The Recruitment Doctor Podcast

After discussing her being on RecX 5 months ago, I finally had the pleasure of welcoming Clare Streets on Coffee Rants! 

She picked an unbelievable rant in Why Job Adverts / Job Descriptions don't have salaries on them, a topic I personally thought I'd be able to add my own reasons and spin on! 

In this episode, Clare and I unpick the notion of why salaries should and shouldn't be on a job advert. 

The barriers on job adverts which could prevent great talent from applying such as degrees and 1 million years experience needed. 

Technical Skills Vs Soft Skills 

And the need to advertise Travel / Flexible Working and what THAT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE! 

"If you want to attract talent, you need to put your best put forward" 

As we come out of Lockdown 3.0, our kids are back at school and some normality is starting to be restored, I was keen to talk to Simone Schehtman who has been gravely concerned about the amount of sports provision and activeness our young children have been receiving over the last 12 months and what the impacts are ahead of Birmingham 2022’s commonwealth games.

Simone talks about the work she has done over the last few months to provide technical skills videos that will help our kids get back on track sports and training wise. A keen marathon runner who has sought to fill the “skills gap” in the sports arena discusses the implications of our children not having access to sports teams, clubs and regular physical activities.

We need our kids to feel motivated, inspired and engaged. With the commonwealth games next year, we forget that even though it is “Only a year”, the lack of social interaction and team play is going to have a massive effect on our children.

In this episode I am joined by the Directors of the Birmingham Enterprise Community, Dan Evans and Omran Al-Habbal as we talk accelerators, investment in tech startups and GymShark being the region's first "UNICORN". 

We dive deep in to what they think the issues are within the start-up scene and why we don't have more scale-ups and ultimately more future unicorns. What is more interesting is how many blame lack of investment, but what are the real issues?! 

Connect with the lads below on Linkedin:

In this week's episodes of Coffee Rants, I'm joined by Operation Managers, Rose Griffin and Leadh Wolley from the Birmingham hub of The Princes' Trust! 

We discuss the importance of giving young talent an opportunity to succeed and their first role in Digital, Tech and Marketing. 

Rose and Leadh also discuss their Get Hired event which is set to take place on March 23 - March 25 this year and why employers should get involved to have FREE ACCESS to unprecedented, enthusiastic and ambitious talent who are keen to GET HIRED!

Grab your tickets below: 

The amount of abuse towards footballers on social media has escalated in recent weeks. 

I get the founders of "The Breakfast Club", Omar Rashid and Gurdas Singh to talk about Chelsea, Arsenal, Football, Racism and social media. 

Get inolved! 

Do you have something you want to rant about? Get in touch!

Dan@CX-Squared.com

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 In this episode I am joined by the incredible Pauline Roche from RnR! 

From the green fields of Ireland and her inspiring father setting up a local community centre to give facilities to the local village people, to her journey to Birmingham in the 80's. Pauline talks to me about why Digital Inclusion is still not a thing and that we all take the internet for granted.

Pauline's heroics as a fighter for social justice and her passion to involve all in the Digital world left me in awe of her! 

Give this a listen! 

We all love a rant, and this week we talk about Data Privacy. A couple of weeks ago WhatsApp changed their Privacy policy. Whilst this hasn't affected users in the UK and Europe (YET), the uproar that this has caused has been prevalent in the world of data privacy. 

JB Benjamin is an activist and tech entrepreneur who is doing everything he can do not only to change the messaging technology world, but also to educate his students as a University lecturer in Computer Science on these important topics. 

SHOULD DATA PRIVACY EDUCATION BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS?! 

Connect with JB Benjamin:

We all love a rant, and this week we discuss digital poverty and the lack of access for thousands of young people in Birmingham. 

I am joined by CEO of WOW Group and the man behind WOW Dot, Cas Majid. WOW Dot is a newly created CIC (community interest company) that has been set up to help donate laptops and internet connectivity to children in Birmingham. It is estimated that 5,000 children to not have access to either Laptops or the INTERNET and in some cases BOTH! Can you imagine not having the internet?!?! THINK ABOUT IT! 

Cas talks to me about WHY, he gives back to the community and what he is doing to support young children in need, not just now, but for the next 12 months AND BEYOND.

DIGITAL POVERTY IS REAL!!! 

THIS IS A MUST LISTEN TOO!

Want to help support the cause?! 

Donate Laptops and get in touch via the link below!

We all love a rant, and this week we discuss rant-actions around mental health during lockdown. Whether you have been living alone, have kids, are struggling with being young, then we all have had struggles, and if you haven't, you are probably lying! 

Join us on the first EVER episode of COFFEE RANTS as Emma Howard discusses her own personal hurdles and struggles and suggests her own rant-actions on the way.

Connect with Emma Howard:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-howard-967b9118/

Do you have something you want to rant about? Get in touch! 

Dan@CX-Squared.com

Follow us on Social Media: 

In this episode of the ReCX Podcast, I speak with Ria Blagburn from Vanti. Vanti is a business that has moved to educate and understand, following the Black Lives Matters movement and death of George Floyd, seeking to get their employees talking and listening to their peers. 

Vanti didn't have a knee jerk moment as many other companies may have, back in May and June, and instead took time to really think about what they could do to make an impact. 

Vanti has set their stall out and want AND ARE, making a change and are a great example to other businesses who may want to also join to make a change, but don't know how. 

THIS EPISODE IS A MUST-LISTEN TOO. 

In our first episode of "ReCX talks Diversity and uncomfortable discussions" I speak with the inspiring and level-headed Leon Barrett, Product Director of 383. 

We dive into Leon's journey into tech and 383. How he used to take things apart and build them again and deciding to pursue a degree in Multimedia Technology instead of Law. We hear about his family's words of wisdom as a child and how he was the only black child in primary school but didn’t want his colour to be a barrier and focused on his ability. 

This podcast left me feeling extremely emotional, from hearing Leon’s personal experiences dealing with racism, from falling over and cutting his knee at school to as recent as a bar during his Christmas party only last year! But more importantly, he has given me hope and I hope it gives you listeners out there some too! 

This podcast series is the most important yet, and by sharing stories like Leon's, we hope to educate but also inspire.

Connect with Leon on LinkedIn and hear more about 383 by visiting their website! 

Jill Palmer is an advocate of tech, people and the community and I love how open and honest she is about the business and her personal actions over the last few months.

We dive into what Clicktravel has done to recognise burnout, how they support mental wellness, and how as a leader you have to “fit your own gas mask” before helping others.

I particularly love Clicktravel’s commitment to giving back to the community and supporting young people as she talks to me about how they reached how to schools and colleges in disadvantaged areas of the city to offer them virtual work experience workshops during this unique summer.

Jill and ClickTravel’s passion and authenticity comes through in this episode, and it is testament to them, and evidently their employee’s loyalty to them is a reason why.

Feel free to connect with Jill on LinkedIn and visit their website for further information.

Sirte is another of my fellow co-authors, whose chapter talks about CX and Lego Serious Play!

Sometimes you get to meet someone who not only does Tech but does CX and Culture as well - An added bonus for me, personally, as they are all my favourite things!! 

Sharon Boyd is the founder of Canoodle CX and CXO for MKL Innovations an IoT house in the North. She is partway through a MBA at Cranfield, is CCXP certified and an experienced programme manager with 20 years customer-facing programme delivery.

Connect with Sharon below! 

In this episode of the ReCX Podcast I speak to fellow Co-Author, Sarb Rana from Mooply. 

Sarb and I have a similar approach when it comes to Customer Experience, using its principles and theories and applying them practically in our businesses in order to differentiate ourselves from the "bigger players" in our respective industries. 

If you would like to connect with Sarb :

Olga Potaptseva is the Founder of European Customer Consultancy a global CX consultancy focusing on Voice of the Customer and market research.

Olga and I talk about how the Middle-East has adopted CX and why it is so important for businesses to understand what their customer experiences but also feels. 

I love Olga's points around hiring for diversity and why it is so important for cross-pollination of ideas within a business.

If you'd like to connect with Olga or hear more about her business, please check out her website and LinkedIn profile below:

On this special spin-off series of ReCX, I speak with another fellow co-author from our new book Customer Experience 2 : Nick Lygo-Baker. 

Nick is a CX professional based in Milton Keynes, England and is keen to bring the best of CX from around the world and CX in the UK. 

It is really interesting to get Nick's take on how he sees businesses' views on CX in the UK and how it has transformed over the years! 

If you'd like to get in touch with Nick, his details are below!

On this spin off series, I speak with fellow co-author from our soon to be released book, Customer Experience 2, Stacy Sherman. 

Stacy is not only an expert in all things CX, but she is a role model for all women who seek equality. We share similar interests in Diversity and Inclusion and employee engagement and I was thrilled to understand why she does what she does! 

So, if you want to hear about her chapter in our new book and her journey through CX, give us a listen! 

If you'd like to get in touch with Stacy, her details are below! 

On this special episode of RecX – I team up with fellow Birmingham Tech Community Lead, Chris Blackwell who is my co-host for this Scenario Planning during Lockdown episode.

We interview four Digital and Tech Birmingham based businesses, whom were happy to give their ten pennies worth on how their busineses have been challenged, how they’ve dealt with remote working and what they would like to see with the tech and digital scene in Birmingham.

Neal Maher and I, use to go to school together. Neal and I discuss his journey from having an eating disorder for three years to going on to becoming a bodybuilding British finalist in 2016. 

Neal and his Muscle Ink brand has sought to revolutionise the Bodybuilding industry and we discuss why it is so important to be different and when people say that won't work, why you should ignore them and go and follow your vision and dreams! 

I love Neal's honesty and transparency, his pure energy and goal setting, and why he is an inspiration to young kids who aren't engaged in school and why you can still go on and achieve whatever you want to, even when the system is saying you can't! 

#recx #goals #bouncebackability #adversity #muscleink #bodybuilding 

Many know, that my journey into the Digital Skills Gap, started with Birmingham Tech Week. If I didn't have the opportunity to talk about the Digital Skills Gap, then I don't know whether what we have achieved would have snowballed to where it is now, but all good things have to start somewhere! 

The last 12 weeks of Lockdown and more recently the shocking death of George Floyd, has taken me on a personal emotional rollercoaster, and Yiannis and I face up to facts and what we can do to support our communities!

Yiannis and I go deep into the ways he has had to adjust and what the journey of Birmingham Tech Week looked like; from just an idea to a reality in all but 3 months! 

We look into throwing yourself into work, and actually what one should do to detach from work/home life through looking after yourself and giving yourself time! 

This episode is a real treat and something I was very much looking forward to recording and listening back to! 

Sometimes you meet someone who not only commits to their work and industry but commits to helping and supporting people whenever they need someone, without wanting anything in return. 

Amardeep always tries to make himself available and has a desire to help people and this was summed up by this quote.

“We all have a choice on how we show up and conduct ourselves. It is important to support others on their journey for no other reason than, I have the capability and desire to do so”.

We talk about his transition from fully working Dad – to full-time Mum and Dad, teacher, and Lawyer.

Amardeep discussed how Trowers & Hamlins were already set up for remote working and their mental health support networks pre and post-covid19, and what he has missed and learned about himself over the last 10 weeks.

On a final note, Amardeep is one of the most humble, generous, and kind-hearted individuals I have met during my time since starting CX Squared and this was evident in this interview!

Tune in, it's worth it!

#ReCX #trowersandhamlins #letsgo #businesscollaboration #communityfirst #podcast

In this episode of the ReCX Podcast I speak to Kim Leary who is a Birmingham role model for many! 

We talk about Kim’s journey in to starting a business and taking Squibble to the next level and her role as Chair of Birmingham Tech Week.

Kim talks inspirationally about trusting our employees, otherwise, why hire them in the first place and how the values of Birmingham Tech Week and Squibble were important for maintaining drive and passion in her capacity, no matter what hat she wears.

One of Squibble’s processes were to work with their clients F2F to share ideas using post-it notes and eat biscuits – they’ve used tech to replace this process – check out Idea Flip!

If you’d like to connect with Kim her details to her LinkedIn profile are below!

If you’d like to be on an episode of the ReCX podcast to share your business's journey over the last 10 weeks, then get in touch via our Calendly link below!

I speak to the highly successful tech company Voxpopme and in particular their CTO and co-founder Andy Barraclough.

Andy Dawson, a face many will know through the work he does in our region through the Greater \chamber of commerce but also through the content he puts out through his social channels. 

Andy Dawson, is the co-founder and director of Curium Solutions. Curium are a successful change management consultancy whom was founded during the financial crisis of 2008.

I love Andy’s pure passion for people and his company’s values, which have once again come to the forefront.

Andy talks about looking after his team and one his key values “People First”. How they’ve kept their team engaged through behavioral analysis tools, how they are feeling and online monthly team days including virtual wine tasting sessions.

In this episode, I get to interview a gentleman who is as honest as honest comes, and a CIO in only his early 30's, carries a wise head on his shoulders. Karl comes from a non-traditional route, not going to university and his story is an inspiration to the 48% of young people who decide that uni isn't for them. 

We discuss how their company values are truer than ever during this indifferent time and how he has even developed a Flare Bot to sit on their internal Slack channel to celebrate their employees win's - big or small. 

If you want to get in touch with Karl - his LinkedIn details are below! 

Following the success and really intriguing topics that were discussed on the CX Squared LIVE webinar we hosted on April 23, 2020, we've decided to post the Audio version on our ReCX podcast. 

Thank you to our panel, Cas Majid, Yiannis Maos, Christian Toon, Emma Howard and Andrew Robins. 

Honesty and transparency is an important factor for all businesses now, more than ever.