Agency

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Posts Tagged ‘agency’

From the Mash Field to Office Glory – Part 1

February 8th, 2011 By phil Filed Under: Interesting, Weird and Wonderful

Over the next few weeks, we are going to feature some real Mash Success Stories.

The spotlight turns to 5 Top Mashers who – after representing us brilliantly in the field on multiple campaigns – are now displaying their talents and skills here at Dylan Towers – either with us at Dylan London or with our Sister Company – Mash.

Each of our featured Mashers are fantastic evidence of where you can get with hard work, professionalism and no little fun…

Today’s featured Masher is the one and only Seb.

“Whilst at Uni I worked for Mash in the field. I started as a BA working on L’Oreal in-store delighting the females of the North with the fragrance of Ralph Lauren.. Throughout my time I worked on Armani, BlueSquare, Eat Natural, Cadburys, Lindt Chocolate, Ray Ban with the pinnacle of my Mash career running the Tic Tac campaign across the North East of England. The Orange van and Hawaiian shorts were a big hit!

(more…)

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The Agency Workers Regulations

October 7th, 2010 By phil Filed Under: Everyone

With the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) coming into force in just over a year’s time, almost two in three HR professionals are unaware of the new regulations, according to research from Adecco.

The research shows that 61% don’t realise that the AWR will come into force in just twelve months time and 80% said they have ‘no idea’ what the consequences of non-compliance are.

The AWR gives agency workers the same basic working and employment conditions as permanent staff after 12 weeks on assignment.

Seven in 10 claimed they had some level of understanding of the AWR but just 19% had a ‘clear’ understanding. Almost half 48% said are ‘concerned’ about understanding exceptions to the regulations which is a key area in which they could become non-compliant. Despite these concerns, half will not be seeking professional guidance on implementing the regulations.

Steven Kirkpatrick, managing director of Adecco General Staffing, says: “Now is not the time for complacency. There are over 1.3m agency workers out on assignment every day so it’s vital that HR professionals take steps to understand the nuances of AWR sooner rather than later. This is a significant piece of legislation and getting it wrong could have major resourcing, financial and legal implications. For example, failure to provide recruiters with the right information on temps’ working and employment conditions could result in a costly employment tribunal which could have major cost and reputational consequences.”

Source: http://www.recruiter.co.uk/two-thirds-of-hr-professionals-unaware-of-awr/1007072.article

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CIPD calls for ‘training wage’

June 28th, 2010 By phil Filed Under: Candidates, Employers

An introduction of a £2.50 an hour ‘training wage’ is being called for by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development on the day that internship schemes for recently graduated students begin across the country.

With CIPD research showing that over a third (37%) of internships are currently unpaid, a policy paper entitled Internships: To Pay or not To Pay? proposes that all interns are paid a guaranteed minimum wage.

It argues that a new ‘training wage’ would help reflect the contribution that an intern is likely to make to an organisation, as well as promote social mobility through encouraging people from poorer backgrounds to apply.

The proposed training wage of £2.50 an hour – which is the current minimum rate of pay for apprentices – would be introduced under the plans, to cover all interns and apprentices regardless of their occupation or industry sector.

Any position that is advertised as an internship would automatically trigger a legal obligation on the part of the employer to pay at least the training wage throughout the entire duration of the internship.

Tom Richmond, skills adviser at the CIPD, says: “The continued existence of a major loophole in the national minimum wage legislation has created a lot of confusion and concern around the issue of whether interns should be paid or not. We believe that the introduction of this training wage would reflect the contribution that interns make to their organisations.”

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Going that extra mile to secure the role..

June 17th, 2009 By julian Filed Under: Candidates

NEW YORK (Reuters)

Job-seekers are using unusual gimmicks to grab the attention of potential employers, such as in one case sending a shoe along with a resume to get a “foot in the door,” said a survey released on Wednesday.

Almost a fifth of hiring managers report seeing more unconventional tactics this year, compared with 12 percent who said so last year, according to the study by CareerBuilder.com, an online jobs site.

Faced with the highest unemployment in 25 years, candidates are trying a variety of tricks, including:

* handing out resumes at stoplights

* washing cars in a company parking lot

* staging a sit-in in a company lobby to demand a meeting with a director

* sending a cake designed as a business card with the candidate’s picture

* handing out personalized coffee cups

* going to the same barber as the company chairman to have the barber speak on his behalf

One job-seeker attached a shoe to a resume as “a way to get my foot in the door,” a respondent told the survey.

“The search for employment is taking longer and is more competitive than it has been in past years,” said Jason Ferrara, senior career adviser at CareerBuilder, in a statement. “To compensate, some candidates have turned to extreme tactics.”

But he cautioned: “While unusual job search antics may attract the attention of hiring managers, they need to be done with care and professionalism so that candidates are remembered for the right reasons.”

The online survey was conducted for CareerBuilder by Harris Interactive among 2,543 full-time hiring managers and human resource professionals between February 20 and March 11, 2009. The overall results have a margin of error of plus or minus 1.94 percentage points.

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Value Creation

June 12th, 2009 By julian Filed Under: Everyone

Legend has it that Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a woman approached him. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art. When asked how much he was owed, Picasso asked for five thousand dollars. The woman questioned why did the portrait cost so much given it took him less than one minute to draw it. To which Picasso responded, “Madame, it took me my entire life.”

The legend of Picasso is at the heart of a contemporary challenge in the advertising industry – the value and cost of ideas. There lies the problem. As an industry we are obsessed with ideas. We complain when these ideas are not accepted. We feel cheated by having to put a price tag on the enterprise of our ideas – how can I be asked to price passion and the selfless pursuit of an idea?

When we recognize we are in the business of “value creation” can we begin to shift our thinking from “‘What does it cost us to generate work and ideas a client wants?” to “What is the value of the services and materials we are creating for the client?”

Value creation forces us to decentralize the idea creation process. Instead, everyone’s job must become value creation. Value creation forces us to establish a strong personal and commercial relationship with our clients; truly understand their business as opposed to their latest brief. Value creation demands we measure and place more value on the outcome of our work.

Our latest idea is more than a campaign concept; it is value creation. Was the agency responsible for creating the Staples’ plastic Easy Button, a $4.99 gadget (that’s sold more than 1 million units since its launch in 2005) aware of that? Apparently not because they received no financial reward beyond their original fees.

Financial advisors are paid on the basis of value creation. This is accepted given their decisions have a direct and measurable impact on wealth. Digital marketing, like no other channel allows us to directly measure the value created for a brand, be it revenue or perception. This is part of the problem with digital marketing, value creation has been completely tied to quantitative metrics – sales, revenue, ROI.

If value creation is proven and measured every day, the degree of compensation then becomes a question of positioning. If clients regard an agency as just another operator on their marketing conveyor belt, value creation is not possible. Value creation requires partnership. Unfortunately most clients regard their agencies as just operators in a large conveyor belt. In response, and to extend their control and influence, agencies try to be the “jack of all trades”, operators in all realms of digital marketing. The focus is then on depth of offering as opposed to value creation. These new services are generally sold to clients at a discount – lowering overall compensation levels.

Client and agency must be willing to invest in value creation. When this occurs, the conversion of two intangibles – time and ideas – translates into a tangible and sustainable compensation model.

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Ways to select the right recruitment company

April 15th, 2009 By julian Filed Under: Employers

After the boom years of recent times, one thing that the UK is not short on is recruitment companies. The continuous growth experienced over the last 5 years, pre the drop off, has meant that agencies have been able to spring up anywhere and everywhere, fulfilling the recruitment needs of the growing businesses nationwide. This phenomenal growth has come at a cost, most notably a quality cost, with ‘agencies’ rather than consultancies operating to a sales lead, numbers based business model, forsaking the consultancy lead, partnership ethos that is an essential element in any successful talent partnership. Here’s some tips on selecting the right recruitment partner;

Tip no.1

Check for expertise in the area. The consultancy should know about local qualifications, the registration process for professional bodies and have some background for such operations.

Tip no.2

Go personally to their offices, meet the team, check their surroundings and their employees and make sure that their company culture fits in with yours.

Tip no.3

Meet the people who will be working with you to find your talent. Recognise them as your partners, understand that they are trying to help you grow your business by recruiting the right talent, engender an environment of honesty so that their feedback is conducive to positive change that further enhances your business offering.

Tip no.4

Reference your recruitment partners, talking to their other clients to get feedback on both the business and the consultants you work with. They are the most trustworthy sources on this matter but be careful on rushing to call the number they gave you immediately. It could be anyone. Research the company on the Internet and make sure it’s a really credible source.

Tip no.5

Investigate the kind of support they offer as the way they treat the candidates tells a lot about their business and will dictate the quality of candidates that are attracted to their business, and as a result, yours.

These are just a few tips on making the right choice. The fundamental driver should be to ascertain whether their business is as professional as your, that their emphasis on quality and culture is as focused as yours and that they understand the strategy goals of your business and how talent fits in to your growth strategy. If your consultancy ticks all of these boxes, you have yourself a real partner rather than just an agency trying to ‘sell’ you candidates.

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The Dylan Blog

From the Mash Field to Office Glory – Part 1

4 Job Search Tips For Aspiring SEO/SEM Specialists

The Agency Workers Regulations

CIPD calls for ‘training wage’

Going that extra mile to secure the role..

Value Creation

Ways to select the right recruitment company