Resource Management

2010-09-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

Have you thought about what would happen if your key people left tomorrow? Do you have the right people on board? How vulnerable are you to losing talent to your competitors?

The latest Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development research suggests that over a third of all workers aim to leave their current employment once the recession has subsided and the job market has been re-ignited.

With the average cost of replacing staff estimated by the CIPD at £6,125, rising to £9,000 for senior managers, it’s time to pre-empt any threat of an employee exodus by looking after your valued staff now...

Attend the Talent Forum and stay one step ahead

We would like to invite you to attend our lively, fast moving, interactive Talent Forum on the 5th October at Eastwood Park, just off the M5 North of Bristol.

Our industry experts and entrepreneurs will share valuable tools and insight that you can immediately implement in your organisation, including a FREE half day of consultancy from each of our leading sponsors.

Speakers include Dragon’s Den slayer Rob Law, the man behind Trunki and well known BBC presenter and motivational business speaker Ken Hames, who along with our expert sponsors will cover topics including:

Hiring the right people quickly and cost effectively
Developing your best people to deliver business results
Gaining more productivity from the same (or fewer) employees
Creating a compelling employer brand
Making your employees advocates and fans of your organisation
Developing an exciting and motivating reward and benefits package
Taking an innovative approach to learning and development

Forum Experts and Speakers include:

Rob Law - Founder, Magmatic and Trunki Ken Hames - BBC presenter and Operations Director, Farscape Development Ian Rummels - Managing Director, PES Chris Bleakley - Director, Resource Management John Tarrant - Managing Partner, DNA

For full details and to reserve your place, visit our event website at www.talentforum.co.uk

LOCATION - Eastwood Park, Failand, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire GL12
8DA. Eastwood Park is easily accessible from Bristol, Gloucester and South Wales and is
just a mile from the M5 (J14).

DATE AND TIME - 5th of October, 4:00pm until 7:30pm

COST - £35 (and bring a colleague for FREE)

Using Social Media To Engage Your Employees

2010-07-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

If Twitter can make mainstream headlines, is there a place for it inside organisations? Virgin Media thinks there is, and have used Twitter to increased collaboration and engagement at their company.

Collaboration is fundamental to employee engagement in organisations today where relationships have changed; hierarchies are disappearing; knowledge is more in demand; and individuals expect employers to provide tools that allow them to communicate freely.

Technology makes it possible for employees to connect and communicate easily and quickly across functions, hierarchies, divisions and countries. This sharing of ideas, opinions and knowledge generates incredibly valuable information, vital for informed strategic decision making and, ultimately, business survival.

“Getting social” is a hot topic at Virgin Media – here's how they transformed the way they communicate and collaborate internally using social media tools and techniques.

Intranet. This is the main online channel used internally to communicate
The Grill.This is a live online web chat, 'grilling' someone within the business. Anyone in the business can ask the individual getting 'grilled' questions, and it is a great way to get views and opinions aired and shared within the business. It is filmed and recorded for the archive.
Forum's. These are similar to the intranet, but sit separately within the structure. Although nervous initially regarding the time it would take to manage them, the forums actually self manage themselves and have needed very little moderation. They have proved effective because they invoke different responses from different people across the business.
Wiki's. These are information wiki's across the business. They have grown into their own micro communities, as individual sections of the business build up their own 'local' knowledge communities. These engage people differently, because they are reliant on colleagues working together to populate them with information.
Twitter. With over 100 offices across the UK, Twitter has enabled connections at Virgin that wouldn’t have happened before. It has opened doors for people needing answers and support on a whole variety of topics – from IT support, to finding solutions to customer problems, to tips on where to get the best beer for those travelling to other offices. They have a 'locked account' (they simply protect their tweets) that currently has 430+ people (otherwise known as “Twits”) in their online community. employees join in on everything from twitpic caption competitions to sending out top tips, (“toptwips”) to help their community keep up with the latest developments on Twitter and other social media tools.
Blogs. They currently have 25 blogs being written within the organisation on a wide range of subjects. They actively encourage anyone to blog and share them within the Virgin Media network.

Virgin believe there have been five real benefits from using the multitude of channels as part of their communication strategy:

Real-time feedback on real-time communications
Social media has revolutionised the way they are able to reach out to diverse cultures across different geographical boundaries, and link many of them together, by giving them different channels to do this.
It has helped them move away from just being an information 'top-down' company, by instigating all these 'bottom-up' communication channels. All employees now have a voice.
The employees can choose which way they communicate with other employees, and how they share information with each other.
Their employees are now taking responsible for their own communications and information which they are sharing with one another. They are not waiting for Virgin Media to 'tell them something' they are now using colleagues on the network to help instead.

Have your say

Would you consider using Twitter internally to help employees collaborate and communicate? Why or why not? Virgin as a brand is young and innovative, and the corporate culture encourages experimentation of new technologies, but how would you convince leaders of a more conservative organisation to allow employees to try something like Twitter? Let us know your thoughts below!

Next Week: 10 top tips on how to begin to incorporate social media platforms into your communication strategy.

What's Your Brand Doing For You?

2010-06-21T04:32:00.000-07:00

In a climate of skills shortages and severe competition for the best potential recruits, how do you best stand out from the crowd? An employer brand has the ability to attract and retain the right people, influence productivity, engage, motivate and innovate. Employer branding highlights the importance of taking the hiring process seriously and the rich rewards it will bring if you get it right. All employers, regardless of size, location and structure, have an employer brand, but many organisations lack the time, resources or knowledge to form a powerful strategy for their employer branding.

Good employer branding has a huge positive impact on an organisation's profile, attractiveness and strength. It's not just about about logos and clever adverts, it's about engaging with job applicants and promoting your organisation as an employer of choice, consistently through every aspect of the recruitment cycle. The way in which a candidate is treated during the recruiting process has a long lasting impact on your recruiting success and ability to attract top candidates.

In a nutshell, your employer brand is the voice and image of the communication you implement to attract and retain employees. It is what identifies you in the marketplace; it's what makes your company distinctive.

Still not convinced it matters? - Five reasons why employer branding really works:

1. Shortage of skilled labour: As the number of possible choices job seekers can make is becoming even greater in the marketplace and as globalisation impacts increasingly, employer branding strategies prove critical. Employer brands act as a psychological trigger in candidate's heads. These are very powerful triggers in the job market and can play a key role in candidate's job choice. Companies that are perceived to be attractive employers will have an easier time to recruit top talent.

2. More with less: a mantra coined during this economic downturn, there is high pressure to cut costs and increase productivity, which has made the need to get the right people in the right jobs even more crucial. Employer branding results in more successful recruitment and retention of top talent. Moreover, by properly communicating the reality of the work environment, companies are more likely to attract talent that fits their organisational culture, thus increasing the people with the right skills in the correct positions.

3. Growth & profitability: hiring and retaining top performers is essential for growth and to maintain a competitive edge. Employees who have the right skills, experience and knowledge, in relation to the critical areas of a business to drive growth, are strategically important. Bottom line, employer branding increases your profit margin.

4. Popularity: research on the talent market reveals that people want to work for companies with great reputations, and they often turn to family members, friends or colleagues for advice and approval when making a decision about which employers to consider. In addition, the consumer/corporate/employer brands are becoming intertwined. If a company is viewed as being an unpopular employer, it will consequently affect everything else and cause disequilibrium in the corporate ecosystem.

5. Strength: being an attractive employer provides a company or organisation more bargaining power, as employees will want to work for them more than anyone else, even those that have rare and in demand skills - irrespective of salary levels. In addition, good employer branding is constantly maintaining an image of being the most desirable employer, and giving the right reasons or incentives to attract the best candidates.

Remember that the actions and activities of organisations are becoming more visible due to the increasing number of people joining and posting comments on social and business networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Employees and job applicants will continue ranking companies based on a higher level of internal insight into the company gained on online communities. As a result, businesses that promote good employment branding and communications will, in the long term, feature high on the “best places to work” lists and their employees will act as ambassadors of their brand. Every aspect of how prospective candidates are handled.

Of course, it is not just the communications aspect of the recruitment process that needs to reflect the employer brand. Every aspect of how prospective candidates are handled is worthy of consideration from the moment they make contact with the organisation through the selection phases to the subsequent offer or rejection. By recruiting intelligently and selectively you can better develop employee branding. Once your employees understand your brand and objectives—and buy in—they’ll be in a better position to act as ambassadors for your brand.

Time for the Public Sector to Get Lean

2010-05-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

So far the public sector has been cushioned from the impact of the recession, but it now faces £6bn in cuts. Drawing on the experience of the private sector in attracting and engaging employees during the recession to deliver much-needed change could help the public sector minimise the pain of spending cuts. Times have been and remain tough. The new Government's plans to cut spending are immediate; we have reached crunch time and the public sector will be under enormous pressure to create leaner organisations.

Private employers have come out of what we hope has been the worst effects of the recession, having managed to keep many more people in jobs than had been expected. This has been largely down to the flexibility and goodwill of staff who quickly adapted to emergency measures, including pay and recruitment freezes.

Radical thought and new approaches are now the only hope in satisfying the need to reduce costs and minimise the impact on the UK's employment figures. It's a time for entrepreneurial people management. This will be tough but not impossible. Adaptability is not new to public-sector organisations. Habitual restructure and reorganisation means they are adept at handling change, maybe more so than other sectors.

In our view there are four key actions that could make a difference for public employers, in both the short and long term:

Make sure you have a clear strategy

First-class planning and an ability to move quickly both in thought and action are just some of the skills that will be essential for senior managers over the next few years. When it comes to strategy, impact is needed now but not at the expense of long-term vision. With staff costs often the most significant cost for organisations, the immediate knee-jerk reaction may be to cut jobs but there are alternatives such as pay freezes, pay cuts, flexible working, reducing overtime and expenses.

Tap into existing talent pools

The rationale for redeployment is compelling. Realigning skills and expertise to the areas where they can make the most impact is critical to protecting the quality of services provided and, if undertaken successfully, can result in significant cost savings.

Future-proof the organisation

Establishing the ‘new world' requires alignment at an executive level and engagement throughout the whole organisation. Countless studies have provided evidence of the value of engagement. Key to this, of course, is the ability to connect your own role, contribution and development to the success of the organisation. Helping managers and leaders tap into strategies to manage and lead change is a key component of any transformational agenda.

Keeping people focused

Keeping people on track, contributing and focused on key activities are the mainstay of Employee Assistance Services. Providing immediate support, access to counselling via the telephone, online and face-to-face where needed will keep employees living and working well and achieving more at a minimal cost to the employer.

Strong leadership

Finally, strong leadership is going to be crucial. Leaders who can communicate their vision for the organisation with clarity are going to be best placed to steer their organisations through these difficult times.

How the New LinkedIn Feature Could Give You the Inside Track

2010-05-14T03:46:00.000-07:00

LinkedIn have recently introduced a new feature that enables users to follow companies they are interested in, called Company Follow. On the surface it’s a small change, but it could have major implications for both LinkedIn’s individual users and companies. Company updates will let you know about profile changes, new hires, recent departures and promotions within an organisation.

Nearly a million companies already have their company profiles on the professional networking site, and as the LinkedIn blog puts it:

“Starting today, you can be in the loop on new developments, potential business opportunities or even job opportunities by following companies of interest to you… Most importantly, this feature can deliver insights - you may be surprised at - such as the pace of hiring at your nearest competitor or the start of a whole new industry as you see web technology companies hiring geography teachers (for e.g.).”

I think it's a really smart move on LinkedIn's part. LinkedIn has always been known as the professionals social network or B2B networking playground online, so this feature makes sense. LinkedIn users can follow a company, by just selecting the Follow button on the companies profile or a member who is associated with a particular company. They'll be able to easily view the companies they are following and they will also receive recommendations on companies they might be interested in following.

So,where do you begin? Here's a few tips to get you started...

Companies

Companies use LinkedIn for various ways such as building a community, gaining new talent, or watching its competition. The Company Follow feature will ensure greater success for using LinkedIn to it’s fullest potential.

1. A new stream of followers and potential employee opportunity can be built. There is no restriction on the amount of companies a person can follow allowing a followers to build.

2. Pay attention to the competition. If anyone can follow you so can any company so know who is paying attention to you.

3. They said what? Know what the conversations surrounding your business are whether you like it or not. It’s better to know than not.

4. Keep your employees happy. By following your competitors you will know if they are in need of someone who could be found in your company. This provides you with an unique opportunity to keep your employees happy in ways that matter most.

5. Follow freely. You won’t be blocked so follow your competitor to protect your company and find ,if needed, new employees.

6.You may want to keep an even closer eye on what information you and your employees put on LinkedIn now – it was changes to profiles there that revealed that Apple had bought Intrinsity, and that was even before the introduction of this feature.)

Job Seekers

1.Be selective of the companies you follow. It’s imperative to follow companies where you will be of greatest value and that have a good reputation.

2.Discover what hidden jobs these companies may have by staying current its news.

3.Who’s coming and going? Find out what jobs are opening or closing and why.

4.Promotions. A friendly congratulations to an employee receiving a promotion can garner itself into a beneficial networking relationship.

5. Know what “Top Dogs” have joined with the company. By knowing what Executives or Senior Managers have joined you can insight into what the company is doing, accomplishing, or needing, which could be window of opportunity.

Resource Solutions Group (RSG) short-listed for prestigious Award

2010-04-29T02:30:00.000-07:00

Resource Solutions Group's successful brand launch and internal marketing campaign, ‘I’m RSG’ has been short-listed for Best Marketing Campaign in the Recruitment Consultant Industry Awards, sponsored by 1st Choice Software.

The RSG campaign relied on the passion and personal integrity of both senior leaders and their staff to shape and transmit our single-minded proposition, ‘Empowered Thinking, Proven Delivery’ and encouraged employees to feel their views were recognised and valued to increase their levels of engagement in the company.

Take a look at some of the RSG videos

“We tried to engage everybody into the new vision for the business. We drew upon our own staff’s personality, ambitions, experience and expertise and then used that information as a platform for developing and delivering our brand message. The beauty of this is that it allows RSG’s proposition to be personalised, instead of becoming some glossy corporate message that is delivered without adequate content. The feedback I have received from all areas of the company has been overwhelmingly positive. Through a smart execution the team have raised the bar and set new standards for internal communications.” said Mike Beesley, Director of Group Sales and Marketing.

The Recruitment Industry Awards judging panel met on Wednesday to sort through ‘the exceptionally high standard of entries’ and the Awards ceremony will be held at Grace in Great Windmill Street, London on the 3rd June, 2010.

The panel was chaired by Recruitment Consultant editor Jim Tanfield and was made up of TEAM UK’s Liz Longman, Elite Leaders managing director John O’Sullivan, Thomas International chairman and chief executive Martin Reed with Front Page Publishing’s Paul Harwood and 1st Choice Software’s Roy Snart.

Judges’ chairman Jim Tanfield said: “The standards for a majority of entries was exceptional and judges had their work cut out to find a winner in each category. There was something incredibly heartening about the diversity of entries, with small and large recruitment firms alike as well as the support services, wanting to celebrate their achievements following a turbulent economy.”

To view the shortlists for all five Recruitment Industry Awards categories, including Best Marketing Campaign, visit http://www.rec-con.co.uk/article.php/news/shortlist_announced/2726

Resource Management is an RSG company

Some Clear Advice: 10 tips for Employers dealing with Volcanic Ash Fall-Out

2010-04-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

The volcanic ash blown over the UK and Europe from the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland has caused disruption to the aviation industry on a scale not seen in this country since World War II. This has affected not only those working within the airline industry, but many thousands of others who are stranded and unable to return to the UK.

The latest news reports suggest that flights into the UK may not resume normality until the end of this week at the earliest. With 150,000 Britons estimated to be stuck abroad, the eruption of the Icelandic volcano is going to impact on thousands of employers throughout the UK, as employees marooned overseas are unable to get back to work.

The situation will inevitably have a huge effect on business productivity, with many employees unable to come back to work for an indefinite amount of time and highlights the need for employers to have policies on disruptions to transport and wider disaster contingency plans.

Here at RML, we’ve already had an important meeting cancelled due to a Venice-bound key attendant and some of our own staff members have been left high and dry in both France and Spain. We're communicating as much as possible by asking people to get in touch with status reports and options for travel and we have a dedicated group working on both short and long-term contingency planning.

One of the key concerns for employers will be whether the unplanned absence of stranded staff affects their annual holiday allowance or is treated as unpaid or paid leave.

Here’s a few points you might want to consider:

1.Employers might want to audit their staff to see how many employees are affected. This enables HR to assess the scale of the problem and also analyse whether any extra support is required.

2. Make sure you have a policy in place dealing with the disruptions. This should cover issues such as the steps your employees are required to take to try to get to work, that they must contact their employer as soon as possible if they are unable to get to work, and the consequences of their not being able to make it to work. This should reduce the scope for confusion and disagreement.

3. Require employees to make reasonable efforts to get to work but take into account employees' individual circumstances. Bear in mind there will be extra strain on alternative modes of transport during disruptions and that employees may struggle to get to work even if they do not have to travel a great distance.

4. Consider how you will treat absence due to transport disruptions. As a general rule, employees must be ready and willing to perform their duties, so if they are absent from work without authorisation they are not automatically entitled to be paid. But if an employee is unable to get to work because of a natural disaster beyond the employee's control - you may wish to be more lenient. Remember to be consistent in your approach to avoid discrimination claims. You could discuss the options with the employee on his or her return.

5. If possible, allow the employee to work from where they are stranded. This may be the best option if they are abroad as a result of a business trip. It would be difficult to ask an employee to take holiday if they have become stranded as a result of work.

6. Where employees are unable to get to work because they have been on holiday and have become stranded due to transport disruptions, taking additional paid annual leave may be an option. There is nothing to stop you asking if employees would like to take extra holiday if they are unable to get to work. Many employees will find taking paid holiday preferable to losing a day's pay.

7. Think of other practical alternatives to requiring employees to take time missed as annual leave. For example, some employees may agree to make the time up at a later date or employers could allow employees to swap shifts.

8. Do not place unreasonable burdens on employees who have not been away on holiday and have been able to make it to work. Employers have a duty of care to all their employees and should also bear in mind the maximum periods that they can require employees to work under the Working Time Regulations 1998.

9. Remember that other organisations' employees may also be having difficulty getting to work, which may have a knock-on effect on your staff. Where, for example, schools are closed due to key staff being unable to get to work, your employees may have no option but to take time off to provide childcare. This is likely to fall under the right to take reasonable time off in relation to dependants.

10. The benefits to staff morale and productivity in the long run of paying staff in these circumstances is likely to outweigh the financial burden to the business of paying employees who cannot attend work this week.

Has the incident affected your business? Post your comments below…

Do you have a Good Company Culture?

2010-03-17T03:05:00.000-07:00

While it is true that every organisation has its vision and mission, without a good workplace culture not much advancement will be made. A good workplace culture is the foundation on which real productivity, profit and progress are anchored. It can either help a business to thrive or destroy it in the long run.

What Is Corporate Culture?

Corporate culture is a broad term used to define the unique personality or character of a particular company or organization, and includes such elements as core values and beliefs, corporate ethics, and rules of behaviour. Ideally, organisational culture supports a positive, productive, environment. So, what are then the characteristics of truly healthy organisations?

Here are ten parameters of good corporate culture:

1. Pride in the organisation:

Employees defend their company against unjustified critique and they say that they like working for their company.

2. Orientation towards (top) achievements:

'In our company, everybody tries to do a better job' and 'our company is number one and that should stay so'.

3. Teamwork and communication:

Employees listen well and try to understand the ideas/opinions of others and employees and managers really try to help each other.

4. Supervision and leadership:

Managers are really interested in the problems of others and it is customary to ask for help when needed.

5. Profit orientation and cost awareness:

All expenditures are evaluated if they are effective or not and all members are strongly thinking about profit.

6. Employee relationships:

Employees are not trying to better themselves from the mistakes of other employees and new employees are accepted quickly.

7. Client and consumer relations:

Everything is oriented towards a better service for the customer.

8. Honesty and safety:

Safety rules are strictly implemented and everybody sees company properties as being sacred.

9. Education and development:

Everybody supports education and training programs and the company really tries to develop its employees.

10. Innovation:

Systems and procedures are constantly being pursued and new ideas are always welcome.

The Bottom Line?

If your own people feel proud of being a member of your company, then your clients and candidates will LOVE to be associated with such a compelling work culture. It’s all about the engagement of a range of open communication channels, together with the sharing of your value and vision. All the quality and robust businesses place real focus upon developing contemporary, enviable work cultures that attract and retain loyalty from its staff, colleagues and clients.

Recruiting in 2010? More Hints from the Experts:

2010-02-16T01:34:00.000-08:00

Back by popular demand… more helpful hints from the experts as to how your organisation can pick up the talent it needs to get it through the economic labyrinth ahead…

6. Hire in haste, repent at leisure

OK, as noted in the last blog, you’ve got to get a move on when planning your recruitment strategy for the recovery and beyond - but that doesn’t mean you should rush into the actual hiring activity too. Panicking when facing gaps in your team, or when worrying about letting a flood of new talent flow through your fingers, won’t help your organisation through the next months and years. Take a deep breath and ignore sudden rushes of blood to the head; hire with tomorrow in mind, not just the next five minutes.

“While the prospect of increased workloads may at first be daunting, employers must not succumb to the temptation to indiscriminately fill vacancies irrationally or as soon as possible,” cautions Adecco’s Steven Kirkpatrick. “Even when it seems that candidates are lining up at the door, employers should never rush into their hiring decisions. Just because they feel that time is not on their side; inevitably this will only impact negatively on other staff through increasing their workload and could affect the business in the long term. Poor hiring can be expensive too; often lowering productivity and in the worst cases employers may be forced to re-hire again if the candidate is really not up to the required standard.”

7. Be aware of the bigger picture - understand the recruiting sector

Obviously, it helps pretty much everyone in business to have an understanding of the broader economic picture; however, those working in recruitment should recognise the benefits of understanding not just those sectors into or from which they’re recruiting, but also the recruitment sector itself. Significant changes are occurring within the industry that affect both the market and the ways in which recruiters operate within it. Miss the bigger picture while you’re busy rolling out your sector-specific pitch, and you could also miss the boat entirely.

Robert Richards of Devonshire says that his company “is approaching the recovery conscious of two core themes. Firstly the sense that the 'War on Talent' continues unabated. Secondly; organisations should be (even) more flexible in the way they on-board their talent."

8. Using external recruiters doesn’t mean you don’t have to be flexible

There’s a definite temptation when outsourcing your recruitment to insist on very rigid parameters in terms of compensation and incentives for potential hires - but setting a price and sticking to it might not make the most of what your recruiters can do. Allowing a bit of flexibility into what your providers can offer, in terms of access to things like bonus packages, pension provision, healthcare offerings etc, might well mean they can secure top talent at a lower salary level than you’d budgeted for.

“Many clients seem to believe that the market is flooded with great talent and that as such they can stubborn with their demands,” warns Rob Grant of Dragonfly Recruitment. “Good people are still hard to find and employers who show flexibility - be it in working arrangements, remuneration or other aspects of the recruitment process - will find themselves more likely to find the perfect person.”

9. Look inside as well as out

As a successful organisation you’ve got to be confident of your ability to hire and retain talent right from the very first day it walks through your hallowed doors - so if you’ve spent all this money, time and effort on attracting raw talent why not try to utilise it when seeking to fill new vacancies? Especially if you have access to an internal talent pool.

“Employers should not overlook the possibility of internal promotions or re-structures. Although business cannot afford to “just leave it” when business picks up, employers should consider that they may have sufficient resources within. Be clear on just how much work there is to be done and who has the potential bandwidth to assist in a role outside of their original remit,” recommends Adecco’s Steven Kirkpatrick.

10. Make your voice heard, all down the chain…

Everyone wants the ear of the top brass - so ensuring you’ve got it becomes all the more difficult (and of course all the more important) - but it’s advisable to make sure as many people as possible, boardroom to postroom, understand the importance to the organisation of coherent and cohesive recruitment. After all, everyone can do their part to make the recruiting process and the talent-retention element as smooth and successful as possible.

“Smart hiring decisions will help build a more productive workforce with better retention; which in turn helps build good company morale and saves the company money in the long-term. Once the economy turns around, employee goodwill will be of paramount importance,” urges Nick Walrond of Sanderson Recruitment plc.

Recruiting in 2010?

2010-01-26T02:09:00.000-08:00

2009 was a tough year for a lot of us but many employers are now strengthening their operations in preparation for the economic recovery. So what can we expect from the recruiting market in 2010? Here are our predictions...

Increased vacancy activity - As employers sense new optimism in the market they are now thinking of long-term strategies to strengthen their business and this includes planning for recruitment during 2010.

Candidate movement - Following a particularly tough year, we will see a significant increase in the number of employed people changing jobs as their confidence grows. Some will be passive job seekers, tentatively keeping an eye on opportunities that become available. Others will look for their next step up.

Skills shortages - As we emerge from the economic downturn, the challenge for talent remains and will once again rear its head. Skills shortages will again become evident. Already there are shortages of particular skills. As the search for the best talent rises, the pool of available talent will diminish throughout the year.

Good employers will thrive - Employees were front-row spectators to their company’s recession response. During the downturn, the ‘good’ employers shone. They maintained their focus on their employees’ career development and staff relations. These companies are now viewed very positively by job seekers. They are well-placed to attract the top talent in 2010 as a result.

And here’s some helpful hints from the experts as to how your organisation can pick up the talent it needs to get it through the economic labyrinth ahead…

1. Generosity can save you money

It’s been very much a buyer’s market in recruitment recently - but that shouldn’t dissuade you from erring on the side of generosity when it comes to talking terms with the really top talent. Just because the market’s tightened up significantly in general terms, doesn’t mean the competition isn’t just as keen as ever to attract the very best employees - a refusal to budge on the top end of what you’re able to offer potential new staff could end up proving very costly as you either fail to secure that key talent or see it drift off over the horizon sixth months down the line, lured by a better offer…

“Offer a fair deal…and save money!” advises Nick Walrond, Managing Director at Sanderson Recruitment Plc. “Because there is so much competition for roles it is very tempting for recruiters to secure someone on a significantly lower salary than the current market value - but this is really just a false economy. Recruiting individuals is a big investment and having to replace someone is a waste of money, time and effort. It is really important to make sure that remuneration is commensurate with the market and that your new employee is truly happy with the offer. The reason is simply that you will risk losing that person as soon as another opportunity materializes which offers a salary more closely matched with their level of experience.”

2. Don’t go long-term if you don’t have to

Just as an increasing number of jobseekers are only looking for part-time or short-term contracts it might make sense for you to consider these options too. For many reasons - such as forthcoming M&A activity; possible transformation programs looming; new systems implementation; perhaps the possibility of an outsourcing deal shaking up some of your departments - your organization might want to maintain a fairly flexible headcount even at relatively high levels. Tying yourself down to long-term contracts when none is needed can be expensive, inefficient and unwieldy.

“If employers are unable to find the ideal candidate then they should consider alternative employment options. It may be most suitable to employ temporary workers that can quickly and easily come in and keep operations running as normal until a full-time solution is found. Alternatively, if workloads are likely to lessen in the near future, e.g. the work is seasonal then perhaps a longer-term contract worker would be a sufficient replacement during busy periods,” says Steven Kirkpatrick, Managing Director of Adecco staffing in UK and Ireland.

3. Be prepared for the “reluctant jobseeker”

Sudden changes to the economy shake up the job-market in many ways, but one of the most profound is the injection of new types of jobseeker into the fray. A wide variety of new experiences and new ways of thinking come into the picture for recruiting organizations - but they can be accompanied by a whole host of different challenges facing the jobseekers themselves…

“The issue of quantity has been fuelled the past two years by a new dynamic to the labor market: the reluctant jobseeker - the individual that has served an organization diligently for many years climbing the internal career ladder, performing different internal roles and earning a year-on-year salary increase to reward them for their loyalty. These are the ones that seem to struggle most; type-cast through a combination of the stigma of redundancy, not being considered for potential roles because their salary expectation is too high, they're unlikely to be sufficiently agile to 'fit' culturally into a new organization, they live in the wrong geographic location or they have not worked in the industry sector that the potential employer demands. Going forwards; both applicants and employers need to be willing to show flexibility and focus on positives and where value can be achieved,” according to Robert Richards of Devonshire Communications.

4. LinkIn - yesterday, if not before…

Get on LinkedIn, along with over 53,000,000 others - many of whom are actively searching for their next professional challenge. Social networking might still have a few “downtime” connotations in the stuffier corners of the business world, but this is business networking - and, really, if you’re not on LinkedIn by now what actually are you doing?

“Link with your LinkedIn network. Daily updates – indicating what you’re working on – update your network. Grow and manage your network daily. And, reach out to your network and search for potential matches to your jobs. LinkedIn is one of the most awesome tools to happen to recruiting in many years… use it and build it daily. If you’re not active on LinkedIn you’re probably not a serious recruiter,” enthuses Greg Bennett, global practice director for The Mergis Group.

5. … And put the pieces together with Jigsaw et al

Of course, LinkedIn isn’t the only online community recruiters should be aware of. There are plenty of other sites with useful data and helpful applications to assist you in your hunt for talent. Even a familiarity with less typically business-focused networks like Facebook and MySpace can give you an advantage by opening doors to specific interest-groups, geographies etc (not to mention helping with any viral marketing you might be deploying).

“Another great tool is Jigsaw,” says The Mergis Group‘s Greg Bennett. “Frequently you’ll see a profile on LinkedIn that really looks like a strong match and you’d rather not use an InMail for a variety of reasons. Jigsaw is, basically, a barter sight for business cards. I’ll see a name on LinkedIn and then search it on Jigsaw and usually find a direct phone number and email address for the person… very handy tool… While LinkedIn is my primary source site I also utilize others such as Plaxo, Xing, Facebook and to a much lesser degree, Twitter. ”

Next Blog: 5 More Hints From the Experts...

*Helpful hints from the experts first published by Jamie Liddell, Editor, Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) - www.ssonetwork.com

Cheers to those who kept Britain working over Christmas!

2010-01-08T09:19:00.001-08:00

For most of us, the Christmas holidays went a little something like this: mountains of presents; a few drinks; copious amounts of turkey, chocolates and mince pies; piles of washing up; a few more drinks; a Christmas movie; just one last drink; board games; family quarrels; bed.

Sadly, some of us had to drag ourselves away from the Christmas specials and giant Quality Street box to attend business as usual. And while most of the UK workforce were tucking into roast dinners and pulling crackers, almost one in 10 were heading out to work. Key workers such as doctors, nurses, police officers and fire fighters as well as countless others including call-centre staff, shop assistants, taxi drivers and bar staff were out in force to keep the nation’s cogs turning.

REC (The Recruitment and Employment Confederation) also highlighted the thousands of recruitment professionals who were also on call over Christmas. Commenting on the role of the industry during the holiday period, Kevin Green, REC's Chief Executive said:

"Whilst many of us have downed tools for the holiday period, thousand of key workers and recruitment professionals were hard at work. Temporary, contract and locum staff as well as interim managers provided crucial front line services to keep Britain working over Christmas.

At the same time, recruitment professionals play a pivotal role in responding quickly and efficiently to the demand for often highly-skilled staff in sectors such as healthcare, transport, care, logistics and technology."

And as the UK economy slowly moves out of recession in 2010, recruitment professionals will provide one of the most important services for any business. Recessions mean that companies need to be more efficient than ever and part of this involves employing high quality staff. Sourcing and retaining key talent to drive our businesses forward will be absolutely vital in this new decade.

The Future of E-Recruitment

2009-10-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

This is part 5 of a 5-part series on E-recruitment. Resource Management sponsored the “RPO and E-recruitment Forum” which took place on the 29th September.

Last week we had a look at whether e-recruitment was really worth it or whether it was just a passing bandwagon. This week, we look at how important social media will be in the future, and sum up the best tips for leveraging e-recruitment.

The Future of E-Recruitment

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), companies should:

Align human resources, PR and marketing, and be clear on core organisational values
Find ways to connect with the passive job seeker
Broker and make use of peer-to-peer relationships
Use web 2.0 technologies (blogs, web-based communities and social networking sites) to build personalised relationships online

All of these factors need to be considered in order to capitalise on the growing use of e-recruitment, especially the latter.

A survey conducted by Yasni.co.uk found that “32% of Business managers and HR people in Britain have searched for applicants online, using social media websites”.

Also, of the 68% of business people who had not searched for applicants’ online, 44% admitted that they probably would in the future.

According to the CIPD, marketers believe that the relationships formed with candidates and jobseekers will be an important factor in success with e-recruitment in the coming years. This is as companies begin to focus on branding and consumer insight in order to build loyalty and grow their businesses using social media.

Have a look at our tips below:

Top Tips for E-Recruiting

Develop a policy with management on how you use social networks and company job-boards. This is one of the most important first steps as it will ensure that all employees are aware of what can and can’t be posted, and how to deal with applications received online.

If you are looking for a social network to start on, begin with Linkedin. It’s a professional network so you’re more likely to get good results using the company profile job board, and discussion boards.

Research other networks and decide which ones are best for your company. Twitter may work for you, or it may not. Include in this research, where the best place to find candidates might be.

Even if you can’t source any quality candidates straight away, it doesn’t mean there aren’t any, or that social networks aren’t right for your company. Continue to use existing methods like posting to job boards whilst you try out social media.

As mentioned earlier in this series, always provide candidates and jobseekers with other means to contact you i.e. a phone number or an email address.

Don’t use jargon, as this will alienate potential candidates.

Monitor how you are using social media and get feedback from candidates about their experiences of using it. If they are having problems, you need to address this straight away.

Also remember that only 1 in 4 job hunters are reported as using social media in their job search. Whilst this figure is changing all the time, it’s not yet ubiquitous, but soon might be.

Any important ones we've missed? Share your tips for leveraging e-recruitment in the comments below.

Image source: Flickr Creative Commons - (p_a_h)

Social Media – The Emperor’s New Recruitment Tool?

2009-10-01T01:41:00.000-07:00

This is part 4 of a 5-part series on E-recruitment. Resource Management sponsored the “RPO and E-recruitment Forum” which took place on the 29th September.

Last week, we went back to basics and highlighted some of the problems with e-recruitment, and what to do about them. This week, we have a look at whether social media as a recruitment tool is really worth the effort.

Just a fad?

A recent discussion spreading across the web has debated whether social media is just a passing fad, or more of a revolution (See this video on the Social Media Revolution). So is recruitment via social media just another bandwagon to jump on?

The general consensus on social media platforms, especially Twitter, is that they are here to stay. There will always be a place for micro-blogging, socialising and networking online given the rate of growth for each platform. Linkedin for example, racks up approximately a million new users every 15 days.

But what about e-recruitment?

According to a recent survey by Aftercollege.com, graduates felt that using social networks for job seeking was ineffective compared to more traditional methods such as job boards. (71.9% of the 670 students surveyed said they would simply search a job board for a job.) In fact, social media applications like Facebook and Twitter were ranked last of a choice of 15.

However, this survey appears to be at odds with the trend of job seekers rushing to social networks reported by “My CV and Me” who claim that 1 in 3 now use Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter to find a job. However, social networks and job boards did rank second to “finding a job through professional contacts”, which came in at 40% of the study’s participants.

The demographics

Almost three million people in the UK are now unemployed, with almost a third of those under the age of 24. Given social media is a relatively new concept in technology, one would assume that the younger generations would be quickest to take it up. Not exactly.

The 35 - 54 age group is the largest demographic of Twitter uptakers, (accounting for almost 30% of its overall users), however, they are being rapidly caught up by the 18 – 34 age group.

(Source: comScore Media Matrix)

However, does the age of our job seekers really matter? If we can target the 35 – 54 demographic with e-recruitment, then surely it must be worth doing?

Combining strategies

The social media sphere is still growing rapidly, making it a great target for Twitter and Linkedin-based recruitment, however at this stage, its use should be combined with other methods, including job boards and press advertising.

Next week we look at the future of social media and e-recruitment.

[Image credit: Shuttrstock]

Don’t get ahead of yourself – e-recruitment basics

2009-09-22T01:36:00.000-07:00

This is part 3 of a 5-part series on e-Recruitment. Resource Management are sponsoring the “RPO and e-Recruitment Forum” on the 29th September. To find out how to book your place, click here.

Last week we highlighted some social media mistakes made by big business. This week, we go back to basics and identify how to deal with some of the problems of e-recruitment.

Current e-recruitment issues

As with any form of recruitment, e-recruitment has its challenges.

HR Magazine recently reported that “on-line recruitment is failing to take account of jobseeker’s views”. This came after a Changeworknow survey of 800 applicants found a variety of statistics showing jobseekers were disheartened with their experience of online job boards.

On a similar note, a “twitition” (or “Twitter Petition”) aimed at Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs was launched by Twitter user @Amebo recently asking for changes in their approach to the job seeking process. Interestingly, though a good idea, it doesn’t yet seem to have picked up much support.

It is obviously important to take the views of the jobseeker into consideration, and not just see the process solely in terms of profit. To this end, as a recruiter, you must be making sure that you address the concerns of jobseekers. Whether this is by providing online support through live chat, a Twitter link and an email address on your jobsite, or though regular communication using a forum, polls and feedback buttons.

Potential problems with e-recruitment

Other problems can include increasing the number of unsuitable employees, applicant overload, losing candidates more easily due to a poor design, and ineffective use of e-recruitment in the first place, resulting in low responses.

Since the advent of social media and social networking for recruiting purposes, it has got far easier for applicants to get noticed and especially those who have the ability to create a top-notch CV, and none of the skills required to do the job. One such application making the process hassle-free is VisualCV.

VisualCV allows anyone to create an online CV much more easily than that of a traditional one, but do better CV’s make it harder to spot poor candidates?

Ineffective use of e-recruitment or weak design will result in poor response. For more tips on this and the other issues covered in this post, have a look at some of the links below:

Top Ten Best Practices for Using Social Media as a Recruitment Tool – Career Builder’s guide on e-recruiting
25 Articles on Social Media Recruiting – From The Recruiters Lounge
Do You Pass The Social Media Recruitment Test?

Next week we'll look at whether social media as a recruitment tool is really worth it.

When e-recruitment goes bad

2009-09-16T01:45:00.000-07:00

This is part 2 of a 5-part series on e-Recruitment. Resource Management are sponsoring the “RPO and e-Recruitment Forum” on the 29th September. To find out how to book your place, click here.

Last week we looked at innovative ways that recruitment companies were using web technology and social media for recruitment. This week, we’ll have a look at a couple of the worst uses of social media, starting with Habitat’s use of Twitter earlier this year.

Habitat and Twitter

As you may already know, #hashtags are ways of highlighting a Tweet on a popular subject or a “trending topic”. (See this post from the Sticky Media Group on the #lists trending topic)

But labelling a Tweet with a trending topic hashtag that has absolutely no relevance, is considered spam by the Twitterverse and is duly shunned.

Habitat posted a series of Tweets in June about upcoming sales and a competition, but wrongly added a series of irrelevant trending topic hashtags, outraging the Twitter community. The aim was to “build profile” but clearly fell short.

Habitat did apologise, but passed the blame onto an “overenthusiastic intern”.

For more on this, see Social Media Today’s article on “How not to use Twitter: Habitat as a case study”

Penna/Barkers

Back in June, human resources company Penna acquired communications agency Barkers for £8.6m, but in the process managed to anger around 200 ex-Barkers staff made redundant at the same time.

The anger arose over the fact that media experts Barkers were remaining tight-lipped over several matters including their redundancies, the acquisition itself, and the distinct lack of the ex-employees company pensions due to an alleged lack of funds.

This caused the ex-Barkers staff to create a Twitter profile to speak out against the injustice of their redundancy, and the lack of clarification from Barkers.

Penna/Barkers lack of communication appears to have been a bad move. And given Barker’s supposed media expertise, this makes it all the more surprising.

For more info on the Penna/Barker’s debacle, have a look at Netnatives’ article.

So take note. Whether you’re recruiting or simply trying to get ahead with social media, you should be communicating with your followers and fans on a regular basis. Don’t let it go quiet on the Twitter front.

Next week we go back to basics and look at some of the negatives of e-recruitment and what we can do about them.

Recruiters: Do you really get all this social media stuff?

2009-09-09T05:50:00.001-07:00

This is part 1 of a 5-part series on e-Recruitment. Resource Management are sponsoring the "RPO and e-Recruitment Forum" on the 29th September. To find out how to book your place, click here.

We all know what social media is, and according to eMarketer.com, 62.5% of 16-54’s worldwide have a social networking profile. But how many of us really ‘get’ it? Especially where business is concerned.

To highlight some of the statistics surrounding social media, take a look at this video by Socialnomics.net.

It’s a real eye-opener as to how we should be utilising social media (in addition to traditional media) where sourcing new talent is involved.

Tools for e-recruitment

“80% of companies use LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees”

[Socialnomics.net]

As well as the usual social platforms, some companies are thinking out of the box when “e-recruiting” new talent. Back in 2007, Informa announced that they were using the virtual world “Second Life” to advertise new positions, and help employees develop their careers.

Kelly Services launched their virtual island providing “in-world job scenarios” to show potential employees what their job would actually look like, along with a microsite.

And in November 2008, Kelly launched “The Jobbit” for searching Second Life for real-life jobs in real-time – still with me?

Associated benefits

So why e-recruit with social media?

According to the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), e-recruitment:

Reduces costs
Decreases time it takes to hire
Adds a greater flexibility for candidates
Strengthens the employer brand image

Perhaps most importantly, e-recruitment helps us to form relationships with potential candidates and build a talent pool for future use.

Next week, we’ll be smiling inwardly to ourselves and looking at some of the worst uses of social media to date.