What makes Hays a great place for me to work?

Hays Ireland are endorsed by the Great Place to Work Institute as a 'Best Workplace 2013', so I thought I’d let you know what makes Hays a great place for me to work.

I've just passed the sixth anniversary of my first day in Hays. Do most people remember the date when they started a job?  Up until then, I wouldn't have had a notion of the dates I started in other companies, but I guess I subconsciously knew this one would be special.

Six years is a long time to stay in a company in today’s culture. Up until that last week in September 2007, the longest I had spent in one job was two years. For a number of reasons, including freelancing, I was like the ‘Littlest Hobo’, turning up somewhere for a while, then moving on. I worked in a wide variety of marketing roles in all sorts of companies and was fortunate to have only one bad experience. However, I had a good feeling about Hays from the moment the consultant rang me about my application.

Even my two interviews, with the MD and another director, were enjoyable experiences. And I must add this was not something I usually felt in interviews. On my first day, throughout my first week and through what I call ‘the full bedding in period’ (six months), everyone was really friendly and supportive. I was waiting for the catch - the horrible department or the nasty colleagues who had been putting on smiley faces because I was new – it didn't come.

I’m lucky, in that I really enjoy what I do as a career. In Hays, I got a chance to put all my skills to the test, which was great. I also have a boss, the MD, who really values marketing as a function and values my input, to the point I was invited to join the senior management team a few years ago. Couple this with the friendly, supportive staff and you have an environment where I was looking forward to get back to work after my honeymoon. And that is in no way a reflection on the relationship with my lovely wife!

As I mentioned before, I've worked in a lot of companies and one thing I've learned over the years is that the salespeople are always the kings and queens of the company, as they bring home the bacon. In my view sales is completely complimented by marketing, but I’m pragmatic enough to know which one most companies prioritise.

To be honest, my biggest fear when I was deciding on whether to join Hays, was working in a company comprising 80% sales staff. I had worked with sales people before and my friends and family had told me some interesting stories from their own companies about these brash, rude, ego types. That’s not my experience with Hays. Maybe it’s because it’s their mission to find the right person to transform an organisation and the right job to change someone’s life, that our sales people are incredibly warm and friendly, whether juniors just learning the ropes, or directors with over a decade in the job.

But yet they are still sales people, which means they need a certain environment to thrive – targets and rewards. I've always understood this, which is why I never had an issue organising prizes for incentives schemes that included exotic safaris and the US Open tennis final in New York. The way I looked on it was, if I wanted those types of prizes, I’d need to do that type of job.

Nonetheless, other non-sales staff had a different view, some felt as though they were inferior members of the company. When the task was set by my MD to analyse this view and how we could rectify it, I put my hand up for the project team.

So a team of marketing, finance and administration staff set about devising a survey to understand the needs of people who worked outside the sales function and began the journey to rectify it.

For just over a year now, we have been running the ‘Hays Ireland Ladders Programme’. Devised for all non-sales staff, it is a scheme for recognition and reward. It is available for all members of the company to say thanks to someone in HR, administration, finance, facilities or marketing, who has went above and beyond the call of duty to help them out.

It comprises a Ladder of three Steps. It starts with the process of making a nomination. For example, I can nominate a member of any team, including my own. The proposal is then reviewed by a non-biased party for suitability. Upon approval, the nominee receives a mail informing them they have a Step on the Ladder, the mail includes why the nominator thinks that person deserves a Step and the nominee’s manager is cced on the mail.

On Step 2 of the Ladder, the process above is replicated, but the recipient gets a treat of their choosing, worth up to €25. On Step 3 of the Ladder, there is the added bonus of a luxury meal with other staff members and entry into one of the incentive scheme draws, in this case, a glamorous trip to Paris for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse-race. After Step 3, it reverts back to Step 1, where you start building for your second ticket into the draw.

There was much excitement when the six names were pulled from the tombola in June and since then I have been beavering away, organising the trip. Then one of the lucky winners had to pull out at the last minute, so we got the opportunity to draw a new name.

This is where it gets a bit awkward. I am eligible for the Ladders Programme and was fortunate enough to get three nominations that were approved. However, with my involvement on the organisational side of the Ladders Programme and the prize, I didn't feel right putting my name into the hat.

And sure wouldn't you know, my name got pulled out of the blooming hat! I felt incredibly uncomfortable with it all, but that was eased by the fantastic support of people throughout the company. It would have been easy to shout ‘fix’ but they cheered my name and sent me congratulations - staff across the company, from junior to senior. And that to me is what makes Hays a great place to work!

Anyone have any tips for Sunday??                                                                                                  Tweet

Stephen Flanagan
Senior Marketing Manager

Ireland

HAYS Recruiting experts worldwide
16 Fitzwilliam Street Upper
Dublin 2

T: +353 1 619 0580
F: +353 1 670 4738　
E: stephen.flanagan@hays.com

LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Blog

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Hays is the Official Recruitment Partner of Manchester City Football Club.

Hays Ireland is proud to be endorsed by the Great Place to Work Institute as a 'Best Workplace 2013'. Click here for more.

Brand Ireland’s biggest day

"Greening Tower of Pisa", Italy

Wearing green, drinking Guinness and giving a thought to the Emerald Isle. That’s what people will be doing all over the world on the biggest day for brand Ireland. Are there any other truly global celebratory days with a bedrock in one country? The 4th of July, Mardi Gras or Bastille Day? I don’t think so.

Three years ago Tourism Ireland, the organisation responsible for promoting the island of Ireland overseas as a leading holiday destination, came up with a fantastic marketing plan of turning global landmarks green for the day. This year we will have the ‘Greening Tower of Pisa’, London Eye, Table Mountain in South Africa, the Empire State Building in New York, the TV Tower in Berlin, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, the Sky Tower in Aukland, the Sydney Opera House, the Cibeles fountain in Madrid, the Burgtheater (City Hall) in Vienna, the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Brussels Town Hall and even the mighty Niagara Falls in the U.S. and Canada all turning green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

This is an incredible achievement considering what a tiny nation we are. Once again it’s an indication of how we punch above our weight and the affection the world has for our people, country and culture. In fact you could say it’s symbolic of the other achievements we’ve had over the centuries that have helped built our reputation across most countries worldwide. Arts, sport, politics, commerce and religion have all propelled Irish people into the mindset of the people of many nations. So why shouldn’t we take advantage of it?

And while at face value it looks like ‘a bit of craic’ for the day, there are more strategic objectives around celebrating being Irish. Tourism Ireland’s is probably the most obvious, enticing as many people to take a trip to the 32 counties and help bolster a major factor in our economic recovery. There will be many temporary jobs created around St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, even a few by ourselves! But it’s the long term prospects for the hospitality and retail industry that are so reliant on this feel-good Irish story.

Sixteen Irish government ministers will be schmoozing with dignitaries across the world telling them ‘now is the time to invest in Ireland’s recovery’. Australia, New Zealand, China, Italy, France, the Benelux and Nordic countries, Canada and many of the United States will be hearing about our road to recuperation. They’ll be encouraged to join the incredible amount of FDI that has been coming into the country recently, creating thousands of jobs.

But where is the specific skilled labour to fill those jobs, I hear you cry? Aside from the much publicised national initiatives such as skills conversion courses and changes to education curricula, it’s days like St. Patrick’s Day when we put ideas in our ex-pats’ heads to tempt them back to the old country and ply their skills in a soberer Ireland after the excesses of Celtic Tigerism. Not only that, but think of the many incredibly talented foreign individuals who can choose to live anywhere and start thinking about Ireland on the back of these celebrations?

Oh yes, it’s a clever strategy and one for which we can thank our forefathers for laying the groundwork. Promoting Brand Ireland around St. Patrick’s Day will no doubt have short and longer term effects on our economy. But how about this for a shot in the arm of our finances? Get the 80 million Irish diaspora and their friends to pay an Irish Tax on St. Patrick’s Day as thanks for what we’ve given them. Now wouldn’t that be a boost to the economy?

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!!

Stephen Flanagan
Marketing Manager

HAYS Recruiting experts worldwide

T: +353 1 897 2481
E: stephen.flanagan@hays.com

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Career Zoo goes wild!

It’s been a couple of weeks since the third and most successful Career Zoo, the job fair for professionals. It was amazing! Firstly, the standard of the companies who participated rose considerably, check them here. A full range of industries were represented – healthcare, IT, telecoms, pharmaceutical, finance, manufacturing, management consultancy and retail. And there was an excellent choice of education establishments.

A big draw was the skills conversion courses offering new career opportunities for professionals. In just 6-12 months these courses allow individuals to retrain, free of charge, into a growth sector like software development, cloud computing or pharmaceuticals. I think these courses would offer a fantastic opportunity for those who are coming from the toughest industries like construction, architecture and engineering. Interestingly, we just did our own survey on skills conversion in the IT sector, which produced very good news for jobseekers (IT Skills Conversion Survey Results)

With such a stellar line up it was no surprise that the attendees went through the roof. It’s estimated over 10,000 people turned up over the two days. To be honest it felt like all 10,000 were there on the Saturday. There was a queue from the Mansion House all the way down Dawson Street late into the afternoon! I felt bad for the people who had to queue, but for health and safety reasons the staff at the Mansion House needed to manage the numbers. I hope that everyone got some value at the event after patiently waiting. Our stand was completely packed with a wide range of professional s offering their CVs and asking for advice. It fact it took a week just to get through the hundreds of CVs we received and contact the applicants.

The Career Clinic we hosted on behalf of Career Zoo was again a huge success and the walk-in slots were snapped up within the first hour on both days. I personally dealt with five, very talented individuals who welcomed the advice on their CVs, interview preparation and career strategy. However, I was surprised at how some of the attendees prepared for Career Zoo. It’s not very often you get a chance to have a face-to-face conversation with a potential employer before application. It’s a fabulous opportunity for people to make an impression and let all the great employers attending know that they should seriously consider them for a job. Nonetheless, it was only a minority who dressed formally. In fact there was one gentlemen with “Who’s your daddy” emblazoned across a t-shirt. You could argue it’s perfectly fine in the IT sector to dress casually to meet potential employers who might want to interview you, but I personally would have erred on the cautionary side and dressed conservatively.

In addition, it was quite common to meet people who did not bring CVs or who had ran out of copies. It seemed strange to me, that people would be content to queue for 20 minutes to get into the event, but not have carried out prior preparation. There can’t be too many events that gather companies of that calibre into one room wanting to hire people. I received CVs with addresses scribbled out on them, some missing numbers and one even missing a name! You can be sure, that the attendees who did their homework beforehand – researched the companies attending and the jobs available, produced well prepared and tailored CVs, dressed for a proper interview, tried to make an impression on the employers attending – would have been the first to get a call, or might even have secured an interview on the spot.

Overall, I think most people - exhibitors and attendees- got some real value out of the event and I believe there have already been hires. Credit to the organisers who have been able to build a bigger and better event than they had previously. Here’s looking forward to the next Career Zoo!

Stephen is responsible for the marketing and communications for Hays Ireland including the website, PR and social media. He is a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland and is passionate about the development of marketing through new technologies.

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P: 01 8972481
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