tfpl blog

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.

The Annual Salary Review - a considered approach is called for

Author: Anne Ashdown
TFPL Intelligent Resources, Consultant

I was interested to read an article produced by the consultancy firm Towers Watson entitled: “Recession: Leaving a Trail of Insecure Employees in its Wake” . 

The effects of the economic recession of 2008/2009 have impacted all major market sectors. This has also coincided with firms moving to outsource more of their support functions in all the areas that TFPL Intelligent Resources has traditionally recruited in, namely analysis, research, library and knowledge functions.  These combined effects have had something of a double whammy effect on the confidence of our traditional client base.

But there is a clear shift in attitude happening now. What strikes me is an apparent concern about performance and the challenge of keeping up with the demands of growth, with a team which has been stretched, and possibly depleted, in the last year or two. The evidence is an increased number of requests from our clients, benchmarking salaries for roles that have survived the downturn.

There are recurring questions, so I thought you might be interested in considering our current view, if it’s your turn to benchmark:  

• Simply to benchmark today’s salary of an Information Officer, a Knowledge Manager or a Research Analyst as it appears on the open market won’t give you an appropriate measure of the level of salary that will be sustainable for the year ahead. In a number of companies, salaries have been frozen in the last two years, or employees have worked reduced hours in order to safeguard their roles. Don’t therefore look at current data and base any salary review on a token increase on this.  As soon as there is an up-swing in recruitment, (we think we see this now) then it's likely that good people will be readily poached to roles offering better prospects, be they financial motivators or incentivised to move for career development.  

• Retention of valued staff will become an issue again. Anybody with a management remit should consider the opportunity cost and financial cost of having to replace a member of the team who transfers their skills and experience elsewhere. A good tie-in for key staff could be a reasonable payrise to make the employee feel valued but also don’t underestimate the value of recognition, career development and training.

Clearly there has to be a commercial balance, so we’re not advocating sweeping pay reviews across the board.  However, the momentum in vacant roles becoming available across all disciplines in the market is such that employers should take heed and be sure to take a measured and considered approach to their salary reviews this year.  Retention of key team members should be high up on the salary review agenda, so save your overall costs in the medium term.

We welcome your experience and thoughts in this area and would like to share insights if this is a topic you would like to discuss with us

Careers in Competitive Intelligence

Author: Ivan Radulovic
TFPL Intelligent Resources, Consultant

Professional Effectiveness and Personal Improvement as a CI Practitioner Panel Debate - Tuesday 9th March from 5pm - 8pm

Have you ever wondered what will happen next to you and your CI career?  Have you ever wondered how you can make that next move?  Have you ever thought about how you can prepare yourself so that when that opportunity comes, you are confident enough to say “yes, I’m ready”?  Just as a business has to set out a plan for the future, work out its objectives and then craft a strategy which will enable it to achieve its objectives.  We have to do exactly the same thing if we want to make things happen for us rather than have things happen to us.

CI practitioners are a distinct breed of expert, frequently working across boundaries and outside of any normal understanding of functional structures.  They are typically self motivated, particularly good at keeping balls in the air and usually revelling in the erratic and sporadic nature of daily tasks.  This can all bring its own problems of course, in that the lack of routine sometimes means they begin to neglect their own development needs and there is a danger that they could stagnate. Trouble is, nobody else really understands them so they don’t know what to suggest either?  As with many other speciality roles, it is up to them to make their future happen.

TFPL Intelligent Resources is a proud sponsor of the UK Competitive Intelligence Forum which is to host an event which will address some of the above issues and hopefully get people thinking about their careers and how to put yourself in the driving seat to manage their progress.  We have four excellent panellists who will present their perspective on four different areas of the CI role.  They are:

• Martin Ainsworth has worked in both the public and private sectors including strategic management consultancy, investment banking and specialised financial services. He has managed and delivered services across a range of disciplines including Business Information, Knowledge Management, Information Technology and Market Data.  He contends that CI builds on the foundations of KIM to deliver analytical tools that are fast, factual and actionable.  He also delivers training in the UK on behalf of the Institute for Competitive Intelligence in Germany.

• Mary Banks has been a successful independent HR consultant for 6 years, specialising in leadership development, performance management, cultural differences and change management.  Her client list includes: GE, Royal & Sun Alliance, Aljazeera, Louis Dreyfus, Astra Zeneca, and Genworth.  She is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

• Andrew Cosgrove is an alumni of the Fuld-Gilad-Herring Academy of Competitive Intelligence. Currently an independent consultant, Andrew has 12 years experience using CI to improve senior level decision making at Mars, Incorporated and McKinsey & Company in Europe, Asia and the U.S. He has an MBA from London Business School.

• Andrew Beurschgens is practitioner at Orange and one of the Committee Members of the recently formed SCIP UK Affiliate, the UK Competitive Intelligence Forum.  He is a recipient of the Catalyst Award for his volunteer services to the profession.

The event will be chaired by Sheila Wright, a Reader of Competitive Intelligence and Marketing Strategy at De Montfort University, Leicester.  She is by far one of the most qualified authorities on the discipline’s application reinforced by her past elected role on SCIP’s Board, her numerous articles and workshops on CI as well as front-line practitioner experience.

To register for the event, please click here. The event is priced at £20 for SCIP (Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals) members and £30 for non-members.

Aiming High

Author: David Thew
TFPL Intelligent Resources, Director, Publisher & Content Provider Recruitment

Since September 2009 the Information Provider recruitment team has seen a slow but steady rise in demand for senior and executive management positions, either as a result of clients’ new business initiatives or to reenergize existing divisions. September saw the placement of the new Head of Sales at a company financial data group, an assignment won against stiff competition, and December saw the placement of the new MD at a food industry information group, an executive search campaign won through competitive tender. 2010 started with the placement of the new Director of Knowledge at the publishing arm of a major global professional membership body, effectively a divisional MD position which was won in competition with a major executive search house. Forward placements include the Head of Academic Publishing at the same client, a divisional director-level remit driving the global online and offline publishing strategy for the group’s flagship database business, and February has begun with three new executive management positions for a new publishing joint venture in Qatar.

2009 was a mixed bag for the publishing and information provider markets and 2010 forecasts remain cautious for many, but those companies able to operate on a genuinely international basis are looking at growth potential in non-US and/or non-UK markets and aiming to reduce their dependence on these markets to mitigate the impact of cost-cutting in 2010 and beyond. This should continue to present opportunities for us in executive search and senior-level recruitment, so let’s hope we can go from strength to strength!

Recruitment Demand feels “Steady as we go” in 2010

Author: Julia Hordle 
Director - Corporate Intelligence Recruitment

• Big picture view essential for Knowledge workers in 2010
• Innovation and process harnessed together are productive
• Employers striving to finding global/local balance

It’s definitely time to blog a little on the feel of the market place this year – inevitably, everybody asks...

The simple replacement hire is almost non-existent at the moment, as firms need a clear purpose to hire to justify head count. We are seeing a need for experienced heads with a portfolio of hard, transferable skills – project design, product development, the development of research & knowledge-based products and services – a steady stream of tangible products and outcomes required, derived from real business need. 

No matter where the demand is from, the common requirements seem to be these – evident client relationship management skills and an ability to research, analyse and present a business case, all in addition to the core foundation skills of the job itself. 

But there is also another factor all clients are looking for which doesn’t typically show up in the brief your recruitment consultant is given or the job description itself – and that this that potential employees must fully accept an organisation’s right to manage resources in more than one location and to contemplate change, with or without open consultation with its workforce. 

For this reason, I thought it was worth thinking about the visceral response of “at risk” individuals to the prospect & consequences of outsourcing and off-shoring.  

Understandably, organisations have had to look to cost reduction as a response to the uncertainty of trade confidence over what is now a prolonged period of global credit crunch. Make no mistake, your organisation will be continually looking for opportunities for cost reduction. Down sizing, M&A activity, automation, relocation of services all amount to a shake-up of the status quo. And this search for efficiencies doesn’t stop after the first functions have been resourced elsewhere. International firms have no choice but to look for the optimum location for cost as well as proximity to market, and a decision to offshore depends on the balance between the two.

As an employee, don’t be despondent if your career choices look compromised for the present time, and try not to allow sentiment to cloud your judgement, even if (understandably) you have an emotional response to impending change. Although many “vanilla” roles have been outsourced, one way or another there are still opportunities for knowledge workers with a commercial outlook and excellent communications and project or programme management skills. There is a clear demand for individuals with an international outlook who have taken responsibility for linking up or responding to the needs of more than one office and a variety of local cultures and client interest groups. 

If you are senior enough to have been involved in business and user needs analysis, then your fact-finding and primary research skills are definitely transferable – within your current organisation or outside it.

In the insight community, the overlapping disciplines of analysis & consulting, primary & secondary research, intelligence, how far can you push research beyond what already published?

In Knowledge & Information Management, how well do you really anticipate the needs of your customers?  How fresh is your thought leadership support, how tailored your content & web channels, how streamlined the library & information services?

In Records Management, how much could you help your organisation control risks, and keep the integrity of its audit trails? 

In Publishing & Content Provision, how much intellect is really going into your sales cycle and product feedback, or are you sales force on a treadmill?

The point of these questions, is that with the boundaries between disciplines becoming more blurred, it is people who can see what’s required and provide change and bridging solutions who are thriving.

Think about it this way. In a buoyant recruitment market, you might leave your current firm because their pace of change is too slow for your ambition. In this climate, it can work the other way round – your organisation’s ambition can leave you wrong footed. 

Because roles are evolving quickly, it isn’t always easy to identify alternative posts, if you face redundancy. But you can insure yourself against it by continuously stretching yourself and improving your skills, and by having “Plan B” and “Plan C” in place. 

If you find yourself affected by phases of transition (consultation for redundancy, for example) or corporate planning for finite timeframes, your best plan is to keep all your options open, no matter how much residual resentment you have about the changes afoot. Feeling you have a choice is important to your morale. Having seen some very good friends in the industry suffer through the aftermath of redundancy, there are a few tips:

• It is important to keep your “soon to be ex-employer” and your viable referees on your side. Many new opportunities come through old firm recommendations, and you should not queer your pitch.
• For this reason, no matter if you have had differences of opinion with colleagues, you need to work hard to maintain positive channels of communication with you old customers, line management and HR professionals
• It is never too early to contemplate alternative lifestyles and careers. This is not quitting, it is a deliberate option for widening the choice of next steps. It is also a method of consciously choosing to remain in your current niche
• Be clear about your own cost base; many people find the experimental aspect of taking contracts and testing new opportunities refreshing to their professional as well as their private life, but setting out on a year or so of contracting is a challenge to personal finances 
• Keep yourself positive by refusing to take redundancy personally
• Put any old prejudices to one-side – every opportunity is fresh and should be seen as new, even in a firm you are familiar with
• Go back to square one in developing a CV, make sure none of the good track record you have is lost through omission or false modesty.  

This brings me back to what you should expect from a good Recruitment Consultant. First of all, if you are in transition, you should expect more than short shrift. A good Consultant will help you dissemble your skills, and identify which are readily transferable. As your market value may well be in your knowledge and experience rather than in your skills on their own, make sure you have mapped these before you meet up. That way, there can be more time spent productively thinking ahead.  If you think you may be given a choice between redundancy package or new role, research the recruitment market before you enter negotiations into a settlement – you need to have a realistic idea of how long it is likely to take you to regain meaningful employment.

TFPL Intelligent Resources can’t create demand from nothing, but we do have an ever broadening outlook on the employment prospects for Knowledge workers worldwide. For us in 2010, we will be improving our coverage of specialised industry segments and also country and regional recruitment. A number of our Global clients report an inconsistency in the quality of recruits available for global roles in intended locations, and have had to think again. I think this means that for some enterprising individuals there will certainly be meaty international roles available in the UK, as well as for those brave enough to relocate.

Please respond to this blog with any anecdotes, supportive of these views, or contradictory – any anecdotal evidence of the state of the market is welcome!!

Break away from the "dodgiest dossier"

Author: Jason Ward 
Sales Manager - Publisher & Content Provider Recruiment, TFPL Intelligent Resources

On page 42 of The Times today, I read how an NYC based e-commerce start-up has used Twitter as a medium for job applicants who consider themselves "expert in social media" for a social media related digital marketing post.  Applicants have been provided with a clear set of instructions on how to respond (in such a way that demonstrates both their social media aptitude and their ability to follow instructions).

Using the normal method of recruiting: a CV along with a covering letter outlining skills, both factual and possibly fictional, our e-commerce start-up could be trawling through 100s of applicants for weeks on end. Their approach, however has been to use the media they want expertise in to filter out the wheat from the chaff. Could this approach be used for any role or was this a happy fit due to the nature of the role?

That got me thinking... so how about a sales role? How can you tell if someone can “do the job” and test that robustly as with this start-up in NYC?

• Read a CV and cover letter?
• Review their sales performance stats? So, who produced the stats... and the cover letter for that matter, how could you tell?
• Ask them to do a presentation, use psychometric tests? Both can be very prolonged and costly.

Think differently… make each approach to finding a new member of staff relevant to the role. For example, if you want a telesales person... Provide candidates with a date and make them call.

With a clear outline of the interview, you will be able to judge their telesales skills against your requirement by making them pitch for the job as they would for business. If they get past you, then they probably have what it takes to reach new clients in a meaningful way.

With the CV being described as the “dodgiest dossier”, a change in thinking is the way forward. Using competency matrix methodology, recruitment companies and organisations can filter applicants not based on how well an applicant can write a CV or a cover letter or perform at an interview but on how well they match up to best practice in your world.

Is the glass half full or is it half empty?

Loading up a search engine today I stumbled across an article with the title “10 safest jobs in a recession” .  The title alone was enough to catch my interest – are there any safe jobs in a recession these days?  Reading through the article it highlighted that UK unemployment has hit its highest mark in over a decade (2.38 million people).  This cannot be surprising news to anyone – I think most people have been affected directly or through friends, family or colleagues by the unstable economy.

So what are the safe jobs/sectors in which to work?  The article highlighted roles in Education, Health and Social Care, Internal Audit, Insurance, Energy and IT.  I wouldn’t disagree with this but the story does have a slightly different focus when you look specifically at Knowledge and Information Management roles.  

Over the past few months TFPL have seen an improvement in our market compared to the sluggish months of January and February but there are still lots of people applying for seemingly fewer opportunities.  People I am speaking with on a daily basis are having to face up to the harsh reality that despite solid experience and a strong breadth of skills and experience it can take longer than they hoped to find their next role.  As we approach the summer inevitably some are having to make the decisions to re-apply their skills outside of the sector.  

What does the future look like for someone looking for work?  On a daily basis I struggle with this, some weeks look more optimistic than others and as a Recruiter finding the balance between “glass half empty/glass half full” can be a challenge.  I do know that the skills and competencies I come across daily are still valued by organisations, they play an important part in helping organisations grow (both financially and strategically) and there will always be a need for them.  

My advice to those looking for work is stick with it, utilise your situation as a time to try something different, value your network and continue to build and develop it, be flexible and stay positive.  The worst is behind us.

Luisa Jefford
Director of Recruitment

Does the lack of top management understanding of the value of information services prejudice its judgment?

In our current economic predicament, for many of us, nothing is more uncertain than our future career direction.  This is especially true for the information professional. Earlier in the month, the Library + Information Gazette highlighted that information services, particularly in the private sector, are a "soft target" for senior managers in their drive to cut costs.  This was attributed to the probability that there simply is a lack of understanding - and thus appreciation - of what information services do and the impact of their reduction or loss until after the event. 

So how can this worrying gap of understanding be bridged? How should recognition of the value of information services be effectively driven through the, often multiple, tiers of management and home into the board room at this critical juncture?