The benefits of SiR accreditation

In my series of features this year, I’ve focussed on how the Standards in Recruitment (SiR) programme works, provided an insight into some of the commonly overlooked compliance procedures and how to address them and discussed the value of compliance to a recruitment business.

So, what are the benefits for a recruitment business that completes the SiR programme and why should your company consider SiR accreditation? Rather than explain myself, I’ll let some of our clients tell you, in their own words.

A genuinely independent audit

Mark Jukes, founding partner of Elbrus Partners Limited, says, “In everything we do, we strive to maintain the highest ethical standards and professionalism, treating both candidates and clients with the same care and respect that we would hope to be treated with ourselves. Until now there has been no genuinely independent audit of our processes and operations and that is why we were first attracted to Standards in Recruitment.

“The audit and inspection process was enormously helpful in identifying areas, internal and external, where we could improve and we felt supported along the way by the knowledgeable SiR team.  Elbrus Partners Limited is extremely proud to be one of the early adopters of this innovative and important accreditation.  We passionately believe that our industry needs this kind of quality control and Elbrus is now able to demonstrate to our clients that we don’t just “talk the talk” but have an independently verified measure of the quality of our business practices and behaviour and that we lead from the front in this regard.”

Reflects our drive for high quality standards 

Steven Watson, compliance manager at Campion Willcocks, states, “With all our experience we found the SiR standards and audit process very thought provoking, and it made us examine how we go about our business with a continued focus on quality, which we found very encouraging. SiR accreditation goes the extra mile, and gives us a very real differentiator from our competitors. It’s refreshing that this is available to companies like ours to reflect our drive for high quality standards in addition to our continued commitment to regulatory and legal compliance.”

A clear value-add to our business

Julie Welford, compliance manager for Aeropeople, stresses, “SiR goes further; into more depth and because it is specifically for recruitment, which fundamentally is what we’re about, the accreditation reinforces that we are providing the best service to our clients and our organisation. The standards were easy to understand, straight forward and most importantly relevant. It’s a clear value-add to our business to complete the SiR process. To any recruitment business serious about wanting improve the way it operates, SiR’s accreditation programme is an excellent management and compliance tool.”

Blueprint for improvement  

SiR is the only independent compliance programme developed specifically for recruitment businesses. The concept and development of the standards and audit arrangements were evolved over a three year period by a stakeholder group. Stakeholders included agencies and hirer end users drawn from a wide range of sectors including education, healthcare, IT, manufacturing, financial services, defence and public sector and included two trade associations. SiR’s legal and operational audits are conducted by retained lawyers and a UK-wide team of independent audit professionals, all of whom have extensive experience with standards such as ISO, Lexcel and IIP.

Reassurance to investors, clients and candidates

The SiR programme is all about helping recruitment businesses improve upon their existing business practices as painlessly and cost effectively as possible. As well as addressing the regulatory aspects of recruitment, the Standards themselves reflect the rules of engagement that clients and candidates expect, effectively working as a business blueprint for improvement.

Having successful completed the SiR programme your company will be awarded SiR certification and given the right to use the SiR accredited logo, a well-deserved flag to fly. This will give reassurance to investors, as well as clients, candidates and suppliers, that you operate a high-quality and reliable recruitment business in what is a highly competitive market.

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