Stop Writing the Job Spec: Hiring for the Need, Not the Gap (with Michael Ruiter)

Stop Writing the Job Spec: Hiring for the Need, Not the Gap (with Michael Ruiter)

Something breaks in your business. How long before someone writes a job spec? For most teams, about three weeks. Michael Ruiter, interim CEO and transformation consultant, thinks that's the wrong move almost every time. In this episode he breaks down how to hire for the need, not the gap: * The questions to ask before you write a single job description * Why your current need and your future need are often two different jobs * Why experience doesn't predict on-the-job success #Hiring #InterimLeadership #Recruitment #TeamBuilding #Transformation

Reshaping a Team You Did Not Build: Transformational Leadership Done Right (with Jenny Jarvis)

When you inherit a team you did not build, where do you actually start? Jenny Jarvis (COO, Energy Saving Trust and author of Lead With Confidence) shares how she walks into established teams and reshapes them through transformation: diagnosing the organisation before judging the people, and starting with the work rather than the org chart. You’ll learn: • How to prepare before day one and test your assumptions instead of acting on them • Why most we need a new hire decisions are really structure problems in disguise • How to redeploy the talent you already have before replacing it #TransformationalLeadership #TeamBuilding #LeadershipStyle #HiringStrategy #WomenInLeadership

Why Every Application Gets Read by a Human (with Sarah Mukherjee MBE)

How do you build a recruitment process that genuinely tests for values, in a 50-person organisation operating in 120 countries? Sarah Mukherjee MBE (CEO, IEMA, former BBC Environment Correspondent) shares the practical operating model behind a small, global, values-driven team: human-read applications, peer interviewers, a welcome letter at the front of every job description, and why ‘soft skills’ should be renamed professional skills. You’ll learn: * How to test for values without relying on rehearsed answers * Why every application is worth a human read * What the ‘welcome letter’ front-page does to your applicant pool * Why ‘professional skills’ is a better, fairer name for the things that actually make business work #ValuesDrivenHiring #ProfessionalSkills #HumanInTheLoop #JobDescriptions #PeopleAndCulture #NotForProfit #Sustainability #TeamBuilding

Why I Scrapped the Probationary Period (with Ken Mackness)

What if scrapping probationary periods was the most powerful trust signal you could send a new hire? Ken Mackness (CEO, membership, charity, private and local authority sectors) makes the case for hiring on values, trusting from day one, and building boards that challenge rather than echo. Plus, why most recruitment failures are the company’s fault, not the candidate’s. You’ll learn: * Why values and transferable traits beat technical experience * How to use trust as the operating principle of a team * Why scrapping probationary periods can lift performance from day one * What separates a culture fit board from a culture add one #Hiring #Leadership #Trust #Probation #CultureAdd #Membership #NotForProfit #TeamBuilding

The framework angle Clarity, Connection, Confidence: The Three Cs of Hiring Young Talent (with John Yarham)

Why do so many employers say they want young talent, then build processes that quietly filter young people out? John Yarham (CEO, The Careers & Enterprise Company) shares 25+ years of practical insight into what genuinely works: essential skills over soft skills, reimagined work experience, the apprenticeship opportunity most employers miss, and the three Cs that decide whether early talent succeeds. You’ll learn: * Why ‘soft skills’ should be called essential skills * What reimagined work experience looks like, and why SMEs can run it * Why ‘recruit from the left’ wins for most UK businesses * The three Cs that decide whether early talent thrives or stalls #EarlyTalent #Apprenticeships #WorkExperience #EssentialSkills #Hiring #Education #YoungPeople #TeamBuilding Links discussed * Measure your early careers outreach with CEC’s free 25-minute assessment here: https://employer.careersandenterprise.co.uk/#/registration [https://employer.careersandenterprise.co.uk/#/registration] * Find your local careers hub: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/careers-hubs/contact-your-local-careers-hub [https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/careers-hubs/contact-your-local-careers-hub] * The new Skills England skills classification tool is here: https://skillsclassification.org/ [https://skillsclassification.org/]