With a vast network of global contacts will help deliver the results you need to move quickly to allow your business to grow. All our consultants are experts within the industry they recruit into, using their knowledge and experience to find the best candidates for your vacancies. Sectors we look after range from Engineering to Accounting and Healthcare to Marketing, we will have someone to help with your needs.

Whether you are looking to recruit high quality permanent, temporary or contract employees in the UK or abroad, or seeking advice/information on any of our services, please call and chat to one of team.

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Our expert has given us some pointers on how to address the various issues. Currently acting CEO in an Interim role. His current remit is to grow the oil, gas and energy operations for the Group, a global engineering, EPC and project management company operating in the fields of Advanced Technology Facilities, Life Science & Chemicals, Energy & Environment Technologies and High Tech Infrastructure, having a turnover in the order of £3.5 Billion.

Before this he was the MD for Power Energy Sector OEM. Reporting to the Chief Executive, held full business unit P&L, responsible for integrating products into a full power plant EPC delivery model. With 10 direct reports, oversaw operations across Latin America, USA, Canada, Europe, Africa and Russia. Whilst in this role he delivered 3 EPC bids, total value in excess of £1bn.

Q: how do you take a company/division from turning over £500mil to £1bn?

I believe the above question is dealt below; Organisational Change has also played a major part in the delivery of success that has followed me, accept the need for change and adapting as market condition change. This should not be confused with organisational design.

From my own experience any effective marketing will always starts with a considered, well-informed marketing strategy. A good marketing strategy has helped me to define not only the vision, mission and business goals, but also outlines the steps I will need to take to achieve these goals.

The approach I have taken is to recognised that the marketing strategy affects the way I will/have run entire business since taking an executive role in 1994.

I view this as a wide-reaching and comprehensive strategic planning tool. With the marketing strategy, I have use this to set the overall direction and goals for the marketing, and therefore somewhat different from a marketing plan, which I see as outlining the specific actions that will be needed to implement the marketing strategy. From past experience I have used the marketing strategy to develop a look ahead for the next few years, while with the marketing plan I have used to describe tactics to be achieved in the current year, ie short term and helps to target the products and services to the people most likely to buy.

Some examples of marketing goals that I have used have been to include increased market penetration (by selling more existing products to existing customers) or market development (by selling existing products to new target markets). These marketing goals I view as being long-term and in the past have taken a few years to successfully be achieved.

Also, it’s important amend the strategy if external market changes occur due to say a new competitor or new technology, or if our products substantially change, ie research will have to be a continuing process and an essential part of the marketing strategy. It is important to keep an eye on your market so you are aware of any changes over time, so your strategy remains relevant and targeted and periodic reviews will be required throughout the year.

Other aspects of the research which is paramount;

• Using the market research to develop a profile of the customers we were targeting and identify their needs, etc,
• Similarly, as part of the marketing strategy I developed a profile of the competitors by identifying their products, supply chains, pricing and marketing tactics.
• This information was used to identify our competitive advantages – and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our own internal processes to help improve our own performance compared with the competition.
• I am also a great believer in the use of tactical marketing mix ie using the 5 Ps of marketing. Where I have used the right combination of marketing across product, price, promotion, place and people, where success was achieved in securing the sales.

Q: who are the 5 most important people you need around to make the above happen?

CSO, Sales Director, Marketing Director, Customer Managers, Product Director

Q: how did you align the business unit strategy with the boards vision

I’ve had the opportunity to work with some major blue chip companies where I have successfully bridged this gap, and i can summarise some off the approaches I followed, below;:
The first step was always to ensure that I and the rest of the board agreed upon on an accurate, meaningful vision and set of strategic objectives. Working with the Board it was important to work towards a vision that was both meaningful and clear so that it was easy to communicate to a wider group.
In a workshop environment it was important to challenge colleagues to ensure that the setting of objectives were specific. Therefore, specific insofar as the vision was both clear to both internal and external stakeholders. By this I mean that I was always mindful of the fact of staying away from motherhood statements. In fact, the vision had to be specific and commit the group to a path, i.e. commit to a course of action. In other words the vision had to serve as a motivator to the whole work force over an extended period and be achievable from this the strategy was developed ensuring alignment of all activities and initiatives. In other words, I looked at the target segments, geographic regions and channels etc, other points considered where such points like; differentiating ourselves from the competitors, how value/profit was to be created.

Was volume and cost-cutting make up for low prices? Was pricing extract a premium for premium brands? Ideally, when the exercise was complete, we’re people listening to the strategy description and were they able to say, “This plan will make money by____”. It takes no great leap to say, “Structure follows strategy.” Sometimes, however, I found that it was needed to undertake further diligence to ensure structural alignment when the strategy had been changed to a large degree. This need not be difficult: Sometimes it just meant ensuring that each initiative had a project owner in each business unit or assembling cross-functional teams. One last point communicating the new strategy using as many channels was needed to get the message across to all relevant stakeholders.

The final point to note is duration. The benefits of repetition should not be underestimated. I found that the power of repetition will typically seek to weave aspects of the firm’s vision, values and strategy into almost any communication, whether it’s internal or external. A one-time communication was never/not sufficient to articulate a company’s vision: It’s like sand through your fingers. Only repeated, consistent communication of strategy can turn that sand into concrete actions that everyone understands and executes together.

The foregoing I have applied as an executive since 1994 across the international markets.

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The fact is, the UK simply isn’t recruiting as many engineers as it once did; we’re falling far behind countries such as Russia, China and India in the number of engineers we educate. Recent reports suggest that those engineering graduates who are coming through are largely working in nongraduate or unskilled jobs, with less than half (46%) in jobs directly related to their degree subject within six months of leaving university. The latest CBI survey confirmed that the shortage of engineering and maths graduates is an issue for businesses, but also raised serious questions about the quality of those graduates.

As Sir James Dyson warned a few years ago, the country will soon face a desperate shortage of engineers ‘unless something drastic is done…about 22,000 engineering students graduate every year, but there are 37,000 vacancies this year and that will soon rise’. It’s feared that companies will begin to move abroad – 80% of all post-graduate engineering students are from outside the EU and take their skills away with them. The recent visa changes are making it that much harder for firms to recruit from outside Europe…so what’s the answer?

Two words: Staff Retention.

Although a moderate level of staff turnover can be healthy for a business, long term staff retention is important for three key reasons:

•  It’s essential that businesses are able to retain high-performing staff in order to maintain their competitive edge.
• High employee turnover can be incredibly costly, irrevocably damaging a business’ reputation in the market and leading to business being lost.
• High staff turnover indicates that staff are unhappy in the work environment; this can signify problems in the way a business is being run. Retaining staff helps you reach a greater understanding of what you’re doing right.

Are you worried how you can retain your staff? Time for me to give you some free advice.

According to research, the most common reasons for leaving a job are:

• Poor salary and/or benefits
• A lack of training and/or development opportunities
• Dissatisfaction with management and/or colleagues
• Lack of work/life balance

If this sounds like your work environment, you have the power to change it! Adopt a few of these simple solutions and watch your staff retention skyrocket:
Ensure any new staff being recruited have a realistic idea of precisely what the job entails.
Provide a mechanism for staff to register any grievances
Offer improved career development opportunities for all staff, including leadership training for managers.

REMEMBER:

Your ability to retain key employees is critical to the long-term health and success of your business; it ensures increased sales, satisfied co-workers and high levels of customer satisfaction. You’ll also enjoy more effective session planning and better-embedded organisational knowledge and learning.

Employee retention is one of the primary measures of the health of your organisation; if you’re regularly losing critical staff members, it’s a safe bet that other people in their departments are also looking for a way out.
So, to recap:
There are not enough experienced engineers to meet industry demand This has led to a war for talent in the UK, with many employers looking to Europe and beyond A cap on migrants from outside Europe is making recruitment from abroad difficult and leading to a further shortage Employers need to work hard at encouraging staff to stay with the business long-term.

As an engineering professional, you are currently involved in this war. If you’re working hard to recruit and retain top talent, only to find yourself losing the battle, that’s OK – I can help.

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Currently just finished an Interim role with a large Utility company as their Portfolio Strategy Manager. Before this she has utilised her expertise advising companies on market entry strategies, differentiation and positioning in Russia, Ukraine and the Caspian Region.

1. What is the most important aspect of developing a B2B strategy?

Success of most strategy projects is defined by understanding project objectives & expectations of project sponsors. Does it need to solve a “big problem, define sustainable competitive advantage, help in acquiring new customers or expanding in new markets? Who are the key stakeholders and what their expectations are? What do they need strategy for?

However, success of a strategy is in its implementation. Good strategy should consider internal strengths and weaknesses of a company and come up with an option which will help the company to achieve its aspiration. Bad strategy will remain on paper without practical application.

Thus, the most important aspects would be: Clear project objectives; Clear business aspirations Understanding of internal resources & capabilities; Understanding of stakeholders’ expectations and addressing them.

2. How would you advise companies on market entry strategies?

Market entry strategies depend on company’s commitment to invest and expected outcome or return on investments.

The usual approach is to start with the analysis of a market, a company wants to enter, and company’s capabilities/ technologies/ expertise. The internal and external environment analysis helps to identify business or investment opportunities which may be a strategic fit for the company or address business aspirations.

Sometimes, the analysis of the market may lead a company to make a decision to withdraw from the market or consider enter it later. This could be the case when a company does not want to take associated risks or return on investments is not satisfactory.

3. Any advice on the best way to attract potential investment targets?

I worked with both, investment seeking companies and companies with cash to invest in, and found that it is quite challenging for both parties to meet their objectives.

Keeping an eye on the market of interest ensures that a company is aware of any developments and may spot an early sign for an opportunity to invest. If it is a technology that a company is interested in, cooperating with universities, research centres and technology boards helps to be known to technology developers and be approached early for a request of investments.
It is important to have a clear set of objectives: amount of investments, expected ROI, type of investments, position, etc.

4. Who are the 5 most important people you to help make the strategy possible?

It is hard to define the 5 most important people, as it depends on a scope that needs to be covered. For a consultant, all people in the project steering board will be important and their views will be considered. If you do not get a buy in from one of the stakeholders and it falls on her or his shoulders to implement it, then even a good strategy will be useless.

5. Any uncertainties that could cause concern?

Quite often my clients have different ideas about strategy. At the beginning of a conversation I usually try to scope out what a company is looking for, what their challenges are, this helps me to understand whether strategy for them is defining ways to achieve a goal or whether it is something different.

Regular communication during a strategy development project ensures that any uncertainties are cleared and the project still meets client’s expectations.

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This period is often referred to as the Information Age. It comes at the end of an Industrial Age that has lasted some three centuries, and means we need to continue developing in science, engineering and technology in order to keep up with the demands of modern life and build a prosperous world.

There may, in the near future, come an age where machines look after much of what humans do now – manufacturing etc. In theory, this will allow the human race to explore the universe, ‘boldly go where no man has gone before’ and things of that ilk. We may then evolve accordingly, becoming even more capable of creating science and engineering solutions that will have an incredible impact.

Let’s take a minute to explore some hypothetical situations that may arise in a world where machines do all the work:

• Humanity will enjoy increasing political and economic liberty – which is surely what everyone strives for
• We’ll also be increasingly free from ignorance and superstition – a scientific world is a world based on fact.
• Within the limits of the laws of physics, of course, humans will be free to explore more and more progressive innovations, leading to even greater levels of scientific and technological achievement.
• Humans may even become immortal, as technology allows the human body to live longer and the human mind to maintain itself in either physical or virtual form.
• Evolution – at some point in the future, humans will begin to mutate into stronger, faster, more intelligent version of themselves – like when we evolved from Neanderthals. This, again, will be both a result of technology and a development that will see it advance even further.
• Humanity will spread to other planets – we’re already making steps – and will appropriate technology through contact with other intelligent life forms (if they’re out there, of course!)

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Of course motivated employees don’t just come out of thin air, instead you need to give them a reason to work hard for you and show them that you are a company that is worth working hard for. A big part of this is starting from the very beginning and thinking about employee motivation right from the start of the hiring process.

So, what should you be doing to ensure employee motivation?

Be Honest – Honestly is always the best policy so make sure you map out exactly what is expected from employees right from the start. It is important for people to understand their role and what they will be expected to do. If you suddenly start to give them new responsibilities after they have started a job then they might feel tricked into working harder than they agreed and this will do nothing to encourage them to work hard.

What Else Can Offer Them? – Although wages are important to everyone, it is worth discussing what else you can offer an employee.  If you are able to show them a number of benefits then they could be tempted to work harder.

Progression – Speak to them about the chances of progression that will be available to them in the future. It can also be worth having a chat about the skills that will be needed for someone to progress to a new position, so that they understand what new skills they will need to learn and how stretching in their current position could help with this.

Challenge – During the interview process you should speak about the challenges that the job role could bring up and how they might deal with these. By speaking about the challenges they might face you get the chance to see how they might deal with any problems and whether they’re motivated enough to deal with problems that might arise.

Get Current Employees Involved – Taking on new people to work in a company can be an exciting time. Speak to your current employees about your hiring process and what new employees you intend to take on. This can help to create a buzz on the work-floor and can help to encourage everyone to work that little bit harder.
Of course, the importance of employee motivation is not something that is short lived. You also should be considered the happiness of your employees on a long term basis, as this is a much better way to make sure that they stay motivated and are happy to work hard for you and your company.

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Career Vs Passion

For starters he says, career passions are rare. When you think about what you are actually passionate about, could you turn this into a career? Not just things that you like a bit, or things that you love but real burning passions that you need in your life! This could be art, music, poetry or something else – something that you’re passionate about and truly love. When you consider an actual passion, is that something you can realistically make a career out of? We would all love a career that we can feel passionate about, but we have think about this in a sensible way – will people actually pay you to write poems for them or sing them a song?

Of course if you can make a career out of something that you enjoy and like doing then this is all the better – after all, who doesn’t want to spend their days doing something that they actually like doing? However there is a big difference between doing something you like and something that you actually feel a passion for.

The Way Forward

The best thing you can do is find a career that you actually like and then work hard on this. When you undertake new responsibilities and learn new skills you can really find a new-found passion for a job that you really enjoy – and then you get the best of both worlds.

Whatever career route you go down, you have to think of it in a way that is actually going bring in the bucks. After all, as much as money might not bring you happiness it does pay the bills. It is important that you consider a career that is actually going to bring in a wage.

The post “Do What You Love” Is Horrible Advice appeared first on Charles Francis Cooper.

It is often the case that recruitment consultants bypass HR departments altogether when looking to place a candidate, and go directly to the relevant line manager or department head. As the HR department’s role is to assess the suitability of a candidate for a role before reporting to the line manager, it’s easy to see where tensions may arise. However, what a HR department may fail to understand is that the recruiter is not ignorant to the skills and suitability of a particular candidate for a certain role; nor are they ignorant of the business practices of the company in which they are attempting to place the candidate. While the priority of recruitment firms is to place candidates, that does not mean – as HR departments seem to believe – that this is done at the expense of the company making the hire.

What’s more, recruiters are aware of the fact that HR departments may have concerns about being ‘out of the loop’ – that’s why part of the job is to ensure full and complete candidate suitability before making contact. There are multiple benefits to the recruiter of bypassing HR and going straight for management – and let’s not forget, they’re simply doing their job!

In fact, recruiters are actively encouraged to go straight to line managers as it’s easier and more useful to be referred down than to attempt to go through HR from the outset. For recruiters, this is the number-one way to ensure they’re getting the most from their accounts.

Some internal recruiters also believe that external firms send the same candidate to multiple companies at once, making recruitment processes muddier. While this may well be the case, it’s no different than a candidate who applies for multiple positions at the same time – plus, no recruiter ever sends a candidate out for a job they’re not suited to.

So HR folks, if you’re reading this, give recruiters a break – they’re doing their job and doing it well.

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Unfortunately for these managers, this is far from the best way to do things – after all, hiring decisions should always consider what’s best for the business as a whole, not what’s going to make the manager most comfortable. Leaders should never assume they’re the best at everything they do – everyone has strengths and weaknesses. The key to making a success of business endeavours is recognising where those weaknesses lie and bringing in someone who can solve the problem.

A good manager will always look to take on people who can perform in areas where others don’t have the necessary expertise to get the job done. Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aim to improve on their weaknesses – of course you should. But nobody, no matter how good they are, can be good at everything.

Let’s take an example. As the digital sphere continues to expand at a rate of knots, the older generation – who have not grown up with this type of technology and may not be as au fait with it as someone who has – may not feel comfortable taking an authoritative stance on the subject. Doesn’t it make sense to hire someone who does, rather than run the risk of getting it wrong?

For example, we are operating in a fast moving environment where new forms of communication such as social media are going to have a bigger role in the world of business.

Younger people have grown up with the technology and almost take it completely for granted. It makes sense to take on someone who understands and feels comfortable with social media, rather than to have the wrong policies and systems in place.

As well as naturally driving your business to greater success, hiring those who are better than you in their sphere has another major benefit: improving your own skill set. Why not learn from those people who have the skills you lack? Improving your own expertise is something you should always be looking to do – don’t be afraid to ask your staff for help and advice if you need it.

You may think that by not hiring the best you’re protecting your own position – in fact, you’re only weakening it in the long term. Your organisation as a whole will suffer, too. Get the best and you’ll be the best.

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So, what should you be doing if you’re on the job hunt and want to really impress? Well, the first thing you should be doing is making sure your CV is up to scratch. You have to remember that your CV is the first think most employers will see of yours – and we all know that first impressions count!

Making Sure Your CV Impresses

So with so many people handing in CVs for the same job position as you, you need to make sure that your CV stands out from the crowd.

First of all you need to make sure that your CV says what it needs to and nothing more. It is easy to assume that writing as many words as possible is the best way to showcase your talents in the best way to your potential employer. However, instead you need to respect their time – after all, they probably don’t have the time to read through hundreds and hundreds of words. Keep it as concise as possible – where possible onto a single page, but never more than two.

The layout of your CV is also important. It needs to be fresh, clear and easy to read. There are many different CV templates online and these can be really helpful. Try not to be too outrageous or daring, instead keep it traditional and make sure that it is easy to read.

The information that you include in your CV is also really important. There is nothing wrong with tweaking your CV a little for each job position that you apply for. That way you can make sure that your CV is relevant and the best match for the job position possible.

What They’re Reading

You need to take into account just how many different CVs they are likely to be reading. You need to make sure that even if they read lots of them, it is yours that stands out. This means making relevant information easy to find and ensuring that your CV remains interesting and uncluttered. That way they’re going to find it much easier to read rather than being put off with the thought of it being hard work and simply skipping to the next CV on the pile.

Remember that your CV is about showcasing yourself in the best way possible. If your latest job is your greatest achievement then make sure that this is as near to the top of the page as possible. However if you’re looking to take a career leap in a different direction then list your relevant skills and other experiences first. Your employer wants to know straight away why you are such a good match for their job and you need to make sure that your CV does this.

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