SmallBizPod - the small business podcast » Recruitment

SmallBizPod #35 – how to recruit, manage and motivate staff

Alex Bellinger — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 18:31:10 +0000

This week in SmallBizPod #35, the podcast for entrepreneurs, there’s a whole host of small business advice from three experienced, award winning business leaders: Mark Adlestone from jewellers Beaverbrooks, Claire Owen of recruitment consultancy StopGap and John Timpson, chairman of family business Timpsons. It’s very much a show about hiring and firing, but more importantly caring about your business and the people who work in it. Lots of practical advice recorded at Inspire 2006 a conference held by the Academy For Chief Executives. There’s also the usual round up of listener comments.

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Show Notes

Summary

Intro:

• 00:00 Alex on what’s coming up in the show.

Features:

• 00:45 Interview with Mark Adlestone, Managing Director of Beaverbrooks the jewellers. In the last three years Beaverbrooks has been voted 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For awards and in each of these year Mark came 1st for leadership. Alex and Mark talk about how he turned around a business with a 50% turnover of staff to one 99% of staff say they’re proud to work for Beaverbrooks. Mark also discusses business as a force for social and economic good as much as it is for profit and his beusines ethos of ‘success with ethics’.

• 06:43 Interview with Claire Owen, managing director of recruitment consultancy StopGap who has also recently picked up an award for her leadership skills from the Sunday Times. Claire and Alex talk about her ‘lunch test’, how to recruit the right people and retain them. Claire also discusses developing busines values, match-making talent to your business ethos and her enthusiasm for ‘away days’.

Comments:

• 15:04 Comment left on the SmallBizPod blog by Caron Sprake in Devon on life changing information and small business advice and a music recommendation as well as a plug for Doug Smart‘s one minute podcasts.
• 17:54 Email from Stephen Embleton about entrepreneurship in South Africa and what he and others are doing to stimulate small business in the country.

Features:

• 19:51 Interview with John Timpson, chairman and chief executive of the largest shoe repair, key cutting, jewellery engraving and watch repair chains in the UK, Timpson. Alex and John talk about upside down management and how to demonstrate trust in your employees. He also talks about his takeover of Mr Minit from UBS as well as identifying ‘drongos’ and how to get rid of staff that don’t fit your business culture.

Outro:

• 28.10 Music – Puller – Another Trip Home by Jeff Rosianna with thanks to the Podsafe Music Network.

Tags: business podcast, small business advice, hr, recruitment

SmallBizPod #33 – overcoming the business skills shortage

Alex Bellinger — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 02:32:20 +0000

This week SmallBizPod #33 focuses on skills shortages and the implications for businesses large and small. We hear from Jo Ray, managing director of Sage UK which commissioned some recent research on this topic, as well as the views of the Institute of Directors and Lawrence Jones, managing director of UKFast a Manchester-based ISP. As usual, there’s also a round up of comments from listeners and the latest from the SmallBizPod Frappr map community.

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Show Notes

Summary

Intro:

• 00:00 Alex on what’s coming up in the show.
• 00:55 Audio comment from Bob Cartwright at backpackinglight.co.uk who enjoyed the Andy Egan interview and has made business contacts as a result of listening to SmallBizPod.

Features:

• 03.17 Interview with Jo Ray, UK managing director of global business software company Sage, on their Heartbeat survey on UK SME business attitudes. Jo reveals her thoughts on why IT and marketing recruitment was proving particularly difficult for businesses large and small. Mike Harris, head of education and skills at the Institute of Directors, confirms that the impact of a shortage of skilled employees is quite severe and is cited as a reason for holding back business growth. Lawrence Jones, managing director of award-winning ISP, UKFast talks about the difficulties his company has had in finding the skills they require, employing people from Iraq, and methods of recruiting candidates with highly technical backgrounds. The series of interviews also includes discussions on the responsibilities of employers to train their workforce, how to retain staff and the contrasting opinions of their colleagues relative skills.

Comments:

• 22:54 Highlighting PodcastCon UK 2006 in association with Cheeze the direct digital marketing agency who’ve very kindly agreed to be lead sponsor of the event. The UK’s only podcasting conference takes place on 18th November. Alex offers to buy any SmallBizPod listener attending the conference a drink.
• 25:50 A big thank you to Juliette Prouse for her interview for SmallBizPod which will be released very, very soon.
• 26:59 Comment from Andy Minshall who’s planning to start his own business and his passion for entrepreneurship.
• 28:20 Comments left on the SmallBizPod blog from Paul Cheatle on the AIM interview and Daniel chasing for new shows.
• 30:07 Comments from the latest listeners to add themselves to the SmallBizPod Frappr map including: Kelvin Jones, Richard Smith, Steven Benjamin, Nigel Coningham, Libby Ranzetta, Carolyn Mumby, Andy Minshall and Tish Mata.

Outro:

• 33.28 Music – Ordinary Deity by Alu with thanks to the Podcast Music Network.

Tags:
business podcast
small business advice
recruitment
skills shortage

SmallBizPod #24 – making the most of your employees

Alex Bellinger — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 20:57:00 +0000

This week SmallBizPod #24, the small buisness podcast for entrepreneurs and start-ups, includes a series of interviews and expert advice on how to recruit, motivate and manage staff and the thorny issue of employment legislation. Interviews include a conversation with Julia Scott, founder and managing director of Base Connections, winner of European Call Centre of the Year, about her innovative approach to managing her people. There’s also a bumper round up of listeners’ comments and frappr map feedback.

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For those who’d like to download SmallBizPod or listen to it now, click on the link above.

Show Notes

Summary

Intro:

• 00:00 Alex on what’s coming up in the show.
• 00:53 Comment from Sanjay Parekh of Signifo on his interview on SmallBizPod #20.
• 01:42 Comment from Thomas Power, chairman of Ecademy.
• 02:10 Comment from Rita Gayford and a question on where are all the female entrepreneurs on the Frappr map.
• 04:20 Comment from Oladele Ayuba on the strategies and tactics to adopt when breaking free from the corporate world to become an entrepreneur.
• 05:46 Comment from Mark Anthony on the benefit of SmallBizPod for franchisees.
• 06:36 Comment from Sebastian Prooth of the From The Director’s Chair podcast.
• 08:10 Thanks to everyone who has said hello on the SmallBizPod Frappr map – a who’s who of listeners, including Gary Dring, Scott Gavin, Ron Cesek, Stephen Cotterell, Tue Hellstern, and Neil Gibson.
• 09:20 The mysterious Mexican – a telephone message from a Mexican listener.

Features:

• 10.10 Interview with Julia Scott of Base Connections an award winning marketing and telemarketing business about the challenges of employing people, their approach to recruitment and retention of staff, how to motivate and develop employees, and the challenges of employment legislation.
• 23.48 Interview with Professor Martin Binks of the University of Nottingham Institute for Enterprise and Innovation on insuring against loss of key staff and recruitment based on the University’s UK Business Barometer surveys which you can find here and here.
• 27.39 Interview with Alan Phillips of Croner on key employment legislation for small businesses.

Outro:

• 32:13 How to send comments to SmallBizPod – just email alex@smallbizpod.co.uk.
• 32:34 Music – Laughter House by Chris Rusu with thanks to Electromancer.com.

Best wishes

Alex Bellinger

Tags:
business podcast
employment
business
small business
entrepreneurship