The REC is a membership that matters

Michelle Mellor, REC Chair and Managing Director of Cummins Mellor, shares her highlights from 2023 and what the REC has in store as we head into 2024.
 

Video Transcript

As REC Chair what are your key priorities for our members?

So, yeah, three areas of key importance for me, equity, diversity and inclusion, which is the bedrock of the future of ensuring that everybody who wants to work can work and do good work. Communicating and engaging better with our membership and making sure that we are completely equipped for the future that's ahead of us all. I certainly wouldn't have been able to do what I've done over the last 30 years without the REC and I know that they're focused on helping to ensure that that happens for you too.

What have been your REC highlights of 2023?

We've just had, the REC have just had, their EDI Summit. Over 120 members signed up for that. It was a huge success and more of that to come. Greg Savage in the summer was a huge highlight, so much energy and interaction on social media, um particularly for many of our members who are new to recruitment and, who have come into the industry, but also for people and members who have been around for a long time. We all loved a bit of Greg in the summer.

Our conference was fantastic. So much expertise by the speakers delivered. So much valuable and insightful content delivered by all of them. It was absolutely fantastic. And I think we intend to take that back to being in person in 2024 so watch out for that. The research and our tech report was fabulous if anybody. if you've read that there's so much good research in there to kind of shape the way that we need to be thinking about the future.

But I think the biggest highlight, of course, the awards were really fantastic just being in the room with over 600 members. It really, really matters to win. And I was privileged to be a judge this year and I can tell you the competition was fierce, um but brilliantly, brilliantly organised and just amazing to be at the awards ceremony with, with all our peers and everyone celebrating this brilliant industry.

But the key, I was going to say, the key highlight for me was the best conversation I've had this year was with a lady called Alice McDermott and she is a an employee of the REC and she's been running our Restart programme for the last, we set it up in Covid and to help people into work. And she was telling me how REC members, along with Maximus who have helped us do this, have placed 1700 people into employment from underrepresented groups. And I just think that's the best piece of news and shows what real impact that recruiters can do and have with the knowledge and the skills and the contacts. It kind of encompasses everything that recruitment is about and we need to do more of that, we need to utilise and collaborate together.

What does the REC have in store for members in 2024?

So what's to come in 2024 from the REC? Well, I can tell you – lots!

We really need to stay ahead of the curve in 2024 and help everyone through that transformation. Adding value to our members and elevating the role that recruiters play in the future of work is right at the top of the REC agenda.