Social media still feared by graduate recruiters

While workers’ use of social media is costing UK business £14 billion a year in lost productivity, nearly two thirds of graduate recruiters are wary of using the channel because of fears over damage to reputation. According to a survey of 84 graduate recruiters undertaken by the Association of Graduate Recruiters and HR consultancy Penna […]

Unemployment set to get worse for young and old

Unemployment is disproportionately hitting young people and older workers but official jobless figures appear to indicate that the situation is only set to get worse.  Figures from the Office for National Statistics released yesterday seemed to be encouraging on the surface, with the number of unemployed falling by 49,000 to 2.46 million in the three […]

Coalition plans will lead to more older workers

Age UK has called on the coalition government to do more to tackle age discrimination if it is to push through proposed benefit reforms likely to boost the number of older workers returning to the jobs market.   The charity estimates that plans to transfer Incapacity Benefit claimants onto Employment Support Allowance could increase the […]

Vocational experience valued more higly than academic qualifications

Three out of five employers value vocational qualifications and work experience more highly than graduate status because they believe that personnel with a less academic background are more equipped to contribute to the business from day one.  Just over two fifths of bosses that do not currently employ staff with vocational qualifications also said that […]

James Reed: The three Rs – recruitment, retention and relationships

James Reed is chairman of Reed specialist recruitment, who are celebrating 50 years of recruiting. Here he talks Charlie Duff through what has changed in the industry, from recruitment through to talent and retention.   How did Reed start? Reed was set up by my father, Alec Reed and 2010 is a particularly special year […]

Talent spotting and talent shopping

In 1997, strategy consultancy McKinsey coined the (perhaps controversial) phrase, "the war for talent" and while it’s a given that having great talent is business critical for any organisation, many companies have still taken a reactive rather than proactive approach to talent attraction. In a lot of cases, employers will only start to source talent […]

Employers: take advantage of ‘golden hello’ before it gets scrapped

Employers are being urged to take advantage of ‘golden hello’ recruitment and training subsidies before an expected government review puts their future in jeopardy.  The call came as official figures revealed that 10% of graduates who left UK universities last year were unable to find jobs, up from 8% last year. The number could soar […]

It’s competitive, but graduate jobs are out there

Graduate recruitment has increased substantially this year following 24 months of swingeing cuts, but competition remains fierce with an average of 45 candidates applying for each position.  According to a poll undertaken among 100 top employers by High Fliers Research, organisations plan to take on 17.9% more graduates this year than they did last, restoring […]

Adidas brings recruitment in-house

Adidas is in the process of bringing its global recruitment activities in-house as part of a bid to improve staff retention rates.  Following a comprehensive review, the sports shoe giant, which employs more than 40,000 staff worldwide, decided to introduce an integrated strategy for both internal and external recruitment across its portfolio of brands, which […]

Recruitment – it’s not as easy as it sounds

So it might not be rocket science but recruitment is such an important part of your people strategy, it can’t be neglected. Get the basics right first and it’ll become a whole lot easier and more effective. The basis of recruitment appears simple – finding the best person for the job. However it’s vital that […]

Immigration cap: it’s happening

Even though business and Cabinet disquiet over a proposed immigration cap will lead to a wide-ranging consultation on the issue, the government is expected to implement the measures anyway. According to the Daily Telegraph, Home Secretary Theresa May is set to announce the consultation imminently, after members of the Cabinet privately expressed concern that a […]

Talent – you’ve got it: you just don’t know it yet

A survey exploring the value that businesses and HR departments place on talent information and its availability has found that a worrying number of companies do not have access to reliable information on crucial workforce issues. Although most companies measure time to hire, only 33% have access to reliable data on the quality of hire […]

The agile employer: helping employees fit the job

Employers regularly complain they can’t find the right people for the roles they have: however, there is rarely a ‘perfect’ candidate. So what’s the solution to make a person ‘fit’? The most recent unemployment figures from the Office for National Statistics is a stark reality of recession. The number of unemployed people has increased by […]

Emergency budget – what it means for HR and employers

This ‘emergency’ budget, delivered by Chancellor George Osborne (flanked by two Liberal Democrats to prove how well the coalition is working and how much cross-party support the financial plan has) could be significant for managers and HR, according to business leaders and the CIPD. John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel […]

The future of recruitment: it’s all about people

Paul Daley, Director of HR Consulting at talent management consultancy, Ochre House addresses the question, ‘what is the future of recruitment?’  Usually, when people are thinking about the future of recruitment, the discussion moves towards ways in which new media, online sources and technology will impact upon the process. The ‘future’ where recruiters will use […]

Recruitment: Is it a candidate’s world?

Now there are more jobs on the market and more talent willing to move, does this mean that candidates are finally in the driving seat when it comes to recruitment?  A lot has changed over the past year. In the summer of 2009 we were experiencing what some called the worst recession since World War […]

Take action on ‘blatant racism’ in best paid professions

A charity has called on HR professionals to do more to tackle institutionalised racism in their workplaces in order to encourage more members of the UK’s ethnic minorities to apply for prestige jobs.  A report, which is due to be published tomorrow, has revealed that more than a quarter of people from ethnic minority groups […]

Dole claimants 5: Job vacancies 1

While the jobless rate among OECD nations may have remained static in April, TUC figures indicate that dole claimants in the UK now outnumber job vacancies by five to one, with London, the North East and Scotland worst hit.  Statistics released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes mostly developed nations, revealed […]

Follow the 3 Cs for the key to recruitment

Recruiting, hiring, talent attraction, talent acquisition…whatever words you use you can’t escape the fact that sourcing and hiring new people for your business is far harder to get right than it is wrong, with new research showing that a negative experience can damage your bottom line.  Its long been said that you can tell a […]

The disease of unconscious bias

Unconscious bias is everywhere, malingering like a disease. I have the disease, and so do you. Even the most freethinking, open-minded people are at its mercy – and it’s the single biggest block to UK organisations increasing diversity. Traditional thinking has generally assumed that patterns of discriminatory behaviour in organisations are conscious. We assume that […]