consultants or hiring managers about career opportuni es and poten al candidates. However, the first contact could be made via video before you schedule a face-to-face mee ng later in the process.

Some people are likely to be more effec ve in front of the camera than others. Younger genera ons have grown up in an era of vlogging, FaceTime and selfies, so may be more comfortable with video. It is important to take this into account when you assess the skills of a poten al candidate using video technology. However, the effort will have to go both ways – recruiters and hiring managers must understand the opportuni es and limita ons of the technology, and candidates will have to evolve their approaches to ensure they can appear at their best via video.

The future for video We predict huge opportuni es for video in the blue-collar recruitment market and the gig economy over the next 10 years.

Combined with ar ficial intelligence (AI), video will become an extremely powerful

tool for hiring managers. For one thing, it will save recruiters and hiring managers considerable me assessing applica ons.

In the gig economy, par cularly, organisa ons o en require large numbers of people on temporary contracts, so it’s easy to see why video interviewing is increasingly popular in this space.

The benefits of different tools The working world has changed hugely over the past 20 years. Email has replaced faxes and the internet has become ubiquitous. Skype has already begun to transform telephone communica ons, and interviewing thorough this pla orm has become more widespread. We predict that it will go further and will act as a tool to show poten al candidates what it would be like to work for a par cular organisa on.

This is already happening on social media channels such as LinkedIn and on some ‘work for us’ areas of websites, where employers use video to outline core beliefs and cultural values.

Businesses need a compe ve edge when it comes to recruitment and a rac on strategies. Using video to enhance and present their employee value proposi on will help to encourage a new wave of workers to apply for their vacancies and aspire to work for their business. Video is a versa le technology and we an cipate it will con nue to grow in years to come.

Membership Department: Membership: 020 7009 2100, Customer Services: 020 7009 2100 Publishers: Redac ve Publishing Ltd, Level 5, 78 Chamber Street, London E1 8BL Tel: 020 7880 6200. www.redac ve.co.uk Editorial: Editor: Ruth Pricke pressoffice@rec.uk.com Produc on Editor: Vanessa Townsend Produc on: Produc on Execu ve: Rachel Young rachel.young@redac ve.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6209 Prin ng: Printed by Precision Colour Prin ng © 2020 Recruitment Ma ers. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, neither REC, Redac ve 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 Redac ve Publishing Ltd. No responsibility can be accepted for unsolicited manuscripts or transparencies. No reproduc on in whole or part without wri en permission.

www.rec.uk.com

04/02/2020 12:02

Sometimes things aren’t always quite what they seem

FCSA Accredited Members: Adhere to rigorous standards.

Are assessed against a published Code of Compliance.

Are independently tested by regulated accountants and solicitors.

Have their FCSA audit disclosed to HMRC. Prove their compliance annually.

Take a closer look at your PSL. Check they’re an

Accredited Member

0203 772 8622 | info@fcsa.org.uk | www.fcsa.org.uk

REC.03.20.035.indd 35

05/02/2020 10:13

E UPSTART EARPIECE CO M M UNITY

ASPIRE TO EMPLOYMENT EQUALITY IN THE GYM

BY COLIN COTTELL

espite anti-discrimination laws and consciousness-raising events such as the Paralympic Games, the gym/active leisure sector still has a long way to go before it can claim that people with disabilities are treated equally when it comes to employment.

That is certainly the view of Hilary Farmiloe, national manager of disability leisure workforce programme InstructAbility. Developed by spinal injury charity and inclusive leisure centre Aspire, InstructAbility aims to get more people with disabilities into the active leisure sector.

“We sent off identical CVs to four gym instructor positions from people who had been through training and got a qualification to be an instructor – the only difference being that one person declared they were a wheelchair user,” she says. In these supposedly more enlightened times, the result was shocking. “The outcome was that you were three times more likely to get a rejection [if you were a wheelchair user],” says Farmiloe.

If that were not proof enough that more needs to be done, she has other examples. “We have had training providers turn around to someone in a wheelchair and tell them they can’t be a gym instructor because they can’t get on a treadmill.

There is this preconceived idea that you have to ‘do’ in order to demonstrate competence as an instructor. But if you ever observed somebody in that setting, they usually talk through the instructions,” she says.

For their part, disabled people are put off by the lack of role models, says Farmiloe. “If you look at their marketing and advertising, you would be hard pushed to find disabled people represented.”

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Challenging perceptions To challenge and disprove the many misconceptions that fuel the belief that the

28 RECRUITER

CASE STUDY Lee Patmore from Basildon in Essex completed the InstructAbility training course in 2015. “I had been trying to join a gym where there was an instructor with a disability, but couldn’t find one,” says Patmore, a Royal Navy veteran, who uses a wheelchair. After completing the course, which included a work placement, he worked as a gym instructor at Brentwood Leisure Centre for four years. After five years out of work, Patmore says the course “gave me my confidence back, a way to support my family, as well as knowledge”. Currently relocating to Surrey, he says he intends to continue his career in the sports and disability sector.

active leisure sector isn’t suitable for people with disabilities, in 2011 Aspire set up InstructAbility, to support people into the sector as entry-level gym instructors. Targeting people with disabilities, from wheelchair users and those with visual or hearing impairments to those with mental health problems, InstructAbility has proved that disability need not be an insurmountable barrier.

According to Farmiloe, 400 people have gone through the training, and about 50% of those who got the qualification and did a work placement have been offered some form of employment.

“This combination – of support in the training, support into the workplace and being able to get that initial experience and demonstrate your competence in front of the employers – really does help the outcome,” she says.

Work placements also show employers that, far from major adjustments needing to be made to the workplace to accommodate someone with a disability, a lot of adjustments are fairly minor.

For example, simply moving the positioning of a piece of gym equipment can make it accessible to someone with mobility issues.

Similarly, the needs of disabled people have been taken into account in how the course is

MARCH 2020

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CO M M U N I T Y

UPSTART

“If everyone understands what the individual’s needs are, then most things can be resolved”

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at least four of Aspire’s InstructAbility trainees last year, says the programme shows “that with the right training and support, anyone can get into the fitness industry”.

With GLL gyms designed with inclusivity in mind, he says changes to the organisation’s gym layout have been minimal. “It is all about talking to the individuals who are interested, and talking to organisations like Aspire. If everyone understands what the individual’s needs are, and is open and honest about it, then most things can be resolved. And if they can’t, at least there is a good understanding, and we can manage the expectations of the people coming through these schemes.”

Future ambitions

designed and delivered.

Whereas a typical basic Level-2 gym instructor course takes between one and two weeks, Aspire’s InstructAbility course is spread over about four weeks. Cutting down the hours each day, and including recovery days, makes the course easier to attend for people who suffer from fatigue and have issues managing pain.

The way the course content is delivered has also been tweaked. So, for example, to help those who are visually impaired, any digital documents need to be compatible with screen-reading software.

Colin Coughtrey, community regional manager at GLL, which runs sports and leisure facilities for local authorities across the UK and which took on

Training to be a gym instructor: of those who have qualified and done a work placement, about half have been offered employment

A tangible benefit of the course is the increased confidence of those who have been through it, Farmiloe says: “Many of them talk about it being life-changing. They might have gone from a position where they were the person who needed help to now being in a position where they are helping others.”

However, the biggest selling point is that it is in the leisure centre and gym industry’s own interests to employ more people with disabilities, she says. “The real argument is: diversify your workforce, and that will help you increase the breadth of your customer base. If they continue to just focus on attracting the same clientele who look good in Lycra, they may find they are losing business, as there are going to be more and more of the population who don’t fit that demographic.”

And the next phase? Aspire is now working on something even more ambitious: to develop a programme that will allow people with disabilities to go onto any mainstream course and be supported and welcomed. Farmiloe says that Aspire is in discussions with funders about this proposal. “We will continue to create opportunities for disabled people to access training and work placements, but it will just be a slightly different model,” she says. ●

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CO M M U N I T Y

SOCIAL NETWORK WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO? GET IN TOUCH! Whether you’ve been volunteering, fundraising or raising awareness, you’ve been a busy bunch since the last Recruiter iter…

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KEYSTREAM RAISES THOUSANDS FOR MARIE CURIE Healthcare and public sector recruiter Keystream handed over a cheque for nearly £14k to Marie Curie, the charity that cares for terminally ill people, as a result of the recruiter’s fundraising for 2019. Activities included a sponsored 10k run, bucket collections at major London stations and a gruelling hike across the Yorkshire Three Peaks.

VOLUNTEERING IMPROVES MORALE VO FOR BRIGHTRED Specialist technology recruiter Brightred Resourcing encourages and helps staff to volunteer for charities and conservation work. The SYF Shazad Yaseen Foundation Homeless Feed in the Slough area (below) and heathland restoration work are just two of the most recent projects the intrepid recruiters have been helping with – and getting a lot out of, too.

CONCEPT SPEEDS AHEAD IN BUSINESS AND ON THE TRACK As well as celebrating the company’s impressive previous year’s achievements at an awards event, where none other than former world champion boxer Frank ‘Know what I mean, Harry’ Bruno was on hand to deliver a motivational speech, CEO Chris Short has also had success but on the racing track. Chris collected a hat-trick of awards for Most Improved Driver, Fangio Class Winner and second overall in the SR1 Cup Championship in a Concept Resourcing sponsored car. Many congratulations to all!

TV APPEARANCE HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR COMPASSION Kate McCarthy (left), MD of McCarthy Recruitment, said she was honoured to appear with Lucy Herd (right) on BBC Breakfast at the end of January to discuss paid leave for parents who have lost a child. Lucy has campaigned tirelessly for Jack’s Law to come in force after losing her son just before his second birthday. Kate told Recruiter: “I believe strongly that, as business leaders, we have a responsibility to support our employees’ needs when they experience a difficult time, whether it be through bereavement, illness or any other life changing event. Lucy is inspirational, and I can’t wait to keep in touch and work with her on her future projects.”

@RecruiterMag instagram.com/recruitermagazine/ recruitermagazine.tumblr.com/

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E CAREERS CO M M UNITY

The Workplace

BY GUY HAYWARD

34 RECRUITER

Employment Confederation’s belief that everyone should be able to pursue their chosen career regardless of their background is fabulous, as is its ‘Good Recruitment Charter’ promoting good recruitment practices across diversity, flexible working, disability employment and promoting youth employment. APSCo’s guiding principles and diversity commitment is supported brilliantly, with leading diversity experts who offer advice and guidance in addressing any imbalance.

So, as a sector the support is out there, but across our individual businesses, what is our commitment to diversity – diversity that offers all the benefits of improved company culture, wider opinion, pushing performance, increased productivity, innovation, togetherness and, of course, stronger financial performance?

Executive search and interim recruitment firm Green Park has long led the way with its belief that diverse, complementary teams deliver the best results for all in meeting the demands of the modern marketplace. Some of the blogs and white papers make great reading. I wonder what others are doing?

There’s a whole range of ideas or things we can – but probably don’t – do. For

“Do we know how to promote diversity in our own workplaces? I’m sure in pockets we do, but as a sector I am not so sure” example, offer internships to people from underrepresented groups; report annually on key diversity statistics; celebrate the important dates of different faiths; highlight commitment to diversity on our career pages; create diverse mentorships; and an area that requires investment in training and education, how to avoid unconscious bias.

We recently produced a holiday calendar which highlighted, educated and helped celebrate different traditions and approaches to work. Very simple, but which produced wonderful internal feedback.

And of course, there are far grander ideas than our calendar. Johnson & Johnson

↗

DIVERSITY. IT’S A subject that has long been discussed and highlighted in many a boardroom, from the world of investment banking through to social housing – the latter historically leading the way and being an innovator in diversity within leadership.

Many of the large Fortune 500, FTSE 100 and large privately-owned businesses have their approaches, but I wonder to what extent the rest of us do.

Over the past year I have started to ask the question, as my work has taken me across the country into meetings with organisations within the SME heartland.

During these discussions, while there are some great examples, I have generally been struck by a lack of awareness/consistency/ knowledge around diversity.

There’s often a poor understanding of the actual demographics that they employ and how to attract a more diverse talent pool across all areas, such as gender and gender identity, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion & belief and disability.

Take our industry, the sector that we all love: are we any different? Do we know how to promote diversity in our own workplaces? I’m sure in pockets we do, but as a sector I am not so sure.

The Recruitment &

GUY HAYWARD – redefining the modern workplace CEO, Goodman Masson

has launched its own Diversity University and it has a programme in place to ensure diversity among its suppliers. L’Oréal sponsors disability awareness workshops in India. Disney established its Global Workplace and Women’s Initiative (GWWI) programme, focusing on expanding opportunities for women, and Coca-Cola has a diversity library.

Whatever the approach, as an industry we should be making a difference and setting the example – rather than following. ●

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WORKPLACE INNOVATION

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BRING ON THE BRILLIANCE

↗ GRAEME CODRINGTON is a futurist, author and speaker, specialising in the future of work, and author of Leading in a Changing World

“We will need people who are brave enough to challenge the orthodoxies of the recruiting industry”

Outdated orthodoxies: Preparing for change in the 2020s

BY GRAEME CODRINGTON

IT WAS ASH Wednesday, 17 February 1600. In the Campo de’ Fiori market square in Rome, Giordano Bruno was crucified upside down before being burnt at the stake. His crime was refusing to recant his crazy, heretical view that the sun was the centre of the solar system.

Copernicus and Galileo are the more famous names associated with the Catholic church’s failure to accept the heliocentric view of the solar system. But both those men caved in to the church’s pressure, eventually recanting their views. Bruno did not, and he paid the ultimate price for defying the orthodoxy of the age. We now know, of course, that they were right – and the prevailing view was wrong.

Challenging the received wisdom and orthodoxies of your industry can be scary. It can bring scorn from colleagues, pushback from your systems and sometimes even a loss of your job. But as we enter a decade that is likely to see more change than any of us have experienced in our lifetimes thus far, we will need people who are brave enough to challenge the orthodoxies of the recruiting industry.

To be successful in the decade that lies ahead we might need to do – and think – things we have never done (or thought) before.

Here’s what you can do to start updating your orthodoxies:

• Check your cognitive biases, especially your confirmation bias. Our brains are programmed to confirm what we already believe. Think about it: if you read an article and it matches up perfectly with what you already believe, you might think, “This journalist is very clever”. If the article contradicts what you believe, you’ll think, “This journalist is an idiot”. Confirmation bias plays out all the time at work, especially in the IMAG E | ISTO C K

43innovation_RECRUITER MARCH 2020_Recruiter 35

recruitment process. We need to acknowledge it exists, understand how it works and implement strategies to counter its effects.

• Don’t feel you always have to have the answers, and especially don’t feel you always have to be right. The world of recruiting is changing quickly, and your best attitude is one of genuine curiosity and questioning. Work hard to research and find new ideas and fresh voices. Look into that new app, research new CRM systems, hire those pink squirrels that could take your business in a fresh direction.

• Encourage experimentation. More than anything else your success in the 2020s depends on developing a culture where you and your team have the ability to constantly try out new ideas, new technologies, to learn quickly from those that don’t work and adapt to new circumstances. Develop your experimentation muscle by constantly making small changes – rather than waiting for big change programmes.

Maybe you are the one who will stand up against the orthodoxies of your industry.

Maybe you are the one who will challenge the received wisdom. Maybe you are the one who can show your team a different way of thinking. If so, don’t be quiet. Let your voice be heard. It’s needed now more than ever. ●

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ASK THE EXPERT

I’m not enjoying running my business at the moment. Any suggestions?

It’s often lonely at the top – all leaders have their ups and downs. There will be times when you feel like you are pushing water uphill, when the job quite simply feels like a chore. Yet to get the best out of your team you need to exude passion, energy, vision and leadership. And it’s generally a virtuous circle – the more energy you put into the business, the more engaged your team will be and results will reflect that. Here are some techniques for generating that positive mindset.

Know why you are doing it Running a recruitment business is a tough job, and a clear reason for doing it gives both perspective and motivation. What are your personal motivations? To provide for your family? And what is your end goal? To be mortgage free within 10 years? Write these down to formalise them and refer back to them whenever you start to struggle.

Write down the pros and cons Write down what you love about running the business and the elements sucking the enjoyment out of it. Which aspects can you remove to make it more enjoyable? Think big picture: you may not enjoy being responsible for generating the livelihoods of your team, but they probably value it – and would you be happy working for somebody else?

Have a plan but don’t expect the journey to be easy Without a plan to measure your progress it’s almost impossible to feel confident that you are on track to achieve your end goal. This rudderless feeling can quickly escalate to panic, whereas with a plan, even when you are missing targets, you can always regain a sense of control.

Have priorities outside of work

36 RECRUITER

The SME Coach Find a confidante Occasionally every leader needs someone outside the business who can relate to the issues they’re experiencing to talk with, quiz for ideas or just rant to. This might be other recruitment firm owners or directors, a non-exec or senior individuals at industry suppliers.

Build your leadership team After a number of years many recruitment company owners feel stuck in a rut. For some it’s the frustration of the business not being able to break through a certain pinch point; for others it can be a feeling of simply going through the motions every day as they repeatedly address the same issues. Developing a leadership team can be transformative. Senior colleagues will bring fresh approaches and will also free you up to set yourself new challenges to get you out of the rut. Developing a leadership team has the added upside of creating career progression opportunities that can motivate and retain key individuals.

It is easy to forget what you have achieved running your own business but you should take pride in what you’ve built. By all means benchmark yourself against award-winning and media-hungry agencies but remember they are the tip of the iceberg. The majority of agencies will be invisible to you, and their owners and directors will at some point be feeling just the same as you.●

↗

It’s easy to let your business become all-consuming. While there are times when this is necessary it’s rarely healthy for you or the business if it’s the default state. A complete focus on work can also be detrimental to team morale and performance – a workaholic boss can be accused of having unrealistic expectations about the targets they set others.

Alex Arnot

ALEX ARNOT is founder of MyNonExec and board adviser to more than 30 recruitment companies

MARCH 2020

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“There is never a dull moment. I also get the opportunity to speak to so many people throughout the day, and get a lot of satisfaction when I find candidates new contracts and jobs”

MY BRILLIANT RECRUITMENT CAREER What was your earliest dream job?

Singer or dancer.

What was your first job in recruitment and how did you come into it?

Who is your role model – in life or in recruitment?

My nan. When she was ill, she did not give up. She was fighting to make the most of what she had left. I really admire her for that.

What do you love most about your current role?

There is never a dull moment. I also get the opportunity to speak to so many people throughout the day, and get a lot of satisfaction when I find candidates new contracts and jobs.

What would you consider to be the most brilliant moment of your career?

Without a doubt, three candidates being accepted by three different clients in one day.

38 RECRUITER

MARCH 2020

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↗

My first recruitment job was working for a company called Adenstar Construction Group. I had been applying for recruitment roles because I love talking to people and helping them out. One of Adenstar’s colleagues gave me a call and asked me to come in for a face-to-face interview. I jumped at the chance, because I had heard so many amazing things about the company.

CHLOE STOTT, recruitment resourcer, techTesters

CHLOE STOTT What’s your top job to fill at the moment?

My main responsibility at the moment is to support one of our clients that is an international systems integrator. It is helping the UK government to undergo digital transformation, so I’m constantly looking for high-level, security-cleared test managers and automation test engineers.

contract, but not turn up on the first day – he just vanished. When he finally switched his phone back on, he told me he had to return to his homeland because of a family emergency and could no longer take the role. But a week later, I found out he had accepted a higher-paid contract elsewhere.

What is your signature dish?

Beef stroganoff.

What’s the best or worst interview question you’ve ever heard?

If you were a tree, what kind would you be and why?

Laugh or cry, what did your most memorable candidate make you want to do and why?

What would you regard as your theme tune?

Probably pull my hair out. I recently had a contractor accept a role, sign the

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life from the film Monty Python’s Life of Brian.

IM AGES | ISTO C K / S H U TTE RSTO C K

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E CAREERS CO M M UNITY

ACTIVEQUOTE The protection comparison website has appointed Lucy Roberts as its new head of HR.

hired Lisa Yankie as senior vice president, chief HR officer and communications (CHRO).

FIRCROFT The technical engineering recruiter has further strengthened its board of directors with the appointment of Christophe Menger as global sales and strategic accounts director.

CASHPLUS Helen Cowper joins the UK digital bank challenger as chief HR officer.

HAYS UK

HARNHAM

CUMMINS MELLOR RECRUITMENT Emma Tunney has joined the multi-sector recruiter as recruitment manager.

DENTSPLY SIRONA The US-based dental solutions company has

40 RECRUITER

Bev White has succeeded Albert Ellis as CEO of professional technology recruiter Harvey Nash. White joins from Gi Group, where she had been group CEO since January 2017.

Ellis, who had been in the position for 14 years, helped to oversee the group’s successful transition from public to private ownership in the past year, following its acquisition by DBAY Advisors.

Commenting on her appointment, White said: “Harvey Nash has such an amazing brand and legacy; it’s one of the reasons I so was excited to join the group.

“It is early days, of course, but I can see a real opportunity to build and capitalise on this strong foundation. We need to delight our clients, our candidates and, above all, our own people.

“Harvey Nash has a fantastic reputation for building people’s careers, and I want to take this even further.

If our people thrive, so will Harvey Nash.”

The data & analytics recruitment specialist has promoted David Farmer from chief operating officer to CEO.

Six managing and regional managing directors across the recruitment giant have been appointed to several of the CBI’s (Confederation of British Industry) regional councils across the UK. The newly appointed council members include: Jane Donnelly, MD of Hays East of England – re-election to the CBI East of England Regional

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

Council; Mark Staniland, regional MD of Hays Midlands and London City – re-election to the CBI London Regional Council; Steve Orr, regional MD of Hays South Eastern to the CBI South-East and Thames Valley Regional Council; Andrew Bredin, regional MD of Hays North-West to the CBI North-West Regional Council; Paul Marriott, MD of Hays Midlands to the CBI East Midlands Regional Council; Ryan Gardner, MD of Hays Central West and Thames Valley to the CBI South-West Regional Council.

MARCH 2020

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The global talent management consultancy has appointed Jacquie Weller as associate director within its Ignata Actuarial & Investments division.

CONTACTS EDITORIAL +44 (0)20 7880 7603 Editor DeeDee Doke

INTELLIGENT RESOURCE

SMALL BUSINESS COMMISSION

Pete Holliday, chairman of the staffing company and managed recruitment service provider, has stepped back from his full-time role.

This follows the company’s acquisition by multi-sector recruiter Sanderson Solutions Group in July 2019 and a review of the senior management structure against the business priorities of the group.

Philip King, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM), has been appointed interim Small Business Commissioner (SBC). King will head the independent office of the SBC in Birmingham. Sue Chapple, currently CICM’s director of strategic relationships, will assume the role of interim CICM CEO until a permanent successor is recruited.

JCW GROUP Daniel Evans joins the finance, tech and security staffing specialist as global marketing director.

RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING Recruitment@recruiter.co.uk

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Reporters Colin Cottell, Graham Simons colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk graham.simons@recruiter.co.uk

Contributing writers Sue Weekes Production editor Vanessa Townsend vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk

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YOUR NEXT MOVE A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk Insight Executive Group Recruitment consultant Marketing London Competitive salary onezeero Recruitment consultant IT, marketing and sales Lancashire £24k-£40k + uncapped comms + bens SW6 Associates Trainee recruitment consultants Healthcare, rec-to-rec Bristol £20k-£45k + uncapped comms + luxurious incentives

CIRCULATION and SUBSCRIPTIONS Recruiter is the leading magazine for recruitment and resourcing professionals. To ensure each issue of Recruiter magazine is delivered to your desk or door, subscribe now at https://subs. recruiter.co.uk/subscribe. Annual subscription rate for 12 issues: £35 UK; £45 Europe and £50 Rest of the world • Recruiter is also available to people who meet our terms of control: http://bit.ly/RecruiterCC • To purchase reprints or multiple copies, or any other enquiries, please contact subs@redactive.co.uk or +44 (0)1580 883844 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. © 2020 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.

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SELLICK PARTNERSHIP The professional services recruiter has made Laura Hayward (top) and Mark Bailey (above) associate directors within its legal recruitment team.

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E THE LAST WORD CO M M UNITY

“It is part of our role to do our best to promote recruitment as a specialist, knowledgeable and consultative service”

Jim Ryan How can we improve recruitment’s reputation as a career?

n 2008, two colleagues and I identified the renewable energy market – and particularly offshore wind – as a growth area for recruitment, not only in the UK but internationally, too. We had worked together for several years, including setting up and selling an internet job board.

So Lucien Sullivan, Peter Flaherty and I decided to set up ersg, a specialist recruitment company for the energy and technical services markets. One of our key drivers was to attract the best staff and promote recruitment as a career, as opposed to something that people simply ‘fall’ into as a salesperson.

I

What makes recruitment a good career choice?

Long-term career opportunities Personal development Financial reward

42 RECRUITER

As we set out to structure our business, we kept these points at the forefront of our mind. How could we ensure that our offering was promoting an exciting and rewarding career opportunity?

A clear career path is paramount – a model that maps out your career from the beginning, giving you the opportunity to manage and grow professionally in a meritocratic environment.

You don’t need to be in the right clique to be given the opportunity to manage and progress. As long as you achieve clear objectives and milestones, you will thrive.

This process brings success. In our own case, this was exemplified by ersg being included in Recruiter’s HOT 100 in 2019 – as business owners we like recognition, too – but also by recognition from management, peers and the outside world that the

employee concerned is a successful individual.

Our structure included the layout for working within highly vertical markets. This brings its own form of personal development, giving staff the opportunity to be highly skilled in their own vertical niche.

Our clients rely on our specialists to offer an advisory and consulting service that operates at the forefront of climate change.

So, how are we doing?

Here is some of the feedback we have received from staff: “The environment is bubbling with energy, and the knowledge and dedication of my colleagues is mindblowing” – consultant “They offered me an opportunity to enter the world of business,and be part of the exciting growing market of offshore wind” – divisional delivery consultant “Fast-forward three years, and

both the progression and the growth of the company have been outstanding. I have been able to grow alongside the business, and have been blessed with vast amounts of opportunity for promotion” – business manager In around 10 years, we have gone from a standing start to £100m turnover, and to nine global offices. Our staff retention in 2019 was 75%, against an industry average of just 57%.

Ultimately, it is down to us all to be recognised for the key role we play within the economy and the recruitment industry as a whole. It is part of our role to do our best to promote recruitment as a specialist, knowledgeable and consultative service – however you decide to lay out your business. ●

Jim Ryan CEO, ersg

MARCH 2020

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83%

Of contractors we surveyed said they have not yet been spoken to about IR35 by the business or businesses they contract for.

MAKE SURE YOUR RECRUITMENT AGENCY IS PREPARED FOR THE CHANGE! With only a few months left to prepare – speak to the experts for a FREE IR35 education session.

Get in touch with our agency support team: 01925 694 521 | agencies@brookson.co.uk | brooksonone.co.uk/recruitermagazine

*Conducted by Brookson Legal, between 15th April 2019 – 30th June 2019. Based on 502 Brookson contractors working in the private sector.

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