Recruiter April 2013

April 2013

www.recruiter.co.uk

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR RECRUITMENT AND RESOURCING PROFESSIONALS

Andrew Jackson & Shaun King Cap pita works in p partn nership with h the British Army y to creatte an ag gile recruitin ng serrvice forr the 21stt century THE CHALLENGE

DORIAN WEBB Take a chance with new talent to create business success, says this month’s Blogger with Bite

INCORPORATING 01_Recruit_april13_Cover.indd 1

CV-Library helped startup footware fashion firm Gandys stride out to find hidden treasures

SOURCING THE YOUNG EMPLOYERS ARE TURNING TO NEW WAYS OF FINDING RAW TALENT FROM THE UK’S SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

MOVING IN-HOUSE FROM THE OUTSIDE A new survey shows many candidates ignore the draw of the RPO

Recruitment Matters 10/04/2013 13:52

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Contents 32

28

We hope that, regardless of which segment of the recruitment profession and industry you occupy, you took time to weigh in on the Conduct Regulations consultation before the deadline to comment passed last week (11 April).

Any changes resulting from the consultation and review of the Conduct Regulations could be profound.

And unfortunately, significant portions of the points under review reflect the government’s clear lack of understanding of what this industry and even the nature of employment and work today in the UK and in the world are all about.

For instance, there is no understanding that there are highly varied segments of the workforce who require different considerations. And the possibility that the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate might be eased out of existence is a sobering prospect for an industry which, for as much good as it does, has been unable to effectively self regulate.

In fact, we call on the government to take a bold step and restore agency licensing — to quote TEAM’s Simon Garbett, “robust and meaningful” licensing — to provide a baseline of professional, quality and ethical practice. Membership and participation in professional bodies should stand for, and advance, true excellence. In an industry with minimal barriers to entry and much potential for causing serious damage to the economy, UK plc and the individual, licensing should be regarded as a first step toward building the workforce and a dynamic, future. professionalised economy of the futu

NEWS 5

The 10-year contract with Capita combines the old methods with the new 6

Scan here to get your own copy of Recruiter

Global talent increases with online learning Certified skills will have a profound effect in the future

7

PwC fast-tracks grads How the firm has speeded up assessment to offer time

8 Tech & tools 10 Special Report Research on moving from agency to in-house 11 News Digest When Tim met Maggie…

FEATURES 28 COVER STORY Brigadier Andrew Jackson and Shaun King on the Army’s new contract with Capita to create a 21st century recruitment process 32 Sourcing the next generation of talent Sourcing talent from the UK’s schools and colleges is an ever-changing process

REGULARS 18 21 21 24

12 News Analysis SME recruiters reveal the pain behind the financial strain in a new survey 14 Sector Analysis IT & telecoms 17 Global Spotlight on Malaysia

Soapbox Soundbites Letters Insight The growing demand for the ‘talent adviser’

ANALYSIS

26

D D Doke, Editor DeeDee

Capita adds science to Army’s selection

26 The Challenge Gandys and CV-Library 38 Movers & Shakers Industry moves 42 Bloggers with Bite

WHO’S HIRING? 39 40 41 41 41 43

Ruth Moran JPA Brook Street RGS Global Millbank Newcross

EDITORIAL Editor: DeeDee Doke T: +44 (0)20 7880 7601 deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk Senior reporter: Colin Cottell T: +44 (0)20 7880 7603 colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk Reporter: Sam Burne James T: +44 (0)20 7880 7606 sam.burnejames@recruiter.co.uk Contributing writer: Sue Weekes Production editor: Vanessa Townsend T: +44 (0)20 7880 7602 vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk Art editor: Adrian Taylor ADVERTISING Advertising director: Andy Daniel T: +44 (0)20 7880 7607 andy.daniel@recruiter.co.uk Display sales executive: Jasmine Pengelly T: +44 (0)20 7880 6205 jasmine.pengelly@recruiter.co.uk Recruitment sales executive: David Rix T: +44 (0)20 7880 7608 david.rix@redactive.co.uk Fax +44 (0)20 7880 7553 PRODUCTION Deputy production manager: Kieran Tobin T: +44 (0)20 7880 6240 kieran.tobin@redactive.co.uk PUBLISHING Publishing director: Anne Sadler T: +44 (0)20 7880 6213 anne.sadler@redactive.co.uk RECRUITER AWARDS Events: Juliette Bond T: +44 (0)20 7324 2771 juliette.bond@redactive.co.uk CIRCULATION and SUBSCRIPTIONS To receive a regular copy of Recruiter, the leading magazine for recruitment and resourcing professionals, telephone +44 (0)20 8950 9117 or email recruiter@alliance-media.co.uk • To purchase reprints or multiple copies of the magazine, contact Andy Daniel T: +44 (0)20 7880 7607

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

CONTRIBUTIONS Contributions are invited, but when not accepted will be returned only if accompanied by a fully stamped and addressed envelope. Articles should be emailed. No responsibility can be taken for drawings, photographs or literary contributions during delivery, transmission or in the editor’s hands. © 2013 Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. This publication (and any part thereof) may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in print or electronic format (including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the internet) or in any other format in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of Redactive Media Group. Redactive Media Group accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein. The publishers cannot accept liability for any loss arising from the late appearance or non-publication of any advertisement for any reason whatsoever. ISSN 1475-7478

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RECRUITER

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News

CAPITA WORKS WITH THE ARMY TO ADD SCIENCE TO SELECTION

Under the terms of the contract signed last year, which went live on 26 March, with the opening of the Army’s National Recruiting Centre in Upavon, Wiltshire, Capita is responsible for the operational aspects of candidate and recruitment, while the Army retains responsibility for policy, selection criteria and standards.

Shaun King, managing director of the Recruitment Partnering Project (RPP) within Capita, told Recruiter that the new partnership preserves the face-to-face contact with an Army recruiter, but combines it with greater rigour. “Our selection process has a bit more science in it, in that you go through a selection process not just testing your skills, but also your

PETER SEARLE

Capita’s 10-year £440m contract to recruit for the British Army, combines the best of the old ways previously used by the Army with “a bit more science,” according to the executive heading up the project on behalf of Capita.

emotional readiness that can determine where your best fit is in terms of your career in the Army.”

Screening is carried out in two stages: eligibility and suitability screening, with the latter including online psychometric assessments, that test aptitude, interest, motivation and judgement, said King.

“We are trying to bring that objectivity around testing individuals so that we can understand their best fit to meet the

STAY AHEAD OF THE M&A CURVE WITH US FOR OWNERS of staffing •businesses, especially those

interested in buying or selling, it is vital to keep on top of trends and developments within the ever-changing M&A (mergers and acquisitions) market.

At the moment, according to recruitment industry specialist, and partner at law firm Osborne Clarke, Kevin Barrow, non-recruitment companies are showing increased interest in buying staffing companies.

“This is very attractive for sellers because they might get a slightly higher multiple, and they will have access to a much higher range

FOR MORE NEWS AND COMMENTS GO ONLINE

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of potential buyers,” Barrow told Recruiter.

You can stay ahead of the M&A curve by helping to forecast activity and trends in the recruitment industry over the next six months.

To do so, complete the Osborne Clarke/Recruiter Barometer online survey launched earlier this month.

The results of the most up-todate and definitive research into UK recruitment sector M&A will be published in a future issue of Recruiter.

The research will provide the industry and business owners with valuable insight, and market intelligence covering this important area of activity within the sector.

To complete the survey, please go to the following link on the web: surveymonkey.com/s/LJRZLD7 The survey closes on 28 April.

All answers will be treated confidentially.

Army’s needs. That is always very difficult to do in a face-to-face interview, because you could be interviewed by 10 people and get 10 different views.”

But as Brigadier Andrew Jackson, director recruiting and training (operations) for the British Army, told Recruiter, the new system combines this greater objectivity with one of the greatest strengths of the old system. “The most important bit is the face-to-face meeting, actually seeing a role model, and the opportunity to question him or her about what they have done.

That bit is preserved in all this, in that each of the recruiting officers in the front of house [within Army recruiting offices] will continue to be operationally experienced soldiers.”

Added King: “What we are doing is utilising the military experience where it can be used best.”

• For more on how the RPP is transforming the face of Army recruitment, see pp28-30.

COLIN COTTELL

BYRNE HEADLINES AWARDS FRESH FROM his acclaimed ‘Crowd •Pleaser’ and ‘Roaring Forties’ tours,

Ed Byrne will host the 2013 Recruiter Awards for Excellence, sponsored by Eploy.

It will be the Irish comic’s second appearance at the Awards, having made his first in 2006. In addition to his live performances, Byrne is well known to TV viewers from appearances on Mock the Ed Byrne Week, Have I Got News for You and last summer on BBC Two’s World’s Most Dangerous Roads, when he drove across Siberia with fellow comedian Andy Parsons.

Recruiter is also pleased to announce that SoldierOn! has been chosen as the title’s Charity of the Year for 2013-14. The military-focused charity will benefit from the generosity of Awards attendees on the night through donations and at a charity casino.

SoldierOn!’s mission is to enable disabled ex-servicemen and women into meaningful, long-term employment. It seeks to use the skills already gained during their military service and to facilitate the transition into employment in civilian life.

SoldierOn! aims to recruit former service people to become specialist recruitment advisers. The long-term goal of the charity is to become a sustainable organisation, funded through fees for its services as a specialist recruiter.

SoldierOn! was the first Recruiter charity in 2011. It was selected this year by our Awards judges.

• Visit recruiterawards.co.uk for more on the 1 May event.

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News

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

“Malaysia is on the agenda of many of the recruitment firms who have long avoided it” CONSULT GROUP’S DERMOT O’HARA EXPECTS COMPETITION (FOR MORE ON MALAYSIA, P17)

Events One date for your diary is Sunday, 28 April. By then, we hope you’ll have completed the Osborne Clarke/Recruiter M&A Barometer via surveymonkey.com/s/ LJRZLD7 to identify mergers & acquisitions (M&A) trends in the recruitment sector.

Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2013, sponsored by Eploy BOOK YOUR TABLE NOW! 1 May, Grosvenor House Hotel, London recruiterawards.co.uk

Equip (Equality in Publishing) conference, Developing the Publishing Workforce 8 May, City University, London bit.ly/recruiter-equip-conf13

APSCo Recruitment Challenge Cup Football Festival In aid of Childline 19 May, Hackney Marshes, London bit.ly/apsco-football

Institute of Recruitment Professionals Awards 2013, organised by the REC 3 December, Marriott Grosvenor Square, London rec-awards.com

For more events, go to recruiter.co.uk/events

FOR MORE NEWS AND COMMENTS, GO ONLINE

RECRUITER.CO.UK

TALENT RISES VIA ONLINE LEARNING Online certified skills will have a profound effect on global talent pools within the next few years, London Business School professor Lynda Gratton told a 36-company strong consortium last month.

“The development of certification in education via the web will become incredibly important,” she told the fourth Future of Work (FoW) Research Consortium. And she predicted the “tipping point”, when this trend would really come to the fore, “would be in five years’ time”.

She told the representatives from the global companies at the London event that this was one of a number of trends that had been accelerating over the previous consortia and had “suddenly become apparent this year”.

With increased connectivity from technology, due to prices for consumer items such as mobile phones and computers becoming more affordable for those in developing countries, Gratton said the next generation of talent would be educating and upskilling themselves through increased access to the internet. “There will be more investing in learning,” she said, “so we need to change the way we think about talent.”

Professor Lynda Gratton

The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations are the new powerhouses, she told the audience, and said China would be “as large a talent pool as Europe and the US by 2020”.

The consortium, which includes companies such as Barclays, Diageo, KPMG, ManpowerGroup, Pepsico, PwC, Shell, Tata Consultancy and Unilever, looks at how businesses need to evolve to face future global challenges by bridging the gap between academia and business practice.

VANESSA TOWNSEND

INDEED: FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS JOB SITE INDEED plans to boost its presence around the world by •opening new offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada and Japan, as well

as in major European markets, co-founder Paul Forster has told Recruiter.

Indeed has been growing at “100% year-over-year for the past few years”, said Forster, who recently relocated permanently to the UK after a number of years in the US. “I think the overall recruitment advertising pie is smaller but we’ve grown our share very rapidly, so arguably we would have grown even faster if it hadn’t been for the recession. However, I think one of the benefits of the recession for us is companies are more focused on return on investment and the cost of acquiring the right candidates.”

Indeed has its European headquarters in Dublin and a sales office in London. In the US, it has operations in Austin (Texas), Mountain View (California) and Stamford (Connecticut).

Forster said the job site — “We’re not a job board at all; we don’t like to think of ourselves as one” — was doing “a lot of new product development in all areas. There’s a lot of innovation we’re watching.”

Forster met with Recruiter in connection with his speaking engagement last month at a First Tuesday technology and entrepreneurship event in London. While Indeed enjoys significant success around much of the world, he revealed to the audience that China was one market where Indeed had not made “a lot of headway.”

Indeed was bought last September by Japan-based Recruit Holdings. Asked about his own future plans, he said that he and co-founder Rony Kahan continued to run the business together “and we’re firing on all cylinders and making sure the business continues to grow on the same trajectory”.

DEEDEE DOKE

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News

“As we become a more service-based economy it becomes more and more relevant”

“She saved the UK … and transformed the psychology of the country”

“The Brits … talk themselves into fear and recession while others are getting on with it”

TELCO RECRUITER ALASTAIR RYNISH EXPECTS CONTRACTING TO RISE (SEE P14)

PERTEMPS PRESIDENT TIM WATTS REMEMBERS THE IRON LADY (SEE P11)

RESPONDENT TO SIMPLICITY-IOR SURVEY (SEE P12 FOR MORE ON THE RESEARCH)

PWC FAST-TRACKS GRADUATES Giving students definitive dates for assessment and interviews is key to PwC reducing time from assessment to job offer from an average of eight weeks to one week, according to the professional services firm’s head of student recruitment.

Richard Irwin told Recruiter that giving students specific dates rather than basing those dates on student availability and that of PwC staff, had allowed the firm to create a new fast-track assessment event for 50 new graduate vacancies in its consulting practice to start work in 2014.

“We’ve not removed any stage from the standard process. We are still measuring talent in the same way. We have just created an event that speeds up the process for those students that want to know if they have got a job sooner. We are able to do this by being transparent about the dates they need to be available on,” said Irwin.

Applicants are notified of the outcome of the one-day assessment event within four days, with successful candidates progressing to interview with a PwC partner. The first event was run on 2 April.

Staggering its application deadlines also means that PwC doesn’t miss out on the up to 50% of students who apply for graduate vacancies between January and July, which is after PwC’s pre-Christmas deadline for applications. “We have been able to

Acorn: The recruiter is to

Richard Irwin

reach a new group of students and are not missing out on talent,” said Irwin.

Recent figures from the US Department of Labour revealed that the average time to hire had risen to 23 business days, from 15 in 2009.

Irwin said that feedback from the first event was that 90% of candidates were happy they had opted for the fast track rather than the usual longer route.

COLIN COTTELL

DIVERSITY IN PUBLISHING NEEDS ADDRESSING PUBLISHING industry has become less diverse and more needs to be done to confront the issue.

• THE Bobby Nayyar, who leads Equip (Equality in Publishing), a project to promote greater diversity within the

industry, told Recruiter the situation was getting worse. “It’s on a downward trajectory,” he said.

Nayyar cited a report by Creative Skillset, the sector skills council for the creative industries, which found that the percentage of people from BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) within publishing fell from 6% in 2007 to only 4% in 2011, less that half that of the UK workforce as a whole.

Nayyar said that while publishing had traditionally been a graduate level entry industry, many publishing houses now expect entrants to have an MA. “This has raised the bar in terms of the cost of entering the industry,” he said. Unpaid internships, which can only be undertaken by those who are relatively well-off, continue to be a problem, he added.

Leila Dewji, editorial director of Acorn Independent Press, told Recruiter there was a danger the industry could “end up reverting to an old boys’-type network, which will be very difficult to penetrate unless you are one of the class.” She added that Acorn was currently looking to take on an apprentice.

Equip, which is funded by the Arts Council and City University, aims to have 20 publishers signed up to its Equalities Charter by the end of May, said Nayyar. The requirement for this is that they carry out two actions a year to promote equality.

The project also arranges apprentice-type opportunities, and builds and maintain its members network, 20% of whom are BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic).

Dewji said that despite being “a very un-diverse industry”, publishing’s growing digitalisation offered some hope. “There is a whole new breed of skill set that publishers need. They don’t need people from a typical literary background but people who can do html, for example. This should open up the industry to people from different backgrounds and skills.”

Claire Law, founding director of publishing recruiter Atwood Tate, told Recruiter she supported the idea of paid internships as a way to boost diversity. Her company also encouraged people to get office experience and temporary experience within publishing as a way of getting their foot in the door. She said she doubted whether apprentices would catch on.

COLIN COTTELL

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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Contract News supply temps to South West Water… Adecco UK & Ireland: The staffing firm’s workforce will be provided auto-enrolled pensions by NOW: Pensions… Eden Scott: The Scottish recruiter is to lead a developer hiring drive at travel website Skyscanner…

Grafton Recruitment: The recruiter has partnered with Lithunian outsourcer BPO House across the Baltics…

InterQuest: The IT recruiter has secured a three-year extension on its contingent staff contract for Carphone Warehouse… EarthStream: New minority stakeholders Key Capital Partners have put £2m into the energy recruiter… Jepson Holt: The legal recruiter is working with recruitment software supplier Eploy… Kellan: The recruiter has borrowed £600k from its largest shareholder…. Matchtech: UK Power Networks is a new contract win for the recruiter whose deal with BAE Systems is also extended…

MBA & Company: MMC Ventures has invested £800k in the online freelancing marketplace… Nigel Frank: The IT recruiter will recruit for Formula One team Lotus F1… Ochre House: Telco firm Telefónica has given the RPO firm a three-year contract extension… Randstad: The recruiter has acquired the general staffing assets of USG People in several European countries... Temp Holdings: The Japanese recruiter has acquired HR services and recruitment firm Intelligence Group… Tribepad: The company is to provide its recruitment software to food services firm Brakes Group

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News

Tech & tools

RECYCLED SKILLS NETWORK SET FOR MAJOR X-PANSION SKILL EXCHANGE UK LOOKS TO HELP FIRMS COPE WITH PEAKS AND TROUGHS IN TODAY’S CLIMATE AND IN THE LONG TERM ore than 20 regional Skill Exchange UK (Skill X UK) hubs will be set up between now and December across the UK, which will enable employers to second staff to other organisations. The hubs are based on the innovative Staffshare technology platform, established in 2011, which was designed to help employers retain employees and skills in the challenging economic times by sharing their staff with other organisations.

The first regional hub was launched in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, at the end of last year and a Belfast hub will follow by this June. Phil Flaxton, chief executive officer of Skill X UK, the not-for-profit organisation developed in conjunction with ACAS, the TUC and leading employers, told Recruiter that it is in discussion with organisations in a number of cities and towns, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Maidstone, Central London, Birmingham, Stoke-onTrent, Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester. “The hub model is open to all towns and cities and is based on a travel-towork radius of 25 miles,” Phil Flaxton explained Flaxton. “In short, there has to be a nucleus of employers large and small — including microbusinesses — in a particular location, who want to get together and create a hub in order to keep skills in their town or city.”

The decision to kick off the regional hubs in Northern Ireland followed a presentation given by Skill X UK to MPs at Westminster, which caught the attention of Ian Paisley, MP for North Antrim. He described the Skill X UK hubs as “innovative and gamechanging”.

“That will redefine many of our attitudes to employment and skills,” he said. “As the Skill X network grows, the transfer of knowledge and skills will occur all over Northern Ireland, which will help improve productivity, competitiveness and create growth in our local economies”. As well as Belfast, other hubs are planned for Londonderry/Derry and Craigavon.

Among the first employers to sign up and fund the Ballymena Skill X are Michelin Tyres, bus supplier Wrightbus, Japan Tobacco International, food company Moy Park, multinational meat supplier Dunbia and the

M

Northern Regional College.

Ballymena Borough Council is also involved. “Our number one priority is to support economic development in the borough,” said council CEO Anne Donaghy. “It [Skill X] provides a platform for networking and partnerships between local businesses in a modern and accessible format via the online website, all of which helps us to proactively contribute to our economy.”

There is already transfer activity taking place on the Ballymena hub and this will ramp up as the site moves into o its second phase.

While the hubs have the social enterprise Staffshare’s technology at their heart, Flaxton said that the model works slightly differently to the original platform that is used by organisations such as Transport for London and BT. Once a regional hub has been funded by a group of local employers, it is free to use by local businesses such as SMEs. Using the Staffshare model, employers pay when they download a CV. “It’s taking the core element of the Staffshare platform and stripping out the cost elements of it and making it free to use for employers in a particular area,” Flaxton explained.

There are similarities in how it works, however, when it comes to marrying up employers who want to share resources. An employer creates an anonymous profile of an employee Ian Paisley MP available for secondment, after having gained that person’s permission.

Individual employees cannot place themselves on the system — this has to be done by their employer. A salary band accompanies each profile so employers can assess whether they can afford a particular person. The existing employer indicates how much of that person’s salary they would like to recoup and if the employer wishing to second the individual agrees to pay this, the existing employer pays the difference.

Anyone seconded remains an employee of the original organisation and their existing terms and conditions are preserved. Flaxton

said sa aid that that, in ssome cases, large organisations will o ccontinue to pay the ffull salary as part of ttheir corporate social strategy. responsibility strate While the Staffshare platform predominantly emerged to help employers deal with the peaks and troughs of a difficult economic climate, Flaxton believes the model is sustainable in the long term. “A lot of businesses have cyclical demands, such as those involved in heavy engineering and manufacturing,” he said. “Maybe there is an order on the stocks but it isn’t starting for six months. Skill X means those people can be utilised locally but the original employer doesn’t lose their skills or experience by having to lay them off.”

Flaxton added that it wasn’t just about meeting cyclical demands and employment trends though. “It can also help to upskill people. For instance, Michelin in Northern Ireland is prepared to take employees from smaller businesses, help to upskill them and then release them back,” he said. “I like to think there will always be a demand for this type of service because skilled people are highly valued and prized, and there are still shortages across many sectors.”

Since its launch, Skill X UK has attracted considerable interest from public, private and third sector organisations, and recently received an enquiry from Germany. “It’s still a new concept but because it is all about reskilling and retaining people, it could work anywhere where there is a skilled workforce,” said Flaxton. “So there is definite potential for franchising to other countries.” www.skillx.org www.skillx.org/ballymena SUE WEEKES

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Perfect.

You have roles that are vacant.

We have readers who aren’t.

Talk to the best candidates, talk to us Call 0203 353 3401 or email jobs@guardian.co.uk

web print tablet mobile

REC.02.13.002.indd 2

guardianjobs

06/02/2013 11:54

News

SPECIAL REPORT

Web comments

RECRUITERS IGNORE RPO FIRMS WHEN TRYING TO MOVE IN-HOUSE

‘Agencies blamed for UK’s part-time employment ills’ (recruiter.co.uk, 27 March) I’m a little surprised and disappointed to hear the comments of Emma Stewart and (as it reads) her blaming recruitment agencies for the lack of good quality part-time jobs. You’re right to report the industry is changing and so indeed are employers. It’s my opinion that part-time vacancies have seen the biggest growth due to spending restrictions companies have to adhere to on the back of a number of recessions. Part-time jobs are a positive step forward for many employers and some of our clients are now working with us to identify how they can take advantage of a growing market.

Roles in recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) organisations are overlooked by many external agency recruiters seeking to move to in-house recruitment jobs, a new survey has found.

However, RPO jobs could offer one of the most viable opportunities to transition to an in-house career, the findings suggest.

RPOs are the largest employers of on-site or in-house recruitment professionals, according to the candidate experience paper ‘Moving in-house from the external recruitment market’.

They also have “an appetite for hiring from recruitment consultancies and developing those people”, contends the paper, which resulted from a 28-question survey conducted by specialist recruiter Aspen In-house.

The paper says: “The reality

Gary Parsons

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is that for most external recruiters seeking a move in-house, RPO is a highly likely employer and it should be a desirable one.” However, it goes on to say: “But it is not.”

Of the respondents to the Aspen survey, 47% were not willing to consider any roles with RPO employers and had not done so, despite significant challenges facing them in securing in-house jobs. The survey found that 36% of respondents had a positive or very positive impression of RPO compared to 76% for direct in-house recruitment, and 25% had a “broadly negative” impression of RPO compared to 9% of direct inhouse recruitment.

“This tells us that there is a serious piece of education to be done around the role of RPO and the employment opportunities it holds,” said Andrew Mountney, the report’s author. Mountney is founding partner of Aspen In-house.

The survey was conducted in late 2012 and early 2013 among external recruiters seeking in-house roles. Seventy respondents participated.

Finding an in-house role has turned out to be more difficult than expected for 58% of respondents to the 28-question survey about their experiences. Of those still seeking an in-house role, 52% had been looking for over six months. Aspen said that last year had seen an increase in volume of external agency and executive search recruiters seeking to move in-house but were “typically struggling to do so” because of: • lack of awareness of where opportunities were • concern over undermining their existing role by directly engaging with opportunities or applying directly • hiring organisations’ preference to recruit experienced in-house professionals.

Survey findings said that 30% of respondents reported having secured an in-house role — which the report describes as a “quite surprising figure”.

A further detailed analysis of all external candidates who had registered with Aspen In-house in the last seven months showed that “just 15% had actually managed to make the move — a more realistic measure of chances to those considering the move”.

One finding in particular should come as some comfort to external recruiters wanting to make the move in-house.

The results struck down the myth of the “failed recruiter” who cannot succeed in an external role, then attempts to move in-house. “We found that 70% had over five years’ experience in the industry, and 68% had seen their income increase or stay the same over the last three years,” Mountney said.

A corporate career was respondents’ most popular priority reason for moving inhouse, the report said.

Other findings included: For application volumes, the top three RPOs (out of 13 stated) in order were: • Alexander Mann Solutions (40% of whole respondent pool) • Resource Solutions (23%) • Ochre House (20%) The best performers for acknowledgement rates, based on a minimum of 10 applications, were: • Resource Solutions (92% acknowledgement rate) • Randstad Sourceright (81%) • Allegis Group and Hays (80%) The lowest response/ acknowledgement rate was 56%; the report did not identify the RPO(s) at that level.

For in-house roles: • 80% of respondents had applied for a directlyemployed in-house role • 44% of respondents said they were applying to directlyemployed in-house roles • Application acknowledgement levels varied “hugely”, the report said, from 0-100% DEEDEE DOKE

• For the full report, visit www. aspeninhouse.com

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11/04/2013 15:32

DIGEST

Last month Rob Ryan, recruitment and talent manager for Tesco Telecoms/Tesco Mobile, told hospitality recruiters at a Caterer.com breakfast event in London that under his talent planning format, which enables existing employees to progress to the next level in management, he favours the ‘3D CV’ approach where candidates use props to show him something about them.

He gave the example of a candidate for a senior managerial role who used a McDonald’s uniform to reflect his first job and illustrate his teamwork and customer service approach to the workplace. “I’m bored with CVs,” Ryan said.

“CVs are same-y… Don’t tell me how great you are. Show me.”

Experian Hitwise most popular websites employment and training sites — March 2013 Percentage reflects share of visits to most visited sites Websites

Domain

Visits share

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

www.linkedin.com www.indeed.co.uk www.reed.co.uk www.totaljobs.com uk.jobrapido.com www.tes.co.uk www.jobs.nhs.uk www.jobsite.co.uk www.cv-library.co.uk www.monster.co.uk jobs.guardian.co.uk www.jobisjob.co.uk www.simplyhired.co.uk jobsearch.direct.gov.uk www.fish4.co.uk www.jobstoday.co.uk www.jobs.ac.uk jobs.trovit.co.uk www.s1jobs.com www.indeed.com

20.39% 10.04% 4.92% 4.12% 3.43% 3.36% 2.90% 2.48% 2.10% 1.77% 1.67% 1.04% 0.87% 0.87% 0.67% 0.66% 0.60% 0.59% 0.54% 0.51%

10-11_Recruit_Digest_april13-NEW.indd Sec3:11

of new FTSE 100 board appointments went to women and 36% on FTSE 250 companies since the last Cranfield School of Management report on Women on Boards (March 2012)

5

MOST VIEWED JOBS ON OUR WEBSITE

1. Consort Group, Senior consultant, RPO

2. Adecco Group, Client delivery consultant, West Yorkshire

consultant, Cheshire

CVS MAY be a standard tool for determining whether candidates are qualified for certain roles. But for •some recruiters, the typical CV – with its outline of education, skills and experience – tells but doesn’t show.

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

44

3. Millbank, Senior

DON’T TELL ME IN A CV — SHOW ME

LinkedIn Indeed UK reed.co.uk Totaljobs.com jobrapido UK TES Connect NHS Jobs Jobsite UK CV-Library Monster UK Guardian.co.uk Jobs Job is Job United Kingdom Simply Hired Direct Gov - Universal Jobmatch fish4jobs JobsToday jobs.ac.uk trovit UK Jobs s1jobs.com indeed

%

4. Modis, Resourcer, London

5. Omni Resource

Management, Graduate recruiters, Altrincham, South Manchester

TOP

PA

•

THE RECENT DEATH of Lady Thatcher brought back memories for Tim Watts, lifetime president of Pertemps Network Group. Watts told Recruiter that during her tenure, the former prime minister had visited Pertemps headquarters at Meriden Hall, dining with him on two occasions.

On the first occasion, Watts admitted he was “quite nervous” at meeting the Iron Lady.

However, he recounted how in private the PM was “incredibly relaxed” and even more so on this occasion over an evening meal and a large Scotch, albeit one that was “wellwatered down”.

Watts reminisced that during some “good banter” he was arguing with the PM. And he recalled her response: “She said ‘Calm down Tim, calm down. Is that your car outside?’ [referring to Watts’ Rolls Royce that he has owned for 30 years — and that has the registration 1JOB].” To which Watts replied: “Prime minister, it is.” And he recalled her quip in response: “Well, you certainly haven’t got the patience of Job.” “It’s nice when the prime minister makes fun of you, isn’t it,” added Watts.

More seriously, Watts credited Thatcher’s policies of liberalising the banks with allowing him to borrow money for the first time. This enabled him to grow the Pertemps business from a small company into one with a £600m annual turnover. “All this is down to the policies of Mrs Thatcher,” he said.

John Maxted, who set up HR recruiter Digby Morgan in 1988 during the then-prime minister’s third and final term, told Recruiter: “If it hadn’t been for Mrs Thatcher, I wouldn’t have set up my business then.”

Maxted, who has been selected as a parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party, though not yet for a specific constituency, said the liberalisation of employment legislation was “very important” for the recruitment industry.

However, her significance went much wider, he said. “She created a culture and a sense of opportunity in society in the 80s where people felt in control of their own destiny … There was the sense that if you were prepared to work hard, you could be successful, and that is exactly what happened to me,” Maxted explained.

TOP

MEETING IRON LADY WAS JUST THE JOB

News

5

MOST VIEWED ARTICLES ONLINE

1. Budget: ‘Tax on jobs’ out for one in three employers

2. CVs? Boring, says Tesco recruiter

3. Shark man can be

rescued from the jaws of despair

4. GLA refusal of

‘phoenix’ company licence upheld

5. HMRC increases

its crackdown on suspected IR35 abuses

RECRUITER

APRIL 2013

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11/04/2013 15:32

News Analysis

SME RECRUITERS REVEAL THE PAIN BEHIND FINANCIAL STRAIN Despite the government’s repeated pleas to the banks to open their purses to small- and medium-sized firms, a recent survey of SME recruiters shows how the banks’ intransigent position is truely stifling growth. DeeDee Doke reports

T

he UK is five years into recession, and a prolonged period of belt-tightening from banks that have become increasingly wary about whom they agree to finance. The accepted wisdom is that to grow a business, an injection of cash or steady cashflow is needed. But many of UK’s small- and medium-sized businesses are treading water in growth terms while they look ahead for signs that the neardrought conditions may be easing.

And in a survey of recruitment businesses released exclusively to Recruiter, 71% of 181 respondents said that access to more funding would enable them to grow their businesses. At the same time, about 31% of the survey’s respondents report that they have found it difficult to increase the funding available to them when it was needed.

“I have not been able to access any type of bank financing after 15 years of banking with the same bank with a faultless history with that bank,” a respondent commented. Another said: “We need to invest in a new consultant but we haven’t got the funds to have a threemonth period for them to bill.”

However, more than 56% reported that they did not use external funding to finance their business. “I work on the basis if you haven’t got it, don’t spend it,” a survey participant noted.

The survey was conducted via social media channels by finance and back office outsourcing company Simplicity and the Institute of Recruiters (IOR).

Respondents operate in a wide spectrum of industry sectors with the largest percentage, nearly 38%, reporting annual turnover of £500k or less. Just under 10% of the respondents reported annual turnover of over £10m, the highest bracket included.

The small business presence among survey participants was also noticeable by the heavy percentage of firms at 52.5% with five or fewer internal employees.

The next highest percentage, just over 22%, employ six to 10. And for 85% of respondents, all of their business is conducted in the UK. In spite of disgruntlement the fact that funding was in short supply, that most respondents do not currently use

“There is a massive potential for growth if greater funding is available”

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Key comments “We don’t have any growth plans due to the unstable nature of the recruitment market at present. If we did we’d rely on organic growth and investment of profit.”

“Large clients are taking forever to pay.”

“We work extra hard on credit control and have over 90% of our invoicing in for perms and temps under 30 days.”

“Banks are reluctant to lend against any growth plans.”

“We did apply to extend our overdraft facility with our bank but they insisted that we had to sign a personal guarantee which the Directors did not want to do.”

“I have no interest in invoice discounting and cannot access any other finance, as a result growth will be slow and over the long term.”

David Thornhill

external funding to finance their business could flag up an emerging trend that may ultimately concern finance providers, regardless of how tightly they are holding onto their cash. A number of respondents to the Simplicity-IOR survey said they are turning their backs on facilities such as factoring — “too expensive”, one said — and will rely on their own resources to build their businesses. “I prefer to grow organically,” a respondent said. Another said: “I prefer to grow from profits.”

Asked to comment on the results, David Thornhill, Simplicity managing director, told Recruiter that his staff heard daily about problems recruitment bosses had experienced when trying to access more funding and “punitive rates” imposed to gain access to “nominal amounts of money”. “This isn’t fair, and is … a disincentive to success,” Thornhill added.

Azmat Mohammed, IOR director general, told Recruiter that “the key learning” from the results was that “more finance needs to be unlocked to help recruitment bosses employ more staff and grow their businesses”. He added: “There is a massive potential for growth if greater funding is available, so finance providers need to provide the industry with more support rather than become more restrictive.”

The survey was completed in late 2012.

Azmat Mohammed

Sign up for our daily news bulletins at www.recruiter.co.uk

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11/04/2013 14:58

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Sector Analysis

IT & telecoms

IT & telecoms

Views from the market

RECEIVED WISDOM SUGGESTS THAT PERMANENT JOBS WON’T BE AROUND FOR EVER, WITH PROJECT WORK DOMINATING LABOUR MARKETS OF ADVANCED SERVICE ECONOMIES

In the IT & telecommunications industries, uptake of the non-permanent employment models is already high and ever rising.

Mike Bishop, IT firm Ricoh’s UK recruitment manager, tells Recruiter that as the company moves more towards services provision and away from hardware, the last two years have seen 20% rises in contractor hires.

“That’s not just specific to IT functions,” he adds, but also includes areas like HR and finance.

“I think the marketplace we’re working in is constantly changing, and the demand for skills in 12 months’ time will be very different,” he continues, explaining that taking on too many permanent staff could be “foolish”.

“The consultancy model is definitely going to grow,” says Alastair Rynish, director at telecoms recruiter First Point Group. “It’s been growing ever since I’ve been in the telecoms industry, and it’s not going away.”

First Point is looking to include more permanent recruitment in its mix, Rynish says.

But this is not necessarily straightforward; at big telecom vendors he works with, “hiring for contractors is done by one department, sourcing, and that’s a big part of their business. And then the perm business is done by HR; that’s very, very separate, so the fact that we’ve done lots of contracting … doesn’t mean HR will necessarily even consider us”.

One area where permanent hiring remains strong is at SMEs. Joanna Heseltine, HR manager at PSU Technology Group, tells Recruiter: “We

THE MARKETPLACE WE’RE IN IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING …

THE DEMAND FOR SKILLS IN 12 MONTHS WILL BE VERY DIFFERENT

always look to employ candidates on a permanent basis, as this is much more cost effective over the long term.”

Similarly, Kate Little, people partner (EMEA) at hosting provider Peer 1 Hosting, says the overwhelming majority of its workforce will be permanent at any one time. The one contractor they currently have on their books in the UK “has worked with Peer 1 for a number of years”.

This is partly due to the nature of their business, but also a conscious choice. When you commit to staff long term, “you get commitment, you get longevity, you get choice”, she says.

The future may not be here quite yet. Many recruiters are not experiencing a contract revolution. David Judge, a co-founder and partner at tech recruiter Connected Consulting, is one. “I don’t think we’ve necessarily seen a rise,” he says.

“I think contractors are more willing to look at permanent roles … I don’t think that contractors can be demanding at the minute.”

Stronger trends for Judge include the uptake of ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) initiatives, “particularly in larger corporates, allowing people to work from home and outside of the office. And a lot of them are spending money on internal messaging systems like Yammer”.

In-demand areas driving business for Lee Chant, managing director, Hays IT & Telecoms, are cloud, virtualisation and the transition away from legacy systems. “That area has increased substantially over the last five years in particular, and clients will take on permanent and contract because they are just keen on the skills, so if they were working for a contractor in that area and a permanent candidate became available, they would make space for that person.”

As Chant concludes, if as a candidate or a recruiter, you’ve got the skills that employers need, they will want you, one way or another.

That much is permanent.

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

REC REPORT ON JOBS

Hiring Index for IT & computing

65

(below 50 = market decline, above 50 = growth) 60

55

50

■ Permanent ■ Temporary 45 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb 2012 2013

14

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14_Recruit_SectorAnalysis_april2013.indd Sec3:14

ACCORDING TO THE SHL TALENT REPORT the technology sector has one of the lowest ratings for employees with a high degree of occupational risk. Telecoms also ranks low at number 11 out of 17 sectors. The telecoms industry currently ranks low on leadership, but has strong future leadership potential within its ranks

HR SALARIES IT & telecoms sector – from Reed.co.uk Consultant: £53,362 (▼£2,750 on 2012) Project manager: £49,753 (▼£2,007) Software developer: £42,996 (▲£391) Web design: £32,446 (▲£493) Average (all roles): £41,424 (▼£90)

Steve Buckley Co-founder, HackerJobs. co.uk “Ruby and iOS developers are dominating the market in terms of contract rates.

There is a huge demand for both on a perm basis … most candidates are seeking contract roles due to the exceptionally high day rates.”

Chris Devonshire Head, GCS Technology “We’ve got a number of permanent people that are moving more towards contract. We surveyed 400 people and the results of that is that contractors are pretty happy … but permanent guys less so.”

Mark Dexter Managing director, KDR Recruitment “Within the information management niche, we’re seeing a big drive in terms of the more businessorientated data governance roles… plus a bit of a push towards permanent, which is reassuring.”

Joanna Heseltine HR manager, PSU Technology Group “While we are able to fill lower-level, technical and general support roles, it is more challenging to find candidates with specialist high-level technical skills and experience.”

Eamonn Mgherbi Managing director, Avatar Games “When we do advertise sixmonth positions they always say there’s the potential to extend this, and there’s companies … that offer 24 month contracts. I think IT does pay a bit better, but in the games industry you will have better bonus systems.”

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11/04/2013 11:34

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10/04/2013 14:09

Market Indicators

Global Spotlight on Malaysia MALAYSIA IS A NON-MATURE MARKET AS FAR AS RECRUITMENT IS CONCERNED, WHICH PRESENTS A MIXTURE OF OPPORTUNITY AND DIFFICULTY IN EQUAL MEASURE In broad brush strokes, recruiting in Malaysia means encountering the same issues inherent to many an up-and-coming or newly industrialised economy.

Key indicators

As described to Recruiter by in-house resourcing specialist Surbhi Rustogi, the country is in many ways “way behind in terms of technology”, although there are pockets of advancements. The “pathetic” local pay packets do little to overcome a market short of talent, adds Rustogi, who has experience across South-East Asia including Malaysia, previously working with Credit Suisse, before recently moving to Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City in search of a new challenge.

But there is one talent issue whose nuances are unique to Malaysia. Ethnic ‘locals’ are barely in the majority (see Key Indicators, right) — and the infamous Article 153 of the country’s constitution makes the King responsible for protecting the “special position” of the native 50% in the country. Something of an elephant in the room, the situation is very strongly one where “traditionally certain professions are more attractive to some parts of the population than others”, according to Dermot O’Hara, the Malaysian country manager for human capital solutions firm Consult Group.

“It can be unsettling,” adds O’Hara, speaking of experiences where a specific racial preference is made by an employer, “though often the key driver is an attempt at inclusion… as opposed to exclusion.”

A pervasive social issue, albeit one “government has worked hard to address”, O’Hara adds, with the Malay-dominated public sector in particular seeing diversity initiatives. “I think it’s a very slow change,” says Rustogi.

Another issue O’Hara sees government “making serious attempts to deal with” is brain drain. This problem is illustrated by Danny Wilkey, a careers consultant at the London School of Economics, where 7% of undergraduates were Malaysian last

Of Malaysia’s 29m people, around half are of Malay ethnolinguistic group or indigenous to present-day Malaysia; a third trace their ethnic routes to China.

Managerial/professional-level hiring and firing plans (January 2013) 60

■ Hiring ■ Firing

% OF COMPANIES

50 40 30 20 10 0

Last Now Coming quarter (Jan 2013) quarter

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17_Recruit_april13_Global spotlight.indd 17

The government portal for (licensed) private employment agencies can be found at aps. jobsmalaysia.gov.my.

Malaysia’s currency is the ringgit (MYR). £1 = 4.65MYR, 1MYR = $0.33 Official language is Bahasa Malaysia (Malay). English is widely used and has some official status.

The Wawasan 2020 (Vision 2020) plan to make Malaysia a high-income nation by 2020 includes Talentcorp, a scheme to attract ex-pat Malaysians back home. See talentcorp. com.my for more.

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

BIGGEST INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT Retail, trade and repair – 16.3% Manufacturing – 16.2% Agriculture, forestry and fishing – 12.7% Construction – 8.9% Accommodation & food services – 7.3% Education – 6.2% At Q4 2012, from Department of Statistics Malaysia

UNEMPLOYMENT AND GDP GROWTH ■ GDP growth ■ Unemployment 6.5 5.7 4.9 4.1

%

3.3 2.5 1.7 0.9 0.1 -0.7 -1.5

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

UNEMPLOYMENT FROM WORLD BANK, GDP GROWTH FROM DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS MALAYSIA

ANTAL GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

year. A small survey found less than half returning home after graduating.

“The relative skills shortage in Malaysia and the global brand of LSE make them particularly attractive to Malaysian employers,” he says, but also “very marketable to global recruiters”.

The opportunities are there back home for young Malaysians. The country is a popular destination for outsourcing and IT service provision, and its energy market and infrastructure are also touted for growth. Much development is being channelled through government plans and Government Linked Companies (GLCs).

This in turn means opportunities for recruiters — East Anglian firm Cooper Lomaz Recruitment is just one UK name taking advantage of this in the energy space. In fact, the firm finds little issue with being eight hours behind Malaysia. Joint managing director Jane Lovell says a “major benefit for clients in Malaysia” is that the firm has “a ‘lead time’, as when the working day in South-East Asia is complete, time is still available from the UK to service Malaysian operations”.

Meanwhile, Rustogi suggests “huge potential for RPOs [recruitment process outsourcing firms] to grow”. Cynthia Lim, a senior manager at local professional recruiter EPS Consultants, says that “there are many firms running without a proper recruitment licence”.

With such firms able to charge lower fees due to not having to deal with that licensing cost, Lim tells Recruiter she is concerned government does not have “proper control” over the matter. And it is this type of situation that again highlights the mixture of opportunity and difficulty in a nonmature market.

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APRIL 2013

17

10/04/2013 15:31

Opinion

Soapbox

Flip recruitment on its head IS IT TIME FOR RECRUITERS TO REDUCE THE EMPHASIS ON FINDING CANDIDATES FOR THE EMPLOYER AND CONCENTRATE MORE ON REPRESENTING CANDIDATES THEMSELVES? ‘He who holds the purse strings holds the power.’ This particularly rings true in the recruitment industry where historically the hiring company pays the bill. But the balance of power could be about to change.

It’s been a long-standing argument in the industry: the employer pays our bill. Yet we still need to balance the candidate’s interest against this very salient fact. Should we be looking to flip the recruitment process on its head and embrace new ways of working, ie look at representing the candidate not the employer, and is such a radical shift in thinking truly workable?

An actor has an agent, a writer has an agent, fitness addicts have a personal trainer; services they all pay well for. Is there any reason why the job hunter or an ‘in-work’ employee cannot have his or her own ‘agent’ — a representative that works with their interests at heart to help them get ahead through a new job or in their current employment? It doesn’t have to focus on a new job...

SOAP

BOX

The need for change in recruitment has been accelerated by the economic backdrop witnessed over the past five years. Take, for example, banking and finance. Over 100,000 financial sector staff have lost their jobs in the past four years* in London alone, while it is predicted at least another 15,000 roles will be cut in 2013**, taking City numbers down to its lowest level in two decades.

Here is an incredible talent pool where individuals, often through no fault of their own, have found themselves either out of work or forced to embrace lifestyle change.

The banking sector is going through a radical shift and those still working within (or trying to gain entry) face challenges that we have never seen before.

This is just one market sector which cries out for fresh thinking. Why not focus solely on the candidate to help them face these challenges? Whether they are in work and

looking to get ahead of their peers or have been a casualty of the cutbacks and looking to re-evaluate their careers, there is an increasing need for programmes that concentrate solely on their ‘betterment’ and what they want from their careers, paid for by the candidate not the employer. That means bespoke advice, individual career plans and mentoring according to existing skills — it is rare that two individuals will follow the same path.

Good candidates have always been a recruiter’s biggest asset and creating a service that best represents them seems an obvious extension of the industry. This holistic approach ultimately benefits everyone involved; the hiring company will gain a great employee, the candidate will be exactly what they are looking for and the recruiter is portrayed as the exceptional expert they are, so the hiring company continues to use them – win/win all round.

*CIPD, ‘Job cuts in the financial sector’, 2012 **Centre for Economics and Business Research, ‘Financial services jobs outlook’, Jan 2013

NADER BAWANY is a partner at Fairway Partners executive search company

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REC.03.13.019.indd 2

Handled with care

06/03/2013 11:29

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Opinion

Web chat Flat fee? More like flat-out fraud AS AN employer I recently engaged the services of a recruitment •consultant.

I employed two candidates at an agreed flat fee of £1k

each. Neither lasted more than eight weeks but I guess those are the risks in employing people. After 15 years running a small business I understand this much, and I paid the agreed flat fees. What I do not understand is that I am now off to Court with the said recruitment consultant claiming total fees of £13k plus VAT, and the grounds for the action are that his bills were unpaid at 28 days as per his standard terms of business, to which I had not agreed.

I realise times are tough and many people turn to crime, but I would not have anticipated this near-fraud from a recruitment consultant. You can print my letter if you wish; maybe one of your readers could offer me their advice or opinion.

Philip Northcott, Mulberry Publications PS I have just been given formal counsel never to accept introductions from recruitment consultants. I am sure the bulk of your more professional readers would be delighted to hear that!

Talent needed — wherever it is

• FOLLOWING DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s calls for tightening of UK immigration system by introducing security bonds for applicants from ‘high-risk’ countries, while NES Global Talent recognises the need to address immigration issues, we would ask the government to exercise caution.

As a global business that places highly-skilled engineering and technical candidates with some of the largest oil & gas companies, we are aware that the worldwide war for talent is intensifying.

While the UK is home to some of the best technical and engineering experts in the world, demand is far outstripping supply. To meet shorter-term staffing requirements, energy companies need to take on contractors, who in turn move from project to project around the world depending on where their specialisms are required. By making it harder to hire contractors from outside the European Economic Area we are jeopardising the future of the UK energy industry.

Lee Knowles, UK regional director, NES Global Talent

NHS has no joined-up thinking

• WITH REFERENCE to the article about the NHS in your email bulletin (‘NHS struggles to recruit outside management talent’, 18 March), the plain and simple truth of the matter is that the reason why the NHS is failing to attract good managers from outside the NHS is that those who write the job descriptions and who place the adverts for those positions always ask for/demand prior NHS experience!

The translation of what the NHS requires invariably passes through some HR function and so it is they who invariably ask for previous NHS experience — this comes about as a result of the NHS having no joined-up thinking.

Barry Ryan, managing director, Broadhurst Management

In-house support is applauded

•

I NOTE in Recruiter last month another organisation (DEA) set up to support in-house recruiters in a similar manner to the IOR’s in-house support offering (‘DEA fills in-house niche’, Recruiter, March 2013).

It’s great to see so much activity in the professional body arena.

It all enhances the offerings for recruiters looking to get through some very tough times. This all helps to create a strong market with heightened innovation and choice.

Azmat Mohammed, director-general, Institute of Recruiters (IOR)

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Soundbites

“What’s the best way you’ve found to motivate your team?”

Ian Christelow Co-founder, ActionCOACH UK

The best way we’ve found to motivate our team of ActionCOACH business coaches is by running a competition. The key is tuning in to what drives the individuals, and our franchise partners tend to be very competitive and driven by results and success. The one we have running now is if they make the list of Global Top 100 coaches for any three months from July 2012 – June 2013, we will pay for their place at the ActionCOACH Global Conference in Berlin, Germany in August. I suspect that’s very popular, not just because the prize on offer is incredible, but also because it involves us putting our hand in our wallet in a major way!

Patrick Goodwin Managing director, Edenbrook Partners

Communication is important. I firmly believe in including the team in decisions where there is an effect on them and giving them the chance to challenge those decisions.

Don’t ask your team to do something that you are not prepared to do yourself. Targets should be challenging but achievable; be happy to discuss them with your team.

Understand what is important to a staff member — is it cash or an extra day’s holiday or something else? Use incentives as a way to motivate. Team events are always a good idea — beers in the evening, golf days or days at the racing. Make sure that you are supporting your team and don’t allow gossip or bitchiness in the office.

Jason Gowlett Head of resourcing, Direct Line Group

This is a question which does not have one answer! The internet is awash with articles covering how to motivate individuals and teams. They are useful as input and for ideas, but… For me the key is not to forget that every team is made up of individuals and every individual, just as importantly, is in a different situation. I believe you need to understand both the person and the situation to work out what will motivate them at that particular time; what works when someone is in a relaxed, comfortable place may not work when they are under pressure or in an unusual situation. Remember, an individual’s personal life can be a greater motivator than their career goals — so my tip is to make sure you really know each team member and keep track with how they and their circumstances change over time.

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

VANESSA.TOWNSEND@RECRUITER.CO.UK

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Insight

The growing demand for the ‘talent adviser’ RECRUITING IN A DOWNTURN REQUIRES A SHIFT FROM VACANCY FILLER TO TRUE TALENT PROFESSIONAL With latest figures from the Office for National Statistics suggesting that UK unemployment is hovering around 2.5m people, the number of candidates vying for jobs remains high. For a recruiter, it would be easy to assume that this is a buyers’ market. However, this is simply not the case. Instead, candidate volume and shifting demands within roles have made the task of the recruiter increasingly difficult.

The reality of recruitment Workforce requirements are moving rapidly and today’s recruiters are struggling to keep pace.

Advisory company CEB’s latest research reveals that only 36% of employees have a job role that reflects the increasingly interconnected and collaborative nature of the current workplace. Meanwhile, recruiters are struggling to keep up with shifting requirements especially as organisations themselves are failing to identify exactly what they want from the labour market.

There is also more noise in the talent pool, with global applicant volume per vacancy now 169% higher than it was in 2007. Unfortunately for recruiters, an overwhelming number of these applicants are unqualified, with only about a third equipped with basic skills. So while the number of needles remain unchanged, there are effectively more haystacks, creating a more labour-intensive filtering process.

Research has also revealed the best talent is becoming more passive, and attraction drivers are running low. Economic uncertainty has made potential candidates wary of switching jobs, with just 43% of the global workforce actively seeking new roles. At the same time, compensation appears to remain the top global driver of employee attraction, despite which 40% of businesses have no planned increase in compensation budget for 2013.

Finally, recruiting teams are now under more pressure to perform while their own budgets are being cut. This year CEB expects recruiting budgets will decline by 5.5%, while 39% of organisations plan an increase in recruiter requisition. Recruiters are working for an increased number of organisations and with more hiring managers than in the past.

The shift towards ‘talent adviser’ The challenges of modern recruitment have consequences, particularly when it comes to recruiter performance. Employers have expressed

their disappointment with recruiters’ results, with the quality of hire reported to be down 17% from 2009. Candidates are equally unsatisfied, with one-infive new hires rating recruiters ineffective at clearly explaining, following up and answering questions about their offers. Clearly something has to change.

CEB research suggests that almost 80% of the variation in quality of hire is driven by two factors: the profiles of individual recruiters and recruiter management practices, such as workloads, training and performance management. The best recruiting functions are defined by how effectively these are managed.

Through our insights, we have characterised the profiles of the best recruiters by putting their capabilities into three simple categories: 1. Process expert — those who are able to navigate the organisation’s processes and tools to fill open vacancies.

2. Pipeline manager — those who actively engage in the labour market, building relationships with prospects and helping to match the candidate to the job.

3. Strategic adviser — those who leverage deep business and labour-market acumen to effectively advise hiring managers.

Using these we found that the best-performing recruiters can be identified through their abilities to act as pipeline managers and strategic advisers, which, in combination, define a talent adviser’s capabilities. However, only 19% of recruiters today qualify as talent advisers.

Hertz Europe is a good example of a how organisations are embracing talent advisers. The Fortune 500 company is creating a more strategic recruiting function by supplementing its current teams with individuals who can apply their skillsets in the most productive ways. Instead of relying on traditional methods to find talent advisers, they ask candidates to take part in a behavioural demonstration; they prepare a recruitment plan for a mock requisition, and present it to a panel five days later who assess their recommendations, presentation skills and ability to truly challenge and consult with the panel.

Recruiters must learn that the benefits wrung from process efficiency and automation have run dry. Now is the time to be nimble, blending active engagement with the labour market and strategic recommendations to earn talent adviser status and help recruiter teams function at their best.

Power Points In an uncertain economic climate, recruiters are under more strain to perform while the circumstances of their role become more difficult.

These functions need to drive real business impact, not just fill requisitions.

In fact, recruiters have already achieved most of the benefits that can be wrung from process efficiency and automation.

Now, the greatest potential lies in developing their talent adviser capabilities to have the most business impact and ensure high performance levels.

The process of moving from operational recruiting to a more strategic function includes: identifying what talent advisers do differently; selecting recruiters who demonstrate those qualities; and embedding talent adviser capabilities into recruiter expectations and development programmes.

It is a pragmatic yet realistic path to creating the best functions.

JEAN MARTIN IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CEB’S HR PRACTICE

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

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The Challenge

CV-Library helps Gandys step out globally START-UP FOOTWEAR FIRM GANDYS NEEDED TO FIND PEOPLE IN STEP WITH ITS ETHICAL VALUES. CV-LIBRARY UNCOVERED A DIVERSE RANGE OF PEOPLE

Rob Forkan Co-founder

THE CHALLENGE Launched in January last year, footwear fashion brand Gandys offers a simple product to customers — the humble flip-flop, or ‘thong’ if you’re wearing them Down Under. However, unlike the first Ford car, they come in any colour, including black, and it seems the whole world wants them. In fact, Recruiter’s first arranged phone call with co-founder Rob Forkan had to be postponed as Gandys was launching into a number of major UK high-street stores that week and things were going “a little crazy” in his words.

The business was expanding — and obviously needed more people to help it grow.

Started by Forkan and his brother Paul, Gandys (the name comes from the phrase ‘as dry as Gandhi’s flip-flop’) was born out of a family tragedy. In 2001, rather unorthodoxly, the teenage brothers were travelling around India and South-East Asia with their parents and two younger siblings, mainly volunteering to work for charities. The family found themselves in Sri Lanka on Boxing Day 2004 — the day of the tsunami triggered by an earthquake beneath the waters of the Indian Ocean. Tragically, their parents were killed, leaving the children orphaned.

Following the disaster, the brothers continued their travels, living mainly in flip-flops, and eventually returned to the UK. Back home, Rob Forkan’s first job was working at a fairly new job

board company called CV-Library, where he stayed for a few years — until the wanderlust took over once more. On his return to the UK, and having now established Gandys, the brothers needed to attract people to join their startup, such as an intern, an office manager and a product manager fluent in Mandarin. Finding people not only with these skills, but embracing the same aspirations and ethical beliefs (see right), was going to be a challenge for this brand new company.

THE SOLUTION Having worked for CV-Library, Forkan turned to his former workplace for help. “It was an obvious port of call,” he told Recruiter, “it works.” And his former colleague and client response manager at CV-Library Nicky Collins added: “Rob already knew what we can do here. We’re a generic job board but we’ve got the largest database in the UK. It’s a real appeal.”

Giving back…

10% of every flip-flop sale is sent directly to the charity Mango Tree Goa, whose aim is to support deprived children by offering them education, health and nutrition care

For the intern position, which was going to be an unpaid role, Collins told Recruiter that it would be useful to attract a “new younger demographic” and that the role would maybe appeal to a younger audience. As well as using CV-Library’s growing number of affiliate network of online career portals, Collins decided to promote the vacancy, which described the ideal candidate as being ‘bright and energetic’ and aspiring to be ‘master of marketing’, across social media to drive traffic to the job ad. “We did lots of off-line campaigning to increase traffic further,” she said, which included TV and transport hub advertising aimed at attracting young professionals and adding to its database of 5.8m candidates. The outcome was extremely positive and very popular, Collins said.

Within a month the ad received nearly 1,000 views, with around 120 people applying for the position.

Forkan told Recruiter: “Nicky was really helpful — putting the ad up for us quickly so no time

Nicky Collins Client response manager

was wasted.” He added that the screening questions for the roles also saved time, so that Gandys received really good applications, which helped in the interviewing process.

With the Gandys flip-flops now being manufactured in China, a Mandarin-speaking project manager was of paramount importance. Collins told Recruiter she recognised the role was going to be difficult to fill, so she carried out extra searches on other databases and sent the most suitable on to Gandys. Forkan was delighted with the service. “Nicky made an extra effort and went out of her way to find the right people,” he said. “They found such a diverse range of people — and a high level of attraction.”

With Gandys attracting the major UK retailers such as Top Man, House of Fraser, Schuh and Office, the next stop is the US with the brothers landing in Los Angeles at the end of summer. Globally the brand could be huge, Forkan said, with “tricky positions” to fill in the future to add to its staff of just eight. “A few months ago I’d never thought we’d have the amount of people we have now,” he said.

And if it takes off the way Forkan predicts, by the end of 2014, the brothers want to open an orphanage in the memory of their parents — Kevin and Sandra Forkan. The orphanage will also mark the 10th anniversary of the tsunami. The ultimate goal is to have Gandys orphanages all over the world. And who would bet against them?

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

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Profile

Shaun King & Andrew Jackson

SHAUN KING’S PHILOSOPHY ON PARTNERSHIP

“THE ARMY CAN BRING THE EXPERIENCE OF WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE IN THE ARMY, AND WE HAVE ASSEMBLED A WHOLE SERIES OF EXPERTS, AND IT IS JUST ABOUT USING THEM WHERE WE CAN USE THEM BEST”

COLIN COTTELL MET THE ARMY’S BRIGADIER ANDREW JACKSON AND CAPITA’S SHAUN KING The First World War recruiting poster ‘Your country needs you’ is one of the most iconic and effective recruiting tools ever devised. Almost 100 years later its message is one that Brigadier Andrew Jackson, director recruiting and training (operations) British Army. is still keen to get across.

“It is really important to recognise that the Army is still recruiting both for the regular Army and for the Territorial Army [TA],” he tells Recruiter, as we meet in Central London.

Jackson fears that as Britain withdraws its fighting troops from Afghanistan next year, the Army will slip off the public’s radar and fail to recruit the 10,000 new soldiers a year it needs to achieve its planned strength of 112,000 by 2018, made up of 82,000 in the regular Army and 30,000 in the TA. “We have to make sure the Army remains visible because if it isn’t it makes the job of recruitment that much more difficult,” he says.

Jackson admits it’s a tough challenge, but purposeful and smooth-talking as befits someone whose previous role was head of PR for the Army, he is clearly up for the fight. That is why he is throwing all his considerable efforts into the Army’s £440m 10-year contract with Capita that is already changing the face of Army recruitment — and threatens to transform it completely.

Paul Pindar, chief executive officer of Capita, laid out the challenge succinctly after the contract was awarded to the business process outsourcing and professional services giant in March last year: “A blend of military and civilian staff working on the Recruitment Partnering Project [RPP] will have a common objective — to create an agile recruiting service that inspires people and delivers the recruits the Army wants.”

At the heart of the transformation, says Shaun King, managing director of the RPP within Capita, is the Army’s new National Recruiting Centre (NRC) in Upavon, Wiltshire that opened in March. With a staff of 220,

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The military and civilian partnership: Brig Andrew Jackson (left) and Shaun King (right)

half of whom are ex-military, this will centralise the management of candidates, who, when they register, can have access to a candidate portal and huge amounts of information about Army careers. Candidates also have access to a range of online self-screening and selection tools, including psychometrics.

Recognising that the Army’s target audience is predominantly 17-19-year-olds, who spend much of their lives online, a plethora of different online channels is due to be rolled out over the next 12 months, which includes Facebook, Twitter, mobile and forums. Each candidate will also have access to a named recruiter at the centre.

“Half the dialogue is ‘what is it like to be a soldier?’, the other half is ‘how do I manage myself through this process, what do I need to do next?’,” says King, who is very much the ‘nuts and bolts’ man of the duo.

The Upavon centre marks a major departure in practice from the Army’s previous modus operandi, where the first port of call for interested candidates was likely to have been one of the Army’s network of 150 recruiting offices dotted around the country. “One of the ambitions of the contract was not to have that dependency on someone visiting the high street, but to have more contact with candidates throughout the process,” says King.

The number of recruiting offices is set to halve to 73, but Jackson says this is only part of the story. “The role of

ANDREW JACKSON’S SECRET OF SUCCESS

“THE SECRET OF SELLING THE ARMY IS TO MAKE A UNIQUE ORGANISATION ACCESSIBLE AND TO REMOVE SOME OF THE FACTORS THAT MAKE IT INTIMIDATING”

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Profile

CV Shaun King Managing director, Recruitment Partnering Project within Capita

2011- present Managing director and programme director roles, Capita

2002-11 Services senior manager, Research Machines

2001-02 Various management roles, Capgemini

1997-2000 Several management roles, finance and business analyst, and technical support specialist, IBM

1985-96 Brigadier Andrew Jackson

PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER SEARLE

Director recruiting and training (operations), British Army 2012

the military man in these offices will change subtly as a result of bringing things centrally into the NRC,” he says, explaining that it will free up uniformed staff to spend more time in face-to-face contact with potential recruits rather than doing paperwork. “They will do what they are there for, which is to act as a role model for a young person coming into an office wanting to know about being a soldier,” he adds.

King believes that the emphasis on online recruiting channels will have a number of important advantages.

“It can be quite intimidating if you need to go and walk through a recruiting office door,” he explains. “There are so many people in uniform it is almost like you have signed up. This allows you to explore the opportunities in the privacy of your own home.” It also makes it easier for so-called gatekeepers (usually parents) to access information, he says. “Almost counter intuitively, by centralising we are making the journey better for the individual,” adds Jackson.

While the Army will no longer be so dependent on its network of recruiting offices, King says they will continue to play a core role. “We are not at any stage going to remove the all-important interview between a candidate and an Army recruiting officer,” he emphasises.

And he believes that as a result of the NRC’s efforts earlier in the recruitment cycle to nurture and prepare candidates, when people do visit a recruiting office, there

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will a better chance of an informed dialogue. “You [the candidate] will know what the opportunities are, and the people in the recruiting offices will know about you, so you can have this informed conversation,” says King.

Closing half the recruiting offices and introducing the NRC appears to sit uneasily with the Army’s long tradition of regiments drawing recruits from their local area. However, Jackson, who served with The Yorkshire Regiment, says the new model avoids throwing the baby out with the proverbial bath water.

He explains that the local element within Army recruitment has been maintained by retaining the role of commanders regional recruiting to whom a brigade commander can turn for information and advice about recruiting.

Regional operations managers will also continue to play a vital part. “The link between recruitment operations and the regional brigades is critical because they play the lion’s share of the role in raising awareness of what the Army is and what it does, and then we capitalise on this with our targeted marketing activity to encourage someone to step forward,” he says. A team of 750 outreach staff, 90% of whom are military personnel, are tasked with going out into local communities, including visiting schools and universities.

King says the new model will not only be able to cater for the roughly 30% of people who want to join a

Deputy commander, Task Force Helmand, Afghanistan, British Army 2011 Colonel, Army public relations, Ministry of Defence 2008-

2010 Commanded 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment

2006-08 Regimental duty and staff appointments in the UK, Germany, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq

1986-2006 Commissioned into The Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire

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Profile

specific regiment, but also for those who are interested in a specific trade or profession, as well as the remainder who have no clear idea what they want to do.

Throughout the conversation, King and Jackson are keen to push the idea that RPP is a partnership between Capita and the Army. “This is not an outsource, this is not Capita doing something to the Army,” says King. It’s sentiment supported by Jackson, who quickly interjects: “I absolutely echo that.”

The two men obviously get on well together, laughing and joshing when asked who has seniority. They admit this is not a question they have considered, but both men quickly recover their poise and return to their partnership theme. “The business is all about people and the management structure comes down to relationships between people,” says Jackson.

As to the cultural differences between the Army, with its rich heritage and traditions, and Capita, a relatively modern commercial organisation — famous for having its finger in many pies, Jackson is adamant that this is not a stumbling block; indeed, that it can be beneficial.

“The interesting thing is we each bring a different way of working to the table,” he says, pointing to the ability of Capita to devise and implement a new marketing campaign “more quickly than the Army could ever have done”. “To me that is the greatest benefit of bringing a fresh approach and fresh eyes.”

Jackson acknowledges that at the heart of the 4,000page contract are some financial considerations. While “entirely appropriate” given the state of the public finances, Jackson suggests that the Army’s partnership with Capita

KEY FACTS: RECRUITMENT PARTNERING PROJECT (RPP) A 10-year £440m contract which went live in March 2013 The Army retains

ownership of recruitment policy, entry criteria and assessment standards RPP is tasked to deliver an integrated army of 112,000 by 2018, made up of 82,000 in the regular army and 30,000 in the Territorial Army Candidates will be able to access the careers portal in Army recruiting office, and Jobcentres

is “an innovative way” of dealing with this problem.

Indeed, he says the contract is expected to save the Army £300m, largely from manpower savings, as 1,100 military recruiters are released back to frontline services.

Within the overall target of 112,000 serving personnel by 2018, King says the partnership will allow better targeting of different segments of the candidate market — for example, the TA and Army Medical Services. To manage this complexity Capita has brought in new liaison directors responsible for different sectors.

Similarly, King says Capita has hired experts in business processing, social media and IT. “It’s about using the Army where they have their expertise in the process, and using us to assemble a team where we need any other expertise,” he says.

King believes that the new partnership is already shifting the way recruitment is carried out in the British Army, citing a recent TA campaign, TA Live, where live video coverage from the front line in Afghanistan was beamed back into the nation’s living rooms. On the back of this, he says, there was a doubling of interest in joining the TA. Jackson agrees, pointing to how the TA Live campaign was able to utilise the Army’s own internal links and Capita’s marketing expertise. “I think we managed to pull it off,” he says.

As to whether the contract as a whole will manage to pull it off for the Army, RPP has made a promising start, but there will undoubtedly be many battles ahead before this ground-breaking deal can look to claim ultimate victory.

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ALAMY

Sourcing

Apprenticeships are now in place across the spectrum of UK plc, from gas fitting as seen here, to financial services

Finding the next generation AS MORE AND MORE COMPANIES TURN TO ‘EARNING BY LEARNING’ TO ATTRACT TALENT, COLIN COTTELL DISCOVERS THAT SOURCING AND TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF TALENT IS AN EVER-CHANGING PROCESS

Sourcing talent from Britain’s schools and colleges used to be relatively simple. Big employers did the traditional milk round, a few blue-collar employers took on apprentices, while the rest made their own arrangements, sometimes planned, but often ad hoc. These days, however, those old certainties are no more.

No longer are apprenticeships only the domain of engineering and manufacturing companies.

This year, knowledge economy companies such as KPMG, Capgemini, IBM and Microsoft plan to run apprenticeship programmes.

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Financial services firm Visa, which is taking on 20 apprentices this year, after launching a scheme two years ago, reflects many of the changes. James Lawrence, the company’s head of apprenticeships, says that even before the company launched its advertising campaign for the scheme at the beginning of April, it had received 600 applications. “It is massive,” he says.

The growth of ‘earning by learning’, comes alongside a 4.2% drop in applications to UK universities in January 2013 compared with January 2012, widely believed to be due to the trebling of tuition fees.

Meanwhile, the explosion in social media opens up

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new channels for employers to identify and engage with millions of potential candidates.

Lawrence says the company takes a multi-faceted approach to sourcing its apprentices. “We do a lot of face-to-face engagement with schools, teachers and career influencers and students, as well a number of electronic methods, such as videos,” he says.

Lawrence highlights the importance of understanding Visa’s target audience. “You have to have the recruitment window open 24/7 because for people at school there is no defined moment when they choose what they want to do.

“By keeping your registration open all year round you have a pool of interested candidates you can choose to communicate with throughout the year. It stops the peaks and troughs of activity.”

Being responsive to individual schools and colleges is vital. “We go out to them whenever in the year they wish,” he says.

Kirsten Duerr is talent acquisition manager for Northern Europe and responsible for MBA recruitment at Hilti, a provider of services to the global construction industry. She agrees on the importance of building relationships with universities. Recently, she was invited to speak to 50 MBA engineering students at Manchester Business School, where she met with careers advisers. That said, finding the best universities to meet Hilti’s talent needs has been “through trial and error”, she admits.

Hilti also participates in the Unitech Programme, attended by around 60 engineering students from across Europe, which prepares them for work in the profession. Duerr says that hiring one or two a year from this programme is a good outcome.

Building a personal relationship with students is a key aspect of Duerr’s job. “I keep them warm and fuzzy. I develop relationships with them, and keep in touch,” she explains. Internships have also proved successful for the company. As she explains, the benefit is “they know our business model and our products and services, and this enables them to be successful in the business in any role”.

Another sign of changes in how employers source talent is that many ‘gazelle companies’ (small but fast-growing firms) are “picking up some of the tips of the traditional large companies”, says Phil Donnelly, director of Step, a graduate and student placement business.

This is particularly noticeable among engineering and technology-based companies who are “struggling to compete against huge firms, such as BAE and RollsRoyce”, and who in response are developing links with universities, and running summer work placements. “It is a way to get in early and develop relationships with students,” says Donnelly.

Nynke Brett, head of employer programmes at Future First, an organisation that builds links between state schools and employers, notes a trend for more employers to identify the best talent while they are still in secondary education.

In 2011, she says the company began working with Citibank to identify talented students in year 12 (Sixth form) where academic performance is a good predictor of A-level results. Following career insight days, where

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GETTY IMAGES

Sourcing

students come to the bank and meet staff, Citibank identifies which students it wishes to invite to apply for its Easter and summer internships.

Future First is also working with Barclays to find students for its sponsored degree programme aimed at attracting people from diverse backgrounds. Reflecting its goal “of creating a reflective workforce”, Lawrence says that Visa not only goes into the high-performing schools, but also those in less affluent areas.

Brett explains the attraction of such programmes to employers. “They realise there are benefits to attracting young people at an early stage of their education before they make decisions about their career.”

Carl Gilleard, chief executive officer at the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), agrees that employers “are anxious to build relationships with students as early as they can”. However, he points out that budgetary pressure within organisations is pulling in the opposite direction. “The challenge is that early engagement and building relationships with universities is time consuming and there is a cost.”

It is early days, says Gilleard, but “my gut felling is there won’t be any real expansion [of recruitment activity] across more universities”. Gilleard adds that limited resources highlight the need for better targeting of universities by employers.

Angela Middleton, CEO of MiddletonMurray, a preapprenticeship training company and apprenticeship provider, advises employers to develop a talent pipeline

Nynke Brett

James Lawrence

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Sourcing

over several years rather than carry out one-off recruitment drives. Employers who go down the latter route “are going to be quickly forgotten, and will have to do the work all over again,” she says.

MiddletonMurray holds regular events for parents, and employers, including open days once a month.

“Once it is known that you are always looking for young talent then you find referrals coming from all over the place,” says Middleton.

Connect with local schools, she advises, explaining that because Ofsted (the body that inspects schools) requires the institutions to prepare their students for either employment or further education, employers are effectively pushing at an open door.

When sourcing young people and students one universally recognised trend is the explosion in the use of technology, and particularly social media. “There is no stopping technology, it has moved far beyond what anybody imagined,” says the AGR’s Gilleard.

Understand your target audience is the message from Martin Lee, a sourcing strategist at Social Media Search, part of search firm Norman Broadbent. “The key point is knowing where they are. The fish move around a lot,” he says. While Facebook is “an obvious one”, Lee says that others such as social news and entertainment website reddit, from where Facebook gets a lot of its content, shouldn’t be neglected.

“I would look at any website where people are

THE KEY POINT IS KNOWING WHERE THEY ARE. THE FISH MOVE AROUND A LOT … I WOULD LOOK AT ANY WEBSITE WHERE PEOPLE ARE MAKING THEIR OPINIONS AND COMMENTS KNOWN AS AREAS WHERE WE CAN POTENTIALLY SOURCE CANDIDATES FROM MARTIN LEE, SOCIAL MEDIA SEARCH making their opinions and comments known as areas where we can potentially source candidates from,” he says.

He advises employers to use social media sites to build up profiles of potential candidates, but not to rely on only one online source. “I am a great fan of crossreferencing to build up a profile,” he says.

Tailor your approach to the audience, he suggests, by building communities of interest to appeal to school leavers, or through the use of games that test the skills required for the job. “The worst thing is to blanket advertise,” he adds.

Sourcing talent at the school leaver, student or graduate level is undoubtedly changing, and changing fast. Whether it’s keeping up with technology, identifying future skill shortage areas or monitoring young people’s career choices, the best advice may be to keep your finger very firmly on the pulse.

Carl Gilleard

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05/12/2012 12:05

Movers & Shakers

Sponsored by Jark Ventures

ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATE •RECRUITERS: The membership

SZYMALA LEADS DUNNHUMBY RESOURCING

body will see Stephen Isherwood, current head of graduate recruitment at Ernst & Young, UK & Ireland, replace the current chief executive officer Carl Gilleard on 10 June.

ASSOCIATION OF LABOUR •PROVIDERS : The trade association

Louise Szymala is the new global head of talent & resourcing at consumer analytics and advisory firm dunnhumby.

She was previously business unit director at recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and talent services provider Ochre House, where she had worked since May 2006.

Dunnhumby has 2,000 employees in offices across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

has taken on food and agriculture veteran Kevin Roberts as nonexecutive chair.

BCL LEGAL: Raj Sidhu joins the •recruiter as a managing associate

in its new London office.

CARDEA RESOURCING: Jayne •Hanson joins the health and

social care recruiter as managing director.

COUNTRY HEALTHCARE: •TheCROSS US healthcare staffing

provider has appointed William J Grubbs as president and will become CEO when incumbent Joseph A Boshart retires in July.

• search firm has promoted Marc CTPARTNERS: The executive

Gasperino to head its global digital practice. The company has also appointed Nathaniel Hook as a partner in its life sciences and healthcare practice, and hired Jeremy Zeman to the same role in financial services. Mark Hexamer and Dayton Ogden join to lead CTGrowth Partners, a new division of the business working with high growth companies.

market research and insight recruiter has appointed Nicky Geen in the role of associate partner.

has taken on Gary Lane as director of HR and recruitment.

ID MEDICAL: Ranjit Nandha •is promoted to the role of

recruiter as a manager.

director of operations at medical recruitment firm ID Medical.

•

IMPELLAM: The staffing group has made Julia Robertson group CEO. She was previously CEO of its Staffing division. The company has not had a groupwide CEO since 2009.

MOTOR COMPANY: •TheINFINITI luxury carmaker has

appointed Antonio Lasaga as general manager and global head of its HR division, with a specific focus on talent acquisition to support the company’s growth plans.

OAKLEAF PARTNERSHIP: Katrina •Mallory has joined the HR

•

PARITY GROUP: The recruitment group has appointed Stephen Whyte as CEO of its digital services arm Parity Digital Solutions.

•

ROBERT WALTERS: Brian McArthur-Muscroft will join the international recruiter as nonexecutive director on 1 May.

•Martin Lee has joined the social SOCIAL MEDIA SEARCH:

recruitment subsidiary of executive search firm Norman Broadbent as general manager.

THE TRANSLINE GROUP: The •industrial and driving recruiter

DIGBY MORGAN: Chance •Newcombe-Bilham has joined

KELLAN: Ross Eades has •stepped down from his role as

the HR recruiter as managing consultant for its interims team.

CEO at the recruiter. A successor has not been announced.

has taken on Danny Hobbs as group sales director and new group sales manager Dan Carlin, both from rival Blue Arrow.

DYNAMITE RECRUITMENT •SOLUTIONS: Fran Esposito has

SERVICES: The recruiter •hasKELLY taken on new national sales

TREASURY WINE ESTATES: Sarah •Benson leaves RPO firm Ochre

joined the Hampshire recruiter as a manager.

director Laura Van Zyl, sales and business development manager Ian Hetherington and promoted Simon Atherton to national key account manager.

House to go in-house as EMEA resourcing manager through a Futurestep RPO project.

PERSONNEL: Mark Roberts •hasGAP been made the MD of the

industrial staffing business.

Founder Gary Dewhurst becomes CEO, UK operations director Emma Ceballos returns from a 12-month sabbatical and Matthew Hull is promoted to operations director for the East.

• HASSON ASSOCIATES: The

Adam Williams •hasNAKAMA: joined the digital recruiter as managing consultant in its recently-launched Hong Kong office.

NEWVOICEMEDIA: The cloud •contact centre solutions provider

•recruiter has appointed Ian

TXM RECRUIT: The engineering

RECRUITER

APRIL 2013

38_Recruiter_movers_april13.indd Sec3:46

A selection of vacancies from recruiter.co.uk

Consort Group Senior consultant, RPO Moorgate, London

Staffgroup Consultant — business protections manager OTE £50k London

Badenoch & Clark Recruitment consultant Accountancy and sales sectors £25k Manchester

For more jobs, people moves and career advice go to • recruiter.co.uk/jobs • inhouserecruiterjobs.co.uk • internationalrecruiterjobs. com

do you want to

START

YOUR OWN

RECRUITMENT

business

totally risk free?

Thomson as its Glasgow-based global director for oil & gas.

•

WORKING TRANSITIONS: Lynne Hardman, who was previously a senior executive at staffing group Kellan Group, has joined the HR consultancy as CEO.

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

38

Your next move?

Your business - YOUR BRAND Contact David Simons on

07900 263043 dsimons@recruitventures.com

www.recruitventures.com

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

11/04/2013 11:36

Appointments www.recruiter.co.uk

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

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

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For further information please contact: Ruth Moran - Managing Director Neil Prestwich - Director

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The Recruiters’ Recruiter REC.04.13.047.indd 2 RUTHMORAN_FP2013.indd 36

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Commercial • Industrial Driving • Social Care Healthcare Medical/NHS Education • Hospitality and Catering

Email - neil@ruthmoran.co.uk 0113 2460062/07971 094450

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

RECRUITMENT AGENCY

10/04/2013 08/04/2013 14:23 08:49

TM

Exciting news JPA Holdings Ltd has done a merger with Fusion Appointments Ltd based in Surrey.

True determination Driven on by extraordinary determination and resourcefulness, Sir Ranulph Fiennes became the first man to completely cross Antarctica on foot. He also climbed the north face of the Eiger (even though he suffers from vertigo).

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine just how far you could go in your career. But with clear vision and focused ambition, we can all excel in what we do.

Here at JPA we take our role as advisors to candidates and clients extremely seriously.

We hire the best, and that means we can do more to help you.

JPA | Exceeding the boundaries …

Fusion works in both the industrial/commercial temporary recruitment markets and the commercial/environmental permanent markets. James Pritchard (Group MD) commented on the deal “bringing these two businesses together really puts JPA on the map in terms of its temporary recruitment offering and having worked with Gina (Fusion’s MD) in the past it allows the management structure to be streamlined very quickly. I am personally very excited about this multi-million pound deal and all that it brings to the group.”

Gina commented on the deal — “having set up Fusion in 2005 it was an opportune time to expand our business into other areas of recruitment and the deal with JPA allows us to do that and be part of the group through this exciting period of expansion.”

Please contact James or Gina if you require further info.

Work for JPA UK JPA and Fusion have hired five extra consultants since the deal completion in mid-January which is testimony to the company’s vision to add good quality senior recruiters.

We still need more to satisfy client demands. If you have at least two years experience in a niche market please get in touch with James or Gina if you would like to join the team.

In confidence on 07885 112192 HONG KONG JPA has also recently moved to new offices in Hong Kong overlooking the harbour to allow further expansion of its team and have hired two additional head count — if you are interested in joining this team please contact Richard Hanwell — Country manager on richard.hanwell@j-p-a.com

Contact us: JPA London – 020 78210300 Fusion Personnel – 01306 745050 JPA Hong Kong – (+852) 93337558 JPA Australia (Melbourne) – (+61) 419876211

15

1998

2013

JPA is an employment agency and advertises all registered vacancies, having sought agreement from their clients to find candidates for these roles, in accordance with the Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003.

REC.04.13.048.indd 2

www.fusionpersonnel.com www.j-p-a.com www.j-p-a.asia

11/04/2013 14:24

Brook Street – One of the UK’s leading recruitment specialists is looking to recruit a highly skilled individual to join our successful team:

Commercial Manager Competitive salary + commission • Opportunity for career progression • Company car, phone and laptop • Immediate start available St Albans The Role The role of Commercial Manager requires an individual who has a confident & professional approach; you will actively contribute and manage your own commercial responsibilities with minimum supervision and demonstrate your experience with an innovative approach to solution building. You will have developed a fair negotiation style with acute attention to detail to ensure compliance with Company Policy and UK legislation and be able to utilise your commercial understanding when responding on behalf of our business. This is a senior role within our organisation.

This will include • Securing commercially astute deals for the business that is driven by quality service and value • Management of existing company accounts

including margin development • Direct management of back office support teams • Execute commercial strategy including the creation of business plans • Take primary ownership for business development, pricing and contract terms • Working alongside other internal departments to deliver corporate function objectives; in particular, developing good relationships within the Branch network and Operations Managers, the Sales Teams, Bid Support and Finance, to ensure that all activity is aligned to common goals and within associated timescales.

The Ideal Candidate • Extensive knowledge of the recruitment industry

• Desire to change procedures • Proven account management experience • Comfortable in senior level meetings both internal and external • Must be able to develop long term business relationships with key client decision makers • Must be ambitious with a desire to drive and develop new business

The Company A well established and respected recruitment agency

If you would like to be considered for this opportunity in the strictest confidence please apply directly to Tina.Difazio@bookstreet.co.uk 01727 813080

www.brookstreet.co.uk

LO OOK KING G FO OR A NEW W CH HALLENGE? ?

RE EAD DY FOR THA AT PR ROMO OTION N?

Senior Recruitment Consultant Runcorn, Permanent, Full Time Excellent salary plus OTE £60,000 The Millbank Group is a market leading provider of human resource management solutions throughout the UK and Europe. We are the leading resource business partner for power to energy, nuclear, renewable, petrochem, technical and engineering markets with a turnover in excess of £70 million. Our experience expands over the last 30 years for providing innovative and professional solutions to major international clients.

We have exciting opportunities for a Senior Recruitment Consultant with an OTE salary of £60,000

You will need to be: Enthusiastic • Hard-working • Committed • Results and Target Driven

Applicants must have the following experience: • Knowledge of the Technical sector is important and having worked the following disciplines:- E,C&I, mechanical or electrical design, projects controls, whether that be in power to energy/T&D markets or petrochemical and engineering markets. Knowledge of the Perm market would also be a bonus with the prospect of handling contract vacancies.

• Ideally you will need to have B2B previous sales experience or have good telephony skills.

What we can offer you: • Competitive bonus scheme with no standard requirement to be paid on all permanent Gross Profit (GP) billed.

• An opportunity to specialise and build client relationships and contacts within growth and specialist markets.

• Support and coaching from Principal Consultants who operate in specialist and technical markets.

To apply send yo our CV V and co overing lettter to Katie Crotty,, HR Manager, katiie.crotty@m millbank k.com

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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RECRUITER

APRIL 2013

41

11/04/2013 15:08

Bloggers with Bite

RECRUITERS: BE BOLD AND RECRUIT FOR POTENTIAL In a downturn, it’s the companies which act decisively that will benefit in the long term. It’s time to turn to inexperienced talent to increase your future potential

W

ith no immediately obvious catalyst for change, the consensus is that the economy will continue to flatline. So far, we have experienced a downturn longer than the Great Depression in the 1930s and as a result, most businesses have chosen not to invest until the signs are more positive. The drive for efficiency has been necessary, but we are reaching the point where the laws of diminishing returns applies and returns are minimal.

As a perceived overhead, HR is frequently forced to rein in their costs. Recruitment teams are targeted to reduce cost-per-hire and headcount. Some organisations are even re-allocating recruitment tasks to managers.

At the same time, the hunt for the ‘perfect hire’ can take months. The obsession in matching skills to an everincreasing list of role requirements ties up resources, reduces productivity and impacts employer brand. Even interim recruitment is now as slow as permanent hiring.

This focus on demonstrated experience, rather than potential, means that the already disadvantaged next generation of talent are being further excluded.

Great companies seize the initiative during a downturn Now is the time for businesses with vision to seize the competitive advantage ge by recruiting future talent, and HR R should be playing a key role in making this his happen.

In my experience of working with senior business leaders, ers, finding top talent is their most ost important deliverable from HR. As recruiters, we need to get on the e front foot and change the dialogue from shaving a few percentage points ints off costs to playing an active role e in translating future business strategy. tegy. Using workforce plans, we can add value by identifying and generating a pipeline e of talent that will enrich h the business by directly or indirectly increasing sales.

Using our expertise in n employer branding, talent alent pipelining, selection and assessment, and onboarding, we can

TO POST YOUR COMMENTS, GO ONLINE

RECRUITER.CO.UK 42

RECRUITER

APRIL 2013

50_Recruit_bloggers_april13.indd Sec2:50

contribute far more towards future profitability than reducing operating costs through process efficiencies.

If we continue to play safe with hiring decisions and fail to find a more effective balance between performance and potential, UK plc will fall further behind its global competitors. It’s tempting to recruit to address the current to-do list, particularly when departments have been systematically cut back. However, a business that resists bringing in new talent also limits the company’s ability to adapt to new opportunities.

Recruit for potential The aversion to taking risks is having its greatest effect on emerging talent — the very group that could bring around positive change. It is possible to manage costs, gear up for growth and employ future potential. For example, at my recent assignment with Ericsson, we replaced an expensive team of long-term contractors with a new wave of relatively inexperienced creative talent, brimming with energy and fresh ideas to explore as yet untapped markets.

This group is more engaged and will enable Ericsson to remain competitive in the future by using their insight to stay ahead of the technology curve, while addressing a long-term concern regarding skills shortages. I know other companies are targeting NEETs [young people not in education, employment or training] in innovative ways, as is Plotr [youth-focused careers site], but we need to see more of this activity.

Dorian Webb is an interim corporate resourcing/ recruitment leader who has executed assignments at Ericsson, BAA, Lebara Mobile, the BBC and Lexis/Nexis

Recommendations 1. Change the dialogue so that HR is engaged credibly with senior stakeholders to work together on achieving the business strategy for growth.

2. Find the right balance between resources needed to ensure delivery now and the potential talent who will ensure future success.

3. Use hiring resources efficiently and decisively. Be thorough but be quick. Ensure recruitment processes minimise unnecessary risk. When recruiting roles, identify core 4-5 core skills but spend time on the behaviours that will ensure delivery in the future.

Companies who act decisively during a downturn benefit significantly when the market improves. Be bold, engage young talent and they will create success.

Now is the time for businesses with vision to seize the competitive advantage by recruiting future talent What do you think? Tell us at recruiter.editorial@redactive.co.uk

In May: meet the winners from the 2013 Recruiter Awards for Excellence WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

11/04/2013 11:40

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