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Parkside win Best Client Service Award at the Recruiter Awards

Parkside Recruitment has won ‘Best Client Service Provider’ at the prestigious Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2010.

Organised by Recruiter Magazine and held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane on 14th April, the awards recognise innovation and best practice in various sectors of the recruitment industry across the entire UK. The criteria for the Best Client Service award includes evidence of financial stability and profitability, exceptional insight into specialist sector, business innovation, outstanding service to clients and candidates as well as examples of ‘best practice’ as an employer.

The judging panel, made up of commerce and industry heavyweights described Parkside as “An excellent example of how to successfully deliver high quality, client focussed recruitment solutions which are built on a combination of quality, experience, flexibility and reputation.”

We are delighted to have won this esteemed award, which recognises our commitment to providing the best possible level of client service. It is testament to the professionalism, hard work and dedication of our team that we have been recognised as being best in class and even more satisfying given the competition we were up against from both local and national agencies across the UK. We are pleased to know we are leading the way for client services in the recruitment industry.

HR directors warned almost a third of staff could leave after the recession
Human Resources Magazine - October 2009

As the first signs of an upturn start to appear, HRDs could face a mass exodus of talent, according to exclusive research for HR magazine by FreshMinds Talent.

As employers report the first positive signs in the recruitment market, they are on the verge of suffering a mass exodus of talent with staff poised to move jobs - or even sectors - when the upturn comes.

According to exclusive research for HR magazine by FreshMinds Talent, 24% of staff are dissatisfied in their jobs, almost half (45%) regret having chosen their current sector and 64% said the recession had made them think about moving sector. These findings are backed up by financial recruitment specialist Parkside, which found 26% of accountants, will 'definitely' move after the market improves and 29% are considering moving.

Stephen Bevan, managing director of The Work Foundation, explains: "Unemployment is still going up and it will take longer for the job market to recover than the economy. So firms will not see any real exodus for a year or 18 months." But, he adds: "Talented employees have more labour market power, so if they want to change jobs, they will experience demand however the job market is faring."

Last month in his address to the TUC Congress, the prime minister, Gordon Brown, said spending cuts would be needed in the public sector to bolster the economy.

Richard Crouch, head of HR at Somerset County Council and lead officer for leadership and organisational development at the Public Sector People Managers Association, says the situation could be "dire" and the sector is under threat of losing talent. He adds: "The private sector will experience an upturn as the public sector finds itself clamouring to save money. I think staff in the public sector - including some who have moved from the private sector during recession - will jump to where the grass is greener."

According to Bevan the best way for employers to retain this volatile contingent of staff is not through increasing pay but providing autonomy and development opportunities. "Pay will not improve loyalty. Golden handcuffs are not going to work now," he adds.

Employers risk ‘mass exodus’ of accountants as jobs market shows signs of upturn
Personnel Today - September 2009

Although over three-quarters of finance staff are still concerned about job security, 26% will definitely move as soon as the jobs market picks up and a further 29% are considering moving, according to new research.

The survey of over 300 accountants across the UK by financial recruitment specialist, Parkside, found that 45% of those ready to move on in their careers blamed the effects of the recession for their decision. Nearly a third of all respondents rated the way their employers had treated them during the downturn as either ‘poor’ or very poor’. And a similar percentage complained about a lack of effective internal communication about the way the financial crisis was impacting upon the business.

“Senior management here seem to think that the best way to deal with bad news is just to cover it up,” stated one interviewee, whilst another said that the response of the board at her company was similar to that of a “rabbit in a car headlight.”

“Alongside this survey we also undertook a study of 100 companies and practices which showed that less than a fifth were planning any more redundancies this year whilst over 80% were expecting a significant upturn in business in 2010,” says Parkside’s managing director, Jennie Emerson. “But it looks as if employee perception of how companies managed their way through the period of downturn could mean a mass exodus of people as soon as things start to pick up. It’s absolutely vital that companies really engage with their people now and ensure that lines of communication remain open if they are to avoid this.”

Perm to temp switch good news for recurring revenue
Recruiter - July 2008

Accounting and finance recruiters are benefitting from the current economic uncertainty, as employers switch to taking on more temporary staff.

Brian Poxon, director of the accounting and finance division at Parkside Recruitment, told Recruiter that over the last couple of months he had seen a switch from permanent to temporary hiring. He said the balance was now 60:40 in favour of temporary business, compared to 50:50 previously.

His comments come after a recent trading statement from Hays, which reported that net fees from permanent placement had increased by 15% and by 17% from temporary placements in the first quarter of 2008, compared with the same period last year.

Poxon said temporary hires were “quite a bit busier” but in contrast permanent staffing was “relatively stable”. He said that some US clients had introduced a freeze on permanent recruitment, which meant they needed to take on staff on a temporary or interim basis. Where permanent staff were leaving, clients now needed someone to backfill the role, he added.

Poxon said that more temporary placements was good for the business because of the “recurring revenue” it bought in. He said he expected to see the trend for temporary hiring to continue for around 12 months, mirroring the global economic shockwaves following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

New survey finds war for talent surviving the credit crunch
Recruitment Consultant - July 2008

A new survey of over 900 employees and nearly 300 employers has found that businesses across the UK are still finding it difficult to recruit and retain staff, despite the economic downturn.

The survey, part of an annual programme carried out by recruitment specialist, Ochre House, found that less than 60 per cent of respondents had been in their job less than two years and as many as 68 per cent planned to change employer within the next six months.

The most common reason cited for a move was pay (39 per cent), followed by their employer’s culture and ethics (28 per cent). 26 per cent were considering leaving their job because of a lack of training.

These figures from individuals tie in closely with the results from employers. While staff turnover rates were running around 30 per cent per annum in the 2007 poll, organisations now reported that they had jumped to as much as 42 per cent.

“Our surveys over the past five years have shown that career cycles among younger workers, the ‘Generation Y’ aged between 21 and 28, have been getting shorter all the time,” said Ochre House director, Jennie Emerson. “However we’re now seeing that this is spreading to staff of all ages as the old idea of long term loyalty to a company dies out. Organisations need to understand what really motivates their workforce and to adopt a clearly defined strategy for both recruitment and retention. This will be particularly important given the fact the survey found most businesses optimistic about the future.”

Although over 70 per cent expected that the UK economy would grow at a slower rate in 2008, less than 10 per cent expected a recession and nearly 45 per cent predicted that their own business would expand over the course of the year.

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