<![CDATA[Latest blog]]> https://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.uk Wed, 28 Aug 2019 <![CDATA[Why Talent Management Is Important?]]> https://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.ukhttps://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.uk/blog/2020/01/why-talent-management-important The business landscape has changed dramatically in the last decade. Today, businesses require more than just land, building, and money to survive. They also require talented individuals who can help achieve organizational goals and objectives and spur growth. A company that fails to manage its top talents will find it difficult to succeed in a cutthroat business environment. This simple fact forms the cornerstone of talent management.

Read on as we discuss the importance of talent management and why your business needs to re-evaluate the way it manages its employees:

Shortage of Skilled Individuals

There is a dearth of skilled individuals in the current business environment. Some of the most valuable jobs require a specific skill-set that is hard to find. As a result, businesses can no longer rely on a Jack-of-all-Trades approach when hiring employees. This approach can be economical, but in the long run, a specialist will add more value to your organization.

The lack of skilled workers makes talent management more important than ever, as well. You must adopt aggressive techniques to ensure your best employees do not abandon ship and switch to a competitor.

Helps You Build a Competitive Advantage

Success talent management can help you develop a competitive advantage for your business. Think about it. An organization is a collective expression of the thoughts and ideas of a group of people. The quality of every product and service that you offer will depend on how these people think and operate.

Thus, the quality of your hires will play a critical role in determining the underlying value of your products and services. Building a competitive advantage by focusing on your people will also help you distinguish yourself from your competitors. This type of competitive advantage is not easy to replicate as well and can drive long-term success.

Helps Lower Hiring Costs

An organization that understands the importance of talent management and excels at the same can also benefit from low hiring costs. If you can successfully retain your employees, then you can avoid expenses, such as:

  • Employee turnover costs
  • Employee on-boarding and training costs

You can also optimize your recruitment costs by hiring talented individuals through a good executive search company.

Some may argue that retaining employees can be costly for an organization as well. You will have to keep revising their compensation packages and provide them with more benefits. However, if you look at the bigger picture, you will realize that the cost of retaining your best employees is lower than looking for new talents.

Let’s Sum It Up

Your employees are your most important assets. Businesses must learn how to build a long-term relationship with its employees to achieve sustainability and profitability. Understanding the importance of talent management can help you nurture your employees and build a competitive advantage. It can also help you achieve cost-efficiency by avoiding the extraneous costs of hiring new and training new employees. Finally, an organization that understands the value of its people will benefit from a positive industry image and attract more skilled individuals.

Thu, 02 Jan 20 15:08:00 +0100
<![CDATA[How Can You Attract and Retain Top Talent?]]> https://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.ukhttps://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.uk/blog/2019/12/how-can-you-attract-and-retain-top-talent Whether you are a small business or a large corporation, attracting and retaining top talent has become increasingly difficult for every company. Today’s employees demand more than just a fat paycheck in exchange for the time they invest in your company.

However, if you are smart about it, you can work around these challenges and manage to attract and retain top talent. Read on to find out how.

1.Analyze Your Recruitment Methods

The first step to attracting top talent is streamlining your recruitment process. You can begin by analyzing the effectiveness of the recruitment methods currently employed by your company. For instance, some recruitment methods may help you generate a large number of applications. However, when you filter through these applications to find a relevant candidate, you will discover that very few suit your requirements.

To avoid this, we suggest you use a recruitment method that focuses on quality instead of quantity. For instance, using a recruitment agency can speed up your hiring process to a significant extent.

2.Write Better Job Descriptions

If you are looking to attract a high-quality candidate, then we suggest you amp up the quality of your job descriptions. A well-written job description will be highly appealing to a skilled professional looking to do meaningful work. This will automatically improve the success rate of your recruitment process, as well.

3.Build a Culture That Recognizes Hard Work

One of the most important aspects of employee retention is to appreciate their hard work. You must create a system that recognizes your top-performing employees and rewards them for their efforts. These rewards can be in the form of a letter of appreciation, bonuses, and better benefits.

4.Provide Opportunities for Growth

Every star employee likes to be challenged. This is necessary for their professional growth. You must invest in the professional development of your employees and provide them with a suitable number of learning opportunities. This can keep help keep your employees engaged and maximize their productivity.

5.Engage in Feedback

If you are looking to retain top talent, we suggest you also create a feedback loop. A feedback loop can help you understand the professional goals and objectives of your employees. You can use this information to create an employee retention plan that enables your employees to fulfill these goals.

You can also ask for feedback regarding the problems faced by your employees. Addressing these issues can improve job satisfaction and overall productivity. Employees are also less likely to leave an organization that pays attention to their problems and helps resolve them.

Wrapping It Up

An organization that can attract and retain top talent is more likely to remain sustainable in the long run. Your employees are the life and blood of the company and you must treat them accordingly. Here’s a quick recap of what you can do to ensure your best employees stay with you for an indefinite period:

  • Choose recruitment methods that deliver quality instead of quantity
  • Provide suitable incentives and recognize your employees for their efforts
  • Focus on the professional development of your employees
  • Ask employees for their feedback on how you can improve
Wed, 18 Dec 19 17:04:00 +0100
<![CDATA[What Should Be the Goal of Every Leader?]]> https://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.ukhttps://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.uk/blog/2019/12/what-should-be-goal-every-leader Every manager is different. Just like how we have a personality that distinguishes us from the next person, every manager tends to follow a different philosophy as well. Some focus on driving up the profits of their organization; others believe in sustaining growth and playing it safe.However, if you want to be a true leader, then you must learn to look beyond numbers. After all, the essence of leadership lies in the people working for you. Read on as we discuss how this influences your leadership style and what should be the goal of a leader.

Start by Engaging

Leadership starts with engagement. If you cannot engage a group of people to understand and believe in your vision for an organization, then you have failed as a leader. Engagement is directly linked to profitability as well. As per a study by Gallup, a highly engaged team can boost profitability by 21 percent. Therefore, if you want to see your organization thrive, you need to make sure your employees are actively involved and passionate about what they do.

Move Toward Empowering

It may sound like a cliché, but the ultimate goal of a leader is empowerment. As a leader, you need to empower your team so that they can make their own decisions. In other words, you need to make yourself unnecessary. Empowering employees begins with trust. You need to extend support to your employees and encourage them to trust their instincts. This also plays an essential role in their professional growth and can help them hone their skills in decision making, crisis management, and innovation.

Empowering your employees to think for themselves will leave a significant impact on the performance of your organization as well. Think about it. If every individual in your team can think outside the box and make great decisions, then instead of relying on one person for all the good ideas, you get to use multiple resources. This can lead your organization to success.

Create More Leaders

A true leader mentors others to assume a leadership role in the future. Developing new leaders is a natural extension of the empowerment principle. When you encourage people to believe in themselves, you are helping them rise from being a subordinate to being a manager. In the end, leadership cannot be about yourself. As a leader, you need to be the kind of person who makes a difference in the lives of the people working for you. You must help them confront their weaknesses and encourage them to work on their strengths. In doing so, you are helping them improve their performance and contribute more to the organization.

Wrapping It Up

The goal of a leader should be to empower others and help build the next generation of leaders who can take the company forward. A true leader needs to leave behind a legacy that continues to engage and inspire others in the organization. This will help sustain the organization even when it falls upon hard times and ensure that it moves towards profitability again.

Thu, 12 Dec 19 10:34:00 +0100
<![CDATA[How will AI Affect Your Business?]]> https://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.ukhttps://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.uk/blog/2019/12/how-will-ai-affect-your-business The rise of artificial intelligence is set to influence major aspects of our lives. From information technology and business to education and healthcare, we can expect AI to change the way we work, communicate, and make decisions in every major field. It’s important to note here that unlike the depiction of artificial intelligence on the celluloid, the effects of AI are significantly different in the real world.

In this article, we are going to discuss the impact of AI on business and how it is predicted to improve operational efficiency in the future. Some of the business areas that are most likely to be affected by artificial intelligence include:

1.Supply Chain

Supply chain is one of the most significant areas that are likely to benefit from AI applications. For starters, artificial intelligence can be used to predict supply and demand for your products and services more accurately. This enables businesses to be more proactive in terms of demand forecasting, thereby reducing operational costs.

The use of robotics can also improve supply chain processes to a large extent. As per Tractica Research, warehousing and logistics robots are expected to play a significant role in inventory management. In fact, the sales for these robots will amount to $22.4 billion by 2021.


The use of artificial intelligence in marketing can help your business in developing a customer-centric marketing plan. Today’s businesses struggle to deliver personalized experiences to customers that focus on individual preferences and interpretations of value. You also need to use the right channels to communicate your message. These procedures must take several variables into account and process large volumes of data if they are to be completed successfully. Naturally, humans can only do so much here. However, integrating AI into these processes is expected to drive a more speedy execution. This can allow for the creation of highly sophisticated marketing strategies that will help your business stay ahead of the competition.

3.Human Resources

Another major impact of AI on business is how it can redefine hiring practices. As per the Undercover Recruiter, artificial intelligence will be used to perform 16 percent of human resource jobs within the next 10 years. Using AI in your recruitment strategies can improve your chances of finding a strong set of candidates much more quickly. This can reduce hiring costs and help save time. AI can also conduct an assessment of whether a candidate is a good fit for the organization. In the long run, this can improve employee productivity and lower turnover costs.

Wrapping It Up

Like all technological innovations, artificial intelligence is expected to enhance the speed, efficiency, and accuracy of several business operations. Currently, the impact of AI on business has been predicted to be largely positive. Integrating artificial intelligence can help business owners in:

  • Predicting supply and demand for product and services
  • Improve inventory management by using robotics
  • Develop highly customized marketing strategies
  • Improving the efficiency of their recruitment processes

Of course, these developments only represent a small chunk of what artificial intelligence can do for your business. There are several other areas that can benefit from artificial intelligence, as well. These include customer services, data security and data management, and financial analysis.

Mon, 09 Dec 19 14:30:00 +0100
<![CDATA[How Do You Manage a Virtual Team?]]> https://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.ukhttps://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.uk/blog/2019/12/how-do-you-manage-virtual-team With operating costs continuing to rise, many organizations have switched to hiring remote employees. Working with a virtual or remote employee allows you to cut back on expenses such as office rent, utilities, and new office equipment. Of course, managing virtual teams in a cohesive manner can be a challenge in itself. There’s very little human interaction here, and in many cases, managers can feel disconnected from their virtual employees. This can have a direct effect on productivity, which is a warning sign for any organization.

However, like other management challenges, there are plenty of ways to manage virtual teams as well. Read on as we discuss how you can manage a virtual team:

1.Use Technology

There are many different types of team and project management software available that can help you keep track of your virtual employees. For instance, these tools can help you monitor which tasks have been completed and which are still pending. Additionally, applications like online messaging boards can allow you to have regular interactions with your virtual team. You can provide them with feedback, identify the problems they are facing, and devise a solution to resolve them. Using these communication channels can do wonders for your virtual team and ensure their active involvement in the organization.

2.Provide Incentives and Rewards

Some things work just as well in a virtual space as they do in the real world. Motivation and rewards are two of these things. Managers often skip out on these aspects when managing virtual teams. This is a mistake. Remember, even if they are working from halfway around the world, your virtual employee is still a real person. Just like other employees, these individuals are always looking for recognition for their efforts. Therefore, make sure you provide them with an adequate amount of incentives and rewards that make them feel appreciated. This can enhance their productivity and encourage them to work harder.

3.Have Feedback Sessions and Virtual Meetings

One of the best ways to increase engagement among your virtual employees is by asking them for feedback. There are multiple ways to arrange for these sessions. However, if you want our advice, we’d suggest you use live video chat software for feedback. This will add a personal touch to the conversation and will allow your employees to share their insights more freely.

You can also hold virtual meetings for providing updates, discussing new projects, and asking for constructive criticism. Having virtual meetings is an ideal way to encourage interaction between employees as well as their supervisors.

Wrapping It Up

Managing virtual teams can be difficult. However, using the right tactics can help you navigate your way through the potential pitfalls of this hiring practice. Here’s a quick recap of what you can do to manage your virtual team and improve their productivity:

  • Make use of communication technologies that allow for easy interaction
  • Recognize your virtual employees for their accomplishments
Engage in feedback sessions and conduct virtual meetings through live video chat ]]>
Thu, 05 Dec 19 14:56:00 +0100
<![CDATA[When Should You Give Employees Feedback?]]> https://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.ukhttps://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.uk/blog/2019/12/when-should-you-give-employees-feedback Maintaining a feedback loop is an important part of managing any team. Of course, in reality, you often get tied up with your day to day tasks and are unable to allocate time to giving or asking for feedback from your employees. As a result, the only time you engage in dialogue with your team is during their half-yearly or quarterly reviews. This can be ineffective in the long run.

Read on as we discuss how often you should be giving employees feedback and its benefits.

Building a Culture of Feedback and Discussion

If you want to deliver constructive feedback that helps your employees improve their performance, then you need to build a work culture that supports the same. Feedback works best when it is provided in an authentic, friendly, and uncritical way. The frequency with which you give feedback to your employees is equally important, as well. This can open up a real dialogue between you and your team.

As mentioned earlier, we suggest that you avoid limiting your feedback to annual review meetings. These tend to be impersonal and provide little benefit to the employee. Depending on the size of your team, you might have to engage in rushed feedback sessions, as well. Consequently, you may not give a sufficient amount of time or attention to your employees during these review meetings.

That’s the great thing about arranging for regular feedback sessions. They help your employees grow and improve themselves throughout the year. If an employee regularly receives your support and appreciation, then this encourages them to work harder, as well.

What Happens If You Cannot Have Frequent Feedback Sessions?

If you are unable to arrange for regular feedback sessions, then we suggest you use the following opportunities for giving employees feedback:

  • Complimenting and praising an employee on performing exceptionally well
  • Providing constructive feedback to an employee if they appear to be struggling with their responsibilities and helping them address their problems
  • Providing feedback when you believe an employee has the potential to perform better
  • Arranging discussions with your team when the organization faces a significant loss (losing a valuable client, failing to complete a project on time, etc.)

These instances can prove to be very useful for your organization. For instance, recognizing your star employees for their performance will make them feel appreciated for their efforts and will encourage them to continue performing as per your expectations.

In the case of underperforming employees, your support and guidance can enable them to resolve their problems and make them feel rejuvenated and inspired to work harder.

As far as the last scenario is concerned, it is essential that you engage in constructive feedback with your employees at this time. This can help you understand what went wrong so that you and your team can learn from past mistakes. As a natural consequence of such events, you may also need to boost your team’s morale.

Wrapping It Up

Engaging in constructive and timely feedback sessions may prove to be a hassle in the beginning. However, in the long run, this practice of giving employees feedback can be incredibly beneficial for them as well as the organization. It also adds more value to the mandatory review sessions that you have with your employees on an annual or quarterly basis.]]>
Tue, 03 Dec 19 13:30:00 +0100
<![CDATA[4 Ways to Increase Motivation in the Workplace]]> https://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.ukhttps://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.uk/blog/2019/11/4-ways-increase-motivation-workplace Motivation plays an essential role in improving employee engagement. An unmotivated and unengaged team of individuals is less likely to perform well. This can stand in the way of business success and prevent you from achieving your goals and objectives. As per Gallup, nearly 70 percent of employees of an organization tend to be disengaged. This is an automatic loss of productivity. However, unlike some factors and risks that threaten the performance of your team, there are many ways that you can increase motivation levels and improve engagement. Continue reading to learn how you can increase motivation in the workplace.

Provide a Good Work-Life Balance

Allowing employees to balance between their work and their personal lives is one of the best ways to increase motivation in the workplace. This will enable them to pursue their personal and professional goals in a better way. It also prevents employee burnout and improves their overall productivity and commitment to their job. If an employee feels exploited or is unable to have a personal life because of their job, they are also likely to switch to a different organization with better benefits.

Recognition from Peers and Your Manager

A little bit of recognition can go a long way in keeping your employees happy and motivated. An employee that feels appreciated for their efforts will feel an intrinsic desire to maintain their performance. You must try and build a culture of support and appreciation within the organization. There are several ways to do this. For instance, you can send out an email complimenting an employee on a job well done. You can also create a recognition ritual that rewards top-performing employees.

Inspire Employees Through a Strong Vision

Doing meaningful work is one of the key drivers of employee engagement and motivation. As a leader, you need to share your vision for the organization and inspire employees towards achieving organizational goals. Every strategy must be aligned with the company’s vision, as well. This can provide clarity to your employees across all levels of management.

Provide Opportunities for Professional Growth

Every employee fears stagnancy in their career. If an employee begins to feel that a certain job isn’t taking their career in the right direction, it can have a direct impact on their motivation and productivity. As a leader, you need to focus on the professional growth of your employees as well. This can be done by having training sessions that allow them to learn new skills. You can also discuss their professional goals with them and draw up a plan that helps achieve these goals.

Let’s Sum It Up

Increasing employee motivation and employee engagement can do wonders for the productivity of your team. It can help reduce wastage of office resources and put you on the path towards achieving your business goals. Here’s a quick recap of what you can do to increase motivation in the workplace:

  • Encourage employees to achieve a better work-life balance
  • Appreciate employees for their efforts
  • Integrate the organization’s vision in your work culture
  • Assist your employees in pursuing their professional goals
Wed, 27 Nov 19 10:11:00 +0100
<![CDATA[Wherever You Are, Be There]]> https://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.ukhttps://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.uk/blog/2019/09/wherever-you-are-be-there One of the major reasons why we fail to find happiness or to a create unique lifestyle is because we have not yet mastered the art of being.

While we are home our thoughts are still absorbed with solving the challenges we face at the office. And when we are at the office we find ourselves worrying about problems at home.

We go through the day without really listening to what others are saying to us. We may be hearing the words, but we aren't absorbing the message.

As we go through the day we find ourselves focusing on past experiences or future possibilities. We are so involved in yesterday and tomorrow that we never even notice that today is slipping by.

We go through the day rather than getting something from the day. We are everywhere at any given moment in time except living in that moment in time.

"Lifestyle is learning to be wherever you are. It is developing a unique focus on the current moment, and drawing from it all of the substance and wealth of experience and emotions that it has to offer. Lifestyle is taking time to watch a sunset. Lifestyle is listening to silence. Lifestyle is capturing each moment so that it becomes a new part of what we are and of what we are in the process of becoming. Lifestyle is not something we do; it is something we experience. And until we learn to be there, we will never master the art of living well."

Jim Rohn

lifestyle positvity Wed, 04 Sep 19 13:00:00 +0200
<![CDATA[Developing Communication Skills]]> https://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.ukhttps://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.uk/blog/2019/09/developing-communication-skills Communication is something we do every day- however it is fair to say some people are more natural at it than others. Then again even the most confident of people may not always be aware of the messages they send out so it is worth knowing or refreshing your memory when it comes to learning communication skills to ensure you get your message across in the right way.

Body language

The gestures we make while we are speaking can be just as important as what you are saying- if you ask someone how they are and they say “fine” but they look away from you then this would indicate opposite but meeting eye contact and smiling would suggest you really are. Likewise gestures like pointing a finger at someone or having your arms folded can seem aggressive.

While this may sound obvious it is something people can forget- if you want to come across in the right way think about how you are presenting what you say in order to get the right message across.

Relax before you speak

One thing that can trip people up is going “Err”, “Umm” or “Aah”. This is often because you are trying to find what you want to say or are trying to make a point. A better approach is to take a breath and think about it before you say it because then you will be less likely to stumble as you say what you want to say. Jefferson Maguire recommends that you follow the below methods.

The FORD method

Some people are more accomplished at small talk than others- it helps because at a networking event, meeting or even a typical office day people will want to talk and it helps to have an idea what you want to discuss.

FORD stands for Family, Occupation, Recreation and Dreams- Asking someone about where they are from, what they do, their interests and ambitions will make it easier when you want to move on to other topics as they will feel more relaxed.

Be flexible

Remember that different circumstances will require different messages- you wouldn’t talk to your boss in the same way that you would talk to a class of schoolchildren.

Clear and concise

Jefferson Maguire knows that people often talk of “elevator pitches” the idea that if you were to meet an influential exec, movie producer etc you could pitch to them in 30 seconds. While you don’t want to do this for all ideas it helps to keep anything you want to present as clear and simple as possible so that anyone can follow what you want to say.

Listen and be empathetic

Empathy is where you are able to imagine what someone else is going through. This tied in with listening to what they have to say and reflecting it can be crucial.

For example if someone has a complaint it is often beneficial to be able to listen to what they have to say as this will make it easier to address the issues they have and help keep them on side.

Get help

If you would like to know more about the services we offer contact Jefferson Maguire today and we will be happy to discuss how we can help you in more detail!

For some fantastic tips on communication check out this link https://inlpcenter.org/importance-of-communication...

Mon, 02 Sep 19 09:00:00 +0200
<![CDATA[From High Flyer to Boardroom]]> https://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.ukhttps://www.jeffersonmaguire.co.uk/blog/2019/08/high-flyer-boardroom Hiring individuals that are self-motivated and committed to delivering their best is naturally a major boon for any organization. They are a rare breed and must be nurtured accordingly as well. A lot of organizations do the opposite instead. They will recognize a self-motivated and hardworking individual and exploit them instead. This can eventually result in the individual exiting the organization instead. If you have a young, dynamic self-starter on your team, then you must appreciate them accordingly as well.

Benefits of Hiring High Flyers

Some of the key benefits of hiring high flyers and self-starters include:


Hiring employees with a strong sense of ownership can be a blessing. It becomes easier to delegate tasks to such individuals. High flyers and self-starters are excellent in this regard. They know when and how to execute a task without requiring constant supervision. They are also able to understand their limitations and will ask for guidance accordingly.


A self-starter is not careless with the company’s resources. They understand the investment behind a particular resource. They also understand the importance of delivering a return on this investment and using them to create value.


Another benefit of hiring high-flyers is that they constantly seek to improve themselves. They are open to criticism and believe in self-management. In the right organization, these qualities can help a high-flyer work their way up and become a part of the top management.

4.Improving the Organization

Besides improving on themselves, they are equally passionate about improving the systems and procedures of the organization. This is due to their sense of ownership. A self-starter can help you see the gaping flaws in your organization’s culture. They can also propose solutions and help you develop strategies for the same.

A self-starter with a knack for strategy and thinking outside of the box do particularly well at management positions.

Nurturing High Flyers

To build your team of self-starters and high flyers, you must:

1.Set an Example

It is a fact that a leader’s philosophies have a big impact on the organization. Therefore, to nurture a self-starter, you must set the right example as well. Your values and work ethic will influence them to a great extent. This is also because a self-starter will be able to see first-hand the type of individuals that can succeed in the organization. This will motivate them and encourage them to proceed in a similar direction.

2.Provide Coaching

You must act as a mentor to these individuals as well. A highly motivated person can also get burnt out due to their over-commitment to the job. This is especially when your organization’s current policies prevent you from rewarding them for their efforts. You must guide them and provide suggestions on how they can improve. This will also help them stay in the organization for a longer period.

Final Thoughts

There are several benefits of hiring high flyers. These individuals have a strong sense of ownership and are extremely efficient with a desire to improve. However, hiring such individuals means that you must nurture them accordingly as well. This can help maximize their potential and help them attain professional success within the organization.

Thu, 08 Aug 19 14:06:00 +0200