It’s not just skill set shortages that have shifted the balance of power in the recruitment process, although that is clearly playing a role. Digital transformation has also supported a candidate driven market in more ways than most hiring managers consider. Top level candidates are becoming increasingly switched on and better informed. This generation of…

 Will you lighten your load in 2019? 2018 was a year with a lot going on. Some of it wasn’t great for many, with unexpected shifts in the political and economic landscape that will make the up-coming months uncertain. Brexit is is creating stress and uncertainty for 5 million people. I will be impacted for…

The main reason that diversity initiatives fail is lack of genuine buy-in at a senior level. There is overwhelmingly compelling evidence that diverse teams have a significant bottom line impact. Research from McKinsey indicates that gender parity and increased diversity would boost global GDP by $28 TRILLION.  So it’s something of a mystery why organisations only pay lip…

Many recruiters and hiring managers are plagued by skill set shortages, both hard and soft skills. There is a very strong temptation to compromise to fill an open assignment rather than reject candidates that “will do.”. But very often the wrong hiring decision can be more expensive than keeping the vacancy open and continuing with the interview…

enty-six months ago I wrote a post on the start of the Brexit talent drain and the potential impact this would have on a post Brexit skills shortage. We have been living in an age of uncertainty ever since the June 2016 referendum. As everyone knows, uncertainty and instability are not good for business. So…

At a very entertaining session run by Liz Mackay, Global Head of Talent Acquisition for DSM at #Unleash18 last week, I was introduced to the concept of Tinder for Talent.  As you might imagine I am not in the Tinder demographic, so was expecting eye watering revelations. Indeed the language has changed, some of the…

One of the main paradoxes of any HR conference focusing on digital and tech, is there is always  as much discussion around the human element as the technical stuff. This year at UNLEASH18 I felt it was even more pronounced than usual. Threaded through the event was a strong emphasis on soft skills, emotions, relationships,…

Devising little tests such as a hiring lunch and other tricks have always been around to test job seekers for cultural fit. Thomas Edison is famously reported to have served candidates a bowl of soup when he was interviewing for research assistants. He seemingly wanted to see whether they added salt or pepper to the…

There is much discussion around civility in the workplace and social media. On the one hand you have a demographic quoting from Orwell’s 1984  railing against “thought police” and insisting on the right to free speech. The words cancel culture and woke have crept into our vocabulary in recent months. On the other hand there…

Employer branding has always been important to attract top talent, but today it is more significant than ever. The emergence of a generation of super digitally savvy candidates means that the standard ways of building a strong employer brand are no longer sufficient. These candidates are smart enough to lift the curtain and dig deeper.…