What should be the actual role of the HR Department?

What does it take to actually get this beside the fact that you just read it? Loads, loads of restless nights, a fucked up sinking business and stress. Yeah, sound harsh but look around you until this doesn't happen I don't think that many out there will get it.

 

HR isn't just about administration who does the payroll, deals with the hiring and firing process and has the clue which file is where in the cabinet.

 

If you want to have a successful business I believe I am not overreacting when I say you really need to get your HR department straight. Straight in the sense that they need to understand that they are for the people at each company, be it about a new starter, about a current or a former employee, or be it even about the Managers or CEOs. HR is there for the people.

 

This departments is the internal customer services department of every establishment. They are/ SHOULD BE  the ones who know, get and provide the information about every human being that's collaborating with your firma to make things happen and bring dreams to actions. They should be the one who if I ask since when this person is here and doing this and whether they have the right skills or not for a certain task they should know it.

 

 

Sounds a lot hah? Well guess what, it is a lot, but they don't have to deal with the business strategy building, the quarterly finance plans, marketing campaigns and  that sales targets are met or not.

 

Your HR people should build the department which besides doing the HR related administration, equally planning and dividing the tasks between each colleague working in the "mess" (because the bigger the messier it can become if you don't step on top of it in time), who actually are aware of who is doing what and where, do the training if needed for people to gain new skills (eg. how to communicate, how to not misunderstand everything that's pointed out and it is not clear, HOW TO INTERACT) and impartially listening and coaching others as and when required.

 

 

Yes, I know HR people have a lot on their head. Well guess what? Others too, but that's not an excuse not knowing what my job is and doing it to the best of my knowledge with minimum supervision.

 

And one more thing: if an HR person, especially and advisor tells you that you are wrong without explaining and further clarifying a situation until everyone is happy with the solution provided and on the same page, please fire that person because they are just taking the space up 50% of their working time and if they have no clue how to use common sense now, they won't have a clue later either, EVER.

 

 

Having an HR qualification or 20 years of experience means most of the time nothing but by the time you realise this they have milked your bonuses to their section and your ship is already on the bottom of the ocean.

 

Good luck!

 

 

You've got: a dead parrot

Many times throughout your career whether it is as an HR representative, consultant or a business leader you come across your way with people who work... And that's it, just work...

Now as we all know people who just work they do it either for the sake of working or for the sake of money but in no way for the sake of your business.

If people like "just do the job" land between your awesome or perhaps less awesome team you  definitely need to spot this and ensure that person either changes his attitude towards his/her role or leaves your company. First option is more cost effective if:

• there is still spark in the person
• you see that in the specific role someone after the first couple of coaching session within a 6 months period can achieve greater things s/he did before
• you are not a lazy "boss" who requires just results and as soon as they show up you leave things loose

It is very very important to have consistency in your work and requirements, if you don't sooner or later you will fail. If you see people using the word "consistency" too often yet their work is not improving be it on a single or group level then you have got a dead parrot on board.

The reason why I use the term of "dead parrot" is because if you think of dead parrots they look kinda kreepy (just like your employers who "just do the job, kreepy but beautiful in their own sense of meaning) but they will remind you (at least me) of a parrot that's hanging upside down in it's cage on the swing, his claws and toes rigidly sticked to the swing and the only way to get it off is to cut it down (either by the claws or at the swing, first one seems too messy for some and let's face even the thought of it awful, but second one causes more "damage").
Now if you think how this looks like in real a context: first time when you see it, you get shocked but as you have never seen something like this before it seems cool and you might think your parrot (that's dead - ok anatomically we all know that their paws will open once dead, so let's not get into this but instead think...) is just pretending. You think it is extraordinary so leave it a bit longer there to hang with the hope that soon it will wake up and let everyone see it this performance he is doing. Well... Face it... It won't revive and unless you take it off, soon it will start stinking, rotting and poison the air around it...

OK... Let's put this in the context of a company not knowing who they have on board. Well actually, good ones always know, or at least use their common sense to spot it, stupid ones think it is cool and wait that the person who is like this dead parrot "wakes up", and if you leave it too long it will poison the air around it.

Believe me that's not good, really not good. If you don't believe me just wait and see, usually 6-8 months is enough to see results that will ensure at least a 25% drop in your performance, or not grow at all, so calculate that now over into time and money. Let's see some of the results: You'll loose out on an average of 30% of your great performing staff ( simply made: they will get an other job somewhere else or they'll become "just do the job"ers), you'll have to start from zero in most of the departments in many role (zero in the context that even though you hire a person with wast similar experience, that professional still needs get used to the new company culture, needs to learn that things work differently not as before and the concept of the new role is not the same as in her/his previous one, needs to get to know new people and the list could go on. So basically if you add this all up even with a great new professional with 10-15 years of experience you'll need to start from zero if you want the person to progress and grow your business as you wish for).

Now calculate: is this worth for you? Is it worth loosing out on the best at your company or you'd better shoot that parrot that's dead so that everyone hears it and as soon as possible try reset that hopefully little loss and return to the path of growing? Now comes the part when you ask: ok but what about the image of my company (specially if you fire a manager in a high position). Well guess what: you can f* your image if this person is rotting everything around him/her.

There are always ways you can go around if you prefer to take smooth but firm steps and don't be afraid of taking them, as if you ain't then just bear the consequences these bring upon you and start planning your closure.

How not to turn your office into a playground

I am totally for work life balance, totally for team work and totally for tasks and actions that build the team to act as one and help the company to prosper.

 

But there is a fine line which should be kept if you want your teams and the whole company to grow in the right direction instead of becoming a kindergarten playground in the middle of the office.

 

 

 

Rule no. 1:

If you really want to organize team building activities then do it so that everyone takes part in it on a rota basis or better don't do anything (believe me, it is f* doable, if you can't then either 1. don't deal with it or 2. learn to do it, or simply leave the job for someone who can do it)

 

Rule no. 2:

Assign people to deal with team building activities who:

1. Are good organizers

2. Have common sense

 

3. Don't always pick their preffered ones for activities and leave out others from games just because they don't like their hair color for example (a very good example that this person still belongs to kindergarden)

4. Can make difference between activities that just are fun at work (basically waste time) and activities that develop staff on a personal and also professional level

 

Rule no. 3:

Don't lie to people about obvious facts (ex. you have no clue why you do what you do) and honestly just simply do a plan for the whole year for the sake of team building activities in which you detail what, how and why you do and when of course.

 

Rule no. 4:

Make everyone and most importantly the team builder one thing to understand though the activities help them to relax and enjoy time on a personal level but it is there improve them on a professional level.

 

Rule no. 5:

There is nothing more demotaving than sitting in offices or at workplaces where the only thing you see that everyone is running around as a headless chicken, pretending of doing something useful and actually not making anything just hanging around at the work place under the cover of: "SERIOUSLY THOUGH ORGANIZERS THAT WANT THE BEST FOR EVERYONE" and let's face the facts, actually don't give a shit.

 

Now back to my usual saying: "The more places I work at" the more I realize that actually half of the team is useless, the other half though having the skills and drive has no chance to change anything because the power lies in hands of the first halves. 

 

Welcome to the 21st century, the century of the headless chickens who lead most of the companies and have no clue what's happening around them, or "better", don't care...

 

 

 

Please do something about this and change if you can, before in the mainstream your company becomes one of the worst voted for and sinks with your playground...

How to hire the best?... or just simply don't...

Whether you need someone now or you were looking to fill in a role in the past I am certain that you faced this question already: "Is this applicant the right person for my company?".

Well the only way to decide this beside the facts that "time will tell" is follow: PRIORITISE YOUR COMPANY'S NEEDS AND ACT ACCORDINGLY. 

The more interviews I took part and the more companies I dealt with the more I realised that most of them have no clue what they want except: "I wan't the best person to fill that job". 

Now I am asking you: until you (as a manager or a company owner) are not clear with your company's needs and from those which one needs to be met first in order to achieve fast and effective your long term goals, why do you expect from others to be top notch in a role, to be able to prioritise and to actually know the word "PRIORITISING" from day one?

Well actually the above is NOT THE ONLY issue JUST THE MAIN ONE. Beside that in London you can see many companies (who actually can afford) not wanting to give candidates high salary because they "aren't English" (basically they discriminate) but also on a long run they don't wish to invest in the applicant either to support them in their professional development. 

And the list of expectations for the BEST CANDIDATE:

• Run all the errands with professional manner and ensure tasks are delivered as required ("do what I tell you but when shit hits in be the first to be blamed for")
• Take responsibility for actions and use own initiative ("but please, not without my approval")
• Support team spirit (but don't forget "I as your manager must like it only") 
• Have qualifications from one of the best high education institutions (no one actually cares, but at least "we can show others that you came from a great uni so WE ARE COOL") 
• Capable of handling pressure (THIS PLACE is a stress nest filled with literally nuts people so candidate has to be min. ok with that)  
• Take part in a week full time unpaid training (because "we don't trust applicants, why to waste money on them?" so guess what, they won't waste their time on you either. If your budgeting system is really that s* I don't even know why you want the best on board)
• To provide and deliver tasks as and when required by superiors (OK, here I don't want to be mean, but when they write this that means the applicant is dead and believe me, some companies will put them there to clean the toilet... Have seen it...) 
• Have 2+ years experience (sometimes even in a role that no one actually did before, or was just invented by your company and is so easy to do that even a child with no experience can sort)
• "Don't forget how great it will look on your CV that you worked for an award winning establishment" (yes, sadly this is reality and it's pity, specially when your company thinks that this is the winning quote of the day...) 
• Are happy to commit on a long term ("even though the candidates goals aren't met, our company's one should be", right and I am Mother Theresa...)

AND THE LIST COULD GO ON and is massive believe me...

Also loads of managerial/ directorial roles are filled with incompetent people (no skills, no brain, no face and at the end no number to reach them on and discuss any work related matter, because they can -and your staff can't - do that...)

Now back to the main point if you want to hire the best on board, be clear of your NEEDS!, PRIORITIZE!, PLAN and ACT oh and one more thing: TRANSFERABLE SKILLS ARE CALLED "TRANSFERABLE" WITH AAAA REEEASON!!! :D

The train won't wait so just get on and start doing whatever necessary and DON'T BE EGOISTIC but REALISTIC INSTEAD! 

Good applicants know what they want and they won't settle on a long run with shitty deals so either you be quiet and continue with the shallow way you did till now or you provide a fair and great option for everyone and make great deals. 

Best & fast of luck to your new employee/s!

This is actually what most of the time is going on when you have problem "not getting" the best ones (which you might already have but you are too "busy" to realize it... zorryyy... ) 

Importance of Communicating Clearly & Effectively

No, this isn't about Carbon Copy. This is about this: people are not that stupid as you think(you might meet perhaps some who think slowly but hey...)  and if you teach someone s/he might learn quicker as you'd imagine. 

Every single time I deal with a personal or business field related matter there is no single day going by when I wouldn't realize that there is someone who just doesn't get it:

YOU DON'T COMMUNICATE NEITHER CLEARLY NOR EFFECTIVELY! 

On these two things can your company either fail to succeed fully, or it will take you ages instead of months/ couple of years to achieve your goals. 

I'll keep this short and simple. Learn to speak to others, and learn to improve your bad habits of thinking that you gave the orders in an effective way and manner. Get it: people aren't mind readers and specially new staff. They won't have the slightest clue that your eyebrows will kick right when you want them to move left, unless you tell them! 

How many times you see people coming to you and complaining that this is not going that is not going though you explained them what to do and how to do it in order to reach your aims well? A lot of time, I guess. If so follow this simple strategy: Your staff messed it up once? Fine. Explain them again, but see who is listening and ensure them you are there if need arises (again). Messed it up again? Explain it again but this time also pay attention to and examine where things went wrong and how it can be avoided to happen again. Messed it up three times? You messed it up somewhere and perhaps you should involve someone who has the gut to tell you that something is rubbish in the way how you communicate. Or perhaps you confuse humans with robots and that won't work out, sorry...

Do you have self confidence issues or perhaps you are scared that you might fail? Well, guess what everyone does, but some just get on with it and still try and believe that they'll succeed (and they actually do). The worst is to deal with people who bully on the top of the fact that they can't tell you clearly what your job is, how to do it properly, if needed whom to ask for help and defo they'll watch every single step of you looking for mistakes. 

How to avoid this and have a successful team watching your back? Well: 

1. Respect your staff and get it: at the end of the day you are there to sink or arise together.

2. Tell everyone what their role is, how to do tasks and keep it simple as possible, and give extra 5 minute of your time for individuals if you have the slightest feeling that it will be more effective.

3. Practice makes the master so don't expect from anyone to be Einstein from day one. 

4. Learn and also teach them to take responsibility for their deeds and don't be an ars who just gives orders and when shit happens you are nowhere to be seen, and your next thought is whom to blame.

5. Your person is one as in point 4. well teach them manners. How? Do you remember how it was in school having the worst teacher teaching you, someone who was hated by everyone but at the end of the day that teacher was actually the one who treated you all in the same way, bad or good? Now... Be like that. 

6. KNOW YOUR PEOPLE!!!

Learn to manage your time and teach other how to do that too. If you can't find a solution for a matter with 5 people at one place within one hour, you'll never, so always ensure you tell things as they are straight forward, in a polite way and with heads up. You can't do it? Off you go, you are on the wrong place. 

Never involve personal matters in any kind of work related conflict, issue and also clearly communicate that's not tolerated. If you treat people with respect and dignity they will treat you the same way, those who don't let them go and wish them best of luck. But if you see even the tiniest spark in someone try to collaborate to make things work. Don't lie, that's for kids and at the end of the day people won't take you serious... 

Admit your mistakes ( I am not saying make it a Vouge's cover story, so just don't get me wrong) and understand that once a while others can make mistakes too. So instead of blaming and showing who the boss is, give support, gain trust and ensure staff that they can collaborate with you.

If there is a way to explain someone something in a shorter and better way (only if these two facts are there at the same time, then do it!) do so, rules of giving instructions or techniques of training staff are there for a guidance and you can't always apply it on everyone. 

And one more thing, at the end of the day there will be things of which everyone should know, specially if you are a small company growing steadily so don't keep it only for one or two person instead involve others too, share the thoughts and ideas with them and let more eyes see and more solutions flow in. Are you scared and paranoid of ideas being sold to someone? Sign a bloody confidentiality agreement. 

What goes around comes back again, so if you can't communicate clearly and effectively now, later that will kick in your but, and believe me, that will hurt. 

So good luck, open your mouth, smile, explain things more time if needed, plan ahead or just simply consult others to help you put the jigsaw puzzle together. 

If issue arises be witty and never take decisions fast in matters that are serious. Instead take a break, have a Kit Kat and after talk... 

National Minimum Wage vs. Living Wage in UK

Imagine when  you sit down to a table and have a chat with a 10 years old little chap and he tells you to look into the London Living Wage and I go like : "What's that?"

Guess what? At some point my dreams come true and frankly it is nice to so that there are actually companies who apply these guidance rules, but it is shocking that I can be surprised in such a way by someone much younger than me and I even love it :)))

So let's first of all clarify what I am talking about when I speak about Living Wage. Yeah, sure it is clear as sun, but it isn't the mandatory National Minimum Wage!!! and guess what it really should be implemented in your business' life if you want to prosper on a long run, and actually feel what it means to have happy, more motivated and loyal staff, and a #successful business.

So shortly the Living Wage is calculated sort of to balance work and life situation, and  well... if you are honestly honest, frankly I don't see the issue why your business couldn't prosper and you wouldn't be able to afford to pay that amount out. 

According to Living Wage Foundation these amounts are calculated and set independently according to basic cost of living in the UK. 

• The current UK Living Wage is £7.85 an hour
• The current London Living Wage is £9.15 an hour

How much difference does these amounts make?? A LOT... and I wish more companies would join this track and keep the good things up as well. The only thing perhaps that I am bit concerned about is that some might use this out so I hope there is a tough procedure worked out to keep this kinda under control, because if someone is money hungry they'll never learn, and just keep exploiting others to get rich as mad. 

Well... Happy looking, learning, developing, Easter and more success to take the steps to a better future and stop being stingy! :P 

Watch the below short video: Peter Cook from CTS Cleaning Solutions Ltd. who tells as it is and he seems to get the point (frankly for me he seems to be an upfront person, and as he talks, I don't think he is as most companies on the market: rubbish and non sense, hungry for money and loosing the sense of the whole success of their business, life, staff etc.)

http://www.londonlive.co.uk/news/how-can-a-business-afford-to-pay-above

(Nodding as a sheep on the other side of the table is never a solution and won't save your ass either:D) 

PS: No matter where you are around the globe, get one thing: You can do much better and will do much better as a business, if you understand that there is a better life above minimum wage and specially if you are the one who pays the salary, just plan, implement, check and keep things moving, what goes around comes back around again (even good things ;) ) and is/ will be worth it.

How to motivate your staff?

Have you ever seen the movie Hangover? Now that's how some people would love to feel at work, full of actions, that might lead to not remembering anything after a day or week, but you love every bit of it. You have loads of fun with tough and easy scenes, and make your staff feel that yes, they did it, they can sort it out! Ensure that everything works out well and at the very end of a project you provide them the opportunity to look back and get shocked or piss themselves off from laughing but certainly and most importantly: LEARN THE LESSON FROM ALL WHAT THEY DID IN A CONSTRUCTIVE WAY. Can you do this? I believe yes, but if you read this article it's more likely you haven't done it yet ;).

The title is a well known question with so so many answers and point of views that a week discussing it full time wouldn't be enough for this topic.

But let's just keep it short and simple.

What do we understand under motivation? Well, guess what, I am not going to use a dictionary, instead I would like to describe it in a way, that hopefully will hit the nail on the head.

Let's compare staff motivation at work with learning a new language in school. In both cases the aim is to achieve something great (either by doing your job in a way that satisfies you and you perform on a very high level, or speaking the language fluently for example) by doing processes that are versatile, fun to do and changing, though perhaps they teach/ show you the same way that you knew already but a bit spiced up, and most importantly always filled with new information.

One thing that needs to be cleared people are the same, but still different. In jobs and their lives as well they want to be appreciated, respected and acknowledged  for what they did and they do, but still they all view and live it from different perspectives.  If you don't meet these criterias, you perhaps own a crowd of zombies hunger for money or just simple people who have nothing else to do than just hang around and well let's face it, this isn't your aim (ok money too at the end, but after hard and good work that will come too). 

You want people who work for/ with you to improve not just their own lives (1st standpoint for them) but others' too by selling products or services that promote a state of well being or a state of belonging somewhere good. (E.g.: owing an Apple phone. The person who sold me seemed to love his job. The product I've bought, made me feel cool, because I could afford it, plus he made me feel good by owing something that is maybe unnecessary in my life but still can afford it and the thought seems waoo :)) )

Let's say you have a shop selling first class rugs for every home or institution. You are  a well known company and well if I need rugs, I certainly will go to you to buy them because you have great reviews. You are good not just because you offer something good and well known but also because your products are high standard (last long, keep their colors longer, pattern design is mind blowing), you can fit orders to personal needs and provide the best customer service all the way through, for a price that covers not just your cost, but also brings a nice sum of profit (this is your secret). You say you are a small company and can't afford this? Look at your employees I bet they can ( when it comes to action, really good colleagues/ employees achieve even the impossible, but only IF YOU DESERVE IT). 

Rule No. 1: BELIEVE THAT YOUR STAFF CAN DO IT and act accordingly!

If you don't have the faith in your staff that they can do the job, better don't waste your time hiring anyone and don't ask others either to bother with it. Why? Because you will screw it up. Yes, sounds harsh, doesn't it? It is just reality. On a long run if you don't believe in your staff you will always complain, worry about their mistakes, problems, that perhaps might be minor ones, but still you will just make them appear major, too too much... 

Provide necessary tools, authority (responsibility) and be there if needed. If not following can happen, easily: your 5* employees will actually believe they are bad and start to perform that way, or they'll just leave the job asap and you'll find it out in the last moment. And tataaaam, you'll be like: "What?? Why? Nooo!". Then one day after the other your company stops growing, starts stagnating or worst case it will start declining. This is such a well known scenario for so many companies and yet... they still don't get it. 

Rule No. 2: TIME IS MONEY, for your staff as well!

So whether you like it or not, pay for the services they do for your company/ yourself and leave the bullocks of "How grateful I am for your great work!" 

Sounds familiar? People who have faith say "God pay you back" for every good deed, but there is an other say: "Help upon yourself, and God will help you too!". If I see that people just always thank for me working my ass off, to bring the company alive and progress, but I get only "Thanks" and "Good job", plus nothing worthy actually happens or in worst scenario my colleague/ boss takes the merit for something they have nothing to do with, sooner or later (and I bet sooner after such a case) I'll just move on and start new somewhere else. So take that cheque out and be reasonable, or promote the person (oh and lets just start there that overtimes should be paid!) You don't have to pay a fortune, because at the end of the day you aren't a millionaire (or who knows), specially if you just started up. Believe me, using out someone to get the job done (?)... well... it will cost you one way or the other, so think of it what price you want to pay for it? People with brain and dignity won't ask for your money they will just tell everyone how rubbish you are and won't care if your establishment  floats or worst case drowns... 

Rule No. 3: ASK FOR THINGS THAT ARE ACHIEVABLE, by you too!

Whether you are the head of HR/any department or simple the owner who has just a small company, don't ask your staff to make you millionaire by tomorrow. That won't happen! The same way as you hired someone to sort something out, the same way you should understand that you have humans on board (even if sometimes they act like animals :D) with limits! If you are a start up because of limited resources sometimes you must hire people to sort out more than one thing, which is fine, but if you give someone to deal with 10 things, without the necessary tools and authority, well that's not fine. 

Nothing can be more demotivating than working on more than 3 things at the time with the same priority and hearing constantly why is this or that not done yet? Be realistic and fair enough, to understand, things need to be planed in advance, and everything has to be sorted accordingly. In case things don't go fast, roll your sleeves up and jump in, you'll have time later to find out why someone wasn't performing, after the job is done and deadlines or project targets met. Show your staff that they can count on you and don't tell them to do something that you actually don't have time to focus on or don't care about.

Rule No. 4: TEACH AND LEARN (Learning & Development for the faint hearted), no matter what!

I love people who love to teach, but also who are happy to learn too. Throughout my career in non/commercial fields I've met loads loads of people and frankly I've enjoyed the most working with those who were ready to learn and not stubborn to ask for help or even the ones, who were so professional and good they taught me new skills without the unnecessary "OMG, how is that you don't know this?". A person - no matter for how long s/he is at a company, or in a specific role -  will/ should always learn something new, progress and develop as a professional in order to keep up with the trends on the market and by targeting the best spot on it, customize offers accordingly and get the most out of everything. Here one thing to add: TECHNOLOGY, keep up with that too, it can save enormous time and money on a long run, in your HR department as well.

Rule No. 5: Don't dream, instead understand the reality of human needs @ work!

What most companies spit themselves in their own face with and the people who they get on board as well (this is btw. the worst joke of the 21st century) is the way how they are looking for the right candidate/ company. Good caliber people always want challenges, to constantly learn/ improve/ develop and have fun in their jobs too. Now what happens most of the cases? Well your company wants the best as always, but frankly you are lying of how many things you can offer, and why you actually are worth every breath... To this comes the cherry on the cake: clever candidates will do everything to get the best jobs, yes... even to lie in their CVs or give you fake references. I guess this isn't shocking to anyone, but this can be: How many of your employees whom you've hired until now, have told you the truth? 

If after 6 months you or even your employee realize/s that this isn't working, move on. Be professional, it is hard to digest that you weren't meant for each other but hey, it is not the end of the world. Yes, yes, but are you asking what about the money you invested in that person? Ok. But what about the time the person invested in your company? And what about the facts that it turned out that your offers you promised at the very beginning didn't even happen, or perhaps more than half of it were just lies? Hmm.. Tough case but you just be calm, carry on and stop dreaming and instead start acting, don't even try to take your revenge on your staff because that is stupid and childish to do! If you have a great company people won't turn their backs on you, unless they are spies or from personal reasons they want to screw you over. And the money you invest in someone to train? Hmm... It wasn't that much and job was done too otherwise you wouldn't kept that person for such a long time (yes, 6 months is a long time, specially if that job/ company isn't meant).

No one wants to sit in one position or even at a company till the end of his/ her live! OMG. Yes, no one (this is humans' nature, they love changes even after 20 years). 

Look around you. People who are in an age that you prefer no to hire (this is discrimination just to remind you again) might be the best options to keep for the long run. "Very young" (under 25) ones can learn quickly and adapt fast, plus you can mold them with persistence. "Older" (over 40) generation can have priceless knowledge and wisdom. What about the people in-between? They are clever, cleverer than you'd think... Here, the only thing I'd like to add, plan ahead and be realistic.

Golden rule: no matter what people say, your employees are humans too, so treat them in a way you want to be treated!

Relax and let your employees enjoy their time too - even if it is once a year at a big company gathering, either on a nice fancy party or at a healthy dinner (don't ever try to take them to McDonald's or do a BBQ in your garage, frying frozen chips with chicken nuggets just to keep the costs low - better organize potlucks!)

ALWAYS THINK ON THE LONG RUN and TRY TO WALK IN YOUR EMPLOYEES SHOES FOR A BIT (OR VICE VERSA) if you want to be successful with them. 

Hope these tiny rules were easy to digest and will bring you clarity to you too, but most importantly show you that you don't have to get out of your way to get the best on board. Who knows, you might already have them, just look around you. 

What makes a good sales person?

The question of the day!

Since I know my head and my mum put me in her shop to sell I knew: "I LOVE THIS". But selling in a shop where people pass by on big occasions mainly and same ones too, or  selling a company's services +/- products are different things. Isn't it? Yes, but still there is one thing that's the same and that's YOU, the person selling.

For a while I am stuck with this selling issue and a matter of fact it is an issue, a huge one. Why? Because there is a huge difference when you provide something that's needed and also give that little extra with it (such as your excitement, a smile etc.) and when you "JUST SELL"...

 A lots of companies wonder, why is that their products aren't selling or nothing goes as it should be?

Let's take some examples of my facts which I hope will be useful: 

Case 1.: The highlight of my sales career was when I had to jump in at Selfridges in London at David Clulow's to be the extra. Omg that was a waooo. And I guess it is because it was Boxing day and I had no clue who they are, what they do, what am I going to do there and I wasn't even certain that I'll survive the day :)))).

I got there, had no idea which way is in our out from that building and the crowd was massive. Got lost like 2 times and late with half an hour (thanks for the briefing I got over the phone in 10 minutes). But finally when I arrived, everyone told me just to relax and let's get down to work. Get it??? No pressure, just do your job. I started to look around, and was so scared of my manager (who turned out to be an awesome person at the end of the day) that I felt like running out of the building. 

Then things started to buzz, and after watching for half an hour who is doing what from the perms I started to sell and offer everyone as mad without the smooching. I was so excited that I even wanted to show premium, expensive and locked up glasses for everyone and hardly could swallow that I had no access to them :))). 

One of my colleagues, on site, was sent home after 1 hour because he was just standing around, thinking he was selling. I got a shock, but frankly I considered it a wise decision after watching him going from one closet to the other and not even smiling once. At the end of the day I got a business card from Greek gentleman, I had an amazing chat with a lovely guy, who ended up buying two sun glasses and my sales were over target with 50%.   I was standing in a 15 cm tall high heel for about 4 hours, and I said to myself "Whoever said that high heels are for work was an a*"... 

What made a very badly started day to finish so well?

The fact that my manager and supervisor understood that I am a human too, they were not afraid of telling me off and praising me either plus they believed that I can do it and provided me all the necessary tools to give a great service (ex. helping me out when stuck with product information, and pointing me out exclusive benefits of certain products that actually people are/ might be looking for).

Case 2: working for Biotherm. I got there, had no clue who they are, there is no one to brief you about a routine day and well you get a thick map with all the necessary "literature" plus the fact that you work on target and alone on your shop's floor. Imagine, when on the second day you get on the train realizing you're in trainers and your work trouser breaks apart on you whilst leaning down to get a product sample for the customer... Didn't reach my target in any of my days. Not proud, but given the circumstances I was glad to make sales.

Now watch this: the firm is renting a space in a department store, in a small town, people have no clue who they are (asked about 50 people and 2 of them said love their products rest was something like: "Oh I see them always when I pass by and I guess they are selling beauty products. But too expensive...") and you end up handing samples out and explaining what benefits they have, in what form they come, where else they can be found and you really pray inside yourself that someone will actually try it and talk about it.

The biggest issue here was that people didn't know much or anything at all about the company and its' products. I as a new starter apart from samples had nothing in hand to provide people a demonstration, plus I have been also asked to not to hand out to much of the samples either so that they have it for later... I don't blame anyone and to a certain point yes you can't always hand out samples, but that whole business was just messed up right there where it was. Turnover of customers wasn't big, I wasn't motivated and I learned more about the product within a day then ever from anything for what? To get to the conclusion that someone either wants that "boat" to sink, or has no clue how to market/ sell or doesn't actually give a shit what's happening there. Whichever it is a very very bad approach and won't bring you forward. Yes, your loyal customers will come back to buy from you, but what if your business isn't growing and one by one you'll loose them too?

Case 3: Selling household electricals (small firm with about 9 employees back from "that era"...). Boss comes and says that "business isn't going, it is actually declining so we need to do something". BOOM he figures out following: one person will fix all the broken electricals which are in warranty (in a 2*4m room sank with water). Warranty can't last longer than 12 months he says and make sure you sell everything. Life goes on: customers come in, they buy, work environment is so depressive that even me when I walked in I just wanted to turn around. And then next boom: No salary raise, a system that gives everyone the same amount of commission on sales doesn't matter how much you sell (well actually as it turned out no one had a clue ever how that system worked) or what work you do. Rest place freaks you out, no proper breaks and the cherry on the cake? Colleagues talking the boss and customers out and sending everyone to warmer places, plus boss shouting the head of the employees for not bringing or finding the right product, in front of the whole shop. Depressive? No, it is not. I call it: VERY SAD REALITY!

Case 4: Selling your services. Here I won't give any specific company names, there are to many too and the main point is on selling something that others need, they can't touch it but certainly want that it improves their lives. I was sent to meetings where I had nothing in my hand from the companies I worked with, where the CEOs of the companies I went to looked like the head of a gangster band, and also spoke to CEOs who were just like me, simple people, with great ideas, but of course with more money and more action in their lives. One thing I saw in each department I worked in is that once you actually find a service that lives up for itself without the need of selling a product with it, from that fact sales people tend to loose their ethics and they sell the service/ product as crazy, but once sold life stops there... Kind of no one seems to want to take responsibility of rolling things as fast and as well forward as before sales.  

Sales ethics... what an interesting combination of words, isn't it ? ... and yet some just don't seem to get it. 

No back to the point and to the highlight of this article: What makes a good sales person? It is actually very simple: YOU, a good work ethic, healthy company culture (where you know what your job is and understand the fact that we are all humans at the end of the day), right tools, supportive colleagues, a big enthusiasm, patience, to be organized & talkative & honest and have a bright (natural) smile on your face and take responsibility to your actions. 

Whether it is you selling or you want someone to do the job don't forget that to be good in any position inclusive sales, depends on both parties. I believe that everything can be done by everyone. It all depends on the person's approach to learn & develop and the company's approach to actually believe in their employees abilities & capabilities of doing the right "stuff", plus providing the necessary tools & support to achieve their goals professionally.

JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE IS SUCCESSFUL SELLING COMPUTERS THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY WILL BE AMAZING SELLING SHOES TOO FROM DAY ONE. PROVIDE INDUSTRY DETAILS AND BE REASONABLE. 

Don't expect from someone to sell all your stock if it is not needed by your customers (check your previous sales figures and keep up with trends), 

* provide clearly understandable and fair salary/ commission system (don't give commission to your administrator every month just because she is putting the invoices in your system, perhaps end of year bonus if the company does well); 

* make sure your employees and even your colleagues look forward to go to work (involve them in actions that help you and them too to build strategies that brings you all together, closer to the "big picture"). At the end of the day it is you 5, 10, 15 or even more of you at the company from whom it depends what's up and that your environment gets a very good buzz about it too. 

Ohhhhh and I almost forgot: your employees will be scared talking to you about their ideas, specially if you were not quite honest and/ or open at the beginning, so have faith + patient (but not for eternity) and check what you need to improve in yourself to gain their trust back and keep things rolling.

DON@T forget: IF YOU ARE HAPPY YOU'LL MAKE YOUR CUSTOMERS HAPPY AND THEY'LL MAKE YOU HAPPIER, BUT IF YOU F* IT UP, YOU MIGHT DO THAT FOR GOOD, VERY FAST ...

Happy hunting and may your sales go higher

The test you should take or even better: implement it in your HR processes

I've read about this amazing test  a while ago and now I feel I have to share it. The best website I found that actually provides the questions in a more understandable level - even for those who's native language isn't English - is this. There are sections at the results where I hoped for more details, but hey... use Google, type in Myers-Briggs Personality Types and you'll be blessed with them, and of course search can be personalized for the language required by you, anytime (just please don't forget: translation is required). 

The many time I hear people having no clue what to do in their lives, career wise or HR departments using tests (if any) that actually have not much sense, is sometimes unbelievable. So going out from this issue I'd advise to sit down put that extra 10 minutes effort in and be a bit more successful either by getting a bit clearer picture of yourself or by hiring the person who actually will more likely hit the scale of your company's expectations personality wise. 

The test will provide information in followings (there are plenty of information but I find these to be the most important and useful aspects): 

- Your personality type from the 16 with description of it

- The careers and occupations most suitable for you

- Strengths and weaknesses 

To get the best results, answer honestly all the questions, it is pointless to make up things that don't exist you'll just trap yourself. 

Apparently in the US most of the top 100 companies use it. In the same time plenty of journalists, scientist fight for failing it but frankly this in my opinion is the one that actually hits closest to the target (of knowing yourself/ your people) and well let's admit: at the end of the day the success is up to you, your common sense  and many other factors not just only this test. 

Just in case if someone gets more interested you can access the official site of MBTI here. (though I guess you can figure out after getting through this article anyway, what you want ;) )

Remember this is not the Holy Bible nor is something that you must take by word but it can be constructive, so have fun. I am ESTJ, what are you?

And for more fun I found this picture below, hilarious, spices a bit more your day up :))!

No, I am not a Harry Potter fan, just want to bring some colour in your HR department's life ;)

The worst job adverts

One thing I'll never understand why company's can't be clear and pretty straight forward in their job advert of what they are looking for and what they offer? 

If I haven't read through (in the sense of meaning from top to toe) 1000 of job advert in the last one year then non. That's actually not much,  especially when I think on the fact that there are people who read daily hundreds (although I doubt they read it through properly, it is just me being such a geek).  

And now comes the best bit. When I see that the applications closing day was last year and the advert was posted 2 days ago, I really do wonder whether these people are really that much tired or they just really that much don't care? 

The most common mistakes I see in job adverts are following and to be honest I find it messed up, unprofessional, crazy and the list could go on: 

- Tell you what the job is about in a two A4 page long description but forget to tell you what they offer (salary, pension scheme, training, bonuses etc.)

- They say they don't discriminate on race, gender, religion etc. but they clearly state at the end of the person specification that if you don't belong for example to a certain religious group unfortunately they can't process your application.

- Some establishments clearly state the salary package (amount + other bonuses if applicable) but when you get to the interview it turns out that they won't give you that as they have a plan in their head (which might - please remember this word: MIGHT - lead to the advertised salary eventually after going through a certain process of which they aren't sure either yet how is going to span out...) that they "forgot"/ didn't find important to mention in the advert so here you go... Oooopss, did you know that this is illegal? Unless of course you are so silly and desperate that you don't care, which you should!!!

- They state they want people to start immediately and after 1 month if not 2 they phone you and dear to tell you that you are a bad person because you don't remember every single detail of their advertised job and they will withdraw straight away your application. Come on, grow up... 

- Establishments stating in their job advert they want 5 * applicants and who doesn't hit the requirements won't be considered and then they forget to mention the requirements...

-  No deadlines given for applications or deadlines for the application process. OMG in a crazy and busy world and environment if you can't set deadlines for yourself and your processes, you are lost! Specially in sales and recruitment.

- The company is seeking for part time worker for minimum wage, weekly 15 hours and full flexibility. Seriously??? Who will pay my rent and food? I assume the companies' owner or even better, he sends me to apply for benefits or clearly states at the end of the job advert if you can't do it, please don't apply (£200 for the advert, advertised for one month, three applications received, one successfully hired who left after one month) :D ...#

But the best part was following when I said : "Give me a gun"... Saying in your job advert followings (this is from a real posting!):

 

"Measurement of Role Performance
1. Passing all ongoing company accreditation tests.
2. Meeting the role’s QA requirements.
3. Team fun, motivation.
4. Abiding by the XYZ “Rules of Engagement.”
a. Arrive at work promptly on time 09:00 am.
b. Dress in appropriate attire. Look smart and professional.
c. Keep personal calls, emails, web browsing to a bare minimum.
d. To abide by the Company Handbook.
e. Keeping a clean working environment and ensuring fellow employees health and safety.
f. Use all associated databases responsibly with mobile phones to be switched to silent whilst in the office.
5. Hitting monthly, quarterly and annual company targets within budget.
Review
XYZ Ltd.will review the ROLE’s performance during their 6 month probation period and once passed monthly thereafter by adopting a 360-appraisal system coupled with performance against agreed objectives.
Pay
Pay is directly linked to the performance of the key primary and secondary job responsibilities."

Are you kidding me????? 6 months stress because of people who can't manage properly and I am 100% sure don't even have the faith in the next applicant, basically unhealthy working environment where you are welcome to suffocate. Can anyone clearly tell me in a pretty straight forward way what this is? Ok, I will. As my lovely English fellow said: This is the way how some people write down things, never get to the point instead go round and round and round so this way they can make up their mind as and whenever without serious consequences (according to their childish mind flow) . This is not just unprofessional but obviously clear that this company had on board in this role messed up people, who they couldn't make to stay (which means something is really messed up with that company too) plus on the top of that no matter who goes to get that job s-/he will be treated and looked at as the previous ones who left and s-/he didn't even start... These people obviously can't find a way out they are focusing so much on the negative things which hit them in the past and they will get the same in the future too if continuing that way. There has been irresponsibility from both sides, but I am sure there was and still exists the reason for it. So why don't they just clarify what is keeping things wrong and instead of posting such an advert write a friendlier, clearer and more professional one? Well... NO BRAIN FOR THAT... (I mean there were I am sure but the top brain who is a no brain doesn't let the bottom ones to think or act) 

So this is it shortly, although I just referred generally on adverts I read and saw and they just crack my day and make me cry sometimes and wonder: am I really the only one who is such kind of a perfectionist or some companies (including recruitment agencies) really have not even the slightest clue how to write a normal job advert & recruit?

Have you ever heard of copy & paste, just do it better way ?

 

Writing a professional job advert

There is nothing worse than seeing daily an unprofessional job advert hanging around on the internet, shop windows, newspaper or on a leaflet just to mention a few, posted by companies/establishments who are looking for someone reliable, hard worker and to understand them. 

I am asking everyone, how can I know if a job is that what I am looking for, if I don't know the required working hours, days, the contract type, what is that they are looking for in me as their employee, and if I don't know how much the salary is etc.? There is no way of knowing it. Most of the time we just guess and hope it will turn out as it should be, but what if it's more likely they look for someone more experienced or qualified or for someone who has knowledge in using certain softwares and the company doesn't wish to train the new comer etc.? Yes, there is no way that an applicant will know these, unless it is stated.  It can be very frustrating, specially if you advertise on a page that charges you and also reaches a very broad band of job seekers (plenty of them who want to work and interpret things mainly on their own way ;) ). It can be time consuming for you as a hirer and for the job seeker as well. So let's make things simple and write a great ad:

1. What should your job advert contain?

• Who are you? Write shortly about you company, but please don't use copy+paste... Write.  ex. Since when are you on the market? Which industry/ sector (s) is your main speciality? What are you aims? Who are you looking for and what's the purpose of that role within your establishment? 
• Job title:  It is to show and reflect the seriousness of a role and responsibilities that come with it. If unsure about the title, do a little research and then try to match it as much as possible to the position. It is very important! Ex. if someone is dealing with  Accounts Management don't give them Sales Assistant title; Titles are meant to show what people mainly do/ take the responsibility for and not just to give them something to sound nice or make the environment believe how serious we are here... Of course at smaller places more roles can be/ are filled by one person, but even then the most matching title should be found. 
• Contract type: Do you want to fill a temporary or a permanent role? Is it a full time or a part time job? How many hours a week, which days? How are breaks counted? If it is a zero hour contract mention that, but as well the incentives that come with it later on. If it is a temp to perm role define what can assure the applicant that you really are serious about it. Ex.: after a certain period you'll have a chat whether you'll keep the person or not. In my opinion two months are more than enough to decide whether you really want someone on board or not. 
• Job description: What do you want the person to do whilst working for you? What are the duties and responsibilities?
• The candidate: Don't just write here that you want someone friendly and fun, say that you need an experienced person in which industry, who for example knows how to use Java, Oracle or Adobe Photoshop, etc. because you might use those programs the most, or you want someone who has a driving license. State in this section what you are looking for in the job seeker, as a professional. If you offer training then state that too. You are looking eventually for someone who will help you improve, move your business forward and not for a play pal. 
• Salary: Base salary + commission if applies. Please don't hide what you have on offer, every company has a budget and as you worked it out in your plan already you too. If you aren't sure about an exact amount then write a scale there with minimum and maximum amount from which everyone can negotiate. 
• Additional bonuses you offer? Why is it worth working for you? Here you can mention positive things even about your friendly working environment, but don't overreact it, stay cool and "sweet". 

2. What should our job advert NOT contain?
Why this? Because usually people tend to listen more when you say "don't to this/ that!" and is more likely that it sticks in their head and makes the brain work.

• Gender, age, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, marital status as these are discriminative and against the law . It is not fair on people and believe me it shouldn't be an issue at all who you hire until they are able and happy to do the job. Ex. Once funnily I was about to apply for a job with a brilliant new establishment, who were looking for an administrator/ marketinger and in their application form they stated they aren't discriminating anyone and treat equally every applicant. Reaching almost the end of my application form there was a two page long statement. I was required to write down which religion do I practice, which church I am going to, who is my priest and what are their contact details for future references? I went like: "What?! :O ". I am applying for a job, get it, why is that important which church I am going to? What if I don't go to church? I guess I won't get the job :) so that's shortly... Please do avoid these kind of actions.
• 3 sentence of the work, a job title and nothing else. Ok people get the point you have a role available but do you know how many people will apply for it? Let me tell you, a lot (or worst case non...), but let me tell you also I bet at least 50% of the applicants won't be suitable for you... (People who really care and want to work with true professionals they will look for true professional job adverts and ignore silly non sense ones. Desperate &/ or people looking to gain more experience in the industry will apply for everything that has even the slightest thing to do with their interest or is related to the role they are looking for.). I learnt that plenty of agencies do this in order to raise the volume of their data base, which I find very sad but on the other hand there are plenty of companies also who post these kind of ads, so they need to learn and master the process of writing a professional job advert. 

In the followings I'll write an example to a job advert and cases I had/ met in the past. I believe these really are things we can argue and should think about seriously. 

1. My first job advert from a long time ago (Fictive case with updated dates):

Fasterthanothers Ltd. is a company dealing with transport organizing on local and international (EU) markets for more than 5 years. What shows the best that our company is expanding rapidly is the fact that we require an other person to join us on board and fill an other new position just within a year. We are looking for a Transport Planner to start by the 13th of January 2014. 
Our colleague's duties & responsibilities are following:
-The planning of freight forwarding
- Constant liaising with clients and drivers
- Ensure cost effective routing and that deadlines are met
- Keep track, report and inform relevant people of frights organized by him/ her
- E-mailing/ faxing documents related to freight responsible for
- Filing documents (ex. copy of invoices sent) 
- Work together with colleagues to optimize ride numbers/ coverage 
We are looking for someone with following attributes: 
- Fluent English (Good grammar written and verbal as well), German and any other European language is a bonus
- Excellent IT skills and the ability to learn new programs easily
- Min. 3 months experience in a Transport organizer/ Logistic role (non experienced welcome as well but looking for someone with strong logical and analytical way of thinking)
- Minimum A level educated
- Self motivated, confident person with excellent and effective communication skills 

We provide two weeks of intensive "Work while you learn", paid training for the successful applicant with on the go support. We offer a starting salary of £18000 - £22000/ year, depending on experience and qualification. 37.5 hours work per week/ Monday - Saturday + commission after each freight organized. We provide company mobile, gym membership and a 30 days paid holiday/ year (including bank holidays). Performance and base salary will be evaluated every 6 month. Industry related training provided whilst working with us, followed by a nationally recognized certificate if exams successfully taken. The role is permanent with two months of probation period. 

If this sounds like something you are interested in please get in touch by sending us your CV and motivation letter in which you tell us why do you think this is the right role for you and what can you bring to our company. 
Applications' closing date is the 14th of December 2013. noon. Every successful applicant who is invited for a first stage interview will be notified by the 17th of December to arrange a date suitable. Applicants invited will be asked to provide references. Thank you for your time, we look forward to hearing from you and don't forget: Be Faster Than Others! 

2. Not this, please...  

I was walking up the road the other day and I saw a job advert stuck to a well known shop's window. I read it and was thinking to ask more information about it. It was stating only that's a temporary role, the job title and in 4 lines what the responsibilities are and 6 line what they are looking for. 

When I saw the store manager I said I am interested in the role. First thing she replied: Do you have your CV with? I said to her, I don't and it is not clear for me what they want exactly. She seemed surprised. I told her my situation how I am free to work and asked her if the position is full time or part time. She then replied that I don't suit their needs because they offer a 0 hour contract and want someone who is ready to work when they want it. After I asked how much do they offer? She said an amount below minimum wage and I was like: What???? :O. 

Basically where I want to get out, is this:  if you want someone on board for your like, then mention that in your advert this way you save time for yourself and the applicants as well. This position wasn't just clearly undefined availability wise but as well underpaid. If you want someone who is good (reliable, hard working) and when you wish, then pay for the service they provide otherwise keep on looking. You need to pay attention of what you write in your ad, you need to know what you are looking for and you need to be able to communicate clearly. If needed please train your staff about this, half an hour of your time for them and you saved hours if not days or weeks of hassle from your business' life. You can do it and do take the effort you won't regret it. 

3. How professionals (fed up job seekers) get a job

I remember once talking to a friend of mine - who works in the Financial sector-, he told me that he got his job following way: He urgently needed to work and as he got fed up with non sense ads where he just couldn't figure it out what the company wants or whether it is worth applying there or not, one day he decided to just send everyone his CV who ever had any word, sentence, job title relevant to what he was looking for and kept hoping for the best. He reached a limit of sending out daily a 100 times his application. Now this is waoo... Imagine, average 80 applications from him for a day that is 560/ week from which one phoned him up and invited him for an interview. He eventually got that job, but imagine on the other hand he applied for jobs where his application might not be relevant at all to the recruiter (whether company or agency) so how many people bothered unnecessary? At least 500 I bet just within one week and by one person. This was the best I heard till now but don't think he was the only friend of mine who did this :)). We have a say back home: The way you plant will define the way you harvest. So if your ads are not good you can get lots of applications but not all of them are what you are looking for.  

So yes, with these few example above I am trying to explain that there are thousands of job seekers out there and we shouldn't be wondering/ surprised at all if such a wire hits us and for one role we get within a day 100 application from which maybe 10 is roughly that what we are looking for, or in worst case we don't receive anything. 

To avoid this we need to know what we want from that position. I wrote previously also that we need to specify this in our recruitment plan, and when done, we can write the ad that hits.

Good luck and use Google or communicate with others if unsure about procedures. :)

Let's recruit successfully

When a position becomes or is due to become free you need to look for new candidate to fill it and as everyone else you too want the best on board. How this can happen? Easily if you know what you want. Let's not forget that in the followings I am going to mention steps to in house recruiters  (Director, HR manager, HR Assistant or other Appointed person -can vary depending on company's structure and size) focusing mainly on small to medium companies but of course if anyone else is interested please feel free to use it. First and most of all make recruitment plan (draft) with deadlines that you can/are able to and will follow and should contain:

 1. Time* & budget for recruitment process (yes, needed because: you need to advertise one way or the other and on a multinational market almost everything costs money and specially if you involve outsiders; you need to give bonuses to your employees in case of successful referrals if that applies at your company; you have to deal with administrative costs such as printing and document filing - this isn't that relevant but still exists, etc.)

•  *Time required for the role begins as soon as you start working on the project - including this plan - and should be defined depending of the type of role (assistant or senior role), the ways** how you'll let prospective employees know about the opportunity to work for you and urgency of filling the position (if you need someone to start in two weeks time then you won't start advertising the role a week before start date - unfortunately this happens but hey, is never too late to learn). You need to calculate in the time process the interview (depending how many people you plan to interview and how many levels the interview is going to have will define the length of it), decision taking till the first day of work commences. 
• *As we know - if not we will learn now -  that as higher the position as harder to fill the role. Highly experienced professionals in most cases already work or they hardly bother themselves looking for work. Agents/companies mainly look for/get in touch with them and not vice versa. In case of those working for longer period in the same position/at same company a career/work place change can be done easier because they already have the relevant connections to swift. On the other hand the market on the supply side of assistants is packed. Demand for work is high, lots of young and old people as well are looking for work; lots of professionals at the early/late beginning of their career are looking for career change and consider assistant roles as the best possibility to start from. Of course in case of each industry and position there are factors such as need for that role generally, number/ possibility of qualified and experienced people, salary paid, company reputation, etc., that increases/decreases the desire/demand to fill the specific role. But as the recruiter knowing your market and company you should be able to easily filter these factors as well determine the rough/min. amount of potential applicants within certain period depending where/ how you advertise. 
• ** We can advertise a role in a lot of ways. Now which one we use will depend on which is most important to you: quality (finding the most experienced and qualified candidate), price ( keeping costs of recruitment process low, at this part mainly advertising costs, because that can be the highest) and time ( how fast you wish to fill the place). If you want to keep costs low you have the possibility to search for example websites, forums that offer the possibility to advertise free - advised to find and use as much as possible in the same time and don't forget to keep track of it <ex. just to mention a few: indeed, jobsafari, freeads, jobtube, bestjobsuk, freeindex>. These might not get you the most desired (quality) candidate but will keep your costs low also advertising on more pages gives you the possibility to reach more applicants, perhaps to find someone right + fast. Advertise on your own website which if you are a small company won't be so successful as maybe lots of people don't even know you exist but if used together with other options can boost your chances. You can advertise for free by letting your connections know on your social media pages <ex. the most common ones: linkedin, facebook, twitter etc.> you have the specified "position available and if interested or their friends are then get in touch" on contact details provided. Asking your colleagues to ask around doesn't harm nor does assure someone very experienced or qualified but still can be useful. If your colleagues don't have a long list of connections or aren't interested in helping you that will be tricky but if you really want to keep costs low use as much of the free options simultaneously as possible. Don't forget this can take up from your time by posting the ads but in the same time with more ads posted in more sites, more job seekers will be reached and bigger the chance to find someone suitable. If you desperately need someone really good then pay for your advertising. Will costs you but certainly will reach quickly your target audience. You can do this by posting ads in newspapers (always decide which is the most related to your role/ industry and/or reaches lots of possible jobseekers), well known websites with high number of readers (theguardian, metro, gumtree), or look for yourself in CV databases (always check the CV is up to date) very last involve agencies (I am certain your company can and is able to manage so challenge and teach yourself and just do it you won't regret it and you/ the appointed person dealing with the process can only learn, a lot, whilst the possibility that agencies get you the right person are as high as you doing it for yourself). 

2. Full description of position you want to fill. Define relevant job title, contract type (temp/ perm, part or full time work), probation period, responsibilities/ & duties (job description) - if you want an assistant then don't write the manager's responsibilities/ duties in the job spec; budget for the role (what is the salary you are going to pay and what are the bonuses? Check the market salary range if you aren't sure and then see what extras you will/ can offer such as phone, commission, training, paid traveling costs, money compensation for a task delivered, etc.), progression & development measurement policies, working days & hours.

3. Application and Interview process: 

• The most commonly used way of applying is when your request a Curriculum Vitae (I know there are people who don't tell the truth but you know your market, interview is there to screen, the option of asking for references was invented to filter again and not everyone is making up things; besides uncertain employers generated the uncertainty with poorly communicated desires) with or without motivation letter (motivation letters are great if yourself know what your purpose of it is <you want someone to show you how well spoken they are, or how good their grammar is, or you want to know what their motivation is applying for that role - trap of Ctrl+C & Ctrl+V, etc.>), some companies use CV style online formula with prescreening surveys (make sure if you use one like this just pay attention to which position you apply the survey too and is relevant) and other application formulas (google: types of application forms). Which one you'll use is entirely up to you but try to keep things short, to the point, "sweet" (friendly and professional) and relevant. Most commonly used interview stages are two, but big companies sometimes can have up to five. 
• At the first stage of interview what I think nowadays should be used and "brought in fashion" is online face-to-face interviewing. This can be useful because if you have more relevant applicants than you were expecting you can filter after an online interview who are the ones you actually want to see   in real. By this technique you can ensure you keep the timings, really get those for a personal interview you think are eventually more relevant and also you can help the jobseekers to save traveling costs & time. Phone interviews as a first stage interview are commonly used too but online face-to-face interviews can be much more effective as you can see peoples faces, their reactions to certain questions and ensure you really speak to the person who is applying for the role. This is the 21st century be innovative :). Second stage is face-to-face interview at your office's/ place on a prearranged date which can count as first stage if phone/ online interview isn't applied. In case you organize second stage which follows any of the previously mentioned ones (I would like to mention that it might be that more different senior staff at the company would like to repeat the first stage)  should serve the purpose to measure certain skills and abilities of an applicant (get to know them better) so organize it that way and let lucky applicants know about it and the process. Here at this stage you should discuss the job package as well to ensure there are no confusions and both parties agree or negotiate if required of terms. This stages can be mixed and matched as I said can depend on the seriousity of the role, the size of the company etc, can be longer or shorter which ever is most suitable just plan it in advance. When all is done good analyzing and common sense to pick the most suitable candidate. 

When your plan is ready to go it's time to build your professional ad that should stand out and to show how professional you are.

On the job market there is a theory floating round: "That employees won't spend more than 10 seconds on applicants CV". Stop following theories and start acting, unless you are a multinational company getting in 1000 of applications for one role in 2 days you don't need to follow this. Take your time and read the CVs, you have time and you want to know who you get on board. If you think that it is unnecessary then it means you don't have time for other things either so if I am a serious applicant and see this I will be very disappointed and won't take you seriously. I faced so many times this issue: I got to an interview and apart from my name the interviewer didn't have a clue of what's in my CV then when we start talking of the content  turned out that she/ he is astonished how many things I can actually bring to the company of what they are looking for and they didn't know and I was like :O? "It is in my CV... :/". 

What you need to bear in mind your recruitment plan should contain whether you are looking to fill a volunteer, intern, apprentice or a part/ full time employment on temporary/ permanent basis. According to that know what regulations are out there that you need to prepare for.

For ex.: if you wish to fill an internship position that you wish to run for a year but divided to 4 x 3 months periods don't tell applicants that you want to offer them a real job at the end of their internship because if someone doesn't perform and you keep them working for you for three months and then off you go that person might think you were unfair. The reason behind this is because people tend to focus only on good things that benefit/ motivate them and in this case is the job for which they should, will work hard to get. It might turn out that doesn't suit their skill set or they aren't actually performing that good as you hoped, but in the same time they think they are really good which can be the case comparing things to their past experiences so they make hopes too. And as quite few establishments are on it to still exploit, miss lead them to get someone who does the job for free if you have this case that is hmm... I know this sounds hard to say and the intern idea mentioned easy to accomplish and well ready to go but in long run it will harm big time your company/-reputation if you are irresponsible, don't plan and communicate well. Dear to be honest and fair there are people out there who will appreciate it, need your honesty and understand that. You have the power in your hand use it wisely ;).

Planning the recruitment process might seem hard but if you as the recruiter have good people, communication skills and real interest in the position you want to fill this shouldn't be hard at all in contrary.

Basically the best doesn't necessary mean a graduate from a top notch university, or the best sales man next door, or the most good looking guy/ girl who has the best connections on the whole world. It means getting someone on board that you see has the drive/ passion, has the relevant idea/ experience and is a person that you can mold while still leaving her/ him intact and see the opportunity in the person to be a great ambassador for your company and have that gut feeling about the whole situation and faith this will work out. 

My aim is to give ideas and point of views according to my knowledge and experiences for those who are interested and the above written are my ways of dealing with a recruitment process in this case if it matches anyone else's description that is pure coincident and well that proves the possibility that more people think the same way which is just brilliant :). Good luck to finding the best and keeping him/ her.