Last month we joined thousands of professionals at the Recruitment Agency Expo in London, the UK’s leading recruitment industry event. 

Spread over two days, this great annual event allows us to expand our knowledge and expertise on recruitment, so we can do the best job possible. With hot topics like AI, inclusion and recruitment law, we’ve come away with fresh ideas and creative solutions to help match our talented teachers with the right schools, as seamlessly as possible.

Our key takeaways include:

Balancing AI with a human approach

Talent shortages are everywhere and AI is here to help. As with all new technology, adoption and implementation needs to be carefully considered to have the most impact. We already know that any AI strategy is only as good as the data it uses, and as our CRM keeps our data clean and up to date, we’re confident we have the right foundations are in place. We’ve already rolled out some automated systems to make the recruitment process easier for candidates. But, as we work in a people-centric industry, we’re big believers in using any digital agents to support human recruiters – not replace them. As we move forward in our journey with AI, we’ll always consider what we’re trying to achieve and manage the change process carefully, without losing our personal service.

Positivity and productivity

The recruitment market is volatile, but rather seeing this as a negative we’re embracing it as an exciting time to be in the industry. We know that increasing productivity and adapting the way we work is key, so we’ll be reviewing our processes to make sure we’re as efficient as possible. However, the most important part of our job is continuing to get out in front of customers and build relationships… something we love to do.

Empowering talent and encouraging differentiation

The highlight was hearing from The Apprentice winner, Tim Campbell MBE, on empowering talent – and we’re passionate about that at Red Lester. He encouraged us to think about who we surround ourselves with and how we use technology for efficiency but not at the expense of human interaction. This resonates with us and everything we stand for.