The Last Rites of 2017

So I think I will make this my final work related act of the year (some winter sun is calling me........)
No predictions for 2018 (my view can best be summarised as "God Knows") but may be it's time for a little reflection on how the year has been for the industry and OME.

1. We have had a very successful year but feel we've had to work harder than ever before - (apologies if next bit is a tad salesy) but we've had to deliver higher quality service to clients, work more productively with suppliers and partners and nurture/develop our staff better.

Why?
The recruitment economy has been good - but we all have to deliver more for less or much better for the same in many areas. The new budgets have very fixed objectives and we (client/us/suppliers) need to hit those objectives and this can only be done with smart thinking and great teamwork.

2. Everything single things is measured in 2017 but I think the currency, the value, the difference is in the very HUMAN interpretation of the huge amount of data we gather. Analytics are useless without the proper review when you then enhance what you are doing next - and we have seen some huge improvements in campaign performance from this expert analysis - more of this next year please!

3. Don't think i've ever enjoyed my time at OME than this year - I like the people I work with (most of the time) and I like (most!) of our clients/suppliers - that's got to be a great thing hasn't it! having said all that - I am now done and really don't feel like lifting a (work) finger for a couple of weeks.

So finally - just want to genuinely thank all the OME folk so much for their work this year - but don't forget its still time to crank out some more proposals - its only 21st December!

Cheers

Dom

How to enjoy a conference

Most of us I'm sure regularly get invited to or contemplate attending conferences, exhibitions, seminars in our sector - this is my very personal guide to "enjoying" the events you say "yes" to (this is very much influenced by the fact that i've just been to and enjoyed #IndeedInteractive last week)



1. Check and review the Agenda/Subject/Speakers - so you know what you getting before you get there and aren't complaining about the content during lunch (obviously I've never done this...)

2. I'm a sucker for a nice venue/nice food. Yes I know that makes me look like a xxxxx. But its important to know yourself isn't it!

3. Once you have decided to go - DO make an effort. Talk to peers, suppliers, clients. Stick your hand up and ask questions. People are generally lovely and in same boat as you - and speaking as an occasional presenter at these things - getting a question is a wonderful human interaction and an excuse to leave the pre set narrative behind.

4. Set realistic objectives. My personal feeling is if have learnt two things and met two interesting people - then its a success. But i'm easily pleased.

5. DONT be afraid to dip out. For people with short attention spans like me - the 230-330 pm slot which is an ATS demo - may be a suitable slot to return calls, do emails, hide in the corner of the coffee shop. Dipping out means you get more from the sessions before and after - and you're probably more up for networking rather than brain dead.

6. This is the most important tip - DON'T attend too many conferences - DON'T be afraid to skip a year to the event that you actually get quite a lot out of. Nothing chills the soul more than seeing the same presentation from 6 months ago that is maybe just a sales pitch anyway (nothing wrong with those in the right place) or my personal hate - the rose tinted case study - showing how everything went brilliantly - and aren't we all amazing.

One of the main reasons we attend external events is to open our mind and think differently about our work/company/team. Therefore - make sure you start with an open mind and a great attitude. I can GUARANTEE this advice will improve your conference experience - well maybe at least until the first coffee break.

OME News in Brief

Thought I would do a quick round up of stuff going on in OME towers
- new client projects this month include work for Jigsaw, Bristol Airport, McDonalds, Holmes Noble, Aeroprofessional
- setting up a new partnership with Recruitics to give our clients the option of efficient traffic driving from aggregators
- Launching Dyson's brand new apprentice/grad campaign (now for their new automotive vehicle project next!)
- have 2 massive top secret campaigns we are about to launch but can't quite talk about yet!
- we said goodbye to Tom Fox after 3 years of OME service and currently in midst of recruiting for his successor/s
- New OME website - a rather classy refurb and enhancement is launching next month (Thanks Alexsia Louca who has run it brilliantly)


better put the shoulder back to the wheel.....work harder everyone (is that good management?)

what's 2017 been like so far?

In many ways - it's been the weirdest year of OME's existence - we have had such a flood of quite negative stories about the UK economy and potential slow down and yet....we have literally never had so many interesting, new, big demand campaigns to run and manage. so why is that the case?

The easy bit is that

1.We in the industry cannot afford to wistfully think about the longer term macro economics - we need to help fill roles, retain staff, improve the reputation of our companies right here, right now.

2. We aren't about to go into the next meeting of a large retailer and query their expansion to build 20 new stores next year. Well, certainly not until we have had a couple of beers later. Generally that business decision is in a room far, far away from their recruitment ad agency and indeed our client contacts.

The difficult bit can best be summarised

1. Where economics is concerned nobody really knows anything.

2. So, if Nobel Prize winning economists don't have a clue what's going to happen (and their predictions record is truly woeful historically) then how on earth are the rest of us supposed to know what GDP is going to do next year!


In summary - let's all keep doing what we do as brilliantly as we can - and when/if the ecomony goes off the Brexit cliff - lets worry about it then.

September

- kids going back to school
- leaves falling from trees
- thinking about putting the heating on

and for a recruitment business like OME entering probably the busiest time of the year. The advent of digital has not really affected the very seasonal nature of the recruitment cycle and with future/early talent campaigns becoming bigger each year and kicking off imminently - its going to be a busy time.

We are also taking on the following stuff in house
- ramping up our events and breakfast briefings
- Alexsia has taken on a condensed, cleaner, more beautiful OME website - the brief of which was to tell people what we do and who we do it for in as few words as possible
- launching new partnerships (I love finding a like minded business or person and working out how we can help each other)


all at the same time as servicing outr clients brilliantly and adding some new organisations to the (still) expanding client list


better crack on

Successful (and unsuccessful) recruiting for OME

This post is a very much a personal recollection and experience of hiring people for OME over the last 10 years (I have now been mainly ejected out of the recruitment process though I occasionally get to ceremonially say hello to prospective employees!)

1. Its all about attitude. If there is one universal fact about our successful recruits - its that quality of giving the impression (in interview, to clients, to colleagues, to suppliers) that they will get shit done. And they will bust a gut to do deliver results.

2. Therefore skills and experience (of course they can be critical in many roles) take a lesser priority for us - where we have brought the "perfect fit" in - it has not always been perfect and sometimes didn't fit.

3. We have recruited grads and non grads but vital that people have done some hard graft in their lives ( i would include telesales, digging ditches, cleaning loos, being a waiter/waitress etc in this definition). Maybe this is unfair but I find it makes people appreciate the lovely environment that most businesses I know create - and that yes the air con may be too high /too low on certain days but its not the end of the world.

4. Give me brains and ambition. I love working with smart people and though sometimes you want brilliant people to stay in their roles for maybe 6 months/ a year longer than they want to - give me someone banging on my door for development than someone sitting their bored out of their brains (whose work standards inevitably declines)

5. Be eclectic. There is no typical OME employee (in previous career I definitely erred by recruiting in my/our own image). For two reasons
a) because its the right thing to do - it means we have a really broad range of backgrounds
b) our clients/partners are equally diverse - so I think it makes us more ££

6. Be honest - since Day 1 I would always undersell OME as a place to work (I think its amazing) as we are not perfect - for instance some people want a hugely structured induction/development plan - this industry (and OME) don't really believe in that - it just does not fit this fast changing world and therefore we may not be the right place for you. And we all post the occasional job and do the boring admin - so again if 6 months in you want an account admin to do this for you - we again are not the right place.


I look around me and feel we have got more right than wrong in our recruitment and development of staff - but some of the lessons have been painful to learn (probably for the employees too!)

Google for Jobs

So I wanted to summarise the industry's latest thoughts on the launch of Google for jobs.

Its either

1. seismic - will sweep Indeed, all aggregators and of course all job boards away

2. inconsequential - never going to really happen - everything will stay the same as Google's heart isn't really in it


and the rather boring OME view is that the truth lies somewhere in the middle

- the aggregator model is incredibly easy to replicate, beat, destroy by Google
- but there are some mature brands amongst the candidate community that will ensure traffic, response etc
- will Google really push this aggressively or let it happen in a slower more organic (proper definition)way
- things will probably get even more complex and messy before they get simpler


less impact than you think short term - more impact than you think long term


good night!

Updates

So wanted to write a formal round up of OME news

1. New staff for 2017 - Sadie Beckwith and Arti Odedra joined to expand the team. Both are extremely good account executives who have joined us (so they told me in the interview) to kick on in their careers and build close client relationships and develop new opportunities for OME. They have both fitted in great and have done/are doing some great work.

2. Alexsia has taken on the exciting project of our website/social media presence/content marketing. So I can blame someone other than myself when news has not been updated as frequently as we would like.

3. Welcome to new clients include the lovely people at TUI, Café Nero, The Limewood Group, Pandora, Bink, Becton Dickinson and The Perfume Shop. Once Alexsia has finished the OME content update - you can find out what the work is we are doing for these people.

Lovely and busy - so definitely on the hunt for a new account manager if anyone if up for that challenge!

In 2 weeks time OME will be 11 years old - blimey where did that go??????

What's Occurring March 2017

Don't think I've known it quite as busy in OME HQ as Q1 2017 - which makes me think the following

- very pleased we staffed up last year and absolutely delighted many of the team have developed so fast and have welcomed the extra work and challenges
- that clients are asking such different (and correct) questions about resource plans and how to maximise impact of their brands in candidate attraction compared to 3 or 4 years ago
- that you cant really afford to navel gaze and contemplate impact of Brexit, Trump, Hurricane Doris, new series of Game of Thrones....you just have to affect the things you can affect and get on with it
- that I assume this activity is hitting OME bottom line.....Champagne!!..... or maybe Prosecco!!........if not then Diamond White!! as usual......


just writing a more formal update on clients and staff and market - will post next week

2017

so I returned today "late" for 2017 - and would heartily recommend skipping that first week if finances and holiday entitlement allow it. But wanted to note a real positive - I don't think we have EVER had as much activity (campaigns, proposals, new business enquiries) before so early in the year

1. we are brilliant and our clients love us......hmmmmmm.....I wish that were always true - lets call it a supporting factor

2. people did not get around to doing the stuff in dec 2016 they needed to and need to get things moving ASAP - definitely another supporting factor

3. Things are pretty healthy out there economically - maybe that's just recruitment(always a decent reflection of general economic wellbeing though...)but talking to other similar businesses - we are not alone in a fast start to the year.

lets hope it stays that way after Article 50/Trump/Italian banking crisis/interest rates....Eurovision Song Contest (ok - I ran out of stuff)