Sevenhr News:

sevenhr win at the Recruiter Awards for the second year running! – March 2007

Leeds based recruitment specialists, sevenhr, have scooped two key industry awards. For the second year running, sevenhr won Best Executive Search Firm and Best Recruitment Marketing Campaign at the recruitment industry 'Oscars'.

Despite stiff competition from agencies across the UK, sevenhr's work on employer branding saw them win Best Executive Search Company. Keen to find out what attracts employees to a particular business, sevenhr commissioned the University of Leeds Business School to undertake research. The findings supported a White Paper and subsequent conference held late last year.

The range and success of creative techniques used to market their new Polish office led sevenhr receive the Best Recruitment Marketing Campaign award.

Antony Smith, managing director, said "Many recruitment practices remain purely transactional which is something we are keen to avoid by developing high quality, value-added services. Winning these awards confirms that we are heading in the right direction and is a great boost as we prepare to celebrate our fifth year of trading."

The awards, run by Recruiter magazine, recognise innovation and excellence in recruitment practices. They are the only industry-wide awards for the recruitment sector.

Employer Branding Research announced for 2007 – January 2007

The new 'Best Employer Brand' study from The Employer Branding Consultancy and The Daily Telegraph not only seeks to identify the best company - overall and by business sector - but also what employees consider to be the essential attributes in achieving ‘Best Company’ status. For those organisations which achieve ‘Best Company’ recognition the rewards will be invaluable; helping to define employer brand values; sending a clear message to both employees and applicants.
 
For those organisations who would like be involved in the study there will be very little disruption to their day to day business activities. All employee interviews would be conducted online and be totally confidential; administered by an independent research company. The interviews will focus on rating various factors for both the employer and their expectations of an excellent employer. The HR Director / Manager will also be interviewed in order to establish defined company practices. Ultimately, data will only be released at group level, all individuals will remain anonymous.  

After the success of last years’ research and subsequent conference we anticipate this year to be larger than ever. If you are interested in taking part in the research or would like to learn more please contact Rebecca at the Employer Branding Consultancy. Rebecca@theemployerbrandingconsultancy.com

The Employer Branding Conference - October 2006
This year’s employer branding conference took place on Thursday 5th October 2006. the conference proved to be the ideal platform to present the findings of the white paper; the first ever research undertaken on how to attract, recruit and retain your employees. Guided by the results of the research The Employer Branding Consultancy and our guest speakers were able to provide the delegates with a clearer understanding of the definition and practical impact Employer Branding could have on their business.
The Soho Hotel was the venue of choice for this years conference, and was very well received. “Lovely location which matched the conference brand well, the food was also great!”. The day began with refreshments and registration in the black and white and swirl rooms, where there were chances for networking and refreshments throughout the day. There were plenty of opportunities for people to pose questions to the speakers and for those who didn’t get the chance to speak, questions could also be posted and passed to Mark Wilcox.
The conference was opened by keynote speaker, David Fairhurst, Vice President of People, McDonalds Restaurants Ltd. Other speakers on the day included: Dr John Reast, University of Hull, a lie; Mark Wilcox, Redthread Consulting, Leadership, Engagement and Culture; Paul Mulcock, sevenhr, The Importance of a Brand Ambassador; John Hall, Gordons, Protecting your Brand; Roy White, Human Resources Europe, Sony, What sort of company do YOU want to work for?; Ralph Ardill, The Brand Experience Consultancy, Employer Branding or Branding Employees.

sevenhr goes International – June 2006

As part of the sevenhr strategy, we now have the language capability and geographical positioning to recruit across a number European countries including Poland, Holland, Slovakia, Russia, France, Germany, Lithuania and Ukraine.

Having a local presence within Eastern Europe will allow us to obtain a better understanding of the local economies and the recruitment process that is undertaken in different countries

Beata Marchlewska, International Consultant says “All large businesses are moving operations out towards Eastern Europe, by having a presence there we can ensure that we fulfill business recruitment needs. Being based in Poland, the office gives us access to a number of surrounding countries and a wealth of well educated people, many with excellent language skills”

New office Opening – April 2006

Due to our increased success and growth we are pleased to announce the opening of our new office in London. After reaching almost full consultant capacity in our Leeds based office the expansion programme has moved South.

The new base for sevenhr located in Covent Garden and a short walk from numerous tube stations, gives us an accessible grounding and home in the Capital. Both the retail and FMCG sectors of the business are benefiting from the additional site with numerous meetings and interviews conducted with much more ease
Ruth Barker, a Senior Consultant within the retail team has nothing but praise for the new addition to the sevenhr portfolio “the office enables us to get closer to both our candidates and clients, it gives us consistency and grounding within London and the location can only enhance our customer’s perceptions of us as a quality business”

Sevenhr win at Recruiter Awards – March 2006

This years Recruiter Awards held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel at the end of March proved a real success for sevenhr. An important date in recruiters calendars, 1200 industry professionals attended the ceremony where sevenhr won two awards.

The awards, for Best Executive Search Firm and Best Recruitment Marketing Campaign, is an outstanding achievement. After being short listed last year sevenhr were determined to bring home a trophy this year.
The categories recognise specialists who provide business services to ensure access to top executives within the industry, often at very senior roles. The marketing award focused on the processes and innovation that was undertaken by the company in order to enhance the competitive advantage and impact upon the business as a whole.

Employer Branding – From the inside out – November 2005

It may not be a topic you are familiar with, but you can be sure in the next few years “Employer Branding” will become the employment market’s hottest topic. The Employer Branding Consultancy, in conjunction with the Daily Telegraph and sevenhr, have commissioned the first ever piece of research on how to attract, recruit and retain employees.

The research undertaken by postgraduate students at Leeds University was commissioned due to the fact that the strength of employer brands were not great within some of the key businesses who had relationships with sevenhr. The results uncovered a number of poignant issues that seem to be overlooked by some employers.
Organisations are starting to realise that their first customers are their own staff and they cannot take their commitment and loyalty for granted. The best employees want to be attracted to a company on an emotional level, not just a material one.
Attracting the right kind of people, encouraging them to remain loyal whilst performing to the best of their abilities requires a far more focused, coherent and benefit-led approach than companies are used to. This research looks into this and how companies can yield the benefits from it.

Following on from this research a conference has been organised for October in order to present the results of the second white paper commissioned by sevenhr.

sevenhr nominated for award – April 2005

sevenhr are delighted to have been short-listed for a prize at this years Annual Recruiter Awards due to take place in London in April.
The nomination, for Best Commercial Recruitment Firm, is an outstanding achievement in its own right and, with a record number of entrants this year, the achievement is even more impressive.
Antony Smith, Managing Director of sevenhr commented, "We are a young company but the talent and experience inside the organisation is more than a match for our competitors as this nomination confirms."
He continues; "Our mission when sevenhr was established two years ago was to challenge and change the bad practices than exist within the recruitment industry. It seems our efforts are being recognised and to be nominated for an award after just two years is an achievement that all of us at sevenhr can be extremely proud of."

New offices for sevenhr – April 2005

After two and a half happy years at Leeds Innovation Centre, sevenhr are preparing to move to larger premises in Leeds City Centre.
The planned move, scheduled for the 6th May 2005 shifts our whole recruitment operation two miles further into Leeds city centre. Jamie Thatcher, Head of Business Development at sevenhr said, "The company has grown rapidly over the last two years and, with further growth anticipated over the next 18 months, it became apparent that larger facilities were needed".
In addition to the benefits of a larger working environment, the new offices are located close to the train station and main routes into the city making life easier for visiting clients and candidates.

CR - New and Improved!! – January 2005

2005 sees the introduction of our new bespoke Client Relations process, offering tailored service agreements and post placement care.
"Giving clients more convenient options adds more value to the process and allows us to measure our performance against expectations", commented Stephanie Dodds, Head of Client Relations at sevenhr. "We still offer a structured eight week process of regular contact but we can now agree how and when we communicate and what feedback to provide."
An improved post placement questionnaire has also been introduced. This breaks the process down further than before by scoring consultants on specific levels of quality or skills within three key areas of importance. Customers are also provided with more opportunity to make general comments which we use directly when reviewing our process.
Another recent introduction includes our Client Performance Review Document. An honest appraisal of our strengths and weaknesses relating to performance is given based on the recruitment assignments undertaken by sevenhr for clients. This provides an overview of areas of success or improvement from the data. This can be compiled upon request or as part of our post placement care initiative.

When a Transformation takes place, an amazing thing happens... – November 2004

The experience of live theatre and opera can transform lives, and the hugely ambitious Transformation project aims to provide that very opportunity to the communities of the whole of the North of England.
The project will greatly improve Leeds Grand Theatre for audiences and visiting companies; it will restore the Assembly Rooms, one of the city's hidden treasures, as a space for performances and education workshops; and it will create England's first publicly funded opera centre of excellence outside London as a home for Opera North, the country's most pioneering opera company. The whole restoration of the building will also rejuvenate one of the few remaining grimy gateways into the city.
All in all, it will firmly strengthen the long-term cultural and social life of the region. But Opera North and Leeds Grand Theatre can't do it alone, and sevenhr has picked up the gauntlet to become one of the first companies to join forces with the project team to ensure that this £30m, two-year project achieves the success it deserves.
As a corporate sponsor of Opera North, sevenhr also supports their schools and community programme which takes opera and performance across the North.
Other businesses can join us in supporting this substantial and impressive programme of change.

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