Changeboard, the HR jobs & career development site

Interim Internal Comms!

Ian Buckingham — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:41:33 GMT

Now that the Big Boys have made a mess of world financial markets, their brands face unprecedented levels of change and most of it will doubtless emerge in the first two quarters of 09. Guess who will have the task of translating the unpalatable news for the employees?

Current market trends seem to suggest that there is a substantial rise in the recruitment of interim communication professionals to manage the process. I'm keen to hear your views on what you believe are the pros and cons of this trend.

Ian

http://www.by2w.co.uk

What little things do you do to help engage your people?

Editor — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:00:51 GMT

Jane, great posting: employee engagement | does karaoke go hand in hand? It got me thinking that it's definitely the small, little things that count when it comes to my own employee satisfaction. For example, within our office environment, there is now a cute wicker basket piled up high with all sorts of fruit. It's amazing that since the fruit basket was brought in, how quickly it goes down! Now there's fruit on tap, I feel a lot healthier and better for it. This is definitely a perk and one that I appreciate. Looking across at the basket today, there's bananas, plums, apples, satsumas and apricots, but it does vary on a regular basis. Last week we had grapes and strawberries added into the mix. I wonder what our fruit dip will consist of next week?

What is the most efficient & cost effective way to recruit?

Charles — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:56:32 GMT

Normal 0 The answer to this is quite obviously through you own website. As it is you probably post all your vacancies on your website and candidates who apply to vacancies through your website send their application whether through an email address or your own application process to the manager or in-house recruiter responsible for that vacancy. This applicant will not only be interested in the role advertised but also very interested in working for your organisation having been able to research your company by going through your website to learn all about you.

What could be better and not only that but there is no introduction fee from a recruitment agency and you will not have had to advertise the vacancy in the press. No writing duplicate copy and high advertising cost with no guarantee of results.

Recruiting through your own website sounds too good to be true especially in these turbulent times when we all have to tighten our belts and work more efficiently. However how can we be sure that jobseekers will find the vacancy on a particular employers website unless the jobseeker wants to work for a particular employer. Quite frankly they are not going to.

Up until now this has meant the continuation of recruiting using agencies and external advertising, whether press and online, in order to meet the demand and recruit candidates into these vacancies.

However a new direct recruitment job portal www.careerint.com has been recently launched which works in very simple, efficient and cost effective way to give employers the ability to advertise all their current vacancies, their company profile and receive applications for those roles exactly as they wish.

Career International downloads all vacancies currently on employers’ websites and posts them to a vacancy database, currently 40,000 jobs, together with their company profile. These downloaded vacancies are constantly refreshed and therefore always up to date. Candidates apply for vacancies either through the employer’s application process or a dedicated email address. Employers can also add an unlimited number of urgent or temporary vacancies as well as see their vacancy statistics through their account pages.

There are three levels of account dependant on the number of vacancies on the employer’s website. Below 10, 10-30 and 30 vacancies or more and the charges are extremely low compared to any other recruitment service on the web, at between £60.00 and £180.00 per month (or Euro/$ equivalent).

For further details contact sales@careerint.com or call 0870 288 9820.

Do you have a passion for your people?

Mary Jane Flanagan — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:47:55 GMT

How passionate are you about the development of your people and the service they deliver? Are you as passionate about the development of your people as you are the profit of your business?

How important is my resume?

majistic — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:36:08 GMT

How important is my resume? Is this the most important part of the interview process?

How important is my resume?

majistic — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:21:10 GMT

How important is my resume? Is this the most important part of the interview process?

Is HR ready to use social networking sites for recruitment?

Editor — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:22:01 GMT

I'd be very interested to hear any views on this subject. A recent article in The Guardian quotes a range of individuals from ad agencies who are pretty pragmatic, but are interested to explore the relevance of virtual places like Second Life to recruit staff:

http://money.guardian.co.uk/workweekly/story/0,,2109206,00.html

I'm inclined to think that HR is pretty pragmatic. If it can be proven that their target audience are using a particular site or online medium then their recruitment advertising will follow close behind.

Unravelling the CSR mystery

Chris Holmes — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:00:34 GMT

Nowadays you are guaranteed to come across the term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on a fairly regular basis, be it in your company, in the news, on the street or with family and friends. While for some people this is the latest hot topic, to others it sounds more like a broken record.

CSR goes by many names, ranging from corporate citizenship to ethical business and from corporate philanthropy through to responsible business practice. However, as with other ‘business practice’ terminology – like Human Resource Management (HRM) – to many, CSR is a vague and an elusive concept.

CSR – as I see it – is not about hugging trees and recycling, though these are in themselves very important causes! CSR is a profit-boosting concept that enables companies’ to boost their public image, increase sales and encourage employee productivity and engagement, amongst other benefits.

Defining ‘responsibility’
In a nutshell, CSR means “doing the right thing”. It refers to business decision-making based on ethical values, compliance with legal standards, and respect for communities, their citizens and the environment. CSR comes from the realisation that business and the wider community are interdependent, just as stakeholders are. It is in businesses’ best interests to strengthen the communities in which they work as business success is ultimately linked.

Having spent four years working in the “third sector” and a further two years in marketing, I have had the opportunity to work with many companies – and charities – to help them understand what CSR means, its benefits and how it should be integrated to best effect. For me, CSR is not a new phenomenon: it has been on the corporate agenda for many years. However, companies that once shunned the concept as a “nice to have” are now starting to take a keener interest as it moves towards a “must have”!

A wolf in sheep’s clothing?
First and foremost, it is clear that there is still are large number of companies that do not understand what the term CSR means. Many are also unsure whether the concept applies to them and what the real benefits are. Cynicism towards the concept is also a barrier to its adoption, with CSR often being viewed as a ‘greenwash’ or fluffy PR stunt. Of course, there are some companies that view CSR in precisely this light and use it to hide business ‘nasties’ or for short-term wins through publicity. However, companies that follow this approach limit the benefits they both get and give, while also running a real risk of backlash.

Ultimately I believe it is the fear of the unknown that limits the adoption of CSR in some businesses – smaller companies in particular. These business owners are unsure whether to stick their heads above the parapet and are fearful of generating a backlash amongst their stakeholders. The simple answer here is: “yes, you should!” Not doing anything about CSR is actually the riskier option in today’s society. With growing levels of social awareness and concerns amongst consumers and additional pressure from the media, people now expect companies to be responsible.

CSR is a concept that applies to all businesses – regardless of size and industry – and the benefits are universal. The business benefits of a well-integrated and expertly managed CSR strategy have been widely reported and include:

Enhanced public image and corporate reputation
Enhanced brand value and equity
Increased sales
Customer bonding, acquisition, satisfaction and retention
Enhanced confidence and stakeholder trust
Improved employee productivity, attract higher calibre staff and reduce churn

Focusing on the last point in particular, employees are crucial in fostering CSR throughout the business. Their influence can be felt in all of the benefits above, making them a key success factor in any company’s CSR strategy.

The power of people
People are a key stakeholder group to any organisation and a group to which CSR is crucially important. They are also fundamental in the effective implementation of any CSR strategy, just as HRM sees people as being a key element to sustained business success. Indeed, HRM also plays a central role in CSR as far as employees are concerned. In my opinion, it is also important to remember that HRM is also responsible for how people are recruited, treated and also developed; this is another area where CSR can pay dividends.

What does being responsible in the workplace mean? At a specific level it means businesses have polices in place to promote equal opportunities for all employees, irrespective of age, gender, race, disability or sexual orientation – focusing not only on recruitment, but also retention, training and development.

On another level, responsibility in the workplace also means businesses listening to the concerns of their employees on how the business impacts society at large and developing strategies to address this.

Having a well-implemented CSR strategy and being recognised as a company that ‘cares’ has numerous benefits for HRM. Companies that excel in this area can recruit the best employees (from the boardroom through to the shop floor), positively influence the views of existing employees and move their working relationship with the employer from a merely rational level (i.e. rewards-based) to a more emotional level (i.e. “I am proud to work for this company”). It has also been cited that a strong CSR programme will strengthen employee loyalty and retention. The definitive benefit for business is that staff can become brand ambassadors, supporting and promoting a company in both good and bad times.

Part of some businesses’ CSR strategy has involved offering mentoring services to small businesses (e.g. start-ups), charities and community projects. Through this approach, the larger businesses benefit from access to new talent – with reduced recruitment costs and recruiting them before the competition – to developing existing staff skill sets by allowing them to manage additional projects and learn new skills.

For CSR to work well and provide benefits for all those involved, it must be integrated to become part of a company’s DNA – the saying “built-in, not bolt-on” really holds true here. If a company’s commitment to CSR is not genuine then there is the real risk of stakeholder backlash and even boycott.

This is where people play a crucial role. A company’s workforce will often be the first to criticise and evaluate the sincerity of the company strategy. They are also responsible for implementing and communicating this to other stakeholders – especially to customers – as well as implementing the strategy in other day-to-day activities such as procurement, supplier management, managing business transactions and investments and so on.

To ensure that people understand what the business is trying to achieve and buy into the concept, it is imperative that they are seen as partners and be engaged and involved from the start of the process. A lack of engagement will limit the true impact and potential of any CSR strategy.

Closing thoughts
CSR is no longer a fringe activity. The successful companies of today and tomorrow will be those that recognise the importance of an inclusive approach to business, taking into account the concerns of all its stakeholder groups – not only its employees but also its customers, investors, media, business partners and the wider community.

There are also clear benefits of CSR to HRM and companies need to recognise this. However, in order to maximise the benefits for all parties involved, engaging and integrating employees in the process is crucial.

With over six years’ of experience in helping companies and charities to understand what CSR means to them, I am well-placed to offer advice to individuals and businesses on how to make this concept work for you. Please feel free to contact me if you’d like to discuss any of this further – I’d been keen to talk this over.

Corporates: view charity & not for profit requests here

Editor — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:49:42 GMT

A lot of corporates want to help their local charities and not for profits, as well as third sector who are working at grass roots levels within their communities, and for society at large but often do not know where to start (read this posting: CSR & social justice).

On the flipside, there are a lot of severley under funded charities and not for profits who are crying out for corporate support. One way of doing this is through corporates setting up CSR schemes which involves building into its workforce strategy employee assistance voluntary schemes, providing career guidance, mentoring and fundraising whether this is for schools, universities, charities, not for profits or the third world sector.

If you're a corporate that wants to set up such a scheme and is looking for a cause support then this is the place to come. Over the next few days, weeks, and months, I will be asking those that need your support to write down their case studies and the activities they are undertaking, to see if there's a way in which you would like to get involved in helping out.

Maternity debate | role of women in the workplace

Eliza Nash — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:06:19 GMT

Check out the latest Speechly Speak column Dragons Den outrage, I would be really interested to hear your thoughts on this.

CSR and ISR in action.. real revlutionarys take action and do something important..

Bopo — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:36:11 GMT

Click here to donate :

http://shop.waponi.uk.com/epages/es113467.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113467_shop

I am about to change my life not for the first time mind you.....

I took part in the recent BBC2 documentary Tribal Wives which was billed as a documentary but actually was not unlike a pseudo reality TV program.

I lived and worked as a Tribal Wife with the Huaorani tribe in Ecuador for a month last year. The Huaorani are one of the fiercest tribes in the jungle. They have never been conquered not by the Incas nor later the Spaniards and not as yet by the loggers and oil companies. Some still remain in voluntary isolation to the outside world.

I actually went to see what cultural integration feels like in its rawest sense. To understand what happens in mergers and acquisitions at an individual level. To experience an new culture first hand. I am still documenting what I learned as we speak.

I wanted to make HR people appear less boring ! I hope I did that too.

What I learned was more profound but one thing about reality TV is that it is real. So this is what happens after reality TV.
.

About the Yasuni National Forest- Decisions are being made in October 2008

Scientists from all over the world have qualified Yasuní as the zone with the highest biodiversity of the world. Within one hectare of Yasuní, 644 different species of trees have been identified. There are as many different species in one hectare of Yasuní, as there are in the whole of North America.

Yasuní has been declared a world biosphere reserve by UNESCO.

This biosphere reserve is also the territory of the indigenous Huaorani people and some tribes who live in voluntary isolation. These are the last free human beings of Ecuador, true warriors who live in the so-called society of abundance, because they only produce the minimum to satisfy their own needs.

The foreseeable impacts of oil exploitation in the park are: contamination, deforestation, destruction of the social fabric, extinction of cultures etc.

The solution

The President of the Republic of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, has indicated that the first option for the country is to leave the crude oil of Yasuní untouched underground. The idea is to stimulate the national and international society to contribute in this expensive national decision. The government expects, through this mechanism, to recover 50% of the income it would have obtained by extracting the crude oil.

The State will emit certificates for the crude oil of Yasuní, and promise to keep the crude underground forever and use the funds to better protect Yasuní National Park.

The arguments in favour of this proposal are:

This proposal is the only unquestioned solution to climate change
Conservation of biodiversity
Protection of the indigenous inhabitants of Yasuní
Transformation of the Ecuadorian economy away from oil

My Mission

Since returning I have felt a huge responsibility to help raise the Internationally held concerns with regard to the deforestation and exploration for oil in the Yasuni National Park where my friends the Huaorani live. I have added some external links to give you more background.

This is a global campaign with fabulous support from people like Dr Jane Goodall and many international governments.

I need to raise the following to bring the Tribal leader, Penti from the Community I visited to an important book launch in London on 6th October 2008 at the Amnesty International headquarters in London which will be attended by many officials from the UK and Ecuadorian government. He will be accompanied by Anita Rivas, Mayor of Francisco de Orellana/Coca, Ecuador .It is expected to be a high profile event.

Here is more information about the book called Yasuni Green Gold.

http://yasunigreengold.org/learnmore.htm

What I need and why.

3 return flights from Quito to London and then to on Spain and return home for the 2nd October 2007 returning on or around 19th October 2008 ( dates subject to confirmation)

Hotel accommodation in London for up to 4 people for a two week period and potentially accommodation in Spain .

A South American Spanish/ English translator for the period.

Corporate Catering for the event.

Transport

Invitations etc

Contingency !!

I have tried to make this as easy as pie for everyone to give. I designed the site myself and I actually do think its working.( TOUCH WOOD). This was the quickest way to get money in quickly and keep a record of all donations. Time is very short!

The Huaorani Tribal leader Penti and his community also need help with sustainable tourism and to protect his home from intruders. His home is the Forest we are trying to save. So any additional support that you could give in terms of time and people power to help us make this event spectacular would be gratefully received.

There may also be a film made of Penti’s visit here and obviously your personal or business sponsorship will be credited should this happen (if this is not filmed by the BBC again !.) I hope the credits run for hours and hours !!

Seriously though this will only take three clicks of your mouse to make this happen and in doing so you will be helping to Save the Yasuni National Forest and demonstrate to either your employees and clients or more importantly to yourself that Corporate Social Responsibility is about taking action to support quickly when it is needed most.

That time is now.

I am happy to talk this through with you at any time. This is probably the most important thing I have ever done. I have told the campaign leaders I can make this happen and I need your help and personal support to do that please. Please forward to others to make a donation or talk to your CSR person if that is not you to see what they could do to help me.

Revoluationary's take action not just talk:)

Kind regards

BOPOx

BOPO is the name given to me by the Huaorani. I was very honoured to have been named the anthropologists said that would not happen....but actually much of what they said would never happen happened. I was married to a Huaorani hunter too ! BOPO means strong tall tree. I hope I live up to my name. I am actually finding it takes a lot of guts to ask for money.

Click here to donate :

http://shop.waponi.uk.com/epages/es113467.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113467_shop

Here are a couple of external links to give you more background information.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7469897.stm

http://www.saveamericasforests.org/

http://www.sosyasuni.org/en/News/New-Internationalist-and-Yasuni-Green-Gold-Campaign-publication.html

http://www.liveyasuni.org/

http://yasunigreengold.org/learnmore.htm

http://www.liveyasuni.org/form.html

Please sign this as well to let President Correa know your support

Have you seen the recent Bersin report on Expertus?

ESKCSG — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:41:13 GMT

Corporate learning guru and analyst Josh Bersin has recently released a six-page brief on the company, Expertus (www.expertus.com).

He takes an insightful look at the challenges and best practices in managing technology and administration within training organizations and discusses Expertus’ contributions, stating that the organization offers “innovative solutions that we believe are important to this market.”

The report is openly available through www.expertus.com at http://www.expertus.com/BersinResearch/LearningManagementServices.pdf.

For Bersin & Associates research members, it is also available by logging in at www.bersin.com.

Changeboard Discussion Groups Forum

marcoose — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:29:20 GMT

Hello and Welcome

What is this? It's a chance for the people who want to see CSR websites brought together as a force for good to exchange thoughts and ideas.

It's also a chance for those people who are taking an active role in developing this concept, and may be guiding some of the thinking behind it, to stay connected with each other and the project too.

The Changeboard team are running 4 Round Table discussions in London and one in Manchester during June and July 2008 to sound out the concept with a number of experts in the field. Those invited to the sessions come from a wide range of industries and have a very different set of experiences - but share a sense of wanting to do something positive and are happy to work collaboratively to help to find a solution.

Debating time at these sessions is unfortunately limited, so if you have attended a session and want to develop your views of the concept with the rest of those people who want to change the world, here's another opportunity.

Jim and I would like to sincerely thank those people who have given up time to add their collective brain power to try to solve the connundrum and shape the solution. If you would like to talk to either of us, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We will soon be publishing some of the thoughts that have come from the first round tables.

This is the start of a journey and we hope that you will all enjoy the ride.

Marcus

Graduates, first step on ladder and career development

Editor — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:11:32 GMT

Hi Jessica,

After reading through your posting on your experience as a graduate finding work, then falling into roles and organisations that failed to bring out the best in you got me thinking about my own experience. I was fortunate enough to secure my first job while I was still at university.

I did a Media & Comms degree, and our course leaders where fantastic at pushing us to go and secure work experience every year throughout the course. The best advice they ever gave us was to think about our career aspirations and knock on the doors of the organisations we would have loved to work for, so I did. I didn't take no for an answer and found myself work experience for a well known consumer women's magazine - but it was nothing like I expected. It was insightful because it gave me a real taste and I realised quickly I was not suited to this environment, so the following year I tried a different route. I knocked on the doors of a leading contract publisher (business to business) based in London and ended up being offered a job six months before graduating.

However, my point is that while work experience served me well, after my lucky start, I soon met lots of frustrated graduates who found it tough to get into their career of choice and had no guidance, or working in appalling environments where they were just told to get on with it and quickly became disengaged with the world of work.

Jessica, if there are any graduates out there that find themselves in the wrong job, then hopefully your story gives them hope, but how did you go about deciding that you couldn't bear it any longer and how did you start investigating your career change? What was your thought process and what steps did you take to get into your new role where you finally found your career satisfaction?

How do you nurture talent?

Spring — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:33:57 GMT

Any thoughts on how to nurture and grow talent in a downturn? Feel free to challenge and ask me any questions.

Email communication - is it evil?

Ian Buckingham — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:37:57 GMT

How do you prefer to communicate? Is email evil? Do you prefer face-to-face, or are you addicted to your Blackberry?

National Staff Dismissal Register | Guilty by database | Speechly speak

Matthew Whelan — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:38:48 GMT

Watch out for the latest Speechly speak column Guilty by database. I look forward to hearing what you think.

Recruiting and retaining Social Workers

Ali — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:16:31 GMT

Hi there

I am working with a local authority for the next year to look at how to recruit and retain social workers - specifically in Children's Services.

I am keen to create a network of HR professionals who have a responsibility for this within their own organisations and would like to share new ideas and best practice.

Many thanks, Ali

ali.hackettconsult@yahoo.co.uk

HR director? Nah, I'm a revolutionary

Editor — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:19:54 GMT

Filth columnist,

You write in your opinion piece 'HR director? Nah, I'm a revolutionary' that CSR should report into HR, yet, a whole load of HR people don't even know where CSR sits within the organisation, let alone get involved in the various environmental committees springing up in their organisations, so how realistic is your comment? Also, what other wake-up call messages should you be sending out to heads and directors of HR that aren't joining up CSR with HR?

Cheers,

Natalie

Executive Selection, Risk Management and Governance

Russell Connor — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:32:18 GMT

With the bursting of the dotcom bubble and the subsequent fall from grace of many large institutions, the management of risk and responsible corporate governance became the “name of the game”.

However, only a few years after the topic of risk and governance became the board agenda, there has been wholesale value destruction in the financial services sector and the subsequent credit crunch.

It is my view that those responsible for risk managment and governance have left the most important item off their agenda. Namely, the adequacy of the senior management to create sustained success in conditions of uncertainty. If Boards, non-executives and others really want to manage risk to their long term viability and share value, they need to turn their attention to talent management, succession and selection processes. Not only are clear succession plans required which identify the replacement CEO, but also there must be a clear talent strategy that fills the leadership pipeline and ensures that the organisation has the management capability it deserves.

One thing is certain, the credit crunch is going to increase CEO churn and we will see more executive failures. What else does it take to get a board to put executive talent onto the risk management and governance agenda? An article that I have written relating to this can be found on my blog, http://global-profiling-system.com/blog/?p=5/