Last week I had a most distressing 36 hours - I lost my mobile phone! The first time this has ever happened to me since I was first entrusted 20 odd years ago with a mobile communications device. Now whilst this is no where need the most distressing thing that can happen to a human being it is amazing how bewildering it is when you are without your phone. As not only does it have every contact I have, I didn't even know my husband's mobile number without it, the phone is also the device that I use to download emails when I am away from the office.

 

So based in a client's office in Southampton I was basically incommunicado for 24 hours.

 

It transpires that I left my phone in a locally taxi company, on my way out to celebrate a colleague's 40th Birthday & I was stone cold sober at the time. It took under 6pm the following evening for the taxi driver to come back on shift & advise that two mobile phones had been left in his taxi the previous night. It was then another agonising 2 hours before the phone was returned to me & then a further 12 hours before vodafone could switch my number back on.

 

When later that day I rang the same taxi to book my return taxi to Southampton Airport, after organising my taxi, the operator, very tongue in cheek, suggested that I did not take my phone out of my bag when in the taxi this time. I am sure I am going to be ribbed about this for a long time.

 

However, I would like to go on record to thank the taxi company & particularly the taxi driver of car 18 for restoring not only my ability to communicate with the outside world but my belief in mankind, as obviously there are a lot of honest people out there how are willing to help a damsel in distress. Thank you

Be warned I am about to have a real rant!

 

I have just read a response from "The Career Coach" in the Personnel Today Newsletter that quotes a Managing Director of a HR Recruitment company in responding to a question as to how a person should deal with the question of why they left their previous role in a redundancy situation. The person raising the question suggested that it could be seen that they were no good at their job for their previous employer and therefore why would a future employer want to take on a "useless" employee.

 

The response was that they should take along open references & similar material to prove that they were not useless.

 

What a load of rubbish! You are also putting the idea into a future employers head that you are useless when this is definitely not the case.

 

Through our sister company, Recruitment Doctor, we have been delivering the JobSearch for newly unemployed professionals programme, and those individuals are not useless, in fact in the majority of cases, they were at the top of their game & the only reason they were made redundant was for economic reasons due to company performance, nothing to do with their performance.

 

It staggers me that so called HR professionals can think this way.

 

We work with these individuals to help them understand their marketability, deal with the transition and identify the opportunity that they have been given. This includes the ability to take stock of where they are, to identify what they want next and how to sell themselves to future employers. Our attendees don't talk about being made redundant, they talk about the opportunity that they have been given. To find out more visit www.recruitment-doctor.co.uk

 

Right rant over time to get back to actually helping people!

 

 

I just had to come on and have a rant! Why is it in this technological age that we still have job seekers that put mobile telephone numbers on their cvs or application forms that they then do not answer?

 

I understand that sometimes that people may have to switch their mobiles off but surely you should have an answer service as you never know when that important call might come through.

 

I have spent the last hour trying to ring a number of people to try and invite them to interviews next week and so far I have had 3 incorrect numbers - well I am assuming that they are incorrect & not disconnected -  6 just ringing out, 3 saying that the receiver was unavailable & that I should call back later plus 1 that said that the receiver was unavailable but that they would text my number to the person, so at least they knew that I had called.

 

I have managed to get through to one real person! Here's hoping that they are good at interview as at this moment in time they haven't got much competition!

 

So can I please ask that all job seekers please check that their cvs are up to date, that their contact details are correct and that any telephone details provided are able to take messages, as you never know when that important telephone call will come through!

Have you ever had a day that you can't see the wood for the trees or you find yourself hitting your head against a brick wall as you have an issue or problem that needs resolution and your creative juices have run dry? Well join the club, as that was exactly how I felt the other day & I was totally stuck so I just left the problem festering in the corner.

 

Whilst I was on the train yesterday I decided to do some catch up on my reading & that is where I found my solution in the form of "yes and...!" These pearls of wisdom were just one of many great ideas contained wthin The Creativity Myth ebook produced by Stella Collins and Ann Grindrod (which is available from their website www.braininbusiness.com). In additon to being a useful source of informaton it is wrtten in a brain friendly manner that makes the content easier to read and retain. 

 

So I ask you was there ever a more simple or more powerful phrase than "yes and....?" If so  would love to hear from you!

CIPD and Acas publish "five-a-day management fundamentals" to help raise UK productivity

The CIPD and ACAS have published their "five-a-day management fundaments with a view to help raise UK productivity, they have urged business leaders and government to take a stand against poor people management, which is too often the cause of bullying, conflict and stress in the workplace and a significant factor in the UK's productivity gap. The guidance covers how to be a better boss, and urges the government to help address the UK's people management skills deficit.

The 'five-a-day' management fundamentals are grouped under the following headings:

• Managing work now and in the future;
• Managing the team;
• Managing the individual;
• Managing conflict and difficult situations;
• Managing yourself.

Under each heading, there are practical tips for managers to follow to become a better boss.

The principles are without doubt essential to improving management capability but they are not exactly ground breaking, as the majority of these principles have been around for a long time and many managers are already living by them.

The question for me always remains how do we measure the level of a managers competence at the start and end of any development initiative and the answer always comes back the same - by using the MAP Assessment tool. That without doubt is the way forward as it is the only objective assessment tool on the market that can assess a managers ability against 12 key competencies, all of which form part of the "five-a-day management fundamentals". For more information on MAP Assessment please click here