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“Keep it simple and clear, keep close to the important things and be true to your values” Martin Farrow, CEO at Optalis talks to us about Leadership in 2019.

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In order to successfully inform and inspire business leaders of the future, we have been interviewing CEOs across a variety of industry sectors. Martin Farrow of Optalis is our most recent guest. As an individual who has spent time in a variety of Leadership roles in the corporate world, Martin’s views on leadership are influenced by his experiences and make for insightful advice for those looking to lead people in the future. How do you view your role as a leader? “The role of a leader can be split in three ways; the first is establishing the direction of travel.  It’s important to do that inclusively, you can’t just email the strategy out – people need to be engaged and involved from the get-go. The second is to ensure you have great people on board who are inspired to do amazing things. And the third is to make sure you’ve got the right culture. If you get the right culture, you’re going to get great people doing great things which combined will deliver your strategy. In an organisation the size of Optalis, how do you ensure that the culture is disseminated effectively? Making sure that my board has the same view and approach is absolutely key because what they can do is then make sure that our message, our values, our ethos emanates throughout the organisation. The Optalis leadership team is transparent and accessible; our desks are spread around the office – we don’t lock ourselves away in our own offices all day with the doors closed. What do you feel are important leadership capabilities for 2019? “You have to accept the fact that you don’t know everything so your first priority should be to develop your knowledge base by working with, and supporting talented people. As leader your task is to inspire people to do great things so it is incumbent on you to make sure they have everything they need – in terms of tools and information – to achieve their goals.” “One of the key challenges of leadership is relinquishing control and the hardest single part of this process is judging the right time to give them that responsibility. You have to give them the ability to excel, and support that, but it means you’ve got to be brave and not micro-manage them. You’ve got to make sure that you get that distance right”. What advice would you offer to someone looking to develop a career in Leadership? “Choose your boss and have a constant appetite to listen and learn. Work with great people and recognise that your job as a leader is about fulfilling the potential of those around you to be the best they can be. Build the strategy together so everyone is involved and don’t give up or be a friend of phrase ‘the problem is’. Finally, try every day to be inspired and be inspiring”. “Keep it simple and clear, keep close to the important things and be true to your values. I was told once that if you don’t start something or don’t finish something then you are in trouble. That’s good advice”. Martin has been with Optalis for almost 18 months and leads a team of over 700 to make a difference to nearly 5,000 customers across Windsor, Maidenhead, Wokingham and beyond. If you would like to have a confidential conversation about your career, please get in touch today.  

“Keep it simple and clear, keep close to the important things and be true to your values” Martin Farrow, CEO at Optalis talks to us about Leadership in 2019. Read More »

Using smart recruitment to secure the perfect candidate – who wasn’t even looking

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If you know anything about Human, you’ll know that we don’t sit around waiting for the perfect candidates to drop into our lap. You can’t in this climate, where unemployment is at its lowest rate and the choices for talented people are better than ever. We are proactive networkers and build relationships as part of our daily routines to ensure that when we are asked to fill a role we can look beyond the candidates who are already actively looking for a new job if that’s what we need to do. Take a recent example of a role we filled for The Sheffield College. They were looking for a data protection officer and had drawn blanks in their own search. At the time, the final implementation date for new data protection legislation GDPR had just passed, so we knew that many people who were contractors with that specialism would likely have just finished temporary roles. Using the networks we’d nurtured, we asked whether anyone had let go of a superstar who had recently completed a project for them and were surprised to be given the details of a direct report of one of our contacts who had revealed to his manager he was ready for a move, but hadn’t yet started looking. (There’s a whole other blog about being able to be honest with your boss about looking for another role!) Seb Smith turned out to be the star that The Sheffield College were looking for and we were able to connect them using our innovative recruitment platform, Human DNAℱ. Seb may not have been offered an interview if he’d applied with his CV in the traditional way. One example is that his job title and the stage he was at in his career didn’t reflect the level of skills and responsibilities he had in his current role. Human DNAℱ negates these issues by making the recruitment process much more personal and demonstrating more than just an individual’s skills and experience. It shows more of the whole person behind the CV. This level of detail ensures not only the quality of the shortlist but also offer assurances that both parties are engaged and committed to the recruitment process. Human DNAℱ allows us to: Profile both the role and the organisation to establish exactly what skills and behaviours being sought – This is a detailed approach, and includes ensuring that team dynamics will be balanced with any new recruit Profile candidates we judge may be suitable to see how well-matched to the role they are Create profiles of the top three candidates with pictures and a short introductory video so they can explain why they are interested in the role and a bit more about themselves Include a behavioural profile of the candidates alongside an executive summary written by us and their CV Showcase the candidates with the opportunity to add six facts about themselves – giving them a chance to show off their personality Assure the recruiter the candidates can meet their standards by posing six competency-based questions that the candidates answer in writing. This also allows them to assess spelling and grammar as well as potential skills and knowledge Ask up to five questions by video which the candidates have a limited amount of time to answer. This shows how they perform under pressure, as well as being another opportunity to show off their skills and knowledge The whole system works online so those shortlisting can work independently, sharing comments and feedback with one another remotely and removing the need to synchronise diaries for extensive shortlisting sessions. Our smart recruitment process gave The Sheffield College the confidence to look beyond Sebastian’s experience and job title to see the real skills, knowledge and aptitude he could bring to the role. It also gave Seb the confidence to go for an interview knowing he had been screened in depth and that the organisation was seriously interested in him. Our rigorous process means that face-to-face interviews have much more value, being more like a second interview as all of the basics have been covered remotely, with a much-reduced time investment for both candidate and recruiter. Sebastian says: “The personal touch of HumanDNA was pivotal to me securing my role with The Sheffield College. It’s nearly impossible to get an understanding of someone’s personality through a conventional CV and it’s amazing to see Human utilising the times we are living in through video interviews and the Human DNAℱ platform in general. It’s something I’ve never seen or heard of before. I would not have been aware of the role at The Sheffield College if Amy hadn’t reached out to me. She seemed to have a perfect understanding of exactly what the College were looking for. It’s always beneficial if the company and the recruiter are on the same page and in this instance it worked perfectly.” Paul Simpson Executive Director of HR and OD at The Sheffield College said: “Finding the right match for our Data Protection Officer had been challenging, in part because we ideally wanted not just a technical specialist but someone who could successfully communicate and engage with others on Data Protection matters. “Amy understood our requirements and through talking to her and through Human DNA ℱ we had a good shortlist of candidates to interview and were delighted to appoint Seb to the role.” If you think Human DNAℱ could help you recruit or find a new job, give one of the friendly team a call.

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“Make sure you have enough people in your team who will disagree with you”. Eric Hollanders, CEO of Bank Mendes Gans.

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As part of our commitment to adding value beyond the connection, we have been speaking with CEO’s, COO’s and HR leaders. We wanted to understand more about how they developed careers, the challenges they face and how they have achieved their success. This week, we spoke with Eric Hollanders, CEO of Bank Mendes Gans, part of the ING Group. How did you develop a career in Leadership? “When you start working you can be relatively ambitious, and I certainly was. Earlier in my career I was asked, ‘what would you like to end up doing?’ and my answer was, ‘well I’d love to be CEO at some point’. At the time that was half a joke, but also half serious. Ultimately, if you work in a large company and you’re doing well, they will present you with interesting opportunities”. For Eric it was always more about the content of the role and where the role was located rather than heading for a Leadership role. “I really wanted to have an international career. I decided I wanted to study abroad and do a bit of travelling. I wrote a memo to the head of the international division of the Belgian bank to say I’d really love to go and work abroad in New York. It seemed like a good spot. As things turned out they had just decided to start a program for exchanges of short-term assignments and they said, ‘Well you have a good profile. You’re the first one to stick up your hand, off you go’.” Imagine there was an HR Director or HR Business Partner that was looking to get into a C suite role in the next five, seven or ten years. What competencies do you think are most important for them to develop these days? “It’s important you mentioned ‘these days’ because over the years it has changed a lot. From being really hierarchical to the matrix environment and now a more agile organisation. For me being able to adapt to a matrix and agile environment is key. It’s a lot about influencing other people. You can have a lot of competing interests and they’re all not necessarily clearly articulated. So, unless you know the organisation very well and you can understand what motivates people, it can be very difficult”. This is where Eric believes a high level of empathy is important. “HR professionals can occasionally fall in to the trap of being driven by efficiency and effectiveness. It becomes all about cost and eventually you have efficient organisations which are not necessarily effective”. “Being quite quick to understand people and the business is also key to being an effective leader. It’s very important to understand the dynamics and the teams; being able to mould the teams in such a way that they are actually effective and have a shared ambition is important. It’s very important to make sure that you have enough people who are willing to put up their hands and disagree with you. If they disagree for the good reasons that adds real value to your role. If not for the good reasons, then of course you should be in a position to understand their motives and communicate with them to resolve that issue”. Someone I was speaking with recently said, ‘A successful CEO should have the right balance of control and trust and know when to apply both’. Would you agree? “The French say, ‘trust is good, but control is better’. I think if you apply that today, you will have trouble”. “You need to trust people. The way I build trust is to agree on what needs to be done. Then you leave them the room to move ahead. It’s also important to show sufficient interest because if you don’t show interest, that’s also a signal to your team. The interest should be shown in such a way that is not construed as if you’re trying to control what they’re doing. You need to move from the model of unilateral control where the boss controls and instructs their team to one where you genuinely have an interaction, where you agree on what you do. Then let them get on with doing it and occasionally check that they’re fine and see if you can help remove the obstacles. If you can get that balance right, then people become truly empowered”. “It’s also about knowing when to step in. Of course, if someone made a personal mistake that happens as well. As our American friends say, ‘three strikes and you’re out’. People are entitled to make a mistake, if you make two then probably, you’re not that smart and if you make the same mistake three times, well maybe you’re not in the right environment”. Eric has been CEO of Bank Mendes Gans since 2010 and has worked in Leadership roles across the globe for over 25 years. If you are interested in having a confidential conversation about your career or would like support growing your team, please get in touch today.

“Make sure you have enough people in your team who will disagree with you”. Eric Hollanders, CEO of Bank Mendes Gans. Read More »

‘Be brave and go for it!’ Dr Tracey Leghorn talks to us about building a successful HR Career.

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As part of our commitment to supporting candidates to develop fulfilling careers, we’ve invited some HR Leaders to let us in on the secrets of their success. This week we had a great conversation with Dr Tracey Leghorn, HR Director at SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK. We asked Tracey a few questions about her career in HR which spans both the public and private sector; a journey that started in Retail Management and has taken her to Board-level HR Director for one of the world’s largest waste, water and resource management companies. Like many HR professionals, Tracey didn’t start her career in HR. After becoming a Mum, Tracey went to university to study for an HNC in Business with Personnel, it was there she was given an assignment on horizontal and vertical HR integration and came across the work of David Guest. Tracey says she was excited about what strategic HR could contribute to business performance and from that assignment was hooked! We asked Tracey to give us a brief overview of her career to date. Tracey began her HR career in the NHS and has worked in a range of NHS organisations, developing her career there to include Executive Director of HR with the commissioners of NHS services and 9 years with the ambulance service. Despite being told that a return to the private sector would be very hard to achieve after more than a decade in the public sector, the opportunity to join the world’s largest food-service provider, Compass Group, came to her through her networks and she ‘bravely’ leapt into a totally new industry whilst at the same time, working to complete her Doctorate. In 2015, Tracey was approached to have a conversation with PwC. PwC had secured an iconic multi-million-pound HR consulting contract and were looking to source someone with large-scale transformational change and implementation expertise. In talking about her time at PwC, Tracey said that it had been a huge but enjoyable learning curve; she had loved working with a wide range of organisations on their most difficult business and people problems and having access to the very latest in HR thought leadership. However, she always intended returning to client-side and when the opportunity to join SUEZ Recycling & Recovery UK came across her path, Tracey says she was hooked on ‘helping to save the planet’ from the very first conversation. Naturally we were keen to learn more about Tracey’s perception of the HR industry and what she feels it takes to be a strong HR leader in 2019. What do you think is the key to being successful in an HR Leadership role? “Today, HR leadership roles require you to not only be an expert around the People Agenda but to contribute to commercially complex strategic business decisions; whether these be through the people lens or not. Being a HR technical expert is a given in HR leadership roles. It is your understanding of the business and its commercials and being able to fully contribute to strategic business decisions which differentiates you”. As a member of the board at SUEZ R&R UK, Tracey says that “this is what secures HR a place at the top table and where we can truly add value. People solutions and organisational performance are optimised in successful organisations through collaborative working at all levels between Finance, HR and Operations, never more so than at board level”. What are the common themes and or challenges you are facing currently? “I am excited by the digital agenda. The world is undergoing another industrial revolution and the world of work is changing. Both at home and at work, I’m keen to embrace new technology. It’s vital that organisations look to assess the impact of the digital revolution on their customers and their business. As an HR professional it’s important to keep yourself and your skills relevant so ensuring you are engaging with the latest thought leadership in this area and translating this into how this might impact your business and people agenda is vital. At the same time, the waste and resources industry is heading towards another major period of transformation. With public and political awareness heightened about the impact of the way we live our lives on our planet through programmes such as Blue Planet II, Defra have recently published their Waste and Resource Strategy which will see a period of major transformation in our industry and a wealth of opportunities for our business and people. Being at the forefront of this transformation will secure our continued business success and our position as thought leaders within the industry. What advice would you give HR professionals either just getting started in their career or looking for their next step on the career ladder?  Networking is number one for Tracey. She says that networking “brings with it a wealth of connections, learning and opportunities”. Be on LinkedIn, work on ensuring you have a comprehensive profile and ‘bravely’ use it to build business relationships and learn from people from across a range of organisations and specialties. Think about your personal brand and use LinkedIn, Twitter and other platforms to build your brand through social media. Tracey always makes the space and time to network, both on and off-line, claiming it’s vital for anybody looking to learn and progress their career. She says that “learning from others is a very powerful form of learning”. Technical knowledge and academic learning in your field are also important. Tracey puts significant weight on academic learning. Her advice is to get your HR qualifications early where you can. Whilst she was 25 and a Mum before she went to university, Tracey says that over two decades later she is still using knowledge she gained from her early studies and beyond. When asked for one piece of advice she would give to someone looking to progress their HR career, she said: “Don’t listen to those who try to deter you from pursuing your dreams; be big and brave, and,

‘Be brave and go for it!’ Dr Tracey Leghorn talks to us about building a successful HR Career. Read More »

“The aim is to be as good at people as we are at cars”. – Mandeep Dhatt, Executive Director of HR  at McLaren talks to us about HR leadership in 2019.

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As part of our commitment to supporting candidates to develop fulfilling careers, we’ve invited some HR Leaders to share the secrets of their success. This week we had a great conversation with Mandeep Dhatt, Executive Director of HR at McLaren Automotive Ltd. We asked Mandeep a few questions about her career in HR. A career that spans Engineering, Pharmaceutical, Publishing most recently Advanced Manufacturing and Automotive Design. Mandeep’s journey began at University where she studied business studies and excelled in the HR modules. Mandeep then went on to work for an IT storage solutions company as part of her placement year and was inspired by one of their Senior HR leaders. From there Mandeep made a commitment to develop a career in HR leadership. Mandeep joined McLaren in 2013 as an HR Business Partner and has since added value throughout the business as Head of HR Ops and more recently Executive Director of HR . We were keen to speak with Mandeep about McLaren, her perception of the HR sector and what she feels it takes to be a strong HR leader in 2019. What do you think is the key to being successful in an HR Leadership role? Being human. Being human is important. It’s easy for an organisation to forget that it’s not all about chasing the target or building the car or closing that contract. It’s about being human and looking at the people perspective. It’s also about having empathy. For example, the CFO; not everyone in the company is going to understand exactly the pressure they’re under and what they must go through to deliver. The HR leaders’ role is to demonstrate and showcase all the ways that we can support each other; collaboration is important. I’m also completely fortunate in that the leader we have, completely understands the value of HR. “He’s a great support. He will often say, ‘you can do more in that area Mandeep’ and provides the space to do that. And I completely appreciate that not all HR leaders will have that at the top of their organisation. We’re very fortunate in that respect”. What are the common themes and or challenges you are facing currently? The generational mix of the workforce that’s currently in play and is coming into play. The mindset of a ‘millennial’ versus a ‘baby boomer’ can be very different. This then feeds into broader conversations around attrition and turnover. Where we’ve got senior leaders in business, who have worked in the same industry, in the same organisation for 15, 20 years, we also have millennials that are coming to us after two years and are restless and bored, and off they go. It’s a very new way of working so the workforce isn’t necessarily stable. As a leader you have to dissect which bits of the business need to be stable from a resource, people, expertise and knowledge perspective. An organisation never stands still. So, we have to think, ‘how are we going to cater for that’ and get comfortable with it. Mandeep recently launched a Coaching Initiative in part in recognition of the value of a multi-generational team.  The initiative was created to encourage knowledge sharing, skills transfer and also to foster resilience within the business. Mandeep said ‘we’re a fast-growing organisation, there is constant change. The coaching element is a way of providing support and a mechanism to communicate that we are aware that we ask a lot of our teams every day, but we also offer this level of support and development in return. Finally, Mandeep offered one more issue that is high on the agenda at McLaren, “Skills, skills, skills. The global shortage of engineers is being felt quite significantly. So, for us it is all about retention and attraction. Where do we find that skill? It’s also key that we are influencing society and government to ensure that future generations will want to work in automotive and manufacturing and engineering. STEM is also really important to us as an organisation, as is our early careers programme. We have placed a focus on work experience, apprenticeships, internships, and the graduate space. But it’s also key that we look at how we are utilising the apprenticeship levy to upskill and reskill existing employees, to stop some of that churn. Career development is a USP for us. If you join McLaren you will not only learn what it is to set up and lay foundations and build legacy, but you will also develop beyond recognition – if that’s what you want to do. We’ll give you all the opportunities and avenues available to do so. What advice would you give HR professionals who are looking to move into an HR leadership role. Building credibility is important whether from technical stance or a commercial perspective.  A strong HR leader will always be asking, ‘what makes the business better?’, ‘What will make it survive tomorrow?’ Talking authentically about your impact is also really powerful. I think sometimes HR leaders can be narrow in their thinking. When demonstrating your impact follow your examples with impact. What did that do for attrition? What did that do for the employer brand?  It’s important to demonstrate the bigger picture. Finally, I asked Mandeep what goals her team are working towards in 2019. Mandeep was clear that as an HR leader her goal is always to ensure that McLaren are ‘as good at people, as we are at cars.’ If you are interested in a confidential conversation about your HR career or would like to speak with us about supporting the growth of your HR team, please get in touch today.

“The aim is to be as good at people as we are at cars”. – Mandeep Dhatt, Executive Director of HR  at McLaren talks to us about HR leadership in 2019. Read More »

“The way we work is changing” – Laura Haynes talks to us about HR Leadership

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As part of our commitment to supporting individuals to develop fulfilling careers, we’ve invited some HR Leaders to share their secrets to success. This week we spoke with Laura Haynes, currently Interim HR Director at WeWork. We asked Laura some questions about her career in HR to offer some insight into the sector. Laura’s career spans a breadth of industries and sectors. A journey from a degree in Psychology to building a portfolio career as an Interim HR Director. Laura’s initial career goal was to become a Clinical Psychologist but the more she learned about this path through studying Psychology at university, the more she felt this wasn’t for her. She instead focused her attention on Occupational Psychology, combining interests in business in a passion for people. After her degree, Laura went on to take her first step into the HR arena as a Graduate Recruiter with Tesco. From Tesco, Laura worked for investment banks including Citi and RBS in the Early Careers space before joining BT as Head of Talent Programmes. From BT and after working for a long list of large corporates, Laura started developing relationships with startups for a complete change of scene and started working with several. Most recently, working through her own HR consultancy, Laura has now supported a variety of innovative start-up and fast growing businesses as an HR Director or Head of HR. We wanted to get Laura’s take on HR Leadership and the secrets to success.  What do you think is the key to being successful in an HR Leadership role? “Something HR leaders have to wrestle with is constantly striving to get the balance between fair and consistent policies and treating people like Human beings. The strength of an HR Leader is in having real meaningful conversations and not losing sight of the need to work around unique individuals”. The way we work is changing and Laura believes that as a leader you have to prepare and support the changes, while also maintaining the right level of employee experience”. Do you feel that the HR skill set is transferable? Laura made it her mission to develop a portfolio career and avoided working in a silo. As a result, she’s been able to transition from Retail to Investment Banking to Tech to FinTech and Beauty before most recently moving into Real Estate. Laura shared, “if you start out by working across a variety of sectors and people can see how well you’ve made the transition each time you work – you can give more confidence in your adaptability and ability to work with ambiguity.” What are the common themes and or challenges you are facing currently? “Some of the changes we’re seeing in how people work such as contracting and remote working are leading to interesting conversations. On the face of it, it’s not difficult to set people to work in these new ways – for example using some of the great virtual meeting applications for remote workers. When you scratch the surface though, managers have concerns and worries when it comes to how you set expectations, track progress and ensure there is high trust in the relationships you have – without which your partnership can’t succeed. We end up going back to basics and looking at familiar topics like goal setting, reviewing performance, but through a new lens”. What advice would you give HR professionals either just getting started in their career or looking for their next step on the career ladder? “Starting in a big organisation is a good place to start. A lot of people want to begin their career in startups I know it’s fashionable now, and I can see why. But, if you’re not working in a community of peers and experts, it’s hard to evaluate the strength of your work in the same way and it could be more tempting to deliver “good enough for stakeholders”. You can get some great training and complete rotations in different disciplines too. I’d suggest learning yourself as early as you can and talking to a range of organisations with different cultures. The people you’re around are crucial too, as is the way HR is perceived in an organisation – there’s a big difference in places where stakeholders will work with you as opposed to against you or “around” HR. It’s so important to be happy at work and enjoy it”. Laura is currently supporting WeWork as an Interim HR Director. If you are interested in learning more about a career in HR or would like to speak with us about supporting the growth of your HR team, please get in touch today.

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The gig economy – the changing world of work

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As little as ten years ago the recruitment landscaped looked very different. Getting a job was mainly about finding a permanent position, and recruiting meant permanently filling roles, or, less frequently, using temporary contracts to back-fill or cover time-limited projects. Like us, you’ll know that the ever-changing tech landscape, a major recession, the rise of disruptor firms like Uber and Deliveroo, and changes in attitudes have all resulted in a fundamental shift in the way a significant chunk of the workforce likes to work. What used to be called short-term contracting has now become even more micro in nature and is commonly referred to as the gig economy. The shift has been significantly enabled by advancements in technology. A study published by the McKinsey Global Institute in 2015 estimated that by 2025, digital work platforms could add $2.7 trillion, or 2.0 per cent, to global GDP, increasing employment by 72 million full-time equivalent positions. In the UK, that would mean around £45 billion and extra work for 766,000 individuals. The same study categorised the people working flexibly as: Free agents, who actively choose to work that way (30%) Casual earners, who use independent work to supplement their income (40%) Reluctants, who make their primary living this way but would prefer not to (14%) Financially-strapped, who do extra work out of necessity (16%) So it’s clear that the gig economy is now a choice for a reasonable proportion of people. The benefits to individuals Clearly working on what you want, when you want is a massive advantage to the individual, and for many a dream way of earning a living if they can make it pay. But there are many other advantages to the gig economy for the people who work within it. A recent study by the UK Government identified a number of benefits: Flexibility – the research identified this as a major driver, with three sub-sets – flexibility for caring (for children and elderly/unwell parents), for studying, and as a lifestyle choice Higher rates – for skilled workers, turning skills on and off on-demand usually attracts a better rate of pay, but comes with the trade-off of reduced security and certainty of income Work experience –the gig economy is a perfect way to build up work experience, especially for students, so they don’t apply for permanent roles with no experience As a transition between permanent roles – temporary work was highlighted as a choice for some people who were between permanent jobs or who had been made redundant Health reasons – respondents to the study with mental and physical health issues cited working from home as a major driver for pursuing temporary roles Why companies should capitalise on the gig economy We all know how tricky it is to recruit permanently, with unemployment currently at its lowest rate since 1973. And workload isn’t stable, linear, or – often – easily predictable, so the other tricky HR challenge becomes the peaks and troughs of workload, resulting in the workforce being too busy some months, and not busy enough during others. The gig economy provides significant benefits to companies willing to change their approach to recruitment: Simpler administration – getting just one invoice for a number of interim workers reduces admin, and overheads are further reduced by remote working, resulting in lower on-costs and no need to find additional desks Greater flexibility – when work starts to slow down, support from people on interim or contract arrangements can more easily be scaled back, reducing pressure on budgets Skills on tap – choose from a pool of pre-interviewed and profiled people ready and willing to work. Using interim or short-term appointments can also mean people with advanced skills are available for your budget, without the risks of putting them on the payroll Swiftly available – if you have a big project which needs all hands to the pump, interim appointments are an easy way to quickly secure additional resource, which can often start right away A fundamental shift If your business has a traditional working week, with a focus on 9-5 hours from an office, the move towards the gig economy might feel complicated. If your organisation can make the paradigm shift away from presenteeism to an outcomes focus, there is significant opportunity to benefit from the additional skills and experience of people who want to work differently. Regardless of whether you’re recruiting permanently or interested in taking advantage of our expertise in recruiting freelancers and contractors, Human DNA ℱ allows us to reduce the cost of recruitment while vastly increasing retention – 96% of people recruited the system’s methodology were still with the same employer after 12 months. To explore how we could help you, give one of the team a call on 01709 717212.

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How to improve wellbeing at work

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Lack of employee wellbeing is a business risk. If your people are your biggest asset, surely ensuring they are healthy – both physically and mentally – is the best way to ensure the security and productivity of your organisation? Employee wellbeing is closely tied to engagement, and therefore productivity which ultimately leads to organisational success. A recent report by health insurance provider Vitality and the Financial Times made for stark reading. It found a clear north-south wellness divide, with employees in Yorkshire and the Humber reporting the highest stress levels. The report reinforced what HR professionals already know – that there is a strong correlation between participation in workplace programmes and improved health and productivity. And with a generation of vulnerable younger people more prone to mental health issues – the report found 8.5% of those aged 21-25 indicated they suffer from depression – how can organisations get the balance right? Unfortunately, it’s not just younger people who are at risk of mental health issues. Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45. The report found that financial concerns are directly linked to weight and mental health – employees with financial concerns are twice as likely to be obese and seven times more likely to suffer from depression than those without any. Legal obligations It’s an employer’s legal obligation to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees. Organisations have to carry out risk assessments for work-related stress, and take action to prevent staff from experiencing a stress-related illness because of their work. Leeds-based solicitor Jodie Hill of Thrive Law has started a campaign for every workplace to have a mental health first aider. “Mental ill health is the biggest reason for sickness absence and by far the largest cost to employers across the UK,” says Jodie. “I want every business in the UK to treat mental health with the same respect as physical health. Why aren’t employers encouraged to extend the same attitude towards mental health first aid, as they do for physical first aid?” This guide from Acas covers how to promote positive mental health at work and mental health charity Mind also have a guide to wellbeing in the workplace, but here are a few suggestions for improving employee wellbeing overall. Digital detox On 1 January 2017, workers in France acquired the right to disconnect from technology, making it illegal for companies to expect employees to check and respond to emails on mobile phones outside of working hours. Some companies restrict access to email outside of working hours, others ensure all emails sent to a person on holiday are automatically deleted, to reduce that sinking feeling when your first day back is spent tackling hundreds of two-week old emails. Having a conversation with your workforce about what will work for them and your organisation is the best way to figure out how you might tackle the health risk posed by our always-on culture. The importance of sleep In 2017 a Nobel Prize was awarded to sleep researchers. That’s a fairly big indicator that it’s time to pay attention. Research by Glassdoor found 6 % of respondents said they would be better employees if they got more sleep, especially those ages 18-44 (73 percent) compared to those ages 45-64 (59 percent). The Vitality report found that respondents who sleep less than 6 hours per night lose more than twice as many working hours due to absence and presenteeism (being at work but not working at their best) than those who sleep more than 7 hours. It also found employees with sleep quality difficulties do less physical activity, drink more alcohol, are more likely to be smokers, show higher work-related stress, and are five times more likely to suffer from depression than those without any sleep difficulties. Setting boundaries for out of hours work will help, but other ideas include: Helping educate employees on the importance of sleep – there’s an NHS guide to improving sleep here Promote flexible working – so if someone has had a bad night, they can start a little later and make up the time separately Open the blinds! According to a study in the journal Sleep, workers in offices with windows slept an average of 46 minutes more each night than those not exposed to natural light Practical support There are also many structural and practical steps you can take to support your team’s wellbeing, including: Accurate workforce and succession planning, to ensure recruitment gaps are filled quickly Installing a shower so people can run/cycle to work or at lunch times Organise a lunchtime walking group Offer a meeting room for a lunchtime yoga or pilates session Provide fresh fruit Encourage people to take the stairs Set up a self-help book swap For support on any aspects of workforce planning and recruitment, give one of the team a call on 01709 717212.

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Contingency Recruitment is dead – why working in partnership is best

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Recruitment is one of those curious areas that on paper, should be easy to outsource.  You have a clear brief (your role and job spec), you can define your target audience (skills and salary) and it’s a pretty process-driven task.  And of course, there are literally hundreds of recruitment agencies ready to take your commission and deliver you a raft of CVs ready for you to interview. But it’s not really that simple is it? The problem with some agencies is that everyone is fishing from the same pond; a problem compounded the more specialist and niche the requirements.  Mass-market recruiters have it much easier now that social media has come along – a few clicks of their laptop and thanks to LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram they know pretty much everything they could want to about the candidates they’re going to suggest to you.  And let’s be honest, the chances are it’s the same candidate that six other agencies are also looking at too.  All for you.  Because they’re chasing the chance to get paid. Because it’s mass-market recruitment, it becomes a numbers game.  The more CVs that they can get in front of you, the more likely you’ll select some for interview.  And hopefully offer someone a job.  So perhaps corners get cut during the screening process.  Perhaps the calibre of candidates isn’t quite what you’d asked for or the experience in line with what you know will be required in the role. But you haven’t paid anything yet, is the low risk worth the effort?  It could be, but it’s also inefficient, cumbersome and potentially damaging your brand. The Human Approach There’s another way.  A more human way.  It’s not new; in fact, it bases itself in one of the most basic human interactions.  Build a relationship with a recruitment partner. It’s what we do at Human because we believe it’s the most effective way to bring the best talent into your business.  A partnership approach means we get to know you beyond the brief you give us.  We get to know your purpose, culture and values so that we know the candidates we propose will fit in.  We learn about your key people and management style so that the talent we place will flourish in your environment.  And most of all, we’re honest in the way we communicate and interact with you. We won’t promise you the earth but what we do promise you, we will deliver on. Because of this you can have complete trust in the quality and calibre of candidates we put forward to you.  We undertake extensive screening and then make sure we invest in getting to know our bank of candidates as if we employed them ourselves. We learn what’s behind the CV and make sure they’re a perfect match so that you don’t have to waste your time doing the job you’re paying us to do. Thanks to Human DNAℱ, our multi-level assessment and recruitment platform that we have invested in, you can now be even more confident in the candidates we put forward.  This evidence-based approach to recruitment offers almost 100% retention, directly reducing your cost to hire and management downtime but most importantly, helping identify the gold stars that are going to be the future of your business. Of course, the choice is yours but we hope you’ll agree that a more human, collaborative and partnership-focused approach to finding and recruiting the best talent is still the best way forward. To see how Human DNA could revolutionise your recruitment process, get in touch for a free demonstration by calling 01709 717212 or contact us here.

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Recruitment and the gender pay gap

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For the first time ever, the government has made it mandatory for employers of more than 250 people to publish and report on specific details of their gender pay gap.  This has once again shone a light on an issue that has been dominant in industry far too long – that women are generally paid less than men. Even as a smaller organisation, we’re sure there’s lots of work going on to understand whether you have an issue and, if you do, how to tackle it within your existing structures.   But looking forward, how do businesses ensure they are not perpetuating the gender pay gap through their recruitment practices? We encourage employers to think about two things.  Firstly, how to make gender-neutral salaries the cultural norm  Do senior management understand that there is a problem they need to solve?  Is the data telling a story that your business believes?  If not, your work has to start here as only through accepting there is a problem will change come about. Secondly, acknowledge and review the role your recruitment processes may have in indirectly creating bias leading to a gender pay gap.  It’s great that the conversation has started about what needs to be done differently, but the pace needs picking up because at the current rates of progress, it will take 100 years to close the gender pay gap. So, what can you adopt into your recruitment strategy to start making a conscious change? Blind salary recruitment In some US states, asking what an applicant’s current or previous salary was has been banned, reasoning that new roles should not be based on what an applicant has previously been paid.  In the UK there is a wealth of benchmarking data on salary levels in industry so it’s reasonable to challenge whether knowing an individual’s salary should really influence what they are worth in the role you are recruiting to. Challenge your internal culture One of the last great taboos in work is to talk about what you earn, however in some sectors it is commonplace to have a published pay banding document and some level of transparency on how roles are graded.  Whilst this could be considered commercially sensitive for some business, perhaps this should be balanced against the spirit of gender pay gap obligations.  Is there more your business could do to share some level of data and an action plan towards achieving greater parity? Our ethos is simple– we want to help you make a successful hire regardless of gender or any other unconscious bias.  We look beyond the CV and the facts to really get to know the individuals we represent; what motivates them, what their ambitions are and yes, what they think they’re worth.  It’s a three-way relationship though and we go through the same process with you as a client to make sure we’re making the perfect match with the candidates we present to you. If you’re looking for a recruitment partner that cares about the issues affecting you and can offer solutions to help move you forward then why not get in touch.  Whether it’s a one-off role or something more long-term, speak to one of our lovely team on 01709 717212.

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