TALiNT International October 2022

TIARA champions crowned

The TA & TS Award winner profiles

Culture contribu�on vs culture fit Which is more important?

Global M&A

A fresh perspec�ve

BOLD AMBITIONS SASZA BANDIERA, OYSTER MD, REDEFINES RECRUITMENT 1

TALiNT Interna�onal September 2022

TALiNT International October 2022

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ACCESS

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TALiNT International October 2022

LEADER

From the Editor It’s the TALiNT Partners TIARA Awards season! We’ve celebrated and championed the industry’s finest at diamond-studded, sparkly gala dinners in the last month and we’re delighted to share the profiles of all the deserving winners in this issue.

Our global awards programme, the TIARAs, are the biggest of their kind and we pride ourselves in the rigour of the independent judging process and the quality of the feedback our judges give all the finalists.

On Friday 23rd September the winners of the 2022 TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards were revealed at a gala dinner, for 250 guests at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane, a�ended by CEO’s, Marke�ng Directors, and senior leaders of top RPO and MSP companies. The winners have been profiled in this issue. You can read the profiles of all the winners from page 24.

The TIARA Talent Acquisi�on Awards were held on 6th October at the magical Montcalm Marble Arch in what was a

celebra�on of success and achievement for the TA space. The biggest winners of the evening were Direct Line Group who went home with three awards, including the coveted TA Team of the Year Award. Read the profiles of the winning entries from page 50.

We always work �relessly to bring our readers the best in market and industry insights that we curate from discussions at our Member Programme events. This month, TALiNT Partners MD, Alex Evans and TALiNT Partners CEO, Ken Brotherston hosted two events that covered M&A and the best in HR Tech. You’ll find those insights on page 10.

It would be amiss for me not to men�on our Cover Story this month. Oyster Partnership CEO Sasza Bandiera sat down exclusively with TALiNT Interna�onal to discuss his company’s rebrand, trends in the market and how he is fast becoming a major disruptor in the recruitment sector!

Happy reading!

Published by Talent Intelligence Partners Ltd Casa Court Great George Street Godalming GU71DX www.talintpartners.com

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.

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 TALiNT International October 2022

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TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards

Contents TALiNT Scene

Dinners & awards galore!

Clarke Bowles

Seb Maley

10

Past the peak

12

News analysis

Sasza Bandiera

James Crichton

18

Q&A with recruitment hotshot

Chris Wolfe-Elder

Steve Dilley

22

TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards Kiren Asad

Geraint Rowe

Sara Hill

Wendy McDougall

My Digital

The latest in M&A and HR Tech

Chancellor blows up IR35 Employees call for salary transparency

TI spoke to Oyster MD, Sasza Bandiera

The champions are profiled

Oyster

Twenty20 Capital

Deloi�e

46

TIARA Talent Acquisi�on Awards

66

Great expecta�ons

68

Culture contribu�on vs culture fit

72

Global M&A

74

TALiNT Talk

4

Qdos

OMNI RMS

Consultancy Plus, part of Reed Talent Solu�on

Gambit Corporate Finance

Profiles of the winning entries

Does your EVP stand out?

Which is more important?

A fresh perspec�ve

Ken Brotherston, TALiNT Partners’ CEO hits a nerve TALiNT International October 2022

Role Mapper

Fire Fish So�ware

46 TIARA Talent Acquisi�on Awards

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Contributors

OMNI

Omni Flex Embedded TA Solutions With the pressure on internal TA teams increasing as organisations struggle to hire professional recruiters, many are looking to RPO providers to help: • Augment TA teams to meet business needs • Secure candidates in high-demand sectors • Reduce spiralling agency spend by improving direct hiring The Omni Flex service enables you to build TA capacity and capability quickly by engaging talent professionals when you need them most.

Get in touch to find out if now is the right time to consider an embedded talent solution.

TALiNT International October 2022

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TALiNT Scene It has been an incredibly busy and celebratory month for TALiNT Partners and as usual, the who’s who of the talent ecosystem joined us to talk shop over dinners as well as celebra�ng the best in the industry where TIARA winners from the TA and TS sectors were crowned at gala dinners across London!

7 October

TIARA Talent Acquisi�on Awards, Montcalm Marble Arch, London

In a glitzy and glamourous gathering of the stars of the TA space, we celebrated the winners of this year’s TIARA Talent Acquisi�on Awards. There were too many highlights of the evening to men�on, but a�en�on must be brought to the chicken main dish – and all the brilliant winners of the night, of course!

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TALiNT International October 2022

12 October

The Ivy, Birmingham

TALiNT Partners headed north with Guidant Global to discuss diversifying your a�rac�on strategy and total talent management, including managing the con�ngent workforce, internal mobility and more!

13 October

World Leaders in Recruitment Summit, NatWest Conference Centre, London

TALiNT Partners hosted the World Leaders in Recruitment Summit where insights were shared from the world’s best staffing and RPO leaders on what is transforming recruitment, why it is increasingly valued as a professional service, and how to increase margins and profitable growth in 2023, what really ma�ers to candidates, regardless of what the surveys tell us…

And, it must be said, we’ll be back at The Ivy soon – it was fantas�c!

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TALiNT Scene The Bloomsbury Hotel, London

In partnership with Cornerstone, TALiNT Partners’ CEO Ken Brotherston co-hosted a dinner with Cornerstone’s Andrew Brown.

Joined by leaders from the Talent Solu�ons industry, key insights and trends were discussed over wine and delicious culinary treats, while surrounded by lots of books!

18 October

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TALiNT International October 2022

23 October

TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards, Sheraton Grand London Park Lane

TALiNT Partners hosted the best of the best in Talent Solu�ons at this year’s diamondstudded TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards! We love pu�ng on a good show and the hosts TALiNT Partners CEO Ken Brotherston and Director of Research and Insights Debra Sparsho� took us through a celebra�on of winners and a very delicious dinner!

TALiNT International October 2022

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M&A DINNER M&A AND TECH

Past the peak The growth panic at the end of 2021 and fall out from a disastrous Mini Budget has brought down valua�ons in recruitment and talent tech but investors and lenders are s�ll interested in resilient, Alex Evans profitable, produc�ve and well-managed businesses MD, TALiNT Partners

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ne week a�er the now infamous Mini Budget was announced, TALiNT Partners hosted the first of two events exploring the landscape for recruitment and talent tech M&A. Twenty talent tech CEOs gathered at the offices of Deloi�e on 30th September from firms including Firefish, Mercury, Talmix, Pixid, Role Mapper and Hiring Hub to debate M&A trends, valua�on drivers and investor expecta�ons.

Deloi�e Director Kiren Asad observed that there had been ‘a drama�c sell off in tech stocks in Q4 2021 and Q1 2022 as poor results from bellwether equi�es resulted in a ‘growth panic’ and a c. 40% drop in prices’, with median mul�ples in private M&A declining from 5.9x EV/Revenue in 2021 to around 4.9x EV / Revenue for 2022 YTD. Consensus in the room was that valua�ons are likely to con�nue to be challenged for the foreseeable future, with some investors pausing un�l the UK economic outlook stabilised and sellers holding out for higher valua�ons. Bank debt will be harder to raise 10

TALiNT International October 2022

and more expensive and, while US buyers may benefit from the exchange rate, they may deterred by the perceived increased risk of inves�ng in UK focused assets. Profitability is much more important than revenue growth on its own.

T

he good news for the HR Tech sector is that hiring volumes and market ac�vity levels are s�ll holding up well. Solu�ons and services that focus on cost cu�ng and efficiency are s�ll a�rac�ve to buyers, but integra�on and collabora�on has become more important to complement exis�ng solu�ons.

Several leaders observed that staffing and RPO vendors are bringing tech firms in to pitch alongside to differen�ate and support deployment.

The following week, 30 staffing and talent solu�ons leaders gathered at BMA House for our six-monthly M&A in half a day event on 4th October for firms including Trinnovo Group, Reed Talent Solu�ons, ManpowerGroup, Spencer-Ogden, Sanderson PLC, Serocor, MCG Group and Staffing360Solu�ons.

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artner experts from Osborne Clarke, Gambit Corporate Finance, SourceBreaker, Parasol Group, Pearl Meyer and Twenty20 Capital shared insights and updates on M&A trends, valua�on risks and ways to enhance equity value.

Despite the uncertainty and IMF / Bank of England interven�on following the Mini Budget, record low unemployment (3.5%) and high demand for talent and specialist recruitment knowledge in key sectors is likely to sustain interest.

The most important criteria for buyers, investors and lenders are resilience, management strength, access to talent, produc�vity per head and differen�a�on, according to Geraint Rowe, Partner at Gambit Corporate Finance, who added that there is now greater scru�ny of forecast assump�ons, fee earner a�ri�on rates and legal / regulatory risks like IR35 and holiday pay / Harper Trust v Brazel.

Brotherston said: “The top five areas that large employers want more help from vendors with is demand planning, TA op�misa�on, employer brand, tech advisory and internal mobility. They also want help from vendors to build the business case for investment in new strategic recruitment services or tech solu�ons.”

I

nvestors are interested in those offering train and deploy solu�ons to fill skills gaps, par�cularly in tech, healthcare, and life sciences, and those automa�ng to transform away from transac�onal recruitment to more high value advisory services.

Those leading change in recruitment and enabling transforma�on in talent tech have enough underlying demand and market opportunity to counter the poli�cal and economic challenges, but the overall consensus is that M&A will slow down over the next six months.

Highligh�ng new employer priori�es and vendor opportuni�es from TALiNT Partners own research and industry benchmarking, CEO Ken

TECH DINNER

TALiNT International October 2022 11

NEWS ANALYSIS

News Analysis

83% of employers losing out on top talent According to research from Access Recruitment

Businesses are increasingly introducing

present delays to candidate screening are

automated screening, especially for Right to

threatening talent acquisition in most UK

Work (RTW) checks. In October 2022, the

businesses with more than eight in ten (83%)

Home Office made digital RTW processing a

employers losing out on top talent due to the

permanent fixture, introducing certified

time taken to complete pre-employment

Identification Document Verification

screening checks.

Technology (IDVT) for continued worker identification checks without the need to meet

In today’s tight candidate market, recruiters

in person.

cannot afford to experience such delays.

Governmental processing bottlenecks are

Flaws within current manual screening

affecting background screening for 61% of UK

processes affect employers and candidates

companies, directly prolonging organisations’

alike. Employers suffer delays in accessing the

time to hire.

talent they desperately need, and candidates are stalled in commencing their employment.

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TALiNT International October 2022

Chancellor blows up IR35 review Earlier this month, the newly appointed

have been left speechless and have been

Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, upended much of the

quoted as saying that the repeal of the repeal

Mini Budget that his predecessor, Kwasi

will not support economic growth at all.

Kwarteng delivered less than a month ago.

According to Clarke Bowles, Chief Revenue

Hunt announced that he would scrap a planned

Office at he said that the repeal had the

repeal of the IR35 reforms (off-payroll) which

potential to serve as a catalyst to economic

came into effect in April 2021.

growth it’s unfortunate that we came so close to this being a reality but are unfortunately left

In the Mini Budget speech titled ‘The Growth

with a piece of legislation which was never

Plan 2022’ that was given in September,

really fit for purpose.

Kwarteng delivered on Prime Minister Liz Truss’s promise to review IR35 legislation.

Qdos CEO, Seb Maley said that the chaos, uncertainty and disruption caused by the Mini

Understandably, this has caused frustration in

Budget is unprecedented. He believes that

the off-payroll community following hope of

while U-turning on some tax cuts made sense,

the repeal of legislation that added

cancelling the repeal of IR35 reform was the

unnecessary complexities to the contractor

wrong decision at the wrong time.

workforce and organisations. Industry leaders

TALiNT International October 2022 13

NEWS ANALYSIS

69% of job seekers think employers need to be more transparent on their job ads New research by Adzuna has revealed the biggest gripes facing jobseekers up and down the country, with half (48%) claiming that no salary or a lack of salary clarity on job ads is their biggest bug bear.

It comes as seven in ten Brits (69%) think employers need to be more transparent on their job ads, with a third (31%) believing salary transparency should be the number one priority on postings - more important than the job role itself (18%), the location (11%) or any work benefit schemes (7%).

Adzuna is calling on all businesses to show salaries in their job ads, are campaigning for the UK government to make including salaries on job ads a legal requirement.

The online jobs platform believes that employers not including salary information on job ads is leading to hours wasted for jobseekers. More than a third (36%) declined a job straight-out after they found out the intended salary, after going through lengthy interview processes. On average, jobseekers wasted six hours applying per position, with the wrong salary with 13% wasting over 10 hours on the process and 3% investing over 20 hours interviewing for the wrong job. In total, Adzuna analysis on job hunting activity over the

last five years alone revealed UK workers have wasted over 70 million hours applying for jobs with the wrong salary.1 Now, almost half of workers (46%) wouldn’t attend an interview in future if they didn’t know what an employer was willing to offer in terms of salary.

SALARY TRANSPARENCY FUELLING THE GENDER PAY GAP Whilst the lack of salary transparency is frustrating on a practical level, it’s also hiding a bigger issue by helping perpetuate the gender pay gap. The research revealed that women (33%) are much more likely to find lack of salary transparency an issue when compared to men (21%). There is also a connection between salary transparency and the gender pay gap. A recent analysis by The Times2 called out companies with the biggest gender pay gaps, including ASOS, EasyJet and Savills, all of which have low levels of salary transparency according to the Adzuna data.

NORTH VS SOUTH DIVIDE There also appears to be a regional divide when it comes to salary transparency. Yorkshire and The Humber (63%) is the most open and honest whilst London (55%), Scotland (49%) and Northern Ireland (28%) are at the bottom

1 Research was carried out through OnePoll between 26/09/2022- 28/09/2022, polling 2,000 adults in the UK who have looked for employment at least once over the last five years.

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TALiNT International October 2022

of the roster. Interestingly, London has been cited in the news as having both the worst ethnicity pay gap and worst gender pay gap which adds fuel to the fire.3

INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN The lack of salary transparency is an industrywide problem, but certain sectors are faring better than others. Charity and voluntary jobs (88%) are the most transparent, followed by social work (76%) and manufacturing (75%).

Creative and design jobs (32%) are the least transparent, while retail jobs (37%), energy jobs (39%) and IT jobs at (43%) also rank amongst the lowest.

GROWING APPETITE FOR TRANSPARENCY UK workers are crying out for more transparency in the jobs market. In fact, the lack of salary on a job ad makes potential employees skeptical of an employer. A third (32%) assume the company is hiding something, while a quarter believe it shows the company would underpay them (24%).

Others think it makes the company look untrustworthy (22%), unprofessional (21%) or shows them to be biased on how they pay their employees (18%).

A third of Brits (32%) don’t know how much their colleagues are getting paid but four in five (80%) would be open or are neutral to their colleagues knowing how much they earn. Two thirds (63%) think employers making salaries more transparent would make the workplace fairer.

SALARY TRANSPARENCY THE START OF THE ISSUE Salary transparency is just the tip of the iceberg. The worst bug bear is not receiving a reply after applying for a role (32%). Alarmingly, jobseekers have applied on average for seven jobs in the last five years with just three in ten (30%) of those applications leading to an interview. So deep is the issue that four in ten (42%) Brits have wanted to move jobs but decided against it as the process of job hunting is too stressful. On average, this led them to staying in the job for an additional 3.5 years. A tenth (13%) are still in their job as a result.

Adzuna has worked with straight-talking TV personality, Olivia Attwood, who hit the streets to get the nation talking about salary transparency.

2 The Times, ‘Big names among worst offenders as gender pay gap narrows slightly’, April 2022 3 The London Economic, ‘London has the worst gender pay gap in the UK’, March 2022 TALiNT International October 2022 15

NEWS ANALYSIS

86% of HR managers think their training provisions could be improved New research amongst HR managers and ‘deskless’ workers, including those in the hospitality, retail, and construction industries, reveals that 86% of HR heads and 69% of employees believe there is room for improvement when it comes to their employer’s approach to training and development.

The research, which was conducted as part of a new report from Cloud Assess, found that HR heads are conscious of the importance of upskilling, with 97% agreeing that training and development is vital to their company’s future success. Those surveyed thought that training can offer a range of benefits to their organisation, including boosting business performance, improving efficiency, and increasing staff retention and satisfaction.

Despite this, businesses continue to underestimate the extent of the current training crisis in vocational industries. Whilst the majority acknowledge that their training programmes could be improved, 85% of HR heads maintain that their company does offer comprehensive training to all employees. A significant proportion of deskless workers disagree. In fact, a third of workers believe their employer’s approach to training is limited or inconsistent.

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TALiNT International October 2022

The challenge has been amplified by the pandemic, with almost half of HR managers and deskless workers claiming that COVID-19 worsened the training provisions available to employees. This couldn’t have come at a worse time, given that the majority of HR managers (80%) and deskless workers (68%) think the need for training and development has increased in the last five years.

In addition, workers’ are increasingly prioritising training when it comes to choosing an employer, with deskless workers ranking upskilling opportunities in the top five most important workplace benefits. Similarly, over two-thirds of deskless workers stated that the training and development opportunities offered by their employer have a strong influence on their loyalty to the business.

The report also explores how workers want the upskilling they are demanding to be delivered.

The majority (74%) prefer their training delivered via face-to-face or hybrid (a mixture of face-to-face and online) methods. Online training in isolation was found to be the least popular (12%) amongst staff, demonstrating a clear preference amongst deskless workers for hands-on training sessions which reflect the practical nature of their roles.

mydigital

Payroll, Accounting, and Timesheet software for the ambitious Our clients achieve their goals, conquer their markets and grow their business

Find out more:

www.mydigital.software

TALiNT International October 2022 17

COVER STORY

Changing �mes

TALiNT Interna�onal spoke to Oyster Managing Director, and member of TALiNT Partners’ leader network, Sasza Bandiera. We spoke about what’s moving and shaking the recruitment industry – and as it turns out, Sasza is doing just that.

We’re entering a new world, and recruitment has to respond, says Oyster’s Sasza Bandiera.

With future uncertainty stalking employers and employees alike, Oyster’s Managing Director, Sasza Bandiera discusses why the recruitment industry needs to adapt, and how his own company is responding to these unprecedented �mes.

“For me, the keys to succeeding in uncertain �mes are flexibility and understanding. That means gaining a real understanding of client and candidate situa�ons and being sympathe�c to where they are now and where they want to be in future. It’s also vital to be agile and responsive to people’s changing needs and desires.”

herever you turn, society is confronted by signs of change.

These are not simple evolu�ons.

They are seismic differences to the very fabric of our popula�on, economy and culture.

SO HOW DOES SASZA GAIN THIS UNDERSTANDING? “For us here at Oyster, the key is to listen. That means hearing what our clients have to say, what their concerns and pain points are, what their ambi�ons are. Answering what our clients are looking for from a candidate or role depends en�rely on us understanding their needs with complete clarity.”

W

We’ve seen Brexit happen. We’re coming out of the global pandemic. We’re experiencing economic uncertainty driven by escala�ng infla�on and market turmoil. We’ve witnessed a succession in the Monarchy. At the same �me, we’ve seen changes of poli�cal leadership and in employer and employee rela�onships.

SO HOW DOES ALL THIS TURBULENCE AFFECT THE RECRUITMENT INDUSTRY? It’s a ques�on that Sasza is keen to address.

“The recruitment industry doesn’t operate in a vacuum. In actual fact I believe we’re one of the most accurate barometers of na�onal mood that you can find. Right now, that barometer is showing that despite a strong market surge coming out of the pandemic, the current mood is quickly turning to one of cau�on. This is due to those extraneous variables, which are crea�ng uncertainty in the short-term.”

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TALiNT International October 2022

“It’s the same for our candidates. The understanding we’ve gained by listening is that, right now, we’re finding people are looking for certainty in the both the client and the role.

This means they – and therefore we – are considering the business structure, iden�ty, ethos, and ‘how’ they work with their employees. Working flexibility is also increasingly important to candidates.”

WHAT ABOUT SPECIALISATION – IS THIS IMPORTANT? With nine sector specialist teams – covering sectors such as engineering, property and real estate, renewables and architecture, planning and development – Sasza is commi�ed to Oyster providing the specialist exper�se and

experience that provide authority and confidence when filling roles.

“Yes, knowledge of the sector in which we work is essen�al. We research, we an�cipate trends, we are innova�ve and proac�ve in our approach. We have teams who bring decades of combined experience in both the public and private sector, in both contract and permanent roles, to our specialist sectors. It means our clients and candidates feel we know their world and can answer their needs.”

To Sasza, how recruiters put their recruitment teams together is also cri�cal to success.

“In recruitment, we hear a lot about diversity.

But here at Oyster, diversity goes well beyond representa�on of gender and ethnic backgrounds. It means diversity of age, experience, lifestyles, outlooks, beliefs… everything that makes us different from one another.”

“It’s why our people have an ‘open mic’ rela�ng to inpu�ng views and ideas on all our working prac�ces. It’s the differences that our teams bring that have real impact in understanding our clients and our candidates. It’s why we say as part of our recent rebrand that ‘We are you, and you are us’. It’s about having that deep level of understanding.”

AND HOW DOES UNDERSTANDING TRANSLATE INTO RESULTS? “Of course, we’re in a results business. It’s great if the Oyster experience is a happy one, but it’s ul�mately the results we deliver that we’ll be judged on.”

W

ith over 71,000 contract and permanent candidates on their books, a vast range of roles available at any one �me, and 91 recruitment experts bringing clients and candidates together, Oyster is certainly highly ac�ve in a vibrant market. Successfully too, with a Feefo Pla�num Service Award from clients and candidates poin�ng to high rates of sa�sfac�on, backed by a Glassdoor 4.9 ra�ng as evidence that Oyster is a great place to work too.

For Sasza, impressive results are underpinned

by Oyster’s values, which have been given sharper focus in its recent rebranding process.

“Our four values are behind every aspect of life and work at Oyster. They are simple and effec�ve and reflect how we get the job done.

‘Great people together’. ‘Astonishingly good’.

‘Nothing’s ever too much’. ‘So, what’s next?’

We genuinely live and breathe our values.”

TALiNT International October 2022 19

SO WHAT DOES SASZA THINK IS THE SECRET TO OYSTER’S SUCCESS? “As well as knowledge, empathy and understanding, success often comes down to sheer grit and determination. We’re all living in tough times. They may get tougher. But through communication, commitment and energy, we get the job done.”

“With so much uncertainty in the air, businesses and people need the reliability that experts bring more than ever. And nowhere is this more true that when it comes to delivering on our candidates’ ambitions and on our clients’ need to deliver projects and meet commercial and social objectives.”

A NEW LOOK FOR OYSTER TOO As well as witnessing change across the UK, change is in the air for Oyster, having recently undertaken a complete rebrand. “This was all-encompassing and has transformed how Oyster is perceived. One of the central pla�orms is ‘Our ambi�ons are your ambi�ons’.

What we mean by this is that we can only grow if our clients and candidates grow.”

“Oyster, as we con�nually prove, is a pioneering business. Our management team is redefining recruitment by proac�vely implemen�ng new methodologies, technology advances, advanced processes and new ways of working. We don’t just talk, we act, and when we do its always at the highest level.”

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TALiNT International October 2022

CPL

TALiNT International October 2022 21

TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards

On Friday 23rd September the winners of the 2022 TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards were revealed at a gala dinner, for 250 guests at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane, a�ended by CEOs, Marke�ng Directors, and senior leaders of top RPO and MSP companies.

Our society con�nues to change in en�rely unexpected ways and at a velocity that tests our ability to endure seemingly never-ending unpredictability. The next 12 to 18 months shows no likelihood of le�ng up.

The world of work has been at the forefront of many changes, with mul�ple seismic shi�s seemingly occurring simultaneously; whether crea�ng distributed and hybrid workforce models, moving to skills-based hiring in the face of acute and chronic skills shortages, or building more inclusive workplaces, the challenges con�nue to come thick and fast.

Fortunately, with challenge comes opportunity and anyone working in the world of talent solu�ons has benefited from both a massive 22

TALiNT International October 2022

upsurge in demand but also a willingness of clients to adopt innova�ve and disrup�ve ideas far more eagerly than ever before.

The big ques�on now is, to what degree the coming downturn will impact hiring volumes?

The short answer is no one knows exactly, but what we do know from the quality of this year’s entries to our TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards, is the sector is not just equipped to cope with whatever the market throws at it, but to thrive, innovate and evolve.

The TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards may only be in their third year, but they have very clearly become the benchmark for the industry. We know this, not just because of the quality of the entries, or how seriously the finalists engage

with the feedback process, but also from feedback we get from businesses who decide not to enter. They tell us they can’t spare the resources to do their entries jus�ce, or even that they don’t think they have anything good enough to put forward this year which, for the record, isn’t an admission of failure but a commendable degree of self-awareness in their ambi�on to improve.

awards program, to ensure they go from strength to strength in being recognised for the powerful endorsement they provide to the winners and highly commended entries.

Our judging process is built around the expectations of demanding and often highly complex employer requirements, and based on key performance metrics, case studies and testimonials.

Our TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards finalists range from nimble, fast moving new scale-ups looking to re-imagine what is possible, to the world’s largest and most successful players delivering game changing work for their clients, and a range of mid-market operators with a clear focus and high levels of agility.

What they all have in common is dedica�on to helping their clients find and keep the people they need.

The 2022 judging panel brought together expert perspec�ves from senior HR and Talent Acquisi�on leaders from a wide range of world-leading organisa�ons, and I would like to extend my thanks to our esteemed panel of judges, for their �me and commitment in choosing this year’s winners.

At TALiNT Partners we have continued to strengthen the team delivering our global

I am grateful to our sponsors, Parasol, Ne�ve, Giant Group, iCIMS and Sonovate and in par�cular our headline sponsor, Cornerstone, for their con�nuing support of our European TIARA Talent Solu�ons Awards programme.

TALiNT International October 2022 23

TIARA TALENT SOLUTIONS AWARDS

Talent solu�ons: Life�me Achievement Award Winner

Andrew Wilkinson The life�me achievement award recognises a leader who has made a long-term and significant contribu�on to the Talent Solu�ons sector.

The Judges were thrilled to recognise someone who, not only has had a profound impact on the sector over the years, but recently has taken on a whole new lease of life. Andrew has been at the forefront of his profession since the 80s, but this award isn’t about longevity, it’s about impact. Andrew has been a true pioneer in the industry and has worked �relessly to help clients understand and appreciate the power of a great EVP. He was also one of the very first to demonstrate the commercial impact of a good candidate experience. These are concepts which are now recognised as fundamental to a contemporary resourcing strategy today.

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Over the years he has learned to pivot and be agile before these terms became fashionable, including facing the challenge of successfully transi�oning his business when the internet threatened to replace his prime source of revenue. From there he built a business and a team at TMP who were recognised as market leaders, not least by PeopleScout who acquired them in 2018.

Best Early Careers Ini�a�ve Award Winner

This Award recognises companies that solve a business issue through the implementa�on of a unique, new tech solu�on or using exis�ng tech in an innova�ve way.

As only 8.5% of technology leaders are from minority backgrounds in the UK and just 25% of so�ware engineers being female, Bright Network realised that crea�ng representa�ve and inclusive teams is not just a moral impera�ve, but also a sound commercial decision. Bright Network through the Bright Network Technology Academy aims to improve hiring by providing access to diverse early so�ware developer talent and created a strategy with three objec�ves: To engage young, ambi�ous developers from diverse backgrounds; to champion diverse talent through industry-wide pla�orms and to collaborate on a playbook to share best prac�ce for other technology leaders.

By Engaging ambi�ous developers, in just one year, 165 have completed the Bright Network Technology Academy bootcamps and con�nued to secure roles inleading technology teams within the bank. Over the next year, 100 more consultants will be enrolled into the programme. Their client, a High Street bank, will con�nue to train and upskill candidates, having already placed 102 graduates in the last year.

By championing diversity, the team built strong rela�onships in the HR and Technology departments, as well as in the Diversity and Inclusion departments. This ensured a mul�-faceted way of connec�ng the right students with the right company so all members could succeed. At Bright Network, membership is 58% female, 15% black heritage and 80% state educated members, so it was confident it could champion diverse talent at the Bright Network Technology Academy.

FINALISTS

In excess of 100 of Bright Network’s leading graduate employer partners contributed to its 10-point ac�on-plan to drive social mobility in large organisa�ons and technology teams. It has since been credited as a key tool in what successful inclusion looks like in 2022.

One hundred-and-two graduates have been or are in the process of being trained and placed in one of the UK’s leading banks’ technology teams across England and Scotland. The most recent cohort were 68% women, 13% black heritage and 82% from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Through Bright Network’s research and insightspla�orm that is driven by AI, it is in a unique posi�on to iden�fy early technology talent and are able to analyse every interac�on a new Bright Network member has on the pla�orm.

By not charging candidate exit fees, Bright Network is removing financial barriers that may restrict consultants from applying and therefore driving social mobility.

Judges’ Comments: The judges felt that this was a stand-out entry and praised Bright Network for leading the ini�a�ve and driving change. The judges were also impressed with their technology academy which is innova�ve and sustainable.

Highly Commended:

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TIARA TALENT SOLUTIONS AWARDS

The Employer Brand Award Winner

In partnership with Essex County Council

This Award celebrates dis�nc�on in eleva�ng a client’s employer brand to have a measurable impact on their talent strategy.

Essex County Council (ECC) wanted to develop an employer brand that was instantly recognisable, uniquely Essex, and was capable of spanning the en�re organisa�on. The employer brand would need to be complimentary to different func�ons across the council, and capable of helping them reach a new, more diverse audience. ECC is a huge employer, with significant scale and influence. With 1.2 million residents, and £1.4bn spending power, the Council has a real opportunity to drive change across the county. They have a vast array of roles across a wide range of departments and loca�ons.

Crea�ng a unified employer brand that covers all of the different facets that the Council’s remit covers is a huge challenge. They could no longer rely on campaigns alone to secure their future workforce.

They needed to engage with the right candidates in a variety of different ways, staying true to one, overarching employer brand. PeopleScout iden�fied four key areas for ECC to improve on. They were: talent a�rac�on, candidate experience, value proposi�on, equality and diversity.

PeopleScout focussed on crea�ng a strong new employer brand, one that communicated the real diversity of opportunity, challenge, scale, and pride on offer at ECC. To do that, it needed to get to the heart of the ECC employment offer and experience.

The first step was conduc�ng research interviews with ECC’s senior leadership team and over 50 employees. A common theme emerged from each of the interviews – ECC is a council like no other. The geographical, financial, and social scale that its operates on is unprecedented. This led PeopleScout

By crea�ng an employer brand that epitomises the essence of ECC, that challenges the percep�ons of working in the public sector and that the brand’s voice was authen�c, the brand stood out and looked nothing like other council brands in the market. It was successful at boos�ng website traffic and applica�ons across all of the Council’s departments.

The 2021 programme saw a 400% rise in applica�ons from 2020 figures, with 51% of applica�ons coming from BAME candidates. Overall, ECC saw a 5.6% increase in applicants from BAME backgrounds.

Judges’ Comments: PeopleScout impressed the judges with their ability to clearly outline the challenge. Their strong D&I metrics, and focus on

Highly Commended:

FINALISTS

In partnership with Maersk 26

to its campaign star�ng point: ‘big’. The challenge was to translate this into a series of compelling messages. Messages that answer the candidate ques�on: ‘what does big mean for me and my career?’. Working with HR leads and func�onal areas, it gathered authen�c case studies for crea�ng videos and other materials to support talent a�rac�on ac�vity. PeopleScout captured proud, celebratory, confident shots of people from across the council, marrying hero shots with real quotes.

By combining visuals and messaging to give a sense of the career-boos�ng challenges and real feeling of achievement that can be gained working with ECC, as well as the importance of the work, PeopleScout created a moving campaign.

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In partnership with JCB

rts

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TIARA TALENT SOLUTIONS AWARDS

The Parasol Candidate Experience Award Winner

This Award recognises companies that show clear evidence of delivering a consistently good experience at every stage of the candidate journey.

To embed the new Career Mobility ini�a�ve AMS grew a team of dedicated Career Mobility Consultants to support internal applicants throughout the en�re recruitment process, but also to proac�vely iden�fy, headhunt and build talent pools of employees for vacancies. The current conversion from approach to hire for headhunted internal employees is 50%. AMS has u�lised Avature, its talent pooling system, to enable employees to register interest in an internal move, even before they know what that role looks like.

AMS introduced a personalised Career Coach service that helps employees explore their career goals and conduct targeted job searches and provide CV and interview prepara�on. To date, 235 employees have accessed it and given universally posi�ve feedback.

Suppor�ng a UK bank’s pledge towards making internal mobility the priority, the minimum criteria for assessing suitability was reduced for internal applicants. Internal candidates are no longer shortlisted, but rather all internal candidates who meet the minimum criteria are presented directly to hiring managers, resul�ng in more internal candidates mee�ng the benchmark and being interviewed, which has in turn contributed to the higher rates of internal mobility. AMS introduced protec�ons for internal redeployees, meaning that if they met the benchmark criteria,

FINALISTS

they would be guaranteed an interview. In a further innova�on of the Career Mobility Hub on the intranet, the site now recognises the job family to which the user belongs, and tailors the content to be most relevant to their background. Another example of using technology is in its ‘dynamic pools’, where previously unsuccessful internal applicants are automa�cally matched to new open roles and contacted by a Career Mobility Consultant, thereby crea�ng a more seamless and suppor�ve experience for the employee. Most recently AMS have supported the UK bank with implemen�ng a managed approach to combining promo�ons with internal mobility.

The ‘One Team’ approach, where AMS Resourcing, the UK bank’s resourcing team, and its HR team work together in close partnership ensures a seamless experience for the internal candidate. The Career Mobility squad regularly reviews internal data, market insights and new technologies to ensure con�nuously refining and improvement of the candidate experience.

Judges’ Comments: AMS were praised by the judges for the innova�ve work they delivered on internal mobility, and in par�cular the crea�on of their Internal Mobility Hub. Something the judges expect to see become much more common in the years ahead.

Highly Commended:

TALiNT International October 2022 29

TIARA TALENT SOLUTIONS AWARDS

Diversity and Inclusion Award Winner

This Award recognises companies who demonstrate a clear impact against a progressive D&I agenda, whether helping an employer take their first steps or reach new levels of inclusion.

For the world’s largest ever trial of convalescent plasma, NHS Blood & Transplant (NHSBT) were tasked by Department for Health & Social Care to collect plasma to aid research and to support treatment of hospitalised Covid-19 pa�ents. NHSBT approached Reed Talent Solu�ons (RTS) for a workforce solu�on which could be implemented at pace. RTS provided an end-to-end a�rac�on and onboarding proposal to achieve the ambi�ous targets. Within the first six weeks, RTS designed and implemented a solu�on to deliver 700 Donor Carers across the UK in a highly regulated environment.

RTS successfully filled all requirements on �me.

Highlights of the partnership include: Recrui�ng 80,000 donors; increasing BAME engagement; developing capability to collect plasma across 22 sites, hiring and training 1,700 staff, and engaging with 14,000+ pa�ents to CVP trials. From the outset, NSHBT emphasised increasing BAME and youth representa�on. Across the trials, BAME Nurses increased to 45% compared to 15% average; BAME Donor Carers increased to 25% in comparison to 15% average; nurses under the age of 45 increased to 34% in comparison to 31% prior average; and

Donor Carers under the age of 45 increased to 58% compared to the 40% average.

As a result of the partnership, RTS successfully ran the largest ever trial of convalescent plasma. RTS managed the en�re recruitment process, supported 700 Donor Carers to be deployed across new and exis�ng sites, provided the best pa�ent care while delivering vital healthcare intelligence for the scien�fic community and increasing NHSBT’s capacity to collect plasma and blood dona�ons.

Throughout the project, it con�nued to provide flexible support that could scale and deliver best value at a compe��ve price. In recogni�on of the rela�onship, RTS reduced rates and provided free market intelligence.

Judges’ Comments: The judges thought that this entry clearly ar�culated a challenging, complex and large-scale piece of work that has a demonstrable impact in a key public service func�on. They also praised Reed for the impact their work had on society

Highly Commended:

FINALISTS

In partnership with GSK

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TALiNT International October 2022

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TALiNT International October 2022

TIARA TALENT SOLUTIONS AWARDS

Né�ve Best Use of Technology Award Winner

This Award recognises companies that solve a business issue through the implementa�on of a unique, new tech solu�on or using exis�ng tech in an innova�ve way.

INSPIRE was born out of a significant challenge faced by employers and schools. Hays knew from its rela�onships with over 6,000 schools, that careers educa�on are inconsistent. Schools want to offer pupils relevant, accurate, interes�ng careers advice, but too o�en don’t have the experience, resources, or connec�ons to deliver this. Hays set out to impact the employment outcomes of young people by improving careers educa�on to make it accessible, authen�c and engaging - na�onwide. To do that, Hays developed a technology-based solu�on to tackle these challenges by evolving its online pla�orm ‘Hays Hub’ to host ‘INSPIRE’ content that was created in partnership with teachers and employers. The pla�orm allows it to deliver highquality, engaging careers content, directly into the classroom – currently accessible to 6,000 schools and 220,000+ teaching staff.

The primary purpose of INSPIRE is to re-imagine career guidance for young people to excite and engage them in their future, whilst simultaneously suppor�ng employers to meet their social value agendas and connect posi�vely with their future workforce.

Schools are looking to delivery relevant, impac�ul careers educa�on, but rarely have the �me, resource, or budget to do so, while employers are looking to build their future talent pipeline in an effec�ve but ethical way and are faced with the same challenges. INSPIRE sets out to achieve this in an innova�ve, non-standard way by providing readymade lesson plans to empower the educator in their delivery.

FINALISTS

Successful adop�on of the tech was cri�cal, and upfront engagement and consulta�on with experts was vital in ensuring INSPIRE delivered on its objec�ves. The user-journey proved smooth in the way teachers navigated the pla�orm and provided �me-flexible plans for teachers in order to deliver effec�ve and adaptable paced lessons.

By ensuring Hays understood how teachers were using the ‘Hays Hub’ pla�orm, the introduc�on of INSPIRE would be intui�ve and become a core part of delivery of the curriculum. The team worked closely with partners to reconfigure the format, allowing teachers to adapt the dura�on of the lesson. The project was launched in March 2022, u�lising its vast network across Hays Educa�on to deploy the resources to schools na�onwide.

To date, INSPIRE has met its objec�ves and it’s expected to con�nue to do so due to the considerable appe�te seen from schools and clients.

INSPIRE helps schools achieve the Gatsby Benchmarks, (a best-prac�ce guide for schools to deliver informa�on to pupils on their post-16 opportuni�es). For employers, INSPIRE provides the opportunity to build their brand with thousands of school students for early engagement, whilst fulfilling Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Value agendas.

Judges’ Comments: Hays were praised by the judges for clearly outlining the issue they were tackling, the way they deployed technology to tackle it and the data points they used to back everything up.

Highly Commended:

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csod.com 34

TALiNT International October 2022

TIARA TALENT SOLUTIONS AWARDS

Cornerstone Client Service Award Winner

This Award celebrates those winning support and recogni�on across their client community for dependable, �mely results.

The Client is a US mul�na�onal and in 2020 needed to set up an EMEA headquarters. It consulted with Cpl’s Talent Evolu�on Group (TEG) to gain insight into the talent market, with a focus on the feasibility and benefits of placing their EMEA HQ in Ireland.

With this support, The Client decided to base their HQ here and chose TEG as their RPO partner.

TEG were specifically tasked to deliver an end-toend Talent Acquisi�on and recruitment delivery support to hire 200 staff in a six-month period across mul�ple business func�ons and levels, including C suite. To research and supply comprehensive salary and benefits research across all roles including market mapping and geographical talent insights reports. Further they were expected to provide consultancy services on posi�oning The Client as an employer of choice in the market, and then rollout a digital marke�ng strategy.

TEG developed a deep understanding of The Client’s objec�ves and challenges by listening to their needs. It brought together the best elements of their services to meet and an�cipate challenges throughout the client journey.

At the outset of this project, TEG brought together a diverse team of experts from across its group,

FINALISTS

including Solu�ons Design, Strategic Account Management, Talent Acquisi�on, mul�ple specialist recruitment teams, a digital marke�ng team, and data and research analysts. By building a comprehensive solu�on design, underpinned by project methodology, it was able to embed key processes and a strong communica�on and repor�ng cadence that underpinned its success.

This approach brought transparency to the project and set expecta�ons around key �melines and deliverables. A core element of the project was posi�oning The Client as an employer of choice to a�ract talent at scale. To enable this, TEG worked with them to localise their EVP, and built and deployed a full marke�ng and in-market comms strategy. Addi�onally, TEG created a compelling go-to-market narra�ve that was embedded in its sourcing strategies across delivery teams. It ensured that each recruiter was fully briefed and had a client toolkit to ensure it had an aligned and cohesive approach to the marketplace.

Judges’ Comments: The judges praised Cpl’s Talent Evolu�on Group (TEG) for their innova�ve approach, commen�ng that “it felt really authen�c and bespoke to the client, which is what this is all about”. They also showed impressive metrics throughout their entry.

Highly Commended:

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TIARA TALENT SOLUTIONS AWARDS

Giant Group Best New Talent Solu�ons Provider Winner

This category is open to both new divisions of larger corporates and stand-alone midmarket providers who have entered the market within the last five years.

The aim for RTS People was to create a Talent Solu�ons business in response to the changes in the Talent Acquisi�on market seen in recent years. In par�cular, the recogni�on of the strategic importance of TA and the direct impact it has on the commercial success of a business, plus the broadening of its accountability across the people agenda. With advances in HR Tech and the maturing of internal TA exper�se, many businesses have chosen to retain strategic and opera�onal control of their recruitment, rather than outsourcing it all to a third party. Yet as the demands on recruiters increase, businesses recognise the need to u�lise partners to provide flexible resource and support, where and when they need them.

strategically posi�oned to a�ract and provide European language exper�se. RTS recruiters globally are based either remotely or in the office hub loca�ons and currently cover 13 languages. Demand for recruiters is high and supply is low and to mi�gate this risk, they have established a ‘buy, build, flex’ model, to ensure they have a balanced and sustainable approach, ready with recruitment resources when clients require it.

Key to the RTS strategy is offering a global solu�on with seven established offices since launching in February 2021. Its market drivers so far focussing on the Americas (US and Mexico), India and EMEA. Its head office is in London and the company has recently opened a flagship office in Krakow, Poland,

Judges’ Comments: The judges were impressed with RTS People for a well-ar�culated submission backed up by hugely impressive growth rates, data and insight.

FINALISTS

Such has been the success that in less than 17 months since their launch, RTS have partnered with 15 clients, all of whom extended the ini�al term to become on-going contracts: exceeding the company’s target for client wins.

Highly Commended:

TALiNT International October 2022 37

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victoria.fernandez@icims.com | 44 (0) 808 164 2563 | icims.com TALiNT International October 2022

TIARA TALENT SOLUTIONS AWARDS

iCIMS Long Term Partnership Award Winner

This Award looks for evidence of a genuine partnership over a period of at least five years. Taken into considera�on is sustained success and con�nuous improvement and also turnaround scenarios.

Cielo is a leading strategic Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) partners, dedicated to ensuring its clients a�ract and hire be�er talent faster, all while providing a world-class candidate experience, that has certainly been the case with its client BD. One of the largest global medical technology companies in the world BD is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnos�cs, and the delivery of care. The company has 75,000 employees opera�ng in 48 countries in EMEA – and nearly 200 globally, it has enjoyed a highly successful, seven-year RPO partnership with Cielo. The rela�onship started in Europe and expanded to cover an addi�onal 42 countries in EMEA. Cielo’s diverse account team act as local experts to support the complexity and local nuances specific to each country and it has also now expanded the programme into North America.

to management of BD’s EMEA social media channels, but to focus on these would overlook the spirit, heart and soul of the BD/Cielo rela�onship which is founded on the embedded and guiding totems of collabora�on, teamwork, shared exper�se, and innova�on.

Cielo has demonstrated sustained reduc�on in cost and �me to hire during its partnership, and the enlargement of scope to new territories. It’s amazing Hiring Manager engagement has driven the expansion of services offered and delivered, ranging from market mapping and talent insights

Judges’ Comments: Cielo were praised by the judges for showing impressive growth across the account, which has innova�on at its core and also delivers well on the opera�onal basics. It was a great example of partnership and collabora�on.

Cielo jointly overcame unprecedented challenges of an extraordinary labour market, across an organisa�on spanning 40+countries that was in the vanguard of the fight against COVID-19. Its partnership has grown, and are now intrinsically intertwined, linked by shared goals and purpose, people and technology who can weave agile tac�cs and long-term innova�on into a robust, prac�cal and deliverable strategy to cope with the increasing complexity, the ever-changing landscape of talent acquisi�on.

FINALISTS

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TIARA TALENT SOLUTIONS AWARDS

Sonovate Best Talent Solu�ons Firm To Work For Winner

This Award recognises employers who go above and beyond to ensure a posi�ve working culture that has a posi�ve impact on their staff which makes it a great place to work.

Driven by both their clients and candidates, Lorien covers Europe and the US, working across all sectors, sizes and needs. Specialising in bringing talent solu�ons across the digital spectrum to life, this includes outsourced RPO and MSP solu�ons, recruitment projects and programmes, workforce solu�ons (e.g. Statement of Work, upskilling) and specialist recruitment services (e.g. execu�ve search), as well as one-off requirements and consultancy services.

The business enables excellence by empowering its people to achieve their own version of success. This is underpinned by Lorien’s promise-based management methodology, which encourages its employees to set their own objec�ves (or ‘promises’) – commitments that go beyond the call of duty and may link into other team promises or passion projects.

At Lorien, their people are driven to deliver excellence by being treated as individuals first – with autonomous mo�va�ons, experiences, and needs.

Just a few years ago, Lorien was a best-kept secret that was quietly growing at pace. Now, more than ever, they provide true specialism at scale, offering clients access to tech ver�cal specialists irrespec�ve of their sector, size, or point in the recruitment journey. This is a truly exci�ng and unique proposi�on, which has already enabled mul�ple customers to experience the best of both outsourcing and digital market exper�se.

Judges’ Comments: This truly was an outstanding entry. The combina�on of great metrics, employee tes�monials and a focus on development which showed a posi�ve impact on their culture and business results, made this a very worthy winner.

In a recent Employee Engagement Survey 79% of people felt encouraged to improve how they do things and 74% said they were trusted to try out new approaches. Lorien is also proud of an uncapped reward structure which spans its 360, delivery and solu�ons teams.

FINALISTS

Highly Commended:

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TIARA TALENT SOLUTIONS AWARDS

The Environmental, Social and Governance Award Winner

This Award recognises organisa�ons who demonstrate a clear commitment to an ESG programme, crea�ng a posi�ve impact, both, through their own organisa�on as well as for their clients.

Reed Talent Solu�ons (RTS) had 17 sustainable development goals agreed by all United Na�ons Members States to address the world’s most urgent sustainability challenges. This year, it created a framework to iden�fy areas of improvements and set targets. The three goals it felt were most important were climate ac�on; decent work and economic growth and reduced inequali�es. Reed’s long-standing commitment to the environment is demonstrated by our carbon neutral status and was achieved in 2005 – the first major recruitment company in the UK to achieve such.

In response to COP 26 and the Queen’s Pla�num Jubilee, it planted 70,000 trees; James Reed signed the Armed Forces Covenant underlining RTS’s commitment to those who serve or have served in the armed forces and their families; The Reed Women in Technology Mentoring Programme matched over 600 people to help develop and encourage women in tech; The Big Give – a nonprofit charitable website set up by Sir Alec Reed in 2007 supported the Disasters Emergency Commi�ee

FINALISTS

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to meet the needs of people fleeing Ukraine. RTS’s ‘Reduce, Re-use and Recycle’ philosophy encourages policies including 86% of its UK premises having full recycling services, and printers being set to automa�cally print double sided, saving over 10 million pieces of paper per annum.

RTS boasts a sector-leading Appren�ceship Programme that offers bonuses to those who pass with a Dis�nc�on, while its mentoring scheme has resulted in over 90% of Mentees repor�ng a tangible benefit. Innova�ons can be seen in projects such as Keep Britain Working which was launched in 2020 as part of the economic fightback against COVID-19 to preserve jobs and protect livelihoods.

Judges’ Comments: Judges praised Reed Talent Solu�ons for a compelling entry backed up with strong evidence. They were also impressed with Reed being carbon neutral since 2005.

Highly Commended:

TIARA TALENT SOLUTIONS AWARDS

Talent Solu�ons Provider of the Year Winner

At the beginning of the judging day each judge is given three votes to allocate across the award categories they think are the most important. The votes are then added up to determine which categories have the highest votes and those categories then have a higher weigh�ng when it comes to determining the overall winner.

Each year our overall winner is selected from the finalists who were either category winners or highly commended across a number of categories.

The objec�ve is to highlight which organise most consistently delivers a high level of service and innova�on across a number of areas.

This is o�en a highly contested award and the judges are asked to decide which categories carry more weight in making a determina�on. This year the three most important categories were Candidate Experience, Client Service and LongTerm Partnership.

The final decision was another close call but the depth of exper�se consistently delivered by AMS as well as their ability to bring a high degree

of crea�vity and innova�on to new client challenges were the key factors in crowning them overall winners.

In par�cular, the judges noted the two high commenda�ons in the Long-Term Partnership category. This is tradi�onally the pre-eminent category in the talent solu�ons awards, highligh�ng the most important long-term rela�onships held by providers. Across their entries, AMS demonstrated their ability to take clients on a talent acquisi�on journey, leading them to higher levels of achievement over a number of years.

Congratula�ons to AMS.

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TALiNT International October 2022

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TIARA Talent Acquisi�on Awards

Winners of the 2022 TIARA Talent Acquisi�on Awards were revealed October. The event was a�ended by Talent Acquisi�on, HR and busin 2022 has seen no let-up in the demands placed on talent acquisi�on leaders and their teams.

The unrelen�ng challenges of hiring have con�nued along with an increasingly complex agenda: remote and hybrid working pa�erns and strategies are s�ll evolving; internal mobility and re-skilling are increasingly part of TA’s remit; diversity ini�a�ves now need to have as much focus on inclusion; postpandemic employer brand reviews are a necessity and on and on.

But despite all the challenges, the quality of the work done by so many in-house teams shines through and we are delighted to be able to showcase some of the very best in our TIARA Talent Acquisi�on Awards this year.

A lot of our engagement with talent and resourcing leaders this year has been as much about coping as it has been about planning and innova�ng.

The TIARAs are recognised for the rigour of the process and the quality of the judging panel and are seen as a genuine and meaningful accolade for winners.

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TALiNT International October 2022

It is especially pleasing to see the variety of great entries from such a wide range of different organisa�ons, demonstra�ng very clearly that there is no monopoly on crea�vity, agility, ingenuity, engagement and innova�on.

d at a gala dinner at the Montcalm Marble Arch in London on 6th of ness leaders from some of the UK’s leading employers.

All of this amazing work makes for a lively and engaging judging process and our group of HR and TA Leaders and industry experts had their work cut out in determining this year’s winners.

Our thanks is extended to our esteemed panel of judges for their time and commitment in choosing this year’s winners and in providing meaningful feedback for winners and finalists.

The awards themselves are a great night out and a fantas�c chance to celebrate and network with peers and friends across the industry.

The awards are also a great way for employers to showcase their own brands to their internal audiences as well as the wider candidate world so, ul�mately, are another way to help them find and keep the people they need.

TALiNT Partners is grateful to our sponsors eArcu, and suppor�ng sponsors Adway, Kelly Services, Lorien, Reed Talent Solu�ons and Sova Assessment for their support of this year’s TIARA Talent Acquisi�on Awards programme.

Everyone here at TALiNT Partners is thrilled to have been able to play a part in helping our finalists get the recogni�on they so richly deserve.

TALiNT International October 2022 47

Engaging talent for your future Reed Talent Solutions deliver bespoke, outsourced recruitment contracts to both local and national organisations across the UK. We work across the public sector, providing temporary, contractor, fixed-term contract and permanent workers across all job categories, as well as statement of work and services procurement solutions.

For more information or to get in touch, visit Reedtalentsolutions.com

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TIARA TALENT ACQUISITION AWARDS

The Reed Talent Solu�ons Employer Brand Award Winner

This Award recognises the best development of an employer brand, effec�vely communica�ng the organisa�onal values and employee value proposi�on as well as having a posi�ve impact on candidate percep�on and a�rac�on.

With the drive to become an employer brand of choice, FrieslandCampina set out to completely redesign their Employee Value Proposi�on with two goals in mind: To build a top-of-mind global image amongst relevant talent and to engage and a�ract talent from around the world. By partnering with an employer branding specialist agency, the brand was brought to life.

The new EVP was rolled out across 31 countries, over a three-week programme to around 250 staff members. Local teams were trained in understanding its essence, how to translate the concept, as well as the iden�fying of other touchpoints to bring the concept to life locally. The success of the implementa�on was measured via various KPIs for social media; for example: engagement rates, click through rates, conversion rates, share of voice and topic

ownership with efforts resul�ng in an Average Engagement Rate on LinkedIn 51% above the industry benchmark and average click through rates 91% above the industry benchmark.

The Talent Acquisi�on team, as a centre of excellence, built one global brand story and voice to maximise the synergy between the global FrieslandCampina brand and strong local brands via a brand matching strategy. The team also centralised the TA process by launching a new applica�on tracking system and global career site to ensure a consistent candidate experience on one applica�on pla�orm.

Judges’ Comments: The judges praised FrieslandCampina for clearly demonstra�ng their thought process, engagement and innova�on during the development of their Employee Value Proposi�on.

FINALISTS

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TIARA TALENT ACQUISITION AWARDS

The Lorien Crea�vity in Talent Acquisi�on Award Winner

This Award recognises the most crea�ve and effec�ve approach in response to changes in organisa�onal talent needs and external market condi�ons and iden�fied the businesses that are fast, bold and imagina�ve.

To overcome challenges of past recruitment prac�ces and processes, the team made transforma�onal changes across the TA func�on. By crea�ng an all-new team that operates in a true business partnering model, it gained a strategic view of the long-term business priori�es and workforce plans and aligned with specific business areas to provide exper�se and insight on the longer-term value of hiring. The new TA team is ac�vely involved across the en�re candidate engagement, a�rac�on, and assessment lifecycle and demonstrated the ability to deliver market insight, while developing and implemen�ng both a�rac�on strategies and the DLG employer brand.

Alongside the rebrand, the TA team took ownership of the new DLG Careers Pla�orm

and metrics gateway while providing full team membership to the leading global membership programmes and access to organisa�ons that offer TA professionals upskilling and best prac�ce insights. While investment in people, training, resources, technology, knowledge and tools were key, the TA team ensured that all investments delivered a significant ROI and this was made clear in the drama�c increase in year-on-year hiring fulfilment, reduc�on in third party/ agency spend, and reduc�on in candidate bounce through the implementa�on of the new career pla�orm.

Judges’ Comments: Judges praised Direct Line Group for the standout crea�vity of their brand redesign and for their commitment to improve, develop and evolve.

FINALISTS

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Sova Assessment are proud sponsors of

The Moving the Dial in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award Congratulations to all of the finalists and winners at this year’s Talent Acquisition Awards Europe.

www.sovaassessment.com

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TIARA TALENT ACQUISITION AWARDS

The Sova Moving the Dial in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award Winner

This Award recognises the cultural and commercial impact of policies and ini�a�ves to promote greater diversity and inclusion, driven by the TA func�on.

Over the last four years, the TA team at Assurant focussed on targeted ini�a�ves, to support their long-term objec�ves to grow, remain compe��ve and a�ract the best diverse talent.

lead to posi�ve outcomes within the following areas: Gender Pay Gap; an 8% increase in the representa�on of females in senior roles and a 17% increase in female hires within Finance and IT

Many enhancements were made to the DE&I goal for 2025 which included the removal of unconscious bias by implemen�ng a “blind CV policy” which removes all personal informa�on from the CV; the introduc�on of diverse slates to include 50:50 gender balanced shortlists; 50:50 gender balanced interview panels; ensuring balanced decision making; and developing a diversity dashboard to track progress.

By introducing internal DE&I ini�a�ves, employees demonstrated a be�er understanding of DE&I and what it means for Assurant and its people. By crea�ng and embedding a talent framework which focussed on recognising individuals who are in growth-enabling and needle moving roles, over 40% of leaders subsequently iden�fied a female successor.

The TA team’s commitment to building more diverse leadership and management teams

Judges’ Comments: Assurant were praised by the judges for deploying a mixture of ini�a�ves which have led to tangible change.

Highly Commended:

FINALISTS In partnership with Guidant Global In partnership with Resource Solu�ons

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TIARA TALENT ACQUISITION AWARDS

Kelly Services Best Innova�on in Internal Recruitment Award Winner

This Award recognises crea�vity in driving employee development and talent management, enabling successful internal mobility to meet the talent needs of the organisa�on as well as the reten�on of key employees.

Aligning its talent and business strategies, effec�vely combining the talent acquisi�on and development teams, enabled the TA team to achieve excellence. This move facilitated the drive for talent growth and internal mobility and unlocked the poten�al in its exis�ng employees and as a result, delivered the people capabili�es needed for the business to grow. Business excellence is evident in the company’s significant growth as revenue grew by double figures year-on-year in 2021/22.

Addi�onally, the TA team delivered many ini�a�ves to drive internal mobility and development by crea�ng bespoke, on-demand hiring manager recruitment training; launching a new recruitment pla�orm that provided an engaging and user-friendly

FINALISTS

pla�orm aimed at internal talent. In order to further facilitate internal mobility, career pathways for 80% of the roles within the organisa�on was launched, as well as workshops for leaders suppor�ng ways in which to have development conversa�ons.

The focus on internal mobility went deeper when the TA team created an online, selfreflec�on tool using the JDI framework, so that individuals could think about their own strengths and development areas as well as an op�onal, self-service 360 tool to seek feedback.

Judges’ Comments: Abcam were praised by our judges for execu�ng mul�ple ini�a�ves with strong collabora�on across departments as well as highligh�ng what they will do to develop and con�nuously push forward.

Highly Commended:

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TIARA TALENT ACQUISITION AWARDS

The Early Careers Pioneer Award Winner

This Award recognises outstanding commitment to Early Careers employment and achievement in the development of young employees.

While Essex County Council’s Entry to Work Team (ETWT) had already some early career pathways and appren�ceship programmes, their objec�ve was to offer more consistency to the process and increase the pathways run by the ETWT. The team recognised that with 475,000 young people unemployed and 3.7 �mes more likely to be unemployed in England, they knew younger residents needed viable pathways to employment.

In 2021, ECC commi�ed to provide 210 new entry to work opportuni�es across its range of programmes. It achieved 232. In 2022 a commitment to provide 355 opportuni�es was made and to date have the team has onboarded 234 individuals into ECC, within func�onal placement commitments for the next three months; including 60 for Career

FINALISTS

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Insight Day, 50 for Virtual Work Experience and 20 for the Traineeship programme.

The ETWT is made up of 50% of appren�ces, and have hosted four kickstart, five work experience placements and neuro-diverse internships during the past 12 months. It has also achieved Youth Friendly Employer status and won the Developing People Award, both demonstra�ng to the target market that it is focussed and commi�ed to early career talent.

Judges’ Comments: The judges were impressed with how Essex County Council’s “Entry to Work” Team drove change and took a holis�c approach to bringing in all types of early talent and how it’s now embedded in their day to day running of the team.

TIARA TALENT ACQUISITION AWARDS

The Best Use of Technology Award Winner in partnership with Sova Assessment

This Award looks at solving a business issue through the implementa�on of a unique, new tech solu�on or using exis�ng tech in an innova�ve way.

Vodafone iden�fied a number of challenges related to using standalone assessments to measure cogni�ve ability, personality and situa�onal judgement, such as cost of ownership, limited usage agreements, and an inconsistent candidate and hiring experience.

The TA team set out to implement new technology and processes in order to create a posi�ve and engaging candidate experience, as well as to embrace skills and behaviourbased hiring.

By implemen�ng the new technology and streamlining assessment services, Vodafone experienced an increase in 55.5% of usage of assessments in the first six months of the Sova partnership, with 10,684 assessments being completed, therefore accelera�ng assessment implementa�on throughout the business.

FINALISTS

The technology now allows the TA team to deploy assessments at scale, which aided in digitalising the hiring process. They’re now able to reach talent worldwide and capture data in a digital format to drive faster and fairer talent decisions, thereby suppor�ng DE&I and inclusive hiring. It also includes further candidate reach with different backgrounds and assessment accommoda�ons support those with disabili�es. The TA team now has tools to measure the behaviours and skills that drive the business’s purpose and strategy in a consistent manner, which is transforming the way they select talent.

Judges’ Comments: Vodafone were praised for their robust thinking and demonstra�ng the value of leveraging tech effec�vely at scale.

Highly Commended:

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TIARA TALENT ACQUISITION AWARDS

The eArcu TA Opera�onal Achievement Award Winner

This Award recognises excep�onal performance, delivery or transforma�on of a TA team to meet the needs of their organisa�on’s talent strategy.

To overcome challenges of past recruitment prac�ces and processes, the team made transforma�onal changes across the TA func�on. By crea�ng an all-new team that operates in a true business partnering model, it gained a strategic view of the long-term business priori�es and workforce plans and aligned with specific business areas to provide exper�se and insight on the longer-term value of hiring. The new TA team is ac�vely involved across the en�re candidate engagement, a�rac�on, and assessment lifecycle and demonstrated the ability to deliver market insight, while developing and implemen�ng both a�rac�on strategies and the DLG employer brand.

Alongside the rebrand, the TA team took ownership of the new DLG Careers Pla�orm

FINALISTS

and metrics gateway while providing full team membership to the leading global membership programmes and access to organisa�ons that offer TA professionals upskilling and best prac�ce insights. While investment in people, training, resources, technology, knowledge and tools were key, the TA team ensured that all investments delivered a significant ROI and this was made clear in the drama�c increase in year-on-year hiring fulfilment, reduc�on in third party/ agency spend, and reduc�on in candidate bounce through the implementa�on of the new career pla�orm.

Judges’ Comments: Judges praised Direct Line Group for their imagina�ve campaign demonstra�ng real proac�vity and clear focus on the candidate experience.

Highly Commended:

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TIARA TALENT ACQUISITION AWARDS

The Excellence in Onboarding Award Winner

This Award recognises creativity, exceptional performance and outstanding delivery of a high-quality onboarding experience for new and returning employees.

At the start of 2021, the TA decided to revamp its onboarding strategy and move to a new online onboarding process. The onboarding process was iden�fied as beginning at the point of offer, through to the comple�on of the new starter’s ini�al induc�on period.

In collabora�on with the HR and marke�ng teams, the TA team mapped out an onboarding process for each business area by u�lising the feedback previously received from New Starter and Hiring Manager surveys. Throughout the project, they were able to minimise external resources, only u�lising the experience of the ATS provider and internal teams.

By evalua�ng feedback gathered from previous New Starter and Hiring Manager feedback surveys and asking a variety of Hiring Managers what they would like to see for their business areas, the combined informa�on was used to map out an ini�al strategy. D&I was at the heart of the strategy since as a large transAtlan�c organisa�on with over 100 different sites, the staff con�ngent is very diverse crea�ng a culture of equity and inclusion is of extreme importance to the business. With over 60 na�onali�es across the business, the team

FINALISTS

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Highly Commended:

TALiNT International October 2022

created a translatable process for all the text and documents used throughout onboarding.

The TA team also created videos to be included in each sec�on, u�lising an exis�ng employee in each video that was filmed by the marke�ng team. These videos have different op�ons for sub�tles, transcripts, colour and sound to cater for a diverse audience. By collabora�ng with different sources, we the TA team was able to create and award winning, seamless online onboarding process. The personalised videos help guide new employees through each stage of the process, making the process smoother and reducing the number of new employees contac�ng the team for help.

Interac�ve induc�on and training packs were also created for Hiring Managers to use for each new starter in their team. This helps Hiring Managers be more organised, and gives a new starter a seamless and structured start to their new employment.

Judges’ Comments: Judges praised Wren Kitchens for their innova�ve use of video material, making available different op�ons for sub�tles, transcripts, colour and sound to cater for a diverse audience.

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TIARA TALENT ACQUISITION AWARDS

The Adway A�rac�on Campaign of the Year Winner

This Award recognises the best candidate a�rac�on campaign that has demonstrated excellence and innova�on in terms of design, execu�on and hiring impact.

In 2021, the TA team aimed to address a shortage of opportuni�es for those in the early stages of their careers – and who are commi�ed to their own learning and career development – by launching a New Talent Programme. The programme would see each par�cipant take on a newly created role within Specsavers and complete a wide variety of placements in different areas of the business, with dedicated support, development and mentoring to further enhance their progression.

As well as enabling Specsavers to give something back to the job market, they were able to cul�vate a pool of new talent that would play a crucial role in the future growth of the business. By May 2022, all 17 candidates in the first cohort were awarded permanent roles. Of those 17, 60% rose into posi�ons that were at a significantly more senior level compared to the roles they had first taken on, highligh�ng the speed of their progression. The programme proved so successful that in 2022 thy increased the intake from 17 to 40 new roles, offering more candidates a wider range of opportuni�es across all offices and stores in the UK and opened the programme up for internal candidates as well, thereby suppor�ng internal mobility.

Using declared data, the team was able to engage the audience directly through a mul�-channel approach, u�lising social media (LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram), job boards (including specialist early careers boards such as Bright Network, Milkround, Prospects and Indeed), printed press (Guernsey Press) and Google Ads, as well as live events and compe��ons.

597 applica�ons were received by the resourcing team and 175 candidates received a ‘ge�ng to know you’ telephone call. By the end of the process, the team saw 65% conversion from event to offer with 38 accepted to date.

By using declared data and behavioural data from candidates’ engagement across the chosen social media pla�orms, the TA team was able to carefully tailor their messaging and content for each sec�on of our target audience thereby resul�ng in their 65% conversion rate.

Judges’ Comments: The judges praised Specsavers for a comprehensive campaign shaped around crea�ve messaging, audience targe�ng, developing the percep�on of working at Specsavers and for showcasing opportuni�es for development.

FINALISTS

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TIARA TALENT ACQUISITION AWARDS

Talent Acquisi�on Team of the Year Award Winner

The TA Team of the Year is debated and voted for by the panel of judges from the winners and highly commended in each award category.

At the beginning of the judging day each judge is given three votes to allocate across the award categories they think are the most important.

The scores are then added up to determine which categories have the highest votes and those categories then have a higher weigh�ng when it comes to determining the overall winner.

a�rac�on strategies and the DLG employer brand, the TA achieved opera�onal success.

Judges recognised Direct Line Group as demonstra�ng a crea�ve and effec�ve approach in response to changes in organisa�onal talent needs and external market condi�ons and iden�fied it as a business that is innova�ve, bold and imagina�ve.

As winners in two other categories, the eArcu TA Opera�onal Achievement Award and the Lorien Crea�vity in Talent Acquisi�on Award, Direct Line Group demonstrated agility, innova�on and a drive to go above and beyond to a�ract the right talent. To overcome challenges of past recruitment prac�ces and processes, the team made transforma�onal changes across the TA func�on. By developing and implemen�ng both

Judges’ Comments: The judges looked at several factors when deciding the overall winner including: an ability to design and deliver innova�on, a focus on DE&I, social mobility and community engagement. The judges were unanimous in their view that that Direct Line Group had comprehensively demonstrated all those aspects in the por�olio of metrics led work they entered.

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Upcoming events 2022 Nov Event Name

Date

Audience

Location

TALiNT Partners Middle East Summit

02.11.22

In-house talent leaders MENA

Grosvenor House Hotel, Dubai

TIARA Awards MENA 2022

03.11.22

Staffing and talent solutions leaders

Grosvenor House Hotel, Dubai

Talent Leaders, North

10.11.22

In-house talent leaders

The Studio, Manchester

How are recruiters winning with DEI & EVP?

10.11.22

Staffing and talent solutions leaders

The Studio, Manchester

Talent Leaders UK Annual Summit

17.11.22

In-house talent leaders

The King’s Fund, London

Lunch & Learn workshop

23.11.22

Staffing and talent solutions leaders

The Marylebone Hotel, London

TALiNT Partners Australia Summit

23.11.22

In-house talent leaders

Shangri-La, Sydney

TIARA Recruitment Awards ANZ 2022

24.11.22

Staffing and talent solutions leaders

Shangri-La, Sydney

Is Your DE&I Effective in Today’s Market?

24.11.22

In-house talent leaders

The Marylebone Hotel, London

Talent & TIARAs - Day 1

30.11.22

In-house talent leaders US

Marriott Marquis, Atlanta

Dec Date

Audience

Location

Talent & TIARAs - Day 2

01.12.22

In-house leaders US

Marriott Marquis, Atlanta

TIARA Talent Acquisition Awards US

01.12.22

In-house leaders US

Marriott Marquis, Atlanta

TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards US

01.12.22

HR tech leaders US

Marriott Marquis, Atlanta

Talent Planning for an Uncertain 2023

07.12.22

In-house leaders

The Marylebone Hotel, London

Talent Solutions trends and challenges discussion

08.12.22

Talent solutions leaders

The Marylebone Hotel, London

Christmas Dinner & Debate

14.12.22

Staffing and talent solutions leaders

The Marylebone Hotel, London

Event Name

To secure your place, register here: talintpartners.com/events

TALiNT International October 2022 65

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

Great expecta�ons Your EVP has changed, but does it stand out to match your talent’s new expecta�ons?

Steve Dilley Managing Consultant Consultancy Plus, part of Reed Talent Solu�ons

In 2020, work as we knew it for most office-based people changed drama�cally, and arguably irreversibly. We moved from mainly officebased to full �me working from home for nearly a year.

The following year was then characterised by various guises of “hybrid”. From models such as Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (avoid that acronym), a “remote first” approach, and a�empts to return to full �me working, organisa�ons have a�empted to tackle the challenge/opportunity presented by our loca�on of work.

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The loca�on of work has also impacted upon our working hours. Amidst plenty of debate, lots has been wri�en about wasted commutes, increased family �me, how to switch off from work (whilst remaining in the same room), and much more examining our newfound flexibility.

We know that EVP is not solely determined by our loca�on, or by the hours we work, in the same way that it’s not all about our salary. However, it’s clear that such a shi� in working condi�ons is going to have a profound impact on the overall value proposi�on.

Inten�onally or not, your EVP has almost certainly changed.

A Reed poll in August 2022 asked a group of UK adults who are full �me employed what they view as the most sa�sfying elements of working for their current company. The top five were:

1. The people I work with 2. The flexibility of working hours and/or loca�on 3. The salary I receive 4. The nature or type of organisa�on I work for 5. The benefits I get It seems reasonable then, to suggest that the top two most important areas of employee sa�sfac�on have probably been impacted the most in the last two years. Your employees are less likely to meet with the people they work with, and their working hours and loca�on have likely changed drama�cally.

But what does that mean for your EVP? Let’s say your unique value proposi�on is such that you have developed an outstanding team spirit and culture of working together. Your employees are driven to stay with you, not by your top of the range salary, or your flashy benefits programme, but by

THIS DOESN’T SOUND GOOD, WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?

their colleagues and the team working environment.

This environment has now changed.

Maybe that team spirit that was strong has been weakened by a lack of face-to-face social contact.

Maybe the team don’t form such strong rela�onships with new starters. Or perhaps some of the team have since le� and the team bond has broken.

Consider another scenario, before Covid your EVP was built around flexibility. Now everybody is shou�ng about their flexible working benefits, you’re no longer unique. Those people in your team who valued the flexibility, can get now get this anywhere. Your unique EVP has now changed.

So o�en we jump to salary as the main reason for people leaving. Media coverage on the cost of living and wage rises lead us to drawing the simple conclusion that people leave for more money. The response may well be to look to increase salaries, hoping this will solve the issue.

Whilst we can clearly see an upward pressure on salaries and recognise in many roles there is a big need to pay more to secure the best talent, as we know, EVP is not solely defined by salary.

Instead, now is the perfect �me to re-evaluate your unique EVP. Start by finding out how much your EVP has changed over the last 2 years. What are the key reasons for your people to stay with you now? Have these reasons changed recently, and do they match up with what you think your EVP is?

Defining your EVP from engaging with your people, rather than manufacturing it based on what you think

it should be, is vital in ensuring it reflects the changes in reality.

But it needs to stand out in a crowded market.

An EVP needs to be unique, it needs to be true, and it needs to resonate with people to stand out. If your EVP was built around flexible working before, there may be a case for change. Either doubling down on flexibility and introducing policies that are even more flexible than the new market normal. Or from your evalua�on is there something new that people will resonate with? It maybe that your remote first approach has enabled more communica�on and teamworking, and that you have an incredible team spirit in a remote environment.

Takeaways -

-

-

Recognise that your EVP is likely to have changed Talent are expec�ng different things from their employers Re-evaluate your unique EVP Make sure it’s true, unique, and resonates with people Shout about why you’re different

TALiNT International October 2022 67

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

Why culture contribu�on is more important than culture fit

James Crichton Head of Assessment at OMNI RMS

WHAT IS CULTURAL CONTRIBUTION?

Organisa�ons, understandably, look for candidates who would be a good fit for both the organisa�on and the role.

However, too frequently hiring managers are influenced by their unconscious biases which make them feel more inclined towards candidates that are more ‘like’ them or their exis�ng team, and when asked to jus�fy a decision to regret a candidate from a recruitment process will describe the ‘culture fit’ mismatch. Whilst it is prudent and valid to seek to ensure that candidates are able to operate effec�vely in a par�cular work environment, if you’re merely interested in hiring people who are exactly like you, in reality it can lead to stagna�on, with fewer 68

TALiNT International October 2022

different perspec�ves or experiences contribu�ng to problem solving and con�nuous improvements.

Cultural contribu�on turns the situa�on on its head and asks not whether the applicant will fit into the exis�ng organisa�onal culture, but rather what that individual can ac�vely contribute towards the culture to enhance it, drive it forward and keep it current.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

One way to ensure cultural contribu�on is built into an organisa�on is to embrace diversity. Many organisa�ons now put diversity at the heart of their recruitment policies and embrace the legal, moral and ethical case for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). This broadly means rejec�ng discrimina�on on the grounds of a range of both legally protected characteris�cs such as age, ethnicity and gender and also unprotected characteris�cs such as: socioeconomic background, educa�onal a�ainment and traits such as

Stephen Covey, the author of ‘7 Habits of Highly Effec�ve People’, famously said, “Life is not accumula�on, it is about contribu�on” and although that was published back in 1989, these words s�ll resonate today. Many organisa�ons talk about culture fit in their recruitment processes and priori�se those candidates in a selec�on process that they feel will fit into their exis�ng workplace culture. However, recently the importance of cultural contribu�on – what individuals can ac�vely bring to their roles – is challenging for prominence. Here, we look at what it is and how it can contribute to the success of an organisa�on.

introversion or extraversion, and welcoming individuals who can help increase the diversity of thought and experience in the organisa�on.

The benefits for both organisa�ons and the individuals who take a cultural contribu�on approach are many. The CIPD (Chartered Ins�tute of Personnel and Development) makes the case that EDI has a posi�ve psychological effect on employees, making them feel valued and respected. As a result, be�er quality work is produced, crea�vity levels are higher, and employees experience an overall sense of improved mental and physical wellbeing.

DISRUPTIVE THINKING

For employers, successful ED&I policies give organisa�ons a compe��ve advantage.

Open and inclusive workplaces have been seen have be�er reten�on rates and have demonstrated increased levels of innova�on. By crea�ng a diverse and inclusive workplace, you are not only making the environment more accessible to a wider pool of talent, but you are consistently bringing in fresh perspec�ves to elevate your workforce.

Cultural contribu�on can be likened to challenging the status quo, with the aim of suppor�ng the evolu�on of an organisa�on, pushing it in areas that it might not have previously considered, and driving change for the be�erment of not only the company but also its workforce.

In a highly viewed TED Talk en�tled ‘Are you a giver or a taker?’, Organisa�onal Psychologist Adam Grant breaks down workplace personali�es into three types: Givers, Takers and Matchers. He says, “… research shows that the frequency of giving behaviour that exists in a team or organisa�on, and the more o�en people help and share their knowledge… the be�er organisa�ons do on every metric we can measure, [resul�ng in] higher profits, employee reten�on and lower opera�ng costs.” He finishes his talk by affirming, “success is about contribu�on.”

For candidates, it’s about offering poten�al employers something they don’t currently have. For organisa�ons and hiring TALiNT International October 2022 69

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

managers it’s about ac�vely encouraging and advoca�ng for diversity of thought, experience and style. Cultural contribu�on shouldn’t be seen as simply a box-�cking exercise, but rather, embraced as a real chance to bring a fresh set of eyes to the workplace, and thus further skills and ideas as a result. It requires both awareness and insight on the part of employers to bring in individuals who can broaden the perspec�ve of the organisa�on or of a specific team. Today’s workplaces are evolving into spaces where values and ethics are seen to be key drivers of performance and results, but it’s important that this doesn’t result in an introspec�ve monoculture of groupthink, where nothing is challenged, and few new ideas are presented. Diverse input is vital to innova�on and growth, both for organisa�ons and for the individuals who work within them.

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One way to introduce cultural contribu�on in the workplace is for employers to rethink the hiring process, by ensuring that the candidate a�rac�on and assessment processes are truly inclusive and result in hires that bring with them new and diverse perspec�ves.

Omni’s Resourcing Effec�veness Assessment, which benchmarks an organisa�on’s effec�veness against 16 key resourcing areas, specifically considers how inclusive processes are (a�rac�on and selec�on) and considers how the employer brand and candidate experience can be op�mised for inclusion. Here at Omni, we change the way organisa�ons resource for the be�er, as well as offering outsourced recruitment services.

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GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

Perspec�ve on global M&A

The recovery of the glo market from the impac appears to be well and view mirror.

Chris Wolfe-Elder Investment Manager Twenty20 Capital

The recovery of the global human capital market from the impact of COVID-19 appears to be well and truly in the rear view mirror. The demand for candidates in the recruitment sector is stronger than ever and it appears this is reflected in valua�ons across the sector.

Boxington recorded that in the 12 months leading to September 2022 the sector experienced valua�ons c.25% above those listed prior to Covid. However, will this last?

I

ndustry experts and companies alike seem to agree that the demand for candidates will con�nue as we go through Q3 and into Q4.

There are a number of head winds which we believe have started to outweigh the driving 72

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force of this demand, as well as the valua�ons and number of transac�ons we will see in the market over the coming periods. One of the biggest influencers of a change in behaviour currently in the Global M&A space is the cost of borrowing. Rising interest rates and a reduc�on in risk appe�te from a number of lenders has already seen deals flounder, with some processes falling at the last hurdle as lenders re-assess their risk appe�te on an ongoing basis. The opportuni�es for management buy outs will be inherently linked to this metric, and the use of debt funds will also be put under pressure in deals where there is already li�le room to manoeuvre.

Infla�on will con�nue to impact individuals and companies in equal measures; the result on the staffing sector is yet to be seen. From a delivery perspec�ve bo�om lines are going to be put under pressure from increased overheads including costs linked to supplies, workforce mobility and goods required for service delivery. Whether this will in turn affect hiring rates is yet to be seen. Companies have in recent years fixed margins on long term contracts and are now experiencing a much more variable cost base, with staff wages going up, borrowing has gone up and the cost of reten�on has increased as employees look to move jobs simply for financial gain due to cost-of-living concerns. From an

obal human capital ct of COVID-19 d truly in the rear

individual’s perspec�ve uncertainty is rife and it could be suggested that temp placements could slow as permanent roles start to look more a�rac�ve. This shi� will, in the main, be due to job and income security, and will likely impact candidates in industries which see a par�cularly high turnover, such as warehouse roles and healthcare provisions.

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n contrast, these head winds could provide a number of opportuni�es for those experienced in owning and opera�ng workforce provision businesses in �mes of struggle.

Efficiencies, nimbleness and clear decision making will be more influen�al than in �mes of plenty, and struggling companies, who o�en find it

challenging to react to market pressures, will look to acquisi�ons as a way to protect their gaps. In light of this many companies are having to strengthen overseas efforts in recrui�ng for industries that are most heavily experiencing this shortage of supply. The post Brexit world sees a number of companies establishing stronger links with global talent pools such as India, the Philippines and the Caribbean. From an M&A perspec�ve a comprehensive programme for interna�onal talent and significant pipeline in prospec�ve companies is becoming a must. We have seen par�cular success in healthcare and IT staffing through the promo�on of their interna�onal programmes in recent years.

The current economic landscape suggests that this will only become more prevalent as companies navigate a supply shortage with tighter and tighter budget requirements.

One thing is clear, demand, for now, is s�ll very much outstripping supply.

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TALINT TALK

Synthe�c Cohort Analysis or g clichés, which do you prefer?

As someone who posts and comments quite a lot on LinkedIn, I’m o�en curious about what gets most engagement. O�en it’s simply a post with a picture of a funky private dining room where we are hos�ng a dinner but, some�mes it will be a remark on a mea�er topic.

This month I commented on a post from Steven Bartle�’s Diary of a CEO and his interview with Simon Sinek Inc. and it clearly touched a nerve with an awful lot of people.

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think some of Simon Sinek’s commentary is engaging and insigh�ul but, I also must confess that I find some of it cliched and a bit ‘click-baity’. And I have a par�cularly hot bu�on for genera�onal generalisa�ons!

And although I may have been slightly harsh in calling his comments ‘lazy and uninformed’, I s�ll think his observa�ons about the ‘flightyness’ of a lot of young people were in the ‘more harm than good’ category.

The thing is, however, there are genera�onal differences in today’s workplaces – but then again, there always have been – and for 74

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anyone looking to truly be�er understand them I would point you to ‘Genera�ons’ by Bobby Duffy. It’s a rich and rela�vely un-dense examina�on of a complex topic and I highly recommend it. One of the most important observa�ons he makes is that genera�onal differences fall into three main areas:

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eriod effects: Something that happens that affects every genera�on at the same �me. For example, people of all ages got very interested in terrorism a�er 9/11. In today’s workplaces, everyone is interested in flexibility and different ways of working, not just younger people.

genera�onal

Ken Brotherston CEO at TALiNT Partners

Lifecycle effects: These are the things that happen to every genera�on. Young people generally aren’t interested in pensions, old people don’t go to nightclubs (by and large!).

Likewise, young people have always tended to change jobs more frequently than older people as they work out what they want to do longer term and generally they then se�le down.

And finally, Cohort effects: This is where it gets interes�ng as these are the different a�tudes that occur because genera�ons have been socialised differently. Whilst a lot of commentators would call out the increased ‘flighty-ness’ of younger people, it is important to ask how they have been socialised differently to behave in the way they do. Again, this is not a simple answer, but undoubtedly an important component is the drive by employers for increased flexibility and agility in their workforces. Employees of every genera�on can interpret this as lack of commitment, engagement and loyalty and will respond in kind. Those employees at an earlier point in their career life cycle will likely respond in greater numbers by leaving.

I would add one other very important dis�nc�on when considering trend analysis of younger peoples’ behaviours and a�tudes: Is the research referring to rich young people or poor young people? For example, much is made of young people ranking a sense of purpose as the most important thing in a job. Purpose doesn’t pay the rent (it never has) and research o�en seems to assume that all young people are faced with the choice of picking between Goldman Sachs or McKinsey. In reality, it’s more likely to be a choice between working on a building site or a warehouse or between a care home and a shop.

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n summary, as with so many aspects of workforce and talent trends, there are no simple answers. When thinking about genera�onal trends Bobby Duffy recommends ‘synthe�c cohort analysis’ or, more simply, considering the three different components of Period, Lifecycle and Cohort effects before making genera�onal assump�ons. It’s not as headline grabbing as ‘young people are flighty’ but at least you won’t sound like your parents!

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