So what is the industry doing wrong – well according to the survey, end user clients want recruiters to:

• Provide innovative  pricing models
• Be more customer led
• Employ better people
• Provide technical solutions
• Be better communicators

That got me thinking – surely good recruiters would be doing all that anyway?  But this was 173 organisations –  a not insubstantial number.

The meeting then moved onto a client panel – and here’s where I got a real shock. The subject under discussion was:  ’How can recruiters help you attract and retain people with the right values and cultural fit for your business’.  The panel included Greg Allen Head of Recruitment for Nokia who said that when his organisation organised a briefing  session and round table discussion for all PSL agencies  on Nokia’s culture – what good looks like – what sort of  people they are looking for – in fact all the things that would make the recruiters job easier – half the agencies didn’t bother to show.  I was genuinely shocked.

What are you doing to enhance the client experience?

I’m on on of my rants again I’m afraid.

OK so the euro zone is in chaos, the economy isn’t great and it looks as though we will have a few tough years before things get better.  But do you know what?  That’s life. In the good times, every person, every company and every country spent too much. Fact. So now we all have to take a bit of a hit and pay it back.

And while we’re about it I have to say that not every market is in the doldrums.  There are pockets of really positive activity out there. Several of our clients are trying to seed some good news into the media  - and do you know what – by and large  they aren’t interested. Why? Because they just want to dish out their daily diet of doom , gloom and more gloom, Well I’m  fed up of it.

And if you take us as an example – we have grown every year since 2007.  It’s not been easy,  In fact it’s been bloody hard work but we are growing, we are making money and we are taking people on.

So please – let’s just get on with it  - and bloody cheer up. Have a Fab Christmas – and a PROSPEROUS New Year

I have attended two recruitment in social media events recently and although I thought I was fairly social media savvy – I definitely learned some interesting new stuff showing that you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks!

The first was the UK Recruiter and  HB RIDA Directors’ Networking Event. The first presentation was from Sophie Relf the Head of Marketing Strategy at Guardian Jobs.  While I didn’t actually agree with a lot of her comments (‘social media is a walled garden, for example’ – don’t get Andy Headworth started on that!), there was one phrase she did use which really struck a chord and that was “mobile is the remote control of people’s lives.”
This was a theme that Andy Headworth of Sirona Consulting picked up when he asked “How many of you have a mobile website”? The answer of course was everyone– it’s just that most look crap!  Andy then went on to (in his own words) take down the wall brick by brick and gave some great examples of how powerful the platforms have become.

Next up was Steve Evans of NetNatives who gave some really interesting insights into how Facebook pages are changing.  Likes will no longer be the be all and endall – but visitors will able to ‘recommend’ or say ‘I work here’ – think aboutthe potential branding for a temps recruiter around that!

Will Winch of Mishcon de Reya scared everyone to death (only joking Will) by giving the legal perspectives around data protection, data theft and cyber bullying

The other event was #RTSM11 run hosted by Recruitment International.  Andy Headworth (yes him again) talked about how Facebook is a content management platform – not a social network and so your content has to be relevant interactive and interesting – not just a page of jobs!  He also told us that Google+ is now the fastest growing social network in history and there are certainly some really interesting applications for recruiters.

Patrick Traynor from LinkedIn highlighted the new company status update function and pointed out how few organisations were using the free
products and services tab on company profiles. And a really interesting nugget – mobile searching on Linked In is up 400% year on year!!

Jorgen Sundberg from Link Humans gave his top five tips on putting together a strategy for your content marketing while Dave Martin from Brave New
Talent told us that mobile will overtake desktops and laptops by 2013 and gave us a brand new buzzword – SoLoMo ( Social, Local Mobile).

Steve Ward from Cloud Nine shared a great story about his social media journey and then Oracle occupied the graveyard slot by aptly telling all
the recruiters how they recruit everything in house through social media !

All in all two great events – and I learned a lot !

Now, we don’t need to tell you that it’s inadvisable to badmouth your employer on social networks. It’s about as subtle as writing “I hate my job” on your forehead and even if it doesn’t get you in trouble, it certainly won’t single you out as an ideal candidate for promotion.

Under normal circumstances I would argue that, assuming a company has a proper social media policy in place, bringing your employers into disrepute in any way is enough to warrant at least a warning, at worst a dismissal.

However, as more context began to emerge I found myself, oddly, disagreeing with myself. While I still think Mr. Rowat was beyond foolish for posting anything negative about work on Facebook, let’s examine what he actually said. Having come back from holiday to find that work had not been done to a high standard, he grumbled:

“”Had a great day back at work after my hols who am I kidding!! Back to the shambles that is work.”

For a start, Mr. Rowat didn’t mention the company by name. To add to this, at the time of writing a quick search shows he has fewer than 100 Facebook friends – and he posted this to his private wall. While his comments may have been inappropriate, did they really constitute the “gross misconduct” for which he was sacked?

The plot thickens. As it transpires, David Rowat has cancer of the lymph nodes. He had worked at Argos for thirteen years, and even met his wife (who is also in ill health) there.  Facts that the media was all too quick to pick up on.

The story soon became a tabloid’s dream. An extremely unwell man, fired for having an ill-advised yet probably harmless moan on Facebook about a bad day at work, a story of company loyalty being paid back with callousness – you couldn’t make it up.

I’m not an expert in employment law – and I understand that social media needs to be used carefully and that companies need to stick to their policies in order for them to be effective.

But overall, what has caused the company more damage? The poorly thought out ramblings of someone fed up with a bad day at work? Or the business that fired a loyal employee with cancer and a family to support? You decide.

However, I have heard a lot of people talking about how we should celebrate the fact that  ’people power’ and public opinion closed a newspaper.  In fact on Friday’s edition of Newsnight, the founder of Mumsnet said; ” we saw what social media can do…when individual people decide to take direct action…ordinary people on Facebook, on Twitter, on Mumsnet have made a difference.

Errr…I don’t think so

Come on now folks,  lets’ not kid ourselves that it was ‘people power’ that closed this newspaper. As Will Self said on Newsnight it was ‘the people’ that bought the paper year in year out because of their ”ubiquitous appetite for what the gutter press have peddled.” 

It was, in my opinion,  a carefully orchestrated move by the Murdoch empire to try and ensure that the Government had no grounds to refer NewsCorp’s bid for BSkyB to the OFT.  In fact in an article in the Guardian back on 30th June: News International facing job losses , it was reported that Rebekah Brooks had sent an e-mail to staff saying: ”Let me be absolutely clear: there are tough decisions coming. Costs will need to be cut and savings made in overheads and personnel… and that “a seven-day operation will be a reality in some common areas.” Additionally, the article stated  that earlier that week: “News International announced there would be a single managing editor for the Times and Sunday Times, and another for the Sun and News of the World, in an indication that the daily and Sunday titles are preparing to pool some editorial resources in a move to a seven day operation in some areas. Previously each of the four titles had a dedicated managing editor.”

Then there was the regsitration of the sunonsunday.co.uk on 5th July – which News International have taken ownership of today.

And while the bid has indeed now been referred – how long before Newscorp no longer owns News International? We shall see.

A celebration of people power? Don’t make me laugh.  A lot of ordinary people lost their jobs last week because of a few bad apples. Rebekah Brooks still has hers. Not much to celebrate there.

However, as someone who has been involved in recruiting for our own organisation over the past few weeks, I have been quite literally gobsmacked at the poor level of effort, courtesy and basic communication skills displayed by applicants.  We hear lots of stuff about how we need to really engage with Generation Y – but have we gone too far? Do Generation Y now  feel that they have to make no real effort?  And is that one of the reasons that graduate unemployment is currently so high? Are we creating a whole generation of people who think that they can just sit back and wait for the ever so eager employer to find them within their ‘talent communities’?

A few examples:

• The applicant that I interviewed– a good degree, good A level grades and relevant work placement experience. When asked what had appealed to her about the role, she answered: “Dunno really – I just thought I could do it!”
• The applicant who, during a telephone screening interview, asked our Account Manager:  ”How old are you? Yousound really young!”
• The graduate  applicants ( and I’m not talking about just a few) whose covering letters and CVs are so full of spelling mistakes it makes me want to throw my hands up in despair at the current state of our education system. One was actively seeking a “roll in pubic relations.”
• The applicant who e-mailed me to say that he thought his experience would be of interest to me and directed me to site where I could find out more about him. I didn’t bother – because he couldn’t be bothered to sell himself.

Am I just a grumpy old woman?  Is there something I’m missing? Is it too much to expect applicants to make some effort to engage with ME?  What do others think?

Some may say the headline did its job; it was attention grabbing and therefore drew me to the website.  Well yes it did make me read the article, but it also made me question the validity of the research, and the results. If we take a closer look at the article, we see that the study was carried out by two researchers at a University in the Netherlands. The findings suggest two things, firstly you will get paid more if you wear a designer label at an interview, and second that you will also perform better in the eyes of the interviewer if wearing a designer clothes.

I’m not one for dismissing genuine, accurate research. After all, my job frequently requires me to analyse data from clients and formulate it into a report or article for the press. However, I do find it hard to believe that the research in this article can be an accurate reflection of the way interviewers decide on who they recruit.  So for all those involved in recruitment, what’s your view on this research?

You may have read that we are currently looking for people to join us, for anyone that is on the hunt for a new exciting position, have a look at our previous post. And rest assured, we won’t be hiring someone based upon their designer wardrobe!

Ok – I know a lot of people will be throwing their hands up in horror but are we trying to put too many people through university?

I recently attended my son’s GCSE options evening and learned about the new English Baccalaureate.  Students who receive an A* to C grade in English, Maths, at least two sciences, a foreign language and either history or geography will automatically be awarded the English Bacc. And why? Well no matter what the official line is, it will be another way for universities to filter through too many applications. And the reason that universities get too many applications is that the Government has this ridiculous notion that we need to send at least 50% of our young people to university. This apparently is so we can compete with China ( whose young people are doing degrees in maths/science/engineering).  The HRD in a recent post talked about today’s youth being a beaten generation. I agree wholeheartedly with him when he says that everyone should have the right to a decent education – but it should be the right education – and university may not be the right route.

I am old enough ( unfortunately) to remember the old secondary modern system where those who were not academically slanted went on to undertake a highly valuable vocational education. As a country we have this obsession with sending a higher and higher proportion of our young people to university. And so we end up with high graduate unemployment, a two tier system where some degrees are valued by employers as more ‘worthy’ and no plumbers!!

My brother was not gifted academically as he will be the first to admit – luckily for him there was still a scheme called apprenticeships – he left school at 16 went on to qualify as an electrician and now runs his own business, providing employment to others, and therefore contributing to the economy! So basically he does exactly the same as I do.  I went to university – because that was the right route for me -we both got to the same destination – we just took a different route.

Education needs some joined up thinking

A few people I know have commented on how lucky people have it that work from home – although most of these have a pretty long and often stressful commute into the office every day. I have an easy 20 minute drive to the office each day, which may help explain why I have come to the conclusion that working from home on a long term basis is definitely not for me!

Whilst the nature of PR involves a lot of writing and at times a quiet environment is needed, I like the atmosphere of an office and the interaction that comes with it.  So after working from home for a week, here are my top tips for those who find themselves in a similar situation:

• Set yourself up a space to work from – this may be your study, the kitchen or dining table. But don’t fool yourself into thinking that setting up camp on the sofa will allow you to have a productive days work!
• Structure – when at home, it’s easy to sit at the computer all day without a break. As you would in the office, take some time for lunch whether this is going out for a walk or watching a bit of TV – just don’t subject yourself to the likes of Loose Women or Jeremy Kyle!!
• Keep in contact with the office – it’s easy to get wrapped up in your own little bubble when at home. Have regular contact with your colleagues and keep in the loop.
• Meetings – just because you are not working in the office that’s not to say you can’t still be involved in meetings.  Suggest to your colleagues that you join the meeting via a conference call number. And if you have a scheduled client meeting, find out if you can do it via a call or try to rearrange, don’t just cancel without providing a solution.

Whilst working at home is not so bad for a week, I’m certainly looking forward to getting back into the office.  So what’s your opinion? Do you prefer working from the office or the comfort of your own home? Let us know below.

I was listening, as usual, to the Radio4 Today programme the other day as I was getting ready for work.  I had risen with a feeling of positive anticipation for the business year ahead.  We’d had to work harder than ever in 2010 but our turnover and profit were up on 09 and our work pipeline was looking good with a number of new retained contracts being signed.  And then on comes the grim reaper himself  Robert Peston ( who I am convinced really works for the CIPD).  There then  ensued a diatribe of  depressing predictions – pay squeezes, pay freezes, job losses, VAT rises, unemployment increases. Then I came into work and read the cheery  CIPD Annual Barometer Forecast and wondered if we should all just go home. I am so bloody bored of it all.

And do you know what? This sort of endless  banging on and on about the negative just breeds a what’s the point attitude.  I know personally of at least three graduates with good degrees who think it’s pointless looking for a job because they feel there arent any.  Makes my blood boil!

Yes it’s tough out there but what are we supposed to do – just go back to bed and put our heads under the covers?  

And then a little ray of sunshine  poured into my black day – another prediction and this time positive – and from a group of people who hopefully do really have their  fingers on the pulse – and the evidence at their fingertips –  the holders of the purse strings – Finance Directors.