Subscribe to RSS
- Jo Faragher
You could probably count on one hand the number of times employment contracts have made headline news – but this week, zero-hours contracts were all over the news sites and the airwaves.
The contracts, which allow employers to keep workers on stand-by without having to guarantee them a certain number of hours, are far more widespread than initial estimates suggested, with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development putting the actual number at 1 million.
Much of the press around the contracts has been negative, but recruiters and employers alike are keen to point out that they can also be a useful too in creating a flexible workforce – often giving people jobs where otherwise they wouldn’t be able. And providing staff consent to working on this basis, the employers are doing nothing wrong.
It’s good to see that a number of industry figures, including CIPD chief executive Peter Cheese and REC top boss Kevin Green, have called for there to be more research into positive ways zero-hours contracts can be used, as a counterpoint to some of the hysteria and accusations of exploitation. As Adrian Marlowe, chair of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies, points out: “I suggest that we all wait for the official government outcome [of its upcoming review of zero-hours contracts] before jumping to negative conclusions.”
Merger activity can be a good indicator of confidence in a sector, so it was encouraging this week to see a report from M&A International and Evalueserve, showing that recruitment industry deals reached their highest point for five years during 2012.
It highlighted how a number of recruiters are looking to expand in emerging economies, and are looking to do this through acquisition. Merger deals are another area where it pays to be a specialist recruitment business – acquisitions of niche recruiters far outgrew those in other areas.
Over in the US, some staggering research into candidate experience has been revealed. According to a ‘mystery shopper’ survey by recruitment consultancy CareerXroads, 75% of Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For are leaving applicants in the dark about their job applications.
The survey has been running for 11 years now, and Mark Mehler, a principal at CareerXroads, says “It’s not getting any better”. With skills shortages predicted in a number of areas in the future, you’d think it would be a no-brainer for hiring companies to keep candidates in the loop.
They may not have been successful this time, but why leave them with a bad taste in their mouth? And if they have a bad experience of your brand in the recruitment process, they could tell people in their network, putting off even more potential candidates. Recruiters have an important role to play here in managing the communication process, as gatekeepers of their clients’ brand.
What are you doing to enhance candidate experience? Let us know at editorial@recruitmentagencynow.com
Print
Email
