Sunday Thoughts: old Labour solution, but will the consumers spend?

Sunday Thoughts on a Monday? What is going on? I was going to write something a bit different, but this on reflection now seems more appropriate.......

In an inevitable “new Labour” way, Gordon Brown has made good on his “it’s just Labour” comment at takeover. In a series of weekend leaks to the press (one wonders what the job description for a New Labour PR guru is? Talk as loudly and openly as Vera Duckworth would seem high from what has been seen), it is fairly easy even for my three year old niece who can write her name what the main emphasis will be in Alastair Darling’s budget – tax and spend.

The tax element is that VAT gets cut, while the rich get taxed more – over £150k, expect to pay 45% from the next election. The spend element is – well, as you were, with more going out on unemployment benefit and Job Seekers allowance.

The interesting thing that has struck me watching some of the street level interviews undertaken today (Monday) by various media outlets with us ordinary folk, is that the message is pretty clear: “It is not a lot of money, and as my job is not secure, after paying my higher energy bills I will save just in case I am made redundant.”

Are the government the only institute in this recession who is not cutting their cloth to match their lowered income, higher risk to it through potential redundancy and higher energy bills? Everyone else is, so why not the government?

I think most economists would argue that in a recession there is much a spending Government can do to soften the bottom and define the likely hood of an up turn. But could the Government cut their cloth, like the rest of us are now doing?

The bastion of the blue collar right, The Sun, today created an article from a Westminster financial oversight committee report, which lists civil servants who all earn over the new proposed 45% tax cut rate, and yet have failed in their jobs. Of the five highlighted, four have lost their jobs: Paul Gray (paid £257,891, resigned over Revenue and Customs lost child benefit data scandal); Dr Ken Boston (paid £330,000, who oversaw the SAT’s); John Tanner (paid £445,621, ex-CEO of the FSA who resigned over the Northern Rock crisis); Sir Callum McCarthy (paid £480,553 at the FSA); and Clive Briault (paid £883,711, including a £500,000 pay-off, when he resigned over the Northern Rock debacle). The report finds some The report also revealed that 387 civil servants earn more than £150,000 a year, of which 200 are paid more than Gordon Brown — who gets £187,000 for being PM.

Much of New Labour’s spending is good. The Thatcher government had cut too much, and the huge amount of money required to be invested in school, hospital and transport infrastructure is evidence of that. But I think some of the spending has become too proliferagate, through lack of simple value measurement and common sence. Gordon Brown talks about record spending levels, but it is not necessarily therefore record value to the tax payer. When the Westminster committee of MP’s describes John Tanner, then CEO of the FSA as “not asleep, but comatose” during the Northern Rock crisis, one has to wonder how far in reality New Labour spin versus reality actually places Downing Street from the British recession?

I hence hope that the cold seasonal wind being now felt in the weather, on the high street and in people’s expectations of their employment prospects; is met with a renewed view for taxation value at 10 Downing Street, and not more leaky PR press releases of recording spending.

Good Luck!

Should I mention my personal blog in my Resume?

Shrinidhi Hande asks: How good do you think it is to mention about your personal blog in a professional resume?

In answer:
My standard answer Shrinidhi would be "no" with an aside of "it depends."

The key here is relevance to the job you are applying for, and as a business analyst as opposed to a journalist unless the blog was wholly business analyst orientated and the job advert asked for such evidence, then the answer is no.

However, having read your blog, I would definately say no. Firstly, the first words any reader comes across are "A professional amateur" - what impression does that give? And secondly, one of the top five commented subjects is "Public toilets can be made free." It would be a good blog for someone who wanted to be a local political representative, although at present it reads more like a personal diary.

The other opportunity you have with a blog, is that it appears in your GoogleCV. If you undertake a Google search on your own name, then it appears high in the results. Any recruiter, HR professional or employer who found this could conclude that your main focus may not be on the job - something to think about.

Good Luck!

When not to look for a new job

There are times when, looking for a new job is not a wise idea or a good risk. Such times could include, for instance, a credit crunch – anyone seen one recently?

However, if you are feeling frustrated in your current job or with your existing employer, there is much you can do to freshen up your outlook and future job prospects when the outlook does look better, and improve existing skills or create new one’s which recruiters are looking for employers seek.

Firstly, let’s take attitude – is the existing job really that bad? Yes, you may have found that you are paid 10% less than a work colleague, or 20% less than a friend doing a lesser job at a rival firm: but are they really being paid that much more? If you think yes, then why not ask for an out of cycle review with your boss to asses performance. Even if the outcome is good, are you likely to get more money doing the same job? No, but if the review is good you should be offered more responsibility, and that should equal more pay – plus as a well assessed employee, you have just reduced your chances of redundancy in that employer by at least three fold

The other in-house problem may be work colleagues, or even the boss. If that is the problem, then chat to a trusted third party in a casual conversation, to see if they feel that the other person has a reason to have something against you, or whether its just them. If you find a reason, then change your self first and then change them. Talk the other person about how you feel, and what you are willing to do to solve the issue and what you would appreciate them doing. May be it is as simple as saying hello in the mornings, or occasionally making the coffee/tea – problems can be quite small but harmful. But honestly, no one wants to work in an unhappy atmosphere, and you will probably be amazed that they also don’t feel happy and would be happy to find a better way forward.

May be the problem is your home life. Have you in the past six months moved, changed partners, had a new addition to the family – pets can be as troublesome as babies – or is a family member going through some tough times, and it’s reflecting through you? Changing everything at the same time adds a lot of stress to anyone’s life, and much as though the job may be boring or not want you want right now, getting stability in your home life would improve your view of it. Plus it can be a sanctuary of normality and stability away from the stress of the home. When ever I see people in Ajiri not feeling happy, I always ask them to sit down and chat, and make a point of asking about how home life is. My rule is always: home first, work second - if your home life is stable, then your work life is a lot easier.

May be none of the above are the reason, and you are just bored and in need of a change. That can always happen, but always remember not all job changes work out – with some employers, as low as 20% will be there one year later. Plus if you are last in, and redundancies are required, you WILL be first out – under most law, you have few retention rights or redundancy package rights for at least the first 6monts, and possibly as long as a year – all career change is a risk.
OK, so you think you want a change. Firstly, before you look at any adverts or jobs boards, have a look around your work world. What is it that is so boring, under whelming, and not fulfilling in your current job? Is there anything you could add to it which would make it better, by doing something else – or even gaining promotion?

Secondly, before you start looking at job adverts, get a plan and a goal together – what you are looking for may well be right where you are, plus a little bit.

Thirdly, once you have the plan you can have a look at the jobs boards and adverts in local media. If your ideal next job exists, then you will see it advertised – no adverts for it, then it might not exist, or be in demand right now: this is a sign of increased unemployment risk. If you do see jobs like the one you want, are they asking for more qualifications than you have, or wider experience? Note these down, and place them in your plan.

Now go back to your boss, and chat about your job. Bring up that you want job enhancement and development, and suggest the areas you noted. Ask for the training you spotted in the adverts as a development exercise – you may not presently get sponsorship for training, but you may get released for college on agreed hours. All of these steps means that you increase your value to your existing employer, and your desirability to your future employer; both of which add up to a lower chance of a period of unemployment.

It is natural that people will from time to time get bored with their jobs, and look for change – most outside their existing employers. If they looked at the reasons why, made a plan and asked for a few inputs from the boss and changes from co-workers, life may well look a whole lot better where they are – and they would be in a far, far more secure position in these dangerous economic times.

Good Luck!

Is there employer discrimination if applicants state knowledge of Arabic and/or Russian?

Rick asks: Is there employer level discrimination if applicants state a knowledge of Arabic and/or Russian on a resume. Is this a taboo subject? If someone's resume states that they know Arabic and/or Russian language, how likely will they be discriminated against by potential employer/recruiter? Job market: U.S. and Western Europe. Should people who know those languages not mention them on their resumes, unless the job description specifically asks for them? Assumption: Although it is possible to tell that the applicant has a foreign-born name, their native country/language is not recognizable just by their full name.

In answer:
The first thing to say here is that for the markets you are targeting, there are clear discrimination rules protecting citizens and residents from employer level discrimination on many levels, including racial which this would be classed as.

Is it possible that candidates will stand a lesser chance of being employed, as opposed to being discriminated against, if it is stated or clearly obvious that the local language is not their first language? Yes, because that often means they are immigrants, and there is a clear paperwork burden on the employer to engage such people - ie: even if they are EU citizens moving within the EU. Employers want easy and quick employment decisions, and so diverting from that means your chances of employment are lowered. One piece of advice I offer all non-local nationals, is to always get at least two well educated locals to check their application through - even my Aunt who has spent 50 years in the Netherlands can be spotted by a native as English from her writing.

Should you mention your language ability on your application? It is your application, so its your choice, but as you conclude the default advice would be not be mention it if the job description doesn't require a second or third language capability.

There are still premiums paid for certain language capabilities in certain markets/posts, with Arabic and Russian being two clear requirements in the banking industry of two years ago. Clearly that has changed as banks have down sized; but I wouldn't totally dismiss this valuable asset in some markets.

Good Luck!

How do executive resumes differ from those of non-executives?

Jill asks: What makes an executive's resume stand out and how are executives' resumes differ from the resumes of non-executives? I'm writing an article for a national publication on executive resumes. My article will provide some practical tips for creating a stellar resume and will offer advice about collaborating successfully with a professional writer to write the perfect resume.

In answer:
An executive CV or Resume is about focus, layers and preparation which show the reader the resultant delivery; as opposed to pages.

Simply, most executives are older or will at least have progressed through more positions. This should relate to a greater volume and hence more pages. However, the same old CV/Resume rules of focusing on the position being applied for and the last five years of work means that many early career positions can be cut down through focused summary. This enables the resume to focus most of the words on the what was the problem and how you approached it to gain the eventual result of delivery.

Most jobs are defined around the hole in which the employee fits - there is some creativity, development and management opportunity; but the main focus is around skills/competencies of the applicant and social fit within the wider company/customer team. Executive positions are defined around either problem solving or business growth, and all include team leadership and financial control. Some executive positions also encompass public reputation and management in the case of plc and national/global corporates.

It is hence important to show in the CV/Resume those softer skills and the associated hard results, through an almost project like manner: defining the problem/target required; strategic choice and selection; getting the team built and working together; the financial control; and the successful outcome in business measured terms.

With an executive, my normal approach is to create two outputs:

- A portfolio which addresses wider issues around the CV/Resume, giving greater details on key accomplishments and projects, includes personal and professional references, an elongated CV/Resume and a personal statement
- A 2page CV/Resume, which focuses on that job application. When you take into account all applications must have a Cover Letter, by adding more pages you look less focused and hence less like an executive

If you think about the differentiation in the skills/requirements of a job hunter, as opposed to the problem solving soft and hard skills of an executive; then the main differences come down to skills breadth and combination to create assured delivery. With that in mind when writing, those are the main differences that should be seen in any executive resume when it is read.

Good Luck!

Beyond the Resume and CV: is recruiting via web 2.0 that different?

BMany people in the recruiting and HR world are talking about recruitment 2.0. These people are those in that world who are totally web aware, and probably have a blog – so no wonder why I am writing about this phenomenon!

But, is recruitment web 2.0 style really any different to recruiting properly? In my personal opinion – NO!

Recruiting web 2.0 style is seen as a free flow of information between candidates and employers – there by cutting out the recruiters – where by employers find passive candidates through use of amazing tools and online social networking; while candidates find hidden opportunities in amazing employers.

Well, here’s a shock. Great companies have always hired for talent – they may not have had a position, but they do have systems which recognise talent, and they have captured it. For example, until 1998, who had ever heard of the UK Secret Service MI5 recruiting? Why did they have to do this – because the European Union in effect forced them to do it through legislation, plus not all situations required a while male Oxbridge graduate: in fact in certain situations, it was a hindrance to your future prospects of breathing. The UK Secret Service had to diversify their recruiting channels, and advertising when you are perceived as a wholly white male Oxbridge bastion can help to change potential recruit’s perceptions – they could widen the net, and get better quality candidates for new situations

What still shocks me today, is that much as though web 2.0 proponents suggest it brings freedom and a far lower cost process of recruiting to the employer, most employers still don’t use their own two greatest tools of cheapest cost recruiting and retention: their own brand, and their own workforce. The issue any recruiter has to deal with is not just skill competency of any candidate, but also social fit within an employer. Most honest recruiters will accept that even the best at this only get around 50% of placement right on the social fit measure: it is hence why the head hunters always put more than one candidate forward; while the bottom end and high street will put more than 10 forward because there’s bound to be one that fits in there somewhere! If you were employer, and were looking to expand your team of nuclear fission research scientists, where would you go to find more of them? Most employers send out an advert or pay a recruiter, where as less than 1 in 10 employers speaks to and incentives their existing people – who know the social fit of the company better than any external resource could ever – and who probably just flick through their own diary to earn a fee of less than 10% a half competent recruiter would charge. Who needs Facebook or LinkedIn when you have a workforce?

One thing web 2.0 can do is reduce the time to recruit, and the efficiency of that process. Aaron Strout, Vice President of New Media at Mzinga.com correctly points out that web 2.0 recruiting means that an employer can get a far, far better rounded view of any employee. Web 2.0 cuts out the need to contact them, bring them in and interview, and then ask for references: they have already given you the references thanks to their open social networks profiles. In fact, one of the things I have suggested to many candidates when they decide that they want to find a new job, is to firstly clean up their social networking profile, and then secondly increase that profile by changing a few key words and taking some simple actions. Hence, any candidates you do invite in for interview via a web 2.0 process search are hence more likely to have social fit, and be able to be offered a job – but I still think, that process still won’t be perfect, just better.

One thing Strout has asked his candidates to undertake for the companies new Citizen Marketer post is not to send him a CV or Resume, but to blog and socially network with him and others to get an interview. Is this a web 2.0 tactic or strategy? In this case it is not, it is a test posing as a web 2.0 cutting edge development. Simply, if you want to hire an X, you need to test during interview and assessment for the core competencies that an X would need. A Citizen Marketer apparently needs to be able to use web 2.0 tools such as social networking and blogging to satisfy Mzinga’s client’s requirements – this application process merely tests for those skills. A business acquaintance who runs a private dining catering company asks all new potential employee’s to peel a potato (its not a test about peeling potato’s, it is a test about cleanliness); while in BT and many other telecoms companies, field workers are asked to pick out certain copper cable colours from a piece of cable (it is a test of eye sight and colour blindness). They, like the blogging test set by Strout, are all just tests to test core competencies of the potential employees against a defined role.

Web 2.0 as a technology does offer more – its offers both candidates and employers the opportunity to access a wider network of opportunity: and that’s good for all, as long as you make sure your online reputation is in order first, and continually updated. Is it the answer to every HR teams recruiting question – no, probably not. For employers, using a better employment process and focusing on improvement of a talent management system will still bring the best results, which web 2.0 can bring new tools to – and that’s all folks!

Good Luck!

Political discrimination in employment law

In light of the news tonight that a former Welsh employee of the British National Party has published the entire 2007 membership database of 10,000 people on the internet - some current members, some past members - I think it is worth a quick review of discrimination law and how it effects employment in the UK.

However, firstly a quick legal statement. As both employment law and internet law is covered by certain legislation in the UK, and as the list contains individuals personal information which is covered under the Data Protection Act, there is a potential breach of UK law, and as the publication of this list is subject to a complaint by the BNP party leader Nick Griffin to Dyfed Powys Police who are presently investigating, I will not be making a link to the source or any duplications of the list from this blog. If you find such a link, this has been placed here in error, and I request that you inform me immediately of this link which will be removed as quickly as possible. If any comments are inserted which include links to the source list or copies therefore, they will also be removed as quickly as possible. It is therefore requested that you do not place links in comments which link to such sources. I will also freely state that I am not nor have never been a member or sympathiser of the BNP, and have only ever been a member of the UK Labour Party by default when a member of the Post Office Telecoms Union between 1979 and 1982, when I opted out of paying the political levy.

There are clear laws and excellent legal precedents on many potential issues of employment discrimination on many issues, including sex, age, race, disability and religeon. You may not agree with some of these, but personally I think these are good laws for the entire UK population and its long term harmony, and employment. From a business view point as well, these laws are excellent - your market probably has many different people represented, and addressing the needs contained within these laws means you should resultantly be able to address your market in a better manner.

However, one potential area of discrimination not addressed in these specific laws, or the generic law of the UK or the EU, is political discrimination.

Employees have the enshrined legal right to join a trade union, thanks to the Labour government of Tony Blair which repealed the majority of the Trade Union law installed by Margaret Thatchers Conservatives. However, there is no direct legislation in England, Wales or Scotland which protects a person from political discrimination in the work place, but there is such legislation in Northern Ireland.

An employee has the right to join a trade union, and should not be refused a job, dismissed, harassed or selected for redundancy because they are a member of or want to join a trade union. A member of a trade union has the right to take part in its activities, whether it is recruiting members or attending meetings.

Some employees face dismissal in certain defined jobs on the grounds of evidence of membership of some political activities, including the BNP. This includes certain government jobs, which for the BNP members since 2004 includes not being able to be a police officer: "This is because such membership would be incompatible with our duty to promote equality under the Race Relations Amendment Act and would damage the confidence of minority communities" has commented Peter Fahy, of the Association of Chief Police Officers.

Northern Ireland:
Inequality between Catholics and Protestants in employment was a key issue at the heart of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Over a long period, successive administrations introduced fair employment legislation, outlawing discrimination in employment on the grounds of religion or political opinion.

The Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 introduced far-reaching provisions on equality. It imposed duties on public authorities to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity across diverse situations and identities, and regard to the desirability of promoting good relations between persons of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group.

In the whole of Northern Ireland, it is illegal to discriminate against anyone, including a child or young person, on the grounds of religious or political belief. If a person has suffered religious discrimination they may be able to take action against the organisation or individual responsible.

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has more information on political discrimination, and publishes an excellent booklet.

European legislation:
The only piece of legislation where discrimination against individual's political belief may be protected is under the European Union Human Rights Act, which became part of British law in 1998, although there is no specific legislation regarding political discrimination under the act. Examples where part of the act could work are:

- Article 10: Freedom of expression
- Article 11: Freedom of assembly and association

How these are interpreted by the courts remains unclear, but an example where a person may not be discriminated against, using Article 10 or 11, could be when taking part in any demonstrations.

Suggested actions:
On all occasions where you feel you may have been discriminated against, your first point of call should be to a employment law specialist solicitor. If you can't find one, then use the Law Society website "Find a Solicitor" service using Employment Law as a pre selection. Often, initial consultations are free (always check first), and it is quick to discover if you have a case. If discrimination is suggested, then in many cases there are multiple grounds of discrimination - ie: disability and sexual. Always follow your solicitors advice in such cases, and do nothing without prior consultation or their agreement - you are paying them, so take their advice.

If your name is on this published list, them I recommended that you complain in writing to the website where you found the listing as well as their listed ISP service provider/hosting company.

If you are no longer a member of the BNP, but your name appears on the list, then when you next go to work ask for a meeting with your manager and/or the HR manager. Explain that you are no longer a member, which they may request to be followed up in writing - don't do this until asked to do so. The reason for this is that if you are dismissed after the date of your resignation from the BNP, then the reason for your dismissal can not be political - discrimination can not be applied retrospectively.

Good Luck!