It's Talent, Stupid!

Good Work...thank you Gregor...IT Salary Survey

Love the web, love the network it creates and how we can bring info in an instant to people.

On this very note, a cool guy, Gregor , has kindly sent us something one of his clients has done, thought it might be useful to some of you...

The recruitment company are called Langley James, don't know them but if Gregor rates them and they do cool stuff like this, they must be OK!

Hope it helps and thanks Gregor.

Cheers

R

Are Recruitment Companies Dead Men Walking?

Short blog, as writing on my iPhone, more of a series of questions actually...

What do recruitment companies need to look like in the future?

% based fees are pants, bear no relation to work done or value of the hire...can we carve these up differently?

Chemistry's value is our
candidate relationships and our ability to predict future performance, is charging for placements the most relevant way of generating revenue? Is there another way?

That's what I'm thinking about, I'll blog some ideas on answers shortly.

Would love to hear from anyone else...

Thanks

R

Question - Generation Y, are they in job shock?

I love this question...partly because i am too old to be Generation Y, so I get a chance to have a pop at the "freeloading, debt ladened, never did a proper O level, want everything "the way they like it", job-hopping, disloyal, eco-warrior, Web 2.0 and chlamydia happy layabouts...".

I actually don't believe any of that (although the Chlamidya bit might be a statistical fact, as is the O Level bit).  The truth is generation Y, whilst not particularly looking for a "job for life" like our parents or grandparents did, are as loyal to an employer as our grandparents.  It is just the employer needed and needs to fulfill a different type of loyalty criteria, whilst the route to Generation Y's loyalty might be more individual and slightly more complex to understand (although for most it is about people, i.e. the people I work with), their loyalty is no less sticky.

So in answer to the question will Generation Y have to now start compromising on what they are looking for from employers? My answer is, if you are the company asking the question, you have lost...give in, go home.  Generation Y are generally interested in things that in today's economy matter, working with great people, social impact of their work (your company), innovating and pushing, breaking down barriers, disrespecting traditional ways of doing things and hierachy...to survive in this distributed society of ours, we need to embrace those things Generation Y'ers insist on...they are the twittering, facebooking, network creating indviduals informing the (your) customer and market.  So no, companies need to market hard for the very best of Gen Y talent and the very best of Gen Y talent need not compromise, for if they do, they will be joining the wrong company for them!

BTW, I think companies should market hard for all Talent, but this article was about Gen Y, (Didn't want to be accused of favouring the young :-))

Footnote - A Market Observation (Jobhopper Backlash)

More than one employer, is now looking for a "solid" time at a company...given the average job tenure is 2 years and 3 months, they are kinda whistling in the wind.  However they are persistent, valuing loyalty above the constantly fast climbing job hopper.  It is no longer cool to be the guy/gal who flitted through several companies, raising your salary and responsibilities on the way. Delivery is the key factor.

R

Question - Is it now a buyers/employers market?

Answer: NO!

I can only answer as I do in all these blogs for the professional market place.  In this arena it's still a candidate market.  The truth is most organisations are still involved in a phoney war for talent (see my post War For Talent), this means they are all after the same "type" of candidate, what we are seeing is a rise in the total number of candidates but not in the "employable type" candidates...therefore perversely the market will get more candidate driven, as the percentage of these candidates in the general pool will overall get smaller, weird but already true!  FACT: We are getting candidates who have more than one offer more frequently in the last 8 weeks than we have at any other time...

In fairness to corporations they are also getting smarter about how they hire, the good ones (C&W, O2, LexisNexis et al) will constantly scout the market for talent and make way for it...in this instance this hiring is completely candidate driven.

Until organisations and recruitment companies have no better way of articulating an individuals suitability for a job beyond the evidence of what someone has done, (experience, CV, academics) it will always be a candidate driven market, because the War will still exist.  Unlocking the data on what someone is capable of doing (i.e. their potential) is the route to creating an employer/buyers market.

BTW, Chemistry has the key, i love talking about it so contact me and i'll share :-)

R

Talent Management - gimmick of an upbeat economy?

So as usual I have found my inspiration from a possible magazine article.  The question they pose is, this: Is Talent Management just something to be done by companies when there is money flowing around and is now irrelevant as most people will be glad to just have a job?

Well the answer is YES and NO.  YES because the reality is that as soon as a recession bites 9 out of 10 companies start slashing budgets, usually HR and Marketing in that order, so money tends to be taken out of the people and the brand...when's that a cool idea?  NO because Talent Management should absolutely be the key to surviving through the rough times.  Having your best people, play in the best positions to help the company through has to be the right way to do it.  Your best people will know where to save money, where to invest money and above all who the other best people are who can help!

However Talent Management has been hijacked by fancy recruitment rubbish, like SecondLife and other digital media tools.  Talent Management is NOT some fancy employee engagement gimmick or a wizzy technology enabled talent database...IT IS NOT ANY OF THESE THINGS, SAVE YOURSELF THE MONEY!!!!! PLEEEAAASSSEEEE!

Talent Management is an attitude, an attitude which has to come from the top of the organisation.  In it's simplest form it can be an organisation who just knows it's people, where to play them, how to reward them and when to let them go...now in it's more complex form...no bollox to more complex, i want to see a company just do the basics right...if you know any let me know, 'cos i dont!

R

Best Practice Recruitment...what is it?

So, we've been looking at doing an article for a magazine on what is Best Practice Recruitment. Put simply it is the matching of the right candidate with the right job.  Let me be clearer, from a corporations side it is the hiring of an individual who will add significant value to the organisation in their time with them.  From an employee's perspective it is joining a company that fulfills their work and personal ambitions.  The lack of Best Practice Recruitment costs the UK economy dearly, estimates put the cost of managing poor hires at over £24 Billion (Future Foundations Report).  Brad Smart believes the cost of mishiring to be 14X the employees base salary, the CIPD between 4-6X, whatever the number it is huge!  Furthermore only 4% of Global Organisations believe they have "best in class talent management" (Bersin & Associates), therefore best in class recruitment.  Added to this we know at Chemistry that current recruitment methodologies are only 25% accurate in predicting the future performance of new hires.  This means that 75% of hiring is wrong!  The conclusion has to be that Best Practice Recruitment is scarce bordering on non-existent!

For all those that haven’t yet experienced Best Practice Recruitment, here is an explanation...we call it Predictive Assessment:

The starting point, Defining the Need, frequently organisations start hiring with no clear definition of what they are looking for, actually many start without a job description!  Remember the job description is merely a list of responsibilities and tasks, i.e. a set of experiences.  Important Note: Experience is the least reliable predictor of success for your new hire, so note it but don't rely on it!  Focus your time working out what are the key factors of an individual that will make them successful in their role.

Use this model as the basis for your definition:

 

The job description fits in with the last box.  For the other items, such as "strong work ethic", "can cope with change", "creative"...think where else these fit.  The chances are your most important criteria will fit in to Values and Motivations and a bit of Behaviour (trust us, they always do).

The reason this model is the core of Best Practice Recruitment is that Intellect, Values & Motivations are intrinsic traits, we don't change them, therefore these are the most important bits of an individual when judging whether they will be successful. If the organisation values something you don't then you won't be able to perform, no matter what skills you have learnt.  Motivated people happen when their motivation and values match those of the organisation.

The other important box is Behaviours, good news is that these can be developed and this is where you can take someone who is not the finished article and finish them :-)

So define what you are looking for using the 5 box model, then measure your potential candidates using your definitions.

The measurement can be achieved using psychometric tools, behavioural or competency based interviewing and of course the old trusted chronological CV based interview.

So you will have a definition of what you are looking for and a profile of each candidate...the matching is now over 75% accurate.

This way of "matching" has a number of benefits:

1. The candidate receives a "rich" experience and will feel they have earnt the role.  Research suggests that candidates are more likely to accept a role they believe has properly assessed their compatibility, good candidates, enjoy a robust process.
2. The manager receives far more data to make their hiring decision with, they will therefore make the decision faster and with more confidence and will believe the candidate will succeed because they have made a better decision, lo and behold they do succeed :-)
3. The process is fair and equitable for all.  It is also objectively measurable, ticking all of the diversity requirements you may have.  For example in one technology organisation this process moved their percentage of female employees in their workforce from 8% to 41% in just one year...it ensured the best candidates got the roles not the ones that looked like the current line managers!
4. By focusing your attention to areas other than experience it broadens the potential number of people you can source from, Best Practice Recruitment fundamentally breaks the notion of a "War for Talent", the talent pool is now wide, varied and deep!

Of course the "matching" is only one element of best practice recruitment.  Other key elements include:

Candidate Communication - This is frequently the downfall of all recruitment, Best Practice Recruitment sets the expectations for the candidate in how they will be communicated to and then delivers on them.  The worst crime of all is not giving the candidate any feedback when they have gone through the process, always give them feedback.

Candidate Sourcing - Best Practice Recruitment delivers cost effective recruitment, the cheapest and most accurate way of hiring is by referral.  It demonstrates you are delivering a great experience.  A measure of Best Practice Recruitment should be the %age of hires from referral!

Speed of Turnaround - Get those offer letters and contracts out fast!

Induction - That first day can completely ruin your entire recruitment experience, make sure that first day is sensational

Best Practice Recruitment is therefore an entire experience. What it is not is a flashy website or a cool web enabled database or a Virtual Second Life Job Fair or an applicant tracking system...it truly is none of these things, don't spend your money on them until you have a process that at it's core delivers two things:

1. A process that matches the right candidate to the right role, so that the organisation and the individual can be mutually successful
2. A process that communicates consistent, reliable and quantifiable data to all stakeholders (candidates, line managers, HR et al) in a timely and efficient manner, i.e. All parties do exactly what they said they would do, when they said they would do it

Sounds great, doesn't it!

R

Playing to our strengths - No. 2 in sales recruitment here we come!

Blimey, this running your own business lark is a tumultuous affair...over the last 5 years we have evolved as a business, continuously striving to meet ever changing customer needs.

Part of this process is looking at yourself closely and deciding what you are really good at? Why do people value you? And where do you truly delight customers (in our case candidates and clients)...well after a bit of self evaluation and questioning of our clients we have made the decision that:

1. We are bloody good at hiring sales people, seriously good...we are the only recruitment company who truly knows what "great" sales people look like, we have 5 years of research on the subject...on this we know our onions.
2. Clients like LexisNexis, C&W, Yell, The CarbonNeutral Company and Novartis value us because we know what "great" sales people look like.
3. We know we truly delight our candidates and clients when we focus on them and their needs and deliver against an expectation, by focusing purely on sales we give ourselves the time to focus on delivering a breakthrough level of service...lovely :-)

There is a market reason too.  The way we see it Michael Page Sales are the biggest player in sales recruitment (draw your own conclusion on them) and then below this is, well nothing...BMS, CD Sales Recruitment and some medium sized regional players possibly.  But no-one who is 75% accurate in predicting the future sales performance of hires.  We see huge opportunity to the be the 2nd largest player by volume to MP Sales and the No.1 by quality (we now what position we value more)...now there's a mission :-)

So that's it,Chemistry Recruitment are the only recruitment company who are over 75% accurate in predicting the future sales performance of new sales hires.  Our hiring methodology is proven to reduce the first year attrition in new sales hires (always the biggest cost in sales force opex) and increase the sales performance (always the biggest lost opportunity for top line growth).

Don't know about you but i am beyond excited!

R

Candidates guide to Recruitment in 2009

It seems every candidate (and nearly every client) has one question on their lips..."what's the market like?".  OK, so it's like this, if you are a candidate the number of jobs in the market place is decreasing (slightly), if you are a client the number of candidates is increasing rapidly and if you are a recruitment agency, you'd better have some value to bring your clients!

Quite good really, the truth is the recruitment market in the UK is a £26Bn a year business, REC (The Recruitment & Employment Confederation) are predicting a 20-30% shrinkage of the market...that's still a £18.2Bn market at worst.  This implies there will still be jobs for candidates and unfortunately still a market to support a lot of poor recruitment agencies (ah well you can't have it all...maybe not quite as many though).

As a candidate you do need to sharpen your game and think hard about how you will get your next job.  Referral and networking is by far and away the most efficient way and we are seeing a lot of clients using tools such as LinkedIn (if you are a candidate, get on it and build your profile to 100% now!) and doing a lot more direct advertising.  If you are going to use recruitment agencies, please do not register with every man and his dog, call a few, meet a few but work with the people you like.  Truth is most recruitment agencies are rubbish, however you will find a few great consultants who don't see you just as a walking fee. (My God here is an awful story, I was told by a client that she had been offered 2 candidate placements for the price of 1 last week.  F$@k me, candidates are now being sold in BOGOFs like cans of beans! These are human lives we were dealing with!). 

Qualify the recruitment agency, ask them outright "do you think you can help me? It's OK if you can't I just want to use my time effectively".  Make sure you work with the ones who can help you and don't spend time chasing those who can't or who just don't want to.

Take time to revisit that CV, hone it...get your achievements screaming out of the page (ditch the god awful summary at the top that tells us you are inspiring, motivating etc.).  Get your education at the top, if you haven't got one, no matter, but please don't list a long trail of qualifications that add up to nothing, skills in WordPerfect were probably useful 20 years ago but now it reads like a filler.  Do NOT USE Word templates, format your CV to be unique, a reflection of you.  With the number of CV's rising, the human beings that read them are switched off by the same old boring Word format.

Make sure your last job/current job's responsibilities and achievements make it on the first page and keep the whole thing to 2 pages, 3 if you must, but it probably won't be read.

You are not going to want to hear this but this is how most agencies work.  They look at:

1. Your education, bottom line most of the time Graduates get priority
2. Location - does it fit with the jobs they have
3. Age (this is not to see if you are old) they are looking to see if your career progression fits with your age, if you are 50 years old and a territory sales representative the agency is going to struggle getting an interview...50 and a Sales Director or in a position of seniority they will look more kindly on you.  Bottom line is if you are 30 and a Sales Director your phone will ring off the hook.  It's there, you can't ignore it.  If you don't put your D.O.B on the CV they will work it out from your school leaving or graduation date.  If it were me, I'd save the hassle and stick my D.O.B. on the CV.  Bottom line is I turn 38 this year and I know for a premier league footballer I am finished and for a candidate I may be pushing it to stay in the squad.
4. Blue chip company, who are you working for? Do they know them, do you compete with a client?
5. What have you done? Chances are if you are selling in a B-B environment you will get called about B-B selling jobs, lateral thinkers most recruitment consultants are not.  It's not their fault they are paid to play closest to the fee and put in as little effort as possible.  Putting you as a candidate in a box is the most effective way of doing this.

That's it, it doesn't get more complicated than that.  So to cut through the crap, give them what they want up front and then qualify whether they can help you or not, keep it simple. 

If you are going to post your CV on job boards, keep refreshing it, agencies are now just searching the most recent posts.  Make sure you accurately fill in salary and skills data, a lot of agencies have Indian outsourcing companies doing their searching. These companies use very strict rules when searching the databases, they do not do broad thinking, rather sticking to strict criteria. Attention to these details is important.  If you do post your CV on a job board, include your contact details, don't block agencies from calling you, rather qualify hard when they do.  If it's not right for you be crystal clear you do not want the opportunity.

This is an important point, a lot of agencies are getting desperate (2 for 1 is a sure sign of desperation) that means there is more chance an unscrupulous consultant is going to use your details in a manner you may not want them to.  Be crystal clear with them, if you don't have enough information on the job tell them to NOT send your CV, be firm, leave the call with the consultant clear on what YOU want the action to be.

Of course this could all be nonsense and I am sure it's going to upset recruitment agencies but I have been doing this now for 17 years with time spent both agency and client side.  I know what a great agency looks like and does and I also know what the majority do.  If I were a candidate I would work with people I like agency side but this would be few, I would focus most of my time on referring and actively supporting and nurturing my personal and business network.  Hiring in these times can not be left to chance and most companies given a solid referral candidate would take them over a candidate supplied by an agency, fact.

Of course Chemistry are one of the few I would work with, with 80%+ of our hires made via our referral network, we practice what we preach :-)

Hope this has helped some candidates (and if it has annoyed some agencies then that's a bonus).

R

“HR Business Partner” – another great idea flayed to the bone by mediocre business leaders

This is Simon here, Roger’s partner in crime/business (delete as appropriate – Ed). AND big news, it’s my birthday next week!

So what should I wish for? An economic upturn? Lower carbon emissions? Derby County to win the league cup? (OK, it all seemed realistic until the last one!) Perhaps I should wish for all of these.

But what would I want for the world of business? What would have the most impact, create more value, make more people happy and successful?

Simple, it’s got to be about people.  People create all the value in business. They make the decisions, create and run systems and processes. They make mistakes, are rude to customers, buy too much stock. They amaze you with their ideas and ingenuity, they take on new markets and beat competitors in to submission.

And better than that, it has to be about the part of the business that should be driving people issues forward, helping managers to become better leaders and coaches, matching the business strategy to a people strategy etc etc.

And that group of people would be who? … erm, HR, and there’s the issue.

The challenge we have in business is that the most value creating resource for business would be a strategically relevant, driving and delivering HR team. A HR team aligned to the business, partnering with the business. Resolving people issues, yes, but way ahead of the game, driving talent investment and creating the most amazing resource a business can have - the best team in your market, motivated and co-ordinated.

Not a new vision. This one has been around since the mid 90’s when a guy named David Ulrich introduced it. The problem is that it has just not happened. HR has struggled to be connected to business in the way they and the business hopes for. But why?

Because in life you reap what you sow. We get the HR service we deserve. When I have seen great HR leaders and teams it is because the business has set them high expectations, has challenged them to create value, has given them space to do it, has measured their business impact, has recruited HR people who are more than administrators.  But most businesses don’t do that, in fact they do the opposite. How stupid is that?!

So what do I want for my birthday? Two things:
1.    I want business leaders to recruit HR teams full of people who want to make a difference to business, not just to survive. This might mean even having a number of people who have never even worked in HR before – salesmen, marketers, bakers!
2.    And I want business leaders to measure these HR teams on their business impact and quality. So of course, keep them to budget, have them drive through put, but for example in recruitment reward them for recruiting ONLY the right and best people, not just filling empty posts

Simple really.

Oh, and another thing, don’t feel you have to send me a card!

Cheers,
Simon Cooper

(Credit) Crunch Time for HR

We are all feeling the impact of the current economic climate, particularly those in HR. When it comes to tightening belts and cost-cutting, there are areas that we have control over, like redundancy, for example. However, in a climate where the budgets for keeping existing employees engaged (e.g. bonuses) are being squeezed to within an inch of their lives, top talent are getting itchy feet.

 

So, what are the major challenges? 1) Keeping your great people engaged via means that won’t cost an arm and a leg – Development, progression – Investment in them as people. 2) Selecting the right people to fill your vacancies, who are going to be a fantastic fit, bring real value and stick with you.

 

On the second point, HR and Recruitment Managers are spoilt for choice on candidates at the moment – There are plenty of people on the market…and more to the point, plenty of great people. After all, redundancy is not always ability-specific. So, rather than getting dizzy on choice, how do you continue to make objective, accurate decisions in a critical time, where you can’t afford to make hiring mistakes?

 

When I was working as an on-site recruiter, I remember the overwhelming and seemingly uphill struggle of having to wade through tens of CVs on a daily basis, let alone in a peak time of redundancy! I wondered how I could fairly de-select candidates who weren’t right, without having to spend 30 mins on the phone to them or 1 hour in a face to face interview.  For me, the solution was all about psychometric assessment. Perfect! I could create the template of the ideal candidate, arrange for applicants to complete the questionnaires in the comfort of their own home and make quick, educated decisions on who I should really spend my time interviewing. And, naturally, I knew that the people I decided to meet already had the raw ingredients to be top performers in the business.

 

Plus, the great thing about gathering so much information up front was that, for the people who came on board, I had some great conversation-starters around their own motivations and development areas. After all, everyone loves to talk about themselves and I know that a good coaching session will leave anyone feeling that they are being invested in!

 

Lest we forget in current times, bonuses aren’t the answer to keeping hold of the best talent – It has to be about getting the right people in the first place and continuing to invest in them as individuals.

Julia Pike