Jul 1, 2019 | HR, Management
(2 min read)
Managers are paid to lead, organise and motivate. Most have successfully risen through the ranks before being rewarded with management opportunities to inspire others to follow in their glory. However, despite their professional strengths they are unlikely to have ever received formal training on how to interview and recruit someone.
Business leaders far and wide routinely overlook this key management skill rarely giving a thought to the risks and consequences that lay in wait should things go wrong, which they often do.
Here are 5 of the biggest risks your company faces without trained Hiring Managers:
Business Critical Vacancies
By far, the number one reason for costly selection mistakes or outright recruitment failure is a poorly executed recruitment process. From the very start, Hiring Managers need to know how to identify a business critical need to justify personnel investment. It’s amazing how many people are hired on a whim without any meaningful evidence they were ever needed in the first place.
Focus on the business critical need. It will dictate the role’s objectives which in turn highlight the essential skills, experiences and personality traits needed from someone to deliver. If the role falls outside of the Hiring Manager’s experience, do not allow them to guess. Hire a suitable consultant to map the vacancy first. Now armed with a job specification aligned with the business’s needs, the Hiring Manager is now ready to interview candidates.
Do not allow them to recruit on a hunch. If they fail to properly plan, expect to lose £thousands in bad decisions, lost time, recruitment fees and salaries.
Sexism
You would be amazed to know how many Hiring Managers ask sexist questions, often without realising it’s wrong. “What’s more important, career or family?” “Are you married?” “How do you feel about using your womanly charms with clients?” Aside from blatant prejudice, often the problem lies in dominant commercial thinking, putting the needs of the company ahead of the person. You don’t have to be a man to be sexist either! Women can be just as bad, be it with men or falsely believing their gender gives them the right to ask other women inappropriate questions.
Be sure your Hiring Managers have a well thought out interview plan and avoid discrimination related questions at all costs or suffer the embarrassing internal and public consequences. It’s only a tweet away!
Halo effect
A classic recruitment selection scenario costing companies all over the UK £millions every year. Put simply, it’s where an untrained Hiring Manager hits it off with a candidate after discovering how much they share in common. Blinded by feelings, they select the candidate above other more qualified people. The halo effect causes emotional decision making and often results in poor selection choices. Stick to the facts and consider social matching to be a bonus, not a priority.
Ageism
Let’s be clear – Despite staggering frequency, its not OK to ask someone how old they are or base selection decisions on age. No exceptions. Contrary to popular assumption, ageism can occur at any time of life depending on the scenario. In short, if a Hiring Manager declines a candidate because of their age, its illegal. Anyone suspecting ageism can pursue a claim through the courts. Win or lose, the process may tarnish your business with an unwanted reputation for discrimination. Judge people on their professional suitability and recruit accordingly. You might be surprised what advantages you can gain from a more diverse team offering wider ranges of experience, learning opportunities and cultural influence.
Ego Threat
Good Managers want the best team even if some of the superstars perform better than the Manager themselves ever did. Really good Managers are confident in their ability to get the best out of people and enjoy helping them develop and progress even if that means reporting to them one day. However, weak Managers, without adequate training, are often guilty of selecting equally weak candidates to reinforce their position in the company. These Managers tend to have inflated egos and despite their denials, prefer agreeable staff. Commercially, this is holding your business back stifling innovation and causing toxic environments for anyone with ambition. A sure-fire way to lose talent and market share to more progressive, open minded competitors.
This little list of five is far from exhaustive and while serious they are all easy to manage out of your business. Taking the time to properly address them with preventative measures and training will save you £thousands every year and ensure your business if protected from legal action and negative PR.
Our expert IT recruitment consultants are here to take the pressure off you when recruiting someone new, permanent or contract. We liaise with candidates with the utmost care to ensure that their candidate experience is a positive one. Call us on 0207 788 6600 and let us help you Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.
Jun 25, 2019 | HR, Management
(1 min read)
Are you sitting comfortably?
You probably won’t be after reading these crazy but true short recruitment stories from our experiences with candidates and employers.
Without further waffle, let us begin…
Life in the fast lane
Barbara was cutting it fine. Racing along in the outside lane she had just 20 minutes to reach a busy M4 service station where she due to meet an IT Director for an off site interview. SatNav was adamant she’d make it but traffic was quite heavy. Suddenly, a powerful BMW roared close behind her and flashed to signal her out of the way. The two inner lanes were packed with cars and lorries but the BMW driver didn’t care and continued to flash driving closer and closer, bumper to bumper. After a mile of hostility, Barbara became increasingly nervous and slowed down. This decision enraged the BMW driver into a wild frenzy aggressively gesturing and visibly shouting at her. Eventually, there was a space to move over. The BMW driver roared past still yelling and shaking his fist.
15 minutes later, Barbara walked into the service station restaurant where, you guessed it, Mr BMW was sat there waiting for her. Red face awkward!
What did he just say?
One hot summers day in central London an up and coming Support Engineer was being telephone interviewed for position with a major competitor. He really wanted this job and was determined to give it his all. Having just selected an ideal sun-drenched bench on the edge of Hyde Park his phone rang as expected. After 15 mins the call was going really well. The interviewer had just started to explain why they were recruiting when she was interrupted with “Hey! You can !@&% Off!” before the phone went dead. Appalled, she immediately called him back and left an angry message complaining about his language, unprofessional attitude and unacceptable sense of humour believing this to be a bad competitor joke.
Actually, the poor candidate had suffered an opportunistic robbery having his phone snatched from his hand mid conversation by a charming, eloquent thief.
Licky Licky
This is gross. An IT Manager was patiently waiting in the reception of a major bank’s head office ahead of an interview. With a ping, the lift doors opened revealing the Head of HR. Walking directly towards the reception seating area she made eye contact with the IT Manager, smiled and extended a hand. The IT Manager arose, smiled back, licked his hand and gripped hers. Shocked and still moist with his saliva she starred at him for a few seconds in utter disbelief and led him to the interview secretly desperate to find a sink. He did not get the job.
Who does that!?
Do you come here often?
Every woman attends an interview to both get a job and find love. At least, that’s what some people seem to think! Recently, a senior software developer attended a management interview with a London marketing agency. After several minutes in reception she noticed a steady parade of men passing by seemingly without purpose making eye contact and grinning. Suddenly a tall man made his way towards her. Assuming he was the interviewer she stood up, collected her bag and smiled.
“Hi. I don’t make a habit of this but I noticed you sat out here and thought I’d move to make your acquaintance. I hear you’re a developer? You’re a rare breed. Love a lady coder.”
She left. He resigned. Karma restored.
It just slipped out
The interview was going really well. It had only been an hour and yet the interviewer and candidate were getting on like they’d been friends for years. Having already dealt with all the job related questions the pair were happily exchanging amusing anecdotes. The last story was so funny that the candidate fell apart laughing. The interviewer followed up with an equally amusing comment resulting in laughter so hard that the candidate’s bowels betrayed her and released a loud, short bottom burp. How do you recover from that!? It was going so well!
People are people and as such will always be inappropriate and unpredictable. We look forward to the next exciting episode of “Crazy but True!”
Our expert IT recruitment consultants are here to take the pressure off you when recruiting someone new, permanent or contract. We liaise with candidates with the utmost care to ensure that their candidate experience is a positive one. Call us on 0207 788 6600 and let us help you Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.
May 29, 2019 | HR, IT, Management
There’s a lot of confusion right now about IR35; what it is, why it’s changing and what those changes will mean for the millions of self-employed contract workers currently operating in the UK.
Although many of the proposed changes to IR35 legislation are not yet set in stone, we have put together some helpful information to try and make sense of the latest developments and how they might affect you:
What is IR35?
IR35 is a piece of legislation that was introduced in 2000 to ensure the correct national insurance and income tax was paid by self-employed contractors. IR35 prevents tax avoidance, stopping workers who seek to hide their employment status from HMRC by supplying services to clients via an intermediary – a practice known as ‘disguised employment’.
What’s new with IR35?
In 2017 in the public sector, the onus shifted from worker to employer; employers became responsible for determining the correct tax status of their workers and took on the associated tax risks. From April 2020, it is expected that medium and large-sized businesses in the private sector will face the same shift in responsibility.
Back in March, the Government began an open consultation on the implementation of reforms to the off-payroll working rules from April 2020. The consultation asks for views from all sectors on subjects that include;
– the scope of the reform and impact on non-corporate engagers
– information requirements for engagers, fee-payers, and personal service companies
– addressing status determination disagreements
The consultation closed on 28th May 2019.
We’re not in Kansas anymore
There are many who see these changes as far more than a reform of current rules, calling it a ‘stealth-tax’ and alleging that the consultation seeks to mislead. Adrian Marlowe, chairman of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC), said to onrec; “…the proposals go significantly beyond compliance with the original IR35 rules… The device used is therefore at best a brand new tax burden, and at worst a new tax altogether.”
A lot of the disagreement stems from the new rule which states that payments to contractors must not include either employer’s NI at 13.8% or an Apprenticeship Levy which, at 0.5%, would mean each contract becomes 14.3% more costly to the company engaging a contractor.
What do these changes mean for you?
The anticipated changes to IR35 from April 2020 will mainly affect the businesses who receive contract services, rather than the workers themselves. However, it would be foolhardy to assume these effects will not trickle down and be felt by all.
Uncertainty surrounding the issue will likely cause companies to think twice before engaging new individuals through personal service companies (PSCs) so, if you are unsure about your status, you can use the HMRC employment status checker to confirm. Once you know where you stand, you will be better prepared to discuss reservations from potential clients.
With regard to the potential 14.3% increase in cost to engage, it is highly likely that all contracts will be renegotiated. Unfortunately, these changes seem set to be costly for both sides.
Our expert IT recruitment consultants are here to take the pressure off you when recruiting someone new, permanent or contract. We liaise with candidates with the utmost care to ensure that their candidate experience is a positive one. Call us on 0207 788 6600 and let us help you Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.
May 15, 2019 | IT, Management
For business leaders experiencing country wide skill shortages, the knock-on effects of key recruitment failures are far reaching, costly and damaging. Experienced IT Recruiter Langley James offers valuable advice to help attract and secure desirable talent ahead of the competition.
The latest UK Recruitment Survey from the REC and KPMG reports that although the number of vacancies becoming available slowed in April, many recruiters and employers are struggling to cope with fierce competition for quality candidates.
Failing to recruit on time can hurt. Commercially, a business can suffer downtime, missed deadlines, reduced quality and disappointed clients or customers. Further operational problems can appear due to increased pressure on staff to pick up the slack causing stress, resentment and general unhappiness. Mistakes, complaints, sickness and even resignations inevitably follow heaping more pressure on you to steady the ship by finding that key hire.
The problem is demand. Quality candidates have an abundance of choice and rarely need to take a job out of necessity. Savvy employers make great efforts to deliver attractive recruitment propositions from branding to interview content aimed at convincing people to attend interviews and accept job offers. Put simply, any company failing to do this will risk missing out.
Ok, so what can we do about it?
Firstly, let’s start with the target audience. With most people employed these days talent targets are likely to be passively interested and relatively happy in their job, which means your vacancy positioning needs to change from a mere job to fill to an attractive career opportunity.
Quality candidates interested in career opportunities want to:
– hear the company and career path vision in order to imagine joining the journey
– understand clear objectives relating to the business problems requiring their skills
– trust you as a manager and leader
– feel valued and rewarded both personally and financially
– develop their skills and/or progress their careers
– be heard
– work with talented people with a shared interest in personal growth
– Enjoy a positive working environment
Ask yourself, does my current recruitment agency brief, job description and interview content deliver on these points?
Next, lets lose the mindset that people should count themselves lucky to interview with you. In a talent short market it’s actually the other way around and so anyone subjected to a hard nosed poker game of an interview is likely to switch off. Instead, create candidate desire by forming a warm and welcoming pitch just as you would sell your own products or services. Focus on the employer features of your company and the benefits of joining you – ideally delivering on what a quality candidate wants. Make people want your job before asking them to jump through a selection process.
Speaking of selection processes, during times of high demand avoid forcing people through unnecessary testing and long winded, multi-stage interviewing. Look at improving the interview itself and reduce the time between interview and decision to hire.
Finally, recognise the seriousness of your need and look to offer a salary and package that reflects that. Cast aside the ‘that’s what we pay’ mentality, recognise the true cost of failing to recruit and instead focus on doing what it takes to win.
Ultimately winning the talent race comes down to how a person feels so, make changes to your approach aimed at creating a positive selection experience. Make people feel good and you’ll stand a much better chance of securing their services.
Our expert IT recruitment consultants are here to take the pressure off you when recruiting someone new. We liaise with candidates with the utmost care to ensure that their candidate experience is a positive one. Call us on 0207 788 6600 and let us help you Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.
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