Are Job Boards a Cost Effective Method of Recruitment?

I would be very interested in hearing people’s thoughts on how useful advertising is as a recruitment tool for clients, candidates and recruitments agents. As an industry, are we getting true value for our money?

From a recruiter’s point of view, my mindset has changed. Five years ago I would have ensured that any new consultant in my team had a sound knowledge and understanding of various job boards for advertising new vacancies and attracting new candidates. My initial belief was that this was an integral part of becoming a successful resourcer.  My view on this has now completely changed.

How to Protect Yourself During Pre-Termination Negotiations

Our guest blogger this month, Katherine Sadler-Smith, Training & Know-How Lawyer at Osborne Clarke, explains what the new legislation surrounding confidential termination negotiations means, and how you can ensure that your pre-termination discussions are protected.

Following a consultation exercise in Autumn 2012, the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) introduced legislation which, from this Summer, will enable employers and employees to engage in confidential settlement negotiations before termination of employment.  As a consequence, both parties should be able to negotiate freely without fear that the anything discussed (such as the value of offers made but declined) may be raised in any subsequent 'ordinary' unfair dismissal claim at an employment tribunal.  Previously, this type of legal privilege only extended to “without prejudice” discussions taking place after a dispute had already arisen.

Sounds good, but what's the catch?

Regulatory Framework for Employment Agencies and Recruitment Businesses

A rather lengthy title for a rather lengthy and convoluted piece of legislation. RSG (Sanderson is an RSG company) have taken part in Government’s recent consultation on this, and for those not in the know, there is specific legislation that governs the recruitment industry. It sets out a framework not only for how the industry engages with the client (or ‘hirer’), but also with the temporary worker / contractor and those seeking permanent employment.

Budget 2013: The Future of Employment for Young People

It came as a surprise during the Budget for 2013 to hear that, despite being caught in the worst recession the UK has seen, employment has seen an increase of  more than 590,000 positions and is continuing on a steady rise compared to last year – a result that even leading economists are struggling to explain.

Despite this triumph, our next generation of workers, currently aged between 16-24, worryingly comprise the largest percentage of those who remain unemployed. Furthermore, the number of young people who are unemployed, in contrast to the rest of the population, is mounting more rapidly than any other sector of the public. In our last post we discussed the possible social consequences of long term unemployment in this age bracket and the urgent need for schools to provide pupils with an education that will equip them with the skills required to succeed in the workplace. However, this situation is sure to have a ripple effect on the wider employment circle – when we finally come out the other side of the current downturn, will we be facing fundamental skills shortages?

Jobs and Growth?

We noted yesterday that the British Chambers of Commerce expect the UK to grow by 0.6 per cent this year. I wonder how many of our customers, or indeed our own, boards of directors would be happy with this level of growth for 2013.

Are we barking up the wrong tree by rewarding bad behaviours?

At home we are in the process of training a new puppy. She is a wonderful dog with a great character but, as anyone who has been through this process will know, she currently exhibits some bad behaviours. Intensive training is the only answer. The overriding principle with training this, and any other dog, is to reward them when the outcome matches the requirement. By doing this we can condition a dog’s behaviour to ensure that, in most cases, they respond to our basic commands.

Compliance – Why we shouldn’t just pay lip service

In recent years regulation, red tape and a general tightening of the manner in which recruitment businesses work has led to the need for much tighter control over such things as identity checking, right to work in the UK, proof of residence, referencing, credit checking, criminal record vetting etc etc etc…