InterSearch Blog
Not to be left out and with the assumption that everyone will be interested in what we have to say, we have started a blog! This is the easy bit. The hard bit is two-fold – how to find something interesting to say, and how to tell people where to find your blog. No doubt we have got it wrong on both counts............
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FMCG Global Search - A Case Study
Family Owned Businesses & The Executive Search Consultant – 2010
Recruiting in Emerging Markets – 2009
Worldwide Recession – How deep, how long? – 2009
The Executive Search Industry in 2008 - 2009
Doing Business in China - 2007
Archive
2009
Generation Y
Your organisation probably has four generations of employees – veterans (born before 1940); baby boomers (born between 1940 and 1960); Generation X (born between 1960 and 1978) and Generation Y (born between 1978 and 1998). Reading all the articles and comments out there in the recent months it seems that each generation has a distinct set of values and expectations both in the workplace and in their lifestyles – a truly diverse workforce!
But how do you manage the recruitment and retention of each generation during these challenging times? Whilst recruiting Generation Y is key to our future, keeping the others is also key, since you need to make your workplace meet the needs of and be attractive to all four generations.
Currently aged up to around 30, Generation Y has grown up in a multicultural global marketplace, defined by new technology, communication and the availability of information 24 hours a day. There are approximately 8m in this bracket in the UK (and 11% of the European workforce overall) who have or will be joining the workplace in the future. They have grown up with the Internet, broadband, digital communications and personal electronic devices which has given them choice, freedom and instant access to information.
The website Ask Gen Y (www.askgeny.com) says they have been told they can change the world and are optimistic, upbeat and filled with a sense of empowerment. They expect instant rewards but also demand long-term development. They expect to climb the management ladder quickly and see a couple of years as a reasonable length of time to stay with one employer.
However with the paucity of graduate jobs and the lack of opportunities for all workers, especially those new to the workforce, 2009 might be the year that Generation Y get a wake-up call and realise it is not all about 'me' (isn't that how we got in this mess in the first place?).
The MBA - a way to beat the recession?
A year or so ago, when the word dotcom was a licence to print money, companies could not get enough newly qualified MBAs. Today it seems the market is very different. As the global economy starts to feel the real impact of the downturn, business schools are starting to see an increase in the number of applications, just as they did in the early 1990s. Job insecurity is naturally making many think twice about giving up their full time jobs, but actively consider part time study.
Applications at UK business schools are up. Manchester Business School reported a 17% rise; LBS a 20% rise and Insead in France reported a staggering 47% rise in applicants, whilst at the same time the MBA Career Guide reports an 8% year on year fall in demand for MBAs.
Many applicants may see this as the ideal time to be out of the workplace and studying, with the aim of re-entering the job market as it starts to heat up in 2010-11.
Being fired, or made redundant, in the current downturn is being seen as an opportunity to invest in yourself in preparation of the next upturn.
What of their future? The cost of an MBA course has never been cheap and the payback period in a recession takes longer than in a boom period. The real question candidates need to ask themselves is why are they are studying for an MBA? Is it to have the three letters after their name, or do they actually have a career plan that the MBA will significantly advance?
Current students should not expect instant career gratification and salary premiums as they did in the last economic boom, but if candidates are aiming for the top, then an MBA will ultimately not hold them back.
An Apprentice HR Manager
Did any of you see the latest episode of The Apprentice on television? If you didn’t it was the episode where the Human Resources Manager candidate was caught short and fired from the programme. The programme itself is interesting for the selection process it uses to hire a new employee (where do they get the contestants from – I am sure some are there just for the entertainment!) and the interaction between the candidates, particularly when it goes spectacularly wrong. All the candidates seem suited to corporate life as they job clutch whilst covering their backsides in a blame culture (sound familiar?).
Anyway back to the Human Resources Manager who was given the Team Leader role for one of their selection projects involving creating and manufacturing a beauty product. We all know that costs are critical in any business, and particularly in manufacturing, but this candidate openly admitted she was poor at costing, as she ‘was only a HR Manager’, and needed help. She delegated this to two other candidates in her team and they all managed to get it spectacularly wrong; suffice to say she was the one who left the programme at the end.
As an outsider (I am not a HR Manager) it was a great insight into the psyche and training of a HR professional, which I hope, and I am sure those of you who are HR professionals will agree, is not typical of the standard of individuals in this role. The HR professional has a hard enough job as it is being taken seriously in business without being labelled in this way. Perhaps the excuse – ‘it’s not my fault I am only a HR Manager’ – will pass into corporate life and become a valid one!
Salary Expectations
I wrote last week that companies always want the best candidate – and they want him or her yesterday – which has not changed even in these troubled times. What has changed is the clients’ perception of what salary to pay; many think that because it is a buyers market (ie: the client is the buyer) and they believe that the market is awash with the best candidates, newly out of work, who are desperate to get a job, any job, they will be grateful to be offered a much lower salary than before. Some candidates in our seminars and workshops have told me some fantastic stories about his as well.
Every job and function has a market rate, and we know, as experienced professionals, exactly what that is; consequently we know if someone is over or underpaid. Advising clients on salary packages is part of our role but when a client tries to get someone really cheap, doesn’t listen to our advise, and then gets a little upset when no one will join them at that price it makes for an interesting relationship. A recent project has involved recruiting an individual from a competitor (ie: they are still in work) for a company that is setting up in the UK. A crucial role and one they cannot do without; why then does the Board wish to ‘insult’ the candidates by offering a basic of less than half the candidates are on with the promise of a huge bonus if they succeed?
This is clearly short sighted. Okay sales people should be incentivised but why leave a role in a secure market for a newcomer where you are taking a risk on their behalf? Even if the candidate is out of work they will soon leave when a better paid role comes along. Companies should be prudent and not pay over the odds but there are limits!
Football vs Life
If you could look at football dispassionately you would see how it mirrors life and your company; some teams are on the up, some on the way down, some are much smaller than they used to be with no chance of becoming a big club again, some are punching above their weight. One thing you do expect though is that the team, your team, will always be there. A true fan will never change allegiances and, even if they don’t actually go to matches anymore, will still stay loyal and be elated or disappointed with the results every weekend.
So it is with organisations and companies. In many cases these can define a town and region through the major role they play and the employment and prosperity they bring. But unlike football teams who never really go out of business (since a wealthy fan always seems to step in to save them), they can and do go under and won’t get bailed out each time they get into trouble (unless they are a bank of course). This is healthy capitalism and is necessary to keep order in the system. But can you imagine your town/city without its football club?
A business that has had the same product for 125 years and the same format of delivery (2 x 45 minutes with a 15 minute rest in between) has done remarkably well to survive. It has achieved this through getting into the psyche of its customers who support the brand no matter what.
Can you imagine cars without Ferrari, watches without Rolex and soft drinks without Coke? Wouldn’t be the same would it? A lesson for all of us in there somewhere particularly as a search firm can represent your brand both in the good and not so good times.
Has the expat bubble burst?
Even though we think that the UK is in a mess, judging by the number of UK expats and EC workers who want to come to the UK, it can’t be that bad! It has never ceased to amaze me that the UK, and London particularly, is seen as being paved with gold when it is one of the three most expensive places in the world to live; we must be good at selling the brand!
Recently we have received a tremendous number of CV’s from managers and directors out in the Middle East, who wish to return home, as their construction projects have stopped and funding has run out as they realise that the luxurious sky scrapers that they are building really are built upon an unstable sand base. From Europe we have had a definite increase in individuals working in the finance sector (obviously), mobile telecoms (a little surprising) and fmcg sectors (not so surprising).
A number of key sectors (the oil & gas and construction ones especially) have always had a migrant population, but for the others the big question is – are there any vacancies here in the UK for them and will clients take them on when it seems there are plenty of locals on the jobs market with no relocation costs involved? Most sector skills are now transferable, particularly in the technical arena, and just about everyone in Europe (with the exception of us Brits) speaks several languages. Interesting times indeed!
Is it good to go back?
Whilst the war for talent may be on hold for many companies, there is still a need at some organisations for quality personnel to fill the gaps and get them through this tough climate. In times of trouble many companies look for ‘who they know’ for ‘what they know’ and may be tempted to find old employees and ask them to come back.
We see many CV’s of candidates where they have had a couple of spells at the same employers – usually a long stay followed by 1-3 years away, before returning to the fold in the same role or the same department. This going back now has a name – ‘boomerang hiring’!
Research has shown that up to 25% of the workforce has gone back, which is not surprising as the research claimed that around one third of workers keep in touch with their old boss after they left. Today, many individuals who have been made redundant will naturally be keen to speak with former colleagues and bosses in the hope that a position is available for them.
So what are the benefits of taking on former employees? Well, provided that they did not leave under a cloud, you have the advantage of knowing who they are and their capabilities – particularly what their strengths are; they know the company culture and philosophy so induction time is minimal; they will have knowledge and experience of internal networks; the cost of hiring is less; and they have probably gained more experience whilst away!
How do you find these former employees? Networking is a great source, particularly internal alumni and social groups; your industry may well have a society or Institute that is active and you can always use the on-line social sites such as Linked in and Facebook. You can even ask us to find them for you!
But have we not all been told that we should never go back?
The Long Hours Culture
Has the work-life balance debate now disappeared due to the current jobs market? Apparently not; even now new studies are coming along that tell us to work less and go home more; but surely work is part of life and should not be separated from it? Many people enjoy work and are in fact defined by what they do; work is necessary to fulfil our basic needs and greater goals so it is part of life and not something that should be seen as the great evil of the 21st century.
So what is work-life balance and how is it defined? Surfing the internet found many definitions, but these two seem to sum it up:
Work-life balance is about people having a measure of control over when, where and how they work. It is achieved when an individual's right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society. In his book Managing work-life balance David Clutterbuck defines work-life balance as:
• being aware of different demands on time and energy
• having the ability to make choices in the allocation of time and energy
• knowing what values to apply to choices
• making choices.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, as the old saying goes. Yet, according to TUC research said to be based on Office for National Statistics figures, five million workers in the UK are racking up nearly £5,000 in unpaid overtime every year.
But why do people put in hour after hour of extra work for no extra reward? Why is the UK still clinging to the opt-out from the European Working Time Directive? What is missing from people's lives that they have to spend as much time as possible at work?
At the lower end of the pay scale it is probably the case that people work long hours for more money as they tend to get paid overtime, but at professional and management grades this is not the case, unless you are (were) a City trader where excessive hours are required to earn big bonuses.
I think that there are four main reasons for our long hours’ culture:
• You put in extra hours just to keep your job, people are expendable, particularly in the current market
• Because you want to get on and feel that long hours shows your commitment
• Most organisations employ less people but have the same work to do, so everyone has to do more to stand still
• You enjoy work and the rewards that being successful brings
I know which category I fall into………….