Michelle Ansell's Posts - RecruitingBlogs2024-03-28T11:46:11ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsellhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1526981882?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=30hvh84b2tmk1&xn_auth=noRecognised by Customer Experience industrytag:recruitingblogs.com,2020-01-09:502551:BlogPost:21673472020-01-09T12:21:48.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p>Wow, blown away by this profile from Customer Experience Magazine, who placed me 8th in their UK Customer Experience Influencers list, amongst brands like; Microsoft, Samsung, Ipsos Mori, HSBC, Oracle and many more. You can see the full list here: <a href="https://cxm.co.uk/cxms-top-50-cx-stars/">https://cxm.co.uk/cxms-top-50-cx-stars/</a></p>
<p>As many working in the UK’s recruitment field will tell you, Michelle Ansell is one of the most highly regarded professionals there is, and her…</p>
<p>Wow, blown away by this profile from Customer Experience Magazine, who placed me 8th in their UK Customer Experience Influencers list, amongst brands like; Microsoft, Samsung, Ipsos Mori, HSBC, Oracle and many more. You can see the full list here: <a href="https://cxm.co.uk/cxms-top-50-cx-stars/">https://cxm.co.uk/cxms-top-50-cx-stars/</a></p>
<p>As many working in the UK’s recruitment field will tell you, Michelle Ansell is one of the most highly regarded professionals there is, and her work in the last 15 years has brought the Customer Experience and contact centre sectors to a whole new level with her appointments for numerous firms.</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3809718706?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3809718706?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p>That same skill in identifying top talent for her clients in her work at Douglas Jackson has been successfully transferred to awards judging roles, including the National Awards for Quality Planning and Insight and the UK Customer Experience Awards.</p>
<p>A true influencer, Michelle continues to share her knowledge and expertise in her prolific writing, contributing to blogs and online publications and providing insight and practical tips on everything from contact centre management to finding and retaining the very best employees.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Need advice on transferring customer ‘success’ to Customer Experience? Michelle’s got it covered. Want to know how the best questions to ask a potential customer service team leader in a job interview? You can bet Michelle has blogged on it.</p>
<p>That love of skill sharing was inspired by figures including recruitment legend Sir Alec Reed, who she met numerous times earlier in her career, and whose desire to educate others saw him found his own business school.</p>
<blockquote><p class="p1"><strong>Michelle says:<span> </span></strong><em><strong>“O<span class="s1">ften, the fundamentals of Customer Experience can be missed or even forgotten. Money gets spent on new tools or technology, but your most powerful resource is your people.”</span></strong></em></p>
</blockquote>
<p class="p1">As a Managing Partner at Douglas Jackson, Staffordshire-based Michelle has assisted brands ranging from global players to disruptors and start-ups in their quest to fill vital roles and create supportive environments for their customers, and 2020 looks set to be another busy and highly successful year for her.</p>Self-Management are you ready?tag:recruitingblogs.com,2017-08-07:502551:BlogPost:20358952017-08-07T10:00:00.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p>You’re Fired! Not words anyone would like to hear, however words fans of the Apprentice will know well. There is much talk about being fired this week, with the sudden departure of James Comey, FBI Director, at the hands of President Donald Trump.…</p>
<p><img alt="you're fired" class=" wp-image-3445 aligncenter" height="313" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/youre-fired-self-management-netflix-and-timpson-douglas-jackson-recruitment.jpg?w=470&h=313" width="470"></img></p>
<p>You’re Fired! Not words anyone would like to hear, however words fans of the Apprentice will know well. There is much talk about being fired this week, with the sudden departure of James Comey, FBI Director, at the hands of President Donald Trump.</p>
<p><img class=" wp-image-3445 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/youre-fired-self-management-netflix-and-timpson-douglas-jackson-recruitment.jpg?w=470&h=313" alt="you're fired" width="470" height="313"/><a href="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/youre-fired-self-management-netflix-and-timpson-douglas-jackson-recruitment.jpg?w=150&h=100">https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/youre-fired-self-management-netflix-and-timpson-douglas-jackson-recruitment.jpg?w=150&h=100</a> 150w, <a href="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/youre-fired-self-management-netflix-and-timpson-douglas-jackson-recruitment.jpg?w=300&h=200">https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/youre-fired-self-management-netflix-and-timpson-douglas-jackson-recruitment.jpg?w=300&h=200</a> 300w, <a href="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/youre-fired-self-management-netflix-and-timpson-douglas-jackson-recruitment.jpg?w=768&h=511">https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/youre-fired-self-management-netflix-and-timpson-douglas-jackson-recruitment.jpg?w=768&h=511</a> 768w, <a href="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/youre-fired-self-management-netflix-and-timpson-douglas-jackson-recruitment.jpg">https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/youre-fired-self-management-netflix-and-timpson-douglas-jackson-recruitment.jpg</a> 849w" sizes="(max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px" /></p>
<p><span id="more-3444"></span>In many organisations, we avoid firing individuals at all costs. It is something held back for those involved in gross misconduct, or worse, but in those firms who strive to create a culture of self-management, being fired, or helping employees move on, is critical to their success.</p>
<p>You may have seen a recent Forbes article which is getting a lot of positive exposure and shares, about Netflix and their culture of Self Management. In this article <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2016/09/05/netflix-has-no-rules-because-they-hire-great-people/#32eaf66c59bc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">‘Netflix Has No Rules Because They Hire Great People’,</a> Kevin Kruse explains how Netflix asserted that its business should focus specifically on two things:</p>
<ul>
<li>Invest in hiring high-performance employees.</li>
<li>Build and maintain a culture that rewards high-performers, and weeds out continuous, unimproved low performers.</li>
</ul>
<p>This idea of Self Management is not new, last year, I saw <a href="https://www.timpson.co.uk/about/meet-the-timpsons" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">John Simpson</a>, Chairman of Timpson’s deliver an opening keynote at the Customer Engagement Conference. At Timpson’s they have, like Netflix, just two rules for their employees;</p>
<ul>
<li>Look the Part.</li>
<li>Put the Money in the Till.</li>
</ul>
<p>John and his team allow their employees, who include a percentage of ex-convicts, the opportunity to ‘be their best’. John explained how up to 80% of our time is spent looking after the people who are ‘no good’ for our business, Netflix also talks about the fact that most companies spend endless time and money writing and enforcing HR policies to deal with problems 3% of the workforce might cause.</p>
<p>Timpson’s and Netflix work hard to identify those individuals and help them move on to pastures new and find their happiness elsewhere. ‘As to keep their people at their best, they don’t make them work with people who aren’t’.</p>
<p>You would be hard pushed to link <a href="https://www.timpson.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Timpson’s</a> and <a href="https://www.netflix.com/gb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Netflix</a>, one is a long-established retail business with over 1,000 stores offering traditional skills and services, like key and shoe repairs, the other a $multi-billion online streaming and entertainment business with 81 million subscribers.</p>
<p>Hiring the people with the right skills and behaviours is critical, <a href="http://linkedin.com/in/pattymccord" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patty McCord </a>created the Netflix culture and wrote “If you’re careful to hire people who will put the company’s interests first, who understand and support the desire for a high-performance workplace, 97% of your employees will do the right thing.’</p>
<p><img class=" wp-image-3447 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/timpsons-interview-assessment-self-management-are-you-ready-and-able-e1494506010969.jpg?w=483&h=295" alt="Timpsons Interview Assessment - Self Management Are you Ready and Able." width="483" height="295"/><a href="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/timpsons-interview-assessment-self-management-are-you-ready-and-able-e1494506010969.jpg?w=150&h=92">https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/timpsons-interview-assessment-self-management-are-you-ready-and-able-e1494506010969.jpg?w=150&h=92</a> 150w, <a href="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/timpsons-interview-assessment-self-management-are-you-ready-and-able-e1494506010969.jpg?w=300&h=183">https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/timpsons-interview-assessment-self-management-are-you-ready-and-able-e1494506010969.jpg?w=300&h=183</a> 300w, <a href="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/timpsons-interview-assessment-self-management-are-you-ready-and-able-e1494506010969.jpg?w=768&h=469">https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/timpsons-interview-assessment-self-management-are-you-ready-and-able-e1494506010969.jpg?w=768&h=469</a> 768w, <a href="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/timpsons-interview-assessment-self-management-are-you-ready-and-able-e1494506010969.jpg">https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/timpsons-interview-assessment-self-management-are-you-ready-and-able-e1494506010969.jpg</a> 958w" sizes="(max-width: 483px) 100vw, 483px" /></p>
<p>Hiring the right people with the right behaviours was also key to Timpson’s recruitment process. I was particularly struck by the simplicity of their interview assessment tool; Timpson asked any recruiter, or individual applying for a role with them, to tick just one box which would correctly highlight the personality of the individual, the images align to their own ‘Mr Men’ Or ‘Little Miss’ depiction of each candidate ‘Mr Grumpy’, Miss Late etc.</p>
<p>Keeping things simple, defining the right culture, and the ability to identify and exit those who are not the ‘right fit’ quickly, are key elements to a successful self- management strategy.</p>
<p>If you are looking to improve your hiring strategy and develop a culture of self-management, contact <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Douglas Jackson</a>. </p>
<p></p>Happy 10th Anniversary Douglas Jackson!tag:recruitingblogs.com,2017-04-03:502551:BlogPost:20106532017-04-03T09:48:57.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p>10 years ago <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/" target="_blank">Douglas Jackson</a> was born, what a ride it has been.</p>
<p><img alt="Happy (1)" class=" wp-image-3213 aligncenter" height="393" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/happy-1.png?w=1600" width="393"></img></p>
<p>We are so proud of the growth and development of the business, over what has been a challenging economic backdrop and a constantly changing customer landscape.</p>
<p>The recruitment industry has changed substantially in the last 10 years and <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com" target="_blank">Douglas Jackson</a> continues to strive to…</p>
<p>10 years ago <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/" target="_blank">Douglas Jackson</a> was born, what a ride it has been.</p>
<p><img class=" wp-image-3213 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/happy-1.png?w=1600" alt="Happy (1)" width="393" height="393"/></p>
<p>We are so proud of the growth and development of the business, over what has been a challenging economic backdrop and a constantly changing customer landscape.</p>
<p>The recruitment industry has changed substantially in the last 10 years and <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com" target="_blank">Douglas Jackson</a> continues to strive to offer an ever improving service proposition to our customers.</p>
<p>Our consultants are respected judges at many of the industry awarding bodies and attend more industry events and conferences than anyone else in our sector. Meeting face to face, networking and continued learning, are key to our success and ensure each of our consultants stay ahead of the game and have the best insight and knowledge, to understand 'what good looks like' and help our clients identify, attract and hire, talented, skilled and experienced professionals.</p>
<p>In addition to the traditional values and personal touch that were some of our founding values, we also recognise the changing digital landscape and innovations across our sector. In the last 12 months alone, we have invested in an upgraded CRM and search tool, enabling us to identify and access talent more efficiently and across the multiple channels now available. We have also procured a new digital solution for our retained customers; <a href="https://douglas-jackson.i-intro.com/" target="_blank">Douglas Jackson Search</a>, which offers a more involved, transparent service for our clients, job and behavioural profiling, video assessment, competency interviews and market bench-marking.</p>
<p>Over the past 10 years we have developed industry and vertical market specific consultants who specialise in; Executive Search, Retail, Finance, Insurance, Travel, FMCG, Utilities, Telecommunications, Housing, Construction, Public Sector, Planning, Insight and Analytics.</p>
<p>We are extremely pleased to have supported many candidates in improving and enhancing their career; we have helped relocate individuals and their family to South Africa, France, Spain, Germany, Malta, The Isle of Man, Gibraltar, The Czech Republic, India, as well as placing Directors, Heads of Department, Managers and Analysts across the whole of the UK.</p>
<p>We are proud to have supported many FTSE 100, globally recognised and trusted brands as well as innovative, start-up organisations. Many of who have reached out to us due to the difficulty in hiring a specific skill, or right cultural fit, or, for emerging roles across Chief Customer Officer, Customer Strategy, Customer Intelligence, Customer Experience, Digital and Omni Channels.</p>
<p>It has been a great 10 years. The Owners and Directors would like to thank each and every one of our dedicated team, who are the face and voice of our brand and deliver the professional, quality led recruitment service we provide.</p>
<p><img class=" wp-image-3218 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/douglas-jackson-recruitment-10th-anniversary-wine-house1.jpg?w=1700" alt="Douglas Jackson recruitment 10th Anniversary wine house" width="506" height="374"/></p>
<p>Here is to the next 10!</p>Are You Leaders Hiring The Right People?tag:recruitingblogs.com,2017-01-31:502551:BlogPost:20012722017-01-31T13:09:20.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p><strong>How confident are you, or your leaders, when it comes to hiring the right person for your business?</strong><a href="https://douglas-jackson.i-intro.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="have-fun-go-see-3" class=" wp-image-3106 aligncenter align-center" height="383" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/have-fun-go-see-3.jpg?w=271&h=383" width="271"></img></a></p>
<p>Following a recent business survey, <a href="http://recruitingtimes.org/" target="_blank">The Recruiting Times</a> found that 55% of business leaders believe their lack of recruitment credentials, process, or technology would lead to hiring the wrong candidate. Read the full …</p>
<p><strong>How confident are you, or your leaders, when it comes to hiring the right person for your business?</strong><a href="https://douglas-jackson.i-intro.com/" target="_blank"><img class=" wp-image-3106 aligncenter align-center" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/have-fun-go-see-3.jpg?w=271&h=383" alt="have-fun-go-see-3" width="271" height="383"/></a></p>
<p>Following a recent business survey, <a href="http://recruitingtimes.org/" target="_blank">The Recruiting Times</a> found that 55% of business leaders believe their lack of recruitment credentials, process, or technology would lead to hiring the wrong candidate. Read the full <a href="http://recruitingtimes.org/news/15265/55-employers-believe-lack-recruitment-credentials-leads-hiring-wrong-candidate/">article here</a>.</p>
<p>Sourcing and selecting the right candidate, who will deliver on behaviours and culture, is as important as hiring the right skills and experience. Yet, many organisations and leaders lack the fundamental tools and experience to confidently do so.</p>
<p>Bad hiring decisions are bad for business; they cost your business time and money, they reduce employee morale and motivation, they risk customer loyalty and brand reputation.</p>
<p>Up until now and outside of the global search firms, there has been very little offered to help companies hire talented, skilled leaders who don’t just look like they are <strong>‘able to’</strong> and <strong>‘can do’</strong> the job, but <strong>‘will do’</strong> the role. This is where <a href="https://douglas-jackson.i-intro.com/" target="_blank">Douglas Jackson Search</a> can help to hire new talent, that is more successful and stays longer in post, helping save you time and money.<img class=" wp-image-3087 aligncenter align-center" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/douglas-jackson-search-3.jpg?w=275&h=389" alt="DOUGLAS JACKSON SEARCH (3).jpg" width="275" height="389"/>https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/douglas-jackson-search-3.jpg?w=550&h=778 550w, <a href="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/douglas-jackson-search-3.jpg?w=106&h=150">https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/douglas-jackson-search-3.jpg?w=106&h=150</a> 106w, <a href="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/douglas-jackson-search-3.jpg?w=212&h=300">https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/douglas-jackson-search-3.jpg?w=212&h=300</a> 212w" sizes="(max-width: 275px) 100vw, 275px" data-pin-media="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/douglas-jackson-search-3.jpg?w=550&h=778" /></p>
<p>Douglas Jackson Search offers a suite of assessment tools, giving you and your Hiring Managers an opportunity to develop an in-depth behavioural, in addition to job profile for each role. To view and assess video applications, competency questions, CV’s, candidate bench-marking, Job Fit, Interview Guides and McQuaig behavioural assessment reports , all in one place, anywhere at anytime. <a href="https://douglas-jackson.i-intro.com/">Read more</a>.</p>
<p>Combining this tool with our team of consultants, who have in excess of 80 years collective recruitment experience, we deliver a professional, quality approach, offering the best, most robust solution and service to enable highly effective talent acquisition.</p>
<p>If you would be interested in a free, no obligation demonstration which will help take the guesswork out of your selection process, then please contact us on <strong>Tel: 01543 308630</strong>, or email: <strong>mail@douglas-jackson.com</strong></p>
<p>Hiring effective and experienced talent within Customer Experience, Customer Strategy, Customer Service and Customer Contact Channels is something <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/"><strong>Douglas Jackson</strong></a> has been working in partnership with many leading, forward thinking business and brands for some time. We have an extremely strong network of <strong>Interim Executives</strong> and <strong>Permanent Senior Leaders</strong>; Exec board, Chief Customer Officer, Director, Heads of Department and Managers within Customer Strategy, Customer Experience, Digital Experience, Customer Service and Contact Centres.</p>How to Hire More Successful Leaders Who Stay Longertag:recruitingblogs.com,2016-09-20:502551:BlogPost:19873012016-09-20T11:43:06.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p>You have made the decision to hire a new Customer Service Director.</p>
<p>You know this appointment will make, or, break the success of your differentiated brand experience. Your new Director will be entrusted to design, define, develop, lead and deliver your enterprise-wide Customer Experience strategy across a constantly evolving multi-channel environment.</p>
<p>You go through a thorough selection process. Hire what looks like a great individual. They had all the right experience, a…</p>
<p>You have made the decision to hire a new Customer Service Director.</p>
<p>You know this appointment will make, or, break the success of your differentiated brand experience. Your new Director will be entrusted to design, define, develop, lead and deliver your enterprise-wide Customer Experience strategy across a constantly evolving multi-channel environment.</p>
<p>You go through a thorough selection process. Hire what looks like a great individual. They had all the right experience, a good track record, good references but then, they just don’t work out!… Does this sound familiar?</p>
<p><img class=" wp-image-2637 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/as-much-as-80-of-bad-hiring-decisions-douglas-jackson-search.png?w=419&h=419" alt="as-much-as-80-of-bad-hiring-decisions-douglas-jackson-search" width="419" height="419"/></p>
<p></p>
<p>Ask yourself, why did this happen?</p>
<p>How much has your business changed in the last 15 years?</p>
<p>In contrast, how much has your recruitment process changed in the last 15 years?</p>
<p>If you are like many organisations, you are probably recruiting using similar processes that you have always used.</p>
<p>Most recruitment processes assess ‘<strong>Appear To’ </strong>and ‘<strong>Can Do’ </strong>criteria.</p>
<p>The reason that your new hire is not fully effective and doesn’t work out is usually due to an incorrect behavioural, or cultural fit. We call it the ‘<strong>Will Do’ </strong>criteria.</p>
<p><img class=" wp-image-2631 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/appears-to-can-do-will-do-douglas-jackson-search1.png?w=342&h=342" alt="appears-to-can-do-will-do-douglas-jackson-search" width="342" height="342"/></p>
<p>With our updated retained recruitment solution, <a href="https://douglas-jackson.i-intro.com/" target="_blank">Douglas Jackson Search</a>, we assess the ‘<strong>Will Do’. </strong>Helping our customers to hire the <strong>right leader</strong>; Chief Customer Officer, Customer Experience Directors, Customer Service Directors, Customer Strategy, Customer Insight and Customer Contact leaders who not only can do but <strong><u>will do</u> </strong>the job. Who will be happier in post, more successful and will stay longer.</p>
<p>We are so confident in this scientifically proven process, that we are able to offer customers who use Douglas Jackson Search, up to <strong>a 12 month guarantee</strong> on our work.</p>
<p>Interested to know more?</p>
<p><a href="https://douglas-jackson.i-intro.com/" target="_blank"><img class=" wp-image-2610 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/douglas-jackson-search-hand_iphone1.png?w=266&h=317" alt="douglas-jackson-search-hand_iphone" width="266" height="317"/></a></p>
<p><a href="https://douglas-jackson.i-intro.com/" target="_blank">Click Here</a>, or on the phone above. Or, contact our team of experienced retained search consultants for a free, no obligation demonstration and see what we can do to increase the success and retention of your new hires.</p>
<p><strong>Tel 0345 620 9720</strong></p>
<p>Email: <a href="mailto:mail@douglas-jackson.com">mail@douglas-jackson.com</a></p>
<p>Hiring effective and experienced talent within Customer Experience, Customer Strategy, Customer Service and Customer Contact Channels is something <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/"><strong>Douglas Jackson</strong></a> has been working in partnership with many leading, forward thinking business and brands for some time. We have an extremely strong network of <strong>Interim Executives</strong> and<strong>Permanent Senior Leaders</strong>; Exec board, Chief Customer Officer, Director, Heads of Department and Managers within Customer Strategy, Customer Experience, Digital Experience, Customer Service and Contact Centres. </p>4 Key Learnings from The Job Interviewtag:recruitingblogs.com,2016-09-20:502551:BlogPost:19871472016-09-20T11:41:12.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p>Have you been watching and enjoying, the <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-job-interview" target="_blank">The Job Interview on Channel 4</a> and if so, what have you learnt from the adventures of those featured?</p>
<p><img alt="The Job Interview On Air Dining meeting prepsepctive candidate Channel 4" class="wp-image-2504 aligncenter" height="301" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/the-job-interview-on-air-dining-meeting-prepsepctive-candidate-channel-41.jpg?w=439&h=301" width="439"></img></p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheJobInterview?src=hash" target="_blank">#Thejobinterview</a> has been featuring two companies who have a real vacancy to fill each episode.</p>
<p><span id="more-2481"></span>For those of you who haven’t…</p>
<p>Have you been watching and enjoying, the <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-job-interview" target="_blank">The Job Interview on Channel 4</a> and if so, what have you learnt from the adventures of those featured?</p>
<p><img class="wp-image-2504 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/the-job-interview-on-air-dining-meeting-prepsepctive-candidate-channel-41.jpg?w=439&h=301" alt="The Job Interview On Air Dining meeting prepsepctive candidate Channel 4" width="439" height="301"/></p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheJobInterview?src=hash" target="_blank">#Thejobinterview</a> has been featuring two companies who have a real vacancy to fill each episode.</p>
<p><span id="more-2481"></span>For those of you who haven’t seen it, the interviews are held at managed service offices. The job applicants are aware they may be filmed but we understand are unaware of the ‘Channel 4’ link.</p>
<p>Each of the applicants applied to a real job advertisement, with some positions receiving more than 500 CV’s and job applications. These are whittled down (we don’t see the process involved in this), with the ‘selected’ 5 candidates invited for interview. Each of these are featured and as the show progresses, the candidates are gradually rejected (not yet known to the applicants), as they enter the lift with a ‘going down’ voice over.</p>
<p><img class="wp-image-2584 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/going-donw-1.jpg?w=440&h=440" alt="GOING DONW (1)" width="440" height="440"/></p>
<p>There are two interviewers, typically CEO and Founding Director, supported by another Director, or Senior Manager within each business.</p>
<p>Although on the whole, the positions featured have been entry level, or less skilled roles, there have been some considerable learnings and additional interview tips for anyone currently preparing for, or attending an interview. We list some here:</p>
<p><strong>1: A Failure to Prepare is a Preparation to…….</strong></p>
<p>For those of us in recruitment and anyone that is presently enjoying the Olympics (<a href="https://www.teamgb.com/" target="_blank">@TeamGB</a>, you are doing us proud!), we know all too well that preparation is critical to doing well and have previously posted <a href="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2015/08/05/top-tips-for-a-successful-interview-preparation/" target="_blank">our top tips for a successful interview preparation here</a>.</p>
<p><img class="wp-image-2489 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/a-failure-to-prepare-is-apreparation-to-fail-thejobinterview-channel4.jpg?w=390&h=259" alt="A failure to prepare is apreparation to fail - #thejobinterview Channel4" width="390" height="259"/></p>
<p>Do you know why you want to apply for this job and company?</p>
<p>At <a href="http://www.blacksvets.co.uk/" target="_blank">Blacks Vets</a>, candidates had applied for an Administration Officer position. Silence filled the room when one unsuccessful applicant was asked by Tracey Morley Jewkes, Managing Director; <em>Why did you apply for this role?’………………………</em></p>
<p>In contrast, Stefanie one of the applicants for <a href="http://news.onairdining.com/" target="_blank">On Air Dining</a> had taken the previous day off to ensure she was fully prepared and fresh for the days’ interview.</p>
<p><strong>2: Expect the Unexpected:</strong></p>
<p>Don’t worry if you don’t know all the answers, try and stay cool, calm and collected so you can think and respond to anything put to you.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lowcostvans.co.uk/" target="_blank">Low Cost Van Rentals </a> were looking for a customer service representative who had a great personality and could work under pressure, they conducted a role play with a dissatisfied customer, simulating a ‘typical day in the life of’ scenario. Two candidates particularly fared well, listening to, acknowledging the customer concerns, before setting a plan of action and follow up.</p>
<p>At <a href="http://news.onairdining.com/">On Air Dining</a>, a culinary concierge luxury in-flight service (they didn’t like the word catering), were looking for a Concierge Co-ordinator. CEO Daniel Hulme and COO Charles Robinson, asked;</p>
<p><em>‘If you could choose one super power what would it be?’ </em></p>
<p><img class="wp-image-2490 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/what-super-power-would-you-choose-russia-thejobinterview.jpg?w=388&h=341" alt="What Super Power Would You Choose - Russia #thejobinterview" width="388" height="341"/></p>
<p>Alistair, who went on to secure a position based on his interview performance provided the answer ‘Russia’! Great answer Alistair and congratulations on securing the role.</p>
<p><strong>3: Imagine Yourself in the Role. </strong></p>
<p>Do you know what the company does, products, who their customers are and what might a typical day, or challenge be in this role?</p>
<p><a href="http://news.onairdining.com/">On Air Dining</a>, quizzed their applicants on some common food names; ‘What was foie gras’ stumped a few, including a Marco Pierre White Restaurant Supervisor! Stinking Bishop, fared slightly better.</p>
<p><img class="wp-image-2484 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/stinking-bishop-cheese-job-interview-unexpected-questions.jpg?w=359&h=236" alt="Stinking Bishop Cheese job interview unexpected questions" width="359" height="236"/></p>
<p><a href="https://www.wow-zone.com/">Wow Zone</a>, a Birmingham based Digital Marketing agency asked their prospective candidates for a position of Client Account Manager; Do you know what a URL stands for?</p>
<p>OK, not many people might know the answer to that one (Uniform Resource Locator in case you are wondering) but a number of the candidates did not even seem to know what a URL does. Quite significant when considering a job in digital marketing.</p>
<p><img class="wp-image-2503 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/the-job-interview-anna-interviewing-at-the-wow-zone1.jpg?w=461&h=271" alt="The Job Interview Anna interviewing at the Wow Zone" width="461" height="271"/></p>
<p>I have to say that Anna, who seemed to get off to a rocky start, especially when asked by Directors’ Qasim Majid and Ausaf Khan about her attention to detail, gave herself a very average 6.5 out of 10. Later, when asked to ‘pitch’ to the interviewers, on ‘any subject she had some experience of’; Anna launched into one of the best un prepared business presentations we have seen. It was confident, professional, flawless and showed great passion, people and sales ability. Anna too was hired.</p>
<p><strong>4: Never Give Up</strong></p>
<p>Mark, a firm favourite with viewers, had made over 800 unsuccessful applications beofre being interviewed by <a href="http://www.planet-leasing.com/" target="_blank">Planet Leasing</a> Owner and CEO Darren Nash. Mark was honest, passionate and managed to pass a simple enough Maths test, calculating the annual value of a lease at £150 per month to include 10% VAT and did a great job of putting forward the case for ‘Why he would opt for a lease as opposed to purchase options’. According to<a href="https://twitter.com/PlanetLeasing/status/763120080888664064" target="_blank">Planet Lease’s</a> recent twitter post, they are ‘chuffed to bits with Mark’!</p>
<p>A far cry from the slick one liners, testosterone and sharp suits of The Apprentice, this was a heart-warming, real life show which had many a viewer rooting for a number of the candidates.</p>
<p>What was great about this programme was the conduct of the companies involved, who all behaved respectfully and professionally to their applicants and the happy endings for many of the potential candidates, with some of the employers even offering more than one candidate a role.</p>
<p>Well done to all the applicants and best of luck in your new roles.</p>Reach For the Starstag:recruitingblogs.com,2015-12-16:502551:BlogPost:19355692015-12-16T13:15:39.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p>It is a big space theme this week; with the release of <a href="http://www.starwars.com/the-force-awakens/" target="_blank">Star Wars, the Force Awakens</a> and the first ‘official’ British Astronaut, <a href="https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake" target="_blank">Major Tim Peake</a> to blast off to the International Space Station. Over 40 years ago, I doubt Tim Peake’s parents, or, George Lucas could dare dream what might become possible.…</p>
<p></p>
<p>It is a big space theme this week; with the release of <a href="http://www.starwars.com/the-force-awakens/" target="_blank">Star Wars, the Force Awakens</a> and the first ‘official’ British Astronaut, <a href="https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake" target="_blank">Major Tim Peake</a> to blast off to the International Space Station. Over 40 years ago, I doubt Tim Peake’s parents, or, George Lucas could dare dream what might become possible.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/Space_Station" target="_blank"><img class=" wp-image-1915 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/blast-off-time-peake-international-space-station-photo-nasa-kowsky.jpg" alt="Blast Off Time Peake International Space Station Photo NASA Kowsky" width="381" height="271"/></a></p>
<p>Photo NASA/Kowsky</p>
<p><img class="wp-more-tag mce-wp-more" title="Read more..." alt=""/>Reach for the Stars: An inspirational saying encouraging us to aim high and take every opportunity.</p>
<p>Major Tim Peake has certainly done this. In an interview with Tim’s parents, his father said ‘it isn't about getting the highest grades, or being top of the class', as it seems Tim was weaker in these areas. Nigel Peake, put it down to his son’s ‘strength of character’ that helped him secure a place on the European Space Agency programme.</p>
<p>His Mother went on to say that ‘even when things did not come naturally, or, he was last, he’d keep plugging away'. <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/tim-peake-how-the-former-army-major-became-britains-first-astronaut-in-his-parents-words-a6762016.html" target="_blank">Read the Independent interview here</a></p>
<p>Giving it a go, showing up and doing your best, these are things we are encouraged to do all the time, yet how many of us do? As recruitment consultants we regularly see possible opportunities wasted. The amount of potential applicants/interviewees who fail to show up, or, effectively prepare for their pre-arranged meetings still amazes us.</p>
<p>A lack of opportunity is one of the biggest reasons cited in work, as well as other areas of life, as to why we are unable to achieve our goals, or reach our potential. You have to wonder how much opportunity presents itself that we actually miss, decide against, or just ignore?</p>
<p><img class=" wp-image-1946 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/opportunity-this-way-reach-for-the-stars.png?w=559" alt="Opportunity this way -reach for the stars" width="367" height="332"/></p>
<p>Has anyone seen the film Bruce Almighty? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p68zH_Dw0Zw" target="_blank">Bruce, played by Jim Carrey, is travelling in his car pleading to God; ‘Give me a sign, send me a sign’</a>, becoming more and more frustrated, when he receives nothing in response, yet he is totally oblivious to sign after sign advising him of the obstacles and alternative route ahead.</p>
<p>How much opportunity did Tim Peake, or George Lucas pass by do you think?</p>
<p>We would like to wish Tim Peake all the very best for his amazing journey and stay in space, it is utterly inspirational. For everyone else; Reach For The Stars and take every opportunity that presents itself, who knows where we might end up……..</p>
<p>May the force be with you! <img class=" wp-image-1949 aligncenter" src="https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/it-is-your-attitude-not-your-aptitude-that-determinesyour-altitude-zig-ziglarreach-for-the-stars-blog.jpg" alt="It is Your attitude, not your aptitude, that determinesyour altitude. Zig ZiglarReach for the Stars blog" width="459" height="459"/></p>Competent Customer Contact Leaders Are Key To Drive Your Business Growthtag:recruitingblogs.com,2015-10-22:502551:BlogPost:19216832015-10-22T08:28:14.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p align="center"><b>COMPETENT CUSTOMER CONTACT LEADERS ARE KEY TO DRIVE YOUR BUSINESS GROWTH</b></p>
<p>Some of <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/">TeamDJ</a> have seen Horrible Bosses 2 in recent weeks, not the best film in the world, (in our humble opinions). Do not worry, we are not here to challenge Claudia Winkleman for the Film 2016 gig, but it did get us thinking of just how important it is for both business and employee at having respected, competent managers and leaders.…</p>
<p align="center"><b>COMPETENT CUSTOMER CONTACT LEADERS ARE KEY TO DRIVE YOUR BUSINESS GROWTH</b></p>
<p>Some of <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/">TeamDJ</a> have seen Horrible Bosses 2 in recent weeks, not the best film in the world, (in our humble opinions). Do not worry, we are not here to challenge Claudia Winkleman for the Film 2016 gig, but it did get us thinking of just how important it is for both business and employee at having respected, competent managers and leaders.</p>
<p align="center"></p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557574275?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557574275?profile=original" width="515" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Earlier in the year, a report from a Gallup Study, ‘<a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2015/04/02/what-do-workers-want-from-the-boss/?mod=e2tw">What Do Workers Want from their Boss</a>’ featured in Fortune.com pointed out that over <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/04/02/quit-reasons/">Half of those surveyed had quit their job because of a bad boss</a>.</p>
<p>There was also research carried out by McCrindle, an award winning social researcher, which showed that the <b>Biggest Impact on Business Growth, or, Decline</b> <a href="http://mccrindle.com.au/BlogRetrieve.aspx?PostID=341175&A=SearchResult&SearchID=8667027&ObjectID=341175&ObjectType=55">is Leadership and Management</a> at <b>38%.</b> </p>
<p>Within these leaders <b>‘COMPETENCE’</b> was ranked as the highest priority.</p>
<p align="center"></p>
<p>With candidate shortages reaching all-time highs and set to continue, it has never been more important to hire the right Leaders and Managers to help develop, support, lead and manage your Customer Strategy.</p>
<p>Here at <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/">Douglas Jackson</a> we like to try and offer our customers (clients and candidates) a bit more than just Recruitment Consultancy. </p>
<p>In addition to helping many organisations source and hire talented individuals and supporting talented, professional, experienced individuals to make a their next career move across the Customer Contact industry. We also work with many industry bodies, subject matter experts and organisations to help promote best practice and share this with our growing audience and network of valued contacts.</p>
<p>As part of this on-going commitment we are proud to announce that in partnership with the CCMA, we are able to offer any candidate placed by ourselves a <a href="http://www.ccma.org.uk/about-us/membership-packages/">free individual personal annual membership</a> with <a href="http://www.ccma.org.uk/about-us/">The Call Centre Management Association</a>. Personal membership includes the opportunity to participate in up to 12 good practice member events a year and attend the UK National Contact Centre Conference at no cost.</p>
<p align="center"></p>
<p>The CCMA are the longest established association representing the call centre industry in the UK. They offer impartial advice, providing specialist knowledge and training, which supports their members to keep in touch with the constant change across the customer contact industry and have access to their vast professional network, who openly share best practice. For more information visit their website at ccma.org.uk</p>
<p>We very much hope that through this association and opportunity, we will be able to help our Customers (Clients and Candidates) to hire, develop and retain highly competent leaders and managers who will give you that competitive advantage.</p>
<p>If you are looking to recruit, or searching for your next move, give one of the team a call and see what we can do to help support you.</p>
<p>Tel: 0345 620 9720, email: mail@douglas-jackson.com visit us at <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/">www.douglas-jackson.com</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Sorry We Can't Hire You - Wrong Industrytag:recruitingblogs.com,2015-08-13:502551:BlogPost:19118142015-08-13T11:25:06.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p>I have now been working in staffing and recruitment for a number of years and I am starting to see some interesting trends from both hiring managers and candidates.</p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557567288?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557567288?profile=original" width="706"></img></a></p>
<p>One of the most common objections I have been coming across is ‘<strong><i>oh, that seems absolutely spot on, but it’s a shame about the industry’</i></strong></p>
<p>Now I don’t deny…</p>
<p>I have now been working in staffing and recruitment for a number of years and I am starting to see some interesting trends from both hiring managers and candidates.</p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557567288?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557567288?profile=original" width="706" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p>One of the most common objections I have been coming across is ‘<strong><i>oh, that seems absolutely spot on, but it’s a shame about the industry’</i></strong></p>
<p>Now I don’t deny that in certain jobs industry experience is absolutely essential, you would struggle I am sure, to be a pilot without some industry experience, or, a doctor for that matter. I also wouldn’t really fancy being an astronaut without some level of training...<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557567433?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557567433?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p align="center"></p>
<p>However when it comes to data driven roles such as Planning Analytics, MI Reporting, Database Architecture, as well as many other roles, is it really that essential to understand the finer points of the industry?</p>
<p>When looking at forecast charts and demand plans, no matter the industry, the formula will be the same. Sure, the variables may change, the outputs may be different and the targets altered, however, the methodology will be the same, or very similar.</p>
<p>I wonder if we are at risk of denying top talent opportunities, or, restricting ourselves the chance to progress our career because we are scared about a change of industry/taking a risk.</p>
<p>Too often I see recruiters and hiring managers running on auto-pilot and dictating that industry experience is required, or, candidates declining going forward because the industry is too far from what they do now.</p>
<p>Given the increasing demand vs shortages of good, talented individuals across Planning, Data and Analytics, adding additional criteria to a potential search does seem counter productive, given the opportunities and value the roles could create. I would like to see a change where we see the benefit of moving between industries, where top talent can come in all shapes, sizes and from many backgrounds, as long as a set of core, required skills exist.</p>
<p>If you disagree with me, and you may well have good cause to! Consider this, I am yet to hear many people talk positively about automatic candidate screening systems that reject on basic information, yet we as human beings are just as quick to dismiss on one piece of information without considering the wider picture.</p>
<p><strong>Could it be time for a change? I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts!</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=94774927&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=DNuK&locale=en_US&srchid=134434071437040004750&srchindex=1&srchtotal=10&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A134434071437040004750%2CVSRPtargetId%3A94774927%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary%2CVSRPnm%3Atrue" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=94774927&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=DNuK&locale=en_US&srchid=134434071437040004750&srchindex=1&srchtotal=10&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A134434071437040004750%2CVSRPtargetId%3A94774927%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary%2CVSRPnm%3Atrue" target="_blank">James Vicary</a> is a Recruitment Consultant at</strong><b> </b><strong><a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/" target="_blank">Douglas Jackson </a>specialising in the recruitment of executive, managerial and analyst professionals across Customer Contact, James recruits across all technical, analytics and support roles including; Resource Planning, Scheduling, Forecasting, Workforce Management, WFM, Management Information, Business Intelligence, Big Data, Customer Insight, Telephony and CRM.</strong></p>
<p>If you would like to talk with James regarding your career, or would like any support, advice or insight for your resourcing, or, technical teams; telephone: 01543 308671, or, 0345 620 9720, or, email james@douglas-jackson.com</p>How to Recruit and Retain the Best Talent - Retentiontag:recruitingblogs.com,2014-02-14:502551:BlogPost:17895452014-02-14T17:00:00.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p><img class="align-left" src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/new-job-next-exit-how-to-recruit-retain-talent.png?w=300&width=300" width="300"></img> <span style="font-size: 13px;">Following on from our earlier post </span><a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/how-to-recruit-and-retain-the-best-talent-part-one-recruitment/" style="font-size: 13px;" target="_blank" title="How to Recruit and Retain the Best Talent – Part One Recruitment">How to Recruit and Retain the Best Talent - Recruitment</a><span style="font-size: 13px;">, we follow Recruitment with Retention:</span></p>
<p>According…</p>
<p><img src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/new-job-next-exit-how-to-recruit-retain-talent.png?w=300&width=300" width="300" class="align-left"/><span style="font-size: 13px;">Following on from our earlier post </span><a title="How to Recruit and Retain the Best Talent – Part One Recruitment" href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/how-to-recruit-and-retain-the-best-talent-part-one-recruitment/" target="_blank" style="font-size: 13px;">How to Recruit and Retain the Best Talent - Recruitment</a><span style="font-size: 13px;">, we follow Recruitment with Retention:</span></p>
<p>According to <a title="The Sunday Times - the day we switch jobs" href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/article1359248.ece" target="_blank">the Sunday Times, </a>the first Monday back to work after new year's day, is the most popular day of the year for individuals to start looking for a new career. With 35% citing factors including looking for greater job satisfaction, and 31% being motivated to increase their earning potential.<img class="mce-wp-more" title="More..." alt="" src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif"/></p>
<p><span>Over the last few years’, many organisations and Contact Centres have been able to switch their focus away from employee retention.</span></p>
<p><span>With less companies hiring, and a limited number of roles on offer, many employees chose to play safe and settle in to their current role, putting off potential salary negotiations and holding back career aspirations, but now that the recruitment market is almost back to pre-recession levels and predicted to further grow throughout 2014, retention is sure to be a hot topic and will, once again be a high priority for your business, if you want to retain your talent over the next few years.</span></p>
<p><b>So what makes a good retention strategy?</b></p>
<p><a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/how-to-retain-the-best-talent-employee-retention-douglas-jackson-wordle.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1232" alt="How to Retain the Best Talent - Employee Retention Douglas Jackson Wordle" src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/how-to-retain-the-best-talent-employee-retention-douglas-jackson-wordle.jpg?w=300" width="300" height="210"/></a></p>
<p>Having a retention strategy is a good start, as according to some research less than 50% of businesses have a formal retention strategy. Do you?</p>
<p><span>Developing and having great leaders and managers must also be a high priority; <a title="People 1st Lack of Staff Motivation 1 in 4 British People don't respect their manager" href="http://www.people1st.co.uk/news/latest-news/lack-of-staff-motivation-and-respect-hampers-uk-businesses" target="_blank">In this article 'Lack of staff motivation and respect hampers UK business</a> and following research in conjunction with the ICM, People 1</span><span>st</span><span> state that</span><span>, 1 in 4 British employees (27%), don't respect their manager and 48% are not motivated by them and there are many other studies and articles which cite even higher numbers.</span></p>
<p>For those who do have a retention strategy in place, and going back to the Call Centre Expo panel session; when asked, many of the audience were still relying on salary and benefits as the jewel in the crown of how to recruit and retain talent. Whilst these factors are certainly very important for potential candidates in selecting and staying with an organisation, they certainly are not the most important element if you wish to unlock and engage their hearts and minds.</p>
<p><a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/engaging-hearts-and-minds-for-successful-employee-retention-strategy2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1250" alt="Engaging Hearts and minds for successful employee retention strategy" src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/engaging-hearts-and-minds-for-successful-employee-retention-strategy2.jpg?w=300" width="300" height="232"/></a></p>
<p>In this article; <a title="entrepreneur.com - How to Create a Winning Employee Retention Strategy " href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/76456" target="_blank">‘How to Create a Winning Retention Strategy’</a>, Entreprueneur.com states that there are 4 key objectives to truly developing a robust and successful retention strategy:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>Performance, - There is nothing more powerful than someone working towards a goal! </b>Setting and assessing your employees against measurable objectives helps give them a sense of achievement. An individual is also less likely to consider leaving when they are part way through working towards a key goal, or milestone.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Communication – A lack of good, regular and quality communication within an organisation, or, from a more senior individual, will often be enough for an employee to be tempted by a head-hunters call. </b>How do you share information, conduct meetings and 121’s, do you collaborate with and listen to your employees? If your employee feels valued and respected, this could make all the difference when considering other opportunities.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Loyalty - No matter how loyal your employees previously were in other roles, loyalty has to be earned and cannot be bought. </b> Loyalty is driven by respect, trust and commitment forged over time.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Competitive Advantage – Everyone wants to be a winner! </b>Knowing what you and your team, or, business are doing to be better than the rest, or, what sets you apart, just might encourage your current employee to keep your competitors and their recruitment partners at arm’s length when they come calling!</li>
</ul>
<p><span>Do you have any other ideas on Employee Retention, or, are you planning to start developing your retention strategy based on the increases in recruitment and talent acquisition over the next few years, please do comment here and let us know.</span></p>How to Recruit and Retain the Best Talent - Recruitmenttag:recruitingblogs.com,2014-01-20:502551:BlogPost:17827762014-01-20T09:00:00.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p align="center"><a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/international-career-opportunities-douglas-jackson.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/international-career-opportunities-douglas-jackson.jpg?w=300&width=300" width="300"></img></a></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px;">There has been a great deal of news surrounding the uplift in recruitment recently,</span><span style="font-size: 13px;"> Jobsite stated that in a recent survey</span><strong style="font-size: 13px;"> 43%</strong><span style="font-size: 13px;"> of people in a new job, are already…</span></p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/international-career-opportunities-douglas-jackson.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/international-career-opportunities-douglas-jackson.jpg?w=300&width=300" width="300" class="align-left"/></a></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px;">There has been a great deal of news surrounding the uplift in recruitment recently,</span><span style="font-size: 13px;"> Jobsite stated that in a recent survey</span><strong style="font-size: 13px;"> 43%</strong><span style="font-size: 13px;"> of people in a new job, are already looking for their next role and the Reed Job Index, showed that for the first time since their index began in 2009, all </span><strong style="font-size: 13px;">12</strong><span style="font-size: 13px;"> UK job regions are showing both monthly and annual growth in jobs.</span></p>
<p>This is excellent, long-awaited news for the economy, job seekers and recruiters too, but what about employers? As the recruitment market and volume of jobs available increases, the challenges for employers to recruit and retain the very best talent reaches whole new levels.</p>
<p>Following on from the panel session, here were some of our takeaways and some key tips to help you recruit the best talent:</p>
<p><b>Review your Recruitment Strategy:</b></p>
<p><a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/review-your-recruitment-strategy-douglas-jackson.jpg?w=300" target="_blank"><img src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/review-your-recruitment-strategy-douglas-jackson.jpg?w=300&width=300" width="300" class="align-left"/></a></p>
<p>As a hiring manager, recruiter, or resourcer, when was the last time you reviewed how you recruit and how often have you changed your recruitment methods or approach? If you are struggling to recruit the skills and talent your business or, department needs, then you need to re-think and review your recruitment strategy.</p>
<p>Even if you have been doing well securing talented professionals these last few years. With a limited number of job opportunities available, hiring across some markets has perhaps been easier, at least with regards to the volume of applicants received, but with more of the companies in your sector, or geographical area hiring similar talent to you, how will you set your business apart?</p>
<p>Now is the time to review your recruitment channels, partners and routes to market and put in place a contingency plan, or, alternative options for the year ahead, to make sure your business can attract and hire the skills and experience required.</p>
<p><b>How is Your Candidate Experience?:</b></p>
<p>If you are considering both your recruitment & retention strategies, the candidate experience you deliver as a prospective employer, is critical to helping you secure and retain the best talent. Even if the candidates you are attracting are not right for your business today, they may be in the future and each applicant will have a pool of friends and family they will be sharing their experience of your business, or, brand with. As recruiters, we will often hear from prospective candidates on how they would not go back to that company due to a bad experience or, bad interview.</p>
<p>Starting from your initial job post and application, right through to your employees first day and few months in their new role, make sure that every candidate has a good, if not great experience of your business and brand, so that even those with the longest memories want to come back to your business time and time again</p>
<p><b>Does Your Selection Process Exclude Great Talent?:</b></p>
<p><a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/what-are-your-barriers-to-hire.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/what-are-your-barriers-to-hire.jpg?w=298&width=179" width="179" class="align-left"/></a></p>
<p><span>When recruiting, especially, but not exclusively within customer contact and customer strategy, the successful, or, desired candidate, is often chosen based on culture, attitude, values and behaviours. So why are we removing many of our applications by CV screening based upon industry, or, job match? Even those employees working for your closest competitor will have different values, processes and ideals. If you can train and develop many of the skills, processes and systems you think you need now, then you may be able to review the candidates you are currently screening out of your process, which might uncover some hidden stars or, leadership potential for the future. </span></p>
<p><b>Review Your Expectations:</b></p>
<p><b><a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/risk-vs-reward-hire-for-potential-douglas-jackson.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/risk-vs-reward-hire-for-potential-douglas-jackson.jpg?w=300&width=300" width="300" class="align-right"/></a></b></p>
<p> Some job briefings and person specifications can be near impossible to find an exact fit in the current market due to the unique nature of each company’s infrastructure. </p>
<p>In the last few years, with confidence at an all-time low across many sectors, we seem to have become more risk averse; we would rather wait for that ‘perfect candidate’ who can ‘hit the ground running’, with all the skills and industry experience, than hire someone who might not work out.</p>
<p>The reality is that with the right training, support and environment, a suitably experienced, good candidate, with the right attitude and IQ, will naturally flourish in most roles, or when thrown into most projects. Consider your own career, when you joined your business, or took on your current role, did you have all the skills and experience you presently have, or, require today? Perhaps you could review your list of ‘must haves’ vs what could be ‘nice to haves’, when looking at your next short-list of potential applicants. This could help you recruit better talent for your team and business.</p>
<p>What do you think? Have you had any difficulties, or, real success with your recruitment strategy, or will you be reviewing how your business recruits soon? Please do let us know we would love to see your comments and experiences:</p>
<p>Keep an eye out for Part Two of How to Recruit and Retain the Best Talent - Retention to be posted soon. </p>
<p><em>You can contact Douglas Jackson on 0845 620 9720, or email; mail@douglas-jackson.com</em></p>Recruiters Are Too Expensive! Or Are They?tag:recruitingblogs.com,2013-11-05:502551:BlogPost:17662042013-11-05T16:30:00.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557520746?profile=original" target="_self"><br></br></a> There have been two articles these past few weeks which prompted this post; one came into our email from Imriel Morgan at Talent Puzzle, referring to the fact that </span><b><i>“Recruitment agencies can actually save you money!”</i></b><i>(</i><span>yes, you did read that correctly). Imriel, went on to say that “Having GOOD agencies in your arsenal can decrease the time it…</span></p>
<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1557520746?profile=original" target="_self"><br/></a> There have been two articles these past few weeks which prompted this post; one came into our email from Imriel Morgan at Talent Puzzle, referring to the fact that </span><b><i>“Recruitment agencies can actually save you money!”</i></b><i>(</i><span>yes, you did read that correctly). Imriel, went on to say that “Having GOOD agencies in your arsenal can decrease the time it takes to hire by up to 2 weeks, a figure taken from Quarsh.com writer, <a title="Jason Collings 'The True Cost of Recruitment' Quasher.com" href="http://www.quarsh.com/_blog/Quarsh_Blog/post/The_True_Cost_of_Recruitment/?utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=16772-191766-Campaign+-+17%2F10%2F2013#sthash.BleILAIa.EKy4njaI.dpbs" target="_blank">Jason Collings article ‘The True Cost of Recruitment’</a>. </span><span>For anyone contemplating their recruitment budget and plan to hire strategies, we would definitely recommend a read.</span></p>
<p><img class="mce-wp-more" title="More..." alt="" src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif"/></p>
<p>The second came via a post from <a title="Lisa Jones Barclay Jones - I Don't need a recruiter (plus they cost too much)'" href="http://www.barclayjones.com/blog/recruitment/i-dont-need-a-recruiter-(plus-they-cost-too-much!)/#!" target="_blank">Lisa Jones at Barclay Jones ‘ I don’t need a recruiter (plus they cost too much)’ </a><a href="http://www.barclayjones.com/blog/recruitment/i-dont-need-a-recruiter-(plus-they-cost-too-much!)/#"><br/></a></p>
<p>Lisa asked why it is that at a children’s Saturday football match, it was Lisa that was explaining why recruiters exist and that many of us (recruitment consultants), do not explain what we do well enough to help our potential customers, advocates and blockers, to give them more reasons as to why they need to use us:</p>
<p>So taking Lisa’s advice, here are some reasons why we think you should consider using a recruitment specialist to help you in your next hire and why we feel that recruiters are not only worth their fee but maybe a bit more too:</p>
<p>There is no doubt that recruitment is changing and recruitment consultants need to change too. As technology, organisations and the recruitment industry continue to evolve at a rapid pace of knots, the role of the generalist recruiter; who recruits all things for you, working in the same way that the industry has worked for the last 10, or 20 years, is unlikely to survive. We also accept that every company can hire some, if not a lot of their own staff, especially if they have a well thought out, planned recruitment strategy and fall-back position, but we do not believe that every company can hire every role, without the help of a <b><i>Recruitment Specialist</i></b>.</p>
<p><strong>Recruitment Specialists:</strong> You may have seen a previous post from ourselves; <a title="When is a Recruitment Specialist not a Specialist?" href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/when-is-a-recruitment-specialist-not-a-specialist/" target="_blank">When is a recruitment specialist not a specialist</a>. Specialist recruiters are just that, they specialise in a particular market place, or industry and should have the knowledge, skill and expertise required to advise and deliver recruitment services and solutions in that space.</p>
<p><a title="Douglas Jackson About us, call on the recruitment experts" href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/about-douglas-jackson" target="_blank">Our current team</a> have over 80 years recruitment experience between them, with over 20 years specifically recruiting for the Customer Contact industry (our specialist market). Some of our staff have even worked in the Customer Contact industry as Managers and Agents themselves. At any given time, our team are hiring an average of 30 live roles (it can often be more), all within the Customer Contact industry and at a Managerial, or Executive level. This means our network and community are both far-reaching and substantial.</p>
<p>If we try to visualise recruitment talent pools you would find the specialist recruiters positioned around this pool with a number of channels and streams linking to it. The Recruiters <a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/douglas-jackson-recruitment-talent-pools.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1079" alt="Douglas Jackson Recruitment Talent Pools" src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/douglas-jackson-recruitment-talent-pools.jpg?w=300" width="300" height="200"/></a>should be casting their net; creating connections and making contacts, within this pool, many times a day, every day, every week and every year. The average Hiring Manager, or Internal Recruiter may also come to this pool but they may only cast their net in this particular area a few times a year.</p>
<p>Even if your business is hiring continuously, you will probably be working across many other recruitment pools, across various disciplines; Finance, HR, Sales, IT, Marketing, Engineering, Risk, Legal, Insurance, Procurement, Administration etc. As everyone knows, the more research and work you do in an area, the deeper your understanding is and the more knowledgeable you become, this is what happens with specialists and subject matter experts. As we recruit more in this area than many organisations will, we can delve much deeper and uncover much more, where a good number of recruitment campaigns might only just scratch, or catch, what is at the surface. Yes, everyone will see and find talent and information which looks suitable for the position but how do you know that the individual is the best available on the market, how will you have <i>benchmarked</i> them against the competition?</p>
<p><b>Traditional Candidate Attraction - The Short-List and Benchmarking:</b></p>
<p>For traditional searches and recruitment campaigns, each role we search, or, are asked to partner with an organisation on, we should immediately know a number of potential individuals who spring to mind and of course we will contact them but it is never as simple as this. The role may not suit them, they may be priced out of the search, may not be interested, or, they may just not be the best available for this role!. To complete a thorough search, recruiters should have a number of tools and channels at their disposal and be using each and every one of these to take a long-list of potentials, to a short-list of credible, skilled, interested parties:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>A database:</strong> We know that the recruiters database is no longer the holy grail but databases still remain an invaluable source of data, insight and analytics, not forgetting a must have tool to retain contact with your industry network and connections. A database is only ever as good as the information and insight gathered and it is a full-time job trying to stay in contact and gather updates and contact with the potential talent within. Good specialist recruiters know that at some point almost everyone within their database will be open to considering a new role. By tracking the careers of the individuals their clients may want to hire, recruiters have historical, as well as recent information, allowing them better information and knowledge to identify and also verify a larger number of individuals and their skills. Would this insight and previous knowledge of your applicants be useful to you?</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>Relationships:</strong> One of the major differentiators between an in-house ATS, LinkedIn, or, similar and a good recruiter with their database/ network, are relationships. Relationships will be built with individuals and trusted relationships are forged over time. These on-going relationships and history of good contact, which recruiters should have with their communities, might just be the difference your business needs to engage with that one individual for your next critical hire. With your competitors possibly chasing the same talented individuals, an ever-increasing number of roles advertised and more internal recruiters reaching out to individuals directly, how will your business be sure to be represented, or find this talent? and what if individuals start removing their details from boards like LinkedIn, due to the volume of contacts they may soon be getting?.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>Their Community;</strong> Proactive marketing, industry contact recommendation, referrals and social communities can produce anything from a few (to the most specialist, or, emerging roles) to over 200 additional applications (our highest response for a £150,000 + Director level appointment promoted earlier this year). Do you know how you will handle a similar response, deliver a good candidate experience, whilst not losing the best individuals in this search in the meantime?</li>
</ul>
<p><span>All of the above present different resource challenges but for a recruiter whilst we are consulting on each position, we are continually benchmarking our industry, your competitors and the skills available in the market so that we know </span><b>‘<i>what good looks like’. </i></b><i>To</i><i> deliver all of the above and more, it does take </i><em><strong>time.</strong></em></p>
<p><b>The Time to Hire: </b></p>
<p>Even for the very best Recruiters or Resourcers who have the knowledge of where to find the skills, as well as the ability to engage with these talented <a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/what-is-your-time-to-hire.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-871" alt="What is your Time to Hire and the cost of Time in Recruitment" src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/what-is-your-time-to-hire.jpg?w=214" width="214" height="300"/></a>professionals, the time to effectively source and select the best, experienced professionals can be the biggest challenge. In our experience, this is where many organisations struggle the most.</p>
<p>It is easy to lose a day or more, on LinkedIn when searching out talent for a new role. Advert responses can take days to sort through and following up, or, trying to make contact with talented individuals takes many days more. When there are limited skills or individuals suitable for your next hire, automated alerts and systems just don't cut it! Do you have the resources and more importantly the <strong>time</strong> to really do a great recruitment campaign?</p>
<p>Even if you have the time, time costs money too. Referring back to Jason Collings article; Jason estimates that assuming an average (hiring) managers salary is £65,000 the cost of management time at, 10 days per hire and including productivity loss, then this would equate to a time to hire cost of £10,400 and that is if you get it right first time.</p>
<p><i>How many times have you had to revisit the recruitment campaign due to a failed initial search, or unsuccessful advertisement? Have you ever had an offer rejected, or has your new employee been counter offered when handing in their notice? Has your new recruit been offered a better job elsewhere, worst still, did you manage to hire, only for the person to leave within the first 6 months or so? </i></p>
<p>Unlike other professions; lawyers and accountants for instance, even retained recruitment assignments are not charged at an hourly rate. Recruiter fees are a flat % of the remuneration offered. <b>Regardless of the time to hire your recruiter’s fee remains the same</b>.</p>
<p>No matter how much time we spend working with you to secure your successful hire and for some campaigns, this has been known to take 6-9 months of ongoing commitment to finding the ‘right person’, the recruiters fee will not change. This is why we still work with many UK and globally leading organisations, who call on us to support them for key hires, despite them having large teams of internal recruiters and resourcers as well. <i>A good recruiter can save you time and money, as well as adding value to your recruitment process.</i></p>
<p><b>The Future of Recruitment:</b></p>
<p>As mentioned earlier, we believe and have started to see, that for good recruiters, fees will increase and recruiters will actually be paid more. In the future, the ability of recruiters to<a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/the-future-of-recruitment-douglas-jackson-cost-effective-recruitment.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1120" alt="The Future of Recruitment Douglas Jackson Cost Effective Recruitment" src="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/the-future-of-recruitment-douglas-jackson-cost-effective-recruitment.jpg?w=300" width="300" height="225"/></a> attract and bring to the hiring table specialist skills and talented, experienced individuals, that you cannot find yourself, will be what sets Recruitment Consultants apart. We believe that this is where you will pay more to work with those recruiters and incentivise those recruiters to work for you. Here at <a title="Douglas Jackson Value Add Recruitment solutions" href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com" target="_blank">Douglas Jackson</a> we have already seen some examples of this with some recent recruitment assignments.</p>
<p>A growing economy, higher demand, increased expectations, continued business advancements and emerging roles have all contributed to the fact that global talent shortages are being projected across industries. The challenge for organisations to attract the very best of talent goes on; those recruiters who can evolve and build engaged, trusted relationships with their talent communities so they can continue to deliver the required skills and experience required, will earn and be worth their fee and maybe a bit more too…</p>
<p><span>What do you think, do you believe recruiters are too expensive, or has a recruiter added value to your business and operation? Do let us know by commenting here.</span></p>
<p>If you would like to talk to Douglas Jackson and find out what we could do for you, please contact us on email; <a href="mailto:mail@douglas-jackson.com">mail@douglas-jackson.com</a> Tel: 0845 620 9720, or visit us at <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/">www.douglas-jackson.com</a></p>Social Recruitment - The End Of the World As We Know It?tag:recruitingblogs.com,2013-01-24:502551:BlogPost:16551732013-01-24T09:18:15.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p>As with most years, there have been a deluge of articles posted already in 2013 making many predictions as to the trends, factors and challenges of the year ahead. Of these, there have been a great number from recruiters and industry professionals discussing, pre-dominantly LinkedIn, and the demise, or, future of the recruitment industry in this social world. </p>
<p>You can see two such articles listed here from …</p>
<p>As with most years, there have been a deluge of articles posted already in 2013 making many predictions as to the trends, factors and challenges of the year ahead. Of these, there have been a great number from recruiters and industry professionals discussing, pre-dominantly LinkedIn, and the demise, or, future of the recruitment industry in this social world. </p>
<p>You can see two such articles listed here from <a href="http://www.ere.net/2012/12/10/recruiters-your-days-are-numbered/" target="_blank" title="Recruiters your days are numbered">Lior Shamir; Recruiters your days are numbered</a> and the other, with a slightly different view from <a href="http://www.ere.net/2013/01/03/why-linkedin-will-never-kill-the-professional-recruitment-industry/" target="_blank" title="Why LinkedIn will kill the professional recruiter">Adrian Kinnersley; Why LinkedIn will never kill the professional recruitment industry.</a></p>
<p>Here at <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/" target="_blank" title="Douglas Jackson Call Centre Recruitment Consultants">Douglas Jackson</a>, we have seen a great deal of change in our recruitment lives. Some of our consultants have personally been in recruitment almost 20 years and back in the day (oh yes it is some way back…..), the only tools a recruiter had, or needed were a phone, a directory and a box of index cards......... how things have changed!</p>
<p>Over the last 20 years many predictions have been made that have charted the end of recruitment consultancies, but, none of them have led to the end of the world as we know it just yet. However, all of the subjects that led to these articles and predictions; the Internet, Applicant Tracking Systems, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, In-House Recruitment Teams, Job Boards and now Social Recruitment, have all seen significant changes in the recruitment landscape and good quality recruiters have had to adapt and change to continue to provide the very best service and solutions to their customers.</p>
<p>A good recruiter has to continue to learn and evolve, adding to their skills and kit bag every channel, tool and system they can, that will ultimately <a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/social-recruitment-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-recruiters-solutions-and-tools.jpg"></a>help them seek out that one perfect candidate. After all, the recruiter should be the specialist and person who can offer the very best service and solution to their customers, to do this they need to embrace all avenues and routes to market, not just one. As a specialist recruiter, no matter how big your advertising budget, your LinkedIn network and your database, we know that each assignment requires a brand new search and we rely on our many years of experience, relationships forged, network built, recommendations gained and contacts made across all channels, to seek out the best talent available for each of our assignments.</p>
<p>So, will LinkedIn drive out recruiters? Our personal opinion is no! Of the candidates Douglas Jackson placed in 2012 only 54% of them had LinkedIn profiles at that time. As with any database, or, portal that attracts, or, accesses job seekers, unless 100% of your potential audience are found in this place, there will always be a case for an alternative solution. There is no doubt that the use of social media continues to grow, this then leads to the question, 'what about the competition?' As more employers are directly contacting potentially passive candidates, do you know how you will differentiate your role to those of your competitors in attracting the attention and ear of that sought after individual?</p>
<p>Good, quality recruitment takes time, it is hard work and a challenging role at the best of times, as good people with specific skills and talents are still hard to find. Tools and technologies will never be able to replace the most important part of recruitment, which is ‘people’ and it is people and these relationships which ultimately allow recruitment and recruiters to succeed.</p>
<p>If you are finding your usual avenues to market, or, direct hire solutions have not delivered you the most suitable candidate for that business critical position then why not give us a call and see how <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/" target="_blank" title="Douglas Jackson Executive and Managerial Recruitment Consultants">Douglas Jackson </a>can help you source and recruit your next talented professional.</p>
<p>What do you think of Social Recruitment? We would welcome your experiences, thoughts and ideas, please do get in touch or leave your comments here.</p>
<p>You can contact us on 0845 620 9720, or by email: <a href="mailto:mail@douglas-jackson.com">mail@douglas-jackson.com</a>, visit us at: <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com/">www.douglas-jackson.com</a></p>
<p> </p>When is a Recruitment Specialist not a Specialist?tag:recruitingblogs.com,2012-03-08:502551:BlogPost:15265692012-03-08T19:00:00.000ZMichelle Ansellhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/MichelleAnsell
<p>In recent weeks, we have been asked to recruit a number of newly created senior Customer Service appointments for organisations undergoing major transformation or change across their estate. Whilst working with the COO for one of these businesses, to develop the profiles for these strategically important positions, one of the <a href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com" target="_blank" title="Douglas Jackson">#TeamDJ</a> consultants was asked if we could also help them recruit for a senior…</p>
<p>In recent weeks, we have been asked to recruit a number of newly created senior Customer Service appointments for organisations undergoing major transformation or change across their estate. Whilst working with the COO for one of these businesses, to develop the profiles for these strategically important positions, one of the <a title="Douglas Jackson" href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com" target="_blank">#TeamDJ</a> consultants was asked if we could also help them recruit for a senior appointment in their Marketing team. Firstly, we were elated that the business trusted us to such a point they wanted to engage us on another business critical campaign, as this is exactly what we want to try and achieve with each and every one of our customers. However, as one of the leading Recruitment Consultancies who specialise in Executive and Managerial appointments across the Customer Service and Contact Centre markets, Marketing does not fall into our specialist area.</p>
<p>Would we be able to cast our net wider and work to identify and attract senior Marketing talent and present a shortlist of potential candidates? Absolutely, but would we have the very best network, developed over a number of years, in this market, so we truly know what great looks like? Probably not and it is for this reason we decided to unfortunately decline this piece of work.</p>
<p>This is a really difficult position and one which a lot of recruiters are put in regularly. When you work over many months and years to establish a really strong and trusted relationship with your customer, the last thing any supplier wants to do is to say no to the offer of new business. This is especially the case when you are in fact going to be referring your client to a potential competitor, but isn’t it your job as a trusted supplier to offer your client best advice, regardless?</p>
<p>This scenario led to another conversation and tales from the <a title="Douglas Jackson" href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com" target="_blank">#DJHQ</a> recruitment vault, (oh we have many more!), when one of the Managing Partners shared one of their recent experiences; After working with a client successfully on many of their search campaigns, they were asked to pitch and tender for some senior level appointments and an advertising campaign. After a really good meeting, delivery of a great presentation and the offer of a competitive pricing structure, we were confident of winning the campaign, as the roles were pitched exactly to our market and we had already placed successful candidates across this business and knew the industry well. A week later, the client called up to advise they were sorry, but they were going to place the business with another company. We asked why they had chosen to go with another consultancy and the client advised us that they received a slightly more competitive price proposition from another specialist consultant, who too, professed to know the market well.</p>
<p>OK, but we asked our client one final thing, ‘before you sign can you please call the other Recruiter and ask them to name 5 companies in this market space in 20 seconds’. The client knew us well and was happy to oblige us in this one request. An hour later the client rang and advised the signed retainer was on its way, as the other specialist recruiter was unable to answer and name the 5 companies across their specific market.</p>
<p>There are some fantastic recruiters employed in the industry today but in a challenging market it is all too easy to try and do work that perhaps we are not known as a specialist for. At <a title="Douglas Jackson" href="http://www.douglas-jackson.com" target="_blank">Douglas Jackson</a> we believe this de-values what we offer our customers and would prefer to offer a truly great service wherever possible, even if that means we have to pass up on the opportunity to work on assignments which fall outside our specialist areas.</p>
<p>What do you think? We welcome your thoughts and comments and do please let us know if you have had a similar experience.</p>
<p></p>
<p>For more about us and our blog posts please <a href="http://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com" target="_blank">Click Here</a></p>