Natural Selection Staffing Solutions

2012-03-08T11:00:00.000Z

Leap Year, Look Forward (a Guest Blog from my Business partner, Donnie Doran)

Ok, so it’s actually the 29^th February as I writethis and that set me thinking…

It’s not often you’ll get to write a blog on the 29^thFebruary, and it started me wondering what Burnley will be like the next time one comes around, what will bethe topic of conversation? What will the local economy look like and will wehave tackled the Youth Unemployment issue?

I ask this because coincidentally, on the following day,March 1^st, we are taking part in the ‘Work Inspiration’ event atAircelle, where up to 800 Year 9 and 10 students have been invited to an OpenDay aimed at providing careers advice and information from a different angle,to try and help inspire students about their career opportunities

We at Neville Gee will be doing our bit, as we firmly believeit is important to support young people by offering some basic tips on what aCV is, what to do (and what not to do!) at interview and how to find a job whenthe time comes. To make it engaging and entertaining, we’re also offering a prizedraw entry for all participants on the inspiration day the first prize of whichis for a couple of the young participants to join us as our guests at Turf Moorbefore the end of the season

The next time a leap year comes around in 2016, thesestudents will be aged 17 or 18, and will be in the early stages of, or justentering the full time employment market. Maybe the University TechnicalCollege, scheduled to open in 2013 will be starting to produce its’ firstresults and the Burnley Bridge development may have started to generateemployment opportunities.

Whatever the future, we believe that the building blocks arein place to maximise these opportunities. From our involvement with theBondholder scheme, through the work we are doing in the Community and with thePrince’s Trust, we have a specific target to place 18 to 24 year olds withlocal employers. We are also passionate believers in the Apprenticeship scheme,and even as a small employer ourselves, are looking to take on our third laterthis year

So roll on 2016, I’m sure there are going to be challengesalong the way, but hopefully plenty of successes as well, which we should allshout loudly from the rooftops about…!

Stop Press – The Work Inspiration day was a huge success andcould be measured in the following terms:

· Exhibitor Experience – Excellent

· Communication and Organisation – Excellent

· Employer Participation – High, can be improved

· School Participation – High, should not bemissed next time

· Would we do it again? – Without doubt, anexcellent inspirational event

The factor that really stood out for the Neville Gee Teamwas the interest, commitment and mature behaviour of the school students whotook part. They were a credit to their schools and Burnley, a truly inspiringgroup of young people who, when the next leap year comes along, will hopefullybe inspired to take on apprenticeships and forge careers in the wide variety ofindustrial and commercial opportunities available in Burnley.

"Howparamount the future is to the present when one is surrounded by children"
Charles Darwin

Donnie

More than just a small town in Lancashire…

2011-10-21T20:12:00.000+01:00

I’m taking time out in this blog to reflect a little on someperceptions and the contrasting realities of business. I’m also taking a morelocal theme, having reflected on global matters more recently

I’ve owned recruitment businesses since 2003, and beforethat held senior finance and operational roles across both the public andprivate sector, so I feel I’ve got a reasonable steer on what success lookslike, and not many would immediately see that as Burnley, that famous old milltown in the Pennines

The truth is though, that despite the setbacks the town hashad in the past, it is set fair for the future. In the last few weeks there hasbeen some phenomenal news coming out of the area. We have seen the followingannounced:

· Veka, a Lancashire window frame maker announcedit was creating 100 jobs in Burnley

· Fort Vale, a world-leading engineering specialistannounced plans to take on 250 staff

· Velocity Composites have announced they aremoving to the area to set up their advanced research, development andproduction facility here

· AMS Neve, the worlds’ leader in professionalaudio design, who have won many international film and television awards arebased in Burnley

· The aerospace sector is at its most buoyant foryears

· The £48m Burnley Bridge Business Park scheme hasbeen given the go-ahead with £3.8m of European funding, and is expected tocreate 1000 jobs over the coming years

· One of the country’s first University TechnicalColleges has just been announced, to bebased in the historic Weavers Triangle development, with the aim of trainingthe advanced engineers of the future (Burnley can now boast THREE Universitiesin the town!)

· Prince Charles, a long-time fan of the town hasannounced his third visit in four years to the area

These are just some of the good news stories – there aremany more on the official Burnley Bondholder website - http://burnley.co.uk/category/news/

All this at a time of doom and gloom and economicuncertainty -yes, there are challenges in the area – funding is tight and unemployment is high, oh and the football clubare having a bit of a mixed season too…, but there is much to be optimisticabout

There are many quality driven organisations in the area,whether it be in automotive, aerospace, light engineering, manufacturing or theservice industries. It is simply not the case that the only real expertiseexists in the big cities and conurbations, so next time you are looking for ajob, or a new supplier, or even a Recruitment Consultant, maybe pay a littlebit less attention to location and more to quality, potential and ability. Whoknows, you might find it closer to home, more effective, and quite possibly slightlybetter value!

Itis not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent thatsurvives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.
CharlesDarwin

The Incredible Shrinking World of Recruitment (part 3)

2011-09-13T14:20:00.000+01:00

How events across the world can impact on your business...

For those of you who have read my previous posts on this subject you will know that I see good and bad in this fast changing world, and that the impact of world events are felt incredibly quickly, even in the relative backwaters of East Lancashire

We have had another example of this just recently. Fortunately, our local economy has been partly protected from economic slowdown as there is a strong aerospace manufacturing presence in the area. Demand throughout the supply chain has been high, and we have been able to place as many engineers and skilled CNC operators as we can find. Happy Days!

My wife then coincidentally picked up on some good news. She keeps a close eye on the U.S. markets and came across a news report that Boeing had just secured another major order and had sorted out its internal problems and was on the up. Time to invest! Double good news was that Boeing use an engine manufacturer close to our base which could only be good news for the local aerospace supply chain and further down the line ourselves. We already had one aerospace client who had taken a large number of workers from us on long term temporary contracts. Happy days indeed!

But then the world got nervous about the ability of the Greek Government to service its debt, and Italy showed up on the radar as the next one to worry about (whatever happened to worrying about Ireland, Portugal and Spain?), the Euro was on borrowed time, the French banks were over exposed and President Obama wants to spend money and create jobs but will Congress let him etc, etc, etc….

Within a week our client scaled down the temporary workforce as orders were slowing down further up the supply chain. Of course that’s the very reason they choose to use temporary labour and they are right to do so. The positions will come back of course, it’s just that no one is exactly sure when – it could be 2 weeks, 2 months or 2 years?

In the meantime we will keep doing what we do, because we know we do it well. We will keep talking to our clients, we will keep identifying and looking after good candidates, and we will keep watching what’s happening in London, New York, Rome, Athens, Tokyo, Beijing, not to mention of course Burnley!

Have you had an experience of world events impacting on local issues? Let me know…

It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. Charles Darwin

Flat Spots and Hot Spots - it’s not all as it seems...

2011-07-18T08:57:00.000+01:00

“North West unemployment rises”

This was the headline in the July 14^th edition of the North West Business Insider. It goes on to quote statistics saying that unemployment in the region had risen by 24,000 in the 3 months to May 2011. Now I’m not going to dispute these figures, I’m sure they are based on factual evidence, but it is important to paint a balanced picture, and I can only report on what we see from our base in East Lancashire:

· The demand for permanent staff is at a two year high

· The number of temporary workers we have out on assignment is at a two year high

· Certain industries, most notably aerospace, are booming

· There is a shortage of skilled and semi skilled engineers across East Lancashire

Which brings me back to my headline – flat spots and hot spots. How can the local economy balance these two trends and how do organisations and employees cope with such variety?

We’ve taken a sector by sector approach. For example, we’ve seen organizations across East Lancashire crying out for CNC Machinists to meet the demand for their products, especially within the aerospace supply chain. We’ve also seen would be candidates confused, unsure and reluctant to move whether it be through lack of confidence in the economy, the organizational culture they might walk into at a new place of work, or simply the cost of fuel for travelling that extra 10 miles to work every day of the week

We’ve worked hard in this sector to try and ease the logjam, and have created a skill-specific website http://www.eastlancscnchub.com/. It’s a simple idea, organizations seeking skilled and semi-skilled CNC workers register their details – where they are, the skills they require, the pay rates they can offer. Candidates too register similar details – how far they will travel, what specific skills they possess and what wage rate they are looking for. Then it’s a simple matching process (well, not quite so simple, that’s where our experience comes in but you get the picture…)

Of course you may feel that this isn’t a great deal different from a traditional Recruitment Agency approach and in some ways you would be correct. We’re simply taking the basic principles of what we do and applying them in an innovative way to meet a specific market need, which is coincidently exactly what we say we do!

I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection. Charles Darwin

Strategy, Mission Statements and Visions – which is which and does it matter?

2011-06-21T20:20:00.000+01:00

We’ve all done the courses, we’ve heard the Strategy Consultants speak, we’ve listened to the Business Consultants who say that without a clear Vision the Company doesn’t know where it is going. Without a clear Strategy it will never get there and without a Mission Statement it will never know why it even exists. Well, something along those lines anyway...

The truth is, that having successfully completed an MBA, having spent over 16 years working in the Marketing Industry and even after having co-owned and run a Recruitment business for nearly 8 years, I still get confused about which is which, which comes first and why any of them make a difference?

I’ve worked in large organisations where many days have been spent agreeing them between different factions of an extended Management Team, the result being a compromise statement which means something to everybody but nothing much to anybody - to the outside world they probably appear complete waffle!

I’ve worked in small organisations where anymore than half an hour talking about such things is seen as a complete waste of valuable time that could otherwise be spent selling, producing or fee earning

So what is really important?

Well, I do think it is important to have a simple Vision Statement, agreed by top level management that sets out what they want the organisation to be seen as

I do think it is important to have a Strategy, but probably not in the traditional sense. I don’t know whether it is just me or the changing business climate we are in, but I believe strategies need to be infinitely flexible, to take advantage of and react to market conditions, to allow for innovation and to cope with disruptive forces in the market

So that leaves the Mission Statement. Where does this fit in and what value does it add? Is it any different to a Vision Statement and do we really need both?

Answers on a postcard please....!

“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life”
Charles Darwin

Cuts, Culture and Commercial Reality

2011-05-22T11:46:00.000+01:00

Bringing it all back two years on…

I had the great pleasure the other evening of being invited to the VIP opening of the new £35m Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield – the biggest art space created in the UK in the last 50 years outside of London. It gave me the chance to bump into many in the fields of Arts, Museums and Cultural institutions generally. Despite the magnificence of the new Gallery, much of the talk was around the current Public Sector funding cuts, and how these were impacting on their world – falling visitor numbers, difficulty in maintaining valuable collections, lack of investment in new facilities and 10% or greater staffing cuts

Prior to setting up in Recruitment, I actually spent a couple of years working in a senior role in this sector, so I know the impact this will have, but even more, I worry for some of those employed by these well respected institutions. It was brought home to me when I bumped into an old acquaintance in the cloakroom of all places. I couldn’t quite remember his name, nor which institution he actually worked for, not even his exact role. Like many in this world, he stood out (actually, in the cultural setting of a Gallery Opening maybe it was me in my boring grey suit that stood out…). He was wearing a lovely bright green suit and carried a stylish leather satchel. I think he was a curator or collections expert, and I began to wonder what would happen if he were to be one of the unfortunate 10% whose position may become redundant

The Government accepts that there will be significant public sector job losses as a result of the cuts necessary to balance our books, but argues that these will be more than offset by the increase of jobs in the private sector. Let’s not argue about the figures for now, let’s take the view that they just might be right.

How does this affect my acquaintance, let’s call him Mr P, who has spent his entire life in either education, or institutions such as Museums and Galleries. Let’s say Mr P is a subject expert on 19^th Industrial Art, or 20^th Century railway engineering, or a myriad of other subject matters. When his employer simply must reduce their headcount, and they decide that a higher level more generic knowledge is the least worst way to save money, where does Mr P go? What are his transferrable skills? What could he possibly do in the Private Sector of commercial benefit that also meets his individual needs and ambition? Let’s face it, he may have spent much of the last 20 years buried in books, doing research, cataloguing exhibits, writing papers – what is there out there for him?

At an organizational level too I have great sympathy. I have first-hand experience of what these institutions are trying to achieve. 10% cuts with no real means of generating extra income (coming after many years of funding freezes) is going to be tough, but then I think back to my own organization and some of the painful decisions my co –owner and I had to take two years ago:

We cut our staff by over 50%
We closed an unprofitable division
We persuaded our remaining staff to take a 25% temporary pay cut
As owners, we had to pump more of our own cash into the business
We personally guaranteed loans
We had to work harder and longer
We slashed our own pay, to levels less than those earned 5 years ago

Our strategy worked. We’re still here, turnover and profits are back up, business is brisk and we’re employing again. So while part of me is despairing of the impact on these cultural projects, part of me is thinking it’s no worse than we had to endure ourselves. The staff we released didn’t get big fat redundancy packages, nor have big pensions to fall back on, not at all. What we could offer was assistance with outplacement, skills assessment and finding new roles.

We also had to change. We had to innovate, find new markets, recruit staff with different skills and attitudes. Who knows, maybe Mr P has hidden talents that haven’t been exploited cocooned up in the vaults of his research centre. I hope so, because these are genuine passionate intelligent people. Unfortunately, they are living in a world which might still value them, but right now just can’t afford them

“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin. “Charles Darwin

The incredible Shrinking World of Recruitment (part 2)

2011-04-20T15:40:00.000+01:00

How events the other side of the world can impact on your business...

The earthquakes and Tsunami in Japan were shocking to the whole world and I know we all felt immense sympathy for the Japanese people. We all at least tried to comprehend the devastation to human life and were constantly reminded of the impact on the Japanese economy. The aftermath is only now starting to filter into the wider world however as this tale will tell....

Three months ago, our business was celebrating as we were appointed as a key supplier to a local business based in East Lancashire to recruit and manage a large pool of temporary labour on a long term basis. They were a Tier 1 supplier into a major motor manufacturer, and having got over the recession, were at last starting to increase production again. For two months all went well. The recruitment campaign was successful and our workers hit the ground running. They earned good money with the prospect of long term employment. We earned a steady and consistent income and our client gained a competent and motivated workforce. What could possibly go wrong?

The Tsunami

Once we had all got over the initial shock we began to think about the consequences. You see our clients’ contract was with a Japanese manufacturer. Initially it was business as usual, then there was the prospect of increased orders as work was distributed around the supply chain and then came the reality. A tier 6 supplier of the most basic and simple components in Japan was unable to maintain supply. Whether it be through production or distribution challenges the simple truth was that the whole supply chain ground to a halt. The instruction to halt production for a minimum of one month was given.

So now here we are, just over a month on from the disaster. Our temporary workers are back to square one without a job, our client can do nothing except sit tight for a month and await further instructions, and we are left to try and find alternative employment for our workers, otherwise, we may have to go through the whole recruitment exercise again in four weeks, or six weeks time, or eight....

Don’t feel sorry for us though, for our problems are nothing compared to the Japanese people, but do take a moment to reflect on how worldwide events can have such a serious local impact

“It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin

Agency Workers Directive revisited - Threat or Opportunity?

2011-03-21T08:14:00.001Z

I first published this Blog in March 2011, since when Government guidelines on its implications have been finalised (not that they made much difference in truth!)

Much seems to be being made of the 'Swedish Derogation' as a way to avoid its impact. we believe this to be convoluted, vague and a recipe for confusion. There is a much simpler and more effective solution - 'take a good look at yourself'

In reality, time is running out for organisations firstly to review how they currently recruit and use staff (both temporary and permanent workers), and secondly, how they might actually change this process which may result in cost savings. Yes, that''s right, this 'scary' piece of legislation could actually be the catalyst to look at an alternative supply arrangement that could save you, as an employer, money, all absolutely legal and above board and at no detriment to any temporary worker. Indeed, our way of thinking could actually help skill up temporary workers at the same time!

So please, have a read, and let us know what you think...

Whilst final guidance is still to be issued, the Agency Workers Directive (AWD) will become law in the UK from 1st October 2011. The main purpose of the Directive is to ensure the equal treatment and protection of temporary agency workers in terms of basic working and employment conditions which are pay, working hours, overtime, rest periods, holidays, training, access to shared facilities and internal job vacancies.

The equal treatment rule excludes the provision of a pension, occupational sick pay, redundancy pay, bonuses intended to reward longevity of service or loyalty and will not include any changes to the employment status of the temporary agency worker.

Equal treatment rights will not however come into effect until the temporary agency worker has been in an assignment for 12 weeks.

Without proper preparation the implementation of the AWD could have major implications on the cost and use of agency workers. Research however, has suggested that many Recruiting Managers (and HR professionals) are either unaware that the Directive will be in place in just over 6 months, or how best to deal with it

This is a significant piece of legislation and getting it wrong could result in serious financial, legal and resourcing ramifications. It is therefore vital that Companies and Agencies work together to get to grips with the potential areas of impact.

As a starting point, consider the following checklist:

1. How many temporary agency workers will be in place for more than 12 weeks?

It is important understand the current level of temporary agency staff usage within an organisation to establish the impact the Directive will have. A quick audit will first of all establish how many temporary workers are in place, where they are, how long they have been there, and for how long their contracts are likely to run.

Now, will this trend continue over the coming months? Will your usage be higher, lower, for longer periods or be more sporadic?

What about the pattern of usage? Remember that unless there is a break of more than six weeks between assignments, the clock will remain ticking.

2. Is there a cost implication to providing equal treatment?

Your Agency supplier should be able to help you draw up a template of employee cost, indeed they should insist on doing so in order to ensure compliance for both you and them.

3. Can you establish a Comparator?

It will be necessary to see if there are employees doing a similar role within the organisation who could be used as a comparison for a temporary agency worker. Also be aware when recruiting new permanent members of staff that their salaries and holiday entitlement etc. may be used by temporary agency workers as a bench mark for entitlement.

4. Review your internal processes

It is vital to ensure all hiring managers within the company are aware of the Directive and fully understand the implications of equal treatment and what this means for their temporary workers. It is important to ensure they have access to all necessary information, guidance and procedures to enable them to work effectively to ensure compliance with the Directive. Again, ensure your Agency assists you with this.

4. Ask your Temporary Worker Agency for their advice

Any Agency who fully understands the legislation should be in a position to brief both you and your colleagues on compliance issues and best practice

In 2011 it is simply not enough for an Agency just to supply labour on request. Quality Agencies will understand the legislation and should be acting for you in a Consultancy capacity

5. Take an HR approach rather than the more traditional Temporary Staffing approach

If you really want to remain compliant and avoid heavy cost increases and retain and motivate both permanent and temporary workers, you need to be contracting with Agencies who can provide this strategic advice and consultancy. It is actually possible to do all the above and even to make cost savings if you act now

For more information on what you should be doing contact us at Neville Gee and let us discuss your requirements tim@naturalselection.co.uk

(Alongside its’ core business as a Staffing Agency, Neville Gee provides HR Consultancy through its’ Natural Selection division)

www.nevillegee.co.uk

www.naturalselection.co.uk

Tim Oldfield

Director

Neville Gee Limited

Sustainable Recruitment – Sounds good, but what is it?

2011-03-14T14:30:00.000Z

A quick search on Google for ‘Sustainable Recruitment’ throws up the usual 5.8m results. An impressive statistic it would appear. It sounds like a policy that all Company’s would like to work to but there seem very few examples of it in practice. In fact, I can’t find any. So let’s develop one now:

Whilst there is no one single definition of Sustainable Procurement, typical explanations involve ‘using best practice to strike a whole life balance between price, quality, environmental, economic and social factors’

So if we take this one step further, maybe a Sustainable Recruitment policy would be one where an employer aims to recruit and retain staff based on the whole life costs of recruitment, retention and development, whilst taking into account the wider environmental, economic and social implications of managing a labour force

Which leads us on to the next question – what environmental, economic and social factors would an employer then have a duty to consider?

How about:

· Supporting the local economy by employing local talent wherever possible

· Engaging with Educational Establishments and Training Providers to ensure that the local workforce have the necessary skills for the job

· Working with employees on an on-going basis to encourage participation in Community initiatives

· Working with local Recruiters, who respect these policies and who will also work towards these goals

In some ways this sounds like just another CSR initiative. It also has a flavour of David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’, but it also has sound economic grounds – building long term value by investing in the local workforce through a committed and trusted Recruitment Partner

Can it work? Who knows?

But I do know of one Recruiter already trying to live by these principles...

In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed. Charles Darwin

The Incredible Shrinking World of Recruitment

2011-02-02T23:17:00.002Z

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change” (Charles Darwin)

A Canadian Company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange opens a manufacturing facility in Southern Germany to produce and distribute solar voltaic panels for the growing market across Europe. As part of their expansion they need to recruit a Regional Financial Controller in Germany for Europe. Who fills the vacancy...? Neville Gee - A small independent Recruiter based in Burnley

This is a prime example of the fast changing world of recruitment, where competition for local business is intense, access to candidates has never been easier yet where opportunities are opening up for innovative Consultants willing to look beyond their traditional markets

It’s not many years ago that most of the best local and regional roles were advertised in newspapers, with the top roles an interesting diversion of a Sunday morning in the Broad Sheets Job Section. All that has changed, if it’s not online it’s not advertised!

But now the goalposts have moved again and Social Media is the new way forward. If you’re not linkedIn or tweeting or Xing’ing are you really reaching the best candidates, and if you are, are you finding them quicker than your rivals?

“Recruitment seemed to be quite a mature offering, steady growth with only minor developments feeding through”, says Tim Oldfield, Director and Co-owner of Neville Gee Limited,” then came the coincidence of a recession which has seen Recruitment volumes drop 27% over 2 years (source REC Industry Trends 2009/10), and the explosion of Social Media Platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Suddenly clients weren’t recruiting, margins were under pressure and in order to prosper, long established Companies had to seriously evaluate how they did business.” Through its’ Neville Gee and Natural Selection brands the Company decided on a twin strategy:

continue to service the local and regional temporary and permanent staffing market offering competitive pricing but more importantly added value and an innovative approach, and;
use their unique expertise further afield utilising the new channels to market opening up in order to generate new business

“Recruitment will always remain a ‘people business’ but like any other industry, recognising the value of, and being at the forefront of technological advances will help differentiate the most innovative Recruiters from the run of the mill ‘me-too’ Recruiters” says Tim, a message he and his co-director, Donnie Doran are happy to discuss with clients both near and far

The result can be seen above, with further assignments this year in Spain, Italy, Germany (again) and Bahrain. The world of Recruitment is truly shrinking...

January Newsletter

2011-01-26T14:36:00.000Z

Latest Newsletter published

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BxZA09rHSwSuZGQ2NDQ4ZjMtMGUxNi00MzQwLWExYWYtZGM1YWI1ZDU5MWY4&hl=en

New Year, New Challanges for Recruitment

2011-01-22T13:37:00.001Z

We are past ‘Blue Monday’, the nights are getting longer (just) and the snow has gone (at least for now). The economic news remains mixed though, inflation is up as is unemployment. Interestingly though, two of the areas showing an improving trend are Yorkshire & Humberside and the North West, our core markets. We are certainly seeing this. The number of Permanent roles we are recruiting is at a two year high and overall, clients new and old are coming to us for temporary staff. There are still challenges, the demand for Commercial temporary staff seems subdued and not all sectors are seeing the growth but we remain positive, very positive

One impact of this we are noticing more and more is the scarcity of good candidates and how quickly these good candidates are getting snapped up. The message is clear – if you come across a good candidate, either directly, through us, or even a competitor, decide quickly, before someone else does...

We know this year will bring other challanges - The Agency Workers Directives which comes into force being one in particular. Fortunately we have anticipated this and found a solution that works well for all parties - clients, temporary workers and ourselves. Already we have two clients signed up and we're ready and willing to talk to others - give us a call!

..and then there is the online portal challange facing recruiters, with the market opening up worldwide, bringing with it both opportunities for more business and more competition closer to home. Again, we aim to be at the forefront. It's difficult to compete on all fronts, but we aim to service clients as best we can

We are passionate about understanding and meeting the needs of our clients, and will always aim to bring a different perspective to staffing issues

To quote once again from our original inspiration:

It is a cursed evil to any man to become as absorbed in any subject as I am in mine. Charles Darwin

It's not just about recruiting cheaply...

2011-01-05T17:18:00.002Z

We’ve all been in this situation, either as a Recruitment Consultant trying to win business, or as a potential employer on the client side, looking to recruit staff

Competition amongst Recruiters is fierce, and it is so easy to make a decision to work with the one who offers the lowest fee, even better if it’s on a Contingency basis, let’s face it – how can you lose?:

But what if…?

What if the cheapest Recruiter doesn’t supply enough good quality candidates?

What if the cheapest Recruiter doesn’t challenge the brief and provide the client with a broader spectrum of candidates?

What if the cheapest Recruiter doesn’t maintain a relationship with either the client or the successful candidate after placement?

What if the cheapest Recruiter doesn’t work with you to develop your employees on an on-going basis?

What if the cheapest Recruiter doesn’t get involved in helping you plan future staffing levels – both upwards and downwards, temporary and permanent?

What if the cheapest Recruiter finds you an ‘adequate’ candidate but not ‘the best’ candidate – have you stopped to think how much this could cost your business in terms of lost opportunity for profit? This point is really important when taking on senior level staff – for instance:

A company is looking for a Sales Director and is willing to pay a salary of let’s say £70k
Agency A quotes a fee of 10% offering to seriously undercut all competitors. The initial price of recruiting through Agency A is therefore £7,000
Agency B quotes a more realistic but still competitive fee of 20%, with a three month refund or replacement guarantee. The initial price of recruiting through Agency B is therefore £14,000
Agency A may find a candidate who meets the basic requirements and over the first two years of employment hits 90% of their financial targets. If these targets were for example £1m of Gross Margin per year, the candidate has generated £1,800,000 of income. Probably enough to keep their job and everyone happy – just
Agency B finds a candidate who may even cost a little more, because they’re good. In fact because they’re good, they achieve 110% of the financial target, generating £2,200,000 of income – that’s an additional £400,000 of Gross Margin in the first two years alone!

Now wouldn’t that be worth considering…?

We believe in long term relationships with our clients and are willing to work way beyond our original Recruitment Brief to ensure that we always add value wherever we work

Look out for us over the coming months as we look to build on our success...

“In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”
(Charles Darwin)

Newsletter December 2010

2010-12-22T13:09:00.000Z

This is our latest Newsletter - a little shorter than normal - all comments welcome!

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BxZA09rHSwSuOWM3MWUxOWMtMmM2NC00YWE3LThmMWItNTUxNTFiY2QxYWY4&hl=en

The Unpredictable World of Recruitment

2010-12-22T11:31:00.001Z

Well here we are, in the week before Christmas, the time when historically, business has ground to a halt, clients are on wind down and the last thing they want to discuss is staffing! Let's face it, all that can wait until the New Year, we'll worry about it then...

But not this year. No, things are different this year. We've just recorded our best Temps billing week for over a year, and even at this late stage clients are approaching us " we need a Graduate Product Design Engineer" and " can you find me an experienced Helicopter Engineer?" are just two examples

All this bodes well for the New Year, when recruitment levels traditionally surge, but then again will they? Are we actually in the midst of a new reality where seasonality has disappeared to be replaced by immediacy. If so, can you plan for this, or can you merely plan to be able to respond quicker than your competitors?

Through Natural Selection and Neville Gee, this is the philosphy we have been trying to communicate for many years.

After all, as Charles Darwin said "It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change"