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Hays and The Times Name Louisa James as PA of the Year 2011

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Hays and The Times have announced that Louisa James, of Wandsworth, London, has triumphed in the Hays and The Times PA of the Year Award 2011, being named the country’s top PA. Her energy and enthusiasm have seen her expand her role, embracing significant project management and organisational leadership such as being actively involved in the ‘Jamie’s 30-minute meals’ award-winning app, helping her secure the top spot.

PA to the managing director at Jamie Oliver Ltd, Louisa was announced as the winner at an awards ceremony held by Hays, the leading recruiting expert, at Flemings Hotel, Mayfair, London on the 19th of May. Louisa has won a five night break for two in Prague, courtesy of Portman Travel. She will also receive a place on The PA Retreat, an intensive residential training programme for management PAs, courtesy of Castalia Coaching & Training.

Louisa said: “I feel so honoured to be chosen as the PA of the Year. I give my job my all, and to be recognised like this is a wonderful feeling. People often don’t realise the huge impact PAs can have in an organisation, so it’s wonderful to be acknowledged like this.”

Second place was awarded to Christopher Juliff, diary, visits and events manager to the NHS chief executive. The judges praised Christopher’s passion for his career and his expertise, along with his outstanding attention to detail in a high pressured environment. They also noted his strong personal commitment to the diversity agenda.

Third place went to Zara Dyer, PA to the managing director at Liverpool Football Club. The judges were impressed by her passion for developing a PA network in the North and skill in being able to support her boss in a way that maximises her time and effectiveness.

As well as the three finalists, the three runners up were: Jennifer Batty, executive assistant to associate and executive directors of Russell Reynolds Associates; Lisa Partridge, PA to Michael Caines MBE and Sharon Walsh, executive assistant to the HR director at Channel 4

The awards were presented by Michelle Mone founder and co-owner of MJM International and creator of Ultimo, the UK’s leading designer lingerie brand.

Michelle declared: “Congratulations to Louisa, who has fought off some stiff competition to claim this year’s Award. She and all the finalists have shown just how valued the roles of PAs and executive assistants really are. People in this role make a considerable contribution to businesses across the country, so it’s great to be putting the spotlight on them.”

This year’s judging panel consisted of: Susie Barron-Stubley, managing director of Castalia, the coaching and training company; Gareth Osborne, director general of the Association for Personal Assistants (APA); Laura Richardson, last year’s winner; and Geoff Sims, managing director of Hays PA & Secretarial.

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Hays Reveals Over Half Of Employers Welcome Flexible Working Legislation Despite Extra Cost

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Hays, the leading recruiting expert, has revealed the results of new research that shows over half of employers (55 per cent) welcome plans by the Government to introduce legislation requiring them to offer flexible working to all employees. Seventy per cent expect an increase in requests for flexible working and nearly 40 per cent are bracing themselves for a resulting impact on their budgets.

The survey of over 680 workers and 420 employers undertaken by Hays in June 2010 found that more private sector employers expect an increase in their costs if staff take up the offer of flexible working than in the public sector (44 per cent, compared to 33 per cent).

Employers offer flexible working primarily as way of supporting their employees, with just 18 per cent reporting it is just to comply with existing legislation. Only 29 per cent feel offering flexible working is integral to the success of their business.

From the perspective of employees, almost half of all workers (46 per cent) say their current employer does not encourage flexible working, rising to over half in the private sector. Furthermore, some of the options most sought after by employees are the ones they believe are unavailable.

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Hays Reveals The UK’s Jobs Offering The Best Opportunities

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Hays, the leading recruiting expert, has revealed the top ten job areas, which are currently exhibiting the strongest demand for candidates in the UK.

As a result of long development cycles the pharmaceutical industry came out on top of the new “most wanted” list. Areas such as regulatory affairs, health economics and statistical programming are faring particularly well due to the increase in safety measures and the need to check products going into the prescription markets.

The second key area revealed by the research was banking jobs in the city. In particular, the banks are looking for revenue generators who are client-facing, with a strong banking background and appropriate levels of managing risk and control, as the majority of investment, corporate and retail banks are still trying to re-build their businesses.

Doctors, qualified social workers and other healthcare professionals all came out well, benefiting f r o m a more secure job environment due to prevailing shortages. The NHS has an ageing workforce and specialist nurses are particularly in demand across the UK.

The demand for candidates to fill a wealth of IT jobs has risen by nearly 30% in 2010. This is partly down to the release of MS Windows 7, which has helped increase the demand for IT staff to support home users or smaller organisations.

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Recession Has Created Demand For Generation R Employees

Joslin Rowe has revealed that the recession has created demand among companies for a new class of employee known as Generation R, with 68% of City employers recognising Generation R as an emerging labour market force.

Generation R is a term coined to describe those professionals who were retained during the recession, escaped redundancy, worked in far leaner teams and thus progressed faster than usual as they took on the work of more senior ex-colleagues.

According to research across 571 professional bankers, lawyers and accountants in London, 70% stepped up to the more technically demanding responsibilities that redundant colleagues left behind and 81% gained more experience and a wider skill set during the recession than at any time in the boom years. Now the recession has eased, 73% believe they are performing at a level above their current job title – and want recognition and reward for their achievements.

The Generation R trend has been identified by Joslin Rowe, the UK financial services recruitment agency of the world’s second largest HR and recruitment services group, Randstad. Joslin Rowe Managing Director, Tara Ricks, said: “Filled with confidence as to their own abilities and what they can offer, Generation R has high expectations as to what their next move should be. Some initial research we’ve conducted across our banking recruitment desks shows that many assistant vice president (AVP) level candidates feel they operated at a junior vice president (VP) level during the recession and therefore will only move on to a competitor, or stay at their current firm, in return for a VP title.”

City employers are also fast becoming aware of the Generation R phenomenon. Of the 163 surveyed, 70% agree that the employees they retained in the recession are more proficient and commercially aware thanks to their experiences over the last 18 months. 59% acknowledge they have discovered future ‘stars’, who weren’t apparent before the recession forced employers to give smaller teams increased responsibilities. Over a third of organisations (37%) also stated they feel pressure to progress their existing staff to the next level (title wise) faster than would usually be the case, because of their recent track record.

Interestingly, 53% of hiring managers admitted they have a preference at CV stage towards candidates who were retained during the recession as opposed to those who were made redundant. Tara Ricks believes this has more to do with the high demand for Generation R CVs than any negative reflection on candidates who were made redundant:

“It’s not that losing your job in the recession is seen as a stigma rather that being retained during the worst economic downturn in modern history carries so much kudos. Employers only have to look internally at the people they retained to know they possess a unique set of skills, so it’s only natural to want to entice the same Generation R population from their competitors. It’s almost a form of Guerrilla warfare – as companies start to focus all their efforts on attracting and retaining the very best Generation R employees.”

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Joslin Rowe Reveals Annual Scottish Financial Services Prospect Survey Results

Joslin Rowe has revealed the results of its annual survey covering employment prospects for the financial services sector in Scotland. These latest figures show that more than half (52%) of Scotland’s financial service firms which responded to the labour market survey intended to increase their headcount in 2010 by up to 10%.

The 68 financial institutions, employing over 17,000 people in Scotland between them, contributed to research during November & December 2009, designed to gauge perceptions amongst some of the most influential employers in the sector. The majority of firms (73%) described their company’s overall level of business confidence for 2010 as ‘optimistic’ or ‘very optimistic’ whilst 24% had neutral feelings about the future. Importantly, just 3% were pessimistic (compared with 19% pre-credit crunch).

The annual study, which has run since the Millennium, was conducted by Joslin Rowe Scotland, the financial services recruitment specialist and supported by Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Financial Enterprise.

Margaret Dyer, director, Joslin Rowe Scotland pointed out: “As recruiters for the financial services sector, we received a first hand insight into the fall out that followed first the credit crunch, and then the official recession. At one point, as our research reveals, job volumes in Scotland’s financial services sector were an incredible 93% down on 2008 levels*. Whilst there’s no doubt that there are now far more job opportunities in the market as we head into 2010, job seeker movement amongst talented professionals remains muted. People are adopting a ‘better the devil you know’ career plan through fear of a double dip recession. The recession hangover means even firms with strong employer brands are struggling to entice the best recruits from their competitors.”

Jim Watson, senior director, Financial Services, Scottish Enterprise said: “Regardless of the short-term impacts of the current economic conditions, the industry requires a dynamic and skilled workforce that can support the transition currently taking place within the industry and ensure Scotland is well placed to capitalise on new opportunities when they emerge. The newly formed financial services Skills Gateway is an excellent example of the type of initiative that we all need to support if we are to develop this highly skilled workforce for the future. This type of collaborative approach is vital if we are to ensure Scotland can retain its international stature as one of the leading financial services locations in the world.”

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Steady Growth In Demand For Retail Banking Roles

Hays, the world’s leading recruitment experts in qualified, professional and skilled people, has reported that despite difficult trading conditions, there has been a steady growth in demand for retail banking roles.

Signs are emerging that the market is starting to pick up, with organisations starting to prioritise recruitment. Tessa Hollingworth, Operations Director at Hays Banking, explained: “Clearly, we’re not out of the woods yet by any stretch of the imagination, but we are experiencing an increase in the demand for a variety of banking roles, particularly within the major retail banks and building societies.”

Building societies are looking to fill variouis banking jobs, from cashiers and customer service advisers through to assistant managers, senior branch managers and regional managers. “Recruitment is taking place across the board with these organisations looking for a mix of junior candidates and for those with managerial experience,” added Hollingworth. “Organisations will look carefully at an individual’s work history – evidence of loyalty to an employer is advantageous. Prior experience is preferred for more senior roles although for the more junior roles the right attitude is just as important.”

Recruitment in corporate banking jobs and commercial banking jobs has also picked up momentum, with a demand for restructuring and recovery roles in particular. These are challenging roles and individuals need to be excellent problem solvers and have first-class communication skills. Distressed debt is one of the key issues in today’s market and specialists with this specific experience remain highly sought after in the current market, given the requirement for strong credit, risk and accounting knowledge. “Employers are keen to hire individuals with excellent relationship management skills and strong credit skills,” added Hollingworth.

Business development also remains a focal point for retail banks and building societies with a strong track record in sales being one of the key competencies sought after by employers in the field of business banking jobs. Professionals can use their transferable skills from the wider retail environment to put them at an advantage when applying for jobs in this sector. Qualified financial advisers who are able to achieve targets consistently are also highly sought after, relevant industry qualifications such as FPC/CeFA are essential.

Professionals looking for retail banking jobs need to differentiate themselves in the current market and this means being thorough with CV preparation.

“With competition for roles extremely high, it is in the interests of every individual to spend as much time as possible refining their CVs. Candidates also need to work on their interview technique and be aware of competency based interviews and what employers are expecting,” continued Hollingworth. “For all roles, providing clear examples of past achievements and the impact they have had on the bottom line is particularly important. Specialist recruiters can provide tailored advice to help candidates in all aspects of the recruitment process.”

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Joslin Rowe Questions Whether The Lowest Point For HR Recruitment In London Has Passed

Joslin Rowe, the specialist recruitment company, has reported a recent noticeable upturn in HR recruitment following a year long slide in City HR job volumes. While most of 2009 has been characterised by a continuing slump in HR recruitment, job volumes reached their nadir during mid June 2009, with a 77% decrease in HR jobs compared with 2008.

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Daniel Cooper, a senior consultant with Joslin Rowe’s HR recruitment team, commented: “Mid-May to mid-June signalled the lowest point, where the only positions being recruited for were incredibly specialist, such as learning & development roles, expat positions and comp & bens. There were very few generalist positions available. However, the last few weeks has seen a marked increase. There’s been an incredible bounce upwards.”

According to Joslin Rowe data, the HR jobs desk is now handling more roles than at any time since the recession was declared in 2008. And, more importantly, the sheer variety of firms recruiting is a strong indicator the market may no longer be in a downward spiral.

“We’ve seen our first few senior HR jobs being released from the legal sector, whilst a number of investment banks and insurance firms are recruiting again – even those who were hardest hit,” said Cooper. “Another positive is the number of HR generalist jobs. Certainly, the recruitment we’re seeing at the moment is way ahead of previous client predictions which all pointed to the end of 2009 before recruitment would reach current levels.”

Conversations with Joslin Rowe clients indicate that departments are now so lean, even a small increase in business activity will necessitate increased HR headcount, with one HR Director admitting his team is so stretched, he might be back up to 2008 headcount levels by the start of 2010.

“The key is of course, whether this growth can be sustained,” admits Cooper. “I think if we start to see jobs for internal recruiters, we’ll certainly know we’re heading in the right direction. At the moment, entry level HR jobs, graduate recruitment and internal recruitment are yet to recover.”

Another positive is that salaries for roles coming to market have remained very competitive. Despite this, candidates who previously earned £70,000 are now willing to look at roles at the £65,000 mark in order to return to the labour market.

Dan Cooper believes, “Job seekers are realistic enough to realise that whilst in the good times they may have seen their salary soar from £50,000 to £70,000, the market has re-aligned itself and they are happy to do the same.”

About Joslin Rowe:
Established in 1982, Joslin Rowe is one of the leading UK financial services recruitment firms in the UK. Joslin Rowe consultants, candidates and clients work together to achieve the best employment opportunities and long term relationships. Joslin Rowe recruits for accountancy jobs and banking jobs along with other financial services jobs across London, Edinburgh and Glasgow including interim contracts, temporary and permanent positions. Joslin Rowe is a Randstad company – the second largest HR services group globally.

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Demand For Experienced Invoice Finance Professionals

Hays Banking, specialist recruitment company, reports the need for companies to seek a financing facility and generate cash during the recession has helped to maintain demand for experienced invoice finance professionals.

Invoice Finance Professionals

Despite the problems encountered by the banking industry as a whole, invoice finance has remained fairly resilient, “Many providers are independent businesses and therefore have not been affected as much as the large banking institutions. The invoice funding facility can provide a much-needed boost to cash flow, particularly in the present climate,” commented Tessa Hollingworth, Operations Director at Hays Banking.

Invoice finance is an integral part of commercial, business and corporate banking and is offered as a service by both independent providers and banks to commercial businesses of all sizes, from SMEs through to multinational corporations. The types of roles being recruited for include relationship and client managers, heads of customer relations and business development managers.

Among the key competencies required for invoice finance jobs are client and portfolio management experience, a track record of generating new business, liaison with external stakeholders and risk management control. Although there are no specific qualifications needed to specialise in invoice finance, organisations are typically looking for technical experience at relationship manager level and above. “Smaller invoice finance businesses will often require experienced individuals with excellent local knowledge and the ability to self-source deals through an introducer base,” remarked Hollingworth.

Invoice finance is split into three core areas: factoring, invoice discounting and asset-based lending. Invoice discounting enables the organisation to retain control of their sales ledger with funds based on the value of invoices, while factoring means that the bank deals directly with a company’s debtors, thereby eliminating the costs of administration. “Typically, individuals will specialise in either factoring or invoice discounting; the two are however closely aligned and candidates with these skill sets will often possess experience of both areas. Asset-based lending is a more complex, structured form of lending and is therefore a specialist area in its own right,” explained Hollingworth.

Although direct experience is required for the majority of roles, there are routes into the profession for those with relevant industry knowledge, “Transferable skills from junior support roles within the banking sector and financial service sectors are a definite advantage for invoice finance roles,” advised Hollingworth.

For those wanting to remain in a client-facing role, invoice finance allows the individual to gradually work towards the high-value client management arena, which brings greater reward and responsibility, along with access to more complex business structures. Client-facing success can also turn into staff management or area management positions in medium to large organisations if this is a preferred career path.

About Hays Banking:
Hays Banking is part of Hays plc, specialising in a range banking jobs from commercial banking jobs to wealth management jobs. It is market leader in the UK and Australia, and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe. The Group employs 8,294 staff operating from 380 offices in 28 countries across 17 specialisms.

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Women Equal Men In Hunt For Financial Service Jobs Reveals Joslin Rowe

Joslin Rowe has revealed that women working within investment banking and investment management jobs are closer to reaching parity in terms of the percentage of job offers they’re receiving versus men, thanks to the longer and more rigorous interview processes put in place by City firms as a consequence of the recession.

joslinrowe

Lack of budget for head count in 2009 has ensured that when hiring for financial services jobs does take place, candidates are subjected to a more rigorous and lengthy interview process to guarantee the very best candidate is hired. This appears to have weeded out gender prejudices, whether passive or active.

Joslin Rowe, the financial services City recruitment specialist, analysed 1,244 City job offers across accountancy jobs, risk and finance jobs, banking operations jobs, compliance jobs and investment management jobs. Between May 2007 & May 2008 (when the recruitment process was typically 3 weeks) men received 55.1% of all financial services job offers compared to 44.9% for women.

Fast forward to May 2008/May 2009, when interview times jumped to over 6 weeks and more interview stages were introduced, and women now receive 48.4% of all financial services job offers – with men receiving 51.6%. In the year 2000, just 41.1% of financial job offers went to women compared to the 58.9% received by men.

Tara Ricks, managing director of Joslin Rowe, the City of London recruitment consultancy, explained: “Today’s interview process has become one of the most intense we’ve ever witnessed. With so many candidates to choose f r o m, and the need to justify every single hire, interviews are involving many more hiring managers and assessment stages. City firms have always been incredibly selective but now only ‘exact match’ candidates can expect to tick all the boxes on each financial services job spec and receive that job offer.”

“Of course there may be other factors at work behind these increases,” added Ms Ricks. “For example, many City firms have been working hard for years to ensure an improved diversity and equal opportunity culture and you can see that f r o m the progressive figures we’ve witnessed since the start of the Millennium.”

Ms Ricks concluded: “The recession may actually prove good news for women. According to a CIPD report, entitled ‘Women in the Boardroom’, female executives interviewed said the traditional rewards and trappings of a higher career status, such as huge bonuses, money and bigger cars, were geared towards a male perspective of success. What they wanted was more time and greater flexibility, something that may be more, rather than less, likely in the post hyper-bonus world.”

 

According to Joslin Rowe research 50.5% of job interviews are with women and 49.5% are with men. This means that although women are slightly more successful at gaining interviews this marginal advantage does not actually translate into job offers.

About Joslin Rowe:
Established in 1982, Joslin Rowe is one of the leading UK financial services recruitment firms in the UK. Joslin Rowe consultants, candidates and clients work together to achieve the best employment opportunities and long term relationships. Joslin Rowe recruits for accountancy jobs and banking jobs along with other financial services roles across London, Edinburgh and Glasgow including long-term contracts, temporary and permanent positions. Joslin Rowe is a Randstad company – the second largest HR services group globally.

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