Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

RADS struggle through bad economic climate

by Personnel Today 2 Dec 2003
by Personnel Today 2 Dec 2003

This year’s entries to the Recruitment Advertising Awards reflect the tough
time the economy has endured.  Penny
Wilson
reports

The economic climate has had agencies holding their breath and recruiters
zipping up their wallets for the past year.

And the patchy economy has been reflected in the shortlist for the
Recruitment Advertising Awards (RADS), designed to showcase excellence in
recruitment, marketing and communications. This year, it has attracted more
than 600 entries.

John Langford, chairman of recruitment advertising agency TCS, and of the
15-strong judging team, said: "It’s been a hard year. Many of this year’s
best campaigns are still sitting as concepts on cardboard in ad agencies,
because employers just don’t have the money to go ahead with them yet. The
mediocrity we saw in some entries could be a reflection of this year’s
budgetary constraints. Some categories proved a real struggle."

However, there is brighter news ahead. Langford said he believed recruitment
advertising would increase by about 10 per cent in 2004. "The big question
is, what is going to drive growth and demand over the next few years?"

He predicted the telecoms sector should bounce back from the brink, bringing
with it job opportunities. "Even if it over-committed itself [in the
past], it still has energy. Brands will develop and grow."

Meanwhile, judge Manda Crowder, managing director of AND Advertising,
predicted retail’s strength would continue to hold out, while the hospitality
and leisure industries would boost employment, despite vulnerability to world
events, such as terrorist attacks. "These are all high staff turnover
industries, and they will expand," she said.

Fellow judge Neil Griffiths, creative director of Bernard Hodes, agreed
there were early signs of recruitment advertising budgets loosening. "More
clients are now asking for project work – employer branding and recruitment
across a range of media," he said. "The private sector has started to
come alive, not least telecoms."

Still, judges agreed, the recruitment advertising entries displayed a
distinct "lack of employer risk". Ads were either really good, or
massively bad, with the gulf between them wider than it had ever been.
"Good ideas, but the creative execution didn’t do them justice," said
Sue Redden, research director at recruitment agency Thirty Three.
"Innovation was missing, and too many missed good opportunities,"
said Jane Robson, director of Courtenay HR.

Martin Tiplady, HR director, Metropolitan Police Service said many of the
ads were going nowhere and had become complacent.

"I don’t think this is a sign of a depressed market," he said.
"What it illustrates is that it is becoming harder to distinguish between
one advertising agency and another. When you buy into an ad agency [as an
employer/ recruiter], you buy into their ideas. Yet I don’t think we’re getting
the full benefit of their knowledge.

"Also, it shows employers are now looking towards other forms of
recruitment advertising that are not necessarily paper-based, such as the web.
And finally, it shows a market crying out for something different – recruitment
agencies offering something different. It needs a breath of fresh air."

RADS winners will be announced at a gala dinner on 15 January 2004 at the
Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

For tickets call Mike White on 020 8652 3100 or Christine Jones on 020
8652 3849.

www.radawards.com

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Holiday bonus for UK businesses
next post
Unions demand action over work drugs tests

You may also like

Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders receive 400% pay rise

4 Jul 2025

FCA to extend misconduct rules beyond banks

2 Jul 2025

‘Decisive action’ needed to boost workers’ pensions

2 Jul 2025

Business leaders’ drop in confidence impacts headcount

2 Jul 2025

Why we need to rethink soft skills in...

1 Jul 2025

Five misconceptions about hiring refugees

20 Jun 2025

Forward features list 2025 – submitting content to...

23 Nov 2024

Features list 2021 – submitting content to Personnel...

1 Sep 2020

Large firms have no plans to bring all...

26 Aug 2020

A typical work-from-home lunch: crisps

24 Aug 2020

  • Empower and engage for the future: A revolution in talent development (webinar) WEBINAR | As organisations strive...Read more
  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+