DDNS Consulting Ltd specialises in developing people connections via Strategic Business Networking ®. We employ the very best methods derived from business psychology, behavioural science ('nudge' techniques) and the study of ethical influence and persuasion. In doing so, we maximise the effectiveness of your network and your client or customer relationships.

1. WORKTHE
ROOM…
ANDGET
OUTALIVENetworking has become a necessary evil for the modern
HR professional. But it doesn’t have to be so nerve-shredding
WORDS GRACE LEWIS
N
etworking is the second-most
dreaded task on to-do lists after
public speaking, according to
Andy Lopata and Peter Roper,
authors of …and Death came
Third. Even the head of the UK
and Ireland’s biggest networking and
referring organisation, BNI, Charlie
Lawson, admits he hates it: “My natural
preference is not to be out there.”
And yet, we do it in ever-expanding
numbers. In a globally connected world,
the idea has become synonymous with
career progression and development.
“In personal terms, your network is your
net worth,” says business psychologist
Darryl Howes. These days it’s not just
about who you know, it’s about how well
you know them, who they know and
whether you’ll make a connection.
That means every event should be seen
as an opportunity to connect. The average
business professional has 1,000 contacts,
according to Lawson, which means if you
engaged with 40 people in one room, you
could be walking away with up to 40,000
possible connections. “That’s when
networking gets interesting,” he says.
But being more connected doesn’t
always mean better connected, and these
two lines of thought have the experts
divided, says Howes: “Should we build
narrow but deep networks, with few
names but solid relationships based
on highly specific mutual interests or
common experiences?” he asks, citing
the example of university alumni
networks. The alternative concept is
based on the principle of ‘weak
ties’ originally set out by Stanford
University sociologist Mark
Granovetter. “No relationships are
excluded or dismissed… you’re going
as broadly as possible,” Howes says.
It’s women who favour the smaller
network, according to research from
the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
(GEM), and while they are generally
better than their male counterparts
at developing and maintaining
relationships, women often fail to use
their carefully crafted professional
networks to their full potential, turning
instead to their family for advice.
“The more connected you are, the more
people in your network you have, the
more you can rely on someone within
that band to help you out,” says Perry
Timms, CIPD adviser and founder and
director of People and Transformational
HR, whose years of networking have
earned him a diary full of contacts. But
“networking can be done clumsily, over-
eagerly and just downright noisily –and
that isn’t effective. Considered, genuine,
gentle networking is always the best way.”
No professional should embark on
the process of building and maintaining
connections with selfish intentions, says
Devora Zack, author of Networking for
People who Hate Networking. A good
networking bond should have “shared
positive outcomes,” in which both
participants are benefitting from and
contributing to a relationship equally.
“Professional networking is a bit like
dating; if you leave it until you are
actively job-seeking then your approach
can become desperate and nobody will
want to connect with you,” says Elouise
Leonard-Cross, head of organisational
development and learning at
HomeGroup. “It’s no good networking
only when you need something. You
have to build a network and contribute
to it throughout your career.”
On paper, it sounds like a lot of time
and effort. Luckily, there are some basic
techniques that anyone can learn and
still reap the benefits. When starting out,
it’s natural to feel a pang of nerves when
approaching a room full of strangers: it’s
that physiological fight or flight response,
says Zack. Loaded phrases like ‘natural
networker’ and ‘expert connector’ are
also adding unnecessary pressure, says
Howes: “Leave ‘working the room’ to the
Hollywood film directors,” he advises.
Instead, set small, achievable targets.
These days, being considered shy,
quiet, or an introvert is a poor excuse
for avoiding networking events. Barack
Obama, JK Rowling and Apple co-
founder Steve Wozniak all fall into
the ‘introversion’ camp and there’s no
doubt they’ve had to make a few valued
connections along the way. The key is
to be resilient: “Building a professional
32 peoplemanagement.co.uk peoplemanagement.co.uk 33
Choose your quarry
At the doorCome armed
Don’t go in cold
Spendtimelookingatthedelegate
listandresearchingtheevent
speakers,saysBNI’sCharlie
Lawson–andhaveagoalinmind.
“Saytoyourself:‘Iplantohaveat
leastthreeenjoyableconversations,
withthepotentialforafollow-up
discussion,’”saysbusiness
psychologistDarrylHowes.
BusinessNetworkInternational(BNI)
hasover150,000membersworldwide
andrunsseveraleventsacrosstheUK
everymonth.Forsmaller,morespecific
get-togethers,HomeGroup’sElouise
Leonard-Crossrecommendssigning
uptoindustrynewsletters,askingyour
colleaguesandcheckingoutwhatCIPD
regionalbrancheshavetooffer.
Arriveearly,beforethe‘cliques’
havealreadyformed,andscan
thenametagtablefornamesyou
recognise.Onefinallookinthe
mirror,andachecktoseeifyour
namebadgeisclearlyvisible
andyou’rereadytofacethe
music.Tip:aspellingmistakeon
yournametagcouldbeagreat
conversationstarter.
Packyourbusinesscards,apen
andyourmobileandpreparea
few ‘tidbits’aboutyourselfthat
youdon’tmindsharingtogetthe
conversationstarted,saysauthor
DevoraZack.“Ialsoliketogowith
twoorthreerecentdevelopmentsin
myorganisationorareaofinterest
thatIcantalktoattendeesabout,”
Leonard-Crossadds.
HOWTO

2. network starts with being comfortable
with ‘brand you’,” says Leonard-Cross.
“Being authentic helps the value people
gain from networking,” and ultimately
helps stop you becoming that annoying
sales guy we’ve all tried to avoid at
networking events, says Howes.
New technology has made networking
a lot easier, allowing us to connect on a
global level and creating a level playing
field for employees at all levels, but the
end goal should always be to connect
face-to-face. “Online networking simply
serves as a stepping stone to take things
to the next level,” says Howes.
now an essential element of most good
recruitment campaigns and are the top
source for quality placements, doubling
in size over the past four years. But it’s
not just jobseekers that could benefit
from a well-networked HR professional.
“HR is the people profession, so
relationships are a key part of the success
of practitioners inside and outside
organisations,” Timms says.
For Leonard-Cross it comes down
to curiosity: “As an HR professional
I think you have to keep asking
questions, going beyond your
department, industry or sector and
keep challenging assumptions.”
But the more reserved HR team
member needn’t be put off. “Networking
is a subject you can study. It is a topic
you can read up on, and a skill that
you can practise,” says Lawson, who
questions why, if the skill is so important
to business life, none of the UK’s
universities offers ‘networking’ as a
standalone course. “Unfortunately you
can’t face-to-face network from the
garden shed, so the first point is to get
out there and have a go,” Howes adds.
✶ReadPeopleManagement’sguidetobeingabetterHR
networkeratbit.ly/PMnetworker
A
s well as being appointed
the world’s first networking
professor, at Cass Business
School in 2011, Julia Hobsbawn
recently presented Network Nation
on BBC Radio 4. She reveals why
HR professionals need to alter their
understanding of the term.
Why does our idea of ‘networking’
need to change?
People think networking is easy –
that it’s simply about adding people
to your social networks. But we
can’t devolve the responsibility for
cultivating relationships to websites.
What are the hallmarks of a true
‘networker’?
A networker embeds practices into
their daily lives that fundamentally
affect how they interact with others
and which, through knowledge
transfer, could even impact their
company’s bottom line. People make
the mistake of thinking networking
is very transactional – that one
good turn results in another. The
truth is that it’s a much longer-term
project. True networkers don’t look
for instant gain. The impacts often
aren’t immediate or obvious, and
come about in unusual ways. I spend
“It’snot
about
instant
wins”Uber-networkerJulia
Hobsbawnjoinsthedots
only a third of my time networking
expectingsomethinginreturn;therest
is spent meeting with people without
knowing what the outcomes might be.
How does someone become
a better networker?
Social networks are merely
databases until you add the real social
element to it, so being a networker is
all about face-to-face interaction with
small, close-knit groups of people.
The greatest value comes from
reconnecting with people you know
already: research shows you can only
maintain meaningful relationships
with 150 people. You should spend at
least 8-10 hours a week networking,
in person or by phone or email. Social
media should be a last resort.
AreHRprofessionalsgood
networkers?
Generally speaking, they aren’t
because they are still trying to answer
outdated questions about whether
or not they can network outside their
company, how they might do it, and
why. HR professionals can also be
reluctant to promote the idea of the
‘blended self’. But they can be good
networkers if they allow it to happen.
Great networking is highly nuanced,
and is about creating boundaries.
It’s just as important for HR directors
to say they don’t think someone is
a useful contact as it is to accept
them into their hierarchy.
How can busy organisations
justify freeing their employees
to spend time networking?
Organisationscan’taffordnottolet
peoplenetwork.Goodemployers
knowthatnetworking produces more
well-rounded people. Networking
is about collaboration with others,
and advancing the interests of
yourself and your organisation, not
only seeking your next job. My one
wish is for employers to quadruple
their travel and entertaining budgets
to facilitate this.
Would networking be more
acceptable if return on investment
could be quantified?
Good networking isn’t all about gain,
but there is a need to measure its
effectiveness. Networking events
should bring together communities
of people worth meeting with content
that’s worth learning about. I think
networking will also soon be seen as
part of our ‘social health’ – how we
value and use our time.
Hobsbawn says
employers should
quadruple the
budgets associated
with networking
Consistently ranked as one of
LinkedIn’s most connected women,
Jenny DeVaughn, senior director of
employment branding and sourcing at
ADP, set herself the goal of connecting
with three new people on the online
platform every day. DeVaughn calls on
her thousands of contacts whenever
ADP is entering a new market and
looking to recruit locally. “We ask very
specific questions about who we should
target,” she says. “You’d be amazed at the
expert and valuable responses we get.”
The latest UK Staffing Trends survey
says social professional networks are
INTERVIEW PETER CRUSH
PHOTOGRAPHY ANDRES REYNAGA
34 peoplemanagement.co.uk peoplemanagement.co.uk 35
Hang by
the crudités
Come here often?
“Food stations offer a temporary
place and purpose... and as
others arrive, many one-liners
are at your disposal,” says Zack.
“Nice selection… where do they
get such great strawberries from
at this time of year?”
Keepafewopeninglinesinyour
backpocket,saysLawson:‘Haveyou
travelledfartoday?’‘Whatareyou
workingonatthemoment?’‘It’smy
firsttimehere,doyoumindifIjoin
yourconversation?’“Smalltalkis
oftendismissedasbeingsuperfluous,
butactuallyitconfirmsyouasafully
fledgedmemberofthehumanrace…
anditisalsoausefulbridgetobusiness
conversation,”saysHowes.
The vital follow-up
“I start my follow up as soon
as I’ve left the event… I may
even find a quiet corner of the
room where the event is taking
place,” says Lawson. Catch up
with your network every couple
of months: send them a link to
a blog, or use LinkedIn to keep
them updated.
A graceful
goodbye
“Ending a conversation gracefully
is a valuable skill,” says Zack.
The phrase ‘it was great meeting
you’ teamed with a handshake
sends a clear but polite message.
Remember to swap business
cards and promise to follow
up on the meet.
Get to the point
Honesty is the best policy
when you’re trying to move the
conversation on, says CIPD adviser
Perry Timms: “There’s nothing
wrong with being honest about why
you’re there, and what you hope
to get out of the event shouldn’t
do you any harm.” Remember to
“be curious and interested in what
others are saying and they’ll be
the same with you,” he says.
Take a breather
Afterafewsuccessful
conversations,takenoteofwho
you’vespokentoandwhatyou’ve
discussed,advisesLeonard-
Cross.It’snottooearlytostart
contributingtoyournetworkeither.
Introduceoneofyournewcontacts
toanotherintheroomandkeep
theconversationsflowing.
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