Are Temporary Employees Right For My Business?
Temps are common feature of workplaces up and down the country, ranging from small IT support firms to large call centres and warehouses. Many companies find fixed term contracts to be a convenient and affordable way of hiring staff, and it is the preferable option for many contractors as well. However, the question we are often asked is what are the comparative benefits of hiring temps versus having a permanent member of staff (and what are the costs involved). This question will very much depend on the nature of your business and the dynamic of your team – a lot of companies find a mixture of temporary and permanent employees to be the best formula. To help you make up your own mind, this article gives an outline of the pros and cons of hiring temporary employees. (more…)
Facing Up to the UK’s Skills Shortage Challenge
The government are right to point to the continuing reduction in unemployment figures as evidence of a robust and growing economy in the UK. However, this optimism hides a growing number of unfilled specialist roles that point to a skills shortage that all employers and recruiters need to face up to. This year’s GDP estimates, that were published on 4th February, were interesting as they clearly show which parts of the economy are growing, and in which areas the skills market is failing to keep up with demand. (more…)
Employee Engagement? – It’s Up To You
Without doubt one of the biggest workplace issues of today is employee engagement. I regularly get invited to speak on the topic and there seems to be an endless amount of research reminding us about how poor organisations are at engaging their people.
Report after report tells us that fewer than a third of employees are actively engaged at work. This, they seem to claim, is the fault of employers or managers who just don’t care about the people stuff. If they only offered better benefits, or free lunches, a pool table, or allowed dress down days, employees would re-engage and give their best efforts – then all would be well with the world of employment. (more…)
How to Improve Your CV for Senior Management Roles
The vehicle you drive requires regular maintenance in order to be able to take you from one place to another. The same can be said of your CV. If you’re considering applying for an executive position, reviewing your CV for effectiveness is a must.
Prospective employers will not have much time available to pore through all the details of your CV. This makes it all the more important to make a positive impact with the information you include, and quickly.
Look at your Layout (more…)
Top 5 Interview Questions For Senior Management Positions
You crafted an attention-getting cover letter and submitted a resume with all of the right elements. Now, you’ve gotten an interview for your dream job. But before you pick out a power suit for the discussion with the recruiter, it’s important to consider what will occur during that interview; namely, the kinds of questions you will be asked.
The first thing to realise about what you will be asked is that no question will be posed to you without a specific purpose. There is a reason for every question that recruiters ask, even if that reason is only to distract you. Their job is to glean your suitability for the position as well as your honesty and integrity.
Although there may be many more, this article contains some of the most common interview questions for senior management positions. Warning: some can be ambiguous! (more…)
The Race For Talented Staff
Data drawn from advertised roles and the ONS Labour Market Statistics suggests that while there are 936,500 vacancies, there are only 887,700 jobseekers. This roughly equates to 95 candidates for every hundred positions, a stark contrast from October 2013 when there were 169 candidates for every hundred vacancies.
So what does this mean for recruiting businesses? (more…)