Eloise’s November 2022 News – Another New PM, Recruitment News, Add Value To Your Office
Hello and welcome to November Recruitment News
I hope you got through Halloween and bonfire night unscathed.
So, what’s happened since the last recruitment news? Of course, we now have another new prime minister. It’s Rishi Sunak’s turn to put plans in place to navigate the UK’s financial storm and to undo some of Liz Truss’s work from her very short tenure.
We’re very used to firsts and historical events after the last few years, and Rishi is our first UK non-white prime minister. Rishi is of Indian heritage and is a practicing Hindu. What an amazing thing that he became PM on the first day of Diwali, the Hindu festival of light.
It will create such a positive ripple across the UK having a non-white person taking on the UK’s top job. He’s proud of his roots, heritage, and religious beliefs, having taken the oath to be an MP on (the Hindu holy book) Bhagavad Gita, in 2017.
Whether politically you think he is the right person for PM or not, it feels like he’s going to stick around. And consistency is what we need after enduring so much change and unprecedented events.
And, I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here has returned to our screens, this year with a political slant in the form of Matt Hancock. I love to watch how the camp evolves and see how they perform as a team. It’s interesting how people cope under pressure. I like the ‘HR experiment’ of it all. Matt Hancock is going to be an interesting addition to the initial camp when the time comes.
Recruitment news
We find ourselves in a tricky position…
Let me recap where we are: The pandemic caused a surge in available jobs and recruitment reinvigoration. This, coupled with the lack of candidates in the market due to Brexit, record unemployment and candidate confidence, meant finding the talent businesses wanted was tough. Although this pushed up starting salaries which led to more candidates dipping their toes in the job-seeking water. Then the cost-of-living crisis stopped some people from looking for new jobs because they wanted security, whilst others have wanted/needed to look for higher paying roles or roles that are closer to home, or at least cost-effective to perform.
What a rollercoaster it’s been.
Now, there is economic uncertainty and talks of recession, so companies are reviewing their recruitment plans – who do they need v’s what they would like.
So, there is a lot to contend with now for everyone.
There’s no right answer, it’s very much a case of doing what you think is right for your business – trust your gut.
And if you are recruiting, as I have said for a few months now, speed needs to be your friend. Too many businesses are taking far too long over their recruitment timeline. At all levels of your business, you need to have your ducks in a row ahead of kicking off your interview processes. Candidates are not going to hang around whilst you deliberate for months and have an extended 3 or 4 stage interview process.
You need to be swift and open-minded to have a successful recruitment journey.
Christmas
There, I said it.
Christmas is everywhere now we’re into November; adverts, shops, emails, and posts. Everyone is gearing up for the festive period and the next few weeks are going to fly by.
With the planned postal and rail strikes, forward planning is more essential than normal this year.
If you’re thinking you are going to be recruiting in early January and are therefore merrily leaving it off the to-do list until January 3rd, I would strongly advise you to rethink this plan.
There will be a surge in New Year jobs coming to the market all trying to attract the same limited number of candidates. Offering jobs towards the end of January usually means start dates of between March and May, depending on notice periods.
If you need to fill roles in the New Year, now is the time to start advertising those roles. Get your shortlists and interviews done ahead of Christmas. Allow people to get their notice handed in ahead of Christmas, have a nice relaxed festive period, and get them onboarded in January and February.
You know where we are to help you with this process.
What do people want from the office?
I read an article on LinkedIn recently about the increasing pressure on businesses to get their office space right – I know, as we don’t have enough to think about.
Although we’re finding hybrid working is the number one asked-for requirement from job seekers, and the article states that hybrid working is commonplace for 8 out of 10 workers, it also explores how important office time is for people.
Office time needs to add something more than just ticking the box of showing your face in the office for 2 days a week. Having a dedicated desk space, and in-person learning, the office incorporates sustainability and well-being initiatives. Collaborative working spaces. Being encouraged to talk and connect with colleagues.
It’s all become more important for people that they are really gaining something over and above just completing their work when in the office.
How do you add value to office time?
Do you think you need to?
How do you ensure people are seeing lots of different people when they’re in the office?
Do you try and avoid the same people always being in on set days, or even that people end up being in the office alone?
I feel the people connection element is so important for office working days. I allow people to bring their dogs to work, I encourage walking meetings, and I want people to talk to each other, and further their personal connections with their colleagues. This only adds to how people can work together when they are remote.
A sense of team and being part of something is so important to us as humans. Yes, working from home can be great and very productive, but we benefit as people from being around other people. I know office days are often less productive than home days, but if it’s because people are building relationships, I welcome it.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Here is the original article: https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/what-people-want-from-the-office-now-5025377/
And that’s recruitment news for another month
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We recruit throughout the East Midlands covering Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland and the surrounding areas, especially Market Harborough, Lutterworth, Leicester, Corby and Kettering. We help people find their perfect job and match suitable jobseekers with businesses looking to hire the best candidates across our five specialisms – Sales, Marketing, Accountancy & Finance, HR and Office
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