This is a guest post written for us by Richard Derham considering if, as an industry, we are reaching the point where we have no choice but to seek regulation.
Over the years in recruitment I’ve seen a fair few ‘mischievous’, un-professional, borderline and criminal things done by individuals for that next fee or their big move to a competitor.
And that in effect is it: everything is done by ‘Individuals’ in our industry. It is very rarely that we see an entire company acting in this way, and if it is a company it is most likely to be either a one man band or a small outfit who are out for a quick buck.
Given my experience in insurance recruitment I can happily say we are not alone in having an ‘Individuals’ problem. Where we are distinctly different is that we as an industry have no oversight; we have no authority to hold these people to account.
And that is in my view where we need to look at implementing change. I have within insurance pushed and assisted clients to obtain chartered status, and promoted professionalism in all its guises from more qualifications to better training and ethical practice. We as ‘Professional’ recruiters already do the majority of this in our industry. The difference is we have no fall back when one of our number goes rogue.
If bad practice happens in insurance, it is dealt with by fines, bans and criminal proceedings. Without a regulator, we cannot do this (apart from if a client or candidate is inclined to sue someone).
It is not my preference to have a regulator overseeing the industry. The cost involved with such a beast would seriously damage a number of businesses, including my own. There is not only a financial cost in having a regulator there are many other costs that you don’t see until you are regulated, such as the time it takes to prepare for visits, the paperwork, the additional training costs and ultimately the reputational cost of getting it wrong. These are all much more severe under a regulated body among several others.
The sad truth of it is that if we keep going how we are it may not be a case of we as recruiters wanting a regulator to assist us with managing these problems. It will be a case of a regulator being imposed on us from Government.
This is an ‘Individuals’ problem not an industry problem, but to do something about Individuals we may have to do something about the industry and the sad fact of the matter is we may have actually reached the time and place where we do need a regulator.
What is clear in the fast paced modern world of Social Media our ‘Individuals’ problem can quickly become a stain on our industry.
The big question here is do you want an all powerful statutory regulator similar to the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) or SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority) or is there another solution? Either way now is the time to join the debate and make your voice heard!
Richard is currently Head of Practice – Insurance at FS Executive Search and blogs at http://richardderhamin.blogspot.co.uk
