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KPIs, KPIs, KPIs. Is there any other aspect of business operations so widely spoken about, furthermore contested? It&rsquo;s a divisive subject in the business community &ndash; where some live by them, others dispute their place altogether; some employ but largely ignore them, either way.
Whether you utilise them day-to-date or oppose them entirely, if you work in the corporate world, you&rsquo;ve come across KPIs at some point.
The fact is, the reason they&rsquo;re so highly contested is that KPIs are seldom implemented effectively, or used properly.
It&rsquo;s not about the &lsquo;numbers game&rsquo; &ndash; it&rsquo;s about business efficiency.
Let&rsquo;s stop thinking about KPIs as targets, first off. There&rsquo;s a clear distinction between the two.
The definition of a KPI is, as it says on the tin, a key performance indicator &ndash; a figure which is (or should be) derived from information your business is providing you. KPIs should be used to evaluate the activity a business needs to undertake in order to achieve its targets &ndash; not as a target in and of themselves.
Get it?
Let&rsquo;s put it into real terms.
Your business currently has 10 sales execs. The team&rsquo;s target is to generate &pound;100,000 in revenue each month, so each individual&rsquo;s target is &pound;10,000. Currently, each person is achieving &pound;8,000 per month; upon drilling down into their activity, you find that they&rsquo;re each making 8 phone calls per month.
What can you take from this?
Your business is indicating that your team&rsquo;s activity needs to increase in order to reach target, and is telling you, hypothetically, how much it needs to increase by.
Analyse these tricky figures and you&rsquo;ll find it makes sense that, were they each to make 10 phone calls per month, everyone would hit that &pound;10K, no problem. But here&rsquo;s the thing &ndash; there&rsquo;s no need to now storm onto the sales floor and inform the team that they had all better hit those 10 calls, or else. Not in that fashion, anyway. You&rsquo;re not setting this as a target: your business is doing it for you.
It&rsquo;s a KPI, not a target. See?
KPIs should be in place to motivate, not condemn.
Information is king, or so they say, and it&rsquo;s our job as leaders to use it to our advantage. Particularly in sales and marketing, numbers do play a big part in the performance sense &ndash; from calls made to appointments booked, website clicks to conversion rates, your team is constantly running through figures in their mind.
Adding a panel of KPIs into that mix, specifically when posing them as targets/must-hits, definitely creates potential for the pot to boil over from time to time. However, if you were to go to your team and say, &ldquo;Hey, we&rsquo;ve collated some really interesting info here which we think is going to help you do your job better/more efficiently, want to take a look?&rdquo;, any employee worth his/her salt will be clambering to see your notes.
Keep targets and KPIs separate; monitor them both as equals.
Your KPIs should be based on fact and fact alone.
Here at Certus we get to know our clients well, and I&rsquo;d be lying if I said we don&rsquo;t sometimes have to do a little &ndash; err &ndash; re-education, shall we say. Often, businesses blindly set their KPIs based on industry standards or what their competition appears to be doing which, fundamentally, doesn&rsquo;t make sense. Just because Oracle&rsquo;s techs have to sit four appointments per day, doesn&rsquo;t mean that your hyper-growth, disruptive SaaS start-up should be doing the same.
In fact, we need to move away from this idea of &lsquo;setting&rsquo; KPIs altogether &ndash; I reiterate, your business sets them itself. Monitor activity, productivity, operations, all aspects of your business, over time to understand what your KPIs are and where they should sit in terms of activity. Don&rsquo;t pull numbers out of the air and &lsquo;set&rsquo; KPIs based on what you think you&nbsp;should&nbsp;be doing &ndash; base them on what you&nbsp;are&nbsp;doing, and the improvements that you want to make.
Remember, more doesn&rsquo;t always equal more.
Numbers and humans behave in very different ways. When a calculator does a complex mathematical equation, it doesn&rsquo;t need to take into account that, maybe, number 3 is recovering from a bout of the flu, or that number 4 is off on holiday for two weeks this month.
So, when you take a look at your figures and see that 25 calls equals 1 appointment, don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s as simple as commanding your team to make 50, and expecting them to achieve 2 appointments as such. It just doesn&rsquo;t work that way.
I&rsquo;m not saying that we as leaders shouldn&rsquo;t always strive for excellence and improvement &ndash; but, alas, we are humans managing humans. And that needs to be at the forefront of our approach, always.
We shouldn&rsquo;t be setting KPIs, we should be running our businesses based on the information it provides us &ndash; looking at them as the dataset they are, rather than another number to hold over our teams&rsquo; heads.
As ever, love to hear your opinions &ndash; what&rsquo;s your approach to KPIs, and are you making the most of them across your business?

KPI's or Core Activities? Love them either way!

Staff turnover is a concept all leaders, HR teams and business owners have to contend with. It&rsquo;s a term often used interchangeably with employee attrition, churn, and many others, all of which effectively pose the same question: how many people are leaving your business, and how often do they come and go?
Hiring costs money, so it follows that having an overview of the things which affect how long people stick around for is crucial to long-term, sustainable growth. As business leaders, when we hire a person, we&rsquo;re investing in them &ndash; be that time spent throughout the hiring process, costs associated with training, equipment and the like, and even the emotional investment which comes with making a key hire, one you believe could make a real difference to your company. Whilst attrition happens naturally in a lot of cases &ndash; retirements, redundancies, a friendly parting of ways even &ndash; there are things we can do to help. And the key is to first understand what might be causing people to leave.
Here are some key areas which may be contributing to a high staff turnover in your business, along with what you can do to improve them.
Hiring Process
A huge aspect of employee turnover comes down to simply hiring the right people! If you&rsquo;re having employees come on board and leave before their time, or certainly sooner than you&rsquo;d expected or hoped, it&rsquo;s time to look at your recruitment process and ask questions as to where the disconnect is happening. Are you taking the time to find out all you need to know about each individual, from experience and suitability to cultural fit? Are you giving a true representation of what it&rsquo;s like to work for you? Are you staying true to the job you&rsquo;ve outlined for this person and the responsibilities it entails? Hire the right people to begin with, and your turnover rate will naturally reduce.
Onboarding
Issues with onboarding usually happen when an unrealistic expectations are set for the role during the interview process, and/or a lack of preparation on the business&rsquo; part for that all-important start date. Whilst this alone may not affect whether your new employees stay or leave, what it does do is set a precedent &ndash; so it&rsquo;s important to get right. Have your onboarding process nailed down, including goals set, timelines built and expectations managed, then keep in constant contact for feedback throughout. This way, you&rsquo;ll be able to potentially see and then mitigate any issues before they lead to an employee leaving the company prematurely. Simply put: start as you mean to go on.
Workplace Factors
There are occasions when you&rsquo;re going to hire someone and they just won&rsquo;t be a fit &ndash; it&rsquo;s unfortunate, but inevitable, given that company culture is tricky to both identify and portray at interview. That being said, there are definite workplace factors you&nbsp;do&nbsp;have control over, and they can affect turnover massively. Such things include work-life balance; it&rsquo;s becoming evermore important, as is championing mental health. Showing you care about your employees&rsquo; wellbeing will go a long way to garnering their loyalty. On top of this, pay attention to employee relations internally, and make sure there&rsquo;s no toxicity growing amongst individuals or teams. Cultivate a positive, healthy workplace, and don&rsquo;t be surprised when employees stick around as a result.
Overall, staff turnover is inevitable &ndash; but starting off on the right foot can go a long way to improving retention further down the line. We help companies build workforce strategies which start from the initial hire, reaching through the onboarding process and beyond, to reduce turnover and make your business an employer of choice. To talk more about how, get in touch.

Staff Turnover: It Starts at the Interview!

​It&rsquo;s the beginning of a new year and, for the vast majority of us, it&rsquo;s a time when we&rsquo;re feeling more open and receptive to change; we evaluate our past successes, what worked and what didn&rsquo;t, and spend time making plans for the coming year. Changes can apply to any and all aspects of your business; perhaps you&rsquo;re looking to improve your hiring strategy, make adaptations to your policies, change up company structures internally or even implement new systems and technology into the day-to-day. Here at Certus we live by the ethos that if you always do what you&rsquo;ve always done, you&rsquo;ll always get what you always got &ndash; change is inevitable, and truly a good thing for the most part. This year we&rsquo;re embracing it. It&rsquo;s not always easy and the road to business improvement isn&rsquo;t always a smooth one, but it&rsquo;s necessary; so, here are our top behaviours of business leaders who are embracing change for their organisation in 2024: Seeking out what isn&rsquo;t working, as well as what is. Embracing change can also mean facing some home truths and becoming more self-aware. This year, business leaders should be truly seeking out the things that could be improved from external sources, rather than just going off of what you know &ndash; or think you know. In today&rsquo;s corporate world of 5-star reviews and testimonials, harnessing customer feedback is key to bringing about positive change. Instead of just asking for another testimonial to display on your company website, survey customers and question what you could be doing better as a business &ndash; whether it be your product or service offering specifically, improving communication, and so on and so forth. Knowing what&rsquo;s going well and what you need to continue doing is important &ndash; but where there&rsquo;s room for change, there&rsquo;s room for improvement. Understanding the why &ndash; and then the when. It&rsquo;s important that when implementing something new you&rsquo;re able to articulate the reasoning behind it to your workforce. As a business leader you should be able to explain the benefits of what&rsquo;s taking place, always demonstrating strong belief in why: nothing turns people off more than change for the sake of change. And, on the other hand, know when to sit back and let things progress naturally &ndash; it&rsquo;s all about knowing your business, knowing your employees and knowing how to handle things. Change can be timely or not, but as captain of this ship it&rsquo;s your job to ensure that there&rsquo;s always a solid &lsquo;why&rsquo; behind it. Promoting your business&rsquo; goals and vision consistently, despite the change happening. Arguably the most important behaviour to exhibit whilst leading your business through change is ensuring that the company ethos is still as relevant and visible as ever. Exuding your company values and providing reassurance to employees is key; it&rsquo;s incredibly important that they too embrace change as you&rsquo;re doing. Change can, rightly or wrongly, cause frustration or confusion, and feelings of unease amongst staff; so it&rsquo;s important that the things they know and love about their employer stand strong and true. It&rsquo;s your job to lead the business through any period of change large and small, all the while keeping the brand and culture consistent throughout &ndash; assuming that isn&rsquo;t what&rsquo;s changing! ---- As humans, we instinctively shy away from change; as business leaders, we have to overcome this very part of our being to drive our company forward. Even embracing change when it comes to simple tasks, like agreeing on the profile you&rsquo;re looking to hire currently and thinking &lsquo;outside the box&rsquo; to generate new talent, can be tricky to do &ndash; but, as we&rsquo;ve said before, change is all but inevitable and can truly bring about huge benefits. What do you plan to do this year to drive your business forward? What other behaviours do you see as integral to embracing change across your business?

Three Behaviours of Leaders Who Are Embracing Change In 2020

​Give it to me straight: do you struggle to manage your staff remotely? It&rsquo;s something all business leaders have had to adapt to, with varying levels of success and enjoyment. The small things we value so much &ndash; dropping by a teammate&rsquo;s desk for a quick coaching session, or having them shadow you on a call (it&rsquo;s a little more difficult to hide an extra zoom attendee) &ndash; are more tough now that so many teams are entirely remote. It&rsquo;s a problem many are grappling with. Fundamentally, once again, it comes down to adaptability. Adapting your skills to work around the requirements of your business. And those requirements right now are all about management and coaching from afar. Here are some things I implemented across my own team whilst we were all working from home during those long lockdown periods &ndash; but which I believe will come in handy from here on in. Focus on outcomes and deliverables, not actions and activity A huge problem facing many managers is how to effectively ask their team, &ldquo;So, what have you been up to?&rdquo;, without seeming as though they&rsquo;re trying to virtually micromanage. Not only is &ldquo;showing up&rdquo; virtually taking its toll on many employees (that&rsquo;s the need to be seen keeping busy without a visual), but you have to understand that activity may look a little different from home. As such, take care to avoid focusing on this; instead, focus on the goals you&rsquo;ve set and the outcomes you&rsquo;re aiming towards. Where the team is at against them, what challenges they&rsquo;re facing and how we can work around these. What limitations has remote work put on them, and solutions to those. Think about what outcomes can we achieve today; not what activity levels are we pushing out on the daily. Establish effective communication Like I said, when you&rsquo;re in the office, it&rsquo;s more than easy to wander over to a team member&rsquo;s desk for clarification on a certain point or question. When your staff is remote, this is virtually impossible, and often results in frustrating back-and-forths to arrange a call for something which may have taken a quick second to sort otherwise. Establish effective communication processes for different things &ndash; i.e. Slack for the quick questions, email for ongoing projects, picking up the phone for urgent answers. You&rsquo;ll improve communication as a whole once they understand the urgency and intent behind each different tool. Provide more feedback than ever Your formal performance reviews are one thing but, with the pandemic as a whole, people may be feeling less secure or confident than ever. As their manager, it&rsquo;s down to you to help coach and guide them through this. Feedback is a great way to do so. In the office, you can shout out a quick well done and hand out high fives (or elbows, as the times would have it) without issue. It can be more difficult to do so virtually. Don&rsquo;t wait around for performance reviews or virtual 1:1s &ndash; provide real-time feedback whenever you&rsquo;re working with a colleague online, whether that&rsquo;s private to them (where an improvement could perhaps be made) or using team channels (to congratulate a success or achievement). Let them know what they&rsquo;re doing well, and coach them on the things they need help with. Ask how they&rsquo;re feeling, and work to ensure each staff member knows where they stand. Being a manager of remote employees requires patience, empathy and a whole lot of trust &ndash; but build the right team, and these will all come naturally. We&rsquo;re helping businesses find the top talent the global market has to offer. Whether in the office, working from home or otherwise, our processes help you qualify all you need to from the staff who might help you achieve those important outcomes. Get in touch.

Management Skills for the Age of Remote Work

​Online presence is a term that&rsquo;s being banded around all over the place these days. Not only do we have to cultivate a certain gravitas and skill for speaking to people &ldquo;IRL&rdquo;, we now have to do the same in the online world, too?! To answer that question, yes. And it&rsquo;s especially important when you&rsquo;re hoping to recruit new staff, whether the business is your own or you manage a team within one. So what does online presence mean? Literally speaking, your online presence encompasses everything someone could find if they were to search your business or name. It includes any associated websites, social media profiles, published works, news and more. It&rsquo;s every post you make, whether personal or professional, company or individual; every blog you put your name to; any press release in which you&rsquo;re mentioned, whether personally or at company level. The job adverts you post, your online reviews&hellip; You&rsquo;re getting it, right? But why is online presence so important when recruiting? We live in the digital age; if you have a question, I&rsquo;m sure the majority of people would agree that the first place you head to is Google. We have to assume the same can be said for any job seeking candidate who&rsquo;s introduced to your business, whether through a recruiter like us or having found you directly. Whether they&rsquo;ve just seen an advert online or yours is a name many endeavour to work for in general, it&rsquo;s pertinent to think about what your online activities say about you &ndash; because the talent you want onboard is going to be looking at it. What should we be thinking about specifically? In short: everything. At company level, your website needs to reflect the professionalism you embody as a business &ndash; in terms of both aesthetics and usability. Make sure it&rsquo;s a representation of what you do and actually gives jobseekers an idea of your value proposition. You should be using company social feeds to talk about industry matters, news, hot topics and fundamentally what you do, to show that you&rsquo;re &ldquo;with the times&rdquo;, up to date on current affairs and ultimately still relevant. And finally, on a personal level, post about things you care about! Humanise the person on the other side of the hypothetical interview table (/Zoom meeting host). Make someone want to come and work for you, not just the company. And don&rsquo;t forget, it&rsquo;s not just about what content you&rsquo;re putting out. Is your website being kept up to date? Do you still have old, long-ago-filled job vacancies listed? What does your online housekeeping say about your business? CEOs, I&rsquo;m talking to you! You shouldn&rsquo;t just be looking after the company page and be done with it &ndash; your personal presence counts, too. More and more jobseekers are searching up C-suite individuals when looking for a new opportunity, to see who it is they&rsquo;re going to be working for and looking for that all-important cultural fit from the off. Plus, prior research into your personal profile could provide them with strong points on which to build rapport at interview &ndash; everyone&rsquo;s a winner. And as for candidates? Yep, it works both ways &ndash; quite rightly, jobseekers are beginning to look at their own online presence as an extension of their resum&eacute;. If a candidate has included a link to their LinkedIn profile, don&rsquo;t be afraid to take a look! As a hiring manager, you&rsquo;ll be able to get a good feel for how they&rsquo;re spending their time online, the sort of content and ideas they connect with (check out the &ldquo;Activity&rdquo; section on their profile) and whether that&rsquo;s something that works for you. As with anything recruitment-related, it&rsquo;s a two-way street. Online presence is something all business leaders need to be aware and on top of in order to attract the very top level of talent. We&rsquo;re proud to have recently hit 30,000 followers on our company page and, if you&rsquo;ve followed me for a while, you&rsquo;ll see that I like to throw out some of my own inner musings from time to time. The truth is, I&rsquo;m hiring &ndash; and I want people in this wonderful world of LinkedIn to see the real me, so they can make an informed decision about getting in touch. Now is an incredible time to be joining Certus Melbourne so, if you&rsquo;re an experienced recruiter reading this and thinking about how well aligned our values seem to be&hellip; I&rsquo;d love to hear from you!

The Importance of Online Presence

​It&rsquo;s with much pride that I&rsquo;m able to say, after 10 years working in the recruitment industry, the vast majority of roles I work on with clients on are now done so on a retained basis. It&rsquo;s something which we recruiters truly understand the value of &ndash; because we&rsquo;re the ones driving it &ndash; but it&rsquo;s exciting to see that actively recruiting employers are beginning to see retained search in the same light. Particularly in times of uncertainty, engaging with a recruitment partner on a guaranteed-outcome basis simply makes sense &ndash; and here&rsquo;s why. Time is valuable &ndash; so save it Managing applications; working out who came from where. Receiving multiple profiles, which come through at different times, from different recruitment partners who have varying terms. Composing emails to multiple agencies, to coordinate times which may or may not work for their candidate. Receiving confirmations at different times, or requests for a different interview slot, instead of having that one partner simply make the arrangements. Following up with each individual agency afterwards. These are just the extra tasks you have to do when working with multiple agencies&hellip; Now add to that all of your actual recruitment activities &ndash; the interviewing itself, for instance &ndash; and you&rsquo;ve got yourself some serious man-hours to put aside for this. Retained search means one simplified, streamlined channel for all communications. That&rsquo;s one person to talk to regarding who&rsquo;s in the process, when you&rsquo;re meeting them, how they feel about the opportunity, and everything else which comes along with making a hire. Working on a retained basis saves you time &ndash; of that fact, there&rsquo;s no doubt. Quality trumps speed &ndash; the best, not the convenient The upfront nature of retained placements mean that they&rsquo;re our number one priority to fill. However, that by no definition means we&rsquo;re going to rush; in fact, quite the opposite. We want to fill the role with the best candidate for the job, however long it takes, but with a priority push at all times. When working on a retained assignment, it&rsquo;s not a race to pre-qualify candidates and get them over to you before another agency does, potentially missing out key pieces of information and things which needed further qualification, in the name of securing their representation. Now, it&rsquo;s about taking our time to present the most fully-qualified, relevant people &ndash; still in a timely manner, of course, but ensuring that quality of hire is top of mind, rather than speed. Retained search means more candidates who are fundamentally right for the role, rather than those who are simply available. Money is an object &ndash; but not an obstacle Because of the &ldquo;pre-authorised&rdquo; nature of these projects, you simply don&rsquo;t have to worry about &lsquo;paying extra&rsquo; should a higher-level candidate come about, or negotiating salary based on the fee you may end up paying us. Money becomes less of a priority and, again, it all comes back around to ensuring you get the absolute best candidate. When we recruiters work on a contingency basis, nothing is guaranteed; from the off, we&rsquo;re trying to recoup hours (and therefore costs) spent on sourcing, interviewing and placing candidates. When it comes to retained, we can focus our efforts without the stress or pressure which might lead to a less than perfect decision. That&rsquo;s all not to mention that you know what you&rsquo;re paying for this hire from the get-go &ndash; plus the time (AKA cost) savings we mentioned above. In times like that which we&rsquo;ve been experiencing for the past 12 months or so, with uncertainty rife and finances never entirely secured, it just makes sense. Recruitment is what I do, retained search is what I love; if you&rsquo;re currently or soon-to-be conducting a recruitment campaign for a key position within your business, I&rsquo;d love to show you some case studies where my team has been successful in the past &ndash; moreover, how we&rsquo;re doing things differently to add value throughout the process. Send me a direct message here on LinkedIn, or call the Melbourne office today on +61 (03) 8644 6891.

The Beauty & Benefits of Retained Search

​Recruitment - It's who we are - It's what we do! Contact Certus Recruitment to see how we can help you secure the very best in available talent, find that dream job or help you strategise your next hire.<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sDDxlLS46fc" width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

We Are Recruiters... (Video)

​I think we can all agree that the back end of last year had us contemplating what the next one looks like, more so than ever before. Like many small businesses here in Melbourne, we were in the throes of start-up excitement and growth when the Covid-19 pandemic hit: 18-months or so deep, team growing nicely, solidifying relationships and giving amazing service to some fantastic clients. Things were looking extremely positive. In fact, they still are &ndash; if a little different. All this contemplation has left me asking myself one key question: am I working on the business, or just in it? For any start-up looking to achieve growth, it&rsquo;s important to know the difference; it&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;m slowly learning myself and, as we help so many other start-ups achieve their goals, thought it might be pertinent to share some thoughts. But first off, what&rsquo;s the difference? Working IN your business: It means doing all the things.&nbsp;Speaking to the people. Meeting the clients. Building the relationships. Invoicing the customers. Answering the queries. Working IN your business means to conduct the basic tasks which fundamentally make your business tick &ndash; providing the service and/or products and keeping things moving. Working ON your business: It means the big stuff.&nbsp;Making strategic decisions. Setting goals and milestones. Improving processes. Analysing data. Understanding marketing. Working ON your business is the tough part. It&rsquo;s making time to do those things which might not &lsquo;make you money&rsquo; immediately but, long term, will. With all that in mind, here are some pieces of advice which I&rsquo;m slowly implementing myself to ensure that this year I prioritise working on my business, rather than just in it: 1.&nbsp;Delegate.&nbsp;It can be a painful process, but it&rsquo;s a healthy practice to implement. As the owner of a small business, your time needs to be spent working ON &ndash; so delegate those time-consuming IN tasks to your people. Outsource them even, if need be (until you grow to a point that it makes sense to hire internally). But use delegation as a means to freeing up your time, not to mention headspace, for the more strategic tasks which only you can do. 2.&nbsp;Research.&nbsp;Think you know something? Are things going really well, and you think you understand why? Or do you think you&rsquo;ve cracked the reasons behind something not working? Do some research &ndash; online, speaking with competitors/peers in the industry, mentors or industry figureheads, even your own customers &ndash; and try to pick apart your assumptions. Whilst it sounds counterproductive, it&rsquo;ll bring better clarity around your own business and what to continue/begin/stop doing &ndash; whether it&rsquo;s a deeper understanding of what people want, what your own clients love (or don&rsquo;t love), or simply inspiration as to how the business is going to move forwards. 3.&nbsp;Don&rsquo;t get comfortable.&nbsp;As the owner of a start-up, when things start seemingly falling into place it&rsquo;s an incredible feeling &ndash; but great things never came from comfort zones. When things start working, it&rsquo;s time to start diversifying. Keep testing. Keep trying new things. Utilise your data, listen to your employees and, overall, keep pushing. They say &ndash; whoever &ldquo;they&rdquo; are &ndash; that business owners should spend about two hours a day working on their business. I&rsquo;m in a unique situation as a small business owner, being that I had the backing of our amazing UK contingent with Certus Recruitment Group in London; further to that and better yet, having started my career there myself before emigrating to Oz. 2020 was most certainly not the year we expected it to be, but it doesn&rsquo;t have to have any bearing on 2021. Let&rsquo;s all focus on working on our businesses, whilst continuing to work in them as well as ever. I&rsquo;d love to hear from likeminded individuals to talk start up challenges, achievements and successes, or from businesses who we could help make the strategic hiring decisions which will take yours to the next level. Happy new year everyone.

Working On vs Working In Your Business

​​Management. It&rsquo;s a new height in your career and one which many, nay the majority of us aspire to. So, if you&rsquo;ve recently made it to that level &ndash; congratulations! Making the jump from a general team member or even team leadership role is a big step and great achievement. It&rsquo;s likely that you&rsquo;ve found yourself here by way of one of a few different scenarios: You&rsquo;ve been promoted and are now managing those you worked alongside previously You&rsquo;ve been promoted and given the responsibility of hiring your own team from scratch You&rsquo;ve been hired externally and brought in to build a new team You&rsquo;ve been hired externally and brought in to manage an existing team Each situation poses its own challenges, its own obstacles to overcome, but more than anything, its own opportunities. Here are 3 important things you as a new manager should consider doing as you ease into your new role: 1.Clarify expectations And from every angle. As a new manager with a team already in place, it&rsquo;s important to understand what each individual is expecting from you as a manager &ndash; and to make clear what you&rsquo;re looking for from them. Take some time to sit down with your team and answer some key questions such as what the overall goal is, what they feel is achievable and realistic, where they require your help and support the most. One of the most common causes of discord between a new manager inheriting an in-situ team comes down to a discrepancy in expectations so, over the first 30 days of your new role, take the time to set expectations and hold yourself, and your team, accountable to them. Equally, in terms of your own responsibilities, clarifying the expectations from those sitting above you is crucial. If there&rsquo;s no team in place yet and it&rsquo;s your responsibility to build one, ensure you&rsquo;re on the same page with regards to hiring &ndash; profile, timeline and budget. 2.Be both visible and available It goes without saying that in your new role as a manager, you should be hands-on from the off. Whether that means proving your tenacity to the powers-that-be above and creating an energetic persona as you go about hiring your soon-to-be team, or spending real quality time on the floor with the current one, being seen &lsquo;in the trenches&rsquo; so to speak will ensure your success in the initial stages. Being available and being visible as a manager go hand in hand; when employees become used to you being around, they&rsquo;ll know they&rsquo;re able to approach you for support, expertise and resources. Prove your accountability and presence in that first month, and you&rsquo;ll be off to a flying start. 3.Ask for feedback We&rsquo;re not just talking about, &ldquo;How am I doing?&rdquo; here. If the team is already in place, understanding how they&rsquo;re feeling is important &ndash; what&rsquo;s changed since you became their manager? What hasn&rsquo;t? What could be done differently, or improved upon? Whilst it doesn&rsquo;t hurt to have the odd catch up and understand how they feel about you as a manager directly, it&rsquo;s also pertinent to make your team feel involved. Consult with them on strategy, operations, goal setting. Are you all on the same page in terms of the vision? Asking for feedback and consulting regularly with your team will help you all connect and build strong relationships, employee-employee as well as employee-manager; it&rsquo;ll also help mitigate any problems before they arise or grow out of proportion. Asking for feedback lets your employees know you have their interests at the heart of everything you do &ndash; which will garner trust and respect, from both sides. Management can be challenging, but as business leaders I&rsquo;m sure we can all agree that there&rsquo;s little else so rewarding as seeing the team you work alongside thrive. Our teams are experts in building yours &ndash; and we have a tip or two about strong management and leadership skills, as a business improvement and growth strategy, too. If you&rsquo;re a manager whose team has capacity to grow, we&rsquo;d love to hear more about your vision. Get in touch with Certus Recruitment Group today.

3 things every new manager should do during their first 30 days on the job

​​We humans are an interesting bunch &ndash; despite there being no scientific evidence that ostriches do in fact bury their heads in the sand, the term &ldquo;being an ostrich&rdquo; has become synonymous with doing exactly that. Fun fact &ndash; ostriches do no such thing. But managers do. The running of a business isn&rsquo;t always a process without its challenges and bumps in the road; problems are going to arise which you need to face head-on, rather than pretending you&rsquo;re unaware or hoping they&rsquo;ll disappear of their own accord. I think the situation which is fast-blooming here in the UK with regards to Covid-19, and around the world for that matter, speaks enough to this cause. Myriad issues can arise in the workplace, both those which can be avoided in future and those which are entirely unprecedented, as we&rsquo;re all quickly learning; the key is, as a manager, not to bury your head in the sand and hope it&rsquo;ll all blow over. Here are some key tips on how to stay conscious in your leadership whilst trying to manage through a period of conflict. Know when to step in. There are tiers of leadership for a reason, sure &ndash; it&rsquo;s so that when an immediate manager feels unable, they too have someone to turn to. As a business leader it&rsquo;s crucial that you understand what&rsquo;s going on, when it&rsquo;s gone beyond your subordinate&rsquo;s power, and when it requires you to take the matter into your own hands. We could be talking about a clash of personalities for instance, creative differences between employees, or even staff who get on well but don&rsquo;t play benefit to one another in the workplace; rather than waiting to see if it can be handled by another, know when it&rsquo;s your turn to step in and bring about a solution. Leave discussions open. A problem arose, and you solved it &ndash; well done, pat on the back. But, that doesn&rsquo;t mean it&rsquo;ll forever be so; in the fast-changing world of business, it&rsquo;s important that your team understand that any subject is still open. One of the worst things you can do as a manager is to leave employees feeling as though they&rsquo;re unable to bring something up, for fear of &lsquo;dwelling&rsquo; or bringing negativity back into play. When it comes to new processes and systems where problems have been perceived, ongoing awareness and monitoring is needed; new insights, ideas and therefore obstacles are inevitable. As a manager, be willing to admit that your original solution may have been temporary &ndash; take the bull by the horns and focus on finding new solutions, for the now and for the long-term. The longer you bury your head in the sand, the worse things will become. Know when to get serious. As we&rsquo;re all learning &ndash; Mr Johnson the UK PM included, I&rsquo;d imagine &ndash; it&rsquo;s tough to know when a concern becomes an issue, and when an issue becomes a problem &ndash; one which requires action, and immediately. But the fact is, if you deign always to be an informed, open leader &ndash; one who&rsquo;s abreast of the inner goings-on of your business, current affairs and industry trends &ndash; it&rsquo;s less likely that you&rsquo;ll be taken unawares. When facing a problem head on, it&rsquo;s important to know when to get serious; stop putting things off, stop employing the &lsquo;wait and see&rsquo; method, and take action when it&rsquo;s most needed. Do you tend to bury your head in the sand as a manager? Whilst we can all agree that optimism is paramount and finding the bright side key, being able to admit to an issue and find solutions quickly is tantamount to success across all aspects of your business. False optimism in a time of struggle is more likely to hinder rather than help, especially if your employees feel as though you&rsquo;ve been ignoring it thus far. Transparency in business is a huge trend for 2020 and it&rsquo;s never been more important to face issues with an open, forward-thinking viewpoint. Whilst this always applies, with such divided opinion as to the UK government&rsquo;s response to the coronavirus pandemic, it&rsquo;s never been more relevant. As business leaders, it&rsquo;s our time to face the music and do as best as we can by the businesses we&rsquo;re responsible for, whether that be by implementing home working systems, offering support to our employees or simply trying our best to go on as normal in a safe manner. Whatever you&rsquo;re able to do, don&rsquo;t bury your head in the sand: this is happening, it will affect us all, and we can only tackle it as we must. Sending well wishes to our blog community and beyond under these challenging circumstances!

Ostrich Management: why it doesn’t work

​Since launching Certus Recruitment Group and becoming the MD here in Melbourne, I&rsquo;ve been on a rollercoaster. Recruitment is what I know, but there&rsquo;s so much more to being a leader than being great at the job itself; to use the age old clich&eacute;, spinning many plates at once is the least of it. My team is growing and for this reason, I&rsquo;ve started thinking about the key things I want the people who are joining our business to experience. For me, a healthy, communicative environment is one of them &ndash; I want people to know that in joining my team they&rsquo;ll be able to voice opinions and concerns, ask questions without feeling like a burden and ultimately communicate what and how they&rsquo;re feeling about how things are going, what could/should change/improve and whatever else is happening. Communication is so important to running a business &ndash; that is, the way staff interact with you, their leader, but each other as well. We&rsquo;re developing our plan to ensure ours is a positive culture of communication, and so should you. Things to think about when considering your communication strategy: How you communicate I really like to make sure my staff know that they can communicate with me in different ways. There are different methods different circumstances, and I like to think we mostly exercise common sense to work out what applies on a case-by-case basis. For instance, if it&rsquo;s regarding something important which needs to be recorded properly (i.e. annual leave, a formal request etc), the member of staff in question will send an email. This allows us to ensure there&rsquo;s some process involved, and a paper trail. But if it&rsquo;s a quick question, something less formal or even something not at all work-related, I&rsquo;ve always made it clear that they can drop me a text or ping me an instant message, any time of the day or evening. Phone calls, if I or they are out of the office, are my preferred method of communication; when you can actually hear your employee&rsquo;s voice and vice versa, there&rsquo;s no room for anything to become misconstrued or confused along the way. In this day and age, technology makes it easier than ever for us to communicate with our staff &ndash; so set the expectations and let staff know it&rsquo;s okay to use it. With all that said, technology can sometimes act as a buffer against real-life human contact &ndash; and a way for people to avoid awkward or uncomfortable conversations. Encourage your employees to face communicating with you and their colleagues head-on, without hiding behind technology &ndash; harness it as a tool, not a hindrance. When you communicate To make sure your business runs as well as it can, near-constant communication about any and all things is necessary &ndash; but, it also helps to set a schedule. How regularly do you communicate in a formal setting with your team? Creating a time for regular meetings or calls &ndash; weekly, monthly, quarterly &ndash; creates consistency in communication. If Employee A knows that their monthly meeting is coming up, they&rsquo;ll have time to prepare and think about things to bring up which might not be discussed in the office usually.
Creating a regular communication schedule, to which your workforce will become accustomed, gives them opportunity to express themselves. This doesn&rsquo;t have to be a &lsquo;review&rsquo; or progress meeting necessarily; think of it more as a &lsquo;catch up&rsquo; &ndash; open forum, whether one-on-one, with your team or across the whole company. This also provides time spent with the team to communicating as a collective &ndash; general goings on, successes within various teams and ways to collaborate or share information moving forwards. You&rsquo;ll improve working relationships across the board, and the team will feel even more like one.
Communicating openly Ensuring that your staff feel able to approach you about most anything is key to reducing anxiety in the workplace &ndash; whilst I know that for many companies a hierarchy is important, so is a workforce who are engaged, motivated and happy to be there. Having an open-door policy &ndash; I&rsquo;m available for whatever you might need, whenever you might need it &ndash; helps promote healthy communication. With a real open-door policy in place, you as a manager are much more likely to know the &lsquo;inside line&rsquo; on what&rsquo;s happening within your business. Communicating anonymously Does your workforce have a system in place to communicate things which you might not be privy to &ndash; one which doesn&rsquo;t leave them at risk in any way? Look, we don&rsquo;t need to go into specifics &ndash; sometimes, there are circumstances happening or things going on which you aren&rsquo;t involved in as the business leader, but it might be helpful to be aware of. You don&rsquo;t necessarily see what the team sees or know what they know; just because things look peachy from the outside doesn&rsquo;t mean it&rsquo;s so. Implementing an anonymous feedback system ensures your staff feel able to express themselves without fearing any comeuppance on saying aloud what others may be thinking. And no, it&rsquo;s not just about being able to complain to upper management &ndash; it&rsquo;s about sharing an idea, a question, an improvement which they think could be beneficial to the company as a whole. And at the end of it all? Listen to what your employees are telling you. Communicating regularly, openly and with honesty is useless if you&rsquo;re not taking on board what&rsquo;s being talked about! Communication is a two-way street but facilitating it in a healthy way will help your team in so many ways &ndash; least of all when it&rsquo;s ready to grow like ours currently. How do you go about fostering a culture of open communication across your business?

Communication: It’s important, and it’s down to you

​KPIs, KPIs, KPIs. Is there any other aspect of business operations so widely spoken about, furthermore contested? It&rsquo;s a divisive subject in the business community &ndash; where some live by them, others dispute their place altogether; some employ but largely ignore them, either way. Whether you utilise them day-to-date or oppose them entirely, if you work in the corporate world, you&rsquo;ve come across KPIs at some point. The fact is, the reason they&rsquo;re so highly contested is that KPIs are seldom implemented effectively, or used properly. It&rsquo;s not about the &lsquo;numbers game&rsquo; &ndash; it&rsquo;s about business efficiency. Let&rsquo;s stop thinking about KPIs as targets, first off. There&rsquo;s a clear distinction between the two. The definition of a KPI is, as it says on the tin, a key performance indicator &ndash; a figure which is (or should be) derived from information your business is providing you. KPIs should be used to evaluate the activity a business needs to undertake in order to achieve its targets &ndash; not as a target in and of themselves. Get it? Let&rsquo;s put it into real terms. Your business currently has 10 sales execs. The team&rsquo;s target is to generate $100,000 in revenue each month, so each individual&rsquo;s target is $10,000. Currently, each person is achieving $8,000 per month; upon drilling down into their activity, you find that they&rsquo;re each making 8 phone calls per month. What can you take from this? Your business is indicating that your team&rsquo;s activity needs to increase in order to reach target, and is telling you, hypothetically, how much it needs to increase by. Analyse these tricky figures and you&rsquo;ll find it makes sense that, were they each to make 10 phone calls per month, everyone would hit that $10K, no problem. But here&rsquo;s the thing &ndash; there&rsquo;s no need to now storm onto the sales floor and inform the team that they had all better hit those 10 calls, or else. Not in that fashion, anyway. You&rsquo;re not setting this as a target: your business is doing it for you.
It&rsquo;s a KPI, not a target. See? KPIs should be in place to motivate, not condemn. Information is king, or so they say, and it&rsquo;s our job as leaders to use it to our advantage. Particularly in sales and marketing, numbers do play a big part in the performance sense &ndash; from calls made to appointments booked, website clicks to conversion rates, your team is constantly running through figures in their mind. Adding a panel of KPIs into that mix, specifically when posing them as targets/must-hits, definitely creates potential for the pot to boil over from time to time. However, if you were to go to your team and say, &ldquo;Hey, we&rsquo;ve collated some really interesting info here which we think is going to help you do your job better/more efficiently, want to take a look?&rdquo;, any employee worth his/her salt will be clambering to see your notes. Keep targets and KPIs separate; monitor them both as equals. Your KPIs should be based on fact and fact alone. Here at Certus we get to know our clients well, and I&rsquo;d be lying if I said we don&rsquo;t sometimes have to do a little &ndash; err &ndash; re-education, shall we say. Often, businesses blindly set their KPIs based on industry standards or what their competition appears to be doing which, fundamentally, doesn&rsquo;t make sense. Just because Oracle&rsquo;s techs have to sit four appointments per day, doesn&rsquo;t mean that your hyper-growth, disruptive SaaS start-up should be doing the same. In fact, we need to move away from this idea of &lsquo;setting&rsquo; KPIs altogether &ndash; I reiterate, your business sets them itself. Monitor activity, productivity, operations, all aspects of your business, over time to understand what your KPIs are and where they should sit in terms of activity. Don&rsquo;t pull numbers out of the air and &lsquo;set&rsquo; KPIs based on what you think you should be doing &ndash; base them on what you are doing, and the improvements that you want to make. Remember, more doesn&rsquo;t always equal more. Numbers and humans behave in very different ways. When a calculator does a complex mathematical equation, it doesn&rsquo;t need to take into account that, maybe, number 3 is recovering from a bout of the flu, or that number 4 is off on holiday for two weeks this month. So, when you take a look at your figures and see that 25 calls equals 1 appointment, don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s as simple as commanding your team to make 50, and expecting them to achieve 2 appointments as such. It just doesn&rsquo;t work that way. I&rsquo;m not saying that we as leaders shouldn&rsquo;t always strive for excellence and improvement &ndash; but, alas, we are humans managing humans. And that needs to be at the forefront of our approach, always. We shouldn&rsquo;t be setting KPIs, we should be running our businesses based on the information it provides us &ndash; looking at them as the dataset they are, rather than another number to hold over our teams&rsquo; heads. As ever, love to hear your opinions &ndash; what&rsquo;s your approach to KPIs, and are you making the most of them across your business?

KPIs: Use them properly, or else

​Sales professionals don&rsquo;t just need to have great negotiation and closing skills; they need to have bags of enthusiasm for the job and self motivation coming out of their ears in order to be successful at what they do. Finding leads, picking up the phone to speak to total strangers and constant pressure to hit targets takes self discipline and is why so many people fail. Yes, recruiting good sales people, training and developing them and providing progression plans is all very important, but an even more vital element is the trust between a Sales Director their team. It&rsquo;s no secret that sales environments are high pressure, intense, competitive and at times very stressful, especially if you&rsquo;re falling short of targets. But is this pressure leading to behaviours that are destroying crucial employee trust? In general, a big downfall of Sales Directors is a lack of patience; trust takes time to build. You want numbers, and you want them now! But hang on a minute here, your sales professional may not be performing, but don&rsquo;t automatically assume it&rsquo;s because they are lazy or that they don&rsquo;t care enough and they are not working hard. Has your sales professional had the right training, do they need guidance on how to approach a difficult task, are they a bit lost? Nurturing and supporting is the first point of call for any manager before making any accusations. Are you being consistent? Consistency is arguably the biggest factor in building trust. Employees notice constant day-to-day flip-flopping between treatment of staff, processes and actions and they will remember it. Inconsistency creates impressions of in-authenticity and this will only led to employees claiming cases of favouritism and lack of integrity. If you&rsquo;re one for making sweeping statements and promises without much thought, then stop. Often promises made without genuine consideration of what the promise may mean in the long run or without the bigger picture in mind, have to be re-addressed and amended. Doing this, especially around bonuses or progression plans will only serve to cause serve mistrust when telling the employee about anything else similar in the future. It is also likely that it will leave a bad taste lingering and the employee will remember it for the foreseeable future and feel let down by you. Don&rsquo;t preach accountability if you don&rsquo;t fully practice it yourself. Shying away from your own mistakes or entirely pushing the blame onto someone else for a problem means that your employees will probably use the same tactic for their own shortcomings, which in turn will frustrate you. Instead, be completely transparent because after all isn&rsquo;t that what you&rsquo;re trying to achieve with them? Showing your employees that you are aware of your own errors and that you regret them and have learned from them will encourage respect from your team for your honesty. If you own up, then your employees will see that it is OK to make genuine mistakes and will be truthful about their own errors. In these instances, show support and understanding when communicating the facts about problems whilst also being sensitive to their efforts. Watch your own behaviour. Ensure that you are practicing what you preach, if you say that teamwork is important, reinforce this by working across the teams; if you say numbers are important, reinforce by getting on the phone and contributing. Your team will be impressed that you are willing to get stuck into the hard work with them and will trust that you too will understand any difficulties they face. Don&rsquo;t allow a disconnect between what you say and what you do because people will copy your behaviour good or bad rather than act on your instructions, it&rsquo;s just human nature. Don&rsquo;t make your team walk on eggshells around you. Yes, sometimes employees need a bit of reality check when it comes to performance but if a bad day translates into yelling and pessimism it isn&rsquo;t going to result in best outcome and will probably make your team feel more disheartened. Instead, when addressing low performance, explain the situation clearly but speak positively, motivate and reinforce the objectives necessary to turn it around. Listening to your employees and not just telling them what to do is an important part of working effectively together. Don&rsquo;t just steamroll ideas at them &ndash; talk solutions through and let them be part of the decision on how to achieve a goal. Trust underpins a good working employer &ndash; employee relationship. By building trust managers can achieve significant improvements in performance and engagement. Vice versa, losing that trust will led to performance and engagement problems. Team members will feel uncomfortable addressing issues because they are unsure of how you might react. If your employees trust you they will have confidence in your decisions and believe in what you are saying. Even in uncertain times, this trust will influence your leadership ability.

Does Your Sales Team Trust You?

It&rsquo;s something we as business leaders rarely speak about &ndash; but a challenge many will face throughout our careers: friction in the workplace, specifically between manager and new employee. What happens when you make a new hire and aren&rsquo;t sure that you&rsquo;re going to end up on the same page after all? I mean really; are you working towards the same goals? Are your priorities in line with one another? Do you both/all understand where the business is going and how to get there? When you add to your team &ndash; whether it&rsquo;s a small, one-on-one start-up type of environment or managing a full-scale operation &ndash; there are a lot of things which can cause friction, frustration and the inevitable resulting lack of productivity. Which is probably why &ldquo;managing up&rdquo; is fast-becoming one of 2020&rsquo;s biggest corporate trends. Oftentimes, it&rsquo;s simply a discrepancy in &lsquo;the way you do things&rsquo; which creates tension between manager and employee. Where some may succeed in spite of their scatter-brained approach, others require strict routine and process to get through the day, as an example. Inevitably, when one of these types of person is managing the other, it can result in confusion, misunderstanding of expectations and, frankly, an employee sometimes being unsure what to do next, what their job entails. Enter &ldquo;managing up&rdquo;. Think of it this way: whatever your level, your manager&rsquo;s success hinges on your own &ndash; so, it&rsquo;s in your interest to understand them, how they work best, what&rsquo;s going to help them (and, in turn, you) the most. The process of managing up is essentially implementing all of the above into your team&rsquo;s way of working, to give them the power to manage what they need out of you and when. Examples of managing up in the workplace include holding employee-to-manager led one-on-ones which gives your member of staff the opportunity to pick your brains in a more private setting &ndash; there are some things they just may not feel comfortable saying in a team meeting. The agenda of the meeting should be set by the employee, to focus on understand what it is they want to know &ndash; help with X, Y and Z; feedback on this project or that presentation. By letting them take the lead you&rsquo;re also learning a lot about the person &ndash; which well help you manage this employee in the traditional sense, too. Other ways to encouraging managing up are to complete goal setting exercises; perhaps in a more casual, outside of the office setting, getting your team together to talk strategy, share ideas and set some key goals for the coming months. Having joint goals &ndash; as in, the business achieving its goals means the employees can reach theirs &ndash; is imperative for a smooth-running team whose staff are in it for the long run. Tension in the workplace between manager and employee doesn&rsquo;t have to come from a clash of personalities; it could simply be that you and your new team member work best via different methods, leading to miscommunication and subsequent friction. Encouraging your team to manage up is sure to improve employee engagement, but you might also look forward to an increase in motivation, and certainly stronger employee relations as a whole. As professionals, there should be very few issues which won&rsquo;t resolve themselves once time is taken to understand one another. Whether you&rsquo;re managing a team of one or a hundred, our expert consultants are exactly that; they know how to build, and then maximise the retention of, industry-leading talent. Our process doesn&rsquo;t stop once a placement is made, and it&rsquo;s this exceptional after-care which defines us as a true leader in the Melbourne recruiter marketplace. Get in touch today to discuss your post-COVID goals and hiring strategy.

Why Managing Up Needs to Be Part of Your Strategy for 2020

Covid-19 has undoubtedly taught us a lot, about many things. Change is happening all around us, from how we shop (online, wearing a mandatory mask or via curbside pickup) to how we communicate (Zoom fatigue, anyone?) and even the way we greet one another. There&rsquo;s also been positive change in the way we see and treat each other. There&rsquo;s a feeling of community when out and about; people are coming together. Sure, some things have changed which we&rsquo;ll miss &ndash; potentially for good &ndash; but there are some things which are changing for the better. And one of them, almost certainly, is the way we work. The way we do business. As we shift towards the new normal, there are certainly some business practices, or &lsquo;maxims&rsquo;, you could call them, which we&rsquo;d be happy to leave in the past &ndash; particularly when it comes to managing sales teams. As we move into a future where employers have to be evermore considerate of the circumstances surrounding their business, here are the 3 business maxims we&rsquo;d love to see catch up with where 2020&rsquo;s focus should be moving forwards. &ldquo;Always be closing&rdquo; We&rsquo;re salespeople, yes. But shouldn&rsquo;t we be thinking more about solving our customers&rsquo; problems than we do about closing the deal? &lsquo;Doing business&rsquo; is no longer about just making sales; it&rsquo;s about consulting with clients, understanding their needs. And being willing to turn away if you know that your solution isn&rsquo;t the one which serves them best. Sales teams who value customer experience and excellence in service over targets and revenue will be the ones who thrive in the months to come. Always be closing &ndash; business maxim number one, out. &ldquo;Failure is not an option&rdquo; It might not be an option, but it&rsquo;s an absolute inevitability. Our social media feeds are littered with memes, motivational quotes and the like about getting back on the horse; relaying stats about how many shots Michael Jordan missed before he made it big; reiterating the importance of trucking on in the face of adversity. Yet, there are still sales teams being run into the ground by unrealistic targets and a lack of awareness about the fact that, yes, sometimes external circumstances do effect your ability to hit target; sometimes we have to fail to grow. Failure is a part of learning; it&rsquo;s how we learn what works, and what doesn&rsquo;t. Failure literally helps us improve what we do and how we do it; it shows us which processes need to be created, implemented or streamlined. Not only is failure an inevitability &ndash; it&rsquo;s a tool which we as managers should be harnessing to help our teams learn and improve, continuously. Business maxim number two &ndash; not this year, thank you! &ldquo;If your business isn&rsquo;t growing, it&rsquo;s dying&rdquo; I disagree &ndash; it could be changing, evolving, learning. Or, in truth, it could simply be surviving. And there&rsquo;s absolutely no shame in that. Of course, growth is a sensible, moreover practical end goal for a business to have. But long gone are the days when the notion was that growth is everything. As we transition into the post-pandemic world, many businesses and their leaders will be trying to determine the direction of their business whilst staying afloat and trying to do best by their employees; that should be the focus over the coming months, not simply money. No growth equalling a dying business is the third and final business maxim which needs to catch up with 2020. As the leader of Certus&rsquo; business here in Aus, I&rsquo;m proud to say we&rsquo;ve always conducted business with our clients in mind, rather than just focusing on the numbers &ndash; and we&rsquo;re looking forward to partnering with businesses who operate in the same way. When it comes to building cohesive, customer-focused sales teams who perform, we&rsquo;re proud to provide recruitment solutions tailored to your business. Contact our team in Melbourne today to talk about the current market conditions and what you can expect from a hiring perspective over the next few months.

3 Business Maxims Which Need to Catch Up

​There&rsquo;s a big difference between doing well, and just doing. There&rsquo;s an even bigger difference between being engaged and just &lsquo;being there&rsquo;. Is your team thriving, or just surviving? I&rsquo;m not talking in terms of sales figures or company financials; what I mean to ask is, are your team really all-in, giving it their best and moreover loving what they do each day? To thrive literally means &ldquo;to prosper; flourish&rdquo;. In the workplace, this means more than hitting target &ndash; although, that&rsquo;s undoubtedly a common result of a thriving time. Thriving at work means your team is aligned with the company goals, they&rsquo;re happy, nay excited, to be there, and they&rsquo;re motivated to work hard. This team is a productive, high-performing one; a team who merely shows up each day, merely &lsquo;survives&rsquo;, not so much. So how do you know if your team isn&rsquo;t thriving? And what steps can you as a business leader take to help them do so? Read my 3 tips to answer both of these questions below. 3 warning signs your employees are only surviving:
<ul>
<li>
Energy.&nbsp;Or a distinct lack thereof. As your employees go about their day-to-day, are they doing so with energy? Are they enthusiastic and positive in their actions, mannerisms, general mindset? Energy affects everything from performance to posture &ndash; yes, you can tell an awful lot about how an employee feels about their job by how slumped their shoulders are! &ndash; and it&rsquo;s important to recognise when energy, enthusiasm and, in turn, morale is down.
</li>
<li>
Relationships.&nbsp;If an employee has become disengaged with their job, it can show in the working relationships they&rsquo;re cultivating in the office/across team. Are there tensions between them and another employee, or number of employees, which seems unusual or out of character? Is their attitude toward their colleagues worsening in general? Time for a sit down and a heart to heart.
</li>
<li>
Performance.&nbsp;Simply put, a thriving, engaged employee is one who&rsquo;s going to graft to hit targets, goals and otherwise; a &lsquo;surviving&rsquo; employee may be putting in the bare minimum needed to keep their seat. If there&rsquo;s someone on the team whose performance is suffering, it&rsquo;s important not to look at this with an attitude of &lsquo;they can&rsquo;t do it&rsquo; &ndash; but instead to wonder if it&rsquo;s that they just currently don&rsquo;t want to. Ask the right questions, get to the bottom of it and try to bring them back into the fold; back to thriving.
</li>
</ul>
3 things to encourage to help your employees thrive:
<ul>
<li>
Creativity.&nbsp;In the workplace, don&rsquo;t hinder creativity &ndash; embrace and encourage it. Let each and every member of your workforce present ideas; ideas which are never belittled or dismissed without at least a discussion. A healthy workplace where employees thrive is one which is inclusive, open and ever-evolving.
</li>
<li>
Identity.&nbsp;Make sure you reinforce the individual part everyone plays within the team and encourage them to truly own their job role. Ensuring that each of your employees understands their own identity within the business, instead of just feeling like another brick in the wall, helps them stay accountable and remain motived to perform in their job to the best of their ability.
</li>
<li>
Learning.&nbsp;Whether they&rsquo;re passionate to do so or not, with learning comes a natural sense of achievement. Whether you allocate a few hours per week to training inside of work hours or reimburse employees (at least in part) for undertaking some form of professional education in their own time, encouraging them to continue their learning in any form will ensure they&rsquo;re more engaged with their job, their profession and their place within your team.
</li>
</ul>
Building thriving teams is what we do best. COVID may have thrown a spanner in the works but, we still pride ourselves here at Certus on our ability to get to know our clients inside out; it&rsquo;s how we go beyond just finding your next star hire, to help you retain and develop those you already have, too. To talk more about the recruitment and consulting services offered by Certus Recruitment Group, call our team in Melbourne today.

Thriving or Surviving? 3 Warning Signs & 3 Things to Encourage

Established in January 2001, the Certus Recruitment Group has become a leading specialist recruitment consultancy with a global presence and a client list that is envied by our competitors. Revenues have grown consistently and are continually invested back into the business to enhance growth and reward those that contribute to our success.

Established in January 2001, the Certus Recruitment Group has become a leading specialist staffing consultancy with a global presence and a client list that is envied by our competitors. Revenues have grown consistently and are continually invested back into the business to enhance growth and reward those that contribute to our success.

Established in January 2001, we are a specialist recruiter working with businesses of all sizes from global ‘Superbrands’ through to innovative start-ups and everything in between. Working globally we help our clients plan, source, attract, and retain world-class talent for their business. Our people are each specialists within one of our three practice areas; sales, marketing, and technical, operating at all levels of experience up to Director &amp; Executive level.

Established in January 2001, we are a specialist staffing company working with businesses of all sizes from global ‘Superbrands’ through to innovative start-ups and everything in between. Working globally we help our clients plan, source, attract, and retain world-class talent for their business. Our people are each specialists within one of our three practice areas; sales, marketing, and technical, operating at all levels of experience up to Director &amp; Executive level.

At Certus Recruitment Group our people are our greatest asset. We believe a coherent and motivated team of passionate people will always achieve more than a collection of individuals.The ongoing success and growth of our business are determined by our behaviours as commercially focused recruitment professionals who demonstrate expertise and commitment to the provision of service excellence to clients and candidates alike. We have defined these behaviours as:​

At Certus Recruitment Group our people are our greatest asset. We believe a coherent and motivated team of passionate people will always achieve more than a collection of individuals. The ongoing success and growth of our business are determined by our behaviors as commercially focused recruitment professionals who demonstrate expertise and commitment to the provision of service excellence to clients and candidates alike. We have defined these behaviors as:​

At Certus Recruitment Group our people are our greatest asset. We believe a coherent and motivated team of passionate people will always achieve more than a collection of individuals.The ongoing success and growth of our business are determined by our behaviours as commercially focused staffing professionals who demonstrate expertise and commitment to the provision of service excellence to clients and candidates alike. We have defined these behaviours as:​

"Certus has been simply fantastic. The support along my journey to securing my dream job has been faultless. They provided clarity throughout the process and offered guidance that has undoubtedly helped me prepare for a successful interview!"

We're always keen to introduce great talent to our extensive network

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We're always keen to introduce great talent to our extensive network

We're always looking to introduce great talent to our extensive network

At Certus Recruitment Group we recognise that our employees are our greatest asset, which is why we have developed a rewards and benefits package that recognises the value of your contribution to the business. From protection for your family through to discounts on gifts and events, our benefits are designed to ensure everyone benefits, regardless of their individual circumstances.

At Certus Recruitment Group we recognize that our employees are our greatest asset, which is why we have developed a rewards and benefits package that recognises the value of your contribution to the business. From protection for your family through to discounts on gifts and events, our benefits are designed to ensure everyone benefits, regardless of their individual circumstances.

Established in January 2001, the Certus Recruitment Group has become a leading specialist recruitment consultancy with a global presence and a client list that is envied by our competitors. Revenues have grown consistently and are continually invested back into the business to enhance growth and reward those that contribute to our success.We have a clear vision of where the company is going and how it will get there. This vision is shared with everyone at Certus and we work hard to create a vibrant working environment that provides real opportunity to develop, progress and prosper within the Company.To achieve our objectives we need great people and are always looking for applications from both experienced recruiters or from experienced sales, marketing or technical professionals who have a strong knowledge of their sector and are looking to forge a new career within a professional recruitment environment.

We attribute our success to our core values

Global Specialist Recruiter to the Technology Sector

Cookies are files that are recorded in temporary Internet folders on your PC. They're a useful tool as, by recording the way you use our site, they enable us to get to know you better. For example, we’re able to recognise you when you return to the site, identify your preferences so as to provide you with a more personalised service and speed up searches that you conduct when visiting.​You don’t have to accept them. Most browsers allow you to refuse cookies by activating the relevant setting (please check the help menu of your browser for more details) however, selecting this setting may mean that you are unable to access certain parts of our site.​Please note that unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you log on to our site.​Further Detail on Cookies​Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to your device when you visit a website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognises that cookie. Cookies do lots of different jobs, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently remembering your preferences, and generally improve your web site experience. They can also help to ensure that adverts you see online are more relevant to you and your interests.​We can split cookies into 4 main categories:​Category 1: strictly necessary cookiesCategory 2: performance cookiesCategory 3: functionality cookiesCategory 4: targeting cookies or advertising cookies​Category 1 - Strictly necessary cookiesThese cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website. Without these cookies services you have asked for, like register for job alerts, cannot be provided.​Please be aware our site uses this type of cookie​Category 2 - Performance cookiesThese cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works.​By using our website and online services, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device.​Category 3 - Functionality cookiesThese cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name and password) and provide enhanced, more personal features. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymous and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.​By using our website and online services, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device.​Category 4 - targeting cookies or advertising cookiesThese cookies are used to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers. Quite often targeting or advertising cookies will be linked to site functionality provided by the other organisations.​We do have links to other web sites and once you access another site through a link that we have provided it is the responsibility of that site to provide information as to how they use cookies on the respective site.​You can find more information about cookies by visiting www.allaboutcookies.org or www.youronlinechoices.eu. Google also have a brief video which explains the use of cookies.

<h2>Our team</h2>Our Senior Leadership Team has a combined experience of 60+ years of recruiting into the technology sector, with experience gained in sales, marketing and technical experience across the globe. They continue to be heavily involved in the business, operating at the coal face and remaining close to clients and candidates alike. Please feel free to reach out to any of our leaders to discuss any aspect of how Certus Recruitment can help you achieve your objectives. We look forward to working with you.

<h2>Our team</h2>Our Senior Leadership Team has a combined experience of 60+ years of recruiting into the technology sector, with experience gained in sales, marketing, and technical experience across the globe. They continue to be heavily involved in the business, operating at the coal face and remaining close to clients and candidates alike. Please feel free to reach out to any of our leaders to discuss any aspect of how Certus Recruitment can help you achieve your objectives. We look forward to working with you.

Global Specialist Recruiter to the Technology Sector.

If you have any further questions or would like to find out more about how we can help your business grow, we'd love to hear from you. Just pick your preferred way of contacting us and we look forward to speaking with you soon.<ul><li>Pick up the phone and give us a call on +61 (03) 4050 7777</li><li>Click&nbsp;<a href="https://certusrecruitment.com/au/submit-job/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(234, 13, 140);">here</a>&nbsp;and you can send us details of your business and your current vacancies</li><li>Send us an email to: hello@certusrecruitment.com</li></ul>

There is no shortage of fantastic recruiters to choose from. There are those that specialize by sector or by function, there are large multi-site high street agencies, global players, and single-site niche businesses. So how do you determine which one will be best to support your business?​We believe the most important element is to choose a partner you trust. If you don't immediately feel they understand your unique situation and they don't go out of their way to really understand your purpose, speak to another. Your reasons for choosing may sometimes be difficult to articulate, however, after speaking you will quickly know which company is best to represent your brand.​And finally, whilst price is an important element in choosing a supplier, make sure you're calculating all the costs - not just the fee %. The company that delivers you a great shortlist the first time round, who organizes your stakeholders and minimizes wasted time will save you thousands over the course of the project.Ultimately, the best way to measure us is to speak to us. However, in the meantime here are a number of frequently asked questions that may just help you decide to include us on your shortlist!

If you have any further questions or would like to find out more about how we can help your business grow, we'd love to hear from you. Just pick your preferred way of contacting us and we look forward to speaking with you soon.<ul><li>Pick up the phone and give us a call on +44 (0) 204 538 8222</li><li>Click&nbsp;<a href="https://certusrecruitment.com/submit-job/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(234, 13, 140);">her﻿e</a><a href="https://certusrecruitment.com/submit-job/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;</a>and you can send us details of your business and your current vacancies</li><li>Send us an email to: info@certusrecruitment.com</li></ul>

If you have any further questions or would like to find out more about how we can help your business grow, we'd love to hear from you. Just pick your preferred way of contacting us and we look forward to speaking with you soon.<ul><li>Pick up the phone and give us a call on +1 737 201 9992</li><li>Click&nbsp;<a href="https://certusrecruitment.com/us/submit-job/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(234, 13, 140);">her﻿e</a><a href="https://certusrecruitment.com/us/submit-job/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;</a>and you can send us details of your business and your current vacancies</li><li>Send us an email to: america@certusrecruitment.com</li></ul>

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"Technology led businesses across the globe depend on us to drive growth through the delivery of innovative Talent Solutions"

"Technology led businesses across the globe depend on us to drive growth through the delivery of innovative Staffing Solutions"

We have a clear vision to be the Global Specialist Recruiter to the Technology Sector. To achieve our Vision we need amazing people who share our vision and subscribe to our values: Passion, Energy, Commitment, Integrity and Fun. If the Tech Sector excites you as much as it does us, get in touch or explore our current openings.

Great companies are built on great talent

We’re always keen to introduce great talent to our extensive network.

We’re always looking to introduce great talent to our extensive network.

Call Certus Now

Our specialist consultants can’t wait to hear about your business!

Looking out for fresh talent for innovate organizations

At Certus Recruitment Ltd ("we", "us" or "our" for short) we and our group companies are committed to protecting your personal information. Your personal information (also called ‘personal data’) is the information which identifies you as an individual that we get from you and others in various ways. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 (the "Act") and the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (“GDPR”) specific obligations are placed on us in the way we handle this type of information. The aim of this privacy policy is to let you know what personal information we collect from you when you apply for a job with us or our group companies, when you use our website and when you contact us, how we store and use it, and how you can access and manage this information.​Your personal information may be stored online and therefore we take steps to ensure that our systems are well protected.​The registered office of the above company is at 1 Vincent Square, London, SW1P 2PN. Our company number is 12619774. We and our group companies, together with the products and services we sell and provide, are regulated by the Recruitment &amp; Employment Confederation (REC - https://www.rec.uk.com/)​Please note that this privacy policy only covers https://www.certusrecruitment.com/. Other websites belonging to us or accessible via links are not covered by this policy. If you access any of these sites, please check the privacy policy applicable to these sites (if any) before you submit any of your personal information to them.​So, what personal information do we collect about you?​We process the following types of personal data about you:• Contact details• Identification information• Information about past and current employment• Education and qualifications• Information about your lifestyle​We collect the personal information requested on our application forms and contact forms together with any comments or remarks that you may provide in free text fields (such as personal statements) or CVs (where applicable). We may also keep a record of references received from third parties (including those you give us, credit reference and fraud prevention agencies) and of any other correspondence or communication between you and us, whether written, e-mailed, or as a result of visits, interviews or recorded telephone calls.​We also monitor site traffic, and like most websites, we use a Unique Visitor Cookie (which is supplied and managed by a carefully selected statistics provider) to identify your PC by a random number (e.g. #12489). More details about cookies and how you can disable them can be found below.​We will (unless it's impractical) tell you if we obtain and store information from any other source and also how we intend to use it in accordance with this privacy policy.​Making sure your personal data is secure​Whilst we take steps to protect user privacy, no data transmission over the internet can be entirely secure. We therefore do not guarantee the security of personal information that you send to us, or your use of the site. Any personal information you do send is at your own risk but once we receive it we use strict procedures to safeguard it.​How do we use your personal information?​In connection with a contract between you and us or an employer… We (and any At Certus Recruitment Ltd group company may use and process your personal information where it is necessary for us to do so to in connection with or anticipation of a contract between you and us (or At Certus Recruitment Ltd group company) or an employer.• to process your job application and otherwise manage the recruitment process• help potential employers assess and process your job application;• help potential employers check and confirm the references that you provide as part of your job application;• check with any necessary regulatory, industry and/or security authorities relevant to the position that you have applied for; Our Legitimate Business Interest… We (and any At Certus Recruitment Ltd group company may use and process your personal information where it is necessary for us to pursue our legitimate interests as a business for the following purposes:• help us identify you so we know who we are talking to;• help prevent and detect fraud or loss;• to contact you with information about opportunities that you might be interested in from time to time via phone or post;• assess risk, carry out market research, statistical analysis, test systems, improve the way that we run our recruitment process and your application (including quality assurance) and analyse your application and recruitment history;• train staff and monitor our services. This may mean that we record our conversations or our correspondence with you to make sure we are providing you with a good service and to make sure we keep to our legal and regulatory obligations. Where you have provided consent… We and any At Certus Recruitment Ltd group company may use your personal information where you have consented for us to do so• to contact you by email or other electronic means about opportunities that you might be interested in from time to time;• to provide you with job alerts. This consent can be withdrawn by logging-in to your account on the website and updating your details. Unless otherwise stated, we will hold data processed through contractual and legitimate interests indefinitely. Data processed via active consent will continue to receive marketing relative to the initial opt-in until we have received a request to unsubscribe/opt-out.​Who do we disclose your personal information to?​We may make your personal information available to agencies and employers who subscribe with us or use our Website, working within the above ways in which we use your data. These clients may then use that information to contact you about specific roles via email, phone or post. Other clients or agencies should not send direct marketing messages by email or SMS to you unless you have consented (opted in) to this.​We may disclose your personal information to any member of our group, which means our subsidiary companies, our ultimate holding company and its subsidiary companies.​We may disclose your personal information to third parties:​• In the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets.• If at Certus Recruitment Ltd or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by it about its customers will be one of the transferred assets.• If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms and conditions to and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of At Certus Recruitment Ltd, our customers, or others.​How can you find out what personal information we hold about you?​You are entitled to see the personal information that we hold about you at any time. (If you write to, email or phone us and ask to see this information, it is known as a ‘subject access request’ or ‘SAR’ for short) You can do so by:​• e-mailing us at dpo@certusrecruitment.com inserting the words ‘Data Request’ in the heading or• writing to us at Data Request, Certus Recruitment Ltd, 1 Vincent Square, London, SW1P 2PN​Even if you don’t want a copy of your personal information, you can still contact us to check that the personal information that we hold is accurate or to let us know of any changes to your personal information. We always try to ensure that the information we hold is accurate, up to date and relevant and, as you are applying for a job with us, it is important that we have the right information in order to be able contact you. We'll be more than happy to make changes or to correct any inaccuracies.​You have the following rights when it comes to your data:• to object to any legitimate business interests processing;• to withdraw consent (only in respect of any processing which depends on consent);• to ask for your data to be updated or corrected (where it is inaccurate);• if we have carried out any automated decision making as part of recruitment practices, contest any such decision and ask for a human intervention;• ask for the client to stop processing for any reason or exercise their right to be forgotten;• ask for a copy of their information that they have provided to you electronically (such as their CV) in a portable format;• complain to the ICO.​External links from our site​From time to time we may include hypertext links to sites which are created by individuals and companies outside of our group companies. We do this when there is a particular relevance to the topic you're reading about. Whilst we endeavour to check that the content of these sites is suitable, we unfortunately cannot take any responsibility for the practices of the companies who publish the sites that we link to, nor the integrity of the content contained within them.​What if we update our privacy policy?​We do keep our privacy policies under regular review so please do check each time you use the site. You'll be able to read about any updates on this page - as soon as they happen.​If you have any questions or if you feel that we are not complying with the terms of this privacy policy please do contact us by e-mailing us at the following address dpo@certusrecruitment.com inserting the words ‘Privacy Policy Grievance’ in the heading.​This policy was last updated on Thursday 4th June 2020.

Supporting businesses going through transformation, managing a transition or completing animplementation, our contract services team understand the challenges associated with resourcingyour project. In addition to our knowledge of the technical functions, our understanding of projectmanagement methodologies and the project life cycle means we’re best place to identify the bestcontractors for your project.Recognising the importance of continuity, we ensure our contractors are managed and supportedthroughout the duration of your project, utilising the latest technologies to ensure a seamlesscontractor experience.

Put simply, we help technology businesses scale.

We're always keen to introduce great talent to our extensive network.

We're always looking to introduce great talent to our extensive network

We provide a bespoke, specialist recruitment service that adds real value to your organisation. We believe a truly great recruitment service is not about filling a vacancy, it’s about helping you scale your business. On every occasion it’s our job to identify the right candidate who, due to experience and cultural alignment, goes on to significantly contribute to the attainment of your organisations goals.

We provide a tailored, specialist recruitment service that adds real value to your organization. We believe a truly great recruitment service is not about filling a vacancy, it’s about helping you scale your business. On every occasion, it’s our job to identify the right candidate who, due to experience and cultural alignment, goes on to significantly contribute to the attainment of your organizations' goals.

Send a brief

Our specialist consultants can't wait to hear about your business!

Although we assess each application we receive, due to the volume of responses we are unable to respond to all enquiries personally.<a href="/au/jobs/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View all jobs</a>

Although we assess each application we receive, due to the volume of responses we are unable to respond to all enquiries personally.<a href="/jobs/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View all jobs</a>

Although we assess each application we receive, due to the volume of responses we are unable to respond to all enquiries personally.<a href="/us/jobs/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View all jobs</a>

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