Who started the War for Talent?

I’m not the first to decry the use of the phrase “War for Talent” (see for example this blog by Workable). While I’m sure nobody wishes to downplay the true horror and suffering that is war through the use of such a metaphor, it is rather an apt one for the current recruitment market. I’m referring not only to the blatant mistreatment of undervalued candidates, but the lengths that the “top” organisations will go to in meeting their objectives of hiring only the best talent.

What are you worth?

A few days ago I was reminiscing with my husband about a range of books we had both loved as children called “Choose your own adventure” (as in, Minecraft Story Mode is the new Choose Your Own Adventure). If you were a child in the 80s hopefully you will remember what I am talking about. The story was always an exciting adventure, but rather than reading about somebody else travelling to the bottom of the sea, fighting robbers or discovering hidden treasure, it gave the illusion that you were the central character. This was achieved by the device that when a certain pivotal point in the narrative was reached, the reader had to pick which path the story should take. Make one decision and you had to flick to a particular page to discover what happened next. Choose the alternative and you were sent to an entirely different page.

Leadership isn’t Hereditary

The latest book I’ve been toting around with me is Antonia Fraser’s two-volume history of Charles II. You’ll remember him, mainly because Parliament beheaded his father, forcing him into exile. Prior to this he was being schooled by his father the King (Charles I) in the art of running the Country. 

Potential vs performance

What’s more important to your company, it’s future or its past? Any business leader worth their salt isn’t going to think twice before answering. The future, of course. No matter how you’ve performed in the past, the future is going to bigger, brighter and better. You’re not moving backwards, you’re moving forwards. Your talent strategy is fully aligned to the vision, with targets cascaded throughout your performance framework, ensuring you’ll have the right people in place to deliver. Well, that’s great, but what’s missing?

Six Degrees

My story starts a little under 80 years ago, in 1936. It was the year that King George V died, and King Edward VIII both ascended to the throne, and then abdicated. It was also the year in which the controversial Summer Olympics took place in Berlin and was used by Nazi Germany to impress it’s ideas of racial supremacy. Now largely viewed as a strong pre-cursor to the Second World War, it is also lesser known as the first sporting event to be televised live.

Is Auditioning the New Interviewing?

No. No, no, no, no. Dear God No.

This was my initial reaction to the question emblazoned across the front of People Management magazine. Is auditioning the new interviewing? As if an interview wasn’t bad enough anyway, someone decided to add into the mix a requirement to prove, on the spot, some kind of “talent” (I use the word lightly).

The Housing/HR quandary: Hello, we’ve been here all along

Hello my name’s Helen and I work in social housing.

Until recently this seemed akin to a confession at an anonymous peer support group. We’ve been tarnished by the pre-conception of undesirables pushing their sofas into their front gardens in the summer, drinking from cans and decorating their affordable housing with patriotic displays.

The Collaboration Clique

At this year’s #CIPD14 conference I highlighted that I heard the word collaboration being dropped throughout a range of different sessions. The word isn’t new – it comes from the Latin collaboratio meaning “work together” – yet the use of the term has increased sharply, particularly since the early 1980’s.

While their meanings are almost identical, collaboration has a much more cosy feel than it’s usurped forbear teamwork.

2014: HR Year in Review

It’s time to say goodbye to 2014 and hello to 2015. This last year has certainly been an interesting one for Human Resources. After years of austerity, economic recovery finally seemed to slowly be making headway, leading to many employment issues being turned on their head.

The Apprentice

I’m pretty sure most of us dread those team building events employers tend to force us to participate in every once in while. Icebreaker style activities are definitely not my bag. I’ve sellotaped balloons together to make the tallest tower. I’ve drawn portraits, described myself as a biscuit and answered many many quiz questions. It was kind of fun, but none of it ever affected team dynamics in any way.