As you may know from the number of hungover Recruiters lurching around town this morning, last night was the SARAs. Sadly, there were no punch-ups this year, but it was held in a beautiful venue and the vibe was pretty good. Many people came up to me and complained about the opinions I share in this blog, so that always makes for a relaxing and enjoyable evening for me. A big “thank you” to SEEK for their excellent hospitality as always. As has become a lazy tradition, I like to entertain myself by predicting the winners. Last year I picked three out of eight, which although statistically significant, could have been better. Did I do better this time round? Let’s have a look shall we?
Small Recruitment Agency of the Year:
- Automotive Employment (NZ) Ltd
- Sourced Ltd
- Artemis Executive Recruitment
- Recruitment Studio
- Greenlight Recruitment
My prediction: Greenlight Recruitment
Actual Winner: Sourced
A bad start already. I wrote Sourced off as they’re now part of Expert360, who are famously a bunch of retards. Little did I know, but I’m the actual retard. Surely I’ll get the next one right…
Medium Recruitment Agency of the Year
- Frog Recruitment
- Cultivate
- Medrecruit
- Younity Limited
- edenfx HSE Recruitment ltd
My prediction: edenfx HSE Recruitment ltd
Actual Winner: Cultivate
Cultivate, who didn’t even get a look-in on my original blog, take the cup. Probably deserved to be honest, and I don’t think any of us could help but be dazzled by Tony Pownall‘s Hollywood good looks on stage. Don’t you just hate people like that?
Large Recruitment Agency of the Year
- Hunter Campbell
- Potentia
- Robert Walters NZ
- Talent
- Stellar Recruitment
My prediction: Talent
Actual Winner: Talent
We’re back b*tches! Never bet against Talent, as my Grandma used to say. The woman was a raving alcoholic, but she had her moments. Good to see the Talent gang up there. We’ve made a few placements with these guys over the years and I never hear a bad word spoken.
Innovation in Recruitment
- Rice & Co
- Frog Recruitment
- 1st Call Recruitment
- Robert Walters NZ
- UP Talent
My prediction: 1st Call Recruitment
Actual Winner: Rice & Co
Well f*ck my old boots! I think we’ve been finalists every year since the interweb was invented and I was convinced that we were destined to be the perpetual bridesmaids. I try not to get carried away with these things, but it was a beautiful moment when Swifty called out our name. Claudia, who has never been to the SARAs before, now thinks it’s standard. I will remind her, when she eventually makes it into the office, that she has peaked to early.
Outstanding Progress in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Randstad New Zealand
- Mana Recruitment
- Talent
- Lynx Recruitment
My prediction: Mana
Actual Winner: Talent
Why oh why did I not listen to my drunk old Nan?? I’ll tell you why. She’s dead.
Excellence in Candidate Experience
- Robert Walters NZ
- Lynx Recruitment
- Frog Recruitment
- 1st Call Recruitment Talent
My prediction: Frog
Actual Winner: 1st Call
An award I hate, and I hate it even more now that I got it wrong. Good work 1st Call, and I like Ange.
Recruitment Leader of the Year
- Kara Smith, Talent
- Tom Sweeney, Crew Technology Recruitment
- Matthew Greenwood, Archway Recruitment
- Roald Badenhorst, Stellar Recruitment
- Dylan Rigby, AWF Limited
My prediction: Dylan Rigby
Actual Winner: Matthew Greenwood
Not content with just sucking at the RCSA teat of Greg Savage, Archway have now penetrated the SARAs. I’d never met Matt until last night, but he’s a lovely chap and puts up with Jonny Greening, which makes him a worthy winner.
Recruitment Consultant of the Year
- Peita Ransom, Robert Walters
- Georgia Hinton, Retailworld Resourcing
- Jason Boot, Lynx Recruitment
- Jeanette Rendle, RWR Health
- Elyse Ryan, Stellar Recruitment
My prediction: Elyse Ryan
Actual Winner: Jeanette Rendle
Oh lordy. So that’s one out of eight. With luck like this I could fall into a barrel of t*ts and come out sucking my thumb. Well done Jeanette, but please watch your back as Georgia text me to say she’s going to put broken glass in your sandwich.
Anyway, well done to all those who won, commiserations to those who care and didn’t, and well done SEEK for a fine event. If you haven’t had enough of getting pissed with Recruiters, then it’s my pleasure to invite you all to the 2025 Kickstarter PowWow; NZs premier recruitment networking event. Click the link here and get in early because you’ll only moan when you can’t get a ticket on the day.
^SW
