1-7 June is Volunteers’ Week in the UK and lots of charities and other organisations which rely on volunteers are highlighting the huge variety of roles for volunteers and the many ways in which people can contribute to their chosen good causes and to wider civil society. Let’s hope the recruitment drive succeeds in matching […]
Posts By: Elaine Smethurst
How to benchmark and improve your performance
It’s already the middle of January and many New Year Resolutions are teetering on the brink of collapse. But fear not – there is one resolution that you can make which you will be able to keep because it requires little effort, is really interesting for anyone who is curious about how others behave and […]
The importance of workforce development
The importance of workforce development should not be underestimated but in these days of funding cutbacks and emphasis on evaluating impact, setting up social enterprises and collaboration with the public sector it’s easy for people and their development needs to drop down the priority list. Perhaps people are seen as less complex or less essential […]
Being a good employer – getting the basics right
Employing people is a complex business and ensuring that your organisation is legally compliant can seem daunting to the board of trustees of a charity. Many aren’t daunted because they are unaware of their responsibilities and liabilities and may get a rude awakening when something happens to disturb their calm. Keeping abreast of charity legislation […]
Meeting deadlines
There’s nothing like the adrenalin rush that comes with having to meet an imminent deadline and managing to get there – just in the nick of time, sometimes by staying up all night and drinking lots of coffee and scraping past the winning post. Yes! Takes some of us back to our student days when […]
Increase your chances of getting to interview
I’ve just completed a recruitment brief for a small organisation and thought it might be a useful time to reflect on some of the things I have learned, or been reminded of, to help recruiters and applicants get to interview. Firstly, and no apologies for restating some obvious points, it is really important as a […]
Behaving with integrity
This week the results of an Essex University survey on integrity were published causing a flurry of articles and discussion about the findings. It seems that from their responses to the questions asked, fewer young people show integrity than those in older age groups and that a greater number of us are less honest than […]
Someone to talk to
Desert Island Discs may seem an unlikely source of inspiration for a blog on mentoring but that’s where this one started. Martin Sorrell of WPP was talking to Sue Lawley in a recent Radio 4 programme, about his business success and the support he had had from his father who had offered him a listening […]
Learning to succeed
I sat on an interview panel yesterday and was impressed by the calibre of the candidates. One particular point which impressed me was the response which all the interviewees gave as part of their answer to the question “What personal attributes would you bring to the role in addition to your skills and experience?” The […]
Finding and keeping trustees
In Trustees Week 2011 it seems timely to write a few words about the challenge that faces many of us who are involved in charity management. How do we find skilled individuals willing to volunteer their time as trustees and, having found them, how do we then keep them on board? Recruiting the right trustees […]