tfpl blog

The Annual SLA Winter Warmer Pub Quiz

by Helen Trudgeon, Contracts Recruitment Consultant

 

Last week saw SLA Europe’s Annual Winter Warmer Pub Quiz event take place, once again hosted by professional QuizMaster, AskTony and kindly sponsored by Swets and the Financial Times.

SLA President and TFPL Managing Director Darron Chapman welcomed the 16 teams, made up of SLA members and friends, all eager to be crowned Quiz Champions 2012.  So keen were staff at TFPL, that we were able to field 2 full teams – the IDOX Idles and TFPL & Back - competing not only for the main prize, but also to take home the honour of being TFPL’s own internal champion. Purely in the spirit of friendly rivalry, of course.

The quiz kicked off with an investigation of our knowledge of recent current affairs, which perhaps left a little to be desired, but the room soon warmed up as we were asked, amongst other things, to identify obscure television adverts, to get inside the heads of Sun readers  and to spot price an eyewateringly obscure range of commodities.  Smartphones were sadly banned, but our team nonetheless managed to achieve modest success, based on a sound knowledge of Asda pricing and at least one mathematical genius who knew the current price of Brent Crude.

The final round remains memorable, if only for the noise of over 80 people singing along to Chas n’ Dave and the Rocky soundtrack.  Possibly with more enthusiasm than any inherent musical ability. Or perhaps that was just me.

The eventual and well deserved winners were the Film Club, captained by Mark Haines, whilst both of TFPL’s teams managed a respectable mid-table ranking, with IDOX Idles pipping TFPL & Back by just 1 point.  We are already anticipating next year’s re-match.

Ultimate winners the Film Club https://picasaweb.google.com/asktony.co.uk/Sla2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCJrUv8Dvu5285AE#5698928439449238770

https://picasaweb.google.com/asktony.co.uk/Sla2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCJrUv8Dvu5285AE#5698928397971520194

Recruitment Update: Agency Worker Regulations, by Tracey South, Recruitment Manager

The regulations came into force on 1 October 2011 and give agency workers the entitlement to:

-  the same basic employment and working conditions as if they had been recruited directly;
-  if and when they complete a qualifying period of 12 weeks in the same job.

We have taken immediate action to ensure compliance with this new legislation:

-  Updated all of our contracts and procedures in line with Recruitment and Employment Confederation guidelines;
-  Updated our recruitment system;
-  Worked closely with current contractors and clients to ensure that they are aware of these changes and how they will be affected;
-  Trained our team and have been out to various AWR conferences and events;
-  Ensured all new vacancies are dealt with in accordance with the AWR regulations.
It has been a challenging couple of months for the team but we're confident that we are well prepared and fully briefed.

For more information about AWR, you can go to the information page on our website. For information about contract opportunities, please contact Tracey South - tracey.south@tfpl.com.

Capitalising on Social Media – Recruitment in a Digital Era

by Luisa Jefford, Director, TFPL

The emergence of social and professional networking tools has had a profound effect on the way the world collaborates and shares knowledge and expertise.  TFPL, are more aware of this than most, we have daily contact with organisations and employees whose roles are to aid the transfer of knowledge, information, intelligence and insight within their domain. 

Having celebrated 20 years in recruitment this year I have seen the landscape change dramatically.  My introduction into recruitment was a folder full of CVs that got added to and searched on a daily basis by the Consultants, people were contacted, submitted and roles obtained. 

Working in a market where demand far outstripped supply there was little need to have a more pro-active approach when meeting your clients requirements, you matched people looking to recruit staff with people who were actively looking for work.  Fast forward 20 years and you are sitting in a market where there is a war for talent and the recruitment business is a competitive one.  People looking for work are and should continue to be prized assets for any employment business and having a strategy for attracting talent is vital for an organisation that wants to stay ahead of the competition. 

These days the competition comes in many guises and perhaps one of the largest impacts on the recruitment industry has been a sharp increase in people leveraging their own professional network to widen the opportunities available, combine this with astute organisations and their hiring managers effectively using a variety of tools and techniques as part of their talent management strategy and as the middle man you are in danger of being kept out of the loop. 

These tools include Linked In, Viadeo, Twitter, Monster, Facebook to name a few and reach an audience that perhaps aren’t always aware they are actively job seeking.   The power of a casual internet search for a new opportunity should not be underestimated by any recruiter.  These are the people we need to work hard to attract.  In addition they allow individuals to maintain contact with organisations and colleagues that perhaps would not have happened before the emergence of these tools. 

So in today’s world, with much talk about Recruitment 3.0, what should we be doing?  At TFPL we believe that the combination of our expertise, market knowledge and strongly developed professional relationships with our clients and a robust strategy for using social media tools and techniques is truly the winning combination. 

From a job hunters perspective these tools give you valuable market insight into roles that are being recruited and salaries being offered  but also offer organisational intelligence, who are the growing organisations and which industries do they operate in.  They should certainly be in your job hunting strategy.  However, it is worth remembering that a TFPL can and will offer you this and more.

At TFPL we use a variety of tools and techniques to manage existing relationships with our clients and candidates, sell our services, give distinct marketing and pr messages to a wider audience whilst remembering that doing all of this makes us more visible to our market place and also people sitting on the edges of current market.  In addition we also remember that doing this makes us more visible to the masses than a well developed website ever will, so quality assurance of our message is an important part of this. 

Implementation of the Agency Worker Regulations

The Agency Workers Regulations, approved by Parliament in January 2010 and scheduled for implementation in October 2011, implement the EU Agency Workers Directive 2008/104/EC, which grants to temporary workers finding employment through an agency, similar rights and entitlements to full-time workers within the same workplace, viz:

• From their first day, Temporary workers will gain the right to:
-  Equal use of collective workplace amenities
- Be notified of other vacancies at the hirer (client)
• After 12 weeks (which can only be broken by a six week break), Temporary workers become entitled to equal terms in relation to pay and holidays and working time rights.

There are several distinct exclusions and non-exclusions that will affect recruiters:

• Only genuine self-employed workers are not included in the scope of AWR
• “Self-employed” does not include candidates working through umbrella companies, who are explicitly included in the scope of the AWR.
• Managed service contracts are included

As such, some of our clients and candidates may need to be aware of their duties, obligations and expectations under the new rules.  All will have a role to play in ensuring the spirit and letter of the law are applied.  TFPL is working with the Recruitment and Employment Confederation to ensure that the way we apply the new rules is fair to clients and candidates alike, and that any changes take place with the minimum disruption.

Career Management Event at Henley

Author: Claire Valentine, Training Manager
TFPL Intelligent Resources

Last Thursday working with the Henley KM Forum we ran an event on career management.  Mike Palmer, Programme Director at Henley Business School opened the afternoon welcoming us all to the wonderful conference and training facilities they have directly next to the Thames.  Director of Recruitment at TFPL Intelligent Resources, Julia Hordle then took over to lead an interactive workshop looking at how better to manage your career.

She began the session by highlighting a very valid question – how often do we apply the business brain we use in normal work situations and challenges to the task of putting together a CV?  The lack of hands clearly showed that this important task is not something we take on with the rigour and objectivity we necessarily should.

A key part of planning your career is marketing of your personal brand and the best way to do this is through your CV, whether you are applying for a post or simply wanting to get yourself and skills noticed within your current company.  Julia pointed out that key aims for your CV should be that it is searchable, has time focussed relevance and clearly displays your skills using keywords that are relevant to your expertise.  We then went on to discuss the question ‘What is a CV for?’  Surprisingly we came up with nearly 40 uses of what a CV is for.  These can be broken down into communication and impact, self management tool, reference work, and an active agent to motivate you ready to hand, to respond to opportunities.

With such an important document that can be of value to you in many aspects of your career it is quite amazing that the majority of us tend not to spend a great deal of time thinking about its structure, relevance and how it portrays us to others.  The approach of digging out and dusting off your old CV, for example, and sticking your current role on the top is not the recommended way.  Your skills may have developed into a different direction over the years, so you need to look at it as a whole in order to show a fluid but consistent message of your current focus and motivations.  Simply sticking on your current job and responsibilities each time could leave you with a disjointed effect.

Before we moved on for some of the group to go into individual coaching sessions which were offered by the students of the qualification in Coaching run by Henley Business School, Julia left us with these final thoughts:

Start each day afresh,

Do not make assumptions on career paths or job roles simply from what you have heard or experienced once,

Be adaptable and flexible so that you can seize the opportunities as they come along

Using MBTI (a personality-type indicator) to improve communication and understanding

Author: Claire Fry
TFPL Intelligent Resources

On 24th November 2010 we ran a free temps training workshop presented by Ian Wooler, Knowledge Management and MBTI Consultant. The one hour interactive course focused on using MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) to improve communication and understanding communication preferences of others.

The course was really well received and feedback was excellent even from the ‘personality-type’ sceptics:

“I thought the presentation was interesting and can see how it would be useful in organising teams, and recognising how different people work.”

“I liked Ian as a presenter, he was really good. Very clear, easy to follow and engaging, with useful insights where needed... he puts you at ease straight away.   In terms of the topic, I'd never come across it before, and I've never usually paid much attention to personality trait types or testing, so I was quite intrigued. I found it interesting in terms of its history and where it's been used, plus the why. I quite liked the fact it was used for troops returning from World War Two. The most useful parts were probably the types of personality traits and how communication takes place, and the subtle differences between them, or how one complements the other.  I could definitely see aspects of that at work in a few places... good fun.”

A huge thank you to Ian Wooler for presenting his course and to all those who attended, it made for an interesting and enjoyable evening.

TFPL temps training – an introduction to SharePoint 2010

Author: Tracey South
TFPL Intelligent Resources

On 25 October we ran a free temps training event for registered temps on Sharepoint 2010 presented by TFPL consultant, Edward Taylor.  Feedback was that it was an excellent presentation, very useful overview and that it was interesting to learn about the many applications of the software. Candidates were from a variety a backgrounds some of whom were familiar with earlier versions of Sharepoint and could share their experiences, for others it was an opportunity to learn about a previously unknown product and its many applications.

Suggestions for future topics from registered temps are always welcome. Upcoming events will cover managing your knowledge, transferrable skills and CV and interview advice.

The past, present and future

Author: Luisa Jefford
TFPL Intelligent Resources, Director - Public Sector Recruitment

I can't believe how quickly the last week has flown by.  It's 7 days since  I delivered a presentation for my colleague Angela Abell . I was asked to  talk about Knowledge Management Competencies "Past, Present and Future" to NetIKX (Network for Information and Knowledge Exchange).

My presentation (which  I'm happy to share if anyone is interested) covered some of the previous outputs of the research which TFPL has undertaken over the past decade.  It highlighted that "Knowledge and Information Professionals" should position themselves as "Knowledge Strategists and Knowledge Specialists" to enable organisations  to become fully engaged and knowledge mobilised. This is a world away from the one of the very first  roles I ever dealt with as a recruiter at TFPL which was the cataloguing of McCarthy cards! How things have evolved in 15 years.

Does the effect of the economy have any bearing on this?  Most certainly, and whilst today I don't think "Knowledge and Information Professionals" should disregard positioning themselves as  "specialists " or indeed "strategists " it is increasingly obvious in my day job that they need some additional skills  to offer as and when required.   

The research outputs showed that as well as KIM and ICT expertise these additional skills include personal attributes and interpersonal, organisational and business  knowledge and having an understanding of what your organisations objectives and core strategies are. A melting pot or perhaps,  to paraphrase more effectively, a  'kit bag'  of tools that will ensure your profile and your value remains aligned to your organisational needs and requirements.

An enjoyable afternoon for me and I will definitely be putting NetIKX on my networking radar . 

Global Knowledge businesses: Large horizons, big ambitions, lots of compromise

Author: Julia Hordle
TFPL Intelligent Resources, Director - Corporate Intelligence Recruitment

Observation/ Spring 2010:

Galvanised into action by a comfort break in market crises, clients have serious business to pursue as well as root and branch re-structuring to achieve.

But globalisation and off-shoring has made the art of resourcing an international business more complex, not simpler, in the immediate term.

One client, in a rhetorical mood said:  “How do we find the numbers of people we need, with the sophistication we need, in the locations we need? ...the short answer is that this year, we can’t!”

Comment:

With seismic shifts in investment patterns and shifts also in trade alliances, no resource planner can be confident in establishing highly-engineered hubs in fixed locations, as demand for knowledge-rich roles ebbs and flows between continents.

So what does this mean for hirers and recruitment consultants alike?

• One global talent pool, but impeded eligibility to work, language barriers and cost of migration
• The need to appoint local experts to a global team, but to educate them quickly
• Compromise. If it is only possible to find a person with all the qualities and experience we need in a high cost location, let us enjoy having them in a convenient place.

Not for the first time, we are hearing more than one grand plan flummoxed because the experience talent planners imagined must be available in the offshore location, simply is not there.

I know the human race has improved online communications so we don’t have to be in the same room to share or confer. But the need to do business with someone we can laugh with, drink tea with and shake by the hand is still so important, especially for focused knowledge transfer and resilient business relationships.

It isn’t really the case that London has moved instantly from being an optimum location to one of last resort. There is still a huge amount of talent here, which superficially may look expensive but can be very cost effective.

What is TFPL Intelligent Resources doing to help our flummoxed clients?

• Reaching beyond the UK in our networking and marketing, to help you find talent overseas or attract professionals across borders.
• Cultivating contacts who can Connect geographies as well as special interest groups
• We make no assumptions when searching. We understand that some candidates can and will want to get on their bike, plane or train to find work.
• Due diligence to inform compromise if choices have to be made.

Does the location conundrum flummox you too? I’d like to hear from you if you are grappling with exactly this kind of issue.

The right CV for you

Author: Jayne Eaton
TFPL Intelligent Resources, Consultant

I ran a "taster" session on CV and interviews tips and techniques on Wednesday 28th April. I was joined by 8 Information, Knowledge and Records Management professionals and we all squeezed into the TFPL boardroom: the group, a mixture of people who are currently working, candidates who've worked for us in the past and registered candidates who are between jobs, brought their own CVs and we had a lively discussion about what we thought should and should not go into them!

 
We discussed interviews and exchanged "war stories" of our own personal experiences. It seems that even though alot of the content of the presentation was common sense, it's worth reiterating as for some, it's been a long time since they were job hunting and 'fashions' in CV etiquette and interview styles can change quite abit.
 
It was an enjoyable hour with constructive conversation and suggestions and from initial feedback it was a success with everyone who attended. I do hope to run another one in a few months as I've had feedback from other people who couldn't attend that they would like to come along to a future event.
 
In conclusion my final words to anyone putting their CV together :  It's a very personal choice as our session highlighted.  Choose a style that best represents your communication style and your thinking, remember it's a marketing tool to sell you in to an organisation and don't over complicate it.  Good luck with your job search.