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Welcome to issue 396 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. We are in the process of changing the look of the UK Recruiter website. We would love your feedback on what you think of it so far at contact2@ukrecruiter.co.uk |
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CONTENTS
Visit http://www.ukrecruiterjobs.co.uk for the latest recruitment industry jobs. |
Weekly Tips http://www.igoogle.com - once personalised, you'll never live without it. From Facebook to my documents, Twitter to my ToDos, it's all here and accessible anywhere http://www.campfirenow.com - keeps our virtual team in contact, excellent for small businesses, just like all 37signals products http://www.spotify.com - Free instant music, what's not to like? Submitted by Simon Appleton of Workcircle (www.workcircle.com) Why not submit your 3 favourite web sites. See the guidelines at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/articles.htm |
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Article One: Striving, thriving, surviving - A Plan for Survival & Growth by Bill Boorman In the third of a series of articles, Bill Boorman of The Bill Boorman Consultancy explores the essential areas for change aimed at companies living through the downturn. In my previous article, I looked at growing and protecting your existing business, increasing sales and retained business and taking care of your candidates. In this piece, I’m going to address the issues of performance management, keeping lean and using strategic alliances to remain competitive. While performance management is important at any time, it’s absolutely crucial in a downturn and needs to be carried out on a daily and weekly basis. You should set clear minimum expectations for both activity and pipeline of business as well as targets (what needs to be achieved) and objectives (how it’s going to be achieved). Make sure you apply the SMART test so that targets and objectives are specific; measurable; achievable; realistic and within a timescale. A good place to start in terms of setting objectives are those that are focused on your business plan - minimum GP per head for example - as well as customer satisfaction, a constant pipeline of business and database building. It’s important to remember that performance management isn’t always about the under achievers and so you should ensure that there are consequences for all levels of performance so make sure you reward the over achievers. Monitor the under performers by addressing the problems, agreeing actions and following up. Ensure that discussions around performance, targets and objectives are consistent -and documented - so that you have an evidence base for any decisions you may have to make around releasing staff. Which brings us neatly around to the next point - keeping lean. In tough times, the easiest way to cut costs is to cut your headcount but there are alternatives so meet with your staff on a one to one basis to discuss options such as reduced hours, reduced pay, unpaid leave, sabbaticals or even re-training. While no-one likes making redundancies, sometimes it is inevitable but if you do need to release staff then ensure that you have a clear and transparent process. It’s absolutely vital to follow process however time consuming it may seem but the law applies to all employees, however junior and employment tribunals are very unsympathetic to a company’s financial state if they have not followed the rules. If you’re unsure, make sure you take proper legal advice. While many recruitment consultancies regard each other with the degree of suspicion usually only associated with complex espionage thrillers, forming strategic alliances with other recruiters can give you a competitive edge in a tough market. It may give you greater buying power - and also greater selling power as you may suddenly find yourself being able to compete against some of the bigger players - something that neither of you may have been able to do alone. Possible partners could include those working within complementary sectors so that together you could give a client a holistic offering. Or perhaps locations which border your own geographical reach to give both parties greater coverage. You could even look at sharing office space if you are in the same location and times are tough. What’s important though is to team up with the best - those which share your own business values - teaming up with weaker players could damage your reputation in the long run. Strategic alliances can give you additional expertise, shared overheads - and even the possibility of an inside track on a future acquisition target or trade sale - what have you got to lose? In my next and final piece we’ll look at controlling costs, monitoring your competition and the importance of strong leadership.
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Opinion: How Web Copy Can Boost Your Website From Ordinary to A List by James Swift According to Google there are 11.5 billion pages on the internet. To make sure yours get noticed, yours need to be “expertly” done! Writing copy for the web is a distinctive skill. Many seasoned copywriters with decades in the advertising business behind them, can come unstuck writing for online. Language should be an integral part of your brand communication. It has to say the right things in the right way, consistently. And that's no mean feat. It involves getting your tone of voice clear at the start and making it come alive across all your online communications. While it may seem counterintuitive, the most important ingredient in a recruitment website is the copy. Picture a website with cutting edge design, mind-blowing graphics and all the interactive bells and whistles. Compare that to simple web copy on a plain white background. Which of the two websites would better sell your organisation and job? According to a study by Stanford University published in 2000, it’s the one with the simple text. That’s because nothing happens until somebody writes the words that get people to click, sign up, register or whatever else you want them to do. So, it’s not enough to make your website look appealing. The words have to wow, charm and seduce a causal web surfer enough, to turn them into a quality candidate. If your language isn't interesting, doesn't tell a good story or is hard to understand, it won't be read. Some of the biggest mistakes businesses make are to take marketing principles that work well in the offline world and try to use them on the web. Many of the techniques used in print and radio simply don’t get visitors to do what you want. That’s because they don’t follow fundamental web copy rules: firstly don’t make your website look like an ad; secondly always stop your readers dead in their tracks; and thirdly always capture email addresses. Don’t obey these rules and your visitors will not want to stay. If you think that it’s okay for a website to be less creative than print or have a weak headline, think again. It’s as important to call out creatively to your audience as it is in any other medium. You need to write in a conversational style and not use contradictions. Perhaps the most specialised area of an online writer’s repertoire is their ability to apply psychological motivators and emotive words that appeal to the intuitive part your reader’s mind. Using these devices can turn surfers into applicants; and applicants into vacancies filled!. However, using psychology to sell isn’t about conning people to take a decision they don’t want to. It’s about using an understanding of human nature to make your reader volunteer to become involved in your organisation. So, you must make it enjoyable and totally painless! The fact is, psychological techniques amount to nothing unless you speak to the needs of your target audience. You’ve got to know what they want, and how you can give it to them. Once you’ve used all these online techniques and principles to create your killer web copy, you need to make sure your passive and active job seekers can find it. Of course, one way to do this is to drive traffic through traditional press-based advertising. The other takes us into the wonderful world of search engine optimisation (SEO). This is the one of the most powerful methods a copywriter can employ to give a website competitive advantage over others. Armed with the appropriate SEO techniques, a copywriter can boost conversion rates and deliver quantity and quality of candidate. It can transform the effectiveness of your recruitment strategy and deliver outstanding return on investment. Professional online writers are more than just producers of words. They’re brand detectives and ideas people who are fully involved in the strategic and creative process. With a professional writer onboard, your website can make that all important emotional as well as commercial impact. And your website will go from ordinary to stunningly effective. Five key ways to check your online copy: · Can readers scan through the text to find the info they need? If the answer's no to any of these, go back and write it again! Beyond Interactive is the first and only specialist full-service online recruitment advertising agency outside of London. Pioneers from our very inception, we look upon digital advertising somewhat differently to others and it’s our transparency that really sets us apart. To our clients, online recruitment holds no mysteries and we advise them to make clear and confident decisions about their recruitment strategy. www.beyondinteractive.co.uk |
Advertisement Factoring, Funding, Payroll, Invoicing – you choose We understand that recruitment agencies need a back office solution that is as flexible as they are. Our services include the preparation of payroll, payment of temporary staff and raising client invoices. We can also provide factoring through our sister company Calverton Factors ensuring a seamless, fully integrated service. We are offering a 25% discount on our standard charges for the first 6 months of the agreement when you quote ‘UKRecruiter’. Contact Mark Byrne at markbyrne@calvertonfactors.co.uk or 01908 268888 Or visit our website www.calvertonfactors.co.uk and follow the link to Payroll Finance.
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Online Recruitment Update (This section is sponsored by http://www.1Job.co.uk; "the leading UK job search engine") Hitwise top 10 Recruitment
Sites, week ending 21st March 2009 Louise's UK Recruiter blog Discussion Board Summary This section is sponsored by http://www.1Job.co.uk; "the leading UK job search engine" |
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Advertisement LinkedIn Guide for Recruiters LinkedIn is a vital resource for all recruiters and UK Recruiter has created an inexpensive and detailed tool to help you exploit this invaluable source of candidates and information. This guide will take you from creating and optimising your profile through to sophisticated methods of utilising LinkedIn for sourcing candidates, raising individual/company profiles and on to the utilisation of all of LinkedIn facilities. To purchase this 17 page detailed guide for only £4.99 please visit the UK Recruiter Site
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Regards
Louise Triance
UK Recruiter http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk
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