The irony of success

by Uncategorized • Tags: , , ,

I started MyWorkSearch Ltd a year ago and by all commercial measures the business has been a tremendous success.  We are on track for several millions of turnover and the business is healthily profitable.  There are 11 employees and we are hiring more as we continue to expand.  Meanwhile a lot of my time is spent looking for new markets for us to move into – both sector and geography.  A very rewarding recognition came from LinkedIn with their European Business Awards. MyWorkSearch has been shortlisted in the Startup category and my colleagues and I are nervously waiting for the awards ceremony on 24th March when we will find out how we have done.  If you are a LinkedIn member you can show your support and vote for us at http://www.linkedinbusinessawards.com/Nomination/Details/438.

However our success has been based upon the very large number of people who are unemployed.  Yes, we console ourselves, we are helping our customers be the ones who swiftly secure new jobs.  However to be a customer in the first place the individual has first lost his or her job.  As a business, rising sales are a good thing yet each additional subscription is an unemployed person who is inevitably experiencing a very challenging time.  This goes with the space we operate in and I feel great that we are providing a sufficiently good service that people choose us.  But it is a sobering thought that must temper our celebrations of commercial success.

And this brings me to the future of MyWorkSearch.  I don’t believe the economy is out of trouble and high unemployment will remain a problem for some while.  However a recovery will, I hope, come and with it greater employment prospects.  The future of MyWorkSearch will be in helping people far more actively manage their careers.  Instead of relying upon a buoyant economy providing opportunities I hope that the majority of those who wish to work will actively manage their careers.  They will think about the working life they want and what they need to do to achieve this.  Our service will be the resource that helps them define their aspirations and then manage the activities that will realise these goals.  If we get this right our service will be usefully available 24*7 for as long as it is required whilst also being affordable to all.  Working on this plan is inspirational for the team.  If we get it right it will make life better for huge numbers of people.  Meanwhile we will build a great and sustainable business.  And if we don’t get it right we hope that at least we inspire someone else to do it properly and effect this necessary transformation.

The New World of Outplacement

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by Outplacement, Technology •

I wrote an article for HR Zone on how I see outplacement changing and why we created MyNewJob.me.  As one needs to register to read HR Zone articles I reproduce it below.  I hope you find it of interest.  I am convinced that this is the way the market is going.

Outplacement is changing. What was once predominantly a service designed for a relatively small number of senior executives is now a mass market offering. The problem is that although the name has remained the same the available budget has considerably changed. No longer are several thousand pounds per person available. It is now, at best, several hundred pounds and as budget is trimmed, so too is the service provided.

What used to be fairly comprehensive job search support and guidance has been replaced by a brief one-to-one, attendance at several lectures, a few handouts and a pat on the back. A couple of years ago this would have been disappointing but not a major issue as job opportunities abounded. Now the world has changed. Each job seeker is competing with 50 to 150 others per role and with these odds, the enthusiastic but unprepared candidate is in for a rude shock. Numerous unacknowledged applications later, despondency sets in and it does not take that many months before a previously gainfully employed person becomes a member of the long term unemployed.

I don’t think it is realistic to call for larger outplacement budgets. A few years ago job losses were often the consequence of M&A activity and the overlaps created by a merger. Cash was abundant and outplacement was just one of the many deal costs that were accepted as one-off exceptional items. Now employers are shedding staff to cope with threatening financial pressures and the need to slash costs includes the overall severance budget.

Some years ago I was involved in the transition of recruitment from a largely paper based process to an automated and online one. It was fascinating to see an established methodology overturned by a set of technologies that transformed the speed, quality, consistency, efficiency and costs of a process. I believe that outplacement is now undergoing the same change and soon the process will be very different from what we have been used to.

The advice and guidance that has typically been provided by an outplacement consultant can now be received through on-demand e-learning. Many of the laborious tasks that a job-seeker has to undertake can now be automated.  Examples include searching for and aggregation of vacancies, or identification of relevant employment sources.  Wizards with attractive templates make CV creation considerably easier than used to be the case. Process automation means that job search activities can be tracked, reminders provided and reports generated. Triggers can monitor activity and provide encouragement and advice based on what a person has done, or indeed not done.

Effective outplacement can now be provided through technology. Clearly there are huge cost advantages. Also, unlike traditional outplacement online programmes can be swiftly scaled and there are no logistical challenges in commencing the service. There are also no practical limits on resource provision. With traditional outplacement service availability is rationed according to the budget, however a technology solution can be accessed 24/7 and provision is not constrained.

We have also uncovered some unexpected benefits. Most job seekers want to immediately ‘get stuck in’ and energetically commence their job search. An on-demand online process lends itself to this as individuals can use the service for as many hours as they want and do not need to wait for the next scheduled workshop. We are seeing considerable usage in the evenings as people at home do their research and create job applications.

Another characteristic that we had not predicted is control. Being made redundant can be a major emotional blow.  In addition to the worry about the future, someone else has decided that your job is coming to an end and you have to leave the organisation. This is a major loss of control. Traditional consultant delivered outplacement can reinforce this as the job seeker is once again thrown into a process and told what to do and when to do it. Having the assistance on demand as a web delivered service returns control to the job seeker. The individual can choose what to do, when to do it and how much to do. This is very important to a significant proportion of online outplacement users.

Of course it is not all plain sailing with online delivery. People made redundant typically want some human contact. This will often be a cathartic discussion of their plight rather than a practical job search process discussion. Another area is that a proportion of people are far less active in their job search than common sense and market knowledge suggest they should be. I am not sure that this is unique to an online solution. It may just be that with a technology platform there is the data on individual activity that does not exist with a conventional process.

I believe that the next couple of years will be very interesting for the sector. A slowly recovering economy will result in relatively high unemployment, job market volatility and competition for jobs. Large numbers of people will require assistance with their job search and technology will be the only way of cost-effectively meeting this demand. New and improved services will emerge and we will see innovation in a market that for many years has changed little.

Inevitable, but when?

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by Business, Entrepreneurship, Outplacement •

I am currently on holiday and this is one of the few occasions each year when I get extended, uninterrupted time to read and think.  One of the books I brought with me is Behind the Cloud, by Marc Benioff.  Marc is the founder and CEO of Salesforce.com.  My company uses their product and I recently met Marc after their London conference.

Salesforce.com has developed into an exceptionally successful and very large company.  My business is at the other end of the spectrum.  However what we have in common is that both of us have founded enterprises at the forefront of a market about to change.  Marc’s book explains what led him to form his company and in describing how he overcame obstacles and went from startup to market leader provides a wealth of useful guidance for others in a similar position.  It is both helpful and inspirational.

The relevance to my company is with our MyNewJob.me offering. We operate in a sector where fundamental change is inevitable.  The current ‘business model’ is broken.  Outplacement provision is dominated by a handful of organisations and whilst they do their best, they rarely provide a good service to their customers.  Their challenge is that they employ consultants to help people through their job search process and with budgets now typically in the low hundreds of pounds per person they plain cannot afford to offer a decent service.  The employer that is paying the bill feels less guilty about making redundancies however both the service provider and the job-seeker know that the offering is of limited value.

The only viable model is self-service using online technology.  All the help that the job-seeker requires can be provided online (from job search training to activity management to task automation to reporting, etc.) and since technology is cheap the customer can consume as much as s/he wants whenever s/he wants.  It is totally logical.  The only challenge is that many of the employers who purchase this type of service don’t yet know about MyNewJob.me or recognise the deficiencies of what they currently purchase for their staff and why change is both necessary and inevitable.

Just as Salesforce.com built what they knew the market would need and helped educate others to recognise why their model was superior so must we do the same.  Fortunately our business is now profitable which means we don’t have the pressures of a cash-burning startup, however the role of a pioneering evangelist is a challenging one.  It is great to read about others who have successfully made this journey.

Jobcentre Plus

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by Jobcentre Plus, Recession, recruitment • Tags:

Every week my colleagues and I visit Jobcentre Plus offices and spend time with many advisors.  It is clear that most advisors are rushed off their feet and this means that there is a production line feel to the process.  As a job seeker this can be both demoralising and frustrating.  At a time when individuals face much uncertainty this can be a further demonstration of how control is being taken from them.

The vast majority of Jobcentre Plus advisors do the job because they care about the impact they have and the good that they can do.  They are just snowed under and as a consequence unable to proactively assist their clients.  Their role has become one of getting through the day and just ensuring that people are registered, basic facts checked and the necessary administrative processes completed.

My advice to the job-seeker is to do your own home-work prior to meeting your advisor at Jobcentre Plus.  Spend some time on the Jobcentre Plus website (www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/) and read about the various programmes that are available to assist you.  We regularly hear that those who ask their advisors what programmes they are eligible for and can be put on are offered more than those who do not ask.  For example the services of my company, MyWorkSearch (www.myworksearch.co.uk), can be obtained free of charge from your Jobcentre Plus advisor.  You just need to ask.

It is a very tough environment for job-seekers right now.  But there are opportunities.  Whether it be getting State assistance or securing a job, the key is to go for it yourself.  Don’t rely on others to do the legwork or make it happen for you.  Make it your responsibility to find out what is out there and available and then pursue it.  Do this and you are far more likely to be successful.

The job search conundrum

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by career management, Motivation, Outplacement • Tags: , ,

Looking at how people use MyWorkSearch and MyNewjob.me has thrown up an interesting challenge. Since our process is managed by sophisticated software we know what our users are doing and equally what they are not. What has become clear is that a noticeable proportion of new users are not particularly active. There is a disconnect between stated job search activity and actual job search activity. Unfortunately by the time they find out just how difficult it can be to get a job in this market many of them are thoroughly demoralised and their job-search effectiveness reduces.

Our ability to track what people are really doing as opposed to what they state they are doing is opening up tremendous possibilities for the career transition profession.  We can research ways of encouraging job-seekers and see what processes really do result in higher activity levels and which ones do not. I know that the answers will be fascinating and this is a subject I will return to in future posts.

On a personal level I find this interesting and frustrating. Unlike losing weight, getting fit, or giving up smoking, a successful job-search process is not a lifelong change. It is something that for many may not be a lot of fun, however do it assiduously for several months and a new job should be secured. The pressure is then off and normal life can resume. However logical this may be the realities of human behaviour are different. This is a very important challenge for our team and one we are committed to.

Hypocrisy

4
by Uncategorized •

I am regularly asked to give advice on a range of topics and am even regarded by some as an expert in my fields.  Prior to writing this I watched a video at Career Site Advisor where I was asked to speak about job interviews and how to do well in them.  I was rather pleased by what I said and the guidance I gave.

I then reflected upon a meeting I attended yesterday that was rather important to me.  As I drove away afterwards I knew that I had missed some rather important points, had failed to effectively communicate ideas that I felt were key and had made some incorrect assumptions about what would be covered.  And today, as I watched the video, already angry with myself for my poor handling of the meeting, I realised that I had failed to follow good advice that I was very happily dispensing to others on how to prepare for and conduct a meeting.  Not just incompetent – but also a hypocrite!

As I mull over the meeting and the likelihood that the outcome will not be what I want, it makes me realise how big the gap can be between knowing and doing.  And worse still, how one can deliver good advice and yet not follow it oneself.

I know that many people who read my blog are job-seekers.  It is easy to regard one’s activity as preparing yet another application, yet another conversation or yet another interview.  A piece of advice that I will endeavour to follow is: if it is not important, don’t bother doing it; if it is important, make the maximum effort to do it properly.

And if you spot me not following my own advice please feel free to remind me and call me a hypocrite!

All the best

Richard

Hiring

3
by recruitment, unemployment •

I am currently hiring for a few positions and it reinforces my conviction that MyWorkSearch and MyNewJob.me are essential offerings as many candidates just don’t understand what they are doing wrong and why their applications fail.

When I was last hiring, just over a year ago, we had to use recruitment agencies as we could not get many candidates from our advertisements.  Now, from relatively little online advertising, we have been inundated with applications.  Many of the candidates were until recently earning more than we are offering and they are clearly very keen to quickly secure a new job.

I have had to sift the CVs and in doing this some could quickly be rejected.  They did not sell themselves well, they had spelling mistakes in their CV, or they had not attempted to explain why they would be a great hire.  A couple of years ago this would not have mattered so much.  Now, however, I was comparing them to a far stronger pool of candidates and eliminating these weaker applications was a fast and easy decision.

Another characteristic that stood out was the industry sector that the applicant had previously worked in.  High on the list were publishing, building services/property and financial services.  Some very capable individuals are now unemployed simply because their sector has been hammered and despite their talents they are finding it very hard to secure a new role.

In this market there really is no point applying for a job unless one makes the effort to present well and clearly demonstrate suitability for the specific role.  Fail to do this and rejection is inevitable.  Get it right and one has merely progressed to the lottery stage where luck will determine which of the amply qualified candidates secures the position.

I do hope for all our sakes that more jobs will be created.  Meanwhile I advise all job-seekers to:

  • Consider extremely carefully what you send out and ensure that there are no silly mistakes;
  • Treat each application seriously and put effort into demonstrating your suitability;
  • Remember it is a numbers game and maintain a high application rate.

All the best

Richard

Losing a bet

8
by Recession •

It is not often that I hope to lose a bet.  But this is an exception.

In July I had dinner with a friend and the inevitable discussion on the economy led to a £100 bet on the FTSE on 21st July 2010.  I bet that it would be below 5,000 and my friend wagered the opposite.  As matters stand I am losing the bet and I hope, for all our sakes, that this continues.

Read most newspapers and there are stories of recovery and optimism as we leave recession behind.  My fear is that wishful thinking is resulting in us ignoring a rather large elephant in the corner.  Trillions of pounds were lent by banks to consumers and businesses and much of this was secured on assets, such as homes, land and acquired companies.  The value of these assets has dropped by somewhere between 20% and 50%.  This means that at the very least there are hundreds of billions of pounds of wealth that have disappeared.  The government has borrowed tens of billions and printed money to swish cash through the economy and ensure that banks have the funds to continue operating.  Their survival has also been guaranteed by the government and this enables day to day business to continue without having to worry about whether the bank could go bust.  These actions prevented the global economy grinding to a halt.  However they have not replaced the lost hundreds of billions and the government now has borrowings that mean taxes have to rise and spending needs to be cut.

So the fire has been put out.  But none of us want to look too closely at the foundations and check that they are sound.

I do hope I’m wrong.  But I fear that there is still considerable pain to come.

An end of holiday rant!

1
by Uncategorized •

I have had a very pleasant holiday in France and Italy – albeit feeling the pain of the weak pound. And to think I moaned at UK petrol prices!

Since I am not yet fully back in work mode and whilst I am on the subject of money I hope you’ll forgive a personal rant. I used to travel a fair bit and it always struck me as odd how much hotels marked up phone charges. It simply encouraged guests to use phonecards or mobile phones. Once wireless and 3g cards became cheap and commonplace, services such as Skype became easy alternatives. Surely the hotels would have made more money through having a modest mark-up and this way encouraging far greater usage? Overall a small profit from each of very many many customers would add up to more than a large profit from a handful.

Last year was my first holiday since losing the benefit of a corporate mobile phone tariff and I learnt the hard way just how expensive a couple of weeks of calls and push email could be. It appears that the same ill-considered model seems to apply to mobile phones and international travel. In most countries one can now buy pay as you go sim cards for mobile phones and 3g data for not very much. Yet with the honourable exception of Vodafone, UK operators charge massively more for roaming calls and data. Knowing this one feels ripped off when contrasting the local cost versus the one levied by the UK suppler. Not only does this do damage to the customer relationship, one has to wonder whether it really does generate that much extra profit. Surely the vast majority of customers will either limit their usage or purchase a local pay as you go solution; in either case avoiding spending large sums with their UK telecoms supplier. Don’t the companies know that stinging their customers in this way just creates resentment and erodes brand loyalty?

When it comes to reputation and trust people have long memories. Over the years I have always tried to conduct my business affairs in an honourable and fair manner. I have made far more money through long term relationships and repeat business than would have been the case ripping people off and churning through customers. This applies just as much to Mynewjob.me and MyWorkSearch.co.uk as it does to my previous company. O2 are you listening?

Rant over!

Have a great Bank Holiday. Back to business next week.

All the best

Richard

ESU – Employed, Suddenly Unemployed

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by Uncategorized •

Full employment in an economy does not mean everyone having a job. There is always a percentage of the population who despite job availability don’t wish to work, cannot work or are mid-job move. But the buoyant economy of the last decade has meant that the vast majority of workers who have wanted to find a job have been able to work and earn money.

Life may not have been perfect however people had dignity and could make plans reliant upon their income. The recession has changed this for approximately 1 million people. A huge number of people who have seen employment as their normal situation are now suddenly unemployed and facing considerable uncertainty in finding a new job.

Despite the recession there are still jobs to be had. There are just far fewer than there used to be and far more competition. Where once a new job application would pit a candidate against perhaps half a dozen other job-seekers, now one hundred or more is commonplace. With these odds it is hardly surprising that the future looks bleak. Even with economic recovery it will still be at least a couple of years before employers are hiring again to the level required to create sufficient opportunities. And meanwhile the ESU’s face all of the hardship that comes with unemployment as well as the risk of a lengthy period out of work making them unemployable in the eyes of many employers.

My team and I cannot change the number of available jobs. However we can help users of Myworksearch and Mynewjob.me become far more effective job-seekers. At least in this way some people are able to get back to work far sooner than would otherwise be the case.

All the best

Richard