Yesterday the International Labour Organisation (ILO) hosted a workshop as a precursor to the 2016 Ciett World Employment Conference, which burst into life today in New Delhi. The REC (alongside other established representative bodies from Denmark and Holland) was invited to speak at the ILO event and to provide practical advice to emerging federations on how to drive compliance and ramp up their services to members.
The ILO event brought together national federations from emerging recruitment markets and provided an initial insight into global challenges and growth opportunities. It involved industry representatives from a range of countries including India, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Jordan, Lebanon and Nepal.
Here’s a snapshot of the key messages from the lively session:
Strong national federations are the engine for worldwide industry growth
Ciett President Anne Marie Muntz opened the session by underlining the fact that “boosting perceptions and recognition of the recruitment sector remains a priority. Businesses cannot do this alone; we need a strong collective voice and strong national federations”.
Addressing the black economy remains a priority
A key industry message in countries like India and Indonesia is that helping compliant recruitment providers to develop and grow will play an important role in addressing the black economy and exploitative practices. Igor Bosc, the Chief Technical Advisor on the ILO’s Fair Recruitment Initiative, underlined the organisation’s “commitment to working with Ciett and national federations on key issues like supply chain management and fair recruitment”. Good to hear!
New services are on the agenda
Jeanne Schmitt, Senior Programme Officer at the ILO’s International Training Centre, argued that “as well as lobbying, national federations need to offer practical support services to diversify income and boost their membership numbers”. Certification, training and audits are amongst the services that national federations in new recruitment markets are looking to develop.
Compliance and qualifications are the way forward
National federations in countries like the Philippines, Indonesia and Lebanon are already using compliance to help members differentiate themselves in the market place. There was huge interest in the methodology behind the REC’s online test as a way of spreading the compliance word. There was also interest in industry qualifications as a means of boosting professionalism and perceptions of the industry.
Public policy doesn’t reflect changing world of work
A key message from the workshop was that the world of work is changing fast and that public policy in areas like employment and pensions must reflect these changes. A lack of awareness amongst policy-makers of the benefits of flexible staffing also remains a challenge. Sarah Deloraya, President of PALSCON (the representative body in the Philippines), pointed out the “big regulatory challenge in the Philippines due to misconceptions about contract staffing”.
As a board member of Ciett and Eurociett, the REC aims to continue working with other national federations to grow the industry in emerging markets. As well as helping the sector to continue developing globally, this will boost opportunities for UK recruiters with an interest in overseas markets. This week’s ILO workshop was the latest opportunity to take this forward.
