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When clients become candidates

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The reason I chose HR as my recruitment niche was simple. I love having conversations with clients and candidates about the impact they make on the businesses they work within. I also enjoy when candidates become clients and vice versa.  It’s great to uncover the whole story, not just the piece of the picture we see when working with you as a Recruitment partner. When we’re working with our clients we do take the time to get know you but it’s often not appropriate to instigate what could be construed as an interview when what you need from us is to source and engage talent for your role. So it’s often not until we work with them as a candidate that we uncover the whole story of their careers.   I have been working with one particular client for over 6 years now. When they decided it was time for a change I was really pleased they chose to have a conversation with me. I’m now supporting them to source suitable opportunities across Yorkshire.    I’d always worked really well with this person who works as an HR Director in a large SME. The team they lead had always given positive feedback about them, they were great to work with and I knew they’d achieved some great results for their business. I knew some of their background but I’m always intrigued to learn more about the career paths of the clients I work with when the time comes for them to move on.    With this particular HR Director I uncovered an interesting story about her time serving in the armed forces. As a supplier, I had no idea they’d served for so long in the military when they first got started in HR –  and the challenges they overcame in their early career.    Since then they’ve gone on to develop Talent Agenda’s, been responsible for entire people strategies of a business with an 8 figure income and contributed 6 figure savings to its bottom line.    This person is a strong and diplomatic HR leader with a focus on people and talent development. If you or your team are looking to add a strategic HR professional to your leadership team, we’d love to share more about their background and achievements.   Hope to hear from you soon.

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Candidate showcase: FTSE 100 Strategic HR leader

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At Human we operate in a number of ways in order to best serve our clients and candidates. With combined experience of almost 50 years in Recruitment we understand that the best way to help our candidates and clients is to build authentic relationships to support and connect the individuals we serve. We support our clients to understand their value proposition, identify the type of organisations they’d like to partner with and take an active role in promoting their profile to hiring managers within relevant organisations. Today we are promoting a FTSE 100 strategic HR leader with a background in mergers and acquisitions, leading complex change programmes and talent and development. Career achievements include: Leading the people work stream in the sale of a £1 billion (>3k FTE) operation creating a joint venture with a leading competitor. Identifying and removing £20M cost savings over a 6-month period. And realigning the Diversity and Inclusion strategy to be business-led through the introduction of revised gender targets at CEO and Executive level. They led on strategic mergers & acquisitions; including a £1 billion deal, integration of a digital business, and the sale of an established transit operation for £1.5 billion. They are also a Fellow of the CIPD and hold an MSc Industrial Relations. If you would like to learn more about this or any of the other individuals we support, please get in touch today on 01709 717212

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My career – A Candidate blog: Recruitment Data Analytics

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“Where few people have real experience in the area, having an informed interest puts you in good stead” As part of our commitment to adding value beyond connecting our clients and candidates to develop their teams of find fulfilling careers, we’ve developed a series of articles to transfer knowledge between our clients and the candidates we support. This week we spoke with Ian. Ian is an experienced Data Scientist who has developed a broad understanding of Recruitment Analytics and is passionate about the future of AI in Recruitment and HR. We asked Ian a couple of questions about his career and his current interest in AI and Recruitment Technology. Can you tell us how you got into Data Science and Recruitment Analytics? “As far as I am aware, people have only been calling themselves data scientists for the last ten years. Before that, there were people doing similar work in the consultancy and market research industries. I was working in the latter and am grateful for the broad experience it provided”. “It’s impossible to open a Sunday paper nowadays without seeing an article about how we are all destined to be recruited by algorithms rather than people. I am a data scientist with broad experience and saw this as an opportunity to make a difference in an exciting, growth area”. Do you have any advice for those looking to develop a career in this niche? “Come on in, the water’s lovely! Suppliers are understandably protective of their algorithms but are very generous with shared case studies available on their websites. After that, find out whether your existing employer is already looking at this data driven recruitment. If so, offer your input”. “You could also join one of the fast-growing suppliers who are typically start-ups of small or medium size. Some recruiters run evening events on the topic which could be a pleasant way to learn while making contacts. Where few people have real experience in the area, having an informed interest puts you in good stead”. What do you think are the major benefits of AI and Machine Learning in Recruitment? “Firstly, some very practical ones: cost and time savings for candidates and employers. Nobody likes the feeling of sneaking out for an interview. A combination of the new technologies should mean that the interviews which we do attend are restricted to ones with a high chance of success. If an employer likes you but does not have an immediate opportunity, a future opportunity is more likely to happen”. “Secondly, some societal ones: diversity and social mobility. We are all probably guilty of ‘recruiting in our own image’, here is our chance to end that. If an integrated system links recruitment criterion directly to historic employee performance, what could be more meritocratic than that?”. Do you foresee any disadvantages to AI or Machine Learning in reference to Recruitment or HR? “Not in the tools themselves. In theory, they could be badly used or implemented, but the suppliers will be keen to ensure that doesn’t happen”. What are the ethical issues faced by users of these interfaces? “Candidates have legal rights as regards to use of their data. If these are observed, I see new systems as being fairer than current tools and therefore more ethical”. How do you see the technology developing in the future? / What is the future of Recruitment Technology? “The Sky is the limit! There is no question the Recruitment landscape is changing. The current starting point for a candidate search for a new career opportunity is typing search criteria into a job board or search engine. I believe the future will be more along the lines of a dialogue with a good career coach”. Ian is currently open to interim Data Scientist roles with a focus on Recruitment Analytics. If you are interested in a confidential conversation about your next career opportunity or would like to speak with us about supporting the growth of your team, please get in touch today.

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“You can’t be a wall flower” – Senior HR Director, Craig McCoy talks to us about HR Leadership.

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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 spoke with Craig McCoy, Senior HR Director at Sunrise Senior Living. We asked Craig a few questions about his career in HR which spans Public, Private and Third Sector organisations. Craig’s journey takes him from Cambridge University, where he studied French and Italian to Interim Senior HR Director for a US owned care service provider.   Craig begun his HR career after spending some time teaching English in Paris where he developed an interest in Training.  From Training Craig moved into Change Management with a focus on Training & Development; and then into his first HR Director position. Since then Craig has added value in FTSE100 companies and across Telecoms, Healthcare, Care, Publishing and Housing. We asked Craig a couple of questions about the world of HR and what his thoughts were on what lies ahead for 2019. What do you think is the key to being successful in an HR Leadership role? “There is a strong emphasis on consulting, influencing and having relevance at the top table is important 
 you can’t be a wallflower. You can’t just rely on process effectiveness. Process effectiveness is a bit of a given. It’s about a having a degree of influence, coaching capability, internal consulting, seeing transformation and change. The ability to grapple with difficult concepts like culture, and affect business change through development is key. The forward looking, growth orientated part of the business agenda is where HR can really add value. A focus on steady state and running efficient processes is not going to get you the degree of credibility and influence you could otherwise get. You’ll just be seen as a second-tier process expert, which is not, where you want to be. What are the common themes and or challenges you are currently facing? “Brexit is a big one. There’s going to be a massive systemic issue which is already impacting some industries.  I think the changing nature of work and contracts and things like the Gig economy is a big one; the changing nature of how people are contracted to do work. Craig believes “The nature of work is changing, how you deploy resources more flexibly and globally is key in HR. Thinking tends to be more traditional and linear. Whereas you’ve got to open your mind toward more of a shift away from 9-5”. Craig agreed that Recruitment and AI will follow similar veins. “Artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and predictive analytics and big data these are all kinds of things which are fundamentally changing business propositions. Predictive analytics is more prevalent in recruitment, but I think we’re going to see process automation added more to the core of what HR does. AI should increase the human element of HR leadership; the subtlety and the complexity of relationships is not something that can be automated”. This is something we’ve championed for some time. The ‘black and white’ parts of Recruitment and HR are going to be completed by an algorithm in the future, the value of a strong HR leader is in the grey areas. It’s the interpersonal skills. It’s that human approach. What advice would you give HR professionals getting started in their career or looking for their next step on the career ladder? “Learning and Development is a great place to start your HR career because it gives you a platform; it gives you profile. You develop the skills of working with people. You start getting involved in areas like coaching and understanding what key business issues are. You develop consulting skills, you learn skills about being quick on your feet. You get used to being plunged into unfamiliar situations with demanding clients, so all of this was quite formative for me. I felt as though it was a really good place to start my HR career”. Craig has been with Sunrise Senior Living for 15 months and will be continuing as Interim Senior HR into 2019. To explore your career options confidentially or speak with us about supporting the growth of your HR team, please get in get in touch today.

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HR Director, Yorkshire & the North

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When I contact HR professionals, there are 3 reasons I want to connect: I want to understand them as an individual. Would we work well together? What kind of relationships are they looking to build? What are their objectives and challenges? Are they a client or a candidate? I want to understand their career path. How they got where they did? Why they took the route they did and where are they heading. I want to understand their current role. What challenges they have. What’s worked, what hasn’t and how can we add value. I have been speaking with one candidate for over a year now. We first connected on LinkedIn. We had a short 15-minute call, and both established we could work together. At the time this, very ambitious individual, wasn’t looking for an opportunity. Instead she was keen to make her mark with her current employer, bridge a couple of skills gaps and then move forward in her career plan. I love working with ambitious, motivated HR professionals! In the time we’ve been speaking, this person has: Reduced the average cost per hire by £3000 saving the company £39000 this year alone. Increased employee engagement by 81% across the business, by implementing employee forums, management meetings, increased communication. Decreased employee turnover by 60% Spearheaded talent development and succession planning across several geographies to meet the demands of the businesses 20% growth year on year. This candidate has a proven ability to adapt to business environments of developed markets (UK, Switzerland, USA), as well as emerging markets (China, Romania).  This candidate is now ready for her next career move and is seeking an HR Director level opportunity in the North of England. If you would like to learn more about this individual or view their interactive HumanDNAℱ profile, please get in touch today. If you’re an HR professional who would like to connect, please either connect with me on LinkedIn or book directly into my diary, at a time to suit you here.

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Head of HR, West Yorkshire

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I have just got off the phone with a great Head of HR seeking her next career opportunity in HR. We’ll be meeting for a coffee over the coming weeks. The next step in the process will be for her to create a HumanDNAℱ profile. I noticed something she said a few times. She used the word ‘love’ throughout the conversation. Not flippantly but in the sense that she is passionate about the work she does, the value she adds to her employers and how she benefits the business and the people she serves day to day. It reinforced why I chose HR as my specialism within our multidisciplinary agency. What gets me out of bed every morning, is knowing that I am helping HR professionals to find opportunities to work in roles that get them jumping out of bed every morning; adding value to businesses and supporting them to operate effectively and efficiently. This passion for her work means our client has had some great successes for her previous employers. Including; Saving over £500k by managing a successful cost down project; including efficiency increases, supplier negotiations and resource planning. Developing an internal employee engagement process saving the company over £50k Successfully introducing a talent and succession programme that reduced resource gaps across the business and increased promotions by 40%; Annualised payroll saving of £6.2m through workforce efficiencies and introduction of flexible working; Having completed her final project with her long-term employer this individual is now seeking her next challenge. She is interested in hearing about roles in the North of England and would welcome the opportunity to learn about Head of HR or HR Director opportunities in a progressive, fast paced organisation of around 2500+ employees. If you would like to hear more about this individual or you’d like support seeking your next HR role, please get in touch today on 01709 717212 or click here to book a call with me.

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Regional HR Business Partner, South Yorkshire

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Human is currently representing a fantastic HRBP, looking for their next opportunity in HR Business Partnering. Ideally within FMCG or SMCG, and ideally a Regional role with Leadership responsibilities. This individual is a commercially astute HR Business Partner with demonstrable success in Retail. They have an exceptional track record working across both FMCG and SMCG including; food, supermarket and high street brands. Key achievements include: Decreased regional absence by 50% Responsible for a team of 2000 across 7 depots across the North of England. Increased employee engagement across 9 stores Escalated career development for team members from Graduate roles to Senior Management Coached and developed HR Professionals, Regional Sales Managers and Store Managers in HR. Recruited and retained talented candidates for 3 new store openings I am working on behalf of this exceptional HR professionals and would be keen to speak with any businesses in need of her skill set.  This individual has also created a comprehensive HumanDNAℱ profile for you to view. Human DNAℱ is our innovative, multi-level assessment and recruitment platform. A Human DNAℱ profile includes: A video introduction from the candidate CV, Exec Summary and Key Facts Behavioural profile Competency based Q&A If you’d like to learn more about the HR professionals, we represent or HumanDNAℱ please get in touch today.

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Interim Strategic HR Director, Yorkshire

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Interim Strategic HR Director, Yorkshire We have recently started representing some fantastic talent in the Senior HR Leadership space. Rather than waiting for opportunities to come to us, we wanted to let you know a bit more about one of the Interim HR Directors in the hope that we can support him to find his next assignment. Key achievements include: Increasing share prices from 99p to £6.35 Taking a business from loss making to £6m profit Increasing employee engagement by 400% Not only is this candidate a highly experienced Senior HR Director, with success across business turnaround and pre-acquisition but he’s great to work with. He has a fantastic sense of humour, has received glowing peer references from current and ex- colleagues and has also completed a comprehensive profile using HumanDNAℱ, ready for you to view now. If you’d like to learn more about this individual or the Human approach, please get in touch today!

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Tailoring your job search to company values

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In our last post, we talked about positive employee behaviours, but as a job seeker, it’s also important to be sure that the company values of a potential employer resonate with your own, and that their business model suits you too. The values that a company holds dear can be a great indicator of the way they treat their staff members and the overall culture you can expect as part of their team. This is one of the reasons why we spend time with our clients, shadowing the roles we’re recruiting for so we can help match candidates with companies that suit their personality – after all, you want a long-term relationship, not just a casual fling. What kind of company values matter to you? Working in an environment where you feel relaxed is essential if you’re going to settle in, perform well, and look forward to going to work in the morning. A little research and a chat with your recruitment expert will help you to discard roles that will ultimately be unsuitable for you. Here are a few things to think about when assessing their company values:   1. Ethics – if the environment or community-consciousness is important to you, ask about their CSR (Corporate and Social Responsibility) policy. Also, what industry do they operate in? Does it conflict with your own values, such as an oil company or cosmetics business that tests on animals?   2. Recognition – are they invested in their staff? Do they reward hard work and long service, and recognise team/individual achievements? Feeling valued in your role will mean less stress and make you feel more motivated.   3. Hierarchy – how is the business structured and how do management teams interact with their staff? Are they locked away in an office, or do they work alongside their teams? What are internal communications like, and do existing staff feel they can approach their superiors with issues and concerns? Does it feel like a ‘family’ or is it more formal? Do managers mingle with other staff at company events? Not being able to relate to, and work with, higher tiers within an organisation can feel uncomfortable for some people. Others prefer that distance.   4.  Benefits – do they offer additional incentives to their employees to make life easier for them? This could be private healthcare, bonuses, flexible working, staff discount schemes, wellbeing programmes, or a really good pension.   5. Development – some companies put a strong emphasis on professional development, and will invest heavily in training to help you take your next step on the career ladder. If you’re looking for a permanent role with opportunities for internal progression, a company that values and encourages the development of staff could be a good fit. Ways to check up on prospective employers Apart from a frank and honest chat with your recruitment agent, other ways you can find out about a company and its values include: Look on their website for policies and company/recruitment information See if they have a company LinkedIn page, and look at the profiles of current employees Search online for their company name and add words like ‘employers’, ‘reviews’ to see what comes up in forums and on social media Use a dedicated review website, such as Glassdoor, where you can search for ratings and comments from previous and current employees Doing your homework is important – remember securing a new job is a two-way process, so they have to be the right fit for you, as well as the other way round.

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How To Write A Job Spec That Attracts That Dream HR Team Member

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Competition is fierce for the top talent in human resources, and no wonder: the best HR candidates can genuinely transform a business in multiple ways. So how do you attract those dream HR team members? How do you stand out from the competition as being an ideal employer for their particular skill-set, and just as importantly, for their values? Here are some solid tips for creating a HR job spec that will speak loudly to the right candidates.   1. Don’t get fancy with the job title. Avoid vague or creative job titles (if it’s an entry-level HR admin assistant, say so) and be very clear about where the role sits within the department. The job title should be easily key-word searchable so that as many candidates as possible will see it.   2. Don’t include an ‘Essential Skills’ list that goes on and on and on. When you write your job spec, you’ve got your dream HR candidate in mind, but the longer the list is, the more you’re narrowing your pool and quite likely missing out on some other exceptional candidates. Consider whether every single one is truly ‘essential’ and if not, move it to your ‘desired skills’ section.   3. Use the word ‘you’. A candidate should be able to read the job spec and immediately picture themselves in the role. ‘You’ll be leading a team of 5 and reporting to X’. You’ll be responsible for creating a workforce planning program to take the company through to 2025. ‘You’re a solutions-focussed HR generalist with significant experience in employee and labour relations’. This is much more interesting than a bullet-pointed list of dry responsibilities. 4. Talk about culture. With Millennials now the dominant demographic in the workforce, culture has never been more important when competing for talent. Mention if the company has a friendly, supportive culture, a work-hard play hard culture, or a more formal professional culture. None are wrong of course, but you’ll get very different candidates, so choose your words wisely.   5. Highlight potential. Candidates want to know there’s room for growth, and that they won’t stagnate in the same role after joining the company. Briefly mention if your company encourages training and development.   6. Outline big goals. The best hiring happens when a candidate is deeply engaged or even inspired by the company’s work. So, share your big goals and how the candidate fits in, whether that’s expanding the HR team, launching a new change management program company-wide, or taking the company international and needing a huge HR push to do so. Remember, your job specification should make the candidate excited to apply, so even if there aren’t any big changes afoot, dig deep to think of what change they can be a part of.   7. Talk about the company. Most job specs do include some company information, but often, this feels formulaic and uninteresting. Where you’ll get, their attention is when you weave the candidate into the mission statement and company description. For example: ‘Our fast-growing company strives to help people learn, and the candidate who’ll succeed in our office puts real value on helpfulness, high standards, and integrity’. This kind of description speaks to the reader, who’ll immediately think whether the values of the company are a good match for their own.

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