So can Raw2010 keep the momentum?

As ever i’ve sat down to write this with not enough time and too late after the event to write about it as I had intended.  Unusually this blog isn’t about recruitment but a selective business event held in Salford Quays that I was lucky enough to attend.  In the intervening days between thinking and doing I also Sian Astley’s blog on it at http://moregeous.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/raw-2010-manchester-an-entrepreneurs-paradise/ and that sealed it, she did a great job on providing an overview of the event so I want to look at what next not the event itself.  (As an aside I was never sure about Sian, famous for her tv debut on Sarah Beeny and property ladder but then I was impressed with where she took it afterwards).

As events go RAW2010 promised a lot and in the main I believe did a really good job of delivering.  It used technology that certainly provided a talking point (next time ipad’s we can keep?) had a good mix of speakers and interactivity and most of all 20 minutes talking, 10 minutes questions should be adopted by all events this year.  My personal favourite was Doug Richard but then I have always thought he talked a lot of sense and his view of the future was scary but real.  We really will be tracked, 1984 and all that really is on its way even if it comes disguised as a marketing exercise on the back of some technology.

The event worked for me, it got my attention and with all good events it got me thinking long after I walked away with my goodie bag.  I now follow a few more people and have been looking more closely at local business rather than the national stuff I usually chase.  But I guess now is going to be the test of raw2010.

What next.

Keeping up momentum is going to be tough and I know all that were there will be willing Mike, Scott and Imran to succeed or is it all of us we are willing?  That might be the hitch, collectives work when we have a goal but getting to that goal will need leadership.  Who is going to lead us forward or at least to the next stage where I see all of us and our respective businesses doing something radical here in the northwest.

about Martin Dangerfield

2010 is going to be another tough year, I believe we are out of the worst of it but it is by no means a done deal yet.  If you want my help with your recruitment strategy, from inception to delivery, help in the creation of a 3 year business vision or practical onsite recruitment support then contact me, Martin Dangerfield on 0161.955.3647 or email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com.

As well as being a Regional Director for the IRP, Martin is Director of the innovative search business mckinley|resource, a freelance people consultant specialising in talent attraction, assessment and recruitment and a provider of business coaching for high growth entrepreneurial organisations.

Search for ‘People Consultant’ or go straight to www.martindangerfield.com

Employment branding – Part one

>>Download this blog as pdf

Once upon a time, life was very simple.

Or at least it was in my world.

Things have become more complex, faster paced and driven by ubiquitous technology that really is impacting on our daily lives.  The fact that you can read this minutes after it has been written, contact me on twitter or email to comment on it a few moments later demonstrates this more than ever.  This will be a recurring theme to some of my blogs.  I’m updating my mind map of current and future blog ideas, bringing more structure, inviting more comments, getting more involved.  Yes I want to write a book and need more content!

Recently I have been spending some time with a potential client (potential so can’t/won’t say their name yet) as well as a business partner looking at their employment brand.  Branding to me is the one of the fluffiest of all recruitment activity but ultimately can deliver some of the greatest business benefits if delivered in a structured way, made part of your business as usual activities and actually means something to current and potential candidates.

I love mad men on the bbc, it shows how brand building has evolved from 40 or 50 years ago and the challenge that we face in delivering a brand today.  It used to be that a few marketing people got together, drank coffee, smoked cigarettes before deciding what the brand positioning was going to be.  They kicked their thoughts over to the advertising people who in turn bought TV and radio time to advertise the brand.  With enough cash behind you, you couldn’t fail. Well almost.

We all know that today it is very different and by the time you drop down the food chain to recruitment activity it is even more ‘challenging’.  We know the cliche, “people are our greatest asset’ etc. but very few organisations deliver on the promise and the candidate experience will suffer.  This has  double whammy of losing the candidate that was interested in the role before you blew it and him telling his friends, or more potential candidates.  Technology is connecting us all together, companies are becoming more and more transparent whether they like it or not. An unhappy customer or in this case a disgruntled potential employee can blog about bad experience, share it on facebook and spread the story via Twitter.

The good news is that the reverse is true as well. A great experience with a company can be read by millions of people in the same way.  Think carefully if you are an employer, potential supplier or even a recruiter working on behalf of your clients.

The challenge as I see it though is that we can’t possibly anticipate every possible touchpoint that could influence the perception of your company’s brand.  I can have a good go at it and talk to as many organisations as I can to help them through their own challenges but real success is dependent on everyone buying into the message, across the board.  I’ll use an example.  You meet an employee of mckinley|resource (do you see what I did there) at a bar.  Even if that employee isn’t working at work how you perceive your interaction with that employee will affect how you perceive mckinley|resource and therefore Company mckinley|resource’s brand.   This could be a positive experience with a positive influence on your feelings about mckinley|resource or (and I really hope it isn’t) a negative influence. Every employee can affect your company’s brand, not just the front line employees that are paid to talk to your customers, do the interviews or make the decisions.

As I was saying advertising can only do so much for your brand and get you so far.  This is whether you are selling a product or looking for new people to join you.   Advertising is part of the overall talent attraction plan but needs to be managed well.  Job adverts need to be branded, support your brand and if nothing else written well.

But advertising is an element to the brand, as is interviewing, induction, how you respond to candidates even how you reject candidates.  The real key I believe to successfully build an employment brand for the long term is to look at your culture.  Yes is sounds fluffy but it’s not.  Culture is all. Get the culture right at the point of recruitment and it will stick as people join your organisation, spreading the word as they go.  Now I have no tangible evidence of this to share with you (I can make this tangible for clients) but I believe that if you get the culture right, a lot of the other parts needed to run a business,  like great customer service, or passionate employees and customers — will happen naturally on its own.  Or at least is a lot easier as you will have attracted the right people to begin with.

Employment brand and culture are part of the same equation, one feeds the other and vice versa.

How you actually deliver on this is long conversation but undoubtedly it starts with the hiring process.  It is about how candidates are spoken, the responses they get from their emails, about putting them first.  Yes another cliche, but think about it for a minute, what is your perception of a hiring organisation that acknowledges you exist, assesses you professionally, sets your expectations versus one that doesn’t?  As I said earlier, even how you let people down counts.  People that didn’t get the job but feel valued will still be positive about your brand.

In addition to being clear about attraction and communication, well defined job roles are key. Not rocket science I know, but getting a well documented job description works wonders, increasing you success rate when you hire and reducing the number of good people walking out the door later on.

I am an advocate of complete assessments of candidates.  Engage with a candidate, get to know them very well, analyse their personality and motivation, their behaviour traits and then their experience and you will be much more successful than before.  As ever I can help with this if you are interested – it’s another topic all on it’s own.

It can also be about making tough decisions, saying no to talented people.  I know this sounds alien, especially coming from a recruiter but if that talent doesn’t fit your culture or demonstrate the behaviours needed to support your brand don’t take them on.  You will sacrifice some short term benefits in exchange for delivery of your longer term ambitions and success.
I’m biased – but get someone to do all of this for you on a commercial basis.  Get them to work hard for you and remove suppliers that can’t or won’t deliver.  Understand your recruitment supply chain and what motivates them.  If it is just the fee and not your success you are not destined to deliver an effective recruitment brand.

Many companies claim to have core values, but often fail to commit to them.  Employment branding is the same, keep it simple at the start, develop it in more depth as candidates engage with you and ultimately join you.  As an example we have defined mckinley|resource in terms of 5 core values:-

• Deliver WOW projects (Thanks Tom Peters!)
• Embrace and Drive Change whilst pursuing growth and learning
• Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
• Do More With Less
• Be Passionate, Determined and Humble

This forms the foundation of our employment brand. It is easy to commit to.  When I say commit I mean I would be willing to hire or not based on them, not matter how talented a potential candidate is.  We create company ambassadors, people committed to the company and our clients.

Finally, for this blog anyway, think about the impact of technology, it brings huge benefits as well as the challenges.  You can reach thousands of potential candidates for little cost lowering the barriers of entry.  You do need to have a social media strategy.  You wont’ find every candidate you need on twitter but you will find some although don’t forget just because twitter is free doesn’t mean recruitment is free. Spend some money on good recruitment consultants with good assessment tools that you can influence.  Get your supply chain to buy into you as a brand first, if they can’t do that then find suppliers that can.

Employment brand is about doing the right thing, delivering communications in an appropriate timescale whilst proactively managing the process end to end.  As ever I am here to help you with all your recruitment needs including employment branding.  Tell me your thoughts email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com, call on 0161.955.3647 or get me on twitter @Mdangerfield.

about Martin Dangerfield
2010 is going to be another tough year, I believe we are out of the worst of it but it is by no means a done deal yet.  If you want my help with your recruitment strategy, from inception to delivery, help in the creation of a 3 year business vision or practical onsite recruitment support then contact me, Martin Dangerfield on 0161.955.3647 or email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com.

As well as being a Regional Director for the IRP, Martin is Director of the innovative search business mckinley|resource, a freelance people consultant specialising in talent attraction, assessment and recruitment and a provider of business coaching for high growth entrepreneurial organisations.

Search for ‘People Consultant’ or go straight to www.martindangerfield.com

So what does 2010 have in store…?

Some people have suggested recently that I am a doom monger, that I am negative about the recovery, that things will be better and we can all get back to what we were doing before the recession.  Well here’s the thing, I do have a slightly cynical view of ‘recovery’ and certainly that recruitment will get back to how it was before.

Is that what we all want?

Is that what our clients want?

It might just be that things should and will be different.

So to buck my negative trend… good news first. I think 2010 is going to be a good year for some recruitment companies.  There, i’ve said it, i’ve used the word good.  Specifically those that have stuck by their clients, developed new offerings or new ways of delivering value will do well.  I also believe that RPO providers will have a good year of it too, the market is moving in their favour.  Make a formal outsource agreement with a business you trust rather than an informal agreement with a shed load of recruitment agencies with mixed results.  I know that this is the way I am going, expect a new brand launch soon, specifically for the RPO lite/Managed Service offering.

We’ve all seen the rise of ‘social recruiting’ in 2009.  It works if you treat it as another route to candidate marketing, not a spam fest of job ads but as part of an overall plan to attract talent, inform and engage.  Twitter is not the recruitment tool we have been waiting for.  Just because you know someone that met someone on twitter and subsequently recruited them, does not mean recruitment consultants are extinct (however much people would like that!).

Technology will help us to engage faster, better, quicker etc. but in reality all candidates really want is someone decent that they can talk to to help them find a job that they want and that they enjoy for the next however long until they need to move.  If we get that right in 2010 then everyone will be happy.

In true fence sitting style though I think i’m going to stall on any other predictions.  You see the slightly less positive side is kicking in.  Whilst retailers appear to have had an ok time at christmas Next is forecasting tough times still.  The bad weather could influence how we feel, the potential for energy/fuel issues and lets not forget the election!

For me it’s all about confidence, about whether our clients want to make the commitment to recruit, to invest in people again.  For a recruiter the second part of that is whether they will use and external recruiter or deliver in house.  2009 was a tough time in recruitment but it has given our clients the chance to play with social media, enhance their capability and expertise due to the lower volumes and some recruiters will find that tough providing a commodity based CV provision service rather than a true recruitment service.  Don’t be surprised when the doors open up again that your client has moved the furniture round a little.

About Martin Dangerfield

2010 is going to be another tough year, I believe we are out of the worst of it but it is by no means a done deal yet.  If you want my help with your resolutions or to help you create a 3 year business vision then contact me, Martin Dangerfield on 0161.955.3647 or email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com.  Business coaching starts at £70 per hour, no charge for emails though so get writing!

As well as being a Regional Director for the IRP, Martin is Director of the innovative search business mckinley|resource, a freelance people consultant specialising in talent attraction, assessment and recruitment and a provider of business coaching for high growth entrepreneurial organisations.

Search for ‘People Consultant’ or go straight to www.martindangerfield.com

2009 Round up

Ok last blog of the year and more of a roundup than anything.  It has been a tough year in the recruitment business.  It has been a tough year in many businesses but those of us that have survived this far should take stock at what has worked and what will help us succeed in the next year.

In terms of blogging, bad news for everyone i’m afraid, I want to do more, get better at it, write more.  They say there is a book in all of us and actually i think there just might be.  Whether I have the dedication to sit down to write every day has to be seen and I will need to improve content, style and appropriate use of punctuation

I’ll write a ‘what does the year’ bring the recruitment industry in 2010 blog next week.  Until then and in the best of looking back here are the best bits from 2009 (more are available at www.mckinleyblog.com :-

26/FEB/2009 So how has it been for you so far? – My observation on the job market at that point and about how to get the best from a recruitment agency as a job seeker in what were and remain challenging times.

27/APR/2009 The Saviour of the UK recruitment industry – I am the saviour of the recruitment industry.  But I can’t do it alone!

26/MAY/2009 Alternatives to recruitment – This blog had the largest readership of any of my blogs in 2009.  Surely recruitment is a better career choice than lap dancing?

20/JUL/2009 A bit of self promotion but with good reason – I can help newly unemployed with their job search as part of DWP programme.

08/SEP/2009 Standards, standards, standards – Standards in the recruitment Industry – come on we can do it!

13/OCT/2009 Is it time to licence? – Licenced recruitment consultants… why not?  It’s time to put our house in order.

04/NOV/2009 Will work for coffee – Talk to me, buy me a coffee, let me help you with your people plans with real and tangible action.  Theory supported by doing!

24/NOV/2009 Keep looking over your shoulder my friend – Inspired by my threatening letter from ‘Gary’.  I spent a lot of 2009 looking back at what was, only now do I feel it is all about what is coming.  Thanks Gary. Actually no, Gary you didn’t need to write.

12/DEC/2009 Can friends be clients? – I want my friend Paul to be a client – but it is a tough call for both of us.

24/DEC/2009 Do as I say not as I do – For our businesses to survive, take the time to plan properly. If it helps, email me your plan and i’ll nag you to keep on track with it.

Thank you for reading throughout 2009.  More views, observation etc. here in 2010.  As ever, if you like what you see get in touch.

About Martin Dangerfield
2010 is going to be another tough year, I believe we are out of the worst of it but it is by no means a done deal yet.  If you want my help with your resolutions or helping you create a 3 year vision then contact me,  Martin Dangerfield on 0161 955 3647 or email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com.  Business coaching starts at £60 per hour in the North West £70 per hour in the rest of the UK no charge for emails though so get writing!

As well as being a Regional Director for the IRP, Martin is Director of the innovative search business mckinley|resource, a freelance people consultant specialising in talent attraction, assessment and recruitment and a provider of business coaching for high growth entrepreneurial organisations.  Search for ‘People Consultant’ or go straight to www.martindangerfield.com

Do as I say, not as I do

Not quite the last blog for the year depending on how next week goes but last this side of Christmas.  It’s that time of year to reflect, think about what we have been through in the last year, probably one of the toughest we have ever experienced in the recruitment industry.  But, as ever we need to look forward next year and what 2010 may or may not bring us.  That got me thinking. 

Not many people know that as well as running a recruitment business and being a regional director for the IRP (www.rec-irp.uk.com) I am also a business coach.  My outsourcing background with a focus on business development has given me the opportunity to work with a number of successful, high growth businesses and provide them with an external viewpoint, typically providing some coaching, structure and process with a little p.

Many of us start to look at our businesses as we do our lives and come up with some resolutions that will change or improve our lives along the lose some weight or do more marketing lines.  Maybe I’m speaking from personal experience but many resolutions get forgotten about by February.

So with that in mind here are my top 5 hints that can help you make the some of those resolutions useful, real and part of your daily work routine.  Time spent doing this properly could be time well spent in the future.

1.Take some time

We all have busy lives and our good intentions to set some time aside to plan, think and really think about our goals are forgotten about.  It’s a tough call, often we are immersed in the here and now, I know if I have a recruitment assignment on then I will always put that first ahead of any planning time.  But as ever it is time well spent, you will get the benefits later in the year.

So this time round, take some proper time out, on your own to read, write and plan what is really important to you and your business this year.  Find somewhere that does ‘it’ for you.  But make sure It is time set aside only for this task nothing else, no email, no distraction, plan like you have never planned before.

2. Get perspective 

Planning for the next 10 minutes is easy but if I ask you what December looks like and it won’t be so easy.  So pace yourself and spread your plans across the year so that you don’t try and bite off more than you can chew in one go.  List out goals for the business, cover them all, marketing, sales, people, delivery etc. think about every aspect and the improvements or developments you are going to make in 2010.

3. Get your resolutions documented

We have all read the research, we all know that we need to document our plans to make them a reality, to embed them in our heads.  If you don’t write them down, they will not become real.  They will not be delivered.

Next step get your plans into your daily life.  I run with a day book, outlook and some scraps of paper, all of which will need my resolutions in there, so that I don’t lose track of what you started to do.

So document and then get them in your daily lives.

4. Review

Don’t forget to review on a regular basis and make sure that your resolutions stand the test of time.  Don’t be scared if they don’t, tweak the goal and achieve that.  There is no shame in lowering your sights in June when you think it is time to do so or circumstances, markets or clients have changed.

5. Tell people what you are doing

As part of my business coaching I help organisations create a ‘picture’ of what their business will look like in 3 years and the milestones that will make sure they keep on track.  Then I get the organisations to share these pictures with their teams, clients and stakeholders.  Tell someone what your resolutions are, give them your plan – if it will help email me your plan at martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com and I will email you to nudge you to review your plan later in the year. 

By sharing you will force yourself to do some of the things on your list.  It will help me one of my resolutions to keep in touch with more people outside of my typical sphere.

So help me to help you, to help me.

2010 is going to be another tough year, I believe we are out of the worst of it but it is by no means a done deal yet.  If you want my help with your resolutions or helping you create a 3 year vision then contact me,  Martin Dangerfield on 0161 955 3647 or email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com.  Business coaching starts at £60 per hour in the North West £70 per hour in the rest of the UK no charge for emails though so get writing!

About Martin Dangerfield

As well as being a Regional Director for the IRP, Martin is Director of the innovative search business mckinley|resource, a freelance people consultant specialising in talent attraction, assessment and recruitment and a provider of business coaching for high growth entrepreneurial organisations.  Search for ‘People Consultant’ or go straight to www.martindangerfield.com

Please no more new year, new career job adverts

I am not one to rant. My blog is me, I am my blog etc. etc. but please everyone, as an industry we can do better than ‘New Year, New Career’ job adverts can’t we? I know it’s tough to write original copy for a decent job ad, you only need to read some of mine in the past to realise how tough I find it to0.

But please, please stop.

You know who you are, don’t make me list all the ads I find here… Get creative, think like a candidate, you WILL get the benefits and it is the originality that will be rewarded.

Rant over. Normal service will return.

If you liked this blog (The Human Face of Recruitment) then you can could have voted for it at the UK Recruiter blog of 2009 competition but it’s closed and I didn’t win – watch this space for the 2010 awards!

To talk more about this or any other people related topic contact Martin Dangerfield either on 0161 955 3647 or email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com.  As well as being a Regional Director for the IRP, Martin is Director of the innovative search business mckinley|resource, a freelance people consultant specialising in talent attraction, assessment and recruitment and a provider of business coaching for high growth entrepreneurial organisations.

Search for ‘People Consultant’ or go straight to www.martindangerfield.com

Can friends be clients?

I don’t know about you but in my twenty something years of work I have met hundreds of people, some have become friends.  Some have become very good friends, friends I have known for many many years, friends who have been there for me when I need them.  However their very friend nature now stops them from being clients, so how do I maintain the friendship but also get them and their organisations to spend money when I know I can help.

I will pick on one of them.  Sorry Paul, but you’re it! Paul is a director at a global IT Outsourcing business, we met some fifteen or so years ago in a similar global IT outsourcing business and have remained friends ever since.  But Paul struggles with me as a recruiter.  That sounds wrong, it’s not the recruitment part that challenges him more that as a friend we would be having a commercial conversation and that in some way would compromise him and me?

This isn’t some behind the scenes deal, naturally there would be a commercial agreement in place protecting both of us. What it really comes down to is that he cannot disconnect the friend part (better looking, ability to out drink him etc etc.) with the very commercial recruitment professional that I have become.  What I think he forgets is that if I do a bad job I won’t get paid, more importantly if did a bad job then I wouldn’t get more business from him and his organisation and most of all he is my friend and I don’t want to let him down (or any client for that matter, but you know what I mean).

So how to bridge that gap?

Actually for all my talk i’ve not got the answer to that one.  I have tried over the years by gentle nudging, making sure he knows what I do, how I do it, who I do it for but ultimately I think he stills sees the cocky 20 something manager I used to be rather than the people consultant I have become.

So does business and in particular recruitment mix with friends?

Answers on a postcard please?

If you liked this blog (The Human Face of Recruitment) then you can vote for it at the UK Recruiter blog of 2009 competition at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5I7nj4XcJTnymnXnZYjYzQ_3d_3d

To talk more about this or any other people related topic contact Martin Dangerfield either on 0161 955 3647 or email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com.  As well as being a Regional Director for the IRP Martin is Director of the innovative search business mckinley|resource, a freelance people consultant specialising in talent attraction, assessment and recruitment and a provider of business coaching for high growth entrepreneurial organisations.

Search for ‘People Consultant’ or go straight to www.martindangerfield.com

Keep looking over your shoulder my friend…

For much of the last year we have all been tracking the recession, trying to second guess where the bounce is going to be.  The recruitment industry plunged off the cliff fairly early on.  In my own business permanent placements almost stopped, partly supplemented by an increase in interim assignments and my personally delivered consultancy but it remains tough and I am working harder than ever to deliver the services my clients want rather than the ones I think they want.  It means I am talking to more people and having more open conversations as at last my potential clients are seeing me as more than just recruitment.

However, I’ve found myself making comparisons with this time last year, this time the year before etc.etc.  I need to move on, stop looking back and look forward but that is  easier said than done and I don’t think I am alone in that.

I say this as I recently received some advice from someone that thinks he knows me.  He half knows me, whilst we have met neither of us remember it.  He recently wrote to me reassuring me that he knows my car (yes I have a car! Green update soon!) and where I live.  He wrote to me at home.

If you are thinking stalker then you could well be right.  For arguments sake lets call him Gary.  That suggests his name isn’t Gary doesn’t it.  Not quite true his name is Gary but let’s pretend it isn’t.

Anyway his advice to me was “Keep looking over your shoulder friend…” which got me thinking.on several levels.  Clearly the first was great Gary has written to me, he shouldn’t have, complete with sinister label on the envelope to add that certain something.  Seriously Gary if you are reading this (and I know that you are) you shouldn’t have.  The letter whilst constituting a direct threat bothers me less.  The threat isn’t new just the means of communication.  No what bothers me is that Gary has decided to follow me, is it just me or is that just ever so slightly weird?

Back on track to how his advice impacts my business.  As I was saying I look backwards and find it really hard to look forwards.  In my consultancy work I get people to look 3 years ahead, creating a vision of what will be, rather than a retrospective view of past performance.  The recession has shaken things up and maybe, just maybe things won’t be the same again.  Certainly it is my belief, and luckily a number of others, that the recruitment industry won’t be the same as it was and that is both good and bad news for us all.

The good news is that i believe the market will be client driven, that they will demand true consultancy at a senior level and an ethical, clean transaction at the volume end of the market.  It will be bad for some businesses that haven’t moved away from the dump 300 CV’s on a client, don’t tell the candidate the CV has gone etc. etc.

But for us all to succeed we need to stop looking back at what was and work to create a new future for ourselves.  Get more collaborative with each other (other industries seem to manage it why can’t we – another blog, another day) and get more involved with clients.

I’m working on my 2010 business plan (more than happy to share once it’s done?!), there are cash-flow challenges and Q1 looks really tough but at least I’m starting clean rather than looking back to what I used to do.  As for Gary?  This latest letter will i’m sure not be the last and looking out my window now and there is something in the bushes… probably just a cat but you never know…

If you liked this blog (The Human Face of Recruitment) then you can vote for it at the UK Recruiter blog of 2009 competition at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5I7nj4XcJTnymnXnZYjYzQ_3d_3d

To talk more about this or any other people related topic contact Martin Dangerfield either on 0161 955 3647 or email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com.  As well as being a Regional Director for the IRP Martin is Director of the innovative search business mckinley|resource, a freelance people consultant specialising in talent attraction, assessment and recruitment and a provider of business coaching for high growth entrepreneurial organisations.

Search for ‘People Consultant’ or go straight to www.martindangerfield.com

Grab your talent while it’s hot

Even or maybe because of  the current economic downturn, the demand for talent remains high on the list of organisations’ concerns.  What is often missed is that those organisations that move now, taking advantage of others misfortune are most likely to thrive in any emerging new economy.

In short, now is the time to innovate your recruitment processes, embrace the new and potential ‘game changing’ solutions that will drive your business forward.  The employment market has moved from a scarcity of good candidates last year to a situation where there is an abundance of candidates in a very short space of time.  Those ‘passive’ candidates that people like me would hunt down are sitting tight, waiting for the large redundancy payment or not keen to move to an untested new employer.

So my thoughts… organisations need to take stock now, assess their requirements, look at the potential to invest in candidates that would otherwise not be available in the market but at the same time adjust their recruitment approach to ensure they investing in the wrong areas.

Organisations that invest now can take advantage of the fact there is less competition for that good talent, sure it is more difficult to help candidates make that move but that is where recruitment professionals like me can help.  Investing in my time now will reap dividends when you scale up as we emerge out of recession.

To talk more about this or any other people related topic contact Martin Dangerfield either on 0161 955 3647 or email martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com.  As well as being a Regional Director for the IRP Martin is Director of the innovative search business mckinley|resource, a freelance people consultant specialising in talent attraction, assessment and recruitment and a provider of business coaching for high growth entrepreneurial organisations.

Search for ‘People Consultant’ or go straight to www.martindangerfield.com

 

Will work for coffee…

Depending on how I have worked with you will alter your view point on what you think I actually do for a living?

Primarily I work as an executive recruiter in the EMEA IT, Outsourcing and technology market places.  I have worked with many of the EMEA’s major Outsourcing organisations at a senior level as well as a number of non-IT commercial organisations where technology or change is a key requirement in the management of their business.  I take my recruitment seriously and am proud to contribute to REC as a regional director of the institute of recruitment professionals.

As an adjacent service however, some of you will know me as a people consultant exploring how you assess, develop, train and recruit talent.  Whilst I can do this for any business I am starting to focus on the markets that I know in roles that I understand.  Sales is a big thing for me.  The white paper on how you can create game changing outcomes is almost ready for publication (there will be an update here shortly).

I also work for the NWDA delivering business coaching to a number of high growth entrepreneurial businesses helping to create a business vision, strategies to deliver on that vision and the tools to make it real, tangible and achievable.  So why am I telling you this?

Well I want to meet more people, I want to get a better understanding of you and your business, looking at the people aspects of what you are trying to achieve.  Now in some cases talk of money in these recessionary times puts people off, so to make it easier, let’s meet, we can have a coffee (skinny cappuccino please) and see what comes of it.  The most you have to lose is an hour of your time and the price of the coffee.

To get in touch, call me in the office +44161.955.3647 or email me, martin.dangerfield@mckineyresource.com or you want to see my brochure go to www.martindangerfield.com.