Employee engagement is critical to successful business performance and this is highlighted in the CIPD Employee Engagement Factsheet.

The CIPD research repeatedly shows the relationship between the way people are managed, their attitudes and, of course, business performance has a direct on the success of the business.highlighted in the CIPD Employee Engagement Factsheet.

“Engaged employees are more likely to act as organisational advocates and can play a powerful role in promoting their organisation as an employer of choice. Research confirms that there is a significant gap between the levels of engagement found among UK employees and those that would produce optimum performance. Organisations should review their approach to communication with emphasis on listening to employees, and line managers need support in designing challenging jobs and managing effective teams.”

CIPD Employee Engagement Factsheet – www.CIPD.co.uk

Engaged Employees Create Results!

Just look at the evidence:

• Offices with engaged employees are 43% more productive – Hay Group
• Engaged sales people produce 28% more revenue – NCFC
• Engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave – Gallup

About the Author:

Dave Stent is an Associate of the McQuaig Psychometric System (distributed by The Holst Group). Dave is also a Chartered Member of the CIPD. To contact Dave email davestent@mcquaig.co.uk

TORONTO, ON, May 11, 2012 – The Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) announced a partnership with The McQuaig Institute® making the McQuaig Psychometric System, a world-class, validated assessment tool, accessible to members of the AESC and members of its executive career management service, BlueSteps.com.

Glenda K. Brown, Managing Director of the AESC commented:

“We are very pleased to present the McQuaig Psychometric System to our executive search consultant members. McQuaig’s assessment tools are highly rated, quick and efficient to use and offer support to our members as they assess and help recruit talented executives for their client organisations.”

“Additionally, the McQuaig Psychometric System will be made available to our BlueSteps members – 70,000 senior executives from around the world. Access to self-assessment tools through The McQuaig System™ is yet another benefit we provide exclusively for top executives who wish to proactively manage their careers while making themselves visible to our AESC search firm members.”

Ian Cameron, Managing Director of The McQuaig Institute commented:

“We are delighted to have been selected as a pre-employment assessment tool for use by the AESC. We look forward to continuing to assist leading executive search firms help their clients better define ideal candidates and, to assisting executives in the critical task of self-assessment”.

About The Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC)

The Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) is the worldwide professional association for the retained executive search industry. The AESC’s mission is to promote the highest professional standards in retained executive search consulting, broaden public understanding of the search process, and serve as an advocate for the interests of its member firms.

For more information, or to view the AESC Code of Ethics and Professional Practice Guidelines, visit www.aesc.org. The AESC also offers CorporateConnect, a service for the HR community offering executive search industry information and access to the AESC membership.

About BlueSteps

BlueSteps.com is an online career management service for top executives around the world. As an exclusive service of the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), BlueSteps enables senior-level executives to be visible to over 8,000 AESC member executive search professionals who use BlueSteps to locate candidates.

BlueSteps also offers career management content and tools tailored for top executives. For more information, please visit www.bluesteps.com.

About The McQuaig Institute

The McQuaig Institute offers pre-employment assessment tools helping thousands of clients worldwide measurably reduce turnover and increase staff productivity and engagement. Founded 45 years ago by Industrial & Organizational Psychologist Jack H. McQuaig, the McQuaig Psychometric System is a highly validated tool exceeding EEOC and BPS regulations, and proven to deliver bottom line results.

For further information, please contact:

The Holst Group
0845 456 4000
info@mcquaig.co.uk
www.mcquaig.co.uk

The McQuaig certification programme qualifies users in how to use, interpret and understand The McQuaig Psychometric System.

The certification programme is split into four elements:

Overview (see more)

Participants learn about  the tools, surveys and reports included the McQuaig Psychometric System and their Unlimited Access Package.

This is available online and as a short in-house presentation.

Level 1 McQuaig Certificate (see more)

The day focuses on the practical application of the System and includes basic interpretation to a Level 1 Certificate standard. This is a easy starting place to learn basic interpretation skills and how to administer the McQuaig Psychometric System.

Level 2 McQuaig Interpreter (see more)

Level 2 training will qualify you as a McQuaig Interpreter.

The course will give you a better understanding of The McQuaig Word Survey® and how to use it in everyday situations.  This is a great course that delves deeper into interpretation. Your status as a McQuaig Interpreter is globally recognised by The McQuaig Institute.

Level 3 Advanced McQuaig Interpreter Training (see more)

This course is for experienced McQuaig Interpreters and will stretch, challenge and enhance your interpretation skills. Participants will leave the course  ‘knowing their stuff’ and have a much higher competence in interpretation.

Training venues and materials

All McQuaig training is held either on-site at client offices or at quality venues such as the Henley Business School in the South East, Ettington Chase in the Midlands and West One in central London.

Free wifi, lunch and refreshments are included at all the public course venues. Every participant will receive a training and reference manual.

The Science behind the training

Major psychometric instruments in the UK should be registered with the BPS and PTC to prove it passes all the benchmarks laid down by the European Federation of Psychologists Association (EFPA).

The McQuaig Psychometric System has been reviewed in depth by the BPS been awarded the ‘Quality Mark’ from the Psychological Testing Centre (PTC). Click here for the review.

The training programmes build on the decades of research behind the McQuaig Psychometric System. See more here.

Get started now

About the author:

Iain Chalmers is Managing Director of The Holst Group. The Holst Group are European Distributors of the McQuaig Psychometric System. To contact Iain email iainchalmers@holstgroup.co.uk

Increasing profit and enhancing your products and services whilst managing costs are good practise for a successful business.

The next few words will explain how you recruit the person who would best support your business and its success.

The first two parts; increasing profit and enhancing your products and services are where great benefit lies. And while you manage costs in lean times there is huge benefit in keeping your recruitment effective and with as few costs as possible.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development say that on average the cost to recruit is £10K. Therefore, letting the right candidates pass you by in these tough times is not an option.

Things you could do in your recruitment process to find the most appropriate person that can support your business objectives include:

• Use Gut Feel
• Recruit on the CV
• Recruit on the CV & a handshake
• Recruit on the CV, a handshake & an interview

… and leave it at that, as many people do, to their cost.

But one more piece of information could change the game.

How is your recruit likely to behave on the job?

A quality psychometric system that gives you clear and simple results can make all the difference.

You may have doubts and having the courage to approach; pick-up and use a psychometric system can be a big decision. They are often inaccessible and we may have our own concerns about them. All too often clever sounding people throw a barbed wire zone around them by a lexicon of complication and impenetrable acronyms.

Ignore all that! Don’t walk away! There is many plain language, easy to use psychometrics out there. It may be the difference of knowing what someone will really bring the job. It may even increase your profit, enhance your products and services and even save you some money!

About the author

Doug Odgers is an Associate of the McQuaig Psychometric System. It is easy to use, online and written for non-psychologists. The Holst Group distributes the McQuaig Psychometric System.

Contact Doug at dougodgers@mcquaig.co.uk

Reprinted from ‘Winning Edge’ magazine from the ISMM – January/February 2012.

The generally accepted ‘honeymoon period’ for a new member of staff is 90 days – which is quite a long time, so if you do not actively manage this introduction the person will probably leave before it is completed – and it’s usually the good ones that walk away fastest.

Download the full article here.

The first 90 days of an employee’s tenure are critical. Inducting and welcoming the right person is not just about the skills, knowledge and experience match, but also the attitude/temperament match.

How often have you experienced taking on the new employee – the right fit from the skills, knowledge etc. for them to leave within the first 90 days because ‘they just didn’t fit in’? Was it that their way of doing things did not fit in with the organisation’s way of doing things – or did the organisation simply fail to make sufficient effort to make them feel part of the team?

About the author

Dave Stent is an Associate of the McQuaig Psychometric System (distributed by the Holst Group). The McQuaig Psychometric System is easy to use, online and written for non-psychologists.

Contact Dave at davestent@mcquaig.co.uk

Here are some new features for you to check out:

• New dedicated McQuaig website www.mcquaig.co.uk
• All Accredited Interpreters of the McQuaig Psychometric System will receive an email with access details to a NEW Resource Centre

Training

• Level 1 McQuaig Certificate
• Level 2 McQuaig Accredited Interpreter
• Level 3 Advanced Interpreter Training NEW
• Free onsite or online McQuaig Overview (approx 45mins) NEW
• Administering the System online video NEW
• Effective You! NEW
• Effective Teams NEW
• Effective Interviews and Selection NEW

Name change

The McQuaig Licence is now called McQuaig Unlimited Access. This better communicates the great benefits of the McQuaig Psychometric System including:

Unlimited use of:

• The McQuaig Word Survey® (10 included reports)
• The McQuaig Occupational Test® (Speed of thought ability test)
• The McQuaig Job Survey® (6 included reports)
• The McQuaig Self-Development Survey™
• The McQuaig Job-Fit Interview Guide
• McQuaig Overview – online or onsite session (approx 45mins)
• Level 2 McQuaig Interpreter Training for 1 person every year!

Things to do:

•  Join us at www.linkedin.com and search ‘Groups’ for McQuaig
• Check out our blog at www.mcquaig.co.uk/blog
• Poke around the website www.mcquaig.co.uk
• Become our friend on Facebook www.facebook.com/McQuaigPsychometricSystem
• Follow us on Twitter @mcquaigsys

We are here to help! Call us on 0845 456 4000 or give your McQuaig Associate a buzz and let us know how.

• 5 sales tips from The Apprentice
• 5 sales ‘not-to-do’s’ from The Apprentice
• 5 tips for hiring great candidates…from The Apprentice

So what could my blog be about? 5 tips to manage the candidates from The Apprentice? Why Psychometric Testing should be used to pick candidates for The Apprentice? Nah, I’m going turn it on its head and give you 5 reasons why everyone should want Lord Sugar as a boss:

1. Beetroot is all you need: Lord Sugar started by boiling and selling beetroot from a market stall. How many of the candidates this year started on a market stall? He, better than most, understands the value of a pound.
2. Fair enough is good enough: For all his hype as a grump he sees through the bravado and ego. The winner every year is someone who puts business before themselves and the task before the champagne.
3. He listens: Nick and Karen. Enough said.
4. You know where you stand: Lord Sugar doesn’t dilly-dally. If he’s happy you’ll know. If he’s not, you’ll be in the taxi.
5. The future’s bright: Lord Sugar only moves in one direction and if you’re up to it, he’ll take you with him.

Easy to say, but as you know not so easy to achieve, so how do you do it? Do you attract prospective staff in job ads? Do you explain a little about the role, more about the organisation and even more about the recruitment process?

Could you do it differently?

Successful recruiting organisations make sure they attract the right person by highlighting temperament traits needed to succeed in the role. They leave out the company name and customise the ad, dependant on the role they are recruiting for.

For instance, how would an ad differ for a Technical Specialist and Salesperson?

Technical Specialist

The right individual will love process and detail. Make sure the ad is very clear as to how they apply for the role & how their application will progress. Ask them to send a detailed CV and gather information about previous roles in preparation for the interview.

Salesperson

The right individual will be restless, goal-oriented and competitive. Make sure the ad is short and to the point. Insert a phone-number instead of a request for CV. Use the phone call as a screening interview and have a series of questions to ask.

After all making the transition from working for somebody else to working for oneself requires certain personality traits which are not necessarily the same as those needed by budding entrepreneurs. In truth, a franchise is something of a unique proposition. True, the franchisee owns the business but s/he are part of a much larger brand which has to be promoted and protected. Franchisees have to conform to a tried and tested formula – they can’t “go it alone”!

So then what traits are likely to make a franchisee successful? The list that follows may not be exhaustive but most attributes are all likely to figure to a greater or lesser degree depending on the franchise.

• A feel for people and a natural networker but still able to work alone
• An ability to make considered decisions and take calculated risks without losing sleepless nights
• A real desire and ability to “make things happen”
• Independent but not too independent
• A determination to succeed
• Ingrained customer focus
• Tremendous energy and enthusiasm
• An ability to learn – and quickly!
• An abundance of self-motivation
• Sales ability
• Leadership
• A big picture person – but who still retains an eye for detail (the devil’s in the detail)

It seems to me that a franchisee clearly needs to possess certain entrepreneurial traits but s/he must also be able to work within the framework of a tried and tested franchise formula. Identifying these traits up-front is important for the franchisor and the potential franchisee. After all this is a life changing decision and it’s critical that they are honest with themselves and have a real understanding of their strengths and their weaknesses if they are to be successful.

Unfortunately, however well it is constructed, an interview won’t reveal someone’s true personality – sometimes because people just don’t know their true preferences and sometimes because they tell you what they think you want to hear. Either way that can be a costly mistake for both parties. Only through psychometric testing can a franchisor and franchisee be reasonably certain that they a making the right choice.

Download the article here

In this, the second part of our series, we look at the remaining six steps to increasing hiring success.

Download the article here