Our golf society has been a huge success this year – we teamed up with Mills & Reeve at the beginning of the year, to host an annual golf society across the West Midlands, which has been running from March through to October.
Why join?
If you’re anything like me and love playing golf and meeting new people, then it’s the perfect event to attend. It’s informal networking at its best, and we’ve even managed to guarantee the weather on every occasion bar one!
We don’t care how good your golf is or if you haven’t played for a while, we’re more about the taking part and having fun.
The final meeting
The next, and final, event of 2019
is being held at Aston Wood Golf Club on the 17th October. We currently have over
30 people attending so far, with the brilliant Adycoming along for the whole
day to run all different competitions and give away prizes including a Par 3
challenge with Hole-in-One insurance: £1,000 instant win up for grabs!
We’re all about having a chat and a bit of fun, so we’ll heading out for an afternoon/evening of food and drinks. The event is free to attend, and we’ll be giving out some prizes.
Next year will be even bigger and better – we have HJ Wealth Planning joining forces with us and we’re cherry-picking the best courses to play. If you’re interested in coming along on 17th October or you want to get involved in the society next year, please contact me for more info and we’ll get you in if we can.
If you would like to discuss further, email me on sam@refind.co.uk.
You can view more about Sam Perry
our Shared Services Executive Search expert here.
Why
won’t top-performing shared service professions join your business? And what to
do about it. Download our free eBook here.
Networking – it’s a word that can make
people recoil, yet we all know the importance of having a strong business network
and how much it can benefit you and your company. So why so much negativity?
I guess it doesn’t help that we’ve all heard the networking horror stories – or
had to suffer some personally!
Too salesy
There are always the few people who
are super salesy and just attend to get their business cards out to as many
people as possible without even bothering to get to know them. Or the ones who
introduce themselves and immediately launch into their 5-minute pitch before
asking, ‘And tell me what exactly you do?’
Lacking in the manners department
Some people don’t seem to have any
manners at networking events, charging up to a group who are deep in
conversation, to butt in with their introduction. Whilst others stand in the
corner on their phone and make no attempt to introduce themselves at all!
Choosing terrible subjects to discuss
I’ve cringed listening to some people
talk, apart from the salesy chat, there are other definite no-go’s when it
comes to networking conversations.
Number 1 is politics! Just don’t do
it.
I’d also steer clear of any offensive
jokes or anything too personal, to avoid an awkward situation.
Finding the right event
Having said all of that, if you find
the right networking event to go to, then it can be enjoyable, fun and
beneficial. Meeting people and growing your network opens up opportunities for
you and your business.
You might get direct business, you might not – but don’t forget it’s not just about that. Extending your network and making friends also gives you the chance to get help or advice from your peers, get invites to other events to meet more likeminded people or get referrals. You never know, it might lead to business, but it may not be until a year down the line, so you must think long term.
Thursday Brunch
We run a ‘Thursday Brunch’ breakfast networking event, with guests being interviewed on specific subjects, whilst cooking. It’s informal and relaxed and a fun environment to meet great people, have fun and take away some useful information. If this sounds like the sort of event you’d like to join, you can sign up here: https://buff.ly/303KcE9
To have a chat about your executive search,
contact me at carl@refind.co.uk.
You can view more about Carl Hinett our
Executive search of HR professional’s specialist here.
Want to hear more
about our senior HR and Shared Services professionals golf society? Sign up here.
Any of you who are friends of re:find will know we love an
office dog! So much so that we have two who join us on a regular basis.
But having dogs in the office isn’t all cuddles and playing
fetch. Here are my pros and cons of having office dogs.
Pro: stress reduction
It has long been known that having a dog can reduce stress. Virginia
Commonwealth University 2012 study showed that people who brought their dogs to
work showed reduced stress levels and higher levels of job satisfaction.
Providing the dog is well behaved it is fun having it around. And if you are
having a crappy day, they are always happy to give you a cuddle.
Con: allergies
I suffer from allergies; however, I am allergic to pretty
much anything you can be allergic to. That includes dog, cats, horses,
rabbits…basically anything with fur. The issue is I also love animals. Whilst
my allergies aren’t severe, what it does mean is if I touch an animal, I have
to wash my hands immediately. However, when Teddy decides to sneeze on my
ankle…well let’s just say getting your ankle into a kitchen sink is not the
easiest!
Pro: increased activity
When working in an office, it can be very easy to sit at
your computer all day and before you know it, it’s 5.30! Having a dog naturally
encourages you to be more active. It’s a great excuse to get out and take the
pooch for a walk at lunchtime. Getting some fresh air and stretching your legs
can also be great for your positivity levels.
Con: your food is no longer your own
Anyone who knows me knows this crucial piece of information about me. I. DON’T. SHARE. FOOD.
Sadly, dogs don’t understand what this means. Teddy stands
at my feet when I am eating. I avoid making eye contact and I pretend that he
isn’t there. Then he barks at me and taps my hand with his paw. Then I have to
wash my hand because of the allergies. I sit back down to carry on eating, he
touches me, I have to wash my hands. Well, you can see where this is going!
It’s easier just to give him the piece of chicken from the outset.
All of this being said, I love having the dogs in the
office. They bring a bit of fun and entertainment I genuinely do feel happy
that they are around!
Here are the dogs you will find lurking around our office:
The
Silent Assassin (AKA Teddy)
This is the sneakiest kind of dog….he pretends to be uninterested;
he sleeps for most of the day and snores really loudly….but you rustle a food
packet or ping the microwave and he springs into life like a jack in the box!
That being said, he is very well behaved and is always very appreciative of a
lunchtime stroll. He also loves strangers.
Pros: Loves a good fuss – if you are having a bad day,
he is happy to give you a cuddle.
Cons: Watch out for your chicken, this guy will stop
at nothing to get a nibble on your lunch!
The
Energizer Bunny (AKA Gracie)
She’s a fun dog! She is happy to see everyone, bounces
around the office quite happily. Give her a stress ball and she will be content
for hours, although she will rip it to shreds. She can be a little noisy at
times, but she provides endless entertainment.
Pros: Loves to play games and is always up for a walk.
Cons: Will bark the minute you pick up the phone to
someone important.
So, what are your thoughts about having dogs in the office?
Do you have any? What do you love/hate about having them around?
For all things HR Shared Services or if you
would like to feature in our ‘Insiders Story’ blog, email me on kate@refind.co.uk.
You can view more about Kate Wass our HR
Shared Services specialist here.
Why won’t top-performing shared service professionals join your business? And what to do about it. Download our free eBook here.
We have had a look at some of the
hottest technology trends in HR which are continuously developing and driving
improvement in the industry.
Technology in recruitment
As time goes on and technology improves, HR Toolbox explains that, “modern recruitment
management systems are increasingly relied upon. Companies can no longer afford
to employ outdated strategies to discover, engage and nurture top talent.”
Technology and software can massively help recruitment teams by
completing the time-consuming work that can be automated. It can also help to
be more targeted in their search, allowing them to find the best candidates, much
quicker.
HR Toolbox goes on to say, “The process will be
optimised from start to finish, allowing HR to refine and perfect their
onboarding process with less variation. In addition to learning management
systems that foster better team training and communication, more companies will
consider what machine learning and artificial intelligence has to offer.
Chatbots and similar technology may take on more low-level tasks like
scheduling and providing basic information. This will free up HR professionals
to spend more time on important relationship-building activities with
candidates.”
AI as a partner, not a threat
This
is a biggie – embracing AI as a partner, not looking at it as a threat to us –
which seems to be a growing trend across many industries. HR Dive talks about the
shift in only the last couple of years to general attitudes:
“As Waletzke monitored
conversations about tech throughout the last two years, he observed a radical
shift. ‘The overall temperature of conversations completely changed. 2017 was
robots are going to steal our jobs … now there is starting to be this embrace
of technology,’ he said. “We’re really looking at ways we can use AI or
machine learning to automate the talent acquisition experience so we can dive
deeply into the one-on-one relationships.”
VR meets HR
Virtual reality is emerging as the hottest trend in the HR tech
market – and it’s not a not passing fad. Virtual reality (VR) is a 3D
computer-created world that allows you to experience and interact with things
that aren’t there. It could prove to be revolutionary for the HR and
recruitment world.
A blog from Sympa
gives a great example: “A well-known example of the successful use of VR
technology is The British Army, who already uses VR to overcome its
recruitment challenges. It recently created four VR experiences based on combat
training, adventure training, tank training and parachute training. These
were then posted on YouTube 360 as a part of their recruitment strategy.
The results were excellent, with an increase in applications of 65% in the
first month the campaign ran and an increase of 41% in the second month.”
VR can be used in many interview processes, to allow candidates to prove their skill level and in training to give real-life on-the-job training.
What
are the hot trends you’re jumping on? To discuss further, you can email me on
James@refind.co.uk.
You
can view more about James Cumming our change and business transformation
specialist here.
Hiring an Interim Executive? You need to get
it right! Discover the 8 step process you should follow, by downloading our
free eBook here.
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