People At Work With The Chemistry Group

In this episode, we place the education system under the microscope and ask how suitable it is for the modern world. Is it preparing the youth of today and giving them the best start in life? Our host Libby Godlee, a Business Analyst at Chemistry (and former school teacher), is joined by three superb guests. We're very fortunate to be joined by the founder of Employment Pathways, Peter Cobrin. Peter has spent his career in the education system and has some bold opinions about its current state with strong views on the way in which school leavers are thrust into university clearing. Joining Peter is Meshach McDonald. Meshach joined The Chemistry Group this year as a Project Coordinator. He cares deeply about everyone being given an equal opportunity in life. He subsequently went on to create a youth project from scratch to help direct young people aged 16-25 in London towards a positive future. The project encourages young people t

In this episode, Alasdair Scott, a product consultant at the Chemistry group and D&I advocate plays hosts two fantastic guests to discuss key diversity and inclusion policies and what really is front and centre of organisations minds in 2016. But we don't stop there. We also cover how to deliver real change within your organisation and list some key takeaways for all to consider. Joining us this week is the wonderful Liz Grant, OBE. A passionate supporter and practitioner of best practice for Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace. Liz delivers a variety of client and channel partner advisory activities for executive change as the Director of Fantail Business Development. Joining Liz is PAW regular Kirstie Kelly. One of the show's favorite guests Kirstie offers a fantastic insight into the world of work and explains how data can be used as a powerful tool to help present a rock solid business case for an inclusive and diverse workforce.  We hope you enjoy the show.   

  The People at Work podcast is on the lookout for business leaders to join us to discuss the wonderful world of work. We've been very fortunate to be joined by some great guests during the last six months and we're on the lookout for great individuals to join us in the coming weeks to help highlight some of the fascinating activities that are taking place every day in the workplace. We've touched on topics such as How to hire young talent, EVP, data in the recruitment process, the role of technology in recruitment, acceptance in the workplace and even Pokemon GO! BUT we're not stopping there. We're looking for people that have a unique insight to any and all aspects of work. If you've got an interesting outlook on working life we'd love to have a chat. We love to educate! We've covered such a huge array of topics that it just drives more and more intrigue. With your help, we'd love to continue this journey of discovery. If you'd like to enquire about th

What is the most important part of your business? If you answered personnel, we'd have to agree with you. The people employed by your company have a direct impact on every aspect of your business. Let me rephrase that. Listen stupid, people are important! Pay attention! We've talked before about how individuals can be let down by organizations, not least in their personal development. Having spent time, money and energy recruiting the right people, it seems completely alien to us to let them loose into the company without providing an array of tools to help them succeed. Building upon an existing skill set or talent seems perfectly acceptable when you reference a musician or sports person. "Of course you need to train. How would you ever expect to improve otherwise?" Every golf or tennis professional worth his or her salt has a coach, so why don't you have one in your job? Today, Benjamin Western who heads up Capability at Chemistry, and is responsible for the huge success that has befallen the Chemistry

Are graduate positions being filled by experienced interns? Is the future success of your career more heavily dependent on securing an internship than your undergrad degree?  It's a topic of hot debate, the old adage that experience is king seems to be impacting even the most fresh-faced of candidates.  With Amy King currently enjoying a few days off before her stint at Chemistry's Californian offices, we've managed to secure a fine replacement host in the form of Francesca Cockram. Her years of experience within the Chemistry family gives her a great perspective on the blights of modern recruitment.  Cesca is joined by a great a cross section of individuals all at varying points in their career.  Tom Quayle heads up the product department at Chemistry and is responsible for recruiting individuals that have the potential to be brilliant.  Tom Cornell, a recent intern turned full-time employee, and Kezia Philby, a University student with internship experience and an

Love it or hate it, football is part of the social fabric of British culture. The national team seems to be subjected to more pressure after each passing failed attempt at glory. Needless to say, the teams that do indeed reach dizzying heights are (perhaps a little unfairly) expected to repeat the process in subsequent years.  It's fair to argue that the England Manager is exposed to an elevated level of pressure and critique. Still very much England's national sport, football is often criticised and subjected to countless remarks as to what might have been.  At Chemistry, we thought we might be able to add some science to the equation. Needless to say, there's perhaps a little LESS science than what is normally attributed to a Chemistry podcast, but then again what were we expecting from four men discussing football?  We hope you enjoy the show. Please don't forget to rate and review us on iTunes…

The meteoric rise of Pokemon Go has taken the western world by storm. The use of augmented reality has caused a global trend and has now taken over as the must-have social accessory.  With such an overwhelming uptake of the technology, it felt only right that we discuss its future in the working world. The use of gamification with recruitment has been on the radar of most forward-thinking HR departments. The sudden explosion of Pokemon Go has only emphasised the potential of game data being used to refine the candidate application process.  To help guide us on our journey of discovery we've enlisted three intrepid volunteers to discuss the merits of augmented reality and to delve a little deeper into the addictive nature of Pokemon Go.  Today's guests include Dr. Kane Bidwell, Product Manager at The Chemistry Group and business Psychologist, currently a level 15 trainer. Dr. Brent Clickard, business Psychologist and data scientist

Welcome back to the simply brilliant podcast series People at Work episode number 21, brought to you by the Chemistry group. Today's podcast focuses on a very hot topic that has recently exploded on social media. The topic is currently being debated by recruiters, business psychologists and everyone in between. The question they're all trying to answer is... does the introduction of technology into the recruitment process help eradicate human biases or does it just simply automate the process? To help us all gain a clearer understanding, we've drafted in some super special guests. We're joined by people analytics leader, award-winning writer, business speaker and LinkedIn superstar David Green. The Global Director, for People Analytics Solutions at IBM David knows a thing or two about tech at its purpose and benefits within the HR process. Joining him is tech expert Kirstie Kelly. Kirstie (LaunchPad) has starred in previous episodes so regular listeners should know by now that you're in fo

Colin Macfarlane from Stonewall Scotland joins us in this episode to discuss the importance of acceptance within the workplace. 

Chemistry's Head of Capability Benjamin Western joins us this week to discuss the pitfalls and strengths of training in the workplace. Ben, Co-Founder of indiGO Volunteers and designer of all things training at Chemistry is truly an international man of mystery. He splits his time between global crisis and Chemistry Group, of which we're unsure what  In this episode, he details his Training Fail Funnel methodology consisting of the four main barriers, to training being successful.  Also in this episode People at Work host, Amy King joins us to debate the topic with Head of Product Tom Quayle. 

Dixons Carphone Group Jason Roberts joins us this week to discuss the importance of customer service and its role within customer contact centres. His passion for customer service is clear for everyone to see. An engaging leader, he relishes the opportunity to drive engagement and change in challenging environments, supporting his colleagues to drive improvements in service, with a great understanding of the value of customer insight.   

Kirstie Kelly of LaunchPad join us this week to debate whether "tech can remove unconscious bias in the recruitment process?" As a warm up to our diversity and inclusion series coming up later in the year Alasdair Scott leads the debate with Chemistry's Head of Tech Gareth Jones and the ever fabulous Kirstie Kelly. The subject of bias is always a hot topic and we're constantly bombarded with opinions on how to combat it. So much so that it's a real struggle to pick out a viable solution from the deluge of information that is churned out on an hourly basis. Well, we thought it about time that we had a good old sit down chat to discuss the problem areas you're facing and what you can actually do about them. Alasdair leads the way at Chemistry with everything D&I and has really pushed us forward as a company and as individuals. His passion for the subject has inspired a series solely based on the topic which will run later this year. Gareth is one of recruitment technology'

Reading FC coaching staff join us today to discuss the I-Dream philosophy being implemented at their youth academy. In this podcast Tom Quayle (Head of Product) and Rohan Amin (Product Analyst) are joined by Reading's Lee Herron (Assistant Academy Manager), Luke Dennison (Academy Performance Coach), Will Oldham (Head of Academy Operations) talking all things football.

We're joined by Boots Opticians CEO Ben Fletcher as we discuss the benefits of a purpose lead organisation.

ShopDirect.com talent acquisition partners, Andrew Gibson and Raina Gatfield, join us to discuss why a frustrating lack of data in the recruitment process is causing businesses to make bad people choices. 

House of Fraser's Head of Resourcing, Samantha Ramsay is joined by HR & Recruitment strategist Barry Flack as we delve into the various eccentricities of retail recruitment.   

Are women being unfairly hindered in the recruitment process? If so, how can we make it a level playing field for everyone?  In this week's episode Alasdair is joined by City & Guilds' Product and Services Director - Chris Kirk - and one of Chemistry's newest consultants - Kate Lafferty. Join them as they discuss the current state of recruitment in modern businesses and the potential biases that still remain.   

Behaviours are what you will do, not what you can do. Most recruitment processes ask questions about a time a candidate's done something well. But most people can think of one time they've done any particular thing well. What you really want to know is how they behave day-in and day out, and whether that's what your business needs. Without the right behaviour, the skill is worthless. Studies show that the behaviour is the key difference between good and superior performance in any job. This week Amy King (Head of Consulting) is joined by Tom Quale (Head of Product) and Gareth Jone (Head of Tech) delve into why businesses need to get specific about what high performer behaviour looks like in their organisation.

Businesses hire from their competitors, because the people there sell a similar product. But hiring from your competitors ignores the real goal: How do I get the right people to deliver the right customer experience? We've written before about how there's this odd idea that all retail jobs are quite similar, that working in one clothes store is like working in another. But that's not true, and we all know it. This time we're joined by HR & Recruitment strategists, Speaker and Blogger Barry Flack. Having spent the 1990s in Telecoms he's gone on to develop agendas in High Tech, Telecoms, FMCG, Utilities and Financial Services. From redesigning the Talent Acquisitions to building a people strategy as Group HR Director. Today he maximises this experience by writing, speaking, coaching and of course appearing on the People at Work podcast. For those of you that follow Chemistry regularly subscribing to our podcast or taking part in our webinars will know that we have found the previous

Chemistry's intent is to give people the opportunity to bebrilliant at work. It's not just about businesses reducing staffturnover or giving great candidate experience. It's about people.We're incredibly proud of what Help for Heroes have created withour help because it completely embodies this intent.Meeting Help for HeroesOur work with Help for Heroes has been one of the most positiveexperiences we've had at Chemistry. We've been able to helptalented people in a new way, a way that we haven't donebefore.We got involved with Help for Heroes last year when Phill, ourHead of Marketing, spent the day in a series of employmentworkshops with veterans. When he was talking to them he found anemerging theme: These guys had all these incredible skills andability but just couldn't see how they'd be valuable in thecivilian world. In this podcast we relive the journey thusfar…