Delighted this morning to have hosted the first in an occasional series of roundtable discussions with senior HR professionals in the Legal and Financial Services sectors. Today the focus was on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and, in particular, the impact it is having within organisations in areas such as Recruitment and Resourcing, Learning and Development, Talent Management and OD. There were also broader questions about the role of HR departments in implementing AI in organisations and the extent to which HR departments have the requisite capabilities and, indeed, the capacity to deliver such change.

My thanks to those who attended for a thoroughly interesting and enjoyable discussion.

The HR market continues to be relatively buoyant with both permanent and interim opportunities, across a number of sectors and notably in areas such as Recruitment, Compensation and Benefits and L&D. Listed below are just some of the vacancies we are working on:

Reward Director, Banking, City

HR Manager, International Law Firm, Dubai

HR Manager, International Law Firm, City

HR Manager, Law Firm, East Anglia

Recruitment Manager, Law Firm, City

L&D Manager, FTSE 250, London

Interim HRBP, Banking, City

L&D Manager, Law Firm, City

L&D Manager, Financial Services, City

HR Advisor, Professional Services, London

HR Advisor, International Law Firm, City

For details of these and other opportunities in HR please contact Michael Pickup on 01728 621012 or email your cv to michaelpickup@oystersearch.com

Welcome to the latest update on HR vacancies from Oyster Search & Selection. In January we celebrated our 8th birthday as a recruitment consultancy and were kept very busy working on a significant number of HR vacancies. The early signs are that February will also be equally busy. Here’s just a few of our latest vacancies:

Permanent Vacancies

Senior HRM, Professional Services, London

Senior Resourcing Manager, Professional Services, London

Reward Manager, Financial Services, City

HR Manager, International Law Firm, City

Compensation & Benefits Manager, Professional Services, City

Senior L&D Manager, International Law Firm, City

Senior L&D Manager, Insurance, City

L&D Manager, Banking, City

L&D Manager, International Law Firm, City

People Development Manager, Law Firm, City

Recruitment Adviser, Law Firm, City

Part-Time/Interim/Contract Vacancies

Part-time Employee Benefits Adviser, Law Firm, City

Interim HRIS Manager, Law Firm, City

Interim HRM, Law Firm, City

Interim HRIS/Project Manager, Law Firm, City

Contract L&D Consultant, Banking, City

Interim L&D Co-ordinator, Law Firm, City

Interim Senior L&D Adviser, Law Firm, City

For details of these and other roles please contact Michael Pickup on 01728621012 or email him on michaelpickup@oystersearch.com

I attended a very interesting and informative seminar this morning on the subject of “Happiness in the Workplace” hosted by the Suffolk Business Hub at the Framlingham Technology Centre.

Presented by Dr Hazel Harrison, a clinical psychologist, www.thinkavellana.com, the seminar provided delegates with an overview of some of the latest research into happiness, practical tips designed to encourage happiness in the workplace (very helpful if you are a line manager, or perhaps an HR professional involved in initiatives such as employee engagement, well being and resilience), and the positive impact happiness has on employee performance, notably creativity, productivity (eg. improved sales) and commitment to the organisation’s strategy and goals.

Along the way, we touched on the importance of our relationships in the workplace, playing to our strengths, empowering teams and individuals, mindfulness and the impact of, sometimes small acts of kindness and displays of gratitude, which underpin our sense of well being and happiness in the workplace.

All in all, a great start to the day, with the opportunity to meet with other business owners and some useful, practical tips to take back in to the workplace and in my relationships with our clients and candidates.

It’s only the second week of 2017 and already the HR market is busy with a number of clients actively recruiting, notably in L&D, HRIS and Generalist HR positions. As ever I’m keen to hear from anyone actively looking for a new job, together with anyone else who would simply like advice and guidance about the market and to discuss the outlook for their job prospects in the year ahead. Here’s a list of our current job vacancies:

Senior Resourcing Manager, Professional Services, London

Senior HR Manager, Professional Services, London

Interim/Contract HR Systems/Project Manager, Law Firm, City

HR Manager, Law Firm, London

HR Manager, Law Firm, London

HR Manager, Law Firm, Bedfordshire

L&D Manager, Law Firm, City

L&D Manager, Bank, City

L&D Manager, Insurance, City

Interim Senior HR Advisor, Law Firm, City

L&D Adviser, Law Firm, Suffolk

Interim HRSS Adviser, Law Firm, City

For details of these and other job vacancies and/or to discuss your career more generally, please call Michael Pickup on 01728 621012.