Discussion re Serco Advert for FND District Directors
I read with interest in the Guardian in December Serco advertising for the above posts in view to contract wins. You had to apply via their on line application which took you through a fairly thorough equal opporutunities questionnaire - asking about specific area in the UK you were originally from, sexual orientation etc. All good you think that the culture encourages all to apply from differing backgrounds. However I then learned that they have told recruitment companies that they specifically do not want to employ anyone from A4e or Reed. The reason? that their perception of those companies is that they are just out to make profit and do not treat people as individuals when moving them into work.
So my thoughts are this
1) Should companies who have an equal opportunities policy be allowed to discriminate in this way?
2) If Serco are implying that they treat people as individuals, then surely this is somewhat hypocrytical in that they have pre judged individuals from those organisations rather than their skill, talent and experience?
- 5391 reads
Hi Leon,
I'm not sure that A4e or Reed count as backgrounds or orientations protected under discrimination law. It's also less restrictive than barring public sector (i.e. DWP) candidates from private sector jobs, which is endemic in this industry. However, it must be rather annoying to find that working for a leading provider can actually be a step back in the eyes of some people.
You do realise that you might be providing Serco with free publicity here?!
Leon,
I am afraid that you have been misinformed. Serco is very happy to receive applicants from A4E, Reed and indeed any other organisation. We are looking to recruit the very best people possible to be our Contract Directors. Individuals with top-level experience in large welfare-to-work organisations are of particular interest to us. We take equal opportunities very seriously and positively encourage applications from as diverse a range of individuals as possible. Please feel free to email me directly should you wish to discuss this further. I would be interested to know where you heard this particular untruth.
Yours sincerely,
Sean Williams
Development Director,
Serco Welfare to Work
Cant think that is right... I am sure that all companies are just looking for best people to do the job... wherever they come from...Wouldn't make any business sense to exclude people on the basis of their current employers if they had the right skills..
Ive heard that Reed have just made 5% of the workforce redundant and have put another 10% into consultation - so maybe Serco will be inundated with Reed applications now!
I am currently employed by A4e and come from a very strong JCP and provider background on various provisions and to be completely honest there really isn't much difference, the main aim for my colleagues and I in our office is always the same which is to help people to find and sustain work, in any sector this is a challenge but the right attitude helps. I have submitted an application to Serco I would trust that any company looking to deliver such a large and exciting new provision would look at the individual for their skills, experience and empathy with our customer group.
Helen McAnally, MD, Parkhouse Bell Ltd
It is very interesting how rumours abound and information is misinterpreted in the incestuous world of welfare-to-work! This is an issue that I am acutely aware of after many years of working as a recruiter for the sector.
As one of the recruitment companies working with Serco to source potential Contract Directors in the event of their winning FND contracts, my description to candidates interested in the roles was that Serco were looking for exceptional people who: are great communicators (both in written form and in person), experienced at a senior level within the W2W sector, have retained the true ethos of what organisations in the W2W sector are there to do, whether they are not-for-profit, privately owned or publicly listed companies and who personify the Serco philosophy about working with our society’s most disadvantaged.
Parkhouse Bell submitted candidates who had worked with Reed in Partnership and A4e (either currently or in the past) and Serco interviewed candidates from both these companies so I do hope that this particular rumour is not attributed to this particular recruiter or to Serco themselves and that it originated from people putting their own interpretation on this brief!
Hi Helen,
As you know, helping to expose rumours to a little daylight is one of the reasons this site exists. I suspect that most of them arise through a small initial misunderstanding, but when people rely on informal communication too much it can easily amplify and spread further. I'm fairly amused that the main result of this is free publicity for Serco and various industry recruiters.
More to the point, how are they able to advertise for fND staff? Unless they know something everyone else doesn't?!
Hi Anonymous,
Serco are a new entrant, and don't have existing delivery staff. Many other bidders have regional managers already in place. Also, the previous job advert specified the positions were being identified rather than awarded, prior to FND being announced.
This comment has been moved here.