Work can be stressful – from tight deadlines to endless emails, it’s no wonder so many employees feel overwhelmed and overworked. A 2020 Perkbox survey found that, of the 1,815 employed British adults polled, a staggering 79% commonly experience work-related stress. This is 20% higher than their 2018’s findings. As an employer, you have a responsibility to help your team build resilience and reduce workplace stress. Not only will this help improve their overall well-being, but it can also have a positive impact on your bottom line.

I recently carried out a LinkedIn poll on the causes of stress in the workplace, with 65% of respondents noting lack of communication as the leading cause – and it’s not hard to see why! When communication breaks down, misunderstandings occur, deadlines are missed, and tensions rise. As an employer, you should ensure that communication is clear, consistent, and open. This means setting expectations from the outset, being transparent about company goals and priorities, and encouraging feedback from your team.

An easy way to improve communication is by holding regular team meetings. Team meetings play a crucial role in fostering effective communication within the workplace. They provide a platform to exchange ideas, discuss progress, share updates, and collaborate on projects. By bringing team members together, meetings encourage open dialogue, facilitate problem-solving, and help build relationships among colleagues.

Team meetings are also a valuable tool for stress reduction – they provide an opportunity for employees to voice their concerns, seek support, and receive feedback, which in turn helps to alleviate anxiety and promote a positive work environment. By fostering clear and open lines of communication, team meetings contribute to a healthier and more productive workplace culture. Plus, it’s a great excuse to bring in some tasty treats and indulge in a little coffee and cake!

Communication leads nicely to psychological safety – after all, your employees won’t be open if they don’t feel comfortable doing so. If your team doesn’t feel safe to speak up and share their thoughts and ideas, this leads to feelings of anxiety and frustration. It also means you don’t hear what is truly going on in your business, making it hard to identify problems and provide solutions.

One way to do this is by encouraging your team to speak up and share their thoughts and ideas. This can be done in several ways, such as regular 1-to-1s, stay interviews or within team meetings. Let them know that their input is valued and appreciated. And when they do share their thoughts, make sure that you’re actively listening and engaging with them. This will help build trust and confidence and create a positive feedback loop.

Another leading cause of workplace stress is office politics. Let’s face it, no one enjoys navigating the murky waters of office politics. But unfortunately, it’s a reality in many workplaces. As an employer, it’s important to be aware of this and take steps to reduce the impact it has on your team.

One way to do this is by setting clear expectations and following through with consequences around behaviour and conduct. Make it clear that bullying, harassment, and discrimination will not be tolerated and act swiftly if you are faced with it. Encourage your team to speak up if they feel uncomfortable or witness any inappropriate behaviour. And make sure that you’re leading by example. If your team sees you treating everyone with respect and dignity, they are more likely to follow suit.

At the end of the day, reducing workplace stress and building resilience is not only good for your team’s well-being, but it’s also good for your bottom line. When your team feels supported, valued and safe, they’re more likely to be engaged, productive and loyal. Plus, a positive employee experience can help you attract and retain top talent, which is essential for the long-term success of your business.

So, next time you have any employees feeling overwhelmed by the demands of work, take a step back and think about what you can do to reduce this stress and help them build resilience – there’s always something you can do to improve the well-being of your team.

Written by Charlene Craig

As an HR Consultant, I have had extensive experience working with organisations of different sizes and industries. While all businesses face varying degrees of people problems, one of the most common challenges that leaders are facing today is staff engagement and retention. 

Engaged employees are more productive, innovative, and invested in the success of the company. In contrast, disengaged employees can negatively impact company culture, with lack of engagement being one of the leading causes of high turnover. 

Unfortunately, when it comes to boosting employee engagement, there is no quick fix – it often requires a multifaceted approach over a sustained period to truly make an impact. It requires buy-in from the senior team, with a commitment to fostering and promoting a healthy workplace culture – this may seem obvious, but it’s common for leaders to view these as a tick-box exercise rather than something that can add value to their business long-term. 

So, what are some of the best approaches to help promote staff engagement and retention? 

Promote Open Communication

Employees are more likely to feel engaged when they feel heard and valued. Encourage open communication channels between employees and management. Consider creating a system where employees can provide anonymous feedback to management. Take the feedback seriously and implement changes that benefit employees. For more on this topic, check out my recent blog on employee voice. 

Provide Opportunities for Growth

Employees want to feel like they are progressing in their careers. Offer professional development opportunities, such as training sessions or mentorship programmes. Encourage employees to attend conferences and workshops to improve their skills and network with other professionals.

Recognise and Reward Good Performance

Employees want to feel appreciated for their hard work. Create a culture of recognition by rewarding good performance. Celebrate individual and team achievements, such as hitting sales targets, completing projects, or going above and beyond their job duties. Consider providing incentives, such as bonuses, gift cards, or extra time off.

Foster a Positive Company Culture

Company culture can have a significant impact on employee engagement and retention. Foster a positive company culture by promoting work-life balance, encouraging team-building activities, and creating a supportive work environment. Encourage employees to participate in volunteer programs, team-building exercises, and other social activities.

Offer Competitive Compensation and Benefits

Salary and benefits are important factors in employee retention. Offer competitive compensation packages that are in line with industry standards. Consider offering additional benefits that will help make your employer brand stand out, such as health insurance or flexible working arrangements. These benefits can make a significant difference in attracting and retaining employees.

Provide a Clear Career Path

Employees want to know that they have a future with the company. Provide a clear career path that outlines potential opportunities for advancement within the company. Set goals with employees and provide regular feedback to help them achieve them. 

Encourage Work-Life Balance

Employees who feel overwhelmed and burnt out are more likely to leave the company. Encourage work-life balance by providing strategic initiatives where possible. This could be through hybrid working or support for working parents. Regardless of how this looks for your business, you should encourage employees to take time off when they need it and promote a culture where taking breaks and holidays is encouraged.

Staff engagement and retention are crucial to the success of any business. By promoting open communication, providing opportunities for growth and fostering a positive company culture, businesses can create a supportive and engaging work environment that encourages employees to stay and contribute to the company’s success. If you would like any support with implementing the above strategies, please get in touch. 

Written by Chris Mullan

The term “Employee Voice” means different things to different groups. According to the CIPD, it refers to “the means by which people communicate their views to their employer and influence matters that affect them at work.” Whether done collectively or on an individual basis, if employees are not being heard or are being ignored, they will remain silent. It is an important area for businesses to focus on, and it should form a key metric in your people strategy. It can improve engagement, knowledge sharing, and learning, and boost employee well-being and resilience.

Michael Armstrong, a prolific author of many management books, identifies four purposes of the employee voice:

• It helps organisations understand employee attitudes about work.
• It presents a form of collective organisation to management.
• It influences leaders’ decisions on work-related issues.
• It shows the reciprocal nature of the employment relationship.

Why is Employee Voice important?

At Corvus People, we understand how important it is to listen to all employees’ views and opinions for the future of the organisation. We have put mechanisms in place to enable an ongoing conversation throughout the year in various ways to ensure everyone is and feels heard. Given the number of years of experience in our team, it would be absurd not to listen to feedback, discuss it as a team, and act on it. As a result, we have become more productive, innovative, and engaged. We have a fantastic culture where no idea is a bad one, and everyone feels safe to raise their points and concerns.

How can Employee Voice be encouraged?

There are many ways to encourage employee voice, the most common being engagement surveys that most participating companies run annually. However, there are other ways to promote the employee voice. Through the use of “Stay Interviews,” you can listen to your talent on a deeper level and proactively engage individuals to enact change within the business. This approach works more effectively than “Exit Interviews” as, by that point, the employee has already decided to leave, and counteroffers generally do not work. Throughout these activities, it is crucial for employees to feel safe in providing feedback and feel confident that action will be taken.

Some of the skills required to help promote employee voice are:

• Active Listening: Through active listening and being present during conversations with employees, we demonstrate our commitment to understanding and valuing input and creating a safe space for communication.
• Feedback: Regular feedback on performance, behaviours, and contributions encourages continuous improvement, and valued input from employees, and boosts engagement.
• Transparency: Through openness and the sharing of information, trust is built within an organisation, and employees understand the organisational priorities. As a result, they feel more invested in decision-making.

Through promoting Employee Voice, effective listening and timely action, trust can be built, retention can increase, and advocacy can be greater. Decision-making can also become more inclusive, leading to knowledge sharing, innovation, and improved well-being for all.

Written by Chris Mullan

Recruiting a new member of staff is always a significant decision, but finding the right individual for a crucial role can be like solving a puzzle. It demands an understanding of your company culture, a discerning eye for detail, and an instinct for talent. That’s why more businesses are turning to executive search firms for help. These professional “detectives” possess the skills and expertise to uncover the best candidates for your company, and their methods are more efficient than a traditional job search.

One of the key advantages of using an executive search firm is their utilisation of assessments to guarantee the candidate’s suitability not just on paper, but also in practice. They employ a blend of behavioural assessments, critical thinking tests, and emotional intelligence evaluations to gain a comprehensive view of each candidate’s strengths, weaknesses, and potential for success in the role. This allows them to present you with candidates who not only have the skills and experience you require, but also the personality and emotional intelligence to flourish in your company’s culture.

Another advantage of working with an executive search firm is its extensive network of contacts in the industry. They have cultivated relationships with key players in your field and know where to find the best talent. They also have access to databases of candidates who are not actively seeking a new role but would be receptive to a change if the right opportunity arose. In other words, they have the inside track on the top candidates, giving you a competitive edge in the recruitment process.

Furthermore, executive search firms have a tried-and-tested method for identifying and screening candidates. They carry out comprehensive background checks and reference checks to ensure the person you are considering is the ideal fit for your company. They also take the time to comprehend your company culture and the specific demands of the role, so they can provide you with a carefully selected list of the best candidates.

But why settle for merely the best when you can have the cream of the crop? Executive search firms also can attract top talent from their current positions with appealing packages and opportunities. They know how to promote your company to potential recruits and convince them that your organisation is the place they want to be.

Finally, hiring a detective can also save you time and reduce the stress often associated with a critical recruitment decision. You don’t have to spend hours trawling through CVs and conducting interviews; the executive search firm will take care of all of that for you. They will provide you with a shortlist of the best candidates, saving you time and hassle.

In conclusion, if you’re facing a critical recruitment decision, don’t rely solely on your own detective skills. Turn to the professionals and let an executive search firm help you solve the puzzle of finding the ideal candidate. With their expertise, assessments, and experience, they will assist you in making the right choice and unlocking the key to your company’s success.

I don’t know what happened…one minute it was going fine, and then the next, they had gone!

If you are a manager or employer who has found yourself saying this, in all likelihood, it wasn’t all going fine for a while. But a critical member of your team has resigned, and you’re left wondering what happened – and even worse, you have to move fast to replace them and their expertise.

Wouldn’t it be easier to retain your talent in the first place?

According to Bonusly, “Employee engagement is already one of the most important differentiators for modern organisations, and it’s on the minds of nearly every organisational leader”.

So, what can you do to help keep your top talent?

Creating strong employee morale and job satisfaction is key to ensuring you remain competitive in the market. After all, your employees could be the ones who bring in business, deal with customers and add to brand value. Your employees allow your company to grow and are crucial to business success.

Richard Branson is quoted as saying: “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients”.

Hopefully, the following points are useful in your pursuit of retention:

Make the employee feel special. Ensure that your employees feel they are contributing to the company’s success. If possible, involve them in decision-making, let them take ownership of their role, and trust them to do their job. Recognise and reward achievements and motivate them to seek opportunities to learn. Continuing professional development is a key tool in ensuring job satisfaction, so creating an environment where learning is central will help you keep employees engaged.

Make sure that the package on offer is competitive in your industry. Notice I say package and not just salary. Nonfinancial benefits can include bonuses, recognition, on-site opportunities, training, work-from-home options, vacations, company shares, involvement in decision-making etc. All of the above can have a major bearing on employee retention. Combine this with a fair and transparent policy on promotions and you’ll help encourage your team to stay around.

Be flexible. I suppose this is the new mantra of lots of organisations regardless of size or sector. Given the changes to the global job market over the last few years it’s for the most part now an expectation that companies offer opportunities for a better work-life balance.

According to Owl Labs, “Companies supporting work-from-home have 25% lower employee turnover than the organisations that don’t.”

Try to match headcount to workload. It makes more sense to grow your team rather than put undue pressure on existing employees. Not an easy task in the current climate I know, but it will help to ensure that your current team remain focused on their core activities. You should forecast your team size along with your planned growth. Not only will this make for smoother running of the business should you unexpectedly lose a team member, but it will allow you to take on more work as it arises.

Be supportive and empathetic. Never forget that your team are people and, as people, are unique. Each will have different aspirations, motivations, attitudes, challenges, distractions, and frustrations so it’s rarely a one size fits all approach which works. However, ensuring that you spot when someone needs support for whatever reason and then doing something about it can mean a lot in terms of continued motivation.

Have a clear vision or mission statement. For your organisation that your employees understand, believe, and are committed to. Having a clear vision or mission statement is important for aligning employees towards a common goal, increasing motivation and engagement, establishing the organisation’s brand identity, and providing a framework for decision-making.

Of course, having a good employee retention strategy requires an understanding of real-life statistics and data. It is through analysing the trends within your business that you can identify the areas where you can improve.

Retaining top talent is crucial for the success of any organisation. To achieve this, companies need to create a positive work environment that supports employee morale and job satisfaction. By following these steps, organisations can increase employee engagement and reduce turnover, ensuring long-term success.

At Corvus People, we have a clear purpose – we want to see people succeed. We offer support across the entire employee lifecycle, and our range of solutions fits seamlessly into your business. Please get in touch if you feel we can help.

Written by Myles McKeown

Mark McBride

 

 

 

“How management chooses to treat its people impacts everything – for better or for worse.” – Simon Sinek

Having conducted a recent survey on why people leave, I found it interesting that culture was identified as the number one reason that people left their last role. With over 43% of respondents giving this as their rational for leaving, it is clear that company culture cannot be ignored.

The results of the survey pose a few interesting questions as a talent professional – What exactly is culture? How much does culture really matter and why? Is hiring a cultural fit the way forward? And if so, how can you measure and assess this?

So, what is culture and why does it matter?  

Firstly, culture is a loose term with hundreds of definitions – some see it as something vague which cannot be controlled, others see as something simple that can be managed. For me, it sits somewhere between the two.

In my opinion, McKinsey & Company sum this up well, defining culture as:

“As the common set of behaviours and underlying mindsets and beliefs that shape how people work and interact day to day”

Because culture is created by a “common set of behaviours and underlying mindsets and beliefs”, the people who lead your business, and those who sit under them, have a huge impact on the culture throughout the organisation. Essentially, if those running your team have some bad behaviours or beliefs, this will trickle down and have a knock-on effect across the board. A good and bad culture alike can have various effects on your business, some of these are:

• Correlation with high / low performance
• Impacts employee engagement
• Culture impacts agility
• Research shows impact on long-term financial performance
• Culture differentiates you from the competition
• Culture is difficult to replicate
• Strong Cultures attract the right people  

Finding a Cultural Fit

From a recruitment perspective cultural fit is often talked about – this is how someone fits into an organisations culture. Get it right and you can achieve remarkable things, get it wrong and the culture or subcultures can become toxic.

An article in the Harvard Journal describes Culture fit as “the glue that holds an organization together”. That is why it is a key trait to consider when recruiting. The result of poor culture fit due to turnover can cost an organization between 50-60% of the person’s annual salary, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Cultural fit is important in any recruitment process and is even more critical when making senior hires. Over the years, it is something I have heard clients ask for repeatedly when discussing assignments. When we ask clients how they assess cultural fit the answer is often “it’s down to gut feeling” or “we get the applicant to complete a psychometric test”. I would argue this is too simple a view, and to truly assess cultural fit it must be a two-sided process. The required behaviours needed for a role, and by the company, should be assessed by both the client and the candidate.  

So, how do we assess cultural fit?

At Corvus, our Executive Search methodology, Corvus Assured, makes this a little more scientific and is based on leading research into behavioural assessments. We use several behavioural tools that use AI to check for alignment between the clients needed and expected behaviours and that of the applicants. The process considers both sides – firstly the desired behaviours for a role, and then the actual behaviours of the person applying.

The starting point for this is to look at client expectations of the role, by having the key people involved in the recruitment process undertake an assessment that shows the key behaviours they want in a role. This is also an opportunity to check that they are aligned internally on what their expectations of the person are. Sometimes this gives interesting results, where clients expectations differ between people internally, and ultimately are misaligned. Clients often welcome this feedback, and it gives them a clearer picture of different perceptions and allows them to consider these in their decision making. Making sure the key stakeholders are aligned before starting the process is key to its success, after all, how can you find a fit if you all are looking for different things.

Some questions to help assess cultural fit

• What type of culture do they thrive in
• What type of values are important to them and why
• What do they know about our company culture
• What type of working environment do they enjoy

There is no simple, unified, way to assess cultural fit but there are tools to make the process more scientific and robust. 

So, in terms of the question, ‘does culture matter?’ I would say very much so – the Simon Senik quote at the start of this sums this up very eloquently.

If you would like to talk to us about a different approach to recruitment or some fresh thinking for your next hire. Please feel free to reach out. Corvus is a team of highly experienced and passionate consultants who deliver recruitment and HR related solutions to companies in NI, RoI, GB and internationally.

Helen Haughey

 

 

 

Finding and evaluating job applicants is often a time-consuming, multi-stage process. It takes time and effort, but did you know that hiring the right people, and fast, can save you money? Some of the costs to your business for not filling a vacant position quickly could include:

• Dip in productivity within your existing team
• Extra recruiting costs – for example, more time spent advertising means more costs incurred
• Lost sales as a direct result of the unfilled role – for example, due to a lack of resource,  
• The salary of hiring staff involved in the recruiting process, which would normally go toward other activities if the vacancy were filled
• Any overtime paid to current employees making up the work

These are some of the short-term costs, but there may also be customer frustrations because of insufficient staffing, leading to longer-term impacts across the business. And even worse, should you hire the wrong person, you could find yourself rushing to replace them, and that means spending additional money.

So how can you overcome this? Preparation is key and will help you manage your time. Here are my top tips to help you prepare before your role goes to market:

Align your team on who you are looking for

At the start of any hiring process, you should sit down with the hiring team and decide what skills, qualifications and behaviours are needed for the role. You should know exactly what you would like the person to bring to your company, what their key skills are, and what their experience looks like. Leaving this to luck can lead to disagreements on who is best suited for the role, or a hire that wasn’t a good fit – neither of which are ideal.

Creating an advert that stands out

You want to make sure your job advert is targeting and resonating with the right people. Your advert should not just be about the company, and it should cover why THEY would want to work with you and the impact the job will have on their lives. Will it pay them more? Perhaps they will develop faster, or maybe they will get to use new technology or tools. Either way, simply listing their duties won’t do much to excite and attract, so make sure you have them in mind when writing the advert. Check out our guide to writing job adverts for some more tips on this.

Assess the candidate with more than just their CV

Finding a cultural fit for your business is vital to making the hire a success. You should be looking at more than just skills and qualifications and should use various assessment methods or behaviour-based competency questions to get a better idea of their true fit.  Some useful questions can be found here – Behavioural Interviewing Techniques and Strategies (thebalancemoney.com)

Schedule time to make decisions

If you want to keep the process moving, this is essential. Calendars get busy, and fast – often, those involved in hiring decisions are doing so on top of their ‘day job’, so time must be carved out at the beginning of the process to ensure availability. Create a schedule for the entire process and block out time in advance if needed.

Keep in touch with your candidates

Once you have begun the hiring process, keeping in touch with your candidates will help build relationships and manage expectations.  It isn’t always possible to get back to everyone, but where a candidate has been interviewed, it is important to let them know rough timelines. If you don’t, you run the risk of your ideal candidate going elsewhere. Poor communication, at any stage of the recruitment process, can also impact your employer brand – potentially having a longer-lasting effect. Even once the offer has been made and accepted, you should aim to touch base a few times before they join – this is particularly important if they have a long notice period.

Act with urgency

As we all know, working with people can be volatile. If you have a role that is critical to the business, you should aim to act quickly to minimise disruption. Candidates who are active in the market could find another job before you have responded to their application. It is also important to keep in mind potential notice periods, which depending on the candidate, could be up to 6 months. Ensure you are setting realistic time frames for your own business and from the perspective of a candidate. Once you are past the interview stage, and sure of your candidate of choice, make the offer promptly and follow up with official documentation on the same day. It provides confidence to the candidate and allows them to make the necessary arrangements with their current employer.

Being prepared is key to keeping on top of the process, so implementing the above will make sure your search gets off to the best start. Hopefully, some of these tips help you with your next hire – maybe even saving you some time, money, and unnecessary headaches.

Charlene Craig

 

 

 

It seemed odd when a few of my clients started to refer to me as the Cilla Black of recruitment. Recruitment and dating appear worlds apart, but the comparison got me thinking. I decided to pop up a poll on LinkedIn to see if others felt the same, and interestingly enough, 80% of respondents agreed that there were similarities. Like dating, recruitment happens in different stages – some of these are time-intensive and don’t always go our way. Could applying the rules of dating to your recruitment process help you find your perfect match?

Our Executive Search methodology, Corvus Assured, breaks down the stages in a similar way. So, in true Cilla style, I wanted to share our inside secrets on how we help businesses find their ideal candidate.

Stage 1: Figure out what you want 

Much like dating, it’s good to go into the process with a clear idea of what you are looking for, however, this can be more challenging when there are different viewpoints to consider. Imagine asking your mum, dad, brother, and best friend all to agree on your next love interest – I am sure we all cringe at the thought. 

It goes without saying how messy it would get, and this is why aligning your stakeholders before you begin the process is key to success. According to Forte One, companies that lead with culture and alignment tend to drive strong business results over time. That is because alignment within the Senior Management Team (SMT) leads to a clear and focused strategic plan, which trickles down to the rest of the organisation. 

So how do we ensure that our client’s Management/Leadership teams are aligned and agree on the ideal candidate? 

Along with taking the time to fully understand the business, we ask stakeholders to individually complete a short online behavioural assessment. This allows us to get a clear picture of the ideal candidate from each perspective and establish if the Management/Leadership team are on the same page.  Often this is not the case and provides an excellent opportunity to discuss individual perspectives and gain consensus on what a ‘fit’ looks like. 

This stage goes deeper than skills and qualifications and looks at the behavioural requirements to ensure a fit with the business culture. A colleague recently completed a poll on LinkedIn, asking participants why they left past roles. Coming in as the top reason was Company Culture at 43%, so getting the fit right is crucial to creating a successful placement. Like the client survey, we also ask candidates to fill out an in-depth behavioural assessment. Matching these to the desired profile makes for a strong cultural fit and leads to higher retention rates.

With critical hires, some of our clients have been on the search for quite some time. Often enough, the reason they haven’t secured their perfect fit is that, without even knowing it, the SMT don’t agree on who they are looking for. 

Stage 2: Find your Soul Mate 

According to Tribepad, eHarmony claims to be the dating site most likely to deliver happy long-term relationships because they prioritise compatibility. Similarly, once your SMT is aligned, it’s time to start the search for compatible candidates. 

As part of our Corvus Assured offering, key stakeholders get access to our portal, which is not that dissimilar to an online dating page. Here, you can access behavioural profiles, key competency questions/answers, CVs, and video covers (essentially the video alternative to a cover letter). We all know romantic relationships won’t last long if someone feels the other person isn’t being true to themselves, so this gives a holistic view of the candidate and makes it easy for the team to weigh up their options. 

Keeping in touch and ensuring clients and candidates are in the loop helps avoid the dreaded “ghosting”! We all know how it feels – you’ve been on a great date, all appears to have gone well, you have been messaging and then bam, you don’t hear from them again. It can certainly pinch! Just like traditional recruitment, we have all fallen for the “perfect” candidate, just for them to drop off the face of the earth without warning. Along with access to the portal, our candidates are prepped on our process and proposed timescales. This provides clarity and ensures their commitment to the role in advance of any interviews. 

Stage 3: The Dating Scene 

So, you have worked out what you want and created a list of a few who caught your eye. Now it’s time to start the dates interviews!

Before any candidates meet with our clients, we do preliminary interviews to ensure the fit is right – a bit like meeting through a mutual friend. We know you both, and we know that it could work. We do the groundwork in informing the candidate about your business and its culture, helping give them a better picture of what it would be like to work there. 

While the pressure is normally on the candidate, the interviews are an opportunity for you to sell your business further and give real-life examples of how they will fit into your team. According to Glassdoor for Employers, 94% of UK job seekers want to know about all aspects of a company before accepting an offer, so the more authentic the experience the better.

To get the most out of the “date”, asking the right questions is vital. Tailoring the interview questions to the desired behavioural profile will make sure you are delving into the detail and helps to remove any blind spots once the start date comes around. We work with our clients to create bespoke questioning, making sure you are in the know about your potential new hire.

Stage 4: It’s official 

After we have poured our hearts and souls into finding your perfect match, and you have gone through the numerous interviews to make sure it feels right, it’s time for the final stage – making an offer.

Offering your candidate the role can be a make-or-break situation. You need to get it right and make sure they feel valued from the start. Low-balling with pay, or taking overly long to decide, can leave the candidate feeling underappreciated, which isn’t a great start in any budding relationship. 

We work with our clients and candidates from the beginning of the process to ensure expectations are clear from all sides. It gives peace of mind that everyone “wants the same things”. 

Oh, and let us not forget the dreaded ex. Approaching with a counteroffer – please stay, we swear we will change. It’s an unlikely story, and unless the only reason to leave is salary, it’s seldom a good idea to take a counteroffer. We understand our candidates’ motivations before shortlisting them, helping to ensure anyone at the offer stage is serious and ready to move. 

If you feel your business needs a Cilla, one of our team would be happy to have a discovery chat with you. We’ve completed over 70 assignments using our Corvus Assured method, so you know you’ll be in safe hands.

Ian Weatherup

 

 

 

Over the last two weeks, the team and I have been putting some focus on our Corvus Assured Executive Search methodology. We are all genuinely bought into the value of this service, but after some great chats, we identified an opportunity to develop our communication of this to clients.

The team volunteered, or rather voluntold, me to take the lead on the role plays, and after ten sessions (one person as the client and the other as a silent observer), we finished this round of the exercise.

This is the first time we have used role plays as a training technique. Initially, I was sceptical about the benefits.  I don’t have fond memories of my only other experience.  Many years ago, in a previous career, I had to make a pitch in front of 10 people who sat with their arms folded throughout. If this wasn’t bad enough, the whole thing was recorded. We watched the video back and the assembled group pointed out the positives and negatives. I still have flashbacks. 

Thankfully, this experience has been an infinitely more positive than the last. Not only did everyone stick brilliantly to their characters, but the learnings and takeaways from the experience have also been fantastic.  We have developed our listening skills, built confidence, and learnt about our communication styles. 

The sessions were enlightening and involving from both an emotional and a cognitive perspective, and the debriefings at the end always brought new insights and perspectives along with collaborative problem-solving. 

The reason I called it an exercise is due to the similarities between training and physical fitness. We do not stay fit automatically, we need to work at it.  The same goes for continually honing our communication and commercial skills. 

We are building role plays into our ongoing training and plan to bring external actors/friends of the business to give them an even greater ‘real life’ feeling.  

Learnings

Interested in including role plays in your learning and development strategy? Below are my top 5 tips to help you implement successful role plays with your team.

1. Frame it correctly. People need to have a genuine appetite to participate and understand the value of it for them. 
2. All participants should prepare beforehand and behave in the role play as if it was a real-life situation.
3. Be prepared to be uncomfortable.  We genuinely have a great bond in the team, but to get the most from it you must be prepared to commit to the exercise and expect the unexpected.
4. Make it a safe space for honest feedback and set out the rules for engagement before you begin. It should not be an opportunity for someone to settle a score or show off how smart they may think they are.  Thankfully we did not need a ‘safe word’! 
5. Having an observer makes the sessions much more valuable – they are not under pressure to be thinking about their next question or answer and can pick up on subtle nuances including tone of voice and body language.

When it comes to role plays, what you put in is what you will get out. Committing to the process will make the experience the most valuable for your business – and who knows, you might even enjoy it!