TALiNT International January 2022

January 2022

TIARA winners’ predictions for 2022 People: Changing the gears of the talent industry

Plus...

• Q&A with TIARA Talent Solutions Chair of Judges • TALiNT Partners’ Q1 events • PointSix predictions for 2022

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TALiNT International January 2022

3 Leader

The new ‘new normal’ At the beginning of the new year, predictions are made and goals are sometimes put down on paper as we look towards the year ahead with hope and excitement. But if you could see into the future, what would you do with the information you have?

We’re entering 2022 with trepidation but having spoken to our TIARA winners of past about what they see happening in the talent ecosystem in the future, outlook for the year ahead definitely appears promising. While the last two years have been some of the most disruptive the industry has seen, the uncertainty has also resulted in much positive change.

Digital transformations happened overnight, working from home and hybrid working are here to stay as work/ life balance has been brought into sharp focus. But while most industries were able to continue working online and the breakneck speed at which Zoom and Teams meet ups became the norm, 2021 saw the onset of digital fatigue and the need for in-person interactions became evident.

Enter 2022: The year that people are going to change gears in the industry. This year we will see the return of the human touch without losing the efficiencies gained through rapid digital transformations; we will see an increase in interest in RPO and a shift towards internal mobility in a bid to solve the skills crisis and stop attrition.

Results of TALiNT Partners’ Recruitment Power List are out and while the industry contracted during the pandemic, it certainly didn’t see the massive losses predicted at the start of the pandemic.

Predictions abound in this issue of TALiNT International and we’re very excited to see where the year takes us. We will be hosting a number of insightful events throughout the first quarter and we’re looking forward to sharing the opinions and ideas of the industry leaders we have the pleasure of talking to.

I for one am excited about the new “new normal” that we’re working towards creating in

Debbie Walton Editor TALiNT International

2022 and while I’m hoping to see the back of the pandemic, I’m grateful for the changes it brought with it both professionally and personally. So, in the spirit of predictions, my prediction for 2022 is that the industry will see an influx of skilled employees from abroad and a return to a prepandemic normal!

“This year we will see the return of the human touch without losing the efficiencies gained through rapid digital transformations.”

About TALiNT Partners TALiNT Partners provides insight, content, connections and strategic support to the world’s recruitment & talent acquisition leaders.

We work hard to connect, collaborate and concentrate our efforts to ensure our events, experiences, consultancy and media solutions offer the best support for the talent industry.

Published by Talent Intelligence Partners Ltd Casa Court Great George Street Godalming GU7 1DX www.talintpartners.com Editorial: debbie@talintpartners.com News & features: debbie@talintpartners.com Advertising & Sponsorship: andy@talintpartners.com Design: annabelle@talintpartners.com

TALiNT International January 2022

4 Contents

Contributors

06 News analysis

06 3.3 million jobs posted on a single job site 07 Salaries increase by 65%

08 Q&A with TIARA Chair of Judges Jim Richardson predicts trends for 2022

Rob Ryan Serco Group

Sarah Wardle Eli Onboarding

Jim Richardson Magella

Anu Manthri Bright Network

Adam Hawkins LinkedIn

Scott Siwicki RGF Staffing

Olly Harris Page Outsourcing

Darren Westall Paiger

11 2022 predictions from TIARA winners Demand for people and personal touch to increase this year

14 PointSix Predictions

What’s in store at the P6 Predictions Summit

17 The Recruitment Power List Report Who won the war for talent, clients and consultants in 2021

20 News on talent Down Under

TA challenges in ANZ during the pandemic

23 TALiNT events calendar Overview of Q1 in-person and virtual events

24 TIARA UAE Leader of the Year TI sat down with Aws Ismail, Director of Marc Ellis in Dubai

26 TALiNT Talk

TALiNT Partners’ CEO, Ken Brotherston predicts the future Picture credits: iStock, Unsplash, Canva Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared for the exclusive use and benefit of the readers of TALiNT International and other contacts of TALiNT Partners and is for information purposes only. Unless we provide express prior written consent, no part of this publication should be reproduced, distributed, or communicated to any third party. You must not rely on the information in this publication as an alternative to advice from an appropriately qualified professional. In no event shall TALiNT Partners or any of those contributing to this publication be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence, or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the contents of this publication. © Talent Intelligence Partners

TALiNT International January 2022

Abigail Scott SOVA APAC

Aws Ismail Marc Ellis

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The technology needed to find the best people has changed.

“The Global economy has been significantly impacted over the last year and this has profound effects on how we find and hire the right people to survive and thrive in the future. Larger numbers looking for work, smaller resourcing teams, a turbulent economy and a major shift to virtual collaboration have changed the employment market beyond all recognition.

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6 News Analysis

3.3 million jobs added online in 2021 The latest reports from Reed.co.uk, have stated that over 3.3 million jobs were added onto its website in 2021 – that’s a whopping 1.5 million more than 2020 which equates to a year-on-year rise of 97%!

Reed.co.uk also reported a 25% increase in new jobs posted last year compared with 2019, when 2.7 million jobs were recorded before the start of the pandemic.

September saw the most amounts of job postings with 357,489 created which was an increase of 150% compared to 2020 and 60% compared to 2019.

Similarly in December 2021, which is a month where job postings usually fall in the lead up to the holidays and new year recorded nearly 350,000 new live vacancies.

December was the second most active month of 2021 and a 151% and 132% increase on 2020 and 2019’s figures respectively.

Job postings in every sector on Reed.co.uk were up year-on-year compared to 2020, with Customer Service (510%) and Transport & Logistics (337%) seeing the

highest percentage increases, followed by Banking (305%), Strategy & Consultancy (255%), Hospitality & Catering (176%), Retail (170%) and Manufacturing (136%).

In terms of the number of new jobs created, Transport & Logistics was the most active sector in 2021 with 376,000 jobs posted, followed by Customer Service (338,954), IT & Telecoms (264,184), Education (256,301) and Health & Medicine (168,558).

Further evidence of a jobs boom was reported by Reed.co.uk through its regional analysis of job vacancies on the site. Every region across the UK saw job vacancies for last year outstrip 2020 and nearly all saw more jobs added than before the pandemic. South East England and London were the most active regions for job postings with both seeing over half a million new vacancies added last year, a 77% and 108% increase year-on-year, respectively.

Recent analysis of Reed.co.uk’s jobs data also suggests that the ongoing jobs boom will continue into 2022, with over 32,000 jobs live on the site in 24-hours on the first Tuesday of the new year – a new record.

Read the full article

Customer service jobs increased by

510%

TALiNT International January 2022

Banking jobs increased by

305%

Transport & logistics jobs increased by

337%

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78% of employers monitor employees A recent study by Instant Offices revealed that there are a number of different employee monitoring trends happening in the new hybrid workplace.

According to the study, new hybrid working models have led to an increased need for employee surveillance software Similarly, according to Google Trends, worldwide searches for ‘employee monitoring software’ increased by 35% in 2020 compared with the year before. Key findings from the survey revealed that 78% of companies have reported using employee monitoring software to track worker

performance and online activity; 73% say they have stored the recording of calls, emails and messages and these have affected team members’ performance reviews. Frightening findings have revealed that over 50% of employers have implemented non-traditional monitoring techniques and 94% of employers track emails.

The only way to successfully implement these tools is through complete transparency. More than half of workers feel anxious about their companies surveillant communications. Still, when the employer explains the reasons for the monitoring, over 50% of employees say they are more at ease with it.

Read the full article

Salaries up by 65% in 2022 CV Library’s latest survey has revealed that a staggering 61% of professionals are unhappy with their salary, with the 1,500 surveyed professionals showing that lawyers, teachers and new graduates were the most unhappy with their current salary packages.

Despite this, the majority (54.6%) of respondents stated they had never tried to negotiate for a higher salary.

Results demonstrated that the reason respondents hadn’t negotiated a higher salary was that 51% feared it would risk losing their job, while 40% replied that they didn’t want to be seen as too pushy and finally 31% saying they didn’t know how to negotiate.

The pandemic appears to have worsened the issue as 29% of respondents said they were even less likely to ask for more money in 2021 than they were before the arrival of COVID-19. However, the

landscape has change with record numbers of job postings in the last six months and confidence among the UK workforce has grown as we enter into 2022.

According to CV Library, the salary shift is already reflecting in the 2022 job market with average salaries on the rise in 16 sectors in January 2022 so far, compared to January 2021.

The top 5 sectors with salary increases are: • • • • •

Hospitality/hotel +65.8% Marketing +12% IT +11.6% Administration +10.3% Management +9.4%

With The Great Resignation’s continued cover across the industry, leaders in various talent ecosystems are dubious as to whether these inflated salaries can be sustained and how smaller businesses without unlimited hiring budgets will be able to attract talent in this market.

News in brief Employers rigid in hiring criteria despite skills gap Commissioned researched by Reed.co.uk has revealed an increasing awareness of transferable skills with an appetite for reskilling among jobseekers.

The news comes after Reed.co.uk reported 140,000 courses were purchased in the first half of November – a 786% rise year-on-year – as workers re-evaluate their skillset in light of the pandemic. However, some employers remain rigid in their requirements of applicants, despite this wider range of talent that has become available to businesses with over half (60%) of hiring decision-makers still feeling it is important for applicants to have a university education, which immediately limits the size of their candidate pool. Alongside a university education, the research showed that employers add much value to soft skills, such as teamwork and interpersonal skills, as a result of the shift to remote working with two-thirds (64%) of hiring decisionmakers in agreement.

While a university education and soft skills are desirable for a candidate, some employers may need to become more flexible about their expectations, especially as over half (55%) of the businesses surveyed reporting labour shortages.

Sick pay cuts for unvaccinated staff in retail This month, IKEA made the decision to cut pay for unvaccinated staff who have to self-isolate because of COVID-19 exposure, and in some cases for those who contract the virus as well, will come into force. The move comes as firms struggle with mass staff absences and rising related costs due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Sick pay cuts will be implemented at Wessex Water. The decision has been met with mixed reactions from the industry with opinions warning of complex legal issues around discrimination.

Morrisons, Next and Ocado have also, this month announced they too will be cutting sick pay for unvaccinated staff who have to self-isolate in a bid to curb staff absences. It’s reported that this move may inadvertently increase COVID-19 spread in the workplace as staff won’t report being pinged by NHS Track and Trace so as not to lose out on their pay.

Work from home hack An IT worker earning more than £66,000 per year claims to have built a programme to do their job for them, without their boss realising. According to Gaming Bible, the anonymous worker claims to spend their days playing video games – all the while earning circa £66,000 after automating their job whilst working from home. Posting on Reddit, the anonymous worker wrote: “I work for a mid-size law-firm that hired me as an IT specialist to handle all of their digital evidence for trials. I quickly realised this was the only task they expected me to perform in my eight-hour shift. This was in no way an eight-hour job, so I was stuck pretending to work at the office most of the time.”

And when the pandemic forced everyone to work from home, their idea was born.

“In about a week I was able to write, debug, and perfect a simple script that performed my entire job,” the worker claimed.

While this particular employee may have duped his bosses, (if their claims are true), remote workers considering cutting corners may be in for a rude awakening, with many bosses now actively monitoring their work-from-home staff work rates through a variety of methods.

Read the full article TALiNT International January 2022

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Q&A A view from the top

As we enter 2022 brimming with hope, it’s easy to see that, even while spirits were dampened by the arrival of omicron, the industry is energised and ready to ramp up activities in 2022. TALiNT International sat down with Jim Richardson, our Chair of Judges for the TIARA Talent Solutions Awards to talk about what trends he predicts for the year ahead...

TI: COVID-19 dramatically affected the industry

JR: Managing the pressure from the business

JR: The impact of the pandemic will continue

Retention and getting hold of TA talent in their own teams will be a huge challenge.

in 2020 / 2021, although some businesses saw impressive growth during 2021. How do you think the pandemic will affect 2022?

into 2022 and even as we hopefully see the switch from pandemic to endemic, the impact of hiring volumes, remuneration pressure and employee retention will continue for a while yet.

The pandemic has certainly highlighted companies’ weaknesses; particularly in business strategy and headcount planning – some firms will struggle and fail; others will embark on major restructuring to survive while others will grow.

TI: What do you see happening to demand levels this year?

JR: I expect volumes to be very similar to H2

2021 and could get busier after March when several industries pay annual bonuses. Attrition will drive replacement hiring and I am expecting increasing numbers of early career hires as companies resort to growing internal pipelines to manage the talent shortage for the next five years.

TI: In 2020, video conferencing changed the

way we work and enabled us to somewhat continue to work and socialise for the better parts of 2020 and 2021. What tech do you think will make the biggest impact on the industry this year?

JR: Any tech that can help companies to a) speed up the hiring process and b) access candidate pools.

TI: What are the biggest challenges facing talent leaders in the coming year – other than pandemic restrictions, for something different.

TALiNT International January 2022

when hiring talent will put pressure on the recruitment process to make sure it’s as efficient as possible.

Debbie Walton Editor TALiNT Partners

Staying sane and trying to find time to develop and prepare strategic TA solutions for the business (early career etc.) against a constant state of firefighting due to the market conditions.

TI: The Great Resignation seems to be a subject that has divided experts in the industry. Our Chief Executive, Ken Brotherston believes it’s fiction! What do you think and why?

JR: I’m somewhat in the middle. The squeeze

on talent, particularly tech talent was predicted several years ago due to declining birth rates in most “western” countries. COVID-19 poured petrol on this and escalated the problem particularly from April 2021 when a lot of firms started hiring heavily again. Added to this is a move away by Governments for migration of talent to fill vacancies and you have a tighter and tighter local talent market.

I am a believer in the view that candidates have changed attitudes, but not as much as some think. I do think working from home with Teams /Zoom makes it easier for employees to i) take headhunt calls and ii) video interview than it is being able to do so when in the office.

“The struggle to attract and land talent will continue this year and I suspect organisations will test the RPO market with bigger “marquee” contracts to see if they can help.”

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Jim Richardson Founder, Megella

TI: What will unfold in the world of outsourcing this year and beyond?

JR: Over the last 18 months we have seen a lot of “programme RPO” as clients have looked for recruitment services to supplement their own internal teams, when recruitment picked up in 2021.

The struggle to attract and land talent will continue this year and I suspect organisations will test the RPO market with bigger “marquee” contracts to see if they can help. Thus, I see it will be a very busy year for RPO.

JR: I’ve been involved as a judge for a number of

awards programmes over the years, but I rate the TIARAs very highly. The energy, knowledge and credibility they bring to recruitment awards sets them apart from others in the industry. I am not surprised and applaud their global expansion and expect them to go from strength to strength!

TI: If you could make one big prediction for TA this year, what is it?

JR: My big prediction this year is that there will be an increased focus on early career strategy.

TI: Let’s talk about internal mobility. Skills

shortages abound and employers often neglect their internal talent. How can RPOs facilitate internal mobility and get renumerated for it?

JR: RPOs can make a real difference here and

add significant value for clients – hiring, cost savings and employee retention. They can use technology to help match skillsets of the internal workforce which will help proactive internal mobility – we could even see a bold move to internal headhunting. However, RPOs will need to ensure they can link to a client’s internal training function (for reskilling) and talent function (for career paths and succession planning) to add the most value.

TI: It’s almost the TIARA Awards season! What are you expecting from entries this year?

JR: I am expecting another step up in quantity

and quality this year. I am looking for entries to reflect the last 18 months as the recruitment market has become tighter and access to talent has become trickier.

TI: Why do you value being a judge in the TIARA Awards programme and what sets it apart from other programmes?

Jim Richardson’s long and varied career in the HR sector has given him a deep understanding of the industry. Jim is a qualified chartered accountant and an experienced senior HR consultant specialising in delivering people and employee-related workplace solutions across a broad range of business sectors.

Prior to consulting, his career included working in senior Talent positions within HR at Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, RBS and Santander. At RBS he was responsible for the global hiring of c.25,000 hires per annum and at Santander he ran the talent, learning and resourcing function.

TALiNT International January 2022

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TALiNT International January 2022

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2022 Predictions

People: Changing the gears of the talent industry Skills shortages, record breaking online vacancy posts and permanent moves to hybrid working, 2021 saw us all move towards what we thought was the ‘new normal’. But will the trends of yesteryear remain in 2022?

There are many ways to predict the future: tarot card readings, looking into a crystal ball, even shaking a Magic 8 Ball while asking it a pertinent question… the accuracy of predictions to come out of these methods though is questionable at best – or not if you’re that way inclined.

But considering the accuracy of 2021’s predictions that came out of TALiNT Partners’ virtual Predictions Dinner at the end of 2020, with conjecture ranging from increased demand in RPOs and MSPs, continued skills shortages and a larger shift towards remote working, we felt it better to go with a more reliable way of predicting what 2022 has in store for the talent ecosystem. So, we asked the winners from 2021’s TIARA Award winners what they think 2022 will bring and one thing is abundantly clear: The demand for people is set to increase.

THE HUMAN TOUCH Digital transformation and innovations enabled the world to continue operating during 2020 and 2021. Right to work checks are officially digital with meetings and social interactions still made possible through Teams and Zoom calls. But while the need for technology remains an integral part in the way we work and the war for talent continues, some believe that 2022 will be about bringing back the human touch without compromising the efficiencies gained through digital advancements.

“There are a number of trends that will drive us to innovative thinking and solutions that may be underpinned by technology,” said Scott Siwicki, Group Client Solutions Director at RGF Staffing.

“But they will in turn create more opportunity to increase the value in the human relationship and interaction part of what we do.”

Darren Westall, CEO at Paiger also predicts that 2022 will be about bringing back social interactions: “We spent last year talking about automation, this year we’ll be talking about how we can bring back the personal touch

Debbie Walton Editor TALiNT Partners

without losing the efficiency gains we’ve implemented. So many businesses have transformed and adapted over the last few years, with projects that would usually take years themselves happening in just a few months. The reality is we should all be automating what we can in our businesses, but we can never lose sight that we’re in the people business and that can’t be automated... or can it? Hyper-personalisation at scale is my prediction, and I’m excited to see what comes next.”

“Despite there being a lot of clever tools on the market, the most successful attraction strategies will focus on recruitment being a ‘team sport’, involving not just recruiters but hiring managers, staff and wider networks. It’s those personal and local connections that will really help to sell an organisation when there are so many identical roles on the market,” said Rob Ryan, Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing Manager at Serco Group, further highlighting the importance of human connection and interaction when it comes to attracting and retaining talent.

BALANCING WORK AND LIFE Adam Hawkins, Head of Search and Staffing from LinkedIn believes that the candidate-driven market will remain and that talk of The Great Resignation will get more airtime as more than 60% of UK workers are expected to jump ship this year. He said: “Record-high job vacancies in the UK mean that candidates are firmly in the driving seat this year. LinkedIn research shows that more than two-thirds of workers are thinking about changing jobs in 2022, with improved salary and a better work/life balance being the top factors influencing people’s decisions.

We know that the pandemic has exposed a previous disregard for a healthy work/life balance and Adam commented that worker wellbeing will continue to drive candidates’

TALiNT International January 2022

12 “Hyper-personalisation at

scale my prediction, and 2022is predictions from TIARAs I'm excited to see what comes next.”

Darren Westall, CEO at Paiger

decisions when it comes to choosing a company to work for.

client can turn on immediate hiring to meet the high demands of their businesses.”

Adam continued: “LinkedIn’s 10th annual Global Talent Trends report finds that companies that create greater flexibility, support wellbeing, and showcase company culture through strong employer branding are more likely to attract and retain top talent. With jobseekers becoming more discerning about the opportunities they go for, recruiter insight and advice will be imperative for helping businesses improve their agility and evolve their talent strategies to meet changing expectations this year.”

During the pandemic, many workers returned home to countries abroad to spend lockdowns.

It’s become evident that it’s possible to work fully remotely and this can potentially unlock access to talent pools far and wide.

FLY THE BRAND FLAG HIGH At last year’s TALiNT Partners’ Benchmark Summit, it was revealed that candidates place a lot of importance on the employer brand. Rob Ryan, Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing Manager at Serco Group agrees: “Based on last year and current economic forecasts we believe that recruitment is going to stay a candidates’ market, especially for volume and lower salaried roles. Companies are going to have to put a greater emphasis on their employer brand, increase their budgets, and their level of marketing activity to cut through.

I’ve never seen such a high number of employer brand and marketing roles on the job market before, so I think a lot of companies understand this.”

RISING RPO The last two years have seen increased demand for RPOs – especially because there has been an increased need for large scale staff rollouts in several industries.

Olly Harris, Global Managing Director, Page Outsourcing says they’re expecting another busy year with huge interest in RPO. “This is mainly because of the agility RPO brings, but also the ability to quickly turn on volume delivery. Given the volumes we are seeing in the market right now, outsourcing remains one of the best ways a

TALiNT International January 2022

Olly continued: “At Page Outsourcing, we believe the multi-country solutions will continue to flourish as talent acquisition heads realise that they have challenges in multiple locations around the world. Also, they realise that as a result of COVID-19, employees can work in different locations, therefore by tapping into an RPO that has a strong footprint, they should be able to gain greater exposure to overseas talent, thereby helping them fill some of these hard-to-find roles.”

Scott weighed in here, too: “There will be far higher levels for on-demand, overflow or project recruitment needs as businesses support short term solutions for their long-term growth, again the ability to deliver on this will be enhanced by sourcing, talent pooling and experience technologies.

INTERNAL MOBILITY With current skills shortages making headline news on a weekly basis, attracting talent has been a challenge. Employers often don’t look internally at existing talent and with reports indicating that around 60% of employees are looking to jump ship in 2022, all of the sudden The Great Resignation looks slightly less fictional.

Lack of clear progression paths coupled with inflated salary offers from competitors, sets the current candidate-driven market up for continued momentum. Employers’ internal and existing talent pools should be explored more rigorously.

Olly believes therefore that there will be increased interest in internal mobility: “As a

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result of the huge demand that we are experiencing right now, coupled with what is being coined as ‘The Great Resignation’, we think there is going to be a big interest in internal mobility where clients focus on moving people who are already employed around the organisation. This should help their retention levels and future proof some of their hiring needs. Closely following on from this point is upskilling and hiring for potential. We believe that this will be one of the ways that clients will meet the high levels of demand that they are experiencing. The simple fact of the matter is, there is not enough talent in the marketplace to meet all the requirements right now, so the only option many clients have is to train individuals up – therefore hiring for potential will be a strategic focus this year.

DATA-DRIVEN DETAILS Anu Manthri, Head of New Partnerships at Bright Network predicts that there will be focus on the early talent market: “In early talent, 2022 will be a critical year for social mobility. In turn, the way in which employers can connect with students and graduates, especially those from underrepresented groups, has changed.

Businesses that adopt data-led strategies to target, engage and assess graduates will be at an advantage, and be best placed to discover great potential regardless of a candidate’s background.”

The use of AI in the hiring process will support diversity and inclusion strategies which potentially help employers find talent in places they don’t usually look in. Anu commented: “For employers, this will include using digital outreach and engaging with students based on their behavioural interests, and through tailored messaging by acquiring a deep understanding of what resonates with different demographic groups. During the selection process, technology will play a central role in identifying what’s fair and what’s not – greater analytics during the

candidate assessment stage will help employers identify where certain groups may be disproportionately struggling and, in turn, empowering recruitment leaders to actively coach to create equity of opportunity for their graduate roles.”

According to Sarah Wardle, Relationship Development Director at Eli Onboarding, the detail is in the data when it comes reducing attrition. “This will be the year that data and management information will become absolutely critical in quantifying the value of your employees’ experience. Stakeholders and executive boards will demand it. Using data within your onboarding process will mean you can make your technology spend truly accountable – measuring accurately the savings made in key areas such as reduced attrition, drop out and admin, and increased candidate engagement and social interaction.”

Alex Evans, Managing Director at TALiNT Partners summed it up. “The last 12 months have brought the skills shortage into sharp focus as everyone adjusted to a candidate-driven market,” he said. “Despite concerns about redundancies following the end of the furlough scheme in September, there were 1.3 million job vacancies in October. There will be an even greater reliance on talent tech and better use of data to balance resourcing gaps – especially in recruitment as staffing and RPO firms fight their own war for talent to deliver for clients.

Whilst skills-based hiring and attracting candidates from other industries is becoming more popular, train and deploy is likely to grow in demand but those ahead of the curve are capitalising on this now. We expect to see inclusion as a service becoming part of the mix as recruiters and RPOs help organisations to keep the talent they find for them and prove their long-term value as partners.”

You heard it here first.

TALiNT International January 2022

14 PointSix Predictions Summit 2022

Predictions and priorities After a year of record-breaking vacancy levels, increasingly acute skills shortages, and intensifying competition for both candidates and experienced consultants, what does 2022 have in store for recruitment and talent solutions firms?

On 4th March 2022, our PointSix Predictions Summit will present a uniquely insightful look at the year ahead for the industry. A panel of leaders from award-winning staffing and RPO firms, talent tech providers and business advisers will share their predictions and offer insights on how to find and retain the best candidates, consultants and clients – and grow more profitably.

To set the scene, NatWest Group’s Head of Talent Attraction and Engagement, Declan Slattery will offer a major employer’s perspective on the talent landscape, how inhouse TA teams have adapted and what they now expect from their RPO and agency partners.

After the hiring freeze in 2020, the scramble for talent in 2021 and new candidate demands about where and how they work, what is the new normal that we are emerging into in 2022?

This year’s Summit is designed around five panel debates for a range of perspectives on this and other big questions.

Our first panel will look at who will win the war for recruitment talent, and how. DJ Marker, CPO of Trinnovo Group; Melanie Hayes, CPO of Harvey Nash and Janine Chidlow, MD of AMS will explain how their approach to L&D, D&I, employer brand and wellbeing helped them to find and keep the best talent and win awards as recruitment and RPO employers of choice.

This will be followed by our workforce panel on who will control candidates and contractors in 2022, and how umbrellas, staffing platforms, training and upskilling, and other initiatives will give recruiters and RPOs a competitive edge in building talent pipelines. Nicola McQueen, CEO of NHS Professionals, Julie Hinchcliffe, MD of RTS Contingent Workforce Solutions and the Parasol Group will share insights on their TIARA-winning approaches and predictions for the next 12 months.

TALiNT International January 2022

By Alex Evans Managing Director TALiNT Partners

Our tech panel will bring together leading experts from Bullhorn, Odro and SourceBreaker to answer the question: Where next for talent tech and data? We’ll be asking them what new client, candidate and consultant demands will drive transformation in 2022? As talent shortages continue to create challenges for recruiters, how will technology and data help to fill resource gaps and deliver new services? How are talent tech providers improving adoption and integration while increasing ROI? INCLUSION AS A SERVICE As more recruiters and RPOs offer inclusion as a service to differentiate and deliver more value for their clients, our industry panel will look at how providers can be better inclusion partners and ask what the industry can do to accelerate their impact. Who better to ask than leaders from two award-winning firms – Catherine Kellaway, Executive Director of Goodman Masson, which won the TIARA D&I Award last year for its impact on clients and the wider industry; and Karima Green, Global Head of DE&I and People Engagement at SThree, voted Company of the Year at the 2021 European Diversity Awards.

Our final ‘growth’ panel, co-chaired with Steve Solomon, Director of Professional Services at NatWest, will look at the innovative models and finance solutions that have helped providers to survive the pandemic and what will enable them to create shareholder value and thrive in the recruitment boom.

“This is a timely opportunity to debate the trends, challenges, and opportunities that leaders should prioritise this year with leaders and experts recognised for excellence,” said Alex Evans, Managing Director of TALiNT Partners.

“After the success of our in-person World Leaders in Recruitment Summit in October, we look forward to some great roundtable discussions and our industry lunch to connect with leaders from the best in the sector.”

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“Our industry panel will look at how providers can be better inclusion partners and ask what the industry can do to accelerate their impact.”

REGISTER HERE PointSix Predictions Summit 4th March 2022, London 8:30 - 14:30 TALiNT International January 2022

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TALiNT International January 2022

Recruitment Power List Report

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Winning the war for talent An estimate from BDO in its M&A Recruitment Review in February 2021 stated that the pandemic would cost the staffing industry 35% in revenues. According to TALiNT Partners’ Recruitment Power List Report, the overall decline in turnover among the top 500 recruiters ranked in the report is less than 10%...

So, who won the war for clients, candidates and consultants in 2021?

Throughout TALiNT Partners’ global TIARA Awards programme, a key theme to come out across all sectors was that of resilience. The recruitment industry proved that despite the most challenging of circumstances, it was able to adapt, reinvent and rebound. And while there was a reduction in activity across the board, the doom and gloom predictions made at the beginning of the pandemic didn’t entirely come to be.

The financial data for the companies featured in the 2021 edition of the Recruitment Power List predominantly covers the fiscal period of 2019/2020 and therefore highlights initial and sudden impact of

COVID-19 on the sector. The pandemic slammed the brakes on and slowed down a period of eleven years of consecutive growth but it also paved the way for change and innovation. One thing is for sure, the industry is poised for great things and our hope is that everyone in the top 500, as well as the wider industry, continues to invest in talent, technology and transformation in order to accelerate growth in this dynamic industry.

The Recruitment Power List has ranked the top 500 UK recruiters by turnover using verified data and Companies House records, researched and collated by David Head, Director at TALiNT Partners. He outlines below, the key indicators as well as the methods used to compile this comprehensive list.

TALiNT International January 2022

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The Recruitment Power List Report unpacked UK STAFFING SECTOR Despite the initial ‘culling’ of headcount within the sector, this has not adversely affected the overall number of staffing businesses registered at Companies House, which remained around the 40,000 level.

Having fewer people doing more did not have a massive impact at the highest level as our research indicates that there are now 121 companies with turnover more than £50 million as opposed to 128 last year, which indicates a small drop considering what the industry had to ensure last year.

Companies with sales of more than £20 million also fell as expected, from 328 to 311, again not too significant. There are still more than 500 recruitment companies that have a UK turnover of more than £10 million, and TALiNT Partners estimates that there are around 1,000 companies who have a UK turnover of more than £5 million per annum. This once again highlights the significantly large revenue contribution of a small proportion of companies to the sector and a highly fragmented industry with a very long tail.

TOP 100 RECRUITERS A key metric we consider in our annual research is the performance of the largest 100 companies by turnover and, as expected, COVID-19 has greatly impacted this number.

Turnover for the period has fallen to £26.6 billion from £30.7 billion in 2019 and matching £26.6 billion in 2018. That said, taken over a ten-year period from 2011 to date, turnover growth has remained very robust as shown in Figure 1.

Debbie Walton Editor TALiNT Partners

Alex Evans Managing Director TALiNT Partners

Although the number of recruitment companies has remained static, the number of people working in the industry has dropped from the 150,000 employees recorded in 2019. Early indications are that headcount has been cut by around 20%. Furloughed staff remained in our estimate of 120,000 professionals now active in the sector. Ironically, at the time of writing there is a mad scramble to find recruiters and salaries are rising. This sentiment was echoed at the TALiNT Partners’ World Leaders in Recruitment Summit where industry leaders discussed a shortage of talent in their own industry.

Ownership of the top 100 largest recruitment companies continues to widen with companies

Figure 1: Turnover of the top 100 UK recruiters 35

David Head Director TALiNT Partners

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Turnover

Even though the government implemented the furlough scheme in a bid to protect jobs, the industry was not slow to make cuts. The accelerated adoption of technology to adapt to remote working drove digital transformation, with greater investment in AI and Automation to fill gaps left by furlough and redundancy.

TOP 500 RECRUITERS A further indicator of just how the entire industry is performing, we took into account the financial results of the 500 biggest companies through their combined turnover. For this report, that number is £36.8 billion, a significant drop on the £40.8 billion recorded in 2019 and below £37.1 billion in 2018. This indicates to us that total industry turnover for 2020 was £45.5 billion, more than a 5% fall from the £50.1 billion recorded in 2019.

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£36.8bn $20.8bn total turnover of the top 500 recruiters in 2020, down from £40.8 billion in 2019

being represented through owners in the US, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, China, France and Spain entering the results for the first time.

UK VS THE WORLD One recognised voice representing global recruitment is the World Employment Confederation (WEC) who publish an annual report, with their latest edition covering 2019.

The WEC breaks down the recruitment industry into five components: Agency Sales, Direct Recruitment, MSP, RPO, and Career Management and it reports the industry had sales of £418 billion (€495 billion).

By far the smallest percentage is derived from career management at just £1.6 billion (€1.9 billion). RPO accounts for £4.8 billion (€5.7 billion), MSP at £28.4 billion (€33.7 billion), direct recruitment at £53.1 billion (€63 billion), and finally agency work with the lion’s share of £329.3 billion (€390.3 billion).

The WEC records UK recruitment industry turnover as £36.3 billion (€43.1 billion), a number we question given that in our research turnover of the top 500 companies in this report alone adds up to £36.8 billion, but the WEC puts the UK in third place. See Figure 2 for the world’s largest recruitment markets.

global RPO revenue forecast in 2027, after 18.5% CAGR from 2020-27 (Grand View Research)

MSP & RPO In the direct recruitment segment, the WEC has the UK with sales of €5.2 billion – which ranks it 4th behind the US, China, and Australia. In career management, the UK ranks 5th. Whilst there is no breakdown of UK sales in RPO and MSP what is significant is the change in size of both of those markets. The WEC says that MSP grew by 13% and RPO (or Talent Solutions as we call it), grew by a very healthy 25% – compared to 1% for traditional agency recruitment. At TALiNT Partners, we have been saying this for some time: recruiters ignore Talent Solutions at their own cost.

In summary, whilst COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the way we work, we are yet to see just how badly it has affected the UK and global recruitment industry. Chronic talent shortages have driven a post-pandemic (and post-Brexit) boom, but they are also creating resourcing challenges to meet demand for staffing and talent solutions providers.

To download a copy of the full report, please click here.

Figure 2 : The world’s top 15 largest recruitment markets Rank

Country

Turnover (€billion)

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United States

122.1

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Japan

52.3

3

UK

43.1

4

Germany

31.1

5

France

21.9

6

Netherlands

17.7

7

Australia

17.3

8

Italy

10.5

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Switzerland

8.5

10

Canada

6.3

11

Belgium

6.2

12

Spain

5.6

13

India

5.5

14

China

4.8

15

Sweden

4.0

£418bn Global recruitment sales in 2019 (WEC)

TALiNT International January 2022

SOVA 20 ASSESSMENT: Exploring the talent landscape in ANZ

News on talent Down Under With some of the most stringent COVID-19 protocols in the world, Australian and New Zealand businesses have had to adapt to very challenging and unique talent acquisition circumstances.

TALiNT Partners and SOVA Assessment convened a panel of TA and HR experts across a wide range of sectors to discuss approaches to the challenges currently facing the Australia / New Zealand markets.

TALiNT Partners Employer Programme Director, Debra Sparshott, highlighted the incidence of high tenure in some roles, a low percentage of the population at entry level employment and fierce competition as businesses ramp up their growth plans. Pay rates are soaring and there is a real geographic disparity between where the talent and vacancies are.

SKILLS SHORTAGES The statistical picture was familiar to the panel. A significant issue is low levels of quality applicants.

“This is the first time in several years that I’ve struggled to hire people directly in a sales role.

Only three months earlier I advertised a Sales Director role and had over 200 candidates in eight days,” commented a TA Lead at a world leading records management firm. Another panel member said they had over 1,100 candidates view an advert but only 12% conversion.

People are also being promoted far earlier into management than before and receiving significant salary uplifts. When these people look to move, they expect the same or higher salaries yet lack the skills and quality to justify this, which skews the market. As Debra commented we are seeing “the generation of expectation.”

A Global Head of Talent within financial tech services added “I think that’s going to create a huge void moving forward in leadership capability. I think the leadership issue is going to be one of the biggest challenges that organisations are going to face.” It’s believed that these huge salaries are not sustainable.

“Companies are being really reactive. My concern is that in two years’ time we’re going to find ourselves having to restructure because we can’t afford the salaries; the budget only goes so

TALiNT International January 2022

far,” explained a Senior People Partner in banking.

Marnie Clarke Features writer TALiNT Partners

This is rippling down to the graduate market too.

Abigail Scott, Managing Director, SOVA APAC shared that for one of her large clients graduate applicants are down because there’s such a skill shortage and organisations are therefore approaching graduates and offering them more senior positions.

The additional pressure of full lockdowns in Australia and New Zealand have highly restricted the ability to fill talent gaps through offshore hires and has made the market even tighter. This has pushed many businesses to embrace fully remote working. “In the past we did most of our hiring in the Greater Sydney market we now have the capability to hire across Australia, in New Zealand and soon other regions in the APAC region,” explained a TA Leader in software development.

CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE Certainly, the panel agreed the recruitment market is heavily candidate-driven with candidates expecting rapid responses in a tight and competitive market.

“We’ll have a conversation with somebody today and then schedule an interview really quickly and they’ll email us first thing tomorrow morning and say, I found a job,” explained a Senior TA Specialist in retail.

Abigail agreed that speed of response is critical now. “How we’re working with clients in the market is to automate the recruitment funnel.

So, for example, psychometric tests are conducted upfront with a specific benchmark. If the candidate hits that benchmark, they are invited straight to video interview.”

Other panel members are working on their EVP and employer branding, however the challenge is to fully embed this across the business.

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“Psychometric tests can be a great way to hold on to existing talent because you’re able to align their strengths with other roles.”

Phil Harrington, Senior Client Partner, SOVA Assessment

Other creative approaches included exploring new channels for talent. A TA Leader in software development explained they had been “working to open up different markets of candidates that we previously had not touched on. We’re partnering with organisations that are helping people who are transitioning careers or perhaps individuals that are coming back after a long time away from work or other organisations that are sponsoring refugees coming into the country.”

Others mirrored this with schemes for over 50s and sponsoring residency to help attract new channels of talent.

HIRE FOR POTENTIAL There is also a shift to hiring for potential. “When we’re interviewing new talent, we are really looking beyond their experience is and focussing in on capabilities and contributions,” explained a Head of People in Talent Solutions. The challenge can be trying to convince their managers to change their expectations in terms of experience.

“Gear your attraction strategy towards hiring for potential. Not trying to tick your wish list off to get the perfect person,” reflected a Senior People Partner in banking.

FOCUS ON RETENTION AND INTERNAL MOBILITY What effect does this competitive market and over-promotion have on retention? “It’s becoming increasingly challenging to retain people when you can’t offer them those internal moves because the roles don’t necessarily exist within the company,” explained a Head of TA in insurance. Other sectors are seeing very low attrition and a clogged talent pipeline. As a TA Leader in the automotive industry explained: “How do we help people realise that maybe the role isn’t quite aligned to their values or their skill sets, or their capabilities and help them to choose an alternate path? How do we do that in a really respectful way so that we can start to bring in the skills that we need for our future?”

The panel discussed that it sometimes feels easier to identify external talent than to

understand the talent picture internally.

Collectively they suggested utilising TA teams’ skills to help assess existing talent and linking up with finance to gain objective data and understand their immediate internal talent landscape and utilisation.

Abigail Scott Managing Director SOVA APAC

Phil Harrington Senior Client Partner SOVA APAC

The big challenge is making this assessment objective rather than anecdotal. “How do you make sure that measurement of the capability is objective and that it’s not just managers shifting people off their teams? Or holding onto their favourites and promoting them within their teams?” asked Abigail, from SOVA APAC. For Phil Harrington, Senior Client Partner, SOVA APAC, the key is utilising psychometrics.

“We don’t see psychometrics used as frequently for talent mobility or to conduct a talent audit so that you can understand your employees or benchmark them against your capability framework.” As Phil also pointed out: “it can also be a great way of being able to hold on to people because you’re able to align their strengths with other roles.”

Additionally, some panel members are working on succession planning using objective assessments to identify future leaders. One panel member explained they had been trialling this with leadership roles.

They said: “There is a very structured template that has to be filled out about skills, how they line up to the capabilities and what is expected of their leadership population. Development areas are also laid out as well as plan to develop them.

Every quarter everybody must come back to the table to discuss. It’s been really successful because we’ve just made some changes at executive level and all the hires are internal.”

It is certainly a challenging market with tough competition driving recruiters to look at new channels, hire for potential and shift focus to internal talent and retention.

TALiNT International January 2022

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• • • • • • •

TALiNT International January 2022

Upcoming events 2022 Event Name

Date

Audience

Location

Roundtable partnered with Indeed

16.02.22

In-house

Virtual

Roundtable partnered with Resource Solutions

17.02.22

In-house

Virtual

Dinner roundtable partnered with WorkLLama

23.02.22

In-house

Atlanta

Breakfast roundtable partnered with Synergis

24.02.22

In-house

Atlanta

Dinner roundtable partnered with AMS

24.02.22

In-house

Atlanta

The Year Ahead Summit

24.02.22

In-house

London

Date

Audience

Location

Dinner roundtable partnered with Guidant Global

03.03.22

In-house

Dallas

PointSix Predictions

04.03.22

Vendor

London

HR Tech Summit partnered with Deloitte

09.03.22

HR Tech

London

Dinner roundtable

09.03.22

In-house

New York

Dinner roundtable

10.03.22

In-house

New York

Roundtable partnered with Indeed

10.03.22

In-house

Virtual

Roundtable discussion

11.03.22

Vendor

Virtual

Talent Solutions leaders dinner

17.03.22

Vendor

London

PointSix lunch & learn workshop

24.03.22

Vendor

London

Date

Audience

Location

Event Name

Event Name

Roundtable discussion

07.04.22

Vendor

Virtual

TALiNT Ireland

22.04.22

In-house / Vendor

Dublin

PointSix lunch & learn M&A workshop

27.04.22

Vendor

London

Roundtable partnered with Resource Solutions

28.04.22

In-house

Virtual

Feb

Mar

Apr

VISIT TALINTPARTNERS.COM/EVENTS TO REGISTER

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Q&A Inspired leadership TALiNT Partners took the TIARAs to the UAE to celebrate the success of the recruitment industry in the region. The event was held at the spectacular Grosvenor House Hotel in Dubai where the penultimate award, The Leader of the Year was announced…

Aws Ismail, Director at Marc Ellis Recruitment and Training Academy walked away with the meaningful accolade last year. Aws successfully steered the Marc Ellis ship during a year marred by rough seas and uncertainty and was a deserving winner. The TIARA Awards judges praised Aws for his investment in establishing a strong team and building an open and supportive culture. A leader with heart, the judges also found the CSR work impressive, giving back and supporting the community through an incredibly difficult year.

TALiNT International sat down with the TIARA UAE Leader of the Year to talk about his success and aspirations.

TI: As the winner of the Leader of the Year

Award at the TIARA Recruitment Awards UAE last year, you were commended by the judges for building a strong team. Why is a strong team so important?

AI: Zaid Al Hiali and I are very active when it

comes to sourcing and meeting candidates for the Marc Ellis team. Our team is extremely important to us because we believe that a solid team is the solid foundation for a sustainable and successful business. We work with and see our colleagues more than family members at home, so essentially, we are one big family, and it is important that everyone feels a sense of belonging.

When we are meeting potential new team members, we ask questions beyond just their experience. We want to understand how they will fit into the business, what they will be like to work with and how they will work in the good and the tough times.

TI: You take pride in hiring people the right

people. But how do you identify the soft skills during the interview process?

TALiNT International January 2022

AI: We prefer to have an informal chat in place

Debbie Walton Editor TALiNT Partners

of an interview, which allows us to look deeper into the person’s reasons for working, motivation, drivers, and goals which we can try and support. I believe skills can be taught, but having the right attitude is extremely important to succeed in any work you do. We look at details like, incentive to be employed, is it for their family, a better life? Is it to do with their drive for wanting to join us?

We also look at their commitment to their career. It’s very important to us to understand their attitude towards selling. We care about how they want to be incentivised. We allow people to express themselves with the aim to let them be themselves. Naturally we are extremely protective of the existing team and we care about who joins and the impact it will have on them.

TI: Tell us about the CSR initiatives you spearheaded during 2021, which also contributed to your win at the TAIRA Recruitment Awards UAE.

AI: During a time that was unpredictable, we

took the initiative to give back to the community and at the same time to keep our employees engaged. The first couple of weeks of lockdown was an uncertain time, business initially slowed down and did not want to create any worry or fear for our team members. To avoid this, I wanted us to utilise our employees’ time by offering a free CV review service to people being made redundant or with uncertain work futures – not promising jobs – but at least offering a chance for them to improve their CVs and give them something positive to look forward to.

I initially launched it on LinkedIn and we received a huge amount of interest on the platform. Within a few days we received thousands of CVs and many positive comments,

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Aws Ismail Director, Marc Ellis

so I contacted the major news outlets in the UAE to reach a wider audience and let the country know we were here to help.

with individuals who are looking for exciting opportunities.

TI: Dubai is a buzzing hive of activity that is

UAE’s Leader of the Year meant to you and how has it shaped your business in the last few months?

made up of almost 90% expats. Work visa applications can be stressful. What technology have you implemented to speed up the visa application process for those wanting to relocate to Dubai for work?

AI: We have created a platform which allows

anyone seeking a move to the UAE to fully understand the steps and documentation needed and if required, we will hold their hand to ensure a smooth transition from their home country to the UAE. We also use a state-of-the-art HR system which allows all our current and future employees to upload documents from their laptop or even mobile that instantly arrives in our inbox, allowing us to collate all important and relevant documents quickly and efficiently.

TI: Tell us how Marc Ellis is positioned to

support those who are looking for an exciting opportunity to move to the UAE?

AI: At Marc Ellis, we actively try to work with

companies who are exciting, doing good for a community, discipline, or the country. We want to be where things are lively and interesting.

Since as we are placing people within these companies, we want to find the best person for the client, but we also want to give people the best jobs possible. We understand that your role is a huge part of your life and being satisfied in your role is important!

We continuously have vacancies that are new and exciting by working with some of the biggest companies in the UAE. We match these roles

TI: What has winning the TIARA Recruitment Award AI: It was an absolute pleasure to be recognised as

an industry leader in such a competitive industry.

Becoming Leader of the Year was only achieved because we have a great team who made it possible.

We put in so much hard work on a day-to-day basis to ensure we can deliver the right service and experience to everyone who collaborates with Marc Ellis. Winning this award has made everyone feel a sense of pride and recognition, not just me as a leader of the year but as an entire company.

TI: And finally, in your opinion, what do you think 2022 is going to bring to the recruitment and RPO ecosystem?

AI: The year ahead is going to be an incredibly busy

year with the COVID-19 crisis close to being behind us. A lot of companies are refocused on growing and re-strengthening their business which will open many opportunities in the recruitment space.

“Winning this award has made everyone feel a sense of pride and recognition, not just me as a leader of the year but as an entire company.”

TALiNT International January 2022

26 TALiNT Talk

2022. Who’s up for more excitement?

At the beginning of every new year, everyone wants to give their two-pennies worth when it comes to what to expect in the months ahead. Ken Brotherston, TALiNT Partners’ Chief Executive Officer has given us his.

I love reading new year predictions; they typically have a common theme of how this year will be the most important year ever for [enter your profession]…

For talent acquisition leaders this isn’t true – at least I hope it isn’t because 2021 was your most important year. It was where chronic and acute collided, creating demands on talent acquisition and resourcing teams like never before and the importance of what they were doing had an immediate impact on the economy and society.

Hiring to get jabs into arms, bread into supermarkets and petrol into garages are just three examples that spring to mind.

However, whilst 2022 may not be as mission critical as the last eighteen months, it will still be hugely important.

This will be the year where employers’ responses to the disruption of the recent past will become evident: policies on unvaccinated workers, flexible and remote working strategies, and the pivot to a focus on skills rather than experience and the how these impact attrition and attraction will all become evident. For those employers who have got it right (or at least not as wrong as many others), there will be a dividend in the form of a more stable employee base with a resultant increase in productivity and competitiveness.

The biggest question for many talent acquisition leaders will be: “How long is the current market going to last?”

In the UK the Institute of Employment is already saying the labour market has stalled, despite low headline unemployment figures. Now, whilst there isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, it does seem prudent to try and look beyond the current (quite possibly terrifying) number of open requisitions most organisations have and at least think about the implications for a slowing employment market.

TALiNT International January 2022

Ken Brotherston Chief Executive Officer TALiNT Partners

My own guess is that we will run hot until the summer and then start to notice certain industry or job-family roles slow down more rapidly in Q3/4. Certain industries will have much longer to run – the green economy is only just getting going and tourism and travel clearly have a long way to go to get back to pre-pandemic levels.

But nevertheless, the speed with which demand increased in late 2020 can easily go in the opposite direction if, for example, inflation really does take hold.

So, whilst we will hopefully avoid 2021’s relentless pressure to deliver, there is still important work to be done. Talent acquisition and resourcing functions more than proved their worth last year and will have another opportunity to do the same again this year, but perhaps with a more strategic approach. But whatever lies ahead I confidently predict it won’t be dull!

“My own guess is that we will run hot until the summer and then start to notice certain industry or job-family roles slow down more rapidly in Q3/4.”

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TALiNT International January 2022

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