Anyone who was involved in Internal Communications in its early stages will no doubt look back along that difficult road and feel a sense of achievement. And if they don't - they should! The level of patience, persistence and persuasion needed was enormous. Working with minimal budgets and in some cases none at all! Frequently sidelined and unrecognised, yet expected to deliver results.

Times are better now. The challenges are greater but at least there is recognition (in most companies) of the need for and benefits of Internal Communications. No longer relegated to the production of the newsletter and events organisation, Internal Communicators advise at board level and the practice itself has expanded to include its own specialties such as channels managers, intranet managers and of course editors to mention a few. This all good news but there is something else that is happening. Those early pioneers of the practice have now reached the top of their 'game' and with many years of career ahead are wondering 'What next?'. What indeed.

Many of the experienced Internal Communicators I speak to tell me they feel frustrated by the lack of challenge and room to manoeuvre. They have hit the ceiling. Some are considering freelance or contract work which gives them the freedom to choose their jobs - that is assuming the work is out there and there does seem to be enough to keep people occupied. The down side is the lack of security and if you are a sole breadwinner with a hefty mortgage that is a big decision to take.

Let's take it one step further - suppose the top internal comms practitioners start leaving permanent employment and head off into the world of freelance - won't that create a very different set of standards and ways of working? There are many different implications to this, not least the need to push the boundaries of influence and involvement of internal communications at board level.

One thing for sure, Internal Communications has come of age and there is no going back. There is change ahead and that change will be led by those practitioners who are passionate about what they do.

Latest from the Current Assignments page, WRAP is seeking a Head of Business Support.

WRAP works in partnership, helping businesses and the general public to reduce waste, to use more recycled material, and recycle more things more often.

This is an outstanding opportunity to lead the work of WRAP’s Business Support Programme, one of our most successful and high profile programmes, in delivering a comprehensive range of support services and funding opportunities to recycling businesses in order to deliver WRAP’s business plan targets.

Based Banbury, Oxfordshire, the role is offering a salary in the range of £50-£60K plus bonus and benefits.

For full details, click here

This quote from Robert Raninowitz, senior adviser to pure, a charity devoted to combating climate change, nicely sums up perhaps the issue of the moment: what is the business world going to do about climate change? And what are the implications of these changes, particularly in relation to banks and other financial institutions?

I am going to be hosting some business breakfasts around this subject (please email w.mason@ahselection.com if you'd like to come along), with speakers from a number of leading financial services companies including Man Investments, the global leader in Alternative Investments and one of the first FS companies to go carbon neutral.

Two of the first areas we're going to look at are Climate Change and Carbon Trading.

Perhaps the tipping point for climate change entering the mainstream business agenda is Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth ( click here for a trailer): indeed a couple of days ago Stephen Schwarzmann, head of Blackstone Group, a world leader in private equity, said anybody who did not watch the documentary had to be “intellectually deficient”. He went on to say that “ Businesses have to do things to address the issue. It is not a game.....it's not a green issue, it's not a pink issue. It’s the issue”.

In regard to carbon trading, wherein major producers of greenhouse gases, such as power utilities, buy “carbon credits” from schemes that remove pollution from the atmosphere, the only way, it seems is up.

As Financial News recently reported,

...Carbon has emerged as a dynamic feature of capital markets in the past two years. Carbon, or emissions, trading is not the preserve of specialist, niche funds; mainstream banks and investment institutions are heavily involved.... It has also prompted investment banks to extend their trading, advisory and risk management skills to this arena.

And its not just specialists any more:

..Last October, Morgan Stanley announced it would invest up to $3bn (€2.3bn) in carbon credit projects over five years... Mainstream banks have concluded climate change and the policy response it evokes will have a substantial impact on their market. John Llewellyn, senior economic policy adviser at Lehman Brothers, said environmental shifts would force wholesale moves in economic behaviour: “Companies will need to adapt and evolve and investment banks are in the business of helping clients to do that,” he said. Last week, Lehman published Llewellyn’s 150-page analysis of the impact that climate change could have on business and finance."

The challenge - and opportunity - would appear to be significant:

..Julian Knight, chief executive of Global Cool, a campaign to raise awareness of climate change solutions, and former Global Head of Sales at Man, said: “Carbon has the potential to be more far reaching than any other product in a bank. It sits close to project finance, corporate finance, commodities trading and hedge fund activity. It ties up a lot of areas.”

I look forward to hearing from the pinstripes (are they still in fashion by the way?) out there as to the topics you would like to discuss over breakfast at the RAC Club around this subject. Do not forget that a 2meg ipod is on offer to the most deserving comment.

Thanks

Wayne

It's difficult to avoid the current fuss over 'web 2.0', memorably described as “part hype, part marketing jargon, part reality…like late-night wrestling” by corporate finance consultancy firm ARMA Partners. If web 2.0 refers to a second generation of web services that lets people collaborate and share information online, what - if anything - does the ‘new internet’ mean for HR and recruitment professionals?

If web 2.0 has been made possible by broadband, now mainstream and ubiquitous, catalysts for a new approach to recruitment could perhaps be increasing competition for talent; an ageing but increasingly fluid and connected population; and an extraordinarily fragmented media landscape.

Three given examples of recruitment 2.0 might be:

Business Networking

Perhaps the story of last year was the unprecedented growth of business networking sites such as www.xing.com , www.viadeo.com, www.ecademy.com , www.fastpitch.com and, of course, www.linkedin.com. Has Linkedin become the most important tool available to recruiters since the likes of Monster starting selling CV database access?

Pay Per Click

Search engine marketing or ‘pay per click’ allows advertisers to serve targeted adverts to users as they search for related content or browse relevant web pages. Search marketing has had a massive impact on the classified marketplace, and recruiters are increasingly adopting this model. Search for "Managing Director Jobs" on www.Google.co.uk right now and you'll see sponsored links for a number of job boards and search firms. Indeed at Alexander Hughes Selection we use search marketing to drive targeted client and candidate traffic to this site, and also to support occasional campaigns.

Social media

Social media describes the online tools and platforms that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other. Social media - such as blogs, social networks, message boards, podcasts, wikis and feeds - all represent the “as it happens” internet. For recruiters. does this open a new channel to connect to passive candidate communities?

So...

You're reading this on our blog, you might have arrived here via a paid link, and the link to my Linkedin profile is displayed on the right hand page. So you might think our colours are nailed to the mast somewhat. But the question I would like to ask is to what extent is this a "new paradigm" (as our colleagues across the pond would have it)? Or is Recruitment 2.0 simply a catchy moniker for new tools that play to the traditional strengths - and weaknesses - of recruiters?

As an employer what do you make of all this? Are any of these approaches a substitute for an understanding of the market - or a big database? Are they as yet making a dent on the traditional routes of print and job board advertising?

And as a candidate, have you been approached through Linkedin, or perhaps via your personal blog or a social network? How was it handled? What did you make of the approach - and the employer on whose behalf if was made?

Don't forget a 2meg ipod is on offer to the most deserving comment. I look look forward to hearing your thoughts and answering any questions you have.

Robert

Having been in the Technology industry for 10 years it still amazes me that companies believe that simply implementing an IT solution will improve business performance. In my experience organisations have faced huge implementation costs only to find that their programmes have faltered due to the lack of business change knowledge available to employees before the project has even started. CEO/CIO’s need to have clear business objectives and discuss those objectives to key members of staff who will implement their vision. For example I have seen many organisations spend millions of pounds implementing ERP/BPM systems only to use the same old processes on the new system. Funnily enough the new system will be as useful as the old system!