Standards, standards, standards

This opinion piece was written for us by Martin Dangerfield.  Martin is a Regional Director for the Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP).   I personally believe that the REC are committed to the improvement of standards and that their reorganisation and introduction of the IRP is a step towards this.  Obviously I would be interested in any comments on the likely effectiveness of the REC/IRP and standards in the industry in general.

Whilst this might be an old topic it’s one that refuses to go away.  The recruitment industry and more specifically recruitment consultants have a poor reputation. Worryingly it’s a reputation that appears to be sticking and is becoming increasingly difficult to shift.  When the market was good this reputation mattered less with recruitment consultants seen as a ‘necessary evil’ with organisations struggling to source the talent they needed in house due to volumes or not being brave enough to do it themselves.  However, now the market has changed there is a greater focus on dare I say it quality.  Those in the business happy with their estate agent credentials are as many estate agents finding it tough.  Those consultants taking the high ground, moving into value based services, true consultancy are still struggling to differentiate themselves as ‘real’ standards and qualifications are difficult to measure and police.  That external badge of quality that other professions enjoy.

A while ago I decided to put my money where my mouth is and volunteer to be a Regional Director for REC. I did this as whilst I had been both a corporate and individual member I had been frustrated with a lack of direction locally and hoped I could do better.  Since joining as an individual member REC has redesigned the proposition and launched the Institute of Recruitment Professionals as the first real stake in the ground at creating a tangible trade body with enforceable standards.  Now clearly it is early days and undoubtedly I am biased but surely this is the way to go for recruitment consultants who take this profession seriously?

I am a realist and whilst I know this article won’t be falling on deaf ears I also know there won’t be a stampede to sign up.  So what stops consultants from joining?  Rather than me answering that, let’s get that debate going, what would stop you from joining the trade body that represents the majority of the industry no matter what sector you are in, whether you are a volume temp recruiter or in high fee executive search.  I see this as the only way to go if we really want to raise standards and have ethical business practices. Yes the entry point needs to be made tougher (and over time it will be as membership increases) and yes it needs to mean something if people get ejected.  The IRP isn’t perfect, but with increased membership comes scale, momentum and an increase in ideas.

My personal feeling is that we need to do this now, before the good times return, get our house in order whilst we have the chance.  What I would say is that membership is open to all, including in-house recruitment and talent acquisition professionals, many of whom are starting to join the IRP.  Whilst you might not like it, joining the IRP might be the only way to continue a business relationship becoming a badge of entry?

For more information on IRP go to www.rec-irp.uk.com or contact Martin Dangerfield either on 0161 955 3647 or email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com.  As well as being a Regional Director for the IRP Martin is Director of the search business mckinley|resource, a freelance people consultant specialising in talent attraction, assessment and recruitment and a provider of career and business coaching.  www.martindangerfield.com

UPDATE: There are a couple of threads on the UK Recruiter Discussion Board on the subject of REC/IRP.  The most recent one is REC RIP?.  There is also one that was started back in July: REC - IRP

Comments

[Wendy Jacob]

Great post Martin; good on you for signing up to become a Regional Director and seeing for yourself what happens behind the scenes at the REC.

I'll start by saying that I think the REC do a lot of good in the industry. I'm a fully paid up member (well, my cheque's in the post...), I have the Dip RP, am doing the BA RP and have been to a variety of seminars and workshops held by the REC. In short; I think they have a lot to offer and provide great value for money.

Something you touch on here though is that pretty much anyone can join. When you look at other professional bodies (CIM, CIPD, RICS, etc., though I appreciate they are all chartered) you have to do SO much work to gain fully fledged membership. Now, not being a full member of anything other than the REC, I know it's a bit difficult to compare and contrast, but I do know how much work has to go in to obtaining a lot of these memberships. While I agree that standards, standards, standards is definitely the way forward, I do think you (well, perhaps not you personally!) have to educate people more about these standards. And, while it's great that membership is open to everyone, surely more stringent qualification for full (not associate) membership and fellowship would place more value on the REC as a professional body and on those recruiters who hold it?

Just a thought...