Recruiting for a role with an 85 year old legacy at stake
The opening line of Peter Pan reads: “All children, except one, grow up.” But he did grow up, on the day author JM Barrie gifted the copyright to the world's most famous children’s hospital, Great Ormond Street (GOSH). Since then, the copyright has provided GOSH with a sustainable income because every novelisation and performance yields royalties for […]
The four career preparation behaviours of recent graduates
There’s so much rich insight coming out of the academic sector that HR professionals need to know. At Academics’ Corner we feature the best HR researchers that tell you what they’ve found and what you need to do differently on the back of the research. Get connected to the academic sector through Academics’ Corner and […]
How to understand the profile of an interim executive
New research based on a survey of 144 interim executives across the UK suggests that interim executives may display stronger inclinations to lead than non-interims and present colleagues with a vision of what can be done rather than managing to orders. The survey results were compared to a sample of 1500 non-interim executives so that comparisons could […]
Here’s what makes an interviewer a professional
Recruitment interviews are pivotal in the candidate selection process and play a crucial part in the assessment of professional expertise and social skills. But having a goal-oriented conversation, understanding the requirements of a position, bringing this into the interview and extracting the maximum of relevant information needed for making a good choice, is a challenging […]
Would you instinctively distrust a hiring algorithm?
New research from the American National Bureau of Economic Research suggests workers hired by computer algorithms stay longer in jobs than those hired by people. Across 15 companies and 300,000 low-skill service-sector hires, the NBER research compared the tenure of those hired based on algorithmic recommendations with those hired by humans. The test asked questions […]
Is it time we treated candidates as consumers?
Much has been written on the subject of employer branding in recent years, especially in the context of its importance for successful talent attraction and acquisition. We know that acute competition for skills (particularly those in short supply) necessitates that HR and resourcing teams be ever more creative in their approach to finding and engaging […]
25 years’ experience, now struggling to find a job
Paul served a short prison sentence earlier this year and is still on probation. Since leaving prison in June he has applied for countless jobs, but is struggling to get past the tick box. Prior to his sentence, Paul worked for over 25 years in the financial industry. Like many others, Paul is qualified, experienced […]
Millennials at work: are we subscribing to a fantasy?
What are some of the commonly held pre-conceptions about millennials in the workplace? They vary from curmudgeonly stereotypes of the under-35s as a bunch of entitled, narcissistic selfie-takers who aren’t capable of staying in the same job for more than five minutes through to more carefully considered research which shows that millennials are in search […]
Six questions to match candidate and employer expectations
Recruitment interviews are pivotal in the selection process and play a crucial part in the assessment of professional expertise, competencies, skills and motivators. Having a goal-oriented conversation, understanding the requirements of a vacant position, bringing this into the interview and extracting the maximum of relevant information needed for making a good choice, is a challenging […]
Twelve steps to shorten time-to-hire
Time-to-hire is an all-important human resource management metric. In 2011, Workforce Management Magazine defined time-to-hire as “a common measure used in human resources to evaluate the average amount of time it takes to fill an open position.” A short time-to-hire affords minimal business disruption whilst a lengthy time-to-hire may cause loss of morale among the […]
“Top talent are high performers with high potential.”
This is an interview with Ahmed Al Khemeiri, Talent Acquisition Specialist at Abu Dhabi Ports. Ahmed will be speaking at the HR Tech World Congress taking place in Paris on October 27 – 28 Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: How has the talent landscape changed over the last year – is it harder to recruit the best people? […]
Immersive assessment: a fad or the future?
HR decision-makers are worried about identifying those with the skills needed in a very competitive environment and testing is widely used. But the assessment scene offers a similar landscape to that of five or ten years ago, focused heavily on somewhat dull and traditional personality and ability tests. Other than the move ‘online’, it has […]
Interview: Marie Moynihan, Chief Diversity Officer and VP Talent, Dell
Marie Moynihan is Chief Diversity Officer and VP Talent at global computer company Dell. She is an experienced global HR leader and talent executive whose goal is, in her own words, to create an environment that is uniquely open and inclusive, where individuals and teams are challenged to be their best, and do their best work, […]
Why candidates should write their own job descriptions
At the start of the year I was running a breakfast with a number of CEOs from the Oxfordshire area. We were discussing learnings from the last year. The conversation moved towards recruitment and retaining and attracting talented staff – something that was a top priority for all the attendees, regardless of their business size […]
The impact of big data on HR strategy
HR, and specifically recruiting, is increasingly being asked to use big data sets to be more consultative. Instead of just going on gut-instinct and past experiences, talent acquisition teams are using statistics and trends to be strategic in how they find talent and which potential candidates will make the best fit. According to our own […]
Five steps to take the risk out of recruitment
There’s no such thing as a perfect recruitment process but you can certainly reduce the risk of hiring the wrong people. That can be an expensive mistake. It’s not just the cost of hiring, paying, training and exiting them, there’s also the business opportunities they might miss and the damage they might do to your […]
Top five tough interview questions from across the world
Last year we covered company transparency site Glassdoor’s 2014 report on the wackiest questions asked at interview. They’ve just released this year’s results and this year we’ve got data from United States and Canada to go with the questions asked in the UK. It’s a pretty broad mix of companies asking ‘out there’ questions – […]
The real cost of a bad hiring decision
When it comes to hiring time, more and more organisations are bolstering their recruitment processes with a thorough programme of interviews, relevant workplace tests and internal vetting procedures in an effort to secure the right candidate. Now that we’re coming out of recession it seems there’s even more fierce competition amongst applicants and the selection […]
Tailored recruitment testing – how to make it better
As many have unfortunately experienced, making the wrong hiring decision can carry a significant financial penalty. Industry estimations put the costs at up to 15 times annual salary which is why recruiters and HR professionals alike have looked to mitigate the risk of making a bad hire through the adoption of recruitment testing. The practice […]
“To be successful, we must be tuned into the challenges and expectations of society,” says Shell’s Chief HR Officer
Hugh Mitchell was appointed HR director of Shell in 2005 and in 2007 joined the oil company’s Executive Committee. He joined the HR division at Shell Exploration & Production in Aberdeen a few months after graduating from Edinburgh University and held a variety of HR and business roles across the UK and Brunei, including HR […]