A growing team

I am really pleased to use this week’s blog as an opportunity to welcome two new people to the Nicholas Howard team.  Sophie Duffield and Emma Jones started recently as Recruiter and Client Engagement Manager respectively.

Both Emma and Sophie have made an immediate impact on the team and will be a very important part of what we are striving to deliver in 2017.

Welcome to the team Emma and Sophie, exciting times ahead.

http://www.nicholashoward.co.uk/our-team/

Double Yellow Lines On The Pavement.

Double Yellow Lines On The Pavement.

Before you laugh!  Think about it…

The idea struck me today, I was making my way to our office along the Strand, which granted is busy, but at the moment there is a good number of building works and obstructions on the pavement.

Up until the smart phone, we as fully functioning, humans can navigate these tight spots without hassle, however, given that 90% of people barely go 50 paces without checking their phone, we have a problem.

The vast majority of people of course can check their phone, dare I say even text or check directions while still walking with one eye on the throng…however, there is a certain proportion that stop. Dead. Right in the middle of the pavement.  This either causes you to walk into the back of them, which I did twice today – interesting with me apologising profusely both times, the ‘stopper’ then graciously forgiving me – even though on reflection surely it should be the other way round?  (I wasn’t on my phone after all) or have to jump around them, and risk hitting the oncoming pedestrians, who will growl at their own displeasure at having to stop checking their phone to avoid you!!

It’s madness, it really is, walking along the street has become an obstacle race.  The only solution?

The yellow lines on the pavement, no stopping and no checking phones routes, an area of pavement where people like me, who quite like to look up at where they are walking and take in a bit of the journey, can do so safe in the knowledge that we aren’t going to give ourselves numerous fat lips on the backs of heads as we try to get to and from the shops or work or wherever.

It won’t happen, and I am sure we will evolve to have eyes that can focus on a screen and the world around us far better, but in the meantime, pass me my gum shield, I have to run for the bus!

Lucky Charms

Lucky Charms

I read earlier this week that on Friday 13^th January, Flight 666 took flight destined for ‘HEL’….

As I read the piece about people refusing to board etc, I’ll admit I thought ‘how ridiculous’!  But then I checked myself somewhat - I think I have superstitions riddled throughout my life…

• When getting ready to play cricket, I always put my left batting pad on first.
• Since starting Nicholas Howard, my lucky pen sits in the same pen slot in my brief case, even though I barely use that case anymore.
• I never leave the house without a special keyring that means an awful lot to me.
• I have good luck gifts from the kids scattered around my desk, and
• I still touch wood every time I am asked how business is going.

Maybe those people not boarding that flight weren’t as different to me as I thought.   In the end, whether luck is real, or the calmness taken from the knowledge that you have something extra on your side helps you through, I reckon it’s worth holding on to.

Johan Cruyff famously used to punch one of his team mates before every game.  I’m not sure how lucky that is for his team mate, but if it’s good enough for Johan…

So, go fetch that lucky tie, lucky earrings, lucky underwear, whatever it is that may give you a 1% lift before a big meeting or interview…the very least it can do is increase your calmness and make you feel more comfortable, and you never know what lady luck may also do for you!

Have a great weekend,

Nick

How things have changed…

How things have changed…

Today (Tuesday) is my birthday, a big one – 40….and yesterday I woke to the news that just 10 years ago, Apple launched the iPhone. 

It got me thinking, how could something none of us had heard of 10 years ago, be such a part of our day to day lives now?  Also, I wondered, has anything else taken over in such a way?  I couldn’t think of anything, but I did think it might be fun to Google a few things about the events in each of the decade marking years of my life, to see what has gone on.

Look out for the Simpsons one – has it really been that long?…and Google, has it really only been that long?….

No real science in the selection, and lots of very significant events omitted, but I just picked some fun ones that stood out for me….

I wonder how many Starbucks open per week???

I wonder where the electric car would be now if Google or Apple had been a car manufacturer???

Enjoy…..

1977

• World population est at 4.2 billion
•  Apple Computer is incorporated.
• The Atari 2600 home video game console is released.
• Star Wars opens in cinemas

1987

• World population est at 5 billion
• Tommy Lee Andrews is the first person to be convicted as a result of DNA fingerprinting
• The Simpsons cartoon first appears as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show.
• InterCity 125 breaks world diesel powered train speed record reaching 238 km/h (147.88 mph)
• Channel Tunnel digging commences
• The first Starbucks Coffee stores outside Seattle are opened in Vancouver and Chicago.

1997

• World population est at 5.8 billion
• In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned and was born in July 1996
• The domain name for the web search engine Google is registered.
• Steve Jobs returns to Apple Computer, Inc at Macworld in Boston.
• Microsoft buys a $150 million share of financially troubled Apple Computer.
• The Toyota Prius, the first hybrid vehicle to go into full production, is unveiled in Japan on October 24

2007

• World population est at 6.6 billion
• Apple Inc.'s first iPhone smartphone is announced by Steve Jobs at Macworld in San Francisco
• The New Wembley stadium is completed

2017

•  World population est at 7.4 billion
• I wonder….

New Year – New Resolution or New You?

New Year – New Resolution or New You?

Happy New Year everyone, hopefully everyone is feeling relaxed and energised for 2017.

2017, can you believe it, just a blink of an eye since we were all nervously awaiting the Millennium Bug and all worldwide IT systems crashing!

So, what are the goals for 2017?  New job?  New weight?  New car?  Less debt?  More money? More time at home?  All these goals have one thing in common – you!

Whatever you are looking to change or achieve over the coming 12 months, the only person that is going to achieve them is you, and whether the goal has changed from last year, or is the same one that you have been aiming for over the last however many years, unless you do something different, you will end up here next year making the same promises.

We all mean to stick to them, I know I do - every year I am going to lose the same weight as I was going to last year, eat the same healthy food as I was going to last year, make more use of the same hours in each day as I was going to last year, and the only reason I fail is because of the decisions I make as the year progresses.

The goals don’t change, they don’t get any easier over time, but they don’t really get any harder either, so why do we fail?  Is it because they are impossible, or is it because we don’t change?

Maybe if the goals aren’t changing, I need to?  Maybe I need to reframe my definition of success?  Perhaps aim for the same goal, but rather than judging myself in February, I should judge myself in June, and then again in September and lastly in December?

For the first three months I am going to practice and discover what works for me in achieving those aims.   

With some determination, by giving myself a break if I fall backwards at any point, but focusing on the changes not to?? targets…I am hoping I will get there.

It might not work, I will let you know in 2018!!

Have a great year!!

Does WiFi kill coffee shops?

This could be contentious....and I love nothing more than whiling away a few hours chatting in coffee shops, but today, while desperately trying to find  somewhere to have such a chat, I realised that free WiFi could be killing the coffee shop.

Three times I tried, in three different places, to no avail, but these cafes were not packed with the hubbub and murmur of old friends and colleagues catching up over coffee, oh no, I was met with practical silence, abandoned empty espresso or flat white cups, and single users, headphones in, staring at laptops or smart phones.

Nicholas Howard relies as much as any business on coffee shop space and WiFi accessibility, so don't think I am anti it, but I personally adhere to a pack up once you've drunk up rule.

Ordering one drink, then sitting on free WiFi for hour after hour just doesn't seem fair - even less so when single users take up four-seater tables.

This sounds like a rant, but I reckon coffee shops should introduce the WiFi space, single seats, on rows, for longer term users, stick a usb charging point in the arm of the chair, embrace that some people don't want to chat, but simply surf for free, and leave the main communal space to those using the coffee shop for genuine socialising and meetings?

Better atmosphere out front, easier to concentrate in the rows - sounds like something for Dragons Den?

I think I am getting old, but I also think it would work.

The Ultimate Temp to Perm?

I will admit, I love sport, and high among my favourites is football, and therefore I follow England with keen interest.

I have often critiqued the recruitment process in football, especially for players, but that is for another time.  I was taken over the last month with the Gareth Southgate story.  I obviously don’t know Southgate, but in my opinion he should get the job; that said, I’d have given it to him permanently as soon as the position became available.

What the FA decided to do, was something akin to a temp to perm.

When you take someone temp to perm, you get all the benefits of trying before you buy, checking out how the candidate operates before you commit, getting to judge them over time, rather than just in an interview….it can be a great scenario.

There is a flip side though, the candidate is sometimes left with everything to lose!

At the outset of the contract, the candidate has the job - it’s only theirs to lose.  They then work through a trial period where they may feel everything is under the microscope; they ‘cannot make a mistake’.  It is possible that this pressure of having to prove oneself over an elongated period could prove uncomfortable for some candidates.  The same individual may blossom given the full sponsorship of a permanent role offered from day one.

Don’t get me wrong, temp to perm can be a great solution for candidates and employers alike, but don’t underestimate the value you get from making a strong and committed offer from day one.

I wonder how great Gareth may have felt had the FA said you are our man, and if the players could have worked any harder knowing they were impressing their long term boss?

You never know, but it’s worth a thought!