Powerchex - Pre-employment screening newsletter

ISSUE 56 APRIL 2010	www.powerchex.co.uk

Welcome to this month's Powerchex update:


	Also in this issue • A City Viewpoint • Articles of interest • FSA News • Conferences & Events

Happy Easter! Spring is well and truly here and financial services recruitment is roaring. Since January, we have been seeing a very strong positive trend in employment offers extended in the sector.

Our author this month is Sheena Bigland, a trained economist and policy writer. In her article Sheena argues that ethically behaving firms can compete more effectively and therefore organisations should make every effort to recognise and recruit ethical employees. She takes the time to demonstrate what constitutes ethical behavior in the workplace and provides valuable guidance to managers and HR professionals alike. I am sure that you will find her article topical and very informative.

Patrick, our globetrotting expert has now reached the "End of the World" and from that vantage point he offers some advice on how to establish a totally ineffective risk management department.

Finally, we have some good news as Powerchex was picked by Women Unlimited as one of the ten brightest and most up and coming female owned companies who will be 'stepping into success' in 2010 view full article here.

How sure are you that your
staff meet required ethical standards?
By Sheena Bigland, Development Coach

As you know it is important to take references, before finally appointing a preferred job applicant. It enables you to check if the person has represented themselves fully and truthfully; that they are, in fact, who they say they are. If the selection interviewers have done their job properly, this stage should prove to be a formality; but it is always a useful factor in making the final decision, along with other checks to determine “suitability” and “fit and properness”. If, at this stage, you find someone has lied, they are essentially untrustworthy. Clearly that is a good indication that their ethical standards fall well below what you would expect and you would not employ them.

But are references a good enough filter? How sure are you of everyone who, having passed this test, now work for you? How do you know? What would give rise for concern? Why does ethical behaviour matter? What does this mean for your company?

Read this article in full

		About Sheena Bigland Sheena Bigland is a development coach. Working freelance with organisations and individuals since 2004, she champions ethical behaviour and personal integrity as the generators of excellence. She uses a systemic approach to explore what she calls the "space between". That is the gap between what is intended, desired, planned for, and achieved as well as the impact of individual action and resultant consequences. By explicitly acknowledging the impact of the past in shaping the future, she helps her clients to engage more positively with managing changes required in the present. Improving alignment at every stage generates lasting performance improvements... Read full biography

A City viewpoint

Patrick Healy Alternative Strategies - A year away from the City
April

You probably do not recognise the name of William McChesney Martin Jr. but the comment by America’s longest-serving central banker that it was the job of the Federal Reserve to “take away the punch bowl just as the party gets going” might ring a bell.

Any barman will tell you that taking away the drinks before people are finished is a tricky job.

If you are Chairman of the US Federal Reserve then at least you have muscle to do it without getting beaten up (or at least getting fired). The hardest and most important part of the job of a risk manager is the delivery of bad news. Delivering bad news is never fun and telling someone to stop doing something that is making them lots of money does not make you any friends. As with Fed Chairmen, risk managers may not get the timing exactly right either and if you were unpopular when you made your trader stop then you are detested if he sees traders in other banks carry on and continue to make money. Traders and, in general, banks will want to trade right to the point when the market turns because, whatever anyone tells you, they are rewarded by the amount of money they have generated and not for their wise decisions to get out in good time. Berkshire Hathaway could afford to ignore the boom in dot com stocks but it missed making a lot of money before the market collapsed. Lots of traders and risk managers would have been fired before they were proved right...

Read this article in full

Articles of interest

Powerchex set for ‘Explosive Growth’ Press release, 26th March 2010 Budget 2010: What Business Leaders Think BNET INSIGHT, 25th March 2010 Contractors’ Questions: What if my security clearance has lapsed? Contractor UK, 25th March 2010 Powerchex Announces Further Improvements in Recruitment Activity in the Financial Services Sector Press release, 23rd March 2010 Suspended sentence for NHS manager who lied on his CV Personnel Today, 22nd March 2010 Recruitment activity up 6% Recruiter, 22nd March 2010 The Lehman Whistleblower Letter Everyone Ignored HERE IS THE CITY NEWS, 20th March 2010 'No Jerk' Hiring Policies - Do They Work? HERE IS THE CITY NEWS, 19th March 2010 Financial IT contractor demand revives Contractor UK, 18th March 2010 Who Will “Step Into Success” In 2010? onrec, 17th March 2010 IT Contractors enjoy Recruitment Revival in the Financial Services Sector Press release, 17th March 2010 IT contractor pay creeping up again eFinancialCareers, 1st March 2010

FSA News

Corporate governance - an FSA perspective Speech by Graeme Ashley-Fenn, Director, Permissions, Decisions and Reporting, FSA Building Societies Association corporate governance seminar, 3rd March 2010 Corporate governance is high on the FSA’s radar. In October last year the FSA issued a Dear CEO letter providing guidance on their approach and the process for, Significant Influence Function (SIF) applications. More recently they published Consultation Paper CP10/3, which outlines their latest thinking on this subject. Part of Mr.Ashely-Fenn’s at the FSA includes overall responsibility for the approved persons regime, which is the FSA’s framework for ensuring that individuals in key roles at firms are fit and proper to manage the risks inherent in their business models. The approved persons regime is a vital element in ensuring that firms are well governed. Click here for the full speech Six arrested in FSA and SOCA insider dealing investigation 23th March 2010 Financial Services Authority - Business Plan 2010/11 UK Financial Regulation: After the Crisis 12th March 2010

Conferences & Events

A Strategic Approach to Induction
JSB Training, London, 27th April 2010

Employment Law Europe
JSB Training, London, 28th - 30th April 2010

European HR Leaders Summit 2010
Thistle Marble Arch Hotel, London, 11th & 12th May 2010

London HR Connection Event: The Annual Employment Law Quiz
London HR Connection, London, 12th May 2010

Global Human Resource Mnanagement
Personnel Today, London, 19th May 2010

HR Matters
London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, London, 9th June 2010

The Human Resources Forum
Savoy Place, London, 2nd November 2010

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