A day dedicated to Ciett’s members internal meetings took place on 27 May 2015 on the eve of the annual World Employment Conference in Rome. The event gathered Ciett members from 32 countries as well as most corporate members of the confederation. Members debated challenges facing the employment and recruitment industry as well as the strategic priorities, which were summarized by Ciett President Annemarie Muntz as ABC: Alignment of messages, Broadening of the scope, both geographically and in terms of the services represented, and Compliance with quality standards.

One concrete outcome of these priorities is the rebranding and repositioning as key need for the future of the sector. Hans Leentjes, Ciett Vice-President and chair of the branding & positioning taskforce presented the first part of this process, covering the positioning of the employment and recruitment industry, with agency work, permanent recruitment, outplacement and RPO & MSP being identified as the four main areas of focus with this regard. He presented the four main added values of our industry: we enable work, we enable security, we enable adaptation, and we enable prosperity.  While the taskforce will continue working on the specific branding for Ciett in the second half of 2016, members are invited to start using the industry positioning in their communications, and to provide input to the taskforce on potential new names for Ciett.

The General Assembly delved also into the ethics dimension of the confederation, with the adoption of a new, revised Code of Conduct being a prominent element in the discussion. The amended set of norms now appeals to a wider audience in the employment sector, while giving due consideration to the different nature of members within Ciett. Furthermore, it strengthens the ethical framework surrounding the principle of non fee-charging. Later that day, representatives from the international labour organization, the International Organisation for Migration and the Institute for Business and Human Rights presented projects to promote good international recruitment practices. Ciett is deeply involved both in ILO’s Fair Recruitment Initiative as well as the IOM’s IRIS initiative.

Finally, the event addressed as well the membership of the Ciett’s Board. In this context, a new member, Kelly Services’ senior Vice-President for the EMEA and APAC regions Natalia Shuman, was elected as Corporate Member Representative. Hans Vink and Sieto de Leeuw were re-elected with the same title, while Yukiko Nagashima was reconfirmed as Regional Representative for the Northern Asia.