Nov / Dec 2020
Vision of the future
What post-pandemic HR & Recruitment challenges will drive talent tech innovation?
Plus...TIARA 2020 Recruitment Awards Winner Supplement
The perfect fit for recruitment
The next chapter in recruitment software. www.itris.co.uk
01 Leader
The burning platform What are the new priorities for employers, recruiters and candidates that talent tech needs to address and why do we need a crisis to get people to use these tools properly? We have reported on some great examples of tech transformation over the last year, and recognised a few with TIARA awards. NHS Professionals won this year's TIARA Innovation Award for its Rapid Response initiative, which meant having to accelerate a major transformation programme. Cpl UK won the TIARA Tech Transformation Award for the speed of design and implentation of its MyCpl platform to source vital staff for Ireland's HSE. Speaking at our (virtual) World Leaders in Recruitment conference earlier this month, CEOs of both organisations observed that communicating a clear sense of purpose and a problem that needed fixing enabled them to achieve the engagement needed to pivot and transform at speed and scale. Julia Robertson, CEO of Impellam, echoed this in her lockdown leadership lesson. "We had begun a major transformation and had to decide whether to continue though lockdown or focus on survival," she explained. "We chose to transform because Covid shone a spotlight on all of the things we needed to change. This added to workloads but it gave a clear vision and hope for the future while justifying the tough decisions."
We also explored new recruiter models that deliver more value to employers, and how best to invest in tech transformation to enhance equity value and future proof services.
Alex Evans, Executive Editor
Poor adoption and implementation are still the biggest barriers to successful transformation, with a burning platform often required to address it. Read on for more insights, and more answers to the industry's buring questions.
As many of our TIARA winning leaders observed this year, take the energy from this crisis and direct it into a purpose that brings your team together - whether it's supporting the healthcare system or driving D&I.
A legacy lesson from this panel and other leaders in TALiNT events over the last couple of months is to take the energy from this crisis and direct it into a purpose that brings your team together - whether it's supporting the healthcare system or driving D&I.
About TALiNT Partners TALiNT Partners provides insight, content, connections and strategic support to the world’s recruitment & talent acquisition leaders. We work hard to connect, collaborate and concentrate our efforts to ensure our events, experiences, consultancy and media solutions offer the best support for the talent industry.
The big question going into 2021, particularly in light of hopes for the new vaccines that will be deployed in coming months, is how can you achieve the same sense of urgency, engagement and forgiveness around tech transformation without a global crisis?
Published by Talent Intelligence Partners Ltd Upper Ground Floor 18 Farnham Road Guildford Surrey GU1 4XA www.talint.co.uk
This month, we invited TIARA-winning recruiters, RPOs and Talent Tech Stars to highlight the big new post-pandemic problems that need fixing and what will drive innovation.
Look out for more insights from our World Leaders in Recruitment event in the Jan / Feb issue of TALiNT International and highlights from the Tipping Point for talent leaders
Editorial: alex@talint.co.uk Features: dawncreativemedia@outlook.com Advertising & Sponsorship: andy@talint.co.uk
02 TALiNT Scene TALiNT had a busy September with Ireland and Benelux conferences, roundtables with private and public sector heads of TA and M&A webinars for Agency, RPO and HR Tech leaders...
22nd Sept - TALiNT Partners and Osborne Clarke kicked off the PointSix M&A in a week series of webinars by exploring the risks and rewards of build, buy or partner for tech transformation with the OC's Andrew Saul and Optima's Philip Ellis. PointSix members Luke Williams, CEO of Ignata and Maria Vavoulas, COO of The Hive, shared lessons their build and partner experiences (see their case studies on page 24).
22nd Sept - Research by Oleeo and Aptitude Partners found that 63% of companies say quality of hire is their greatest challenge and 80% consider this a recruitment metric, not a hiring manager metric. This means TA leaders are being held accountable for what happens once a candidate has accepted an offer, but few organisations have a standard around measuring it. How can talent acquisition teams keep their recruiting seamless? How can they deliver good candidate experience and add value to the business when talent supply exceeds demand? TALiNT Partners hosted a webinar discussion to explore some practical solutions with Jennifer Herbert, Head of People at Oleeo, and Tom Webb-Skinner, Resourcing Manager at British Transport Police (BTP).
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
03 23rd Sept - Day two of PointSix M&A in a week brought together Matthew Bodfield from Osborne Clarke; Bruce Trewhella of Access Group; and Sohail Ahmad of Azlan Advisory for a buy and sell side perspective on the M&A landscape for Recruitment and HR tech firms - with a wealth of data and insight on deals and predictions for the next 3 to 6 months.
24th Sept - Osborne Clarke's Frances Lewis outlines the three new recruiter models that investors are most interested in, and why, with an update on M&A deals and drivers from Clearwater's Marcus Archer. Adam Thompson, CEO of TIARA Talent Tech Star Winner JoinedUp shared his experiences of building a Saas platform out of a recruitment business and VHR CEO Danny Brooks explained how training talent to order has helped him build long-term client relationships. See their case studies on page 28.
24th Sept - TALiNT's Benelux event for Inhouse Leaders presented insight from partners Bullhorn and Jobteaser and peer learning from speakers including Jennifer Boulanger, Head of Talent at Lovevery; Veronika Brantova, Employer Relations Manager at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University; and Patrick Philips, Career Counsellor at Trinity College Dublin Business School.
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
04 TALiNT Scene TALiNT brought together agency and inhouse leaders at its virtual World Leaders and Tipping Point events with some of the industry's most influential and knowledgable speakers
25th Sept - The final webinar in the PointSix M&A in a week series brought together Thomas Leister from Osborne Clarke's German office; 6CATS chairman Graham Pulfery-Smith; and Antal International founder & chairman Tony Goodwin to share insights on the best new markets for recruiters to expand into and how to manage the risks.
30th Sept - TALiNT's Public Sector event for Inhouse Leaders presented practioner perspectives on post-Covid TA challenges from Paul Deemer, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at NHS Confederation; Tom Webb-Skinner, Resourcing Manager at British Transport Police and Douglas Shirlaw, Chief Digital Officer at COSLA shared insights alongside sponsors Hollaroo and Oleeo.
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
05
22nd October - Fifteen HR and Talent Leaders from the north west joined TALiNT and sponsor Cornerstone on Demand to debate the evolving role of TA as it increasingly encompasses more activities traditionally associated with talent management. This fascinating discussion also included re-purposing existing technology to meet some of the challenges presented by Covid and a brilliant example from Foot Asylum on how to reject candidates with empathy (which is worth an editorial in it's own right, and you can read it on page 20).
4th November - Our World Leaders in Recruitment event brought together leaders of several multi-billion recruiters including Julia Robertson of Impellam, James Reed, Nicola McQueen of NHS Professionals and Affi Kahn of newly merged Cpl UK to share their lockdown lessons on leadership and technology. The event was supported by SourceBreaker, Bullhorn and BlueSky PR, with insights from Nat West economist Neil Parker.
10th November - This year's Tipping Point was supported by Arctic Shores, Omni and Reed Talent Solutions. Attendees enjoyed hosted virtual discussions with afternoon tea and two great keynotes: one from British writer, broadcaster and former politician Trevor Philips and the other from work happiness and career change expert Emma Rosen, author of 'The Radical Sabbatical'.
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
06 Contents
Contributors
08 News analysis
08 Youth job crisis 'worst in decades' 09 Workers still unconvinced on gig economy 10 80% of workers 'don't have right skills' 11 Improved trading boosts recruiter results 12 Oz recruiters surf market recovery
14 Cover feature
14 What are the post-pandemic drivers of talnt tech and TA innovation?
Katrina Hutchinson O'Neill Join Talent
Adam Hawkins LinkedIn
20 Candidate rejection 20 The art of saying no from Footasylum
24 Build or buy & why?
24 Which tech transformation model has the lowest risk and the highest reward?
28 Recruiter models
28 How training, consultancy & Saas services are helping recruiters to create more value
Chris Gray ManpowerGroup
Pam Beard Guidant Global
Maria Vavoulas The Hive
Michael Rendell Nala Ventures
Duncan Cheatle LearnAmp
Louise Rayner NumberMill
Frances Lewis Osborne Clarke
Richard Collis Saffery Champness
30 TIARA Recruitment Awards Winners 30 Profiling 16 award winning recruiters
62 Search & Selection
62 How to streamline candidate experience with higher volumes of applications
65 Share schemes
65 Making incentives work for top talent
66 TALiNT Talk
66 Debra Sparshott asks if HR is making the most of their talent tech Picture credits: Shutterstock, iStockphoto and Unsplash Cover: iStockphoto Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared for the exclusive use and benefit of the readers of TALiNT International and other contacts of TALiNT Partners and is for information purposes only. Unless we provide express prior written consent, no part of this publication should be reproduced, distributed, or communicated to any third party. You must not rely on the information in this publication as an alternative to advice from an appropriately qualified professional. In no event shall TALiNT Partners or any of those contributing to this publication be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence, or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the contents of this publication. © Talent Intelligence Partners
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
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08 D&I
Youth jobs crisis 'is worst in decades' Around one in five young people who were furloughed during the first lockdown have since lost their jobs, according to new research by The Resolution Foundation. The independent think tank warns that the UK may be facing its highest level of youth unemployment in four decades. Supported by the Health Foundation, the ‘Jobs, Jobs, Jobs’ report draws on an online YouGov survey of 6,061 adults across the UK to analyse how the labour market has changed during the first eight months of the crisis. Of all surveyed workers who have been furloughed during the pandemic, around half have returned to work, one in three are still fully or partially furloughed, and almost one in ten (9%) have lost their jobs. The post-furloughing fall into unemployment has been most common among 18 to 24 year olds (19%), workers from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds (22%) and those previously working on insecure contracts (22%). The Foundation adds that the scale of unemployment identified in its
The furlough extension is no help to many under the age of 25
survey implies an unemployment rate of 7% in September – well above the latest official figures of 4.8% – rising to 20% among 18 to 24 year olds. This would mean the UK is already facing the highest levels of youth unemployment in four decades. The report notes that fewer than half of those who have lost their jobs since March had found new work by September, falling to just one in three among young people, and 36% of people in hard-hit sectors. There is little sign that workers exiting
314K number of redundancies in the last quarter according to ONS
these struggling sectors are flowing into areas of the labour market that are able to grow during this pandemic. Commenting on the findings, Kathleen Henehan, Senior Research and Policy Analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Even if the public health crisis recedes in a few months’ time, Britain’s jobs crisis will be with us for far longer.”
New tool to rank employers for D&I A new ratings system introduced by Glassdoor is set to separate the companies that are genuinely committed to Diversity & Inclusion from those leveraging the trend to improve their profile.
The ‘Diversity & Inclusion Rating’ is Glassdoor’s newest workplace factor giving employees the opportunity to rate how satisfied they are at their current or former company, based on a five-point scale. The website enables workers to anonymously submit reviews. The platform is also debuting a new
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
FAQ resource offering a list of the most popular questions job seekers ask about companies, with responses taken from submitted reviews.
Glassdoor Communications Director Joe Wiggins says the company’s research shows more than half of UK employees and job seekers trust other employees the most when they want to find out what a company is really like to work for, whether discussing diversity, culture, career prospects or pay. In comparison, less than one in 10 would trust the company website and a mere 4% would trust company recruiters.
09 Employment
Recruiters welcome furlough extension Industry leaders have praised the government’s extended furlough scheme as a much-needed support for UK businesses as redundancies hit record levels. While unemployment climbs, recruiters see a glimmer of light ahead due to a hiring resurgence. UK unemployment increased to 4.8% in the three months to September, according to the latest update from the ONS, with young people among the worst affected. Redundancies surged to a record 314,000, an increase of a record 181,000 on the quarter, reflecting how many companies made employees redundant as they prepared for the end of the furlough scheme, originally slated for October. The Govt’s decision to extend furlough until March, announced as England went into its second lockdown, is clearly too late for many. However, recruitment experts have widely backed the extension as a necessary initiative. Andrew Hunter, Co-founder of Adzuna, says hiring is tracking around
The Institute for Employment Studies predicts 600,000 lay-offs by December a third below normal levels. The job site’s October market report showed promising signs, with an 8.9% increase in UK vacancies from August to September – but the second lockdown stalled recovery. Hunter warns of another redundancy spike once support is removed. “It’s clear that many sectors are keeping a lid on hiring while we battle the second wave of the virus,” Hunter says. “Confidence is key to getting Britain hiring again, and that will come from keeping the virus at bay, a
230k
jobs likely to be saved by the Jobs Support Scheme according to the IPPR strengthening economy and continued government support for our businesses big and small.” APSCo called for greater clarity and swifter action over coming months. “Confusion as to the exact support available and delayed responses have impacted staffing companies across the country, leading to jobs lost and some businesses placed in difficulty,” said Tania Bowers, APSCo Legal Counsel and Head of Public Policy.
Workers still unconvinced on gig economy Four out of five workers would rather have a permanent job than be their own boss in a freelance or contract role, according to a new study by the ADP Research Institute. Even though the gig economy is booming, many workers believe that a permanent job is preferable for a host of reasons including regular hours, better pay, timely payments, and the ability to get credit. The ADP Workforce View 2020 Volume Two post-Covid-19 report explored how employees felt about
the future of work, drawing on surveys of more than 11,000 workers in six countries, including the UK. While many workers coming off furlough face an uncertain future, a considerable number will join the gig economy. One in seven workers in the UK job market are on flexible contracts, up 25% in the last two decades. Expected growth in the flexible workforce is creating new tech challenges and opportunities for recruitment, RPO and umbrella firms.
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
10 Workforce
80% of workers 'don't have right skills' Just 16% of new employees possess the skills they need for their current and future roles, which highlights why employers are struggling to hire quality talent, according to global research and advisory firm Gartner. Despite an increasing number of job-seekers in the market, companies need to dramatically rethink their recruitment strategies to find the workers they need. Gartner data shows that existing roles may require up to 10 new skills by 2021, at a time when economic instability has made traditional talent pools less viable as high-quality candidates with traditional qualifications are unlikely to leave their current positions. Lauren Smith, Vice President in the Gartner HR practice, advocates that organisations pivot from ‘replacing the workforce’ to ‘shaping the workforce’ – that is, placing less stock on traditional talent pools and sourcing more broadly, defining needs based on skills rather than hiring profiles, and creating responsive employment value propositions (EVPs). “Traditional recruiting methods are unable to compete with the largescale shifts to the workplace and the labour market,” she says. “The best recruiting functions that excel in these workforce-shaping behaviours see a 24% increase in
Hiring managers need to consider talent from different locations and backgrounds.
quality of hire. High-quality talent can have a significant impact on business outcomes, including individuals who successfully perform in their roles 20% faster and teams that get a 19% boost in their ability to meet future challenges.” TECH DEMAND STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is a prime example of an area where new thinking is desperately required to combat chronic skills shortages. Recent research by UK global recruiter SThree found three quarters of employers in STEM industries are
70%
of STEM employers are struggling to find the right talent
still actively hiring – but 70% say finding the right talent is a challenge. However, more than half of specialist recruiters said hiring managers in STEM industries were unwilling to consider a larger pool of candidates – for example, people from different locations or backgrounds – limiting available talent for interview. The survey canvassed more than 1,000 international STEM leaders and niche recruitment experts, as well as SThree internal data.
Shrinking TA teams more reliant on RPOs An increasing number of employers are turning to RPOs to meet new hiring challenges. In early 2020, 8% of companies used an outsourced model, but during the pandemic this number doubled as almost half of companies experienced layoffs across their talent acquisition
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
departments. This is according to a new report by Alexander Mann Solutions and Aptitude Research which examines talent acquisition trends across North America, EMEA and APAC. It found that 38% of companies put their recruitment on hold as a result of Covid-19 and over 60% said their top priority is filling
positions quickly. In its own survey of HR and Procurement professionals, Guidant Global found that just 21% currently have Total Talent Acquisition strategies in place and 72% indicated that they will be exploring this within the next two years.
11 Industry
Improved trading boosts recruiter results ManpowerGroup, Adecco, Randstad, Hays and PageGroup all welcomed better third quarter results from improved trading conditions, despite continued uncertainty about a sustained recovery. Manpower reported revenue of $4.6 billion, a 13% decline from the prior year period. While the results were impacted by $50 million in restructuring costs as well as a weaker US dollar, the group pointed to five months of improvement since April. At Adecco, revenue was down 15% year-on-year organically and trading days adjusted (TDA), and down 18% on a reported basis, but with broad-based improvement as the quarter progressed. The company reported its gross margin was up 20 bps year-on-year to 19.6% (up 40 bps organically), and an EBITA margin excluding one-offs of 4.5%, with an organic recovery ratio at 64%. GRADUAL RECOVERY Randstad reported a 13.1% decline in organic growth for the quarter on underlying EBITA of €199 million, an EBITA margin of 3.9%, and a gross margin of 18.9%, down 120bp year
500
of the UK's top performing recruiters are ranked by turnover, NFI and PBT at https:// powerlist.talint.co.uk/ on year. CEO Jacques van den Broek says trading conditions gradually recovered in most of the group’s markets during the quarter, with positive momentum continuing in October. Hays reported an 29% overall drop in net fees for the third quarter, with a 35% decline in permanent fees and a 25% drop in temporary fees. The UK and Ireland were the hardest hit in the group’s portfolio, down 34%. Chief Executive Alistair Cox says the Temp business has remained encouragingly
stable and there had been some improvements in Perm, particularly in markets previously hardest hit by lockdowns. PageGroup announced a gross profit of £143.5 million for the third quarter, down 31.9%, compared to a 47.6% decline for the second quarter. The group declared a “strong cash position” of around £152 million net at the end of September.
Resilient recruiters must focus on talent Consultant retention is a key challenge for recruiters who have shown resilience through the pandemic, according to new survey findings from APSCo and accountants Saffery Champness. The survey asked businesses to score their company between one and 10 across a number of operational, organisational and financial criteria, with 10 indicating ‘best in class’. When assessing operational resilience, those with a Net Fee
Income (NFI) in excess of £50 million indicated optimism had remained, with an average score of eight. However, gaps in staff retention and technology investment could hinder progress. The research found that 83% of firms with an NFI over £10 million have, or continue to develop, sector-specific technology; but 35% of those with an NFI under £2 million scored themselves less than five on tech, indicating many smaller companies have yet to reap the
benefits of automation and cloud-based systems. The high attrition long prevalent across hiring companies is another potential problem for growth, though smaller firms appear to be faring slightly better than larger ones in this regard. Over 53% of firms with an NFI below £10 million scored themselves eight and above, whilst just 46% of companies with an NFI greater than £50 million rated themselves as highly.
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
12 International
TRC & PI each win the double at Aus TIARAs Winners of the 2020 TIARA Recruitment Awards in Australia were revealed in a virtual ceremony attended by more than 100 leaders from the country’s top performing Recruitment companies. “On the back of one of the hardest trading periods on record, this year’s pandemic-defying TIARA winners have triumphed to achieve continued growth and development in their businesses," said David Head, Director of TALiNT Partners, who hosted the TIARAs on 13th November.
Find out more about this year's winners and why they won at https://aus. tiara.talint.co.uk/ winners-2020/
The Recruitment Company won two awards for innovative use of tech & best training
People Infrastructure and The Recruitment Company were both multiple Award winners, each completing the ‘double’. People Infrastructure were successful in both the Bullhorn Diversity & Inclusion Award as well as The Best Large Recruitment Company To Work For. The Recruitment Company were victorious in the Most Innovative Use of Technology and the Best Training & Development Award.
The Recruit Wizard Client Service Award and Morgan McKinley who won the Best Mid-Sized Recruitment Company To Work For accolade.
New winners this year included Sullivan Consulting who picked up
There were also wins for Horner in the Back-Office Team of the Year,
Several companies made a successful return, winning trophies for the second or third year running. TaylorCare were crowned The Volcanic Specialist Recruitment Company of the Year and Harrier held onto their Best RPO crown.
people2people who won the Recruit Wizard Candidate Experience Award and Launch Recruitment who took home the Bullhorn CSR Initiative of the Year. The Volcanic Brand of the Year was won by Smaart and the Growth Company of the Year went to HorizonOne. Long term sponsor of the Awards the Ayers Group was on hand to present two awards. The Ayers Group Rising Star Award went to Talenza and the Ayers Group Best Small Recruitment Company went to Entrée.
Oz and Kiwi recruiters surf global recovery International recruitment markets are bouncing back from the impact of the global pandemic, but new waves in the UK, the US and Canada are prolonging economic uncertainty, new research reveals. The inaugural 2020 Global Recruitment Report, released by recruitment software company JobAdder, takes a deep dive into the impact of Covid-19 on the Australian and New Zealand markets, compared to markets such as the UK, the US and Canada. Commenting on the main findings, JobAdder CEO Martin Herbst says: “Overall, the numbers paint a fairly
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
positive picture of the recruitment sector as they demonstrate market recovery and an upward trend for new jobs, placements and agency user numbers. “While it is very encouraging to see the market showing signs of recovery, it’s prudent to remain cautiously optimistic as there is still significant economic uncertainty." From May, new job orders started to climb again in Australia, although there was a small drop off in August, where the impact of Melbourne’s ‘second wave’ and the subsequent lock-down laws were likely to blame. New Zealand saw a powerful bounce
back from April and has flatlined since June, likely due to the country’s low Covid case numbers helping them to return to ‘Business as Usual’. New job orders in the UK climbed back consistently from April, with a big surge in September, while the US and Canada have steadily grown. TEMP RECOVERY SLOWER Australia and New Zealand have shown steady growth in permanent placements since April, but temporary placements in Australia were slower to bounce back. New Zealand bounced back fast in May with a worrying drop in September, potentially due to an election.
14 Cover feature - Talent Tech Trends “Helping people upskill and adapt to this fast-changing world of work will be the defining challenge of our time. The future of work will require different skills and leaders will need to focus on reskilling and upskilling their people more than ever before.” Chris Gray, Salees & Marketing Director, ManpowerGroup
The Covid catalyst
What are the post-pandemic drivers of tech transformation for employers and what new problems do talent solution providers need to solve? As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said recently, “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months”. Covid 19 has accelerated change in how we work, and the adoption of technology and data to work smarter. The pandemic has created new talent challenges, so what are the key priorities for employers, how have their vendor expectations changed, and what will drive innovation in talent solutions 2021? Who better to ask than winners of our TIARA Talent Solutions Awards and Talent Tech Star Awards – and those who judged them? “The pandemic and the resulting economic difficulties have brought about three major challenges for organisations when it comes to their people,” says Stuart Hearn, CEO of Clear Review, which was voted Talent Tech Champion of Champions in September. “Firstly, most organisations have had to dramatically change their talent strategy. Secondly, cost cutting means most organisations need to get more for less from people, which means improving employee productivity and performance. Thirdly, remote or 'hybrid working' is here to stay, so managers need to motivate and support their staff to deliver work and develop their skills with less face to face time. “And all this is set against a backdrop of increased levels of personal stress and anxiety due to the pandemic, so employee wellbeing is critical alongside the need for greater productivity. These are the challenges that organisations are coming to Clear Review to solve right now.” Technology may have enabled remote working,
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
but it has also created new management challenges and client expectations.
By Alex Evans, Executive Editor
“Moving to 100% virtual working has had its challenges, but recruiters have proved that they can maintain productivity and performance levels,” says Adam Hawkins, TIARA judge and Head of Search Staffing at LinkedIn. “This shift means that recruitment firms are now able to offer their people more options around where they work, which enables greater diversity in the industry by creating more options for working parents and people with dependents. “Customers expect greater agility from recruiters in terms of managing the entire hiring process virtually and seamlessly. Firms that have the technology infrastructure to support everything from virtual interviews to onboarding will be those that maintain strong client relationships.” This was an expectation before the pandemic, with early adopters better able to adapt than their competitors. “Employers are looking for a higher value and
“The pandemic has put real pressure on technology that allows for collaboration across teams and individuals in different locations. New solutions need to adapt to the large brainstorming meeting and the more intimate one on one, where feedback and career coaching can be given.” Michael Rendell, Founding Partner, Nala Ventures
360-degree service. A solution that truly comes up the value chain and comfortably blurs the lines between ‘vendor and client’ is what we believe a modern partnership will be founded upon,” observes Katrina Hutchinson O’Neill, CEO of Join Talent and winner of the TIARA Best New Talent Solution Award. “The drivers of tech transformation are not any different than before; it’s just the focus areas within that which have either been dialled up or down in the current phase of the labour market impacts of COVID. In particular, top of funnel assessments to help companies manage very high application levels, and digital tools for areas like onboarding and ID&V documentation validation are red hot areas of focus across nearly every sector. VOLUME APPLICATIONS The economic impact of lockdown is set to exponentially boost the gig economy and contingent workforce, creating challenges and opportunities for the talent acquisition industry. “Un-furloughing millions of workers will trigger an unprecedented unemployment event for the UK,” says John Whelan, CEO of My Digital and former MD of Paystream. “There will be a wave of job-hunting in a market where needs have radically changed. Candidates have valid concerns about office COVID safety, commuting and work-life balance. Job hunters are looking for Quantum Employment, where traditional roles are sliced and diced to meet the changing needs of the economy. “Being able to use smart technology to bulk match invoices to bank details translates directly to the customer experience. With expectations set by smartphone apps which almost never fail,
candidates and clients alike want seamless services.”
Katrina Hutchinson O'Neill, Join Talent
Louise Rayner NumberMill
Compliance has moved up the priority list as the Government has introduced more employment legislation that affects contingent labour. “This is coming from all angles, from HMRC, BEIS, DWP, highlighting non- compliance and tax evasion in their spotlights,” says Louise Rayner, CEO of NumberMill, shortlisted for a Contractor and a Compliance Solution of the Year award for the quality of its accountancy support. “The Criminal Finance Act and IR35 are just further examples of the attempt by Government to extend liability up the chain. The Matthew Taylor report & GLAA focuses on eliminating exploitation and modern slavery. Ultimately, failure to ensure compliance will result in significant reduction in shareholder value for recruiters, RPOs and umbrella firms.” This, combined with rising demand for contingent workforce solutions, has driven innovation in compliance, assessment, and onboarding solutions. People Group won Compliance Solution of the Year for enabling an 80% reduction in the time spent on it. Judges
“The problems that need to be solved are things like the more rapid deployment of blockchain into the contingent procurement process and full integration of smart ID&V validation tech into mainstream FMS & VMS platforms.” Katrina Hutchinson ONeill, CEO, Join Talent, Winner TIARA Best New Talent Solution Award
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
were impressed with its People Compliance solution, which uses biometrics and facial recognition to validate identity documents and can recognise 4,500 identity documents from over 190 countries. Speed is a growing priority. Rising unemployment is driving applicant volumes through the roof, which makes the candidate screening process unmanageable for many jobs. “Many recruiters are talking about a shift in focus from ‘hard to source’ to ‘hard to select’,” says Talent Tech Star finalist Chris Platts, Founder of ThriveMap. “This presents an opportunity to redesign hiring processes so that recruiters spend more time on high-value activity such as candidate relationships and less time on manual processes like CV sifting and candidate screening. Our assessments give candidates a virtual ‘day in the life’ experience so they're better placed to decide if it's right for them ahead of joining.” In a candidate survey, ThriveMap found that 48% left a job because the reality of the role didn't meet their expectations of it. While recruiters and RPOs are doing more to drive diversity, inclusion is an often-neglected challenge that talent tech can help to address. “It’s going to be even more important for companies to assess talent on their skills, as opposed to their experience,” says LinkedIn’s Adam Hawkins. “Doing so will mean they have the opportunity to attract more diverse talent and build organisations where difference is celebrated and seen as a source of competitive
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advantage. Recruiters are in a unique position as trusted advisers to counsel their clients on how to broaden their talent pools and attract a wider spectrum of talent with different skill sets.”
Chris Gray ManpowerGroup
Chris Platts ThriveMap
Re-skilling and up-skilling of candidates presents a new challenge and opportunity for the industry as it tries to balance diverse pipelines with an evolving jobs market. “The jobs that have been lost in this crisis are not the same as those that are being created,” says Chris Gray, Sales & Marketing Director of ManpowerGroup. “Employees need to be open to training and employers need to be poised to offer new levels of development to upskill their teams for the new normal. Helping people switch from role to another will be critical.” RESOURCE AUGMENTATION Agencies are building longer-term relationships with clients by training talent to fill new roles instead of moving the usual suspects around. Specialist recruiters like VHR and Opus Talent Solutions were shortlisted for the TIARA
“Talent tech providers need to find solutions to the problem of how to build professional relationships when you may never meet face-to-face.” Mike Lander, CEO, Piscari and TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards judge
TALiNT International July / August 2020
18 Cover feature - Talent Tech Trends “There is growing urgency from companies to diversify their talent and create workplaces where people truly feel that they belong. Recruiters are in a unique position as trusted advisers to counsel their clients on how to broaden their talent pools and attract a wider spectrum of talent with different skill sets.” Adam Hawkins, Head of Search Staffing, LinkedIn and TIARA Awards judge
Recruitment Awards for the success of their training services. Skills mapping is another area of opportunity for impactful innovation. “A significant challenge in the management of contingent workforces is the need to have real time access to skills and experience data instead of relying on backward looking CVs and self-assessments by contractors,” predicts Michael Rendell, former head of transformation at PwC and now managing partner at Nala Ventures. “Skills passports must emerge which draw upon all relevant current data – projects worked on and working on, contacts and connections with colleagues, and the digital exhaust created by all their interactions.” This relies on lots of data and the resources to manage it properly of course. “With remote, flexible and temporary workforces that are managed and engaged by in-house teams, suppliers and external agencies, it’s often difficult to get a true insight into the skills available within the business,” says Pam Beard, SVP-Technology & Project Management, Guidant Global, Winner TIARA Talent Solutions D&I Award. “That’s where data analytics will really come to the fore. At Guidant, we’re working on a ‘data lake’ where we’re building the capability into our analytics to leverage the data and provide complete workforce transparency.” SKILLS SHORTAGES Michael Rendell also highlights a challenge around skills shortages as work evolves and the limited resources available to a contingent workforce. LearnAmp, winner of the Talent Tech Star Learning and the Onboarding Solution of the Year awards, has been helping employers to address this challenge for the last few years. “The current climate has created a need to find new learning solutions as everything is so uncertain,” says LearnAmp founder Duncan Cheatle. “We’re focused on context and alignment when it comes to learning, and how
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
Michael Rendell Nala Partners
this can have an impact on the employee experience. Employees need to know why they’re being asked to learn something and how it fits in within the bigger picture of the organisation. Once they have this context, they’re able to align their learning and development with the goals of the company, which better equips and enables them to do their job. “With remote working, it’s easy for people to be forgotten, so we’re also seeing a focus on ways to reshape communication, so we don’t lose the connections we had while in the office.”
Adam Hawkins LinkedIn
Pam Beard Guidant Global
MAKING CONNECTIONS Recruitment consultants also need to connect more with clients and candidates. “All too often recruiters can get caught up in the low value administration tasks, but with automation and bots, they can focus on doing what they do best: developing high quality connections,” says Guidant’s Pam Beard. With so many talent tech tools emerging to solve new problems, not only for employers but recruiters and RPOs looking for ways to add new
“We’re seeing a trend in more voice activated communication which is likely to present both an opportunity and a challenge across the talent solutions industry. Moving online chatbots into voice activated bots is an innovative development that we’re already investing in; but the challenge lies in ensuring it works for the employer and the candidate.” Pam Beard, SVP-Technology & Project Management, Guidant Global, Winner TIARA Talent Solutions D&I Award
“Gallup estimate that only 12% of employees think their companies provided good onboarding – and that was before the pandemic. Strong onboarding improves employee retention by over 80%, it leads to faster and higher rates of productivity for new hires and helps to create more cohesive teams by making them feel connected and invested in the company culture.” Duncan Cheatle, Founder, LearnAmp, Winner TIARA Talent Tech Star Learning & Onboarding Solution of the Year
value, the market has become even more complex for buyers. “There is no escaping the urgent corporate need for savings and improved ROI in this economic climate,” says Mike Lander, CEO of procurement specialist Piscari and former head of procurement at AMS. “This must be balanced with user experience, user engagement and employee/contractor engagement.”
Duncan Cheatle LearnAmp
Mike recommends finding ways for them to be involved in the procurement process and looking at how the solution integrates with other tools they are already using. “Our platform approach to technology allows us
Mike Lander, Piscari
to integrate key capabilities on a ‘plug and play’ basis into one platform so that we can tailor our offerings to meet client and candidate needs, and importantly provides us with the flexibility to constantly refresh our capabilities to stay ahead of emerging client needs,” says ManpowerGroup’s Chris Gray. “This has never been more relevant as in 2020 and the health crisis which has reshaped the way we work. “Helping people upskill and adapt to this fast-changing world of work will be the defining challenge of our time. Business leaders must do more to be responsible and responsive - the future of work will require different skills and leaders will need to focus on reskilling and upskilling their people more than ever before.”
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
20 Candidate rejection "So often, rejection emails can be automated, robotic and repetitive as if there is a rejection template that they just send around to every unsuccessful candidate."
The art of saying no
A well-worded rejection email can boost your corporate brand. David Nottage from Footasylum shows how it’s done.
When David Nottage posted a position for a talent development specialist recently, it was not surprising that it attracted more than 600 applications in less than a week. However, what happened next was surprising, and a case book example of how to do rejection well – even at a time when companies are facing a tsunami of applications. Instead of sending out a typical corporate missive which smacks of ‘the computer said no’, David Nottage, the Talent Attraction and Acquisition Manager at trainer and streetwear retailer Footasylum - and a former professional footballer - decided to try a much more human approach. His email to unsuccessful candidates acknowledged the sheer difficulty of applying for jobs in such a tough market, but what really impressed recipients was his authenticity, backed up by drawing on his own personal experience: Dear …., Thank you for your interest in the Talent Development Specialist opportunity with us. This role proved to be very popular with more than 1000 people applying. This meant a huge number of suitable candidates being considered and having reviewed your application, we regret to inform you that it has not been selected for further consideration. I would say, I know that the marketplace is tough right now and the fact we have had so many applications is indicative of the current economic
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
David Nottage, Footasylum
climate and insecurity in the marketplace. I truly understand. My girlfriend was made redundant at the start of the pandemic and it has been a difficult time for our household. I really do appreciate you taking the time to consider Footasylum and I sincerely hope you find a role that suits and challenges you. Keep going. It is tough and I understand it can make you feel low to receive an email like this, but believe me we will all get through these challenging times and I hope that in future you can consider Footasylum as a brand you would like to work with. Follow our LinkedIn page where we advertise all of our latest roles and keep an eye on our careers site. I wish you every success with your job search and thank you for your interest in our company. Sincerely, David Nottage In a market where job seekers are used to receiving robotic rejections, or nothing at all, the response was overwhelming – and a prime example of the kind of positive corporate spin that money cannot buy. Footasylum received a deluge of supportive feedback via email, as well as thousands of likes, comments, and shares on social media platforms. Candidates clearly felt their time and effort had been appreciated and valued; they had been treated as people rather than numbers.
One candidate received more than 5,500 likes and 200 comments for her LinkedIn post: “Just thought I’d share this email I received from FOOTASYLUM. I applied for a role with them and although I wasn’t successful it was so refreshing to finally see a considerate and thoughtful response. So often, rejection emails can be automated, robotic and repetitive as if there is a rejection template that they just send around to every unsuccessful candidate. But this email was actually somewhat pleasant to receive. It’s nice to see FOOTASYLUM show appreciation for the time taken to fill in an application and to motivate candidates to keep going". EDIT: I know it’s still an automated email, I’m not saying it’s not but it’s a lot more compassionate and genuine and they took time to draft the response and actually reply. (Also, if Footasylum happen to see this post. I love your YouTube content)”. Another candidate described it as the #bestrejectionever and a third commented that it had given him a big push to keep going with his job search. “Never before did an email of this type make me feel so good,” he added. At a time when technology is taking over many of the traditional tasks of recruiters, Nottage’s approach is a powerful reminder of not just the importance of candidate experience but also the big difference a genuine response can make. A touch of humanity doesn’t hurt your company image, either.
Rejection Do's & Don'ts Do Keep it human. While a template avoids legal risk, try to avoid clichéd phrases and corporate speak. Include a genuine thank you that acknowledges the candidate’s time and effort. Send rejection letters as soon as possible in the process. Don’t Tell candidates you will keep their details on file unless it is true. Use negative language such as “unfortunately” or “sorry.” Say the successful candidate had better qualifications.
"Keep going. It is tough and I understand it can make you feel low to receive an email like this, but believe me we will all get through these challenging times."
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
22 Advertorial - HIVE360
Leading the agency payroll revolution
HIVE360 is championing a new model of employment administration in the UK market, and redefining employment and pension administration processing. Today’s world of work is placing unprecedented demands on agency payroll, with off-payroll rules, the growing burden of HMRC compliance, and new IR35 rules in force from next April. We asked HIVE360 CEO David McCormack to explain the benefits of outsourcing payroll, and the tangible advantages of achieving better engagement of temps and employees.
David McCormack, CEO, Hive360
Q: Why should recruiters outsource payroll? Outsourcing payroll ensures prompt, reliable and accurate payment to the workforce, and enables significant savings on employment and pension administration processing. It's a strategic decision that delivers added efficiency, cost savings, staff retention and productivity.
Q: As recruiters adapt to a more remote workforce, what benefits should employee engagement solutions offer and why? Research shows engaged workers boost productivity by 18 percent and profitability by 12 percent, but also increase performance, accelerate business growth, have a positive impact on absenteeism and become very strong brand ambassadors for their employer.
With an enhanced solution like HIVE360, it can also help boost candidate attraction and retention with inclusive benefits and wellbeing support. HIVE360 offers a 360-degree, fully compliant and reliable PAYE payroll support solution that reduces overheads and improves operational efficiencies. It's a future-proof alternative to the traditional umbrella company solution for PAYE payroll management, with costsavings for recruitment businesses at one end and a better experience for workers at the other. Q: What key areas of candidate support should recruiters look for in their talent tech? The best payroll tech providers will of course have HMRC and GLAA compliance. They will also ‘fit’ with the business, offer flexibility to grow and adapt to a changing workforce and working patterns, with creativity - as a business and with customisable, tailored tech – along with scalability, security, accessibility, accuracy, efficiency, and cost savings. Tech should boost worker and candidate retention and engagement, especially with health and wellbeing support, which our research confirms is top of workers’ wish lists. For example; offering vital, confidential mental health counselling and resources via a secure
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
mobile app is the quickest and most convenient way for people to access help and support from trained mental health counsellors 24/7, whenever and wherever they need them. HIVE360's Engage App for workers includes all these features and has been a lifeline for many throughout the pandemic; we recorded a 273 percent increase in demand for mental health support services in the first week of Lockdown 1.
Tech that is easy to use is vital to optimise employee engagement. It must provide the information workers want on the platforms and mobile devices they use every day, with an app with plenty of functionality that enables high levels of communication, real time recognition, and access to complementary solutions such as digital pay slips, pension information, wellbeing support, lifestyle benefits and discounts.
To find out more about Engage, book a demo at https:// www.hive360.com/ services-hub/ engagement-appdemo/
Q: How can HIVE360 support recruiters in reducing costs and increasing profitability? Recruitment businesses working with us report savings of £100 or more per worker in the first 12-months. HIVE360 is also leading the way in innovating employer engagement for the recruitment sector with an added-value suite of tailored employee benefits, and a constantly evolving choice of tools to aid improved communication and recognition of workers. This enhanced approach to supporting temporary workers is having significant impacts on our clients’ ability to grow through securing new contracts and reducing costs by increasing the retention of their candidates.
Outplacement for a changing world Don’t just tick a box with your Outplacement service. Offer something that gives your employees the best chance of securing a role, whilst protecting your brand.
Omni’s unique service provides an online career hub with training & coaching to provide your employees with the support they deserve in these uncertain times.
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talenttransition@omnirms.com
omni-rms
24 PointSix - Tech Transformation
Build or buy, and why?
For recruiters looking to offer training services, consultancy and Saas solutions, is it best to develop inhouse capability, partner with third party suppliers, or acquire solution providers? There’s a big question mark over whether recruitment companies should build, buy or partner when investing in AI, automation, and HR tech.
more money into technology. “PE do like businesses which are fit for the future and scalable, and, of course, automation can very much help with that,” Ellis says.
The Covid pandemic and the upsurge in remote working has made this question more critical, as even the most traditional firms realise they must be technologically competitive to stay relevant in an agile market.
Osborne Clarke senior partner Andrew Saul, a tech M&A specialist, says the legal firm is currently involved in numerous digital transformation projects for recruitment companies. “It's a sector that particular lends itself to digital transformation and automation with its history of lots of manual and paperbased procedures,” he says.
The first session in TALiNT Partners’ M&A in a Week Series, held in partnership with Osborne Clarke and Optima Corporate Finance, explored valuation risks and rewards as well as the commercial drivers behind these options. Hosted by TALiNT managing director Ken Brotherston and TALiNT programme director Alex Evans, the webinar included insights from Philip Ellis, founder of Optima Corporate Finance, and Osborne Clarke senior partner Andrew Saul. Ignata CEO Luke Williams and The Hive COO Maria Vavoulas also discussed the thinking behind decision-making at their companies. INVESTOR ATTRACTION HR tech is attracting intense investor interest: TALiNT’s Ken Brotherston pointed out that, globally, more than $1 billion changed hands in HR and talent tech deals in the second quarter of 2020, well above the average for the past 14 quarters. Optima Corporate Finance founder Philip Ellis, who specialises in recruitment businesses, says the pandemic has prompted a re-evaluation of private equity investment, as companies seek to reduce their exposure to offices and plough
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
Dawn Gibson, Features Editor
BUY Saul says buying a tech company is the best option because it enables the acquisition of development technology and probably a development team to streamline and scale business. “This is what I call the Rolls Royce solution, because it's the most expensive but likely to be the best option if you get it right,” Saul says. “The valuation of the software business lies in three things – how well the software performs, the intellectual property rights, and its people. “But buying a company involves more than just doing due diligence on the technology and the people; you're taking on the company with its full history, so it involves looking at tax, real estate, customer relationships.”
“That was a huge lesson learned: don't customise unless you are actually building it yourself.” Maria Vavoulas, COO, The Hive
Key takeaways Investor interest in HR technology is at new heights: globally, more than $1 billion was spent on HR and talent tech deals in Q2 2020. To remain competitive, recruiters must buy, build or partner for new tech solutions, but what are valuation risks and rewards? Ellis says, while buying underpins long-term value, investors should be aware that issues can arise because of the mismatch between valuation metrics used for recruitment and tech businesses (EBITDA versus revenue), and the risk an expensive purchase could become obsolete due to the rapid rate of tech advancement. BUILD Building requires expertise but gives recruiters control and a competitive advantage, Ellis says. “If it's successful, then it can certainly enhance valuation and it gives you a unique offering in the market, but if it results in a write-off, that can have a negative impact on overall valuation,” he says. “It can be risky for recruitment companies to venture into this relatively new territory.”
Buy Pros • Acquire developed technology and possibly a development team, enabling streamlining and scaling • Underpins long-term value Andrew Saul, Osborne Clarke
Philip Ellis, Optima Corporate Finance
Saul from Osborne Clarke sees build as the “second best solution”, providing recruiters with customised, bespoke software which may enable scaling the business in the same way as buying, if done properly. However, as software is rarely built completely from scratch, legal disputes often arise regarding ownership. “There is also timing and execution risk: we all know that projects often don't run to time or to budget, especially when you're creating something completely new,” Saul adds.
“Buying is what I call the Rolls Royce solution, because it's the most expensive but likely to be the best if you get it right.” Andrew Saul, senior partner, Osborne Clarke
Buy Cons • Most expensive option • Comprehensive due diligence required • Tech could become obsolete Build Pros • Control • Competitive advantage of customised, bespoke software Build Cons • Requires tech expertise • Potential for legal disputes over ownership • Timing and execution risks Partner Pros • Flexibility to switch between solutions • Should improve valuation if it improves performance • Cheaper than buy or build Partner Cons • Non-exclusive use, no competitor advantage • No control Buying a tech company or building transformational technology can significantly enhance the value of a business, but both options are expensive. Partnering, or licensing third party software, is a lower cost solution.
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
26 PointSix - Tech Transformation
PARTNER Ellis says partnering should improve valuation through improved performance, and provides flexibility in terms of being able to switch partners, though the downside is the reliance on third parties. Saul adds that partnering is usually much cheaper than buying or building, given most third party software is sold off-the-shelf, but the negatives include non-exclusive use, so no competitive advantage, and a lack of control. NO SINGLE SOLUTION Ellis says the decision whether to buy, build or partner comes down to the need for flexibility and control, considering valuation objectives –
Case Study: Ignata Why to build Talent consultancy and PointSix member Ignata opted to build – and CEO Luke Williams is extremely pleased with the outcome. The company developed a bespoke end-toend solution, using third party modules and own-build elements, covering everything from screening to interactive data capture, video interviewing, job posting and payroll management. “None of those individual elements are earth shattering, but if you put it all in one place, you put our wrapper of process around it, then it becomes unique,” Williams says. “And the reality was that we couldn't find a single product in the market that allowed us to do the same thing, or certainly shape it in the way that we wanted to, hence the fact that we built it. “The outcomes are great. We've become much closer with our clients, candidates get a fantastic experience, and, of course, it means we have become better at understanding and then solving our clients’ needs.”
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
for example, are you working towards an exit, or trying to drive up your share price? The best solution also depends on purpose: whether your company wants to improve its current offering, add an additional business stream, or change its entire operating model. Luke Williams, Ignata
Maria Vavoulas, The Hive
Saul advocates buy or build. “If you can afford it, buying a tech company or developing transformational technology can significantly enhance the value of your existing business. For technology that's less important to your business or for a lower cost solution, licensing in third party software is the likely answer,” he concludes.
Case Study: The Hive Why to partner Maria Vavoulas, COO of PointSix member The Hive, says a key consideration for the international recruitment group is whether HR talent tech works well across different countries. “We hired an in-house developer for our CRM ATS system a few years ago, because we wanted to get ahead of the curve and not have that out-of-the-box solution,” Vavoulas explains. The customisation was initially a success – however, when the developer left to start his own consultancy, the problems began. “Every time there was an upgrade, we had to try and figure out how to unravel what the developer had done,” she explains. “That was a huge lesson learned: don't customise unless you are actually building it yourself.” The Hive is now partnering with that software developer as well as several other companies for its tech requirements. “It is an out-of-thebox solution, so there are other recruitment companies that have access to this product. However, I believe what is going to set us apart is the way that we work with those partners to ensure that we are getting the most out of it,” says Vavoulas.
PointSix ad
TALiNT International July / August 2020
28 PointSix - New Recruiter Models
Three of the best
Covid-19, IR35 changes and international expansion plans are prompting recruiters to adopt new business models to improve profitability and resilience What new business models offer recruiters the most value, the best growth opportunities and the least risk in an uncertain and rapidly changing business environment? That was the topic of the third webinar in TALiNT Partners’ M&A in a Week Series, hosted in partnership with Osborne Clarke. Frances Lewis, head of workforce solutions at global legal practice Osborne Clarke, said Covid-19, IR35 changes and international growth plans had led many recruiters to look to new ways of better serving their clients.
Dawn Gibson, Features Editor
M&A PERSPECTIVE Marcus Archer, Partner, Clearwater International, gave a corporate financial perspective of the micro and macro factors impacting M&A deals and valuations over the next six to 12 months.
Frances outlined three recruiter business models likely to drive long-term growth and tech transformation that are most appealing to investors: 1. Consultancy with deliverables or outcomebased services Consultancies attract higher fees and profitability, and are internationally scalable, but companies need to be across the tax risks, particularly in relation to IR35. Also, the HMRC is alert to businesses which are not consultancies but are made to appear as such. 2. Training talent for on-supply to hirers (resource augmentation) This model can increase multiples, and businesses can potentially leverage government funding for training and apprenticeships. Companies need to ensure an enforceable temp to perm fee is in place, and that any recoupment of training costs is reasonable and compliant. 3. Digital solutions – from online platforms to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Sometimes adopted as a hedge to traditional staffing, digital solutions require careful legal planning to reduce risk of regulation breaches, ensure authorisation for payment services, and to specify the employment and tax status of people supplied.
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
“There are variations on all of these models where we expect to see continued growth over the next 12 months or so, particularly if government funding around training can be used," said Lewis. "If done properly, these options can attract a wider group of potential investors and enhance value, and they can also be used to aid international expansion.”
“The theme is more strategic partnering with clients, more efficient delivery and high quality of service through technology solutions, and that's where the premium starts to come in,” he said, adding that he believes future-thinking recruiters are combining the three models. Marcus Archer Clearwater International
Frances Lewis Osborne Clarke
However, Marcus pointed out that there had been very little M&A activity in the past six months, apart from some defensive mergers. “A lot of recruitment deals in the volume blue collar arena will find it hard to find potential buyers for a period of time,” he predicted. “The major volume of activity is going to be around recruiters that either have disruptive models, or those that have shown that they are resilient through Covid and lockdown, and their KPIs are all reporting towards growth for the next 12 months. We’re seeing this in pharma, life sciences and in healthcare.”
“If done properly, these models can attract a wider group of potential investors and enhance value, and they can also be used to aid international expansion.” Frances Lewis, head of workforce solutions, Osborne Clarke
Case Study: VHR Training talent to order
Case Study: JoinedUp Digital Solutions
Danny Brooks, founder and CEO of global technical recruiter VHR, and 2019 TIARA Recruitment Entrepreneur of the Year, provided an insight into how his company had created a win-win solution for themselves, their client and workers by supplying engineering training in a long-term partnership with the UAE’s national flag carrier, Etihad Airways.
Adam Thompson, CEO of SaaS platform JoinedUp and winner of the 2020 TIARA Talent Tech Star Workforce Solution of the Year award, explained how slashing costs through automation was just the start when adding value to high volume temp operations.
By switching from supplying more costly European and British engineers to investing in and managing a bespoke technical training programme in the Philippines, VHR had delivered 200% savings to Etihad while supplying 1,300 contract and permanent staff over 14 years. The deal involves engineers working for VHR for three years before transferring onto the Etihad payroll. Brooks said the benefits included direct and indirect cost savings, higher margins, longer contracts, less management overheads, a reduction in contractor churn to less than 3%, a complete removal of competition, and a very happy client. VHR has since replicated the model with other clients across its six international offices. “This was about differentiating ourselves from our competitors and positioning ourselves further up the value chain,” Brooks said. “We want to become part of the fabric of our clients, almost like another division within their organisation. [This model has] delivered to us additional revenue streams and it locks us into our customers’ recruitment plans; we’re there for the long-term.”
JoinedUp works with big recruiters to introduce tools like auto-allocation, which involves algorithms making automatic hiring matches based on skill sets and availability. “The adoption of JoinedUp is driven by macro trends around transparency, immediacy, nimbleness, and being able to deploy large numbers of people very quickly,” Thompson said. “There is a massive trend towards bringing all three parties involved in a temp recruitment transaction together – end hirers, the agencies, the workers – on a single platform. Critically, they're seeing everything in real time and there is radical transparency. “It's very uncomfortable to begin with for some agencies, as end hirers can see exactly what they're doing and when, but we think it leads to far more collaborative relationships. Agencies are embedded with their end clients to a higher degree, because trust builds where problems are shared, and it drives higher engagement levels. “Workers feel very involved because they can set their ideal shift patterns, they can see what they're earning gross in real time and, in short, they get the kind of transparency that they’re used to getting when they’re booking airline tickets or online banking.”
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
#tiara2020 #TIARARecruitmentAwards
31 Thank you to our TIARA Sponsors
Crowning glory
Our partners not only support the TIARA campaign to recognise the industry’s best recruitment companies but help them to improve performance, deliver value and win new business.
The UK's most resilient, innovative and purpose driven recruiters have emerged triumphant as partners and employers of choice Winners of the 2020 TIARA Recruitment Awards were revealed in a virtual ceremony attended by 200 leaders from the UK’s top performing Recruitment companies. “Covid-19 has moved organisations and the world from ‘business as usual’ to transformation”, said David Head, Director of TALiNT Partners. “This year’s pandemic-defying TIARA winners have seen the best return on investment in technology, training and talent to achieve growth.”
Alex Evans, Programme Director, TALiNT Partners
The 40 UK recruiters shortlisted in 16 award categories for the 2020 TIARAs have a combined turnover of £8.99 billion, NFI of £1.4 billion, and 26,444 employees. “All of our TIARA Recruitment Awards finalists are an inspiration to the industry for their drive for excellence before the pandemic and their resilience through lockdown,” said Alex Evans, Programme Director of TALiNT Partners. “This year’s winners are doubly impressive – not only demonstrating excellence in their client and candidate service but helping to transform the recruitment sector and the way it is valued by employers.” Recently merged NES Fircroft won a trio of honours, matching its tally in 2019, winning the
“This year’s winners are demonstrating excellence in their client and candidate service while helping to transform the recruitment sector and the way it is valued by employers.”
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
33 Clearwater Growth Recruitment Company of the Year, the 6CATS International Recruitment Company of the Year, and the Grant Thornton Specialist Recruitment Company of the Year.
Thank you to our TIARA 2020 Judges
New winners included NHS Professionals, which took the Innovation Award for its Rapid Response campaign to bring 20,000 healthcare professionals back into frontline care as the COVID 19 crisis hit.
Our judging process is supported by 24 judges who score each entry and debate the highest scorers to decide each winner:
Big individual winners included Raj Tulsiani, CEO of Green Park, who was crowned Mishcon de Reya Recruitment Leader of the Year for galvanising his team around D&I led purpose. Peter Searle, former CEO and chairman of Airswift, was honoured with the Saffery Champness Hall of Fame Award for an impressive career and mentorship of some of the industry’s most successful CEOs.
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The new Access Group Tech Transformation Award was won by Cpl for how quickly and effectively it developed MyCpl to support the HSE in Ireland at a crucial time. “Access Group is delighted to support the TIARA campaign to celebrate the achievements of the UK’s leading recruitment companies,” said Jason Martin, Head of Strategy at Access Group. “It was a pleasure to judge finalists for the new Tech Transformation Award to see the innovative ways recruiters are using technology to enhance candidate experience and client service while empowering consultants to gain competitive advantage.” A diverse panel of judges combining industry chairmen, corporate HR leaders and leading advisers was once again chaired by Ian Nash, Chairman of Hudson. New additions to the judging panel this year included Gary Elden OBE, former CEO of SThree and Prof Emma Parry, Head of Changing World of Work at Cranfield School of Management. “It’s important to recognise the recruiters who are investing in talent, technology and culture to achieve great things for their business and for their industry,” said Ian Nash. “The pandemic has provided the ultimate test for the recruitment sector and this year’s winners were best prepared to weather the storm because of how they have invested in transformation.”
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TIARA 2021 will take place on 20th October at the Brewery in London. Register for updates at https:// tiara.talint.co.uk/ enter-2021/
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Adam Fletcher, CEO, IPE Ventures Allyson Stewart-Allen, CEO, International Marketing Partners Asif Sadiq MBE, Global Head of D&I, Adidas Claire Holness, Global Head of Talent Acqusition - Ericsson Clarke Bowles, Head of Key Accounts, Parasol David Higgins, Chairman, RPI Denise Walker, Absolutely Business Gary Elden OBE, Amoria Bond Geraldine King, CEO, National Recruitment Federation Giles Daubeney, Former Deputy CEO, Robert Walters Graham Palfery-Smith, Chairman, 6 Cats Ian Nash, Chairman, Hudson Jason Martin, Head of Strategy, Access Group Jeff Blakemore, CEO, Fore:Two Group John Rose, Director, Vered Consulting Keely Woodley, Partner, Grant Thornton Kirstie Kelly Batt, Investor & adviser Lisa Jones, Founder, BarclayJones Marcus Archer, Partner, Clearwater International Miles Hunt, Chairman, Cobalt Nick Davis, Partner & Chair, Mishcon Private Prof Emma Parry, Cranfield School of Management Rick Snyder, CEO, Invisible Edge Simon Kite, Partner, Saffery Champness Simon Michaels, CEO, HW Fisher Sohail Ahmad, Managing Director, Azlan Advisory Steve Beckitt, CEO, SourceBreaker
“The pandemic has provided the ultimate test for the recruitment sector and this year’s winners were best prepared to weather the storm because of how they have invested in transformation." Ian Nash, Chair of Judges
Supporting recruitment and executive search businesses
Saffery Champness provides audit, tax and business advice to a range of recruitment businesses, from boutique executive search companies to large multinational groups. Our clients in this sector have a combined turnover in excess of £3 billion. Contact us to find out how we could help you: Jamie Cassell, partner T: +44 (0)20 7841 3160 E: jamie.cassell@saffery.com
www.saffery.com
Simon Kite, partner T: +44 (0)161 200 8389 E: simon.kite@saffery.com
The Saffery Champness Hall of Fame Award
Peter Searle entered the TIARA Hall of Fame this year for how he has championed the recruitment sector and mentored futured leaders The Saffery Champness Hall of Fame Award has long recognised an elite group of recruitment professionals who, throughout their careers, have helped to raise the standards and image of the recruitment industry. Winners are recognised for the tireless work they have done both for their companies and the wider sector. Previous winners include: Anne Heraty, Sir Alec Reed, Julia Robertson, and Robert Walters.
Peter Searle accepts his TIARA 2020 Hall of Fame Award
Simon Kite, TIARA judge and partner at Saffery Champness, announced that this year’s recipient was Peter Searle, the former CEO and executive chairman of Airswift. Peter came into the recruitment industry in the late 80’s, joining Computer People and quickly rising through the ranks to become Group Managing Director when the business was acquired by Adecco in the early noughties. Peter stayed at Adecco up until 2015, holding a number of senior roles, not least CEO of the UK and Ireland, where he was instrumental in building what became the world’s biggest recruiter. In 2015, he left to become CEO of Airswift where he remained until May 2020. He is now a Chairman and non executive Board member of a number of businesses in which he has invested. Accepting his award, Peter Searle said: “I’m a passionate believer in the value that our industry gives to businesses as a whole and it’s incredible how far we’ve come in the last 35 years. I hope I played my small part in ensuring that our Government, our customers, and our candidates recognise our value, professionalism, ethics, and our standards – all of which we are striving to maintain and improve. I think we should all be proud of the industry we are part of and that we represent.”
During his time within the industry, Peter has been a major advocate of the sector and has always supported those organisations that have worked to raise standards across the industry. He’s been an advisor to government and a mentor to many. He is a true industry leader and a worthy addition to our Hall of Fame.” David Head, Director, TALiNT Partners
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
The Back Office Team of the Year
CPS Group triumphed against some of the industry’s largest recruiters to win Back-Office Team of the Year The Back-Office Team of the Year award celebrates the unsung heroes of recruitment, celebrating an exemplary operational team that has best supported growth, innovation, or performance. In a shortlist that pitched small and large teams against each other from scaling and large recruiters, Cpl was highly commended for its speed in developing a solution to support the HSE in Ireland when the Covid crisis hit. However, CPS Group triumphed for its innovative use of a bespoke chatbot which enabled candidates to view live jobs, allowed potential clients to view anonymised CVs most relevant to them, and alerted consultants to step in at the appropriate moment to continue the process. This was complemented by a new Contractor Relationship Manager role to gather market information from clients and candidates while ensuring the smooth running of contracts. This enabled CPS Group to grow relationships and manage increased demand for temporary positions through the Covid pandemic.
Naz John, Talent Acquisition & Employee Engagement Manager at CPS Group accepts the Back-Office Team of the Year Award
TIARA 2020 Finalists
This Investors in People ‘Silver’ accredited recruiter invested £120,000 in an office refit to create the best environment for its staff. It has grown its client base by 50% and achieved almost 20% year-on-year growth in 2019. It has also achieved a 330% increase in PBT over the last two years. In a tough year for the sector, CPS proves that a little investment can go a long way - and enable scalig recruiters to compete successfully with competitors of all sizes.
Judges said: “CPS Group optimised a small budget to make a big difference, with its innovative use of chatbot technology to deliver a better service. It clearly demonstrated that its investment in people and training has driven innovation in contractor management, helping it to win more business.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
The SourceBreaker Client Service Award
The Barton Partnership has built long-term partnerships and achieved high levels of client satisfaction with strategy experts and thought leadership The SourceBreaker Client Service Award recognises excellence and collaboration in the delivery of a talent acquisition project or ongoing campaign – an important area of differentiation for recruiters. With seven impressive finalists shortlisted, judges decided that La Fosse Associates should be Highly Commended for its Futureproof consultancy, demonstrating innovation outside of the normal recruitment offering with a strong NPS score and strong case studies. Nonetheless, The Barton Partnership was chosen as the overall winner for this award for how it has built long-term partnerships with its clients by helping them solve their strategic challenges with subject matter experts from all of its specialist sectors. It has produced a wealth of thought leadership and hosts monthly client roundtables and webinars with senior strategy and transformation leaders on issues facing the sector, facilitating leadership talent pools and peer to peer networks. “These guys are the kings of strategy,” said client Rakhi Williams, Chief Strategy officer at ITE. “They have great contacts, they have great content, they know what they are talking about, they have the right networks, and they track the right people.”
Nick Barton, Founder & CEO of The Barton Partnership, accepts The SourceBreaker Client Service Award
TIARA 2020 Finalists
And the results speak for themselves, with this specialist recruiter doubling its UK and European search NFI and growing its independent consulting revenue by 35% in 2019 - completing 1,000 projects for more than 450 clients across the UK, Continental Europe and the USA. It also achieved record client satisfaction rates, with 82 returning for further work and 98% saying it met or exceeded expectations.
Judges said: “The Barton Partnership demonstrated a winning combination of innovation, agility and courage in successfully launching a major new client initiative in a challenging and complex market.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
The Access Group Tech Transformation Award
Cpl’s bespoke booking solution for agency healthcare workers has been transformational for its clients and its business over the last year The Access Group Tech Transformation Award recognises the best use of technology in a recruitment company to gain a competitive edge in candidate experience, client service, and employee engagement. Despite strong entries from six other finalists, Cpl was crowned a TIARA winner for its in-house developed application, MyCpl. This bespoke solution enabled Cpl Healthcare to manage a live pool for 3,500 agency workers, with an average of 60,000 hours worked per week, for 367 individual sites for its HSE clients. In the last year, the HSE requested 2,908,100 hours across their facilities. Transforming the way agency workers and clients operate in Ireland, MyCpl manages all areas of temporary staffing including nursing and healthcare assistant selection; placement; compliance; quality and risk management; and after-sales service. Over the 18 past months, agency hours have increased by 13%, late payments to staff have been reduced by 91%, 92% of shifts are now filled within 30 minutes of being released to the app from the client, and 82% of the 2,200 staff actively using the app are now fully compliant.
Tom Brady, Project Manager at Cpl, accepts The Access Group Tech Transformation Award
TIARA 2020 Finalists
“We have found MyCpl to be efficient, user friendly and convenient. It has made the booking process transparent and easy for us manage all our agency bookings,” said Melanie McDonnell, Deputy Director of Nursing, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. The adoption of MyCpl by HSE clients has grown from 18 in 2018 to 130 in March 2020, which has helped Cpl Healthcare to save over €78,000 in reduced admin. Furthermore, it has substantially increased Cash Collections year on year, with a 22% increase in clients processing outstanding invoices by or on the due date. A truly transformational piece of technology.
Judges said: “Cpl triumphed for the speed and success of developing and implementing its MyCpl solution to support the HSE as the Covid crisis hit. This has had a massive impact on the company and the people using it. A clear winner.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
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The Fore:Two Group Candidate Service Award
La Fosse Associates triumphed for a second year, investing in contractor content and education to defend its Candidate Service Award The Fore:Two Group Candidate Service Award recognises excellence, innovation and impact in the way candidates are sourced, managed, and supported to ensure the best outcome. La Fosse Associates defended its title against stiff competition to win the TIARA Candidate Service Award for 2020. The specialist IT recruiter receives over 10,000 applications each month and aims to get back to everyone – with a 97% response-rate, monitored by monthly tracking, and 85% of calls answered through its Candidate-care line. "From the first contact to after my first week in my new role La Fosse have been exemplary, highly professional and are showing the industry how it should be done,” said candidate Simon Farley-Smith. “Consultants have operated with passion, empathy and real integrity. Glad to have team La Fosse on my side." La Fosse’s shared-ownership model means employees have a personal stake in the business and everyone is encouraged to be more entrepreneurial. This translates to greater care and commitment in the delivery of client and candidate service – with an industry beating NPS of 69 (32% of all NPS comments explicitly highlight its consultant's good communication).
James Parker, CEO of La Fosse Associates, accepts The Fore:Two Group Candidate Service Award
TIARA 2020 Finalists
La Fosse stepped it up this year by publishing more guidance on IR35 for its contractors, working with employment and tax lawyers, government and industry guidance to provide guides for clients and candidates. This enabled La Fosse to retain 80% of its contract workforce during IR35 changes. This approach helped La Fosse to substantially increase revenue, net profit and headcount over the year with a way above average CAGR growth of 43%.
Judges said: “La Fosse Associates proved that the candidate is truly at the heart of their business with a policy of always giving feedback to those who are unsuccessful. La Fosse is a purpose-based recruiter with a great ability to respond to market trends because on their entrepreneurial culture.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
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The TALiNT Partners Diversity & Inclusion Award
Bruin Financial successfully defended its title against strong competition with innovative new tools and to win the TALiNT Partners Diversity & Inclusion Award Diversity & Inclusion is an important area of differentiation for recruiters as employers look for partners who can meaningfully support them in addressing this challenge. The five recruiters shortlisted for this important award are all exemplary for their D&I initiatives. Judges including Asif Sadiq, Global head of D&I for adidas and Claire Holness, Global head of TA at Ericsson, had a tough time choosing a winner. Green Park was a close runner up, highly commended for its diverse approach to hiring internally and successful use of diversity focused tools to solve D&I challenges for their clients. But BRUIN Financial defended its title for a second year, once again proving its credentials with a range of internal and external metrics. Four of its senior management team are returning mothers and a female to male ratio of 2:1 on its Board. Amongst its most recent initiatives and innovations are its new BRUIN PROBE tool, which assesses candidate motivation against a number of D&I metrics to determine company culture fit; and DART, which allows clients to assess the diversity of their teams, identify any employees who may be socially isolated, and then provide recommendations for further diverse hires to balance their team.
Colin Webster CEO of Fiser Group, accepts The TALiNT Partners Diversity & Inclusion Award
TIARA 2020 Finalists
Its Women in Financial Institutions Index, which tracks the recruitment and engagement of women in financial services, has made Bruin a regular contributor to the Telegraph, City AM, the Evening Standard, and the FT. As the primary platform for its business development, D&I has delivered bottom line benefits to Bruin – with 20% of sales directly attributed to related services, achieving top supplier status with more clients, and growing its overall fees by 34% overall in the UK “BRUIN is something exceptional in the financial services sector,” said Arun Batra, CEO of the National Equality Standard. “A fantastic example of the tangible benefits of diversity and equality in the workplace, integrated into everyday business.”
Judges said: “Bruin Financial was voted the overall winner for its custom inhouse tool - which shows its commitment to D&I, in its own business and through its clients. We also commended its commitment to improving D&I within the recruitment industry with a comprehensive range of initiatives.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
The Innovation Award
NHS Professionals won the TIARA 2020 Innovation Award for the speed and successful roll out of its Rapid Response campaign to bring 20,000 healthcare workers back to the frontline The Innovation Award recognises the best examples of innovation and improvement that have had an impact on a recruitment business, its market sector, or the wider industry. This year, judges looked for a winner that had demonstrated true innovation in solving a challenge for clients and candidates that would inspire the wider industry. Matt Burton Associates, part of Ignata, was Highly Commended for developing its Candidate Zone platform, praised by judges as an innovative way of managing high volume applications and demonstrating the best use of bespoke technology to grow their business. The overall winner was NHS Professionals, which was crowned the TIARA Innovation Award winner for the speed and effectiveness of its Rapid Response campaign to mobilise a clinical workforce to deal with the Covid crisis at a pace and scale never seen before in the industry. NHSP reinvented its technology and processes in just 10 days to enable candidates to register, complete compliance and onboarding, and be work-ready in under 48 hours.
Nicola McQueen, CEO of NHS Professionals, accepts The Innovation Award for its Rapid Response campaign
TIARA 2020 Finalists
As a result, 60,000 healthcare professionals stepped forward, with over 20,000 joining NHSP to deliver vital frontline healthcare services. NHSP’s Rapid Response campaign and service attracted 52 new client Trusts, representing an increase of over 100% to its retained client base. As engagement with Rapid Response grew, and increased its service capacity, NHSP also became the lead clinical staffing provider for all of the active Nightingale hospitals. It was also asked to field over 3,000 Clinical Contact Caseworkers and Team Leaders for the new NHS Test & Trace programme.
Judges said: “NHS Professionals won for the speed, quality and impact of its Rapid Response campaign to successfully address a national crisis, driven by strong leadership and effective communication.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
The Marketing Campaign of the Year
Source Group International won the Marketing Campaign of the Year for its coordinated and consistent use of brand to engage its talent while driving client and candidate referrals The Marketing Campaign of the Year recognises the best end-to-end marketing initiative that can demonstrate excellence and innovation in conception, execution, and results. In a year when many recruiters furloughed their marketing talent, then realised the importance of this asset in not only generating leads but maintaining brand visibility to clients and candidates, judges were looking for an exemplary winner. Despite strong challenges from finalists including Cpl, NHS Professionals and VHR, Source Group International triumphed for how it has maximised brand throughout the business to engage employees, clients and candidates. Internal brand initiatives include its SGI Matters employee forum, its LoveSGI employee feedback platform, and its SGI Awards. One employee said: "The best part of the culture is the flexibility and maturity of what SGI provide to employees, the encouragement and trust to consultants." Its Xplore Med Tech Talks and Life Science Podcasts have helped to position SGI as a thought leading curator of key industry conversations and its Source Technology events have enabled it to build a client network of over 100 members to introduce new business as well as boosting brand awareness.
Rebecca Lauder-Fletcher, Marketing Manager of SGI, accepts The Marketing Campaign of the Year Award
TIARA 2020 Finalists
This coordinated approach to bringing its four market brands together as supported a doubling of profit in 2019 with increased cross-selling, a 146% rise in candidate referrals across the group, a 20% increase in placements, over 3,400 more applications through its Source Technology website.
Judges said: “Source Group International won for it's consistent use of brand across the business, a well-rounded and innovative approach, backed up by strong data and contributing to solid business growth.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
Recognising excellence Clearwater International is delighted to support the Growth Company of the Year category at the 2020 TIARA awards
I have been advising recruiters on creating and realising value for over 20 years, and am delighted to have been asked to support the TIARAs which recognise and reward industry leaders for their hard work and success. At Clearwater International, our heritage is in working closely with entrepreneurs, founder shareholders and management teams on their growth journey and ultimate liquidity event.”
Marcus Archer, Partner
t: +44 845 052 0300 clearwaterinternational.com
The Clearwater Growth Recruitment Company of the Year
NES secured a hat trick of TIARAs this year, winning the growth award for a second year by demonstrating impressive metrics across the board The Clearwater Growth Recruitment Company of the Year recognises an impressive track record of sustainable growth in sales, profit, headcount, and client base. “In a tough year for the recruitment industry it’s great to recognise those with the strongest foundations for growth who are investing in future success,” said Marcus Archer, Partner at Clearwater International, before announcing NES Fircroft as the winner for the second year. Gravitas was a close second for this award, with judges praising it for “demonstrating a great return on investment in people, process and technology to achieve impressive growth”. But it has been another great year for NES, which impressed judges with growth metrics across the board. Headcount has grown by 90% in 3 years; revenues increased by 49% in 2019; and it has grown its contractor population by more than half to over 12,500. NES was ranked 50th in the Sunday Times Top Track in July 2020.
Eddie Halkett, Global Sales Director of NES Fircroft, accepts The Clearwater Growth Recruitment Company of the Year Award
TIARA 2020 Finalists
It has achieved this growth by investing in its talent to deliver high levels of client service. In addition to structured training and a career development framework, NES provides an online LMS which has enabled staff to upskill through lockdown. Each new employee undertakes an average of 20 hours of training, with 86% of users rating the content as excellent. This has contributed to a staff retention rate of 85% and one in four staff have worked at NES for over 10 years. This has supported high levels of customer satisfaction. “For the last 9 years, the on-site In-House recruitment solution provided by NES has been instrumental in driving numerous internal efficiencies and direct hiring initiatives across the business over the Eastern Hemisphere,” said Lotfi Meziou, Human Resources Director OFS MENATI Baker Hughes. “They continue to demonstrate flexibility and customer-centricity in the delivery of their services. I have always been able to rely on an exceptional relationship with NES and look forward to continuing throughout 2020 and beyond.”
Judges said: “NES has consistently achieved solid growth and invested in its people through the pandemic to deliver a stunning performance this year. NES is an industry-leading story of growth at scale for a great champion of the recruitment sector.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
6CATS International is the expert supplier of compliant contractor management solutions to the world’s leading recruitment businesses. 6CATS takes the stress and uncertainty out of engaging contractor workers around the world, enabling recruiters to focus on their core business.
6CATS International is proud to sponsor the INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT COMPANY OF THE YEAR at the 2020 TIARAs
info@6catsint.com www.6catsint.com T: +44(0) 20 7374 6957
The 6CATS International Recruitment Company of the Year
NES won the international award for a second year by demonstrating impressive metrics across the board The 6CATS International Recruitment Company of the Year recognises sustainable growth in international sales, profit, headcount, and customer base. In a highly competitive shortlist, Airswift was highly commended by judges “for the international mobility of its staff, moving its expertise globally and strong commitment to compliance”. But NES triumphed once again, winning for another set of impressive results. Despite global economic uncertainty, NES has continued to open offices in British Columbia, Bangalore, Kuwait, Switzerland, Germany, Chicago and Port Arthur, Texas in 2019 - 61 of its 66 offices are outside of the UK. To enable it to deal with the intricacies of regional legislation across this wide geographical spread NES has 20 compliance personnel. In 2019, NES made 8,864 audited placements – a 20% increase on 2018 – and its compliance percentage ranges from 95.3% to 100%. NES used a range of tech tools including Textkernel and Roborecruiter to map local markets and find in-country talent. It also optimised video technology to connect candidates with clients through lockdown.
Eddie Halkett, Global Sales Director of NES Fircroft, accepts The 6CATS International Recruitment Company of the Year Award
TIARA 2020 Finalists
“NES enabled us to remain cost-efficient by keeping agency hires to below 1%, and have maintained over 95% hiring manager satisfaction, in a very challenging environment,” said Graeme Marshall, Baker Hughes Vice President – Talent Acquisition & Workforce Demand. “This year, NES has had to respond swiftly to the increasing hiring demands of the client, growing the recruitment team from 24 to 98 (over 400% growth) recruiters in 22 countries, in just 9 months.”
Judges said: “NES are dominating their marketplace and achieving phenomenal growth by investing in people, processes and compliance. NES is also commended for its best use of technology for international and in-country sourcing and bringing its purpose and values to life in support of local communities.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
The Grant Thornton Specialist Recruitment Company of the Year
NES won the third of its TIARA awards for specialist recruitment company of the year by demonstrating high levels of expertise and commitment to sourcing and training talent The Grant Thornton Specialist Recruitment Company of the Year recognises market leaders in a niche sector who can demonstrate the best growth, depth of knowledge, and differentiation from competitors.
Vicki Codd, Marketing Director of NES Fircroft, accepts The Grant Thornton Specialist Recruitment Company of the Year Award
Seven leading recruiters were shortlisted, but judges chose NES as the standout winner this year to pick up its third award of the night. “This year’s winner not only dominates in its sector with impressive profitability and geographic growth but also with a clear purpose and investment in talent,” said Adam Bunch, M&A Director at Grant Thornton. NES specialises in workforce solutions across the Oil & Gas, Renewables, Life Sciences, Chemicals and Mining sectors. Staff across 66 offices work in discipline specific teams in the same time zone, communicating in the local language to ensure it understands the local market. In a survey carried out by Oil & Gas job search NES was voted best agency in 2020 for quality of its recruiters, customer service, compliance, payroll service and the job opportunities it offers. “I have been in the Oil and Gas industry for 34 years and I have never worked for a company before that operates at this high skill set,” said John Woodman, Contractor - Air Products.
TIARA 2020 Finalists
Judges also commended NES for its D&I and CSR initiatives. It produces monthly analysis on the gender split at different levels for each region and it’s a regularly scheduled Board item to maintain a continued focus on equality. NES is a partner in the Trades Exposure Centre project in Alberta, which supports disadvantaged indigenous populations and helps young people in to work. NES delivers its hands-on service rig training course which supports students in pursuing a career in the local oil industry.
Judges said: “NES has demonstrated impressive growth in contractor numbers, underpinned by best use of the latest technology and an employee retention rate of 85%. The company has an extensive employee wellbeing programme and has built this around diversity & inclusion.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
Proud to be recognising excellence and innovation in the TIARA 2020 ‘Temporary Recruitment Company of the Year’ category
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www.parasolgroup.co.uk/recruiters
2020 Highly Commended FCSA Contractor Solution of the Year
The Parasol Group Temporary Recruitment Company of the Year
Morson was crowned temporary recruitment company of the year for its investment in technology, ED&I and education to support both clients and candidates The Parasol Temporary Recruitment Company of the Year recognises financial and market growth as well as excellence and innovation in sourcing, supporting and placing the best candidates.
Steve Seddon, Client Services Director at Morson, accepts The Parasol Group Temporary Recruitment Company of the Year Award
Always a hotly contested category, and a valuable endorsement in a post-pandemic market, judges chose one runner up. Investigo was highly commended for how it invests in its consultants, which has enabled it to deliver a more bespoke service and develop partnerships with clients and candidates. Judges agreed that the overall winner was technical recruiter Morson Group, which prides itself on sourcing niche talent in specialist sectors at scale. Operating from over 50 global locations, Morson manages over 12,000 contractors, processes over a million timesheets a year, and 23 million people hours to its clients – which include BAE Systems, Network Rail, TfL, and Manchester United. Morson was praised for its commitment to ED&I, with 62% of its workforce female. After pledging to double the percentage of women in engineering contracts (7.5%) in 2019, it was 15.3% at the same point in 2020.
TIARA 2020 Finalists
It built a bespoke compliant assessment tool to help clients implement IR35, which could reclassify workers based on scope of work, rather than rely on CEST. It also created cobranded microsites for its clients to improve candidate journeys and increase application numbers (up 45% for one client). “Working with Morson can only be described as ‘collaborative’,” said client Sarah McGuire, Group Head of Recruitment at Manchester Airports Group. Contractor Gavin Caldwell, TWS, British Embassy, Bangkok, added: “Working overseas is not easy and having the management team at Morson working on our behalf gives us peace of mind to concentrate on the job at hand at post.” Morson placed 13% more candidates in 2019, and has grown candidate numbers in niche sectors, which enabled it to increase turnover by almost 10%.
Judges said: “Morson showed a significant investment and ongoing commitment to D&I and equality, both internally and externally, with great examples of collaborative innovation to offer greater value to clients and candidates.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
The Gambit Corporate Finance Best Recruitment Company to Work For (£5m to £20m)
Franklin Fitch impressed judges as an employer of choice for its investment in training and leadership development to retain and grow its talent The TIARAs have three awards recognising recruiters who make the best employers. The Gambit Corporate Finance Best Recruitment Company to Work For with revenues between £5m and £20m, recognises those who can demonstrate innovation and impact in the attraction, induction, development and retention of their own talent. Three recruiters were shortlisted for this prestigious award - Brightwater, Franklin Fitch and Silven Recruitment. Specialist IT Infrastructure recruiter Franklin Fitch was chosen as the overall winner for investing in talent and new ways of working to deliver more value to its clients and candidates. This includes two academies that deliver a tailored 8-strand professional development programme which is complemented by leadership, marketing and business training from industry experts. All of which has enabled it to maintain 70% staff retention in a highly competitive talent market. All consultants are given in depth technical training and technical tests help them stay ahead of future trends in the tech space. “Besides the passion for technology, Franklin Fitch is genuinely a nice place to work and it’s the closest team of people I have worked with,” said employee Simon Nicholls. This focus on sector specialism and developing leadership has translated directly into growth – and supported a successful international expansion – with an increase of 20% across its candidate and client base and repeat business up 15%. A ‘Raise the Bar’ initiative to drive continuous improvement resulted in average consultant billings rising by 20% and overall sales increasing by 38%.
David Annable, Founder & Director of Franklin Fitch, accepts the award for the Gambit Corporate Finance Best Recruitment Company to Work For
TIARA 2020 Finalists
Judges said: “Franklin Fitch won for demonstrating strong growth through their investment in people and international expansion. The business is clearly people led with a major focus on training and development, with big strides to address diversity.”
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
The Best Recruitment Company to Work For (£20m to £50m)
Trinnovo triumphed as an employer of choice by impressing judges with its commitment to training talent and enabling them to use their skills to have a broader social impact The Best Recruitment Company to Work For with revenues between £20m and £50m recognises a scaled business that is achieving the highest levels of employee engagement, client service and growth. “This was a very competitive shortlist with strong contenders, but the clear winner for judges was Trinnovo Group,” said Giles Daubeney, Former Deputy CEO of Robert Walters and one of the judges for this award. “This award emphasizes our commitment to people and instilling a learning culture within the business,” said Trinnovo CEO Ashley Lawrence, accepting the award. “Our CSR and DE&I dimensions are directly aligned to extend beyond our company and enhance society.” Judges also commended Trinnovo for bringing its values and purpose to life in CSR activity, using recruitment skills and expertise to offer voluntary employment outreach services for its charity partners. This, combined with its commitment to training, has helped Trinnovo to win a raft of awards and accreditations – including 3-year Gold accreditation for Investors in People.
Ashley Lawrence, CEO & Founder of Trinnovo Group, accepts the award for the Best Recruitment Company to Work For
TIARA 2020 Finalists
A career progression structure which is clear and flexible has helped Trinnovo achieve 90% retention of staff – with 50% of staff promoted at least once over the year. To enhance its brand around specialist knowledge as a champion of diversity, Trinnovo designed five event and online platforms to create its own talent community in key industries. Women in DevOps, Broadgate Search Social, Ethnicity Talks, SODA Social, Diversity in Risk & Regs, and BioTalent Social have all helped Trinnovo to retain 100% of clients and grow new client business by 60 to 70% over the last year.
Judges said: “Trinnovo Group won for its impressive CEO, who leads from the front, and continual investment in its people. With extremely high retention rates, Trinnovo has created a great environment where the staff really do live the culture and an exceptional approach to both CSR and D&I.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
The Best Recruitment Company to Work For (£50m+)
Amoria Bond’s commitment to staff training, networks and D&I set it apart as the TIARA 2020 best large recruitment company to work for “It’s important to recognise the large recruiters who are investing in talent, technology and culture to achieve great things for their business and for their industry,” said Ian Nash, TIARA Chair of Judges, as he announced Amoria Bond as the Best Recruitment Company to Work For with revenues of £50m or above.
Ian Cross, Global MD of Amoria Bond, accepts the award for the Best Recruitment Company to Work For with revenues above £50m
STEM recruiter Amoria Bond impressed judges as both an employer and recruiter of choice for the deep sector expertise of its international contract teams and the cross-border talent networks that have enabled its executive search teams to achieve 74% repeat business. It also made The Sunday Times International Track 200 for the fifth consecutive year in 2020. “Amoria Bond stand out for their outstanding sector knowledge and their quality service approach to both candidates and clients,” said client Martin Gallagher, Chief Head of Safety, Metrolinx Canada. “They get to know their candidates properly, which means they only put candidates forward who are a great match in terms of skills, experience and cultural fit.” Amoria Bond invest £12.5k per-head annually in its training and development, which includes its ‘AB Academy’ and an inhouse, online LMS system with thousands of hours of bespoke video training content delivered by a range of industry and sector experts.
TIARA 2020 Finalists
It was particularly commended for evidencing that it is a genuine meritocracy that regularly reviews D&I policy and progress – with 43% of Exec-Board positions held by female & BAME directors. In addition to an 81% retention rate, Amoria Bond has achieved an impressive annual average income per head of over £500,000.
Judges said: “Amoria Bond shone in its award-winning training and development, underpinned by strong purpose and values, to achieve true employee excellence. It was also commended for outstanding stats on D&I and staff wellbeing which have contributed to excellent NPS results and plenty of repeat business.” TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
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The Mishcon de Reya Recruitment Leader of the Year
Raj Tulsiani, CEO of Green Park, was crowned Recruitment Leader of the Year for championing D&I in the sector and galvanising his people around purpose through the pandemic The Mishcon de Reya Recruitment Leader of the Year recognises a visionary recruitment leader who has achieved exceptional growth, pioneered transformational improvement – in their business or industry – and inspired the highest levels of engagement and performance from their people.
Raj Tulsiani, CEO of Green Park, accepts the award for The Mishcon de Reya Recruitment Leader of the Year
This year’s shortlist included entrepreneurial founders and corporate leaders from some of the sector’s top performing recruitment companies – including Adecco, Airswift, Clinical Professionals, Green Park, Opus Talent Solutions, Reed and The Barton Partnership. “Each one is a champion for a different leadership challenge and purpose," said Elizabeth Fox, Managing Associate at Mishcon de Reya LLP, as she announced the winner, "but judges agreed that the 2020 Recruitment Leader of the Year is Raj Tulsiani, CEO of Green Park.” In 2006, Raj Tulsiani co-founded Green Park with the mission to change the face of leadership by helping organisations think differently about talent. As CEO, he has since led Green Park from a challenger brand to become one of Europe’s fastest growing recruiters, delivering roles in over 70 countries and earning a reputation for inclusive, fair and transparent practices. Raj has become a leading authority in executive recruitment and workforce diversification, advising boards and becoming a special advisor to the PM’s office. In 2019, Raj published his debut book, Diversity & Inclusion for Leaders: Making a Difference with the Diversity Headhunter, which set out a practical approach to achieving sustainable change in D&I. In addition to championing D&I, Raj proved his entrepreneurship in adapting to new client needs in the launch of its People Solutions Practice. Founded in 2016 to meet the bespoke MSP service needs of a key client, the practice has now grown to 12 people, placed over 800 roles across 59 countries, and in 2019 achieved a 26% increase in NFI. By focussing on recruitment, diversity and brand, Raj has doubled Green Park’s turnover in four years.
TIARA 2020 Finalists Alex Fleming President & Country Head UK&I, Adecco
Ford Garrard Managing Director EMEA/ CIS, Airswift
Yvette Cleland CEO Clinical Professionals
Raj Tulsiani CEO Green Park
Amy Golding CEO Opus Talent Solutions
James Reed Chairman Reed
Nick Barton Founder & CEO The Barton Partnership
Judges said: “Green Park has the DNA of its leader imprinted all over it, with a clear investment in putting people, values, and purpose at the forefront of the business." TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
62 TALiNT Talk - Search & Selection
Quality from quantity
How do you make recruiting seamless in a candidate heavy market? It's all about data and how you use it One of the many fallouts of the Covid pandemic is a catastrophic rise in unemployment in tandem with a swift reduction in jobs available. The knock-on effect for employers who are hiring has been dealing with large increases in candidate applications – and rejections. To give it some context, Search Consultancy did some research from March to July this year and found applicants outweighed job openings with increases as high as 1363% for some roles.
applying for more than one job – not just yours. Simplify the application form so they can do this quickly and easily. A covering letter is not always needed.
Andy Daniel Commercial Director TALiNT Partners
So, how can talent acquisition teams keep their recruiting seamless? How can they deliver good candidate experience and add value to the business when talent supply exceeds demand? TALiNT Partners recently hosted a webinar discussion to explore some practical solutions with Jennifer Herbert, Head of People at Oleeo, and Tom Webb-Skinner, Resourcing Manager at British Transport Police (BTP). It was an insightful 45 minutes! Here’s what we discovered. How do we deliver quality of hire while maintaining a good candidate experience? Here’s a quick caveat - recent research by Oleeo and Aptitude Partners found that 63% of companies say quality of hire is their greatest challenge. Interestingly, 80% of the organisations surveyed consider this a recruitment metric and not a hiring manager metric resulting in TA leaders being held accountable to what happens once a candidate has accepted an offer. This is troubling because for most organisations there is no standard around measuring it. So, what can TA leaders do? Let recruiters do their jobs and add value to the organisation. Not getting bogged down in firefighting and tactical aspects of the job like arranging interviews, entering candidate data and updating candidates throughout the process saves a huge amount of time and effort. OPTIMISING DATA Use data to automate some recruiting decisions. Oleeo & Aptitudes survey found that 72% of enterprise companies say using data to automate recruiting decisions is a priority this year to improve quality of hire ie using a standardised scoring system for candidate selection. Keep it simple. Recognise that people are
Provide lots of relevant information to ensure you are attracting the right candidates. This reduces time answering questions and helps to filter out unsuitable candidates. Content like ‘a day in the life’, basic requirements for the role and FAQs are important. Candidates are not interested in your five year people development plan. Keep it practical. Signpost contact details and make it easy with a generic email address. Keep repeating it in relevant places and make sure someone can reply to specific questions. Keep telling candidates what’s next in the process to keep them engaged and pre-empt questions.
Watch Tom Webb-Skinner’s and Jennifer Herbert’s presentations at https:// www.talint.co.uk/events/ talint-benelux-2020/
Value your candidates time and save time for the business. Complete some of the basic onboarding requirements as part of the assessment process. It's engaging for the candidate and ensures those selected are ready to do the job without having to attend further appointments. DRIVING D&I Involve the business in parts of the process like interview panels. This keeps them onboard and gives the hiring managers and staff more confidence in the process. It also gives TA leaders awareness of unconscious bias in the organisation. Stage an intervention into the recruitment process towards the end to boost candidate experience, take any needed action on bias and demonstrate the inclusive values of the organisation to help deliver quality of hire.
Find out more about Oleeo at https://oleeo.com/
Using data to give you a complete picture is key, for example your male/female ratio in your talent pipeline, how they move through the steps or where they drop out cross-referenced by role, location and hiring manager. This will identify both problems and success stories. Know your metrics from your analytics. Metrics measure one data point to show what’s going on. Analytics connect and measure multiple data points so you can identify the factors driving the selection of a candidate for a role.
Sometimes things aren’t always quite what they seem
We understand that developing a compliant PSL is no small challenge. Distinguishing between organisations that pay lip-service to compliance and those that are fully committed is complex, costly and time-consuming. Getting it wrong can have serious implications on your business.
FCSA Accredited Members: Adhere to rigorous standards. Are assessed against a published Code of Compliance.
That’s why we have done the checks for you.
Are independently tested by regulated accountants and solicitors.
Every FCSA Accredited Member has already undergone the most stringent testing in the industry, at no cost to your agency.
Have their FCSA audit disclosed to HMRC.
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The active communication network that builds and supports lifelong relationships with your talent communities 季
Proactive recruitment
Engage enables organisations to build and manage relationships with talent not yet ready to enter the active selection process. A next-generation CRM, we help to address some of the issues with traditional approaches, such as being resource-intensive and whether sending people a bunch of emails is true engagement. An approach more akin to consumer relationship building delivers what your candidates expect.
Refer people not jobs
Supporting long-term relationships enables a different approach to referrals which takes jobs out of the equation. Using Hollaroo Refer, you ask your employees to introduce great people but without worrying about whether they are ready to move or if the right job is being advertised. We then keep people warm and engaged until they are ready to apply, all along tracking the process so you can manage your incentives.
The new battleground for talent
Organisations are realising that just because someone has accepted an offer does not necessarily mean they will start with you. Building a sense of belonging straight away is critical. On a more positive note, making the most of the onboarding period delivers benefits in speed to perform and early effectiveness. Building a sense of belonging as early as possible is the key, and that is what we deliver.
Preparing employees for the return
After the rapid transition to remote working, or furloughing employees, and with signs of vaccine breakthroughs, the government will call time on it’s financial support programmes and encourage a return to work and an economic kickstart. We now face the challenge of returning to the workplace but with the understanding that this will not be “back to normal. Hollaroo helps your organisation support employees in preparing for that return.
Keep investing in leavers
With each generation the average tenure at an organisation reduces so it is increasingly important that, when someone moves on, it is handled in a positive fashion while retaining access to knowledge and talent. Making someone still feel part of the team turns them into an ambassador for your organisation, promoting your employer brand, and they make great re-hires too!
www.hollaroo.com
getintouch@hollaroo.com
+44 (0)1727 298081
65 Share schemes
The right incentive
How do recruiters ensure incentive schemes meaningfully motivate an increasingly remote workforce? Having advised recruitment businesses on implementing effective employee share incentives for over 15 years, I have seen it done well and done badly. Getting it wrong can damage your business irreparably, but getting it right can be the key to aligning talent and driving the future performance of your business, potentially to a successful exit. Here are some key areas to consider, and pitfalls to look out for, when designing and implementing an employee share incentive scheme.
percentage pool. Both choices have pros and cons. A growing business needs a growing management team, so be careful not to give away too much ‘currency’ too early and be unable to recruit or reward the next batch of future management. Richard Collis, Partner, Saffery Champness
PURPOSE Understanding whose behaviour you want to influence, and in what way, is key to understanding the purpose of any employee equity incentive scheme. A scheme that drives the wrong behaviours in the wrong people can be more harmful than good. STRUCTURE Do you want a share scheme, or a share option scheme? A share scheme allows employees to hold real shares. A share option scheme gives employees a legal promise over shares, subject to meeting certain conditions. If you choose share options as your primary incentive mechanism, the next choice is whether you choose an HMRC ‘approved’ scheme, or whether you go completely bespoke. Many recruiters choose the approved scheme route. Having chosen this, you then need to determine which specific scheme is right for you. Many privately-owned recruiters opt for an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme which offers tax benefits for both the recipient and the business, and is widely known in the sector. Approved schemes like EMI do have strict rules and stepping outside of these (by the business or the recipient) can have a significant cost and administrative impact. An EMI scheme is not an ‘off the shelf’ solution. It is a government approved ‘tax wrapper’, giving it favourable tax treatment. No two EMI schemes are ever the same. DESIGN PHASE A key decision in the design phase is whether the incentives are fixed percentage units in the business, or rights to participate in a fixed
Performance conditions are key and require a lot of thought. These may be quantitative (eg sales-based) or qualitative (eg demonstrating the core values of the business), but they need to be tailored to each individual and group to ensure they are realistic and achievable, and aligned with the wider business plan. If you have (or expect) any international aspect to your business this needs to be designed in ahead of time, as employee share incentives are taxed differently all around the world. Equity incentive schemes are rarely cast in stone at the outset and, like the business, need to grow and evolve as the business does.
For more information, contact Richard Collis on 020 7841 4257 or email richard.collis@saffery. com
COMMUNICATION The key to the success of any scheme is how it is communicated to those who join it, and equally to those who don’t. Internal briefings and Q&A sessions for potential participants, running alongside the implementation phase, are recommended. Having your advisers present at the ‘signing ceremony’ is also useful in case of any final questions or worries. Also, maintaining ongoing dialogue with recipients about how the business is performing, hence how the scheme is unfolding, is essential. Ultimately, a badly communicated employee equity incentive can be worse than no incentive. COMPLIANCE Many equity incentive schemes have strict HMRC compliance requirements. Missing deadlines can undo all of the hard work and planning, so having somebody looking out for this throughout is essential. Whilst an employee equity incentive scheme can be undone and replaced, it is very costly, difficult and time consuming to do so. Getting it right first time is essential and key to achieving that is designing it properly and having a team of experienced advisers around you to help steer you through the process.
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
66 Advertorial - PSD Group
The race to equality
Ebony James, a consultant in psd’s Banking & Financial Services and Professional Services Practices, offers a recruiter’s perspective on race, diversity & inclusion
In recent times, we have seen a crucial focus on Diversity and Inclusion across many industries. Whether it’s seeking more women in senior leadership positions, encouraging BAME members into the business, understanding the needs of professionals with disabilities or mental health conditions, or supporting LGBTQ+ communities and their rights. The last decade has seen Diversity strategies principally centre around gender equality. Progress is being made, and the number of women in senior management roles globally has grown to 29% (an increase of 5 percent since 2018). However, we still have further to go before we reach true gender equality. Less light has been shone on issues of Race and tackling the inequality and systematic bias which surrounds promoting or hiring BAME professionals. This has been thrown into the spotlight following the shocking killing of George Floyd and the growing Black Lives Matter movement, which has sparked debate and ignited people’s passion to act. The Colour Of Power 2020 report, conducted by Green Park, highlights fewer than five percent of the most senior jobs across UK companies, Government and public bodies are held by people from ethnic minority groups. To quantify this – only 52 out of 1099 of the most powerful roles in the UK are occupied by members of the non-white community. Clearly the biggest priority should be increasing representation at the Senior/ Executive Board level. As a female mixed-race Recruitment Consultant within the Financial and Professional Services sectors, two of the largest sectors contributing to the UK’s economy, I felt I was uniquely placed to gain perspectives on the issue. I think back to my own journey and frustrations as I remember the pressure from an early age of needing to
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
stand out more than my white peers to get noticed. There have been instances where I’ve felt discriminated against; being told ‘I wasn’t the right fit’ for certain opportunities.
Ebony James, PSD Group
The lack of diversity in these businesses made me question whether it was perhaps the colour of my skin; gender or working-class background which prevented me from ‘fitting in.’ It's for these reasons that I felt compelled to explore viewpoints from Executives and D&I leaders across both sectors. THE BENEFITS We currently hear a lot about ‘ESG’ (Environmental Social Governance); and if we look at what the ‘S’ in this stands for, ‘social’ relates to representing the community. Increasing the number of BAME employees at a senior level will not only create a culture which embodies this inclusivity, but it will help naturally drive business in the customer-based community. As emphasised by Roger Dix, CRO from Wesleyan, “It’s important that we do the right thing for the right reasons!” Individuals are choosing ethical brands when it comes to purchase decisions. Likewise, professionals are considering how socially and ethically responsible a business is when considering a role and their future career. It’s important that people feel aligned with the intrinsic values of the company and believe they can bring their whole self to work; this can be key to keeping your talent or pushing them towards a competitor. THE CHALLENGES Many leaders recognise that without fully understanding the demographics within their business, it’s difficult to improve on diversity statistics. But employees need to feel safe and encouraged to volunteer their ethnicity
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job adverts and interview processes free from unconscious bias? If offices are not based in a diverse area, do we have remote working options for non-local candidates? It is important to work with executive search and recruitment firms who have diversity at the forefront of their agenda. We have seen many organisations strengthen their diversity policies, champion diversity leads and make big strides with initiatives like:
information. Zurich Insurance reported an excellent staff declaration rate for race of 86 percent, before bringing in behavioural scientists to understand retention and career development e.g. promotions across BAME employees. Whilst the statistics might be hard reading, it is imperative that we understand the true demographics of the business so we can reflect and look pragmatically at next steps. “Having this information allows us to honestly look at where we are on our D&I journey, and from there affect positive change” says Pippa Marler, Diversity and Inclusion lead at Weightmans LLP. The idea of imposing targets or quotas has expectedly mixed responses. Employees especially feel they might create a sense of tick box hiring or possibly upset colleagues already in the business leading to resentment. But targets can be a positive commitment to keep the organisation on track with diversity. Business in the Community’s (BITC) Race At Work Charter, encourages percentage targets for the board. This was echoed by Nathan Wallis, Head of Culture & Engagement at Wesleyan Assurance Society: “We need them to measure our progress and have a realistic goal to work towards.” People are more productive when having clear objectives. RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES There are three parties which have a share in responsibility to achieve diversity: the organisation; Exec search and agency partners; and the candidates themselves. From an organisation perspective where it has been problematic to attract diverse applicants, questions should be asked internally such as: are we making ourselves attractive to wider communities? Do we portray an inclusive culture? Are we using the right language? Are all
• Reverse mentoring schemes where execs can have an opportunity to learn and ask questions from staff at other levels – Standard life Aberdeen have pioneered this, working hard with their network group Unity to implement.
For more information about how PSD Group can support your D&I initiatives and executive recruitment, visit https:// www.psdgroup.com/
• Executive led and supported networks, groups and safe spaces internally. Vannessa Whitehead, co-chairing Unity (race network group) suggests having leaders who belong to the community they are representing is critical for engagement. Powerful allies from outside are equally vital. • Community programmes and apprenticeship schemes, to break down barriers from an entry level perspective. Direct Line Group’s £3.5m Covid-19 community fund helped the most vulnerable in society when they most needed it. • Establish your D&I strategy early and form a steering group of leaders, allies and employees to drive the strategy forward. Weightmans LLP has a dedicated D&I Lead who coordinates the voluntary Steering Group, which is supported by a wide network of D&I Champions from all areas and pay grades. • ‘Talk about Race’ and ‘Bring Yourself To Work’ campaigns – ensuring safe spaces are created for positive discourse and discussions. • Legislation - reporting on ethnicity pay gaps. Soon likely to be debated in the House of Commons and pushed by regulators as similarly done with gender pay gap reporting in 2018. This is an agenda supported by the Association of British Insurers. Whether you are a leader, manager or individual there is always something you can do. Don’t just listen, provide a platform for the voices on your team – get past the awkwardness and start embracing uncomfortable conversations.
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
68 TALiNT Talk - Talent Tech
Where next for TA Technology?
Are HR and talent professionals making the most of talent tech solutions and where are they seeing the biggest impact on people and processes? In our meetings and round table discussions with senior HR and talent leads, we’ve seen people enablement through technology at the centre of every agenda. Unsurprisingly, the picture is consistent regardless of market sector. The TALiNT Partner’s Benchmark results suggest that whilst there is high confidence in the awareness of TA teams when it comes to the latest technology, their ratings were much lower when it comes to use of existing functionality. Is this a training issue or too much change? So what has changed and what's next? One notable shift, likely to become a permanent change, is increased remote working. When you consider everything needed to make this happen at scale, and with minimal impact on performance, the list is long. Video technology is the new meeting room, interview space and break out area; hardware procurement and distribution processes are suddenly agile and rapid; barriers to remote access and secure infrastructures have been quickly overcome. Covid-19 has “blasted through resistance” when it comes to rapid tech transformation.
Debra Sparshott, Employer Programme Director, TALiNT Partners
To access TALiNT Partners' latest Benchmark Report visit https://www.talint.co. uk/2020-benchmarkreport/
Teams and Zoom have given employees rare access to senior management who might otherwise be a faceless name on an email. Workforce planning is a major challenge as we come out of the pandemic and start to re-shape resource management, without fixed locational requirement or working pattern. Flexible working is no longer a “nice to have”, so HR Leaders need to understand which roles will not return to an office location, distinguish between roles that are just “coping” with the change in working practices and those actually thriving; then how to connect these workforces when partly-remote, partly-not. Digital screening is not as non-human as we
TALiNT International Nov / Dec 2020
might think. One contact shared that they had underestimated the level of resource required to support the digital application process when people get things wrong. Probably AI will never fully replace human interaction, but the increasing focus on digital assessment in a world of talent transformation continues to create a need for screening and testing tools, which not only integrate with existing recruitment platforms, but which work with AI platforms in the high-skill space. We have not yet come close to the limits of technology in managing the candidate experience. Onboarding is still a concern. Recently, we spoke to TA Leads who have moved into their role during the pandemic, so have experienced the new employee journey at first hand. The absence of face to face contact in recruitment raises concern about new starter buy in to the role and the organisation. On-boarding platforms create a virtual journey post offer, and maintain sufficient sense of connection after a high touch recruitment process, when relationships are built, but are they equipped to plug this new engagement gap in a way which provides a seamless and personalised experience? The 2020 Benchmark survey has shed light on the need for a better understanding of the technology needs in talent acquisition outside of HR, with over half of respondents rating their IT teams as poor in identification of relevant new technology, and a third saying the same of their procurement functions.
Take our Employer Programme Survey to highlight more areas where we can add value at https://www. surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ debrapriority
Spend impact is clearly a priority; on average 45% of Benchmark participants rated themselves as strong in their ability to evaluate their HR Tech investment, across all metrics. This may be explained by the fact that the majority see budget responsibility for TA Tech as sitting between the HR and the Executive Board - so will be a lot of report-writing at year end.
www.talint.co.uk