Louise's UK Recruiter Blog

Employability: an opportunity for Recruiters?

This guest article, written by David Shindler explores why having an understanding of employability could add value to your business, to your clients and to your candidates.

Three examples of Candidates

“I’m a project manager and that’s what I do. There are a lot of us looking for jobs.  I don’t particularly like it but providing for my family comes first.”  They are the words of a 40 something employee of a public sector organisation during a workshop for people facing redundancy to help them recognise and value their talents.  How can he differentiate himself from all the other project managers in the marketplace?  What other possibilities might be open to him?

Contrast that with a 20 something I spoke with recently at the advice clinic for the National Graduate Recruitment Exhibition: “I have a first degree, an MBA and work experience.  Why are employers not responding to my applications?  My qualifications speak for themselves.”  It isn’t going to be enough, irrespective of job availability.  What mindset would make a positive difference?

Take a 50 something technology expert with 25 years experience in the same field and wanting to see out his time before retirement doing “more of the same”.  Yet he works in a sector facing huge competitive pressures and demands by plcs for increased shareholder value.  What are the potential implications for him of entering the job market?  What might he need to do differently?

Employability issues underpin all three of these examples. 

What is Employability?

The CBI defines it as “the combination of the attributes, skills and knowledge that you need to have in order to ensure you have the capability to be effective today and tomorrow in the workplace”. The UK Commission on Employment and Skills (UKCES) has also been at the forefront of advising Government about good practice and the policy implications. 

From work by the CBI and the UKCES, I have taken 8 main capabilities, broken down into 35 sub-areas, and mapped them onto a four box model based on Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence framework to create an individual’s Employability Window:

•    Positive attitude (‘can do’ approach, readiness to take part and contribute, openness to new ideas and constructive criticism, drive to make those ideas happen)
•    Self-management (willingness to take responsibility, self-starting, assertiveness, flexibility, resilience, work/life balance, time management, learning and personal development, personal presentation)
•    Team working (respecting others, co-operating, awareness of interdependence on others, negotiating/persuading, contributing to discussions)
•    Communicating (building rapport, listening, questioning, oral literacy, written work, networking)
•    Digital literacy (computer skills, understanding and using the Internet – especially search engines and social media)
•    Solving problems (analysing facts and situations, creative thinking for solutions, working collaboratively)
•    Numeracy (understanding the role and application of mathematical principles in the work environment)
•    Business and customer awareness (understanding the key drivers for business success, innovating, judging risks, understanding the need to build customer satisfaction and loyalty, contributing to the whole organisation)

 Inevitably, there is debate about the priorities, focus and emphasis for any given employer and the type of employability skills and mindsets will change in line with the environment (see the Future Work Skills 2020 report1).  For example, in a globalised world, trans-cultural understanding is increasingly likely to feature.

The underpinning rationale is that it is no longer enough for people to be good at their ‘subject’ for them to be good at their job. They need their technical or functional expertise to be capable, but adding to their employability ‘set’ of capabilities can make all the difference in getting work, staying in work or moving on. 

Employers want people to be employable for their specific organisation.  That means candidates staying up-to-date with both technical and non-technical skills.  The key is being open to change and self-development.  As John Reed, the Chairman of Reeds has said, “mindset will always trump skills”.  

Employability is different from being employed which is getting a job or being in a job.   That’s tactical.  Being employable is more strategic and longer-term.  The job or promotion interview is the next wave, whereas being employable is about being an effective sailor whatever the sea conditions. It overlaps with career coaching and career advice which are about identifying pathways through specific fields and sectors.

So what for recruiters?

How can having understanding of employability inform and impact on you as a recruiter?

Professional recruiters know the importance of treating each candidate and employer as unique and addressing their specific needs.  We all want to give candidates the very best chance of succeeding; however, with tough economic conditions, four generations now in the workplace and everyone trying to keep up with rapid technological change, getting and staying employed is a challenge in an uncertain world.

How many times have you seen a candidate who may have the technical, subject or functional skills and expertise but lack the mindset, attributes, knowledge and personal skills to be effective in your clients’ workplaces?    Do you have candidates who look good on paper but you wouldn’t want to send them to the client because they lack the right mindset or employability skills?You might know they have the potential to offer more but, in my experience, recruiters struggle to give the time and resources to uncover it

The days of working for a single employer doing the same job the same way are over.  To continue the sea metaphor, the waves are coming at us quicker and from different angles and candidates will need increasing support to be able to ride the waves.

For example, a common issue for candidates might be re-examining how digitally savvy or literate they are.  Many of us are already operating in a world where learning is predominantly ‘social’ facilitated by technology.  It will mean engaging with the world of work in a different way for some generations.  Understanding how to use LinkedIn, producing creative online profiles, virtual assessment approaches, understanding SEO and keywords – these are the types of profound changes affecting candidates, clients and recruiters.  Don’t believe me?  Read this

The benefits of embracing employability

Recruiters will benefit from paying attention to employability through:
•    A better match of candidates with clients and their needs
•    Improving business performance indicators – attracting candidates, right person in the right job, better onboarding
•    Contributing to longer-term relationships with clients and improving the return on investment of retained services because your placements stick
•    A way of differentiating your business from competitors
•    Enhancing brand reputation

Your clients benefit through:
•    Cost savings from retaining new recruits so they stay employed for longer
•    Candidates more able to hit the ground running
•    Value for money from you as their recruitment supplier or partner
•    Increased trust in their business relationship with you

3 ways recruiters can support employability

Recruiters can attract more or different candidates by seizing this opportunity to add value to their services, while at the same time demonstrating their social responsibility at a time of economic austerity.  Here are some ideas:

1.    Broaden by adding employability development to your service offer (if you are not doing it already).
2.    Partner with other providers who can complement your service and help develop candidates so they are more employable before facing your clients and have a better chance of success.
3.    Sponsor employability development workshops, boot camps or webinars to enhance your brand and attract future candidates and clients.  

In survey after survey, employers say they are crying out for better employability skills.  In some cases, employers may need to do a better job at making the jobs they offer more attractive. 

Whatever your view, what role do you think the recruitment industry in the UK has in enhancing employability capabilities?

David Shindler is the author of “Learning to Leap, a Guide to Being More Employable”, HotHiveBooks.  An experienced coach, consultant and facilitator, David helps people at any life stage accelerate their employability.  He also owns the Employability Hub, an online forum where people share and learn about employability issues and runs the Learning to Leap group on LinkedIn. Contact him for more details via email at david@employabilitycoaching.co.uk, tweet him @dashcoaching or visit his website.

UK Recruitment Squash Tournament

Recruiters are nothing if not competitive – so this ought to be perfect for the industry....

Organised by InterQuest Group PLC the UK’s first ever Recruitment Squash Tournament is open to any recruitment company in the UK, from any sector and/or any location.  The finals will be played on the Glass Squash Court at Canary Wharf March 2012 (I’m sure that venue is significant within the squash world – but means nothing to a potato couch like me!).

All the profits are going to charity (the primary charity is Cancer Research UK and secondary charities include CLIC Sargent, MacMillan and Marie Curie).

Their main sponsors are Colleague software.  You can take part by contacting matt@interquestgroup.com.

How to Measure Commercial Risk?

Today we have a guest article written for us by Jill Mytton.  Jill is a highly experienced Commercial Risk and Compliance Expert for the recruitment industry.

I have lost count of the number of client, master vendor/ neutral vendor and managed service provider contracts I have reviewed on behalf of recruitment agencies for commercial risk over the last 11 years but the number must be in the hundreds by now. Having reviewed a substantial number of supplier contracts does enable me to spot the latest third party trends for managing commercial risk.  Corporates want consistency of service and low risk so agencies that meet Key Performance Indicators on a consistent basis and are prepared to shoulder a substantial level of risk will be at the top of their preferred list. What continually amazes me is the large number of recruitment agency directors that have no robust system for measuring risk to their business. By nature recruiters have an appetite for risk, they are entrepreneurial, and sales orientated and have a “can do” attitude. This “go for it” attitude has to be tempered by a balanced business view of risk and reward otherwise the agency can be left strangled by contractual terms and unworkable penalties which can mean the end for the business.

I have a simple approach to measuring risk using a very common risk system we all know well i.e.  traffic lights. I measure commercial risk in contracts as follows:-

 “Red” for danger means a contract where the rewards have to be highly significant to the agency to make the heavy burden of risk and the attached costs of that risk worth carrying. These contracts would have a Commercial Risk Health Warning attached to them and the directors need to be fully aware of the issues they need to manage if they are to enter into these agreements.

“Amber” means caution where managing risk becomes paramount and potential re-negotiation of particularly onerous clauses needs to take place before signing on the dotted line

“Green” means good to go and these are agency friendly contracts that mirror industry recognised terms and conditions and are often for low volume supply where a number of agencies are being used to introduce and supply staff.

When I am assessing which category to put the contract in I look at required insurance cover, limits of liability for claims and losses under the contract, indemnities(financial penalties) imposed on the agency for breaching conditions of the contract, payment terms, and compliance criteria imposed by the client on the recruitment agency which is now including Agency Worker Regulations obligations.

If you never measure your commercial risk how can you manage the implications of such risk successfully? Remember not all business is “good” business and when that contract lands on the director’s desk it needs to be reviewed unemotionally and ultimately agency directors must have the courage to walk away from unworkable contracts to ensure the survival of the business.

Jill Mytton is a Recruitment Commercial Risk and Compliance Expert at her own business Parters 4 Success. She is Lead Consultant at REC Advice Plus.

The Independent Recruiting Group – update

I wrote about the IRG a while back.  Well, some things have changed over there and I thought I ought to share the update. 

The IRG is a “Social Enterprise community” of small independent recruitment agency owners. They've been going since January 2010, and in that time have grown to over 120 member firms. The idea behind the enterprise is that members will find comfort in the fact that they are no longer alone in the market – they have the support of their fellow members behind them. They collaborate, share ideas, share opinions, share jobs and candidates, learn from each other, save money through group purchasing power, and the best bit.... they charge no membership fees whatsoever. 

They don’t see themselves as a professional body in that they support each other from within; everyone is in the same boat.

If you want any more information take a look at the content on their www.irg-uk.com and www.irg-socialise.com websites.  They have plans in place to launch new marketing and PR initiatives over the next month, and intend to see member numbers grow to over 300 early next year.

Their aim; to become the true voice of the small independent agencies.

A moral question for recruiters

Here’s a question for you;

You have placed a candidate, Bob, with a client, SinksRUs.  You’ve been paid your fee, you are out of the rebate period and client and candidate are happy.... Then Bob phones you.  He says he is thinking of moving on and wants your advice, as a recruiter, on negotiating terms with his potential new employer.  Obviously you tell him you can’t help him with that as your loyalty lies with the client. Bob says he understands but asks that you protect his position by not saying a word to his current employers.  However, two days later the MD of SinksRUs calls you to say he’s a bit worried about Bob.  He has a feeling he’s looking at moving on and is worried, with the position Bob holds at the company, how that might leave SinksRUs open to financial loss.  The client just wants your advice on how to handle the situation.

So, what do you do?  Where does your loyalty lie?

Blog Awards – What the judges are looking for

Nominations end on 6th December for this year’s UK Recruitment Blog of the Year Awards.  I’ve dusted off the judging criteria from last year and will be updating it a little in some areas.

However, I can tell you that Andy Headworth, Peter Gold and I will be marking in these general areas: quality of writing, volume of posts, blog design, range of post content, information on the author and use of technology.

On a personal level I’m going to be I’m looking for a blog that’s engaging, interesting and easy to read, which is regularly updated and is obviously written by a real recruiter sharing their experiences of the day to day!

I asked Andy and Peter what they’d be looking for and they told me:

Andy: “I want to read a blog that is interesting, has regular original content and makes me want to put it in my RSS reader to ensure I don't miss a post!”
Peter: “I want to see a blog that has interesting, original content and is something that is maintained consistently rather than an odd blog post every few weeks.”

So, if you write a blog which you think hits the mark, or read one which you want to tell us about please nominate now at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LLJNZBW

REC Annual Trends Survey - key findings

I've just got my copy of the REC's Annual Trends Survey and have been taking a look.  It's certainly a well researched and chunky read crammed full of data.  

Their summary reads:

Turnover in the UK’s recruitment industry has bounced back by over 25 per cent to just under £25 billion over the past year (April 2010 to March 2011), according to the latest annual industry report by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).  The Medium Term Forecast is for single digit growth over the next four years with the industry expected to peak at over £30 billion in 2014/15.

The sharp upsurge in the annual turnover to £24.6 billion, an increase of 25.3 per cent, compares to £19.7 billion in the same period the previous year (April 2009 to March 2010). More recent data from agencies confirms that the growth has decelerated– reflecting ongoing economic uncertainty.   However, the upbeat message from the REC’s Annual Industry Trends Survey is that the industry has an innate ability to re-energise itself and to come back stronger.

Some key findings of the survey are as follows:

•    Turnover in temporary/contract staffing has returned to 2006/2007 levels at £22 billion compared to its low point last year of £17.8 billion, a rise of 24.1 per cent.
•    Permanent recruitment also rallied to reach £2.5 billion in the past year, a massive 37 per cent increase on £1.8 billion recorded in 2009/10.
•    Volumes of perms placements rose by 38.3 per cent from 436,822 last year to 604,193 in 2010/11 while temp placements were up 19.3 per cent and top the million mark again at 1,049, 333 compared to 879, 000 last year.
•    The number of people working in recruitment has gone up 13.1 per cent from 80,528 last year to 91,114 this year.
•    A rise overall industry turnover to £24, 683 billion compared to £19.7 billion in 2009/10. This represents a 25.3 per cent increase in overall turnover.
•    Overall turnover for temporary/contract staff went up to £22,095 billion from £17.804 billion, a rise of 24.1 per cent. Total turnover for permanent staff also grew from to £2,587 billion from £1.888 billion, a rise of 37 per cent.
•    The largest number of temporary placements was again in the Industrial and blue collar sector which grew to 24 per cent compared to 21 per cent last year. This was followed by secretarial/clerical at 17 per cent and computing/IT at nine per cent.  Accounting/financial placements were again bottom at three per cent. .
•    The largest sector for permanent placements was secretarial/clerical which rose from 14 per cent last year to 22 per cent while bottom were other industrial/blue collar at two per cent.
•    The ratio of permanent to temporary staff has also shifted as a result of these latest figures. The temporary staffing sector has dropped back one per cent this year from 90.4 per cent last year to 89.52 per cent while the permanent sector now accounts for 10.48 per cent of the industry compared to 9.6 per cent in 2009/10.
•    Nearly one in ten agencies working in the permanent sector reported earnings at their lowest level – under nine per cent, twice as many as last year. The number of agencies reporting margins of 25 per cent and over has halved from 7.6 per cent last year to 3.7 per cent this year.
•    The REC’s Medium Term Forecast predicts the recruitment industry’s annual growth at 3.6 per cent next year (2011/12) followed by 4.7 per cent in 2012/13, rising to 7.1 per cent for 2013/14 and 7.3 per cent in 2014/15. This represents a return to single figure growth over the next four years to reach a new peak of £30.8 billion in 2014/15.

Growth predications aren't exactly going to knock anyone's socks off - but at least the surveys suggests movement in the right direction!

If you want a copy of the report it's available from the REC website

The UK Recruiter - Recruitment Blog of the Year 2011

This is our fifth year of running the "Best UK Recruitment Blog" awards!

Last year we changed the format slightly and only took nominations of blogs written by actual practicing recruiters.  We had loads of nominations and some brilliant finalists' blogs.

So, right now we are in the nomination stage for the 2011 awards. The criteria for nomination is:

i) the blogger has to be an active recruiter (ie, has worked on a recruitment campaign within the last 6 weeks).
ii) the blogger has to have posted something on their blog in the past month.
iii) The blog has been around for at least six months.

In-house as well as agency recruitment bloggers are welcome!

As I say you can nominate now.   Nominations will close on 6th December.

Then it's the judging. The judging panel will consist of me, Andy Headworth, Peter Gold (Peter and Andy have been highly ranked in our blog awards from 2008-2010) and Mervyn Dinnen (who was a finalist last year).

We'll be publishing details of the winning blogs on Monday 12th December.

Jobsite have very kindly offered to provide the prize this year.  As well as a lovely little trophy the winner will get a Flipcam; so they can add video (if they don't already have it) to their blog! 

So, nominate now!

PS, if you want to know who won last year check out my 2010 awards blog post

Opinion Piece on Reed VAT Ruling

Today we have a guest post from Nick Woodward, MD at Etz Timesheet solutions talking about the implications of the VAT/Reed ruling and how cloud-computing can help agencies take advantage of this.

The failure of business to respond to a recent raft of legal decisions and last-minute regulatory changes indicates employers and recruiters are increasingly floundering in the face of ongoing seismic shifts in the legal landscape.

When the AWR changes were introduced in October, research demonstrated over a third of hiring firms had not yet factored in pension liabilities included in the new laws, leaving them and their supplier agencies at risk. Just a month earlier, recruitment agencies were reportedly furious after rumours spread that Ministers were planning to “water down” the new law, which recruiters had spent millions preparing for. Although the planned changes never materialised, the implication was clear; the cost of compliance with new laws is leaving recruitment agencies and businesses financially-exposed in the face of last-minute changes.

The inefficiency of many corporate payroll systems means that beneficial changes, such as cuts to regulations or taxes, can be just as costly to implement as new regulations or tax rises. With changes to the tax rule-book alone costing business £5.1 billion a year to incorporate, any additional changes lumber business with yet more red tape.

This creates a terrible paradox; businesses want less red tape and less tax, yet current admin processes are so inefficient that if a burdensome law is scrapped, then large amounts of time and money have been spent in vain.

Because they lack the necessary flexibility to adapt to a rapidly-fluctuating legal environment, many businesses are both exposing themselves to unnecessary legal and financial costs, and missing out on potential benefits. The Better Regulation Executive pointed out that the sheer complexity of the tax system and employment law, puts many businesses off hiring and expanding.

The 236,000 legal claims by disgruntled employees last year, at an average cost of £8,500 each, starkly illustrates the financial cost of failure to read the small print. Businesses and recruiters can be certain that hawk-eyed lawyers representing aggrieved employees will swiftly spot anything they have missed.

Yet we know that many businesses simply lack the time or the resources to keep up with the EC‘s hyperactive legislative chamber; the Forum of Small Businesses estimates that anticipation and implementation of tax and regulatory changes is five times more expensive for SME’s than for larger companies.

VAT: A Case In Point

A “test case“ on VAT, with potentially far-reaching implications, highlights the potential rewards for recruitment agencies with highly-flexible payroll systems, which can instantly respond whenever threats and opportunities appear on the legal horizon.

The Tier One court ruling that Reed recruitment agency were only liable for VAT charges on the margin portion of their charge to hiring firms-rather than the entire agency fee-contains a potential bombshell which could save businesses and recruiters hundreds of millions and allow them to claim back past taxes.

Although HMRC want to confine the Reed ruling to that specific case, pressure is growing from client companies, particularly within the health and financial sectors, to build the new tax rate into their invoices.

If it was easier to adapt payroll systems, many updates to existing laws and tax codes, in response to new guidelines or court cases, could be incorporated instantly through automated systems, while avoiding any extra admin burden or the risk of oversights.

Taking Recruitment Into The Cloud

One of the little-publicised benefits of the cloud-computing revolution is the speed and ease with which new regulations can be incorporated, from any location, into any type of existing payroll system.

New software allows business to offload the number-crunching and timesheet-processing into the cloud, slashing admin costs by 70%, and helping business instantly seize opportunities or avert risks from upcoming tax and regulatory changes, without additional admin work, by offering “out of the box” updates. This means that if the change does not materialise, the business has lost no time or money preparing for it.

The latest models can turn a timesheet into a client invoice in sixty seconds, electronically “sign” documents automatically fax and index timesheets and automate all payroll calculations.

Crucially, with cloud systems, payroll systems can be updated from any location and employee data is not stored on paper, software or hardware, with its associated costs and data-loss risks.
Gareth Broberg, MD at Fresh Medical Recruitment, a leading UK agency which supplies doctors to the NHS, private health, the police and the MOD, says: “Cloud-based payroll systems tailored to recruiters reduce our admin costs, because the employee data is not hosted on in-house software or hardware, and all the payroll information is accessible and updatable from anywhere.

Crucially, recruitment-specific software makes the task of rapidly incorporating tax changes in recruitment invoices, which differ from business invoices, far easier: because they are intuitive, you don't have to add in multiple line items, you simply tick a box and all the invoices are updated.”

Nick Woodward is founder and MD at recruitment-dedicated cloud-computing timesheet-processing vendor Etz Timesheet Solutions.

Jobsite RecruitRank Awards 2011 Finalists Announced

This is a bit of a long post but I figure if you've worked hard enough to get on the finalists list for an award you deserve a mention!

Jobsite have announced the finalists for their annual RecruitRank Awards.  The ceremony takes place on Tuesday 15th November. The awards "recognise best practice and quality customer service in recruitment agencies..  they are the only awards in the industry where finalists and winners are chosen by feedback from candidates and not a panel of industry judges."  

The finalists are listed in alphabetical order in each category.

Best Candidate Communications: High volume Jobsite user
Blue Octopus Recruitment Limited
CG Consultants
Helpmego.to Limited
Huxley Associates
Leap29 Ltd
Manpower
networx
Pareto Law PLC
Protocol National
Volt Europe Limited
 
Best Understanding of Candidate Needs: High volume Jobsite user
Blue Octopus Recruitment Limited
Elan Defence
Evolution Recruitment Solutions
Hays Specialist Recruitment
Huxley Associates
Leap29 Ltd
Manpower
networx
Omega Resource Group PLC
Protocol National
 
Best Industry Knowledge: High volume Jobsite user
Blue Octopus Recruitment Limited
Evolution Recruitment Solutions
Hays Specialist Recruitment
Huxley Associates
Leap29 Ltd
Manpower
networx
Omega Resource Group PLC
Protocol National
Volt Europe Limited
 
Best Recruiter: High volume Jobsite user
Blue Octopus Recruitment Limited
Hays Specialist Recruitment
Helpmego.to Limited
Huxley Associates
Leap29 Ltd
Manpower
networx
Omega Resource Group PLC
Protocol National
Volt Europe Limited
 
Most Improved Recruiter: High volume Jobsite user
Edwards and Pearce Ltd
Evolution Recruitment Solutions
Flex Recruitment Plus Ltd
Hays Specialist Recruitment
Huxley Associates
JAM Recruitment
Mackenzie Stuart Ltd
Orion Electrotech Ltd
Pertemps
Pure Online Recruitment
 
Best Candidate Communications: Low volume Jobsite user
Advanced Resource Managers (Engineering)
At Peak Resourcing
Big Red Recruitment Midlands
Cast UK Ltd
Coburg Banks
Euro-Projects Recruitment Limited
Expion search & selection
Jenrick Engineering
Kensington Consulting
Quantica Search & Selection Ltd
 
Best Understanding of Candidate Needs: Low volume Jobsite user
Advanced Resource Managers (Engineering)
Big Red Recruitment Midlands
Coburg Banks
Euro-Projects Recruitment Limited
Expion search & selection
GPW Search and Selection
Jenrick Engineering
Kensington Consulting
Probe Technical Recruitment
Total Recruitment Group (Scotland)
 
Best Industry Knowledge: Low volume Jobsite user
Advanced Resource Managers (Engineering)
Alderwood Education
Big Red Recruitment Midlands
Coburg Banks
eRecruit Solutions Ltd
Euro-Projects Recruitment Limited
Expion search & selection
Jenrick Engineering
Kensington Consulting
Total Recruitment Group (Scotland)
 
Best Recruiter: Low volume Jobsite user
Advanced Resource Managers (Engineering)
At Peak Resourcing
Big Red Recruitment Midlands
Cast UK Ltd
Coburg Banks
Euro-Projects Recruitment Limited
Expion search & selection
Jenrick Engineering
Kensington Consulting
Recruitment Revolution.Com Limited
 
Most Improved Recruiter: Low volume Jobsite user
Cubiq Recruitment Ltd
Evergreen Recruitment Specialists Ltd
Fresh Recruitment (Wales) Ltd
Hays Resource Management (Mitie)
KMK Recruitment Ltd
MaxAd
Ortolan Group PLC
Probe Technical Recruitment
Robert Half
Trusted Talent
 
The RecruitRank Awards are in their 6th year and will be held on 15th November 2011 at swanky central London venue, Grace.

Advertiser Profile: Eploy

This is the lastest post in a new feature on my blog; where I shamelessly promote some companies that advertise with us in the weekly newsletter. However, it's also an opportunity for you to learn more about some of the suppliers that could be assisting your recruitment business.

Company: Eploy®
URL: www.eploy.co.uk
Description: Eploy® is a leading provider of online recruitment, vendor management, RPO and applicant tracking software to recruitment consultancies and corporate HR departments. It is a completely customisable e-recruitment application delivering cutting edge recruitment tools through your browser with minimum cost and short delivery times.
Since 1998 their philosophy has been to actively seek feedback from their rapidly expanding client base and closely follow industry developments and has resulted in exceptional levels of innovation and functionality.
3 USPs:
1. Established since 1998 with a proven record of innovation and excellent service
2. Unlock new revenue streams & offer value added services through your website
3. Search LinkedIn, Google, CV libraries with CVs parsed and imported
Contact: To discuss your requirements or arrange a free trial system or demonstration, please contact Mark on 01562 637199 or email info@eploy.co.uk.

End of Year Recruitment Conference – Roundup

Last Wednesday saw our very first conference event.  Thanks to the amazing support of our speakers, sponsors and community it went really well.
 
No one likes an early start so we kicked off at 10.30am straight into the presentations.  Throughout the majority of the day we ran two streams with different presentations in our two main theatres.  However, rather than get together a bunch of industry experts (nothing wrong with that of course) I thought I’d only have speakers who run their own events.  There were a few reasons for that; firstly some people get bored of seeing the same “experts” at lots of events over the course of the year (bit of a catch 22 there as it’s the “experts” that everyone wants to hear from!), secondly there are loads of really good events already being organised in the recruitment space and I definitely didn’t want to duplicate anything already going on and thirdly I believe that anyone who organises events is an expert in their own right.  Thankfully, in the main, I was proved right there!
 
We had over 120 attendees, plenty of networking and loads of debate in the sessions.  We were lucky enough to have Cast RPO with us on the day who filmed a number of the sessions.  Once all our speakers have given the go ahead I’ll be posting them on our YouTube Channel.  If you pop over there today you’ll just see me looking awkward and self conscious on film!
 
So, if you didn’t make it along to the event you’ll be able to see some footage from some of our speakers including Ann Swain (who was the most highly rated speaker from our attendee feedback), Matt Alder, Steve Ward and Gareth Jones.  You can also check out the photos on our FaceBook page (that’ll be a good place to view upcoming events as we announce them).
 
I’m currently working on the schedule for 2012 so if you want to suggest a speaker/subject or venue please do.
 
Finally, I just want to share a couple of quotes from the feedback forms if you’ll indulge me;  “This was my first visit to a UK Recruiter event and I loved it, it was so great to meet other people in the profession and the speakers were excellent. I will definitely be attending then next one!” and “It was a really great day out. Great people attended and some fantastic content from the speakers."
 

National Online Recruitment Awards winners

We held our first End of Year Recruitment Conference on Wednesday 2nd November (I’ll write more about that later). It was a really great day which was topped off by the National Online Recruitment Awards (NORAs). As ever Stephen and his team from 1Job.co.uk put in an enormous amount of work. I was lucky enough to again be one of Stephens' judges for the awards so know how much work all the judges put in too!

I know that there are photos to follow but in the meantime the winners are :

Best Generalist Job Board: Monster

Best Specialist (Niche) Job Board: OnlyMarketingJobs

Best Regional Job Board: stv jobs

Best National Recruitment Agency Website: Spencer Ogden

Best Small Recruitment Agency Website: Dylan

Best Major Employer Website: Army

Best Small Employer Website: innocent drinks

Best Online Recruitment by a Consumer Publication: Guardian Jobs

Best Online Recruitment by a Trade Publication: TES Connect

Best Employment Advice Website: Career Player

Best Newcomer in Online Recruitment: G4S

Best Innovation in Online Recruitment: G4S

On the NORAs site these are hyperlinked to the actual sites if you want to take a look.

Congratulations to everyone who was a finalist and especially to these deserving winners!

Talent Development Platform Launches

Just had a press release giving the official low down on the new business which Roy Ripper and Matt Trott have established with Dan McGuire.  Here’s an overview on the business which...

“... is a game changing cloud-based Talent Development Platform (TDP) aimed at recruiters worldwide. The Juice TDP offers on-demand video learning featuring how to guides, comedic drama and practical exercises to make learning easy and fun as well as utilising online quizzes to test individual knowledge retention.  The TDP, which can be rolled out on the same day as purchase, is easy for users to understand and they can be trained on how to use it in five minutes.
Steve Carter, CEO of Morgan McKinley, the first company to implement the Juice TDP said: “Juice has transformed how we nurture our talent. It’s relevant, innovative and fun. Traditional training doesn’t always inspire or excite so combining it with a product like Juice gave it an identity within the business where people see it as an investment and not achore.”

“We wanted to create a learning environment where employees at all levels could log on and get instant access to relevant content that not only supported them in their day-to-day role but also offered them continuous development. After all, good people with the right skills are at the heart of our commercial success. The result is that people want to learn. We were able to tailor a lot of the content to be specific to our business. This is really important in helping staff to understand our corporate vision and drive the adoption of best practices across the organisation,” Carter said.

By delivering bite sized learning that can be accessed anytime by employees, Juice creates a continuous and consistent learning environment that leads to stronger and faster results than traditional ad hoc training methods.  Clients can work with Juice to create bespoke content for them featuring their own employees just as Morgan McKinley has done.

The startup has attracted investment from entrepreneur Dan McGuire, formerly of Broadbean, who joins the board as Chairman and Graham Palfery-Smith who joins as Non-Executive Director. The company will be headed up in the UK and Europe by industry stalwart Roy Ripper and in Asia Pacific by Matt Trott. 

Roy Ripper, MD, Juice said: “Progressive organisations realise that if they don’t develop their talent they risk losing their best staff and their competitive edge. The most successful people never stop learning and developing. Our view is that giving recruiters access to entertaining and engaging content when they want it will encourage people to improve and refine their skills. We all pick up bad habits and the best way to counteract that and operate at the top of our game is to continuously and consistently improve ourselves.”

I shall be having a proper delve around the site early next week and blogging in more detail about it.    If you want to take a look you can get access to the “Lite” version for free. which gives you access to the first two chapters of episodes.