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Millennials In The Workplace: 6 Recruiting And Retention Strategies For 2020

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Millennials or Gen Z are an important part of today’s workplace currently making up for 35% of all employees. And by 2030, millennials in the workplace will comprise a whopping 75% of the working population. Born between 1980 and 2000, the millennial workforce often has high expectations for their careers and strong beliefs about the workplace environment. Typically they are loyal employees with a high sense of purpose, and an interest in the social dimensions of a business. But while millennials are valuable in the workplace, self-reliant and tech-savvy, 53 % of recruiters report having difficulties in finding and retaining millennial talent. Here are the most important things to consider when setting up a strategy for recruiting and retaining millennial talent in the workplace: 1. Make your company attractive and emphasise your healthy business culture As competitive benefits packages are getting more and more standardized across industries, millennials are interested in a company’s unique culture as a key differentiator when considering a career move. By inviting a candidate to check out your company’s social media accounts where you regularly post new photos and videos that show off your culture and subscribe to your newsletters during the pre-screening interview phase, you can reinforce your promises and give them a sneak peek into what their life will be like if they accept the position. 2. Offer flexible hours Like most employees today, millennials are big on flexible working and work-life balance. And considering they grew up in the internet and globalization era, they are big fans of pushing local barriers and making the most of digital communication platforms and tools available today that enable remote working. Many millennials believe that getting quality work done should not depend on an hour commute, specific working hours and a cubicle. Instead, while the regular 9 to 5 window is still pretty standard for reaching colleagues and customers, millennials are also primarily interested in opportunities that don’t limit their creativity and productivity––even if that means working during the night. This allows them to live and work from anywhere in the world, explore opportunities and maximize the time spent with their family and friends. While many find it hard to grasp this concept and believe it’s a good idea to keep them separate, for millennials in the workplace, work is part of their persona and brand. While remote work and flexible schedules aren’t an option for everyone, providing even some work from home opportunities or the ability to start the workday early or late can go a long way. Work with your employee’s schedules rather than expecting them to always adhere to strict start and end times. 3. Give meaning to their work By nature, people are purpose-driven individuals. And some millennials will be prepared to give 100% at the office as long as they feel like they are dedicating their time to a good cause, a cause they believe in. So if you can prove how the role you are offering can make a significant contribution to their personal and professional lives during the recruiting process, you’ve already got their attention. Organizations that are shortlisted during the recruiting process, are usually those who are able to demonstrate how they bring a positive change into the world, adhere to unconventional and transparent work policies and align to their own set of values. While paying the bills is something we all have to do and work for, if you want to attract millennials into your organization tell them about the solid contribution their job will be making for a particular subject. Particularly if you can attach some level of social impact or higher meaning to their day to day tasks they will choose your organization over another job with less social impact. But try not to overdo it. The last thing they want you to be is a salesperson in disguise selling them a perfectly rehearsed script. Instead, try to be genuine as they value transparency and authenticity. 4. Offer growth opportunities and be invested in their professional growth For this particular type of employees – who stay on top of trends, industry news, constantly hungry to learn more — stagnation is terrifying and a static environment can soon bore them. According to a Gallup report, 59% of millennials in the workplace say that professional development opportunities are also important when weighing in the pros and cons of a new job position. To attract millennials and build a reliable and productive work environment for them to feel comfortable and appreciated in, stay ahead of the competition with a benefits package that includes access to the latest industry training and programmes for their growth. 5. Offer competitive compensation for millennials in the workplace As mentioned before, millennials aren’t the type of employees motivated by money. However, this is not to say that they do not know their worth. Quite the contrary, they see the rewarding package you are prepared to offer as an indicator of how much you value them and their work. But aside from salary, when reviewing the entire compensation package, they also look at benefits, perks, and personal development opportunities to stimulate their career and feeling of self-worth. So when presenting them the offer, consider a comprehensive compensation package with better perks and opportunities that align with their individual needs and values if you can’t compete with bigger companies on the same salary benefits. These can include health packages, gym discounts, parties, remote working opportunities, opportunities to grow professionally, even company trips, or events can be a great way of showing appreciation for their work, getting millennials excited about working at your organization, and make them feel like they are part of the family. 6. Let innovation be your driver Innovation is a powerful way to attract millennials in the workplace. They don’t want to just come into an office and work for a stagnant or boring company. They evolved alongside technology and they’re used to a certain cadence. Your toolkit should be up-to-date in

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Relationships before opportunities – a proactive approach to talent engagement

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All HR professionals recognise that job-seekers expect more than ever from potential employers. They want insight about organisational purpose, culture and employee benefits and they want access 24/7 across multiple devices. They scan social media networking sites without a second thought, looking for the truth of what it’s really like to work for a specific employer. They want to be treated as human, not a reference number. As an employer, it can be a tough job to not only deliver this but to create an applicant experience that anticipates what your business is going to need in its recruitment pipeline and how you package this to attract the highest calibre of candidates. As a job seeker, having this much information at your fingertips puts you in a unique position to be able to tailor your application to the organisation you’re applying to – whether for a live vacancy or speculatively. At Human we pride ourselves on our long-term relationships with both clients and candidates, because we believe people are so much more than a title or a job description. Starting the conversation Both employers and job seekers have a role to play in proactive talent management. Organisations must find a way to establish a meaningful, ongoing relationships if they are to have access to those who are the perfect fit both in expertise and character but for whom a role isn’t immediately available. Talent pipelining isn’t a new concept but it is misunderstood and under-utilised. It’s a shift from reactive to proactive recruitment; anticipating who your company will want and should hire in the future. Good candidates who want to work for you will be happy to engage in two-way communication. If your department isn’t resourced itself to do this then it is worth reviewing how it can be managed for you – whether automated through software (although this doesn’t necessarily come with the human touch) or delivered by an external recruitment partner. As a candidate, you should never be afraid to approach an organisation you’ve identified as being a good fit for your values and aspirations. Or a good recruitment agency can help by doing this for you. Attitude complementing aptitude It sounds obvious, but understanding your culture and the personal attributes that are most successful within your organisation will help you spot those who belong in your talent bank. Spend time in departments with the workforce and use this insight to create desired personas to aid your screening process. If you don’t have time to do this, we offer it as part of the Human service. Prospective applicants should be clear about their own character and strengths and how to articulate this to a prospective employer. Some thorough research will ensure candidates are able to target companies who will support bringing out the very best in them. People buy people Being human matters, especially in this digital age where, let’s face it, you can be anything you want to be behind a screen and keyboard. Whether you’re the employer or the applicant, find ways to connect – at recruitment networking events or online over sites such as LinkedIn – and create a more human level of engagement and interaction. Then, most importantly, work hard to maintain those relationships. A talent bank is of no use if the talent it contains have lost interest in you as an employer. Investing in specialist support to manage this workstream will reap its own long-term rewards with reductions in recruitment costs, time-to-hire and ultimately your employer brand. Our human approach to recruitment means we focus on the whole person – skills, values and attitude – to help create the perfect fit for both candidate and employer. We invest time in getting to know both candidates and clients, which means we have a healthy talent bank and can easily recommend candidates who have not only the right skills, but are the right fit. Give one of our friendly team members a call for an informal chat about your recruitment needs on 01709 717212.

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Searching for talent the smarter way – the demise of the recruitment ad

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Every now and again in business you have to rip up the rule book and start again. In recruitment, and in particular, in HR recruitment, the way we advertise and attract talent is one of these occasions. What’s clear is that it’s no longer enough to just ‘put an ad out there’. In today’s marketplace, you need detailed attraction strategies and relationships with online job boards. Recruiter accounts with social media and a careers website that showcases the very best of your employer brand are also critical – a 2017 LinkedIn survey shows that 38% and 53% of candidates access these respectively when applying for roles. And we all know that you also need processes that feel human and offer a high-quality applicant experience. And that’s just the starting point. For hard to fill roles, volume recruitment and many other specific circumstances, you may need even more. Where do you to turn to when your website and online advertising aren’t quite hitting the mark? A trusted recruitment partner is the perfect solution. Inside knowledge as standard A recruitment partner will have done some investigating of what’s going on outside your organisation. They will know what the market leaders and innovators in your sector are doing with their recruitment strategies. They will also understand the most appropriate networking events to attend to meet a rich pool of prospective employees. Events such as awards or recognition ceremonies are great places to see emerging leaders at their finest. Social media is a blessing and a curse as individuals still struggle to separate their professional and personal lives and the degree of detail they share in this arena. That said, it can be a hugely insightful way of getting to know applicants a little better as part of your screening and selection process, particularly when considering the cultural fit. Build a relationship We might advise holding ‘open days’ or in-house networking events are a fantastic way of engaging new job-seekers. Or if you or your leadership community are feeling brave, we could support you to organise a live Q&A session on social media. Alternatively, you could look at how to use multi-media to tell the story of your organisation and what it’s like to work there. Tap into your existing workforce We never underestimate the talent already within your organisation. You can have a wealth of support at your fingertips by leveraging your workforce. Consider a colleague referral scheme if you are looking for more of the same (remember people tend to hire in their own image) with incentives and rewards for a successful hire. Where you have a history of promoting within, consider how you can showcase career journeys as part of your careers website to make this feel more attainable for prospective applicants. If you haven’t got a talent management programme, now is the time to set one up. They allow you to recognise your business-critical roles and people, with a view to mapping out a plan to populate these roles should the need arise, supporting your top and emerging talent along the way. Think differently Sometimes you just need to take a chance and do it differently, as Greg Savage shows in a blog he wrote last December. Here, he shows that even the smallest of incremental changes can add up to massive rewards and that a change of focus from passive advertising to actively seeking new talent can really pay off. We call it talent pipelining, and it’s something ingrained in our day-to-day work. It’s also an advantage we love to share with our clients, so if you’re interested in a chat about how we can help you get high-quality candidates for your HR roles, we’re always on the end of the phone.

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Planning for the unplannable – the strategy behind your recruitment strategy

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The annual business planning process – the holy grail of planning. At best you’ll have access to insight, intelligence and decision makers; at worst you may get some numbers on a spreadsheet that make little or no sense. It’s looking up though; recruitment and retention is back on the board-level agenda with over a quarter of organisations looking to increase their recruitment budget and over a third increasing their talent management budgets in 2017/18 (CIPD survey in partnership with Hays). So how can your recruitment strategy stay ahead of the game? Bring in the experts This isn’t the hard sell it may seem; if your HR department doesn’t have a dedicated resourcing team then you’re missing out on specialist expertise that is critical to achieving strategic success. Working in partnership with an expert recruiter on a retained basis brings many benefits. You’ll have access to a wealth of insight, from market intelligence to support with attraction strategies and talent management as well as advice and guidance from a team that wants to help you succeed. The very best partners will not only deliver for you but anticipate your needs, saving you time, headcount and budget. Make business plans your business Even the most relaxed of department heads will know what they need to achieve in the next 6-12 months and whether they have the right people to achieve it. Tap into this to understand how it might translate to recruitment needs. We all know recruitment is admin-heavy and time-intensive so having an ongoing relationship with a recruitment partner who can relieve some of the burden will maximise your ability to respond to your business’s needs whilst ensuring you can remain focused on more strategic issues. Protect your employer brand Applicants have access to far more information about a prospective employer than ever before thanks to the web and social media. Add to this a candidate’s ability to post online about their application and interview experience, and all of a sudden your reputation as an employer of choice is out of your hands. Make sure you review your recruitment process from an applicant perspective and respond appropriately to feedback – are you communicating effectively, is your process timely, are you being consistent? The CIPD/Hays survey shows that 41% of HR professionals believe they have lost good candidates because of the length of their recruitment process – have you, and if so, what are you doing about it? Use personal development plans to your advantage Knowing the ambitions of your people can be a significant advantage when resource planning. A culture of sharing future plans and aspirations will allow you greater oversight of what may lie ahead. Whether an individual wishes to upskill, retrain or is simply happy where they are can tell you a lot about their future within your organisation. You can use this insight to help plan where attrition may occur or where support should be provided to make sure you develop your strongest talent. Create a talent pipeline We have all come across the ‘right person, wrong role’ scenario. Cultural fit is increasingly as important as ability to do the job so when you find good people during the interview process it can pay to think a little differently about how to manage them. Whether you use a spreadsheet, software or recruitment partner, finding a way to create a relationship with those candidates who remain of interest to you should the right role come up means you already have a rich pipeline to look at when you need it. Regardless of how good your plan is, as HR professionals we must accept that elements of recruitment will always be reactive. However, in our experience, finding the best people doesn’t happen by accident so being ahead of the game can only put you at an advantage in a very competitive space. If you want a chat about accessing our proactive, human recruitment expertise, do give one of the friendly team a call on 01709 717212.

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Hire right or hire fast – what’s the best way to recruit?

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In an ideal world the best way to recruit is to fill a post quickly and with exactly the right candidate – but how easy is that to achieve in reality? Often, filling a vacancy fast can end in an unsatisfactory experience for both the employer and the employee, but equally, you don’t want to leave a position empty for too long – after all, you have a business to run! So when all’s said and done, what’s really the best way to recruit? Hiring someone fast, or hiring the right person for the role? Here at Human, we’ve learned that you don’t need to make a choice between the two, as it’s entirely possible to do both… What’s the key to the right hire? Getting the right person for the job is much more straight-forward, and ultimately more successful, if you take a thorough and proactive approach from the outset. Essentially you’re looking for someone who: * Has the relevant experience/qualifications * Is ready to take the next step in their career * Demonstrates the right employee behaviours * Shows potential and capacity to develop and grow in the role * Has references that back up their CV/interview input What’s the key to a fast hire? The fundamental principle is to have solid candidates waiting in wings, rather than waiting to act until a role becomes open. This talent pipelining is a much stronger and productive alternative to traditional, transactional recruitment. To hire fast, you need to: * Always be recruiting * Look internally if it’s an option * Have a clear idea of what skills/experience you’re looking for * Create a solid, accurate job description * Advertise in the right places * Draw on your network of contacts (including recruiters, LinkedIn connections etc) The best of both worlds – hiring right and fast Hiring the right person and hiring someone quickly don’t have to be mutually exclusive. If you’re handling the recruitment yourself, it can be tricky to balance other business responsibilities with the focused efforts it takes to get this right, but with the support of a recruitment specialist, you could be ready to welcome your new, brilliant worker faster than you think. One of the biggest mistakes we see clients make is failing to retain candidate applications and review previous applicants when a new role comes up. We recommend that all businesses keep this information on file and stay in contact with past applicants – something that can be done very simply through a periodical mail shot. Just make sure you manage their details in line with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Interviews and applications often bring you into contact with real talent; they might not be quite the right fit for that particular role, but they could still be the right fit for you. Just because the time isn’t right now, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep the lines of communication open for the future. Taking a proactive approach The key to fulfilling both of these recruitment criteria is to be proactive – constantly looking ahead at changes to your employee landscape, changing business needs and the kinds of people who can add value to your organisation. We find the best way to enlist great new talent is through a continuous recruitment approach – because it means that you’re continually building your talent pipeline, so you have a pool of appropriate, potential candidates to approach as soon as a vacancy arises. By nurturing a relationship with a recruitment company, you can leave this ongoing process to them, freeing up your own time for other matters while you rest assured that future job roles will be filled efficiently and effectively. So it is possible to hire fast and hire right – just ensure you’re constantly on the candidate trail by instilling a continuous recruitment value into the core of your HR processes.

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interview questions

Why continuous recruitment is essential for building a talent pipeline

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Building a talent pipeline is crucial if you want to attract the right talent to your team, but despite its many benefits, the process of continuous recruitment is an often-overlooked complementary method. Reactive recruitment certainly has a place in some sectors and types of roles, and may even feel unavoidable if you have a surprise resignation within your company – but the longer a vacancy is left unfilled, the bigger the impact on your organisation. Continuous recruitment is a much more proactive approach, helping you to build a talent pipeline that provides excellent opportunities for finding the right staff at the right time. Here are five great reasons for combining these two recruitment methodologies for the best possible results… 5 benefits of continuous recruitment 1.   Fast fulfilment of open vacancies – by building a network of potentially interested (and talented) parties for different areas of your business, you’re much less likely to be faced with a ‘vacancy void’. The longer it takes to fill a role, the more your productivity will suffer, which could ultimately affect your bottom line. 2.  Cost-savings – a long, drawn-out recruitment process means that funds that could be better directed elsewhere are being sapped away. Building a talent pipeline in anticipation of future needs means that you already have a target audience primed for positions as they become available, subsequently saving you money in recruitment costs – not to mention the potential loss of profit mentioned above. 3.  Employer appeal – a proactive approach to recruitment is a real boon when it comes to your brand’s reputation. By continually reaching out to workers with the skills your business requires, you’ll nurture a culture of confidence, where people want to work with you – and you’ll already have a positive pool of people to approach who are genuinely suitable for the role in question. If you recruit under pressure, you’re more likely to find that the successful candidate isn’t quite the right one. 4.   Staff motivation – when workers are hit with increased demands due to a colleague leaving they become more stressed and therefore less motivated. By having a ready-made pool of potential candidates to approach, you’ll be able to ease the burden of an increased workload more readily, which is crucial if you want to get the best out of your existing staff. 5.   Targeted skills – while soft skills are important, many higher level or more specialist roles require talented staff with specific skill-sets or experience. By building a talent pipeline ahead of a vacancy, you’ll be able to refine your recruitment process and target professionals who closely fit more niche requirements, rather than having the additional expense of post-recruitment training and mentoring. Building a talent pipeline through continuous recruitment offers broader business development benefits too. Finding skilled workers who are ready to hit the ground running rather than spending weeks trying to identify suitable candidates means that operational targets, staff retention and service quality standards are met and increased. With the right team on your side, you’ll also benefit from fresh ideas and the drive and determination of a new member of staff who already feels valued due to your positive activity in finding them!

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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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Employee behaviours and attitudes that can boost your business

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When recruiting for new staff there’s a lot riding on you in terms of overall business performance – so it’s essential that you secure individuals that demonstrate the right employee behaviours and values. If staff values aren’t aligned with company values it can lead to a lack of productivity, low team morale and high staff turnover rates. While historically HR and recruitment has tended to focus on skills and industry experience, it’s possible to train employees that show potential, but behaviour? Not so easy. Leopards may well be able to change their spots over time, but for the best outcome in the shortest time you should look for candidates that will fit in with your business culture, display essential key behaviours and quickly become a positive contributor to the team. 5 key staff values and attitudes to look for Get your company and staff values aligned and everyone’s singing off the same hymn sheet, working together instead of pulling in opposite directions. Every company is different, so specific values may alter depending on your internal culture, but here are our top 5 employee attitudes and behaviours to look for when recruiting for any kind of role…   1. Professionalism and positivity – you want employees who will dress, speak and act in a professional manner at all times, are eager to do the job and do it right. Are they articulate and engaged? Can they evidence delivery of quality work, attention to detail and speak enthusiastically about the role and your company?   2. Flexibility – work processes, systems and strategies are always being updated, so you want staff members who can adapt quickly, without getting stressed. Look for someone who’s willing to step-up or step-in when needed, and can demonstrate how they’ve handled change in previous roles.   3. Self-motivation – employ motivated individuals and their managers will thank you. Someone who’s happy to ask questions to bridge gaps in their knowledge and who displays a desire to take on challenges will be a genuine asset to your business.   4. Loyalty – it’s normal for people to move around in their career, but someone with lots of short-term roles behind them is less likely to stick around. Candidates who speak well of their current/previous employers, have spent several years (age allowing) with the same company and have secured a promotion or two in that time display a sense of loyalty that will be good for business.   5. Ambitious – an ambitious employee will be driven to succeed, focused on their targets and prepared to go the extra mile in order to stand out. That said, you also need to make sure that they’re a true team player, otherwise they may be too set on their own individual success to work effectively with their colleagues. Identifying employee behaviours   Whatever your recruitment process, there are lots of ways to draw out the information you need to identify these values and behaviours. The right interview questions, assessment centre activities or even role-playing scenario will help you to see if the candidate has the right attitude to bring real value to your business. Good luck, and if you need any help, you know where we are!

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Productivity Hacks For Today’s Modern Manager

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No matter what anyone says about work life balance, todays modern employee is expected to do more and…. faster. Last week I was having a conversation with a HR manager and the subject of productivity came up. The individual in question was working across three different geographical sites, had 4 projects on the go and was part of a European company working party; in addition to the day job. That takes work and the skills of a real productivity ninja! Productivity and multitasking? Is a route to productivity multi-tasking? No. The truth is multitasking doesn’t work. A recent article on Health.com gave 12 proven reasons to stop multitasking now. All well and good, though exactly how do you become more productive in your role so that key outcomes are achieved, in a timely manner, whilst at the same time keeping your sanity. Well there are numerous tested strategies I want to share in today’s article. 1.Have a thought through documented plan I know this sounds blindingly obvious and yet many people plan back to front. What do I mean by this? Productivity is about getting the right things ‘done’, not hundreds of tasks on a to do list powered through, even though that might make us feel quite smug. True productivity requires making time for reflection and review to prioritise what is truly important. Much better to have several key priorities highlighted to achieve that week that is your focus, in other words the ‘must’ do tasks, rather than a string of activities that in truth are not business critical. One HR manager I know has a weekly meeting with himself where he reviews the week based on his plan from Monday morning. Did he achieve his top 3 priorities? What does he need to do differently? What is now going to be the next priority. If you aren’t a student of the 80/20 rule it would be a good time to start. Pareto’s principle states that 80% of our results come from 20% of our activities. It plays out in many areas of both our business and personal lives too. For example, we wear 20% of what is in our wardrobe. 20% of our sales people produce most our results. What might be your 20% of activities that will produce ‘more’ results? 2.Batch and batch and time Every role has at least some repetitive tasks; don’t they? Those tasks that once you are in the zone you can achieve more of, and at speed. Time plays an important role here too. It’s a fact that as human beings we can only concentrate for so long and then our productivity will wax and wane. One technique I personally use is the Pomodoro technique. This involves working in 25 minute blocks then taking a short break to recharge. It might be worth checking this out and giving it a try. Any reptititive task can be batched and this strategy alone will make you so much more productive.   3.The Banjo method This is a blast from the past and yet is working for me as well today as when I first came across it. It stands for, Bang Off A Nasty Job First. I know! Old school time management. One thing that often adds to our tendency to not being as productive as we want, is a touch of procrastination. Especially around our least favourite tasks. What I still find fascinating is that if I tackle the task I ‘don’t want to do first’ it always gives me an energy boost and creates momentum for the rest of the day. Look after yourself Eat well, exercise, drink water and get an early night. Nothing new here I know, and yet even the best of us can forget the effect that poor diet and lack of fresh air can have on us. You only need to look online at the habits of successful business owners and virtually everyone talks about the power of fresh air and exercise. Recently Sir Richard Branson revealed that as he is getting older he has built even more time into his day for exercise so that he can…… achieve more from each day. Projects versus tasks When it comes to being more productive what can often throw a spanner in the works is our perception of a project versus a task.  Many a to-do list can get thrown out when a project is added rather than a task. A project might be developing a recruitment campaign for the launch of a new department. Logically there would be many moving parts involved in delivering this project. The moving parts are therefore tasks, that once completed then build to deliver the project. One involved task for HR managers is recruitment. If you would like help with your next recruiting task, from an experienced search team then please get in touch here.

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The Surprising Reasons Why Candidates Turn Down Job Offers

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It’s frustrating isn’t it, when candidates reject your offer. Even more so when you work in HR and that you thought you had everything covered? The reality is it happens. Today’s post explores some of the reasons why in today’s economy it’s going to become more common than ever.   Let’s look back APSCo and the IOR are the recruitment industries professional bodies. A comment they both convey is that recruitment, as a sector, is often the first into a recession and the first out. The most common example of this happed during the crunch of 2008-10; I remember it well. Naturally companies held back on recruitment and so did many of the other organisations that supported skills development across the UK, Europe and the world. The result was that people who had a job stayed put and the skills gap got wider. Cycle forward to today and we are in the grip of what happened then. Few qualified folks around and a changing work force; think bye bye baby boomers and hello Gen Y and Gen X. Our changing workforce and the digital landscape has created a huge shift when it comes to the movement of employees. What are the common reasons people say no? Having placed literally hundreds of candidates in the last few years especially, I have seen a pattern of reasons emerging that I want to share.   1. Fair pay and relevant benefits. So, simple and yet it still happens. As an organisation, you must pay the going rate for the role in question; ideally a bit more with some good additional benefits thrown in. If you want a specific range of skills or experience you will have to pay for it. Fact: Great people can pick and choose positions now. All a candidate has to do is jump online and look at a few salary benchmarking websites and your reputation can go out of the window. Starting to negotiate salary (down) after the interview will do nothing for your reputation at all. We explain this more below. For now, let’s talk about the motivations of your workforce and benefits that might mean something to them. As a HR professional you will understand how flexible benefits boost employee engagement. They can also make a difference whether someone says yes or no to the package you offer. Recently a candidate we placed said yes to one client because she got a gym membership and there was a flexible scheme around taking time out when childcare was proving a challenge. 2. Understanding the new workforce. The biggest number of today’s work force fall in the Gen Y/Millennial category. Known as the ‘selfie’ generation. They are used to technology and have always had a grip on how to find any information they want. I’ll move onto that later. The difference with this generation is the value system and motivation that they operate from. While some people refer to this group as Generation Why for a reason, it’s not about their lack of respect for authority. It’s more about how they were brought up and by whom. They were raised by their parents to question everything when they don’t understand something or disagree; which for older established organisations takes some getting used to.  If they have picked up a whiff that they won’t be listened to, they will say no to your offer; having a voice matters to them. The key for employers is finding the correct mix of individual and team projects that allow these workers to grow professionally. 3. Lack of development opportunities. The truth? Our employees today expect to be ‘developed’ and given opportunities. If their career path hasn’t been made clear and exciting, once they are back at home on their iPad evaluating their options, your unclear development path will give you a big fat no. 4. Checking you out online; do you hit the mark? Over the last couple of years, it appears that more celebrities have left planet earth than ever before.  It’s not strictly true. With 1.8 billion Facebook users and Twitter,  Snapchat and all our multiple devices; as human beings, we are literally seconds away from breaking news or…… the latest ‘dirt’ on the company we are thinking of moving too, which leads me onto something else. The c word. Company culture is one the most common reasons candidates say no to your offer. People will make a judgement in multiple different ways about what it might be like to work in your culture. Here are some of the things you will be judged by:     What your website communicates and your brand image Your Social media- LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter What Glassdoor says about you What videos are online about you and what you do Your values and corporate social responsibility What friends and family share about you and your impact in the world The list goes on and I am sure you get the picture. Is it time to review your process and how you communicate what it would be like to work with you and your company. The good news is it’s much easier than you think. Get in touch today for a comprehensive review of your hiring process. Until next time,         P.S. Do you need some help ensuring candidates say yes rather than no? Then get in touch. You can reach us on 01709 717212.

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