Written by RMI’s MD, Ken Kemp.

Or, in our case, “trust us, we’re a recruitment training company.”

We had a highly productive internal meeting here recently with key members of our management team. The agenda included the usual topics such as a financial review, how are things looking for the rest of the year (very good, by the way), marketing plans and new ideas, etc.

However, there was a new subject on the agenda – cyber security. As you will probably know, new GDPR (data protection) regulations come into effect in May 2018, so we all need to become more vigilant and, where necessary, take action in a number of areas to lock down all sensitive data e.g. bank details. Once you start thinking about it, though, it reaches well beyond the office – into the home, the cloud, your suppliers and more. Frankly, it all seems a bit of a pain, but, of course, quite sensible in our increasing digitised and, therefore, vulnerable world. Besides, a fine of 4% of turnover if you are subject to a hack is best avoided, if at all possible.

FYI, some of the actions we’ll be undertaking include regular changing of all passwords and writing to key suppliers for reassurance on their security policies.

We hear more and more that what seems like the inexorable increase in technology will result in the loss of human jobs, along with the changes in industry to accommodate a workforce increasingly comprising of robots. If process-driven jobs can be broken down into tiny byte-sized pieces of computer code, with the subsequent erosion of the value of manpower where does that leave human interaction in the overall scheme of things?

What happens to trust when the digital workplace seems so fraught with risk? Where do relationships count for something in the bond between client and supplier?

In our training courses, we talk about developing relationships through ‘KLT’:
Know
Like
Trust

Is ‘KLT’ becoming increasingly obsolete? Hopefully not. Surely not in the world of recruitment which – for as long as humans are required to fulfil at least some jobs in the future – is a people business. All the technological support available has certainly made the job potentially more efficient. But… You can’t possibly decide on the right candidate for the job without the human element. Have they got the right personality or drive, what’s the chemistry like, etc?

Which brings me back to RMI as a recruitment training company. Thankfully, we have many regular clients who work with us because they know, like and trust us. Not just our management team and support staff but, critically, our trainers. In fact, every step along the way from their initial enquiry through to training delivery and beyond. We care deeply about the relationship we have with our clients – not just in terms of one company to another – but as people, too. That’s what makes for lasting relationships and long-standing partnerships.