Posts Tagged ‘work’

The 10 C’s of People Management; a Decalogue of good management tips.

Thursday, May 16th, 2013

 by Samantha Judd

Experienced and professional recruiters value a robust recruitment process and at boycerecruitment  we work with clients to ensure that job specifications are clear and that we understand how the role we are recruiting fits into teams, departments and company’s business goals.

There are proven benefits for all when job functions and accountabilities are fully scoped.  Hiring managers should be clear what the accountabilities are whilst hiring; so when shortlisting CVs and setting interview questions, they can identify the competencies required.   By outlining expectations from the start, the selection and hiring process will allow applicants visibility and a chance to demonstrate their suitability, enthusiasm and interest.

Recruitment and selection is only the starting point of a successful hire and recruiters should not be tasked with guaranteeing each hire for an indefinite period.  Instead, it should be recognised that energy and time should be invested in leaders and managers to ensure they understand what their contribution to the on-going responsibilities to the team are and how they can impact the wider business goals.

Unless people managers are prepared to work hard, coach and empower their staff to achieve goals they label themselves a colleague rather than a manager.    In other words, even if your employee has undertaken rigorous pre-selection, interview, testing, referencing, vetting, training   and induction processes; the litmus test of success will be how they are managed and in turn how you allow them to manage you.

Brace yourself for 10 Commandments of People Management:

Clarity

Thou shall be able to clearly vocalise what you expect of each team member.  This includes how they can access information required for the task, what you expect of them and by when.  It should be clear to you and them how this relates to the bigger team or company goal.

Consistency

Thou shall be consistent about the expectations for performance. Additionally, your management tone, style and delivery should not waiver.  This applies to the goals you set, how you disseminate information, how you relate to other team members and how you deal with your own workload and attitude to work.

Communication

Great people managers pride themselves on effective communication and regularly appraise that the messages and information they deliver is being understood.   Effective communicators know how to adjust their style to suit the audience and don’t assume that their preferred communication style suits everyone.   Just because they have given the information to someone, they know that it does not necessarily mean that it has been understood or absorbed.

Cooperation

You are there to assist your team.  You should not be trying to trick them, catch them out or feather your own cap from others failings.  Your team are there to push and challenge you and you should embrace their enthusiasm and eagerness to impress and succeed.

Collaboration

Innovation and achievement in teams is most likely to occur in circumstances where teams work together.  In some collaborative situations managers may need to relinquish their management role and allow others the opportunity to shine.  This might include leading a project, running a meeting, delivering training or instigating a brainstorming session.  This keeps the flow of ideas fresh and ensures that the best solution to problems are found regardless of who finds it

Calm

Excitement, emotion, stress and tension are all part of what makes us human and are all part of the work landscape.  However, strong managers should be able to restore calm and refocus ideas and efforts to ensure a positive outcome.   To remain calm when dealing with problems is impressive and memorable.  The impact of losing it once in a while then becomes legendary.

Curious

You should be interested and keen to know more about your team, their experiences and about life and the world in general.  Assumption is dangerous and may lead to complacency.  In the workplace it can result in staleness, boredom and mistakes. The naturally curious ask questions which may otherwise be missed.  However, thou shall not confuse this with nosiness or gossip.

Courage

People managers have to say difficult and awkward things.  They have to acknowledge, and deal with their own and others’ mistakes, ask questions that others shy away from, make tough decisions and then stand by them whatever the outcome is.  The best people managers stand up and deal with these problems head on.  They generally earn respect regardless of the outcome as people appreciate their direct and straight approach.

Considered

Ensure that your plans and actions are considered and are of value.   Instigating or delegating a task or piece of work should be something which will benefit and empower the employee, you and the company.  It should not just be left to one side and never acted upon even if circumstances have changed as this is a sure way to breed resentment.  It will almost certainly mean that there will be no motivation to complete another task when it arises.

Chocolate, champagne, caviar, cigars, crisps, cake, coffee, cheese and children.

In other words, reward and recognition of good work and effort is important.   Small treats, work concessions or surprises for the team are motivating and good managers know how and when to use them.   If you have followed the Cs and taken people management seriously you will know whether a bottle of champers will be appreciated more than leaving an hour early to get home to collect their children from school or read them a bed time story.

 

It’s good to talk

Sunday, May 5th, 2013

by Sophie Jones

The ongoing debate on how to speak to clients at Boyce is; which is better a call or an e-mail???

Although the digital world brings us all kind of benefits; it’s quick, convenient and if it is confidential, it means that you are able to discuss information which cannot be discussed in open plan office, the overwhelming majority of consultants at Boyce, believe it will never substitute for a live telephone conversation.  People appreciate the sound of someone’s voice, working in the recruitment industry this means everything, as you are able to ensure that what you want to say is delivered in the best possible way.

In any business relationship, a phone call can mean many things. It shows you are on the ball, enthusiastic and ready to assist. Tone and context can often be mistaken over e-mail, and a call is the simplest way to resolve issues and build relationships.  This is especially true covering areas of conflict.

Email and social networking have given us much wider and deeper global connections, but we believe it will never replace a voice at the end of the line. So the next time you have an issue over e-mail, let’s all put down those blackberry’s and I pads and pick up that phone and make the call.

 

Salary changes in the Broadcast landscape

Monday, April 29th, 2013

 Salary changes in the Broadcast Landscape  by Tracey Newton

A recent review of pay structure within the TV industry over the past 2 years, showed a steady increase in salaries for operational roles, particularly for Presentation Schedulers.

The demand for skilled schedulers has increased  as people who have worked as schedulers move onto programming planning or another area within TV after a few years. 

The more senior roles in presentation are generally recruited internally, as there are always people ready to move up the career ladder, which means channels are always looking to recruit at the more junior/middle levels.

University degrees now include modules on scheduling in TV so people are now able to learn about this role rather than having to rely on finding out about it through practical work experience.

More and more people have got into scheduling now, and as a result competition for work in this area is stronger. There has also been a remarkable increase in demand for language skills in scheduling – where the communication between local offices and the presentation teams are so important.  This is great for all multilingual schedulers  as having both language skills and presentation scheduling experience means you are very attractive to many of the international broadcasters.

Salaries have also risen over the last 2 years , the average salary now for an experience Scheduler is now £27,000-£28,000, whereas 24 months ago it was around the £25,000- £26,000 mark.

Post Production roles have stayed fairly static, with maybe a slight downturn in salaries – because the Post Houses and Agencies are all in tight competition and the demand for talent is generally based on winning new projects. Salary ranges have been fairly consistent

e.g. Post Producers  are paid between  £30,000 -£35,000 , Editors £40,000, Reversioning Producers  £30,000 – £35,000, MCR £21,000 – £23,000

We have, however, seen an increase in freelancer rates particular for Editors and Post Producers, as these are always in demand and range between – £200-£250 per day for an Editor and £200 – £250 per day for a Post Producer.  

Broadcast Salaries in general have not hugely changed, however the reduction in number of job roles has. This is because most of the bigger multi-channels are struggling to get authorisation for new head count and their recruitment is focussed on replacement roles to cover leavers/secondments or mat covers etc .  In addition many major TV networks have restructured and relocated some departments to local countries which has also had an added impact on the availability of roles in London.

Because of the downturn in permanent roles available we have seen a 25% increase in the number of Fixed term contracts on offer. As a result organisations have to be able to offer more flexibility/attractive salaries in some cases, to entice candidates to take the plunge and move from permanent work  to fixed term roles. In most cases, candidates are open to consider this change, provided the opportunity is good and career development is offered.

Career progression with languages

Friday, April 19th, 2013

This week Samantha Judd, Director of the Multilingual & Corporate Services team talks about languages and job opportunities. 

 

Today more of the world’s population is bilingual or multilingual than monolingual, and research in 2012 has confirmed that if you do speak more than one language, you are likely to be smarter than your monolingual counterpart.   Research showed that bilingualism helps develop the attention span and task switching functionality and thus linguists are afforded flexibility of thought and the ability to cope with change; both huge advantages in the work landscape of 2013.  Cognitive benefits have been identified in young children as their ability to adapt to change affords them greater confidence and security,  and in older people evidence shows a less rapid decline in cognitive functions during ageing.

Multilingualism and multiculturalism naturally enhances individuals opportunities in the work place.  Not only are they likely to be smarter, more confident and resilient to change,  the globalised nature of work is clear for all to see.   The evidence presents itself to us daily through the brands and logos which appear in all corners of the world and confirm that we are all consumers regardless of geography, language and culture.

Multi-national organisations invest significant amounts into localising their products and marketing messages to engage local markets both linguistically and culturally.  Additionally, the rise of social media is significant to brand capital and communication of brand values; linguists are in demand to ensure the Anglophone focussed business communication does not misinterpret, insult or ridicule the product or service locally.   Localised digital content should not only be linguistically accurate but culturally “in & of the moment” and the value of this should not be underestimated.

Korn Ferry research from a poll conducted by 12,500 visitors to their website suggested that bilingualism is already a significant hiring factor in senior roles with this demand expected to continue to increase.

At boycerecruitment we believe that the difference to our candidate’s opportunities of multilingualism is shown in later career rather than in the early days. Multilingualism will advantage you against your co- workers as the cognitive, personality and social benefits allow you to progress; you become more promotable and hence increase your earning potential.

Do multilingual individuals earn more money ?   As far as I am aware no specific research has been conducted in the UK on this, however an article in NY Times in 2012 suggested that the advantages to human capital gained from multilingualism would enable greater opportunities for career advancement.  This coupled with the cognitive benefits would allow individuals a greater amount of time to continue to work at reach the top level and thus enable more income producing years.

I am not bilingual but I would like to be.  Working in multilingual recruitment for over 20 years has allowed me to clearly see and track the benefits that have been presented to my colleagues, candidates and clients.  My advice to anyone looking for work with languages is to focus on the actual content of the job role and ensure that it is something that would challenge you regardless of how much language use there is initially.  I do however stress to candidates that multilingualism should be cherished and that it will pay dividends in later career.  There is always a chance to  promote your linguistic ability by communicating socially with colleagues & friends, offering help on global projects wherever needed or liaising with overseas offices.   It is never too late to start, so if speaking another language has always been a dream go for it; the health, career and social benefits will be an investment that you will not regret.

How to write a good cv

Friday, February 24th, 2012

 

In a very competitive London job market, it is important to take time to understand how to make sure your CV is going to stand out from other job applicants.

Your CV is the most powerful tool used to represent your skills and experience to potential employers who don’t know you. It is therefore essential that you put time and effort into getting it right so that it stands out from the many other applicants.

Not only does a CV need to be concise and summarise your education and work experience, it should explain clearly who you are and what direction you wish to take your career. It should also highlight relevant skills and experience and use words which are relevant to the sector you are working on.

Generally a CV should not be longer than 2 pages. It should be clear, honest and well written, paying attention to good use of the English language and clear concise formatting. Using bullet-points, clear headers and

Your CV should include the following criteria

1. Personal Details

This would include full name, Address, Contact details ( daytime & evening telephone numbers and
email contact details),  Nationality and / or Work permit/Visa Status

2. Career summary & objectives

Many of our clients view this as one of the most important elements of a CV.

This is generally a paragraph which will give your application direction and draw together you key personal attributes.
For example, if you are looking to work within a specific sector, in which you have no experience, this paragraph should give you the opportunity to state this and the reasons why.
If you have experience within a certain sector and are looking to build on that, this may be the opportunity to summarise this.
If you have specific skills / achievements which could potentially give you the edge in a job application, over other applicants, then this could be the place to summarise it.

3. Key Achievements

Many applicants choose to separate key achievements from the career summary. This is a matter of choice but shouldn’t be too long and should be clear and concise.
It should be laid out in a format which is clear.
Here you should highlight any relevant information demonstrating your suitability for the position you are applying for.

4. Education & Training summary

This should include

- your academic qualifications
– any relevant recent training or industry / skills events that you have attended
– professional memberships/ affiliations and related qualifications

5. Employment History

This should commence with your most recent job and work backwards.
Dates should be clear and any gaps should be explained. It should include a summary of
What your role was and what your tasks were like on day to day basis. Industry knowledge,
Experience is important and you should include buzzwords which relate to the sector you
Work in.

6. Technical skills

This should be a brief summary of any IT/ technical/ linguistic skills which are relevant to the current job market

7. Personal Interests

This should be brief. Many employers like to see external interests, as some of these may require skills which are needed for specific jobs

Common errors / Faults

Here is a short list of the most common reason for CVs being rejected by clients:

-    No clear relevant experience (no buzzwords or related vocabulary
-    CV too jumpy / too many gaps which are unexplained
-    Sloppy spelling mistakes
-    Poor written English
-    CV is too long (more than 2 pages)
-    Descriptions of jobs are too brief: no attention to detail,
-    Poor formatting : no bullet-points or spacing , too wordy and difficult to      skim read when there are 50 other applicants
-    Poor grammar: tenses change from present to past, singular to plural
-    CV is written in the 3rd person: a pet hate of many clients.
-    Lack of summary statement: no clear direction