Are you a Leader in business? 

Do you recruit new employees into your team or department?

If so, there’s a chance you might be missing out on a lucrative and mutually beneficial opportunity in the area of recruitment and selection.

Namely, Career Break Candidates, a.k.a. ‘Relaunchers‘.

Most relaunchers will suffer some kind of negative bias when it comes to recruitment and even promotions, typically losing out to candidates who haven’t taken breaks.

In fact, let me give you some quick fire statistics that might surprise you:

• Career breaks are popular among both men and women.
• Over 60% of us are likely to take a career break (Harvard Business Review).
• The main reason is to care for a child or elderly person.
• 93% will want to re-enter the workplace after their career break.
• Three in five professional women will return to lower-skilled or lower-paid jobs following their career breaks (PWC).
• ‘Career breakers’ are likely to suffer an immediate salary reduction of up to one third! (PWC).

So what’s going on?

Recruitment and selection is a two-way deal between employers and candidates, so it’s important to see both sides of the story and acknowledge the deeper reasons or fears that come naturally with this process.

Firstly, for career-break candidates, they often feel anxious about going back to work, and it’s no surprise, they’ve had a break from the chaos of the corporate environment, but they also fear how companies will see them, believing that they’re not up to date, they lack drive, or that they’re simply inferior to other candidates.

For employers and recruiters, typical fears may include that candidates are not up-to-date (technically or industry specific), may have lost motivation or career direction, don’t see the company or their work as high priority, may be inflexible or may not fit with the modern corporate culture, among other things. We’ve written more about this here.

And these fears and assumptions often mask the true potential that both employer and relauncher have by working together.

As a business professional yourself, if you took a career break, would you consider yourself less talented or driven when you decide to return to the work you’re passionate about? Probably not.

It’s not all gloom and doom, of course, there are many forward-thinking companies, like JP Morgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs, IBM, Intel and GM, to name just a few, that are already benefiting from this largely untapped pool of talent, by actively offering specific opportunities to these candidates.

In fact, some companies recognise the benefit of a career break so much that they actually offer these to their employees – Research by SHRM in 2017 suggested that up to 17% of organisations offer paid or unpaid sabbaticals.

To see more on how companies are adapting, check out this interesting article and video!

So, the question remains, how can companies benefit from hiring Relauncher candidates?

Here are 7 Reasons Why Career-break Candidates (aka relaunchers) could be some of the best hires for your business:

1. Experience & Expertise: These candidates can have valuable professional experience, refined expertise, deep knowledge and insight, as well as education and professional training to top, which can be a huge asset to your company.
2. Stability: Relaunchers typically have more lifestyle stability than a lot of other candidates, they’re settled and they have a long-term mindset towards work and seek stability in their jobs to match their stability at home. Something that other candidates may not be able to offer.
3. Maturity: Their career experience and mature perspective are an asset just waiting to be engaged. They can be rational thinkers and excellent candidates for future leadership.
4. Less Career Interruptions: Having had their career break and possibly maternity/paternity leave, these candidates are actually less likely to require more leave from work in the future as they have already passed that stage of their lives.
5. Drive & Enthusiasm: They are excited and energetic to get back to the office, with an honest, deep rooted enthusiasm to work and develop themselves professionally, and be of value to a company. Embrace this!
6. Flexibility: These candidates can also be ideal for part-time roles or ‘returnship’ programs, also known as re-entry programs, to help them rejoin the corporate world gradually and effectively, depending on their requirements and confidence levels. Remember, these candidates are still driven by career progression!
7. Loyalty: They typically look for stable, steady progression opportunities instead of jumping from company to company to climb the career ladder. They want to gain experience and skills and prove they are worth investing in… because they really are worth it!

So, if you are struggling to find great candidates through your traditional recruitment methods, or simply want to expand the pool of top talent you attract to your company, why not consider relaunchers for your business.

Hopefully this article has given you some food for thought. For both parties to reap the rewards, both candidates and companies need to make an important mindset shift, to be more forward thinking and adaptable.

As an employer or recruiter, what do you think are the main fears companies have about employing career-break candidates?

Can you think of any other reasons why relaunchers might be great for businesses?

What tips would you give for professionals looking to rejoin the job market following a career break?

Let us know your ideas and experiences here in the comments box and feel free to share this article with your friends and colleagues via Facebook & LinkedIn.

Best,

Adam 

P.S. If you’re looking to continue to develop as a leader and professional, check out our portfolio services ranging from Business English Courses, Training Courses, Coaching and Recruitment Support today.

For the definitions of the highlighted words check our Glossary.

Are you a leader in Business? 

Would you like to be? Do you report directly to a business leader in your company?

If so, you’ll have a good idea about what great management and leadership involves, and no doubt a few ideas and experiences of some not so great leadership, too.

I often talk in depth with my clients about what high-quality leadership really entails, from different management styles, levels of emotional intelligence, and greater communication skills, to effective talent recognition and retention, inspiration, motivation and empowerment.

But when we boil it right down, Leaders have a simple role overall, to have a clear vision or strategy, and to guide their followers (employees), and inspire them to value that vision and help the company to achieve it. It sounds simple when we look at it from afar, like this.

It gets a little more complex when you start to delve a little deeper, into the ‘how’ leaders do this ‘simple’ task.

Ultimately, Leaders achieve success through effective decision making and a certain vision and clarity they have, but how effectively their employees work for them is usually down to something far simpler, yet far deeper: by knowing how to make their employees FEEL a certain way about the company or the work they are doing.

Be that a feeling of motivation, passion, excitement, connection, pride, value and importance, respect, security, variety, growth, progression, contribution, responsibility and empowerment, sometimes fear or consequence, and in really great leaders, a sense of certainty and safety.

I spoke about this in another article on leadership, where I shared a great TED talk from Simon Sinek.

Generally speaking, as employees, we want to be inspired, we want direction and certainty, and we want growth and empowerment.

As business leaders, we want commitment, passion, respect, dedication, and of course, results.

This relationship between Leader and Follower is a two-way channel, give and take, cause and effect. And it works best when that cause really resonates with the employees, their inner values, drivers, and their fantastic reciprocal nature to do something good for their leader in return.

Now I’m interested to know your thoughts, your opinions and experiences.

As a leader in business, how do you make your employees feel? And how do you know they truly feel that way?

Do you create an environment of certainty and empowerment? Is that possible for all businesses and departments?

If you’re not a leader in business yet, can you see how your leaders could enhance their leadership style with this in mind?

Let us know what you think about this subject by sharing your ideas and experiences in the comments below!

You can also share this article with your friends and colleagues on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Best,

Adam

For the definitions of the highlighted words check our Glossary. 

Leadership is changing! Are you on board?

Whether you’re a CEO, Area Manager or Team Supervisor, how you ‘perform’ as a leader of people and in particular, how you continually learn and adapt, will define your career success, as well as the respect of peers and leaders around you.

Why do I say this?

Maybe that seems pretty obvious to some?

But the truth of the matter is that the majority of today’s leaders are falling behind the pace and some are simply static.

Leadership is rapidly undergoing a much needed upgrade, something which is dramatically changing the face of organisational cultures, employee engagement and business potential as a whole.

The challenge is, everyone has a different idea of what good leadership is. So what is the right way to lead?

What does great leadership mean to you? Does it mean the same to your colleagues?

In this article, I’m sharing an interesting TED Talk with you, presented by Rosalinde Torres on the subject of New Leadership.

During her speech Roselinde asks 3 very interesting questions, among others, as to what it takes to be a great leader today and how to thrive as a leader in the future.

From 25 years of observing great leadership, the contrast she is able to draw between what most leaders do and the leadership qualities and skills that are actually needed in today’s modern world, is vast, powerful and kind of clear to see when we look at the businesses all around us.

So, would you say you’re already aligned with new leadership requirements? Well, it’s time to watch the video and find out. Try as you watch, to reflect on the 3 key questions she poses.

What do you think of Rosalinde’s speech? Do you agree with her view on the future of leadership?

As you reflected on the questions she raised in the video, could you see room to adapt or improve your own leadership style in some way? The best leaders always find ways to learn and improve.

In fact, continual improvement is often a defining characteristic of great leaders!

If you’re not a leader in business, yet, can you see these comparisons in the leaders you interact with at work? How would you lead if you were in their position?

Share your ideas and experiences with us in the comments section! You can also share this article with your colleagues and friends via Facebook and LinkedIn.

Best,

Adam

For the definitions of the highlighted words check our Glossary. 

Diversity in the Workplace Can Improve Your Business! Just look at Apple, JP Morgan and Alibaba!

Many businesses these days aim to do more than just make money, they want to make a difference in the world somehow.

Often, companies can do this by moving our society forward, be it through technology, innovation, products and services, or simply by influencing a new way of thinking.

Today, with ever-changing employment laws and regulations, businesses are obliged to fulfill certain requirements with regards to equality, diversity, employee rights and data protection, and rightly so.

But aside from the law, what else drives business decisions around the subject of employee diversity?

How much should companies care about diversity in the workplace? Are these regulations something they simply fulfill because they have to hit their quota, or do they see the real value and the potential for this to be an influential factor for the success of their business?

Why don’t we see companies doing more about this?

In this article, we share a video with you that highlights how employee AND leadership diversity in today’s businesses shouldn’t just be the politically correct thing to do…

…It should be actively acknowledged that there are numerous significant business benefits to diversifying your company’s workforce and leadership.

Forward thinking businesses such as Apple, JP Morgan and Alibaba, already recognise this, and they’re reaping the rewards!

Rocío Lorenzo took matters into her own hands to go one step further and prove that diversity matters, both because it’s right and because businesses thrive as a result of it!

She led a team who conducted interesting research into the matter, revealing astonishing facts and figures about the current state of affairs in companies around the world, in terms of diversity and equality, as well as the correlation between employee diversity, business innovation and results.

Check out Rocío’s TED Talk right here:

We can’t get enough of Rocío’s TED Talk! But what do you think?

Do you agree with her findings? How does this compare to your company or country culture?

Do you think companies in your country are making enough changes or is something greater needed to stimulate this kind of movement?

Let us know your opinion, experience and ideas on this in the comments box below!

Feel free to share this article with your friends and colleagues on Facebook and LinkedIn, so they can take in this important message on modern day organisational diversity, too.

Best,

Adam