Recruitment Matters International August 2023 Newsletter
Hello from the team at Recruitment Matters International!
We hope that you have enjoyed a refreshing holiday break and are ready to tackle the considerable challenges of the current recruitment market with renewed vigour :)
Articles in this edition of our newsletter include:-
Our CEO, Warren suggests a 'back to basics' approach to becoming a world-class recruiter.
Networking guru, Will Kintish shares a story from a man on a train.
JMW's Simon Bloch reviews some implications for Artificial Intelligence in the workplace and Employment Law.
And I highlight the benefits of having a simple, consistent candidate evaluation system.
Lastly, for news of our full range of recruitment services, including upcoming training courses, check out "What's new?"
Thoughts from the Trenches - Article Three
Contributor: Warren Kemp, CEO and Trainer, Recruitment Matters International. Warren is also a qualified Mental Health First Aid Instructor
Back to Basics
One statistic commonly quoted is for the question “How many hours does it take to become world class at something?” and the answer is 10,000.
Let’s explore that for a moment. Let’s say you work a 40 hour week as a recruiter. 40 hours x 48 weeks of the year = 1920. So it takes 5.2 years to become a world-class recruiter. Right?
Wrong. If we break down the elements of recruiting to simply client attraction, client retention, candidate attraction, candidate retention, filling a role and admin - you can see where I’m going.
In the current climate most of us will need more new business. Take the last 12 months of your recruiting life. How much time have you spent doing good old fashioned BD by telephone?
Be honest. Z hours a week x 48 = Y.
Is there an issue with the ‘Y’ figure you achieved as you strive to do the one thing that will make a huge difference to your revenue stream? i.e.Talking to prospective and current clients?
We all tend to do more of what we like and less of what we don’t. Yet, if we did more of something, we could get better at it and then enjoy it more, and so do more and more of it.
Now, I can hide behind pushing InMail’s out, emailing, trialling yet another ‘We can get you qualified leads’ system, writing posts for LinkedIn, and cleansing and updating my contact list on the CRM. The problem is, if I do more cleansing and updating of my contact list than picking up the phone to do BD, I will become a world-class administrator long before I get world class at the sharp end of recruitment.
Thank goodness I’ve been in recruitment nearly 30 years and had to do it the phone way long before the internet, emails and LinkedIn were any real help!
PS You don’t have to be world class to do well at BD, you just have to be better than most of your competitors. Two hours a day should do that nicely.
Warren Kemp is CEO and trainer with Recruitment Matters International. For more tips, advice and information on RMI, visit https://recruitmentmatters.com/ telephone 0800 0749 289/ +44 (0)1529 410375 or email info@recruitmentmatters.com.
The man on the train shared his story
Contributor: Will Kintish, Networking guru
Let me share his story with you…
I met someone on the train a while back and we got chatting as you do. I asked what he did and he told me that, after being made redundant, for three years he had been a self-employed teacher sharing his knowledge on a specialist subject. He suggested he was doing pretty well.
When I asked him how he got started he told me that he wrote to the relevant heads of departments at the schools, telling them what he did and, hey presto!, business started to come in and now he gets lots of referrals.
What did I learn? I have never been an advocate of the cold-direct approach: they don’t know, like you or trust you (KLT).
But, here was someone who had never been in business and never had to do any marketing, selling or promotion before. Yet, he realised that he had to immediately become proactive from a standing start.
So, whilst I wouldn’t do it his way today, maybe if I was setting up from scratch, I think I would try it as I, too, have a specialist offering. After all, every business relationship has to start somewhere and his first email to the relevant prospect proved the ‘cold’ approach can work if the circumstances are appropriate.
For more information on Will’s networking services, visit https://www.kintish.co.uk , call +44 (0)7939 205719 or email will@kintish.co.uk.
Have a candidate evaluation system
Contributor: Ken Kemp, RMI’s MD
Doing things consistently is the one sure-fire way of measuring the results of your efforts - to know what is and isn’t working during any period of time. If you bring consistency into all that you do, not only will your processes be more effective, you will then be making objective decisions and not just ‘gut feel’ ones. As an example, you will be putting the best candidates forward for the job and not the best interviewees.
One way of ensuring consistency of the standard of the candidates you present is by having a candidate evaluation system. You may already score or grade candidates out of 5 or 10, yet most people who do this do it on an intuitive basis.
So instead, let’s get together between us now a system that every existing recruiter and every future recruiter in your business can use. If we were to score each candidate out of 10 based on 10 questions about them, then a natural, objective prioritisation order will take place. Thus, you and everyone round about you will make better decisions about any given candidate related situation.
Let’s make a first stab at it now.
Jot down 10 things that spring to mind, as to the quality and placeability of a candidate.
You can work on fine-tuning it later and do involve colleagues, too. It’s important that you make a start - start taking some action - I want you to get the best from this article, so let’s make it count.
The keys to the 10 items are ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ If you can say ‘yes’ score 1 point and a ‘no’ then score zero.
Here’s a couple to kick you off. (1) Is the candidate being realistic about their next move? (2) Is their salary in keeping with market rates?
Once you are happy with the 10 point evaluation system, put it into practice and use it with every candidate and re-evaluate them as regularly as is applicable.
Ken Kemp is MD of Recruitment Matters International. For more information on RMI, visit https://recruitmentmatters.com/ telephone 0800 0749 289 / +44 (0)1529 410375 or email ken@recruitmentmatters.com .
Artificial Intelligence and Employment Law: Practical Considerations for Employers Using AI in the Workplace
Contributor: Simon Bloch, who is a Partner at JMW Solicitors.
The House of Commons published a report (“the Report”) on 11 August 2023 reviewing the relationship between Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and employment law. This follows on from a White Paper published by the Government back in March 2023 entitled “A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation”, which proposed a framework for non-statutory regulation of AI in the UK.
As the technological landscape has continued to evolve, over the last few years, the presence of AI tools have become increasingly prominent and have now begun to be used more widely, including in the workplace. Where used appropriately, AI tools can have significant benefits for employers and their organisations. In particular, they can contribute to increased efficiency and output and can help to streamline processes which ultimately conserves time and resources.
The Report from the House of Commons focuses on the use of AI within three broad areas of the workplace:
- Recruitment: Employers can potentially use AI tools to create job descriptions and identify CVs which match predefined job requirements in order to rank and select a pool of candidates to interview. Such tools have even been used to conduct initial interviews, which can ultimately save time and effort for recruiters.
- Line Management: AI systems can also assist with aspects of workforce planning, by analysing data to allocate shifts, schedules and tasks to employees, as well as monitoring employee productivity and conducting performance evaluations.
- Monitoring and Surveillance: The use of AI to monitor employees can track and potentially help to increase productivity and safety within the workplace. There have, however, been concerns raised regarding the effect that increased surveillance can have on employee privacy, and the way in which it could affect levels of trust, and the mental wellbeing of individuals
Legal Concerns regarding the use of AI
Whilst there are potentially several benefits to implementing the use of AI systems in the workplace, there are also risks and legal implications that employers should be aware of if they intend to use these.
Employee Privacy
In order to operate most effectively, AI systems require large amounts of data in order to effect algorithms. As such, employers will need to ensure that any data collected and processed from employees must be done lawfully in accordance with GDPR rules, for specified and legitimate purposes. In addition to this, employers must ensure that they are transparent with employees in regard to the kind of data being used, as well as information about how the company intends to process such data.
Bias and Discrimination
Concerns have also been raised about the potential that AI systems have to produce biased or discriminatory results based on the data that they use. Whilst there is the expectation for AI tools to be more objective, there are concerns where human bias within the data may have the capability to produce results which are unintentionally prejudicial towards certain protected characteristics. The House of Commons report highlights instances where the use of AI within recruitment processes has led to unfair bias against certain groups, such as women, without objective justification. Therefore, employers should carefully monitor the ways in which AI tools operate and the results that are being produced by them.
What can employers do to manage the risks associated with the use of AI?
For employers who are already using, or considering implementing AI systems within the workplace, consideration should be given to ensure that sufficient policies and safeguards are put in place to mitigate the potential risks associated with the use of such tools.
Such measures may include the introduction of specific workplace policies which establish clear guidelines as to the acceptable and permitted use of AI in the workplace. In addition, it should also seek to outline how the company intends to monitor the use of the systems, as well as any training and support it intends to give in relation to this.
Further, where employers are utilising AI systems, they should ensure that these are closely monitored and reviewed regularly to ensure that any instances where there may be biased or discriminatory output can be identified, and where necessary, be discontinued.
What’s next?
Whilst there are currently no express UK laws governing the use of AI and other such tools in the workplace, the publication of the White Paper in March made clear that the Government’s approach to the regulation of AI was intended to “strike a balance between regulation and innovation.” As such, the proposal of a non-statutory framework aimed to provide a flexible approach to regulating AI due to its rapidly changing nature. There have, however, been a number of non-governmental reports from organisations such as the Trades Union Congress and the BEIS Select Committee which have advocated for AI-specific legislation to be implemented.
Whilst it is not clear how AI will be regulated in the future, as technology continues to evolve rapidly, it is inevitable that AI will continue to become increasingly prominent within the workplace. Therefore, it is important for employers to be aware of the implications as outlined above and ensure that where such systems are used in the workplace, that these are done so appropriately, both ethically and legally.
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