Jayne Johnson, Author at Better People Recruitment

Author: Jayne Johnson

Employers

Recruiting or Thinking About it?

November 2, 2021August 18, 2023
by Jayne Johnson

Recruiting or Thinking About it?

As unemployment figures hit a record low, we are all competing for great candidates.

Here are a few tips to help you when you are planning your next recruitment campaign.

What can you afford to pay?

Have you researched the salaries being paid for equivalent roles in your area?

Go on to job sites and put your job title, salary and postcode into the search and see what jobs come up for that salary.

What else can You offer to make your job stand out?

A day off for your birthday

Free Parking

Free study package

Discounts

Private Health Care

Employee benefit schemes

Bonus or Profit Share
Community-based charity or volunteer projects

Other Considerations

What will their holiday entitlement be?
Can you offer more than your competitors?

Do you have a desk for them? A computer? A phone? A car? Uniform? Tools?

Anything else they need to have to do their job? Or that everyone else in the team has?

Do you have a fit for purpose CURRENT contract of employment and job description?

We are not talking about something that you have been using for the last 10 years,

or that you downloaded from the internet!!

Does your contract cover working from home elements for example?

Or does your contract of employment for this role still say “ distributing faxes” as one of the duties???

So if you are Recruiting or Thinking About It

Get all these elements sorted out and organised before you start your hiring process.

Once you have all this in place you can start to write a killer advert and start to welcome those applications.

Need help and advice with your recruitment process, get in touch for an informal no-obligation chat

Employers

Does your business have a fear of recruiters?

August 27, 2021August 18, 2023
by Jayne Johnson

Why don’t businesses want to speak to recruiters?

Does your business have a fear of recruiters?

We are all so wary of “being sold to” aren’t we? Why is that? Is that because we are too afraid of buying something, that we are unable to say “no”?

Recruitment is a long process, you won’t/can’t hire someone, accidentally….. you do have to actually agree terms etc. Yes they can try and drive the conversation their way – that’s a sales persons job but you can ask the questions and find out if this individual is more of a sales person than an experienced recruitment professional.

DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE

We recommend you doing your due diligence when seeking a recruiter.

Ask to speak to a business that has used them before.

Have a look at their social media channels.

Do your research and then ring them and say:

“I am doing some fact-finding today so I won’t be making a decision. This is what I am looking to achieve, what would your advice be?”
“ Are you the person who is going to be able to help me with this?”

“How many CVs do you expect to send me?”

“How long do you spend with your candidates before submitting them to your clients?”

We should let the salesperson- the recruiter, inform us and guide us so that we can make an informed decision.

The initial information sharing will enable you to get to know them and get a feel for if you can deal with them. You can ask them what you need to know and share information with them about what you need.

This will help your decision to buy from them or not. Can they service your requirements; align with your values, are you confident of their effectiveness, and will they match your budget?

UNDERSTAND THE BUSINESS AND THE VACANCY

A big frustration for me is when a prospective client who I have never met or spoken to, emails me out of the blue. They have a vacancy and they want me to send them some CVs for an Office Manager. They are also clear on their budget, “We never pay more than x”

When I call them to discuss the vacancy, they duck my calls. When I do get to speak to them, they are not prepared to share any information about their business. They won’t discuss their team, their culture, and frustrating of all, the vacancy!

They are not prepared to say how the vacancy has arisen, the prospects, anything, except a generic job spec. They don’t want to talk about that either!

Very often that same business will say – “ we have this vacancy with some recruiters already.” This does not surprise me because,
those recruiters are NOT prioritising their vacancy, why?

Because the fee is dreadful;
They don’t know how to market it to candidates because they don’t know anything about it.

THE RECRUITER IS REPRESENTING YOUR BUSINESS

If you are recruiting, then you are about to make a huge decision that will affect your business, have an impact on your team, and cost you money.

Wouldn’t it be worth having an open conversation with prospective recruiters?
To see who is going to service your needs better?
To find a recruiter whose values align with yours?
After all, they are going to be representing you and your business when speaking with prospective candidates.

Would you rather your recruiter says to prospective candidates –
“I don’t know anything about this company except what I looked up on their website. The salary is this and here is their internal job spec”

Or your recruiter could be saying:
This is an exciting opportunity because this company has won a major contract which is going to have a big impact on their business. The business is secure because they make x for which there is increasing demand. The role is a new one and you would be joining a team of X no of people.

They offer flexible work patterns, ongoing training, X days holiday, a day off on your birthday, on-site parking and there is a great work atmosphere there and people usually stay with them a long time.

They are based at X which is easy to get to by car or public transport. This is their interview procedure, the salary is this and they are looking for someone who is really interested in sustainability with great people skills. How does that sound? Shall I put you forward?”.

The second description of the vacancy is far more appealing. And likely to engage and secure interest in a candidate than the first one.

DOES YOUR BUSINESS HAVE A FEAR OF RECRUITERS?

So what I am saying is – give your recruiter all the information they need to be able to attract the very best people for your vacancies.

Be open with them, meet them, find out if you like them by engaging about your business and the vacancy.

You should choose someone you feel you can work with. You are going to be working on a very important project, that is going to have a big impact on your business.

Recruitment isn’t just about emailing CVs. It is about finding the best people – Better People who will stay, add value and thrive in the businesses they join.

Is that what your recruiter is doing for your business?

Finding Better People for our Clients since 2008

Call me for a confidential chat with absolutely no obligation to work with me.

Jayne Johnson – 01491 836632 – jaynej@betterpeopleltd.co.uk

Calendly – Jayne Johnson – Book a slot in my diary. Can’t wait to speak to you!

Blog

Employing people, really isn’t getting any easier is it?

July 29, 2021August 18, 2023
by Jayne Johnson

Employing people, really isn’t getting any easier is it?

I was reading a debate on a recruiters forum yesterday about recruiting people to work from home and how far we can go to de- select people who may have children at home making a noise when they are on the phone and generally distracting them and demanding their attention. This person was saying that of course she doesn’t want a new employee to be distracted by their children or for business calls to be backed by noise of children.

It made me realise that there is a lot more to think about when we are recruiting people to work from home some or all of the time. Inevitably, if you are interviewing someone to work from home who has a child, you are going to be asking yourself if that person intends to put that child into childcare when they are working for you at home, or will they have that little one at home with them.

The person who had started the conversation was asking “ does that go against HR rules” which in itself was a telling question.

Get some Expert Advice

My advice to any business owner looking to employ people, or who is about to bring people “ back to work” whether in a blended work from home and office-based role really should consult a qualified HR specialist.

Yes of course you want to know that you are not “breaking the HR rules” (surely we mean current employment law there) but most of all you want to make sure that you are being as fair and reasonable as you can whilst making the best decision for your business.

Like taking on any other service provider, talk to HR consultants first, ask for recommendations and find out what sort of work that HR Consultant did for the person recommending them. Was it about making people redundant or working on an employee benefits package? In which case that may not be relevant for you.

Don’t have issues right now?

It may be that you don’t have “issues” right now but in order to pre-empt request for blended working and your duty of care when your employees are at home, you really should speak to an expert.

I know some great HR experts who are used to supporting businesses of all kinds and sizes so could make some recommendations if you would like that.

Employing people, really isn’t getting any easier is it?

We can take the headache out of the recruitment aspect and find you good people, but it is worth investing time with a qualified HR expert if you have questions like this.

Blog

You will have to bear with me…

June 28, 2021August 18, 2023
by Jayne Johnson

You will have to bear with me………

Been told that on a call lately?

How many of you have had to wait for more than half an hour to speak to a financial institution. –An institution that has got your money – let’s not forget to mention that bit?

Have you had this – “You will have to bear with us” by means of a pre-recorded voice message. Do we HAVE to bear with you? We don’t actually! We can move our money, business, etc

I am talking about services that we are paying for. We are immediately put into a call answering service with music playing before we have even spoken to anyone? Sound familiar?

From Personal Experience

My mother was told by the customer service team of a well-known bank (after listening to music, on hold, for 40 minutes), to go to the local branch with some paperwork.

When she was no longer required to be shielding, she went to the branch they had sent her to. When she got there, she discovered it had been closed for the last 18 months! Needless to say, she really couldn’t be bothered to phone them and complain.

And that right there is why they get away with it, isn’t it? No one wants to run the risk of another stressful 25-minute wait, listening to that awful music, to get through to a person who then tells you, you need to speak to department Z, because “we don’t deal with complaints”.

From Government Departments to Well Known Brands

Even certain government departments are guilty of this. We want to pay our taxes or ask a question to enable us to get this right and yet we can’t speak to anyone.

I had a similar experience with a well-known German car brand recently- so it appears, doesn’t matter how much you want to spend, you can be treated badly when you want to spend a lot of money too!

Frustrated

It is driving me bonkers that small business owners are doing all that we can to provide the very best service we can so that our businesses survive and thrive.

We make our customers feel important, we are courteous, quick to reply, anxious to do the very best we can aren’t we? Whilst it has to be said that the corporates, the behemoths do not seem to be trying at all.

I wonder if the senior leadership teams know how their phones are being answered. Do they actually ever do any secret shopper or quality assessment work to see what kind of experience incoming callers are experiencing? This isn’t a COVID-related matter. This has been the attitude of these larger organisations for quite a few years now.

And I am sorry to say that a bank that has kept you waiting for 25 minutes before you can even speak to someone, does not inspire me to spend even another 30 seconds completing one of their online customer service questionnaires

Can we assume that they don’t want any more customers? That they really don’t care if people are furious with them?

The Next Time

So the next time you hear someone say “you will have to bear with me”… breathe deeply and imagine your happy place. Or put your phone on loudspeaker and do some exercises, see how many squats you can do before they answer, or you could see how many biscuits you can eat before they answer.

The thing is if it’s a bank that I’m calling, I think I should go for the squats as my waistline numbers really shouldn’t be on the increase from those biscuits! Rant over! What’s getting your goat at the moment?

Employers

Recruiting in a Skills Shortage? Consider Attitude rather than…

May 27, 2021August 18, 2023
by Jayne Johnson

Recruiting in a Skills Shortage?

Consider Attitude rather than just Skills

In these days of increasing skill shortages, we should consider “growing our own”. Look to take on individuals with the right attitude. Those keen to learn, receptive to training, development that we can train ourselves.

Recruiting for attitude rather than skills is not a new thing.
When recruiting salespeople for Microsoft UK, one of the Sales Directors said “ Jayne here is a 9 point list of “must-haves” , but if the individual has the want and does want to get ahead and learn – I can work with that.”

We cannot train the personality and attitude, but we can train skills.

For younger employees there are often government training schemes to help us do this.
Apprenticeships are very accessible now for all categories of staff. From forensic scientists to digital media to the more traditional apprenticeships in trades. They don’t have to be for the under 25s either. The government are making it easier and easier for us to be supported while we train staff.

We can take a step back from our businesses, think ahead and do some resource planning. Where do we see the skills gaps coming up? Then recruit individuals with the right attitude, and get them trained to do things your way.
This often results in very loyal committed employees and a genuinely better dynamic business culture.

We’ve all come across the employee who isn’t a team fit. Doesn’t fit the company culture profile anymore, yet we hang onto them. Why, because they are the only person who can use our accounts system? Sound familiar?

Change the system! Recruit someone less experienced to work with them, on a lower salary and send them on the courses.

Avoid being held hostage to the person with the wrong attitude. Just because they are the only one who applied who could use X. That’s NOT the way to build a great team!

Ask any business you know with great staff, who are happy in their work, who stay. – How do they recruit and I bet you they consider attitude over skills every time.

If you need some help coming up with the right questions for your interviews, so that you can really find out about peoples’ attitudes – give me a ring. I’m always happy to talk about recruitment!

Employers

The Time Bandits – Do you know any of…

March 10, 2021August 18, 2023
by Jayne Johnson

The Time Bandits – Do you know any of these?

Do you feel embarrassed or guilty when you waste other peoples’ time? I do.

Time is a priceless and valuable commodity. When it’s gone it’s gone. We don’t get it back.

As Omar Khayyam says in the famous Rubaiyat – “Three things come not back, time spent, the sped arrow and the spoken word”
(More of the last two on another day perhaps)

Are you a victim of Time Bandits?

Increasingly, I become more aware of how disrespectful individuals and organisations can be of other peoples’ time. For me, that is just plain rude!

I don’t waste my time getting annoyed with these people. because that would take far more of my energy than they are worth.

Why am I mentioning it today, well ranting today? Because, recently, I seem to have been a victim of more Time Bandits than usual.

What do I mean?

Let me give you some examples……

The person who calls me and then keeps me on the phone, while they look things up about what they wanted to speak to me about…
Or the person who conducts conversations with other people whilst they are on the phone to me. Shouldn’t they have done that all this before they called me?
The person in a time-limited meeting who talks at length about a personal point or matter, that has no relevance or interest for the wider group.
HMRC – Anyone trying to get any phones answered by HMRC? If you are not in this category – You are lucky!
Global logistics firms who have all kinds of fabby, dabby parcel tracking services that can’t even get a parcel to you when they say they will, or keep you informed as to when it will be delivered.
The person who consistently invites you to their house for dinner and who is always “running late” and is in fact not ever ready for you. (Actually, you know what? Right now, I would be more than happy to be at someone’s house waiting for dinner- but you know what I mean!)

Are you a Time Bandit? Shame On You!

How about the person who agrees to meet for a business meeting, then spends the whole time taking calls. All without any explanation to me, on why this needs to happen in our meeting.

I understand that a family or similar type of emergency takes precedent sometimes. But do let people know that you are experiencing something that will/may impact your meeting.

Show good manners

What about the company that asks you to wait in for half a day to receive a parcel that YOU HAVE PAID THEM for!

Then they don’t arrive in that time slot, fail to e-mail, text, or call you. Yet you have supplied all these details to confirm your order.

Major high-end supermarkets fail to put on enough staff on peak days so that you are queuing to use even the fast check areas.

The banks who have all our money and yet can’t get to the phone to answer our calls and I know that everyone is experiencing difficulties with the pandemic but when you are told to expect to give up a morning to deal with something with a bank with whom you are a customer – a customer who will be charged for their services.

Wasted Time

How many wasted hours have I spent waiting to speak to my bank? They have been saying for the last 12 years (at least),

that they have been” experiencing higher than average call volumes”.. there hasn’t been a pandemic all that time!

People who keep you waiting without even apologising or explaining their absence.

Some of these things happen, and some are unavoidable. But when the same people and the same businesses rob you of your time, again and again, it does become hard to bear.

The Art of Mindfulness and remaining calm

Keeping myself calm about these things because I don’t want to give this the power to take over my head, but,

I shouldn’t have to even be making that much effort.

Do I need to learn the art of mindfulness, patience, and deep breathing to deal with these situations? Guess what? – I have found profound gratitude for the loudspeaker on my mobile phone.

Don’t be a Time Bandit!

Employers

Interviewing Candidates – Do you know what to say?…

February 11, 2021August 18, 2023
by Jayne Johnson

Do you know what to say? What to ask?

Work out what you want to know and ask the questions you need to ask to get that information?

Clients often ask me – What kind of interview should I have? What shall I ask?

Shall we do a Behavioural Interview? Situational Interview? Stress Interview? Case Study Interview? Portfolio Interview, CV Based Interview?

What matters is if the interview questions are relevant to the particular job and job description and the company and give you a chance to assess the candidates’ suitability for the job without asking any questions that can be deemed to be illegal and discriminatory ( if you don’t know what these might be then YES do look these up on the internet!).

Sometimes business owners I work with have been used to having someone else do first interviews for them, or have recruited before and hired someone that didn’t work out so they feel that they should do it differently this time – hence their questions.

That’s great – I love it when people want to learn – I know I do – but sometimes doing internet research can lead you down an unnecessarily complex rabbit hole of information, where you can get lost and end up with a list of interview questions to ask, that have no relevance to the job, your company culture or the kind of person you are looking for.

In my experience, you should evaluate the following as a minimum in the first interview.

Attitude

Understanding of the job for which they are applying
Ability to do the job
Relevance of experience
Personality
Flexibility
Personal accountability
Future potential

Your questions should be specific to the particular job and give you answers that enable you to evaluate the interviewee based on your Job Description and Person Specification so that you are asking each candidate the same questions. There may be culture and attitude questions that you ask all prospective employees, and these can be included as well.

If the most important thing for you is that they sound good on the phone and enjoy working with customers and solving their problems, then tailor your interview questions around that.

For this role for example – Start with a phone interview, which has been prearranged, and where they have been emailed a copy of your full Job Description – NOT YOUR ADVERT- where you ask some open questions, listen and take notes.

What do you know about this job? What do you know about our business and what we do?

If they have no idea about the job…. Why? What does this say about them? No knowledge of your business or a cursory understanding? Not able to use Google? Look at your company website? Not a good sign. Do they sound flat, bored? tired? Or upbeat smiley friendly and professional? If they are not able to articulate their answers clearly, then they are not a person who is suitable for a phone-based role where they are representing your business, have to think on their feet and deal with the unexpected.

Can you give me an example of a time when a customer has not been happy and what you have done to rectify that?

Did they take ownership for resolving the problem? Or did they just tell their supervisor and take no interest or responsibility for sorting out the issue/finding a solution and or learning from it. What respect and consideration do they show for the customer in this scenario?

What do you think might be some of the problems that our customers might encounter when buying from us?

Can they use empathy? Think on their feet? Have they really given your job any thought at all? Done any research? Are they prepared to stretch themselves and use their brain?

These 4 questions will probably take 20 minutes – (sometimes a lot less! ) to go through on the phone and will save a huge amount of your time.

You will learn about their attitude, their customer service skills, how they sound on the phone, their personal accountability, their ability to think on their feet and use materials easily available to them, to improve themselves and generally do the best they can.

You will need to have a CV based work history interview where you ask questions about their day-to-day work and reasons for leaving, which helps to validate the CV. It also gives you an insight into the level of responsibility, relevant experience and skill levels as well as communication skills. Adding relevant situational questions about responsibility/accountability ability to work under pressure, if relevant- customer solution situations, under-delivery/failure to meet targets.

So, in conclusion, my best advice is to keep it simple and base the interview on finding out what you want to know. If you have a question on your Interview Script – ask yourself what the ideal answer is to this question – why are you asking it? What will this question tell you about the candidate?

Happy Interviewing!

Blog

Got a Video Interview/Meeting – Are You Really Ready?

December 3, 2020August 18, 2023
by Jayne Johnson

Are you really ready?

Having spent the last – almost 3 years, on Zoom or Teams or Google Hangouts having business meetings, speaking to our families, playing quizzes and conducting interviews, we are all getting rather blasé about this now – but should we be? This can still be the first time we meet/see someone so those first impressions are as important as they ever were.

My role has involved video interviewing for the last 3 years so I have really seen some sights I can tell you! These tips below are all based on my real experiences
Thought I would put together a quick Dos’ and Don’ts Guide to presenting yourself as well as you can.

Don’t

Think it’s only a video call/meeting/networking event – no need to look good.
Sit on an unmade bed or in any room that is obviously a bedroom.
Put your device in the kitchen with yesterdays’ dishes and empty wine bottles in full view.
Sit in front of your washing with your underwear on the airer behind you.
Sit in a room with other people talking to you and cooking while you are on your business video call/interview.
Take the call in your car, a loud coffee shop or public venue (without excusing or explaining ahead of time to the interviewer. They would usually rather give you the chance to rearrange)
Have a video call or meeting without checking you know how to use and navigate the video platform out before you start. Practice first!!
Wear a t-shirt/hat etc with an offensive inappropiate image and language on it.
Use a virtual background that is inappropriate/ unprofessional or that isn’t fully working.
Have another screen running and have your eyes on that all the time.
Sit sideways on so it is clear that your primary focus/ concentration is on something else.
Answer your phone or text during your video call. Turn it off – put it in another room!
Move about during the call so that you are not always clearly visible or heard easily.
Make detailed notes with your head and eyes lowered so the person can’t see your face.

Do

Raise your laptop about a hand span in height from the desk- put some books under it so that you are not peering down into it. This makes your face look strange and tempts you to lean in too close to the camera.
Check before the call what you look like and what is showing in the background. Set the scene, tidy your desk, look behind you, look at what the other person/people will see. Much better to set yourself up a virtual background – all the platforms offer that!
Remember neutral is always better. Blank wall/empty shelf is always better than “ iffy” pictures ornaments or clutter.
Make sure that the tilt of your screen is adjusted to show your full head and elbows in the middle of the picture.
Sit far enough away from the screen, so that the poor person talking to you does not have to look up your nose and count your nose hairs. You wouldn’t sit right next to someone in an interview so be considerate in the same way on Zoom. Having a full face filling your screen is menacing and unpleasant for the other person.
Turn up the light on your device – on a keyboard, this is usually by using the little star symbol.
Check the lighting in the room where you are. Can you be seen clearly? Or just an outline.
Use a little desk lamp if you need to increase the light on the screen.

Remember when you are in a meeting that people are looking at you all the time – don’t pick your nose, clean your ears with a pen, zip and unzip your trousers, tuck in your shirt, reapply lipstick, or anything else that you wouldn’t normally do in company/business meeting. (Yup! Sorry I have seen all of these things!).

Preparation for video call interview or meeting is like any other business meeting. A lack of preparation and effort is inappropriate business conduct and poor manners. Don’t be judged on something that you could so easily have improved on by just taking a few minutes to plan and prepare.

Remember this applies to employers as well as candidates! If as prospective employers, we are unable to impress, engage and attract those candidates – they won’t want to work for us. We expect them to be professional so let’s make sure we are too!

Employers

Hiring Sales People?

October 27, 2020August 18, 2023
by Jayne Johnson

Are You Confident About Hiring Sales People for Your Business?

Many owners of growing businesses are shying away from hiring salespeople in their businesses.

Even though recruiting the right salesperson is the very thing that is going to take their business to the next level of success and beyond.

They have reservations about employing salespeople because they are not sure they are going to get value for money.

They feel that they will have the wool pulled over their eyes by a salesperson “doing a sales number on them” and that they will be convinced to hire someone who does not really have the ability and previous success levels that they claim.

They also worry that a “salesperson” is an aggressive beast that they will not be able to control. Very often they know a story about someone who hired an expensive salesperson who didn’t bring in sales and then they couldn’t get rid of them. If recruitment is properly done and HR processes aligned and in place and you manage them against their activity/results/KPIs – this will not be the case.

It is natural to have these concerns, but like any recruitment process, it simply requires methodical advance planning, research, and preparation of a list of relevant interview questions and selection criteria to establish if they are the right salesperson for your business.

As well as evidence of their success in other roles, which you can learn through effective questioning, you also need to establish if this individual is the kind of person you want representing your business. Your sales people’s ethics values and standards need to reflect those of your business.

Results achieved in previous roles may be verifiable and the sales person may have had genuine success in their previous business but do you want them representing your business? Are values aligned? How do they speak? What is their sales style? Is this right for your customers?

I have put together a list of questions for you to ask yourself before you begin a campaign to recruit a salesperson as well as a list of interview questions for you to ask when interviewing a salesperson for your business.

Questions to Ask When Interviewing a Sales Person

Can you talk me through the sales cycle in your previous role?
Where did the leads come from? How did you get them?
Who did you have to speak to? What job titles did these people have/what level were they?
How often would you have to speak to them to get a sale?
What was the average value of a sale? How many would you have to make to get your commission?
Target Questions – What were your targets? How often did you hit your targets? What do you do if you think you are not going to meet your targets? What prevents you from hitting your targets?
What kind of objections did you have to overcome when selling your last products? Why would you lose a sale? For what reasons?
What level of activity did you have to do to achieve your targets? ( i.e. how many calls, client meetings, demonstrations etc)
Who were your competitors? Who did you lose business to?
Why did they leave these previous jobs if they were so successful?

If people cannot answer these questions to the level that you require or with the depth of detail and demonstration of accountability for their numbers that you expect – you will know that they are not for you. Asking all of these questions will also highlight if they are telling fibs about their earnings, commission and levels of achievement etc. Sales people need to be able to think on their feet so if they don’t react well in this situation, perhaps they don’t have the resilience you need….. or are not telling the truth……….

How do they describe their customers/clients? Does that reflect your company values? What answers do they give to questions about “Customer Care” and “After Sales”? Ask them for examples where their Customer Care skills have resulted in repeat business? Resulted in enhanced sales?

Questions for You to Ask Yourself Before You Start to Recruit a Sales Person

What is the market rate for a basic salary for a salesperson doing a similar job in your area?
How much business will they have to bring in to cover their salary?
What will you offer as a sales incentive? Most salespeople sell to earn a commission.
What do they have to sell? What specialist knowledge do they have to have? Is this an absolute MUST or could someone with the right attitude and sales ability learn to sell your product?
Who are they selling it to? B2C? B2B and at what level are the people who will decide to buy your product?
Where will they get leads from? Does your business already generate these leads or do they have to do that themselves?
Where will they record their sales activity? The notes of their client calls, the names and addresses of the contacts they bring on, and the business knowledge they gain? This is yours so it needs to be on your CRM.
Will they need knowledge of a particular CRM? They should be able to learn yours easily.
What is the average value of a sale in your business?
How quickly can they bring in business? How long is the cold call to invoice typically?
How will you handle up- sales to existing clients? Will they be paid a commission at the same level as for self-generated leads to new clients?
Are they restricted by geographical area?
Do they need to drive as part of this sales job?
Are you going to offer a car, laptop and mobile phone? Do they need to travel to meet clients and if they do, have you costed mileage and expenses into the costs of hiring a Sales Person
How are you going to measure their success? What reporting, tracking, and monitoring are you going to put in place? Weekly sales review meetings? Fortnightly meetings? Activity analysis and stats? How long will you give them to achieve their first sale? Be achieving their monthly targets? 1 month, 2 months, 3 months? Will this be clearly communicated to them at the interview and as part of their offer and contract of employment?
Are there any other activities that you will need them to be part of? Exhibitions, Fairs, video demonstrations etc? Make sure that you cover this in the interview and JOB DESCRIPTION of course.

I am happy to talk to you about your planning your campaign to recruit sales people. Maybe it’s your first sales person and you would just like to talk it through – give me a call on 01491 836632 for a no obligation chat.

Employers

The Staff You Are NOT Making Redundant

October 24, 2020August 18, 2023
by Jayne Johnson

What to Do for the Staff You Want to Keep

I was talking to a friend yesterday who has NOT been made redundant by a charity where they have just made a number of redundancies.

It was sad and interesting to hear how she feels about her employers and her job at the moment. She says that work is horrible. She doesn’t see much of her team except on Zooms and the occasional trip to the office to work with half of them to allow for social distancing. When they do talk to each other they are all talking about the fact that they too will probably be made redundant soon.

She says that they have been told that there won’t be any more redundancies but no one really believes it and are all worried that they will be losing their job in the next wave of redundancies that they are sure will be coming soon.

She said that her job is difficult because it depends on a quality of work coming through from other departments which she is not receiving in time to meet her delivery deadlines. She says that no one seems to mind very much because managers and peers alike are all distracted and unfocussed because they are stressed about the thought of losing their jobs. You can imagine what that must feel like to be an employee in such a disengaged team.

So, I suppose the observation I am taking from this is that when we are in the difficult situation of having to make people redundant, we need to really keep in mind, the staff we are keeping. We need to be focused on the employees we have decided to keep. What can we do for them? What do they need to help them feel engaged, motivated, secure and happy in their work so that they can continue to be productive?

Redundancy in an organisation has far-reaching impacts and side effects. So we really should remember to focus on the staff you have left – don’t let’s lose the people we decided to keep because we didn’t look after them well enough.

Speak to your HR Consultant about your retention programme not just how to implement redundancies!