Sirona Says

The 10 things Employers HAVE to understand about recruiting staff

As an employer, you don't want to be reading this list, but you HAVE TO READ IT!! It is what the recruitment market is like currently, and if you don't take these points on board then you will have bigger problems that you think, when it comes to recruiting your own staff!! Reality hurts sometimes, and for some companies, who stick their heads in the sand it will end up being very painful indeed!! So, here are my 10 things that employers have to understand about the recruitment market place:

• Candidates receive multiple offers. You must understand what your prospective candidates are really looking for and sell your company and your opportunity accordingly. Candidates will have more than your offer to choose from, make it count.
• Nearly all candidates will receive a counter-offer from their current employer. Be aware and offer a good package or you simply won't get that second chance!
• Past employers return like sharks. They wait for you new employee to have been there 1-2 months and return with another counter offer and a 'is it really what they told you?' approach.
• Recruitment agencies are also sniffing for blood. A fact of employment life is that your good staff WILL be getting calls from recruiters, looking to prise them from your company. Ignore this fact at your peril.

'Superheads' - THE most important Talent Managers?

There has been much debate about the pay of Head Teachers, especially with the news that 'Superheads' - managing large grammar schools - should expect to earn circa £200k for the work they do. So, what is the problem here, and why are so many people so shocked?

We have a 'talent crunch' (sounds better than talent shortage doesn't it!) occurring at the moment that will only get worse over the next few years. The school population is absolutely key to employers over the next few years. Everyone goes on about generation Y and generation Z, and how they are going to deal with them, but they are already being managed now - in the Schools!Head Teachers and 'Superheads' are managing our future talent for us - no one to my knowledge has yet to define how old talent is - and with 'Superheads' managing schools with as much as 1500 pupils + staff in (that's alot of potential talented people!), why shouldn't be rewarded with a market applicable salary? If you were a CEO of a 1500 strong company I would like to bet your salary would definitely exceed £200k anyway!!

The aptly named Mr Ed Balls - the Labour Schools Secretary - should be applauded (just for a change) for trying to ensure that these important Talent Managers stay within education. (Now Mr Balls, can you set about the rest of the education system please!!!!)

First the McDiploma, now a Tesco Degree....what next a BA with BA?

The big companies are finally realising that there is such a lack of interested talent in the job market, that 'growing your own' is the way to solve their future talent management problems. McDonalds were one of the first, creating their own McDiploma's, and Tescos have gone one step further and have developed their own 'every little (graduate) helps'  foundation degree.

I have to say that I think these are great initiatives going forward, but will it now become a pre-requisite for their competitors to match them and start their own qualifications? So what could be next around the corner?

A degree in Pocket Tapping (Asda if you are wondering)

Its not just any degree it is an M&S Degree

Try something new this September, try a Sainsburys degree

Or outside of retail, you could go for a BA with BA

I am sure you can be creative with some others!!

Let me explain more with a video...

Some of you may have seen the yellow graphic in the sidebar to the left, some of you may even have linked through to the site as well. Jobinablog.com is a forward thinking website aimed at SME companies who fail to use their own website to recruit staff (shame on you!). Of course they are happy to moan about the fact that they can't recruit staff, but they never do anything about it. So last year I combined the idea of this opportunity, with the power of the blog to create Jobinablog - I call it a career site with a difference. So for an easy explanation I have produced a video presentation explaining how it works in a very easy way!! Here goes:

By the way, how do you like the Kyte interface - I like it and it's a bit different!

The Chicken or the Egg - the recruiters dilemma!

In a business world where communication is key, via websites, blogs, newletters, RSS feeds etc, recruiters are now more accountable than ever - not just to the companies that they provide a service for but also for candidates that they are interacting with every day. I therefore have a a nice question for all you recruiters out there that will get you thinking........ "Do you know who your clients are?"

In a sweepingly broad statement, recruitment organisations sit in two camps;
1. Client Driven (ie retained search). Specific targeted recruitment, aimed at finding well defined candidates. The clients engage the recruitment company and pay fees up front for this method (usually anyway!).

2. Candidate Driven (contingency | success only recruitment). Much larger volume based recruitment where it is focused on finding roles for the candidates. Payment is only forthcoming when the right candidate is found by the recruitment company.

So far you, as a recruiter can at least define which 'camp' you sit in. I think you would agree that in 1, the company that have engaged you are definitely your client. But with 2, is it the candidates you are working for or the companies who have vacancies that are your clients?

Just to muddy some waters here, just add to the mix the level of direct recruiting that is now going on with companies. They have been slowly (way too slow in many cases in my humble opinion!!) building their own direct resourcing capabilities, with the creation of Talent Pools of candidates interested in working for their companies. This change of focus has also been driven by the candidates themselves. Due to the level of information, career sites, Google, newletters etc candidates (especially the Y and soon to be Z generations - the employees of the future))  now actively target companies they want to work for themselves. They don't wait for recruitment companies to come knocking on their door with 'suitable' vacancies, they go and find these vacancies themselves.

So as a recruiter, who is more important to you - the companies looking for staff, or the candidates looking for a new job? They are both clients - but which one is your client?

Remember the chicken or the egg question?

How can SME's improve their recruitment?

Last week a journalist from Making Money magazine asked me some questions about on the subject of how owner/managers of SMEs can improve their recruitment technique and locate the right people for their vacancies. One of the questions he asked, prompted some further thought from me (dangerous I know!).

Question: Recruiting can be time consuming and costly. What general advice would you give to SMEs about how they can improve their recruitment procedures and locate the people they need faster? 

This is a subject close to my heart, as I do work with SME's, consulting with them about this lovely subject called recruitment! I also wrote about this subject on this site aimed at SME's . Here are some of my thoughts on how SME's should go about recruiting staff in an practical and cost effective way. The first steps to do are:

Direct Recruiting: explore the channels

There is definitely some frustration with clients currently, with regards to the phrase 'direct recruiting'. While they are happy to moan about lack of candidates, expensive recruitment agencies and how tough it is to recruit staff, they don't want to seem to do anything about their moaning!!  They seem very happy to just continue as they are without looking at other options.  There are of course companies that are creative with their recruitment and it is usually around implementing direct recruiting strategies.

Just to highlight that direct recruiting isn't as daunting as some people think, I have produced a guide called Direct Recruiting: 5 Top Tips for Success to demonstrate that using different channels can really add value to recruiting staff directly. It provides tips on using five different direct channels to hire staff.

How to say, "I like you" without even speaking a word

Getting it right will win you business, but get it wrong and you can kiss that deal goodbye! What am I going on about? simple really, body language. This follows on from my previous post, and shows you all the positive and negative indicators that will show you where you need to improve, before you go into that 'big meeting'. Positive body language is all about how you make other feel. The most 'attractive' people in a room know how to make everyone else feel attractive and interesting, but the converse is unfortunately also true! Body language centres around clusters of gestures and expressions. These patterns of movement can be most revealing and show our true inner feelings. Test yourself - imagine the most recent meeting and see whether you are more positive or negative when it comes to other people.

Here are the positive body language movements that say "I like you"  - it will also tell you if they're interested in you as well.

Are you a sloucher, a baboon or just plain pushy?

I recently wrote a post about handshakes and their meanings, that attracted an incredible amount of interest, so I thought I would continue this theme. We all meet people everyday, whether it be candidates, colleagues, clients or or even prospective employers. We usually get just one chance to make that impression, and while many people focus on what needs to be said, there needs to be equal attention paid to your body language. Whether you are a blinker, a sloucher, a baboon or simply pushy, you need to aware of the characteristics that you are showing physically. This post deals with the body language we all use every day - some good, some bad! My other post on this subject shows the positive and negative indicators of body language.

There are ten main areas, defined by Robert Phipps that will identify your own body language and what you should be doing to make that right impression.

The Seven Deadly Sins when applying for jobs

Both HR professionals and recruiters are busy people and haven't got time to act as a nursemaid / psychologist / English teacher etc when reviewing CV's for a role. You get one opportunity when applying for jobs, so you want to make absolutely sure that you get it right.
What you don't want to do is to commit one of the seven deadly sins below when it comes to applying for jobs!!