It’s around 15 years since I ran my first workshops on remote working and “Managing remote workers”. The company was looking into how it could cut office costs, but the Managing Director and others on the board were nervous about letting people work from home. They wanted to know how they could move to remote […]
Read MoreAre there too many business experts?
The world – and LinkedIn in particular – seems to be full of business experts. People who have the ultimate solution to your problem, whether about leadership, coaching, sales, hiring, AI and technology, and countless other issues we all face as business owners, employees and individuals. Some of them, no doubt, have earned their expert […]
Read MoreIf 2% of your staff drive value in your business. Do you know who they are?
Talent Wins, the book by Dominic Barton, McKinsey&Company’s Managing Partner, suggests that as few as 2% of your workforce create the most value in your business. And those people are not necessarily in the top-tier of your organisation chart. So, do you know who they are? Those crucial people in pivotal roles can be the […]
Read MoreRetail design and marketing jobs LinkedIn Group launched
I have received many calls in recent weeks from talented people in the retail design and marketing industry who have lost their jobs. I suspect the number will increase – and we know there are relatively few new opportunities in the sector as firms look to find their way through this year. This has always […]
Read MoreLockdown Employment Survey – the results
Almost 1200 people completed the bfpeople Lockdown Employment Survey during June 2020. We received responses from most industries and most job roles – people who were employed (working on site, working from home and furloughed), self-employed and unemployed. Their views offer a snapshot of employment in Lockdown Britain in 2020 – more than 99% of […]
Read MoreLeadership coaching topics: the most common leadership challenges
We looked at the leadership coaching topics that are most frequently covered with our executive coaching clients. These are the most common leadership challenges that we deal with in working with new and experienced managers and leaders in a range of industries. It gives a clear indication of the competencies and skills that sponsoring organisations […]
Read MoreDoes the truth matter anymore?
Does the truth matter? Mark Twain once wrote “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” That’s a fine attitude for a fiction writer, but for most of us who work, run businesses, or are in public life, it has generally been considered that being “economical with the truth” is not […]
Read MoreHow to prepare for psychometric tests
We are often asked how to prepare for psychometric tests. The answer depends on whether the individual is referring to ability/reasoning tests, situational judgment tests or personality questionnaires. “Psychometric test” is a term often applied to all these, although not all psychometric exercises are “tests”. However, it helps to understand what you are being asked […]
Read MoreYour leadership style: the key to succeeding as a manager
“What’s your leadership style?” It’s a common enough interview question. But the answer is rarely insightful, or helpful to the interviewer. “I have an open-door policy” or “I’m tough but fair” are frequent responses. Those stock answers may well satisfy an inexperienced interviewer, but they tell us nothing about what your actual leadership style is. […]
Read MoreThe truth about “great” interview questions
There’s a lot of nonsense spoken, and written, about interview questions. A recent LinkedIn post about how “great” the “sell me this pen” question is, had accumulated 36,513 likes and more than 2500 comments at the time of writing this. Of course, it’s not a great interview question – unless you want to hire someone to […]
Read MorePsychometric and behavioural assessment: just a snapshot or a real insight?
I’ve always described the assessment process to participants as “taking a snapshot” of them. A good psychometric and behavioural assessment is a study of their observed and recorded behaviour at a specific moment in time. This might be how they responded to the questions in a personality questionnaire, what they said or did in a […]
Read MoreGDPR – How it affects you and what we are doing
GDPR – what is it? It is likely that you will be aware of GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation), the European regulation that will replace the Data Protection Act from May 2018. At its heart is the need for organisations to be more transparent about how they use personal data in their business. This […]
Read Morebfpeople sponsoring APSE Award
bfpeople is delighted to be supporting this year’s Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Annual seminar. Held on 6th and 7th September at Oxford Town Hall, the seminar brings together speakers, exhibitors and delegates to showcase the latest in local government developments. In addition to exhibiting over the two days, bfpeople is sponsoring one of the categories in […]
Read MoreLeadership: how important is looking the part?
How important is looking the part when applying for a new leadership job? This is a subject that comes up often when working with employers during recruitment projects and with individuals who are seeking new roles. We all know that clean and pressed clothes for an interview is a basic requirement, but does it go […]
Read MoreER International Meeting in Moscow
The latest board meeting of ER International, an integrated partnership of Human Resource consultants from across the globe, recently took place in Moscow. ERI operates as a global Executive Search network for cross-border projects. This ensures local expertise and support for any company seeking to recruit overseas. Through a strong network structure and cooperation between […]
Read MoreDesigned an organisation-wide bespoke assessment centre process
This leading food products group has several factories across the UK. Each plant has its own General Manager and a HR Manager, responsible for local recruitment. The group wanted to standardise its recruitment process for all management level staff, and required the design of a bespoke assessment centre approach to replace the variety of techniques employed across […]
Read MoreHas the assessment centre had its day?
If you’ve ever watched The Apprentice you’ll know the format: “candidates” complete a series of work simulations to establish the most suitable for a new job or business partnership. It might make good entertainment but, as a selection process, it has rarely been successful. The problem is that the assessment process has not changed. The […]
Read MoreAre your interview questions a strength or a weakness?
One of the most used interview questions is “What are your stengths?” This is closely followed, of course, by the inevitable, pointless, question about weaknesses. These stock questions reveal little about candidates, who are mostly well-rehearsed and trot out equally stock answers… How many times have you heard that your candidate is “a perfectionist” or […]
Read MoreFirst interviews: 6 tips for the perfect match
It’s Valentine’s Day and there’s no rest at bfpeople towers as we continue our work in finding leaders and developing talent – creating more perfect relationships in the workplace. The path to the perfect long-term hire, like the path to true love, is rarely easy going and it’s often said that the first interview is like […]
Read MoreWhy is it so hard to keep your new year resolutions
Can you keep your new year resolutions? It’s a brand new year and many of us will have resolved to make changes this year: to “get fitter”, “lose weight”, “be more confident”, “have a better work life balance” or “get a new job” are typical examples. If you have made new year resolutions, you’ve probably […]
Read MoreAre your candidates committing CV fraud?
There is a lot of CV fraud around… Tonight, the BBC Apprentice show has its infamous Interview round where candidates are grilled about their career history and business plans. Audiences delight in the fiction exposed in the candidates’ CVs and their boastful brags being shot to pieces as the candidates squirm and try to explain […]
Read MoreHow do we plug the creative skills gap?
Matt Hancock, the government minister responsible for the creative industries, spoke recently (read his full speech here) about how important the sector is to Britain’s future. He promised ongoing commitment to the industry and this is good news, of course. But his speech comes at a time when skills are diminishing and good people are […]
Read MoreGetting value from psychometrics in recruitment
I’m frequently asked about the use of psychometrics in recruitment. I hear a range of views and a good deal of scepticism about their use. Whatever sector of retail you’re in, you’re likely to need leaders who are smart, innovative, flexible and great with people. How do you assess candidates against these qualities in an […]
Read Morebfpeople joins global network
bfpeople has been selected as the sole UK member of the global network of Executive Search and HR consulting firms, Executive Resources International (ERI). Established in 1992, our partnership serves all major international centres. The strong network of trusted associated companies means that we can manage global appointments with local search expertise vacancy. Our invitation […]
Read MoreSpending your recruitment budget wisely
“Do you use Powerpoint?” “Yes. I do.” “Great. Because this job really needs an advanced knowledge of Powerpoint to design and make presentations to staff and the board. Um… Er… How are you on Employment Law?” It was at this point that I splashed my coffee in the lounge of a well-known Business Centre just […]
Read MoreDeath of a (good) salesman?
Having just spent several long days at a sprawling trade exhibition, I’m left with the sense that good sales skills are harder to find than ever. It’s seems that we really are witnessing the death of a (good) salesman to paraphrase Arthur Miller. New business is tough to find. Almost every company I speak to wants to […]
Read MoreRecruiting a full sales team
A B2B supplier of high value, capital goods asked us for support in recruiting a team of sales people for a specific project. The business was launching a new range and needed to rapidly increase awareness and achieve penetration in its target market. We were asked to suppor the compnay in recruiting a full sales […]
Read MoreWhy is it so hard to recruit good candidates?
Despite the economic uncertainty, some notable business failures in the industry and the vast increase in candidate registrations on CV database websites, many organizations find it difficult to attract and recruit good candidates. This is nothing new. Companies have always had to compete for the best, but there was a time, when I started as […]
Read MoreSales training for technical specialists
How we provided sales training for technical specialists without calling it “sales training”. When a large software company decided to move the responsibility for selling maintenance and upgrade packages from the sales team to the technical project management staff, it didn’t expect the outcome. The board of directors decided it was important to keep the […]
Read MoreBad sales calls
It’s early in the morning and I’m in the office – the only one here. The office phone rings, so I answer it: Caller: “Mr Hamilton, please”Me: “Yes, that’s me.” There follows several minutes of scripted monologue from the caller about how I “can’t afford to miss” the opportunity of entertaining 10 guests at a […]
Read MoreRemote working: Food for thought or recipe for disaster?
Flexible and remote working is a topic that is often in the news and a Virgin Media Business Survey shows, not surprisingly, that “most employees would prefer working from the comfort of their own homes.” There is also a big drive from the government to extend the right to request flexible working for a wide range of […]
Read MoreA sensitive leadership restructuring
The one where we managed a sensitive leadership restructuring process A public sector organisation needed to undertake a significant leadership restructuring at the most senior level, bringing about major change and reducing the headcount of the operation. In a changing political environment and with drastically reduced funding, it was clear that “what worked before” for […]
Read MoreCreating a talent pool
The one where we created a talent pool of staff to build capacity A UK university had an ongoing requirement for high quality administration staff for the various faculties and departments across the large organisation. It found it was advertising for the same types of skills in the local press every week with considerable duplication – there […]
Read MoreImproving leadership effectiveness
When the management team got more than they bargained for.. The new Managing Director of a large manufacturing group requested our help in understanding and improving leadership effectiveness among his board and senior management team. It was important to begin with a full understanding of each of the individuals in the team – their strengths, preferred styles […]
Read MoreResolving office conflict
When the MD nearly fired the new Sales Director An IT Consultancy appointed a new Sales Director. It quickly became apparent that there was a clash of styles between the Sales Director and the existing Operations Director. Their frequent conflict, and the tension this created, began to affect staff and other members of the board. It also had […]
Read MoreAre you “untouchable” at work
Jose Mourinho has said today that none of the Chelsea football team should think they have a permanent place in his team selection, saying “At this moment I don’t have untouchables.” Mourinho has been talking about “untouchables” for at least 9 years: in December 2006 he said: ‘Claude Makelele is untouchable because of the way […]
Read MoreCompany values and mission statements – do they matter?
Do company values and mission statements mean anything anymore? As another highly successful and previously exceptionally well-regarded business – this time an auto manufacturer – is in the news for the wrong reasons, it’s a reasonable question to ask. We have witnessed heads rolling recently at many successful businesses –Deutsche Bank, Tesco, Petrobras and Toshiba are […]
Read MoreAssessment for reorganisation
When we made sure a reorganisation didn’t lose good people. When making cuts or restructuring, it’s possible that you might have to lose some good people along the way. However, it’s important to check that you are making the right decisions. Otherwise you run the risk of throwing the baby out with the bath water. A […]
Read MoreA tight recruitment brief
When a client needed specific skills in their new appointment. A high profile Business to Consumer service organisation was recruiting a Director of Communications and Customer Services into a “lion’s den” of an appointment. The company was making the headlines for all the wrong reasons, there were significant industrial relations issues and customer satisfaction was […]
Read MoreHow soon do you fire a new employee?
How long do you give new members of staff to perform? It’s a question I get asked frequently when recruiting and on-boarding new people into organizations. The easy answer is that “it depends”, but what are the factors to consider when making that crucial judgement call on individuals. Trigger happy society? In recent times there […]
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