Flowers, Di Canio and Dymond - When will we ever learn

We used Psychometrics - Why did it go wrong?

As many will have seen this week, numerous articles have been published regarding the recruitment of Paul Flowers at Co-op, George Dymond at Morrisons and the hiring of numerous football managers who were completely wrong for the business or left extremely quickly with the use of psychometrics being quoted in a number of them as a key reason for the hire.

Recruiting a Chairman of a bank with no previous banking experience on the basis of his leadership and previous board credentials might be seen as foolish, especially following the numerous reports into the financial crisis which stated that one of the key drivers was leadership that did not understand the products or risks within the system.  One does feel that the job description was far more people and behaviours focused rather than domain experience.

Bringing people in who leave within 3-6 months because the job was not what was envisioned demonstrates a lack of desire by the organisation to  fully understand what their needs are at the outset by either failing to outline the role or environment in which candidates will work; of course being blinded by one of the many recruitment fallacies such as halo, mirror, PLU or their background can also be reasons why the wrong person is hired.

What this overlooks is the key reason for hiring a headhunter or recruitment specialist, to advise, design or oversee the process, challenging either the board or the leadership team that they hire the right person  for the role in a proper selection process. Given the recent scenario at Sunderland with Di Canio, one does wonder whether they assessed him at all in their selection process or just went with someone who they thought brought credibility?

This brings us onto the other crucial role of a headhunter, fully referencing candidates both through the formal side of their CV but also by talking to others who have worked with them to understand their work style and limitations, coming back to the Di Canio situation, one feels a couple of quick phone calls to Swindon might have influenced the decision to Sunderlands benefit.

How boards and leaders design the assessment of the hiring process is something where the recruiter can bring a great deal of experience both through their structured interview technique, arranging testing, role plays and case studies through to advising on the decisions that they take.

Having a panel involved in the interview and assessment process can overcome shortcomings associated with having the same person making hiring decisions, however the panel needs to be balanced and not subject to groupthink or influence by the most senior person.

While psychometrics will have a key role to play in hiring especially when the team fit and motivations are key to ensuring that a person will be able to lead a group of experienced leaders and personalities, the focus of a recruiter should be on making sure that both sides are aware of the opportunities and constraints around the job, assessment is accurate and competently carried out, and the expectations should be clear for all when decisions and offers are made.

Psychometrics and aptitude tests have long been used to set benchmarks and give boards, leaders and hiring managers a good reason to rule people out but they should never be used as the only reason to hire without all the other checks and balances of a proper assessment exercise.

If any football clubs or banks wish to employ me in the search for their next manager I would be happy to talk to them!
What are your thoughts?

Thoughts from the LEP conference 2

So a quick review of the LEP conference today at Worcester Sixways, some great thoughts and ideas on how to improve the structural positioning of Worcestershire and how we can be involved.

Awesome overview on employment and skills especially apprenticeships from Karl at Thermo Bosch Group, I am a huge fan of this and can see real value especially where companies have significant long term contractors in the business that they could add real value by training apprenticeships up.  Great target of 10,000 by Karl and his team and well on the way to achieving it. If you are a business in Worcestershire, you should sign up for this!

Lots on younger people and skilling them up,I thought the focus on linking schools with businesses up was a really strong innovation and added real value, especially as it would help drive our youth to make proper career choices rather than blindly following a education route. I wanted to question on what the strategy for older people who need to reskill especially given the demographic in Worcestershire.

For more information on the 'Connecting Schools and Business Programme' and Apprenticeships then email enquiries@wlep.co.uk

A new service - Tweetups's, using twitter to organise meetings in the interval worked for me but not sure about others, but well done OGL computing Maybe put the WIFI password in the main room as well though as quite a few of us had to get it at the break.

Overall, I thought the LEP was going in right direction, I was shocked to hear about lack of inward investment capability,they have made a great start especially around the video and a brochure but needs significant work and ambition, I do think this is a key role for the LEP and needs to be in conjunction with the economic development arms of the various councils, but knowing how focused that Birmingham, Manchester and other cities are, while we will probably never punch at that level we should do more.

Finance - Not another one, how many more portals are there for SME's to find finance? I did have a great thought that we should look to follow the example of the Oxygen Accelerator model in Birmingham and start to attract innovative startups through new funding models though. If we focused this onto particular sectors such as food, green technology and cyber security we could really build some depth and strength there.

Brilliant examples of turnaround from Brintons and Holywell Malvern, especially the move to export internationally.

I did think that compared to what used to be the RDA, a little surprised at the lack of money they are being given!

Good strategy around clusters and sectors for the region and very true that while we need to work with our surrounding LEPs, they are really in competition with us for the same funds and workforces.

A good conference, and great to see Worcestershire finally uniting Business and government to drive the area forward, I look forward to next year and seeing what progress is made.

Hiring Locally vs Relocations

Should I recruit more locally? Thoughts from the Worcestershire LEP conference 1

I was talking with a HR manager today at the Worcestershire LEP conference about their hiring practices and recruitment when we touched upon the topic of localism and CSR; not your usual recruiter speak I know but I thought I would pen some thoughts that might be of use to other HR managers. 

1.     The Benefits of hiring locally:

1.1  Reduces Greenhouse gas emissions and improves health for workforce through the promotion of walking, cycling and car-sharing. Reduces stress in employees with long commutes.

1.2  As mentioned in Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (reference) each additional ten minutes spent commuting leads to a 10% decline in all areas of civic engagement; if you are a small village or town this can have a major impact.

1.3  Keeps money invested in the local community. The salaries you pay are likely to have a significant impact on local businesses; a multiplier of 3-4 would not be uncommon. When Longbridge in Birmingham shut down overnight, so too did many small business.

1.4  Fosters an engaged workforce through social activity. If a significant number of your workforce live close to one another they are likely to develop more engaged social networks.

1.5  No relocation costs. 

1.6  Reduced turnover of staff.  One of the key reasons people leave a job is that they are “fed up” with the commute, and whilst the age of homeworking is still developing, hiring people locally who are committed to the workforce and area will have a key impact on attrition.

1.7  On-going attraction. Referrals and attracting former colleagues are key factors of hiring in today’s economy.  Hiring local people means that they are more able to do this (unless you are a football manager and able to bring whole teams with you!).

1.8  Locals job-search locally.  People often begin their search for work locally resulting in the lower search costs on both sides and consequently, a greater chance of success in hiring and finding a new role.

Lots of positives for companies here to hire locally, far more than I had initially thought however before I get too carried away with the localism agenda, perhaps some thoughts on the disadvantages first.

2.     The Disadvantages of hiring locally

2.1  Restricts the supply of workers to the organisation. This can be especially important if you are in a service or creative industry using skilled workers that are hard to find.

2.2  May mean the local community are too reliant on one employer, as seen throughout the North of England when coal mining was shut down in the 1980's.

2.3  The costs of hiring may increase as the supply of labour within a radius goes down and employees bargain for greater salaries or rates. This can certainly be seen in London currently as salaries rise for particular skills sets especially in programming or programme management.

2.4  Settling for the available talent and missing out on the best talent.  Research has shown that recruiting top performers has a greater than expected impact on company productivity and growth.

3.     The impact upon your recruitment options

3.1  The type of job.  If the job is a permanent hire then going locally may be the better option; conversely contractors and FTC or temps may be able to travel more if the rate is higher.

3.2  The skill set needed.  If a job requires a particular skill set or expertise then you may need to look further afield, particularly if the role holder is a very rare skill.

3.3  Commuting.  Have you looked at travel time?  What would you call local? In London local may mean within a 1hr commute which can be as far as Brighton.  However, for somewhere like Worcestershire this might mean Central Birmingham to Bristol? Use tools like www.Mapumental.com to work out what are realistic commute times - you may be surprised!

3.4  Location. What is your location? Do applicants have to drive? Could they walk, cycle, take the bus or train? This may have a major impact on whether you are able to go further.   Recruiting in city centres may be a deterrent to drivers given the traffic delays yet may also attract more candidates as they will be better served by public transport.

3.5  What is the competition? If you work in a particular market or industry segment that requires specific skills i.e. optoelectronics or software programming, do you know where to find other sources of talent?

3.6  What is the level of the role?  The more senior the role the more likely you are to have to widen the search area unless you are in a major city. Even then I would argue that the more important the hire the less location matters and the more the emphasis is upon getting the right candidate.