The Independent Minds

Everyone who is frustrated by the way recruitment and selection works should listen to this episode of The Independent Minds.

Michael Millward founder of Abeceder meets Brandon Stevens the founder and CEO of Scoutr.

If you are a job-hunter who is tired of sifting through countless job advertisements on yet more websites only to conclude that you are unlikely to ever find the job that will really suite you, then this episode of The Independent Minds is for you.

If you are an employer who is tired of sifting through countless job applications from candidates who have gone ‘point-click-apply. If you are reaching the conclusion that you will never find the right person to fill that business-critical role, then this episode of The Independent Minds is for you.

Designed by recruiters and data scientists Scoutr is revolutionising the process of matching talent to jobs, and vice versa, in a way that is expected to speed-up the hiring process while at the same time ensuring that the person ends up in the right job more of the time.

If you need help with recruitment or any other employee management issues contact Abeceder.

In this episode of The Independent Minds, Michael Millward meets John McLachlan, co-author of ‘Real Leaders: a practical guide to the essential qualities of effective leadership’ looking at the three essential leadership traits that can’t be faked and how to ensure you have them?

John explains that the single, most important, attribute of a good leader, is trustworthiness. But asks Michael But how do we develop trust?

Fortunately, John is on-hand to explain: why trust is so important; and that the three building blocks of trust are honesty, consistency, and integrity.

Yoou will learn why these three building building blocks are so important and how you can learn to understand your personal way of incorporating them into how you manage and lead your team. 

It is very easy to drop in to every day conversations words and phrases that have specific medical definitions. In some ways this might make us feel more comfortable, after all we have a word that sort of describes how we feel. Sometimes the words might help us explain to others how we feel.

Burnout is one of these sorts of words. It is an authentic medical term that describes a specific set of medical symptoms. It is also a term that has entered the everyday set of expressions that we use to describe how very tired we are.

In this episode of The Independent Minds Michael Millward meets Tania Diggory from Calmer who explains what Burnout really is, how it affects individuals and what employers can do to educate their employees, identify employees who might be at risk of burnout, and the support that they can provide to those employees.

During the conversation Tania refers to a post on the Calmer website, which can be accessed via this link.

Remember, at Abeceder we don’t tell you what to think, we just aim to make you think!

Most people have jobs that pay around average earnings, no surprise there!

In this episode of The Independent Minds, host Michael Millward hears from Anthony Silver of Talent Recognition why so many people find it difficult to be happy and successful in their average pay job.

Employees are unhappy at work and employers are failing to realise the productivity that happy employees could create because the way that job vacancies are filled is, says Anthony, fundamentally flawed.

Anthony explains to Michael how recruitment processes are failing both employers and employees because they focus on hard skills; the skills that an employee can learn once they have started in their new job.

The best recruitment decisions are, says Anthony, include an assessment of soft skills at an early stage in the selection process.

Anthony explains how his company Talent Recognition have developed a process that enables recruiters to assess a candidate’s soft skills at a very early stage in the selection process.

For a free trial of the solution that Anthony and his team at Talent Recognition have developed, please contact Michael Millward at Abeceder.co.uk.

Remember, at Abeceder we don’t want to tell you what to think, but we do aim to make you think.

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Have you got it? You are not alone!

Find out how to conquer Imposter Syndrome: in this episode of The Independent Minds. 

Michael Millward meets Ian Child to find out how to conquer Imposter Syndrome.

It’s estimated that around 70% of the population suffers from Imposter Syndrome. Albert Einstein, Serena Williams, Tom Hanks, and Lady Gaga are all famous sufferers. So, what is it and what can you do to combat it?

Ian Child a sufferer of Imposter Syndrome explains some of the ten strategies he has used to combat his own Imposter Syndrome to Michael Millward.

They explore the challenges of managing a career and the risks of developing imposter syndrome.

Ian Child is a former corporate leader, co-founder of the training company propertyCEO and the author of ‘Your Own Personal Time Machine’, a guide to getting your life back, available exclusively from amazon.co.uk. in paperback and e-book. He is also a sufferer of Imposter Syndrome.

This episode of The Independent Minds is produced by Abeceder .

Michael Millward of Abeceder meets Peter Mohr, the founder of Simplifying Entrrepreneurship.com to discuss how Peter has built a career as a successful entrepreneur.

They discuss how the roles of founder/entrepreneur and business manager differ in any type of organisation. Peter explains how being a founder/entrepreneur involves an acceptance of risks that business managers to not have to take on. As a serial entrepreneur Peter has accepted these risks, but only because he believes that the rewards of accepting those risks must be worthwhile.

Peter goes on to explain that many founder/entrepreneurs do not reap the benefits of their entrepreneurship. They never get to enjoy the freedom that being your own boss is supposed to provide.

The reason for this is that they fail to develop the key skills of entrepreneurship.

For many people being a founder/entrepreneur involves becoming a jack of all trades. But says Peter anyone who wants to set up any type of organisation, whether it is a charity, or a commercial organisation should, if they want to enjoy the freedom of being their own boss, focus on becoming the master of just three key skills.

Michael Millward of Abeceder meets The Independent Mind Chris Thomason the author of Freaky Thinking: Thinking that delivers a dazzling difference. 

Chris explains to Michael how the existing ways of structured thinking, that people adopt to solve problems and address challenges at work, often do not work.

Their conversation then explores how a Freaky Thinking approach, one that is in line with the way the human mind naturally solves problems, may provide organisations with an approach to solving problems and addressing challenges, that is more inclusive, and just might deliver better outcomes.

Thirty years of experience, research and reflection have given IT value expert David Jacobs, from MaxVal Consultancy a unique insight into what makes and what breaks the investment and implementation of any new IT solution.

In this episode of The Independent Minds David explains to Michael Millward why things go wrong and gives a useful golfing metaphor to help any organisation avoid those pitfalls.

If you enjoy this episode of The Independent Minds, please give it a like and download it. To make sure that you do not miss future episodes please subscribe.

Remember at The Independent Minds we do not want the content we create to tell you what to think, but in each episode, we do aim to make you think!

Jon Skulemowski explains to Michael Millward how Armia Systems learnt to successfully lead an off-shore multicultural team of 300 people that facilitated expodential growth in the company.

Jon and Michael discuss 

• the importance of building personal relationships with team members;
• being professional in every suituation; 
• understanding culture, and adapting behaviours and language to accommodate cultural differences;
• the difficulties of international accents;
• the key role that technology plays. 

You can find out more about MIchael and Jon at abeceder.co.uk

Form more information about Armia Systems please visit Armia.com

Kevin Palmieri joins The Independent Minds host Michael Millward to discuss the approach to achieving the best connection between work and life and vice versa that Kevin has developed.

In an interesting conversation Michael and Kevin discover that despite the different perspectives they take, Michael as a HR professional and Kevin as a personal coach, to looking at what makes people successful in work and life, they agree on what is needed to make both employers and  employees thrive.