How minimum wage increases affect the recruitment business

From April 2024, the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in the UK will undergo its biggest cash increase in history. Amid the ongoing cost of living crisis and rising expense for businesses and households alike, this increase is set to significantly impact the UK economy—and every business.

For recruitment specifically, it’s very possible that this increase will affect the number of employment opportunities in the UK as businesses are required to spend more on existing, already-filled positions. But our recent poll on LinkedIn shows that the concerns of recruitment businesses are more diverse and complex.

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4 benefits of getting a recruitment qualification

One of the most spectacular things about the recruitment business is the diversity of recruiters. There are numerous routes into the industry and everyone comes with the advantage of their unique experiences and skills.

At the same time, new and existing recruiters can all benefit from some structured learning and a professional qualification as a recruiter. It’s a way to take all that lived experience and support it with best practice and clever techniques, making it more relevant to the day-to-day experience of being a recruiter or resourcer.

Recruitment qualifications are good for business—especially when delivered through a blended approach that includes engaging, self-directed online learning. But what are the benefits for recruiters themselves? Why should recruiters put in the extra time and energy to earn letters after their name? And what kind of effect does a qualification have on your earning potential?

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Objections to online learning: for leaders

Over the past few months, we’ve been sharing an honest, uncompromising look at objections to online learning. We’ve looked at misconceptions from recruitment businesses and individual recruiters, touching on topics like cost and boredom. But the leaders inside your business—the ones responsible for guiding recruiters to success—face their own unique challenges.

Every day, they have the potential to enable and empower your recruiters. However, this depends on not only strong management skills, but also access to accurate, up-to-date information on learning and development.

Finishing our series, let’s look at the three most common objections to online learning from leaders—and how a modern, smart approach can help.

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Looking back on recruitment in 2023

From the continued cost of living crisis to the Barbenheimer phenomenon back in July, 2023 has been a memorable, often surprising year for a lot of people. The year in recruitment is no exception.

2023 saw a number of key trends and shifts, both in the way people work and the way recruiters do business. Many Juice clients have reported a strong year, not just with big account wins and successful placements, but also laying the foundations for what 2024 has to bring.

At Juice, we’ve had a busy year too, packed with new course launches and continued improvements to our platform. So, to finish off, let’s look back together on the biggest recruitment topics in 2023—and what they can tell us about next year.

 

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Why MDs are ultimately responsible for learning culture

Over the past few months, we’ve written a lot about the importance of building a learning culture inside your recruitment business. We’ve talked about the business benefits of a learning culture, the importance of synergy across teams, and even how your managers hold influence.

However, while everyone has a role to play in your culture, there’s an important person we’ve missed: the leaders at the very top. Whether you’re a managing director, founder, or CEO, the way you behave – and the way you communicate about recruiter training – has a significant impact on the rest of the business.

Read on to find out why higher ups need to be on board with your learning strategy—and what you can do to positively influence your entire organisation from the top down.

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Objections to online learning: for recruiters

Continuing our series on the most common objections to online learning, we’re digging deeper into the perspectives of recruiters themselves.

When it comes to effective learning and development, nothing’s more important than your recruiters. They’re the people you’re providing training for—the ones who’ll benefit first from new skills and ideas. If they’re not on board, no amount of great content can help you.

As with new ways of working, technology, or process changes, adoption is everything. But encouraging adoption doesn’t mean burying your head in the sand about the assumptions and objections your recruiters bring to the table. If anything, the best results come from facing those objections head-on with clear, focused answers.

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Objections to online learning: for recruitment businesses

Ask around the office and you’ll no doubt find that everyone has an opinion about online learning. For many, the concept brings to mind endless reading, boring quizzes, and an obligation you’d rather avoid.

Of course, many of these objections and assumptions are based on bad experiences, particularly from back when online learning was in its infancy. The style and nature of online learning has evolved—from a dull online version of a textbook to fun, interactive, genuinely engaging content.

However, some objections persist. Recruitment businesses, leaders, and recruiters themselves can be resistant to online learning, despite its measurable impact on retention, culture, collaboration and performance. That’s why, across a short series of posts, we’re digging deeper into some of the main objections to online learning—and why they’re inaccurate.

Let’s kick off with why recruitment businesses object to online learning.

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3 myths about AI in recruitment

In case you haven’t heard, the AI revolution is coming and recruitment is no exception. If you ask the robots themselves – Microsoft Bing’s ChatGPT-powered model in this case– they’ll tell you “65% of recruiters currently use AI and 67% say it has improved the hiring process.”

Both these statistics are taken wholesale from a single source – a thinly-described study on Zippia.com. Instantly, the alarm bells start ringing. How many other credible resources say that recruiters are all obsessed with AI? When you look around your office or speak to other recruiters, how often is AI coming up?

The reality is notably more complex. In fact, recent data from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation reports that only 8% of HR professionals are using AI—and only 3% say they intend to use it next year. The idea of AI reinventing what we do overnight is, quite simply, a myth. And it’s not the only one.

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How to create a learning culture in your teams

You might have designed it carefully, spending years on every little detail. You might have simply watched it develop along its own path. But whether you think about it or not, your recruitment firm has a culture – and influencing that culture has the potential to deliver big benefits.

In the world of recruiter training, you’ll read a lot about the idea of a ‘learning culture’. But what does that really mean? What benefits can you expect? Why is this any better than simply making training mandatory? And – crucially – what you can do to start building your own learning culture?

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Is there still a candidate shortage?

If you’ve read the Recruitment Juice blog before, you’ve probably seen us talk about the candidate shortage. In the aftermath of the pandemic, Brexit, and widespread economic uncertainty, it felt impossible to find the people you need to fill roles.

The causes were complex. Shocked by the pandemic, we all took job security a little more seriously. Suddenly, the imperfect role you’re in was better than the new role that might be out there. At the same time, clients shifted rapidly from hiring with abandon to near-zero recruitment. And then they shifted back in the other direction, making concerted efforts to scale up, grow, and rebound with confidence.

In the past twelve months, though, it would be tempting to think that the candidate shortage had passed and recovery was marching on. According to our clients, that’s not the case.

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