NASES Agency Working Party

Conference Workshop

8th & 9TH July 2014

• Introductions• How is the Student Employment Sector Growing• Getting Started - things to think about• Case study – University of Derby• Ask the Expert....

How the sector is changing

Mode of operation Number of job shops Job centre style only 37 Job centre style and internal agency 15 Job centre style, internal agency and external agency 7 Internal agency only 5 Job centre style and external agency 3 External agency only 3 Internal agency and external agency 2

Advantages of an Internal Agency• Ability to support emergency cover• Builds greater relationships with students & internal departments• Pool of skilled student labour to tap into• Can monitor students working more effectively• Will enhance university PR and support the University being the

destination of choice for applicants• Can measure success effectively and produce effective MI• Students working on campus are higher alumni donators• Reduces the time to hire window, as can bi-pass lengthy HR process’s

Advantages of a Commercial Agency style service• Income generation geared towards covering operational costs and profit• Allows for growth and planning• Potential to develop service• Can be competitive with high street agencies

Disadvantages of an Internal Agency

• Influencing institution to convert to in-house service• Convincing Departments to use service if there is no formal policy in

place• Convincing departments to pay for an internal service• May increases admin procedures / systems • More resource required for a recruitment service• Threat of external agenciesDisadvantages of a Commercial Agency style service• University may not be geared to commercial market / services• Students commitments will restrict your market• Service may need competitive resources• Financial liabilities – credit control and management• Management of recruitment agency legislation• Needs to be competitive and have a strong brand and USP’s

How is the Student Employment Sector Growing?

impact – examples of what services are achieving

• £ million pound wage mark hit earlier in the term each year

• Increase in numbers of students working• Greater number of Students engaged into casual work

year on year

Getting Started – Things to think about

Ensure a Successful start Form a Steering group of Key

Stakeholders in your University that are able to make decisions.

Agency

Chair

Person

HR Director

Finance

Assistant Director

Operational Manager

Procurement

Careers

IT

Legal

Location• High student footfall is useful…not essential• Virtual Presence essential

Staffing• Depends on budgets and operation style• Are you front facing or on-line service?• Business development role generating business and

Admin/filler role matching vacancies and doing back office roles

• Student staff ideal solution as business develops

Recruitment software

A range of options exist depending on requirements & budget:

In-House Solution

Thinking about Finance

Financial Planning / Budgets

• Useful to have finance person onboard• Straight re-charge?• Admin fee on top of hourly rate?

Wage rates

• Needs discussion with your HR department and Union reps

Pricing Policy - Rate calculator Average rates

Pay rate + overheads + admin charge = charge rate

Holiday pay

• Time sheets

• Manual v on-line

• Payroll invoicing

Think about Cash flow

Payment Terms and Credit Control

Payroll - who will do this

• Ideally an internal solution linked to Recruitment Software

• Needs to be an on-line system for large payrolls• On-line mechanism saving time and staff time• Weekly/Monthly• External solutions available

How will you operate?

Registering students

• On-line• Per vacancy or bank applications

• As an employer you must check all students’ eligibility to work and retain copied documentation

• You need to recheck eligibility on an annual basis, coming soon the need to check term dates for students

Getting started – the basics

Registering clients/vacancies

• When accepting new clients general paper work should be completed

• Depending on your insurance /university requirements certain checks should be made

Employability Links

• Work with Careers/Employability to impact student employability

• Internal clients – guidance on good recruitment practice, giving references etc

• Recruitment basics inc interviewing/short listing guides

Case Study 2 -

University of Derby

• Brief history of the Student Employment Agency (SEA)

• Rationale behind developing the external market for the SEA

• Vision: To be the first choice agency for employers seeking student employment

Understanding the Market Place

• Competitor analysis – benchmarking • Knowing who your competitors are• External Influences – PEST analysis

Political FactorsEconomic FactorsSocial-Cultural FactorsTechnological Factors

SWOT

Strengths:

• Wide pool of skilled students• Small, flexible and agile• Prominent location on campus• Very short to long-term employment

SWOT

Weaknesses:

• Overly dependent on internal client base• Location for external business• Brand awareness externally

SWOT

Opportunities:

• Strengthen relations through networking• External Marketing campaigns• Projected growth as economy recovers• Joined up working

SWOT

Threats:

• High street competition• Employment legislation• Un-realistic targets

Operations Management

• Use and recording of data• Location• Efficiencies• Capacity and demand• Structure

Ask the expert