Comments Off on How good are your listening skills?
Have you ever wondered how good a listener you are? I must admit that I always thought I was rather good at it, fuelled by many adventure holidays where strangers would tell me their inner thoughts about their life. It happened so often that my friends started calling me the nugget gatherer. I felt quite chuffed with the nickname. After all who doesn’t want to be associated with good listening?
It never occurred to me to think about the quality of my listening. Surely the fact that I was silent and nodding, showed I was listening? It didn’t matter if my mind was wandering, running through all the things that I had to do, wondering where the hell the conversation was going, even dare I say it, tapping an email at the same time. And then I started my coaching qualification and reality hit home. I was the lowest of the low listeners. Distracted, present but not present, caught in my agenda not the person’s in front of me. Through my studies I’ve come to appreciate just how hard being a good listener is and that several models point to three levels of listening; peripheral, apparent and active (Parsloe & Wray classification, Coaching & Mentoring).
Active listening is where you hear what the person says, why they are saying it and what they are not saying. It sounds easy right? Wrong! It requires you to be at your best, your brain to be in gear and your mental processes to interpret what you are hearing. You need to clear your mind of all your thoughts, remove all physical distractions, sit or stand straight, concentrate with your ears and your eyes and want to be interested in what the other person is saying. When I run through that checklist and then reflect on the many one to one’s I’ve had with my colleagues over the years I owe them all a huge apology! Over the course of my coaching training I know I am getting closer to being an active listener.
I prepare my mind better, I notice immediately when my thoughts start to wonder and rein myself back in, I’ve become more skilled at noticing what is not being said. And I am picking up a lot more insight and asking more powerful questions. These skills have proved vital working at Conker, actively listening to client needs and finding the best candidates. So next time you sit down with someone, ask yourself am I hearing them or am I listening to them?
The simple answer is you need to tell us …. Many of you are experts in building brands yet having viewed thousands of profiles on LinkedIn it astonishes me that so many people neglect their personal brand.
LinkedIn now has over 700m users worldwide and since the pandemic more decision makers are working from home, meaning online connections have become increasingly important. 81% of talent professionals say that virtual recruiting will continue when the pandemic is over.
So here are my top 3 tips:
1) A good current photo and arresting visual can make all the difference. Your profile will get 21x more views and 9x more connection requests with a recent, professional looking mugshot (no beachwear or flaming sambucas please!) We have made connections with people unknown to us in emerging companies with unique roles – often based upon how they shine on LinkedIn.
2) Include a concise yet brilliant summary of your experience. This will help people search for you, and prospective employers get excited by you. If you list 5 skills on your profile you are 27x more likely to be discovered. Also remember the first three lines are keyword sensitive, so make the algorithm work for you.
3) Include the impact of your work – highlight experience and personality via articles/awards/results. I love seeing how effective you have been, and it could be the difference between making a longlist or not. Hashtags and groups you follow help drive the content you are served too.
The pandemic has saved you time commuting so take 10 minutes to focus on your profile and tell us how brilliant you really are.
Comments Off on Hiring flexibly is the smart way to grow
During lockdown, we’ve seen companies oscillate from “quick, we need to lose some of our people” to “quick, we need to hire more people” within months.
The unpredictable nature of the pandemic has brought chaos to those trying to balance resource and demand. If our business is a bell-weather for the wider market, we went from quiet to manic in the blink of an eye.
Some companies took the opportunity to ‘restructure’ their business to be leaner and more agile, while others were able to ‘restock’ their talent, focusing on improving their diversity. Both approaches were much needed but, in truth, they should be happening irrespective of any pandemic.
What has come to light is that while businesses can’t afford to be over-subscribed with people, the opposite is just as troubling when new opportunities come knocking. We believe there’s an emerging opportunity to hire smarter and more flexibly.
When I mention this, people immediately think of freelancers or temporary help. And there’s no question that this creates more flexibility and scalability but most businesses, particularly in the world of marketing, prefer the reassurance of working with people they can get to know and trust over time.
The growing opportunity is the flexible-permanent hire. The individual who wants to commit to one or maybe two roles, and develop themselves with a company, but doesn’t wish to be present or engaged for five days a week. Across the last year, we’ve seen so many talented individuals who have decided against committing to one full-time role. Instead, they would be happy to sign up to two, three or four days a week. Or five mornings. Or as and when the work is there. This gives talent the opportunity to stay fresh and energised, whilst it gives the company relief on its payroll and a workforce that brings new ideas into the business.
As changes play out in our new world, organisations are missing a trick if they can’t offer this level of flexibility. Returning mums, committed dads, part-time carers or volunteers, aspiring entrepreneurs, those who just enjoy the thrill and variety of having a side-hustle – they are all interested in permanent roles that don’t require full-time commitment.
Liz Jones and I took the plunge at Conker last Autumn and doubled the size of our business. We were able to bring in three super-stars who were all prepared to commit themselves to the business but also wanted some balance and time to do other things. It’s the best thing we ever did.
So the next time you think about a restructure, or a restock, maybe think about rework too.
Comments Off on There is no such thing as an informal chat!
Having teenagers in my house highlights just how quickly the English language is evolving. There are loads of wonderful new words which I learn with alacrity but the ones that always fox me are those that have been hijacked to now mean something else – apparently my ‘cheddar’ is in my wallet, I mustn’t be basic (boring) and never tell cap (lie!). LOL!
This language evolution is also happening within the world of recruitment. With all employers quite rightly keen for people to be their authentic selves at work, many MDs and CEOs are mirroring this openness in the process of finding great talent. This journey now often starts with the candidates meeting for an informal ‘chat’. Time and again we hear leaders saddened by candidates doing just that: turning up and chatting!
It is a bit like going into the MasterChef kitchen and just cooking boiled eggs for John and Greg. Imagine the look on their faces when you presented your egg! Sadly, while you may have had the skills required you didn’t ‘flex’ them.
The ‘informal chat’ is actually a skilled thing to pull off – possibly harder than a formal interview. The air is relaxed which is the thing that often lures candidates into the wrong assumption that little is being noted – be under no illusion, it is. The secret to nailing it is in the preparation ahead of the event – know your audience. The skill on the day is to own the narrative, lead the ‘chat’ as it meanders through the state of the industry and lockdown hobbies, to your killer proof points as to why you are right for the role. Right in the middle of discussing the wonder that is Gogglebox, slip in an insight that redirects the ‘chat’ back to a low-key observation you have had on their business. Admittedly this has all become even harder with the limitations of the ZOOM ‘chat’! There’s nothing worse or more distracting than having to watching yourself being interviewed. Make sure to hide that view so you can concentrate fully on checking if your interviewer is ‘throwing shade’!
Comments Off on How life has changed in my line of duty
Over a year ago someone said to me, “this is not working from home, this is living with work”. There is no novelty to the blended existence that we all now have between our families/homes/pets/postmen and our working environment. We have all seen and enjoyed the benefits but there are no boundaries – I’ve even found myself missing the commute, the finishing up of emails, calls and messages on my way home so that when I arrive at my front door, I am physically and mentally somewhere else.
What has surprised me in all of this is the productivity and just what we’ve achieved at Conker over the past year. We were lucky enough to take on a CEO brief, the day we shut the office, just before the first lockdown. Having been in the office together all day every day, overnight, with everyone else, we switched to a virtual process and it was seamless. Candidates didn’t have to scurry out for interviews, people were more available, there was never the worry that certain people were going to bump into each other outside our offices. Candidates were still put through a robust process, hired and onboarded virtually. We not only adapted, we found better ways of working.
I have always loved my job and our industry, but I realise how many elements that make it the wonderful place it is, I took for granted. But also how much time they can take up – the travel to the face-to-face meeting (always scheduled for an hour) where people were sometimes late?! If anyone is more than 2 minutes late joining a zoom call there are prolific apologies because where exactly were you other than sat figuratively and literally in your little box, ‘you’re on mute’ the sonic logo of 2020?!
We are very lucky in that we can do our work virtually, arguably we can also do it quicker, but I do miss getting energy from people I’m not related to. I find it particularly difficult to do anything that requires more creativity or strategic thinking which I would do best or better sat next to my business partner, colleagues, clients and candidates. Our work is about people and some of the instinct that has served me so well can get lost on zoom. The alchemy when you ultimately connect the right candidate with the client is also harder to celebrate.
I’ve had a super structured and incredibly productive day today so far, I’ve had two client meetings, various calls with people in my network, three interviews and written this. However I’ve only done about 200 steps so far, I’m cold from sitting still for so long, its 2.30 and I haven’t eaten. Get me back to Soho for a falafel wrap if nothing else. That and a good old catch up about TV so that I actually have a clue what is going on in Line of Duty. Mother of God!
Comments Off on One great hire won’t fix your diversity problem
When Liz and I set out to create an executive search and talent business with a difference, part of that difference was about promoting diversity, in its broadest sense.
Over the last 3 years, we’ve established a track record we’re fiercely proud of; over half our placed candidates are female and over a third are from under-represented groups. Almost unheard of for appointments at the most senior level. How have we done this? By developing relationships with incredible people like Cephas Williams and organisations like MEFA. By deepening our own connections within our industry and adjacent industries. And then starting our lists with diverse candidates, not throwing a couple in for good measure.
We were determined to do this because we saw from our own personal experience as former leaders, the huge benefits that diversity brings to better thinking, better culture, better outcomes. But we were also committed to challenge the grossly unfair discrimination good people faced because of their skin colour, gender, sexuality and a host of other labels when applying for senior roles. We have an ambition to help change the face of the media and communications world, both metaphorically and literally.
Our privileged access to CEO’s of organisations allowed us to hold a mirror up and ask the difficult questions. Happily, most businesses are now responding in a way that we could only have dreamt of a couple of years ago because the climate is changing, quickly, for the better.
But for all the businesses that see the advantages, there are plenty of others that are making gestures to simply ‘improve appearances’. This doesn’t fix the fundamental problem because diversity isn’t about tokenism, quotas or ratios. When it comes to socio-economic or sexual orientation for example, diversity can’t even be seen, so do they become less important to those who are fixated by appearances? Diversity needs to live and breath in organisations across every department and every level. It’s about creating an environment where differences aren’t tolerated or accepted but embraced and celebrated. Where belonging and inclusivity are a given, not a target.
Now, don’t get me wrong, a single diverse hire is better than nothing but consider this; If you feel like you need to make a diverse hire into your organisation because your ‘ratios don’t look great’, ask yourself why you don’t have a brilliant pipeline of diverse talent ready to step up into more senior opportunities. Maybe it’s time to revisit your employer value proposition or the company’s authenticity around equality, showcase your internal belonging credentials and diverse career development examples in your business, promote client work that demonstrates your values and principles – these are the things that give you credibility when attracting diverse candidates.
The good news is, if you can get this right, you’ll effortlessly attract the best talent from all ages, races and sexes, and they will all celebrate being part of your business. And I’d like to bet you’ll have an operation that delivers better thinking, better culture and better outcomes.
Comments Off on Rachel Bristow and Charlie Parkin join Conker
Bristow (left) and Parkin
Rachel Bristow, former Sky Media partnerships director, has joined Conker, the recruitment business set up by Daren Rubins and Liz Jones in 2018.
Bristow, who left Sky in 2019 after six years, joins as an associate and will help with senior searches on a project basis.
Before joining Sky, Bristow was vice-president, global media data and analytics at Unilever, working at the company for eight years. She has also spent five years at Sainsbury’s in a direct marketing role.
Conker has also hired Charlie Parkin, former director of fundraising at Nabs, in the same role as Bristow. Her career spans roles at Good Relations, Lowe Howard-Spink, Legas Delaney and Campaign‘s owner, Haymarket Media Group.
The pair will help the business search for client-side, PR and creative agency roles.
Jones said: “The new hires reflect the way that agile businesses are adapting and growing, providing opportunities for brilliant, senior people to operate more flexibly but with purpose. We couldn’t be happier to welcome two amazing and well-respected talents into our business.”
Comments Off on Discovering my calling (and superpower) aged 46
Like most people in advertising I have changed roles in my career as opportunities presented themselves to me. There was never any plan. I trusted my instinct and moved to work for people I believed in and the businesses they were leading. The people element was always front and centre of my decision making, the brand was definitely secondary.
Fast forward twenty-something (ahem) years and you realise that along the way your priorities have changed, your motivations are different and you start looking for new stimulus and experiences. When the noise about purpose started a few years back I was ever so slightly cynical. It was only when I actually lost mine that I recognised the importance of it for my wellbeing, energy levels and general state of mind. I realised that this was my opportunity to take back control, make a new plan and in order to do that with meaning I invested in a coach who helped (bullied) me into focusing on the things that make me excited, and with that knowledge really think hard about the different paths I could take.
I have always loved people. I find it easy to talk to the person next to me on the bus, people in shops. I am one of those people who ask complete strangers where they got their bag/dress from. This trait could be positively labelled natural curiosity, but the truth is I am just nosy. However, because I genuinely like (most) people I remember things about them. Therefore “growing up” in sales roles, long before social media, this became my superpower, especially when combined with a passion for driving revenue and business outcomes.
I have always loved solving problems through people and connections – whether that is providing clients with compelling opportunities based on my knowledge of them or head-hunting (informally) for my own businesses and others. I started to realise that whatever I did had to have talent at its heart, but I am not, and will never be HR trained, so what could I do, what was the commercial proposition, what was the product?
A serendipitous cup of tea with Daren Rubins suggested by Jo Hagger and I knew immediately that I had landed on the career that I didn’t know I had been preparing for in every previous role I’ve had. When I told a former boss (Annie Rickard) what I was going to do she said “you have been building up to this moment your entire career”. She saw it, as did my coach and several others. Ironically, I hadn’t.
But having identified what I wanted to do, I still had to convince Daren that I was his ideal work partner and so wrote the most important pitch document of my life (and then sat watching my gmail like a lovesick teenager). As I now know to be his way, he was very considered in his response and one of the things he did was to set me a test to ensure that our judgement about people was aligned. We found a few people on LinkedIn that we both knew well, and I presented my evaluation of their capabilities and personalities to him as if he was a client. I quickly realised that, although my gut feel was strong, I needed to use proof points to create a really robust appraisal. Thankfully, I passed. And the rest, as they say, is history.
In a little over nine months, we’ve had a lot of fun building a business as we start to ‘conker’ the world of talent. Creating a business plan, developing a proposition, activating senior relationships and generating a pipeline of business are all things I’ve always been confident with. The big question of course is whether I could actually do search. So far we’ve placed over 17 super-impressive, transformational candidates which represent true diversity. And whilst our searching and mapping are incredibly rigorous, I actually managed to surface, assess and place my first brief in less that two weeks. Since then, I’ve worked really hard to develop my approach and it’s working. My last search was both complex and challenging but, having presented three outstanding candidates, the clients loved them so much, they took two!
So, if you face a career crossroads, look deep inside for your real qualities, passions, motivators and try to go beyond the obvious craft skills. Get help, build your game plan and start that by understanding your superpower.
Comments Off on What every start-up needs to Conker
Very recently, someone asked me to speak at an event about being an entrepreneur. I appreciate that Richard Branson and James Dyson have busy diaries but seriously?
Me?
My business partner Liz Jones and I are constantly reminded by ‘kind-hearted people’ that over 50% of new businesses fail in their first five years and here we are with a whole nine months under our belts. So what on earth makes us entrepreneurs? We don’t even work in Shoreditch.
I’ve been incredibly lucky over the years to work closely with, or near, founders from the likes of Dell, Dyson and Purple Bricks. I can also count a good handful of former colleagues and friends as real entrepreneurs – PHD, Goodstuff, Naked, Gravity Road, Decoded, even ASOS. All of them spotted a gap, whether a brand-new opportunity or the potential to reimagine something. But the thing that unites all of them is that every founder has a burning conviction to create, or do things differently.
So, what’s the gap for a leadership talent business? On the eve of unprecedented economic and political change, and a time when the marketing landscape has never felt more destabilised, it could be argued this isn’t a great backdrop for another search company! We believe there’s actually never been a more critical time to help businesses face into these exact challenges and succeed by exploring diverse talent solutions. Diverse in background, in experience and in life. Because no business can solve tomorrow’s challenges with yesterday’s approach.
But it’s clear that new businesses can’t just be successful by having conviction in WHAT they do. They also need conviction in WHY and HOW they do it. And that’s the key for Conker. We are a search and talent business that is high on values and on ethics. Not unsettling people perfectly happy in their current role. Promoting the idea of exhausting internal options. Working in unison with in-house recruitment specialists. Staying with a successful candidate throughout their tenure. These are all behaviours that are frequently claimed but so rarely practiced. And so obviously the foundations for building long-term trust with businesses and candidates.
Having spent 17 unforgettable years at PHD, I honestly didn’t think I could feel more personally invested in a business. There’s no question that the highs are higher, and the lows are lower but creating something from scratch is the most liberating, energising and terrifying thing you can do.
For what they’re worth, here are my top five tips when starting your own venture;
Choose your partnerships carefully. Particularly if, like me, you want an equal business partner to share the highs and lows with. Liz and I are a perfect match because of our differing imperfections and complementary strengths.
Receive help gratefully. People are unbelievably generous with their time, advice, even office space. Take it all but never forget. You all know who you are.
Give something back. We decided early on to be a ‘net contributor’ to the industry and hopefully society. So, we’ve made time for people who need advice. We’ve supported causes that are important to us, such as NABs, Movember, Race at Work, WACL. And we’ve formed a partnership with the Woodland Trust to plant two trees (one for the hirer and one for the successful candidate) for every placement we make.
Practice what you preach. You can’t bang on about the importance of culture and diversity and then turn a blind eye to it in your own business. It’s front and centre within our business because we want Conker to be a magnetic talent brand for ourselves as much as our clients.
Create values and stick to them. Bill Bernbach famously said, “it’s not a principle until it costs you money”, and that’s especially true if it’s your own money. We’ve already made the tough decision to turn down an assignment that wasn’t true to our values but that is one of the bitter-sweet joys of being a business owner.
While we have a little way to go before we trouble James Dyson for speaking appointments, we have a strong view of what good looks like. And that is, if you have sound principles and hold enough conviction, any half-decent business can thrive and indeed Conker.
Comments Off on Certain Leadership in Uncertain Times
Commentators have suddenly become fascinated by the relative successes of female political leaders against their male counterparts.
The facts are extraordinary. Inevitably, there are sceptics who argue that countries with women leaders are more likely to be in more established, trusted regimes but the statistics point to something much more profound.
The most likely explanation for the dramatic reduction in casualties in countries with a female leader appears to be very straightforward.
Effective leadership.
In every case, from Taiwan to Finland, Norway to Germany and New Zealand to Denmark, the similarities are clear. Tough on decisions, kind on people. The authentic, caring, personal delivery is what has resonated and created the trust needed to succeed in this new environment. More so than in any previous conflict, this current challenge requires decisiveness, togetherness and kindness.
Parallels can be drawn with the modern era in business. The characteristics of today’s successful leaders include openness, authenticity and collaboration – all traits that women excel in. That’s not to say that men don’t, by the way, or that all women do. Thankfully, most male leaders don’t resemble Trump but many of the qualities that create successful conditions are ‘feminine’ behaviours that not all men are comfortable with. How many male political leaders would be happy to address their nation’s children?
Five years ago, I wrote about this subject in Campaign, snappily titled ‘Business should focus on feminine values, not quotas’.It described the conditions needed to create a healthy business, where senior female (and male) talent could thrive. When I wrote this, there were only seven female FTSE 100 CEOs. Today there are just six.
Conker launched in January 2019 as an Executive Search company with a unique understanding of the importance of diversity and modern leadership skills. We have challenged businesses to value EQ as highly as IQ and it’s helped to transform their fortunes.
No-one knows when or how this situation will resolve and most people we speak to are struggling to comprehend what business might look like in the months and years ahead. Some things will undoubtedly snap straight back to the way they were but we believe the organisations who will emerge the fastest and strongest will be those led by strong individuals who are tough on decisions and kind on people.
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