LinkedIn helping to raise standards in the recruitment industry

It’s a common phrase in recruiting, but Simon’s people at BPS World believe it for their clients, their candidates and for themselves. As a global recruitment agency it can sometimes be hard to maintain your values, but not for BPS World, where despite their span and global activity, “Good Recruitment” is at the heart of everything they do.

Kevin Green was HR Director at the Royal Mail as it went from losing £1m a day in 2003 to turning £700 million profit in 2007. Big change, not just in numbers but in mentality too. Now he is CEO of The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) - the professional body for recruitment in the UK.

Kevin’s clear about what he wants to do. After all, Britain’s 100,000 recruiters place 600,000 people in permanent jobs each year. And that’s just in the UK. Kevin is heavily involved with other global industry bodies determined to increase the profile of the recruitment industry around the world.

This is why Simon and Kevin are compatible. Working together (Simon sits on the REC’s General Council) they’re raising the profile of the sector as a whole. They are working towards a common vision to improve the perception of the recruitment industry.

Thanks to Kevin, Simon and their teams there are now a full range of options from GCSE to Degree level. With the help of REC, BPS World now offers Apprenticeships, leading to NVQ and Diploma qualifications for young people wanting to gain a solid grounding in the industry.

Beyond their Apprenticeship scheme, BPS World has developed its own ‘Rising Stars’ programme, further encouraging and celebrating young talent. Meanwhile The REC runs the Institute of Recruitment Professionals Awards (IRP Awards) to celebrate professional excellence, best practice and the inspirational work carried out by the brightest and best stars in the industry as a whole. An IRP Award sets the bar for all recruitment professionals and businesses to aspire to and is the highest accolade an individual or company can receive in the industry. Reflecting how successful they have been, BPS World was awarded Apprentice of the year in 2016 by the IRP.

Recruiting is already a more solid and self-respecting sector thanks to Simon and Kevin’s work, but there’s still plenty to plan for. As the very nature of the economy changes, the recruitment landscape is affected year on year. The emerging ‘Gig Economy’, the proliferation of workforces and the further emergence of technology in recruitment all present significant challenges as well as vast opportunity. Partnerships and collaborations become pivotal to competitive advantage. Just as BPS World and REC harness the power of their partnership, LinkedIn provides a platform to affect change both in terms of collaboration and in driving real success and results. As a partner, LinkedIn is helping both BPS World & the REC with their goals of elevating the recruitment industry as whole. Going forward this partnership will be more essential than ever, as we work together to achieve our vision.

BPS World & the Recruitment and
Employment Confederation

One came from farming, the other from the Royal Mail. Today, they’re helping raise standards in recruitment.

“Jobs transform lives”

“We want to raise awareness of the good work recruiters do every day.”

"Our goal was to build on the foundations already set by REC to make recruitment a career of choice"