THE BLUEPRINT SUMMER EDITION
WELCOME MARKET COMMENTARY
BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT GROUP SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT GROUP SCHOOLS LEADERSHIP LAUNCH MARKETING UPDATES SOCIAL & CHARITY SUMMER CONFERENCE SPECIAL
TRAINING UPDATES LIGHTHOUSE CLUB
NEW STARTERS, CELEBRATIONS & SHOUTOUT MRG OUTSIDE OF OFFICE
As we reach the halfway point of the year at MRG, here in the UK it feels like we’ve finally bid farewell to the never-ending rain which plagued the earlier part of the year, albeit dare we say it’s now *too* hot!? Say a prayer for those of us wilting on the underground commute with all the other sweaty bodies. That said, we are thrilled to present to you our Summer newsletter. This edition, some might notice (or not) was preceded by the April newsletter. May was a record month for bank holidays and as such – there wasn’t enough news to warrant an entire newsletter. And then the lead up to the summer conference in June kept the marketing team exceptionally busy - So, you get the joys of a bumper May/ June/July edition instead. Just like the ever-changing British weather, which predicts sudden rain and thunderstorms these past few weeks, we have had to adapt and embrace the market’s unpredictable nature over the last couple of months, which meant some dry spells for every team across the board. But as always, our resilient spirits persist in making the most of every season – and the rainmakers always come through. WELCOME TO THE SUMMER EDITION OF THE MRG NEWSLETTER!
MARKET COMMENTARY
We closed the first half of the year with a company record in June. Group fees at £743k, £502k from the UK and £241k from International. It was also a strong performance in terms of conversions - £438k from the UK and a very impressive £324k from International. So despite talk of the challenges in the global economy and indeed the recruitment market we continuing to produce enviable results. We have to continue to monitor our chosen sectors and specialisms to ensure that we are operating in the most viable markets, and then outperform the competition. Summary the first half of 2023, Group results were +20% on 2022 and broadly on budget at the half year stage. In The UK, PSEM was 36% up on 2022 and 29% up on Budget. PSFM was also up 26% and 14% respectively, and Commercial Education managed 2% on last year. Real Estate struggled against some big YOY figures, with UP struggling to repeat its form of last year. Bids had a strong first quarter but was down significantly in the second. Internationally, the UK Global Team came into its own, up almost 100% on 2022, whilst Malaysia (a more mature market) produced a very credible 36%. Singapore was behind Budget but is now promising a better second half. India with forward fees on the board will be on Budget by year end. Poland, which was not Budgeted has already produced fees. As discussed at the Conference we have latent potential from increased investment in headcount and infrastructure and that should pay dividends in the second Half. Exciting times ahead as we ‘realise our potential’ in 2023. Please read on to find out what the various business units at MRG have been up to this month. BEN DUFFILL
BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT GROUP
Excel training Charley and Katherine hosted a bitesize training session last month You can find the recording in the company Training Folder. Bullhorn The regular drop-in clinics run by Karl are proving useful, with colleagues dropping in for hints and tips that enable them to utilise our database. There will soon be a representative from Bullhorn coming into the London office who is coming in to do some chair-side analysis of how we use the system. Company Library This is growing and will become a one stop shop via the internet to look for process notes and guidance. You can see this on our Intranet homepage. Finance Eunice will soon be rolling out New Supplier forms to capture all of the information we need when setting up a new supplier or temp PSC. Cyber Security Karl is reviewing our phones and systems to ensure that our annual Cyber Security certificate renewal runs smoothly. Branded templates Branded templates for candidate compliance will soon be available in Secured Signing for candidate registration. AI We are looking at how AI can complement our business. A steering committee run by Chris and Charlotte R will soon be on hand to help us use content writing tools in the correct way.
SCHOOLS LEADERSHIP LAUNCH: INSPIRING PROFESSIONALS Building on the success of our heritage and specialism in the schools sector, where we have placed over 200 schools professionals in over 100 UK schools, we were excited to announce the launch of Schools Leadership in June. The schools sector at MRG was launched over 10 years ago by Ben and Mike, who are both thrilled to see it grow into its own dedicated brand under the leadership of Mel.
Mike says “ we’re thrilled to be making this announcement today. MRG has been appointing non-academic schools professionals for over a decade now. Since then, the momentum and quality of work from the team behind this division has been exceptional. I look
BULLHORN WORKSHOPS
SYSTEMS IMPROVEMENT GROUP UPDATE
forward to seeing the next chapter unfold with Melanie and her talented team at the helm ”.
We hosted two successful Bullhorn training sessions with our client representative Allan Tucker, the recorded session can be found here. We have listened to your feedback requesting regular Bullhorn workshops and these are now in the diary on a reoccurring basis, every second Friday of the month at 11.00am. If you struggle to attend due to the fact it’s Friday or the time of 11am, please drop a note to ideas@mrgpeople.co.uk and we’ll seek to change up the date or time moving forward so that everyone gets a chance to have their system queries answered.
Updates: The SIC are currently looking at possible Bullhorn Improvement to help with productivity and usage, we are currently in the process of testing Bullhorn LinkedIn integration. Which will help streamline candidate searching in LinkedIn and also Bullhorn. There are others options we are looking at these will have more developments on in July.
MARKETING UPDATES
In June the MRG LinkedIn page reached over 40,000 followers and it’s still growing. We receive the most interaction on the jobs carousel, in light of this we have now began to tag the clients in the posts and include their name in the tiles (where public) to further bolster the reach and engagement. The Marketing team and new Schools Leadership team worked closely together to launch Schools Leadership on LinkedIn and the website, with Em interviewing Mel and a video of what the new brand can deliver from Eliane. The team received great feedback on global LinkedIn content from an international candidate, where he stated ‘ as someone who has an interest in working in the Middle East, I really enjoy the articles that MRG produce and share on LinkedIn…. I enjoy it when you publish insightful material with the developments in Saudi’. Well done to Em, Eliane and Trisha for the great Saudi content recently published, including videos, a new Spotlight Series Report and news articles. Karl has recently re-launched the MRG YouTube with fresh content, remember to visit and share any videos: https://www.youtube.com/@mrgglobal07
• All briefing forms (Flips, Tiles & Proposals) are now saved on the Intranet right here: Briefing Documents • You can also find all branded assets (linkedin headers, email signature, teams background,
etc) on the Intranet right here: Branded Assets • Here’s the example of Blueprint A (10 pages) • And the example of Blueprint B (12 pages)
We are also pleased to announce the rollout of new Candidate Interview Briefing Documents: This document is for consultants to send to candidates when confirming their interviews and contains the basic information a candidate requires in an appealing format. A standardised document in this style demonstrates our professional approach, thus enhancing MRG’s market perception as a senior executive search firm. You will find the MRG and Bids versions here: Interview Confirmation Template Please ensure that once you have inputted all information into the Word file, you then 'save as' a pdf. The document must only be shared with candidates as a pdf.
A note on Brand fonts:
NEW CONTENT LIBRARY We have launched a new resource to support content creation on your personal LinkedIn. Sharing content builds your personal presence and positions you as a thought leader in your sector. By starting conversations, you are creating opportunities to be seen, communicate and network with new and existing clients and candidates. A new folder named ‘Content Library ’ has been launched on the intranet under the ‘MRG Content Library’ section. This folder contains collateral such as industry reports you can quote, infographics, gifs and tiles. This folder will be updated regularly and organised by month. Please remember to tag @The Management Recruitment Group or @ Bid Recruitment!
For body copy use Roboto Light in 12pt. For sub-headers use Roboto Bold. For HEADERS & TITLES use Space Mono Regular in ALL CAPS or normal. The MRG fonts are also saved in the Other folder under MRG Fonts.
Please make sure to install these fonts onto your computer if you haven’t already. Thank you!
LIGHTHOUSE CLUB
LINKEDIN TRAINING UPDATE – JULY
As you may be aware, we are long time sponsors of the Lighthouse Club charity, which does amazing work supporting the emotional, physical and financial wellbeing support to construction workers and their families. The Lighthouse Club has recently launched a Wellbeing Academy platform for Mental Health resources, which includes a wealth of self-paced e-learning through to online tutor led masterclasses. As sponsors, these are free for us to access. Some of the self-paced courses are around managing Anxiety & Stress, Budgeting, Building Resilience and Resolving Conflict. A full list of courses and how to register can be found here. The Masterclasses are delivered via Zoom, taking roughly 30-40 minutes each.
The theme for this month is Increase Diversity and is super important for us as a company to ensure we are headhunting diverse ranges of candidates for our roles. It covers how to optimise your searches and how to incorporate diversity, inclusion and belonging into your hiring process. This month’s session contains four 60 minute webinars so highly recommend planning to watch 1 per week so you complete them all by the end of the month. All resources for Increase Diversity can be found here Education Plan - Staffing (role specific).pptx on page 9 If you have any feedback on LinkedIn training, or any training in general, please let us know either by email (alison.shine@mrgglobal.com) or the feedback form. Everything you need to find can be accessed on the shared drive under Training & PDP, or you can access the Powerpoint with the hyperlinks here.
WORKSHOPS FOR AUGUST
Weekly Wellbeing - Lunchtime Guided Meditation Wed, 2 August, 13:00–13:15
Taking Control – Alcohol and Drugs Wed, 2 Aug, 17:00–18:00
Masterclass- Meditation Mon, 7 Aug 2023, 17:00–18:00
Masterclass – Mindfulness Wed, 16 Aug 2023, 17:00–18:00
Suicide Awareness Thu, 17 Aug 2023, 14:00–16:30
GOT AN IDEA? WE WANT TO HEAR IT!
Don’t forget, we are always looking for new ideas and we want everyone to get involved in the growth and change within the business. If you think of any specific training you, or your team would like to see, or you have an idea around socials, business improvement, or anything else ad hoc – all ideas are valid and welcome, and we want to hear it. Please send a note to ideas@mrgglobal.com
MRG VALUE NOMINATIONS Are your colleagues living the MRG Values? Have you seen someone being Relentless, Forensic, Inclusive or Inventive, either at work, or in their daily life? We want to recognise and reward those who have been championed. Please send any nominations to the board here: charlotte.rush@mrgglobal.com
SOCIAL & CHARITY
PREVIOUS INTERNAL TRAINING SESSIONS SCHOOLS 101 WITH MEL PYE Thursday 22nd July, 12.30-2.00pm
UPCOMING TRAINING SESSIONS DESIGN & BRAND TRAINING - BITESIZE TRAINING SESSION VIA TEAMS WITH ELIANE AMEND & ALISON SHINE Wednesday 2nd August, 11.15 – 12.00pm This training will highlight where to find all the new branded MRG content, when to utilise it yourself and when to get the MRG design team involved. We'll have a short refresher on design process, particularly helpful for those who are new to the business. We'll also cover the importance of brand consistency, particularly important with the new company rebranding; correct and consistent formatting techniques for creating documents, setting your default word document fonts (goodbye Calibri!), and ensuring your signature and banners are all up to date - both on mobile and on laptop devices. LINKEDIN & PERSONAL BRANDING - LUNCH&LEARN WITH CHARLOTTE RUSH Thursday 10th August, 12:00 - 2:00pm Further details tbc – following on from the rebrand, Charlotte will be hosting a lunch and learn session around your personal brand and how to get the most out of Linkedin. Keep your eyes peeled for the invitation soon. SAVE THE DATE
EUROVISION 2023 SWEEPSTAKE
Our expansion within Schools as one of our micro brands has been one of the most exciting developments of the last 12 months, spanning not only traditional estates leadership appointments but also professional services including but not limited to bursars, finance and admissions/marketing. This session is an essential cross-selling tool for anyone who works with candidates and may have candidates with relevant skillsets for these roles. There may be more JV opportunities than you realise! Understanding the different requirements for these candidates compared to what you may have experienced within your own sector, and how you can get involved in this side of the business. You can watch the recording of the session here . BITESIZED SESSION - EXCEL EXPERTISE (VIA TEAMS) Wednesday 28th June, 11.00-11.30am This session led by Katherine and Charley will teach you some great hacks and shortcuts in Excel. This will help you to utilise Excel for your day-to-day work, making data easier to find, filter, and analyse. This will help you with day-to- day recruitment tasks like... • eshots - download the data from BH, manipulate the data, see who it's been sent to and who's unsubscribed • to send via Mailchimp - much more effective than BH mailshots; looks nicer, you can get more data on engagement. who's opened it, how many clicks, etc. • keeping track of delivery • own personal role tracker • BD If you were unable to attend this training or would like a refresher you can find the recording here in the Training & PDP Folder. There is also a folder of resources kindly put together by Charley and Katherine. Excel Training Worksheets
After a closely fought battle between Sweden and Finland, Sweden were the victors, so congratulations to Eliane and Karl. Eliane will receive first place prize and Karl second place! Congratulations to Eliane for winning the top prize of £45!
PROSTATE CANCER UK
CLICK HERE TO DONATE
Rob Cullum is fundraising for Prostate Cancer UK by taking part in The Big Golf Race in July.
NEWSLETTER SPECIAL
How did you feel about winning the ‘forensic’ award? I feel very proud that my colleagues recognise that I am forensic- basically I am a picky person. What are you going to spend the prize money on? Knowing me I will probably go to John Lewis and spent it on makeup. What was the funniest moment? Probably the T-shirt with Mike’s face on, or the vegetable video. I think it was funny as you don’t often see that side of them.
MRG HOSTED OUR ANNUAL GLOBAL SUMMER CONFERENCE IN LONDON, KUALA LUMPUR, AND CAPE TOWN ON FRIDAY 30TH JUNE. THE MAIN FOCUS WAS THE RELAUNCH OF OUR WEBSITE AND CELEBRATING THE HARD WORK OF OUR STAFF. HERE ARE SOME REACTIONS FROM THOSE WHO ATTENDED...
What was the best part of the conference? The best part of the conference was when Simon said he was staying for the company’s ongoing future, and I also enjoyed Iza’s piece on saboteur training. How did you go about sourcing the perfect venue for the afterparty event? I wanted an outdoor venue because of the hot weather. I wanted it to be cool but casual so picked a rooftop venue. How do you think the day went? It was very well organised and the participation from the entirety of the MRG Global business, including Malaysia, India, and South Africa was the best part. The feedback following the conference has been very positive. - James Gregory, Associate Director and Senior VP of Events What made this conference different? This one felt bigger than anything we have ever done before, and I think that is because we had our sixteen-year anniversary. There was lots of milestones for senior members in the business. Ben and Mike’s fifteen-year anniversaries, and Matthew’s ten year anniversary. We were also relaunching the website, which was a top-secret project that the marketing team were undertaking in the lead up to the conference. What was your opinion of the MRG Board “vegetable” video? I actually had a hand in this! I was going on holiday for 10 days, so I was asked by Charlotte and Matthew to help with the video. I helped them stick googly eyes, glasses, and wigs on the vegetables and assisted with the filming – very important jobs. My first thought was that it was a bit mad, but as it came together, I thought it could work. Sadly, I
- Sally Brockway, Executive Assistant
How did you get into the character of the vegetable? I just acted as myself with my normal level of passion and excitement. What was the best part? The best part was the saboteur workshop with Iza. I found it really insightful. She is a great public speaker. Did you enjoy yourself? I really enjoyed speaking to colleagues from other areas that don’t necessarily work in London. I loved speaking to the new people.
You won the ‘inventive’ award, what was your reaction? This is a funny story. I was in charge of the print assets and the original PowerPoint Presentation, so I thought I knew everything that was going in there. A few days before, I sent them to print – as far as I was aware, the recipient for the inventive award was going to be Olly Piltz over in Malaysia. Then Trisha tricked me as a diversion tactic – she said she needed to print something for her son's birthday. So, I gave her the name of the printers. She goes behind my back. Cool. She also hacks into my illustrator files and changes the certificate to my name with the blurb, and Charlotte changed the presentation on the day. Very sneaky. I was absolutely gooped, gagged, and like super surprised. I wish I can show you the actual photo because the photographer got my reaction. Yeah, I was so surprised. I did not expect it. What did you take away from the conference? It was my first conference. I worked so hard on it, pulling all the content together, so I knew what most of it was about. But it was interesting to see Simon's plan is for the next five years and where he wants to see the company go, and the kind of ambitions he has. I think that's brilliant. I also found the emotional intelligence workshop from Izabella really interesting, understanding your inner saboteurs. I found that to be incredibly insightful and to understand how you can support people around you, understand how they operate, and how to work with your teams strengths and weaknesses.
did not get to see everyone’s reactions, so I do not know how people took it, but I heard it was good. How did you feel about winning the ‘inclusive’ award? I was actually very surprised. I did not think anyone would vote for me. It was nice; it made me feel very valued. THIS ONE FELT BIGGER THAN ANYTHING WE HAVE EVER DONE BEFORE, AND I THINK THAT IS BECAUSE WE HAD OUR SIXTEEN-YEAR ANNIVERSARY “
- Mike Hewlett, Director
- Alison Shine, Executive Assistant
What is your ideal location for a conference? Somewhere sunny. Somewhere warm, preferably by the seaside. Maybe the south of France. But besides that, I'm open to most. It would have to be an inclusive country that everyone feels welcome in to represent our values at MRG. If you can create an award for next year, what would it be? That's a difficult one because I was going to say like, the person who's the hardest working, but that's covered by relentless. So, maybe who is the kindest, but that's arguably covered by inclusive. I feel like we’ve covered them well with the values. So maybe - best dressed/best outfits.
What did you take away from the day? What I took away from this conference is that we are a true international company. It was really good to have all the international people and all the people in the room at the same time. They were on screen, and they dialled in from Malaysia, India, and South Africa. You had a feel that they were there. If you could create an additional award for next year, what would it be? One for outstanding effort and that could be anybody. We didn’t really have one for going above and beyond.
the workplace! Innovation catalyst- celebrate employees who have introduced groundbreaking ideas, processes or products that have significantly contributed to MRGs success. Problem-solving Ninja- the one who always find creative solutions to complex problems What would be your dream location be for future conferences and why? Poland! I’d love to host everyone here. How do you think the conference went, and why do you enjoy delivering this sort of training? What else can we expect to see in the future? The saboteurs was just a small taste of what is on offer in terms of training, and I’m looking forward to delivering more soon! As far as the conference, I thought everyone was very open and engaged, and my hopes are that everyone walked away from the experience with the knowledge and tools to not let their saboteurs take the wheel in challenging situations. Let the sage drive, the saboteur can take a back seat! - Izabela Kawczynski, Managing Partner Poland
WHAT I TOOK AWAY FROM THIS CONFERENCE IS THAT WE ARE A TRUELY INTERNATIONAL COMPANY “
What would be your dream location for future conferences? The south of France; I spend a lot of time there.
- Simon Cheshire, CEO & Founder
- Eliane Amend, Graphic Designer
What was your personal highlight from the conference? Meeting everyone face to face, and the hugs! If you could create an additional award for next year, what would it be? The Energizer Bunny - recognize the employee who consistently brings enthusiasm and positive energy and a can-do attitude to
Interviewed, written & edited by Brooke Hewlett.
IN MALAYSIA... ON THE WORK FRONT: • Chris Brock had his first placement with a new client Damac UAE • Pramegh got his first retainer client with Aspect Studios. • We have now started working with Saudi Entertainment Ventures (SEVEN) another giga project in Saudi Arabia. • Olly conducted a training session for all staff on “Nailing successful initial CV presentations to clients” EXTRACURRICULAR • Ashley and J recently attended the Lighthouse Club Annual Dinner in KL • We celebrated Hari Raya (Eid Mubarak) in the office, indulging in a delicious spread of traditional Malay dishes, some spouses joined in.
CELEBRATIONS
WORK ANNIVERSARIES
CHARLOTTE R (2 YEARS IN JUNE) SAM HOLLAND (1 YEAR IN JUNE)
SIMON (16 YEARS IN JUNE)
BEN (15 YEARS)
MIKE (15 YEARS)
MATTHEW (10 YEARS)
ANNA ( 1 YEAR IN JUNE)
CARMEN (2 YEARS IN MAY)
BIRTHDAYS
BIRTHDAYS
BIRTHDAYS
MAY
JUNE
JULY
Simon Nick Dan H
Ben Charlotte R Shoro
Emily Karl
Katherine Ashley M Daniel S Tammi
Eliane Austin Trisha
WELCOME TO TRISHA PATEL, WHO JOINED US IN MAY AS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER.
WELCOME TO PIERS EDGAR, WHO JOINED US IN MAY AS A GLOBAL RECRUITER
WELCOME TO DANIAH WILLIAMS, WHO JOINED US IN JUNE AS A BUSINESS DIRECTOR - REAL ESTATE
“Charlotte put in an extraordinary effort to deliver a hugely successfully conference, and the first truly global conference in MRG’s history. The feedback from colleagues was incredibly positive and it was clear that she had thought of every little detail to make the day both inclusive and enjoyable. Thank you, THE MANAGEMENT RECRUITMENT GROUP IS A VALUES-DRIVEN BUSINESS, AND THOSE VALUES UNDERPIN EVERYTHING WE DO.
Charlotte!” - Ben Duffill
SERVING RENAISSANCE REALNESS Eunice, Tammi and Leena had a fabulous time seeing Beyonce on her stadium tour, as did Eliane and sister Charis who visited from Berlin.
A SWINGING START INTO MARRIAGE Congratulations to Craig who got married in May.
HE’S AN ‘ED RINGER A huge congratulations to Ed who welcomed baby Ethan into the world last month. He’s already got an impressive head of hair!
ADVENTURES IN UTERO Hayley W took “bump” to her first Pride parade and celebrated with fiancée Ash in sunny Mauritius. This baby is already better travelled than most people in the UK!
ELIANE’S ESCAPADES Eliane has had a summer of new experiences: Saw Dirty Dancing in Theatre, trying Oysters and Nandos for the first time (but thankfully not at the same time)! Ali took them to The Wright Brothers in Borough for Pound a Pop happy hour, and Nando’s Wimbledon for wings and peri peri fries.
ALI’S ADVENTURES
Ali lived her childhood dreams seeing Avril Lavigne in concert with old school friends. She welcomed two new members to the family, Ronnie and Reggie Cray. She also celebrated a friend’s birthday in Weymouth, and mum’s 60th in Turkey.
DOGGY PADDLE
Iza went for a tranquil boat ride with beloved spaniel, Kuki
IT’S WEDDING SEASON
Megan, her boyfriend and Lieneke attended a friend’s all-black wedding in SA.
FAMILY TIME
Lieneke and her partner went to visit her dad.
FLUORESCENT ADOLESCENT
Mike and daughter Brooke went to see the Arctic Monkeys on their stadium tour.
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