At last, something positive for the recruitment owner!

Mark Stephens Guest Post With all the changes taking place across the digital recruitment landscape, employment agencies have been squeezed on all fronts for a few years now. There are not many recruitment owners that have not felt the full impact of some of the fundamental changes that have been taking place Lower salary jobs and generic roles are being pulled back in house at an alarming rate, as access to the online tools that were once exclusive to the agencies are now available for all to use and as companies look to reduce their recruitment expenditure. Add in the rapid growth of fixed fee solutions and then, (take a deep breath) there is LinkedIn! LinkedIn was once the best friend of the savvy executive search recruiter, but is now the gateway to ‘free to access candidates’ to their precious clients. Let’s face it, LinkedIn has helped to change the dynamics of the recruitment sector for good. Job board advertising certainly doesn’t appear to have advanced much in the last few years, as talented candidates have become apathetic, realising that resourcers will come and find them. That doesn’t mean that candidates are no longer registering their details onto job boards, it’s just that the good ones don’t bother adopting a pro active approach any more. It does mean that the majority of a recruiters time is spent sifting through CV’s and then calling through prospect lists, networking and digging out leads. Is it any wonder that the last generation of recruiters look at the visible activity levels of today’s recruiters and shake their heads with bewilderment, that they manage to turn a profit at all. So is the tide about to turn, with the imminent launch of  Its a Job Calling ? Anyone who is anyone in recruitment has probably already heard the jungle drums beating away for a few months on this project, as Chris Smith (previously of eCRM People) and his carefully assembled team, that includes 2M Tech, Hamilton Bradshaw and a number of credible NED’s, have joined forces with a telco carrier to launch a virtual telephone resourcer service that works in conjunction with a ‘free to access’ database, containing well over 1 million active candidates. A number of job boards have already spotted the potential for this service and the team are in discussions to merge with one of the major players, that would see the size of the candidate pool dramatically increase to nearer 5 million sometime next year. All the candidate needs to do after listening to the message is to press zero on their handset and they get a free call directly back to the recruiter. Obviously there will be an art to creating a compelling message that maximises candidate response, but doesn’t that exist already? Nobody is claiming that this will work for every vacancy, but I’m betting that over 50% of recruitment campaigns being worked each day, would have dramatically improved their results by utilising this service. And as a recruitment owner myself, I bet that the majority of other Recruitment owners across the country, would have liked to have seen more telephone activity from their recruiters today! Is it a game changer? Well, if you consider the possibility of a completely free to access database and a telephony service or ‘virtual recruiter’, that costs the same as the telephone call that you would have made anyway, then it makes this service a virtual no brainer for every recruitment company in the country to adopt in some capacity. Find me just 1 recruitment owner that says he would not like to see efficiencies improved, in particular when it comes to telephone activity. The Its a Job Calling team are taking applications to BETA the system when it goes live in January. You can go to their site and enter an email address to register your interest to participate. Watch this space. I predict Its a Job Calling will become as familiar a name in the recruitment space as any job board is today. Mark Stephens The F10 Group

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At last, something positive for the recruitment owner!

“Please note – this post was scraped from the original site as indicated above in the “read more about this article URL” and is in no way reflects the views, opinions or values of the team at Review Recruiter. More specifically, Review Recruiter is in no way connected with, associated with or involved with the original author or the original authors content.

If you are interested in reading more about this article, please visit the original authors site as mentioned above.”

Tags: act, Advertising, companies, country, Executive, guest post, Industry Chat, result, Vic

At last, something positive for the recruitment owner!

Mark Stephens Guest Post With all the changes taking place across the digital recruitment landscape, employment agencies have been squeezed on all fronts for a few years now. There are not many recruitment owners that have not felt the full impact of some of the fundamental changes that have been taking place Lower salary jobs and generic roles are being pulled back in house at an alarming rate, as access to the online tools that were once exclusive to the agencies are now available for all to use and as companies look to reduce their recruitment expenditure. Add in the rapid growth of fixed fee solutions and then, (take a deep breath) there is LinkedIn! LinkedIn was once the best friend of the savvy executive search recruiter, but is now the gateway to ‘free to access candidates’ to their precious clients. Let’s face it, LinkedIn has helped to change the dynamics of the recruitment sector for good. Job board advertising certainly doesn’t appear to have advanced much in the last few years, as talented candidates have become apathetic, realising that resourcers will come and find them. That doesn’t mean that candidates are no longer registering their details onto job boards, it’s just that the good ones don’t bother adopting a pro active approach any more. It does mean that the majority of a recruiters time is spent sifting through CV’s and then calling through prospect lists, networking and digging out leads. Is it any wonder that the last generation of recruiters look at the visible activity levels of today’s recruiters and shake their heads with bewilderment, that they manage to turn a profit at all. So is the tide about to turn, with the imminent launch of  Its a Job Calling ? Anyone who is anyone in recruitment has probably already heard the jungle drums beating away for a few months on this project, as Chris Smith (previously of eCRM People) and his carefully assembled team, that includes 2M Tech, Hamilton Bradshaw and a number of credible NED’s, have joined forces with a telco carrier to launch a virtual telephone resourcer service that works in conjunction with a ‘free to access’ database, containing well over 1 million active candidates. A number of job boards have already spotted the potential for this service and the team are in discussions to merge with one of the major players, that would see the size of the candidate pool dramatically increase to nearer 5 million sometime next year. All the candidate needs to do after listening to the message is to press zero on their handset and they get a free call directly back to the recruiter. Obviously there will be an art to creating a compelling message that maximises candidate response, but doesn’t that exist already? Nobody is claiming that this will work for every vacancy, but I’m betting that over 50% of recruitment campaigns being worked each day, would have dramatically improved their results by utilising this service. And as a recruitment owner myself, I bet that the majority of other Recruitment owners across the country, would have liked to have seen more telephone activity from their recruiters today! Is it a game changer? Well, if you consider the possibility of a completely free to access database and a telephony service or ‘virtual recruiter’, that costs the same as the telephone call that you would have made anyway, then it makes this service a virtual no brainer for every recruitment company in the country to adopt in some capacity. Find me just 1 recruitment owner that says he would not like to see efficiencies improved, in particular when it comes to telephone activity. The Its a Job Calling team are taking applications to BETA the system when it goes live in January. You can go to their site and enter an email address to register your interest to participate. Watch this space. I predict Its a Job Calling will become as familiar a name in the recruitment space as any job board is today. Mark Stephens The F10 Group

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At last, something positive for the recruitment owner!

“Please note – this post was scraped from the original site as indicated above in the “read more about this article URL” and is in no way reflects the views, opinions or values of the team at Review Recruiter. More specifically, Review Recruiter is in no way connected with, associated with or involved with the original author or the original authors content.

If you are interested in reading more about this article, please visit the original authors site as mentioned above.”

Tags: act, Advertising, companies, country, Executive, guest post, Industry Chat, result, Vic

Chandler Macleod

Chandler Macleod Jobs | Recruitment | Careers | Staff | Salary | Employment | Human Resource Consulting | Australia Wide | ChandlerMacleod.com Please login Candidate Advertiser Username Password Register to become a member Forgotten Password nbsp HOME |ABOUT |CLIENTS |CANDIDATES |NEWS |CONTACT US Your browser does not support iframes Job Search TimeSheets Job SearchYour browser does not support iframes Job Search View our latest opportunities in Accounting amp Finance Aviation Banking amp Financial Services Business Support amp Call Centre Engineering and Technical Human Resources Infrastructure Manufacturing Mining and Energy Sales and Marketing Supply Chain amp Procurement Transport amp Logistics IT and Technology and more Visit Job Search Timesheets You can submit your timesheet online or download the timesheet and fax to us Just go to our dedicated timesheets page Visit Timesheets Resources Chandler Macleod’s candidate resource centre is your one-stop portal to Set up job alertsComplete your timesheet online or download a hard copyRead important OHS informationReview our induction process and the information you can expect to coverTake our free anonymous 5 minute online personality test Over time we will continue to add more and more resources to this section #8211 check back regularly to see what’s new Visit Resources Recruitment Chandler Macleod has over 50 years experience in sourcing and recruiting across numerous sectors and roles We test each and every candidate using our BestFit methodology providing clients with a deep understanding of how the candidate may fit within the organisation and in a specific role Each of our recruitment consultants are specialists from industries and disciplines specific to our clients sectors Visit Recruitment Consulting Chandler Macleod Consulting has specialist practice areas that have the experience and proprietary tools required to analyse shape and develop your human resource and cultural strategy The consulting group represents the bringing together of five specialist companies including Chandler Macleod Consulting Mettle Group CompAssess Proteus Career Management and PDI Ninth House Visit Consulting Workforce Chandler Macleod’s Workforce Services offering is at the core of our HR outsourcing model With extensive experience across all business categories we work with clients to manage part or all of their workforce requirements including recruitment and engagement workforce planning rostering training creation of local talent pools workforce mobility candidate competency and skills fit candidate behavioural and cultural fit induction services payroll services and occupational health and safety Visit Workforce Shareholder Information Current and prospective Chandler Macleod Shareholders can access a range of information on Chandler Macleod helping keep you up to date with our company performance news and latest announcements Visit Shareholder Information Annual Reports Download Chandler Macleod’s Annual Reports and other important company information Visit Annual Reports Share Price Information View Chandler Macleod’s latest share price as recorded by the Australian Stock Exchange Visit Share Price Information About Us As one of the region’s largest providers of human resources solutions Chandler Macleod has a proven track record of unleashing potential in people and companies Founded in 1959 Chandler Macleod was built on psychological testing of employees and candidates to ensure the best possible people were employed Now over fifty years on Chandler Macleod has diversified to provide Recruitment Consulting and Workforce Management services to some of the largest companies and organisations in the region Visit About Us Why Chandler Macleod It’s all about unleashing your potential to succeed in a new career Our solid commitment to your ongoing development is evident from the initial training you get when you first join us right through to the specific learning and development programs we provide you with It’s also about offering you the opportunity to realise your career aspirations Visit Unleashing Us Jobs at Chandler Macleod View the latest opportunities to join the Chandler Macleod teams Visit Jobs at Chandler Macleod WORKFORCERECRUITMENTCONSULTING Privacy Policy | Site Map | Browse Jobs | Download Brochure | Contact Us | visit RossJuliaRoss

Tags: annual, candidate, career, chandler, clients, companies, consulting, download, experience, human, important, induction, information, largest, latest, macleod, macleods, management, offering, online, people, potential, price, provide, recruitment agencies, reports, resource, resources, search, Sectors, share, shareholder, specialist, specific, support, Timesheet, Timesheets, unleashing, visit, workforce

BFFs! (Best Frenemies Forever)…

HR Pros have an Ace up their sleeve that we rarely use, and I have to admit I almost sick of talking about it, because it seems like no one really understands its power.  There was a nice little article recently about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in Newsweek ( The Best of Frenemies ) on how both shared this 30 year history of competing against each other, running the two most powerful computer companies in the world, and many times doing so very competitively and publicly.  But in the end, they were friends and respected each other in their own way.  As HR Pros we tend to look at our competition as the ” Evil Empire “, we go to conferences and we won't even make eye contact – even though we know exactly who they are.  We go to career fairs and spend 8 hours standing across the aisle from them, but we will never go over and introduce ourselves (we just wait until they go to lunch then run over and take a copy of their “top-secret” recruiting materials – to gain some insight in how they must do it differently!).  We show up at local SHRM meetings and sit at different tables – we would never want them to possibly overhear our most classified information on how we track FMLA. You can sit here and read this and shake your head – “that's not me, Tim” – but you're lying to yourself – it's all of us – we've all done this. In every job I've ever had – I've had and felt competition from another company.  When I was at ShopKo we had Walmart, Target and Kmart.  At Applebee's we had Chilis, Max and Erma's, Olive Garden, etc.  At Sparrow Health System, we had Ingham Regional Medical Center, etc.   There are very few positions you'll ever have, where you won't have competition.  This is your “Ace”! It's your “Ace” because all the other functions in your organization are the same way. Marketing wants to know what the competition is doing, IT wants to know what the competition is up to, Operations definitely wants to know the competition's next moves.  So, why does this become a giant “Ace” up your sleeve for HR?  Because you have the ability to get competitive information and share it – and your senior leaders will listen.  “Ok, we're listening – how do we do this top secret ninja type sleuthing of information?” You make a call.  Send a message on LinkedIn.  Friend someone on Facebook. And you ask one simple question: “Hey, I'm from the competition, we are peers, would love to connect, would you be up for a phone call or a cup of coffee?” Sneaky right!? (BTW – I've never been turned down when asking that question – Never!) You see what I'm doing – getting them to be friends, then I'll rob them of all of their deepest secrets on progressive discipline, recruiting processes and health insurance design!  Seriously though, by building this bridge and making the relationship, you begin to share stuff and you will quickly find out – you are so similar and face the same problems that you'll wonder why you didn't do this years ago. Did Steve and Bill share secrets, product launches, etc. No, probably not. But you better believe they both shared their view of the future, where the industry was going, what they felt would succeed and fail.  Those conversations drove them back to their companies invigorated to do more, do better, beat each other – and that made them both the best. Editor's Note : Tim Sackett, SPHR is the EVP of HRU Technical Resources in Lansing, MI. Tim loves everything talent acquisition and believes every corporate recruitment department in America can and must get better. He has 15+ years of human resource leadership experience, across multiple industries, on both the corporate and agency side – so he gets it from both sides of the desk. Want more?  Um, OK… He has a Masters of HR and… well, he was recently voted #5 best assistant little league coach of his son’s five team league. Check out his newest blog venture at  www.timsackett.com . Because he's got A LOT to say, and FOT just isn't enough for him.

Originally posted here:

Tags: ace, companies, Empire, frenemies, influence, jobs, newsweek, pros, result, steve, tim sackett

BFFs! (Best Frenemies Forever)…

HR Pros have an Ace up their sleeve that we rarely use, and I have to admit I almost sick of talking about it, because it seems like no one really understands its power.  There was a nice little article recently about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in Newsweek ( The Best of Frenemies ) on how both shared this 30 year history of competing against each other, running the two most powerful computer companies in the world, and many times doing so very competitively and publicly.  But in the end, they were friends and respected each other in their own way.  As HR Pros we tend to look at our competition as the ” Evil Empire “, we go to conferences and we won't even make eye contact – even though we know exactly who they are.  We go to career fairs and spend 8 hours standing across the aisle from them, but we will never go over and introduce ourselves (we just wait until they go to lunch then run over and take a copy of their “top-secret” recruiting materials – to gain some insight in how they must do it differently!).  We show up at local SHRM meetings and sit at different tables – we would never want them to possibly overhear our most classified information on how we track FMLA. You can sit here and read this and shake your head – “that's not me, Tim” – but you're lying to yourself – it's all of us – we've all done this. In every job I've ever had – I've had and felt competition from another company.  When I was at ShopKo we had Walmart, Target and Kmart.  At Applebee's we had Chilis, Max and Erma's, Olive Garden, etc.  At Sparrow Health System, we had Ingham Regional Medical Center, etc.   There are very few positions you'll ever have, where you won't have competition.  This is your “Ace”! It's your “Ace” because all the other functions in your organization are the same way. Marketing wants to know what the competition is doing, IT wants to know what the competition is up to, Operations definitely wants to know the competition's next moves.  So, why does this become a giant “Ace” up your sleeve for HR?  Because you have the ability to get competitive information and share it – and your senior leaders will listen.  “Ok, we're listening – how do we do this top secret ninja type sleuthing of information?” You make a call.  Send a message on LinkedIn.  Friend someone on Facebook. And you ask one simple question: “Hey, I'm from the competition, we are peers, would love to connect, would you be up for a phone call or a cup of coffee?” Sneaky right!? (BTW – I've never been turned down when asking that question – Never!) You see what I'm doing – getting them to be friends, then I'll rob them of all of their deepest secrets on progressive discipline, recruiting processes and health insurance design!  Seriously though, by building this bridge and making the relationship, you begin to share stuff and you will quickly find out – you are so similar and face the same problems that you'll wonder why you didn't do this years ago. Did Steve and Bill share secrets, product launches, etc. No, probably not. But you better believe they both shared their view of the future, where the industry was going, what they felt would succeed and fail.  Those conversations drove them back to their companies invigorated to do more, do better, beat each other – and that made them both the best. Editor's Note : Tim Sackett, SPHR is the EVP of HRU Technical Resources in Lansing, MI. Tim loves everything talent acquisition and believes every corporate recruitment department in America can and must get better. He has 15+ years of human resource leadership experience, across multiple industries, on both the corporate and agency side – so he gets it from both sides of the desk. Want more?  Um, OK… He has a Masters of HR and… well, he was recently voted #5 best assistant little league coach of his son’s five team league. Check out his newest blog venture at  www.timsackett.com . Because he's got A LOT to say, and FOT just isn't enough for him.

Read the original here:

Tags: ace, companies, Conferences, Empire, frenemies, gates, Industry Chat, jobs, newsweek, pros, result, steve, tim sackett

Bubble Job Board launches for web jobs

Press Release Bubble launches to help people in Web, Digital, Ecommerce and Social Media industries find work. Bubble-Jobs.co.uk, a niche job board for Social Media, Ecommerce and Online industries has recently launched and is already hosting jobs for leading global brands and niche technology developers. The site aims to build a large community for people in the industry to share their expertise, industry knowledge and ultimately, job opportunities. For employers, the site provides a cost effective solution to recruitment with a ‘standard’ job posting, which with a bundle of extras including social media promotion, blog marketing features and SEO optimisation is far from standard, costing just £75. With a niche audience, employers can be confident that they will receive applications for appropriate candidates with skills, commitment and passion for the industry. Job Seekers are benefiting from a tailored job seeking experience which acknowledges the scale and unique intricacies of these emerging markets. The site favours direct employers which allows job seekers to build direct relationships with the companies they wish to work for. Of course, launching a community for the most innovative and cutting edge individuals in the market place means that the team at Bubble will have to stay at the forefront in order to keep their community engaged. To join the Bubble visit www.Bubble-Jobs.co.uk

Visit link:
Bubble Job Board launches for web jobs

“Please note – this post was scraped from the original site as indicated above in the “read more about this article URL” and is in no way reflects the views, opinions or values of the team at Review Recruiter. More specifically, Review Recruiter is in no way connected with, associated with or involved with the original author or the original authors content.

If you are interested in reading more about this article, please visit the original authors site as mentioned above.”

Tags: act, companies, Industry Chat, job, jobs, media, result

Typo squatting and the doppelganger domain threat

What could you do with 20GB of your competitors sensitive email correspondence without anyone even noticing? A report released by security researchers analysing the effect of doppelganger domain traffic belonging to Fortune 500 companies was able to collect 20GB of misaddressed email over a 6 month period.

Read more from the original source:

Tags: companies, Correspondence, directory, Fortune, Industry Chat, researchers, result, security, Traffic

New law could bring the sack at Christmas for UK workers

Jobs in UK could be at risk by a new law designed to improve the rights of those working under job agencies. Euro-MP David Campbell Bannerman has raised concerns that the new ‘EU Agency Workers Directive’ could lead to serious job losses amongst companies using agency staff and temporary workers. To avoid the new regulations giving the workers the same benefits as permanent employees, once they have worked in the same place for more than 12 weeks, many will see their contracts terminated. The Conservative MEP said: “Whilst it is laudable that workers are well treated, often agency and temporary workers are paid more to make up for not having the same benefits as employees. I know – I was an interim manager and consultant for some time! “Now these EU regulations mean that after 12 weeks with the same company, agency workers will be entitled to the same pay and conditions as their permanent counterparts. “Often, companies use agency staff because they cannot afford to take on permanent staff. “Now they won’t have that option unless they change the staff every 12 weeks. “That means that many people will be losing their jobs just before Christmas.” Mr Campbell Bannerman explained that the implications for the UK will be greater than for other EU countries, he added: “The UK economy relies more on agency workers than any other country in the EU. “8 out of 10 jobs effected by these laws will be in the UK. “This is yet another out-of-touch law coming direct from the EU that has no understanding of how the flexible British economy works, at a time we need all the help we can get to recover from the recession.” “This is bad news for agency staff and bad news for the businesses that rely on them. The EU has turned out to be more Scrooge than Santa.” The law will be effective from October 1. A recent survey suggested almost 500,000 agency workers could lose their jobs just before Christmas as businesses moved to sack temps to avoid the new rules.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/8775447/Government-to-bring-in-temp-worker-law-unchanged.html The law is expected to cost employers £1.8bn a year to abide by.  http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file53058.pdf (page 111)

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New law could bring the sack at Christmas for UK workers

“Please note – this post was scraped from the original site as indicated above in the “read more about this article URL” and is in no way reflects the views, opinions or values of the team at Review Recruiter. More specifically, Review Recruiter is in no way connected with, associated with or involved with the original author or the original authors content.

If you are interested in reading more about this article, please visit the original authors site as mentioned above.”

Tags: act, christmas, companies, Finance, government, Industry Chat, press-release, workers

Recruiter Photos: From the Airbrushed to the Bizarre

Are you one of those recruitment companies that parades the photos of your team across your website?  If you’re in the UK perhaps not.  Over there it seems that stealth recruitment is more the watchword with the mugshots of your team members hidden away from nosy clients, bothersome candidates and preying rec-to-recs. But here in New

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Recruiter Photos: From the Airbrushed to the Bizarre

Tags: companies, Industry Chat, Members, Photos, rec-to-rec, result

Are GOOGLE trying to hijack the word ZEITGEIST?

When I Think of the word Zeitgeist as I instantly think of the series of documentaries chronicling the reality of our times. The doco’s pull the curtains back and reveal how the world really works and what is truly happening behind the scenes. It has become an internet sensation and is one of the most searched terms on the internet.

Today I stumbled across this:

http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist/index.html

I think in virtue of its popularity Google are now using the word to describe a new service/product they are working on. Personally I think this is wrong as it will surely lead eventually lead to people becoming confused and many who haven’t yet seen Zeitgeist may search it and become lost somehow ending up with some sort of Google net trends info.

Are Google working with the insiders at some level in order to try and take the Zeitgeist movement out of the spotlight as it is surely ruffling some feathers high in the food chain somewhere or are they simply trying to capitalise on the popularity of this word?

Tags: apple, Attempt, believe, civil, companies, ending, Google, hijack, internet, paranoid, Popularity, saying, search, similar, simply, surely, thats, think, trying, Unrest, watch, working, zeitgeist

The Benefits of Online Marketing for Recruitment Agencies

As the guys at I-com have supported me over the years, I thought it only fair when they asked if I would give them a spot on recruitment views, I was more than happy. One because they specialise in recruitment and secondly they are from my home town! Saying that, if you do want an article it has to give added value to recruiters rather than a sales pitch. On that point there are many companies that still market the old way by cold calling, which is fine but you can make your life much easier and certainly gain more opportunities by following some of the points below: The Benefits of Online Marketing for Recruitment Agencies Imagine if you could target individual people directly at the exact point they are looking for your services? That is what you can do online. A Department of Work and Pensions report shows that over 80% of job seekers now use the Internet for at least part of their job search. So it comes as no surprise that e-recruiting has become a major part of most recruitment agencies’ methods for attracting job candidates and registrants. Online Marketing should be seen as a channel where your recruitment business can: Advertise your jobs effectively and with low costs Build healthy relationships with possible job candidates Build  healthy relationship with employers So what can your business do to improve its position in the online world? There are a few targeted, and very different, methods for positioning your recruitment service online which are highlighted below. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Very few people who use search engines look beyond the first one or two pages of results. If your website or job listing is not returned within those two pages, preferably on the first page, your competition is beating you. This is the one that requires a little more investment and is a long term venture, but one where the potential rewards are endless. SEO is the process of raising a website’s rankings within the search engines and most importantly within Google, which commands a market share of around 90%. One of the main activities of SEO is structuring and editing the website to make it friendlier to the search engines. By doing this, you can target a wide audience – ideally all of the job types for which your company recruits. For example, if you are a national recruitment company, then you can target job seekers by the following: By area (e.g. North-West) By County (e.g. Lancashire) By City/Area (e.g. Manchester) By Town (e.g. Didsbury, Stockport) By Profession (e.g. Construction, Marketing) By Job Title (e.g. account manager, builder) You can also target by a mixture, for example City + Profession. As you can see, there is huge scope to reach an as-yet untapped audience. It will take time to target all of these areas, but of the list above demonstrates the potential scope of a long-term SEO campaign. Pay Per Click (PPC) Whereas an SEO campaign is a long-term investment, PPC brings about a more immediate return. You bid for advertising space on Google for search terms, and then pay for each click through to your website. This of course brings you immediate visitors and, if targeted at the correct search terms, would hopefully generate immediate conversions. This is a very good short term measure to bring in candidates and should be used alongside an ongoing SEO campaign while visibility within the non-paid search results is being built up. Social Media/Networking Engaging DIRECTLY with your customers through social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter is a great way of reaching a new audience. Unlike SEO and PPC, there is a chance that you will reach people through these methods when they are not actively looking for a job, but are just browsing Twitter. If you use a good mix of all these methods, you will be promoting your brand to a broad audience who are all searching differently for the same thing – a new job that YOU can help them to find. Web Design and Development While this is of course not actually Online Marketing, it is essential that an experienced web designer looks at your website to ensure the user experience is correct. If it isn’t, then you might not get those applications or CV uploads. Finding an Online Marketing Company Of course, if you do not find the right people to carry out this work for you, it could at best be ineffective and at worst could be damaging to your company’s reputation and website. Ensure you find a company with experience in the sector, like I-COM in Manchester. We have worked on multiple campaigns in this field and have all of the expertise you need to help you promote your website to its target audience and help turn that target audience into customers. Give a member of the I-COM online marketing team a call on 0844 704 6830 for a chat.

Tags: act, Advertising, companies, Construction, Industry Chat, marketing, media, recruitment agencies, result, Vic

Two-thirds of UK workers think social networking sites should be banned from the workplace

I thought this news article from Reed is interesting as it is has a substantial number of workers surveyed, making it more accurate than many! Looks like many companies have not still seen the advantages, or is it down to liberties taken? Two-thirds of UK workers think social networking sites should be banned from the workplace More than two-thirds of UK workers believe access to social networking sites should be banned from the workplace, according to new research from leading UK job site,  reed.co.uk . The survey of 4,245 workers across the UK revealed that just one-in-three employees accesses Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social networking sites whilst at work. However, for some professions, social networks have become a staple of the working day. Almost half of Marketing and PR professionals tap into the social sphere every day, compared to just a quarter of Finance workers. And when it comes to following Twitter or updating a Facebook status, mobile takes the lead: 60% of UK employees opt to use their phone over a work computer. The research also revealed that one-in-four businesses has banned employees from browsing social networking sites during work hours. 35% of employers give full access and, while the remaining 40% do allow access, it’s almost always permitted for business purposes only. Martin Warnes, Managing Director of  reed.co.uk comments: “In spite of their phenomenal popularity, the majority of UK workers would rather steer clear of Facebook and Twitter whilst they’re at work, with many seeing them as an unwelcome distraction or a risk to their privacy. “But social networks aren’t just about liking and poking, they have an increasingly important role in business and in career development. Used in the right way, social networks offer a powerful platform for engaging with new customers, strengthening client relationships and gathering information. Warnes recommends employers enter into a dialogue with their staff about access to social networking sites at work: “For many, social networking is a way of life, and smartphones allow us to stay up-to-date no matter where we are and what we’re doing. So to avoid a situation where employees are surreptitiously accessing Facebook and Google + under their desks, employers should engage with their staff to determine an appropriate policy for use. A visual summary of  reed.co.uk ’s research findings have been summarised in an infographic: 

Tags: act, companies, Finance, Industry Chat, networking, press-release, result, social, thirds

David Arkless, VP of Manpower Inc, recently told recruitment extra he believes we are entering the human age and that recruiters will need to get involved in the production rather than sourcing of talent to survive. Do you agree and if so how are you responding?

Richard Earl Managing Director, Talent International In the first instance, we need to define what is meant by the “production of talent”. The recruitment industry clearly cannot take over general industry’s role in the education, training and apprenticeship of the workforce in specific professional and industrial roles as this is a massive investment. However, if by production of talent, we mean career counselling, personal development programs, workforce analysis and the provision of professional and behavioural coaching, then there is no doubt that the recruitment industry can add value in this regard. Many of the more progressive recruitment companies are already implementing and practicing innovative programs related to this. The importance of sourcing talent will never disappear. In fact, the successful recruiters of tomorrow will need to display more innovation and guile in their approach to finding candidates as true talent becomes harder to find. Society has rapidly moved into the digital and online communication age on a large scale which has had a huge and beneficial impact on connecting candidates with jobs. Unfortunately, it has also created the insular and lazy recruiter with an impersonal approach. I hear many stories of highly sought after candidates removing on-line profiles as a result of being bombarded by cold requests to connect. We are social creatures and the personal touch can never be underestimated. Get out and about! On another note, an increasingly required skill will be the ability of recruiters to truly sell their clients. With many clients investing in cultural improvement projects and becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate, recruiters will have to develop an intimate and passionate understanding of the brands they are selling to secure the best talent for their clients. Richard Earl is Managing Director of IT recruitment specialist Talent International which he founded in 1995. He currently oversees eight offices across Australia and New Zealand supporting a wide and diverse range of clients across the private and public sectors. Previously he worked as a recruiter in Perth and Birmingham and was originally a Software Development specialist to the UK banking and finance sector. ___________________________________ Linda Simonsen CEO & Founder, FuturePeople Recruitment The core competency and unique selling point of a recruiter is the ability to efficiently source “right fit” talent for an organisation. I’m not sure that it is a matter of survival for recruiters to get involved in the production of talent but it is certainly a product extension well worth considering, especially if the recruiter’s focus is on sourcing in a particular niche market. Where a recruiter has a focus on a niche market, or set of skills that are scarce, they have several options open to them before resorting to training up or producing talent themselves: Being a better marketer of opportunities to candidates than their competitors – that is, proactively researching where the scarce talent is at and developing targeted and compelling messages to engage them rather than passively posting a job ad. Being smarter around searching for scarce skills; can I find these skills in a different market and look to transfer across geographies and/or industries? Aligning with industry groups and/or training organisations that offer appropriate training and development in the skills required; sponsoring seminars or offering career information sessions and/ or job search services to these organisations will open up a new talent pool of potential candidates. Assisting their client organisation to assess their current talent base for the right aptitudes and attitudes to develop the skills to move into critical roles. I believe that recruiters should focus on honing and keeping their sourcing and talent assessment skills at the leading edge to offer the best and most differentiated service to their client organisations while building strong alliances with a diverse range of partners that can assist their clients to develop their workforce or provide a pipeline of skilled candidates. Linda Simonsen is the founder and CEO of FuturePeople Recruitment; a contact centre talent acquisition and engagement consultancy. FuturePeople turns over in excess of $14 million per annum and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2010 Recruitment Excellence Award, Seek Annual Recruitment Award, SmartCompany Award, Telstra Business Award and was ranked 21st on the BRW Fast 100 list of Australia’s fastest growing businesses. Linda has 15 years’ experience within the Australian Contact Centre Industry and is a member of AHRI and an Accredited Professional member of the RCSA. Linda is a member of the CEO Institute, as well as the Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO), a Board Director for Odyssey House and on the NSW Regional Council for the RCSA. ___________________________________

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David Arkless, VP of Manpower Inc, recently told recruitment extra he believes we are entering the human age and that recruiters will need to get involved in the production rather than sourcing of talent to survive. Do you agree and if so how are you responding?

Tags: companies, counselling, creatures, development, Expert Advice, industry, Industry Chat, investment, issues, programs, projects, result, the-panel, workforce

1.5 Million UK Jobs in e-Commerce by 2015

1.5 Million UK Jobs in e-Commerce by 2015 730,000 now working in, or in support of, the e-commerce industry 60% of e-businesses are looking to bring in new staff over next 12 months Increase in employment opportunities welcome news for under pressure UK job market An estimated 1.5 million UK staff will work within the e-commerce industry within the next four years according to new research from IMRG and eDigitalResearch. The second annual IMRG e-Jobs Index shows that 63% of online businesses increased staff levels over the past year alone, with an estimated 730,000 now working in, or in support of, the e-commerce industry as revenues continue to grow. The study, conducted in association with eDigitalResearch, shows that 74% of e-commerce departments and businesses have increased their turnover since last year and presents a huge opportunity for the industry to develop further, as another 60% of e-businesses are looking to increase staff numbers over the next 12 months. However, this figure is considerably lower than what was anticipated. Last year, over 80% of those surveyed said that they hoped to recruit over the coming months. The actual number of companies that recruited new members of staff stands at 17.45% lower than this and is likely to be attributed to the recent and rapid growth of the m-commerce market. Chris Russell, Director at eDigitalResearch, explains, “As we continue to see the popularity of smartphones and other emerging channels increase with consumers, retailers are beginning to merge and combine multiple departments and operations in order to create a coherent message across the board for all of their customers. This is not to say that the e-commerce jobs market is beginning to decline. It simply means that, along with everything else in the e-commerce industry, it is evolving in order to cope with the shifting consumer trends we are witnessing”. Almost half (43.24%) of those surveyed suggested that up to 50% of their total revenue is generated via the internet. More importantly, another 40% (41.08%) indicated that 91-100% of overall revenue comes from e-commerce channels, an increase of 4% on the same figures last year, and represents the continued growth of the e-commerce industry and the importance for dedicated e-commerce teams and staff members. James Roper, CEO at IMRG, comments, “The continuing strong growth in e-jobs is particularly welcome now when so much employment is being lost across the rest of the economy.  The UK leads Europe in e-retail, so many of these new jobs are well paid and right at the cutting edge of commercial innovation, with the skills being developed here arming Britain to win in the ultra-competitive global online marketplace that is already worth billions of pounds per annum to thousands of UK e-retailers who are selling cross-border.  Despite the recession, domestic e-retail continues to grow at 18% year-on-year as millions of hard-pressed consumers shop online to make their money stretch further, and with a third of the UK’s adult population yet to shop online, e-retail is set to continue to be a key employment generator for years to come”. Unsurprisingly, Christmas remains the most popular time of the year for online businesses to recruit extra staff, with one in four retailers (27.5%) declaring that they will look to employ temporary staff to help with the increase in online activity. It is also important to acknowledge that a considerable amount of staff also work in areas supporting the e-commerce industry, including distribution and delivery, customer support and website development. It is estimated that 115,700 delivery staff will distribute over one billion parcels to online customers in 2011.

Tags: act, companies, Industry Chat, jobs, Members, press-release, result, Retail

How prepared are you for the Agency Workers Regulations?

If you are a temp recruitment company then you will be very aware of the new Agency Workers Regulations , in fact it will be implemented in just 2 months on the 1st of October. So by now you should have procedures in place to ensure you are compliant, and if not then you need to read on. We are now beginning to see panic gripping some recruitment companies, with the amount of enquiries for our recruitment software as they realise theirs is not able to deal with the changes or that using a card or Excel spread sheet for running their temps will make their business uneconomic. The problem is that it will become very time consuming to keep on top of where your temps have been working, how many days they have been on a contract, which terms and conditions they have before and after the 12 week rule, which in itself is complicated, otherwise you will not be operating to the AWR . This will of course cut into your margins and to be honest almost impossible to manage and it isn’t helped by the clients continually eroding it at the other end. Given the interest in the AWR I spoke to a friend of mine and an expert in the field Fiona McKay and asked if she would write an article to help explain some of the issues involved, I am pleased to say she produced a detailed handout which you can download in a pdf file from Here or you can pop along to here one of Fiona’s seminars on Friday 29th July 2011 at 09.30 until 12 noon at The Red Rooms, 111 Piccadilly, Manchester, M1 3FY other wise you can continue reading below: The Agency Workers Regulations – what is really required of recruiters? You have probably been to many AWR (The Agency Workers Regulations 2010) seminars offering hot solutions and the latest tips and tricks to keep you ahead of the inevitable and significant changes to the temp recruitment working model that the AWR will inevitably bring. Fiona McKay – Managing Director of Seminars & Solutions (a specialist Employment Law Training Consultancy) addresses some of the key questions and issues that recruiters should really be asking of themselves, their clients and their intermediaries.  Fiona has spent the last eighteen months working with leading recruiters preparing them for AWR and significantly with some of the UK’s largest headcount employers putting their PSL recruitment suppliers through AWR boot camp – making recommendations to hirers of the best and the least AWR prepared recruiters in the market. Background The AWR will come into force on 1 October 2011 and will give an agency worker the right to the same ‘basic working and employment conditions’ (pay, the duration of working time, night work, rest periods, rest breaks and annual leave) as a comparable direct recruit of the end user of the agency worker’s services after 12 weeks on an assignment.  The staffing company that supplies the services of the agency worker will be responsible for providing the same basic working and employment conditions and will have the bulk of the compliance burden under the AWR.  However, the AWR will also have implications for the business of the end user of the agency worker’s services, including obligations to provide access to collective facilities and amenities, and information on job vacancies from day one of an assignment. The guidance – what is it and have you read it? Prior to the introduction of any new significant employment laws being introduced the government produces a guidance document that walks through and explains how and what compliance will look like in practical day-to-day terms. It is vital that all recruitment business leaders have read and understand the contents and implied terms of best practice in the guidance document.  It is also now imperative, that all temp consultants have read and understand the contents and implications. Clients have read it and are looking for help and support from their recruiters over specific issues contained therein. Despite the assistance provided by the guidance, it is not the final say so that a lot of recruiters and ill-prepared umbrella companies were hanging their hat on.  It is not a statement of law, nor does it correctly interpret the law in all areas.  Ultimately it will be for employment tribunals to determine how the Agency Workers Regulations will be interpreted. The final AWR guidance has now been published – click here to access the full document. Umbrella Companies – how prepared are they? It can be very varied, although there are a handful of market leaders taking a strong line and shaping solutions models for their market. The main alternative offering seems to be to adopt the pay between assignments contracts. However, high proportions seem to be looking to their recruiter partners to solve the issue for them. In my experience, umbrella companies are now being asked to attend scoping and solutions modeling meetings with clients.  This can sometimes come as a surprise to clients, who are on occasions unaware that their contractors and freelancers are actually paid by someone other than the agency!  This is also a massive opportunity for sharp and commercial umbrella operators to take the agency out of the equation post 1st October 2011 and provide their own contingent workforce – time only will tell as to the take up, the viability and the responsiveness of umbrella providers.  Ask them, have they and their teams read the guidance and what are their plans post 1 October 2011? Taking the lead Adecco undertook a study this year and the results are shocking. 80% of HR professionals surveyed said that they had no idea of the costs and consequences of the AWR and 61% said that they did not even know that date of introduction of the legislation! That in itself puts massive pressure on the agency to guide, advise and support its clients and their HR staff responsible for implementation. There is no one size fits all solution, so what is right, just and equitable for each client? There is still a massive appetite for learning and understanding of the subject.  Many recruiters have delivered client and prospect seminars, designed fact-sheets and information portals.  How accessible is your knowledge and information and is it being delivered in a way that is right for each client?  It is simply not enough for you and your board of Directors to be comfortable and confident in the Regulations and its requirements.  Have you trained your consultants and support staff and can you demonstrate that knowledge across your whole business?  Training also needs to be extended your to Finance team, Compliance, and IT staff. Address your stakeholders and be prepared to talk to different decision makers You may have had a wonderful relationship with hiring managers in client organisations, but new buying units maybe emerging, driving AWR dialogue and decisions.  You may now be embarking into new relationships with other decision-making units in client organisations who are strangers.  Work needs to be done to address who is the ultimate decision making unit in the AWR journey?  It is often a combination of HR, Procurement, Resourcing, Internal Recruitment as well as Finance.  Have you addressed the kind of language these professionals use?  What will success look like for each of these stakeholders and collectively for their organisation? Software providers Many of the temp software providers are launching their AWR compliant solutions.  Again, beware of the one-size fits all package.  Get your provider(s) to demonstrate their offerings and if needed have it amended so it works for you.  Involve them in your scoping and solutions meetings with clients.  If you are not sure they are up for the task, start looking now for alternative providers who do have the ability to provide bespoke offerings.  It is going to be a vital aspect in AWR administration around flagging up and calculating of the twelve week qualifying period, so make sure the package is fit for purpose and beyond. Comparator data and customs and practices This is probably the single biggest aspect that our client hirers are asking for clarification on.  They need to know what the agency requires from them in terms of data and in what format that will be sourced and secured?  For those who have conducted AWR impact assessments with their clients, they will be aware of current Day 1 rights in operation, but work needs to be done by HR and their recruitment partners as to what are the current customs and practices in their organisations that have been paid or undertaken with such regularity that it has become part of their contractual rights?  This relates to Day 1 rights and pay and benefits entitlements. Put strong emphasis to your clients HR professionals, for the need to undertake this exercise. Without the results, you are in a vulnerable position and at an increased risk of “noisy” conversations with temps who may believe they are entitled to more. In-house staffing banks Many labour intensive hirers have decided that they will reduce or try and expunge completely their exposure to the AWR by creating and operating their own internal bank of directly recruited temps.  Firstly, they need the skill and the resource to be able to do it effectively.  Secondly, they are still potentially at risk and could be deemed under the Regulations to be acting as a Temporary Work Agency (TWA) if they are involved in the supply of directly recruited bank temps to another company within their group which supervises and directs the temp worker, then such arrangements will be within scope of the AWR.  However, it should be remembered that temporary bank staff directly employed by the end user of their services will still benefit from protection under the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, and this can come as a surprise to hirers exploring this route as a viable alternative. Pay between assignments contracts aka The Swedish Derogation This is an alternative staffing model where the agency employs its temps direct on permanent contracts of employment, and can pay the temp less than its directly recruited counterpart in the hiring organisation.  However, the final guidance has made it clear it is only a derogation (another word for alternative or opt out) on pay rates and the temp must sign a written statement saying that they agree to forgo their entitlement to equal pay under the Regulations. There has been speculation about adopting a one-hour a week contract model so that a TWA can take full advantage of this exemption.  The guidance indicates that paying an agency worker for a short period, which maybe as little as one hour, when there is in reality no assignment available, is likely to be viewed as an anti-avoidance measure, bringing fines of £5,000 per agency worker. The guidance states that all agency workers, including those on pay between assignments/Swedish derogation contracts of employment will be entitled to: All Day 1 rights in the hirers undertaking Equal treatment in relation to the duration of working time, night work, rest periods and rest breaks Paid annual leave after 12 weeks in a given assignment Terminating a temp on a pay between assignments contract What if an agency worker refuses a suitable assignment, when employed on a pay between assignments contract? Firstly, you need really robust and fit for purpose discipline and grievance procedures and policies that support a pay between assignments contract.  It should clearly express the consequences for the temp it they refuse an offer of suitable, alternative work. Failure to accept, without good grounds could constitute gross misconduct.  Depending on the situation, if the agency worker refuses suitable alternative work, it may therefore be appropriate for the TWA to terminate the agency worker’s contract by reason of his or her gross misconduct with immediate effect and not pay the four week minimum amount (to the extent that it has not been paid previously). Caution needs to be exercised here. The Regulations require the TWA has to set out in writing as part of the pay between assignments contract the hours, locations and the type of duties the agency worker can be expected to perform. Therefore, dismissing somebody for refusal to work which would then constitute gross misconduct must fall within those expected duties, and therefore be an unreasonable refusal by the agency worker which breaches their contract of employment. Talking to your temps Plenty of effort and energy has gone into dialogue with clients, suppliers and intermediaries around the AWR.  Plans now need to be put in place to discuss and inform your temps of The Agency Workers Regulations and what it means for them and who should they go to if they have a question or query?  Will fact sheets be available or will there be updated information on your company web page?  Make sure it’s in their language – overtly jargoned terminology will no doubt create confusion and concern. What next? Keep talking to your clients.  If you haven’t undertaken AWR impact assessments with them, do so now! Work out what the actual cost of the regulations will be to you and to your individual clients Design options that work – don’t commit to the pay between assignments contract model unless it is works for you Ask your umbrella providers to demonstrate their understanding of the Regulations and provide details of their AWR plans. Where necessary, ask them to demonstrate how their options will minimise risk as well as keeping compliant and within the remit of the Regulations Source software suppliers that offer solutions that work for you Start putting in place new processes, policies and procedures for the 1st October 2011 implementation date Inform your temps of their new rights and entitlements under the AWR and whom they should go to with questions or queries Train your staff and your clients on The Agency Workers Regulations in a language that they understand Workshops that actually work! Fiona will be speaking at a series of national workshops in July 2011, specifically for recruiters. She will be giving support and direction on how to engage with hirers in the AWR buying process including: Understanding the Regulations and being able to confidently communicate Identifying the AWR buying unit Buying unit requirements Influencing the decision making process Keeping on the PSL Pre and post 1st October 2011 expectations

Tags: act, agency, companies, Finance, government, Industry Chat, media, result, tas, Vic, workers

Job scam – Online Trade Training

I came across this site last night and couldn’t believe it. This site is nothing more than a con for some company called online trade training. So the entire site is set up to look like a Consumer warning report site where this particular product, online trade training is been reviewed. However, the entire site has been established to sell the online trade training and there are no other products or information on there. Have a look at the following link.

Online Trade Training

What you think? Should this be allowed?

Tags: actually, address, admit, advert, Advertiser, allerguard, allowed, angeles, asking, built, business, certification, clearly, companies, company, contact, cover, credit, curious, designed, dodgy, Email, entire, established, false, following, Funny, Google, happen, hosting, impression, Instances, Legal, links, little, makes, making, mites, model, money, month, notice, olympic, online, outside, people, posting, pozycjonowanie, printing, problems, process, processed, product, products, program, przez, quicker, really, received, refund, reliable, responded, reviewed, sense, server, shuts, sites, states, substrate, suite, trade, training, trainingi, using, usugi, variations, website, whoisguard, words

BRW 2011 Best Places to work

I just got my nice fresh smelling copy of BRW’s top 50 places to work. Looks like, unlike last year, they may have got it right by giving google position 1. Perhaps this makes their rating system slightly more credible.

But the list of the top 50 companies according to BRW 2011 is,

1. Google
2. E-Web Marketing
3. NetApp Australia
4. Juniper Networks.
5. Atlassian
6. Davidson Recruitment
7. OBS
8. Ikon Communications.
9. MRWED Group.
10. Altis Consulting.
11. Cordelta
12. The Pysio Co
13. Auscoal
14. Coca-Cola Amatil
15. Distribution Central.
16. Kiandra IT.
17. Swaab Attorneys.
18. Readify.
19. Sentis
20. JDS Australia
21. Orbis Global
22. Porter Davis Homes
23. Bluefin Resources
24. McAfee Australia
25. Amgen Australia
26. Deloitte
27. Employment Office
28. Viteknologies
29. RedBalloon
30. Wavelength International
31. Simcorp
32. Telcoinabox
33. Nova Group
34. Ansarada
35. Ezypay
36. OMD Australia
37. Silver Chef
38. Unique World
39. Diageo Australia
40. Zinc
41. Advanced Solutions International
42. SAS Institute Australia
43. MediaCom
44. The Smart Group
45. C3 Business Solutions
46. Check Point software solutions
47. Finite Recruitment
48. Pitcher Partners Advisors
49. Austereo
50. Philip Webb

Interesting, I notice that no one has actually made a review of any of the above companies. I’d love to hear from people who have actually worked for any of these companies.

Tags: actually, australia, companies, credible, Google, group, hrefwwwansaradacom, international, marketing, places, really, recruitment agencies, Rubbish, solutions, think, workdo

telecommuting

I’ve noticed that heaps of companies are still very, very reluctant to even consider telecommuting! Yet I dont understand why? In Europe and many other countries telecommuting is considered a normal method of engaging an employee, and yet here in Australia, it is still something that is considered a non-preferred engagement model.

Yet we have no problems outsourcing entire call centers and development centers to foreign countries. We have the tools now to provide employees with remote work capability and yet we are slow to take it up. Even the top performing technical companies in Australia refuse to implement it. Why? Does anyone see this changing? What’s the reason?

Tags: australia, centers, companies, considered, Countries, employees, provide, reason, remote, telecommuting

Contracting V Permanent

I dont understand why people think that a Permanent job is more secure than a contract. Most of the contractors i have worked with seem to be on site longer than the perms.I mean regardless of your employment type if you are good they will keep you and if you are bad they will let you go?

Tags: companies, contracting, contractors, employment, having, increase, longer, number, offer, people, permanent, permanenti, permsi, really, regardless, security, Sorts, think, understand, worked

Creativity – The New Recruitment Buzz Word?

Candidates who boast of being “creative” on their CVs and in job interviews could find their skills being put to the test for the first time thanks to a new tool aimed at measuring creativity. The psychometric assessment has been developed by Australian psychologist Dr Amantha Imber alongside global giant Kimberley Clark. The company behind major brands like Kleneex and Huggies approached Amantha after the head of innovation found that recruiting creativity people was difficult without giving them some kind of test to check their claims She believed it was too easy for people to lie about their ability. Amantha and her team spent three years designing the tool, known as the Inventium Creative Aptitude Test (ICAT). The test is based on the latest psychological and neuro-science research and identifies 14 key traits to creative behaviours which form the basis of the psychometric assessment. Those taking the test are quizzed on topics including applying experiences to work place problems, desire to master new skills, dealing with open ended problems, trusting their intuition, self confidence in their ideas and assertiveness. ICAT also predicts behaviours the person is likely to exhibit in the workplace like commitment to change, challenging the norms of the company, adaptability, ability to work with other people and communication. Recent studies have shown that creativity is becoming one of the top traits big employers look for. IBM’s global survey of 1,500 CEOs found creativity was rated as the most important trait leaders needed to possess and a 2010 study by Ernst & Young found that ‘the ability to manage, organise, cultivate and nurture creative thinking is directly linked to growth and achievement’. Amantha, the founder of Inventium , believes checking someone’s creative ability is difficult – anyone can come up with examples of creative thinking even if they aren’t their own – and is confident this tool will give employers a very accurate picture of an employee’s ability. “Before developing ICAT, we looked at what companies are currently doing to check a candidates creativity and found the measures completely pointless. The creative industries, for example, ask to see a portfolio of work. How do they know the portfolio contains just the work of the person they’re planning to recruit? “This tool will help companies find employees who will think differently to solve problems, who can generate ideas and help the business grow. Creativity isn’t just about coming up with great ideas and executing them, it’s also about finding a new way to solve a financial or staffing problems, making processes more efficient and engaging employees. “The ideas bit is important – this is what enables companies to innovate. The day to day problems that come with running a business must never be overlooked. If you’re unable to solve these, then how will you move forward?” The test is an online assessment, taking just 25 minutes and from that Amantha and her team is able to assess how creative a person is and will build a programme of how those skills can be developed. She concluded: “I’m confident this assessment will give employers an overall picture of a person’s creative ability as well as giving guidance on how those traits can be developed in the future. “As companies continue to rebuild after the recession, ensuring staff are well developed and new recruits well suited is going to become even more important. Having the right team who are able to think creatively both in terms of problem solving and developing innovative ideas is going to help drive businesses forward.”

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Creativity – The New Recruitment Buzz Word?

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Tags: act, australia, Buzz, companies, creativity, Industry Chat, recruitment tips, result, word