Aaaargh – What can I do about counter offers??? Ah yes, the agony of a hard-won candidate being successfully counter offered elsewhere. It’s a personal hell that everyone in the recruitment supply chain will experience sometime (and given the market, probably soon). There are few things more dispiriting than the rejection, the wasted effort and the need to go again with less time, less resource and usually less enthusiasm. Here’s a little insight into how you can largely make this problem go away but first, let’s look at the numbers. Depending on the market somewhere between 5 and 20% of your job offers are likely to be rejected and probably 50 to 80% of those will be because of a counteroffer. Bear in mind that counteroffer might not come from the candidate’s current employer. These numbers add up to a huge amount of re-work effort and an awful lot of missed deadlines, goals, objectives and milestones. Worst of all failure to resource your business can result in further unhelpful resignations. See where the cost is now? Here’s the truth though, 9...

How many of your company hires are considered successful after 18 months? According to an article in Inc. published in September 2018 only 1 in 5 hires are considered successful after 18 months in post. 1 in 5 Hires are Unsuccessful The simple cost of that failure is enormous, but the complex cost of judging ROI reveals a truly terrifying waste of money. The bad news is further exacerbated by the problems liable to be created in the team among the people who do deliver. A bad apple and all that…. People leave people not businesses typically and an unruly team member sets an example that is corrosive, brings down standards and makes turning a team around even harder. Standards set by poor hires can become entrenched and trying to convince a new hire that they can be the change that’s needed can be tough, especially if things have been heading South for some time. So, two things: How do we deal with poor performers? And secondly… How do we hire great performers? Firstly, we can rely on the three f’s:...

Some employee turnover is natural, and often beneficial. It can bring fresh ideas, diversity, and new skills relevant to your evolving organisation. However, high turnover rates are often indicative of low employee satisfaction. Managing turnover rate is a business-wide activity, with business-wide implications. Many businesses calculate employee turnover rate while not understanding the cost of turnover to their organisation. Understanding the resources invested into an individual joining and subsequently leaving your business can influence your future decision making. The ideal rate of employee turnover for most industries is 10-15%. Our client case study identified turnover costing more than £300,000. Large turnover rates are concerning of course, but low turnover rates can be equally problematic. Employee turnover impacts your business in many ways: Financial implications and increased operating costsInability to capitalise on growth opportunities and expanding marketsCultural fragmentation.  Disengagement is heavily linked with employee turnover and can be caused by a number of problems. Understanding these issues is central to managing your employee turnover rate, then you can make necessary changes. Recruit the right people - do not accept mediocrity as a quick fix. You...

If you’re in the market for talent then there’s a very rapid change afoot you need to be aware of. Candidates have stopped applying for jobs! How about that huh? The tap that has slowed to a drip over the last few years has just squeaked shut and it’s not going to open anytime soon. The good news is they’re still out there. The bad news is they’re going to take some huge effort to attract, so where do we start?  Start with this: You’re not Google, Facebook or Apple You’ve not got money to burn. So, you’re not going to attract people just by dint of existing. The reason they’ve stopped applying? They don’t need to. They get approached and they have their pick of roles put in front of them. At every professional level. So now, you need to identify them. Put a very compelling story together to grab their attention and take some mind space. Court them and treat them with impeccable professionalism – and do it quickly. Follow through on every contact, your reputation is on the...

  We are often asked by clients what are the best ways to build a Life Science team. In the present circumstances, ensuring your team are all pulling together is crucial to the future success of your organisation. So, here are three useful strategies to help with team building. Meaningful Communication Communication on a regular, daily basis is an essential part of your strategy for building a cohesive team. Transparent communication – and remembering that communication is a two-way process – is vital to ensure high team morale. Consider setting aside time each week for your employees to talk to you one to one or having an open-door policy. Doing this will mean that you get to hear about problems before they become more significant issues – but also that you will listen to any ideas for innovation that your team may have! Software for Planning Having procedures in place will enable your team to focus on the tasks at hand, rather than spending too long on admin or updating you on their progress. Systems such as Basecamp and Monday are ideal...

I watched a black and white movie many years ago, I can’t remember the title of it, but it was about a newspaper and the hard bitten jurno’s that worked in it. The scene I really remember was when an old sage passes his wisdom to a new cub reporter and says something about the “6 Good Men and True” (nicked from the 12 of yore I would suppose) and these being questions – Who? When? What? Where? Why? and How?         The most important of which is – Why? The rest is data. The “Why” is the human story behind what’s has happened.   The same is true of our businesses. The most important message we send out is why we do what we do. Not what or how just why? Why is at the core of what motivates us to do what we do and the reason that we want to be better at it. It’s also at the core of why someone will join you, perform for you and enhance your business. If you don’t know why you’re...

…It says something that’s for sure and it’s good to know what that is. Running a business has its challenges but one that builds up in the background is an increasing inability to get hold of the right talent to grow your organisation. If you’re in a tight market (and who isn’t?) then there’s a good chance that there are impressions of your business out there that you might not be aware of. For me it means just this, are you taking care of what the employees and candidates past, present and future think about you?   Here’s how it works for candidates: Candidate A gets a call to attend an interview with company X – Candidate A is pleased. Candidate A is unsuccessful but isn’t contacted and given this news or any feedback – Candidate A is displeased. Candidate A tells Candidate B that they’ve just had a bad experience with company X. Candidate B listens. Company X calls candidate B to arrange an interview, candidate B refuses the offer of an interview. Candidate B tells Candidate C…and so on and...

There’s a very short answer to that: Enjoy your job. Here’s the longer one in a series of questions: Do I like the purpose of my company’s existence? Do I like the way it delivers? Are my colleagues the kind of people I want to associate with; do I admire my seniors? Does the company offer a career that aligns with my ambitions? When you get a yes to most of these questions then you’re going to enjoy your job and perform well. When too many no’s feature it’s time to leave. If you’re going for a job then this is what you want to know before you join, a question of due diligence.

Few organisations pay enough attention to culture but those that do actively manage it are on average, 30% more productive. That’s a huge dividend for any organisation but when you’re a young, growing business it’s especially important. The key to creating a high-performance company culture is having a road map. Know where you are now, know where you want to go and put the steps in place to get there. When you break it down there are four key areas that are very telling in mapping your culture: Collaboration versus Competition. How is your business positioned? Very collaborative or very competitive? Do people cut each other’s throat to advance or does everyone support everyone else in everything they do, all of the time?Structure versus Innovation. How innovative are you and does your structure prohibit innovation? Or are you all over the place, hugely creative but no structure for making it happen consistently?Where’s your energy being spent? Managing building the business and success or on constantly challenging situations and failure?How are your people feeling? Complacent or anxious, committed or stagnant? Finally, does...

Touchy feely, culture stuff does my head in. I’m not interested in how much fun you have in work or how many friends you’ve made there. I’m not keen to know that the company you work for has a punch bag, a bowl of fruit and an on-site bar (though come to think of it…). I don’t want to hear that this is a great place to work because everyone’s just so nice. What I want to know is: Does your culture make your business highly effective or does it hold it back? Are you productive or just hard working? In highly rated research on Managed workplace cultures, the evidence suggests that if you don’t manage your culture you are on average missing out on a 30% premium on everything you do. Buying / selling / creating / managing / rewarding / retaining / recruiting. In today’s market where competitive advantage is increasingly fleeting from a product or service point of view, having a high-performance culture is more important than ever. Short term gains are hard to sustain when bigger, richer...

Culture fit? What’s it all about? You know you can do the work and you’ve got skills in abundance on offer but what about the rest? So, you’re about to be interviewed and judged on whether you’ve got skills and the personality to fill the job. How will you know if the company will work for you? If you don’t do a bit of due diligence you could end up blowing a couple of prime years of your career. Asking questions is a key way of determining a company’s culture other than online research with Glassdoor and LinkedIn and it’s going to be central to your decision making when you get an offer. What questions would you ask to find out if the company’s a fit for you? Well, before we get to that, ask yourself what it is that you need? What do you really believe in? Engineering excellence? Customer service? Making people feel good about themselves or technical challenge, problem-solving, cerebral involvement in some of life’s greatest challenges?Are you someone who thrives in a busy, social open office or...

As a Life Sciences professional, it’s essential that you hire individuals into your team who will thrive, which in turn allows your business to grow. The ‘right’ hire can make all the difference, just as hiring someone who isn’t exactly what you’re looking for can be harmful to your team and ultimately your success. The Recruitment and Employee Confederation (REC) estimate that the cost of making the wrong hire at management level (with an approximate salary of £42,000) can be as high as £132,000 – yes, you have read that right. No business wants to spend any more time, resources or revenue than is necessary on their recruitment process. In an ideal world, you could make the best hire the first time around – every time. Unfortunately, in real life, it’s not as simple as that. But as a Life Science leader, there are ways that you can mitigate hiring problems and challenges in your organisation. High on the list is only hiring individuals with certain high-performing skills. Today, we share the 7 top qualities to look out for in your recruitment process...