Talent Management

Go Get’em Tiger!!

Some people are just awesome… they never give up, they are committed and stubborn, they dream about doing or being something.  Some people are simply amazing… they think of no-one else other than others… they put themselves last on the list and they really are amazing.

I Quit!! – Why talent walks

Why does your best talent walk, when you have no clue they are about to???  Well the answer is easy, there are always clues, the question is are you really looking for them?

As a manager or boss you have a hard enough job keeping the team engaged directing them and helping them to develop on a day-to-day basis, as well as getting your own job done! So how frustrating when someone in your team or one of your colleagues resigns, you have to then look at replacing and picking up where they had left off, ensuring there is continuity in the role and the business.

If only you knew they weren’t happy!

Why did they resign? There are many questions you should ask: Is there a particular reason why they have resigned from the company? Understanding why people leave is perhaps the best way to managing attrition rates and ensure when you recruit in the first place you are hiring those that fit you culture and working environment.

Key reason (and there are many) why talent walks

• Salary! Everyone always thinks it’s about money – but in most cases it’s not!
• Lack of growth opportunities
• Headhunted for more money
• Dissatisfaction with salary (OK there are a few!)
• Dissatisfaction with job
• Internal Pay equity – differential between new and old employees
• Promotional Opportunities
• Team Cohesion
• Benefits provided aren’t on-par with competitors
• Over-Management
• HR Response to employees
• Favouritism
• Communication and Availability of management
• Workloads are to heavy
• Work environments and cleanliness
• Employees feeling their contributions aren’t being recognized.

It’s important as an employer that you ensure you support the key champions in your business and that strengthen your teams as much as possible.  There are many ways in which you can begin to do this:

1. One-to-one mentoring
2. Individual / team development
3. Inspirational leadership
4. Allowing them to take responsibility for their role.
5. Knowledge sharing
6. Investment in supportive tools (technology, back-up support etc…)
7. Shadowing
8. Rotational working (allowing everyone to sample each other’s daily responsibilities)
9. Career path planning
10. Formal training – competency development

As an employee it’s as much your responsibility to ensure you get the best out of your working day after all: “Work-life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through!” So make sure you:

1. Chose to be happy at work, if you going thinking you will hate it…guess what you will hate it!
2. Do something you love every single day
3. Take charge of your own professional and personal development
4. Take responsibility of knowing what is happening at work
5. Ask for feedback frequently
6. Don’t over commit yourself
7. Avoid negativity
8. Practise professional courage – professional conflict
9. Make friends
10. If in doubt search for a new job.

Foster and open working relationship with open dialogue to keep feedback flowing.  Don’t wait for yearly appraisals to give feedback!  (Read my blog “Appraisals – What’s not to like?” for more ideas)… and that means employees and the boss… everyone!

Use open questions when speaking to employees: “Hi How are you?” - “How is your project going?”.  If you think there could be an issue or someone may be considering resigning ”Do you have something to tell me?”

My final comment; If you are trying to keep someone working with you who has already resigned, you shouldn’t bother, it’s very unlikely that even if you do convince them to stay that they will be with you any longer than a few months… the reasons for leaving won’t change overnight. You should have read the warning signs and seen the issues before they arose.

If you liked this… that’s superb! if you want to read more Blogs check out our page @HRREV or join us on the HR Revolution 

Some inspiring Rules for Business Success!

We can all learn a great deal from the likes of Steve Jobs, he was not only an amazing inventor and designer who accomplished so much with Apple Inc, but also an amazing businessman.  His views on how business should function and more importantly how to get the best out of your talent should be listened to.. We can all learn a few lessons:

“People say you have to have passion for what you are doing and its totally true… You do the reason is that its so hard… and you don’t any rational person would give up.  Its really hard and you have to do it over a sustained period of time.  So If you don’t love it  and you aren’t having fun doing it ., you are going to give up

And that’s what happens to most people, if you really look at the ones that ended up being ‘successful’ in the eyes of society and the ones that didn’t, often it’s the ones that are successful loved what they did so they could perceiver when it got really tough and the ones that didn’t love it quit, because they are sane, who would want to put up with this stuff if it didn’t work, so it a lot of hard-work and a lot of worrying constantly and if you don’t love it you are going fail and that’s the high order bit… YOU’VE GOT TO LOVE IT.

The second thing you have got to be a really good talent scout, because no matter how smart you are you need really great team of people and you have to figure out how to size people up really quickly make decisions without knowing people to well, hire them and see how you do and refine your intuition and be able to help build an organisation which can eventually build itself because you need great people around you.”

A truly amazing minute and a half of inspiration!

Perhaps if we all listened more to the likes of Steve Jobs we really care become the leaders we aspire to be.

If you liked this… great… for more useful Blogs read on or check out our page @HRREV or join the HR Revolution 

Employee Engagement – How do you define and measure it?

Employers want employees who will do their best work or ‘go the extra mile’. Employees want jobs that are worthwhile and that inspire them.

There are many ways of looking at Employee engagement.

• Engagement is an employee’s choice
• Having pride in your employer is a proven driver of business performance
• Clear purpose and Direction
• Finding training and keeping employees instead of poaching talent from rivals
• Some organisations still find it quite daunting and don’t really know where to start,
• Making time for your employees
• Treating them fairly
• Making them feel valued in the business
• Facilitate and empower rather than control or restrict employees
• Employees day-to-day experience of work is most heavily influenced by their line manager

For companies looking to raise employee engagement the obvious starting point is to measure existing levels of engagement, but do we know what our employee engagement levels are and what they consist of? How do you measure something that isn’t tangible? From a practical point of view, if you can’t define precisely what it is that you are trying to measure how can you ever get an accurate result and a level to work from?

Engagement is not about driving employees to work harder but about providing the conditions in which they will work more effectively and releasing employees’ discretionary behaviour. This is more likely to result from a healthy work life balance than from working long hours. Engagement is wholly consistent with an emphasis on employee well-being: an essential element in contributing to that well-being.

Engagement is about positive attitudes, behaviours and relationships at work.

• 100 %Trust
• 100 % Confidence
• 100 % Pride in yourself and your employer
• 100 % understanding of business goals

As a business issue employee engagement is not an exclusive HR issue, although HR has a major role to play in implementing and managing it working with all areas of the business.

How you get there can take many guises and much time and positive effort and there are many ways in which HR can assist you in getting there.

But, however you look at Employee Engagement, whether your business and your line managers buy in to it or not the key to measuring and ensuring your employees are happy and positively engaged into your business is to keep them informed, keep the communication lines open and ensure that they have a good line of sight to where you are taking the business. The vision and plan of the business.

Engage and Boost Your Teams and your Business Performance

If you liked this… great… for more useful Blogs read on or check out our page @HRREV or join the HR Revolution 

Top 10 Selection Methods for Talent Management

In the fight to obtain and assess the right talent there are many ways in which employers chose to assess their potential employees. The top ten most used selection methods are listed below:

• 70 per cent Competency Based interviews
• 63 per cent Interviews following contents of CV/ Application Forms
• 56 per cent Structures interviews (Panel)
• 49 per cent Tests for Specific Job-Related Skills
• 43 per cent Telephone Interviews
• 38 per cent Literacy and/or numeracy tests
• 35 per cent Personality/Aptitude / Psychometric  Questionnaires
• 35 per cent Assessment Centres
• 25 per cent Pre=Application Elimination / Progression Questions
• 23 per cent General Ability Tests

Employer Branding has become more important this year and many clients have worked with us to look at how best to attract the right talent.

• Employee Surveys
• Developing Online Careers Site
• Introducing / Extending Flexible Working / Home Working
• Placement Students
• Graduate Career Fairs
• Working With Charities
• Corporate Sponsorship
• Introducing Sabbaticals
• Increasing Apprenticeships Schemes
• Increasing Use of Internships
• Sponsoring Students Through University

Along with many other online marketing initiatives that have helped increase their talent pools across the globe.

If you liked this… great… for more useful Blogs read on or check out our page @HRREV or join the HR Revolution 

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?

If you liked this… great… for more useful Blogs read on or check out our page @HRREV or join the HR Revolution 

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.

If you liked this… great… for more useful Blogs read on or check out our page @HRREV or join the HR Revolution 

Igniting your employees through change

A few people-centred thoughts to help aid business performance…

If your business is going through any type of change or restructuring a number of key elements hold true, none more crucial than inspiring individuals and teams to connect authentically with their audiences to deliver real results, strive for business excellence, focus on service delivery and emphasise quality rather than quality.

A few things spring to mind that if worked into a plan and delivered effectively, opening and honestly will help:

Awareness: Employees need to be aware of what’s happening around them, OK I get completely that they don’t need to know everything and normally that for their own good as they would worry without having any control, but none-the-less they need to be aware of what’s happening around then so that they can dig in a help the business where ever possible and can understand their part in the restructure. Senior Managers must deliver the right messages to the right people in the right way.

Self-Awareness: Employees need to be self-aware once they have the bigger picture of where they fit in they can work with what’s expected on them and even if they are one of the roles being restructured you will have commitment if you are honest with them and keep them in the loop with how and why the business is making changes.  Ensuring they know what they are experiencing is crucial.

Keep your values true: Personal and business values are key and the synergies between them.  By energising intention and desire, focusing on action and the reasons for that action you will get the best out of all involved.

Positive and honest delivery: As the manager delivering news to your employees, you must ensure you are positive and most importantly as honest as you can about what you are telling them. If you cannot tell them certain parts of the plan then don’t lie, tell them they are being finalised, keep them informed and make them feel you are on their side as this will really push the boundaries.

Ignite the flame inside: Make sure you keep the flame alight. By being honest and keeping positive with everyone you can keep everyone rolling.  1-2-1 and senior team coaching meetings can help to ask what are the priorities for the new business structure? What are the messages you are delivering and how are you doing that (Verbally, body languages and in written form). The plan, what will happen now and in the future?

Take Responsibility: When we truly accept, choose or take responsibility for our thoughts and our actions, commitment as employees rises and so does our performance. So by working across the business, inspiring employees to take on new responsibilities you can really help get things back on track. This can be rolled out in many ways by helping your teams know what they are, through creative role and responsibility surgeries and team synergy sessions. Also by providing the necessary support, recognising a need to change current thinking, feeling and behaviour and by up-skilling, ensuring individuals and teams know what messages they need to deliver and how… to colleagues, suppliers and clients.

Deliver this right and you have an inspired engaged team with an increased performance capability that will support the business through the good times and the bad. Deliver it wrong and you have what you already have! Your choice!

“Our thinking and our behaviour are always in anticipation of a response. It is therefore fear-based. We can choose to change it!” Deepak Chopra.

If you liked this… great… for more useful Blogs read on or check out our page @HRREV or join the HR Revolution 

Employee Induction – How to get the best out of their first 100 days!

The first 100 days during the induction of your new employee are the most important 100 days you will spend with them.  Your time to get the record set as to your expectations of them as an employee’s and their reward and recognition for being part of your fantastic team. You also get to find out what really makes them tick and learn where their key skills fit with the business and get to introduce them into the team. Get this right and you are half way to making the relationship you have with this employee as positive and productive as you can.

The higher the employee’s expectations of a new role, the greater the reality shock and the lower their job satisfaction and commitment, So getting it right is crucial.  Get it wrong and you could end up alienating yourself and the employee and waste 100 days of precious recruiting, assessment and on site working time.

To help you ensure this doesn’t happen I’ve put together a few tips that will give you pointers when you really need them:

1. Make sure you are prepped for their arrival – Do you know everything you should do about their background and experience, you will be able to find everything you need online. LinkedIn profiles, Facebook pages you name it the world is a very open place these days and you can use this to prep and make sure there are no surprises and then figure out where you can best utilise them within their role in the business.  Check references and make sure you are prepped with an orientation / induction plan to hand to get them settled into the business as quickly and easily as possible.  Making your new employee feel at home – no matter what position they are in the business – is crucial!
2. Keep them in the loop – A new employee should be someone you encourage conversation with.  Keep them in the loop from the minute they have accepted their offer to the moment they start with you.  The period of time between offer acceptance and start could still give other employers/recruiters the chance to offer but more importantly (as they should have had enough information to make sure the job is right before accepting) it gives you time to get to know and inform the new employee of as much as possible before they start.
3. Help them understand your culture – Your businesses culture and your employee brand is something you should be proud of and should ensure everyone is aware of and adopts. If your recruitment and assessment process has been successful and the candidate you have chosen for the role is the right person then they will settle into the culture well as you have selected someone who you know will already fit the culture of the business and the individual teams. There is still work to be done though making sure they fit well into the culture during their initial probationary period.
4. Introduce them to your champions – During the initial probationary period you will need to see how the new employee fits in, if they can do what they said they could do on the tin and if you feel there is potential going forward. Most managers will make their minds up in the first three months about someone’s potential, rightly or wrongly, consciously or unconsciously, by helping introduce them to the right people you can assist in making their initial three months beneficial. They can see how the champions in your business tick and get feedback from senior managers on expectations and business ideas and really learn as much as they can to make sure they have the best start possible.
5. Help them get up and running quickly – Make sure you have all your staff information to hand and that your new employee gets copies of everything.  Staff handbook, policies, procedures, rules and regulations that you expect them to work by.  The sooner they have them the quicker they can soak them up and not tread on the wrong toes. It is your responsibility as their manager to ensure they have everything explained in plain English so that they understand them.
6. Explain any red-tape areas and be open to new ideas – When your new employees starts its important to make sure they don’t upset the apple-cart and that they understand the processes in the business the people and the projects that are important and the toes not to tread on. BUT it’s also important to make sure that their ideas for the business have a place to be heard, with you, and that they understand you are open to any fresh new approaches they may have.  Those that are good and seen as worthwhile can be launched to the business once the new employee is settled into the business and their ideas can be accepted.
7. Help them to get out and network with the business – You hold the key to introducing your new employee to the people they need to know. They will obviously need to meet their team mates and those that they will come into contact with during their working week. But there is no reason why they can’t get to know more people across the business. Introduce them or give them as much information about the organisational chart and set up of the business as you can to help them settle in.
8. Help them to bond quickly – Liaise with your new employee and see where you can introduce them to areas in the business with problems that can be resolved by them, meaning they will bond quickly with the teams that have been having problems and they will also then feel part of the teams and their skills worthwhile. Motivate and encourage them to gain wins quickly in the business without becoming a one-hit-wonder!.
9. Monitor their Progress – Keep your eye on the new employee and check in to see how they are doing at regular intervals.  Make sure you have a one month catch-up which is officially the final catch up before they are reviewed at three months. This needs to be a time where you check if they are settled, have the contacts and information they need and are getting on OK.  Issues can be raised as they arise then rather than waiting for their three month appraisal to be told what they are potentially doing right or wrong.
10. Plan for their progression – Where are you hoping they will be in 3 to 5 years’ time, how do they fit within your business.  You will need to be vocal about your plans for them as their career grows within the business. But you do also of course need to be realistic and find out what makes them tick and what they really want to be doing within the business.  When you know you can fit the jigsaw together and come up with a plan of progression that fits for the business and the employee.

Always remember to stay focused and remove initial obstacles and achieve the best for your team, your business and most importantly the new employee’s initial introduction and future within it.  Build and structure the ‘A’ Team that you desire in the business takes your time, your commitment and your ability to spot the talent that you need!  An amazing team is the sign of an even more amazing boss!

If you liked this… great… for more useful Blogs read on or check out our page @HRREV or join the HR Revolution 

Just landed a new job? Here’s how to make the most of you first 100 days!

The first 100 days in a new job can be daunting and if things don’t go well then you won’t be happy in your new role and the team you are joining won’t get the benefit of your amazing talents.

According to jobsite.co.uk 20 per cent of people think the first day in a new job is the scariest and put it top of the list over some of life’s daunting challenges.  It’s natural to be scared of the unknown and once you are aware of what happens, who you are dealing with, and how day-to-day ticks you will naturally relax.

So I have put together a few tips that will help motivate you into getting the most out of your first few months within your new role:

1. Make sure you do your homework – Research the company before you even get to the first interview. Once you are offered research again, you’ll be surprised how much information there is on the internet – you’ll be able to find out key things about the business, the Directors and senior managers and even the teams. Soak up organisational charts and remember those names and faces that are important. The more prepped you are before you actually get there the quicker you can settle in and know who are the important people to introduce yourself to. Think special agent and learn everything you can.
2. It’s good to talk! – As the BT advert always told us … it’s great to talk and from the moment you get your offer you are ready to be employed. There is no reason why you cannot talk to your new employer from the time you accept your offer through to the day you start, suggest looking at handbooks, procedures or projects before you start so that you have an idea of the types of things you will be working on.  The more people you get to know the easier it will be for you to mould into the business. Use online pages to see you or your contacts know and get in touch.  Be careful not to over step the mark or look too keen but there’s no harm in getting in the picture.
3. Learn and settle into your new environment – Listen, watch, learn and ask intelligent questions.  Seek out those employees that are seen as champions in the business and those that are doing a good job. Unless you are someone who has joined the business to be completely business a maverick in your role, learn from these guys and adopt behaviours which are valued by the business.
4. Get to know the people that matter – Your mission should you accept it is to get to know all those people in the business that matter. Now that can be anyone from the Post Person to the MD those that can really help you get on in your role and those that will make the final decision throughout your probationary period as to whether you are the right person for the business.  Keep an open mind, don’t make any enemies and ensure you are careful with who you disclose information to. Some people in business are simply there to find and use information for their own benefits so keep an open mind. Positive thinking and focussed, business orientated contacts are great.  This is fresh start to let them get to know you slowly and become the professional that you really want to be.
5. Understand the rules of the game - You should have been given a staff handbook, policies, procedures and rules on how things work in the business. Although these are not the most exciting of documents to read they will give you an overview of what’s accepted in the business. The more you read, soak up and learn more quickly you will be able to conform to the rules and show your talents without getting into trouble!
6. Take care with your new ideas – I am sure as a new employee you have 101 new ideas in how to do things or have suggestions on how to tweak things for the better.  These are all fantastic traits and will be well received, but beware to launching them too early to the business or anyone in the team.  Get to know the teams and the business first so that you can ensure you are not treading on the toes of your colleagues.  Save your ideas until you have settled and worked out who is who in the business.  Once you have the respect from the teams and they know that you are not necessarily a threat to their projects or roles then you can launch your ideas and they should be well received.
7. Kick start your networking – Get to know as many people as you can.  Your induction and orientation into the business will introduce you to the teams and key contacts that you will work with, but you should really get to know as many people in the business as possible, especially if you are in a managerial role.  Get to know other departments, other teams and make contacts across the business.  Show interest in other peoples jobs and problems.
8. Solve people problems and find the quick wins – You are new, your ideas are new and you don’t want to tread on any toes, so make sure you look out for the areas where you can really help and get yourself a few quick wins along the way. These will help you bond with the teams and you can make a difference early on in your career. Don’t try and bulldoze in and make changes (unless that’s what you’ve been hired for of course!)  Find out the problems people are having and see if you can solve them or at least assist in helping.
9. Surfs up! –  By identifying an area in the business you can really make a difference in early you can catch the wave and show those in the know that your skills can really be useful in the business or on a particular project. Remember not to tread on toes, but utilise your contacts and really show them what you can do!
10. Plan your progression – Keep in mind your career progression, where would you like to be in 3 to 5 years’ time and keep this in mind as you work through your day to day role.  Keep one eye on how you will get there and use you appraisal and time with management to really speak your mind about the things you would like to do and the direction you would like to take (as long as those things are within the business’ remit). You are the only person that can get you to where you really want to be in the future. Your destiny is in your hands so get planning!

If you fail at your first try it’s not a bad thing, dig in and commit to your goals and try again…and remember – in the great words of Seth Godin “ A failure is a project that doesn’t work, an initiative that teaches you something at the same time the outcome doesn’t move you directly closer to your goal.  A mistake is either a failure repeated, doing something for the second time when you should have known better, or a misguided attempt (because of carelessness or selfishness) that hindsight reminds you is worth avoiding.  We need a lot more failures, I think. Failures that don’t kill us make us bolder, and teach us one more way that won’t work, while opening the door to things that might.  School and training confuses us, so do bosses and families. Go ahead, fail. Try to avoid mistakes, though.

If you liked this… great… for more useful Blogs read on or check out our page @HRREV or join the HR Revolution