Eloise’s February 2023 News – Recruitment Tips, Buzz Jobs, Candidate Priorities and Menopause
Hello and welcome to February 2023
Well, hasn’t it been cold. As someone who feels the cold even in the summer, I have found January pretty hard. So, I’m delighted that it’s February because it’s one step closer to spring. And isn’t it lovely that the days are getting longer again. It feels good like we’re clawing back more time.
I don’t want to focus too much on the cost-of-living crisis in this post. But I do just want to mention how many people I have spoken to who are really scared to put their heating on at home and have started to get big bills even though their energy consumption is low. Are you doing anything as a business to check in with your employees and to get a feel for how people are feeling and coping?
In my monthly blog I usually like to cover all sorts of different business topics, but this month there’s a real HR and recruitment thread throughout. I feel like this is where businesses are focussing right now so it does feel right.
HR Huddle
We were delighted to welcome Alice Bromwich of Peony & Magnolia, as our guest speaker at the last HR Huddle (you can view the full video below from our YouTube channel). She was spotlighting domestic abuse and how we can best support and protect our employees and colleagues.
Alice owns an HR Consultancy, is a trustee of a domestic abuse charity, and is also a member of EIDA – Employers Initiative on Domestic Abuse.
Domestic abuse as a discussion topic still feels very under the radar. But looking at the headline stats this needs to change.
1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men suffer domestic abuse in their lifetime.
84.3% of victims experience non–physical abuse
12.9% – Sexual Assault
20.8% – Stalking
Government figures show that domestic abuse costs society an estimated £74 billion a year, and that number goes up each year.
Another shocking stat is that stalking and harassment increase significantly post-separation. And 75% of victims are targeted in the workplace.
But do you know what to look out for? How to spot any signs that someone is experiencing domestic abuse? And then if you do, what do to and how to support that person?
We all have a duty of care and responsibility for each other as people and as employers.
Alice spoke about the three elements of the Domestic Abuse Framework:
- Recognise, acknowledge, believe
Understanding the signs, the patterns of behaviour, the changes
- Respond and support
As with all life events, everyone’s experience will be different
- Refer and reflect
Source the right support channels, discuss at the Board level and seek holistic wellbeing
It can be difficult to spot signs of domestic abuse and tricky to broach with someone. Cultivating an honest and open culture in the workplace, can make it easier.
This is a very complex topic but one that needs a greater spotlight. If you’d like support with getting it right in your workplace, or you’d like to get the slides from Alice’s presentation or to discuss anything in more detail, please do get in touch with Alice www.peonyandmagnolia.com/contact-us
HR Huddle date for your diary
Our next HR Huddle session is on:
Wednesday, 8th March at 2pm
This time we’ll be hearing from Huddle regular Keeley Baigent taking us through an employment law update.
The Eventbrite sign up email will be sent out soon, if you don’t get that email and you’d like to be added to the list, or have an HR professional in your organisation who’d like adding, just drop me a line: [email protected]
Recruitment and jobs market
The KPMG and REC Report on Jobs shows there is still a good demand for people and lots of jobs being advertised. But the numbers are lower than we would usually see at the start of a year.
Temporary job placements however are on the rise. This shows that employers are possibly being cautious over permanent hiring but do need additional staff so are going down the temporary route instead. Remember, we offer a temporary recruitment service if you’d like to explore this avenue.
This could also be a great way to combat the ever-declining number of job seekers in the market. Taking someone on with on a temporary contract and then after a bedding-in period offering them a permanent role can take the risk out of hiring for both parties.
Recruitment tips for the market
What tactics can you be employing, pun intended, to help boost your recruitment efforts right now?
The biggest thing, and a very easy one, is transparency. List the salary or salary bracket on your job advert. So many jobseekers won’t even look at your advert unless the salary is shown. You’ll get more applicants and save everyone’s time.
The most common thing we hear from new starters who are unhappy in a new job, is that the role doesn’t match the job advertised. Don’t oversell or manufacture a job role, provide accurate job descriptions. Recruiting takes time, don’t sabotage yourself.
Don’t rule out flexible working. This has become such an important factor for people since the pandemic.
Get these right and you’re off on the right foot.
What are the latest buzz jobs?
I was interested to read the LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise 2023 report recently. They have identified the top 25 fastest-growing job titles over the past five years. Sustainability, tech and HR jobs have been on the rise. As have roles around growth and renewals.
It’s an interesting list that I think shows three main things; firstly, where businesses are placing more emphasis. Secondly, identifies new types of jobs that have developed and grown from things like business environmental goals. And then there are some jobs that are clearly rebranded job titles to help make them sound a bit more exciting.
Have a look for yourself:
- Customer Success Consultant
- Sustainability Manager
- Product Operations Manager
- Sales Development Representative
- Chief Growth Officer
- Enterprise Account Executive
- Growth Marketing Manager
- Cloud Engineer
- Business Development Representative
- Chief People Officer
- Data Science Manager
- Site Reliability Engineer
- Data Engineer
- Security Operations Centre Analyst
- Workplace Coordinator
- Machine Learning Engineer
- Import Coordinator
- Cable Technician
- Software Engineer
- Renewal Manager
- Product Analyst
- Private Equity Associate
- Head of Rewards
- Data Governance Manager
- Risk Management Associate
It’s interesting to keep an eye on lists like these to cross reference your own business roles to help with strategic planning and your recruitment success.
Candidate priorities
Another way to help boost your chances of recruitment success is by knowing what candidates really want and factoring it into your job packages.
Another piece of LinkedIn research, the Global Talent Trends Report, summarises the top four things candidates are looking for when job hunting.
These came out as pay and benefits, work/life balance, flexible working, and development.
Are you building these elements into your job packages and job adverts? And, are you also making sure you’re ticking these boxes to help retain your existing team?
Menopause in the workplace
At the end of January, the government partially rejected proposals to change UK legislation to protect the rights of women experiencing menopause. The change (another intended pun) would make menopause a ‘protected characteristic’ under the Equality Act.
The main stated reason for it being rejected was that it might cause other discrimination, such as towards men experiencing long-term medical conditions. They also said they would not launch a consultation on amending the Equality Act for “including a duty to provide reasonable adjustments for menopausal employees”.
I don’t want to get all political here, but this does blow my mind. According to a British Menopause Society survey, 45% of women indicated they felt their menopause symptoms had a negative impact on their work. And women make up 52% of the UK population. In my mind, it is clear that this issue needs to be addressed formally – particularly whilst boardrooms and senior leadership positions are still made up of mostly men.
Conservative MP Caroline Nokes condemned the government’s overall response as “a missed opportunity to protect vast numbers of talented and experienced women from leaving the workforce.”
“For too long women have faced stigma, shame and dismissive attitudes when it comes to menopause. The evidence to our inquiry was crystal clear that urgent action was needed across healthcare and work settings to properly address women’s needs, yet government progress has been glacial and its response complacent.”
This won’t be the last on this though as fortunately, it’s a topic that is very much in the public consciousness. So, for now at least, it’s up to companies to lead the way and show how menopause-specific support and policies in the workplace can have a real benefit and impact.
And that’s it for another month
I hope you’ve all had a good, solid start to the year, whether that be professionally or personally. Winter can be a tricky time for a lot of people but as we start to see the first shoots of spring in February, we often find a renewed feeling of optimism.
Wishing you all a good February
Our temps do an amazing job for a wide range of clients in the area. They are some of the most flexible and hardworking people and we want to recognise that every month.
So, if you have a Vanilla temporary worker on assignment, or who has just completed an assignment, who you think has gone above and beyond or exceeded expectations in any way. You can nominate them to receive our Temp of the Month Award.
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
Gain a new skill and a verifiable qualification
Study in your own time and at your own pace to get a verifiable qualification with New Skills Academy. With over 880 courses to choose from you’re sure to find a course that interests you. All of the online courses can be studied from your PC, MacBook, tablet or smartphone device. Click here for more info.