Employee Spotlight: Judith Bailey

Name: Judith Bailey

Position: National Contracts and Compliance Manager

Location: Sydney, NSW

Ignite Tenure: 12.5 years

Nobody personifies Ignite’s core values of connection, courage, ingenuity and understanding more than Judith Bailey. For 12+ years, she has gone over and above to support her colleagues, contractors and clients with all their problems, queries and requirements.

From a part-time data entry role to a full-time National Contracts and Compliance Manager role, Jude’s Ignite journey is truly remarkable.

We recently interviewed Judith to find out more about her Ignite journey.

Jude, How did you get started in recruitment and why did you choose to join Ignite?

My career began in the UK on a graduate scheme for an Australian computer manufacturer. I did everything from building to selling computers. This was a great experience and useful starting point into the world of IT recruitment. In 1995, I moved to Australia and joined a leading agency in the IT recruitment market. I had a variety of roles in this business including resourcing, account management, team leadership, contractor care and operations management. This gave me a strong breadth of experience.

In 2009, I made the decision to join Ignite (previously Candle) in a part-time data entry role. Ignite was a major competitor of my previous business with a very strong reputation in the IT recruitment market. They held a large number of preferred services agreements with companies I’d worked with before, so I knew it would be a good fit. During my interview process, I met some fantastic people who demonstrated a strong internal culture that I wanted to be a part of. To this day, the people and culture remain one of Ignite’s key strengths.

What do you love the most about your job at Ignite?

I get immense satisfaction working with people from all walks of life on a daily basis – my colleagues, contractors and clients. My job is to provide solutions for all their problems, queries and requirements and contribute to their professional success.

I love being a part of a national team underpinned by strong internal relationships and an overarching desire to collaborate and support each other. This has been achieved under the guidance of an exceptional leadership team who are supportive, encouraging and passionate about Ignite’s people and culture. Our team works hard and plays hard, and they have become like a second family to me over the years.

My role at Ignite strikes a perfect balance of support and autonomy. I know my team is there when I need it, but I also know they trust me to perform at a high level. They also understand my family commitments, and allow me to balance my professional and personal life accordingly through flexible working conditions.

Finally, I’m very appreciative of the opportunities that have been provided to me during my tenure. I began in a part-time data entry role after returning from maternity leave. I then moved into a contractor care role and now I have recently been promoted to National Contracts and Compliance Manager. I am so excited by this challenging opportunity.

What Ignite values resonate with you and how do they guide you in your role?

My key values are honesty, openness, trust, respect, teamwork, loyalty and accountability. Which has a strong overlap with Ignite’s core values of connection, understanding, ingenuity and courage.

This alignment enables me to focus on my key deliverables, safe in the knowledge I’m working in a respectful environment where everyone shares similar values. These values guide and empower me to consistently deliver high customer satisfaction and excellent service delivery in my role.

What is your advice for someone in a junior role looking to progress to a more senior position?

I think career progression is all about attitude and willingness to learn. You need to have a good work ethic, commitment and focus on your role. In my case that was maintaining a customer focus in everything I do and working hard through the ups and downs of recruitment.

You need to be able to accept constructive criticism and learn from the mistakes you’ll inevitably make. I also highly recommend finding a strong mentor and shadowing what they do, as it has greatly helped me through my career so far.

Just remember that success and progression doesn’t come overnight. It took me over a decade to get where I am, but perseverance does pay off. The best advice I can offer is work hard, have fun and enjoy what you do, then the rewards will eventually come.

From a compliance perspective, what are some of the key trends you are seeing in the current market?

The regulatory environment across all sectors is undoubtedly tightening. As an ASX-listed business, compliance is an essential part of our business and something we put major focus on internally with our national contracts and compliance team.

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly influenced the compliance landscape in recruitment. We now have policies and processes in place to validate candidates’ vaccination status for our clients that have mandated such policies. We’ve also had to develop processes for work-health safety for contractors working remotely to ensure they have had a safe and comfortable workspace.

In today’s recruitment world, maintaining compliance whilst simultaneously providing an outstanding customer experience is crucial to success.

How do you work with your colleagues to ensure all compliance is met?

We explain the rationale behind each compliance requirement and the implications of what happens when they are not adhered to. We listen to feedback from our teams and provide alternative solutions where viable to support them. The secret is being available, listening, being flexible where possible, regular communication and training. This keeps standards high and compliance at the forefront of everyone’s thinking.

What advice would you give to clients and candidates from a compliance perspective to flourish in this market?

Honesty and transparency is extremely important from both parties. Candidates need to be honest with recruiters about what roles they’re applying for so clients can be kept informed. Conversely, clients need to stay connected and engaged with their contractors to remain competitive in a talent-driven market. Furthermore, clients need to be agile in their end-to-end recruitment or will miss out on the best people. They also need to be on top of all compliance-related matters in an increasingly complex regulatory environment to avoid any future scrutiny.

Jude’s Ignite journey is a testament to the notion that hard work pays off. She has risen the corporate ranks to now be in a national managerial role at Ignite. She is passionate about helping her colleagues, candidates and clients, making her they type of person that anyone would want to work with every day. Fortunately, you can, because we are currently looking for exceptional people like Jude to join the Ignite team. Visit our career page now and ignite your potential.

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