I am proud of working in Recruitment, but sometimes I meet some prejudices about Recruitment Consultants.
Whilst I am pleased to say Essential Personnel and most other companies operate in an ethical manner, with a duty of care to their clients, candidates and staff, there are a small number of recruitment companies which sadly give the whole industry a bad name. Considering that there are 65,000 Recruitment Consultants in the UK, working in 16,000 agencies, generating £27 billion per annum, it is a large and very important industry to the UK economy.
So how would you spot an ethical agency?
REC and the Institute of Recruiters set out codes of conduct and ethics for recruiters; even if an agency is not a member of these bodies, they should work towards this codes. In summary these are:
- Professional conduct, acting with integrity, appropriate behaviour and in a way that will not bring the industry into disrepute
- Compliance with all relevant legislation and laws
- Respect diversity, treat all candidates with respect and safeguard against discrimination
- Ensure that the recruitment process is documented in full
- Maintain high standards of integrity in advertising
- Strive to source the best candidate for the clients
- Commit to continual professional development of their staff, keeping knowledge and skills up to date
- Never disclose confidential information about the client or candidate without consent unless required to do so by the law.
Essential Personnel is committed to working ethically and strives at all times to meet the above code. Next time you work with a recruitment consultant as a candidate or client, don’t be afraid to ask about their code of conduct and ethics.
