Recruitment

Do you have your ‘Talent Cloud’ Ready?

With the markets and economic downturn not looking any more positive this year many employers are turning to a more flexible contingent of labour to help them work with a more fluidly in business.

The new emerging model of talent management a model that includes talent-on-demand which places a flexible cloud of talent available for work as and when they are required, to work around the core of workers they already have onsite.

No longer will the market be a fixed resource centre but we can see that more companies are moving towards a flexible contingency teams.  This flexible contingency includes; freelancers, temporary workers, and interim executives all working as ‘contract talent’

Contract talent is expected to be used widely in 2013 as interim talent whilst the economic status is unsteady.

Many of the contract talent agencies out there are now looking at better and more effective ways in which to promote and PR their talent to companies.  Many are looking into online CV Channels that can provide video CV content to view and select your candidates directly online, others are looking at teams of contractors aligned to key companies for SOS periods when they need to be pulled in for key projects or covering.

What’s your “talent cloud“ plan?  How will your business handle the new economy of 2013?

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Why outsource your Recruitment and HR processes??

Why Indeed and its one of the key questions we are always asked?

“How can outsourcing our key ‘people’ processes really help the business?”

“Surely this should be an area we keep in-house?”

As many of you know trying to find just the right person to fit into your team is no easy task, not only must they be able to perform the duties to the best possible standard, they also have to fit in with the many different personalities already in the office and of course be the right fit for your employer brand.

Our answer is simple…

Outsource your key issue areas within HR and Talent Management and it will save you time, money and stress AND will help you drive efficiencies and better your business in so many ways:

1. Your cost per hire will be trimmed
2. Your knowledge base, resources, insight and knowhow will increase
3. You will inject knowledge that you don’t currently possess in your business for niche HR and Talent Management areas
4. Ultimately using a consultant that knows your market inside out saves you money, as you don’t have to pay them to learn about your business and will have the right contacts.
5. Good corporate recruitment is about taking a long-term approach and creating an attractive employer brand and candidate experience.

Good recruiting is not just about knowing your industry and the ‘movers and shakers’ within it (of course that is a part) Good recruiting is about really understanding your business and the champions it needs to keep it growing.

So how do you chose?

Think about what your business really needs when choosing a partner to work with on HR and Recruitment.  Ask yourself what you want to achieve and if the providers you are speaking to really can fit your mould and offer you a tailored solution that will work with your business model.  Do they have access to the right contacts in the right business communities? What are the added benefits to using their services?

Outsourcing is always a viable method of recruiting and retaining employees, as long as it’s a solution you really need, a solution you are prepared to commit to and something that you will be able to give time to for delivery.  These solutions aren’t always able to make an immediate impact, any solution worth its weight in gold will take time to set up and roll out, but once set up you will reap the benefits commercially and as an employer of choice for potential employees.

You must make sure you really want the solution and don’t base the decision solely on cost as it may not be the deal-maker that you need, much more importantly is the need to understand what you need from your HR strategy and longer term goals.  Getting testimonials will help to support you in your decisions and speaking to the clients of a potential provider also assists.

Outsourcing can really help, if you are ready for it… by going through the process of evaluating your needs you can better define how this will work but be aware the answer may not be outsourcing at all. You may simply need assistance in smaller niche areas of our business that will grow in-time into an outsourced solution.

Check out our free checklist for evaluating your outsourcing needs by contacting us on 020 3538 5311.  Keep a look out for our new download page on our website coming soon where you will be able to get all the free resources you need !

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The power of “WE”

You may shudder when people trot out the old cliché “There’s no “I” in “Team” but maybe by changing “I” to “We” in certain situations makes us feel more confident and perform better. By focusing on the team, you include yourself without putting the focus or extra pressure on yourself and it can be applied to anything! Try using it in your personal life to ease the pressure or achieving work targets by thinking about tasks in terms of a team effort.

Whilst talking ‘team’ heres a few tip to help you shine in a team:

1. Make a good impression – The most important thing is team spirit.  Be helpful and concise, and not self-obsessed.
2. You are not an island – Help others to achieve their deadlines too if they’re struggling. It’s a rare quality and your boss and team will appreciate it.
3. Champion yourself – make sure you shout about the people you have helped out. Champion yourself and point out subtly how you’re going the extra mile for the greater good.
4. Volunteer to take on new challenges – if you don’t know one else will and there will always be someone else ready to jump in and help so put yourself forward.
5. Shine at presentations but work with the team – let everyone make their input and then ensure you make sure yours is delivered clearly and confidently and that you really stand out with your team. Always shine through.

A team can accomplish so much more than one person. You can take on bigger challenges, have more to work with and many more talents between you. Just make sure the leader of the team is made clear and that tasks, problems and achievements are shared equally amongst everyone who has contributed into the team.

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How to rebrand your ‘Employee’ brand

‘Like’ it or not you are seen as your online profile. It’s often the first thing people will see when they search online to find out a little more about your background and the real you. So before you embark on the business of getting out there and finding your next job, check out what you profile is really saying about you!

Think about the ‘you’ that you really need your employers to see and rebrand yourself to fit the mould.  That doesn’t mean make yourself into someone you aren’t as you will soon be found out when you get to the interview process but you can highlight to good bits and promote the professional you, whilst keeping your personal life exactly that way personal!  New employers don’t need to see you on holiday with your friends, or drunk at the bar or indeed in fancy dress especially if the photos that have been added aren’t from you and you’ve simply been tagged.  These all need to go! Keep your Facebook private and only be friends with those that you know that way you still have a place if you do want to keep all those pictures on file and live with your friends.

Here are some pointers to make sure you rebrand in the most positive way you can to help you get that profile you need to get the job!

1. Clean up your profile by updating your education and work information. Include your achievements and projects you’ve worked on. Any awards or qualifications you have received and connect with people you feel you need to be connected with to make things happen.
2. Check your online profile pictures – where possible try and keep the same professional photo across all your sites so that people remember and recognise you straight away
3. Review your privacy settings, new Facebook features give you better control over what you share and who you share it with – keep personal just that – private and personal.
4. Un-tag yourself from photos that you wouldn’t want other people seeing. If you want to remove it completely you’ll have to ask the person who has put the photo up in the first place. Keep your image clean.
5. Get your CV online – your profile on LinkedIn can be your CV but you should also add your CV to the job sites or CV Channels that you want to be seen in. Industry specific sites that you can be found in by the right people. Make sure your details are spot on and spell-checked!!.
6. Search for yourself online – Google yourself. See what comes up – anything you don’t want people to see get rid of or change to make it more professional.  If you create new content then this will be pushed to the top of the profile and the rest will be pushed downwards.
7. Get yourself onto the sites that fit with the industry you work in.  Check out online magazines or the publications you see in your offices or at college and set yourself up a profile online.
8. Keep reading and Google the people in your industry that you emulate to be, those that you look up to and read about what they are doing and the sites they are visiting. By keeping up to date with the market and the key movers and shakers you’ll become more empowered and have more knowledge about the industry you are in or looking to move into.
9. Blog Blog and Blog again or tweet whatever works, but keep it relevant and up to date. Try becoming a spokesperson for you industry by tweeting your thoughts on particular discussion points that are relevant. Show your personality but no swearing and keep it clean!
10. Finally embrace the new brand “You” get your professional sites and CV out there – Promote yourself on twitter, Facebook and add all your professional sites onto you CV when you are sending it out. Let the world know how amazing you are!

“Have a plan, Know yourself, Stay in the Zone”

Go get them tiger!

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Why Hire YOU?

Job markets are tough at the moment…and the good jobs are becoming harder to find and secure.. you need to make your CV stand out! Something that will literally jump out and put you to the top of the interviewers list.

It’s never been more crucial to create a CV that perfectly advertise you and how awesomely amazing you are. Short, sharp and well-presented.

1. Market yourself…only you really know how fantastic you are, and if you are not good at pointing these things out then speak to you friends and colleagues and ask them to tell you what they think is so awesome about you! An ego boost and a great CV starter all in one!
2. Tailoring to a tee… Most people have one CV that they send to every job. Also you may say this is
3. Profile yourself.. and where better to start than your own profile. Don’t use sweeping ‘I’m great’ statements, anyone can do that, really think about why you make a good employee, manager, board member and promote that.  Remember most employers scan CVs in 15 seconds.. if you haven’t already grabbed their attention then the profile is where to do it!
4. Spell Check, Spell Check, Spell check.. Typos or bad grammar are one of the first turn-offs for anyone reading your CV. This should be something you have spent time on and want to promote your skills, typos and grammar show that you’ve not really focussed on the finer points and really checked what you have collated! Not a good start!
5. Package up your CV so that it sells you. Make it easy to read, succinct with relevant information (and leave out anything inappropriate such as photos of you on holiday! Yes we’ve seen it all!) Use bullet points and line breaks that make the CV as easy to read as possible. Don’t use Text ‘Speak’ but do show your personality in a professional manner.
6. Don’t lie on your CV – you will have to support everything on your CV at some point and at interview you want to be focusing on the positive points of your abilities not trying to remember what you have actually put on it! You are fantastic at what you do, why do you need to lie about it! Be 100% honest!
7. Don’t copy someone else’s CV! Be your own person a true original! By all means use a template to get you started but write the content fresh, really think about what you do and have faith in your abilities. Make sure you are consistent in your writing – if you are writing in the third person make sure you do it throughout.
8. Don’t use a referee unless you have their permission and they are someone senior enough to give you the right reference.
9. Before you start sending out your CV – think about your social media profile – all the sits you use or may be quoted on. De-tag yourself from any compromising photos online, deleting any dodgy comments or quotes. If you are not sure you have everything google yourself and reshape your online profile! The last thing you want is to be blacklisted because of something online!
10. Most importantly Never ever underestimate the power of you. You are amazing and someone who hires you will be adding value and a great individual to their team. Brim with confidence, get out there and make your CV work for you!

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Guide to Interviewing – Part Ten – and finally …What are interviewers really looking for?

The following factors are assessed most frequently during interviews:

• Enthusiasm
• Good personal appearance
• Pleasant first impression
• Prepared for the interview – has researched the position in the company
• Honesty and moral standards
• Motivation
• Oral communication skills
• Leadership potential
• Emotional stability
• Long-range plans and objectives formulated
• Poise during interview
• Realistic salary expectations
• Relevant work experience
• Good educational record
• Interest in people
• Self-confidence
• Use of initiative
• Willingness to travel
• Written skills

These are not in order of importance as this ultimately depends on the job description and the personal profile.

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The Talent’s still here and fully engaged!

So day two it is and I wonder how Talent 2012 can improve on yesterday’s event… but these thoughts are very quickly cleared as I am thrown full-on into the day! The team at @osneymedia and everyone involved in the organising of Talent 2012 have really pulled all the stops out (and even rolled out an amazing breakfast with my favourite juice-shots and pastries to boot!! (I am easily pleased!!)

Today’s keynote speakers and panelists are yet another esteemed list of HR & Business Executives from a multitude of super focused businesses with some amazing words of wisdom and thought-provoking discussions that sprung a number of off-centre conversations and group discussions;

• David Taylor, Founder of The Naked Leader
• John Leathem, Leadership Development Director of Ford Retail
• Nick Halder, Leaning & Development of Fidessa
• Christian Horne, HR Operations Director, Western Europe of Diageo Plc
• Dominic Mahony, Client Services Director of Lane4
• Stephan Thoma, Director, Global L&D of Google
• Peta Hay, Group Resource Director of Tesco Plc
• James Rule, Head of Talent Technology of Thomson Reuters
• Heini Lahtela, HR Director of Nokia
• Ronan Emmett, Global HR Director, Talent Management of Schneider Electric
• Jorge Aisa Dreyfus, Global Head of Learning, Talent, Resourcing & OD, Global Businesses & Products of HSBC Bank
• Peter-Andries Albrecht, Director, Talent Management & Organisation Development of VP corporation – EMEA
• Roel Lambrichts, Director, Talent Acquisition of Coca Cola Enterprises 
• Shari Casey, Senior Manager, Learning & Development EMEA of Expedia

Today’s focus has been on leadership, learning & development, future proofing organisational change, growing talent to a world-class status within your business (what ever size it may be), how to bread creativity in the workplace, developing you employer branding to achieve our business goals.

Truly inspirational speakers and panelists who have really dug deep into our skills crisis’ and looked at how we can solve these issues through strategic workforce planning and talent management. Its been amazing!

So if you ready this and weren’t able to attend or just hadn’t heard of Talent before… nows the chance to register for future seminars and conferences and really get involved.

I promise you it will be time well spent and you’ll take so many ideas away with you and have the chance to network with key peers and executives.

So what are you waiting for… get registered the next events are just around the corner!

The next event to think about:

Check out the Talent here!!!

It’s not often I get to sit in a room full of engaged, forward thinking, truly focussed senior level executives fuelled by coffee and grapefruit-juice shots listening to amazingly passionate professionals discussing talent!….

But then I guess Talent 2012 isn’t run every day!!  (Mores the pity! We love it!)

As one of the amazingly talented media sponsors (biased!!) that works with the team @osneymedia to help deliver the message about #talent 2012, I was pleasantly surprised at how committed everyone involved was about the ‘Talent Revolution’ and how engaged the delegates and speakers  were.  It’s so refreshing to see CEO and board level speakers embracing the need for positive leadership, management that focuses on the ‘human’ element of Human Resources rather than just the resource.  

It’s encouraging to see HR Directors who are taking on board and in some cases already seeing the benefit of  getting talent right.  the need for ensuring they support and develop their talent at all levels from the ground up to their champions – leaving them feeling empowered, trained and energised about their jobs and involved with the business! After all as HR professionals we all know it’s the people who make our businesses tick!

The distinguished speakers and panelists for day one read like a list of red carpet business professionals;

• David Taylor, Founder of The Naked Leader
• Jonathan Polin, Group CEO of Ashcourt
• Rowan Jonathan Yates, CEO of Guardian Financial Services
• Ian Ryder, Deputy CEO of BCS The Chartered Institute for IT
• Simon Jones, MD Electrum Services Ltd
• Arvinder Dhesi, Director, Talent & Organisation Towers Watson
• Karen Bailey, Head of Competence Development, Volvo Trucks UK & Ireland
• Edsom Hato, Global Head Leadership Acquisition & Onboarding, ING
• Bank Richard Pibworth, VP HR for Samsung Electronics Europe
• Anna Lees, Talent Development Director EMEA for The McGraw-Hill Companies
• Dr. John Mahoney-Phillips Head of Talent Strategy & Performance, Nomura
• Phil Merrell, Director, Change Management for Towers Watson
• Dr Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice for London Business School
• Rebecca Harvey, Director Global Talent Programmes, TL&OD CoE, GSK

… Phew!!! And that’s just day one!!!

Its like open heart Surgery into the world of strategic workforce planning and talent management, across a multitude of industries and businesses, an event where you can roll your sleeves up and completely immerse yourself in the day or sit on the side-lines and digest the information as you need. There’s no pressure to get involved but I found myself compelled to, purely because of how interactive and on topic everyone in the room was. Roundtable and panel discussions mixed with keynote speakers and plenty of audience partIcipation, topped with a delicious breakfast of pastries, fruit, tea, coffee and my favourite the grapefruit-juice shots AND an amazing selection of buffet food at the networking lunch AND to top it off a super-smooth Drinks Reception hosted by Towers Watson.  We were all very well looked after! Thumbs up to everyone involved in the co-ordination of the day superb!

An amazing line up for tomorrow is also planned, if you’re not there to see it then stay posted for my blog update.

In the almighty words of one of my favourite quotes:

“You have to be in it to win it” 

I have to admit the event was well worth spending my time on today and I would recommend it to anyone in the HR, Engagement or Executive field looking for like-minded professionals who can really add-value and get your grey matter working!

If you haven’t ever heard about Talent 2012 or any of the other events Osney Media so professionally put together then take a few seconds to have a look www.osneyhr.com/talent. If you are in business you can’t afford not to develop your talent, and this conference certainly supports best practise but also gives you the opportunity to meet, discuss and network with the very best in the HR and talent industry but also the most progressive and forward thinking business Executives you will probably ever get together in one room!

So what are you waiting for…

“Get involved! Get your people happy, retained and engaged!”