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.

Is it time to licence?

When you think about other professions you think about standards, their governing bodies.  Recently the recruitment industry trade body REC launched their new individual membership proposition the institute of recruitment professionals with some mixed results and feedback.  What has been missed is the bigger picture, membership of a professional body is the start point and my biased opinion a good start point (contact me for membership details) but why stop there, why not take it further and ‘licence’ recruitment consultants.

Now whilst I’m not suggesting for a minute the role of a recruitment consultant is life critical or impacts on society in the same way as a lawyer it does carry far greater responsibility than is generally acknowledged.  But the idea of a licence isn’t new. In medicine for example, a nurse or doctor has to show how they have kept their knowledge up-to-date, something that REC/IRP is also pushing for all but what if we took it to the next level.  The need for a licence before you can recruit?

So if you start with a blank piece of paper and decide to create a programme to licence consultants, where would you start and what would it cover?  For me It’s about structure and standards.  Our profession is based on the commercial realities of the businesses we work in.  My executive search business would be run differently to say a provider of manufacturing temps but the basics are the same, the need for a professional approach, understanding of employment law etc. should be the same.

It also makes sense to me that you can measure capability based on licence qualification, demonstrable experience etc.  But it would be easier for individual consultants to prove they had the knowledge and understanding and some form of log maybe to record continuing professional development (CPD).  It would also allow consultants to demonstrate capability across in-house and external roles and potentially make it easier to move between the two?

I do see the need to make it an active registration approach, the need to re-register every 3 or 5 years, would help to ensure that all consultants keep their practice up-to-date and continue to develop professionally.

So what do you think, good idea or not, what are the pitfalls and given the recent comments about REC who would manage and govern the process?

For more information on IRP go to www.rec-irp.uk.com or 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.

www.martindangerfield.com

My multipreneur life – how to brand?

Slightly off my ‘core’ recruitment focus but linked in that it is about me and my professional life which I have recently discovered has a name.

Multipreneur.

Whilst this might sound a bit american (and it is?) it does describe my new working outlook.  I own the innovative executive search and recruitment business mckinley|resource, I am a business coach for the NWDA high growth programme, I provide job search advice as part of the job centre plus and last but not least I provide interim recruitment services for corporate organisations.

This multi-faceted DNA has always been at the heart of my work life. Throughout my career I have always strived to avoid being pigeonholed and now I am carving out a unique role as a business juggler, keeping several separate yet interlinking activities on the go.  In the main I love it, it works well for me, allows me to collaborate with individuals, SME’s and corporates, making me more rather than less employable as I never lose touch with any one sector or size of business.

However I’m struggling.

Let me be more specific i’m struggling to describe what I do, how I do it in a simple concise way that covers all aspects of my career.

What I would advise any of the businesses or individuals that i work with is to look at their strengths and unite each of the elements of their portfolio under a single unified personal brand.  So in true cobblers shoes style I have started this and begun to develop a brand equity that conveys my value and purpose.

Phase 1 has been the re-launch of www.martindangerfield.com.  That has helped clarify what is in, what is out and what ‘my brand’ could be.  However as we are all aware, branding is more than a website, it’s more about what I stand for, how I deliver the services I do and most importantly why you should engage with me for all your people needs.

So over to you, I need your help, what next?  What logically comes next for you?

Email me at martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com, call me on 0161.955.3647 or get me on Twitter

Standards, Standards, Standards

Slightlly different format as I’ve written my blog for ukrecruiter – the UK recruitment community site www.ukrecruiter.com

http://ukrecruiter.typepad.com/uk_recruiter_blog/2009/09/standards-standards-standards.html

Let me know what you think?

For more information on IRP go to www.rec-irp.uk.com or 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 search business mckinley|resource, a freelance people consultant specialising in talent attraction, assessment and recruitment and a provider of career and business coaching.

www.martindangerfield.com

Applying the personal training approach to your job search

You might have guessed that i am on a bit of a mission, trying to get the new DWP support for newly unemployed professionals a bit of momentum or at least get more people involved and getting the benefit of some coaching, sharing of information and focus.

The scheme has been running since April but is still not that well known, certainly the job centres I have spoken to don’t refer many people on to it and I would like to see more coming my way as I know I can help them.

Sure enough like all good coaches I’m not going to tell people what to do but help them get there themselves, allowing for the fact we are all individuals and have our own approach to how we do things.  However there are some common elements and I have started to think of the coaching in a similar way to personal trainers in a gym.

Think about how many people sign up to go to the gym each year with the objective of getting fit, or lose weight etc. but find that at the end of the year they haven’t achieved what they set out to do?

Certainly from my personal experience (I have been there) one of the main reasons why I failed is the simple fact that I would go once or twice in a month, when I could find the time but never really build enough continuous momentum to make any significant difference.

Surprise surprise it is exactly the same in any job search.

The key is to have a plan, generate some momentum and maintain that momentum, something that is very tough, especially in this market.  Some people find it easy, having a natural ability and if you are one of those people then great.  You will still need a plan (and I can help you with that) but for most of us it is an approach we need to work at.

As with many thing in life, we need to picture our goal, visualize the end result as well as the milestones that get us there.  Without a realistic goal, with some timescales it becomes much tougher.  Equally important is the role I would play as your coach, giving you a nudge on a regular basis to see where you are with your plan and giving you a slightly hard time if you have done nothing about it.

We all have busy lives but the things we do expand into that time, so we all need to set aside proper time for the job search both in the initial discussion and review and on a daily basis so that we actually do see some progress.  We all spend time on ‘escape’ activities, searching the internet for that elusive new job and whilst some of the time we will come up with something, a lot of the time we won’t as we get diverted by youtube, facebook, twitter etc.  Now all these things can help you find your next job but if they are not part of your plan they are a diversion.

So as well as a plan you need to be good with your time, using it like you would any other hour in your day if you were at work, with the kids, down the pub etc.  Getting a new job today is going to be tough you need to engage and think of the experience as productive, worthwhile even fun!!

Like going to the gym there are days when you just can’t be bothered, that cold wet monday you said you would go for a run.  Well i’m afraid you are going to have to get out of bed, get those shoes on and run, but not on your own I can help.
So putting my money where my mouth is… I can help you if you are a newly unemployed professional – get to your job centre, ask about the programme and then get them to contact me to refer you.  If you aren’t unemployed then I am going to run the same programme but make a charge for it.  How much that charge is will depend on levels of interest and whether I can groups of 6 to 10 into the same location, but think it’s possible.

Email me at martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com and I will send you the flyer for the programme, call me on 0161.955.3647 if you want to talk through the programme and how it could work for you.

Bit of self promotion but with good reason…

OK well this is self promotion but as the title says with good reason.  It’s a tough old world out there right now for job seekers and I want to push the mckinley|resource workshops for newly unemployed professionals that are available free if you are referred to us by your local job centre plus service.

Securing the right job has never been easy. It is also true to say that there are fewer jobs around in these difficult times.  Getting your CV seen and how to make it (and any application) sell you in the best light in such a cluttered market is tough especially now we are in a climate where even getting an interview amongst such huge competition should be celebrated.

As part of the DWP initiative to support professional people get back into work we have developed a one day programme split into two equal halves.  The first part is a workshop with a group of people in a similar postion, but not so many that there is no opportunity to ask questions or get some real value from the experience.

On leaving the workshop chances are that you will have some ‘homework’ to do before coming back for the 2nd part of the programme.  This is a 1 to 1 bespoke coaching session aimed at building upon the areas covered in the workshop but tailored to your individual needs.  The output is an action plan with a focus on the practical and achievable steps needed to implement a successful job search strategy of your own and because we are mckinley|resource we will provide ongoing email and phone support until you are back in work.

Now I know there are people offering this service on a commercial basis, charging something like £250 to £300 per person per day.  We are doing this for free BUT only if you are referred to us by your local job centre plus service.  Whilst we are based in Manchester and have a number of workshops planned up in the North West we can deliver this anywhere in the UK as long as we can get a minimum of 6 people, maximum of 10 in a location for the workshop.

So, as a next step talk to your local job centre plus about how you can be referred onto this free programme and say you want mckinley|resource to deliver the programme for you.  Also get in touch with me, Martin Dangerfield and I will email you a flyer for the programme that goes into more detail.

Contact:
Martin Dangerfield
mckinley|resource

martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com

0161.955.3647

I’m not an eco warrior but I have made a tiny difference

Back in March http://mckinleyresource.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/so-how-green-can-i-be/) I waved goodbye to my lease car and took the decision not to replace it. As I said then, not an easy decision i’ve had a car since I was 17 and have got used to stepping from the front door in the morning and stepping straight into my car.

So as a quick update, it’s been tough, sometimes tougher than others but I’ve stuck with it.

Now as I said i’m not an eco-warrior and in the last 3 months I have hired a car 6 times but because I’ve booked a hire car I have saved up my journeys so to speak making sure I see as many people as I can in the time I have the car. But 6 days out of 100 odd seems a good thing to me, it means those short hops to the office have been eliminated, I walk an awful lot more. In fact I walk miles. This is hopefully better for me and certainly better for the environment.

I think I am more aware of my community, I see people and because they now see me all the time they say hello, I like this.

I have also found that I am more planned. If I am using public transport to get somewhere I allow a lot more time than I would have done normally with the result that I get to places early (those of you that know me, know that I am the king of cutting it fine!). This new found travelling time also means I read more and listen to more music or rather less radio which is actually a good thing I’ve found.

So for now, i’m sticking with it until I wear out more shoes (killed 1 pair of converse so far) or get caught in a downpour again because I forgot my umbrella, luckily on the way back from a client so they missed the drowned rat look or until I really can’t carry any more stuff from the supermarket.

You should try it, not in a moralistic i’m better than you way but just miss out a journey in the car or two and see how it goes, you’ll feel more connected to where you live in some way… honest.

This will not be the most popular of my blogs…

…as the most popular blog used the word lap dancer. If I had known that then every blog would have those two special words that can increase your readership ten fold!

I’m sat in a coffee shop, something I notice myself doing more and more, partly as it gets me out of the office but also a reflection of my work pattern that has significantly changed since the ‘R’ word arrived. Now some recruiters I talk to are all up beat, it’s about opportunity etc. etc. they have never had it so good and that may be true. Certainly my work in talent pooling, acquisition strategies etc. has increased but there are no two ways about it, on the front line, getting people into jobs has died and died dramatically.

Now before we go down the woe is me route, it will be ok, I have been around the block, have diversified into appropriate high value consultancy (but can cope with more, hint!) and do see the change in economic climate as an opportunity but in this profession I am in the minority.

When you dig a little bit deeper though, there is a slightly different story to tell, yes it is tough (see my next blog on the DWP Jobseekers programme for professionals) but it is really that clients have changed their behaviour. More and more there is a move to an inhouse approach, talking direct to candidates, missing out the unvalued middle man recruiter.

For me this is an interesting move, for years clients have used recruitment organisations to fill the volumes of jobs they had, managing the process and supply chain rather than actually knowing how hard it is to attract talent, assess talent and successfully recruit the talent. Suddenly they are in the firing line and good news for us recruiters is that at last in some cases they actually appreciate how tough it is.

The perception has always been that recruitment companies did some advertising, got some CV’s and just emailed them in and to be fair, some did and still do. Those of us that have taken a value based, professional route know there is so much more to it and now some of those clients actually realised it.

In the main it’s the volume that has killed them, an organisation with a strong brand and access to a good pool of direct sourced talent can easily find themselves swamped. They don’t have the qualifying and assessment mechanisms in place that their recruiters used to have and they are drowning, often delivering a poor service to their candidates and because they are direct, damaging their employee branding. Not good for you, me or anyone.

The solution, well obviously in an ideal world they would come and talk to me but in reality these clients need to reassess their approach to the market and dare I dare I say it act like an agency!

When the ‘R’ word is over I will still be here to help my clients with the critical hires they will need to grow their business but I am here today to help get your inhouse capability on track, think like an agency, proactively manage the process and deliver the results you need yourself.

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about martin dangerfield

The majority of my career has been in the IT Services market place where I have a successful track record in the winning and the ongoing management of complex IT and outsourcing services.  What this experience has given me are some excellent sales, negotiation and people management skills but most of all knowledge of how business really functions.  When applied to my more recent recruitment and executive search experiences this knowledge becomes powerful, making me stand out from the crowd as a recruiter but also giving me the skills to help organisations deliver a strategy to recruit people, quickly, effectively and professionally.

I take a straight talking, open and frank approach to every assignment whether engaged via mckinley|resource to deliver executive search or interim services or directly to help your business create and deliver an effective people plan. Oh… and I have a sense of humour. I take my recruitment seriously and have been appointed a regional director for the recruitment trade body REC (www.rec.uk.com).

Contact:-

email: martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com

web: www.mckinleyresource.com, www.iamthesaviour.com

blog: www.mckinleyblog.com

Twitter: MDangerfield

Time to reflect.

Ok. It’s my birthday today so a chance to reflect on the last 12 months of my business life. You’ll notice the nearest you get from me about my personal life is the ‘green’ issues discussed in a previous blog. By the way, walking is the way forward although I have been very lucky with the weather since getting rid of my car. I have hired cars on a couple of occasions for some difficult to get to destinations but in the main have been happy(ish) using public transport. The good news is I am a little bit fitter due to the walking, get to places on time because I am better planned and get a little more done in the day as I work on trains and buses.

So 12 months older, wiser etc. etc. It has been a tough 12 months in business. This time last year my personal business outlook was very different with the majority of my work coming from permanent placements in IT outsourcing. Whilst this remains the case, there is a definite move towards more interim and contract work in a number of my clients as they still face head count restrictions but still need things to be delivered. Cash is king, more so than ever, with clients stalling payments and suppliers chasing harder than ever to keep things moving. (If my business owes you money you will get paid ). But what I have really learned in the last 12 months is that the recruitment industry is still the same as ever. The big players do the same old thing “look at the size of my database” or “look at the hundreds of CV’s I can send you”, adding very little value, getting their clients to do all the work and still charging high fees often on a retained basis as clients don’t know any better. By all means pay a high fee but expect an excellent recruitment experience. The market continues to be maligned by sharks, dodgy practice and for an industry worth something like £22Bn in the UK alone a real lack of professionalism. This annoys me. For regular readers of my blog you will know that it annoys me.

So far I’ve done two things. I am a regional director for REC (www.rec.uk.com) although in reality have yet to find the best way to utilise this in a constructive and positive manner. REC do try really hard but represent an industry that is incredibly diverse and it will take a little bit longer before they can really start to tackle issues around professionalism in the industry with some teeth. So my aim is to make a start myself.  Get some professionalism in the industry street by street (post code by post code as a recruitment colleague said to me recently) and do something tangible. I’ve launched www.iamthesaviour.com for I am the saviour of the recruitment industry but cannot do this mission alone. I want to find like minded recruitment professionals and agree how we can do something practical to raise standards in the industry and more importantly educate our clients to that they learn not to take second best but to value what a good recruitment professional can do. So it’s 12 months till my next birthday, by then I want to see some change in the industry. Will you join me? We have a lot to do. www.iamthesaviour.com

 

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about martin dangerfield

The majority of my career has been in the IT Services market place where I have a successful track record in the winning and the ongoing management of complex IT and outsourcing services.  What this experience has given me are some excellent sales, negotiation and people management skills but most of all knowledge of how business really functions.  When applied to my more recent recruitment and executive search experiences this knowledge becomes powerful, making me stand out from the crowd as a recruiter but also giving me the skills to help organisations deliver a strategy to recruit people, quickly, effectively and professionally I take a straight talking, open and frank approach to every assignment whether engaged via mckinley|resource to deliver executive search or interim services or directly to help your business create and deliver an effective people plan. Oh… and I have a sense of humour. I take my recruitment seriously and have been appointed a regional director for the recruitment trade body REC (www.rec.uk.com).

Contact:- email: martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com

web: www.mckinleyresource.com, www.iamthesaviour.com

blog: www.mckinleyblog.com

Twitter: MDangerfield

Alternatives to recruitment

This will be a test of whether a recruitment acquaintance of mine read this or not.  If he does then thanks for the story, if not he will never know… 

I work in a Regus shared office, partly because I get to talk to loads of different business owners in various types of business, making my day that little bit more enjoyable and occasionally leading to some business.  As with all Regus buildings there are a number of recruitment organisations based here and I am naturally drawn to them for a chat and a catch up.  I caught up with one of the owners whilst he had a crafty fag (security guard not happy) and had chat with him about one of his consultants.  

She had recently approached him to tell him how hard she was finding her sector right now after years of success.  She felt that she was now a burden to the business and not the asset she had once been and that it would be better if she left now to return when things pick up again in her specialist sector.  Firstly I can’t think of many ‘employees’ that would do this and it is testament to her commercialism and professionalism that she realised that small businesses in a tight market run on tight margins and every little helps.  

However here’s the punch line.

She said she needed to earn a good salary and so would be working as a lap dancer.

Before I comment on this, I have no moral or ethical stance for or against the adult entertainment industry.  Personally it’s not a business I have ever felt open to me but I do have to question what kind of industry I work in where you can earn more to take your clothes off then to help businesses identify new talent?  Do organisations hold recruitment in such low esteem that whilst many of them claim ‘people are our best asset’ they fail to adequately reward recruitment professionals (internally and externally) who in the main do a very difficult job.  I have spoken to a lot of clients in the “how hard can it be” camp who are suddenly realising that to do a good job in recruitment is actually very hard.  Getting a strong pipeline of great candidates is a lot more than posting a few job ads and reading a couple of CV’s.

Hey, I’m a realist, I know some of you reading this will probably say that a few less recruitment consultants in the world is no bad thing and you might be right. Certainly a few less of the wrong kind of recruitment consultants is no bad thing but those of us that do a good job do need to be paid a reasonable wage to do that job.  So what can we do, email me martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com and tell me what it would take to get the recruitment industry back on track.  

In the mean time I have emailed the facilities people here at regus to have a pole installed in my office.  I might not have the legs for it but if you can’t beat them join then etc. etc. 

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about martin dangerfield

The majority of my career has been in the IT Services market place where I have a successful track record in the winning and the ongoing management of complex IT and outsourcing services.  What this experience has given me are some excellent sales, negotiation and people management skills but most of all knowledge of how business really functions. 

When applied to my more recent recruitment and executive search experiences this knowledge becomes powerful, making me stand out from the crowd as a recruiter but also giving me the skills to help organisations deliver a strategy to recruit people, quickly, effectively and professionally

I take a straight talking, open and frank approach to every assignment whether engaged via mckinley|resource to deliver executive search or interim services or directly to help your business create and deliver an effective people plan.

Oh… and I have a sense of humour.

I take my recruitment seriously and have been appointed a regional director for the recruitment trade body REC (www.rec.uk.com).

Contact:-

email: martin.dangerfield@mckinleyresource.com

web: www.mckinleyresource.com, www.iamthesaviour.com

blog: www.mckinleyblog.com

Twitter: MDangerfield