Recruitment Matters International March 2023 Newsletter

Are we about to turn the corner on inflation, at last? Often considered a good indicator of how the British High Street is doing, Next has said it will put up its prices by less than expected this year.

It said it now expected prices to rise by 7% in the spring and summer of  2023, and 3% in the autumn and winter - slightly less than the increases it warned of in January. It said shipping costs were falling and suppliers were charging better rates.

The Bank of England expects annual inflation to fall to under 3% by the  end of the year, as energy and food costs come down. However, there was a surprise jump to 10.4% from 10.1% in January, so we're clearly not out of the woods yet. Nonetheless, overall , encouraging signs..

Back in the world of recruitment training, RMI's continues to hold our course rates for the third year running, so do have a look at our latest training schedule.

Articles in this edition of our newsletter include:-

Warren advises on how to create an IMPACT when making presentations.

Networking guru, Will Kintish shares some practical and powerful networking tips.

JMW's Simon Bloch reviews the government's response to recommendations for reform relating to menopause and the workplace.

And I look at how Dale Carnegie's "How To Win Friends and Influence People" is still as relevant today as it was when it was originally published in the 1930s..

Lastly, for news of our full range of recruitment services, including upcoming training courses, check out "What's new?"
 

Contributor: Warren Kemp, CEO and Trainer, Recruitment Matters International. Warren is also a qualified Mental Health First Aid Instructor

Whenever we deliver a presentation we should always view it as our responsibility to put on a performance - to just flatly convey words and visuals is at best boring and, at worst, insulting. Everyone gets a buzz out of listening to a well-structured, well delivered, impactful presentation. Delivering such a presentation adds stature and credibility to any speaker.
 
The trick is to follow a simple process, a process that will ensure that you attend to all the details, hold the audience’s attention, and get your message across without losing any meaning in the process. The process that I use is to remember that I am trying to create an IMPACT. Let me explain:
 
I – Identify your goals
M – Manage your stress
P – Put on a Performance
A – Consider the Audience
C – Keep Control
T – Timing
 
Let us look briefly at each stage.
 
Identify your goals. What are you hoping to achieve from your presentation? Are you merely relaying information or are you attempting to gain commitment to a new plan or strategy? Clearly, the actual content of your message will determine the style that you choice to adopt. Consider what questions they are likely to ask you and include those subjects in your script.
 
Manage your stress. There are many publicised ways to relax and stay calm but, as far as I am concerned, relaxation comes from the knowledge that you know your subject and from the fact that you have prepared everything down to the smallest detail. You have all your sales aids prepared, the script is finely tuned and you know what you are trying to achieve. So relax and enjoy it.
 
Put on a performance. You owe it to yourself and your audience to put on a good show, so do not disappoint anyone. Hit them with a compelling opening, a statement of intent and content, develop all aspects fully, and round off with a simple summary that leaves no one in any doubt as to where you stand, what your opinion is or what you expect. Use strong, uncluttered visuals and do avoid Clipart. Also avoid repetition of keywords or phrases as this will diminish their value.
 
The audience. Who are they? What do they know? What are they expecting? Can you deliver? They want you to succeed, to motivate them, to persuade them. They are on your side. Consider using some of their words to help you in presenting your message; obtain quotes and testimonies from key members of the audience as this will undoubtedly strengthen your position. Do not hide in the run up to your presentation or during the coffee breaks, get out there and mix it with your audience.
 
Keep control. Losing your way during a presentation can be soul destroying and can weaken your delivery to the point of no return. Deal with objections and questions in a positive, confident way. If you have carefully considered the questions that they might ask, and then pre-emptively included the answers in your presentation, you can avoid interruptions altogether. Do encourage questions and never leave questions to the end, as someone who is holding a question until later will not be fully listening.
 
Timing. How many presentations have you sat through where the pace at the front end was much slower than at the back end? It is vitally important to maintain a constant pace that enables you to cover all that you need to in the time allotted. Sure, people will listen if you overrun but they will be more interested in how long you overrun by than by what you are saying. You will have completed all the hard work in preparing the presentation - don’t waste all that work by not keeping to the time allotted.
 
So, briefly, there you have the structure to keep you on the right tracks and make sure that you deliver a faultless performance every time.
 
Finally, remember - tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you have told them! It’s a simple process and it really works.

Practical and Powerful Networking Tips
 

How To Win Friends and Influence People

 

• Don’t criticise, condemn or complain
• Give honest and sincere appreciation
• Arouse in the other person an eager want

• Become genuinely interested in other people
• Smile
• Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language
• Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves
• Talk in terms of the other person’s interests
• Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely

• The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it
• Show respect for the other people’s opinions. Never say “You’re wrong.”
• If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically
• Begin in a friendly way
• Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately
• Let the other person do a great deal of the talking
• Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers
• Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view
• Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires
• Appeal to the nobler motives
• Dramatise your ideas
• Throw down a challenge

• Begin with praise and honest appreciation
• Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly
• Talk about your own mistakes before criticising the others
• Ask questions instead of giving direct orders
• Let the other person save face
• Praise the slightest improvement
• Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to
• Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct
• Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest

 

• Appointing a Menopause Ambassador;
• Producing model menopause policies;
• Piloting a menopause leave policy with a large public sector employer;
• Making flexible working a day one right for employees;
• Central guidance to be published on menopause by HSE and EHRC; and
• A Government consultation on making menopause a protected characteristic within the Equality Act 2010