Communication & Well-Being for Furloughed staff
This time last year I certainly did not envisage 2020 playing out the way it did for thousands of companies and for many, the full extent of the pandemic came as a complete (and prolonged) shock. Our first concern was, of course, the spread of the virus and looking after our people’s health. For many of us, this has now settled down as we know our teams are safe, staying inside and are successfully adapting to remote working life. Now that we are in 2021, our understanding of the virus has somewhat changed and the vaccine provides hope that we will return to some form of normality.
Most organisations we have spoken have had to make decisions over the last year which they could not have foreseen. Many have utilised this time to review their forecasts, look at streamlining where possible and putting plans in place to grow, as we begin to return to some form of normality.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will be posting some helpful tips to continue to help you through this challenging time.
Communication & Well-Being for Furloughed staff
To help business through the pandemic the Government created the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which allows employers to Furlough their staff in return for 80% of peoples wages*, up to a maximum of £2,500 and was further extended until the end of April 2021.
If you currently have staff on Furlough, one of the best ways to retain your employees is to continue to communicate and check in on them from a well bring perspective. Check-in and remind them that you are available for support and advice if they ever require it. You could provide them with well-being tips such as healthy eating, exercising regularly and the importance of keeping in touch with friends and family. You could also direct employees to external sources of support such as Charity Mind, the Mental Health UK Website Headspace and Future Learn.
We also have some great blogs on our website that may help around identifying and managing stress.
Communicating with your staff during Furlough will help you identify any issues that they may be facing and help them through this difficult time. A good communication strategy will also minimise the risk of losing members of your team due to any perceived lack of engagement. Surprisingly, we have continued to see a high degree of movement in the market as people continue to look for alternative employment.
David Thomason, Hospitality Business Manager
*Now excluding NI and AE contributions.
How to Stop Candidates Dropping out of the Hiring Process
Have you ever had someone back out of a job offer?
Often, you may not discover that your new recruit has dropped out of the hiring process until a couple of weeks before their start date or worse, on their first day, when they just don’t turn up! This can cause all sorts of issues including the time and resources spent on the interview process, discussions with teams surrounding a plan for onboarding and the purchase of tech or a vehicle.
Most candidates will have a notice period and therefore may have a gap of a month or more, between accepting a job offer and their first day in the role. For more senior roles, a realistic notice period could be up to three months.
Keeping in touch with your new recruit is key to ensuing your candidate doesn’t drop out of the recruitment process. Regular communication between making an offer and their start date is often overlooked, but this key strategy can prevent any disappointing news in the future and beginning the process again. We call this maintaining the motivation to move – this can quickly diminish if comms are stopped altogether.
A lot can happen in a month. Think about how quickly things moved in 2020!
People change their minds and sometimes they are just too nervous to let you know. As a recruitment agency we are now finding an increasing trend in candidates declining offers, that they had previously accepted. Applicants may be at risk of redundancy and therefore panicking about both their financial situation. This is resulting in job seekers making quick decisions to accept an offer that may not actually be the right fit for them. An increasing number are being counter offered by their current employer as a result of changes happening fast, or backing out of a role if they accept a better offer.
Working with a good recruitment agency can help prevent candidates dropping out between the offer and start date as, ultimately, good recruiters want to find you the right candidate from the get go – they don’t want to be looking for a replacement a few weeks down the line.
Your recruiter will qualify applicants in a series of communications over time. I recently had an experience where, having spoken to a candidate several times, alarm bells started to ring. I’ve been doing this a long time and my gut instinct is spot on. I spoke to my client to raise my concerns and together, we decided on a course of action which included agreeing on a timescale and keeping other candidates close by should we need them. As it turned out the candidate, as predicted, dropped out and took another job role where, perhaps, no such diligence was applied. We dodged a bullet.
By maintaining contact you really can ascertain any problems early on and protect your business from being on the back foot.
I suggest keeping in touch at least once a week; this could be a courtesy email to check they have received their contract and see if they have any questions, or a video call to explain what their first day will be like. Let’s face it, their first day probably isn’t going to be the same as it would have been this time last year and this will open up a conversation to cover off any concerns or questions. If you don’t receive a response don’t worry initially, however, make sure you follow up and have a plan B just in case.
Once your job offer is accepted don’t just sit back and wait. From my experience, communication with your new recruit, right up to their first day is hugely important.
Lilly Chappell, recruiting into the office environment at all levels.
Why use a recruitment agency? The benefits
“Why do I need to use a recruitment agency when there are plenty of people looking for work?”
It’s a fair question and one that some employers are probably thinking. Even those who have done well throughout the pandemic might be thinking it’s now time to review their recruitment strategy.
It might be true that it’s easy right now to place an ad and get hundreds of applications within a few hours, but here’s why using a good recruitment agency can help you in this new world of continued restrictions and subsequent pressure on businesses.
What are the benefits of using a recruitment agency?
Save time (and possibly lower your blood pressure!)
Ok, so you might get hundreds of applications, but a huge proportion will be generic CV’s from people not right for the role you’ve advertised. It’s difficult enough in ‘normal’ times but the task is now an order of magnitude and hugely time-consuming. When you partner with a recruitment agency, they will make sure that you only have to deal with the candidates suitable for the role you’re looking to fill.
Get on with business
Recruiting the right people takes time and customers still want innovation and high service levels. Your time (rightly so) will be split in dealing with the pandemic and all the HR related issues surrounding this. Normal day to day business is hard enough without recruitment becoming a full-time job. An agency makes sure you only need to be involved in the decision making stage of the process.
Tap into your consultants’ network
Quite often the right person for the job isn’t actually looking for work right now. You might be surprised that agency’s still have daily contact with great people thinking of a career change but not actively applying for anything. Good consultants haven’t stopped networking and building their database. That means agencies can proactively recruit on an employers behalf, reducing the time and effort it takes to find the right candidates to interview – often within a few hours – and reduce the chances of a bad hire.
Manage your employer brand
For even the best employers, the pressure of recruiting can sometimes mean the recruitment experience for candidates is less than satisfactory. Easy and frequent social media access means that, even for the best-intentioned, a bad experience can be shared and widely commented on. Consultants recruit as a full-time job and make sure an employers reputation is protected and promoted.
Companies are still recruiting!
Undoubtedly, it is a tough time for a lot of companies and a lot of people. Never the less, many organisations are still hiring. Many companies are already planning ahead for better times and growth – and they haven’t stopped looking out for good talent.
When you partner with a good recruitment agency, you can not only gain access to the best people, but you can put yourself in pole position when it comes to hiring them, pandemic or no pandemic.
The team at First Base can help you recruit the right quality of people for your team and give you access to the right talent whilst at the same time helping reduce the stresses of these testing times.
If you’d like further info regarding placing a role with First Base click here.
Office management and support
Did you know that we place candidates into HR, Sales, IT, Finance, Marketing and Financial Services roles?
Our commercial team have continued to source, engage, shortlist and propose only the best candidates for any and all office-based roles during lockdown (1.0, 2.0 and 3.0).
Roles recruited to date this year include: Software Developers, HR Managers, Customer Service Administrators, Finance Managers, Mortgage Advisors, Service Desk Technicians, Events and Training Administrators and Marketing Executives, to name a few.
The team have built up a solid reputation in the market place and have a fantastic retention rate, whereby 90% of the candidates placed remain in post at their first years anniversary. Their mission? To offer an exemplary experience to both candidates and employers, an experience that they enjoy from start to finish.
Don’t take our word for it – head on over to google and see what our clients have to say.
Lilly and her team are available on 01453 755330 or by emailing commercial@first-base.co.uk or by utilising our chat box at www.first-base.co.uk
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
Experience isn’t the best predictor of a new recruits’ success
Harvard Business Review recently revealed a review of 81 studies that investigated the link between an employee’s prior work experience and their performance in a new organisation. The HBR study found no significant correlation. Even when people had completed tasks, held roles, or worked in functions or industries relevant to their current ones, it did not translate into better performance inside a new organisation.
Their conclusion doesn’t surprise us – we know that experience isn’t a great predictor of a new recruits’ success.
It seems counterintuitive
It might seem intuitive that applicants who have general work experience or have already done the job that they’re applying for would be at an advantage. But when HBR looked at the 81 studies, they discovered a very weak relationship between pre-hire experience and performance, both in training and on the job. They also found zero correlation between work experience with earlier employers and retention, or the likelihood that a person would stick with their new organization.
Yet job related experience remains one of the top requirements of many employers when recruiting for a role. Take a look at any job board and you will see that the majority of roles ask for experience even in non-skilled and entry level jobs. Intuition might say that experience is important – but the evidence (and our experience as recruiters) doesn’t support the idea that candidates with more experience make for better employees.
Why not ‘experience’?
OK, so we haven’t conducted any formal studies – but anecdotal evidence over 22 years and thousands of positions filled suggests that the reason is that many employers measure ‘experience’ using the wrong metrics. They sift CV’s based on how long an applicant was in a similar role or how many jobs someone has had. Often sifting out those with less or no direct experience.
The problem is that basic metrics like these say nothing about the quality or the significance of any experience gained, things that have more bearing on future performance. Applicants with ‘experience’ can often impress with the use of industry jargon and what seem like industry related insight that gives the impression that that they will hit the ground running. But it’s often not the case. Whilst past behaviour is a great predictor of future behaviour – basic metrics based on experience do not measure behaviours. The applicant might have failed or stagnated in previous role – the key interview skill is to delve into what a candidate has learned from previous experience and how they actually performed.
Employers should also be considering what sort of organisational culture experience was gained in. Bringing behaviours from an organisation that doesn’t operate in the same way you do can have a seriously negative effect of team dynamics and business performance.
Sadly, when individuals have been screened out because they lack traditional work experience, we lose the opportunity meet candidates who might impress with their answers and we miss the chance to explore behaviours that might be exactly those we want right for the role
What factors should we focus on?
Employers often assume that candidates with experience have gained appropriate knowledge and skills. They can also think that certain types of previous roles – for instance sales – attract people with particular and much desired personality traits. Our advice is to focus on knowledge, skills and traits during interview rather than relying on previous experience or even education.
We can understand why so many organisations ask for experience. Experience seems easy to assess. Have they worked in project management for at least five years? Have they managed people before? Have they got sale experience? The answer is a binary yes or a no. Past performance and existing knowledge and skills are more difficult to figure out, especially if all you have is an application form or a CV.
The reality is that at this time of high employment and when the best candidates have choices; companies simply can’t afford to select out candidates who would do really well but don’t have the experience that someone decided to put in the job description. We live in a time when organisations need to expand the pool of people being considered.
If you would like to know more about how the First Base team can help you find the right people for your organisations please call Tricia Hay on 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
Motivating staff after the summer holidays
We all know that it’s important for people to take holidays. Breaks allow people to recharge physically and emotionally, disconnecting from day-to-day concerns and return to work rested, refreshed and enthused.
However, keeping employees focused on work before and after their holiday can be a challenge. The key is to plan ahead. These tips can help ensure your employees not only feel comfortable taking time off from work, but that they are productive right up to the date they leave and are able to hit the ground running as soon as they return.
Be prepared
Motivating employees on their return from holiday starts before they leave. Have a plan in place so that projects and day to day activities run smoothly while they are away. Make sure you are aware of the busy periods in your department to determine the best and worst times for employees to take holidays. You might be surprised how many managers approve holiday requests only to find their department seriously understaffed at peak times.
Ask your team to organise their holiday schedules well in advance to avoid workload peaks, explain that everyone’s assistance is needed during those periods to ensure business objectives are met. Failing to plan for holidays often leaves a manager resenting the time their staff take off. Unless a manager is a trained actor, that resentment will show – not a great way to motivate any individual or team!
Above all don’t ask or expect people to take work with them on holiday. Encourage a culture where staff don’t feel that they should be checking or dealing with emails and work related issues when they are on holiday.
Identify potential issues
Some people will wait until the last minute to consider the projects or tasks that must be moved forward while they are away. It can be difficult to think weeks in advance, but putting off the task can cause important activities to be forgotten. This is one area where staff might need your help.
Meet with team members who have upcoming holidays well in advance of their holiday dates. Discuss tasks that will need to be accomplished while they are away and identify colleagues who can help out. Make sure everyone involved starts communicating immediately, don’t leave things until the last moment.
Make sure you stay in the loop so that you are aware of the tasks that the person going on leave is working on and who will cover for that person. This will allow you to help address any challenges that arise while your team member is away.
Take it slow
Don’t expect someone returning from a week or two’s break to launch in at full speed on their first day or back. As much as possible, give some leeway to allow the person to settle back into work. Don’t plan an important meeting the day they return or have a large project or task waiting for them that might overwhelm them on day one. In some circumstance, it may even be wise to organise a one day buffer to continue having the person’s backup provide support until the person returning from holiday can get back up to speed.
Touch base right away
Getting back to work on day one can feel like the same old routine. After the ecstasy of an amazing holiday, the first day back can feel like a real downer when it’s straight in at the deep end.
Organise an informal meeting, maybe over a coffee, to touch base with the employee soon after their return to work. Show genuine interest in their holiday. You might be surprised to find they come back brimming with positive and useful new ideas – don’t kill their enthusiasm with a negative atmosphere. Try not to hit them with everything that might have gone wrong whilst they were away, find something positive to say before mentioning any challenges.
If appropriate, invite the people who covered for them so that they can provide updates on tasks and projects they dealt with while the person was away. Help them to refocus and prioritise their efforts so that the most important or pressing tasks are completed first.
With the proper planning, you can ensure your staff not only feel comfortable taking time off but are also able to return to work fully recharged and ready to go!
If you’d like to know more about how the team at First Base can help you with ideas about how to motivate your team, call 01453 755330 or email tricia.hay@first-base.co.uk
What do employers want?
We have worked with clients ranging from SME’s to Partnerships, Global Corporations, Charities and the Public Sector.
We’ve spent time with recruiting managers, HR directors, CEO’s and business owners. We’ve recruited for short term temporary contracts, part time admin roles to senior management position. When it comes to the people organisations want to hire, the story tends to be the same. All employers want the same things. They all want the ‘best’ candidates to apply, they all want to attract ‘great’ people. Good people shouldn’t be hard to find but you might be surprised how rare it is for candidates to see things from the employers point of view.
Initiative
You see this in job specifications all the time – we want people who can use their initiative.
It’s reasonable to expect some good induction and training when you’re new. That doesn’t mean you can’t be considering early on how you can do things a bit better, do a bit of creative problem solving or deal with unusual situations on your own initiative. Don’t overdo it and take care about going beyond your authority, however, most employers would love to have people turn up the initiative dial a bit.
Ownership
Employers and managers are looking for people with a can-do attitude, who can be relied on to get the job done. They want people who will take ownership of their work. In all sectors, managers are busy and have conflicting multiple priorities to deal with. Having employees they can trust is really important.
If you want to stand out, make sure you can demonstrate that you take ownership of a job and that you are the one who gets things done.
Communication
Another thing you’ll see on most job specs is the requirement for good communications skills. It’s not just about speaking clearly or good grammar – it’s about communicating appropriately for the situation. Understanding which communication channel is the right one for the situation is increasingly important in a technological, social media-driven world.
Energy
Most people want to come to work to be energised by the people around them. Managers avoid negative people because they know that over time it drains everyone around them and it reflects poorly on their company brand. Don’t be the person who people avoid!
The fundamentals
Turn up on time, be courteous, say ‘thank you’ and ‘please’. Don’t be a moaner, present yourself well, respect colleagues, be trustworthy and be authentic. Everybody can spot a colleague who goes a bit overboard with initiative, ownership, communication and energy!
If you’d like to know more about how the team at First Base can help you with your next career move call 01453 755330 or email tricia.hay@first-base.co.uk