By Michelle Boyde

Employers are targeting talent younger and younger. I just interviewed an HR representative from the National Institute of Health.  It’s very interesting to hear what they are doing in the US to encourage very young children to take an interest in science. This is definitely long term talent pipeline management.

If UK university courses will cost £9,000 per year, we cannot blame young people for re-considering a university education. How it will affect the graduate recruitment pipeline in specialised subjects is up for speculation. Students who may have chosen a ‘softer’ course may decide to invest in a degree which promises a return – therefore, we may see an increase in graduates choosing degrees in key subjects like the sciences, engineering and IT. Or, will numbers of competent students chose not to enter the university system at all leaving the UK with a shortage of graduates across the board,

Either way, one thing is for sure: employers will need to step-up their industry attraction before students apply to university. Teenagers need to think it’s cool to be an engineer before they summit their UCAS form – otherwise it’s all too late.

You can read the full story in Universum Quarterly 2011 issue four. If you have an initiative for building the brand to pre-university talent email Michelle on michelle.boyde@universumeurope.com.

It’s often attributed to a one-sided focus—often personal attitudes and behaviours—while neglecting the development of processes and structures. Sometimes, diversity efforts target certain groups, such as women or employees of a particular ethnic background, rousing resistance amongst others who feel like they don’t belong because they don’t recognize the advantages for themselves. As these employees often comprise the majority and hold managerial positions, they feel excluded and may hamper the progress of your diversity efforts and affect the perception of your employer brand. Thus, do not focus exclusively on those that differ from the norm, but give everyone the opportunity to develop.

Republished: “Diversity”, by Annika Lagerholm, Universum Quarterly, 2006, Issue 1

By Michelle Boyde
Source: Universum Quarterly 2010, Issue 1

Do you work in a recruitment team or a rejection team? It’s possible that you have not considered your role in this light before. Many employers decline far more candidates than they ever hire. The world’s most popular employers will always have to deal with declining large numbers of candidates. However, due to the impact of the global economic crisis, employers of all sizes, from small start-ups to multinational conglomerates are facing the issue of declining candidates in large numbers. Today’s rejects are possible future lateral hires and potential customers or business partners – do your processes protect your employer brand against this threat?

The phrase ‘rejection machine’ was coined by Charles Macleod, head of global resourcing and mobility at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). This is a very fitting phrase as PwC receives 20,000 to 25,000 applications for 1,000 jobs in the UK– they certainly do much more ‘rejecting’ than ‘recruiting’. This expression prompted Universum Quarterly to take a look at an aspect of the recruitment process many employers are reticent to discuss.

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