Following the huge success of the IP 100 event hosted by Nine Twenty in Glasgow last week, we thought it would be a good idea to record some of the ideas promoted by our very own MD Gordon Brown. To give a bit of background let us bring you Gordon’s introduction:
‘When asked what IP means within the recruitment firm or recruitment process, I felt it was a very important question and also very relevant one within the current market place. Fundamentally it got me thinking about how companies can grow, attract and find the top talent available and maybe even reflect on our journey over the past two years.’
So for Nine Twenty, the first step when working with our clients is to ask them to consider their own employment brand: What does it mean to them and what does it say about them? What is their perception of their brand in the market place? Why do we do this? Simply put, we want them to become the employer of choice. Naturally, as the appeal of a client brand increases in the marketplace, the higher the calibre of candidates who want to get involved in the process.
There is no question that companies have a battle on their hands for the best candidates at the moment and to be frank, we feel that businesses need to sit up and take note. It is not enough to expect top quality candidates to ride along on a wave of curiosity and simply slot into your business; frequently, the best candidates are the ones who are perfectly happy with their current employer and not actively looking for change. Businesses need to find new techniques to uncover talent and attract the best calibre of candidate on the market. How?
‘You can do it in many different ways and how you build that employer brand is simple. You need to develop an online social media strategy, you need to communicate your values as a business and what you stand for. Develop and build a training academy that can promote internal growth. I would even suggest embracing the auto-enrolment which is inevitably around the corner for all businesses as well as creating a short term USP. Ultimately you need to incentivise and reward your people. What will this do? It will ensure you retain the right people and it will also ensure you build a talent bank and that for me, gives true value to a business when they look at their people and their staff.’
And finally- the knowledge. Knowledge management is absolutely key for businesses at the moment. This needs to be protected. If you are running a successful business then you need to keep your trade secret precisely that; a secret. If you have unique knowledge within your workplace then guard it like the holy-grail that it is and keep it within your organisation. This intellectual property is what gives you an economic advantage and within the battlefield that we call the recruitment industry, our employees are our first line of defence as well as our front line attack.
Nine Twenty started out twelve years ago and with multiple offices across the UK and with plans to enter the international market in the next year, Stephen Robertson at Metis Partners has been instrumental in finding the value in us and challenging our business plan to help us succeed. IP 100 can provide you the support and advice businesses need in this current market so we are absolutely delighted to be involved now and in future events.
If you want to find out more about how Nine Twenty can help you to be more proactive then get in touch…