Measures outlined by leader of the Labour party Ed Miliband to crackdown on rogue agencies have been challenged by many in the recruitment industry.

In yesterday’s attack on “cowboy” agencies, Miliband said he would begin consultations before the next election on different ways to ensure recruitment agencies clean up their act. These include a licensing system to ensure they comply with basic standards or are stopped from operating.

In a press statement, Kevin Green, chief executive of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), described Ed Miliband’s comments as “another episode of random business bashing”.

Recruiters commenting on Miliband’s statements in yesterday’s Recruiter’s article were somewhat harsher in their criticism of the Labour leader.

Adrian Hobbs said: “Again another politician out of tune with reality. Flexible UK Plc couldn’t happen without us and it is the customers who these days determine the pay rates for many agency staff. Focus on what you do best Mr Miliband… which is what exactly?”

Recruitment industry entrepreneur Graham Palfery-Smith posted: “As if we needed any more evidence of Millibean’s [sic] utter and complete inadequacy. The man is a dangerous fool who does not have the first idea of how a sophisticated modern economy or its key components work.”

However, Adam Groves believes Miliband is correct in his assertion of rogue recruiters within the industry, saying: “Miliband touches the tip of the iceberg. The industry (in which I have worked for many years) is rotten to the core, at least among the high-volume, lower-paid elements. So many scams are practised which exploit both temps and HMRC that an overhaul is long overdue and desperately needed.”

In response to Miliband’s call for 400,000 more engineers in the UK, Mark Flawn commented: “I wonder if 17 years of his predecessors being in charge of the UK has anything to do with the lack of future-proofing our highly skilled workforce and economy… Maybe his Top Hat is larger than anyone else’s. I’ve checked in mine but cannot see any white rabbits.”

Commenting on Miliband’s proposals on licensing, Green said REC was already actively involved in the Gangmaster Licensing Authority (GLA), which plays a key role in gathering intelligence and stopping exploitation.

“We do not support the formal expansion of licensing as we do not believe the licensing process itself is what drives out criminal activity,” Green said. “However, we are passionate about supporting the GLA to gather intelligence and prosecute criminal gangs who infiltrate the legitimate labour market, and will work with any politicians who want to develop new policies in this area.”

Miliband also described the Swedish Derogation as a legal loophole that needed to be closed. Under the Agency Workers Regulations, the clause exempts an employment agency from having to pay the worker the same rate of pay, as long as the agency directly employs the individual and guarantees to pay them for at least four weeks during the times they cannot find them work.

Green said: “Pay between assignments – or the Swedish Derogation – was agreed under the previous Labour government with the support of the CBI and TUC. It is not a loophole, it is law. As with any new legislation, any sudden changes to these regulations – which took years to bed in – could have a negative impact on the jobs market.”

We give Dave Ainscow the final word on the Labour leader’s remarks, in his post on recruiter.co.uk saying: “He just doesn’t get it, does he? They (The Labour Party) would, if they could, get rid of the recruitment industry as it stands and have a government-run one … We have been a thorn in their sides for the past 30 odd years – shame we have been so successful for the economy of the UK!!”

Ref: http://www.recruiter.co.uk/news/2014/11/recruitment-industry-challenges-milibands-proposals-for-rogue-recruiters/

There’s no other way of saying it – agencies face a big problem,” says Jonathan Graham, founder of Leeds-based IT specialist recruitment firm Inward Revenue.

“Ever since tuition fees, expectations of what a university education will give back to people have escalated; graduates have much higher aims. They’re thinking of banking, finance, accountancy, certainly not entering recruitment.”

For all those agency heads whose business is founded on placing the highest-quality candidates into their client’s companies, it’s perhaps ironic that finding talent to join their own organisations is becoming increasingly difficult.

“We know the industry overall has an image problem,” adds Graham, “but while individuals may aspire to join the larger Hays or Michael Pages of this world, it is clear smaller agencies are struggling to provide the personal identification young people crave from who they work for.”

Invest in staff

So worried was Graham that he actually re-interviewed people that had rejected job offers to join his company to out why.

“What we were surprised to learn was how things we thought would be attractive – like potential for money and having fast-paced environments – was turning people off. It was creating the impression we were an overly tough industry.”

The results have led to the formulation of a year-long training period, to make it clear to people that they are being invested in, and not thrown in at the deep end. Talent is only made client-facing after they have reached certain goals, and there are softer element like Xboxes in the office, team nights and even ‘gamified-style’ league-tables where staff can see their performance (projected onto a screen), almost like a computer game high-score table.

If agencies are to attract and hold onto the best talent for their own organisations, this is just the tip of the iceberg according to experts.

“I don’t believe recruitment firms are doing enough to recruit the best talent,” says Simon Conington, MD of resourcing firm, BPS World.

“What often happens is that the same people simply migrate between similar organisations. This distorts brands’ own individuality as their values are eroded by individuals with different sets of characteristics.”

Conington reflects the oft-held view that agencies are often too quick to hire the same ‘type’ of person – the pushy sales-types, motivated by bonuses and short-term gain rather than long-term business – because that’s what’s worked, and because too many are risk-averse to try something different.

Instead, he says he looks for consultants rather than salespeople, using psychometrics to recruit, before placing them into its Rising Stars Apprenticeship programme which nurtures them into fully-fledged recruitment agents.

Insider knowledge

But even this, say some, means agencies will still cut themselves off from vast pools of untapped talent. This is why one firm, The Candidate, which recruits into the digital media sector, says it does things rather differently. It believes the best talent it needs are those who have previously worked in the areas it places people into – ie digital marketing experts.

Brian Matthews, managing partner, says: “We’re in a talent-shortage sector, yet we manage to hire people with degrees in PR and marketing, and those with digital experience because that’s who we’ve targeted.”

He says not only does having former industry talent mean they know the pressures of the jobs they’ll be placing people into for clients, but clients respond to their former inside knowledge.

“It’s a trust issue,” he says. “Our staff know what our clients need because they’ve done it themselves [he says they’ve only had three people drop-out of placements in three years], and the result is that we are the preferred supplier to the three largest media agencies in Manchester.”

He accepts persuading digital marketers to move into recruitment hasn’t been easy, and the poaching process does reveal the stereotypes people hold of the recruitment sector, but Matthews says the effort is worth it.

“We recognise these people are different, so will design their jobs to be less targets-driven,” he says. “As long as we’re able to facilitate a career for these people, I think that’s all that matters. We encourage them to still have their toe in the sector, by supporting them on placements, so they stay up-to-date with what’s changing in this sector.”

Encourage diversity

Hiring people from the sector agencies place into is one way of getting the best talent, but another step being taken is to attract new people completely into the industry by casting their search nets still wider.

At Barrington Hibbert Associates, founder Michael Barrington-Hibbert is fast developing a track record for hiring from under-represented minority groups, working with an organisation called The Brokerage, which helps provide young people with a pathway into industries they may not have previously considered.

He says: “Hiring people from public school background might be relevant when placing a CEO, but what the recruitment sector really needs most is people that can think differently, not be part of the crowd, and suggest to clients people they may not have been thought of before.”

Barrington-Hibbert recently a new starter, who came from a tough Hackney council estate, but he calls him one of his “best hires,” because he has a will to succeed.

He says: “There is so much more value-add to be had from a diverse talent pool. “We also recently hired a young Muslim girl and during talks with a German client, she spoke fluent German. The client was blown away by this.”

He accepts he still has bills to pay, and there is a typical commission structure in place, but he says having a broader range of people makes for being able to offer more personal rewards – giving someone a few days off for a job well done, or a spa-break, or Selfridges vouchers etc.

“I run a charity in Africa, and I’ve just told the team that if they hit our repeat business targets I’ll take them there,” he adds. “These are the sorts of things we can do to motivate diverse people.”

For all agencies, it seems the perks on offer will merely be the things people expect, and that it’s the bigger picture that needs to be explained to attract them in.

Tony Wilmot, director at Frontline recruitment, says: “Yes, we’ll offer all the usual staff perks – health and life cover, income protection, loyalty cards, private medical insurance and pensions, but what we really look for is people that are willing to grow with us.

“We don’t get engrossed with people’s previous experience, but we’ll assess the similarities that make for good people. By making it clear we want to give people ownership of our brand, we’re tapping into the more entrepreneurially-based talent, who are excited by running their own operations.”

It’s clear that if agencies go the extra mile explaining the benefits of their own organisation, finding and retaining talent for their own businesses will come more easily.

So, what are you waiting for? As you will no doubt tell your clients, talent is out there – you just have to find it, and make them aware of you.

Ref: http://www.recruitmentagencynow.com/recruiting-for-recruitment-how-agencies-attract-the-best-talent-into-the-industry/

 

Recruiters now have an opportunity to update their skills and knowledge through the launch of a range of 13 online courses being offered through a new partnership between the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and the Open University’s Centre for Professional Learning and Development (CPLD).

With each of the courses taking around 30 hours to complete, they can be studied at a time and pace to suit each individual. This makes them ideal for those unable to commit to long-term study but want to acquire new skills, knowledge and ideas which can be applied to the workplace.
With the courses come a number of benefits. They include skills development to suit an individual’s personal development and work-based needs. Each has a series of clearly presented and sequenced materials, activities and the support of a expert, who, acting like a personal coach, will respond directly within 24 hours.

The courses comprise a series of activities and cases studies that allow the student to reflect upon and assess current practice, and plan for development. There is also a final end of course assessed work-based activity, which is forwarded to the Learning Advisor who provides personal feedback.

On successful completion of the course, the participant will receive an Open University certificate which can be used as proof of continuing professional development to the REC or an employer, or can be simply added to a personal portfolio of learning.

The 13 courses, for which a ten per cent discount has been negotiated for REC members, range from Managing Performance Through People; Applying Strategic Thinking to Understanding Stress at Work.

Judith Armatage, the REC’s Director of Professional Development, said:

“This is an extremely exciting development for us to be able to offer continuing professional development courses with the Open University, ranked the top UK university for student satisfaction.^¹

“Through this partnership, we hope even more members, especially those who cannot commit to longer-term courses, will be able to continue their own personal development programmes so that they are able to acquire new skills knowing that they have both the full support of the OU and of course, the REC.”

Charles Edwards, Acting Director of the OU’s Centre for Professional Learning and Development said of the launch:

“We are delighted to be working with the REC and supporting members with our online CPD courses. Our expertise in flexible, work-based, supported open learning also lends itself superbly to meet the ongoing needs of professionals and our CPD certification distinguishes us from other training courses – it provides the evidence of the quality, relevance and application to practice of CPD activity.”

Full details of the new courses are now available through the REC website, www.rec.uk.com.

Picture shows: Charles Edwards, Acting Director of The Open University’s Centre for Professional Learning and Development and Judith Armatage, the REC’s Director of Professional Development at the launch of the new series of 13 online courses are being offered to REC members through the OU.

Come 2015, recruiting leaders globally will have higher budgets and even higher hiring volumes, with a strong need to focus on “quality of hire”. 

They will also need a much stronger focus on social networks, and will need to structure a strategy for passive candidate recruiting, which currently only 61% of global companies have.

These are the global trends highlighted in LinkedIn’s latest recruitment trends report, which gathered input from more than 4,000 recruiting leaders across 31 countries.

The findings outlined that for the first time in four years, 63% of leaders expect hiring volumes to rise, as well as 46% who anticipate an increase in hiring budgets.

It also found that a significant 38% expect to source talent from social professional networks – a number that has increased by 78% since 2013 – second only to internet job boards at 42%.

Ref: http://recruitmentbuzz.co.uk/trends-that-will-shape-recruitment-in-2015/