SME' Recruiters: Proceed directly to Web 2.0.. & save £££££k's

Had a great chat today with Peter Gold, who if he wasn't so self-effacing may best be described as a guru on the subject of social media and Talent Technology (see his blog on my Bloglist here...)

I shared my view that those recruiters who hadn't yet 'gone digital' are better placed than ever to grasp the nettle now.. and as Peter added 'virtually for free...'

Just as many developing nations have eschewed investing in hard-wired telecoms networks and jumped straight to mobile, so those who haven't developed sophisticated attraction sites, job sites and applicant tracking systems are now in a great position to act...

With a secure facebook profile here, a pay-as-you-go tracking system there (and the odd tweet in the background) why should an SME be persuaded they need to throw tens of thousands at a recruitment site anymore? Talent attraction has never been more in the clients hands.. with a little insight to set you on your way...

Feel free to get in touch if you want to know just how it's done.. ;-)

Telling Porkies?

"Absence rates related to cough, cold or flu-like symptoms have increased over 8% in the UK since the widely-reported outbreak of swine flu according to an absence management firm, FirstCare" (from a database of 60,000 employees)


Now, far from me to minimise the seriousness of the current outbreak - but does this stat not say more about UK attitudes to work and current levels of worker engagement than about health scares and porcine pandemics?

No data was available as to whether things were any worse on Fry-days....

Enough...

"How to nail an interview"

With all respect to Seth Godin for flagging this on his blog (see my blog links) - this is a very useful guide to interviews - mixed with some great video clips from real interviews to make you smile...

Current favourite is the woman who shares that she's moved into the area due to her husband's job.. as he "hunting professionally for Sasquatch" (i.e. Bigfoot!). The interviewer's spontaneous laughter is a treat. Her interview notes probably read: Abominable. No, ma'am. (sorry!)

Enjoy...

http://www.howtonailaninterview.com/

Grass cuttings and the Wisdom of Crowds..

I was looking out the window early this morning - and noticed all the brown (garden refuse) wheelie bins out for collection (it's every other Thursday if you need to know). Thank goodness for the wisdom of crowds, as it had slipped my mind yet again. This despite my wife ("the expert") advising me of the need to roll out said bin only the night before....

Collective judgement is a better bet than any small number of individual experts, according to James Surowiecki, author of the very readable Wisdom of Crowds.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wisdom-Crowds-Many-Smarter-Than/dp/0349116059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239880849&sr=1-1

One 'neat' (yes he's a native New Yorker) stat to drop into your next dinner party: contestants who "ask the audience" in Who Wants to be a Millionaire can expect 91% of their answers to be correct. Ask your chosen 'expert' via phone a friend - and it's just 65%.

Not a brand new book, but a good one none the less... the official microsite to the book is a good place to start if you' want to find out more...

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/wisdomofcrowds/index.html


Now when's the green recycling bin due?

Why hiring is paradoxically harder in a downturn...

Interesting reading here from over the pond - hopefully complements well my "Counterintuition"post from last month..

Comments and feedback on this most welcome...

http://blog.summation.net/2009/03/why-hiring-is-paradoxically-harder-in-a-downturn.html

Business suspended in respect for Dan

Apologies for lack of action here, but the last week or 2 has been one of great sadness, with the tragic loss of my best friend, Dan Devine -a very special man indeed as can be seen here:

http://danieldevine09.blogspot.com/

Normal business will be resumed very soon I hope...

Mike