Government Business

With the current economic downturn affecting all sectors, it could be argued that using recruitment costs associated with both permanent and temporary staff are the type of expenditure that must be cut. The reality is that there is real risk in pursuing a systematically cost-focused approach to the procurement of people services such as recruitment.

Procuring recruitment services
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) is the representative body for the UK representing over 14,000 corporate and individual members. The REC is in regular contact with public sector employers and with leading procurement bodies such as the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS). One of our core messages is the need to balance cost control priorities with a focus on quality of service.
    
There is a lot to be gained by working with professional recruiters who can deliver the right staff and also provide practical guidance on how to deal with new regulations and develop longer-term recruitment strategies that meet the specific needs of high-growth businesses.
    
Recruitment agencies have not always had the best press. The industry has, however, evolved enormously over the last ten years and is continuing to professionalise in everything that it does.
    
For businesses looking to recruit and work with agencies there are a number of practical steps that can be taken forward in order to choose the right recruitment partner to work with. For example, it is important to work with agencies that sign up to industry codes of practice and that can demonstrate a genuine commitment to professional standards and ethics. Individual recruitment consultants can also promote their added value through specific industry qualifications. The increasing amount of regulation covering the recruitment process means that there is an increasing incentive to make use of recruitment professionals who are experts in their field. Yes there is a cost associated with this, but the reality is that the real cost of recruitment lies in getting it wrong. In addition, the amount of time spent advertising, filtering CVs and selecting potential candidates means that using an external recruitment agency is often the most cost-effective option.
    
Temporary staffing costs have been the focus of cost cutting drives but there are concerns that pushing this agenda too far means cutting corners and not getting the right quality of temporary staff to do the job. The reality is that the provision of temporary workers means complying with a number of regulations that are not always appreciated.
    
In addition, it is important to remember that a high number of temporary workers can be in post for a relatively long period of time, which is why it is important to get the right calibre of worker. It is easier, of course, to demonstrate cost savings than it is to demonstrate value for money. It is for this reason that the REC is committed to working with procurement professionals to raise awareness of what good recruitment should look like and how this impacts on front-line delivery of services.
    
An interesting example within this context is the future strategic direction of the NHS with its focus on capturing the feedback of patients. Having the right staff in place at the right time is of course central to a positive experience in the NHS and effectively capturing this kind of user feedback will be one way of highlighting value for money rather than just cost savings.

Current regulatory environment
The increasing level of regulation covering recruitment can have an impact on costs. For example, there is now a raft of equality legislation that must be complied with when advertising to, interviewing and selecting candidates. The regulations covering age discrimination resulted in employers having to review the wording of their ads as well as their overall recruitment and selection procedures in order to ensure there was no direct or indirect discrimination against older or younger workers.
    
Public sector employers can often benefit from the use of highly skilled temporary workers and interim managers. One of the major benefits of the UK labour market is its flexibility and the growth of an extremely vibrant temporary work sector. However, even this is now under threat as a result of the proposed EU Agency Workers Directive, which seeks to implement equal treatment provisions between temporary workers and permanent employees.
    
The REC has been leading the debate on how these provisions can be implemented in the UK in a way that does not hinder the effective provision of temporary workers and interim managers, and recently launched its Agency Work Commission to address a number of practical issues and make recommendations to government. The EU Directive will not come into force until 2010 but it is important that public sector employers and recruiters come together to discuss how equal treatment measures can best be implemented in practice. For example, the REC will be arguing that equal treatment should only cover pay, rather than all staff benefits, which would be extremely difficult to work out in practice.
    
The REC is optimistic that the implementation details will ensure that there is not a negative impact and has sought to reassure public sector employers that there is no need to review their use of recruitment agencies. Regular updates on this legislation and on the overall regulatory landscape facing temporary work in the UK are posted on the REC website www.rec.uk.com.

Diversity and equality
One area where professional recruiters can help deliver real added value is on diversity and equality issues. A number of agencies already work extensively and successfully with their local Jobcentre Plus, and the REC launched the Diversity Pledge in 2005 as a joint initiative with Jobcentre Plus. Over 600 recruiters have now signed up to show their commitment to best practice in recruiting from the widest possible pool of candidates irrespective of ethnicity, age, culture and other determining factors. This means that recruitment professionals are able to work with public sector employers in order to actively deliver effective diversity and equality strategies through the recruitment process.
    
The work of the private sector recruitment industry with Jobcentre Plus will continue to evolve and there are signs of a symbiotic relationship emerging. Jobcentre Plus has a key role to play in identifying training needs for those candidates who are not sufficiently ‘job ready’, for example those wishing to return to work after a lengthy period of inactivity within the labour market through raising a family or a period of prolonged illness.
    
Recruitment agencies can provide the ‘job outcome’ through the relationships they have developed over many years with employers. In addition, recruitment agencies can play a key role in providing a crucial stepping stone into the labour market through temporary work placements.
    
The REC welcomes any opportunity to work closer with the public sector in order to help maximise the full potential of the job market to both employers and jobseekers.
    
The relationship between recruiters and HR professionals serving within the public sector is crucial to the challenges ahead in the job market. This, the REC is already addressing through research work it has been carrying out with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The work has resulted in the publication of a practical new guide that identifies and illustrates how HR professionals and recruitment agencies can build better and more fulfilling relationships.
    
Recruitment is often seen as a transactional or sales activity rather than as a professional service fulfilling an invaluable role within the UK economy. Changing this perception is not only in the best interests of the recruitment industry but also of public sector employers that use agencies for the recruitment of both temporary and permanent staff.