Why resourcing is everyone’s business
One could be forgiven for thinking that managers (or indeed anyone else in the organisation) have practically no part at all to play in resourcing. Strategic workforce planning, social recruitment, AI, impactful job ads, powerful metrics and outsourcing, assessment methods all seem to be owned by HR. Of course, it isn’t really like that and […]
How to achieve diversity through fair assessment
Aspiring to achieve a diverse workforce, which reflects the diversity of the population, is a worthy goal. However, positively discriminating by recruiting individuals from selected groups to achieve diversity targets is illegal and unfair. Instead, today’s employers should aim to attract a diverse range of applicants and ensure that every person has an equal chance […]
Why you should be offering returnships to career-breakers – and how to get started
If you haven’t heard of a returnship, you are not alone. Totaljobs’ latest survey results found that a staggering 85% of employers aren’t aware of back-to-work schemes, which is rather surprising given the positive response from employees. Of the candidates we spoke to, three in four revealed they would consider a returnship programme after a […]
Talent attraction: four ways to ensure you’re being inclusive
To improve diversity, every organisation needs a fair selection process, in which every applicant has an equal chance to do their best. However, if you want to take a more strategic approach to diversity and inclusion, you’ll need to start way before the selection stage, with talent planning and attraction. Most employers recruit tactically rather […]
Is bias holding back effective recruitment and training?
We all like to believe that we are tolerant and open-minded people, but to what extent do we let bias, both conscious and unconscious, get in the way of our recruitment decisions? We’ve come a long way from the prejudice of the past, but there is still a way to go. The latest market research […]
‘Hire’ ambitions: recruitment in the modern world
If you believe what you read, in a few short years recruiters will be replaced by algorithms that will do all this work for us. However, with the emphasis moving towards a more flexible and adaptable approach, should we actually be worried? Well, I’m not convinced enough to start running for the hills just yet! […]
How can offering quality work experience attract top talent?
David Docherty, CEO of the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) and Chairman of Placer, explains how a quality work experience offer can help attract top graduate talent. The Government’s new Industrial Strategy requires a flow of high-quality graduates to power the economy. And, crucially, points to the need to increase opportunity for all […]
Are you as good as your job ads?
HRs are tasked at attracting the best brains, talent and skill to ensure their organisation can compete against the finest companies in the world. However, are HRs in danger of overselling a role to entice top talent? It’s a common problem, a company’s board demand top talent to fulfil its positions and naturally assign their […]
Don’t go with your gut: overcoming unconscious bias in hiring decisions
Years ago, a friend of mine, Helen, went for a job interview. It was for a Swiss arts and cultural organisation, and Helen was half Swiss and could speak German reasonably well. She got the job. But she realised that the job wasn’t for her (it didn’t really match her interests), and she told the […]
How Emotional Intelligence improves the recruitment process
Emotional Intelligence (EI) provides a proven practical and powerful framework for individual, team and leadership development. But how can you use the benefits of EI within your recruitment process and how does it add value when assessing and selecting potential employees and leaders. Occupational psychologists have been studying the science of effective recruitment and selection […]
How has tech recruiting adapted to the modern day?
Tech is one of the fastest-moving sectors around: for that reason, tech is often seen as a bellwether for other industries, and for good reason. Think of all the changes the tech sector has been through: fifty years ago, software engineers were scarce, whereas today, according to Stack Overflow’s Developer Ecosystem Report, they account for […]
Why hiring for cultural fit is holding back your company
Many organisations believe in hiring for cultural fit, following a methodology and thought process where ‘fit’ relates to a strong alignment to the company values and where an employee can come in and work collaboratively. For these organisations, cultural fit works just fine. But ‘fit’ also has a connotation to it, implying that somebody should […]
Social media recruitment starts with employee advocates
We live in a world where transparency and trust are a currency, and where a positive company culture means everything to prospective jobseekers. As such, trying to portray the image of a nice workplace environment when you don’t actually have one doesn’t only manifest itself in the quality of candidates you attract, it also doesn’t […]
Data-driven recruitment means saying goodbye to traditional recruitment metrics
We need a new recruitment metric – hiring quality – to allow us to understand and improve recruitment performance. In this blog, I am going to look at the relevance of commonly-used recruitment KPIs in a time where talent acquisition leaders want to become more data-driven. Amongst experts in the recruitment industry, there is one […]
Seven dos & don’ts for writing an attractive entry-level job description
Official statistics show that one in 10 young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training (Neet), despite overall employment rates hitting a record high. According to a new study by charity Business in the Community, widespread business jargon could be one of the major barriers preventing young people from getting their […]
Four lessons from recruitment for mobile HR
Mobile-optimised HR processes offer a new way to capture, make sense of and utilise a wealth of data on your employees. The insights from this data can not only help you to make better talent decisions and respond quicker and more effectively to the needs of your employees, they can also help your organisation to […]
Why it’s more important than ever to have a social attraction plan
This is a guest post from Lucy McKerron – account director & social media lead at Synergy Creative – explaining the benefits of using social media for attraction and recruitment. This is the third in a series of articles where we explore how HR can use social media to improve their processes; something Synergy Creative will also be discussing during their sessions at Social Media […]
No laptop, no desk, no phone – a disappointing welcome for 42% of the world’s new employees
A global survey of 4,000 employees from the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand, has revealed companies fail to provide basic tools on day one. More than one in four (42%) said that they didn’t have a computer or laptop ready for them when they started. While the lack of a computer was the most […]
How big data can eliminate bias and elitism in candidate selection
Studies by the Social Mobility Commission have shown that the largest industries are failing to hire talented youngsters from less advantaged backgrounds because they recruit from a small pool of elite universities and hire those who fit in with the culture – still favouring middle- and higher-income candidates who come from a handful the country’s […]
Checking the facts: why background screening is crucial
We may be facing a skills shortage, but that doesn’t mean we should settle for subpar standards when hiring new candidates. Hiring talent is resource intensive and business critical. Although HR teams are under increasing pressure to recruit quickly to ensure the best people are not lost to other businesses – while also providing a […]
