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HR and the importance of Diversity & Inclusion

Paul Richards, Founder, Better Decisions.

Working with many great HR professionals over the years, I know that it’s an important but tough role. You have to oversee talent acquisition and retention, engagement, motivation, performance and well-being. And all of this occurs in a rapidly changing environment with an ever-growing compliance burden.

An important area that increases the complexity of all of these issues is Diversity & Inclusion.  How we think about this subject will influence the colleagues that we hire, the culture that we bring them into and the processes that govern how they grow and progress. This will ultimately impact both their success and well-being. Given wider debates in society it can also impact how our companies and management are perceived.

However, D&I is a complex issue to get right. Who should we listen to when we set policies and practices? How do we balance the need for short-term action with long-term success?  How can we create greater engagement and reduce any potential resistance?

There are no easy answers to these questions, but in our seminar for The Surrey & Sussex HR Forum, Mitesh Sheth MBE (Chief Investment Officer for Multi-Asset, Newton Investment Management) tackled these issues from a different perspective: human behaviour.

My expertise is in the art and science of decision-making. I help boards, committees and teams understand how human nature can skew our perspectives and choices and what we can do about it. As someone with a strong interest in D&I, I’ve also been involved in several initiatives over the years. This has been both in the context of thinking about the evidence base and how things can work operationally.

As someone who has been a strategic leader and who thinks about human behaviour, it has struck me that whilst our current approaches to D&I have brought forward positive change, they might benefit from diverse perspectives on issues that aren’t universally discussed.

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mask_custom_position=”” mask_repeat=”” style_type=”” blur=”” stylecolor=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” hover_type=”none” magnify_full_img=”” magnify_duration=”120″ scroll_height=”100″ scroll_speed=”1″ margin_top_medium=”” margin_right_medium=”” margin_bottom_medium=”” margin_left_medium=”” margin_top_small=”” margin_right_small=”” margin_bottom_small=”” margin_left_small=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” borderradius=”” z_index=”” caption_style=”off” caption_align_medium=”none” caption_align_small=”none” caption_align=”none” caption_title=”” caption_text=”” caption_title_tag=”2″ fusion_font_family_caption_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_caption_title_font=”” caption_title_size=”” caption_title_line_height=”” caption_title_letter_spacing=”” caption_title_transform=”” caption_title_color=”” caption_background_color=”” fusion_font_family_caption_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_caption_text_font=”” 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Diversity & Inclusion – driving positive outcomes with behavioural insights

On 21st June 2023,  Mitesh and I gave a seminar that was hosted for members of The Surrey & Sussex HR Forum.  Mitesh is known as one of the leading D&I voices in the investment industry.  We have worked together and have often discussed how considering human behaviour can improve strategic thinking and how we implement D&I policies.

In the session, we discussed:

Thinking clearly about D&I

For any people issue, if we want to make lasting and effective change, we need to be able to think clearly about it. What factors might skew our thinking about D&I?

Knowledge of D&I – advocates and evidence

How do we know what we know about D&I? Often the evidence that we use comes from advocates. Whilst that can bring tremendous energy and consistency of message, advocates will often bring an explicit or implicit view to the table. This may skew how we approach things – as an example, we discussed how advocates and academics have different perspectives to the ‘business case’ for D&I.

Groupthink around D&I issues – is this a problem?

We’ve all heard about the problems of groupthink and it’s often a rationale for diversity initiatives. However, D&I initiatives often attract people with strong and consistent views of the problems to be tackled, what causes these problems and how they can be solved. Does this create groupthink and if so how can we broaden the discussion so that we get the most effective solutions?

The ‘Spiral of Silence’ – what aren’t we hearing?

Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann’s ‘Spiral of Silence’ theory posits that individuals tend to remain silent or withhold their opinions on controversial topics when they perceive their views to be in the minority, due to a fear of social isolation or reprisal. D&I is likely to provoke ‘spiral of silence’ challenges. How can we understand and manage them?

Strategy and metrics

If we want to create effective change in any area then we need to think effectively about it.

We discussed:

Strategy – beginning with the end in mind.

What is our long-term endgame, and why and when is it achievable? There is value in moving beyond, ‘it just needs to be better than now’ to surfacing important strategic questions such as, ‘What would we expect the long-term outcome to be in a free and fair world?’ Although we won’t always be able to get clear answers, asking good questions can aid our ability to think strategically.

Metrics – “What gets measured gets managed”

Metrics are important for understanding progress, but when we have a strong focus on numbers, it can incentivise behaviour that may cause issues for all parties, e.g. when hiring or promoting colleagues.

Understanding and framing outcome measures

Every year, we have to talk about important numbers. How we do this can impact both their understanding and how people react to them. How can we understand and use the power of framing to talk more effectively about long-term outcome measures, e.g. GPGs?

Getting people to change

Any workplace initiative, including D&I, stands a better chance of success when there is broad-based support. What does psychology tell us about the best way to get people on board and avoid backlash?

What do people value?

A longstanding debate that will inform our long-term strategy is whether we are aiming for some form of equality of opportunity, or whether we are looking to equalise outcomes.  What is it that humans want – equality or fairness?

Working with the grain of human nature – humans are tribal creatures

Most people want to be good and be seen as good. How can we best leverage this to create good D&I outcomes? The pros and cons of focusing on differences vs. similarities and voluntary versus compelled behaviour.

My podcast

In an episode of my podcasts with Joe Wiggins, called Diversity & Decisions: Things you don’t usually hear from a D&I advocate, we explore many of these aforementioned subjects with our guest, Tom Gosling. Tom is a committed supporter of D&I and is a practitioner turned academic who helps build bridges between researchers, policymakers and those at the coal face.

He has an interesting take on some important strategic and practical issues that we should consider if we want to improve D&I outcomes for colleagues, our firms and society.  We cover a lot of ground, including:

– Why do we focus so much time on the business case for diversity and what does the evidence actually say? (it might not be what you think)
– Four risks that overstating the business case for diversity can create for individual D&I initiatives and the wider long-term project
– Diverse teams can generate the best or worst performance – why?
– Understanding the role of social integration in making diversity work
– Things that we’re not talking about but should be: understanding the links between demographic and cognitive diversity, occupational role choice in a fair and bias-free world and whether we’re being diverse enough about how we think about diversity

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If you work in human resources or hold responsibilities for hiring and employee wellbeing, why not consider becoming a member of  The Surrey & Sussex HR Forum and receive FREE priority invitations to all their events?

Find out more about here.

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Let’s start at the beginning

In early October 2022, Steve Herbert, Wellbeing & Benefits Director for Partners& spoke to an audience of Surrey & Sussex HR Forum members about the UK’s economic outlook, and what that might mean for the financial well-being of their workforce.

Unprecedented timing

This particular presentation delivery was an extremely challenging one.  The (now infamous) “Mini-Budget” of an embryonic Truss/Kwarteng administration had taken place three weeks previously, and Steve was speaking just four days after the sacking of Chancellor Kwarteng, and three days before the resignation of Prime Minister Truss after just 49 days in office.

The economic damage

Estimates of the damage done to the national economy during those seven weeks vary from £30bn to £60bn.  Yet regardless of cost, this short-lived experiment did little to improve the UK’s international image for economic competence across the globe.

In short, Steve’s presentation was delivered in turbulent, and deeply uncertain, times.

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So what has changed since then?

A new Chancellor, closely followed by a new Prime Minister, has done much to steady the good ship Britannia, and it is now perhaps a little easier to predict the trajectory of the national economy, and what that might mean for the financial well-being of your employees in the months ahead.

How forecasts can create the outcome

Virtually all economic forecasts – regardless of how robust the methodology and data used might be – are ultimately wrong.  Partially this is because it’s impossible to consistently predict the future accurately.  For instance, Brexit, Covid19, and Russia/Ukraine would each have seemed a remote possibility only a few years ago, let alone all three occurring in concert.

But forecasts themselves also change the outcomes experienced.  The prediction of (say) a recession results in consumers, businesses, trade bodies, regulators, and even governments changing their behaviours and/or taking mitigating actions.  So ultimately the output of a forecast unwittingly becomes an input to the outcome.

Reality and indicators

Yet forecasting remains a useful – if rather blunt – tool, and allows employers to make and take decisions based on the available evidence (and the last few months have provided plenty of useful economic indicators to consider).

Let’s start with what was (hopefully) the nadir of forecasts for the UK:

In late January the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested that the UK economy would shrink by 0.6% in 2023, more than any other nation in the G20, and that includes Russia, a nation facing massive economic sanctions as a result of their invasion of Ukraine.

Yet, from the low base of that gloomy IMF forecast, there have been a series of somewhat improved economic announcements.

The Bank of England changed their forecasts from a potential two-year recession (predicted as recently as November 2022) to a prediction of a one-year downturn in February.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) then suggested that the UK avoided a technical recession in 2022 (albeit by the narrowest of margins), and the latest ONS figures show the UK economy flatlining rather than actively getting smaller.

And whilst interest rates (and associated borrowing costs for those with credit card debt and mortgages) have continued to rise, we may now be nearing the peak of those increases.

The above represents a series of small – but significant – improvements to the UK’s economic position.  Admittedly it’s a case of a glass half-full rather than a glass half-empty, but a little optimism is welcome after the last few months!

Inflation?

But what about inflation?…(something that has dominated the national headlines for the last eighteen months).  The headline rate of inflation is the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measured over 12 months.  The energy price spike, experienced at the start of the Russia/ Ukraine war, is now over a year old, so that spike in costs will soon drop out of the annual CPI figures.  This is why inflation is expected to rapidly drop in the UK as it recently has in the United States.

This is undeniably good news – yet it would be a mistake to think that a reduction in CPI means a reduction in the prices of retail goods.  CPI of, say, 6%, is better than 10%, but still means prices are rising at 6% a year.  So, we are now entering a period of disinflation, where prices continue to rise, just at a slower pace than seen in 2022.

And although energy prices are currently expected to drop sharply in July, those prices are still likely to be around twice the level seen in April 2021.  And government support towards energy costs ceased for most employees in March this year, so these costs will now have to be met in full by households.

Increasing household costs

It’s also worth noting that 1 April 2023 was also the trigger point for another significant round of cost increases for households and your employees.  Council tax, water bills, mobile phone, and broadband costs are all increasing – sometimes significantly.

Last – but certainly not least – many employees will face hugely increased mortgage bills if their current fixed-rate deal expires in 2023.  According to this BBC news item, an average two-year fixed deal was 2.29% in November 2021, and is now 5.32%.  This represents a potential difference of hundreds of pounds each month in repayments for a typical borrower.

The outlook and your employees

So where does that leave us?

Thanks to a combination of factors the overall economic outlook for the nation looks better than it has for some time.  This is very welcome.

Yet the reality is that the cost-of-living and cost-of-borrowing pressures on your employees won’t be easing – and may be getting a little worse – throughout much of 2023.

What effect may this have on your employees?

This matters, not least because a financially stressed employee is likely to be less engaged and productive than their employer would ideally like them to be.

It is also the case that poor financial well-being can be a contributory factor to poor mental and/or physical well-being too in your workforce.

Another important issue for employers to consider is that employees with financial concerns are (of course) more likely to look elsewhere for employment and higher remuneration.  This represents yet another employment headwind given the continuing shortage of candidates in some UK employment sectors.

What can I do to help?

It is highly evident from the points above that it is very much in the employer’s interest to continue to do all they can to support workers and their families towards improved financial well-being through the cost-of-living crisis and beyond.

As outlined in Steve’s previous seminar, there are a number of simple and practical measures that employers can implement to help improve their employees’ financial well-being and these can be found here.

How can I keep informed?

You can follow Steve Herbert’s thoughts on the economy, HR issues, and employee benefits via his LinkedIn profile or contact him directly.  Additionally, head to Partners& for more information on how your business can effectively support the wellbeing of your employees.

Additionally, you may like to apply for free membership of the The Surrey & Sussex HR Forum, where, as an HR professional, you can attend free seminars throughout the year that address the most pressing challenges that the industry is facing.

How The Recruitment Consultancy can help

The Recruitment Consultancy has developed an excellent reputation for assisting all organisations across a variety of industries. From providing advice to facilitating the recruitment process, our experienced team of specialists are on hand to help.

Whether you’re actively looking for permanent and contract or temporary recruitment solutions, or you’re wanting advice on salary-benchmarking and other employee/talent acquisition queries, get in touch with The Recruitment Consultancy and we will be very happy to share our knowledge and expertise in these areas.

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From recruitment, onboarding, and employee performance, a human resources project manager is responsible for overseeing all HR-related projects within an organisation. Their role involves planning, operating, and delivering projects that are designed to improve the HR function in a company. HR project managers can be beneficial to your business due to their deep understanding of all aspects of HR management, their drive to generate positive outcomes, and implementing efficient practices for your company and employees. This blog will explain the responsibilities of an HR project manager and how they can benefit your business and employees.

What does the role of an HR project manager entail?

As well as overseeing the implementation of proposed practices that the company has adopted after initial reviews, HR project managers are continually adapting current policies to meet the needs of the ever-changing workforce. From shifting from office to hybrid working and adapting to cultural changes within the organisation, your HR project manager will ensure all operations run smoothly and liaise with internal and external collaborators. We have detailed a few of the responsibilities HR project managers undertake within a business like yours.

Plan and supervise all HR processes

HR project managers plan, organise, allocate, and handle all company resources to accomplish valuable tasks and keep businesses running in line with government policies and procedures. By overseeing company and employee reviews they can then utilise their expertise in developing resource plans, acquiring the necessary project resources, working with internal and external collaborators, overseeing the developing project team, and managing budgets.

Keep business operations running smoothly

HR project managers enable continuous communication throughout your business. By liaising between team members from different departments as well as department managers to ensure project tasks are implemented effectively, HR project managers will coach, assist, and adapt communication across all teams to ensure the smooth operation of your business.

Showcase interdisciplinary skills

Your HR project manager will wear many hats to ensure business operations run efficiently, as well as constructing and overseeing strategies and projects. They will have a very high standard set of skills in:

• Communication
• Problem-solving
• Timekeeping
• Critical thinking
• Attention to detail
• Team development
• Task management
• Technical skills
• Negotiation
• Leadership

From initiation and planning to execution, controlling and closing projects, having a range of skills is necessary for the effective and efficient operation of successful projects.

How can they benefit your business?

From handling projects to developing workplace culture initiatives, HR project management offers a professional, organisational approach that can greatly benefit your business. Other benefits of hiring a human resources project manager include:

Improve recruitment and onboarding processes

HR project managers ensure that the recruitment and onboarding of new employees run efficiently for both the new employee and the hiring company. They successfully execute this process while also upholding the legal aspects of hiring at all times, including equality and diversity.

Effective HR project management can inspire functioning recruitment programmes, which not only increase the volume of well-suited applicants but will also personalise the programmes for employee onboarding. Your organisation cannot overlook the importance of an effective and well-planned employee onboarding process. HR project managers will ensure direct contact is established frequently with all new staff to ensure they know what to expect during their first week. This contact can speed up the onboarding process, as new employees will be aware of the relevant documents required, their roles and responsibilities, and company policies and values ahead of time. By carrying out these processes and setting up the right training, new employees will be better equipped to perform, which can help the HR project manager to utilise employee skills across the company.

This level of organisation and professionalism ensures new employees are recruited for the skills the company desires and are integrated into the business in an effective and timely manner, saving your business valuable time and money.

Increase staff retention

Taking onboard employee feedback, HR project managers will implement strategies and policies to increase retention and enhance employee well-being across your organisation. Employee wellbeing programmes are an influential factor when it comes to staff retention, as they can successfully prevent quiet quitting, protect employees’ rights, reduce attrition rates, and boost employee morale. HR project managers are essential in helping your employees feel appreciated and valued within your company.

Improve all-round productivity

Employee well-being programmes have also been shown to increase staff productivity. By engaging them in welfare programmes and proactively acting on feedback to ensure employees feel listened to, HR project managers can ensure employees stay focused and proficient at work.

As well as employee wellbeing programmes, your HR project manager can develop effective processes to monitor and track employees’ workloads. This not only helps employees manage their time better and increase productivity, but it also ensures employees are not under-challenged with their workload, decreasing the chance of stress-related absences.

For increased productivity across your company, HR project managers will work towards employee and company-related goals consistently, as well as ensuring they are ethical and fair. They will actively research, evaluate, and analyse all of the business and employees’ needs and processes that could potentially impact daily operations. With this collection of data, they will create reports summarising financial data, highlighting business needs, and recommending effective strategies to keep the business and employees as productive as possible.

Be a brand asset

HR project managers not only work in coordination with your company’s employees but also with any outside stakeholders, including business leads, government legislation officials, and technical teams. By reviewing feedback and building trust while facilitating the delivery of all projects, HR project managers can positively influence how outside distributors and employees view your business. Furthermore, your HR project manager will be directly involved in the budgeting of all projects and will effectively find the resources needed, delegate tasks, and communicate internally and externally while meeting high-quality standards to ensure the project stays on course and is completed within its deadline.

If your business can demonstrate effective time management when completing projects while also keeping within budget, you will be at the forefront of other stakeholders’ and project managers’ minds. This will give you more consideration when collaborating on future projects.

Oversee business risk management

A crucial element for business and project success is high diligence when it comes to risk assessments. HR project managers will carry out an in-depth risk assessment to identify, assess, execute, and control potential risks. These risks will be re-evaluated throughout the project lifecycle, keeping your business, employees, and projects safe. If your project manager does identify a potential problem, they will implement a risk mitigation strategy to keep the project moving in the right direction and within its deadline.

Hiring effective HR project management is essential for HR teams to work alongside your company, successfully carry out company initiatives, and achieve your business goals. An HR project manager will increase efficiency, reduce costs, keep stakeholders communicating, and ensure that everyone involved in projects and your business is on the same page.

Let us help you find the right HR Project Manager for your business

No matter how many employees your business contracts, HR project managers can contribute to your business’ success. With over 25 years of experience connecting leading HR project managers with businesses like yours, The Recruitment Consultancy can take the stress away from your recruiting worries and match you with the perfect HR project manager to take your business to the next level.

Get in touch with us today, or find out more about how we can help.

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The role of an HR department has never been more important as businesses shift to accommodate the growing requests from their employees and stand out from their competitors. In the past, HR was seen as a back-office function, such as payroll and benefits administration, but today it is rapidly evolving into a strategic role that sets the course for how a company runs.

Driving recruitment and staff retention efforts, enabling new initiatives to deliver sustained value, and helping hire talent that will foster effective collaboration in an ever-changing business world are just a few of the roles your HR department will be responsible for. In order to navigate through these shifting trends and conditions, businesses need to be proactive by investing in and working with their HR function.

In this blog post, our experts will share why mastering the HR function is so critical for any modern business operating in 2023 and how focusing on certain strategic areas can set you up for success.

HR trends in 2023 to focus on

The pandemic dramatically set in motion a change in the way people want to work. Employees are requesting more flexible and remote working to enjoy a better work-life balance and they are not afraid to leave a company high and dry if they feel they are being ill-treated. Due to these factors, companies are having to build and rely on their HR department to ensure they are doing everything in their power to keep their employees happy, recruit top talent and ensure that their business is run effectively across all teams to maintain growth and generate profit.

We have highlighted some of the key HR trends your business needs to focus on to maximise productivity in 2023.

Employee experience & retention

The world of business has changed rapidly and so has HR, it’s no longer about what employers want out of their workers, but rather how to engage them in a way that makes them happy and satisfied employees. Companies need to be sure they are looking out for their employees’ well-being and invest in their skills and knowledge to increase retention.

One way to do that is to work with your HR department to implement employee training and development opportunities. In 2022, companies that were committed to and invested in employee development saw a 58% increase in employee retention and a 24% increase in productivity. By developing your existing employee’s skills, you are recognising them as valued members of the team and making them believe they have more potential to grow within the business and boosting employee morale. In fact, one study found that 45% of employees would stay longer in their job if the company invested in their learning and established development opportunities and this is prevalent more in younger workers.

According to LinkedIn’s research millennials and Gen Z say that learning is one of the biggest factors that make them engaged and happy at work with 74% stating they will leave their job within the next year if they are not offered the opportunity to learn and grow. And since these generations will be making up the majority of our workforce by 2025, it is wise to start investing in employee development now to motivate employees and see the benefits from a more highly motivated and engaged workforce leading to improved productivity and overall company performance.

Wellbeing in the workplace

The World Health Organisation estimates that mental health disorders cost the global economy $1 trillion each year in lost productivity. Therefore, more and more companies are recognising the value of investing in employee health. In 2023 we can see a greater emphasis on holistic wellness programs that address mental and physical health. Well-being initiatives can include:

• workplace meditation rooms
• discounts on gym memberships
• access to mental health resources which the company subsidise

Companies can take this further by utilising their HR team to incorporate wellness into their overall corporate culture with a focus on promoting healthy behaviours and lifestyles among their employees in and out of the office.

The importance of employee well-being not only increases staff productivity by reducing the number of absent days required due to poor well-being but it can also enable companies to stand out from their competitors. A report in the Surgeon General on Mental Health and Well-Being, states 81% of workers say they will look for workplaces that supports mental health when job hunting.

As we can see investing in employee health needs to be more emphasised because it is one of the factors applicants prioritise when looking for a job and is also one of the reasons an employee may think about leaving their current job.

Hiring the right staff

There has been a dramatic shift in the hiring process for most businesses over the past few years, including shifting the focus from degrees to skills. In fact, new research by global HR and payroll experts, Remote, found that skill-based hiring is up by 63% in the past year, as more employees are extending their workforce to more people who harbour the desired skills and behaviour over academic achievements. Segal’s head of organisational effectiveness argues that hiring based on behaviour enables you to focus on choosing employees that will keep company morale high, in addition, it’s easier to train people for skills than to change negative behaviours.

Additionally, hiring the right staff in the first instance will save your company time and money on lengthy recruitment processes. Your HR function is key to understanding what your company needs and they can find the right staff to excel and deliver your company to success.

The world of work is becoming even more hybrid & remote

Since the pandemic employees across the globe have shifted to their preferred model of working and companies who has not been flexible with the requests have lost great employees to a competitor business that listens and encourages a more manageable work-life balance. And this is not set to change in 2023, as requests for remote and flexible working will continue to rise. By offering remote working options your company can attract and retain top talent that might otherwise be unwilling to relocate or commit to a rigid office schedule. Yet offering remote and flexible working comes with its challenges for your HR department including working out the logistics of making it work for everybody, establishing and maintaining trust, preparation and improving visibility across your organisation.

It is important that you collaborate with your HR department and agree on guidelines and policies, creating the workplaces where work will happen, the technology and tools needed, core collaboration hours and rituals for success before offering remote and flexible working to your current and future employees. Your HR function will be the key to changing your working models by collaborating with all of your employees and head of boards as well as investigating the best technological tools available to ensure remote working benefits and doesn’t hinder the development of your business.

Attracting talent

Attracting the right talent seems to be getting harder for companies as the job market is saturated with competitive companies that may be offering potential employees better benefits. Your HR function will oversee building strong interviewing and screening processes, develop successful employee evaluation tools and implement compensation programmes to maximise your chances of standing out from the competition and enticing job seekers to apply to work with you.

Here we will outline the challenges companies face when attracting top talent and how they can overcome these hurdles.

Employer branding & reputation

We shouldn’t have to tell you that reputation is everything, which is why one of the most significant recruitment trends in 2023 that every company should pay attention to is their employer branding. Job applicants will not only investigate a company’s employee benefits but also their reputation via company review sites like Glass Door where current and former employees are able to share their honest feedback on what it’s like working for their company.

To stand out from the competition you need to develop and promote a strong brand that highlights your company’s ethics, supportive company culture, employee growth and training and stable finances. It’s not just potential clients that will examine your company’s reputation and brand before reaching out to work with you, but your future applicants will be doing the same. If you are unsure where to start ask your HR department to send a survey to see how employees feel, what they think is working well and what could be changed, from here you can start developing your new, inclusive, and strong brand reputation.

Read our guide on how to grow and protect your employer brand.

Establish remote and flexible working

The world is changing to a life of remote and flexible working, which benefits how businesses operate; they can now find employees with the skill set they are looking for anywhere in the world, and not be limited to their geographical location. Yet, this is also the case for jobseekers, meaning some companies struggle to attract and retain top talent within the competitive market.

Using your employer branding to your strengths, you can work with your HR department to ensure that your company delivers remote and flexible working throughout the recruitment stages all the way through to employee onboarding and beyond. Your HR department will be instrumental in implementing virtual recruitment processes and ensuring your company is delivering on the perks and benefits promised to attract top candidates, ensuring more talented applicants apply and your company benefits from higher employee retention.

Entice referrals

Hiring new employees is not a cheap task, with some recruitment processes taking up to 52 days to fill a position. Some companies are now taking it upon themselves to entice referrals from their employees to save time and money.  Although this is a great way to cut back on costs, referrals are not always fool proof which is a factor that needs to be considered when deciding which recruitment route works best for you.

Your HR department will take on the majority of your company’s recruitment process, including setting up job adverts, screening and sourcing candidates, assessing and interviewing candidates, ensuring background checks are completed and playing a central role in all employee onboarding and training.

The value of an HR function

Your company’s HR function can be overlooked yet is incredibly valuable to:

• your employee’s well-being
• employee retention
• developing and implementing organisational change
• hiring and training all new employees
• performance management
• establishing mentoring programs
• delivering corporate strategies and objectives
• maintaining positive overall company morale

Above all HR function is the lifeline between unhappy employees and their decision to stay within your company.

Without an HR function companies can find themselves at risk of high employee turnover, workplace injuries, fines, non-compliance with policies, employee confusion, and higher risk of cases of harassment and bullying which puts your business at risk of developing a negative brand reputation. However, by ensuring you have built and maintained an effective HR function your business has the best chance of staying ahead of your competitors in recruitment, employee retention, business goals and profits.

Conclusively, the HR function is paramount to the success of your business.

Let us help you with your recruitment challenges

Recruitment is just one part of a successful HR function but finding the right people for your organisation who can build and maintain it can be a headache.

Let The Recruitment Consultancy make it easier for you to find the HR talent you need to build your brand reputation, re-engage your employees, and implement new and engaging policies and resources to keep your business running smoothly. With access to the best talent across Surrey and Sussex since 1997, we have built a powerful reputation for being honest, and personal, and bringing businesses the HR function they need to be successful.

Get in touch with us today to speak to our friendly team members who will advise you on the next steps to take to help your business flourish.

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Today’s job market is extremely competitive and tough for recruitment. A survey from the Office of National Statistics, found that there were over 1 million vacancies in the UK between October to December 2022. Despite tech companies laying off employees in the US, it seems like UK recruitment is booming.

So, with all this competition between companies for hiring staff, what should you do? Well, hiring temporary workers offers a brilliant solution if your business needs staff fast, rather than waiting to find a permanent employee. In this blog, we’ve shared the benefits of temporary workers for your business.

5 benefits of hiring temporary workers

1. Hiring temporary workers at short notice

Hiring a temporary employee can act as a last-minute lifesaver for your business if you need help, such as if you’ve had a sudden departure in your team or you have a peak in workload and need extra support. This means that hiring temporary staff can have an immediate impact on your business from the get-go.

2. You can future-proof your business

If you have a new project lined up but are struggling to recruit a permanent employee, temp workers can help you quickly fill a hole in your team so you can rest easy knowing that you can deliver on your projects.

3. Temporary work allows you to recruit an expert

If your business is taking on a specialist short-term project which doesn’t match the skill set of your permanent employees, then temporary employment may be the way forward. You can hire a temp that has these specialist skills without needing to take them on a permanent basis.

4. Can help you manage your costs

Hiring temporary staff for a short period of time, means that you can have the help you need without worrying about the long-term cost to your business when the busy periods die down.

5. Temporary staff have a quicker hiring process

If you’re using a recruitment agency, hiring temporary workers will be much quicker than recruiting for a permanent role, as the entire process is managed by the agency. An agency will ensure the temporary is thoroughly interviewed, vetted and will have all the necessary paperwork in place to that you can avoid all the time and administration associated with bringing a new employee onto your books.  Additionally, when you approach an agency, they will already have candidates who are pre-registered and ready to go, so the whole recruitment process can get moving quicker.

3 tips to help you secure a temporary employee

Here are some top tips to ensure you have the best chance of securing and retaining temporary workers, particularly for longer periods of time, whilst the market remains candidate driven.

1. Find out why someone is temping

This is a key part of what recruitment agencies do – to thoroughly interview and reference the temp, so that they understand their reasons. If you’re hiring directly, this pre-hiring stage is very important because finding out why someone is temping will indicate their commitment to your position.

Some people choose temping or contracting as a lifestyle as it offers them flexibility, variety and if they have an in-demand skill, can be quite lucrative. These workers are worth their weight in gold, especially in a market like today’s as they will not be lured away by the whiff of a permanent position elsewhere if the opportunity arose. However, they will still need to feel valued and appealing to what is important to them will help you to gain their commitment.

2. Find out what is important to them

Once you have established why they are temping, find out what is important to them – is it money, flexibility, experience, filling-in between jobs, hours? There may be many reasons why they’re looking for a temporary position, but if you can tap into what is important to them, you will have more chance of gaining their commitment if you can accommodate their needs.

If money is a priority…

If you have identified that the hourly rate/money is one of the main drivers of the temp worker, why not offer them an incentive to ensure that they stay for the period of time you would like them? To do this will depend on why you’re bringing them into your business. However, the things you could do include offering a form of completion bonus to keep them committed for the full period without leaving for another role that may be paying a higher rate, or have other benefit, or support with the cost of travel or offer free parking onsite.

If flexibility is a priority…

Are you able to offer hybrid or remote working as an option? Are you able to accommodate a slightly different work pattern to fit around their availability and commitments? These options cannot always be offered, which is understandable for many reasons, especially if the role requires someone to be insitu for a set period of time. However, if the need for the extra support is based on productivity and measurable output, then offering a flexible work pattern may reward you with stronger commitment from the temporary worker.

If lifestyle is a priority…

Are there benefits such as employee reward schemes, membership to gyms, social events or group activities that could be extended to your temporary workers? If there are, then make sure that the temporary worker is aware of them as this could also help to gain their commitment.

If gaining experience is a priority…

Maybe you could look at giving the temporary worker some exposure to other parts of the business whilst they are working for you to help them gain new skills. Likewise, you could utilise their skills in a different department to help up-skill your existing staff.

3. How to manage the situation if they’re ideally wanting a permanent position

It’s important to remember that if you’re wanting to hire a long-term temp, to ensure that either you or the agency you use, has interviewed them thoroughly to find out their reasons for temping.

If someone is unemployed and is actively looking for a permanent role, then the likelihood of them committing long-term is minimal. A popular way of recruiting is to ‘try before you buy’ (temp to perm), which means that someone can start temping for your company and if both sides are happy, then after a set period of time the role could become permanent. This way can have great results as it gives both the worker and the company time to evaluate each other and look at how things may pan-out without having to overly commit and spend time sorting contracts etc. However, in today’s market this can be a tough gig. If a company is ideally wanting someone permanently and the temporary is also ideally wanting permanent work, then it is best for the company to act quickly because if they don’t, it is highly likely that another opportunity elsewhere will arise.

An important thing to know when working with a temporary work agency

As an employer hiring  temporary agency workers through a temporary work agency, the agency should make you aware of Agency Workers Regulations to ensure that the temporary worker is receiving the correct treatment and access, in line with these regulations, during the time that they are temping at your company.  These regulations must be adhered to at all times and a good agency will supply you with the right guidance and ensure the correct paperwork is completed.

Looking for temporary workers? The Recruitment Consultancy can help

At The Recruitment Consultancy, we are a leading independent recruitment consultant agency with 25 year’s experience in this industry. In today’s competitive job market, as a recruitment agency for employers, we thrive on the challenge of helping businesses of all sizes find their perfect temporary and permanent employees. We’re experts at sourcing temporary, contract and permanent workers and can take the pain of recruitment away, so that you can focus on your business.

So, whether you’re looking for a HR recruitment specialist, a finance and accounting recruitment agency, or a general recruitment agency, we can help you. If you’re looking for a temp agency Guildford, Surrey or Sussex, get in contact today to find out how we can help you.

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Life can be unpredictable, and sometimes as a business you just need an extra pair of hands especially during busy periods or times when there’s a lack of resource.

During times like these, temporary employment is key to success; with professionals coming in quickly to help your business stay on track it can be the be all and end all. From last-minute support to holiday cover, discover 5 examples of when temporary employment could be the perfect solution for your business.

5 temporary employment examples for employers

Don’t struggle with a lack of resource any longer. There are cost-effective, hassle-free solutions that you may not have considered before. Take a look.

Temporary employment to cover parental leave

Whilst hearing the news of an expectant employee is exciting, employers are soon left with a feeling of panic as they realise the impact this could have on business operations. However, what employers don’t always realise is that their employee is often just as concerned about their time off as you are, despite parental leave being a fully justified leave of absence.

Fortunately, employing the help of a temporary worker can help to minimise disruption, whilst taking the pressure off a new parent when they return to work.

Not only can temporary workers be as valuable as permanent employees, but they also bring more skill sets to the team and add value to your business along the way. Worried about key team players being out of the office for up to 52 weeks? Employ temporary staff for cover and stay on top of operations.

Skilled workers for project completion

Does your company work on a project basis? Temporary employment could be the solution to your fluctuating productivity needs.

In a project-based working environment, temporary recruitment offers the opportunity to dive into a wider talent pool whilst being free to decide the duration and size of the project in which the temporary employee is deployed. With plenty of flexibility and highly skilled workers available, temporary staffing could be what you need to complete your project successfully, on time and on budget.

Temp-to-perm employment

Hiring a permanent employee is a big decision and can affect the performance of your company for years to come. But, how do you know if your potential hire has the skills and personality the job demands?

Temp-to-hire employment allows for a trial period, to learn whether the employee is the right fit before signing a permanent contract. Finding and securing the right employees can be time-consuming and if approached incorrectly, very costly. Therefore, a temporary hire could be the solution your business needs to find the right member of staff for the job.  Temp-to-perm can be an ideal solution for both employers and prospective employees, however, in a market where there is a shortage of skilled workers, there is always a danger of losing a prospective permanent hire if you leave the decision-making for too long.

Hire temporary workers for seasonal jobs

In the world of human resources, planning for the holidays can bring a feeling of mild dread as you realise the ramifications of the staffing squeeze during such periods.

Overstretched staff for several weeks at a time can lead to a plethora of difficulties, and can be destructive to staff morale. For a productive workforce, the welfare of your staff should be top priority.

A way to avoid such problems is through a temporary recruitment plan for the holiday periods. Before beginning the hiring process, it’s important that you spend time trying to identify what temporary support is needed, where training could be given to existing staff members and gain a clear understanding of each department’s predicted workload across the holiday period and beyond. From there, you can begin the process of advertising, referrals or using a temporary employment agency.

Consider the potential consequences of the pressure on your staff members. How may this translate through to customers? Our advice is to start the hiring process as soon as possible to avoid the potentially negative consequences of being under-resourced. Why not start now? Get in touch with expert temp recruitment consultants.

Utilise a temporary employee for sickness cover

Staff sickness can come at the most unexpected times and require instant leave. Prolonged periods of illness can leave your business lacking the necessary resource and expertise to do the job at hand, jeopardising performance.

Fortunately, a reputable temporary recruitment agency can help you receive immediate support whilst still conducting thorough interviews, skills testing and legal paperwork to ensure they are finding the best talent for your specific requirements. Through doing so, the permanent employee should be able to return to their role after the period of leave seamlessly, whilst the temp worker will have gained valuable experience throughout this time.

Enlist the help of The Recruitment Consultancy

With a well-earned reputation since 1997, we offer unparalleled access to the best talent across Surrey and Sussex. Our approach is collaborative, honest and personal, delivering excellent results every time around.

Whether you need one or multiple new temporary hires, let our consultants do the work for you. And, if we don’t find you the right candidates, you aren’t charged a penny.

Get in touch with the Recruitment Consultancy today and take the next step towards hiring a temporary member of staff.

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