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In this month's newsletter...
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Welcome to our November newsletterBest wishes to all from the Recruitment Matters team! This is our November newsletter featuring a mix of industry news, helpful information from recruitment industry experts, tips to help you improve and grow the profitability of your business and, of course, news from ourselves at Recruitment Matters about our training courses, products and services. You may recall our article last month about our tie-up with The CarbonNeutral Company http://www.carbonneutral.com/pinfo/plant-a-tree.asp to plant a tree for every open course we run. This stimulated Pamela Pindar, MD of Key Personnel Group to tell us what her team are doing to make a contribution to the local community – we found it extremely interesting and are pleased to publish her response below. Another new contributor this month is renowned networking guru, Will Kintish, who will be sharing many great networking tips with us today and in the coming months. By the way, Will is now offering franchise opportunities. See http://www.kintish.co.uk/page177.html for more details. Moving on, we came across this little gem the other day… Eight in ten employees who access work email spend 20 minutes a night in bed responding to messages, according to research by employment law firm Peninsula. Now, surely they could find something more rewarding to do with their time like, errrrr…, read a good book perhaps? Even worse, the study found that 60% of workers admit to responding to work email from the bathroom. Dedicated workers spend ten hours of their own time per month, 112 hours per year, responding to work email. Dangerously, it found that 24% admit they have checked work email whilst driving and 70% said that their partner is displeased with responding to company email when away from work. No wonder, we say! We’ll leave the last words on this to Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula, who said: “Employees need to be aware that even though in some circumstances working out of hours may be good for business, it may not be good for them personally and we have seen from the survey that it does have an impact on their personal life. People need to find time for themselves. If an employee feels compelled to answer every email they receive then they may need to look at better ways to manage their time." Also see our news section for a reminder about our ‘early bird’ discount offer, and our Q1 2008 open course schedule including two new courses and a couple of revised dates. We like this to be very much an interactive newsletter and we welcome your comments and feedback and will be happy to feature your contributions on important industry issues and your advice on how to improve the success and professionalism of our marketplace. As you will see below, in return, we will show our gratitude by featuring a link to your company, as a contributor to this publication. We at Recruitment Matters have a simple underlying philosophy to everything that we do, and that is, by helping each other to improve, we all stand to benefit in this large, dynamic and fast-growing industry. Please send your potential editorial contributions to ken@recruitmentmatters.com.
Recruiters’ Guide to NetworkingContributor: Will KintishStep One – Planning and Attitudes (1) 1. Accept that networking is the most effective and cost efficient way to attract new business. It puts you in control without waiting for others. 2. Consider the numerous reasons for networking. These include: 3. Become a human mobile resource centre by offering help and advice whenever possible. 4. Be on standby; there are business opportunities everywhere when you’re awake, alive and alert. Think about seminars, conferences, exhibitions, trains or planes. Where there are people there are business opportunities-but you have to talk to them! 5. Enter your invitations into your calendar and treat them as an important meeting. When you want to grow your business and raise your profile you must go out and meet new people or reinforce existing relationships. 6. Network with existing clients or customers. They are your very best source of referral if you are giving them a good service. 7. Join networking clubs. These are safe havens for people who are new to, or feel uncomfortable with, networking. Visit our website for full details and links. 8. Arrange visits to new contacts you meet at networking clubs. You can’t do serious business at the meetings, they are just platforms for creating awareness and building relationships. 9. Meet. Like. Trust. These are the 3 pillars on which all business relationships rest. Networking is the activity to build those pillars. 10. Plan the time to go out networking and do it on purpose. It should not be peripheral to your business day; it should be an integral part of it. Will Kintish and his team show people how to attract more business and clients by helping them become more confident and effective business networkers. For more information, email willk@kintish.co.uk, visit www.kintish.co.uk or call 0161 773 3727.
“Time to train” says Gordon
Announcing the reforms, which includes mandatory skills tests and training, Brown said the “old system” no longer met the “aspirational society” Britain needs to be and added: “While in the old days it was seen as the duty of government to create work for the inactive, in the new world there has to be a duty on the government to help the inactive become employable and a duty on the inactive to take up those responsibilities.” Harvey Nash chief executive, Albert Ellis, said: “Putting the war for talent into a global context, Brown said that UK businesses needed to wake up to the battle that was emerging. Five million graduates are qualifying each year in China and India, so there is really no choice for UK firms but to compete on a high skills and value-added basis. “It is a very good day for the people industry. The PM was talking specifically about skills, people and talent. Speaking as a head-hunter, I am delighted that such emphasis was placed on education, training and assessment, and that the recruitment industry can play a bigger role in achieving that.”
Corporate Social ResponsibilityContributor: Pamela Pindar, Key Personnel GroupWe were most impressed when Pam told us what Key Personnel Group do to make a meaningful contribution to their local community… So what do you do to make your mark? “We take our role in the community very seriously and as a result we have one quarter of our staff working as volunteers out in the community. Most of the work that we do is with schools and colleges and revolves around such things as ‘Right to Read’ an initiative aimed at 5-6 year olds. At least one member of our staff will give one hour of their work time each week to listen to children reading and to help with spelling. We also help with ‘Industry days’, work experience and interview skills to college and university students. One of the other schemes is called ‘Evolve’ an email mentoring scheme directed at 14-16 year olds. My advice before embarking on this is to learn text speak as this is what most of them start off doing!! Pamela Pindar is Managing Director of Key Personnel Group , Tel: 0115 9853 185, email pamp@key-personnel.co.uk, website www.key-personnel.co.uk .
Recruiters' Guide to handling researchersContributor: David Steel, Exacta ResearchStep Five – The Identification Report. Having talked around the theory of research, I thought it would be helpful to highlight the types of reports that research businesses typically produce for clients. The Identification Report links us back to Step Two of this guide; ‘Identification’. This report shows the client who the relevant individuals are in each of the agreed target companies. In most cases, the individual(s) we’re looking for will report to someone and may have others reporting in to them, depending on the role we’re handling. As a result, and to confirm the level of individual we’re going to approach, it’s useful to make a note of the more senior and junior individuals that sit around the target(s). This also establishes structure and gives an idea of the size of the department we’re interested in. Typically, an ID Report will list those who are ‘heavier’ and ‘lighter’ than the client’s person spec, which can emphasis the actual target(s) even more and gives the client options if initial approaches show that we need to be targeting a different level. We operate a simple system whereby the names highlighted in red on the ID Report are those who fit the person spec in terms of qualification, where they sit in the structure of the department, etc. This also shows the client who we feel we should be targeting first, allowing them to agree or disagree if they know the individuals and want us to stay clear of them. More often than not a client will trust a Researcher’s instincts if they’re unaware of the individuals we have identified. Helpful Researchers often make notes in italics at the bottom of each target company to make it easier for the client to understand their thinking. For example, if we were looking for a New Business Sales Manager: ABC IT, Manchester Paul Jones – Sales Director
This shows the client that we recognise that Paul Jones would be too senior, and that the large group of Sales Executives below Terry and Jason would probably be too junior. Terry would be the primary target given he’s already doing a similar type of role, with Jason as a ‘Plan B’ target (as he manages the Accounts Sales Executives team and not the New Business team) if Terry wasn’t interested or as relevant as first thought. Given the importance researchers place on the identification stage, this document is key to the success of the assignment. It’s crucial that the ID Report can convey to the client a Researcher’s findings, thoughts and advice, and there is nothing like sitting down with the client before commencing with approaches to talk through the report and to make sure that both sides are singing from the same hymn sheet. David Steel is Research Director at Exacta Research, a recruitment research company who provide a candidate research service to help clients find the best possible candidates across all sectors and levels. For further information email hannah@exactaresearch.co.uk, visit www.exactaresearch.co.uk or call 08000 856 618.
Give an unfinished pitchGive your client an unfinished pitch or tender – they will love it. People like to be in at the start of something good, they like to get stuck in and get their hands dirty and they love looking at the finished product to be able to say “Great result, and I helped achieve it!” If you are asked to tender for a place on a PSL or for an exclusive assignment, then send the client an early version of your tender, saying “These are our early thoughts - I’d love your input so that we can be sure if we are on the right track. You want something that you know is right for you - not something that I hope may be. Can you have a look at it and let me understand if there is anything I need to add or amend before I work on producing the final draft to meet your deadline date?” When you send through the final draft and they read it next to your competitor’s ones which recruiters tender do you think they will feel most comfortable with and anticipate receipt of most? Warren Kemp is principal and lead trainer with Recruitment Matters. For more tips, advice and information on Recruitment Matters visit www.recruitmentmatters.com/free.php, telephone 0800 0749 289 or email warren@recruitmentmatters.com.
Contributor: Neil Kirby The recent bush fires in Greece and California prompted me to wonder about disasters and how we respond to them, particularly in our personal lives. I noticed, too, that many of the people that have inspired me over the years, have overcome what seemed insurmountable odds. Whether it’s been Lance Armstrong, Simon Weston, Steven Hawking, blind US athlete Marla Runyan or countless others, they’ve achieved great things in their life despite having to deal with significant physical suffering. Jane Tomlinson for example, raised over £1million and inspired many, many people in the way she reacted to finding out she had cancer. So I wonder whether it’s not the scale of the disaster or trauma that is key, but rather how we choose to deal with the situation. Do we (perhaps understandably) feel sorry for ourselves, or do we use our situation as a motivation, an impetus to do more? Is all that separates disaster from opportunity our own perception? Even those fires, in some ways, are seen as a blessing as, when the flames die away, the blackened pods release seeds, which in time become new shoots and grow into glorious blossoms. The fires are vital to the plants’ survival. Simply part of the cycle of renewal. So is it possible for us to learn from this, to grow stronger from the difficulties we face? On a recent StoryTheater training course run by Doug Stevenson, I learnt most when he took me outside my comfort zone, when I was made to feel most uncomfortable. It was a valuable lesson. Being uncomfortable simply means we’re dealing with something new or unfamiliar. It’s an opportunity to learn. As in any situation then we have a choice. To acknowledge that we feel uncomfortable, embrace the fear and decide to do it anyway. Or, of course, we can choose to turn away. And there will be times in our life when this is the right response. So if we think of it as a choice - how we deal with any situation is a choice - then we can deal with the most difficult situations, even perhaps the most traumatic situations, with more choice. We can’t change what has happened, but we can change how we respond, how we feel, what we do next. If you have any questions or comments on this article or issues you face, please contact me (in confidence) on 01707 395850 or email me at neil@neilkirby.co.uk. There’s no obligation.
Take candidates to market every dayDo take candidates to market every day. Fly your company flag and push your products under the targets’ noses… people don’t buy intangibles. A quality candidate with good experience and good achievements highlights the quality of your firm. Even if they don’t have a need at that moment they will be impressed enough take your call the next time. Say something like this: “Hello Tom, my name is Matt Wilson. If you’re OK for a couple of moments, I’d like to bring to your attention an excellent individual who has expressed a genuine interest in finding out about your company as a prospective employer. He has three years experience in your market working as a Sales Manager for a competitor of yours. His recent achievements include hitting target three months ahead of year end and bringing on board four FTSE top 100 companies into his portfolio in the last nine months. Does he sound like the type of person you could do with in your team?” Matt Wilson is a consultant with Recruitment Matters with a current focus on our Two Day Induction, Telephone Skills and Interview Skills courses. For more information on Recruitment Matters, our training courses, services and products visit www.recruitmentmatters.com, telephone 0800 0749289 or email info@recruitmentmatters.com. A reminder that we’ve launched a new initiative to encourage you to plan ahead and book your open courses early and are now offering an ‘Early Bird’ discount if you book six weeks ahead – don’t forget to quote ‘Early Bird’ and ask us for details prior to making your booking, as offers may vary. Finally, see below for our new dates for Q1 2008, with a couple of revisions since last time and featuring another top new course from Matt, ‘Head-Hunting For Researchers and Resourcers' .’ If you require more information or have any further ideas for new courses, locations, or topics that you feel that we should be covering, or, as previously mentioned, if you would like to explore what we could do for you on an in-house basis, we would be delighted to hear from you. For more information on Recruitment Matters, our training courses, services and products visit www.recruitmentmatters.com, telephone 0800 0749289 (0044 1438 755559 if you’re overseas) or email ken@recruitmentmatters.com.
RECRUITMENT MATTERS: December 2007 – March 2008 Open Training Schedule SUCCESSFUL HEAD-HUNTING Investment £325+VAT HEAD-HUNTING FOR RESEARCHERS AND RESOURCERS Investment £295+VAT TWO DAY INTRODUCTION TO RECRUITMENT Investment £495+VAT INTERVIEW SKILLS FOR RECRUITERS Investment £245+VAT WINNING NEW BUSINESS WINNING RETAINED ASSIGNMENTS (half day) Investment £149+VAT Don’t Become A Frog! 250 Tips For Busy Recruiters (half day) BUILDING & RUNNING AN EFFECTIVE SEARCH DESK (two days) MANAGING TEAMS AND MENTORING PEOPLE (half day) Investment £149+VAT For more information on all these courses, visit www.recruitmentmatters.com.
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