Recruiting, Retaining and Releasing People

Adrian Mackay

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9781138158917
• eBook ISBN: 9781136369513
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Accounting
• Index: Business

The greater part of an HR budget is spent on recruitment and retaining good people is key to a company's success. This book contains essential and up-to-date material around recruitment and retention including those issues that are currently pressing on companies with regard to flexibilty, returning to work, coaching and skills shortages. The problems of retirement, redundancy and dismissal are also addressed which is an integral part but not included in many texts. It provides the student and the professional with one place to find all the aspects and consequences of good practice in recruitment and retention.

Part 1

Recruiting People

1

Recruitment – A Modern Perspective

Technologies can be bought; what we need is the talent to implement them.

Lord Brown of Madingley, CEO of BP

Learning Outcomes

This chapter has been written with three objectives:

1. To serve as a practical guide for today's manager aiming to recruit the right person for an identified position.

2. To meet the needs of the Chartered Management Institute's Diploma in Management optional module Unit 041 – Recruitment and Selection.

3. To meet the needs of the CIPD Professional Development Scheme – particularly regarding recruitment as part of the People Management and Development core module.

This chapter aims to help you learn how to identify personnel requirements and to select the required people.

By the end of this chapter you will:

Have a clear understanding of the main influences on today's recruitment market

Explore an employer's responsibility concerning diversity and equal opportunities

Know how to write a job description and person specification

Understand the various recruitment methods and the purpose and validity of each

Review best practice when making a decision and offering the job

Have both the employer and employee views on induction programmes – and learn how to ensure they are effective.

Recruitment Today

The UK recruitment market is the most developed and competitive in the world. While the US market may be worth three times as much as Britain's (see Table 1.l), the US has a labour force almost five times as large.

Figures from the Government Turnover Inquiry (GTI), the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and the marketing intelligence firm Key Note valued the UK recruitment industry between £20 and £24.5 billion in 2004.

The results published in January 2006 showed a decline in the demand for temporary/contract labour and a marked switch to permanent business. While the recruitment market grew some 571 per cent over 10years – explaining the highly fragmented market – recent figures show there has been a 4.2 per cent decline in total industry turnover, which now stands at just under £23.5 billion. This reduction in overall turnover, for only the second time in the history of the survey, is mirrored by government VAT data.

The recruitment market is split into essentially two areas:

Retained firms work on senior roles and require part-payment upfront (typically one-third of the final fee), and further payments are made on representation of a shortlist and the new employee starting.

Contingency agencies are paid on success only.

Table 1.1 Top five recruitment markets worldwide

	Value 2003 ($bn)	Value 2004 ($bn)	Change (%)
US	94.5	95.0	0.05
UK	33.6	33.0	-1.80
Japan	15.0	15.1	0.70
France	14.7	14.3	-2.70
Netherlands	8.4	9.2	9.50

Source: Key Note.

A tightening job market brings good and bad news for recruitment firms. Figures from the National Office of Statistics (http://www.statistics.gov.uk) sourced in May 2006 confirm that in the three months to February 2006 the trend in the employment rate is falling, while the trend in the unemployment rate is increasing. The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance benefit has increased, while the number of job vacancies has fallen. Growth in average earnings excluding bonuses is unchanged, while growth in average earnings including bonuses has increased.

Box 1.1 shows the recent figures published by the National Office of Statistics for Great Britain.

Box 1.1: Employment trends for the three months to February 2006 published by the National Office of Statistics for Great Britain (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/)

The employment rate for people of working age was 74.5 per cent for the three months ending in February 2006. This is unchanged over the quarter but down 0.4 per cent over the year.

The number of people in employment for the three months ending in February 2006 was 28.84 million. This is the highest figure since comparable records began in 1971. Employment increased by 76 000 over the quarter and by 147 000 over the year. The quarterly increase in employment was mainly due to more women employees.

Total hours worked per week were 926.1 million, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1971. This is up 4.3 million over the quarter and up 3.6 million over the year.

The unemployment rate was 5.1 per cent, up 0.1 per cent over the quarter and up 0.4 per cent over the year. The number of unemployed people increased by 30 000 over the quarter and by 120 000 over the year, to reach 1.56 million. The quarterly increase in unemployment was due to more unemployed women.

The claimant count was 937 600 in March 2006, up 12 600 on the previous month and up 106 200 on the year.

The inactivity rate for people of working age was 21.3 per cent for the three months ending in February 2006, down 0.1 per cent over the quarter but up 0.1 per cent over the year. The number of economically inactive people of working age fell by 13 000 over the quarter, to reach 7.93 million.

The annual rate of growth in average earnings (the AEI), excluding bonuses, was 3.8 per cent in February 2006, unchanged from the previous month. Including bonuses it was 4.2 per cent, up from 3.6 per cent the previous month.

The average number of job vacancies for the three months to March 2006 was 593 200. This was down 3300 on the previous quarter and down 43 300 over the year.

The redundancy rate for the three months to February 2006 was 5.7 per 1000 employees, up 0.1 from the previous quarter.

While this is good news for agency fees, the figures show unemployment to be generally at its lowest for nearly 30 years, the competition for a declining pool of people will be fiercer than ever.

This demand for executives moving in the opposite direction to supply is particularly acute in the USA, where demographic predictions suggest that the number of 35- to 44-year-olds will fall by 15 per cent by 2015 while that of 45- to 55-year-olds will rise. Moreover, the demands companies place on executives is increasing, which in turn affects the escalating talent shortfall. Complex global markets require more sophisticated management skills, including international sensitivity, cultural fluency, technological literacy, entrepreneurial flair and, most critically, leadership. ...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface
• About the Author
• Part 1 Recruiting People
• Part 2 Retaining People
• Part 3 Releasing People
• Index