Isabel Forbes (MCIPD)

‘We don’t get enough candidates’ 🤝 ‘The candidates we get are good enough’ Two of the most common things we hear as #talentacquisition or #recruitment people. I did when I joined Cineworld Cinemas Ltd & Picturehouse. So, how did I address these issues? Overhauled the job adverts and job descriptions. If you’re in this situation is more than likely your JDs and Ads aren’t pulling their weight... But what should you look out for? 📍 They probably start with waffle about your business.  📍 They don’t use bottom-up language. You need to get on the reader's level by addressing them. Humanise it and help them relate.  📍 Culture. Environment. Be explicit and paint a picture of what to expect.  📍 Use engaging language that reflects your company culture & employer brand.  📍 Give them all the details they need (eg. Salary, flexibility, benefits). Use them to attract and engage. Don’t use it to blow smoke up your own arse and shove a barrage of useless information down the readers throat about the crappy awards your company paid for.    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   What have the results been in my first 8 weeks at Cineworld & Picturehouse? 👉 6x number of applications  👉 2x hireable candidates at final interviews for each vacancy  👉 Reduced ‘Time to Hire’ to below 26 days  👉 100% first time offer acceptation rate  👉 Reduced ‘Cost Per Hire’ by 85% A simple change has been a drastic improvement for the business. It doesn’t solve everything and they're a constant work in progress but, it’s been a really effective way to have an impact quickly. My example is attached for some inspo, so use, abuse and critique. Have you found it useful? Or would you do something differently? Lemme know 👇

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Signing contracts ✍🏾 ⚠️Always be sure ALL terms and matters are laid out specifically. Depending on the contract the following may/ may need to be included: 💰Payments (how much you’ll be paid) %Percentages (publishing, ownership etc) ✈️Travel (who pays etc) 🧾Equipment (costs, replacements etc) 🎵How many projects (specific type) The list goes on and this definitely doesn’t include EVERYTHING. There’s different contracts so terms vary. ✅It’s always best to have an attorney you trust to look over paperwork and ask important questions. Your life and livelihood are at stake. 🫡 #contracts #signingcontracts #recordingcontract #recorddeal #publishingdeal #musicindustry #contractterm

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TV viewing figures here in the UK are falling, yet sport is bucking the trend. I rarely watch mainstream TV, and when I do it isn't often 'live'. Shows such as Taskmaster, Artist of the Year feature, but I did switch off the TV during Covid. Opting for Netflix or Disney predominantly for the family movies, but also because many of the TV series moved across. But we love the sport season. Wimbledon, Womens Football, Olympics and the Paralympics win our vote everytime. A report, published by Sky and compiled by the policy agency Public First, says that UK adults “have spent approximately 9.1bn hours watching and participating in sports” in the past year. It also found that 15 million people across the UK “went as far as to say that sport is an important part of their identity”. Incredible stats. It's certaintly part of what the UK is doing better. For me, it's inspiring, exciting, and mindblowingly brilliant. But here's the different. According to Ofcom, less than half of 16- to 24-year-olds now watch TV in an average week, down from 78% in 2018. They also spend far more time on TikTok and YouTube than watching live TV. I agree. The reason we as a family love movies and made the switch, was because it's been a 'thing' to do for such a long time. Everything else, can be searched up. The downside of course is often the facts. What kind of future is coming for TV? Who knows, but TV does feel a little traditional these days.

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We're in June already, heading for the halfway point of the year😱. Here's a quick thread of good 'intermission' #actor practises we can also apply to wider career planning. *Actors can use intermission to reflect on Act 1 performances. This June plan short breaks from daily routines to recharge & reflect on your accomplishments What's gone well? What could improve? Even small wins are worth celebrating & setbacks may contain useful lessons. *Intermissions are the time to get everything in place for a strong second half. Don't be afraid to review & revise 2024 career goals based on all you have learned in the 1st half of the year-there is NO '1 right way' in acting careers, choose the way that works best for you.Intermissions are good times to chat, rehearse or encourage castmates-or to take some quiet time out. Similarly, curate your online time-keep connecting with friends & accounts that inspire & make you smile, support colleagues when you can but take offline breaks too. *Intermissions are the time to get everything in place for a strong second half. Don't be afraid to review & revise 2024 career goals based on all you have learned in the 1st half of the year-there is NO 'one right way' in acting careers, so choose the way that works best for YOU. *More ideas for getting through the day to day challenges of acting life in my new book, usually £3.99 but available at discount price of £1.99 here at this link: tinyurl.com/ActorHelp

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The Power of Face-to-Face: Why Interviews Trump CVs Are you relying solely on CVs to find the perfect candidate? Think again! Face-to-face interviews reveal: Soft skills and personality traits Context behind experience and skills Authenticity and cultural fit Potential for growth and development Don't miss out on top talent! Benefits of face-to-face interviews: 85% of jobs are filled through networking and face-to-face interactions (LinkedIn) 95% of employers value soft skills over hard skills (SHRM) Face-to-face interviews increase hiring accuracy by 30% (Glassdoor) Make the switch! Prioritize face-to-face interviews and discover: The best candidate for your team Improved hiring accuracy Enhanced candidate experience Share your hiring experiences! #FaceToFaceMatters #HiringTips #Recruitment #TalentAcquisition #HRBestPractices

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If you approach a woman and she responds with a polite “no thank you” or “I’m not interested” Before you walk off, there’s something you can say which can actually turn the interaction around! in your favour! It’s very simple, and very effective and has the potential to switch a woman’s initial “NO” into a “YES” Not only have I had it done on me, but I’ve shared this clever response with many of my students, and 7 out of 10 times, it makes the woman stop in her tracks, smile and re-engage with them. In my latest Youtube video I share this perfect response and I also explain how and why it works. I have a treasure-trove of very clever and simple moves, techniques and responses that men can use to help them achieve their desired outcome. I have often described game and attraction building as being like a game of chess. Staying calm, composed, being in control and knowing what moves to make and when to make them will give you the advantage! Most men will react badly to a woman’s initial rejection of him, but I show men how to turn that moment into win. You see, like in chess, everything needs to be seen as an opportunity, even if it means taking one step back in order to take two steps forward. A good chess player understands this, and remains composed and methodical until the very end, rather than being out of control and emotionally reactive. When a chess player gets emotionally ‘triggered’ or sees himself losing, that’s the moment he’s already lost the game. Sure, a lot of it comes down to mindset and self discipline, but you also need to know the moves and the strategies too, and this applies exactly the same way when it comes to building attraction. If you can combine self control and technique together then anything is possible when it comes to dating and attraction. https://lnkd.in/du-6wu8b

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More and more, we are seeing a ton of activity coming from HR leaders who are sharing (very transparently) how hard HR work truly is. And I'm not talking about the "cushy" HR job where things are relatively predictable, you lead a massive team, your budget matches the team size and you can focus on planning for 3+ years at a time. I'm talking about fast-growth environments, often venture backed, that put a lot of pressure on organizations with challenging revenue goals, lots of change & scaling and plenty of pivots to keep the business going. It's not easy to work in fast-growth companies. It's also very challenging for HR leaders who need to keep a pulse on everything that's happening in real time. And we all know, when things move fast, things also break. I'll be the first to say that HR isn't easy. It's really hard but I don't think people quite understand why it's so hard or frustrating. So I drafted my latest Diary of a CPO chapter focused on that topic, and also why we might be seeing so many HR leaders leave the industry in droves. I'm not one to shy away from sharing how I feel so if you're curious about why HR leaders are so burnt out (and dare I say, jaded as well), take a peek. And just a quick reminder, if you're going to be disrespectful in the comments, your comment will be deleted. If you have a differing viewpoint, state it with maturity and professionalism. And of course, if you have more than a ton of opinions to share, I would suggest you draft up your own post for your exclusive audience and platform (but you won't be disrespectful on mine). 🙂 https://lnkd.in/ghWkwiy2

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Have you considered the potential of tapping into the contingent workforce? What can that mean for efficiency? Innovation? Tracks for development? And creating an overall more diverse and inclusive culture? Rebecca Samarasinghe Perrault brings really interesting points of interest in our conversation on our latest Diverseek podcast episode, about how including the contingent workforce, might just make all the sense! How can we better collaborate and engage with contingent workers? What can this mean for accessibility, strategy, and for our teams that are contingent or not - how we show up to work? Rebecca, of course, brings data to the conversation and plugs that in to the eye-opening perspective pieces covered in this podcast episode. You can listen to the episode at: https://lnkd.in/g3ydA6FQ Transcript:  “How are we making sure we tap in and open doors to diverse individuals? We want to make sure that we've opened all of those doors, and this is a great way to open those doors for full time talent, but through your contingent workforce programs. For many reasons, we have a very diverse group of people. I mean, you and I are, are examples of that, right? Very diverse populations are within this, and there's multiple reasons for that. But how do you tap them, you tap into that door from contingent to full time, and knowing that whether they're contingent or full time, they're still contributing success their providing innovation, IF you have the inclusion side. Right? So we know we have the diversity in this, are we thinking about the inclusion of contingent workers to create the innovation to allow them to provide those innovative ideas and to create the benefits. So really thinking about those numbers that this is a diverse pipeline of talent. And I'll say, with our clients, we do have the clients that are really on the upper tier of this, they have about 30% of their contingent workforce converts to full time. And these are some of the largest companies in the world. So it's on that high end of 30%. That's a large percentage.” #dei #podcast #including #contractwork #contingentworkforce #innovation #inclusion #inclusiveleadership #diversityequityinclusion #diverseteams

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Came to Sony Pictures Entertainment today with Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd Talent Acquisition team and was mesmerised by an indoor cinema within the workplace & the PlayStation wallpaper. Not many people know, but Hawk-Eye is within Sony's ecosystem, and being part of a wider family within that framework which is always exciting. Many people think Talent Acquisition just sources and fills jobs, but it's more than that. Today, we prioritised implementing more of the following: 👉🏻 Candidate Experience 👉🏻 Skills-Based Hiring 👉🏻 Continuous Improvement 👉🏻 Feedback at All Stages 👉🏻 DE&I Many people class this as a tick-box exercise, but these are the areas that are important to us. We are working as a team to make sure everything is a fair process for all. What is important to you as a candidate when applying? #LinkedIn #TalentAcquisition #CandidateExperience #SkillsBasedHiring #Recruitment

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An interesting article from WTW highlighting reward trends in Tech Media and Gaming. The London premium is declining slightly although regional variations still exist. New hire premiums are seen mostly at the more experienced level which isn't overly surprising given the immediate need for a lot of these skills but does indicate that these premiums will likely continue to accelerate without companies setting long term strategies to grow talent rather than recruit in at a more experienced level. https://lnkd.in/eAWABkcJ

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Talent professionals - are you keeping an eye on labour market reports to make sure your TA strategy is robust enough that can stay ahead or at least keep up with the market shifts? Over the last night fortnight I’ve had some interesting conversations with clients about their Recruitment plans for remainder of 2024 and projections for 2025. I’ve also been conducting PSL reviews, as part of our Cogito RPO solution and talking to agencies about their experiences of the market. They’ve reported a significant drop in roles and an increase in recruitment freezes. This quarter, CIPD reported that 37% of companies surveyed said they would be looking to recruit hard to fill roles. This rose to 52% in the public sector. Whilst over half (55%) of employers are looking to maintain their current staff level. This is the highest proportion since winter 2016/17. So what does this mean for TA? - Consider your routes to market for hard to fill roles. Can you be more flexible by hiring for potential and bolstering to development or a mentor. - Sense check your offering against the market, where do you stand as an employer when it comes to pay and benefits? - If you have shortcomings against competitors, what can you offer? What motivates those employees and work on increasing your awareness that you are hiring. - Use your EVP to drive those messages about what makes you a great employer. (If you don’t have a clear EVP, this will be intrinsic as part of your TA strategy and supports both attraction and retention. - Focus on retention- have good career conversations and understand what it takes to keep your talent. Get those pulse surveys out and get a barometer check on how people are feeling. Below are the findings from the CIPD report about how companies they surveyed intend to address hard to fill vacancies. Some great ideas! How will you overcome the challenges faced in your business?

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Having a HR network is like having access to rocket fuel 🚀 I write a lot about the importance of having a trusted HR network. Throughout the years I've found mine to be a place to ✅ Validate my thinking (for all those nuanced HR situations) ✅ Get support (We all have different expertise) ✅ Share ideas (Lets not make the same mistakes, lets find new ones) ✅ Have a safe space to vent (cause you know...HR 😜) ✅ Brainstorm (Get a few HR peeps in the same space and the innovations flows) It's been such a boost for me personally and my career over the years... Building a network is much easier now as we can do this online. However if you have the opportunity to build in person, jump on it and embrace it 🚀 I am super excited about Friday this week as we are having our first Sydney Micro meet. Think coffee, connection and chats. You can register for this free in real life meet in the humaneer.app network (Ill pop the link in the comments below). It would be great to see you there. If you havent started building your HR network yet- come join us If you are expanding your HR network - come join us If we are already part of each others HR network- come say hi The excitement is real - I hope to see you Friday 😀 #HRconnect #HRcommunity #HRforHR #HRsydney Hello 👋 I'm Careen, on a mission to make HR easier, together. Together with hundreds of HR professionals across the 🌏 we have created an online network where we can Ask, Learn and Validate together... Come join us...Link in comments 👇

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Less than 24 hours to go in the Women's Prize Trust Big Give Christmas challenge - please help us get to our target and donate here: https://lnkd.in/eB_cJzrA Ahead of our 30th birthday next year, the Women’s Prize Trust has published our first Impact Report. It showcases what we’ve done over the past three decades, the difference it has made… and why we still need to do it.    The data we have covered in the report is shocking. The gender pay gap between male and female non-fiction authors stands at 36% and *it’s rising*. Women’s stories and expertise are not being adequately platformed, rewarded or celebrated; research from Nielsen BookData reveals only 11% of the top 50 science titles are by women, it's 19% for sport and even the showing for biography/autobiography stands at a paltry 29%.   If this makes you indignant, even furious, then GOOD – I think it should. The world would be better if more people – men and women – read the voices of women and allowed those voices to expand their own empathy and understanding. More women’s books, written by all sorts of women, especially those who are currently underrepresented, being read by more people, would be a positive, hopeful thing.   So please help us to make this happen. Every donation that made to the Women's Prize Trust between the 3rd and 10th of December will be match-funded and doubled. We’re using the donations we receive to increase our Writer’s Room programme. We’re doing all we can to unlock access for aspiring writers, particularly women from underrepresented communities, and empower them to share their stories with the world.   Every contribution matters, whether it's £10 to sponsor workshop tickets or £1000 for broader community outreach. If you've ever contemplated supporting the Women's Prize, now is the moment to make a difference in the final hours of this crucial opportunity. Thank you.

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The discussions in the Three Protocol telegram today have been incredibly impactful. According to 2022 figures, the UK recruitment market commands a staggering £42.9 billion. Temporary/Contract Staffing takes the lion's share at about £33 billion, while Permanent Recruitment is valued at around £9.9 billion. The tightly regulated UK recruitment market presents considerable challenges for agencies. However, AI is set to disrupt this legacy market, with Jobs3.ai at the forefront of this revolution. Think globally. Our no-KYC ZKi3s Digital ID, no-KYC 3PAY Fiat/Crypto payment solution, and advanced DAIO lead the charge. We are primed and ready to disrupt this legacy market. If this speaks to you, join the conversation here: https://lnkd.in/eh-PA7ru

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And here we have it. The #DisabilityPayGap as outlined by Dr Shani Dhanda. From today, #DisabledEmployees will be working for free until the end of the year. This Disability Pay Gap has reached £4,300 per year. Looking at it another way, it’s 17.2% with non disabled employees earning on average £2.35 more per hour. Read the details below & then take action! Anyone can invest in / back / buy from #DisabledLedOrganisations #DisabledLedBusinesses #DisabledSoleTraders #DisabledEntrepreneurs

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Tomorrow we'll close down this year's Staff #Engagement & #Inclusion Survey at the Wikimedia Foundation.* And that's got me thinking about the challenging mission that it is to get the honest input any organisation's leaders need from staff. I'm sure anyone else who's managed staff surveys in the past knows that surveys are a useful – but limited – way to understand organisational health. Gladly, most organisations have a wealth of additional sources to enrich that analysis: informal feedback, perfomance reviews, employee relations cases, exit interviews... there's data all around us that can help us make better informed decisions. But... how truthful and insightful can such data be? That's when I went back to this great Harvard Business Review article written by Jeff Wetzler late last year for some insights. Jeff argues that – to unlock a team's potential – we gotta learn to really listen. Here's his 5-step approach to unlock honest and insightful conversations with staff: 1️⃣ Choose curiosity: shift the mindset from certainty to a strong desire to learn new things; 2️⃣ Make it safe: create an environment with #PsychologicalSafety for open dialogue; 3️⃣ Pose quality questions: ask questions that encourage and prompt thoughtful and honest responses; 4️⃣ Listen to learn: pay attention to not just the words, but also the emotions and underlying intentions; 5️⃣ Reflect and reconnect: process what's been learned and share the earned insights back to check for resonance. According to the author, by mastering these steps, we can tap into the collective wisdom of our teams and drive significant improvements in our organisations. Link in the comments. *am I using a LinkedIn post as a subtle nudge for my colleagues to respond to our survey? Maybe I am!

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As workplace culture evolves, so must our approach to how and where we work. The hybrid work model isn’t just a “nice-to-have” anymore—it’s a game-changer for inclusivity and work-life balance. For parents managing school runs and childcare, for those who live far from the office, and for individuals with unseen disabilities, hybrid work offers the flexibility to thrive both personally and professionally. It’s about enabling people to bring their best selves to work, wherever they are. Here’s the reality: If an employee is slacking or unmotivated at home, chances are they would be the same in the office. Location doesn’t change work ethic—it amplifies it. A hybrid model encourages trust, ownership, and accountability while respecting diverse needs. It’s not just about flexibility—it’s about recognizing that everyone’s circumstances are unique. Flexibility isn’t the enemy of productivity. When done right, it can boost engagement, creativity, and results. Let’s build workplaces that embrace this evolution—where trust and performance matter more than a desk location. #HybridWork #WorkplaceFlexibility #Inclusion #FutureOfWork #WorkLifeBalance

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Always good to focus on the future whilst also focusing on 'the now'. Elijah is a great example of us looking ahead. Regarding the now - Our efforts by the likes of Hailey Cuttler who are providing I.R.L, on stage opportunities is just another added value we can provide. It's something we can provide now. The future: Commercial Sponsorship Opportunities for our digital creators and comedians.

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