News: Disclosure & Barring Service to offer “one-stop-shop” criminal record checks

A new organisation to oversee criminal records checks, referrals and barring investigations has been set up in a bid to provide employers with a “one-stop-shop” service. The Disclosure & Barring Service was formed out of the merger of the Criminal Records Bureau and Independent Safeguarding Authority in an attempt to make the checking process clearer […]

Blog: It’s the culture, stupid

“I wanted to let you know that I got the job offer,” she said excitedly. She had two interviews last week — one with a noted brand and the other with a fast growing start-up.   One firm really wants her but they are on a hiring freeze until Q1. This is a dilemma that a […]

Have you got what it takes to be an HR director?

Securing an HR director job is tough.  If you apply for an HRD role, you’ll be faced with strong competition from both inside and outside the organisation. There are some common factors that employers look for when hiring. Ideally, you’ll be someone who is currently a senior HR business partner or a head of HR, […]

News: MPs call for action over recruiters’ worker expenses schemes

A group of MPs stepped up pressure on the government today to crack down on the travel and subsistence expense schemes being imposed on temporary workers by some recruitment agencies in order to cut their tax bill. To this end, the five, who were led by Labour MP Michael Connarty, introduced an Early Day Motion […]

Blog: Making recruitment pinteresting

With the rise of social media, a 2-page formulaic CV is quickly becoming an old fashioned way of understanding what personality and talents a candidate has. Today, it’s all about their Twitter feeds, LinkedIn profile, Facebook, and increasingly, Pinterest.   In June this year, Pinterest recorded a staggering 10.4 million users, and 400% month-on-month growth, […]

News: HR pros among most impatient when job-seeking

HR professionals are an impatient bunch when going for a job, expecting employers to make a hiring decision after two job interviews and for the whole process to take no more than a month. According to a survey undertaken by recruitment consultancy, Robert Walters, some 72% of HR practitioners anticipate that the entire job application […]

All you need to know about hiring a former drug or alcohol user

I’ve spent much of the last 17 years working with current and former drug users, homeless people and ex-offenders in London and Sheffield. Much of that time has been taken up helping them to access services, which include housing, treatment and mental health support, so that people have the necessary assistance to try and turn […]

Blog: The HR lessons to be learned from the BBC crisis

After the recent scandals at the BBC, director-general George Entwistle was forced to resign last week, after only 54 days in the role. As a result, trustees of The BBC’s governing body met on Saturday to finalise plans to appoint a new director-general.   Not only does this highlight the importance of having a succession […]

Blog: Have you thought about candidate cloning?

Hiring a star performer for your business is not easy. And with the war for talent only becoming more competitive, questions are already beginning to form as the future of recruitment remains wavered. For example, what happens when the experienced talent pool shrinks? Or when the best talent becomes too costly? Perhaps your star hire […]

Talking Point: Do you know how to devise a social recruitment strategy?

A recent report claims most HR directors consider social media platforms to be ineffective as recruitment tools. Since then, other experts have argued that this is largely because these tools are used ineffectively. The debate looks set to continue, but one thing is for certain; businesses intending to employ social media for recruitment should start […]

News: Low employer awareness hampering Work Programme, warns CIPD

The government must boost awareness and understanding of its Work Programme among employers if the scheme is to succeed in its aims of getting the long-term unemployed back into work, the CIPD has warned. But rather than expect the system to churn out work-ready individuals, employers also need to play their part by putting more […]

News: UK HR pros least likely in world to use social media

HR professionals in the UK are the least likely in the world to use social media in order to identify prospective job candidates or communicate with staff.  According to a new study of 1,500 hiring managers and HR professionals from around the globe entitled ‘2012 HR Beat‘, less than half (47%) of UK hiring managers use […]

Talent Spot: Louise Rooney, head of HR at ServiceSource

As HR manager at IT firm ServiceSource, Louise Rooney has a major recruitment job on her hands. When she first joined, the company’s headcount was about 120, but in less than a year, it had grown to 165 and there are plans to create another 100 posts over the next few months. “Sourcing the right […]

Giz a job: The state of the HR recruitment market

There have been encouraging signs of more HR hiring activity during the last couple of months following our golden summer of sport.  HR stakeholders are now back in the office and permanent recruitment is starting to move again, with the flow of new opportunities also on the rise.   Financial and professional services   As […]

Ask the Expert: Can I offer a candidate for one job a different post?

The question If I find an excellent candidate that I would like to appoint for job B when interviewing for job A, could I withdraw the advert for job B and give the post to the person on the job A list?   Both jobs offer the same salary, have the same requirements and are […]

Unified HCM: Why it matters

Unified HCM. Unified talent. Integrated talent management. So many terms. So many definitions. Does it all really matter? The answer is yes! Many companies have deployed core HR systems with separate “best-of-breed” talent management solutions. All too often this approach doesn’t have the positive impact on business performance that is expected. A commonly cited reason […]

Blog: What are the benefits of hiring a recovering alcoholic or drug user?

DrugScope’s London Drug and Alcohol Network, a membership body for drug and alcohol services in the capital, is entering the second phase of a Trust for London-funded project to improve access to employment for people recovering from substance misuse problems.  In our last blog, we discussed the barriers that can hold people back. So are […]

Blog: Five steps to ensure your recruitment process is a positive experience

“I don’t understand it. They told me that they were just looking now and that they would not make a decision for at least another three months. Why would you have me make this effort? If I find the role I am looking for, do they honestly think I will stick around for their call? […]

News: Apprenticeship scheme for spooks unveiled

The UK’s top spy agencies are to offer 100 school-leavers a two-year apprenticeship in becoming a spook in a bid to protect the country from cyber-criminals. According to the Foreign Office, MI5, MI6 and GCHQ will all offer on-the-job work placements in an attempt to “harness experts from the ‘X-box’ generation who have grown up […]

News: HR needs to break out of its comfort zone, warns report

Too many HR professionals are struggling to meet the needs of a constantly changing global business environment and feel themselves paralysed in the face of seemingly monumental challenges, research has warned. The study mirrors the findings of a report published earlier this week by management consultancy, KPMG, which revealed that the majority of senior executives […]