I've thought it all along myself but it's still nice when people agree with you; the Institute of Directors (IoD) have released this article regarding migrant workers in the UK.
In summary for you:
"...there is considerable agreement from business leaders that migrant workers provide a vital boost to the UK economy."
I don't read the Daily Mail and don't intend to start but this tends to be the kind of thing they scream themselves hoarse about in my experience. Bulgarian workers stealing our jobs, Polish migrants taking over whole towns etc. Those ridiculous scare stories (mild xenophobia at best, outright racism at worst) should really have no place in our thinking when it comes to recruitment and it's good to see that UK business leaders (who lets be fair, are not always known as bastions of moral integrity!) are on the mark with this one.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Career Planning
I've always thought it worthwhile thinking about and planning what type of career you want in the future. Yet I didn't plan to end up doing what I do now. And I couldn't tell you exactly what I want to be doing in 10 years time. Best laid plans and all.
So maybe I've been thinking about things all wrong. Maybe that interview question about where you see yourself in 1, 2 or 5 years time is a bit unfair. Jeremy Dean certainly thinks so:
"Our culture worships planning. Everything must be planned in advance. Our days, week, years, our entire lives. We have diaries, schedules, checklists, targets, goals, aims, strategies, visions even. Career planning is the most insidious of these cults precisely because it encourages a feeling of control over your reactions to future events. As that interview question goes: where do you see yourself in five years time? This invites the beginning of what starts as a little game and finishes as a belief built on sand. You guess what employers want to hear, and then you give it to them. Sometimes this batting back and forth of imagined futures becomes a necessary little game you play in order to 'get ahead'."
It's an interesting post and worth a read. I found his blog today via the CHO and it looks good. One to flag up to my psychometric-expert colleague Olivia too.
So maybe I've been thinking about things all wrong. Maybe that interview question about where you see yourself in 1, 2 or 5 years time is a bit unfair. Jeremy Dean certainly thinks so:
"Our culture worships planning. Everything must be planned in advance. Our days, week, years, our entire lives. We have diaries, schedules, checklists, targets, goals, aims, strategies, visions even. Career planning is the most insidious of these cults precisely because it encourages a feeling of control over your reactions to future events. As that interview question goes: where do you see yourself in five years time? This invites the beginning of what starts as a little game and finishes as a belief built on sand. You guess what employers want to hear, and then you give it to them. Sometimes this batting back and forth of imagined futures becomes a necessary little game you play in order to 'get ahead'."
It's an interesting post and worth a read. I found his blog today via the CHO and it looks good. One to flag up to my psychometric-expert colleague Olivia too.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Let's give everyone a boost!
So what with the rows going on currently regarding Big Brother (how did that make the national news??), cash for honours scandals, the woeful state of the English cricket team and all the other little things that just seem to wear down your resolve it’s easy to feel a bit glum on a Tuesday afternoon. The fact that the weekend still seems a long way away doesn’t help matters either. Plus, I don’t know about anyone else but I’m really busy at the moment and things are veering into the chaotic on occasion.
So I think it’s really important to remember the good stuff at times like this. Take some perspective on things; chances are for all the horrible stuff still in your to-do-list there’ll be a couple of things that you’ve ticked off that you’re really proud of. Only 5 minutes ago I spotted a colleague of mine jumping for joy as a role she was working on just offered 2 of her candidates because they liked them both so much. It doesn’t mean there aren't still 50-something live vacancies that she’s got currently, but it’s a little boost like that which can make your day a successful one.
Here’s the thing though – even the most positive person can get bogged down in the bad stuff and lose sight of the good stuff. We all do it and we all need help getting out of a slump like that. So here’s what I think we should all do:
Praise each other! Little bits of praise. Big bits of praise. All the praise you can muster! It’s a theme that the CHO mentions at length. It doesn’t matter if you’re a manager praising a member of your team, a colleague praising a peer or even a team member praising a manager (doesn’t happen a lot but should really happen more; they deserve it sometimes!) – everyone needs a bit more praise every now and again. You should make sure that your praise is timely, appropriate and meaningful as otherwise it will lose it’s impact.
Here's how:
Single someone out. Tell them (and everyone else if you want) why they deserve the praise. Do it as soon as they deserve any praise, don’t wait. Just walk on over (or drop an email or send a memo or whatever), deliver your praise, don’t expect any in return and get on with your day. I promise it’ll make them feel good, it’ll make you feel good and if everyone does it it’ll push a big positive buzz all round your workplace!
Get to it and let me know how it goes!
(This post was inspired by Alexander’s book which I’ve just finished. It’s really motivated me to think about lots of things to do with happiness at work and I’ll be posting more on it in the comings days. I’ll also be collaring my boss at some point and getting him to implement some of the great ideas I’ve read about. So if they’re successful you’ll be the first to hear about them here!)
So I think it’s really important to remember the good stuff at times like this. Take some perspective on things; chances are for all the horrible stuff still in your to-do-list there’ll be a couple of things that you’ve ticked off that you’re really proud of. Only 5 minutes ago I spotted a colleague of mine jumping for joy as a role she was working on just offered 2 of her candidates because they liked them both so much. It doesn’t mean there aren't still 50-something live vacancies that she’s got currently, but it’s a little boost like that which can make your day a successful one.
Here’s the thing though – even the most positive person can get bogged down in the bad stuff and lose sight of the good stuff. We all do it and we all need help getting out of a slump like that. So here’s what I think we should all do:
Praise each other! Little bits of praise. Big bits of praise. All the praise you can muster! It’s a theme that the CHO mentions at length. It doesn’t matter if you’re a manager praising a member of your team, a colleague praising a peer or even a team member praising a manager (doesn’t happen a lot but should really happen more; they deserve it sometimes!) – everyone needs a bit more praise every now and again. You should make sure that your praise is timely, appropriate and meaningful as otherwise it will lose it’s impact.
Here's how:
Single someone out. Tell them (and everyone else if you want) why they deserve the praise. Do it as soon as they deserve any praise, don’t wait. Just walk on over (or drop an email or send a memo or whatever), deliver your praise, don’t expect any in return and get on with your day. I promise it’ll make them feel good, it’ll make you feel good and if everyone does it it’ll push a big positive buzz all round your workplace!
Get to it and let me know how it goes!
(This post was inspired by Alexander’s book which I’ve just finished. It’s really motivated me to think about lots of things to do with happiness at work and I’ll be posting more on it in the comings days. I’ll also be collaring my boss at some point and getting him to implement some of the great ideas I’ve read about. So if they’re successful you’ll be the first to hear about them here!)
Friday, January 26, 2007
Lifeboats Appeal
26th January is ‘Wear Your Trainers to Work Day’ to raise money for the RNLI. Luckily, here at Omni, Friday is dress down day anyway. However it hasn’t stopped me collecting £1 from everyone in the office (trainers or no trainers!). Today’s collection is just one of the many charities we support. Last year we collected money for Cancer Research, Breast Cancer Research and we even held a quiz to raise money for an orphanage in Romania.
I believe charity in the office is a really good thing, not only does it help to raise money for good causes but it can also help to build good relations with your colleagues. From a philosophical point of view, I also like to think that collecting for charity helps to remind us all of how lucky we are, even though we might be having a rather horrible day at work!
I believe charity in the office is a really good thing, not only does it help to raise money for good causes but it can also help to build good relations with your colleagues. From a philosophical point of view, I also like to think that collecting for charity helps to remind us all of how lucky we are, even though we might be having a rather horrible day at work!
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Faces to names...
Hi all. I had a great idea today - let's get everyones' faces out there so people know who they're talking to if they call in or pay us a visit. The thing is, I hate those 'corporate' type photos, all sanitised and posed for. So instead I've created a place where I can keep all of the 'real' photos that we have of the Omni lot; photos from nights out, the Christmas party, days out the office etc. These will give a genuine (/hilarious in some cases) view of the company and hopefully will equally embarrass everyone!
The site I've decided to use to host the photos is Flickr. If you follow the link and create an account (it only takes a minute or 2), then do a search (search people rather than tags) for omniblog you'll be able to see all the photos. There's not many on there yet but I'll keep adding. Also, I'll write a special post everytime I upload some juicy new content. We're going bowling in 2 weeks so photos of me winning that will be up soon after!
The site I've decided to use to host the photos is Flickr. If you follow the link and create an account (it only takes a minute or 2), then do a search (search people rather than tags) for omniblog you'll be able to see all the photos. There's not many on there yet but I'll keep adding. Also, I'll write a special post everytime I upload some juicy new content. We're going bowling in 2 weeks so photos of me winning that will be up soon after!
Managed Services and RPO - the debate
So I've been having a bit of a debate recently with some people on a forum I visit. The debate was about managed services and Recruitment Process Outsourcing, essentially whether it's a good thing or not. Some of the contributors were agencies who had a few horror stories about their experiences. There was quite a negative atmosphere about the whole process to be honest and this was a bit of a surprise to me.
The transcript of the debate is here and as you can see a number of the people who posted had a very set view on things. No amount of counter-argument or reasoned debate would change their mind; they believe managed services and RPO are bad things for recruitment, end of story. This is obviously disappointing but i don't think it's the most common view. Without wanting to trivialise their experiences I think these people represent the exception, not the rule.
I'm open to having my mind changed though! Maybe I've misread things and the agencies I work with aren't behind the idea of RPO. Maybe my perception of this as a forward step for the recruitment industry is mistaken. I'd love to hear what people thought so comment away!
N.B. We're an independent RPO and it's an important distinction. I have no doubt that a number of the managed services out there who claim to be both RPO and independent aren't and will mistreat their agencies. I've got a feeling that it's these orgs that the contributors on the forum have encountered and it's unfortunate for them if that's the case; organisations who treat suppliers, candidates and ultimately clients poorly are bad news for the industry as a whole.
The transcript of the debate is here and as you can see a number of the people who posted had a very set view on things. No amount of counter-argument or reasoned debate would change their mind; they believe managed services and RPO are bad things for recruitment, end of story. This is obviously disappointing but i don't think it's the most common view. Without wanting to trivialise their experiences I think these people represent the exception, not the rule.
I'm open to having my mind changed though! Maybe I've misread things and the agencies I work with aren't behind the idea of RPO. Maybe my perception of this as a forward step for the recruitment industry is mistaken. I'd love to hear what people thought so comment away!
N.B. We're an independent RPO and it's an important distinction. I have no doubt that a number of the managed services out there who claim to be both RPO and independent aren't and will mistreat their agencies. I've got a feeling that it's these orgs that the contributors on the forum have encountered and it's unfortunate for them if that's the case; organisations who treat suppliers, candidates and ultimately clients poorly are bad news for the industry as a whole.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Psychometrics uncovered
Received wisdom these days is that Psychometric Testing is something we should be doing. Yet it’s not always obvious exactly why we should be doing it. We’re bombarded by ability tests, personality questionnaires, motivational measures, emotional intelligence tests; the list goes on. Yet whether you’re reading this from a candidate’s point of view, as an employer or just as an interested bystander, I think chances are you’ll be quite confused about the whole topic and probably a little uncomfortable with asking any questions – it’s almost like it’s becoming so common everyone assumes that they should already know all they need to about it!
As a fully qualified Psychometrician (one of my favourite words!) I am definitely expected to know the benefits of Psychometric Testing and how and when tests should be used. So I would like to offer a helping hand to anyone who is not too sure what the Psychometric fuss is all about. Probably the best way I can help clear things up (and maybe debunk a few myths) is for everyone who wants to ask a question which they feel they should already know the answer to, to make a comment below. Soon we’ll have a whole list of FAQs about Psychometrics, questions that usually people are too afraid to ask! To start the ball rolling I’ve answered some of the most common questions below.
So what is Psychometric Testing in a nut shell?
Psychometric Testing is a way of gathering information about an individual’s personality and/or ability, using specially designed measuring tools and techniques. These tools and techniques are usually in the form of test-like questions taken either online or in traditional pen and paper fashion.
When should you expect to use them or sit one?
The most common use of Psychometric Tests at present is for selection and recruitment purposes. Since 70% of companies are now using Psychometric Tests of one form or another it’s safe to say, if you’re applying for a new job, chances are you can expect to take one. However more and more companies are realising the value of Psychometrically Testing internal staff, for example for promotions and appraisals or stress management purposes.
How long do they take?
The time can vary from anywhere between 8 minutes for an ability test to 3 hours (lots of tests in one). However most tests won’t last more than 30 minutes.
Are they expensive?
No, they used to be but really aren’t anymore. Test prices can range from £30 per candidate to £120 per candidate depending on which test you take/use.
Are all tests governed by a central body?
Simply put, no. The British Psychological Society is the body which governs all Psychometric Tests in this country however not all tests are certified by the BPS. There are hundreds upon hundreds of Psychometric tests available online but only a handful of these are recognised by the BPS. In my opinion, if a test is worth doing, it will be recognised by the BPS. Otherwise the results are not guaranteed valid and therefore essentially void. Test publishers such as ASE, PSL and SHL will only allow their tests to be carried out by BPS qualified testers like myself.
What are the benefits of taking a Psychometric Test?
When making decisions about people, the more information you can gather about that person first, the better; as they say, knowledge is power! Psychometric Tests are the only accurate way to gather specific information about an individual’s personality and I’m sure we all know how important personality is, especially in the work place. When I look around my office, I don’t know about everyone’s ability, past work history, career prospects etc but I do know about their personality thanks to my daily interactions with them. Their personality affects the way they work, how they think, how they interact with others and how they behave, so it’s a pretty important thing to get a feel for. The traditional measures used to predict how a person will perform in the future include interviews and reference gathering, both of which have a far lower accuracy percentage than Psychometric Testing.
Will the Test results reveal any unknown information about my personality?
Any certified practitioner should offer every test taker a feedback session before handing any information to the client since this is best practice. This feedback session is your chance to discuss your results and if you do have any concerns, this would be the time to raise them. It is unlikely that you would be completely surprised by the results but occasionally a test may highlight something you hadn’t considered before.
Hopefully the above information is useful to you whichever perspective you have on the issues of Psychometrics. Please feel free to comment and ask questions and should you need any detailed information about Testing or the service that I provide then feel free to email me or give me a call.
As a fully qualified Psychometrician (one of my favourite words!) I am definitely expected to know the benefits of Psychometric Testing and how and when tests should be used. So I would like to offer a helping hand to anyone who is not too sure what the Psychometric fuss is all about. Probably the best way I can help clear things up (and maybe debunk a few myths) is for everyone who wants to ask a question which they feel they should already know the answer to, to make a comment below. Soon we’ll have a whole list of FAQs about Psychometrics, questions that usually people are too afraid to ask! To start the ball rolling I’ve answered some of the most common questions below.
So what is Psychometric Testing in a nut shell?
Psychometric Testing is a way of gathering information about an individual’s personality and/or ability, using specially designed measuring tools and techniques. These tools and techniques are usually in the form of test-like questions taken either online or in traditional pen and paper fashion.
When should you expect to use them or sit one?
The most common use of Psychometric Tests at present is for selection and recruitment purposes. Since 70% of companies are now using Psychometric Tests of one form or another it’s safe to say, if you’re applying for a new job, chances are you can expect to take one. However more and more companies are realising the value of Psychometrically Testing internal staff, for example for promotions and appraisals or stress management purposes.
How long do they take?
The time can vary from anywhere between 8 minutes for an ability test to 3 hours (lots of tests in one). However most tests won’t last more than 30 minutes.
Are they expensive?
No, they used to be but really aren’t anymore. Test prices can range from £30 per candidate to £120 per candidate depending on which test you take/use.
Are all tests governed by a central body?
Simply put, no. The British Psychological Society is the body which governs all Psychometric Tests in this country however not all tests are certified by the BPS. There are hundreds upon hundreds of Psychometric tests available online but only a handful of these are recognised by the BPS. In my opinion, if a test is worth doing, it will be recognised by the BPS. Otherwise the results are not guaranteed valid and therefore essentially void. Test publishers such as ASE, PSL and SHL will only allow their tests to be carried out by BPS qualified testers like myself.
What are the benefits of taking a Psychometric Test?
When making decisions about people, the more information you can gather about that person first, the better; as they say, knowledge is power! Psychometric Tests are the only accurate way to gather specific information about an individual’s personality and I’m sure we all know how important personality is, especially in the work place. When I look around my office, I don’t know about everyone’s ability, past work history, career prospects etc but I do know about their personality thanks to my daily interactions with them. Their personality affects the way they work, how they think, how they interact with others and how they behave, so it’s a pretty important thing to get a feel for. The traditional measures used to predict how a person will perform in the future include interviews and reference gathering, both of which have a far lower accuracy percentage than Psychometric Testing.
Will the Test results reveal any unknown information about my personality?
Any certified practitioner should offer every test taker a feedback session before handing any information to the client since this is best practice. This feedback session is your chance to discuss your results and if you do have any concerns, this would be the time to raise them. It is unlikely that you would be completely surprised by the results but occasionally a test may highlight something you hadn’t considered before.
Hopefully the above information is useful to you whichever perspective you have on the issues of Psychometrics. Please feel free to comment and ask questions and should you need any detailed information about Testing or the service that I provide then feel free to email me or give me a call.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Don't worry! Be happy!
Happiness at work is such an important thing. Working in recruitment gives you a particularly clear perspective on this. Probably the number one reason people give when we ask why they are looking to change jobs is that they aren’t happy where they are currently. The root causes of this vary (no progression, bad management, don’t get on with colleagues, poor salary etc) but when it comes down to it day-to-day unhappiness is what will make someone decide – ‘That’s it, I’ve had enough!’
So how to make yourself happy at work? How to make your employees happy? How to create the perfect environment to boost happiness levels? Well I’ve found a chap who knows the answers to these questions and more!
The Chief Happiness Officer has a blog and book and both are a great read (the blog is a must-read for me and I’m halfway through the book which you can download for free). I’d highly recommend them whether you’re happy, unhappy or completely indifferent in your current situation. The CHO also has lots of tips for directors, managers and team leaders on how to motivate staff and create a positive work space (which after all is pretty much guaranteed to be beneficial to your business and ergo your bottom line).
Enjoy and be happy!
So how to make yourself happy at work? How to make your employees happy? How to create the perfect environment to boost happiness levels? Well I’ve found a chap who knows the answers to these questions and more!
The Chief Happiness Officer has a blog and book and both are a great read (the blog is a must-read for me and I’m halfway through the book which you can download for free). I’d highly recommend them whether you’re happy, unhappy or completely indifferent in your current situation. The CHO also has lots of tips for directors, managers and team leaders on how to motivate staff and create a positive work space (which after all is pretty much guaranteed to be beneficial to your business and ergo your bottom line).
Enjoy and be happy!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
What does it all mean?
When I talk ‘work’ with people (clients, suppliers, friends, family etc) one of the things I’m most keen to get a feel for is whether they understand what it is I do. I know it’s not the most complicated thing in the world; I'm no rocket scientist (although I know a few of them and they're not what you'd expect!) but I still feel that often I explain my role and people just don’t ‘get’ what it is I do.
Confusion really exists between what a traditional ‘recruitment agency’ does and what my company as an RPO or Recruitment Process Outsourcer, does. Although the idea of RPO is more common than it was even only 18 months ago in reality there are still some very grey areas.
The Times have recently published a useful supplement though which is like a crash course in RPO. It was sent to me by a colleague and is a really good read. The supplement basically outlines the ins and outs of the RPO market and it’s as good a summation of things as I’ve seen. If you have any interest in RPO or are just a bit hazy about exactly what it is, why businesses choose outsourcing, what other options there are etc then I’d highly recommend it.
I’ll probably go into more detail on a few of the articles in the coming days so any comments on it in preparation are most welcome.
Confusion really exists between what a traditional ‘recruitment agency’ does and what my company as an RPO or Recruitment Process Outsourcer, does. Although the idea of RPO is more common than it was even only 18 months ago in reality there are still some very grey areas.
The Times have recently published a useful supplement though which is like a crash course in RPO. It was sent to me by a colleague and is a really good read. The supplement basically outlines the ins and outs of the RPO market and it’s as good a summation of things as I’ve seen. If you have any interest in RPO or are just a bit hazy about exactly what it is, why businesses choose outsourcing, what other options there are etc then I’d highly recommend it.
I’ll probably go into more detail on a few of the articles in the coming days so any comments on it in preparation are most welcome.
Monday, January 15, 2007
A new start for Omniblog
After some teething troubles with the technical set-up of the last blog we are back and in rude health on the new Blogger platform!
For those who saw the old blog, welcome back! I'll be transferring some of the old posts across and updating a lot more regularly now that things are fully functional.
For any newcomers, welcome to the Omniblog. Things are a little sparse at the moment but I'll be rectifying that as quickly as I can. In the meantime if you're not familiar with Omni a good place to start is the 'about us' section on the righthand side.
In terms of an introduction the following from the old blog probably sums things up best:
My name is James and I will be doing the majority of the blogging here. I work for Omni and have done for the last couple of years. My job title is probably Account Manager but my job description tends to be a bit fluid; most recently I've been reading a lot of blogs, running the office football team and putting up the Christmas decorations. When all that quietens down though I'm responsible for the day-to-day management of one of Omni's accounts, Allied Irish Bank (GB).
My goal with this blog is to offer a real insight into how things work around here. I will also undoubtedly be ranting on about various related recruitment and HR issues (as well as a variety of unrelated issues if I can get away with it). There'll also be the odd chipping in by our PR bods, but i promise they're not as square as they sound and I'll limit their input to the purely factual; this isn't an ad blog!
Other than that it's up to any readers out there to determine this blogs direction. If there is something you want to talk about, mail me and I'll bring it up. No topics off limits (hope I don't regret saying that) and nothing too big or small for me to wax lyrical on!
So for the second time in a few weeks, off we go!
For those who saw the old blog, welcome back! I'll be transferring some of the old posts across and updating a lot more regularly now that things are fully functional.
For any newcomers, welcome to the Omniblog. Things are a little sparse at the moment but I'll be rectifying that as quickly as I can. In the meantime if you're not familiar with Omni a good place to start is the 'about us' section on the righthand side.
In terms of an introduction the following from the old blog probably sums things up best:
My name is James and I will be doing the majority of the blogging here. I work for Omni and have done for the last couple of years. My job title is probably Account Manager but my job description tends to be a bit fluid; most recently I've been reading a lot of blogs, running the office football team and putting up the Christmas decorations. When all that quietens down though I'm responsible for the day-to-day management of one of Omni's accounts, Allied Irish Bank (GB).
My goal with this blog is to offer a real insight into how things work around here. I will also undoubtedly be ranting on about various related recruitment and HR issues (as well as a variety of unrelated issues if I can get away with it). There'll also be the odd chipping in by our PR bods, but i promise they're not as square as they sound and I'll limit their input to the purely factual; this isn't an ad blog!
Other than that it's up to any readers out there to determine this blogs direction. If there is something you want to talk about, mail me and I'll bring it up. No topics off limits (hope I don't regret saying that) and nothing too big or small for me to wax lyrical on!
So for the second time in a few weeks, off we go!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
