The new trend for shortlisting is to go Blind.
I must confess that I rarely get excited or motivated to watch any Saturday night talent entertainment shows. All except one. The launch of the 4th series of BBC’s “The Voice” is about to start this weekend. My attraction for this show is not solely based on listening to such incredibly blessed individuals with clear and remarkable talents. My attraction to this show is the fact that judgements on the acts presented to them are made purely by performance alone and without the interference of an assessment on the looks and the overall exterior package of the individual. I am always fascinated by the body language and comments made by the judges when they view the contestant for the first time. They did not turn during the act but when they see the whole package (both talent and image) they sometimes perceive a missed opportunity. Now, I am not here preaching cliches about "never judge a book by its cover" or "beauty within" but I do worry how we all (including myself at times) default to how a look of an individual determines their suitability and effectiveness. I do understand that built within all of us is the ability to assess an individual quickly based on looks, body language and the tone of voice. The ever increasing popularity of the social media as a very useful pool to fish for talent. Potential employers and recruiters can see so much data about the individual's work history as well as achievements and successes. On the flip side it could also reveal very unflattering images of the candidate. Generally, if you fit the corporate image you have immediately made a step forward in the race for the position before any assessment has taken place. Image compatibility of the candidate alone can be a very costly hire. The quick assessment of an individual suitability does not always lie in the social media photo of the individual but within the CV presentation. Over the years I have had countless conversations with hiring managers who describe the discrepancy between the highly presentable and professionally formatted CV and the individual who attends the 1st stage interview. I appreciate that this is a subject matter all in itself for a blog another time. My point I am trying to make is that assessing an individual solely on photo or what keywords and layout of a CV as a way to shortlist candidates can result in a superficial match and once employed discover inconsistencies and deficiencies in the worker’s ability. However, before inviting an individual for interview solely based on image or what you see within a CV, invite individuals in the spirit of like "The Voice" and shortlist blind. Blueprint for Blind Shortlisting Advertise your vacancy utilising all methods of social media, job boards, personal recommendations and direct the individuals to one location. Once you have captured the candidate’s attention you present them with an engaging video. The video sole purpose is to communicate clearly the culture of your company, your mission and values, your expectations and scope of the role. This opportunity to present such a compelling case for both the passive and active jobseeker that your organisation is the right place for them. When the candidates are interested and engaged with the vacancy then invite them to take part in an on-line 1st stage virtual interview. The objective of the virtual interview is to gather extensive data on the candidate's knowledge, career aspirations, core values compatibility; relevant competency based problem solving as well as relevant situational questions. The combined use of text, image and video to extract responses from candidates to help educate, inform and assess as well as keeping the interest level high and committed. One clear benefit is the ability to reduce the time allocated for conducting pre-qualifying telephone calls or large scale 1st stage face to face interviews. The data would also be helpful resource for organisation involved in costly assessment days. Clearly the need to see how a candidate interacts with another is vital within assessment days, but you can shorten the length of qualifying time to reach the shortlisted candidates. Therefore, armed with comprehensive data with which you have a greater grasp of who is sitting in front of you and instead of data gathering questions during the initial stages of the interview, probe for additional data on the responses you do have. The decision on the successful candidate has been influenced by systematic data harvesting and comparison to the employer’s ideals. The analysis of situational responses can reveal compatibility that when a situation presents itself (usually after honeymoon period) that you can be confident that the individual default response is satisfactory. The Blind shortlisting method is the way forward and that on-line systems like nutsandboltsit.co.uk can help you maximise time, reduce shortlisting costs as well protect against unfair discriminations claims. The new trend in shortlisting is to go Blind.
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UK sales of traditional telephone switchboards (PBX) have fallen behind Internet based (SIP) systems. The decline according to industry analysts, is greater in the UK and Europe indicating that we are leading the change from traditional telephony.
So what does this mean for business in the Forest of Dean? Put simply, if a spiky haired telephone salesman tries to sell you a switchboard, ask him why it isn't a hosted (SIP) system? We're lucky here in that we are seeing massive improvements in internet speeds throughout Gloucestershire and particularly in the Forest. This means that its getting easier and cheaper to adopt a really sophisticated telephone switchboard. This means we can all benefit from multiple lines, professional call handling, telephone number portability. I have a great example of a Forest based business wanting to do work in Cheltenham and Gloucester. For less than £10 per month they can have 01452 and 01242 telephone numbers ringing their Forest based business. An Architects practice in Lydney has numbers in London and Bristol, when a call comes in from those numbers their Lydney switchboard can see which area immediately and answer accordingly. So why not join the growing number of Forest businesses and Charities making the move to internet telephony by talking to us or emailing info@moduleit.co.uk How Duplicate Content Can Harm Your Website
Google hates duplicate content, so much so it has a Panda that chases it down and then hits the websites that dare to partake in such practices. Although Panda is the algorithm that looks for this type of “bad SEO”, the emphasis is still true that the search engines, especially Big G, really do hate this type of content on your site, which is why over the past few updates, more and more sites that have published their content on other sites as well have been hit with both algorithmic and manual penalties. It is important to say that they only punish this type of content because they consider it to be a lazy effort on the part of the site owner, because in their eyes, every piece of content that you publish in your site should be: · Unique · Relevant · Engaging · Quality · Related If you manage to tick all of these boxes then your page (and website) has a really sound chance of ranking well, but if you decide to take the quick route and publish other writers work or just repeat and repeat rubbish, then look out, the Panda is coming to get you, if it hasn’t already. There are two main types of duplicate content that you should be thinking about: Onsite Duplicate Content Google rewards effort and therefore loves every page on your site to be unique and not use the same copy over and over again on many of your site pages. Common causes are location pages where you just change the names of the places but keep the same text surrounding them, blogs that you take large snippets off and put on other pages on your site and content that you have used on one page and replicate in certain other areas throughout your website. Generally, you can get away with 30% duplicate content throughout the site, but it is really important that you try to make sure that every page is as close to being unique as possible. If you feel that you are repeating the same old stuff throughout your website then you need to either re-write it or get it re-written by a professional, as the Panda update really does look at every page and looks at the quality to work out where it should be ranking. Unique content is half way to having good content, and as long as it is well written, informative and engaging, you should be getting the correct rewards for the effort that you have put in, but if it is just repeated rubbish, expect a rankings dip soon enough. Offsite Duplicate Content Every piece of content you write for your site has to unique, as if you decide to post a blog on your own website and then use it on others, including article directories, press release sites, Wordpress (offsite) blogs and many other examples, you are asking for trouble. It was once thought that Google would be able to credit the original poster of the content, which would of meant that this would not be an issue, but over the past couple of years it has become evident that sadly, this is just not the case, so you can be in danger of getting your own website penalised by allowing your content to be used elsewhere. Prime examples are press releases that you then send out to other websites and resources, blogs that you post in more than one place and in-depth articles that you republish around the World Wide Web. Although there are many other examples of duplicate content, these three are the main ones that have stung the online world, with more and more sites getting hit for having their content on other sites as well. The general rule is to write unique content for your own site, and if you are going to write for other blogs (like this), make sure that you do not have the same content on your own domain. What To Do If Your Website Is Not Bringing In Sales
Getting enquiries and making sales are pretty much the two things that most business owners need to get right if they want to stay in business, as without the enquiry, there is no sale, which means that the more enquiries a business can get, then the more sales they can hope to close. The primary reason any business owner has a website is to increase business, else we would all just have one for vanity reasons, but just having a website does not necessarily mean that it is going to get you success. If you have a website and you are just fed up of it not working, then instead of giving up on it, you need to take a step back and work out why, taking an often required unbiased view and being critical about its performance and the lack of enquiries you are getting. It is very easy to get proud with websites and try to paint a rosy picture, but unless you are true to yourself, then you are never going to get anywhere. Criticism of your pride and joy can be hard to take, but if the criticism leads to changes that get you more business, it is time to take it on the chin and get some honest feedback. The first thing to do is check your traffic levels. There are many free website statistic tools online, but the one I would always recommend is Google Analytics. Having a website is one thing but getting people to use it is another, so it’s important that before you start ripping your design to shreds, you make sure that the lack of enquiries is not down to no visitors. You need people on your site to make sales, so if they are not coming, then there is your problem and you can start to take steps to address it. From SEO through to Pay Per Click, there is a huge amount of ways to get traffic and visitors, all of which most firms should be considering implementing anyway. If the traffic is not the issue, then you need to take a step back and really look at the site in depth. Although there are many things to look at, some to really focus on are: · Lack Of Conversion Points – Make sure that your contact details are on the bottom of every page and that your phone number is always in top right of the website, because no matter where the visitor is on your site, you need to make sure that it is easy for them to contact you the moment they decide they want to make an enquiry. · Over Complication – If your website is too complicated, fussy and it is just not easy to find things, then this is going to be a major issue for your visitors. Make sure the site is easy to use, easy to find the information they need and easy to contact you, which doesn’t mean the design has to be boring, it just means it has to be useable. · Mobile Compliant – One area still overlooked is websites on smart devices and tablets, which means that if your website does not work on mobiles or tablets and a lot of your traffic is coming from these areas, then you need to sort it by getting a responsive website that will work, so that these people can actually use your site. · Poor Navigation – You literally have seconds when it comes to website visitors making their mind up about you and your business, so it is vital that you make sure that when they enter your site, they can get what they need quickly. A decent top menu that is easy to understand makes a big difference, with easy to follow navigation structures throughout your site. · First Impressions – There is nothing wrong with minimal content on your site, but it is still important that the content you do have sells you and your business, else you are not going to hook the visitor into making an enquiry. Your website is an impression of you and your business, so if it looks cheap and badly run, people will assume this is how you run your business. Effort and time are both needed to make a good website, especially if you want your site to start working for you. Websites require a lot of work if you want them to start performing and earning you money. The more content you write and the more blogs you produce, the higher you will rise in the search engines ( as long as the website is well optimised ). To be honest, if you have a website and never bother to add anything to it, then you cannot expect or demand success, as this should be considered a crucial part of your marketing strategy and you have to work it, and work it hard. So, if your website is not bringing in the money, instead of giving up and moving on to something else, do some research and take a stand backwards to evaluate what you are offering and if it can be improved. I say this because any website you ever see has room from improvement, and with a bit more effort and unbiased views, you can make your site work for you, that is 100% guaranteed! The importance of business succession planning What happens to a business if its owner or co-owner dies or falls seriously ill? Much will depend on the type of business – sole trader, partnership or limited company – but unless there has been some advance planning, the chances are that there will be disruption, arguments and the strong possibility that all or part of the business will end up in the wrong hands.
So if you’re a business owner, business succession planning and insurance is important. It’s quite simply the process of planning for what you want to happen if you (or your co-owner, if you have one) were to die or fall seriously ill. The legal position on the death of a business owner will depend on the type of business entity. When a sole trader dies, their business dies with them, legally speaking. The business’s assets will form part of the sole owner’s estate and pass on to beneficiaries under the terms of their will. If the owner has not made a will, the intestacy rules apply; in effect, the state lays down who the estate should pass to, and normal inheritance tax (IHT) rules apply. However, the good news is that most trading businesses are not subject to IHT – if you’re unsure about yours, you should certainly take advice. If your business does not enjoy tax relief, the basic requirement is to create a capital sum, preferably outside the estate, in order to minimise IHT. This could be achieved with the help of a suitable life insurance policy. A partnership is a business owned by at least two people. Unless there’s some specific provision in the partnership agreement (and very many partnerships have no formal agreement), a partnership ceases when a partner dies. When that happens, the deceased partner’s estate becomes entitled to their share of the business. This can mean a choice for the surviving partner or partners. They could pay the deceased partner’s estate a sum of money they all agree to be the value of the deceased partner’s share, or carry on in business together with the deceased partner’s spouse or other beneficiary – even if the new partner has little to contribute to the success of the business. Effective succession planning provides some clarity in the event of death. A double option agreement ensures the surviving partner(s) has the option to buy the share in the business from the deceased partner’s estate. The deceased partner’s estate can also exercise an option to force the surviving partner to buy. Under an automatic accrual arrangement, the surviving partner(s) inherits the business, but the family receives the proceeds of a life policy. There may also be a need to insure the lives of all the partners to cover potential liabilities that might arise on their death – perhaps to pay off an overdraft or other creditors. Limited companies continue after a shareholder’s death, but the basic succession issues are similar to those facing a partnership. The key is to make sure that the shares end up with the surviving shareholders and the deceased shareholder’s family receives some money. Generally, the deceased shareholder’s beneficiaries will want financial compensation in return for their shares, assuming that they don’t plan to continue in the business; and there may also be the need to pay off creditors on an owner-director’s death. A double, or cross, option agreement is often used for company shareholder succession planning. If a shareholder dies, their beneficiaries can require the remaining shareholders to buy them out or the remaining shareholders can require the beneficiaries to sell their shares. To provide the funds, each shareholder should take out an ‘own life’ policy written under a special business trust to benefit the other shareholders. Of course, it’s not just the death of a business owner that can stop a business. If a business owner suffers a critical illness, such as a heart attack or cancer, it may not be possible to continue in the business either temporarily or permanently. Expert advice, taken before the event, could have helped in both of these cases. A suitable critical illness insurance policy is probably the best way to provide protection against the financial consequences of having a serious illness. These policies pay a cash lump sum on diagnosis of a specified critical illness or disability. The policies are normally written in trust for the other business owners, along with an agreement between the business owners about the circumstances in which the share in the business should be transferred. The death or critical illness of a business owner can lead to unexpected or undesirable consequences for those left behind. Taking the opportunity – well in advance of such an event happening – to plan for such a situation can help crystallise what you want to happen to your business after your death, and to identify how best to ensure that this will actually come about. A good adviser will start by finding out the most important issues of their business owner clients and, once these have been identified and prioritised, they’ll recommend a suitable way forward. To receive a complimentary guide covering Wealth Management, Retirement planning or Inheritance Tax planning, produced by St. James’s Place Wealth Management, contact Charlotte Poole-Graham on 07415855071, by email charlotte.poole-graham@sjpp.co.uk or visit www.charlottepoolegraham.co.uk |
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