Ramp-up Rathling - High Volume Talent Strategies

Ramp-up recruitment is a niche sector and not for the feint-hearted! I am not talking ten or twenty roles at a time, I am talking hundreds!  This weeks blog has been written to help those companies out there who have seasonal requirements and regularly have to ramp-up their headcount to cope with demand, such as increased call volumes, or winning new contracts meaning a spike in the level of staffing required to deliver for customers.

Expect Talent has become a leading expert in the field of 'Ramp-Up Recruitment' having recently completed a project for a global online retailer in the lead up to Christmas. Over 380 staff were recruited in 12 weeks across 3 languages, and this is a client who has retained us for the last 3 years in a row.  Another project we recently worked on for Bentley Systems in Dublin, saw us ramp-up a brand new Shared Services Centre from 0-130 permanent staff across 14 languages and 8 disciplines.

My top tips for companies looking to increase headcount and ramp-up staffing levels: 

Tip 1 - Know where to locate a high volume of candidates, know your market and the type of candidates you are looking to recruit.  If you have a clear idea of what your target pool of candidates looks like and where to find them, you can generate a strong pipeline of potential recruits.  This applies whether it is for permanent or contract roles.  High-volume recruitment is about just that!  Having a high-volume of people to select from in the first place.  Once you have the volume you can start to select who would be best to hire.  You can use jobsites, social media, forums, your networks, recruitment partners and staff referrals to name a few.

Tip 2 - Have a solid back-office system and internal processes to manage the very high volume of applications that you will receive.  Ramp-up recruitment can be draining on resources, so if you plan to manage a high-volume project internally you need to make sure that you have a full team in place.  They will manage administration, handle applications, responses to candidates, interview/assessment process.  Expect a significant amount of workload and plan for it.  Applications per vacancy are much higher in the current climate and your company reputation is critical in managing future hires.  You don't want to become "the company that never gets back to people".  This can impact on your ability to become an employer of choice and this kind of word of mouth can affect future application levels.

Tip 3 - Have a solid screening process from the outset.  One of the ways to minimise workload is to ask candidates to jump through some hoops before you will consider them, that way you know who is REALLY interested in the job! We use a 2 page application form which over 50% of people never go on to complete.  That saves our team lots of time by only working with those people who are serious about the opportunity.  If the candidate cannot be bothered to complete a 2 page application form then it is a great indication of their work ethic. 

Tip 4 - Assessment Centres can be a fantastic way to determine the best candidates for the position.  When we hired our 380+ candidates in 2010, every single one of them went through a 2 hour+ Assessment Centre and interview process, in fact not only did these people go through the Assessment but the other 600 or so that did not make it through also went through the same process.  Managing this volume of Assessments is time-consuming but essential.  The quality of the candidates hired regardless of how many you are employing is of course paramount.  Having a robust Assessment Centre where candidates can come along, learn about the role and company and then take verbal and written tests to demonstrate their skills is vital.  We usually work with the client's existing format or can design and tailor-make assessment centres for our clients needs.

Tip 5 - Communication with all candidates throughout the project.  Regardless of the stage of their application is vital to maintaining a great reputation in the market.  Even if unsuccessful, it is important to ensure that all candidates are contacted with their feedback as to whether or not they are successful in the position.  Those that you hire will of course be delighted and the onboarding process through to the end of their training period must be handled in the correct way, however those who need to be rejected should also be treated with care.  This goes back to having a great system and great processes internally but can often get lost in the busy hiring period.

As I said at the start, ramp-up recruitment is not for the feint-hearted! It takes patience, expertise, a great project team and access to high numbers of candidates in the first place.  There are very few agencies who specialise in this niche part of the recruitment sector so I hope this blog has given you some insight as to what is involved in hiring quality people in high volumes.  I am starting to get myself the name "Ramp-Up Rathling" which is sticking with those who know me! I am more than happy to help advise and answer questions on this topic, even if you are not in a position to call in the experts.  Please post your comments below.

Mairead's Story to Help Graduate Jobseekers

Last week I wrote about the amazing team at Expect Talent, so this week I am going to introduce you to our newest team member Mairead Collins.  Mairead has written this week's blog to help all graduates out there who are currently looking for a new job, her story will inspire and motivate you to take action.  

Mairead: "Let me introduce myself, my name is Mairead, the newest Talent Manager in Expect Talent.  I graduated in 2010 with an honors Degree in Business and Hospitality. Graduating in the height of recession is obviously not easy, and getting a job in the field where you would like your career to progress is next to impossible or so I thought last June (2010).  Like many of my peers I applied for countless positions online every day, most of them getting no response, and when I did receive a response it generally said “sorry you do not have enough experience in this area" and the famous last words “we will keep your CV on file and should a position arise that is suited to your experience we will contact you “.

By the end of the summer months I was getting extremely disheartened about this and knew I had to do something in order to get my career started. I decided to search for an internship and I was very lucky to get a HR internship with a Global IT company called EMC, based in Cork. Here I got so much experience in the area of HR and Recruitment, learning from brilliant people with great knowledge and the experience I gained was invaluable to my career. 

As a result of this experience, I have now got a fantastic new position working with a great role model, and a great team, gaining even more experience in HR and Recruitment.  If I was to give any graduate advice for the future, internships are the way to go. Working in an unpaid position gaining experience is one of the best decisions I have ever made as it shows future employers that you are dedicated, motivated and interested in getting gaining experience.  Having this on my CV helped me secure my current position."

Mairead interviewed for the job at Expect Talent alongside 5 other candidates for her role as a Talent Manager.  She was selected because of her drive, commitment and dedication shown through the fact that she was willing to work for 5 months unpaid just to gain experience in her chosen field.  She also demonstrated a high level of proactiveness and a strong fit with the core values of our business.  We look forward to developing and upskilling Mairead and helping her to achieve he personal and professional goals.  If you have any comments or questions for Mairead please post them here.  

Having a Brilliant Team - Hiring Strategies

When I asked my team for ideas on a topic for this week's blog, they suggested I write about our fantastic team!!  Brilliant, what a great idea.  So I started to think about what makes them so brilliant at what they do, and how could the way that we develop our own in-house staff help others who might be reading this. 

1.  Hiring from outside of your Industry

Very often clients ask us to find them candidates with a number of years experience in their industry. However, this is not always the best route to finding the best talent.  All of my recruitment team have previously NEVER worked in recruitment.  Why? As you will know by now, the way we look at the whole industry and work with customers is so different from all other agencies that it would take far too much time to untrain bad habits, and the fact that we do not incentivise our recruitment team with commission does not suit or appeal to people who have already worked in the industry. 

I always look to hire people with a passion for excellence, a high level of customer service and strong account management skills.  Attention to detail and strong multi-tasking and organisational skills are critical.  Attitude, Attitude, Attitude.  Do you need to have industry experience to become an expert recruiter?  With the right training, environment and support of course not.  The same applies to many industries, companies are often missing out on great talent by only sticking to people with their own industry background.  So next time you go to hire, think outside the box.

2.  Win Happy

I heard the theme for 2011 of great Cork PR company this week, it's "Win Happy!", its not just about the revenue its about the happiness and fun factor of the team too.  The happiness factor and the motivation levels of any team are closely linked to productivity.  We have a staff happiness survey each quarter, and we measure our teams happiness factor.  This for me is what makes our team so brilliant, we have fun regardless of how busy we are, its great to be around happy and motivated people who love what they do.

3.  Commitment & Dedication

Over the 5 years we have built up a great team of Talent Managers and Administrators, their commitment to us as a business and their dedication to our candidates and clients is second to none. Without the team we would not be anywhere near as successful and for that I am extremely grateful.  The "above and beyond" mentality of every one in the team, means that we can deliver great results and be very flexible to clients demands.  This attitude is so important to any company and contributes hugely to the business. 

4.  Development Opportunities

A lack of opportunity for progression is often the reason people leave a company, so the development of my team is critical, giving them opportunities to learn, to upskill and to develop on a personal and professional level is vital to retaining the great talent that we have.  I want to help them all achieve their goals in life, and if the business can make that happen then all the better. 

5.  Celebrating Success, Reward & Recognition

Each member of our team has a "Success Diary", they record their successes no matter how big or small and the first item in our team meeting agenda is each person sharing one success from the previous week.  By focusing on the positive, we attract more great successes, and this keeps everyones mindset in a good place.  We recognise and reward in ways other than commission, surprise vouchers, team nights out, our famous "Friday Club" - team lunch on the house every week, and social time together outside of work.  Celebration of Success and feeling part of something special is what helps to make a brilliant team.

So this is my opportunity to recognise and thank all of my amazing team members - Julia, Margaret, Chris, Jackie, Pablo, Mairead, Caitriona, Lucy, Una, thank you for everything that you do, this business would be nowhere without your hard work, commitment, dedication and great talents. 

How do you develop your team and would you ever consider hiring people with no experience in your industry?

How Internships Can Be a Strategy For Hiring Talent

As a business owner, when I first started out, I was wearing lots of hats! Trying to do everything and struggling to focus on I was actually supposed to be doing to grow the business. So I hired an intern from Interconnection (http://www.i4b.eu/), back in 2005, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.  Dounia went on to become our first employee, as Administrator and is now a PA for a senior Director in a Cosmetics company doing very well in her career.

Many internships are funded by colleges or universites and the interns come fully insured, usually free of charge to the company.  Since 2005, I have had 17 interns come through my business, from France, Spain, Poland, Germany, Austria and to date I have actually hired 3 of them!  Today's blog will give both angles - one from the candidate perspective and one from the client perspective and show you why Internships are a great strategy for your career or business and a path to great talent.

There are some great organisations out there who help people with work placements and internships such as the National Learning Network (www.nln.ie), who provide training and upskilling to those people who may otherwise find it difficult to gain employment.  They help people to develop the skills to move forward with their careers and are always looking for companies to take on trainees on an unpaid basis for work experience.

For Companies

If you are a company looking to grow your team, but not in a position to hire someone on a full time permanent basis, you should talk to an internship specialist.  I recommend that you take on interns who are looking for a 3-6 months placement as the time you will invest in training them will be worthwhile, although some interns come for 4-6 weeks. 

I have had interns in my own business help me with data entry, web research, reference checking, sourcing candidates, reporting, PA work and more... Interns are looking to learn the skills they need for the world of work, and they are looking to apply their knowledge from their education.  What better way to give something back and help someone launch their career.  

You may find that the person is brilliant and you can go on to offer them a job, leaving you to focus on what you should be doing!  Whether you are a company large or small then Internships is a path to hiring great talent.  I have just hired a fantastic new team member, who has been working in an unpaid work placement in HR, to gain experience.  Now she has a great job related to HR, Careers and recruitment which is what she wants to do. You can try before you buy with an internship student or work experience placement.  

For Candidates

If you are a job-seeker, then offering to do work experience or an internship with a company, even if you are not being paid is a great idea.  You will get to make valuable contacts in the company at all levels, so even if they are not hiring now, show them what you can do and they may just call you back in when the next job opening comes up. 

You can put the experience on your CV and you will learn new skills in any work experience placement.  An internship very often can lead to a dream job, or can help you refine what career you want to pursue.  You may think that you want to go into a specific industry, but the work experience will soon give you exposure to the reality of that particular field and you may decide to take a new direction. 

I did some work experience in London at 18 years old, in a Marketing agency, and within a week I was being offered a dream job! This launched my career and was the best strategy to get into a competitive industry.   

Has every single intern been fantastic, well no of course not, but I have learnt to really guage their level of interest in the company, the industry I am in and their reason for wanting to do the placement before accepting them into the company.  If they are a match, I then align their career goals with what I can offer them and give them tasks which fit with their goals.  It has to be win-win-win for everyone and you need to dedicate time to training them so that you can both benefit from the experience.

I would love to hear your own views and experience with internships and work placements, so please feel free to leave a comment below.