Employee Retention: Creating a Culture of Engagement and Trust

Nov 16, 2015 | IT

Creating Engagement- Part 1

The basis to any successful organization is a high level of engagement amongst employees. Improved performance and productivity is amongst many other fundamental attributes that employee engagement contributes to. Ultimately, employee engagement contributes significantly to retention. Here we discuss the main components that ultimately contribute to a high level of employee retention.

Vision:  The prospect of vision and progression largely contributes to engagement. When faced with this prospect, employee’s engagement levels are likely to increase significantly. Engagement naturally occurs when an employee feels they are working towards something that will benefit them. In circumstances where employees place a large importance on progression, a high engagement level is deemed as an important factor in achieving their progression. Open up this prospect to all your staff, no matter what level they are at on the career ladder.  

Interaction: There is a strong correlation between how well an employee performs and their relationship with their boss. Provide your employees with constructive and positive feedback on a regular basis and maintain a constant level of interaction with your team. Creating a good relationship is an imperative step to encouraging engagement and ultimately creating retention. If creating strong employee relations is not a priority to you, your staff are less likely to place importance on their performance in the workplace.

Creating Engagement Part- 2

Reward: It is imperative that employees achievements are praised and efforts are appreciated. You will find there is a significantly higher level of engagement if employees feel they are working towards something that they will benefit from. Provide your employees with rewards when they have accomplished a goal or task and celebrate their achievements. No matter how big or small this achievement may be, if it is important to the employee, it should be important to you. Rewarding your team’s accomplishments will create a sense of purpose and importance as well as contributing to creating a strong camaraderie in the workplace. According to findings by Globoforce “when companies spend 1% or more of payroll on recognition, 85% see a positive impact on engagement”.

Training and Development: This is a topic we have previously touched on, however it is such an important step to maximising the potential of your employees and your organisation. Provide your employees with training to contribute to their existing knowledge and skills in order to instil your employees with confidence and sense of authority over their role.

Creating Trust- Part 1

Trust is the basis for any successful team. The concept of trust goes hand in hand with loyalty, and loyalty equates to retention. Essentially, you will cease to maintain a strong level of retention if your employees have little trust in you or your organisation. Here are our top components to creating trust in the workplace in order maintain employee retention.

Shared Vision: Building up a workplace where each individual is working towards the same goal and acquires the same vision creates a strong sense of trust and openness. The team are far more likely to feel a sense of contribution and importance as opposed to working towards the employer’s personal goal. A shared vision creates a sense of certainty and loyalty, and will significantly enhance the employees trust in you and your organization.

Integrity: Remaining honest and sincere is of paramount in creating trust. Honouring promises and maintaining a level of consistency with your approach is key when it comes to earning trust. You may find that your judgement is needed in determining what to share and what not to share. Sometimes confidentiality is unavoidable but in those instances, be honest about what you can share and what you cannot. You will easily earn trust if you simply remain consistent and open.

Creating Trust- Part 2

Open-mindedness: A “my way or the high way” approach to the processes of the organisation will fail in contributing towards any sense of trust in the workplace. Be open to new suggestions from your employees. Try not to instantly disregard new ideas. Be aware that building employees confidence in suggesting new ideas, and ensuring that each employee feels as valued and important as one another is imperative. If your employees feel that you trust their judgment and acknowledge their thoughts and ideas, they are far more likely to trust you.

Body Language: According to body language experts, over half our communication is derived from our body language. Direct eye contact is an attribute that contributes significantly to creating an openness in our body language. Maintain an openness in your body language. To stimulate good feeling, smile. When you are in conversation, mirror their body language as this creates a sense of agreement and acknowledgement. Crossing your arms and legs is deemed ‘shifty’ and closed. Use your hands when in discussion. This creates a sense of passion. These may seem like obvious points to remember; however, they really are important components in earning trust. Practice open body language and watch how quickly you begin to earn trust from your employees.

SMEs Are Responsible for 15.6million UK Jobs

Nov 9, 2015 | IT

With a collective turnover of £1,753,900 (that’s 47.2% of private sector turnover) SMEs have definitely been playing an important role in driving the country’s growth and creation of wealth over recent years, as well as helping people into work. The European Commission also reported that 85% of EU jobs between 2002 and 2012 were created by SMEs.

Small Business Appeal
SMEs are an appealing place to work for many professionals, as well as graduates looking for an organisation with great culture and the opportunity for swift progression. The chance to be part of an exciting, fast-paced business where input and skill are likely to be recognised draws enthusiastic and talented individuals to small or new businesses.

Super SMEs
It’s with this talent, that SMEs are able to grow and succeed. What we call HGSBs (high-growth small businesses) are adding significantly, or we could say disproportionately, to the number of SME employees. An Octopus Investments report found that these super SMEs accounted for only 1% of the business community, but generated 68% of new jobs in the UK between 2012 and 2013. Last year, 20% of economic growth is said to have been created by these HGSBs.

An Uneven Divide
There is a clear north south divide when it comes to successful and powerful SMEs. One in every 25 professionals working in London is employed by a HGSB, but in Wales it’s only one in 80. It could be down to the government to help businesses outside of London and the South East grow and employ. Improving digital infrastructure and working on skills gaps could help local businesses out in the long term and help them trade internationally.

Barriers to Employment
The ONS report also highlighted a concern with the high proportion of businesses that do not employ. Many of the UK’s VAT registered businesses, actually don’t employ at all, often reaching out to freelancers or collaborating with others who are also self employed. Raising the question from the country’s smallest businesses of whether it should be more simple to grow a small business and employ workers.

However, despite some inconsistency and challenges, we know that SMEs are playing an important role in the UK economy and job market. Creative, professional and digital sectors are among the most successful industries in terms of overall job growth, productivity and average wages (according to the think-tank’s Small Business Outlook 2015). Strong customer service, product innovation, local knowledge and of course talented employees are cited as some of the key factor of SME success. So, if you’re a business leader and you’re looking to grow your team further, perhaps we can help – to have a chat with us about your recruitment contact us here.

Are You Listening?

Nov 9, 2015 | IT

Why are innovative ideas being missed?

It generally comes down to a lack of process for collecting and developing these ideas. From the workers that were surveyed, 37% said shared ideas are lost or unacknowledged, 27% said there was a lack of interest in their ideas, and 27% said there was a lack of incentives to share ideas in the first place. 

 Is the question ‘how do we innovate?’
Guest lecturer at Cranfield University and innovation expert Cris Beswick describes innovation as being “like teenage sex; everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it.” And it seems that many happily reinforce the importance of innovation but struggle to address the ‘how to’.

Engagement
Innovation is often associated with research and development or IT but it should be woven into every aspect of business at every level. Challenging any traditional ‘them and us’ roles is important as is trying to adopt an attitude that sees employees as potential solutions to any problems. Engagement is so important in enabling a culture of trust between management and workers, and an innovative workplace culture should include managers that are willing to experiment and open themselves up to failure.

Helping to find answers to problems and improving the organisation should be everyone’s business. Regular team meetings offer a time to reflect on what went well and what didn’t. Offering time and space to step back from day to day tasks and discuss ideas may allow employees to speak more openly about potential innovations.

Here at Langley James we’re recruitment experts and can help you with the structure and organisation of your team. If you’d like a chat, you can get in touch with us here.

Employment Law Update: November 2015

Nov 9, 2015 | IT

Snowballs and open fires aside, winter isn’t all fun and games.  Dark mornings and dark afternoons pose their own mood-detracting challenges for workers and employers alike. And that’s not all.

Acas has a guide to dealing with winter’s workplace issues. It lists adverse weather, colds and flu, a flurry of holiday requests, and wellbeing in the workplace as seasonal issues that employers must carefully manage. Plan in advance, is the advice.

So, go on. Sort out your policies, get your systems in place, and grab winter by the horns.

The meaning of ‘public’- Underwood v Wincanton

In May this year we reported the case involving the estate agents, Chestertons. It was about whistleblowing; in particular, the requirement that a worker must reasonably believe that their disclosure is in the public interest in order to benefit from whistleblowing protection. The case decided that something that was of interest to 100 senior managers could be in the public interest.

Underwood v Wincanton builds on that. Mr Underwood was dismissed after he and colleagues made disclosures to their employer about the unfair distribution of overtime to drivers. He claimed that he had suffered detriment and had been automatically unfairly dismissed because he had made protected disclosures. But did the disclosures have the necessary ‘public interest’ element? The tribunal held not and struck out the claim at a preliminary stage.  The complaint was about a group of workers who had an identical grievance about an aspect of their employment contracts; this wasn’t in the public interest, the tribunal said.  

By the time the case arrived at the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), the Chestertons case had been decided. It was clear that ‘public’ could be a subgroup, even if made up only of people employed by the same employer on the same terms. So the EAT reached a similar conclusion in the Underwood case: it is at least possible for a matter to be in the public interest even if it’s only about a contractual dispute between a group of employees and their employer.

The upshot is that the claim will now proceed and it will be for the tribunal to decide the outcome. The EAT made reference to the fact that the Chestertons case is being appealed, and that until that hearing takes place in October 2016, its conclusions should be followed. So, for now at least, workers who disclose information in the right way about a breach of their (and their colleagues’) employment contracts could have whistleblowing protection. 

Zero hours guidance

Does your business rely to some extent on casual labour? If so, you may well be using zero hours contracts. They can be really useful, flexible ways of covering things like staff illness, seasonal work, projects and ‘on-call’ duties.

But you won’t have failed to notice that zero hours contracts have been in for some criticism recently. A huge bone of contention has been around exclusivity clauses; terms within these agreements that stopped workers topping up their (fluctuating) earnings by working elsewhere. Now that these clauses have been banned, zero hours contracts have clawed back some popularity. But are you comfortable about when and how to use them?

This guide from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills should help:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/zero-hours-contracts-guidance-for-employers/zero-hours-contracts-guidance-for-employers.

It has some really clear pointers about appropriate and inappropriate use. It’s also good on best practice and on alternative arrangements that you could put in place.

And, while we’re on the subject, the Government has published draft regulations (the ‘Exclusivity Terms in Zero Hours Contracts (Redress) Regulations 2015’) which could thwart employers who ignore the ban on exclusivity clauses. Yes, these clauses will be unenforceable and, yes, employees could choose to take no notice of them. But the regulations will offer certain specific protections for people working under zero hours contracts:

• The dismissal of an employee (however long they have been employed) will be unfair if the reason, or main reason, is that they didn’t comply with an exclusivity clause; and
• The right for workers to not suffer a detriment because of failure to comply with an exclusivity clause.

In a group to TUPE?- Inex Home Improvements Ltd v Hodgkins

Where an organisation is to take over the delivery of a service, workers who currently do that work sometimes transfer over to that new service provider. It’s a fundamental rule of TUPE. However, only workers who are assigned to an “organised grouping of employees” make the move. And that was the key point in this case.

Mr Hodgkins was employed by Inex. Work was subcontracted to Inex in tranches by a company called Thomas Vale. There was a pause in the work supplied and Inex laid Mr Hodgkins and some of his colleagues off under the terms of a construction industry national agreement. It was a temporary stoppage and Inex continued to employ them.  

When Thomas Vale issued its next batch of work (which was pretty much the same work as Inex had previously completed), it went to a different subcontractor. Had Mr Hodgkins and colleagues transferred to that new subcontractor?

The tribunal held not; they weren’t an organised grouping  working on Thomas Vale’s contract immediately before the service passed to the new subcontractor. The Employment Appeal Tribunal took a different view, however. Just because there has been a temporary absence from work, or work has stopped, that doesn’t mean that there can’t be an organised grouping of employees who had been involved in the relevant activities. They don’t have to have been engaged in those activities immediately before the transfer.

Gender equality

As part of moves to close the gender pay gap, the Government has announced that larger employers – those with more than 250 employees – will be forced to publish details of the bonus payments they make to male and female staff. This is expected take effect in the first half of 2016.

Other measures will include requiring the public, as well as the private and voluntary, sector to publish average pay details for male and female staff. The Government also wants to eliminate all-male boards in the FTSE 350.

Details of the rules on pay reporting will be published in new regulations. In the meantime, the provisions are being hailed by some as a start. The TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady, said, “Employers need to look at why women are still being paid less than men and do something meaningful about it.”

The sleepworking conundrum- Shannon v Rampersad (T/A Clifton House Residential Home)

Is a worker working when they’re on-call but not… working?

Mr Shannon was an on-call night care assistant. It meant that he had to be present in the care home (which, significantly, was also his home) throughout the night to help the designated night care assistant. In reality, help was rarely needed.

Did all those nighttime hours constitute working hours, even though he slept during them? The tribunal held that he was only working when he was called on to help the care worker. As he was already being paid the National Minimum Wage for those times, he lost this aspect of his claim. The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld that decision.

It’s important to remember, then, that just because a worker is at their place of work, it doesn’t mean that they are ‘working’. The usual rule is that if someone is available at or near work to do salaried work and is required to be available for work, then those are working hours. But, as this case has highlighted, it’s different where the worker is spending time at home. Then they’ll only be working when they are “awake for the purpose of working”.

It can be a difficult legal area to navigate and, as it’s so fact-specific, there’s plenty of scope for argument.

Companies have feelings too- EAD Solicitors v Abrams

An interesting take on the concept of associative discrimination.

Mr Abrams was a member of a limited liability company and was due to retire at 62. He set up a limited company (he was the sole director) which then took his place in the LLP. The limited company was entitled to the profit share that Mr Abrams would have received directly, had he still been a member of the LLP. The company agreed to provide services of an appropriate fee-earner to the LLP.

The LLP didn’t want Mr Abrams to do the work after the time at which he’d normally have retired. On its face, age discrimination. But could the limited company claim discrimination on the basis of detrimental treatment because of its association with someone who had a protected characteristic?

Yes, said the Employment Appeal Tribunal. It’s not just individuals that are protected under the Equality Act. The law is about discrimination by one person against another person – and ‘person’ includes a limited company. As associative discrimination is well established when it comes to individuals’ claims, companies may also be protected.

 And finally…..

Telecoms company TalkTalk has been the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons lately. But when it comes to protecting data, it’s not just hackers that businesses should fear. The problem can come from within, as supermarket chain Morrisons discovered. It’s being sued by 2,000 members of staff after its former company auditor uploaded the personal and financial details of nearly 100,000 Morrisons workers to a file-sharing site.

The auditor was jailed, but that didn’t put the business’ problems to bed. Far from it. Staff are claiming that Morrisons didn’t do enough to protect their data. The supermarket is reported to be denying liability for the actions of a rogue individual.   

As every business knows, the stakes are high where personal information is concerned. Serious breaches of the Data Protection Act can attract fines of up to £500,000. And then there are claims and reputational damage to factor in – which, in some cases, hit hardest. We’ll have to wait and see how this one pans out.

Creating Camaraderie at the Office

Nov 9, 2015 | IT

Office Activities

Incorporating activities into your working day is a great way of freshening up the office and revitalizing employees. Scheduling in time to implement activities and games can be far more beneficial than you would thing. A change in routine not only contributes to energizing employees and keeping them engaged, but encourages communication. This is an ideal way of staff to getting to know one another, and perfect for new starters in the company. It’s also a great way to assess the team’s problem solving skills and team building ability. Understandably you want to maintain some level of professionalism. Therefore, implement games and activities that encourage employees to utilise and demonstrate their skills and knowledge and ensure that any activities you implement maintains some level of relatability to your organization.

Implement a wellness plan

Camaraderie is established naturally when there is a mutual satisfaction amongst employees. Implementing a wellness plan accessible to your employees is the key to combating fatigue and stress in the workplace will also boost morale. There are varying methods by which you can implement some form wellness plan. Providing free fitness classes during lunch hour is a phenomenon that is proving favourable in a growing number of organisations. This being said, implementing a fitness plan is not exclusive to physical activity. You need to factor in a realistic budget to implement some form of health plan. Little touches such as providing staff with bottles of water or proving a fruit bowl in the centre of the office is a great way of administering a wellness plan, and it fairly cost friendly. (Keep an eye on the fruit- we do not want a smelly office full of perished produce!)

Trips outside the office

This does not necessarily mean scheduling in full day team-building trips (although this is advisable every once in a while). Taking short trips out the office is a great way of insuring that employees feel connected with one another. A change of scenery is a great way of boosting employee engagement.

Here are a few ways to incorporate a change of scenery into your working day:

• Allow your employees to spend a few hours discussing ideas and projects in your local coffee shop.
• Treat your employees to lunch every once in a while. If you are managing a large team, split your employees into divisions and take a selection of employees out at a time.
• Lead spontaneous, unscheduled activities. Encourage employees to go outside one afternoon and play a game of football, for example. 

You will find that your employees respond well to this approach.

Resolve issues and conflicts quickly and efficiently

Unfortunately, there are circumstances whereby conflict presents itself amongst employees, and you must not fear it. Often, we try and avoid conflict but ultimately, it is unavoidable. Recognizing when there are issues presenting themselves in the workplace is your duty, and tackling these issues head on is the only way to disburse animosity amongst your staff. Effective conflict resolution reduces the likelihood of distress and withdrawal amongst your team members. You want to create an atmosphere of openness and contentment in order to maintain camaraderie in the workplace, there is no room for animosity or rivalry in the workplace.

Related Reading: Managing Stress at the Workplace

Managing Workplace Stress

Nov 2, 2015 | IT

In a time when ambition and career progression is becoming ever more prevalent amongst the working population, a demanding work culture is the new norm. Long working hours and a constant pressure to perform to a high standard is beginning to have adverse effects on many professionals in the UK. Stress inducing factors are unavoidable in the work place, but managing these stressors in the most effective way possible is an imperative step to creating a healthy working environment.

Here we consider the most effective ways in creating a healthy work environment for you and your employees. 

Work smarter

Reducing work load is difficult, however managing the work load doesn’t need to be a burden. The ‘work smart, not long’ method refers to the idea of prioritizing tasks, and implementing a time management plan.

This increasingly utilized method amongst working Brits, is the idea of tackling each project in short, sharp time bursts. If you switch your focus to another task when you start to lose concentration, you will find that when you return to that task, your level of productivity will have largely increased. Establishing a time management and applying it in the work place will contribute to reducing pressure and will aid in constructing a level of organization to your work load.  

This applies to the work load to be tackled out the office outside working hours. Where possible, prioritize and limit the amount of work to be undertaken outside the office. Focus on what is most urgent and what can wait, and give yourself a time limit to finish the task. Although this may seem easier said than done, your productivity levels will certainly increase and stress levels are likely to decrease. It is important to remember that long hours don’t necessarily equate to quality production.

Take care of yourself

When you’re faced with a plethora of projects and responsibilities, it is easy to forget about number one. Ensure that you give yourself a substantial break. Skipping lunch hour seems like preferred choice when you have deadlines to meet and projects to juggle. But this is the opportunity to take time out, refresh your mind and prepare for the afternoon ahead, and where possible, remove yourself from the office. Don’t skip food. Ensure you eat a substantial lunch. Nibbling on a packet of crisps whilst sitting at your desk wont suffice in this instance unfortunately.

Don’t be afraid to say no.

Often in the workplace, feeling the pressure to agree to whatever project comes your way feels like the only option. However, agreeing to undertake projects that you know you cannot deliver to the full of your potential due to a heavy work load is unproductive. Maintaining an awareness of your limit and your workload is crucial in determining what projects you can agree to, and when to stop and say no. In most cases, it is more valuable to work on tasks to the best of your ability, then spread yourself thin and juggle copious amounts of projects that you know you cannot complete to the best of your ability. Don’t put pressure on yourself to take on more tasks than you know you can complete. It is ok to say no sometimes.

Talk

Discuss the issues you are facing with someone who can help. We all remember the cheesy line “a problem shared is a problem halved”. Yes, it is cheesy, but it’s true.  There is always someone who can help. When you bring awareness to your employers of the issues you are facing, you will find you feel less guilt or pressure for taking time out and saying no to tasks you cannot complete. Don’t forget, your employers want the best for you and will more than likely do all they can to help take some pressure off you reduce your stress levels.

Creating a Great Working Environment

Oct 27, 2015 | IT

One big misconception in the workplace is the belief that an employee’s experience and skill set is the fundamental attribute to the employee reaching full potential and performance levels. An employee’s level of performance in the workplace is highly influenced by their working environment. Creating a positive and comfortable atmosphere is the key to maximising your employee’s, and your company’s potential. Here are our 5 tips to creating a great working environment.

1. Equal Participation and Communication 

Encouraging your employees to discuss openly about their thoughts and suggest new ideas they might have, gives the employee confidence and promotes a sense of worth. It is crucial that you create an approachable atmosphere for your staff. not only does open communication create confidence to discuss opinions and ideas, but in most cases encourages the employee to openly discuss any problems or issues they are facing in the work place and feel comfortable in doing so.

      2. Training and Development

Training and development is crucial and ultimately contributes to maintaining and improving employee’s knowledge and skills in order to generate the best quality and results. It is crucial that the focus of implementing the training and development is on employee empowerment and building confidence. This is an investment not a cost. Ultimately employee efficiency is improved, therefore leading to financial gain.  If you spend the time to implement appropriate training, you will see the rewards. Employee productivity and job satisfaction is increased, thereby contributing to enhanced morale and reduced employee turnover.

      3. Feedback and Recognition

Providing your employee with feedback, whether positive or negative, will have a profound effect on the employee. Employees can utilize constructive feedback in personal development and self-improvement. Implementing an appraisal process is an excellent way of not only providing feedback to the employee, but gives the employee to the chance to discuss any issues they might be facing in the work place.

Ensure that employees efforts and achievements are recognised. Acknowledge what the employees do well and when possible, implement a rewards scheme for your employee’s achievements. When employees feel that they are being rewarded for their hard work and that efforts have been recognised employee satisfaction will significantly increase.

      4. Creating ‘Team Spirit’

Creating a feeling of team spirit in the work place provides a sense of community and solidarity. When morale and camaraderie levels are high, a strong team culture naturally evolves. Here are some tips on how to create a strong team spirit:

• Schedule bonding and activity days. Encourage employees to get to know each other and create trust amongst the team.
• Encourage employers to recognise, acknowledge and praise colleague’s achievments and celebrate as a team.
• Implement a core set of values to be followed by employees. Focus on maintaining respect, honest and fairness

     5. Creating a Sense of Purpose

Your employees are an asset to your company. Each employee, no matter what job role are equally as important as one another in contributing to the process effectiveness of your organization. Employees who feel they are valuable to your brand are significantly more likely to feel satisfied in their role, produce quality results in their role, and feel reduced stress in the workplace as opposed to those who feel no value. Ensure that you make the time to stress the importance of each employee’s role and how they contribute to the success of the company.

Poor Connectivity Issues

Oct 26, 2015 | IT

A report by the telecoms firm Daisy Group found that 47% of managers thought they rarely or never suffered from poor connectivity, when in fact companies are experiencing an average of 45 minutes downtime every week.

How much is poor connectivity and downtime costing business?
The report found that this is equal to more than £500 per employee, per year, in lost productivity. A prior study, earlier in the year by OnePoll found that slow internet connections and IT downtime is costing the UK economy £11 billion a year in lost productivity. And a study by Aberdeen Group UK found downtime cost an average of £138,000 per hour, varying across industries from £55,000 per hour in the media sector to £3.91 million per hour for large online brokerages. The costs come from paying employees to simply do nothing, to paying an individual or firm to fix the problem and of course any lost sales. There are also hidden costs such as employee overtime, missed deadlines, damaged reputation and customer dissatisfaction.

What’s the problem?
The problems can often be simple ones such as faulty modems, damaged wires or corrupted profiles. These kind of issues can normally be resolved in a day or so, even a few hours. One survey of UK, US and Canadian firms found that 82% of network downtime problems were caused by IT personnel making errors when configuring changes to the network. An irritating truth, when you know the majority of these kind of errors could have been avoided with more diligence or experience. With the rise of joint space and co-working environments wi-fi connectivity can be an issue. Owen’s Garage is a co-working space in the US and Kurt Rathmann, CEO of ScaleFactor Partners uses it regularly. Inevitably there are connection issues now and again and he eventually calculated that a four hour internet outage could be costing him up to $3000.

What do employees get up to during this downtime?

• 60% – taking care of personal business
• 48% – taking an extra coffee break
• 25% – checking Facebook
• 7% – indulging in a spot of retail therapy
• 9% – looking for a new job
• 30% – swoting up on some work-related reading

What should managers be doing?
The survey also asked managers what they thought they should be doing about such issues. One in eight said they didn’t know, 17% said they’d review things when the contract is due for renewal and another 17% said they would only review things when staff make a complaint. Really, as businesses change and grow, connectivity should be reviewed regularly and in line with these changes to ensure processes aren’t being held back by slow internet connections.

The government have committed to upgrading broadband for many of the UK’s cities and superfast broadband is spreading fast as providers compete. Having a connection that is built with your specific business, users and activity in mind is important to make sure it will work for you. If you need to hire IT professionals to advise or become part of your in-house team, speak to us and see how we can help.

Updates From The Langley James HQ

Oct 12, 2015 | IT

We’ve been very busy behind the scenes recently working hard on some exciting new projects, and felt it was time to share some of our updates and developments! For over 15 years Langley James have been providing bespoke IT recruitment for organisations of all sizes and specialisms. As our team of experienced professionals has grown so has our portfolio, excellent service and our aspiration for growth.

ISO accreditation

We’re working to continually improve our internal processes and programmes to make our service even more efficient and tailored. We are currently en route to becoming ISO accredited to ensure our fair practices and great service are recognised, and to help us increase productivity and minimise waste.

New Senior Recruiters in our London office

We have recently expanded our team by hiring two very experienced London based consultants, each with over 20 years experience. We’re delighted to welcome these accomplished and highly talented professionals to the team, whose depth and breadth of experience will enhance our businesses significantly. Not only this but being based in the heart of the city means having a presence in the capital, will be priceless for improving our service to London clients and candidates.

HR Focus

Recruiting for IT roles has long been our core focus. However following the strong connections and relationships we’ve built with many organisations over the years, teamed with consultants well versed in HR practices and personnel matters, we are now recruiting for a growing number of specialist HR roles such as HR Advisors and Payroll Administrators. If you are looking for a new addition to your HR team, please get in touch with us to speak to one of our experienced HR consultants.

Website Refresh

Our regular visitors may have noticed some subtle changes to our website recently. We’ve had a bit of a refresh to improve the feel and layout of the site so it’s even easier for you to find what you’re looking for! Our article section also includes some useful pieces to help managers through the recruitment process and to stay up to date with current IT and personnel topics.

We’re here to help, and pride ourselves in offering a boutique style service tailored to individual businesses and candidates, so that not only skills, but personalities are matched. So whatever your recruitment needs, feel free to get in touch with us for a chat.

Three Tips for Avoiding Ageism When Recruiting

Oct 12, 2015 | IT

A recent poll by Mercer found that only a minority of employers monitor practices for age discrimination. Dealing correctly with ageism in the workplace and particularly in the recruitment process is an important part of organisational diversity, so we look at some of the facts and offer a few suggestions to ensure ageism doesn’t become an issue for your organistion.

Remember it’s not only the older generation that ageism can effect

When we think of ageism at work or in recruitment, it’s often related to older workers, as this is the most reported and perhaps the most common, particularly in the world of technology. Many organisations may feel that recruiting a younger employee is best for their organisation as they are able to offer a lower salary, or because a younger person is less likely to have family commitments and be able to work longer hours, or because a younger person may be seen to have a better ‘cultural fit’ with their hip, fashionable business. The older generation has a lot to offer, and our article ‘Can Older Workers Bridge the Skills Shortage Gap?’ discusses this further.

However, the Guardian reported that “experiences of age discrimination were more common for younger groups, with under-25s at least twice as likely to have experienced it than other age groups” suggesting that employees over 40 had the highest status and “perceptions towards those aged over 70 were more positive than towards those in their 20s”. Respect, experience and maturity come with age, but the younger generation need a chance to develop these attributes so mustn’t be discriminated against either.

Keep pay and progression in mind

A report by XpertHR revealed that; “technology professionals get fewer promotions, lower performance ratings and reduced pay increases once they hit the age of 50.” They found that employees in their 20s got higher pay increases and more regular promotions, decreasing rapidly once they hit 30. The report (which excluded senior management) also revealed that performance rates were higher for those in their 30s, than for those in their 20s, and stayed steady for 40 and 50 years olds before beginning to tail off for those in their 60s. This flags up the issue of whether pay increases and promotion are generally being handed out based on performance or on age.

Incorporate anti-ageism into your overall company culture

Obvious ageism such as compulsory retirement ages or age caps are unacceptable and will end up in court if there are still organisations with these kind of old fashioned and unfair practices in place. However there are many grey areas, particularly in the writing of job adverts and descriptions. It seems that some organisations simply want to find a different way to describe the same thing, without using the latest word or phrase to be struck off the list of acceptable adjectives. For example, following a lawsuit against Facebook for posting a job advert with the phrase ‘class of 2007 or 2008 preferred’ and the since common use of the term ‘new graduate’ Fortune reported that some employers are opting to mask their age bias by advertising for a ‘digital native’. Surely just another way to say ‘young’? The more long-term view is to remove any age expectations from your position and organisation, and adopt a policy that thrives on a number of generations working together.

At Langley James we have a wealth of recruitment and personnel experience and can guide you through the best practice for advertising your job and finding the best candidate. We’ll do the hard work for you! If you’d like more information about diversity or avoiding ageism in your recruitment please get in touch.

Women in Technology – Are We About To See a Boom?

Sep 29, 2015 | IT

Following the Government’s commitment to help women into work, pledging that women will represent 25% of non-executive boards by the end of 2015, as well as a focus on school curriculums to develop more STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) skills, especially for girls, and from a young age, women in technology remains a hot topic.

A Fall in the Number of Women in Digital Industries

A report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills found 27% of those working in the UK’s digital industries are female (that’s down from 33% in 2002, but expected to rise to 30% by 2022). There doesn’t seem to be a solid answer to explain the drop over the last twelve years, and as Aoife Ni Luanaigh, one of the UKCES’s report creators states, the drop is despite “a number of quite good initiatives that are already happening, to encourage more girls at school to take up coding, or to get involved with computer clubs and so on”.

Educating the Younger Generation

While being interviewed about being ‘a woman at the top’, Egnyte CSO Isabelle Guis also commented on education, “I believe a major reason that we are seeing more men than women working in the technology industry is education. There are fewer women in technology graduate programmes and in the marketplace because STEM subjects are still perceived by some to be ‘male’ subjects.”

A report by Gartner backed up these findings and opinions showing the number of female chief technology officers across the industry has remained static at 14% for the past 10 years. Further to this only 4% of CEOs at S&P 500 companies are women.

Raising Awareness of The Opportunities

The BBC, across Radio 4, BBC3 and other platforms, have recently been featuring women in tech and bringing the discussion into the public eye, and there are a number of organisations around the world championing women in technology. So, despite the disheartening figures there is a lot of action to change things for the future of women in technology.

The organisation Code First: Girls, who work with companies to help get more women into tech had, over the last 18 months, 1500+ young women participate in one of their courses or events, helping companies to recruit better tech talent into their firms.

Transparency in Job Descriptions

Vanessa Vallely, founder of women’s network WeAreTheCity explained how greater transparency could be the key to attracting more women into tech roles. For example, knowing if they are to be paid the same as others currently doing the same or similar roles. She also spoke about job descriptions, explaining that underlying masculine language can be off putting for women. She said “I would urge, if you are writing job descriptions, make sure they are good, make sure they excite people and make sure they tell them what the job is.” Vallely also spoke about a number of banks which, she said, pass new job descriptions through a female focus group before they are advertised, helping to soften the language used.

The Benefits of Female Leaders

The benefits of having a more gender balanced company are endless, and the attributes women can bring to the workplace are valuable. According to the Credit Suisse Gender 3000 report, organisations with more than 10% of women at the helm had higher returns than those that weren’t gender balanced. To back this up First Round Capital, recently released a report highlighting that businesses with female founders (or co-founders) performed 63% better than those with male leaders.

An Exciting Future

All great news for women who want to join, or develop further in, the technology sector, and also great news for businesses who want to create a more balanced and apparently, more productive team.  Perhaps negative figures that have been released over the last few years relating to women in technology has been the extra push to encourage individuals and organisations to put the steps in place to open the doors to more female digital employees, and we wonder whether 2016 could be a boom year for women in technology.

Latest UK Employment Figures Highlight Continuing Skills Shortage

Sep 29, 2015 | IT

This month the Office of National Statistics released the UK’s latest employment figures. Many experts have commented on some of the key statistics, the potential implications of the rises and the falls, and what it means for the labour market and technology sector. So here’s our summary of the important facts and figures.

This ONS report shows figures for May to July 2015.

• There were 1.74 million people working full-time, 361,000 more than for a year earlier.
• There were 1.82 million unemployed people (people not in work but seeking and available to work), 10,000 more than for February to April 2015 but 198,000 fewer than for a year earlier.
• The unemployment rate was 5.5%, unchanged compared with February to April 2015 but lower than for a year earlier (6.2%).

So, compared to last year the number of people in employment is up and the unemployment rate is down – that’s good, right? Well yes, but there still continues to be a record number of job positions being posted and a large volume of candidates applying for these jobs, yet still 1.82 million people unemployed. One theory to explain this problem, is the ever discussed ‘skills shortage’, or perhaps more accurately a mismatch of skills, between available candidates and the expectations of employers.

15% of Employers Reported That They Had Employees With Skill Gaps

One recent piece of research reported that in the last year 83% of CFOs had to offer salaries above what they were originally prepared to, in order to secure the right candidate for the job, with the right skills. The Employer Skills Survey’s most recent data also found that “15% of employers reported that they had employees with skill gaps, equivalent to 1.4 million staff or 5% of the workforce.” And it’s important to point out that this is only what is reported, many employees are unlikely to admit to, or possibly even recognise, skills gaps. All of this data and evidence builds a strong case for the fact that the skills gap is a long-term problem that the country is facing.

Employers Invest £42.9bn in Training

KPMG’s ‘Report on Jobs’ for August found that the demand to fill permanent tech jobs rose over the summer, as many tech professionals felt confident enough in the market and demand for their skills, that they took the summer off completely! I’m sure there’s plenty in the industry who would contest this view, but it does seem to be true that IT is not the sector most at risk.  Changes and developments in technology can be some of the most significant and fast moving changes that can lead to very specific skills shortages. However, employers invested £42.9bn in training in 2013, and Mark Beatson, chief economist at the CIPD stressed recently, the importance for employers to continue to invest in technology to avoid the prospect of increased skills shortages.

Education is often on the receiving end of complaints about the lack of skills in the UK, however the gap between choices made at school, college or university, and the options once ready for employment, can be vast. Similarly, particularly with ever developing technologies, education policies take time to implement, causing a gap there too.

The UK Population Grew by Almost 8% Between 2004 and 2014

However, it’s also worth noting that the UK population grew by almost 8% between 2004 and 2014, and most growth is down to international migration. The demand for labour is keeping up with the growth in the population well, and this year the average pay for UK workers has risen at its fastest rate for six years.

The figures are, on the whole, positive, however the underlying problems of a skills mismatch can lead to a detrimental effect on how organisations deal with their customers and manage to stay ahead of competition. Also, with more jobs empty, comes stress on other employees and increased workload. We’ll be keeping an eye on the markets and industry trends to follow the developments of the skills shortage debate.

Types of Interview Questions to ask your Candidates

Aug 17, 2015 | IT

Hiring the wrong person can prove to be detrimental to your organisation. Now, if you’re using one, your recruitment company will do their best to ensure the right people are in front of you to begin with, but at interview you will get a true feeling for whether this candidate is a good ‘fit’ for your business.

Well-known marketing blogger and Brand Director at Kareco Tim Tyrell-Smith conducted a survey concluding that, “interviewers’ number one concern is fit with the company’s culture.”

Similarly, technology information expert David Bradford reported on a past survey about “how people got their job” which found 56% obtained their job through a personal connection, proving that personal connections and team fit are very important factors in job placements.

So what is the best way to confirm these connections and team fits during an interview? It’s good news that the quirky, oddball, brain teaser type questions that often flummox candidates are going out of fashion. Laszlo Bock, Google’s HR chief said “if you’ve heard that Google likes to pose brain-teaser questions to candidates—like why manhole covers are round—your information is out of date. There’s no evidence that they suggest how people perform on the job.” Never the less, there is definitely a need to be creative in some respect in order to get the most out of your interview and your candidate.

We’ve highlighted some of the interview types you may come across.

Informational

These questions will include topics such as why candidates left their last role, work history and qualifications.

These are essential questions, some of which you may have basic answers to already from CVs or your recruitment agency. Gather as much of this information together before the interview and ask questions about anything you need to clarify. This way you don’t need to spend too much time on the basics.

Role Focussed

These questions will be focussed around abilities, strengths and weaknesses, technical skills and if necessary, leadership and management skills.

When asking role focused questions you may opt for open questions, allowing the candidate to speak broadly, such as “what are your strengths?” or you could be more specific and ask a question like “could you explain something complicated, but that you know well?”

Company Questions

Some organisations will choose to ask candidates what they already know about their company and how they feel they could add value.

Questions such as “why do you want to work here?” and “how would you fit into the team?” are often criticised because the reason the candidate is at the interview is to learn more and discover whether they are a good ‘fit’ for the team and business. An alternative could be to ask a more creative question such as “Can you pitch the company to me as if you wanted me to buy your product or service?”

Personal

Questions about the candidate’s personality, hobbies, interests and future goals.

“Tell me about yourself” can be a good opener to asking a few questions about the candidate’s non-work life, however it’s very vague. Questions like “where do you see your self in five years?” are popular but also perhaps a little dated. An alternative could be to ask “what’s the biggest decision you’ve had to make in the past year? Why was it so big?” This could be answered with a personal or work related answer and allows you to assess the candidate’s decision making skills.

Behavioural / Competency

These are the juicy questions that may take up a large section of the interview. They come in many forms, but essentially are “tell us about a time when…” type questions that really test a candidate’s ability to think on the spot and select relevant, quality examples of their work and experiences.

These questions can be specifically targeted around your organisation, its culture, goals and the role you’re recruiting for. For example “tell me about a time you set goals, and how did you achieve them?” or “tell me about the relationships you’ve had with the people you’ve worked with.”

The ‘Trap’

Some see these kinds of tricky/curveball questions as a way to test candidates on their ability to react under pressure and be creative with an answer.

As we mentioned, the fall in popularity for asking ‘trap’ questions is only a good thing for both candidates and employers! However, questions such as “what is your biggest weakness” remain popular and opinion is divided about whether or not these questions are useful. Tricky, but more relevant questions could include  “what’s your definition of hard work?” and “tell me about a time something didn’t go as planned.”

It can be challenging to evaluate someone in an interview alone, so spending time selecting and composing the most appropriate interview questions for your business and the role you’re recruiting for is worth the investment in time. Here at Langley James we’ll work with you to find the best possible candidates for your IT and HR roles. Contact one of our consultants today for more information.

Creating a Strategic Approach to Hiring

Aug 17, 2015 | IT

As we know, taking a longer amount of time to fill a job vacancy can have a negative effect on productivity and an organisation’s ability to reach goals. In order to ensure the hiring process is efficient and effective, a strategic approach to recruitment could be useful.

Research by Hired, the online marketplace for tech talent, found recently that 65% of UK tech companies foresee a negative impact on revenue due to their inability to hire the talent they need. Sophie Adelman who is Hired’s general manager said “the fact that the majority of companies are still sourcing candidates through referrals and job boards suggests that they might not be able to access, or have visibility on, the best talent for their teams. In order to thrive and compete within the global market, companies need to take a more strategic approach to hiring.”

“Instead of waiting for referrals and looking at job boards they can benefit from proactively accessing a focused and curated pool of technical talent that has been vetted for both quality and intent – this will significantly impact the efficiency of the hiring process and contribute to their overall competitiveness” she added.

 Marketing and Recruitment

One notion that is often discussed is the need for the recruiter to act more like a marketer in their approach to hiring. Targeting candidates with engaging and tailored content can convert a ‘passive candidate’ with an interest in the organisation into an ‘active candidate’ who will actually apply for a role.

Susan Vitale – Chief Marketing Officer at iCIMS explains that “Technology, such as a recruitment marketing automation tool, mobile-optimised career sites, and a social media presence, can streamline processes and provide you with pools of warm talent from which to source when your organisation is ready.”

Consistency

Following on from this, consistency across the brand could be a key aspect to marketing your organisation and your roles to potential candidates. Consistency across your website, social media and during the interview process will help candidates to get a real understanding of the business.   According to a recent iCIMS study, “78% of job seekers agree that the look and feel of a company’s career site is moderately to highly important to their decision to apply for a job.”

The Steps to Creating a Recruitment Strategy

Nicola Hawkinson founder of SpineSearch – highlights six steps to creating a clear recruitment strategy and said, “you need to treat the hiring process as a key business practice — have a plan, make a timeline and reach your goal”. Her steps are:

1. Identify the vacancy and need before beginning the search. Identify the reason for hiring, whether it is due to expansion, increasing customers, or replacement for an existing position.
2. Create a search strategy. Consider search methods, a quota of candidates to interview before making a selection, a defined screening and interview process, criteria for selection and the selection team.
3. Interview slowly. Build a steady stream of applicants and interview them in groups of three to five per day for back-to-back comparison.
4. Keep candidates engaged throughout the selection process.Good candidates are likely considering multiple opportunities, so you do not want to lose them at any point during the process through a lack of communication.
5. Don’t ignore red flags. Contact three to five references with a detailed questionnaire tailored specifically to the business or practice.
6. Design a detailed on-boarding process to improve retention. Consider detailed introduction/enrolments and possibly a buddy for your new employee.

Keeping Up to Date

We have mentioned the increased usage of social media, however one recent article from the IT Portal suggests wearable should be the new inclusion in your recruitment strategy! They suggest that, “wearing Google Glass at an interview will allow you to record it and evaluate [the interview] back.” Or that the use of “bracelets or wristbands can be worn by your employees that monitor their heart rates. If one rises abnormally high you will be alerted to it and can tell that employee to take it easy.” We may be a little away from these techniques, but these concepts are real and available, and for the tech-savvy firm could be a seen as a real completive advantage!

Taking a proactive and strategic approach to hiring should hopefully lead to better long term hiring decisions that will have a positive effect on your business. A recruitment strategy will also help to ensure that all employees involved in the recruitment process are on the same page and take the same approach.

If you’d like to speak to someone about hiring IT professionals for your organisation, get in touch with one of our experienced consultants for advise and recruitment guidance.

Closing the Workplace Gender Gap

Aug 3, 2015 | IT

Last month the government announced new steps they are pledging to take in order to close the workplace gender gap. With the new national living wage and legislation requiring companies with more than 250 employees to publish details of their pay gaps, the Prime Minister said “transparency, skills, representation, affordable childcare – these things can end the gender pay gap in a generation.”

In the UK, and consistently around the world, women still earn less than men. But what does this mean for organisations, workforces and for the nation’s 28.5 million women?

Equal opportunities

The debate remains that some women may opt for more of a work life balance to the detriment of their pay packet, and not all women strive to be board members. The ILO (UN’s International Labour Organization) found that “mothers were more likely to have career breaks, switch to part-time work, choose jobs that help to reconcile work and family – which are usually lower paying – and miss out on promotions”.

However opportunities should be equal in all situations. Flexible working rights, tax-free childcare schemes, new enterprise allowances and public awareness campaigns, such as International Woman’s Day, are all factors that are helping to close the gap in equality. However, the pay gap in the UK stands at 19.1% and is above the EU average of 16.4%.

Still, there are more women-led businesses currently in the UK than there ever has been as well as a record number of women in work, suggesting things are heading in the right direction. In April this year 285,000 working couples became eligible to share maternity/paternity leave – another step towards making opportunities equal.

The benefits of gender diversity to business

One of the most prominent figures representing women in IT, Dame Stephanie Shirley champions diversity in the workplace in all forms, not just gender. She has a mission to get a million people with Asperger’s syndrome into the IT industry by 2020 and has also tackled the subject of ageism. She advised: “women must recognise and grab the many opportunities the tech industry offers.”

Diversity in general is beneficial to the workforce and is said to help business growth. Pinky Lilani, founder and chair of a number of awards which attempt to recognise influential women and leaders says: “I think women are very collaborative and they do tend to love to work together. I think different dynamics come into place when people are working together – the results are much better. Women tend to think of solutions whereas men can sometimes be focussed on proving how great they are. It is a basic generalisation, but that is the kind of feedback I get from a lot of women.”

Increasing number of female entrepreneurs

This year, the number of female millionaires in the UK increased by a third. Many women who have previously worked for large corporations, but have moved on to have families and grown tired of the politics of the corporate world, have chosen to set up their own business. Flexibility, and the opportunity to pursue a passion may also be the driving factors encouraging women into business. However, a startupDNA survey found that women are half as likely to receive venture capital funding than men.

Is there more to be done?

Despite the government’s efforts, there is still no legal requirement for organisations to act on the gender gap data they are required to publish. It also doesn’t require businesses to carry out equal pay audits, looking at similar work done by men and women and aiming to close pay gaps.

There’s a complex web of cultural, economic and corporate factors that contribute to the current status quo of women in the workplace and it’s no doubt we are in a better position than we were 20 years ago, but there are still steps to be taken to create true diversity and equality in all UK workplaces.

What Distracts You In The Workplace?

Jul 20, 2015 | IT

From noisy colleagues to uncomfortable chairs, the workplace is full of distractions and unfortunately this can lead to a lack of productivity and concentration. Many of these are inevitable, but a number of these day-to-day distractions are definitely avoidable. Personal financial management service Think Money’s recent report found that 759 hours each year are wasted due to workers being distracted in one way or another.

Colleagues

Noisy workplaces were the main cause of distraction along with getting side-tracked into non-work conversation. There seems to be two types of distraction – self-distraction and being distracted by others. Chatting to colleagues and engaging in some workplace banter is not always a negative thing, it can help to create a positive and productive workplace, but as an employer it can be difficult to ensure this line isn’t blurred.

Technology

Technology, unsurprisingly, was also to blame with slow computers, bad internet connection, checking mobile phones, social media and on-line shopping on the list of interruptions.

The Unplanned

Edward Hallowell, author of Driven to Distraction at Work: How to Focus and Be More Productive explains that we spend 20 minutes out of every hour dealing with unplanned distractions. This could be phone calls or impromptu meetings. He said “the mail used to come once or twice a day, now [email] comes once or twice a second. We’ve broken down all the boundaries and made ourselves literally available 24/7.”

Busy, Stressful Workplaces

Although we may associate a distracted worker with an organisation or department that doesn’t have enough work to do, it could in fact be the case that busy workplaces are just as much at risk from distraction. Those who are very busy, with a number of devices on the go (PC, laptop, phone and tablet) and need to regularly multi task could find they are doing a number of things at once, but non very well. Also those who find themselves taking on the jobs of others, or regularly helping colleagues out, will find themselves distracted from their own job.

 Personal Issues

Further more, RAND found that “lack of sleep, financial concerns and giving unpaid care to family members or relatives are negatively associated with productivity.” It goes without saying that if you have personal issues affecting your life at any one time, it’s impossible to completely shut off from these at work.

Combating these distractions could be down to good self and time management within teams, so that unscheduled meetings don’t eat into people’s days for example. The layout of the office might be important, as open plan offices have a lot of benefits but can lead to noisy workplaces. Some organisations may choose to ban social media or clamp down on other distractions, but how about encouraging scheduled down time and refresher breaks during the day? Encouraging general well-being and healthy lifestyle choices at work should lead to happier, more productive employees.

The Need for IT Professionals to Diversify

Jul 20, 2015 | IT

According to research by Tech Pro conducted to report on the future of IT jobs, there is a need for IT professionals to diversify in order to stay in their current job roles. The report found that 59% of those surveyed felt worried that their current skill set would become obsolete.

Ordinarily, there are IT generalists and IT specialists, and this research suggests that today’s IT departments require their professionals to be more of a generalist, but with a broader, more diverse skill set. It seems that these professionals are already beginning to address these concerns as 57% of those surveyed are planning to obtain additional training and certifications to put them in better stead for the future.

Within SMEs it could be said that generalists already rule. In smaller businesses it is uncommon to have a number of specialists, but rather a couple of generalists who perhaps lean towards different specialisms internally, but cover all areas of IT to some degree. It is likely that the report’s findings will apply to these individuals the most, as smaller businesses grow and technologies become more advanced and in depth.

There are now such a huge amount of tools and frameworks available and some blame the ‘IT explosion’ of recent years, for changes within IT departments. However Tech Pro’s report “refutes the recent media reports on the possibility that IT jobs may disappear due to new technical advances. In fact, it’s quite the contrary with the increased complexity breeding new opportunities and furthering demand for skilled IT professionals.”

Paul Venezir uses the example of scripting and programming languages when discussing the growing need for specialists and whether the ‘do everything’ IT admin is becoming a rare breed. There are many languages and layers of frameworks within those languages, that would prove challenging for a generalist to deal with. He explains that it’s much harder now for one single IT professional to deal with so many disparate tasks and technologies than it once was.

However, there remains a demand for one or two people within an organisation that understand the whole technical landscape, internal systems and how they all work together. This role is vital, as there may be specialists working in their niche areas but without someone directing and understanding the whole process, things won’t run smoothly. After all, hiring specialist contractors is often the best option for SMEs who need specialist knowledge for a short period of time, such as new software installation or training on a new system.

There are definitely strong cases for both specialist and generalists within IT departments, but developing technologies and a competitive market build a strong argument for the need of generalists to continually develop and diversify their skills. Tech Pro conclude that “as things stand, the future of IT looks bright for both existing workers and newcomers.”

Call us to have a chat about the staffing needs of your IT department. Our specialist IT recruiters are here to help.

Can the Older Workers Bridge the Skills Shortage Gap?

Jul 6, 2015 | IT

As Britain’s population hits a record breaking high of 64.6 million, a new study by The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has warned of the threat of a significant skills shortage if the older generation aren’t encouraged back into the workplace.

There are 9.4 million workers over the age of 50 in the UK, but between the ages of 53 and 67 the employment rate drops. There are many older people wanting to work but not being hired, and 4 in 10 unemployed older workers are out of work for more than a year.

With an increasing demand on services it seems silly not to utilise the pool of older, experienced and skilled workers keen to continue in work, but how?

The CIPD are urging organisations to “take steps now to reap the benefits of a more age diverse workforce”. Changing attitudes and building a new strategy that revolves around the following, is some of the key advice from this report:

• Inclusive recruitment practices
• Investing in training and development
• Supporting employee health and wellbeing
• Flexible working
• Improving line manager capability

Backing up this CIPD report comes research from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) which showed that “businesses need to adjust the way they advertise jobs and provide training opportunities or miss the best candidates in the over 55-age group.” The report commented on job adverts and the need to adjust tone of voice and leave out terms such as  ‘graduate’ or ‘energetic’ that may be off putting to older workers.

According the Office of National Statistics, the rise in the population is down to both a higher number of births than deaths (46% of the increase) and positive net migration (53%). So as people live longer, they want to work for longer. Older workers have a wealth of experience and skill that they can bring to organisations as well as maturity for dealing with difficult or sensitive situations.

Age UK and the REC have teamed up to launch a best practice protocol guide which “aims to end age discrimination in recruitment and give older people a better chance of finding work.” It guides recruiting organisations in committing to offering opportunities for older workers and highlights the benefits they can bring to an organisation. This might involve upskilling or reskilling some workers or promoting flexible working opportunities.

It’s no doubt that utilising the skills, enthusiasm and commitment of older workers could bridge the gap of skills shortages for many organisations. This issue also highlights the increasing need for true equal opportunities and a ‘blind recruitment’ approach.

Robots in the Workplace – Is There Cause for Concern?

Jul 6, 2015 | IT

We’ve seen the movies and heard the stories, but with the field of industrial robotics booming we wanted to explore the facts and opinions that generate the heated debate of robotic employees.

According to a recent survey, three quarters of Brits believe that their jobs are at risk because of robots potentially taking over their positions in the workplace, and we must admit it’s easy to see why when software is perfecting the art of many day-to-day human tasks.

The Digital Revolution
Much of the world’s current robotic workforce come in the form of huge machines in factories, doing heavy work like lifting and moving cars or doing simple repetitive tasks. That’s what robots are good at, and is historically the main reason robots have taken over human tasks. However Brynjolfsson an economist and author of the book ‘The Second Machine Age’ believes the digital revolution is very different to the industrial revolution, although it may move a lot faster. In his book, Brynjolfsson uses the example of the photograph to demonstrate how things move on. The hundreds of people who used to be involved in the production of chemical photos, are now mainly redundant as photographs became digital and now live online on Flickr, Facebook and Instagram. However these social platforms have grown to create many more jobs and a good few millionaires. Particularly in IT and media there are many new job titles that just didn’t exist in the 80s or 90s.

A Lack of Flexibility
Robots are often very task orientated, and may be very good at completing the task they’re assigned to, but allow for no flexibility. For example a robot that knows how to pick up a pen, may not be able to pick up a piece of paper.

Jobs such as accountants and telemarketers may be the type of jobs most at risk, along with service roles in general. We have already seen the loss of many checkout operatives in UK supermarkets to machines, and a hotel opening soon in Japan will be staffed by (scarily lifelike) robots who will check guests in and take their luggage!

However, put a robot in an unfamiliar situation and it won’t know what to do. Famously clumsy, robots can make mistakes and don’t really have the ability to adjust. In many cases it may just be easier and quicker to ask a human to do the task.

Interaction and Creativity
Interaction and creativity are two very human aspects that many (if not most) jobs require. For example a robot may be able the take the job of a financial journalist reporting numbers and statistics, but not that of a creative novel writer.

Interacting with real-world environments and unpredictable situations is difficult and usually impossible for bots. These interpersonal skills such as motivating, nurturing, caring and comforting are vital in a workplace.

Better Together
A recent paper by Georg Graetz and Guy Michaels of the London School of Economics found that, despite the lack of much previous research into the impact of robots in the workplace, robots have actually been a driver of labour productivity and economic growth.

Seeing these advancements in technology as a tool to help aid workers and allow them to achieve more could be the way forward. If humans and robots can cooperate in the workplace, rather than compete, productivity could be greatly improved.

Employment Law Newsletter July

Jul 1, 2015 | IT

Employment Law Newsletter 

July 2015

As the summer kicks in, so does the peak time for employees taking annual leave and this can put additional strain on any business.  Not only this, but the law on calculating holiday pay also refuses to stand still!  In this Employment Law Update we looks at calculating holiday pay, reporting your own misconduct, religious dress at work, collective consultation and more…

In dealing with voluntary rather than compulsory overtime the case goes beyond the ruling in Bear Scotland v Fulton but it is hardly a surprise. The European Court of Justice has made it clear time and again that holiday pay should reflect what an employee normally receives. If an employee normally works overtime then his or her holiday pay should reflect that fact.

Of course, it is not clear just what ‘normally’ means and the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal does not give any clear guidance as to when an employee’s overtime is sufficiently regular to be seen as a normal part of his or her pay. That is an issue to be saved for future cases.

The situation is not helped by the fact that the Working Time Regulations – which set out the right to paid annual leave – have now been so completely overtaken by case law that their provisions on holiday pay are practically useless. It is about time the Government updated them and gave employers something concrete to work with. In the meantime the safest course is to base holiday pay on an average of the employee’s earnings over a 3 month reference period – and take advice if that seems unduly burdensome or unfair.

Reporting your own misconduct
Many employees work for more than one employer – although employers are generally entitled to insist that employees either get their permission – or at least inform them – before taking on a secondary role elsewhere. One issue that can then arise is the extent to which one employer is entitled to know about any misconduct issues that have arisen while the employee was working for another employer.

In Basildon Academies v Amadi a supervisor took on another role at a college without telling his employer. More seriously he also failed to tell them when he was accused of sexually assaulting a student. No criminal action was taken against him – although he was arrested and bailed. He did not inform his main employer of the incident – but they found out when the police made enquiries about his employment with them. He was dismissed for what his employer said was gross misconduct in taking another job without permission and also failing to inform them of a serious allegation of misconduct that had been made against him.

The Employment Tribunal found the dismissal unfair, and that finding was upheld on appeal.  The EAT held that, in the absence of a specific requirement set out in the contract, there was no obligation on an employee to report allegations of misconduct – particularly where the employee regarded the allegations as malicious or false.

This is obviously a serious issue for employers – like Basildon Academies – that have safeguarding obligations in relation to children or vulnerable adults. One obvious answer is to make sure that there is an express requirement in a contract of employment that the employee provides full disclosure of any allegations that may be relevant to his or her main employment. However even without that requirement an employer, once it has been informed of an allegation, would be entitled to investigate it to see whether it was sufficiently serious to justify a dismissal on the basis that the employee presents a safeguarding risk. This is a difficult and delicate area and it is important that employers do not take action without taking legal advice first.

Religious dress at work
Employers are entitled to impose reasonable dress codes on employees – although in doing so they should take account of any religious requirements that a particular employee must observe. Where there is a clash between the needs of the business and the religious needs of the employee then the question is whether the employer can show that complying with its rules is a ‘proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’.

In Begum v Pedagogy Auras UK Ltd t/a Barley Lane Montessori Day Nursery Ms Begum was applying for post in a nursery and in the course of the interview the employer commented on her jilbab – a long flowing garment worn by some Muslim women. The employer thought that the particular jilbab she was wearing was slightly longer than ankle length and told her that it would not be suitable to wear at work as it would be a tripping hazard. Although the interview ended amicably – with Ms Begum saying that she would consult her family about wearing a shorter jilbab – she subsequently claimed indirect discrimination based on her religious beliefs.

Her claim was rejected. The employer had been entitled to be concerned about the potential trip hazard and had not told her that she would not be allowed to wear a jilbab at work. It was just that the jilbab she had worn at interview appeared to be even longer than usual. The employer had been open to further discussions about what kind of jilbab could be worn and would have been happy to accommodate the employee’s needs if it could be shown that wearing the jilbab at work would be safe.

Collective Consultation
An employer that is proposing to make 20 or more redundancies at a single establishment must consult with employee representatives about ways of avoiding the dismissals. Failure to do so can result in a tribunal making a ‘protective award’ of as much as 90 days’ pay to each of the dismissed employees.

In E Ivor Hughes Educational Foundation v Morris and others the EAT held that a school was proposing to make redundancies when the Board of Governors decided that it would have to close the school unless numbers improved significantly over the coming term. The fact that it was still possible that the school would be saved did not alter the fact that redundancies would be inevitable unless there was a significant change in circumstances and the employer should have begun consultations at that point.

The law on redundancy consultation does allow for special circumstances where it is not possible for consultations to take place and the school sought to argue that the special circumstances in this case were that if news of a possible closure was to leak, then numbers would fall off even more and the school would be doomed. The EAT held that there was nothing particularly special about that situation, which would be faced by many employers contemplating a closure.

As it happened the school did close as numbers continued to decline. Even if consultation had taken place, it would have done nothing to delay or alter the final decision. However, this did not affect the amount of compensation payable. Compensation in this situation is based on the employer’s failure, not the employee’s loss and so the full 90 days’ pay was awarded to each of the 24 employees made redundant.

Transfer of Undertakings
The Transfer of Undertakings Regulations – TUPE – cause regular difficulties for employers. One important thing to remember is that it is that the employer cannot simply pick and choose which employees are transferred. The process is an automatic one and all employees who are ‘assigned’ the contract or undertaking at the time of the transfer will transfer – whatever the wishes of the employer may be.

In Jakowlew v Saga Care an employee worked on a care contract that Saga Care held with Enfield Council. After a falling out with her line manager she was suspended and Enfield eventually instructed Saga to remove her from the contract – which they were entitled to do under the terms of their agreement.

However Saga took no action and the employee was still suspended when the contract was transferred to Westminster Homecare Ltd. When Saga eventually made her redundant an issue arose as to who was liable for her dismissal – Saga or Westminster?

There was no doubt that TUPE applied – the question was whether the employee was assigned to the contract at the time of the transfer. The EAT held that she was. The Council had instructed Saga to remove her, but no action was actually taken. It was not argued that the fact she was suspended in itself prevented her from being transferred. The fact that the Council did not want her to be assigned to the contract did not alter the fact that – at the time of the transfer – she was. It followed that Westminster Homecare would be liable for her dismissal.

And more from TUPE…
It is clear that TUPE applies when a client changes its service provider – but what if one of the contractors then subcontracts work to another firm – does TUPE apply then too?

In Jinks v London Borough of Havering the Council contracted with a firm called Saturn to operate an ice rink and car park. Saturn sub-contracted the car park to another firm – Regal. The ice rink eventually closed and although the car park continued to be operated for a while the Council eventually took it back in house before closing the whole site, which was subsequently passed on to an NHS Trust.

The Council did not have any contract with Regal – but could an employee of Regal’s be transferred to the Council when it took over the site? The Employment Tribunal initially said no as a TUPE transfer requires the contractor to be working on behalf of the client – the Council in this case – and the Council was not Regal’s client. However the EAT held that that was not necessarily so. A contractor in a TUPE situation may have more than one client and it could be argued that while Regal’s main client was Saturn, it was operating the car park on behalf of the Council and in that sense the Council was Regal’s client too. The issue was sent back to the Tribunal to decide the issue.

Working time and travel to work
When is a worker working? The Working Time Regulations impose limits on working time and also require employers to provide a 20 minute rest break during a working day of six hours or more, an 11 hour rest period between working days and a 24 hour rest period in every 7 days. To meet these requirements an employer needs to be clear about what counts as working time and what doesn’t. It’s also important because the employer needs to be sure that it is paying the national minimum wage throughout any period of working time.

Ultimately the question is governed by the Working Time Directive, which means that cases that come before the European Court of Justice have a direct impact on the UK. A Spanish case currently making its way through the system – Federación de Servicios Privados del sindicato Comisiones Obreras – will be important for determining whether time spent travelling to and from work counts as working time.

It is generally accepted that the normal commute to a regular place of work does not count as working time. After all, an employer does not control whether the employee lives a five minute walk away from work or on the other side of the county. Equally, it is clear that travel time during the working day should be treated as working time. An employee who needs to visit a number of clients over the course of the day is almost certainly working when travelling between appointments. This case, however is concerned with employees who do not work from a fixed location, but visit a number of sites within a geographic area. The employer treats journeys within the working day as working time but does not count the journey to and from home – seeing that as equivalent to a daily commute.

The case has not been decided yet, but part of the process in the European Court is to publish an opinion from the Advocate General which is usually highly influential on the eventual outcome. The Advocate General in this case has now said that the initial and final journeys of the day should count as working time. As home-based employees, travelling from home to the first client, and travelling from the last client back to their home is an integral part of their daily duties and should count towards their total hours worked in any week. The Court does not always follow the Advocate General’s opinion, but if it does then employers with mobile employees may have to rethink how they measure working time.

And Finally…
You might have thought that if one of your employees was given an 18 month prison sentence for GBH and resisting arrest then a fair dismissal would just be a formality. Yet spare a thought for the Fermain Valley Hotel in Guernsey which has just been ordered to pay out over £11,000 to their former head chef whose drunken rampage landed him behind bars. The case is reported in the Daily Telegraph and the employer is more than a little annoyed at the ruling. It seems that the Hotel assumed that the prison sentence justified dismissal and did not carry out any investigation of its own or attempt to interview the employee.

It is important to realise that Guernsey is not part of the UK and has its own employment law. If the case had come up before a UK Tribunal, even if there was a procedurally unfair dismissal, compensation would almost certainly have been reduced to zero to reflect the fact that dismissal was inevitable. However in Guernsey compensation for unfair dismissal is a fixed penalty of six months’ pay and the circumstances in which that is permitted are limited. As it happens the Tribunal did reduce his compensation by 25% to reflect his misconduct. Since that involved biting a police officer’s finger while resisting arrest, one has to wonder what an employee has to do in Guernsey to get a 100% deduction.

Reporting your own misconduct

Religious dress at work

Collective Consultation

Transfer of Undertakings

And more from TUPE…

Working time and travel to work

And Finally…

Windows 10 is on the Way. How a Contract IT Trainer can Help you Find Value in your Software.

Jun 23, 2015 | IT

Windows 10 is on the way and whether you’re for it or against it, you’ll definitely have heard plenty about its imminent launch next month. Windows 10 will be rolled out on 29^th July on a range of devices, but will also be available as a free download for anyone currently using Windows 7, 8 or 8.1.

If Windows is central to your organisation and the day-to-day tasks of many of your employees, there’s a strong case for creating a plan to deal with the changes and upheaval an upgrade or software change like this can have on a workplace and its daily practices.

Hiring support for change

A contract IT trainer could be the answer if you’re short of time, support or in-depth specific knowledge of a certain product. An IT trainer could save you time training staff (one-to-one or in group sessions), create guidelines specifically for your organisation’s practices, be on hand in the office to floor walk and answer employee queries and also could help to reduce the strain on your help desk.

Staff may become frustrated or make mistakes if appropriate steps and training are not provided to carefully implement change. Bringing an experienced professional in can open up new training suggestions and highlight fresh opportunities.

Going through an important upgrade (like the Windows 10 upgrade) or a period of organisational change (like a new or more advanced system upgrade) are more obvious reasons highlighting the potential need to hire a contract IT trainer.  However there may be more subtle, nagging IT issues that could be causing a lack of productivity and wasted time where a trainer would prove just as much value.

Underused and unknown features

A 2014 study found employees only spent 48 minutes per day using MS Office applications and only a small percentage of users were considered heavy users. Since many users are unaware of the advanced features of office and other such programmes, they barely scratch the surface of what’s available to them. Investing time and effort into highlighting some of the unknown and unused features of the expensive software your business owns should not only improve the speed of tasks but develop understanding and increase efficiency.

Computer Weekly state that only “15% of North American and European information workers say they are completely satisfied with their IT department’s understanding of what they need to be successful. For the remaining 85%, there is a gap. The larger that gap, the more time staff may spend figuring out how to get the job done anyway.”

The true value of your company software

IT consultants have experience working on and implementing projects for a range of different organisations, giving them a fresh take on practices and bringing some fantastic expertise to the table. Fully understanding your IT and ensuring that your employees are using it to its full potential is key to keeping IT budgets under control and reducing unnecessary costs.

It is so important to have the right tools for the job, but ensuring your whole team understands how to use them to their full potential is just as important. Making a transition or changing something significant in your organisation’s technology will require a strategy to help make it straight forward and cause minimum disruption for employees. If you’re short of time and want the most productive outcome, hiring a contract IT trainer could be a viable and valuable decision. Remember that updates such as Windows 10 are created to ultimately make life and processes easier, but it’s important for everyone to fully understand them as much as possible from the beginning.

Here at Langley James we’ll support you every step of the way with your IT recruitment, finding the perfect match for your business requirements. Find the contractor or IT professional you’ve been searching for and get in touch with one of our team today. 

Five Ways the Modern Workplace is Evolving

Jun 23, 2015 | IT

It’s nothing new to suggest that the workplace is not the same as it was 30 years ago, and technological advances have been a driving force behind many of these changes, not to mention economic and cultural shifts. However, the CIPD recently released a new report for cityoflondon.gov.uk highlighting some of the key workplace changes that are happening to the physical workspace and workstyles that make up the environment where so many of us spend so much of our time.

The city has over 50,000 jobs forecast to be created from 2013 to 2023 with two of the four most notable sectors mentioned being the technical services sector, and the information and communications sector. The report looks at what kind of workstyles are becoming more important, what role the workforce need to play and how office space and infrastructure need to change to support these new styles.

Although the report is focused on the city, you don’t have to be in a state of the art, central London office for these key themes to affect you and your business. The interviews on which much of the report is based “confirmed a shift from a narrow focus on workplace efficiency, towards a more balanced focus including workplace effectiveness and engagement. An effective workplace is one that optimises productivity by providing workers with the environment, tools and support services they need to fulfill their roles.”  That sounds good, right? But what are the important factors that are allowing this to happen?

Flexible and Agile Working

Working away from the office and flexible start and finish times are some of the characteristics of agile working. There is more pressure on organisations to offer flexibility, although not all are happy to. The report found it could be one of the top tactics for improving employee productivity.

The Growth of Shared Space

Activity-based workspaces are increasingly being providing for collaboration, concentration, communication, creativity and contemplation. There is a shift from fixed, long-term leased space to flexible and on-demand space. Less space is generally being used more efficiently, and more effectively.

Connectivity

As businesses adapt to market pressures, and change within business is more frequent, there is much more need to be agile and well connected. High-speed internet connections allow working from home, a coffee shop or anywhere you wish in fact. Workplaces are becoming more team based and collaborative but also more mobile, making the power of the network more profound.

A Multi-generation Workforce

The majority of the city’s workforce are Generation Y, born between 1979 and 2000. However generation Z, those born after 2000, will soon too be entering the workplace. Due to improved longevity and changes in retirement law there are also increasingly more older workers staying in work. “Tomorrow’s office will need to accommodate up to four generations of worker, and cater for their different workplace needs, covering a wider spread of ages than ever before.”

Technology Continues to Develop

Employees are now bringing an average of three and a half mobile devices to the workplace. Email once took over voicemail and now instant messaging is taking over email as the chosen form of inter-office communication. Working on the move and remotely is becoming easier as technology gets more reliable, user-friendly and convenient.

Perhaps your workplace will organically evolve to incorporate these factors, but it’s certain that you can prompt, encourage and facilitate change in your physical workspace, in-house technologies and through workstyles and practices. Increasingly, workspaces are required to be more flexible, open and interactive, but still need to work for a range of workers at different stages and with different needs. Organisations need to attract and retain highly skilled employees while responding to the changing demands of the workplace.

Managing Your Workload and Workforce During Holidays

May 26, 2015 | IT

In the UK there are eight public holidays each year (with variations in Scotland and Northern Ireland) and for most of us that means a long weekend, a time to catch up on some chores and maybe even a BBQ.  However, for many organisations the show goes on as normal, or at least some bank holiday cover may be required. Add the looming school half terms and the summer holiday season and it’s enough to push some employers into a light sweat over cover.

For any period where you know you’re going to be short of staff, it’s important to find the right balance between bringing in new, potentially expensive and unnecessary, short-term cover and placing too much responsibility on remaining staff.  For some organisations national holiday periods such as bank holidays, Christmas and Easter may be quiet for the business if clients or customers are off enjoying their holiday too and can be a great time to play catch up. However for the rest, particularly service industries, the same work may need to be done but you will have distinctly less staff. This is when the importance of managing employee leave is at its most significant.

Good Planning

As with any aspect of business, a successful outcome is usually down to a foundation of good planning. Be clear on the facts and know what holiday your employees are legally entitled to. Consider maternity leave, those on sick leave and be sure to be clear about part-time worker’s entitlements. Develop a clear policy for holiday and requests and use a holiday dairy or calendar visible to everyone. If needed, introduce rules on when holidays can and cannot be taken to help meet your business needs. You can also prompt employees to take their annual leave – keeping a good track on who’s doing what with regards to their annual leave will mean you’re well prepared for covering any gaps.

Fair Policy and Recognition

Your high performers will be the most efficient and effective form of cover, but you need to be careful not to put too much demand on these employees who have a good skill set and if they are put under too much pressure may begin to think about a future elsewhere.  Ensure you are straight with employees and tell them why they’re required to do extra work and how long for, this will show that you respect them and will help to put the extra work into perspective. Reward those who’ve gone out of their way and worked hard, use employee of the month recognition or incentives for example. If the policy you have in place is fair and you treat all requests fairly and consistently, this is the best foundation for keeping everything running smoothly through times when there are a large number or employees on leave. Some organisations may see benefit in allowing their employees more control over annual leave, so they can balance their personal commitments and work life more individually, think about purchasing and selling annual leave or the ability to carry it over.

In general terms, following these principles of respect, good planning and fair policy should aid your business when cover is short, without the need to hire any external temporary workers. Ensure each department knows that an appropriate handover must be completed before they leave and hold a team meeting to allow any details to be covered and questions to be asked. Your employees deserve a break and if they have a great time on holiday and come back to see that their department hasn’t been destroyed in their absence or that their desk hasn’t been piled high with outstanding to-dos, you’re likely to have a happier, more productive workforce.

Is Flexible Working Having an Impact on Your Organisation?

May 26, 2015 | IT

In 2014 legislation came into place that made it possible for all employees with 26 weeks or more service to request flexible working. Up until then only those with young children or those with a dependant to care for, had the right to do so.

Finding a work/life balance can be tricky and the way people want to work is evolving as a ‘job for life’ is no longer appealing for most younger job seekers and older workers want to ensure quality of life, without retiring completely.

Who is likely to request flexible working?

Those with families and dependants are still probably the largest group likely to request flexible working, but the hope is that this legislation will make it easier and more acceptable particularly for men, no matter their position, to ask for flexibility. More than half of over 55s are likely to work past retirement age and the opportunity to work fewer hours may be appealing to those wanting to continue with an income and career but enjoy more time out in the build up to their retirement. On the other side of the scale many younger workers are attracted to flexible work with the aim of building up a portfolio, while possibly working on other projects or building up their own business at the same time.

What forms of flexible working are there?

• Part-time working
• Working from home
• Flexi-time – working outside of traditional office hours
• Compressed hours – working longer hours on some days to free up others
• Job-sharing
• Term-time working – paid or unpaid leave during school holidays

What are the benefits?

The benefits for the employee are obvious; ideally leading to better moral, productivity, lower labour turnover, and reduced absenteeism. However, organisations are beginning to see other benefits such as saving on office space and the costs involved in having staff present on their premises. Also, many firms may require their workforce to be flexible during busy periods of the year so offering your employees flexibility themselves should mean they’re more likely to return the favour.

Is there a downside?

A problem that has to be well managed and should involve some form of policy and procedure is the fact that there may be a number of conflicting requests submitted by employees. Organisations must be careful not to discriminate, as this could lead to expensive and damaging employment tribunals.

Flexible working means a change in culture for many organisations, whereas for others where the process is encouraged and flexible working is celebrated, the culture of the organisation simply evolves to allow the benefits of this arrangement to benefit the organisation further.  Many firms measure the input of their employees on whether they turn up and complete their shift, but surely productivity should be based on objectives, output and completion? This is exactly how you may need to manage your flexible, part-time or home workers to ensure they are on the same page and complete their work to the standard required, within the appropriate time.

Does your organisation champion flexible working, did you celebrate National Flexible Working Awareness Day earlier this month? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter @ITRecruitment

The Exit Interview

May 12, 2015 | IT

Exit interviews offer a fleeting opportunity to find out information that otherwise might be more difficult or impossible to obtain.

Interviews can be conducted orally or written.

Exit interview questions are essential to a successful separation and here are some tips on how to construct these questions.

1. Save the hardest questions for the latter part of the interview. Work up to the tough stuff!

2. A good question to break the ice is “Would you like for us to be a reference/recommendation for you?” Although, do not make this offer if you would not recommend the employee!
3. Be prepared for some bombshells. Expect the unexpected – if there is ever a time to this to happen, it’s in an exit interview.
4. Look for open-ended questions that allow for plenty of expression. An example of this might be “how did you feel you were managed during your employment with us?” or “how do you feel the company is run?”
5. Other excellent questions are “under what conditions would you have stayed?” and “if you had had a magic wand, what would you have changed?”
6. At some point in the interview ask “why are you leaving?” if you do not already know.
7. Good general questions are “what did you like most (least) about your position?”

8. Try to find out if there were things the departing employee would suggest to improve – conditions, production or morale.
9. Try to get a good feel for how they viewed their compensation and benefits package.

10. Leave room at the end of the interview for general comments. You could also ask them to describe one or two of their proudest professional accomplishments?

Here are some examples of Exit Interview Questions.

• Before deciding to leave, did you explore the possibility of a transfer?
• Is there something you didn’t like about your boss?
• How would you rate our work environment?
• Were you happy with your salary and benefits?
• What did you think about your performance and salary reviews?
• How should we change the way we do things to avoid losing other good employees?

General Election 2015: The Conservative Promise to Business and Recruitment

May 12, 2015 | IT

After months of debate, battles and more policies than we could get our head round, David Cameron is staying put at number 10 and the recruitment industry and employees alike are keen to see the promises of the election build up honored by the new Conservative government.

During the campaigning there were various points of interest for employers. The Liberal Democrats focused on equality for women and fathers in work, the Green Party on creating sustainable jobs, especially within energy conservation, and UKIP on making sure jobs are offered to British workers first. Labour’s links to the unions and general anti-agency views immediately make them less popular to recruiters, however supporting the abolishment of hot-topic zero hour contracts could mean more work for us recruiters, finding permanent employees for business. The Conservatives plan to reduce the exclusivity of zero hour contracts, rather than scrap them altogether.

There has been no shortage of speculation and option in the build up, and although the result was unpredictably straight forward, the general consensus is that a Tory government is favoured by the recruitment industry.  A survey by Bullhorn, pre-election showed 53% of UK recruiters supported a conservative outcome. But how will the new government affect recruitment within your business? Lets take a look at the key areas.

Full Employment
During his first term David Cameron boasts that his party created 1 million new jobs. There are now 30.8 million people in employment, with unemployment at 5.7% as oppose to 8% back in 2010 at the last election. As well as stating that they will aim to improve the skills of older workers to meet the needs of the economy, they Tories are tackling the important issue of youth unemployment with Cameron stating “we won’t just aim to lower youth unemployment; we aim to abolish it.” The idea is that anyone who wants a job, gets a job. The key to making this work is dealing with current skill shortages through appropriate education, training and apprenticeships (the new government has promised 3 million of these).

Business support
The promise is to help start-ups by cutting red tape, aiming to boost small business and therefore allowing growth and the flexibility to take on more specialist staff.

Immigration
One of the most discussed topics of the election, immigration continues to spark debate. Skilled workers from overseas fill many of the current gaps in our UK workforces and many believe tighter immigration controls would jeopardise the important roles that immigrant workers can bring to the country. Although the Conservatives didn’t hold their promise on the cap on immigration (by a long way) in the last parliament, this time they promise to clamp down on illegal immigration and abuse of the minimum wage, so lets hope this this will go some way to solve the current inability to distinguish between skilled and unskilled immigrants moving to the UK.

Diversity
We now have more women MPs in parliament than ever before, and it is looking this way for business too. Promoting equal treatment and equal opportunity for all is all part of David Cameron’s Big Society and this includes requiring companies with more than 250 employees to publish the difference between the average pay of their male and female employees. They also aim to halve the disability employment gap.

Conclusion
What business leaders always want it stability, and now we at least know who’s in parliament and what the promises are. Unfortunately the history of broken promises and PR stunts within politics leaves everyone more then skeptical. In what other recruitment process would the candidates be so scathing of their competition, make personal attacks and expect support by highlighting how bad the other choices are? Never the less, there are lots of positive sounds for business coming from the Conservatives, so with an EU referendum on the horizon, likely to shake up debate with the business community once more, lets watch this space.

Talent Shortage? Is it a myth or is a shrinking talent pool really affecting your recruitment?

Apr 27, 2015 | IT

There is currently much discussion in the recruitment industry about talent shortages affecting company recruitment in the UK. But is this a real concern to organistions or does it just require a shift in thinking?

Falling unemployment levels and growing administration responsibilities are potential threats for recruitment, as well as organisations not protecting themselves or planning for potential candidate shortages.

However, particularly in the ever-developing world of IT, it may just be that employers have to think a little differently about their recruitment process. Technical skills are forever changing and progressing, and so are professional’s job descriptions and career plans. The career path of a more generalised IT professional may no longer be clear or as they had originally planned a number of years ago.

Candidates may feel nervous about leaving a secure role to move on somewhere else. This creates a need for hiring organisations to be more creative, offering really attractive packages and the right bonuses and training courses to not only attract but also look after their employees long term.

This debate varies throughout industries, particularly in digital marketing you will find those who feel there is a real shortage of the right candidates for roles. However you will always find others who will counter that argument with claims that the market is changing, and making the organistion and industry as a whole more appealing is the key to successful recruitment.

Because IT professionals often need to be recruited quickly for certain projects, often requiring specialist skills or deep knowledge of niche areas of IT, this can add to recruitment pressures. A little like dating, employers want to find the perfect match – but how long are they willing to wait, often putting extra pressure on the existing team and leaving a role empty?

Reports show that companies are planning to increase hiring throughout 2015 to grow their workforce so it may be that any talent shortage is short lived, at least for those organisations willing to innovate. Candidates are likely to judge organisations more intently, especially in markets that are more competitive, so it is more important than ever to communicate well and a put a human face to the business and the recruitment process.

Finding, developing and retaining the right talent is so important, and in IT it is especially important to have a recruitment agency that understand the ever-progressing world of technology. Here at Langley James we are a bespoke IT recruitment service and are dedicated to finding the right matches. Contact us here for more details.

Five Reasons to Consider Video Interviewing

Apr 27, 2015 | IT

Video interviewing is the future. Well at least that’s what many industry experts have been telling us for some time now. It is definitely becoming more commonplace, particularly in digital industries. Organisations need to show potential employees that they are ahead of the game and leaders in their field, and keeping up to date with new interviewing technology could make a good first impression.

Video interviewing comes in a number of forms. First there is a typical two-way style interview, but simply conduced via video. There are also one-way videos, uploaded by the candidate, possibly answering set questions, or as a ‘video CV’ – these can also be produced by organisations as a punchy way to help sell their business and available jobs.

So why invest in this technology? Why change a traditional interviewing process in favour of video interviewing? We’ve covered some of the key points you need to know about video interviews and how they may benefit your organisation.

Be efficient

Although there may be some initial investment in software involved for larger organisations, SMEs could easily utilise free software or applications such as Skype for straightforward interviewing. Directors, HR managers and other interviewing managers will be able to cover a lot more interviews in a shorter space of time, and savings on extras such as travel expenses could be considerable. Incorporating this video stage into your recruitment may help to reduce candidate volume, selecting the top candidates ready for the final, more expensive stage of the interview process.

Inject some personality

Reading a CV or conducting a telephone interview (even with perfect telephone manner) can often be flat or misleading. Visual interaction and the important signals we take from body language can be very important, and help personality and passion to shine. In two-way interviews, both the interviewee and the interviewing organisation will be able to gain a much better understanding of who they’re speaking to and what kind of fit they would be within the team.

Amend and improve

Recorded videos can be paused and played again, so you’ll never miss a detail. Organisations have the opportunity to review previous interview questions, the responses they received, and tweak or improve them in future interviews to get even more from their candidates. Similarly, videos offer them the ability to coach candidates through each stage of the interview process, reviewing answers and suggesting improvements in preparation for the next stage. Re-watch interviews at your own convenience and easily share with colleagues.

Keep moving

Not only do candidates have the advantage of being able to upload or log on to their video interview from their mobiles or tablets wherever they want, employers can take their recruitment with them! There’s no need to be tied to the office or a meeting at a certain location, video interviewing is perfect for busy professionals on the go.

And relax….

If the first four reasons haven’t given you enough reason to relax about the idea of video interviewing, it’s also possible that this form of interview may help your candidates to relax. Although not for everyone, video interviewing allows interviewees to be in their own environment, often at a time of their convenience, relieving traditional interview stresses. One-way interviews can also be practiced and rerecorded.

Overall, video interviewing is a very viable option of many IT organisations. Even if it doesn’t play a central role in your interviewing process, it may help to streamline the process, lend itself well to certain roles or particularly suit contractors. Removing geographical barriers, it could open the door to a new pool of talent, helping to fill more specialist roles. At Langley James, we will support you at each step of your interviewing process, and can advise you as to what may work best for your organisation. Please get in touch with one of our consultants if you are looking to fill an IT position in your team.

Tell Me What You Want – Detailed Job Descriptions are critical in finding the perfect employee

Mar 24, 2015 | IT

Finding the perfect employee is not like ordering a Big Mac and fries at McDonald’s, but some job descriptions can lead you to believe that!

Personnel, Recruitment Consutants and HR staff are often tasked with finding the perfect employee for a company with less details than they would have if they were taking a lunch order for the office. “I need a Technical person with 3-5 years experience in the software industry” is not going to get you what you need!

Here are five questions you should answer in creating a great job description:

1. What is the job’s primary purpose or contribution to the department or Company?

2. What are the essential technical skills, what versions and what should they have done with them. Three technical questions set by the IT Department along with their answers will help with prelimanary interviews for Recruitment Consultants when qualifying candidates for the position.

3. What are the essential duties and responsibilities? You should include all important aspects of the job – whether performed daily, weekly, monthly or annually; and any that occur at irregular intervals.

4. Does the job have supervisory responsibilities? Are there subordinate supervisors reporting to this job? If yes, how many?

5. What education and amount of experience is needed to successfully accomplish the essential duties of the job?

And last, but definitely NOT least, is why would the candidate want to work there? Do you have a fund to allow each employee to pursue their personal development through training or books? Do you provide Flexitime, Creche facilities? Play lunch time 5 A Side? Gym membership, Healthcare? Discounts? Tell them what’s in it for THEM!

Writing your job description in this manner will increase your chances of finding the perfect employee for YOU.

Langley James are experts in their field and have been helping companies both attract and retain the best management talent for 15 years.  A recruitment service founded on service excellence, we are experts at what we do and with a bespoke approach, we help you save time and are happy to share our specialist knowledge to help you Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.

Finding the Perfect Employee

Mar 24, 2015 | IT

Over the past few years we have had to be extremely creative to find great employees. Recently the number of Technical Professionals seeking new positions has more than doubled. Instead of having to search high and low to find a few great people, employers and agencies are bombarded with hundreds – or even thousands – of CV’s. So how are you going to find the truly great employee?

Recruiting for an employee to fill your position can be a frustrating and a time consuming process. From writing the job spec and the advert, which has to be exciting and challenging to attract great people, to the actual interviews with likely candidates, your time is guaranteed to be stretched to the maximum for a period of time.

Here are 5 tips to help you find a great employee:

1. When you review a CV, look for length of time on the job: a candidate with several short- term employers (less than a year) could mean a lack of commitment on their part. Of course, with all the recent redundancies, it could just mean they got caught in the fallout.

It isn’t necessarily a fact that they were laid off because the company was cutting back. Star performers are not laid off if the company can avoid it. Be sure to check those references carefully, especially if the company is still in business. You don’t want someone else’s “deadwood”.

2. Look for gaps in employment and ask for an explanation. Long periods out of work could signal a time out to update their education – or it may indicate some criminal background.

3. Watch the employment dates for “overlaps”. This could be a simple error, but also might indicate that the candidate is not being truthful about previous employers. Ask the person to explain it, and be sure to call those employers and verify dates of employment with them.

4. Have a copy of the job description at hand when you review the CV’s. The more skills that match your job description, the more likely you will be to have a great match. Focus on what they have done in the past that matches what you want them to do. Write a list of things you want them to do and then ask questions that will get those answers (or the lack thereof).

5. Sort your likely CV’s into two piles – one for those that look perfect to you, the other for those that look good. Conduct prelimnary telephone interviews and ask them why they want to work for your company.

While these tips aren’t the whole picture in hiring a great employee, using them increases your chances that you will hire the perfect match for your company.

With the present restrictions on information that a previous employer is allowed to give you, it is important to pay attention to all the details you get from the candidate. It will make the difference between having a GREAT employee working for you, or just having a GOOD one.

At Langley James we are at hand to assist with writing Job Descriptions.

Langley James are experts in their field and have been helping companies both attract and retain the best management talent for 15 years.  A recruitment service founded on service excellence, we are experts at what we do and with a bespoke approach, we help you save time and are happy to share our specialist knowledge to help you Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.

Rebuilding Your Staff Employee By Employee

Mar 24, 2015 | IT

Problem – “my employees are minimal and I can’t get any improvement”

Solution – rebuild your business one employee at a time

Minimal employees have become the bane of business – those that do just enough to get by and no more. If a business with good market share and strong strategy is still achieving poor results then it almost always points to minimal employees. Sometimes owners/management see this but often it takes an outsider to point it out. Once this is understood to be the problem the question I get is – How do I get rid of these bottom-feeders and get some good people in their place? The answer is to build it employee by employee. The following are some key concepts when considering a personnel ‘upgrade’:

1. Understand that minimal employees cause discontentment with productive employees. Good employees often leave because of minimal employees. Having a minimal employee can hurt the entire operation. Realizing this is important when difficult decisions need to be made.

2. Understand that most businesses cannot shut down as they reorganize or redesign. I use the analogy of a flying plane: you cannot stop the plane to fix it – you have to fix it while it is flying. The rule here is ‘don’t shoot yourself in the foot’. Usually this means don’t fire or lay-off until you have replacements.

3. View employees as resources and profit centers – not just expenses. Minimal employees are usually cheaper but deliver much less value.

4. Review your staffing at least once a week. (depending on the circumstances this may be necessary more often.) Go through each employee and determine his or her appropriateness for the business. I like to use a spreadsheet, keep notes and strategies current so they can be constantly reviewed. I ‘star’ those employees that are ‘on the bubble’ or are delivering questionable value.

5. Do evaluations and reviews every three months. Once or twice a year is simply not enough.

6. Measure and evaluate your people weekly. Producers welcome the attention and ‘bottomfeeders’ will do all they can to avoid the scrutiny. Find some criteria for even those hard to measure job classifications – like service rep.

7. Find out if the poor producers have potential. Time and time again I see management wanting to fire but not looking at potential. Sometimes they are amazed when they see a minimal employee blossom. Sometimes I am amazed that management is not paying attention. It is usually better to give the minimal employee a chance or opportunity – if they do not want it they will often quit.

8. Understand that accountability is the employee’s responsibility – not management’s. It is management’s responsibility to do something about the lack of accountability if it is not there. This makes it much easier to deal with those tough decisions when the time comes.

9. Have a training and career plan for each employee.

10. Hire right. The key to building a successful staffing is to make sure each new hire is better than what you have. If you do know how to hire get some help. Look at work ethic, values, maturity, drive, creativity, etc. Truly amazing things happen when you replace a ‘bad apple’ with a good employee.

11. Look for ‘breakthrough’ employees that can bring high value quickly. This is usually a factor of skill, experience and work ethic. This can bring a corresponding sharp spike in performance.

12. Set up a system where employees can train or mentor each other. This tends to raise the standard throughout the business.

13. Constantly evaluate what your market and customers demand. Make sure you are hiring to meet this demand.

14. Make the processes automatic – daily if possible. If you stay focused the results will come. Focus on the process!

15. Be persistent. Most of my clients go into a continual recruitment mode.

Langley James are experts in their field and have been helping companies both attract and retain the best management talent for 15 years.  A recruitment service founded on service excellence, we are experts at what we do and with a bespoke approach, we help you save time and are happy to share our specialist knowledge to help you Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.

45% of employees are not inspired by their line manager

Mar 10, 2015 | IT

Research has revealed that poor leadership is a major cause of staff leaving their job with over 30% citing this is the main reason for searching for alternative employment.  This was one of the many insights identified by the latest Towers Watson Global Workforce Study.

The report goes as far to suggest that “meagre managers are adding to the UK talent drain”.

The report also highlighted that only 39% of employees feel that the company leaders truly understand the factors that drive business success, and just 58% saying that their leaders consistently make rational decision that benefit the organisation in the long term.

Although many employees understand and recognise the challenges that come with managing a team, many feel that their manager doesn’t have sufficient time to perform the people aspect of management.  Managers agree and many said that they were not being supported and empowered to deliver effective management.

According to the report, over a third of managers do not coach and develop their team and a quarter fail to evaluate performance with personal development reviews.

The talent shortage is intensifying this problem with 43% of businesses struggling to meet client expectation and deadlines, further pressure is being put on management to drive up performance in the existing team.  This can also result in those that have the most impact on the bottom line are getting more attention from their manager which in turn is upsetting team dynamics.

So everybody is having to perform against time and resource pressures.  Not surprising then that the recent YouGov research conducted on behalf of the British Heart Foundation revealed that more than two-fifths of employees feel work pressures have damaged their health in the past five years

Companies need to better train and support their managers to help gain the long-term commitment from their teams.

Langley James are experts in their field and have been helping companies both attract and retain the best management talent for 15 years.  A recruitment service founded on service excellence, we are experts at what we do and with a bespoke approach, we help you save time and are happy to share our specialist knowledge to help you Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.

Getting results with Free Online Technical Testing

Mar 9, 2015 | IT

Getting results with Free Online Technical Testing

We all know that it is sometimes difficult to ascertain if an individual is as good as their CV looks or as strong on the job as they perform in interview.

We have a solution

Did you know that Langley James offer free Online Technical Testing that can be used as part of your interview process to test your potential new employees.  Not only that, it can also be used to test your existing employees as part of their appraisal.

To deliver this service, Langley James has chosen Prove IT as our preferred partner.  Prove IT is one of the leading Online Technical Testing tools available today and is used by many large organisations to test proficiency levels and technical experience.  Working with Prove IT means that we are able to deliver the most comprehensive and effective technology tests that can be performed online or in a controlled environment on virtually any mainstream technology product.

With a suite of over 200 technical tests which include Windows Servers, Active Directory, Exchange. SQL, XP and Mac to name just a few.

Best of all, it is a fast, cost-effective solution that lets you focus on IT staffing and training resources where they will have the most impact.

Following the test, we can provide you with a simple, yet comprehensive analysis.  This information can not only help in the shortlisting process but can also be used to staff particular projects or to develop customised training programs to address identified skills gaps.  The later can shorten the number of days required for training, reduce training expense and ultimately enhance productivity with little employee downtime.

When it comes to expanding the team, effective selection if critical to organisational success.  Using technical testing have been proven to fundamentally improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire recruitment process.  In the current climate, candidates can now apply, interview and be offered in a matter of a few short days.  Where time is of the essence, Langley James can help you compete in the fast-moving world of recruitment and utilising our Technical Testing means that selection can take place with greater speed and efficiency than previously possible.

Using Langley James can save your organisation valuable time and effort by ensuring that you are able to focus on the best available candidates immediately.

To discuss your requirement needs, or for more details on our free Online Technical Testing, please call us on  0207 099 4839  or email us atlangleyjames@langleyjames.com

How to Create Employee Loyalty

Feb 24, 2015 | IT

How to Create Employee Loyalty

Employees are becoming the competitive advantage for business in the modern world. Bad employees can cause a business to fail; mediocre employees can cause a business to break even. Good employees can make even a business soar.

The key of course is to hire right. At least half of the personnel problems I face with my clients today are caused by poor hiring policies. But just as important as hiring good employees is keeping good employees. Good employees often feel (and with good reasons) that their employers take them for granted. It takes focus, work and commitment to keep good employees. The idea is that the satisfied employee is less likely to search for greener pastures. The following are keys to keeping the best employees in your business:

Pay. Don’t believe the ‘experts’ when they tell you pay is not important. Pay might not be always the most important thing but it always ranks right at the top. Pay is only a non-issue when an employee is not dependent on the paycheck or has another source of income. A general rule is that you must offer a competitive salary/wage for that position. You can offer minimum wage to a journeyman level worker but you will not get journey level skill. If you are offering below market rate you will only attract the worst of the prospective employee pool.

Benefits are similar to pay. If other like businesses are paying certain benefits you will have to also. Health and dental insurance are benefits that better employees are demanding. But you can also offer additional benefits that will attract better employees. Life insurance, 401K plans, sick and holiday days will “sweeten the pot.” Some of these benefits may cost less than you think. The more astute businesses are also offering a ‘cafeteria style’ benefits plan — the employee can pick and choose which benefits are best for them.

Training. Good employees know they must be continually learning and improving their skills. They will search for a ‘home’ that not only encourages but provides regular training. Most businesses concentrate only on direct job-related training. Don’t forget non-business training such as English, foreign languages, computers, etc. Employees also have interests that are not job related. Improving some of these interests may also help improve job performance. Don’t forget to look carefully at cross training so they can learn to do other functions in the business which helps all concerned.

A Learning Environment provides a chance to learn on the job. This not only improves skills, knowledge and performance but keeps the employee’s interest level high. The employee is more eager to go to work if they feel they will learn something new and improve themselves. Hit an interest and loyalty will follow.

A Career Plan will help the employee set their long term goals. If the business can assist the employee in reaching those goals the employee will become more loyal. Most businesses do not help their employees in this way.

Evaluations and Reviews should be held on a regular basis and certainly no longer than three months apart. Problems and concerns can be addressed and progress toward goals monitored. The idea in these reviews is not to build a case to force the employee to improve or to build a case so they can legally be fired. The idea is to focus on the individual as a person and how they fit in the business. Reviews should be used as a way to keep good employees and not weed out bad ones.

Regular Business Meetings are an excellent way to get employee input, make improvements and address concerns before they become problems. Good employees feel they must have input in the workplace. Meetings should be held at least once a month but I advise my clients to have them weekly.

Recognise Good Work with financial and non-financial recognition. Employees often feel management only addresses them when there are problems. Good employees expect to be told when they do good work.

Good Working Conditions are a must. Good employees expect their employer to be making constant improvements so the workplace is not only safe but pleasant.

Have Fun. Good, loyal employees do not want boring, drudgery-filled work. There are many ways employers can make work fun and many of these techniques cost little or nothing. This is not the same kind of fun one has on holiday. But it does add excitement and keeps attitude high and motivation up. Many recent studies are pointing to a labor shortage and a battle for the best employees. One study recently found that only one out of four applicants is actually qualified to do the job. To attract top prospects the business must offer an attractive package. Top prospects must be marketed to in a similar way a sales prospect is marketed to.Those businesses that are lazy and too cheap will have to be satisfied with minimal employees. The long term prospects for these businesses will be poor. The successful business of the future will not only attract the best but will create a loyalty to keep the best. The indicators are suggesting these will be the only businesses that truly succeed.

Interviewer Guidance

Feb 24, 2015 | IT

1. Prepare in Advance

Know what you want in a candidate before you begin the interview.
Review the job specifications and requirements that have been prepared.

Know the job and its responsibilities.
Review the job description.

Prepare a list of standard questions.
Focus on the candidate’s skills, abilities and past work performance that you want him/her to answer.

Prepare a list of prioritised and measurable criteria.
Either in the form of a worksheet or other method, for analysing and comparing the candidates.

Review the candidate’s CV prior to the interview.

Set specific appointment times and reasonable time limits.

Be prepared to justify the use of any required employment test.
Typically, the most legally defensible tests are those that involve a “piece of the job.”

2. Collect Pertinent Information During the Interview

Since past behaviour predicts future behaviour, look for the candidate’s behaviour “patterns” as you collect information.
For example, has the candidate enjoyed “big picture” work or detailed analysis more? Is he/she more of a generalist or more of a specialist? Often, by listening to how the candidate responds to your questions about previous jobs, you will be able to ascertain a very good idea of what their behaviour will be like in the future.

Try not to offer too much detailed information up front, so that the candidate will be able to formulate answers that exactly fit your company’s needs.
Don’t put the right words in his/her mouth! Remember, the candidate (hopefully) wants the job and will be looking to say the right thing to impress you.

Ask questions that focus on the candidate’s past performances.
For example, if the job, such as a Support Analyst, demands an individual who is well-organised and has a logical approach to troubleshooting, you may want to ask, “How do you prioritise tasks in your current position?”

Ask specific, structured questions in regards to specific problems that the job holder may face.
Focus on past behaviour and the results of the candidate’s actions in a particular situation. For example: “As the Help Desk person, you may encounter a few unhappy users who will yell and scream at you over the telephone or in person. Have you had any experience dealing with difficult users? Who was the most difficult user you had to deal with? What was the situation? How did you resolve the problem?”

Notice how well the candidate listens and responds to the questions asked.

Note the candidate’s choice of words and non-verbal behaviour.
Are they answering your questions clearly?

Listen to the questions the candidate asks.
Clarify the reasons why the questions are being asked. Notice which questions he/she asks first as they may be his/her primary concerns.

Take detailed hand-written notes concerning job related topics that will help you distinguish the candidates from one another.
(Especially if you will be conducting several interviews). Help yourself remember each candidate and each interview clearly.

Record information pertaining to the set criteria that will help in the evaluation of candidates.

Organise and analyse the information immediately after the interview when memory is fresh.
Don’t try to remember everything- it’s impossible. One idea is to “rate” each candidate on each of the criteria immediately following the interview.

3. During the Interview

Set a businesslike atmosphere.

Structure the interview and inform the candidate of this structure.
Let the candidate know you will be focusing on past results and that you will be taking a lot of notes.

Provide information on the company and the job to each candidate.

4. Treat All Candidates Fairly

Use your list of standard questions during each interview.
Enable you to treat the applicants the same and so that you can compare fairly.

Refer to the criteria for analysing candidates.
Ask questions in regards to the job criteria.

Keep all questions job-related.

Do not ask discriminating questions.

Show a genuine interest in every candidate you interview.

If possible, have at least one other person to meet and/or interview candidates who are “finalists”.
They should also “rate” the candidates on each of the criteria; ultimately, all interviewers should compare their “ratings” and discuss any discrepancies.

5. Be Courteous and Respectful

Conduct the interview in a private place away from distractions.

Begin the interview on time.

Conduct the interview without interruptions.

Allow sufficient time for the interview.

Appreciate the candidate’s accomplishments.

Do not patronise the candidate.

Do not argue with the candidate.

Thank the candidate for his/her time and interest.

6. Facilitate Open Communication

Immediately attempt to establish a rapport with the candidate.
Break the ice; for example, ask about their experiences in a particular industry or geographical location (refer to his/her CV).

Promote a relaxed environment with free-flowing conversation.

Do not dominate the discussion by talking too much.
Many experts use a 80/20 rule – you talk 20% of the time and the candidate talks 80% of the time.

Politely probe the candidate for information.
Ask open-ended questions that will provide insight into the candidate’s values and traits.

Ask structured questions that will require some thought on the part of the candidate.

Listen carefully to the candidate’s answers.
If they do not provide you with specific results, probe until they do.

Explain the selection process to the candidate.
Offer realistic time frames and stick to your word!

Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting – Part Two – Turn Browsers into Buyers

Feb 3, 2015 | IT

Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting – Part Two – Turn Browsers into Buyers

Last week we published the first of two short articles on the topic of motivating change within the recruitment process in order to attract the best IT talent.

We looked at the way in which economic uncertainty, candidate inertia and a buoyant demand for key skills mean that many candidates are happy to stay in their current roles. Don’t worry if you missed it, you can catch up by reading the article here.

The internet has made it incredibly easy for candidates to look for new roles, something those who are serious about their careers must do on an ongoing basis. The freedom of information enabled by the internet also means that it has never been easier to keep up to date with the current job market in terms of salaries, new vacancies and the demand for certain skills. The abundance of information makes the market incredibly transparent.

Many candidates use this information as a barometer for their careers; to confirm their salary is in the right range or to identify which skills they should be developing but every now and then the same candidates will browse job boards and, whilst they may not be actively considering changing roles, they may be persuaded to apply if the new role is attractive enough. The question is; how much better than their existing job does the new role need to be in order to turn those browsers into potential buyers?

The first assumption for most recruiters is that simply offering a salary slightly larger than the one a candidate is currently receiving will be enough to secure their services. However, that is not the case.

Some academic types say that in order to motivate change something has to be 20% better than the average. In terms of IT recruitment that doesn’t necessarily mean just mean offering 20% above the average salary.

IT contractors and IT staff, particularly the next generation, are more likely to value intangible factors when considering new roles, things like; the working environment, company culture, recognition of their efforts, the chance to work with developing technologies, the likelihood of regular and fresh challenges, the company brand, projects the company is involved with or has historically been involved with, opportunities for career progression and even the opportunity for travel.

All of these factors should be actively communicated in your company literature, by your current employees and by your job adverts. Ultimately financial considerations will still be the overriding factor when considering a new role but that doesn’t mean it should be the only carrot on your stick.

Let us know your thoughts on this topic by joining in the conversation on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/langleyjames) or on Twitter (@ITrecruitment).

To find out how Langley James can help you to motivate change and streamline your IT recruitment process please contact us on  0845 124 9555 or langleyjames@langleyjames.com

Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting – Part One – Motivate Change

Feb 3, 2015 | IT

Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting – Part One – Motivate Change

We are constantly asked what the market for IT recruitment is like and our answer can vary greatly; sometimes things are good and sometimes they aren’t so good. Whilst we’re lucky that the IT industry is reasonably stable, it does tend to reflect the economy and general mood of the nation.

January is traditionally subdued and it is usually a time when both companies and candidates take stock, trim the fat and make plans for the year ahead.

It is a little ambitious to rely on once in a lifetime events to boost business and it is often the case that the companies which make a concerted effort during times of economic stagnation reap the rewards when the good times roll around again. They are proactive rather than reactive, they are innovative and they motivate change.

To use a tenuous analogy, the current IT recruitment market can be compared to a shopping centre at this time of year.

People purchased their winter wardrobe before the Christmas and New Year period. They may have slightly exceeded their budget and now January is a time of austerity, a period to be got through, before they can buy a new wardrobe in the spring. They might go to the shopping centre to have a look around but they aren’t too keen to buy anything. In order for the retailers to get people through the door they have to have a compelling offer.

Still with us?!

The current IT recruitment market is just like that shopping centre. There are a lot of potential customers (candidates) who are happy to browse yet they all appear too scared to commit themselves to actively seeking a new role.

One of the main contributing factors to this inertia is that most of the roles which are currently being advertised are identical to those in which candidates are already engaged; they offer the same position, the same career progression (or lack of) and the same salary and benefits package.

Therefore, it is up to those companies who are looking to recruit candidates to fill their vacant positions to motivate change in order to make themselves more attractive to potential employees without simply resorting to paying above market rates, something many are unwilling or unable to do in the current economic climate.

Next week we’ll take a look at how companies can motivate change and how that relates to the issues currently affecting the recruitment decisions of both candidates and employers.

Let us know your thoughts on this topic by joining in the conversation on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/langleyjames) or on Twitter (@ITrecruitment).

To find out how Langley James can help you to motivate change and streamline your IT recruitment process please contact us on  0845 124 9555 or langleyjames@langleyjames.com

Big Enough To Cope, Small Enough To Care

Jan 7, 2015 | IT

Big enough to cope, small enough to care

Langley James was founded in 1999 to provide something unique: a bespoke IT recruitment service founded on service excellence.

Now, 16 years later we have helped some of the most respected companies in the world recruit someone worth recruiting.

So, what makes us different?

We don’t employ sales people, just highly trained recruitment experts, who combine leading edge IT knowledge with a professionalism and dedication that is second to none.  Whilst many agencies spend 80% of their time chasing new business, our reputation and position in the market means that we can spend 80% of the time focusing on your requirements.

Your absolute satisfaction is what we focus on every step of the way.  In fact, we have developed all our services from your perspective so that you get everything you need in order to make your IT recruitment problems a thing of the past. 

With more and more emphasis on a candidate led market, we look after your brand as if it was our own.  Our expert team will represent you at the highest level to each and every candidate.

How we work

We use a highly effective approach to finding the best talent for each vacancy and with the increasing use of social media, we have the expertise to know how to get the best results.

We also provide you with your own, dedicated client manager; an experienced professional who will be your regular point of contact.  With over 50 years’ experience in house, we ensure a consultative, professional approach.  Your consultant gets to really know your company and your culture meaning that you not only get the best candidate to fulfil the role but also the best fit within your company. 

We are members of the REC and FSB and our memberships also include the CIPD which helps ensure we are on the pulse with the market conditions and can give invaluable market intelligence to our clients.  This can be salary surveys, candidate availability or market demands.

We provide a full recruitment service including identifying and screening candidates and managing the full recruitment process.  Your specified deadlines for vacancy prioritisation, interview times and specified start dates are all integrated into our process.  Our internal database that has been created over the last 16 years, means that you have access to the best people, quickly!

We are also here when you need us, which is why you can call us before most other IT recruitment companies open and after they have usually gone home.  Our offices in both the North and South are here to look after you 8am-8pm, Monday to Friday.

How Was It For You?

Jan 7, 2015 | IT

In a year where we saw U2 give away their album to everyone on iTunes and we successfully landed on a comet, the IT skills gap and recruitment were major concerns for CIO’s, remaining unchanged from 2013.

With some trepidation, confidence started to grow among employers and we saw cautious investment in headcount at the beginning of the year.  As a result of the recovering job market clients were demanding more in a marketplace where skilled candidates were proving difficult to find.  As confidence grew further we were being asked to fill more and more vacancies created by expansion as opposed to replacing those that had resigned.  We also saw a reduction in contract requirements with companies preferring to recruit permanently to secure the best talent.

In a generally supressed candidate market, there was anticipation to take the plunge to change jobs.  The skilled candidates were staying put with security a high priority and the market became flooded with less skilled, immediately available candidates.  The skills shortage experienced in 2013 became much more previlant last year.  Online advertising simply wasn’t working anymore as the quality of those actively searching for employment dropped further.

This created an increase in the need for headhunting – I wonder how many times one of your team took a call from a headhunter last year?  Highly skilled candidates were being offered superb opportunities and were attracted to companies offering fantastic benefits packages, promotion opportunities and an emphasis on work-life balance.  Companies were having to work harder to ignite interest in the best people to consider making a move. 

Those skilled candidates that were motivated to move were in such high demand that they would receive 3-4 offers in a week and disappear off the market within the matter of a few days.  Companies would have to interview and offer quickly to be in with a chance of getting the best candidate and even then it wasn’t always guaranteed.  With companies keen to retain their IT team, 2014 saw the re-emergence of the counter-offer which saw many candidates decline offers after attempting to resign.

Despite technology, recruiting is still and always will be about the people and during this turbulent year, Langley James helped more client than ever recruit their superstar.  Our database means that we have access to some fantastic candidates who are unique to us and ensures that you Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.

Hoverboards, Flying Cars and Power Shoelaces – The Predictions For 2015

Jan 7, 2015 | IT

It’s official!  Christmas is well and truly over.  The hangover has finally subsided and we are all back into the swing of things.

With most of the country taking advantage of a 2 week break, it seems as though a job move was top of the New Year resolution list with a huge influx of people registering with agencies on January 5^th.  Is it simply the realisation that the current job isn’t quite right, or are candidates relighting their ambition and taking advantage of what is traditionally the most exciting month of the year for IT recruitment.  After a period of insecurity and reluctance to move jobs, 2015 looks to be the year of change. 

According to the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), more than a 33% of workers are planning to leave their job in 2015, so even if your team is just 3, expect to be replacing at least 1 of them before the year is out and this doesn’t even take into account the growth expected over the next 12 months by UK companies. 

So why are they looking to leave?

• 59% are looking for improved opportunities for progression
• 56% are looking for a higher salary and benefits package
• 50% are looking for a more interesting role
• 25% of people are feeling unappreciated

 Expect to have to work a little harder this year to keep hold of your superstars! 

Despite the increase in active candidates, companies will need to work hard to attract the best and 2015 will signal the end of that well-worn interview question “Why should I employ you?” and focus on enticing people into your company.  Candidates want to know what makes you different and what you can offer compared with your competitors and we’re not just talking salary.  Benefits are becoming increasingly important with a particular emphasis on training and accreditations.  

Whilst “skill shortage” has been a buzz phrase in IT recruitment for quite a while now, it doesn’t look as if it will disappear soon and will remain well into 2015.  Not only due to a shortage of trainees being recruited 3-5 years ago but need for companies to retain or improve their competitive advantage will increase the demand on analytical and cyber-security roles.  

With the invasion of Generation C and the need for products and services to be embedded in digital technology and infrastructure, companies are starting to realise the importance of in-house digital expertise.  Looks like the war for exceptional talent will definitely continue.

 This is where Langley James can help.  With experience spanning 3 decades and over 50 years of experience in-house, we take the time to really understand your requirement and can offer consultative advice on attracting the best of the best.  We know our market and really are experts at what we do and it helps that we have a real passion for ensuring you Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.

Did Mercedes Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting?

Nov 25, 2014 | IT

Article by Andrew Benson BBC

Lewis Hamilton says winning his second world title is the start of “something special” for himself and Mercedes.

He joined Mercedes in 2013 after non-executive chairman Niki Lauda promised they would make him world champion.

After winning Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to clinch the title, Hamilton, 29, said: “I wanted to be part of something building and growing.
“I feel this is just the beginning. What this team has put together is something incredibly special.”

Hamilton won the title by 67 points after a tense season-long battle with team-mate Nico Rosberg.

He is one of seven men to win the championship twice, leaving him one behind three-time victors Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Jackie Stewart, Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna.

Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel are the only four-time winners, Juan Manuel Fangio has five, while Michael Schumacher leads the way with seven.

Hamilton continued: “We’ve got great people in their right positions and me and Nico will continue to push the team forward.

“As will the boss of Mercedes, who has been so committed and building the best engine. These guys know just as much as I do, it’s been phenomenal this year.
“It’s really important the steps we take moving forwards to continue improving and I 100% believe the team will do that.”

Team-mate Rosberg signed a new contract with Mercedes until at least the end of 2016 in May this year, while Hamilton has a contract with Mercedes until the end of next year.
He and the team delayed negotiations over a new deal until the title had been decided so Hamilton could concentrate on his racing.

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has said they will sit down in the coming days and discuss the new deal and both Stevenage-born Hamilton and his team expect to continue together into a new contract.

Hamilton said: “I definitely don’t feel I am looking for a new challenge. We have a year to go, so there’s no particular rush but this is my home and I’m very happy here.”

Mercedes non-executive chairman Lauda added: “I asked him to leave McLaren and come to Mercedes and he said ‘when are we going to be competitive’. I said I could guarantee him a world championship and in the second year here it is.
“We are going to do this [contract] in the next two weeks. He’s happy, we’re happy, I don’t see any issues.”

Read the original article here 

When Employees Take The Festive Fun Too Far…

Nov 25, 2014 | IT

Article by Recruitment International

The Christmas adverts are on the telly, lists of ‘must-have’ presents are being compiled and carols will soon accompany shoppers on their travails, but as the works Christmas party looms, it is important organisations don’t get too caught up in the festive spirit.

Abigail Halcarz, employment lawyer at leading UK law firm SGH Martineau warns: “Whilst no-one wants to play the Grinch, it is worth reminding organisations that the Christmas party is essentially just an extension of the workplace; employers should be prepared in advance and protect themselves from unnecessary employment issues following the event.

“From an employment law perspective, although the party may take place outside of the workplace and out of normal office hours, there remains the risk that an employer will be liable for the actions of its staff.

“Most concerning from an employer’s perspective, is the potential liability for acts of discrimination or harassment by its staff. At a Christmas party, where employees can easily forget work and get carried away with the atmosphere, many will say and do things they would not normally consider doing.

“The most likely form of discrimination or harassment to be witnessed at a Christmas party is sexual, but the discrimination or harassment could be on a number of other prohibited grounds, including race, age and sexual orientation – we can all imagine the scenario.

“Other types of inappropriate behaviour are just as common, such as drink-fuelled aggression directed at colleagues or indeed senior management, often resulting from the releasing of tensions that may have built up over long periods of time in the workplace.

“Such behaviour could lead to claims for potentially unlimited compensation against both the employer and the employee responsible. The time and effort required by management in dealing with any grievance and/or disciplinary issues arising from any such incident, should also not be forgotten.

“Incidents such as these are unfortunately all too common and every January, employment lawyers will be inundated with calls from clients that begin: “There was an unfortunate event at our Christmas party…”. To lessen the risk of being that client, employers should firstly recognise the potential for problems and take the following steps:

• Invites should go to everyone, including those on family-related leave, or absent through illness or injury, as not doing so might result in claims of discrimination;
• When employees can bring partners, do not discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation and assume all partners will be of the opposite sex;
• Ensure that you have an equal opportunities/anti-harassment policy in place;
• Shortly before the Christmas party, remind employees of the existence of the policy and confirm that it applies equally to business events outside of the workplace and outside of office hours;
• Tell employees to enjoy themselves and have a good time, but remind them that inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated and could result in disciplinary action;
• If hired entertainers tell racist, sexist or offensive jokes and the employer does not fulfil its duty to protect employees from this unwanted conduct, it could be liable for harassment claims;
• Consider limiting the bar tab. Arguably it is irresponsible to provide limitless quantities of free alcohol to staff and a limitless free bar would not assist in defending any legal action resulting from an act carried out by a member of staff that was aggravated by alcohol consumption;
• Consider appointing a senior, responsible employee to stay sober, monitor behaviour and step in if necessary.

Christmas Gifts with a hidden agenda…

Given the inevitable gifts and invitations to other organisations’ Christmas festivities it is important for employers to be mindful of their potential liability under the Bribery Act 2010. The failure to prevent bribery and corruption is a strict liability and the only defence is if the employer can show that it has ‘adequate procedures’ in place to prevent bribery and corruption.

All organisations, irrespective of their size, should have policies in place and employees should be reminded of what is and isn’t acceptable. Liability arises from both offering and receiving bribes. Reasonable gifts and hospitality, such as a bottle of wine or an invitation to dinner should not raise too much concern, but if employees are whisked away on a private jet, sipping champagne to meet Father Christmas in Lapland, questions may need to be asked!

You can read the original article here 

Two Simple Ways to Help Overcome the Challenges of the IT Skills Shortage

Nov 5, 2014 | IT

Two simple ways to help overcome the challenges of the IT skills shortage

It is clear that CIO’s are operating in an extremely challenging environment and the role has never been more important than it is right now.  IT has a crucial role to play in the UK’s continued growth and with the worst of the budget cuts now behind most IT departments, the focus again is on the IT skills shortage.

We are all so heavily reliant on technology and whilst 80% of IT spend is still focussed on “keeping the lights on” to simply sustain some form of business growth it has been reported by Deloitte that only 58% of budget allocation within IT is for BAU and 42% for change and growth.  This is great news for those CIO’s with an appetite to drive this area but with IT project delays frequently reported in the news and  IT request backlogs growing at a rate of 10 to 20% per year, having the right team on board to help develop and deliver new capabilities is one of the highest priorities for CIO’s.

The report also highlighted the IT priorities for the next 12-18 months:

– 82% support new business needs
– 56% drive digital strategy
– 56% reduce IT cost
– 53% consolidate infrastructure
– 52% maintain IT operations
– 52% strengthen risk and security
– 49% develop skills
– 44% restructure IT operating model
– 29% develop sourcing strategy
– 12% increase offshoring

The impact of the recession has seen businesses being slow to hire and train and as a result, we are not developing our technical skills at the same pace as pre-recession.  Over half of CIO’s are experiencing difficulties when looking for business-centric IT professionals who not only have the necessary skill set but can also think strategically and communicate effectively.  According to a recent survey by CBI, 39% of companies are now struggling to attract workers with advanced STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) skills and 41% expect this issue to continue for the next 3 years.  More surprisingly, it also reported that 66% of UK employers are not satisfied with basic IT skills in their workforce.  On top of that, the European Commission predicts that the UK will need an additional 500,000 IT professionals by 2015!  Recruiting and retaining IT superstars is no easy task for any CIO.

So what can you do about it?

In a reported conducted by City AM, the average salary for technology jobs in the London area rose by a staggering 26% in the last 12 months, with the average topping £48k (£38k nationally) and according to CareerBuilder/EMSI, a third of UK businesses plan to hire full-time employees in 2014, with software professional vacancies expecting to increase by 3.1% to 325,500 jobs and ITC Managers by 3.6% to 326,429 jobs.  Are we set to see average salaries rising even further as companies try to attract the talent they need to prosper?

But those of you who read last week’s newsletter will know that attracting and retaining is not all about salary.  Over 40% of respondents to the Deloitte survey are redesigning IT roles and structures and providing access to cutting edge IT projects to help make their role the more attractive career choice.

Here at Langley James, we are seeing companies offering profit share, performance related bonus, blue sky thinking time, time for training and development and even “free pizza Friday’s” in an attempt to attract the best of the best.

Personal development with tailored training and project opportunities are key to attracting and retaining the right talent so it’s quite surprising to hear that only 12% of CIO’s are offering opportunities on projects outside the IT function – are you missing an opportunity to attract and retain talent?

Here at Langley James, we are passionate about recruiting – that’s why we do it!  We love getting to know you and getting to know our candidates resulting in the right person for the right role; something we have done over 3,000 times in the last 15 years.  We are experts at attracting the best calibre of candidate for your role, not just skills wise, but that all important personality and business skills too.

To discuss your IT recruitment needs please call us on 0207 099 4839 or email us: langleyjames@langleyjames.com.

Trick Or Treat

Oct 23, 2014 | IT

Trick or Treat?

Halloween can be an enjoyable time of year or a very scary time for others… a lot like recruitment! The uncertainty of not knowing if your new hire is going to be a trick or a treat can be a worrying time for many.

As a Recruitment Agency we hope that they are all sugary filled sweets.  However, embarking on a recruitment campaign without fully vetting your candidates can lead to a nightmare situation further down the line.

To avoid any ghastly surprises we have some top tips to help you work out if your new hire has any skeletons lurking in their closet.

Interviews

Don’t just conduct an interview because it’s the “done thing” to do, the parameters of interviews are constantly changing and are becoming less and less of the old corporate and let’s be honest occasionally boring interview style.

Revamp your interview techniques, something new and exciting because the age old question of “What is your weakest skill” has been batted around for far too long!

Use the time to get to know your candidate, even if you aren’t working with them directly.  Get to know their personality, as we all know everyone is on their best behaviour for an interview.

We’re not saying go all out and ask Taboo Interview questions but take the time to understand how they tick, their likes and dislikes.

Scenario based questions are a fantastic way of seeing how your potential new hire would handle a situation- Does their answer send shivers down your spine or make you want to shout joy from the rooftops?

Meet the Team

A vital part of a recruitment campaign is your candidate meeting the rest of the team. Your current team are the heart of what you do ensuring that the ghost train keeps on moving.  Is this new hire going be a chink in the track or that extra bag of much needed coal to help you steam on ahead?

Your candidate will feel more relaxed around a team environment as these current aliens will show your new hire the ropes. With any luck ET may have finally made it home in your team.

By meeting the team you can see how they interact with colleagues and how well they fit in.

Trial Day

Trial days generally go one of two ways, brilliantly or a complete disaster. This is because it allows you to see how the candidate reacts to real life situations in your business.  It can be hard for a candidate to get the time off for a trial day.  If they can go for it, what have you got to lose?

On the rare occasion a new hire turns into a disaster, don’t knock your own judgement, they could be one of the best actors you have ever met!

(Queue ghostbusters music) Who you gonna call? Langley James and let us find you “Someone Worth Recruiting”.

Post Holiday Blues

Aug 27, 2014 | IT

Post Holiday Blues

The summer holiday season is over, you’re back at work and it seems like there’s nothing to look forward to for months and months. On top of all that the weather has begun to turn and the evenings are rapidly drawing in. Together it’s a recipe for the ‘post holiday blues.’

Of course, it’s quite normal to feel a little down or frustrated when you return to work. Back-to-work blues tend to be temporary. Still, being back at work can be difficult for many people: problems of having limited freedom and fitting in again with work relationships can lead to frustration.

Factors that commonly contribute to the blues tend to fall into three major categories:

• Psychological – Perhaps you promised yourself you’d keep a better perspective on work problems or not let work run your life, and you’re already struggling to stick to them. You may have unrealistic expectations of your job and colleagues and are feeling disappointed when those expectations fall short
• Financial – You may be worrying about paying forthe next round of expenses i.e Credit Cards & Christmas presents!!!
• Physical – Strains of journeying to work by car or standing on a packed train or bus, combined with a lack of exercise at work can leave you feeling fatigued. It’s possible that you gained weight on holiday from too much food and alcohol and it isn’t going to disappear over night.

All this can add a great deal of pressure to being back at work. So what can you do to keep some of the holiday spirit alive? Try these important strategies:

Acknowledge your feelings
If your work is very routine it’s normal to feel a bit down after a holiday. What is important is finding expression for your feelings. Turning frustration inwards will mean the blues will last longer and could have a significant effect on your own emotional and physical health and on those around you.

Seek support
If you spent the holiday with family or friends, use them for social support. They can help you remember the good times you’ve had, reduce any feelings of isolation at work and share responsibilities at home.

Be realistic
Goals, although made in good faith, are often unrealistic and difficult to achieve. Don’t try to do everything at once -tackle one action at a time. It’s much better to be able to measure and reward your successes than trying to bounce back from disappointment.

Budget
Financial pressures at home can seriously affect how you feel at work. If you are worried about money and paying off credit cards, don’t pretend the pressures aren’t there. Instead, make a plan of how much money you can afford to pay off and the period you need to balance your accounts. Planning ahead will help you avoid tempting extravagances and help you feel more in charge of your life.

Plan ahead
It doesn’t work for everyone, but many people find that planning their next holiday gives them something to look forward to. Perhaps a photograph of the resort or villa you’re planning to visit stuck up in your work area will help. Even if it isn’t another holiday, having an event or a treat planned can help give your work fresh purpose. Of course you shouldn’t take all the spontaneity out of your life, just enough to help you gain control of your circumstances.

Quiet please!
With the work that tends to pile up whilst you’re away to deal with it is even more important that you plan some time to think and relax. If you don’t block the time out, it will get used up with other tasks and interruptions. Plenty of research shows that thinking-time increases your effectiveness and creativity at work. Taking a lunch break regularly and getting outside can help you maintain a sense of perspective of work hassles.

Don’t abandon healthy habits
Don’t let work pressures lead to you eating too many processed foods and ready-made meals. They often contain added sugar and salt, which aren’t good for your health when taken in excess. Work pressures can also lead you to skip meals and snack on sugary foods. If you must snack during the day try a piece of fruit. Many people feel fatigued at work because they get dehydrated, so try to drink eight glasses of water a day.

If the pressures are seriously too much
Sometimes a break from your work can help you realise that you really are overburdened and cannot succeed with work as it is. In this case, you need to identify the source of the problem. If it’s your failure to delegate, you must begin to involve others in making decisions and sharing responsibility. If it is the work itself, then you need to talk to your immediate boss, but have some of your own ideas for resolving the issues ready to contribute.

You will feel much better about work if you make sure you get plenty of sleep and some regular physical activity, such as walking for 30 minutes each day. Not only will exercise help get rid of any extra pounds you may have gained, it will give you extra stamina and energy to get through the day.