The best advice I was given at school by my English teacher was this: Always write what you know; and as both my daughters are aspirant authors (I’m trying desperately to shi� their focus onto something that actually makes them money) I have shared the same advice – write what you know and it will come easy.
It’s been a busy year with the last half even more intense than the first and I for one am running on almost empty, so instead of trying to come up with something profound to write, in this last issue of the magazine for 2022, I am going to write what I know.
Over the last few months, I’ve no�ced a number of trends that have been shaping up and gaining momentum in the talent ecosystem. Some may disagree, but what I know is my percep�on based on knowledge I’ve acquired over a certain period of �me, so bear with me.
Trend 1: There is a definite shi� (even if it’s small) from a candidate-driven market, back to an employer-driven market. Yes, there is s�ll a shortage of talent out there, but given the current economic climate, employers hold the cards in terms of flexibility. The number of remote work roles adver�sed online has decreased with companies offering more hybrid work with two days at home and the rest in the office.
Trend 2: The cost-of-living crisis has made employees re-look at their finances and employers are able to en�ce poten�al employees by offering higher salaries. During and post-pandemic, what a�racted candidates to a role was the employer brand, a sense of purpose and career progression. Now, money talks and organisa�ons who offer higher salaries will a�ract more talent.
Trend 3: There is a growing call for salary transparency on job ads. By sharing the proposed salary on a job post, you’re likely to a�ract the more relevant talent. But employers feel they have less bargaining power if the salary is revealed right at the beginning of the hiring process. Candidates are more likely to apply to a role if they know what the salary is – unless it isn’t market-related.
As it happens, this last issue of the year is the biggest. A behemoth of over 100 pages that is packed to the brim with insights from the year’s winning innova�ons and solu�ons from our global TIARA Awards programme; we’ve spoken to leaders in the recruitment and RPO sectors who have shared trends and predic�ons for the year to come and our guest contributors cover a range of per�nent topics like immigra�on, hiring for culture and DE&I and so much more.
About TALiNT Partners
TALiNT Partners brings together a global network of leading employers and solu�on providers to make be�er talent and technology decisions by providing intelligence, insight and peer-to-peer networking that drives quality, innova�on and improves inclusion across the talent ecosystem.
Published by Talent Intelligence Partners Ltd Casa Court, Great George Street, Godalming GU71DX www.talintpartners.com
Editorial, news and features: debbie@talintpartners.com Adver�sing and sponsorship: andy@talintpartners.com Design: annabelle@talintpartners.com Layout and Design: New Media Design Agency www.newmediadesign.co.za
With the pressure on internal TA teams increasing as organisations struggle to hire professional recruiters, many are looking to RPO providers to help: The Omni Flex service enables you to build TA capacity and capability quickly by engaging talent professionals when you need them most.
From roundtables to dinners and Awards across the globe, TALiNT Partners got around this month. We went from Dubai to Sydney, USA to London and Manchester and are lucky enough to connect talent ecosystem leaders, share insights and have a great �me doing it. It’s refreshing to share posi�ve impacts being made around the world’s talent ecosystem, especially amid the global, challenging economic landscape.
TALiNT Partners headed back to The Brewery in London to host the TIARA Talent Recruitment Awards Europe. Alex Evans, TALiNT Partners MD and Debbie Walton, Editor at TALiNT Partners hosted the event, donning the trademark TIARAs.
450 of the industry’s top staffing and RPO companies joined in for an evening of decadent food, wine and celebra�ons. Keep a look out for next year’s award entry dates. In the mean�me, read the winning profiles on page 34.
TALiNT Partners hosted a Dinner & Debate for some of the best CTOs and CIOs from our staffing and talent solu�ons leader network on the topic of ‘build or buy and why’. In amongst lively conversa�on about whether to build your own ATS and to buy one straight out of the box, both come
with reward and challenges. Read the full story on page 30.
Other interes�ng topics to come out of the discussions were whether to bin the CV and increasing female representa�on in the industry.
Dubai, UAE
Winners of the TIARA Recruitment Awards MENA were crowned at a gala dinner in glitzy Dubai. All the worthy winners have been profiled in this issue of TALiNT International. The star-studded Awards ceremony was preceded by the
Talent Leaders Summit, a conference that Brought together HR & TA leaders from across the region, to discuss trends and challenges. Winners of the awards have been profiled on page 72.
How
with DE&I, Employer Brand and EVP services? This inviteonly event was hosted by Adway, Giant Group and TALiNT Partners in The Hive at The Studio in Manchester and guest speakers and panellists included Catherine
Kellaway, Execu�ve Director, Goodman Masson; James Fellowes, Founder, Bridge of Hope Careers; Daniel Haslam, Sales Director, Giant Group; Rohan Dickinson, Head of Partnerships, Adway; Ma� Gale, Marke�ng Director, Oliver James; Dan Birmingham, Crea�ve Director, Talent Works.
Recruiters are stepping up to the plate with innovate
strategies to a�ract diverse talent into their organisa�ons. From developing bespoke DE&I programmes and using social media to reach that hard-toreach diverse talent, investment in DE&I strategies are paying off.
The employer brand has never been more important but it’s impera�ve that employers put their money
are the UK’s top recruiters winning (and keeping) more clients and a�rac�ng the best candidates
Winners of the TIARA Recruitment Awards ANZ 2022 were revealed at a Gala Dinner at The Shangri-La in Sydney, yesterday, a�ended by over 350 CEOs, senior execu�ves and leaders from the region’s top recruiters. Talent Leaders
Australia Summit - a fast moving morning of presenta�ons, panel Q&As and roundtable discussions which gave our a�endees the opportunity to connect and learn with peers, discuss challenges and discover new solu�ons to help plan and prepare for 2023.
where their mouth is and embed their purpose in all they do or run the risk of falling flat when candidate expecta�ons of the brand aren’t met.
To be part of one of these exclusive, member-only events contact Alex Evans, TALiNT Partners MD on alex@talintpartners.com
A recent study by Just Eat for Business has revealed that 1 in 3 businesses will not be providing staff with an end-of-year bonus this year.
The Corporate Christmas Rewards Study asked key decision makers, such as CEOs and business managers at companies across the UK how they will be rewarding staff during the fes�ve period.
The findings show that the majority of businesses base the decision on whether or not to give staff a monetary-based Christmas bonus is based on mee�ng sales targets (31%), company profit (30%) and whether or not employees have met their personal goals (29%).
However, the majority of businesses (81%) are choosing to give back to staff by hos�ng a Christmas party this year. Almost half (48%) said that this year’s Christmas party event will be bigger and be�er when compared to such events that took place pre-pandemic.
The study also found that 7% of UK-based businesses have decided not to host a Christmas party of any kind this year, and the remaining 12% have not yet decided if they will do so or not.
For organisa�ons that have chosen not to host a party, the main reasons include budget issues (57%), a lack of organisa�on (14%), as well as having a remote workforce (14%).
When it comes to addi�onal fes�ve incen�ves and ac�vi�es, other ways in which employers are planning to give back to staff this year include organising a secret Santa (34%), funding a Christmas lunch (34%) and providing corporate gi�s (27%).
The survey also shows that 1 in 5 businesses (20%) will be providing office catering as an end-of-year incen�ve, yet 41% of key decision makers at businesses admit they could be doing more to incen�ve staff all year round.
New research by Cool Company, the digital payroll solu�on for contractors, has revealed the overall outlook for the contractor workforce sector is posi�ve, despite the UK heading into a recession. The research found that just over threefi�hs (61%) of contractors are feeling posi�ve about contrac�ng as a whole, with many working with overseas clients hoping to avoid the UK’s economic contrac�on.
The data revealed that contractors are looking beyond the UK to shore up client worries with an average of 49% of contractor work coming from clients outside of the UK in the last 12 months. 42% of contractors surveyed said that just more than half (51%) or more of their work currently comes from nonUK clients, while 55% of contractors expect that figure to increase in 2023.
Despite the confusion of IR35 reforms and then poten�al Off-Payroll legisla�on repeal, most contractors are now feeling more posi�ve about the industry at home. Almost two-thirds (64%) of contractors surveyed believe that all clients will increase their use of contractors over the next 12 months and more than a quarter (26%) of contractors use recruitment agencies to source new clients.
A recent study has revealed that more than a third of job ads (35%) do not disclose the salary on offer. Phrases such as “compe��ve salary” or “depending on experience” are common.
Salary is key in helping a candidate decide whether to apply for or take a job. Despite this, an analysis of over 6,000 job lis�ngs across roles in Finance, Sales, HR, IT, Marke�ng, and Opera�ons found that 2,130 ads had hidden salary info.
The study by HR and leadership publica�on People Managing People showed that ads for marke�ng roles are least likely to disclose salaries (41%), followed by sales and opera�ons roles (35%). Ads for IT roles were more transparent, at 27%, as were ads for HR professional roles, at 29%, failing to disclose salary details.
In terms of roles, the highest rates of salary non-disclosure were found in job ads for senior and C-suite posi�ons:
• Chief Technology Officer (81%)
• Chief Marke�ng Officer (71%)
• Sales Director (59%)
• Opera�ons Director (58%)
The research also found that job ads in the UK were 57% more likely to have undisclosed salaries for roles than in the U.S. Interes�ngly, IT roles in the UK were more likely to have salary informa�on than in the U.S. Of the roles studied, 66% had no salary disclosed, followed by finance roles (61%) and opera�ons (56%).
Why are salaries hidden? According to Finn Bartram, Editor at People Managing People, it offers businesses more nego�a�ng power to agree on a salary in the later stages of the recruitment process once they understand the candidate’s expecta�ons and circumstances.
Withholding salary figures also provide a compe��ve advantage in that they stop
other similar businesses from knowing how much they are offering for a role and outbidding them to a�ract talent.
Employers also say that publicising salary informa�on causes resentment and results in demands for pay rises from their exis�ng workforce if their salary doesn’t fairly compare to what is offered to recruits.
It may also create resentment when candidates accept a job offer if they know they have been given a salary at the lower end of the adver�sed pay scale.
Withholding salary info comes at a risk. In the current job market, which is skewed in the candidate’s favour, vacancies are taking longer to fill, and gaps are widening. This means employers are at risk of missing out
on talent or narrowing the type of applica�ons they receive.
Research has shown that the pay gap – for women and minori�es – stems from the ‘ask gap’ – the difference in what different groups expect when it comes to salary and how likely they are to get a raise if they ask for one. According to a recent YouGov survey, of the 40% of adults who asked for a pay rise, just over a quarter secured one.
Pay transparency goes a long way to building trust within a workforce, meaning lower turnover rates and greater performance gains. Societal pressures are growing to build transparency, promote truth, and close inequali�es, so organisa�ons op�ng for hidden salaries may need to rethink their strategies.
The regulatory outlook for the staffing industry remains negative for the next six months in 13 countries, according to the World Employment Confederation’s (WEC) recently released Staffing Executive Regulatory Outlook report. The impact changes in regulation are expected to be neutral in seven countries and positive in four.
Overall, the staffing industry an�cipates regulatory changes to have a posi�ve impact in the Netherlands, Spain, UK and Italy.The report noted following the Mexican labor reform implemented in September 2021, agency work is no longer allowed in Mexico, decreasing the volume of business by 80% compared to the situa�on before the reform. However, agency work can con�nue opera�ng in “specialized services” falling outside the core ac�vity of the user company.
In Europe, the expected negative regulatory changes include:
• A new regula�on on the maximum length of an assignment in Sweden.
• A new regula�on on statutory sick pay and pensions in Ireland.
• Discussions and possible regula�on on the overall protec�on of agency workers covered by collec�ve labor agreements in Germany, linked to the EU Court of Jus�ce proceeding.
• Discussions on the use of agency work in the healthcare sector in both Denmark and France.
• A new law entering into force in Norway on maximum length of assignment and a regional ban in the construc�on sector.
The biannual poll includes responses from execu�ves of 24 different na�onal staffing federa�ons. It was conducted in October.
Two-thirds (65%) of female-dominated professions (where over 60% of workers are women) have gender pay gaps in favour of men. This is according to a new report from HR systems provider Ciphr. The report went on to reveal that only 2% have no reported pay gaps, while a third have gender pay gaps in favour of women.
Popular career choices – in that they have the largest numbers of workers -are the most likely to have pay dispari�es. The report showed that in the UK, gender pay gaps in favour of men exist in:
• 72% of female-dominated occupa�ons employing over 100,000 people
• 82 % of female-dominated occupa�ons employing over 330,000 people
The occupa�ons with the largest gender pay gaps and workforces of over 100,000 include:
• func�onal managers and directors with an average pay gap of 21.3%
• legal associate professionals with an average pay gap of 16.8%.
• office managers with an average pay gap of 12.5%
• local government administra�ve occupa�ons with an average pay gap of 12.1%
• other administra�ve occupa�ons (including numerous administra�ve and clerical roles) have an average pay gap of 8.9%
The report went on to reveal that approximately two-thirds of the UK’s human resource managers and directors, bookkeepers, payroll managers, wages clerks, and records clerks and assistants are women. However, all these job roles have a gender pay gap of nearly 7% in favour of men.
Further insights showed that 89 – 90% of recep�onists and teaching assistants in the UK are women, and both of these careers have a gender pay gap of 5.1% in favour of men.
It is important to note that 2.4 million employees in the UK – 600,000 of which are men – work in female-dominated occupa�ons where a nega�ve gender pay gap of -1% or more exists. These roles include care workers, wai�ng staff, financial administra�ve occupa�ons, community nurses, midwives, PAs, medical secretaries, and special needs educa�on teaching professionals.
The female-dominated occupa�ons with the narrowest pay gaps (between 0.9% and -0.9%) include primary school teachers, nurses, welfare and housing associate professionals, and HR officers.
The only female-dominated jobs with no reported pay gap for 2022 are retail cashiers and checkout operators.
Dawn Crea�ve Media
What should recruitment leaders prepare for in 2023 to build resilience and drive higher value, premium services?
“There won’t be those premium 10 plus mul�ples that were being paid unless there’s real differen�a�on around quality of management and use of technology.”
“How do you take all those things that are best prac�ce and deliver them consistently at scale for every single consultant or every single candidate you interact with?”
Head of UK Corporate Finance at Grant Thornton
David Sto� Vice President, Enterprise Interna�onal, Bullhorn
This year has been a pivotal year in the staffing and talent solu�ons sector. The pace of transforma�on is extraordinary, accelerated by the pandemic and enabled by rapid technological advancements. The UK’s plunge into recession has ramped up the challenges as we head into 2023, with recruitment leaders under intense pressure to demonstrate their value to employers – and the strength of their employer brand for their own talent.
On 13 October, TALiNT Partners’ World Leaders in Recruitment Summit brought together around 100 industry leaders at the NatWest Conference Centre in London for a series of expert panel discussions and roundtables, rounded off with a networking
lunch. Supported by content partners SourceBreaker, Bullhorn, Odro, Sonovate, My Digital Accounts, and NatWest, this timely event explored a range of topics, including:
• Recession-proofing and higher value services
• What investors are looking for in staffing and talent solu�ons firms
• The next fron�er for recruitment technology and data
• DE&I and ESG strategies to differen�ate recruiters
• Disrup�ve trends, models and solu�ons for 2023
The macro-economic picture over the next 12 months is not all doom and gloom, according to Keely Woodley, Head of UK Corporate Finance at Grant Thornton. She predicted investors would proceed cautiously for at least six months before a market rebound, possibly as early as April. However, achieving high valuations and getting a professional services type multiple in the recruitment sector would be challenging. “There will continue to be deal activity and deal volumes, but there won’t be those premium 10 plus multiples that were being paid unless there’s real differentiation around quality of management and use of technology,” she added. “Businesses that show true agility and partnership with their clients will win the longer battle.”
UK recruiters are working smarter to drive profits and find talent, promp�ng a fundamental shi� away from the transac�onal model to a more strategic, value-adding model.
And while M&A and private equity markets have so�ened on the back of rising interest rates, lenders remain keen to ink new deals. Chris Biggs, Rela�onship Director for Corporate Banking at NatWest Group, said lenders were interested in staffing and talent solu�ons companies that show resilience and diversifica�on, long-standing client contracts, a higher weigh�ng towards temporary hires, visibility of revenue, and subscrip�on-based models.
Tim Cook, Group CEO of nGage Talent, agreed that investors wanted to see businesses that demonstrate a high degree of professionalism and long-term strategic customer rela�onships. “We are u�erly uninterested in what I call the classic grudge purchase transac�onal recruiter; the chuck a CV over a hedge, try and charge a fee for it, or take on 100 jobs, fill one or two, pat yourself on the back. That kind of model looks totally broken and, if it’s pure perm or direct hire, the robustness and resilience is zero,” he said. Cook said investors were
“We
Tim Cook
Group CEO of nGage Talent
interested in companies working in the ‘always needed’ space, such as medical staffing, and companies in structural growth markets, that is, growing significantly faster than GDP.
Mark Thompson, Group Head of Sales at Sonovate, said macro-economic condi�ons are forcing recruiters and lenders to think differently. “For example, two or three partners might come together to create some form of digital MSP, where the funding technology sits underneath an applica�on to support that programme,” he said. “There is a far more dynamic market because the funders are understanding more how the supply chain works. Sta�s�cs show us that if you’ve got the right funding solu�on in place, certainly as an up-and-coming agency for want of a be�er phrase, you will grow three �mes faster.”
Sarah Mason, Chief People Officer, Advisor and Non-Execu�ve Director, said there should
be clear delinea�on between TA and agency responsibili�es. “Absolute clarity on who does what in that rela�onship is really important for value and, without that clarity, value always gets eroded. That sounds obvious, but o�en isn’t done. People then disrupt those boundaries and play out of posi�on, causing conflict and duplica�on – and poten�ally damage brand and reputa�on,” she said.
Cordant Group CEO Jamie Reynolds described how his company has developed a range of creative pathways to find and retain the talent they need to deliver strategic recruitment services, including setting up their own university, which so far has more than 100 graduates.
John Whelan, CEO of payroll so�ware provider My Digital Accounts, says automa�on of back-office func�ons is key to making recruitment agencies more profitable longterm. He pointed out that many agencies are rethinking their arrangements with umbrella
companies, spooked by recent cyberattacks and the spectre of debt transfer. Some will move payroll processing in-house while others will demand more supply chain transparency, fuelling demand for integrated software solutions that provide greater visibility.
Employers are screaming out for vendor partners who can help them get the best ROI from talent technology.
David Sto�, Vice President, Enterprise Interna�onal at Bullhorn, said it’s �me to shi� from seeing automa�on as purely a way to make recruiters more produc�ve and to start u�lising the poten�al for driving be�er customer and candidate experience. “How do you take all those things that are best prac�ce and deliver them consistently at scale for every single consultant or every single candidate you interact with?” Sto� queried. “When you add in data, then you can start to personalise that experience. And then the top layer is using automa�on to drive human interac�on; taking the journey to a certain point before a consultant sets up a mee�ng.”
Ryan McCabe, CEO of video recruitment so�ware provider Odro, said while economic condi�ons were pushing companies to do more with less, humanising the experience was key to engagement. “We want to try and bridge that gap so we can create connec�ons with the candidate so we can increase redeployment rates,” McCabe said. “You’re trying to create familiarity, so the candidate is connected to the recruiter and the brand, not just the brand.”
Adam Dale, CRO at SourceBreaker, said there was a big push for companies to u�lise CRMs be�er. “Matching is the next big thing that will disrupt the recruitment market,” he predicted. “It’s very basic at the moment, but if you can get matching working within your system really well, then you can offer jobs immediately to a candidate as soon as they register, without a recruiter needing to touch it. But to leverage that capability we need accuracy – we all know that if matching is not accurate, that’s when you get a director being offered an entry level job.”
The biggest hurdle to op�mising talent tech is people not knowing how to use it properly. Companies need to do a be�er job of
“Matching is the next big thing that recruitment market… But to leverage we need accuracy.”Adam Dale CRO, SourceBreaker
that will disrupt the leverage that capability
communica�ng the strategic benefits to the whole business and educa�ng stakeholders about the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’.
Recruiters are increasingly rewarded for enabling diverse and inclusive workplaces as well as robust environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies. “If you go back 10 years, DE&I was largely a box-�cking slightly performa�ve ac�vity, but now clients are looking for real delivery and capability, and we’re star�ng to see the same trend in ESG,” said Ken Brotherston, TALiNT Partners’ Chief Execu�ve. “Especially in big tenders, this can be the difference that makes all the difference.”
In a society wiser to virtue signalling and greenwashing, authen�city is crucial: top recruiters are linking execu�ve financial compensa�on and career progression to DE&I and ESG goals. Rhona Carmichael, MD, Harvey Nash, said: “Part of my bonus as a member of the global leadership team is linked to the diversity of my team and the scores we get in employee engagement in these areas, and it is a big chunk of what’s discussed at my bi-annual review.” Janine Chidlow, MD, AMS, said her organisa�on held its leaders to account both financially and through grading. A core focus of AMS employee engagement surveys is whether staff members feel a sense of belonging, a key indicator for reten�on.
A top-down only approach is des�ned to fail. Michele Smith, MD Client Services at REED Talent Solu�ons, winner of the 2022 TIARA Talent Solu�ons DE&I and ESG Awards, said a lot more educa�on was needed. “We have so many clients talking the talk, but unless they can get their hiring community to understand why it’s important to make these changes, it won’t make a difference,” she said.
Confusion around best prac�ce – and fear of doing the wrong thing – can ironically result in discrimina�on.
Lyndsey Simpson, CEO of age diversity specialists 55/Redefined, said the disconnect between the C-suite and the frontline had led to the absurd situa�on where frontline teams thought hires who didn’t represent any kind of niche diversity equalled bad recruitment.
“The most overly discriminated against group in the UK is white, middle-aged men,” Simpson said. “I can say this because I’m female; a guy would be cancelled for saying it. People are told they cannot apply for a job because a head-hunter has been told to present a diverse shortlist.”
Simpson pointed out that poor understanding of changing demographics meant older candidates are grossly undervalued. One in two workers in the UK will be aged over 50 in the next two years, and a significant propor�on are keen to con�nue working.
Declan Slattery, Chair of the Global Advisory Board at TALiNT Partners and Former Head of Talent Attraction & Engagement, NatWest Group, said TA leaders are increasingly comfortable using vehicles such as RPOs to better utilise in-house technology as well as to access specialist expertise. “There’s a growing recognition that there is an inability
in big complex organisations to own and manage all of that and [in-house teams may] not necessarily have the skill set to deliver it,” said Slattery.
Steve Carter, Staffing & Talent Tech Strategic Advisor, said one of the biggest impacts of technology is around process and structural transforma�on. “Most agencies I talk to have got more product than they know what to do with and none of it talks to each other – it’s a waste of money,” he said. “I don’t think enough thinking goes into how the technology and the people blend together to get the best and most op�mal solu�on. What are you trying to achieve and how do you do that? That’s where the genuine disrup�on is.”
Katrina Hutchinson-O’Neill, CEO & CoFounder of Join Talent, who have won several TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards, described how her business has capitalised on the appe�te for more professional, subscrip�on-based recruitment models. “I don’t think of Join Talent as a recruitment business,” she said. “We are a professional services business that
happen to be experts in recruitment and we don’t charge any transac�on fees whatsoever. In terms of client success, we’re an extension of your team and ideally we become your TA intelligence func�on.”
The move from transac�onal to professional services is a key trend that will shape talent solu�ons and staffing companies in 2023. However, transforma�on requires fundamental changes in behaviour and percep�ons. “People have talked a lot about technology and making DE&I more impac�ul, but it’s really about what behaviour you are looking to see in your businesses,” said TALiNT Partners MD Alex Evans. “How are you developing growth mindset in people? How do you want your business and service to be perceived in the market? It is really up to you to change percep�ons of staffing and talent solu�ons so you get that premium. That’s going to be challenging, but there’s an enormous amount of opportunity and a lot of transforma�on yet to happen.”
“The most overly discriminated against group in the UK is white, middleaged men. I can say this because I’m female; a guy would be cancelled for saying it.”
Lyndsey Simpson CEO, 55/Redefined
As the talent ecosystem faces the challenge of skills shortages and more jobs posted online than candidates to fill them, employers are looking for ways to a�ract new talent. But could there be an untapped talent pool not being u�lised? With almost 450,000 interna�onal students studying in the UK and the Government’s streamlined skilled worker visa programme working well, are employers missing a hiring trick?
Ikram Malik, Partner in the Employment team, specialising in Corporate Immigra�on at JMW explained just how easy the visa programme is to navigate.
The Conserva�ve government delivered on its promise to control immigra�on by introducing the new points-based system on 01 December 2020. The points-based system was introduced with a view to controlling migra�on to the UK, but also to ensure that businesses can recruit highly skilled workers and the best talent from across the globe to drive the economy forward.
UK-based employers are required to become approved sponsors with the Home Office before offering sponsorship to migrant workers.
When you apply for a licence, you must choose the appropriate route, and whilst there is no restric�on on the number of routes you may
select, you must only apply under a category where there is a genuine need for your organisa�on to fill a vacancy. The licence is granted for a period of 4 years and can be renewed prior to expiry.
The ability to offer sponsorship to workers is a privilege, which comes with the responsibility of ensuring the system is not abused, complying with wider UK law, and not behaving in a manner that is not conducive to the public good. Your responsibili�es commence on the day the applica�on is approved; however, you must have appropriate systems in place to monitor employees prior to submi�ng the applica�on.
The Home Office are currently processing applica�ons within 8 weeks of submission of the online applica�on and documents. You may be able to get a quicker decision (within 10 working days) on the applica�on, subject to approval of your priority request, which a�racts an addi�onal fee of £500.
There are more than 45,000 approved sponsor licence holders in the UK, approximately 33% of which became approved sponsors since the introduc�on of the new points system. Early indica�ons are that UK-based employers have welcomed the changes and recognised the need to fill labour shortages with skilled workers from overseas. Some of the key benefits of becoming an approved sponsor are, but not limited to:
• Staff reten�on: sponsored workers are less likely to change employers during the first 5 years of sponsorship as this the dura�on they must work under sponsorship to qualify for indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
• Staff Shortages in the UK: your business may be suffering from a labour shortage in the sector, or it may be a regional problem. A sponsor licence allows you to bring the best talent from across the globe to fill the genuine vacancy without the need to show that a suitable worker was not available in the UK.
• Applica�ons from overseas students: it is es�mated that more than 600,000 interna�onal students were enrolled in the UK higher educa�on for the academic year 2020/21. A large number of interna�onal students are seeking opportuni�es to work in the UK; not offering sponsorship significantly reduces the chances of receiving job applica�ons from candidates that are residing in the UK as students.
You must assign a CoS to each migrant worker you wish to sponsor. The CoS can only be used for one visa applica�on, therefore, if the migrant worker’s visa applica�on is refused, the sponsor
must issue a new CoS to the migrant worker. Sponsors must only request and assign a CoS for a genuine vacancy using the Sponsor Management System. A genuine vacancy is one which requires the worker to perform specific du�es and responsibili�es in tune with the business model, business plan and scale. You must also ensure that the dura�on of employment specified on the CoS reflects the actual dura�on the migrant worker is required for the role.
A vacancy will not be considered genuine if it is created primarily to facilitate an overseas na�onal to seek entry into the UK or to extend their stay. This includes but is not limited to roles that do not actually exist, or where the job descrip�on is exaggerated to meet the relevant occupa�on code.
Sponsored migrant workers must submit a valid applica�on for leave to enter or leave to remain in the UK and must score 70 points to meet the visa requirements. The points can be scored as follows:
Job offer by an approved sponsor 20 points Job at the appropriate skill level 20 points Salary at the appropriate level 20 points English language requirement 10 points
The changes introduced in December 2020 paved a way for a smoother process for organisa�ons seeking to bring skilled workers from abroad, and with that in mind, the following changes were introduced:
• Abolishment of the Resident Labour Market Test: employers are no longer required to adver�se the posi�on for 28 days to show that the vacant posi�on cannot be filled by a suitable se�led worker, allowing you to employ the most appropriate candidate for the role.
• Reduc�on in the required skill level from RQF level 6 to RQF level 3: the reduc�on in skill level was introduced to minimise the impact of EU Exit.
• Reduc�on in annual salary: sponsored migrant workers must be paid an annual salary of at least £25,600 or the salary specified in the relevant occupa�on code, whichever is higher. Employers may be able to pay a lower salary in some cases where the excep�ons apply.
• Suspension of monthly/annual limit of quota for Cer�ficate of Sponsorship (CoS) alloca�ons: this change has been welcomed by most organisa�ons seeking to employ workers from overseas knowing that there is no limit on the number of Defined CoS that would be granted.
• Allowing representa�ves to become addi�onal Level 1 Users to ensure compliance of sponsor du�es: managing your licence and complying with sponsor du�es is a key aspect of becoming an approved sponsor. This change allows organisa�ons to appoint legal representa�ves as an addi�onal Level 1 User to perform the func�ons on the Sponsor Management System on their behalf.
The government responded to the labour shortage in the care sector by adding ‘Occupa�on code 6145 - care workers and home carers’ to the shortage occupa�on list, allowing sponsors to bring staff from overseas even though the occupa�on code is below the required skill level.
It is expected that a similar approach may be adopted by the government to respond to the shortages experienced in the hospitality sector and an announcement is expected before the end of the year. Watch this space...
* Ikram joined JMW in July 2022 as a Partner in the Employment team, specialising in Corporate Immigra�on. He regularly advises businesses to become approved Sponsor Licence holders enabling them to employ non-se�led skilled workers. He believes in simplifying the complicated immigra�on process and finding solu�ons to meet client objec�ves. His recent work includes represen�ng businesses in health and care, hospitality, sports, construc�on, manufacturing, educa�on, technology, and medical sector.
Ikram works closely with Business Support Offices advising overseas companies on visa options to set-up a branch or subsidiary in the UK.
On the 17 November the results of the 2022 Talent Acquisition Benchmark were announced at the TALiNT Partners TA Leaders Summit at The Kings Fund in London.
Debbie Walton Editor, TALiNT Partners
After a year of record levels of vacancies, declining pipelines and a new urgency in employee retention and development, the results were eagerly anticipated by a room full of Talent Acquisition Leaders, HR Directors, and Talent Solutions Experts.
Debra Sparshott, Head of Insight and Research for TALiNT Partners shared this year’s narrative of a fall in confidence for the TA Leadership Community in the effectiveness off their processes, people, and technology to deliver the talent needed by the business over the last year. Skill shortages have challenged established attraction sources and brand messaging, highlighting the importance of the employer brand in engaging target talent, and creating distinction from market competitors.
“Necessity is the mother of invention”, and talent scarcity has forced creative thinking with attraction content, more reflective than ever of the applicants’ needs, and a surge in proactively seeking feedback, both internally from employees and externally from candidates and suppliers.
There is no questioning that 2022 has been a tough year for TA teams everywhere, but
Debra Sparshott Director of Research and Insights, TALiNT Partnersconsequently talent acquisition and development have become universal priorities at boardroom level, and the role of talent acquisition has been recognised for the strategic contribution it makes. And what are TA teams doing to attract and retain the talent needed in organisations today?
According to results of this year’s Benchmark Report, employers who focus on a positive candidate experience are winning the race in talent attraction and retention.
Employers should be asking what candidates are looking for now in a role. Over the last year, TALiNT International has reported that candidates favour employers who offer a sense of purpose, solid DE&I principles and an employer brand that aligns with their values. Has this changed, however, considering the shift in the current market?
According to keynote speaker Janine Chamberlain, UK Country Manager at LinkedIn, what talent values in the UK has changed. As mentioned previously, a sense of purpose was top of the list, but now LinkedIn data has shown
that candidates are looking for flexibility, compensation and career advancement.
Sounds easy enough, but are employers getting it right?
During the event, delegates had the opportunity to participate in a number of roundtable sessions with the TALiNT Partners sponsors to discuss future trends or challenges across a number of talent-related themes. Attracting and retaining key talent in the current market remains mission critical and how employers interact with their candidates and employees throughout the hiring process really does determine the success of the relationship.
Nikki Steeden, Head of Advisory & Partnerships at RTS People shared her findings from the discussions hosted by RTS People. Regardless of an organisation’s working policy, Nikki believes the key is to
remain as agile as possible during these uncertain times. In the same way that Heads of TA are aiming to reduce fixed /ridged org structures so that they are able to pivot when necessary, flexible working policies need to remain just that – flexible.
“Flexible working policies, like our VUCA world (and as the name suggests) are still in a state of flux. Whilst most companies are formalising their definition of ‘flexible working’, there is a split between those who are moving people back to the office and those who champion ‘work from anywhere’ policies.
In our roundtable discussions, everyone agreed on the benefits from some time in the office. Social interactions, sharing of ideas and experiences, corridor conversations and banter all drove engagement, energy and innovation. In particular, the importance for more junior members to be near mentors and role models to ‘learn the ropes’ was highlighted as crucial. Those companies who has invested in ‘state of the art’ offices just prior to the pandemic are understandably keen to prove their ROI, but in many cases have adapted their buildings to become social ‘hubs’, with cool spaces that make the commute worthwhile.
Yet the benefits of working from home are well documented, from productivity (some beg to differ), to work/life balance (again, some claim more burnout without the strict ‘home times’). So, it came down to whether companies should allow people to decide or stipulate office time, and the consensus was moving towards 2-3 days in the office, to achieve the right balance.”
Keynote speaker, Simon Fanshawe, Founder of Diversity by Design said that you can only improve diversity if you understand what you’ve already got in your business.
While there are many organisations who are making meaningful changes, there are some, for whatever reason, who are moving far slower than they ought to be.
Daniel Youds, Solutions Director, Reed Talent Solutions said that while the majority of conversations had agreed that
EMPLOYMENT
AND HYBRID WORKING – EVERYONE WANTS IT, BUT HOW ARE EMPLOYERS MAKING IT WORK?
DE&I was one of the most important considerations when developing a TA strategy, generally the consensus was that there were still much room for improvement.
“Some of the common challenges discussed included the adoption of DE&I outside talent acquisition with many delegates sharing that the view that DE&I is seen as a responsibility of TA, but for DE&I strategies to be successful more training and support needs to be provided to hiring managers (who make the final decision in most cases), and this is where adoption most often falls down.
“Sex, race, and sexual orientation remain the core focus from a D&I perspective but delegates recognised that other areas (such as the ageing workforce and disability) are also important and often overlooked. Some characteristics were really a broad catch-all term for what were actually many different and nuanced areas – ensuring all areas of diversity and inclusion are fully recognised, understood and addressed across organisations remains a complex challenge.”
Focus often seems to be on sourcing talent from outside the organisation when “growing your own” potentially provides talent that will develop and grow along with an organisation and its needs.
According to the Benchmark Report, the recognition of value add is rising and early talent is high on everyone’s list as in-application support ramps up to increase pipeline retention and reduce post-offer reneges.
John Hillis, Area Manager at Unifrog hosted the roundtable discussions on youth employment. He said: “Many organisations have increased their offering of higher and degree apprenticeships for external applicants, and as a result, are experiencing year-on-year growth of applications to these opportunities. Some, however, felt they could better use the apprenticeship levy to attract more external applicants rather than using it for upskilling their existing workforce. Another area of concern was understanding young people’s brand perception,
often not aligned to their current opportunities, e.g., a consultancy firm which had a growing need for tech roles. Many felt this could be improved by aligning TA with Marketing, as they often have different objectives and policies.”
After a surge in focus on the candidate experience in 2021, this years’ Benchmark Report results suggest the good are getting better and those struggling have fallen behind. Candidate Experience remains an important and fundamental part of the hiring process in a talent-scarce market but results have shown that parts of the hiring process have lost momentum.
One of the hot topics was around “overlooked talent pools” and how we can ensure that we eliminate bias within the process to ensure that every candidate is getting the same great experience, said Rosie Connor, Marketing Manager at eArcu.
She went on to say: “A discussion regarding how crucial that email or notification is for an applicant who has been rejected resulted from some roundtable participants being brutally
honest about anomalies in their process owing to a lack of resources. We spoke about providing the ideal candidate experience, but regrettably, some prospects are turned away because of their high expectations for pay, particularly when a rival company is providing much more.
The majority said that their candidate experience was significantly impacted by the 2022 market. With candidates being scarce, most had to step it up and rely on recruitment software and automation to help with this.”
Which brings us to talent technology. With the rapid digital transformations seen in 2020, it begs the questions: Where to from here? And are TA teams properly utilising the tech they have?
Ricky Cheung, Customer Success Director, EMEA at Eightfold.ai said that the interest in HR tech is high, but getting the best results remains challenging. This sentiment is aligned with results from the Benchmark that reported an increased focus on agility, internal mobility and assessment of transferable skills
in 2022, the overall confidence in existing tech has fallen. Following the surge in investment in technology over the last two years, there is a definite cooling off where buying new technology is concerned.
After hosting the roundtable Ricky said that there were a number of lessons shared among HR leaders in how to make HR tech work. They ranged from streamlining business processes and reducing complexity, and to persistently drive cultural change and mindset shift. Simply implementing a new tech platform doesn’t resolve problems on its own and patience is needed during the process.
Ricky said: “The tech is as good as your data infrastructure and it’s critical to have the right data mapping, data integrity and longevity. Collaborate with and trust the tech providers you’ve chosen, to leverage their expertise, maximise the features available to achieve the best outcomes.”
This year’s Talent Leaders Summit was a resounding success and delegates left with a smorgasbord of information that they’ll hopefully take back to their businesses to enable sound decision making in 2023.
With so many fit for purpose recruitment tech solu�ons available now, why would anyone build their own? But if everyone is using the same solu�ons, how do you differen�ate?
On 27th October, TALiNT Partners hosted a Dinner & Debate for some of the best CTOs and CIOs from our staffing and talent solu�ons leader network on the topic of ‘build or buy and why’.
We explored different perspec�ves, including what recruiters who build or buy gain or give up; how client, candidate and consultant expecta�ons have changed; and which tech strategy best supports this evolved demand. We also explored the implica�ons from an M&A and valua�on perspec�ve.
The event was co-hosted with experts from TargetRecruit and Salesforce who were able to share a breadth of insight from recruitment clients all over the world.
The tech leaders who joined the debate represented market leaders including TekWissen, Robert Walters, NHS Professionals,
HRGO, ManpowerGroup, Page Group and Rullion; many with backgrounds in other industries. Having seen the impact of tech & data in retail, hospitality, finance and property before coming to the staffing sector, what was their consensus on whether to build or buy a recruitment tech stack?
“The key point is where you are on your journey and how big you are,” observed Mark Hill, CIO of Tenth Revolu�on which owns Frank Recruitment Group. “When we made the decision to build on the Salesforce pla�orm in 2017, the CRM recruitment market was not as mature as it was now, and the choice for truly scalable and modern recruitment CRMs was limited. Our own need for more control led us to the decision.
“Today there is much greater choice. If you are small then you should probably s�ll buy pure SaaS, but if you are big you have more choice. You could adopt a hybrid solu�on buying a SaaS product from the likes of TargetRecruit or Bullhorn, both built on Salesforce, but you s�ll retain the flexibility to go ‘off-piste’ as-and-when you require. For a lot of large global recruiters, like us, this is extremely important.”
“Build or buy isn’t binary and there is no one-size-fits-all for any organisa�on,” added
Dave Callow, CIO of NHS Professionals, who is integra�ng a combina�on of solu�ons for its flexible workforce pla�orm. “Building and augmen�ng is like building an en�re housing estate. Salesforce is great for founda�ons while an ATS supplier is great for everything on top of that.”
“I would only build if we were 100% a tech company, but even building your own means you’re s�ll beholden to certain pla�orms like Oracle and Microso�,” he added. “We don’t want to be too unique to ourselves so we can integrate solu�ons that support our core aim - more people in front of more pa�ents be�er able to do their jobs.”
MOST AGREED THAT BESPOKE IS AN EXPENSIVE OPTION THAT MUST BE CONSIDERED OVER THE LONG TERM AND WITH A CAREFUL BALANCE OF RISK AND REWARD.
“Custom-building from scratch has previously been an op�on for established recruitment agencies, due to the lack of func�onal overlap offered by an exis�ng off the shelf product,” observed Chris Jordan, CTO of TargetRecruit, whose comprehensive ATS is part of the Salesforce ecosystem of integrated apps. “This op�on is one to be approached with much cau�on and awareness of the addi�onal complexity, risk and increased cost.
“What we’re seeing now is the ability to buy and then configure or customise an ATS, offering the quickest speed to value and lowest risk approach for recruitment agencies.”
Dominic Dow, CTO of Robert Walters Group, has seen early signs of success with this approach. “We own it, and we can pivot quickly if needed,” he explained. “Our consultants love it and it’s been an exci�ng project that has helped us to a�ract and retain our own tech talent. Our regions that have adopted the new
pla�orm have con�nued to be successful and expect, as new features are developed, we can truly support business growth and efficiency.”
Everyone agreed that buy-in from consultants is vital as they determine whether it’s a success or not. “Our ten-year business case is designed around the needs of consultants not revenue targets because they are the people who we need to stay and keep driving profitable growth,” added Dominic.
The candidate should also be at the heart of any recruitment tech solu�on. “Candidate experience is the most important considera�on and yet they’re o�en not the main focus when building pla�orms and are s�ll having to follow a protracted process, jumping through mul�ple hoops and submi�ng unnecessary informa�on,” said Graham Hewi�, Head of Solu�ons, Innova�on and Bid and ManpowerGroup.
But is this because candidate experience hasn’t been a big enough priority for employers with the over-supply of talent pre-Covid? In a post-pandemic, post Brexit talent economy, it has certainly become a differen�ator and an opportunity for recruiters to deliver more value.
TALiNT Partners’ benchmark of talent solu�ons providers last year revealed that what their clients value most is advice on the assessment and deployment of talent followed by employer brand and candidate experience.
“The advisory role of RPO is ge�ng stronger which is crea�ng great opportuni�es,” said James May, Execu�ve Director of TekWissen. “The problem recruitment tech s�ll needs to solve for employers is a true end-to-end process from ini�al hiring need to placement. There are so many processes and pla�orms, but they need to plug in and integrate with all of our clients’ systems, otherwise there will always be a degree of duplica�on and manual processes s�ll in play
Bespoke and off the shelf isn’t a binary decision anymore as recruiters combine custom elements with be�er integrated solu�ons
for the recruiters and the end client stakeholders”. David Holmes, Salesforce go to market lead, added: “Solu�ons on the Salesforce CRM are now proving this is possible.”
A major barrier to integra�on and orchestra�on of candidate matching and experience is that CVs aren’t standardised, and the majority don’t know how to promote their skills and experience in the right way. “If language isn’t fi�ng into the algorithms, AI can’t find the right people or match them with the right role,” said Vincent Van Maasdijk, Partner at Noon Dalton.
TIARA Talent Tech Star Award winner Bright Network has developed its own proprietary data solu�on to address this problem and match graduates with the most relevant employers and career opportuni�es. “Capturing relevant informa�on from psychometrics, interests, work experience and aspira�ons helps us to pre-qualify candidates and match with the right jobs,” explained Founder & CEO James Uffindell. “All of these problems can be solved by finding and u�lising the right data to achieve personalisa�on at scale.”
Whilst the majority agreed that build was expensive and risky, the overall consensus was that the answer to the ques�on is not why to build or buy but how and when to do both. “Custom build for a custom problem,” said Dave Callow from NHS Professionals, who added that a proprietary addi�on to off the shelf solu�ons can differen�ate if it’s solving the right problem.
“It was fantas�c to hear resounding agreement, in a room of such highly-regarded tech leaders, that purchasing a system like ours to build on and bespoke is the way to go for growing agencies,” said Neil Curry, Sales Manager, UK & EMEA at TargetRecruit. “Those that have built an ATS from the ground up have done an amazing job - and have some serious organisa�onal skills behind them - but not all businesses, even enterprise, can always pull that together.”
It’s harder to build the commercial case for bespoke when there are so many off the shelf solutions for a range of applications, but what are the implications from a valuation or M&A perspective?
“Buy or build is dependent on the journey you’re on and size ma�ers – because the very big staffing firms are more focused on service than a sale,” observed Philip Ellis, Owner of Op�ma Corporate Finance which advises both staffing and HR Tech firms. “If you’re a business looking to sell, developing your own tech is risky. For a staffing business to be valued as a tech business, you need to stop being a recruitment business.
“Technology does have an impact on profitability through produc�vity and higher value services, but I’ve rarely seen bespoke tech stacks significantly enhance the valua�on of a recruitment business.”
Build or buy or both, the industry as a whole must improve candidate experience, matching and skills-mapping. The right tech strategy, and solu�ons, will deliver a compe��ve edge.
Resilience was a fi�ng theme for last year’s TIARA Recruitment Awards as the best in the sector adapted to a challenging market, but this year judges were impressed to see so much investment in training, transforma�on, and inclusion through the recruitment boom.
Across all 16 categories, this year’s winners demonstrated why they are both recruitment partners and employers of choice.
With a combined turnover of £9.5 billion, and collec�vely employing 42,000 talented people, the 65 staffing firms shortlisted in 2022 represent the UK’s top recruiters driving innova�on and growth in the sector.
There were three double honours winners on the night, with the combina�on of accolades demonstra�ng what set them apart. Trinnovo Group won the WorkWell DEI Award and its
impact in this area helped it to win the Twenty20 Capital Best Recruitment Company to Work For with revenues of £20m to £50m for a third consecu�ve year.
New entrant Seven Resourcing won the PurePro Back Office Team of the Year and this support and shared services underpinned its impressive growth to win the Clearwater Growth Recruitment Company of the Year award. Opus Talent Solu�ons won the Odro Innova�on Award for its successful -nology train & deploy solu�on and its investment in the development of its own people helped it to win the Saffery Champness Best Recruitment Company to Work For (£50m to £100m).
Learning, development, diversity and inclusion also dis�nguished the winners of this year’s top individual honours. The Mishcon de Reya Recruitment Leader of the Year award went to
This year’s TIARA Recruitment Award winners proved why they are not just the best staffing partners but employers as well.
Zoe Morris, President of Frank Recruitment, for promo�ng diversity and innova�on throughout the tech sector whilst inves�ng in L&D and improving inclusion.
Steve Ingham, CEO of PageGroup, was also inducted into the Mercury Hall of Fame for an impressive career and bringing purpose beyond profit to life with ini�a�ves to bring more diverse talent into Page and its client businesses, par�cularly those with disabili�es.
“Following a life-changing accident in March 2019, Steve Ingham has focussed on crea�ng more opportunity for marginalised talent and helping employers to nurture more diverse organisa�ons,” said TALiNT Partners director David Head. “A high-profile champion of the role of recruitment in harnessing the hidden workforce to drive inclusion, we have an incredible new addi�on to the TIARA Hall of Fame.”
Chair of Judges Ka�e Folwell-Davies, Investment Director of Twenty 20 Capital,
highlighted ESG as a growing differen�ator for top recruiters. “ESG has become a hygiene factor and those recruitment businesses that don’t have an ESG agenda are falling behind,” she said.
Jason Mar�n, Head of Strategy, Recruitment, at Access Group – headline partner of the TIARA Recruitment Awards for the last 10 years –observed that companies of all sizes are measuring success in client, candidate, and consultant engagement. “We’re used to seeing larger companies capturing a range of metrics because they have the resources, but smaller companies are doing the same, which is important because it’s how they grow and measure success. Great to see SME recruiters inves�ng substan�ally in L&D and technology to retain and develop their growth leaders and make their talent more effec�ve as well.”
Winner
Seven Resourcing’s five-year degree in recruitment called UGrad+ programme epitomises the agency’s unparalleled dedica�on to employee excellence. It is en�rely unique programme that is offered to all new back-office employees, with endless benefits that enhance employee careers. Upon comple�on, employees get a university educa�on while earning postgraduate pay, which makes their back-office careers both progressive and lucra�ve.
UGrad+ students spend a year in candidate genera�on, compliance and payroll, providing invaluable experience, and a deep understanding of recruitment along with the ability to offer unequalled customer service.
To ignite a new level of employee mo�va�on, Seven Resourcing’s perks and reward scheme is comprehensive and everyone in back-office receives world-class
training, annual guaranteed pay rises, monthly all-expenses-paid team events and unlimited free drinks and snacks. Seven Resourcing invests heavily in back office tech to support seamless and produc�ve opera�ons within the team.
Employee wellbeing is of paramount important to the organisa�on and its partnership with Mind, all back office staff have 24/7 access to professional mental health support, including flexible working for a perfect work-life balance.
Judges’ Comments: Seven Resourcing was praised for its UGrad programme, a fiveyear degree covering a range of recruitment support for all new back-office employees to deliver excep�onal customer service. Judges also commended Seven Resourcing for aligning purpose and profit in its support of chari�es and communi�es and demonstra�ng energy and passion in its commitment to talent.
Xper�se Recruitment’s investment in technology and training and development returned solid results proven by an increase in employee NPS scores, number of internal promo�ons and increased ROI. The judges felt that the innova�ve classroom-based pod training, deskside coaching and external training showed a true investment in staff progression and wellbeing while simultaneously contribu�ng to an increase in average placements made by recruiters and drama�cally reduced a�ri�on.
Xper�se Recruitment has successfully created an environment that people want to work in and is supported by investments in new technology that has provided a compe��ve advantage resul�ng in a massive increase in ROI year on year.
Xper�se are just as invested in their candidate. They created a new candidate playbook enabling best prac�ce knowledge sharing with candidates like wri�ng a CV, interview advice, social media guidance which further improved the candidate NPS score.
Judges’ Comments: Xper�se Recruitment demonstrated highly impressive client, candidate and employee engagement, with excep�onal NPS scores proving a high level of customer service and loyalty. This scaling and agile staffing business is measuring the right impacts for success and proving a clear ROI on training, technology and DE&I as a recruitment partner of choice.
The implementa�on of an innova�ve, on-the-go learning management system (LMS) that allows employees access to training that enhances their skillsets set Danny Sullivan apart from other worthy finalists in this category. The investment in an LMS also allowed for it to be integrated into the candidate portal allowing employees access to the latest training when performing administra�ve tasks such as reading �mesheets or downloading payslips. The LMS can also be tailored to provide training in areas where skills need improving or advancing.
Streamlining training and development has posi�vely impacted the recruitment process by enabling their people to enhance the candidate experience, meet and exceed client expecta�ons and increase repeat business from exis�ng clients.
Danny Sullivan’s desire to engage with staff across the UK has proven paramount to their success as it has improved processes and alleviated �me spent on administra�ve tasks which has resulted in more meaningful rela�onships with the workforce and talent.
Judges’ Comments: Danny Sullivan impressed judges with its investment in a learning management system for candidates as well as its own employees to upskill and support its workforce. Judges also commended Danny Sullivan for their success in enabling people to op�mise technology to enhance candidate experience, improve client reten�on and increase repeat business.
Candidate experience is a major differen�ator for recruiters and Engage’s use of automa�on to onboard, engage and inspire candidates not only a�racts and converts a higher number of candidates but keeps customers engaged with its brand and drives reten�on.
By partnering with specialist, leading educa�on companies that provide candidates with innova�ve online CPD material, posi�ve handling support, mental health and wellbeing support for educators, Engage has created an environment for candidates in which to upskill, train and feel supported. All of this has a posi�ve impact on candidate a�rac�on and reten�on.
By retaining rela�onships with candidates Engage is able to ensure con�nuity in classrooms and valuable rela�onships with schools that provide stability for the business and candidates. Engage’s recurring, long term partnerships are clearly nurtured through service excellence for both candidates and clients and theses long standing rela�onships impressed judges.
Judges’ Comments: Judges praised Engage Partners for their ability to upskill candidates and maintain close rela�onships with them. They were also commended for providing addi�onal services to schools and inves�ng back into the industry.
This Award recognises excellence in the way candidates are sourced, managed and supported to ensure the best outcome.
Divers�y and inclusion was a dis�nguishing factor in this year’s TIARA Recruitment Awards and previous TIARA winners Trinnovo Group have added more TIARAs to its growing collec�on this year.
Trinnovo Group describes itself as a ‘tech-enabled, socially aware, human capital business focused on high-growth technology-led sectors’. It delivers services through its DEI consultancy (Equiris) and three specialist staffing businesses - digital tech recruiter Trust in SODA, business protection and business enablement recruiter Broadgate, and life sciences recruiter BioTalent. The Group also includes its own social enterprise supporting veterans (Ex-military Careers) and offline
community groups, including Women in DevOps and Diversity within Cyber.
Diversity & inclusion is a core part of Trinnovo’s employer and partner brand, so it’s unsurprising that it also won the TIARA DEI Award this year. In 2022, Trinnovo produced its first Impact Report lis�ng key DEI metrics for the Group and how they aligned with its purpose, vision and values.
Judges’ Comments: Judges were impressed with the work Trinnovo are doing to create a diverse workforce and support clients in being more inclusive. Judges described Trinnovo as thought leaders in DE&I and praised them for openly publishing their progress in their Impact Report to inspire others in the sector.
This Award recognises the commercial and cultural impact of policies and ini�a�ves to promote greater diversity, equity and inclusion for employees, clients and candidates.
Opus Talent Solu�ons demonstrated true innova�on with the implementa�on of its tech training ini�a�ve, _nology, in order to address the skills and diversity gaps within the tech sector. _nology is a fully remote, immersive tech accelerator that’s open to everyone, with the inten�on of crea�ng a diverse, sustainable tech talent pool that will con�nue to address and fill the diversity and skills gap in tech. This solu�on provides an ethical, cost-effec�ve, commercially beneficial solu�on for clients. _nology retrains and retains non-tech employees within businesses before transi�oning them into tech roles within the company, as well as offering bespoke training courses tailored to clients’ needs, providing them with quality talent with exper�se in their niche.
The success of _nology can also be accredited to the dedica�on of internal teams to create more space in the tech sector for quality, diverse talent. DE&I is embedded in the new starter L&D training and regular webinars and workshops are hosted to refresh staff on the importance of bias-free recruitment.
Judges’ Comments: Opus Talent Solu�ons impressed judges with the successful development and delivery of their ‘_nology’ train & deploy ini�a�ve, which not only differen�ates it from compe�tors but creates new tech talent to meet intensifying demand. Judges also praised its alignment of client need with ESG and showed why purpose is embedded into the DNA of the business.
This Award recognises the best examples of innova�on and improvement that have enabled recruiters to gain a compe��ve edge or grow more profitably.
Clearwater International is delighted to support the Growth Company of the Year category at the 2022 TIARA awards
“Clearwater International has been supporting recruitment businesses to create and realise value for nearly 20 years. Our heritage lies in working closely with entrepreneurs, founder shareholders and management teams on their growth journeys and ultimate liquidity event. We are delighted to support the TIARA awards which recognise and reward industry leaders for their hard work and success.”
The recruitment boom has helped to boost sales for most recruiters over the last year but Seven Resourcing topped an impressive shortlist of market leaders who have achieved profitable growth and built the founda�ons for sustained success.
Having already won Back Office Team of the Year, judges recognised Seven’s record growth over the last two years and its accelerated expansion into 22 countries from just one in 2019 from offices in the UK, USA and Australia.
Judges also praised its investment in training and development. Its own recruitment degree (UGrad+) and the Seven Academy tripled internal applica�ons and trained more specialist recruiters. A specialist temp recruiter in social care, nursing, criminal jus�ce, educa�on and life
sciences, Seven Resourcing received ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 cer�fica�ons and Cyber Essen�als and REC accredita�ons a�er 9 months of audits to deliver higher levels of service.
In addi�on to its investment in cu�ng edge training and technology, Seven Resourcing has ensured that all managers are professionally trained by the charity Mind charity to offer 24/7 mental health support to all employees. Seven have achieved a record high in staff reten�on and revenueper-employee to support long term growth.
Judges’ Comments: Seven Resourcing’s UGrad+ programme has driven higher reten�on and commercial performance by empowering employees to find their place and grow with the company.
recognises an impressive track record of sustainable growth in sales, profit, headcount, and client base in context of size and stage of scale.
In a closely fought ba�le, judges praised NES Fircro� for growing its global contractor base to 24,000, with 90% outside of the UK, and its highly impressive growth as a specialist energy and life science recruiter. NES now has a local presence in over 80 loca�ons around the world and opened new offices in the US, Canada, and Switzerland in 2022.
Judges also commended NES Fircro� for both its diversifica�on and commitment to diversity. NES is now a specialist in engineering and technical recruitment across the Oil & Gas, Renewables & Power, Life Sciences, Chemicals & Mining sectors, with diversified sectors now accoun�ng for over three quarters of its perm business and a growing share of its contractor segment.
NES now employs over 150 na�onali�es and has built a bespoke LMS to support the development graduates and employees globally. Whilst over half its workforce is female, NES introduced an emerging female talent programme to improve representa�on at all levels, with par�cipants receiving dedicated mentors and opportuni�es to present to the board on topics such as tech and EVP. In 2022, NES was listed second at the World Staffing Awards as a ‘Top Staffing Companies to work for’.
Judges’ Comments: “NES had consistently impressed with its growth and interna�onal expansion whilst inves�ng in diversifica�on and diversity to be both a partner and employer of choice in recruitment.”
NHS Professionals built on its Innova�on Award in 2021 with this pres�gious accolade in 2022, triumphing against a strong shortlist of finalists Judges praised NHS Professionals for demonstra�ng true specialism and strong growth as genuine leaders in their sector.
NHSP run the largest NHS staff bank in England - with over 180,000 clinical & non-clinical healthcare professionalsplacing highly skilled flexible workers in NHS Trusts. Its specialist Doctors Direct and NHS Professionals Interna�onal divisions also support the NHS by sourcing and deploying hard-to-find healthcare professionals across the country.
A range of na�onal recruitment ini�a�ves through the pandemic, under-pinned by a major transforma�on programme, have enhanced NHSP’s workforce solu�ons and enabled it to support new challenges. This includes addressing a na�onal shortage of mental health nurses in 2021 through partnerships, training and an innova�ve pre-pastoral care approach which reduced candidate a�ri�on and increased the interview to offer success rate.
Judges’ Comments: “NHS Professionals have consistently delivered best service to their customers and con�nues to invest in the wellbeing, learning and development of their internal and external workforce.”
This Award recognises market leaders in a specialist sector who can demonstrate the best growth, depth of knowledge, and differen�a�on from compe�tors.
Through rigorous compliance policies, investment in IT, streamlined temp customer compliance documents and onboarding that have been standardised and implemented countrywide across the en�re business, ERSG has facilitated knowledgeable, skilled staff, to work in a more efficient manner for the benefit of customer service, profitability, and strategic business management.
With the renewables industry changing at pace, ERSG has enhanced its services to facilitate long-term value for service. As the energy industry is a considerable growth market, ERSG has matched that global
demand to reduce emissions and carbon footprints as well as expanding its footprint into France and Denmark despite the pandemic. This has resulted in an increase in number of clients as well as an increase in headcount in its contractor workforce.
Judges’ Comments: Judges praised the ambi�on of ERSG, the bold moves they are making with con�nuous innova�on and investment in people, process and service, and how they are bringing purpose and Environmental, Social and Governance to life in their contribu�on to energy and the environment.
Stra�v reported a record-breaking 2021 with unprecedented financial and headcount growth as well as opening two new offices to support its rapid expansion. What set this entry apart was the organisa�on’s dedica�on to offering best-in-class service to clients by their best-in-class consultants. Stra�v’s passion for the industry was made clear by their drive to deliver echelon service that is based on rela�onships with its clients as well as its employees.
This massive year of growth also saw the launch of its culture deck, rebrand and
new website to reflect the company values. Boas�ng a reten�on rate of 90% and 100% of staff saying they feel empowered at work, it’s clear that Stra�v has created a nurturing and successful place to work.
Judges’ Comments: This entry stood out to judges for their investment in a culture of employee wellbeing. Judges were par�cularly impressed by the sta�s�c that 94% of its employees have said that working at Stra�v has improved their mental health.
This Award recognises employers of choice in recruitment who can demonstrate excellence in the a�rac�on, induc�on, development, and reten�on of their own talent.
The 3R Best Recruitment Company to Work For with revenues between £5m and £20m.
TIARA Chair of Judges Ka�e Folwell-Davies, Investment Director at Twenty20 Capital, presented this year’s award to Trinnovo Group, who won it for the third consecu�ve year.
Judges praised Trinnovo Group for se�ng ambi�ous DE&I targets, being so open about their impact metrics, and developing a new advisory solu�on to support clients with diversity and inclusion.
Trinnovo Group describes itself as a ‘techenabled, socially aware, human capital business focused on high-growth technologyled sectors’. It delivers services through its DEI consultancy (Equiris) and three specialist staffing businesses - digital tech recruiter Trust in SODA, business protec�on and business enablement recruiter Broadgate, and life sciences recruiter BioTalent. The Group also includes its own social enterprise suppor�ng veterans (Ex-military Careers) and offline community groups, including Women in DevOps and Diversity within Cyber.
Diversity & inclusion is a core part of Trinnovo’s employer and partner brand, so it’s unsurprising that it also won the TIARA DEI Award this year. In 2022, Trinnovo produced its first Impact Report lis�ng key DEI metrics for the Group and how they aligned with its purpose, vision and values.
Judges also commended Trinnovo Group for its CEO, a finalist for the Mishcon de Reya Recruitment Leader of the Year Award, for driving a culture of inclusion and learning, with impressive diversity across the business, high employee engagement and sustained growth in NFI per head. Its Advanced Leaders Programme is also developing future leaders with a forum for new ideas to improve customer service.
Judges’ Comments: “Two great TIARA wins for Trinnovo Group this, with its clear commitment to DEI a core pillar of its employer brand and proving that profit with purpose is has enabled them to a�ract and retain their own talent as well as clients and candidates.”
Saffery Champness advises the recruitment sector, providing clients with the highest level of service on both compliance and advisory matters such as group re-organisations, share incentive schemes and expansion overseas. Our clients range from boutique executive search companies to large international groups that have a combined turnover in excess of £5 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
Neil Davies, partner
T: +44 (0)117 906 4636
E: neil.davies@saffery.com
Opus Talent Solu�ons is commi�ed to the progression and wellbeing of its people across the globe.
With impressive levels of growth under their belt, including investment from Graphite Capital, investment in people, and the openings of new US and Barcelona offices, these awards are the perfect reflec�on of everything Opus has achieved, whilst s�ll keeping people at the centre.
Opus’ winning entries included their commitment to crea�ng opportuni�es within tech for everyone, regardless of their background, through their tech training and talent provider, _nology. They place huge importance on diversity
and inclusion, and sustainability, within all of their brands, including their Renewablesonly recruitment brand, JD Ross Energy. They also highlighted the steps they take to keep their teams across their 10 global offices happy and healthy through their HR hub, “Opus Well Rounded”.
Opus is proof that you can make money and do good – and be proud of both.
Judges’ Comments: Opus impressed judges with their clear commitment to ESG and D&I, which underpins everything they do. Judges praised its ‘_nology’ train & deploy solu�on which also brought to life their purpose beyond profit.
This Award recognises a large employer of choice in staffing.
One of this year’s best new TIARA entrants, Community Resourcing Limited emerged victorious in a highly compe��ve shortlist of entries.
Built environment recruiter Community Resourcing encompasses Resourcing Group, Eden Brown and Setsquare, working in partnership with clients to deliver long-term value – with client relationships ranging from 10 to 30 years. Judges were impressed with its impact on reduced cost per hire and time to hire rates from its blended technology and people sourcing strategies.
Community Resourcing impressed judges with their ini�a�ves to create an inclusive workforce and make a real difference, both internally and externally. They were par�cularly
impressed with its high staff engagement and low a�ri�on rate (below 13%). It also boasts a diverse workforce and has invested in the development of its people to not only support career progression but deliver a more specialist service.
Judges also commended Community Resourcing for its proprietary CRM technology to support staff, which has helped to grow GP per employee and made it one of the UK’s leading technical and engineering specialist recruiters.
Judges’ Comments: “Community Resourcing has created an engaged and inclusive workforce, with an impressive reten�on rate and good diversity stats that speaks volumes about their valuebased culture.”
There’s been a seismic shift in the power employees hold. Are you delivering on values and opportunities that go beyond salary?
Discover what you can do with the law of tomorrow, today at mishcon.com
With the restructuring of the TA and L&D teams that Zoe oversaw, TA targets are on target to almost double their headcount and L&D have redesigned the early training to focus experien�al learning for the trainee community. Judges praised Zoe for her dedica�on to DE&I and as chair of the Diversity Ma�ers commi�ee, Zoe leads the coaching programme that supports the growth of female leadership and the mentorship programme.
In 2021, Frank Recruitment launched its Women in Tech prac�ce, to help customers address their challenges around gender parity. The Women in Tech team source outstanding female talent and work in a consulta�ve way with customers to help place and develop more women across the fastest-growing cloud technology ecosystems.
Since launch, the team has helped more than 50 customers find outstanding female talent, met with over 200 customers to talk about gender diversity in technology, run 15 customer workshops on inclusive hiring, hosted workshops for candidates and given lectures at four conferences.
Zoe has moved the dial on DE&I and will no doubt con�nue to advocate for meaningful change for women in tech.
Judges’ Comments: Judges praised Zoe as a champion of women in tech leadership who is also promo�ng diversity and innova�on throughout the tech sector. Zoe has made a real difference in driving the business forward by inves�ng in L&D and improving inclusion.
This Award recognises a visionary recruitment leader who has achieved excep�onal growth, pioneered transforma�onal improvement - in their business or industry –and inspired the highest levels of engagement and performance from their people.
President, Frank Recruitment Group
Steve Ingham first joined the industry in 1987 as a consultant in the company’s sales and marketing division. He was subsequently appointed to the board at Michael Page in 2001 and has been CEO since 2006, during which time he expanded the company’s operations to include Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, China, and Canada.
Today he oversees a global business with a headcount of almost 6,500 employees across 37 countries. The business is recognised as worldwide leader in specialist
recruitment with a current market capitalisa�on approaching £2 billion.
Following a life-changing accident in March 2019, he has focussed on crea�ng more opportunity for marginalised talent and helping employers to nurture more diverse organisa�ons.
A high-profile champion of the role of recruitment in harnessing the hidden workforce to drive inclusion, he is an incredible new addi�on to the TIARA Hall of Fame.
Ihad the pleasure of spending a week working in Dubai at the start of November. This is becoming a favourite week in my calendar, not least because it coincides with the clocks going back in the UK and, this year in par�cular, being able to swap howling gales and driving rain for balmy 30-degree days and a cheeky hour by the pool before star�ng proper work, but because Dubai, the UAE and the wider GCC region con�nue to evolve and grow at a furious pace and the excitement and dynamism is palpable.
The TALiNT Partners team was there to host three main ac�vi�es in the region, all bringing different perspec�ves.
First up, our Talent Leaders’ Summit, brought together HR and TA leaders, as well as selected partners from across the region, to discuss talent trends and
challenges. This year provided a rich vein of insight and wisdom. Ron Thomas, MD at Strategy Focused Group, kicked things off quo�ng Dickens’ A Tale of Two Ci�es opening line: “It was the best of �mes and the worst of �mes”, perfectly capturing the paradox of dealing with global economic and social challenges whilst at the same �me being alive to the sheer effervescence and op�mism of the region.
Ron also ar�culated the no�on of TA leaders thinking of themselves as ‘talent architects’, helping your organisa�on design and build the best possible talent strategy. More controversially, he also suggested that the idea of focussing on ‘best prac�ce’ is outdated as it is in effect, like trying to copy someone else’s corporate culture. Rather, you need to build your own organisa�on based on evidence-based solu�ons.
Our panel discussion then expounded on the ‘talent architect’ concept, concluding that when considering the balance of technology and ‘touch’ TA leaders need to determine what the specific key human interac�ons relevant to their organisa�ons are that need focus and how do they ensure they align with the wider strategy and get measured accurately and regularly.
Our next presenta�on from experienced TA Head, Divya Agarwal, highlighted the rise of the ‘learning worker’, that key group of people with a thirst for development and learning. She had some s�mula�ng ideas on how you can iden�fy them, develop them and encourage others to develop a similar growth mindset; because increasingly being seen as an employer that offers skills development is cri�cal for the people you have, as well as for a�rac�ng new people.
Becky Playfoot, one of the foremost occupa�onal psychologists and assessment experts in the region discussed how employee well-being is now a hugely important element in any reten�on strategy. But the ‘fuzzball and beanbags’
approach of old is now much less important than recognising that clear leadership and having a fair manager are far more effec�ve factors in crea�ng healthy working environments. Some useful prac�cal �ps included having a mental health first aider, career planning clarity and delivering important informa�on in the morning!
Our final presenta�on of the morning was from Eman Khater, Assignment Support Coordinator at NES Fircro�, sharing insights from suppor�ng Baker Hughes. Her key lesson is as relevant to internal TA teams as it is to RPO providers: A successful rela�onship is built around flexibility, con�nuity and servant leadership (with the really important reminder that some�mes it’s our role to serve but increasingly it is our role to lead).
All in all, a rich and varied discussion. Now you might think that awards are just awards and are really just a good way to get people together to celebrate and network. And that’s true, but they are also more than that. At least the TIARAS are. At our gli�ering awards ceremony at the
Grosvenor House, our finalists represent the best recruitment and staffing work being done in the region and their ability to impact key talent challenges such as diversity and Emira�sa�on and helping to staff some of the largest projects that the world has ever seen all make our MENA awards incredibly important.
Having been doing these awards for some years now, it is also incredible to see just how quickly the region is progressing.
The final event of our trip was our Execu�ve Talent Seminar in conjunc�on with London Business School.
The focus for this session was mainly on the execu�ve talent market although things kicked off with a great market overview from Susana Correia, Head of Staffing and Scaled at LinkedIn. This was supplemented with some great insight from Jonathan
Holmes, regional Chairman of organisa�onal consul�ng firm, Korn/Ferry, and Damian Brown, Group Head of TA at Chalhoub, a major regional employer.
All of them highlighted the opportuni�es in the region and the ongoing high levels of demand, driven by sectors like travel and tourism, financial services, and avia�on but also some of the massive construc�on projects in Saudi Arabia, which are on a scale never seen before, with a requirement for millions of new workers.
One important observa�on is that, there is s�ll a tendency to recruit based on ‘brand’ i.e. which university/business school did you go to and/or which high-profile companies you worked for rather than the skills you can bring. This is something that will be interes�ng to track to see how or if it changes in the coming years.
So, all in all, a fascina�ng, s�mula�ng, thought-provoking week. Some great insights, lots of interes�ng people and one predic�on I am pre�y sure of – we’ll be back to do it all again next year!
Our partnership with the Talint Partners is tremendously great. The social gathering among talent leaders served as an apt space to draw insights on the contextgenerated needs of customers, get acquainted with potential partners, and gather relevant content about factors influencing the job market.
The event also served as an avenue for the talent acquisi�on leaders to go over emerging innova�ons influencing the ecosystem, thus, providing a head start on managing the impact of ar�ficial intelligence (AI) in job applica�on and selec�on, promo�ng internal mobility and employee development, and op�mizing talent acquisi�on capability, among others. - i12WRK
The global compe��on for talent has intensified in recruitment, those with the best employer brands who have balanced tech and touch, and trained their sector specialists, have already won this year.
The TIARAs recognise those not only accelera�ng the evolu�on of recruitment but enhancing the percep�on of the staffing sector. Open to all the leading recruitment, manpower and staffing companies across MENA, the TIARAs showcase the best to inspire the rest.
It’s great to see so many of the sector’s top brands shortlisted - past winners returning to defend their �tles and so many new challengers for top honours this year. Transforma�on, inclusion, and resilience are key themes underpinning the 2022 TIARA Recruitment Awards campaign.
Judges said that what set the best apart, regardless of size and scale, was how their people are op�mising Tech and Data, inves�ng in Learning & Wellbeing of employees and candidates, and focussing on a range of metrics for success.
The TIARA judging panel is dis�nguished by the breadth of perspec�ves from across the talent
ecosystem, from the industry’s leading execu�ves, NEDs, and chairmen to investors, advisers and heads of TA and HR from some of the world’s largest employers. They support our judging process with their reputa�ons as well as their considerable experience and insight. It must be exemplary, and it must impress respected leaders. This is what makes a TIARA the most powerful endorsement for MENA recruiters.
Thank you to everyone who entered and supported the TIARA 2022 Recruitment Awards. TALiNT Partners are proud to celebrate the crowning achievements of the best in the industry who have proved why recruitment is a professional service a�rac�ng more diverse talent and new skills.
If last year’s recruitment market was all about resilience, then this year is all about maximising opportuni�es.” said Ken Brotherston, Chief Execu�ve TALiNT Partners. The MENA region is booming and there has never been such a shortage of talent, and that in itself is the biggest challenge for our industry. Clients are demanding more innova�on and solu�ons from the sector and it those companies that are mee�ng this demand head on who are at the forefront of this year’s TIARAs.
This award recognises market leaders in a specialist sector who can demonstrate the greatest depth of knowledge, best growth and differen�a�on from compe�tors.
Salt is a digital recruitment agency connec�ng people and businesses within crea�ve, marke�ng, sales, technology and support service industries. Since 2003 its grown into a global organisa�on with 16 offices on five con�nents. Now it boasts 300 consultants ‘Crea�ng Futures’, placing candidates in 30+ countries with the vision to ‘Create Futures’ that posi�vely impact the digital economy. Salt recruits for its clients’ needs now and for the future, seek roles for candidates they’ll love long-term, and invest in its peoples’ futures at Salt. Services range from single hires to complete outsourcing solu�ons.
With its approach based on true partnership, the team combines an in-depth understanding of clients’ needs with expert market analysis. Salt boasts network of 1,000,000+ candidates, with a commitment to improving DE&I, and investment in professional development that empowers its consultants to ‘Create Futures’ that last.
Judges’ comments: Salt was praised for providing a full employment solu�ons partnership to their clients, suppor�ng lifelong learning and keeping a laser like focus on their specialist market sectors.
This Award recognises financial and market growth as well as excellence and innova�on in sourcing, suppor�ng, and placing the best candidates.
For over 20 years, Marc Ellis has supplied manpower to some of the largest companies across the globe. Its exper�se in the Middle East, combined with its knowledge and experience, enables the team to supply the best manpower within all technology divisions to companies who are already in the region, or looking to move to the region.
As an award-winning agency with highly skilled recruiters and talent partners, the team is able to support interes�ng tech companies,
regardless of size, to build the best teams and enable them to realise their vision.
Judges’ Comments: Marc Ellis were praised for their hybrid and adaptable solu�on providing clients and candidates with everything they need in an ever-changing work environment. The judges were also impressed with their investment in social media and keeping up with the tech advancements in the industry and worldwide.
This award recognises excellence and collabora�on in the delivery of a talent acquisi�on project or ongoing campaign.
VHR is a global technical talent crea�on agency, that creates talent where it does not exist through a combina�on of recruitment, training, and reloca�on. This approach not only provides clients with the skills they need, but staff reten�on levels of 90%+, whilst fundamentally changing the lives of its workers. VHR serves the Avia�on, Automo�ve, Engineering, Defence and Marine industries and in 2020 launched its Energy and Renewables, Civils and Infrastructure and Science and Technology sectors. VHR is led by industry experts who
ensure its recruiters truly understand the markets. VHR employees speak 17 languages across its network of eight global offices. VHR currently trades with more than 120 clients in 38 different countries.
Judges’ comments: VHR was praised for striving to improve working lives by crea�ng employment, and increased career prospects. Judges also praised their ability to build fit for purpose solu�ons and their substan�al growth a�er the pandemic.
This Award recognises an impressive track record of sustainable growth in sales, profit, headcount, candidate and client base.
SThree is a global STEM-specialist staffing partner who connect dynamic organisa�ons with communi�es of sought-a�er specialists in science, technology, engineering, and mathema�cs. Its global house of specialist recruitment brands brings exper�se in specific in-demand skills. SThree knows how to achieve the goals of STEM professionals who are
seeking both permanent and contract work and understand the organisa�ons who need them. Founded in London in 1986 as a small business, over the past 36 years SThree has expanded into a mul�-brand organisa�on, which gives its customers access to a global network of dedicated STEM specialists through 44 offices in 15 countries.
This Award recognises policies and ini�a�ves to successfully increase the number of Emira�s in the job market and their contribu�on to the economy.
Mark Williams is a fully licensed recruitment firm that is focussed on fulfilling clients’ needs in Emira�sa�on and Financial Services recruitment within the United Arab Emirates. With more than 12 years of experience and one of the largest networks in the country, Mark Williams genuinely understands UAE Na�onal recrui�ng and its cultural nuances. Its UAE Na�onal Network consists of over 80,000 UAE Na�onals, which is 19% of the total Emira� labour force. Over the years, there has been a growing demand for Emira�sa�on across all sectors, and have therefore expanded into
Industry, Government, and Financial Services. Mark Williams’ deep market understanding, and real-�me intelligence gives it in-depth UAE knowledge. These insights and knowledge allow it to provide business partners with unmatched speed and quality. It is one of the fastest growing agencies in the region.
Judges’ Comments: Judges praised Mark Williams for their great innova�on, and their depth of service. Also highlighted was their Salary and Market report and their approach to assis�ng talent in the market to achieve its poten�al.
Highly Commended
This
NES Fircro� specialises in providing engineering and technical talent across the Oil & Gas, Renewables & Power, Life Sciences, Chemicals & Mining sectors. With 81 physically manned offices globally, staffed by teams working in the same �me zone and communica�ng in the local language, it is able to offer talent solu�ons tailored to its clients’ needs wherever they are. The division of its business that supports renewable energy project,s grew threefold in 2021. Beyond energy, the growing demand for
STEM skills and deep recruitment capabili�es in these disciplines has fuelled NES Fircro� ’s growth in other sectors such as Chemicals and Life Sciences.
Judges’ comments: The judges said that NES Fircro� clearly demonstrated their commitment to DE&I through an extensive training programme underpinned by strong data. They also praised their use of technology to remove bias and for their KindNES ini�a�ve.
This Award celebrates the most impac�ul talent a�rac�on strategy, whether engaging early career talent, eleva�ng a client’s employer brand or providing a posi�ve candidate experience
For over 20 years, Marc Ellis has supplied manpower to some of the largest companies across the globe. Its exper�se in the Middle East, combined with its knowledge and experience, enables the team to supply the best manpower within all technology divisions to companies who are already in the region, or looking to move to the region.
As an award-winning agency with highly skilled recruiters and talent partners, the team is able
to support interes�ng tech companies, regardless of size, to build the best teams and enable them to realise their vision.
Judges’ comments: Marc Ellis were praised for their impressive initiatives including being the first recruitment company in the Metaverse. All of their activities are underpinned by a recruitment process built on ethics and fairness.
This award recognises a talent solu�ons employer of choice who can demonstrate excellence in the a�rac�on, induc�on, development and reten�on of their own talent.
Gini Talent’s belief in the value of a posi�ve candidate experience and an efficient process makes people happier. Thanks to its proprietary applica�on tracking system, talent-sourcers and recruiters communicate seamlessly, and the opera�ng model enables people without recruitment experience to become full-cycle recruiters and to collaborate and act like worldclass recruiters. Gini Talent is a human-centred company that designs processes and products to
eliminate fric�on in recruitment and enables employees from diverse backgrounds and geographies.
Judges’ Comments: Judges praised them for their diverse workforce, combined with an integrated business approach, which allows them to cul�vate a global pool of professional talent, le�ng clients expand their business on a local and global scale.
This award recognises employers of choice in recruitment and talent solu�ons who can demonstrate innova�on and impact in their a�rac�on, induc�on, development, and reten�on of talent.
Since 1985, Robert Walters has been on a mission to be the world’s leading specialist professional recruitment consultancy. To achieve this, it needed to dis�nguish themselves both on the quality of service offered, as well as through a unifying purpose — to power people and organisa�ons to fulfil their unique poten�al.
It has remained commi�ed to the same core principles that have driven success from the
beginning. These principles of teamwork, integrity, passion, innova�on, quality and inclusion ensure consultants are always pu�ng the needs of candidates and clients first.
Judges’ Comments: Judges praised Robert Walters for delivering excellence to their clients, candidates and employees, and specifically their commitment towards a green economy, a great rewards programme, investment in L&D and for promo�ng internal mobility.
This Award recognises a visionary recruitment leader who has achieved excep�onal growth, pioneered transforma�onal improvement and inspired the highest levels of engagement and performance from their people.
Judges’ comments: Judges commended Darren for his people orientated leadership, personal investment, commitment to the growth of his team and his ability to improve the business
whilst suppor�ng client needs. He has spent the last 16 years in the region and has built a fantas�c reputa�on over that �me.”
David Head, Director at TALiNT Partners explains why a TIARA is an important endorsement to help recruitment businesses shine.
The global compe��on for talent has intensified in recruitment, those with the best employer brands who have balanced tech and touch, and trained their sector specialists, have already won this year. The TIARAs recognise those not only accelera�ng the evolu�on of recruitment but enhancing the percep�on of the staffing sector.
Open to all the leading recruitment, manpower and staffing companies across ANZ, the TIARAs showcase the best to inspire the rest. It’s great to see so many of the sector’s top brands shortlisted - past winners returning to defend their �tles and so many new challengers for top honours this year. Transforma�on, inclusion, and resilience are key themes underpinning the 2022 TIARA Recruitment Awards campaign.
Judges said that what set the best apart, regardless of size and scale, was how their
people are op�mising Tech and Data, inves�ng in learning & wellbeing of employees & candidates, and focussing on a range of metrics for success.
The TIARA judging panel is dis�nguished by the breadth of perspec�ves from across the talent ecosystem, from the industry’s leading execu�ves, NEDs, and chairmen to investors, advisers and heads of TA and HR from some of the world’s largest employers. They support our judging process with their reputa�ons as well as their considerable experience and insight. It must be exemplary, and it must impress respected leaders. This is what makes a TIARA the most powerful endorsement for ANZ recruiters. Thank you to everyone who entered and supported the TIARA 2022 Recruitment Awards.
TALiNT Partners are proud to celebrate the crowning achievements of the best in the industry who have proved why recruitment is a professional service a�rac�ng more diverse talent and new skills.
This Award recognises an exemplary team within any back-office func�on that has enabled or best supported growth, innova�on or performance.
AMS provides total workforce solu�ons globally. Its 10,600+ experts help clients achieve True Workforce Dexterity: Fluid, resilient, diverse and differen�ated workforces. AMS is highligh�ng its Manila and Cebu Global Client Service Centres for this award. With a team of 1,100+, they represent APAC’s largest recruitment shared-service infrastructure,
providing end-to-end 24/7 support to ANZ and global clients from Centres of Excellence for Candidate Sourcing and Recruitment Administra�on. Its clients benefit from improved scalability, cost efficiency and brand penetra�on to increase direct hiring.
Judges’ comments: The judges praised AMS for their excellent metrics with a sustainable focus. They said it was an innova�ve, stand-out entry. A great success story.
This Award recognises excellence and collabora�on in the delivery of a talent acquisi�on project or ongoing campaign.
people2people is a white-collar recruitment agency that delivers high-quality recruitment services. It prides itself on being a people company first that treats all stakeholders (job seekers, clients, suppliers, industry compe�tors, and our own teams) with respect, believing that doing right by people builds trust and long-term rela�onships that posi�vely impacts people’s lives. To con�nuously improve
client service, people2people redesigned its approach to diversity and inclusion, workplace wellbeing, client experience, candidate care and employee excellence to ensure that it brings, not only its recruitment knowledge and experience, but also workplace exper�se to be�er serve customers and teams in the best possible way.
Judges’ comments: Judges said that there was a real connect between the company and its clients, resul�ng in win/win partnerships.
This Award recognises excellence, innova�on and impact in the way the candidates are sourced, managed and supported to ensure best outcome.
Since the acquisi�on and rebrand of Building Careers Australia to Evolve Talent in 2020, the company has scaled from a start-up to a scale-up business within a year and has expanded its recruitment services from Design & Construc�on-only to include industry-leading recruitment in Healthcare, So� Services, Manufacturing, Technology, and RPO. While each Evolve Talent division has its own
specialisa�on, the overarching ambi�on that ripples throughout the en�re business is the #1 value of people first ¬– offering its employees the most flexible and rewarding place to work alongside providing clients and candidates with the most genuine, personable and honest service possible.
Judges’ comments: Judges were impressed with Evolve Talent’s training program aimed at improving candidate experience. They also showed an impressive turnover and invested in their own team and candidates.
This Award recognises the commercial and cultural impact of policies and ini�a�ves to promote greater diversity, equity and inclusion for employees, clients and candidates.
As a leading provider of temporary and permanent recruitment services in Australia, HOBAN has a unique opportunity to promote fair and equitable employment opportuni�es. It boasts 12 offices around Australia, and on-hire around 3,000 personnel daily; it respects its opportunity and responsibility to make a difference and change people’s lives. HOBAN strives to build a workforce that is as unique and diverse as the communi�es it serves and to support people with barriers to employment, HOBAN created its Priority
Personnel Pathways Program. HOBAN creates a suppor�ve environment where individuals can realise their maximum poten�al, regardless of their differences and its Priority Personnel Pathways Program champions these values every day and enhances clients’ businesses by providing the best and most inclusive personnel.
Judges’ comments: The judges felt that Hoban Recruitment is an outstanding example of a culture that is fully commi�ed to DE&I, not just as a social ini�a�ve but one that truly improves business results, both for them and their clients.
This Award recognises the best use of technology in to gain a compe��ve edge based on a measurable improvement in candidate experience, client service and employee engagement.
Established in 2011, FIRESOFT provides a completely tailored and rela�onship-centric IT and Digital recruitment service to clients and candidates. Over the years its consultants have established a robust technical and func�onal understanding of IT and Digital Recruitment, as well as a deep network in their field. It operates using a team model with specialist ver�cals in different areas such as Business Intelligence and Analy�cs, Cloud, Development, FinTech, IT
Sales and Project Services. FIRESOFT People, goes the extra mile to ensure it represents top companies and have top talent at readily available. It tailor-fits each engagement and ensures that every candidate is assisted from the candidate’s first interac�on and up to their first day on the job and beyond.
Judges’ comments: Judges’ felt that FIRESOFT People used new tools to focus on employee excellence and some great partnerships were forged, leading to great growth.
This Award recognises companies which have made a las�ng and posi�ve impact on their local or wider community.
Established in 2011, FIRESOFT provides a completely tailored and rela�onship-centric IT and Digital recruitment service to clients and candidates. Over the years its consultants have established a robust technical and func�onal understanding of IT and Digital Recruitment, as well as a deep network in their field. It operates using a team model with specialist ver�cals in different areas such as Business Intelligence
and Analy�cs, Cloud, Development, FinTech, IT Sales and Project Services. FIRESOFT People, goes the extra mile to ensure it represents top companies and have top talent at readily available. It tailor-fits each engagement and ensures that every candidate is assisted from the candidate’s first interac�on and up to their first day on the job and beyond.
Judges’ comments: Our judges said that it was clearly evident that profit for purpose is en�rely embedded into Fireso� ’s philosophy.
This Award recognises companies that have successfully implemented a new training ini�a�ve or strategy for the personal and professional development of their staff within the last two years.
As a leading provider of temporary and permanent recruitment services in Australia, HOBAN has a unique opportunity to promote fair and equitable employment opportuni�es. It boasts 12 offices around Australia, and on-hire around 3,000 personnel daily; it respects its opportunity and responsibility to make a difference and change people’s lives. HOBAN strives to build a workforce that is as unique and diverse as the communi�es it serves and to support people with barriers to employment,
HOBAN created its Priority Personnel Pathways Program. HOBAN creates a suppor�ve environment where individuals can realise their maximum poten�al, regardless of their differences and its Priority Personnel Pathways Program champions these values every day and enhances clients’ businesses by providing the best and most inclusive personnel.
Judges’ comments: The judges praised Hoban for having clearly demonstra�ng a commitment to their staff through training, development and employee wellbeing.forged, leading to great growth.
This Award recognises an impressive track record of sustainable growth in sales, profit, headcount and client base.
The Network is a mul�-award winning, dynamic, forward-thinking IT recruiter that specialises in emerging technologies that are poised for growth. The team regularly speak at events and work with retraining groups such as General Assembly, CoderAcademy and Goanna Solu�ons. What underpins the success of any business is the people and talent within it.
Its focus is to provide the best people in emerging tech for its customers to enable them to innovate, grow and gain a compe��ve edge in the marketplace. The Network focus is to make customers Champions of their field, gaining a leading edge on their compe�tors.
Judges’ comments: The judges were really impressed with The Network’s ‘Perm as you go’ ini�a�ve and loved the idea of the podcast. They clearly showed excellent growth.
This Award recognises market leaders in a niche sector who can demonstrate the best growth, depth of knowledge, and differen�a�on from compe�tors.
Cornerstone Medical Recruitment (CMR) specialise in locum, contract and permanent recruitment for the Australian health industry. The CEO & Owner was an Australian Trained Occupa�onal Therapist who experienced first-hand the impact staff shortages have on the health sector and local communi�es. What differen�ates CMR from its compe�tors is that
it recruits for more specialist healthcare roles than any other agency in Australia. Many healthcare agencies focus on one or two core specialist areas such as Doctors across a diverse por�olio of clients from ci�es to remote communi�es.
Judges’ comments: Judges praised Cornerstone Medical Recruitment for its specialist niche teams making it possible for the business to pivot and recruit for new opportuni�es.
This Award recognises the best use of a brand in a recruitment company to gain a compe��ve edge based on measurable improvement in candidate, client and employee engagement.
The Network is a mul�-award winning, dynamic, forward-thinking IT recruiter that specialises in emerging technologies that are poised for growth. The team regularly speak at events and work with retraining groups such as General Assembly, CoderAcademy and Goanna Solu�ons. What underpins the success of any
business is the people and talent within it. Its focus is to provide the best people in emerging tech for its customers to enable them to innovate, grow and gain a compe��ve edge in the marketplace. The Network focus is to make customers Champions of their field, gaining a leading edge on their compe�tors.
Judges’ comments: Judges liked The Networks values-driven approach to the sector and the brand focus across their clients, candidates and employee’s journey.
Daxtra has revolutionized the way our business prepares resumes to be sent to our clients. It has changed a 4-hour-long process to a 90-second turnaround on CVs. By automating this, we have seen a notable upshift in the number of resumes the team are getting out the door.
”
Daniel Glenton, Sirius People
This Award recognises those demonstra�ng best prac�ce and excellence in its delivery of talent acquisi�on services.
Comensura is a Vendor Neutral Managed Service Provider led by technology and powered by people. It partners with a network of recruitment agencies to deliver a rich and diverse con�ngent workforce for customers, helping them meet their goals in all aspects of talent search, compliance, governance, risk mi�ga�on and cost savings. Comensura’s unique
value proposi�on lays in the fact it is not a recruitment agency, this ensures customers get the best candidate at the most compe��ve price from its dedicated recruitment supply chain, every �me.
Judges’ comments: Talent Solu�ons is currently the fastest growing segment in the talent universe and the judges felt that Comensura were pioneering and changing the landscape in this sector.
This Award recognises a new entrant that has shown financial and market growth as well as excellence and innova�on in sourcing, suppor�ng and placing the best candidates.
Your Doctor Jobs is a bou�que Medical Recruitment agency, focussing solely on doctors across a range of special�es from General Prac�ce, Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Anaesthe�cs to name a few. The company is a champion in this area because of its experience and
exper�se in the areas it recruits across. The current team of five consultants and two support staff all have a minimum of six years’ experience in Medical Recruitment, totalling nearly 70 years combined experience. Owners/ directors also s�ll recruit, leading to greater contribu�ons and buy in from all staff.
Judges’ comments: Judges said that they had shown remarkable progress underpinned by longer term sustainability.
This Award recognises those demonstra�ng best prac�ce and excellence in its delivery of talent acquisi�on services.
WOW Recruitment is an expert in Sales, Marke�ng, Technology, Retail, Business Services and Contact Centre recruitment but through its expansive network it frequently finds excep�onal candidates in other areas. With high level research, in-depth process and ins�nct for
recruitment WOW Recruitment is comfortable taking on even the toughest of briefs.
Judges’ comments: WOW Recruitment were once again praised by the judges for their impressive achievements, their growth all underpinned by a clear strategy and comprehensive employee development programmes.
This Award recognises employers of choice in recruitment who can demonstrate innova�on and impact in their a�rac�on,induc�on, development, and reten�on of talent.
Established in 2006, Launch is an awardwinning and quality-assured talent solu�ons organisa�on specialising in partnering organisa�ons that are leading digital transforma�ons with outstanding ICT professionals Australia-wide. Launch provides a range of services to both public and private organisa�ons including contract and permanent agency recruitment, execu�ve
search, payroll, con�ngent workforce management (MSP), recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and talent advisory. It is commi�ed to changing lives for the be�er; the lives of all involved including employees (internal and on-hire), candidates, clients and the community.
Judges’ comments: Judges said that Launch provided its employees with an environment where they are clearly engaged, successful and can develop their skills and talents.
This Award recognises employers of choice in recruitment who can demonstrate innova�on and impact in their a�rac�on,induc�on, development, and reten�on of talent.
Halcyon Knights (HK) is a leading APAC IT Sales & Technology recruitment firm, encompassing a specialist team of 100 professionals who play a pivotal role making valuable connec�ons between employers and technology mavens. A tech purist for 15 years suppor�ng APAC’s most
innova�ve businesses to secure quality tech talent, our business model allows clients and candidates to take advantage of expert IT recruiters who focus purely on each stage of the tech innova�on cycle.
Judges’ comments: Judges said that the company’s performance was underpinned by firstly listening to all of its employees and then embracing their thinking.
This Award recognises a visionary leader who has achieved excep�onal growth, pioneered transforma�on improvement and inspired the highest levels of engagement from their people.
Judges’ comments: Judges commended Simon for his people-orientated leadership, commitment to the growth of his team and his ability to inspire those around him.
As we look towards 2023, employers everywhere face a vast and unpredictable future. With continued economic pressures and an ever-changing job market on the horizon, it can be challenging for companies to recruit qualified talent while maintaining top-flight employees. As Grant Jessup, VP of Sales and Solutions (EMEA) at LevelUP explains, truly walking the walk when it comes to company culture is the game changer when it comes to those who want to stay, and those who want to go.
The Great Reshuffle, along with the latest trend of “Quiet Quitting” are set to continue into next year. A survey conducted by PwC earlier this year finds that almost one in five UK workers are likely to switch to a new employer within the next 12 months. The same survey found that almost 60 percent of employees expect to continue having the option to work remotely—a bone of contention for some organisations. On the employer side, there is a definite shift towards requesting employees return to the office, for at least a few days a week.
It’s a perfect storm for businesses that means being clear on workplace culture has
never been more important as candidates pore over every detail of what’s on offer—whether that’s a flexible working policy, company purpose and values, training opportunities, or workforce diversity.
For organisations, it’s crunch time to define exactly who they are—and to own it.
Culture is the DNA of your firm and needs to be articulated Culture is more than who you say you are. We employ the definition published by Great Place to Work: Company culture is how you do what you do in the workplace. It’s the sum of your formal and informal systems and behaviours and values,
all of which create an experience for your employees and customers. At its core, company culture is how things get done around the workplace.
Most companies tend to approach culture in one of three ways. Where companies fall into these categories can, in some ways, be influenced by the company’s lifecycle stage and industry (i.e., how established they are and the industry norms that exist).
There are the ones who live and breathe their culture and like to make sure everybody knows about it. For these organisations, culture is embedded through words, policies, and actions. It is important that, for these companies, culture remain relevant in changing times and that when culture evolves, the way in which they talk about it also changes.
There are the ones who are on a cultural journey, where it’s not about individuals’ personality traits but how they approach things collectively as a group. Typically, this is the case with start-ups or businesses that have just merged. In this situation, it is okay to be open with candidates that you are still in the process of building out your culture. Further, inviting employees to be part of this process may be an important step in creating a cohesive workplace culture.
And finally, there are true ‘HR/People Renegades’ for whom culture is about
bucking the trend and doing everything that corporate culture wouldn’t dare do. These companies are often outspoken about their culture and are willing to assume some risk to stay true to their culture.
Employers must be able to evidence how culture feeds through into their daily operations. Only then does it become tangible and something that candidates can buy into.
This is an area where LevelUP is working closely with our partners to ensure that culture is evident at every stage of the organisation’s hiring process. For line managers, this means embodying the values themselves so that candidates have a true sense of what it’s like to work at the business. This way, they can truly buy into the culture from the very start of their journey.
Even though economic uncertainty persists— meaning that job security and compensation are more important than a year ago—the employee-employer relationship still favours candidates and employees. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed by business leaders, with an eye-opening or operating model. Leaders understand the direct correlation between
It’s not enough to simply identify where you sit in the cultural landscape
“Tell me why I should come work for you…”
culture, talent and productivity business strategy or operating model. Leaders understand the direct correlation between culture, talent, and productivity
Create a strong culture and you’ll drive and increase employee engagement to not only boost retention and internal mobility but you’ll increase referrals and quality applicants.
Get it wrong, and the top candidates may already have self-selected out before accepting an interview, or worse, renege on the offer—that is if they even applied in the first place.
In today’s job market, the power lies in the hands of employees and leaders must address the causes of a bad work culture to retain their workforce.
The preference is clear: candidates want culturally-open and progressive businesses
We know workforce diversity is a moral imperative, but research shows that more than three-quarters of job seekers and employees want to see evidence of a diverse workforce when deciding where they work.
Working at an organisation with a clearly-defined mission is also important to candidates, and more than a quarter say they’re more likely to stay with a company that has a higher purpose than merely profits.
We’re seeing what’s going on in the wider world influencing a shift in people trying to find comfort in the attributes of a work
culture that they want to align to. Employees need safety, and their company’s culture needs to give them that safety. Not only do candidates want to work somewhere where they can be themselves from an inclusion perspective, but they also want to know whether the company is investing in them for the long-term and if they will receive fair and equitable wage.
Given the economic climate and an increasingly younger workforce, we’re also expecting to see companies become increasingly competitive when it comes to upskilling and reskilling to both retain and attract talent.
With our clients, we always work to formulate a recruiting strategy that supports their DE&I goals. This can range from setting representative interview panel standards and diverse candidate slates, to conducting hiring manager training around bias.
If you’re looking for a culture clone when hiring, you’re not being very inclusive
It’s also important to use inclusive sourcing strategies to bring a diversity rich candidate pool. We encourage clients to hire people who will add something to the culture as these are the candidates who will bring a different perspective and enhance your team.
No one wants to be in a company that doesn’t focus on diversity. Neither does anyone want to be in a company that says they care about diversity, but don’t have the benefits, policies, and data to back it up.
It’s vital to adapt to win the culture ‘war’
Those organisations who have already adapted their approach to culture have fared well in The Great Reshuffle, for others it’s time to catch up—and fast.
Those who are winning are attracting top hires with their proposition, while also keeping current employees engaged. These companies have determined how their culture aligns with many of the new “new normal” ways of working. They have made investments to maintain culture and have
adapted their storytelling to accurately reflect that culture. Those who have been slower to adapt are struggling to fill roles and are seeing disengagement that is leading to unwanted turnover.
At LevelUP, we’ve never been interested in being simple vacancy fillers. Instead, we work with employers to bring a market view on each role and consult with teams on how to get the role filled as true partner.
While many out of the box RPO providers can be rigid, we know how important it is to provide a tailored service that is agile and flexible enough to iterate processes and structure.
By using our specialist knowledge and expertise to run the consultative process, businesses can free up the time to focus on the cultural element so they can be really clear on what they are offering and can make sure everyone in the industry knows about it.
Power lies in the hands of employees.
TALiNT Partners and Guidant Global hosted a dinner for talent leaders at The Ivy in Birmingham to talk about football, airplane maintenance and the most important – workforce planning and the challenges faced by TA and TM teams.
Be�er late than never, as they say. It seems like an age ago that we were back in the Archer Room at The Ivy in Birmingham for another regional HR and Talent Leaders’ dinner. It’s always my inten�on to write up the key findings from these sessions as soon as possible but some�mes things get in the way and so here we are five weeks later. But like a fine wine, the insights from our guests have matured over �me and, like The Ivy’s famous shepherd’s pie, are worth revisi�ng.
Our guests were HR and TA leaders represen�ng a cracking cross sec�on of the Midlands’ largest and most dynamic companies and our lively discussion ranged across topics from workforce planning, managing a TA func�on in a downturn, DE&I, balancing a�rac�on and reten�on, early careers, how a�rac�ve the Midlands is for talent, line manger engagement, new hire a�ri�on and onboarding and finally, some crea�ve thinking about jobs of the future.
An ac�on-packed agenda for sure and one which was also very helpful in distrac�ng me
from the dreadful result Rangers had against Liverpool that evening (7-1).
Anyway, one of the first great observa�ons was this: There was a lot of agreement that the TA func�on has much more of a crossbusiness impact and influence than ever before. Clearly this is a good thing but can be a double-edged sword with the addi�onal workload it can bring. For example, technically, workforce planning isn’t really the job of TA but they can’t func�on without it so if no one else is doing it then it will o�en fall to them.
Likewise, the impact that a good tech stack can have, not just on the TA func�on, but wider talent management and HR capability can’t be underes�mated but again; it’s more work which can o�en feel like mid-air repairs and there is never the op�on to ‘land the plane’ to give it a proper re-fit.
This led quite elegantly (if I say so myself) onto a discussion about the interface between TA and TM and the inevitable tensions between a�rac�on and a�ri�on. Clearly, they are both challenging in their own ways, but the la�er is especially complex in the current market as employers race to develop sustainable flexible and hybrid working strategies whilst comba�ng significant external pay differen�als o�en across every level of their organisa�on.
Another trend specific to the TA func�on that we discussed was the impact of outsourcing. It was interes�ng that our partner for the evening, Guidant Global, were not only able to give some great examples of some of the interes�ng and complex work they do across both permanent and con�ngent
workforces, but also to talk about the trends they see of employers increasingly scaling back their TA func�ons to a core of experts and outsourcing the rest. There was a pre�y high degree of agreement that this is a trend but whether it is a long structural shi� or a short-term response to the current economic uncertainty remains to be seen.
One of the key points highlighted by our group was the importance of authen�city in describing a role – being honest about the pluses and minuses whilst s�ll demonstra�ng how a prospec�ve employee can s�ll do great work. It was the same for job descrip�ons which need to explain why someone should want to work for you and not just what the work is (they probably already know!).
Finally, and a�er perhaps more than one glass of red wine we ventured onto what some roles in the TA and HR func�on of the future might look like. Who’s up for a ‘Head of A�ri�on’, an ‘Onboarding Director’ or perhaps even ‘Chief Authen�city Officer’.
One predic�on we can make for sure, is that we will be back at the Ivy again as early as we can in 2023.
In
It’s no secret that candidate referrals are far more likely to result in more quality hires than other recrui�ng methods. In fact, referrals are four �mes more likely to be offered work than talent coming in via tradi�onal methods and 45% more likely to have longevity with an organisa�on (staying longer than four years). Because employee referrals account for 30 to 40% of all hires a company will make, it’s cri�cal to have a defined process and automated, innova�ve technology that supports it.
Organisa�ons – especially in today’s market – need to quickly get connected to highly qualified talent they can trust with specific, hard-to-find skill sets that o�en come from similarly-skilled talent. According to a recent Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, three in four companies globally report talent shortages – the highest in 16 years. Referrals
not only help bridge the gap in finding talent, but they are also a more cost-effec�ve method as well.
But companies shouldn’t just rely on employee referrals to find top talent. Today, non-employee labour (i.e., contractors, SOW-based workers, freelancers, interns, etc.) is reaching upwards of 50% of a company’s total workforce, so having the ability to maximise this cri�cal piece of your workforce is crucial.
Companies must take a more strategic and meaningful approach to find and engage candidates through direct sourcing. Direct sourcing is when a company sources its talent directly rather than through tradi�onal
a talent-strapped market, looking for untapped talent pools could be the secret souring new talent for your teams. WorkLLama creates communi�es of highly rela�onship management, and direct sourcing pla�orm, and Joss O’Bart, Vice
secret to hiring success. Candidate referrals are o�en overlooked when engaged talent with a single, modern, AI-driven talent marke�ng, President Sales at WorkLlama believes direct sourcing is the way to go.
methods like staffing agencies, job boards, or other methods. Direct sourcing not only a�racts ac�ve candidates but engages with passive candidates, who make up 70% of the global workforce. By using direct sourcing to fill highly skilled talent pools, you create another avenue for targeted referrals, shoring up skills shortages and tapping into a new source of proven talent.
Finding new ways to source and engage talent is becoming ever more urgent. In that same Manpower report, while there was strong op�mism about hiring in most sectors, industries across the board are facing a talent shortage. In fact, they found 75% of finance organisa�ons reported difficulty finding the hard and so� skills needed. The outlook in other industries were equally bleak: 72% in construc�on; 76% in educa�on, government, tech, and manufacturing; and 75% in retail.
Because we understand the effec�veness of referrals to fill talent pipelines, by using direct sourcing, you can expand and leverage your exis�ng referral programme by asking employees and con�ngent talent to refer people into talent pools to connect directly with qualified job opportuni�es.
Automa�on and personalised recruitment marke�ng can help nurture and engage talent at scale (not to men�on build cohesive brand awareness), so inves�ng in technology that can create specialised talent pools is cri�cal. For example, WorkLLama helped one high-volume call centre customer in a highly compe��ve talent market bring in close to 1000 new applicants in one week through targeted marke�ng efforts,
with every new applicant immediately enlisted in their referral program (and a 100% comple�on rate for referrals).
The goal for any technology is to be able to interact with the en�re workforce ecosystem delivering the most sought-a�er community of qualified talent. This means integra�ng with an organisa�on’s ATS, VMS, and other HR systems to harness the power of referrals throughout the en�re workforce via a networked marke�ng model.
This can be challenging in some organisa�ons where inclusive opera�ons don’t exist. If there isn’t cultural and opera�onal alignment between Human Resources, Procurement, Strategic Sourcing, and other talent management owners, the ability to implement a technology solu�on that addresses the en�re workforce and their networks is difficult. For companies that want to take advantage of direct sourcing and other avenues for finding highly qualified talent, they must do away with over-engineered processes and approvals and, instead, adopt technology that allows for smart automa�on that makes it easy to deliver a consumer-grade talent experience. Fragmented ecosystems consis�ng of point solu�ons that don’t offer seamless integra�ons make this impossible. It also doesn’t allow for cohesive messaging, branding, training, and other communica�on to be delivered across your workforce, o�en contribu�ng to unhappy workers.
Today’s leaders must look at their organisa�ons to determine their readiness for technology that can immediately impact the way talent is sourced, engaged, referred, and retained across all categories of workers.
For referral programs to work, there needs to be variable incen�ves for talent reten�on, complete visibility for your referral network, and an easy-to-use, automated solu�on to grow a community of highly skilled talent.
Inevitably the final article in the final issue of TALiNT International ends up as some kind of review of the year, with the equally inevitable predictions for next year. So here goes.
And what follows may well confound my colleagues because I can often be a bit of a gloomster when it comes to my views on the talent and recruitment market. And on the face of it, it would be very easy to take an “it’s been tough this year and it will be even tougher next year” perspective but, actually, I have a different view.
With the greatest respect to the people of Ukraine, for whom 2022 has been a terrifyingly difficult year, and also to people for whom inflation and economic turbulence means they are finding things incredibly tough right now, I actually think the underlying situation is not as bad as we think.
There are three reasons behind my optimism: The first is that the present recession looks increasingly like the first downturn to not lead to a significant rise in unemployment. This matters enormously as it provides a higher level of consumer confidence which helps to make any downturn shorter and shallower. The second is that it kind of suits governments at the moment to be talking things down a little bit (which is often ably facilitated and even amplified by the media) to enable things to be miraculously much better at election time in a couple of years.
And the third, which is the most positive thing of all, is that I think it is increasingly obvious that one positive aspect of the pandemic is that our ability to be agile, innovative, and resilient has been greatly enhanced and will not just enable us to manage through the current economic uncertainties but will create
Was 2022 really that bad, and what does 2023 have in store for us?
a new paradigm to help us deal in practical ways with things like wellbeing, diversity and climate change.
Which brings me to TALiNT Partners’ audience and their focus on helping employers finding and keeping the people they need. I have lost count of the times I have said that the ‘talent agenda has always been important, but that it has never been more important, and, arguably, that it is the most important corporate endeavour right now’ and nothing I have seen this year has dissuaded me from that notion.
So, in considering what’s to come in 2023; for the reasons above, I don’t think it will be nearly as bad as many commentators have said. Specifically, not only will hiring continue to hold up pretty well, I think employers will make improvements in managing their own workforces better through improvements in re/ upskilling and internal mobility, which in turn will lower attrition. There will be progress in engaging with under-privileged communities,
especially through train and deploy models as well as a lot of progress in tempting older workers back into the workplace. The use of technology will continue to improve as employers get smarter both about using their existing tech better and being careful about only buying new solutions that can demonstrably add value.
Having said that, I am writing this piece at 37,000 feet on the way back from our final big event of the year – our TALiNT and TIARAs even in Atlanta. This was our first proper in-person conference and awards ceremony in the US and, I have to confess I am still basking in the glow of the NPS score of +63 and may also have been aided by a few glasses of wine. I will re-read my article in the cold light of day with both jet lag and, most likely, a hangover, and report back…
[UPDATE] Sunday December 3, 9am. Both jet lag and hangover not as bad as feared and I’m sticking with my views!
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