The UK economy is forecast to shrink by at least 3% (probably the worst in Europe) Unemployment is likely to reach 3 million by the end of 2009.

Governments world-wide appear to be floundering, announcing ill-thought-out initiatives which seem to have little effect on the deepening crisis.

The Bank of England base rate has dropped to 0.5%, the lowest it has ever been in its 400 year history!

Some UK banks have already been taken into public ownership, others are surviving only with government support.

Businesses across the U.K. are looking for answers at to what went wrong, what should be done to resolve the situation and prevent it happening again, what is the likely outcome for them as employers and what they can do to ensure their survival?

The government is preparing for huge job losses because of the economic crisis, with emergency plans.

Speaking at a conference for Job centre Plus staff, work and pensions secretary James Purnell highlighted the concerns of employees who could face losing their jobs.

But that’s not the answer…

Yes the credit crunch is biting and, now more than ever, firms need to maximise the potential of their workforce.

Some of this may be achieved by downsizing but in the end the key is to ensure that the best possible results are being realised from the recruitment of replacement staff and new employees and the retention of key staff who are valuable to the organisation.

H.R. departments are facing what may be the toughest time they have ever had with the pressure to reduce recruitment costs whilst still ensuring there are no costly recruitment failures.

Now is the time to make sure that H.R. staff are properly trained in recruitment skills to avoid errors that could prove costly in financial terms and corporate reputation

Improving the way you manage recruitment
One of the major assets of any company is its workforce. The proper recruitment of the staff that makes up that workforce is an essential part of any business.
How efficient and effective is your recruitment management?
The way in which you manage your staff recruitment has a direct effect on your company. Whether it is the hiring of replacement staff for existing roles on the recruitment of new talent, the way you manage the process will affect its outcome and the performance of the company.

In today’s market place recruiting the right individuals is more important than ever. Every recruitment project must be handled so that it produces the optimum results in terms of time, cost, effort and results.

Furthermore any recruiting process must take into account the legislation that surrounds employment in the 21st century. There are rules about what you can and cannot say in an advert, laws about what you can ask and even legislation that dictates the way you can interview.

Any company that wishes to stay ahead of the game and be able to recruit the right staff for its workforce must be fully up to date with the latest techniques and methods.

By taking the steps necessary to make sure that your recruitment methodology is the best you can make it, your company will benefit in many ways:

• Improved recruitment management skills
• Reduced recruitment costs
• Effective applicant C.V. processing
• Savings in time and effort
• Improved efficiency
• Increased staff retention
• Better management of recruitment agencies
• A better workforce

“The best way to improve your workforce is to recruit more effectively”

I would recommend that employers who are serious about cutting costs and, maintaining and improving standards investigate the potential of training for H.R. staff on courses such as The Experience Network’s P.A.S.S.™ – H.R. Professionals Training Course designed specifically to help H.R. department staff learn the key skills that they need to run an efficient and effective H.R. operation.

The course covers; The importance of Organisational awareness; C.V. Profiling – the art of skilling a C.V.; Why you should use role profiles; Effective recruitment advertising; How to use recruitment agencies and includes The S.A.P.S.™ interviewing & evaluation technique on how to interview and evaluate applicants correctly and legally.

About the Author:
Dr. Alex Tremayne, Chief Operations Officer, The Experience Network

While browsing through the listings of the team building and corporate events categories of online directories the other day, one thing became patently obvious to me – that the clamour for new types of event is apparently beginning to overtake the sites meant to hold them.

From Archery in Ambleside to the “Crystal Maze” experience in Carlisle, the tastes of all events organisers seem to be catered for by a host of companies with the overwhelming intention of offsetting executive stress and reinvigorating tired teams from Land’s End to Canary Wharf, with a variety of “cooperative team quests”, “giant jenga sets” and inflatable sumo suits in tow.

However, is any of this multitude of multi-coloured offerings really as satisfying as lining the MD up in the frame of your mask and vigorously thrusting a sharp sword at him? In my experience as a Head Coach and Managing Director of a corporate sword fighting enterprise, the answer is no.

Now, you may think this is ridiculous – that giving overpaid execs plastic swords to wave at one another (with a little prior instruction and protective kit of course) is perhaps a tad irrelevant or unjustified in our current waning economic climate?  If so, let me take you on a short history lesson to expain how we arrived at this rather wonderful, extremely simple, interpretation of the ancient art of team building and staff motivation via an ancient race that we all know and love.

One of the earliest examples of sword fighting being featured in a non-fatal, controlled, fencing “bout” is in a drawing by the ancient Egyptians, containing two consenting combatants and a match judge (or “President” in modern fencing terms).  What is interesting about this drawing is that it quite clearly depicts  a training excercise rather than a real battle, with the “fencers” both wearing a primitive form of armoured protection, which was soon to be developed into a shield and a longer, more traditional sword in various forms such as the later broadswords and rapiers made famous by Errol Flynn.  And why the history lesson?  Because the fact that it is a sword fighting training match means that the excercise was being used as a reeneactment of a real life situation in the same way that we use team building strategies today, in order to develop key skills necessary to outwit opponents and emerge victorious, that modern businesses covet but are often all too slow to reward and nurture.

Now that the analogy is out of the way, let us cut to the chase and look at what fencing your boss (or that annoying dude from IT) actually CAN and CAN’T do for the modern business.

A corporate sword fighting event CAN.

1. Increase personal motivation to overcome (business) rivals head to head
2. Enhance both mental and physical reflexes in response to a quickly changing situation
3. Promote analytical thinking in order to ascertain an opponent’s weakness(es)
4. Challenge you to react to a changing environment with new and improved strategies
5. Engender respect for an opponent that allows you to interact with them in a way that is more conduscive for doing good business (i.e. be friendlier to each other)
6. Be loads of fun and give you a nice smug feeling when you win (see above for how to handle this warm sensation)
7. Win you the heart of the girl/guy you’ve always had your eye on (circumstances and face masks permitting)

A corporate sword fighting event CAN’T.

1. Make you the boss because you beat your existing one (Modern, non-ancient, business hierarchies don’t work like that)
2. Make you adept at sliding down bannisters and landing in a chair that overturns neatly to deposit you and your sword in the face of your flailing opponent
3. Make you better looking (see point 7 above)
4. Get you sacked (but will certainly make you more diplomatic)

So, calling all event organisers, potential team builders and bonders, you pays your money and takes your choice.

Is it to be the usual fare of Sumo suits, a sweatband and an embarrassing low res vid taken by Martin from Accounts that will linger on long after your demise? A paintball helmet (bruises compulsory, deep heat optional)? Or a very simple team building activity linked to the most ancient values of business, passed down through generations of valiant warriors.

I know what I choose, hold my jacket and the choco-double-mocca-latte and pass me my rather dapper leather glove and (plastic) sword please.  En Guarde!

About the Author:
Darren Birchall is the Managing Director of www.swordfightingteambuildingevents.co.uk , www.fencingparties.co.uk and www.balestra.co.uk and likes sword fencing rather too much for his own good.

If getting involved with the production aspects of music interest you, then you may want to consider being a record producer. The hours of a record producer are long and irregular when you are first starting out and you may have to volunteer or work as an intern because you will need to build up a reputation. However, you will have the opportunity to network and work with various artists, and once you have built up your reputation these types of jobs in music can pay be pretty well.

An ideal job in music for people that love live music is that of a music promoter. The challenge of pulling off a great show is thrilling and rewarding. Also, you get to work directly with the bands you love, and the pay can be well, depending on the types of shows you’re doing. But, a music promoter is responsible for various tasks and the actual show day can be very stressful.

If you’re interested in the technical aspects of music, then consider being a sound engineer. Some perks that come with being a sound engineer are you can participate in the excitement of live shows and gigs and there may be possibilities of going on tour with music bands. However, the salaries for these kinds of jobs in music can vary greatly, depending on the type of shows you are doing.

We have listed a few of the common types of jobs in the UK music industry. If you are someone that is pursuing a career in the music industry and seeking for jobs in music, there is a great online jobs board UK.music-jobs.com that is specifically made for jobseekers that are looking for jobs in music.

About the Author:
UK Music Jobs is an online jobs board and community for musicians seeking jobs in music.