Top tips for hiring a great team

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Hiring a team is easy, but hiring a great team is a little harder. This is because many hiring managers choose a group of similar people who clash with each other, or they fail to hire people with a wide range of completely different skills. This can affect the workflow and the mood in the office, and over time it can lead to employees quitting their jobs or creating challenges for other team members.

If you want to make sure that you hire a great team who work well together and get the job done, don’t worry. Here are some top tips to help you hire the perfect team.

Plan Your Recruitment Strategy

This is essential. You need to devise an in-depth plan with a comprehensive job description drawn up in collaboration with all stakeholders. It is important that everyone involved is bought into this process. Getting this input is essential so that you can identify the skills, experience and crucially the personal traits required to succeed in your organisation. You also need to identify the correct channels to identify where to source the ideal candidate from. Posting the role on your website and job boards is unlikely to deliver the desired result. Utilising social media channels (particularly LinkedIn) is now essential. For specialist roles and highly confidential positions consider using a specialist headhunter with in-depth market knowledge.

Devise a robust onboarding process

Once you have identified and secured the ideal candidate for your team it is critical that you start off on the right foot. The first 90 days particularly are critical to ensure that new employees feel that they have made the right decision.  You need to make sure that they are onboarded in a structured manner and crucially that they understand their role in the team and how the team can support them. Draw up a a structured plan that can be used when all new staff join which quickly gets them up to speed and makes them feel valued and integral to your success.

Focus On Creating A Positive Culture

Your team will need managers and leaders, and it is important that those tasked with leadership understand how to create a positive working culture since they will be responsible for implementing it.

Choose People Who Get Along

If you are hiring people who have to work in a team with each other, they obviously need to have great communication skills but they also need patience, diplomacy and sometimes a thick skin! Ideally avoid hiring people who are very insular and prefer to work alone as they may disrupt the balance in the team. Over time this can lead to resentment and increased attrition rates.

Look For Soft Skills

Many hiring managers focus on core competencies for their teams, such as IT skills, coding skills and other role-specific skills. Important as these may be, it is essential that you hire people who have strong soft skills, such as communication and goal setting skills. These people will help the team to gel together, and if issues do arise, they will invariably be instrumental in resolving them.

Compare

Clearly, you will need to hire new people for entry-level roles, but if you are hiring someone to fill a senior position in the team it is often best to make a comparison between external and internal candidates. This is because you can identify those who already fit in with the company values, and you know that they are passionate about the team. Benchmarking external candidates with those superstar employees will either validate you decision to hire externally or make you realise that you have the ideal candidate under your nose.

Athena Executive Search specialise in recruiting senior leadership positions in the Print and Packaging sectors globally. For access to more articles on industry topics, recruitment and retention strategies, and our upcoming webinar series with industry thought leaders please subscribe here: https://athena50147.activehosted.com/f/1 

 

The secrets of successful salary negotiation

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Salary is an important consideration on both sides of the employer/employee divide. Employers need to ensure they recruit – and, most importantly, retain – the best people for the roles they require, which means offering the right salaries; while employees have to make sure they are being paid the correct amount for their skills and experience.

But just how do you ensure the salary is right at all times? Here are just a few tips to follow:

Employees

One of the first things you need to do when looking for a new job is to establish what salary range you should be getting for the positions you’re looking for.

Of course, salaries differ widely across the country. What is on offer in Paris or London will usually be considerably higher than that offered regionally, and you need to be aware of this before you start.

Whatever the role you are looking for – whether it’s a technical role, operational management or one of the many other roles in the Print and Packaging industries – you should be able to find up-to-date, country-wide salary ranges with the most cursory of internet searches. Some of the job search websites will have the information you are looking for. Alternatively, try industry or trade sites.

Once you have an idea as to the general range on offer for your chosen role, you will be in a much better place to negotiate when and if you are offered a job. But any negotiations need to be handled carefully as you don’t want to stop a job offer in its tracks.

There are no hard and fast rules, but the advice is pretty straightforward and well worth following:

Don’t ask about salary at interview stage – wait until you are offered the position. When mentioning your salary requirements to a potential employer it is useful to quantify your value relative to your achievements. It could be how much profit you have generated or how much money you saved your company. If what you are offered is too low, say so (politely) – it helps here if you can state what the usual salary for the job/your level of experience is.

Ask about additional perks, such as a company car, and also about your expected level of responsibility, so you get the whole picture. It is worth considering things like additional training and education and whether you could be funded for further study. Unless the offer is exactly what you want, don’t accept it straight away. You need to make sure you are 100% happy with the complete package.  If all else fails, and you really don’t want to take the job at that salary, say so. If you are introduced to the hiring company by a reputable recruitment company they will handle salary negotiations on your behalf to ensure that both parties are happy with the deal that has been struck.

Employers

Employers should really be offering the best candidates appropriate salaries at different stages in their careers. You wouldn’t expect someone to take a pay cut in order to undertake more responsibility.

However, of course, there should always be room for negotiation. Again, there are some top tips you should be following:

Don’t ask the candidate what they are currently earning – you should have an idea from their CV, but probing into what they earn is intrusive and unreliable, anyway (who’s to say they will tell you the truth?). Make sure you are offering a competitive salary, which is attractive enough in the sector to secure the right candidates, without causing internal issues within your company. The salary you offer should be based upon the value you perceive the employee will add to your business and not based on what they are currently earning.

Also make sure you give prospective employees the whole picture before talking salary  including prospects, the challenge of the role, and other benefits. Prepare to be at least a little flexible. This has got to work for both parties. You need to factor in the possibility that the candidate will get counter-offered by their present employer. Make sure that the role and salary package are sufficiently enticing to ensure that they don’t decide to stay where they are. There is nothing more frustrating than an offer being rejected at this late stage.

Athena Executive Search can take the stress out of salary negotiation for both candidates and clients. We specialise in recruiting senior leadership positions in the Print and Packaging sectors globally. For access to more articles on industry topics, recruitment and retention strategies, and our upcoming webinar series with industry thought leaders please subscribe here: https://athena50147.activehosted.com/f/1 

The cost of making a poor hiring decision

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Poor hiring decisions are a real threat to companies operating in today’s competitive market. Recently one of the UK’s leading job sites publishing its findings following a survey of 200 recruiters. The study focused on how poor hiring decisions affect companies. The fact is, bad hires are costing your business money with each poor decision estimated to cost £15,000 and much more for senior hires. The bad news is the crippling long-term effects of poor hires, but the good news is that everything can be fixed if you know what to look for and how to lead your recruitment process towards better days. Here we share some insights into how you can avoid making bad hiring decisions for your organisation.

Strategy is everything

The advantages and necessity of a crystal clear recruitment strategy are well documented. We’ll say it again anyway: you must develop a clear recruitment strategy to avoid making poor recruitment decisions. Research confirms that if you don’t have a solid recruitment strategy you risk 44.4% higher staff turnover, 22.2% financial losses, 16% decline in productivity, 8.3% lowered staff confidence and 6.9% negative branding for the business. Note that in addition to threats to the business success, there is also the pernicious issue of low staff morale to navigate.

Significant sums of money are invested in securing talent for your company, and a lot of that money is lost. In fact, 66.1% of recruiters say they’ve lost a large sum of money on poor hires; 19.5% confess they’ve lost between £15,000 – £30,000 and 14.4% confirm they’ve lost over £30,000. With competition for recruiting the best talent set to intensify, your company cannot afford to make bad hiring decisions.

Screen with purpose

Careful and focused screening of candidates needs to be introduced at the interview stage. The harsh reality is that people are being hired for roles they cannot do, or in some cases they may be taking advantage of the opportunities available and defrauding the company. Not only are these costly errors internally but they can also cost your company dearly in negative press.

Screen your candidates thoroughly, making absolutely sure there are no lurking convictions or exaggerated CVs and skills rendering them incompetent for the role. While the pressure to hire the best talent is real, make sure you’re not rushing candidates through the hiring process.

Welcome with support

After attentive screening and interviews, the recruitment process is far from finished. As we have previously emphasised, your recruitment process must culminate in carefully designed onboarding. Make sure that you continue to observe and engage new hires during your onboarding process to ascertain their personality and suitability for your company culture. Some candidates are economical with the truth because they want a job; it’s your job to make sure an informed decision is made prior to offering a candidate a role.

Think about it

It’s important to appreciate the damage poor hiring decisions inflict upon an organisation. For example, the last thing you need is a poor hire taking to social media to complain. You may find desirable candidates decline to be interviewed as a result of the negative press on social media channels.

Recruiters cannot afford to be complacent or careless. Given current pressures and circumstances, that’s exactly the impression that poor hiring decisions can create.

Athena Executive Search specialise in recruiting senior leadership positions in the Print and Packaging sectors globally. For access to more articles on industry topics, recruitment and retention strategies, and our upcoming webinar series with industry thought leaders please subscribe here: https://athena50147.activehosted.com/f/1

How to improve your work productivity

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Productivity is the place where smart planning meets concentrated effort. To some, this place is nirvana: a productivity paradise they have long heard of but do not expect to visit anytime soon. There’s too much to do. To others, productivity is a practical process available to all, provided that you’re prepared to chip in a bit of discipline and effort. We believe in the latter ethos. Productivity is a simple and straightforward process. We just need some coaxing to change our thinking as to how to eke out the best from ourselves at work.

Move!

You almost certainly know that sitting for most of the day damages your health. Research has proved that sitting for 8-10 hours every day without moving around in between causes heart attacks. What does this have to do with productivity we hear you ask? Your energy levels are reduced because you’re not moving around. If your energy levels dip, your concentration levels take a hit. If your concentration is impaired, your decision making isn’t what it could be. Productivity isn’t about how many hours you sit at your desk. Productivity is what you achieve without ruining your health.

Disconnect

In America alone 12.2 billion hours are collectively spent scrolling social media sites. The approximate cost of these diversions in productivity terms is approximately $650 billion per year (that’s about $4,452 per person).

Constantly switching between the task at hand to quickly check your social media feeds impairs your focus levels. While this may not affect you initially, you’ll discover its crippling effects when circumstances demand you focus for an extended period. Monitor your scrolling time. You’ll be happier, have more energy and will notice the world around you again. TV watching is another culprit. As they say, no empire was ever built watching TV. Discipline yourself to one show per evening, and notice how your concentration levels improve.

Think about what you want to achieve and look at how you are realistically going to achieve it. The temptation to escape by watching TV is real, we know, but the advantages and rewards when you resist the urge and get on with going for that swim, walk or catching up with some reading are remarkable.

Plan

Before you leave the office for the day, plan your tasks for tomorrow. Writing a to do list of what you want to get done focuses your mind. When you leave the office you are confident of what needs to be done when you return. Overnight your mind has some time to itself (because you’re not slumped in front of the TV) and, after a while, you’ll start having good ideas. You might find yourself doing some background reading or brainstorming on your commute to work.

You were right all along

Forget multi-tasking. Research has confirmed what our frayed nerves have been trying to tell us: we cannot complete multiple tasks simultaneously. The old rule of “one thing at a time” is back and we’re all more productive because of it.

The key to productivity is working smarter, not harder. You know what you need to do. Far from being a grind, being productive increases positivity, wellbeing and guarantees success. Go for it!

Athena Executive Search specialise in recruiting senior leadership positions in the Print and Packaging sectors globally. For access to more articles on industry topics, recruitment and retention strategies, and our upcoming webinar series with industry thought leaders please subscribe here: https://athena50147.activehosted.com/f/1

 

The latest HR technology trends

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HR is an industry which hasn’t exactly kept up with technology trends and this is probably down to the fact that is an industry based on communication and personal relationships. However, we are seeing a lot of interesting new developments in HR and these can be hugely beneficial for businesses for both recruitment and retention. These are some of the top HR tech trends to look out for this year.

Enhanced recruitment process

At the moment, most HR recruitment systems exist for the purpose of tracking candidate applications – however, this is set to change throughout this year. Recruitment systems are set to become a lot slicker, incorporating marketing and brand building, as well as the standard tracking – and this will help improve the overall recruitment and selection process.

Performance management tools 

An effective performance management process is essential for helping to grow talent and improve retention. Up until now, performance management tools have been fairly limited, however, this is starting to change. We will see an influx of cloud based performance management systems, which can help support the process and make performance management a lot more useful.

Digital learning 

In the print and packaging sectors, it is essential for employees to continuously learn and update their skills and with enhancements in digital learning, this is set to become a whole lot easier. Employees will be able to undertake lessons and gain certifications, all through their computers or phones. The on boarding process will even benefit from digital enhancements, and this will improve the entire journey for employees, as well as making manager’s lives a lot easier.

People analytics 

The Print and Packaging sectors are challenging and it can be difficult to retain talented staff, due to the options available for candidates. If you want to know more about what your employees want, people analytics is the way to achieve it. It can all start with simply online surveys, where you can find out more about what your employees want and this can help improve retention levels.

Most businesses could benefit from investing in some of the new HR tech trends, particularly large organisations who want to improve employee relations and retention levels. If your HR systems are stuck in the dark ages, it may be worth looking at alternative options.

Athena Executive Search specialise in recruiting senior leadership positions in the Print and Packaging sectors globally. Please get in touch if you are contemplating a career move or looking to recruit. For access to more articles on industry topics, recruitment and retention strategies, and our upcoming webinar series with industry thought leaders please subscribe here: https://athena50147.activehosted.com/f/1

 

The Key Trends in Brand Protection and Security in the Packaging Market

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In the face of increasing losses due to more sophisticated counterfeiting and the theft of goods in transit, the packaging market is seeking to develop higher levels of brand protection and security.

Well-recognised threats to brands and goods, combined with revised regulations regarding the shipment of perishable items such as food and drink, are leading to the emergence of new and exciting packaging innovations designed to protect products from both counterfeiting and theft.

And this is good news for the industry as a whole. A recent report about the market predicts that it will grow at an impressive compound annual growth rate of 5.3% over the next five years, reaching $3.6 billion by the end of the forecast period.

What Is Driving This Growth?

There are several factors driving this predicted growth. New laws to help prevent tampering with goods in transit through compulsory labelling and the use of ever more sophisticated tamper-proof measures are currently being introduced in both the EU and America. These will be applicable for ‘life-critical products’, which include food, drinks, industrial components and pharmaceuticals.

In addition, a number of countries – including India, Brazil, Turkey, China and South Korea – have already introduced measures aimed at increasing security within the transportation of goods used in the pharmaceutical industry.

Track and Trace

And the World Health Organization and Framework Convention on Tobacco Control are leading the way by mandating the use of so-called track and trace technologies. These innovative new developments aim to ensure all manner of goods can be accurately tracked throughout their journey from the producer to the client, ensuring that nothing happens to them along the way.

Track and trace technology, in fact, is expected to see the largest growth in coming years – already it makes up 37% of the market. The technology is so advanced that much of it can even be accessed via smartphones.

Another critical factor driving the growth is the extension of certain trade zones across the globe, which have made it easier for counterfeit products to cross borders.

Where Is the Growth Expected?

Experts say the majority of the growth in the area is likely to occur in management systems, software and equipment, with a small decline predicted in actual physical components.

A greater emphasis is being placed on easy measures such as printable codes, which can be used across the board in a wide range of applications to improve brand protection.

The main users of the technology will be the food and drinks sector, with a market share of 38.8%, followed by the industrial sector and pharmaceuticals industry.

So it seems that brand protection and security will be set to play an ever-increasing part in a range of industries in the coming years.

Athena Executive Search specialise in recruiting senior leadership positions in the Print and Packaging sectors globally. For access to more articles on industry topics, recruitment and retention strategies, and our upcoming webinar series with industry thought leaders please subscribe here: https://athena50147.activehosted.com/f/1

Possibly the best time management advice ever!   

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One of the best time management advice stories goes like this. Charles Schwab was a steel mill Magnate in the 1930s and asked a time management guru, Ivy Lee, for his top tip. Ivy Lee gave the tip and said he was so confident of his advice that Charles can try it out and pay him whatever he feels the tip is worth. After a few weeks Charles was so impressed with the usefulness of the advice that he sent a cheque of $25,000. In modern money this is about $344,000. Wow!

 The famous advice that Lee gave was: 

  • At the end of a day list the key tasks that you need to get done the next day.
  • Prioritise them (ideally 1 to 5 priorities).
  • Next day work on tasks in the order of their priority/importance until daily time allows, not proceeding until a task was completed. Get as far as you can on the priority list.
  • Keep doing this every day.

Charles M. Schwab said this tip was the most profitable advice he had ever received. He was the first manager in the US to get over a million dollars a year so he must have been a competent guy.

We all have the same amount of time and there is normally plenty to do. Managing our time optimally is so important and gets us ahead.

Athena Executive Search specialise in recruiting senior leadership positions in the Print and Packaging sectors globally. Please get in touch if you are contemplating a career move or looking to recruit. For access to more articles on industry topics, recruitment and retention strategies, and our upcoming webinar series with industry thought leaders please subscribe here: https://athena50147.activehosted.com/f/1

 

10 reasons why you should use a headhunter

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10 reasons why you should use a headhunter

Headhunters, in simple terms, are recruiters – but not all recruiters are headhunters. Another term for what headhunters do is “Executive Searching” and this is it in a nutshell – they search for the ideal candidates at executive and senior management level. But they don’t just match people to companies; they match companies to people.

So what else does a headhunter have to offer?

  1. A headhunter knows how your industry works – the technology, the trends and most crucially understands what you do.
  2. A headhunter will have many years of networking within your field behind them. They make it their business to know who’s who, and will very quickly have someone specific in mind for a role you need to fill.
  3. By using a headhunter you can save yourself a lot of time. Your company doesn’t need to embark on a long, drawn-out recruitment process that may not even lead to finding the right candidate at all.
  4. As a result of the above, a good headhunter works in an advisory capacity for you, hence reducing the risk of making a bad (costly) choice of candidate.
  5. Once a particular headhunter has done a great job in finding you the perfect new recruit, a relationship of trust can exist for locating suitable candidates for future roles.
  6. Good headhunters in your field will be up-to-date with the latest laws, strategies and techniques.
  7. Headhunters are very proactive – it’s their job. After all, they’re paid on results. An effective headhunter will work tirelessly on your behalf until the role is successfully filled.
  8. A top class headhunter knows exactly where to look for talent. They not only have good networking connections within your field, but they also have a highly comprehensive set of tools and knowledge at their disposal to get that ideal person through your door.
  9. Headhunters will thoroughly understand the job requirements and person specification for the role on offer. Then will then be able to comprehensively convey these to a potential new recruit. This allows the candidate to gain a much clearer understanding of the role from the outset, meaning less space for misunderstanding – and a possible recruitment mistake.
  10. Any headhunter worth their salt will also make sure they do not lose the best candidates to other companies. There are likely to only be one or two ideal potential new employees for the level of job you are aiming to fill. A headhunter will know how to get them interested and motivated in the role – and not let them get away!

Athena Executive Search specialise in recruiting senior leadership positions in the Print and Packaging sectors globally. Please get in touch if you are contemplating a career move or looking to recruit. For access to more articles on industry topics, recruitment and retention strategies, and our upcoming webinar series with industry thought leaders please subscribe here: https://athena50147.activehosted.com/f/1