Episode 18: Breaking barriers through transforming the recruitment process.

In this episode, Neil Carberry, REC Chief Executive, talks to Gareth Parry, Programme Director for Employability at Maximus. They discuss the current labour marketing and how we as recruiters can think differently about the recruitment process to enable all to succeed. In this episode, you’ll hear about: How the Maximus restart scheme is blossoming through the partnership with the REC. How the current labour market challenges are impacting employment How recruiters should start to think differently about the recruitment process to better engage with the long-term unemployed. How closing the Disability employment gap through support available to employers and disabled jobseekers can foster a positive working environment for all. Key quotes “Our job at Maximus is to work with individuals, to give them the confidence to work, to give them the transferable workplace skills, to be able to work and sometimes the vocational skills to do those jobs as well. We really prepare them properly for work because many of the people we work with will have fallen out of work for various reasons, often because of illness or disease for an extended period of time.” Gareth “It’s important to make sure that companies employ a workforce that's reflective of the communities where they either operate or the base that they're providing services to, and I think more and more organisations are waking up to the fact that this isn't just a good thing to do, but it makes good business sense to have a strong ED&I agenda that's representative in the workforce.” Gareth “I think also you know if we consider a bit more around autism, mental health, those hidden disabilities, I think most employers probably would already be employing people with various levels of those conditions already in the workforce. But having somebody who comes in who has maybe a more visible disability or somebody that is more open about their hidden disability can create a dynamic in the workforce that opens a different kind of cultural ethos in the workforce to and creates a different dynamic, which is, which is genuinely more inclusive in its approach. Many employers who report back to us that as we place people with different backgrounds into their organisations, it does create a different workplace dynamic.” Gareth