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Adapting to the recruitment processes of 2020

The world has changed in 2020 and there has been a big impact on when, how and if employers recruit.  On the upside, many employers are recruiting and some sectors and businesses are thriving, on the downside, some industries have been hit so hard they may take years to recover.  The world of work is changing and there is no going back to the old normal.

Employers are having to adapt and change, to innovate and find new markets just to survive. They need good candidates who understand that they too need to respond to today’s reality.

Our recent experience of recruiting for clients and for a new role here at First Base has highlighted the simple truth that many people who say they are looking for work are not demonstrating to potential employers that they are the best people for the job.  Just like employers are having to learn fast how to adapt, job seekers are going to have to learn fast too. We are way past the time when you can simply send out dozens of CVs and expect a reply, let alone an interview, face to face or Zoom.

Over the coming weeks, the First Base team will be sharing a series of blogs to help you to prepare for your job search, how to stand out, what you can do when between jobs, how to interview and how to stay positive.

If you have any questions or need help to find a job now or in the near future, contact us on 01453 755330 or get in touch through our FaceBook, Twitter or Instagram accounts. The First Base team is ready and eager to help.

Making those on line meetings effective!

New ways of working are being forced on many of us, but they can lead to a more motivated and inspired team and a better business.

No matter what industry you’re in, or the size of your business, leading effective meetings is often a difficult tasks in the best of times.  Survey after survey report that most people think meetings are a waste of time.  The challenge is even more significant for virtual meetings, and people know it.  So much that it often leads to the all-too-common question: “Do we really need to meet?”

Organisations that benefit from on line meetings say that they can inspire spontaneous creativity and bring the best ideas to life.  Many global companies do this amazingly well across different countries, diverse cultures and with language differences.  It should be a piece of cake for most of us managing smaller businesses and teams.

Remote working might have been forced on your business and it might be a new way of working, but there are millions around the world who have worked this way for many years.  The advice for managers new to running meeting remotely is:

Proper advance planning
Whether you’re meeting virtually or in person, take the opportunity to set expectations for the meeting in advance and lay out details and logistics.  Who will lead it?  What is the end goal?  Share ‘broadcast’ information and general updates in advance so that you can get straight to the crux of what the meeting is about.

Build ritual and ice breakers into meetings.
One of my best managers always started her weekly team meeting with everyone sharing a personal or professional failure or success story and what they learned.  It helped to build comfort with what is working, openness and taking risks.  When you have the team in the right frame of mind, they are more likely to come up with innovative ideas.

A video conferencing first approach.
Voice only conference calls limit the level of collaboration and team dynamics.  Not being able to read people’s body language makes it more likely for misunderstandings to arise, which can throw an entire meeting off and impact the success of the meeting.  With video, attendees can interpret the facial expressions and social cues, which allows everyone to “read the room” and react accordingly.  By bringing these other interpersonal interactions to a virtual meeting, you can inspire the type of productivity that should happen with everyone in the same room.

Video may seem awkward at first, but as with any new process, you soon adapt and then wonder how you ever got anything done without it.  You’ll also discover that video can be a great way to bring your team together, such as an impromptu online get together for coffee and a chat or to celebrate a success story.

Making meetings interactive and keeping everyone engaged.
It’s easy to let distractions take attention away from what’s happening on a video conference call.   You have to avoid team members doing other work that interferes with their full participation.  A great way to avoid distractions is to make the meeting more interactive.  For instance, working with a live shared document allows everyone to contribute in real time.  You can also have participants take turns presenting to the group with screen sharing to maintain engagement. By introducing interactive components to a meeting, you encourage a more fruitful conversation while keeping attendees’ attention.

Actively encourage every team ember to participate.
My personal experience is that people enjoy meetings when they have a role in the discussion and can participate. When meeting virtually, it can be more difficult for everyone to speak up, leading to people feeling left out and increasing the temptation to check out, mentally if not physically.  One way to make a meeting more effective is to ask participants directly for input.  This practice helps everyone feel engaged in the discussion and avoids any one person sucking the energy out of the (virtual) room, which is especially important if the goal of the meeting is to generate ideas.

Share success.
Because virtual meetings don’t have the same level of visibility as face-to-face meetings, be sure to share back the productive conversations and ideas that occurred during the meeting.  This can come in the form of a meeting recap, next steps, or even giving a shout out to a team member where you recognise outstanding contributions to the meeting.

It takes some time and effort, but when you revamp your practices, you can create an environment where great idea come to life, collaboration and creativity is increased and your team actually look forward to their virtual meetings.

The First Base team are here with support, help and advice – call us, email us, tweet us!

Sticks and Stones – Mental Health and the Power of Words

The sad story that hit the headlines regarding Caroline Flack once again put mental health in the spotlight as more celebrities, sports people and business leaders open up about their own challenges.  Mental health issues of course don’t just affect those people we read about in the news.  They often affect the people you employ, the person sitting next to you, your boss, suppliers, customers, friends and family.

You don’t need to be an expert to help

Most of us are not experts at dealing with issues around mental health.  Awareness and enough knowledge to signpost where expert support can be found are useful, but one area we can all help with is how we communicate with other people.  Specifically, the words we speak and the words we write.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words…can change someone’s direction for an hour, a day or a lifetime”   –  David Tovey

Words cannot change reality, but they can change how people perceive reality.  Words create filters through which people view the world around them.  They are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity.  We can choose to use the powerful force of words constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words that hurt or cause despair.  Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.

Words can change how people behave.  They become a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Convince someone that they can’t do something and they won’t try.  Convince them that they have the ability to succeed and they will give it their best shot.  Convince them that they are worthy human beings and they thrive, convince them they are worthless and they can spiral into a terminal decline.

Consequences 

We all have a choice about the words we use.  Everyone, but particularly those in authority, should think through the potential consequences of the words they are about to use.  We know of course that there is a body of people out there who delight in using words destructively, they intend to hurt and to humiliate.  They don’t care or think about the consequences of what they might describe as ‘just words’.  Some people feel compelled to give voice to any passing feeling, thought or impression they have.  They randomly dump the contents of their mind without regard to the significance of what they are saying.

Though it might not seem like it with all the negativity we hear that surrounds the use (misuse?) of social media, most people don’t actually intend to do harm. Never-the-less, thoughtless use of words can have the same effect.  When we speak we should speak with mindfulness, in ways that inspire and builds not that hurt or destroy.

As my grandma used to say “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything”.

Be kind!

 “Be kind to all and speak words that are beacons of inspiration, enthusiasm and encouragement”

Kindness isn’t a soft business strategy, it is intelligent, mature, moral and improves business performance.  It is not about avoiding critical feedback, difficult conversations or pointing out where improvement is needed, it’s about the best and most effective way to communicate.  It’s not only our words that matter, the tone which we use has a huge impact.  There are certain rules that should guide all our communications with others.

Always speak the truth, avoid exaggerations, be consistent in what you are saying, don’t use double standards in addressing people, don’t use your words to manipulate others, and most importantly do not use words to insult or belittle anyone.

 THINK!

I did some voluntary work providing presentation skills at school for students with learning difficulties a couple of years ago.  On the wall in the room we use there was a hand written A1 size poster produced by the students. It had a simple yet really effective message.

Before You Speak

T   – is it true?

H –  is it helpful?

I  –   is it inspiring?

N –   is it necessary?

K –   is it kind?

THINK before we speak and we can make where we work (and the rest of the world) a little better for everybody – including those challenged by mental health issues.

Contact Tricia Hay on 01453 755330 or tricia.hay@first-base.co.uk if you would like to learn more about how the First Base team could help you or your organisations with any of the issues raised by this article.

 

 

 

UK unemployment remains low – flexibility needed

The UK’s unemployment rate has remained at 3.8% – its joint lowest level since early 1975, according to official figures.  New figures, released by the Office for National Statistics, reveal UK unemployment fell by 16,000 to 1.29m in the three months to December and the number of people in work rose from 180,000 to 32.93m over the quarter.

Total vacancies rose to 810,000, the highest since the quarter to September 2019, with total earnings growth including rising by 2.9%.

The new figures suggest that we have a UK job market that is growing in confidence, that remains buoyant and is placing record numbers of people in work.   Those organisations that took a more cautious approach during the recent years of political and economic uncertainty, are now putting into action ambitious recruiting plans.

A candidate’s market?

Whilst the employment figures tell a good story, 41% of business leaders remain concerned about their ability to attract and retain the best people.  Talented candidates are often juggling multiple job offers at a time.

Employers really do need to think differently about how they attract the right people.  The best organisations are reviewing remuneration packages, benefits and working environment in order to make sure they attract good candidates.  Flexible working, regular high quality training, good working conditions and employee wellbeing benefits are actively being sought by candidate’s keen to bring a more balanced approach to their working lives.

They say there is nothing as constant as change and UK businesses are certainly operating in a new dynamic environment where there is not much certainty around.  A more flexible approach around the working environment and employment conditions is fast becoming a vital strategy for UK business.

Speak to the team at First Base if you would like to know more how we can support your recruitment plans and help you attract the right people. Contact Tricia Hay on 01453 755330 or tricia.hay@first-base.co.uk

 

 

Optimism : How to maintain the drive to succeed and flourish

I’ve asked over 600 groups of managers from all around the world about their personal experience of good management.  In these groups activities I always made it clear I wasn’t looking for ‘text book’ responses about leadership and that I wanted real personal experiences of good management that really made a difference.

Optimism has always featured on the ‘best managers’ list of characteristics and in our experience, the best candidates like to work for great managers.

Optimism lies at the heart of a managers ability to inspire others, particularly in time of change.  Management and leadership is about relationships and the ability to help others remain positive, is key if you want a dynamic culture and want your team to deliver outstanding performance.  It is too easy for a team to default to a pessimistic outlook, particularly in challenging times.   Of course it’s easy to be optimistic on good days.  Managers with the ability to remain optimistic and instill optimism in others on the not so good days are worth their weight in gold.

How do you recognise an optimistic manager?

In my experience they tend to exhibit the following attitudes:

They focus on solutions

Optimistic managers use optimistic language.  Faced with the ‘why does this happen to us’ of pessimism, the optimistic manager always prefers to seek out options or new opportunities that might arise from a particular difficult situation, they are more likely to say ‘how can we find a solution?’.

Optimist managers don’t tend to over analyse or apportion blame for a problem before they get on with finding a way forward.

They seek out quick wins and small victories

Positive mangers keep and eye on the big picture and the organisations ultimate goal – but they never miss a chance to celebrate quick wins and small victories.  They actively seek opportunities to recognise their teams efforts, marking an obstacle overcome, an customer issue resolved, a technical advance or a new client won with praise and celebration.

They seek out what their team does well and they recognise even modest success.

They focus on strengths not weaknesses

Optimistic managers cultivate and strengthen everyone’s strong points, seeking to minimise any weaknesses by using their strengths in order to find ways to improve and progress.

They encourage perseverance and risk

Positive managers understand that failures are part of life and that setbacks can be an opportunity to learn.  They prepare for setbacks and know what they will do if things go wrong – they don’t give up and they don’t give in.  Optimism creates the right environment for perseverance – a dogged determination to succeed.

The mangers in those 600 groups who shared their experience of good managers with me often said about optimistic leaders ‘when the chips were down and we couldn’t see a way forward, they got us to believe in ourselves again’

If you would like to learn more about what makes a great manager and what attracts the best candidates for your job roles, call Tricia Hay on 01453 755330 or email tricia.hay@first-base.co.uk.

Management Guide to Employee Experience

Do we have another HR buzzword? Is Employee Experience just another phrase for Employee Engagement? If not, what exactly is it?

Employee Engagement has been on the agenda of forward looking organisations for a number of years. Managers across all sectors and sizes of business appreciate the benefits to the bottom line and their people of an engaged workforce.  So where does Employee Experience play its part?

Inputs and Outputs

We like to think of Employee Engagement as the output that follows the experience employees are exposed to, from recruitment right through to their exit from the organisation.   A bit like customer experience, it includes all the touch points an employee has with their employer; its culture, people and systems.  These touch points can be a positive experience (leading to greater engagement) or a negative experience (leading to reduced engagement).

Starting from their time as applicants and candidates, employees look at everything that happens at work as an integrated experience that impacts daily life in and outside the workplace.  Employee experience includes overall physical, emotional, professional, and financial well-being.  Candidates assess future employers from the very start of the recruitment experience and make quick judgments about what life will be like for them in the organization, based on how they interact with the company throughout the recruitment process

In other words, employee experience is an employee-centric way of thinking about the organisation.  When decisions are made with employee experience in mind, managers and business leaders ask “how will our people perceive this?” and “What impression are we giving our people if we act this way?”  Employee experience takes into consideration how employees see, hear, believe and feel about all aspects of their employment.  These aspects stretch from the recruitment process, through to their last day at your company.

Employee experience encompasses the physical, technological and cultural environment of a business.

For example, during recruitment, managers should be considering:

During induction, managers can ask:

Through the early stages of employment managers will want to know:

As part of their career development:

Finally, at the “exit” phase:

Customers will notice

There are many reasons for an increased focus on employee experience.  Companies are looking to combat the shortage of talent in a high employment economy and want to retain good people.  Another important point to consider is social media’s role when it comes to employer brand, recruitment and retention.  Your reputation as an employer, good or bad, can reach thousands of potential future employees (and customers) in seconds.  Employee experience won’t remain a secret for long as job applicants, staff and ex-employees share their interactions with the organisation.  Poor employee reviews spread quickly and affect whether good people will even apply for a job.  Glowing reviews on the other hand help recruiters like First Base to attract the very best people.

Another vital reason is that employees tend to treat customers as they themselves are treated.  Loyal, engaged staff inevitably results in loyal engaged customers.

Have you taken a look recently at your organisations employee experience?  If you would like to know more about how we can help you create a positive Employee Experience during your recruitment process call Tricia Hay on 01453 755330 or email tricia.hay@first-base.co.uk

The Power of Diversity and Inclusion

It hadn’t occurred to me that Diversity and Inclusion could be a sensitive subject until I read a recent report suggesting that many organisations still haven’t got their heads around the obvious benefits. Although we may not have called it D&I 20 years ago, having a genuinely inclusive environment is a natural and normal way for us to operate as a business.

For sure there is legislation that places responsibility on employers in areas such as age, disability, gender, race, religion, belief and sexual orientation. But to slavishly stick to the minimum requirements of the legislation is to miss the real opportunities of an inclusive workplace.  On a personal level it has been a pleasure and massive privilege to work and interact with a diverse range of people. Even when I might not have agreed with them, I’ve always learned something. Different views, experiences and perspectives in the teams I have worked with have made a major contribution to generating new and often innovative ideas.

From a recruitment perspective, don’t underestimate the importance an enlightened D&I environment. Many of the best candidates we see are keen to know about an organisations approach to D&I and it definitely features as part of their decision making.

Defining D&I

There’s the legal definition of course but to reap the full benefits you need to go beyond simple compliance. Fundamentally D&I is about the broad mix of people in your team and inclusion is how you involve them so that everyone is given the opportunity to make a positive contribution.

To be genuinely inclusive means recognising and then setting aside conscious and unconscious bias.  Avoiding assumptions based on differences starts with the example set by management- and starts from the moment a job role is being defined in the recruitment process. Assumptions can lead to discrimination – bad news legally but even worse for individuals and for the business.

The benefits

Taking positive steps to avoid any type of discrimination can lead to real benefits.

Diversity in the workplace can provide:

•  Increased retention and lower employee turnover.
•  Reducing recruitment costs.
•  Greater innovation.
•  Greater employee engagement leading to higher discretionary effort from employees.
•  Increased staff loyalty.
•  Higher staff morale.

Valuing differences

Inclusion is about ensuring everyone feels valued, respected and supported.  It’s about focusing on the needs of every individual and ensuring the right conditions are in place for each person to achieve their full potential.

When we talk about a culture of inclusion, we think about an environment that allows people with multiple backgrounds, mind-sets and ways of thinking to work effectively together and perform to their highest potential in order to achieve organizational objectives. In that type of environment, different voices are respected and heard, diverse viewpoints, perspectives and approaches are valued and everyone is encouraged to make a unique and meaningful contribution.

It starts at the top

The culture of a business is heavily influenced by the support from senior management.  Senior managers should lead from the front to support diversity and inclusion best practices. Workplace diversity initiatives need to receive proactive encouragement from the top, and they should support the ongoing commitment from other people within the workplace.

First Base – Giving Something Back

“Giving something back” might seem a trite phrase in the hard headed world of business, but at First Base we believe it’s our social duty as well as making sound business sense.

Since founding First Base in 1997, MD Tricia Hay, has supported the aims of ‘Business In The Community” and is a firm believer that the prosperity of business and the local community is inextricably linked.  When a business strives to be the best it can be as a responsible business, there is a positive multiplier effect that benefits society, the economy, the environment and business.

Being a Responsible Business requires purposeful leaders to drive leadership at every level across the business in order to:

As a recruitment business working with hundreds of local companies and thousands of job seekers, we feel particularly well placed to be a positive influence. 

What we do

All of the First Base team gets involved in how our business can act as a force for good by helping to create a skilled, inclusive, diverse workforce and how we contribute to building a thriving local community. 

It starts with a team who love what they do.  Helping employers find the right people and individuals to find their dream job is extremely satisfying work!

First Base Education

We’ve learned a lot over the years about recruiting and retaining the best people as well as how to help job seekers with their career progression.  We freely share that knowledge and other useful  information through our blogs, videos, social media and ‘Insight’ papers.  From job fairs to graduate recruitment events, from mock student interviews to seminars for business owners and active support for National Star College – every week our team is doing something to “give back”. 

Straight Talking Seminars

We’re passionate about building a responsible business and equally passionate about helping other businesses to understand how to build a successful enterprise.

Our Straight Talking Seminar programme goes beyond our core expertise in recruitment to providing world class, no-nonsence and practical seminars on a range of business topics from employee engagement, well-being at work and leadership to marketing and sales. Working with both the Gloucester and Cirencester Growth Hubs we are currently delivering a programme of interactive workshops on social selling – influencing local businesses to grow sales based on a trust based, ethical approach to winning business. 

What do we get out of it?

Fundamentally we commit to playing our part as a responsible business because we believe it is the right thing to do. We sleep well at night and gain enormous personal satisfaction. 

On the other hand we couldn’t invest time, energy and money if we were not a successful business.  A bi-product of that investment is the amazing reciprocity from our own team, individual job seekers, employers and our suppliers. It is their support for First Base that has helps us to continue to grow and play our part in the community.

If you’d like to know more about how giving back can be powerful for the community and your business or how at First Base can help you with your recruitment and job seeking, call 01453 755330 or email tricia.hay@first-base.co.uk

 

22 Tips To Help Attract The Best Talent For Your Company

After placing 14,000 people with 350 top organisations, we have learned a thing or two about how employers attract the best people – and why some companies struggle to recruit and retain good people. These days we find that the best candidates have a clear idea about the type of organisations they will and won’t work for – here are our 22 top tips to help you attract the right people.

1. Identify the requirement.

It sounds basic stuff but sadly too many organisations don’t accurately identify and share the requirements of the position they seek to fill. Everyone involved in the recruitment or interview process needs to be fully familiar with the needs and wants of the company.

Identify the qualities that the organisation seeks for in the candidate for a particular position and write it down. If there is no proper identification of requirements, then there’s a chance that candidates you select do not possess the required skills and aptitude.

2. Write a compelling and accurate job description.

There is an increased need to properly and accurately describe the actual role you are recruiting for to candidates. Outline the role as it really is today or you risk losing a new recruit in the first few months. Don’t just highlight the best parts of the job or how it might look in the future – and don’t hire for part-time when what you really have is a full-time job. A new recruit hired part-time being pressured to work extra hours isn’t a great motivator.

3. Have a reputation for being a great place to work.

Just as a company has a ‘brand’ designed to reflect what customers can expect of its products or services; a company has an employer brand that reflects what employees can expect of its employment practices. The best and most profitable customers are attracted by a brand that can be trusted to deliver on its marketing promises and the best talent is attracted by an employer that can be trusted to fulfill the promises made in a recruitment campaign or at interview.

Put simply, the businesses with the best employer brands attract more applications from the best candidates. Companies that appear in The Times Top 100 Best Companies for instance, enter the competition because they know that being recognized as a good employer has a direct effect on recruitment and ultimately bottom-line results.

4. Talent and skills over experience.

There are highly talented people out there who may be just perfect for the job you have within your company because of their set of skills, but who lack the years of experience you say you require in the job advert.

The fact that someone does not have previous experience in a particular position does not mean that they won’t be able to succeed. In fact, the contrary is proven every single day. Most people love challenges and are more than willing to work hard and strive to prove that they can be trusted to do a great job if you as an employer, give credit to their skills and strengths.

5. Big up your culture

If you are an SME, don’t worry about losing out on talent to bigger corporate firms. The entrepreneurial culture of a smaller business is a big selling point for attracting talent. Make sure this comes across in any job adverts you create.

6. Rewards and benefits

Make a good proposition for your candidates and let them know what you stand for as a company. How do you reward them and what’s their work-life balance like? Be clear about what your brand represents: this isn’t just what you tell your customers, but what you tell your staff. Benefits are about a lot more than the pay packet.

7. Network nous

The more of your people that network, the more your business’s reputation will be enhanced across your industry. Managers who are searching for new staff should always be making new connections and attending events. Offer referral incentives so that all your employees are encouraged to network.

8. Meet the team.

Try to avoid conducting all of the interview processes in a one-to-one meeting in private rooms. After all, your employment brand and culture should be a big selling point. Show candidates around the office and introduce them to potential team members – this way they’ll get a real feel for the business.

9. Be decisive.

Some businesses have a 30-day window for applications and then invite all the appropriate applicants in for interviews. The risk in this approach is that the best job seekers who applied very early on may have found somewhere else by that time. As soon as you see someone you like, get them in for a meeting.

10. Recruit first, job second.

If you are introduced to someone who is a ‘good fit’ for your company, create a role for them.   Don’t get stuck in a routine and hire only when you have a vacancy. Keep the business fresh by doing things the other way around. The best businesses recruit people, rather than aiming to fill a specific post, create a position for talented potential employees whenever practical.

11. Offer the right rate for the job.

It’s a job seekers market right now and failing to offer at least the market rate is unlikely to attract the best candidates.

12. Provide personal development opportunities.

Every good candidate wants to know what opportunities there are for development. Failing to provide a personal development and progression plan is a big switch off for many good people.

13. Make time for recruitment.

At First Base we can help and support organisations to save time and money. Never the less, there remains a requirement for the right amount of time and attention to be allocated internally to ensure interviews are effective and that candidates get the best impression.

14. Don’t procrastinate

Being decisive is becoming really important. Some organisations simply take too long to make a recruitment decision and then lose the candidate to a more switched on company.

15. Health and wellbeing.

It’s would be difficult to miss how big this is right now. Organisations need to be serious about wellbeing at work, not just because it is expected but because it is the right thing to do. The more an organisation shows it really cares, the more attractive it is an employer.

16. Know what’s great about you as an organisation to work for.

Every job and every company has things that are great about them.  In order to stand out from other potential employer’s, an organisation needs to know who they are trying to attract and what will motivate them to want to work with them.

17. Company values.

There is a whole new generation of talent who want to be paid well for a job well done AND to know that their personal values are aligned with those of their employer. Social issues and community awareness are high on their agenda.

18. Explain the recruitment process to every candidate.

Candidates selected for interview should know exactly what to expect; when they will be interviewed, where they will be interviewed and who will be involved in the interview. Make sure there are no surprises, no bad practices, no uncertainties and no confusion.

If you don’t portray your organisation as a great employer from the very start, the best candidate may decide your company is not the right fit for them.

19. Prepare for the interview.

Too many managers glance at a CV a couple of minutes prior to the interview. Leaving to the last minute means being unlikely to be able to ask insightful and intelligent questions or hold a meaningful two-way conversation.

Use the candidate’s CV to prepare probing questions about accomplishments, work ethic and attitudes.

Do a quick LinkedIn and social media check to explore outside interests and who they network with.

20. Have a conversation, don’t interrogate.

You can’t have a conversation unless you do some preparation. You simply won’t know enough to do anything other than ask questions. When an interview is conversational (and you listen effectively) candidates relax, speak more freely and provide more detail. Have a grown-up, respectful conversation and don’t use tricks or techniques to put the candidate under pressure.

21. Outline the next steps.

At the end of the interview always describe the rest of the recruitment process. Explain what you will do and when you plan to do it. Don’t force the candidate to ask. Tell them and if there are any changes following the interview communicate with them.

22. Follow up – with everyone.

It’s a fundamental business courtesy that says lots about you as an employer. Failing to follow up is incredibly rude, will be remembered and broadcast widely by those who invested time in your recruitment process but received little courtesy in return.

The team at First Base can help you to recruit and retain great people. If you would like to know more about why candidates and employers tell us that First Base is their first choice call 01453 755330 or email tricia.hay@first-base.co.uk

Supporting staff through the menopause

Acknowledging the menopause and understanding how to support colleagues is a critical management issue for organisations big and small.

Women aged 45 and over are one of the fastest growing groups of employees in the British economy. It also happens to be a time in their lives when women are reaching menopause and can experience a wide range of potentially debilitating symptoms. The menopause has health and wellbeing consequences for individuals and can impact their effectiveness at work.

My wife fortunately works for one of the more enlightened organisation where male and female managers attend training on menopause awareness. Being supported through the roller coaster of physical and emotional effects of menopause made a huge difference to her personal well-being, home life and effectiveness at work.

Understanding the menopause

The symptoms which accompany transition to menopause sometimes continue post-menopause and can continue for several years. They can be debilitating – for around a quarter of women, they are seriously debilitating. Symptoms can include hot flushes and night sweats, heavy and erratic periods, difficulties with focus and memory, irritability, mood swings and depression.

How an organisation deals with women’s transition through menopause impacts its reputation as an employer and ability to attract and retain the best people.

So what do managers need to know?

1. The experience of menopause varies considerably from woman to woman, and there’s a long list of potential symptoms. Accordingly, it is important for workplaces to provide a variety of reasonable adjustments so that mid-life female workers can request the right options for them. Many of these such as providing desktop fans, cold drinking water and easy access sanitary protection, are cheap and easy to introduce. A flexible working pattern can also help women to manage their symptoms – if they have had a bad night’s sleep, for example and is already something all employees in the UK have the right to request. Other initiatives, like training for managers and HR an are excellent investment.

2. Sadly, some women report feeling as if their colleagues and managers treat them differently and unfairly due to the assumptions and stereotypes about the menopause. Unfortunately, in some organisations, there remains evidence of bullying, harassment and micro performance management because of a failure to properly understand the menopause. Compared with attitudes, policies and processes around pregnancy and maternity at work, the difference can become very obvious.

3. Organisations increasingly recognise the importance of social responsibility. The social responsibility case for employers to provide appropriate support for female staff experiencing menopause in the workplace is undeniable. There is ample evidence that work offers much more than just pay for older women. It is also a vital source of social support and self-esteem. Equally, it is clear that too many women do not feel able to speak up about any menopausal symptoms at work because they fear being judged, harassed or bullied.

The result is that they women manage their symptoms without any understanding or support which has negative connotations for both the individual and their employer.

4. Whilst providing support and understanding is simply the right thing to do for the individual and the business, there are also potential legal risks and financial costs associated with treating menopausal women unfairly.

5. There are other clear business reasons for making provision for women in menopause. The average cost of replacing an employee, for example, one who leaves because her symptoms make it too difficult to continue in her job without some reasonable adjustments, is £30,000. This includes the cost of lost output as well as the cost of recruiting. Less tangible costs, but just as important, include the loss of the departing individual’s expertise and experience.

Just like my wife’s enlightened organisation has found, introducing menopause in the workplace policies and other best practice is straightforward, makes business sense and is something all responsible companies should implement.

If you’d like to know more about how the team at First Base can help you with ideas about recruitment and retention of great people, call 01453 755330 or email tricia.hay@first-base.co.uk

By David Tovey