And just like that, 2021 is over. Well, not technically, but with the kids going back to School part time for a couple of days before breaking up for Christmas, the year is as good as done. That, coupled with some lovely weather up here in Auckland, has us closer to Slip-Slop-Slap than (A)lways-(B)e-(C)losing. Yesterday’s announcement from SEEK of the finalists for the SARAs also heralds the end of a very, very bizarre year.
For a bit of Friday fun (for me, not you), I thought I’d put my cock on the block and jot down who I think will bring home the silverware come February. Both our businesses and some of the team are in the mix, so, being British and not Australian, decorum dictates that I’ll have to exclude them from any predictions. Let me know your picks below, and remember to tell me how wrong I was come awards night.
Small Recruitment Agency of the Year (1-5 full-time consultants)
- 40 Foot
- Action Personnel
- Artemis Executive Recruitment
- Greenlight Recruitment
- McLaren Associates Ltd
A tough opener. I can’t profess to knowing too much about a few of these guys. McLaren have entered (and won) before I believe. Does this increase or decrease their chances? Am I overthinking this? Probably. I’m picking Action Personnel, as they’re based out of Palmy and the SARAs do like the regions.
Medium Recruitment Agency of the Year (6-19 full-time consultants)
- Archway Recruitment
- Frog Recruitment
- Grada Recruitment
- Potentia Recruitment
- Talent Army
Another tough one but for different reasons. There’s a lot of quality in this list, and we work with 4 of the 5 pretty consistently. I’d be happy if any of them took the gong, but Archway had a win at the RCSA, so maybe it’s someone else’s time to shine. I’m going….Grada.
Large Recruitment Agency of the Year (20+ full-time consultants)
- Find Recruitment
- JOYN
- Madison Recruitment
- Talent
Find or Talent? Find or Talent? Hmmm….Both immensely likeable and great operators. I’ll pick Talent. They’re our office neighbours and we share a kitchen and they’re pretty good at not leaving weird stuff to go mouldy in the fridge. They also do their Talent Rise thing, which is pretty cool. I didn’t promise this would be scientific.
Most Innovative Agency of the Year
- coHired
- Eighty4 Recruitment
- Hunter Campbell
- Rice Consulting
- Sprout NZ
Another stab at this one from coHired, having entered in 2018. On the face of it, they seem to have the most innovative “product”, but there’s a lot of good stuff that happens, sometimes behind the scenes, with the other finalists. Sprout NZ seem to be doing things slightly differently, and I know Brien Keegan is no stranger to picking up a SARA. I’m picking Hunter Campbell however. Don’t ask me why, just call it women’s intuition.
Best Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative
- Accordant Group – The Work Collective
- Action Personnel
- Dynamix Recruitment
- Finite920
- Potentia Recruitment
I had to Google “The Work Collective”, but admit it – so did you. Looks good though. Some good firms all round, but Action Personnel are already picking one up, Dynamix are a cool, quirky bunch but perhaps not winners this year. Accordant may be the obvious pick, but I want better odds so I’m going with the ever-slick Potentia who always genuinely pay more than lip-service towards this stuff.
Recruitment Leader of the Year
- Erin Woods, Action Personnel
- Rob Woodward, Find Recruitment
- Sophie Te Huia, Talent Network
- Toni Lea-Morice, Alexander James
- Troy Hammond, Talent Army
I think Troy could take this, providing he manages to avoid calling anyone a C U Next Tuesday online for the rest of the year. I have my doubts.
Recruitment Consultant of the Year
- Matt Greenwood, Archway Recruitment
- Scott Burnett, Rice Consulting
- Shristi Vinayagan, Geneva Healthcare
- Sinead Lunt, Talent Army
- Tom Stevens, Find Recruitment
Would the real Tom Stevens please stand up? The only one I could find works at Dunedin’s Fluid Recruitment, not Find. Apologies to all parties if I’m wrong (or if SEEK correct a typo in the meantime). I’m going Tom Stevens if he’s at Fluid, and Matt Greenwood if he’s not. No disrespect to anyone, but SEEK do love the regions.
Excellence in Candidate Engagement
- Alignz Recruitment
- AWF
- ep.education
- HOME Recruitment Ltd
- McLaren Associates Ltd
ep.education have got this. Teachers. Lockdown. You do the math(s).
Anyway, there we have it folks. Anyone else keen to take a punt?
^SW
