How to recruit yourself out of Covid-19

As we return to some sort of normal, many companies have used their recent down time to re-appraise their future employment needs. For many, there are undoubtedly seismic changes ahead in how people work and how business will look in the ‘new normal’.

Clearly, the suddenness of the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted working practices on a scale never seen in modern times. We are seeing a shift in workplace culture and methodology that is unprecedented and for most, presenting unchartered waters.

The rigidity of previous working is giving way to agile or flexible working, now considered the new paradigm for long term business success. Agile working is nothing new, but Covid-19 has encouraged employers to see if they can work smarter rather than harder, taking advantage of new technology and different processes.

As a local recruitment partner, working throughout the UK, we have many years’ experience in supporting businesses with their employment needs. This means we are well equipped to help employers ensure they are fully prepared for the way ahead.

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How can you survive and prosper after lockdown?

Having the right people in place who can adapt to these changes is going to be the number one priority for businesses who want to not only stay afloat but come out of this stronger and more resilient.

After all, Covid-19 is going to have a lasting impact on our future working practices. There is no doubt, the uncertainty of the pandemic has created an employment environment that is causing anxiety and concern for many employees.

Prior to Covid-19, most roles were appraised largely on critical skills. Today that’s all changing with employers focussing on multiple opportunities for career development. Progressive employers are therefore looking for their employees to adopt a more varied, flexible, and adaptive role within the organisation.

In the future, it’s all going to be about employee experience

We believe as the pandemic eases, businesses will start to focus on strengthening their position in the marketplace. This could include diversification, investment in new products and services or geographic expansion.

This will create challenges for most employers in respect of employing staff that can adapt to new or different working practices, or can bring added value to the organisation. We also consider that retaining, and possibly retraining staff, is going a major priority for most businesses.

That’s why, since launching almost 10 years ago, we have worked hard to ensure we present candidates and employers with the right fit. To enable this, we created three specialist divisions – Technical, Professional and Support Services, and staffed these with people who know the sector inside out, something that’s even more relevant in the current climate.

Volume Recruitment

So, why should you put your trust in a recruitment agency that will help you come out of lockdown and face the future with confidence, especially one that can help you fill multiple roles in one fell swoop?

To start with, a recruitment agency can streamline and speed up the employment process. For example, we currently work with a pool of active candidates, from office support to highly skilled technical roles available on a temporary, permanent or contract basis. This, therefore, enables you to get on with running the business without the hassle of having to implement a process for sourcing and selecting suitable candidates.

As we said before, the jobs market is experiencing major upheaval. As staff come off furlough businesses are having to make decisions they are not necessarily familiar with. This includes identifying transferable skills, considering different ways of working, such as remote working, and negotiating new salary rates (see later).

There is no doubt, the employment market is now a whole new ball game. Some businesses will be looking to infill their workforce with temporary or flexible hours staff while others will be wanting to recruit specialist staff that can give them a competitive edge and even, a possible boost to their market share.

Your recruitment partner

It therefore makes sense to have one recruitment partner on board that can take care of the complex and time consuming role of recruiting multiple positions. Having a readymade selection of candidates is a time saver but so is the experience of specialist recruitment staff who can help employers adapt to the new normal.

For some, working from home may become permanent, and this, for many employers (and employees) will be an unfaced challenge. There is no one size fits all approach – everyone’s needs will be different and will be based on areas such as the job description, social and family circumstances, and continuous personal development (CPD).

This is where we can help. We can advise on matching suitable candidates that suit the new way of working. Not only do we have a wealth of knowledge and experience, especially in our specialist sectors, but also a portfolio of passive talent – those who are not necessarily looking to move employers but are known to our staff. We also know what incentives it may take to change their mind.

What else can we do to help employers speed up their return to some sort of normality?

Reducing the time taken to recruit suitable staff is one area. We create persuasive job advertisements to maximise response, quickly screen candidates, and only select the most appropriate for the intended role.

We also advise on putting systems in place that accommodate the new way of working. Working from home is one. In a recent newspaper article, it was claimed that almost one in five white collar workers in the UK want to work permanently from home, while more than half (54%) only want to go in to the office one or two days a week.

If this is the case, then it’s imperative that the business has a robust networking system in place – both technological, and in person to ensure a seamless and secure shift in emphasis. We can advise on implementing this.

What will be the impact on salaries?

According to the latest reports, it looks likely that remote working could become the new normal for many and with that comes other issues, for example, salaries. We are accustomed to London weighting, based on the fact that it is costs around 20% more to live and work in London than it does elsewhere in the country, but does that mean disparity in relation to where you live when it comes to remote working?

Facebook seem to think so. Even before lockdown, the company announced that as from January 2021, staff working from home will be paid on where they live. Not something that’s gone down well with their current workforce and could potentially backfire in their quest for recruiting talented staff to their organisation.

So, as we’ve said, we’re facing an uncertain road ahead. However, in our opinion, it’s the businesses that offer employee flexibility, secure and robust working conditions (both physical and online) and a move to agile working, that will not only survive, but prosper as we come out of lockdown.

For more information on how to recruit yourself out of Covid-19, please call our team of specialist recruiter on 0845 478 5009 or email enquiries@multitaskpersonnel.co.uk

- Testimonials
  What our clients say about us!
  
  Plumbing & Heating Engineer, District Heating – London
  
  “Beth stuck to her word, said she would talk with the client about my position and what I wanted and within a week I received a call from her with great news! Such a relief from this experience with how other recruiters don’t stick to their word or even bother to reply. Thank you very much to Beth, she is amazing!”
- Health & Safety Manager, Environmental – Chesterfield
  
  “I was contacted by Laura Thompson, who informed me of a job opportunity. She was able to provide a lot of background information and I could see the job matched my profile. She arranged an interview very quickly and because of the information I was provided, I was able to deliver the right message and get the job. Laura was also able to raise the initial salary to meet my expectations. Next time I will just come straight to Multitask.”
- Operations Director, Building Services – Chesterfield
  
  “I would always recommend Multitask, they are very professional, extremely responsive, prompt, extremely qualified and offer an excellent service.”
- Area Manager, Council Services – Barnsley
  
  “Multitask are always excellent, helpful and approachable no matter what the day or time, within reason. They are reactive and quick to accommodate even the latest of requests. They work hard to find staff of the required skill level. You can’t improve on perfection, truthfully, they a pleasure and easy to deal with. Keep up the good work!”

Announcements:

Multitask Personnel, the South Yorkshire based specialist recruitment consultancy, have grown the client base of their trades and labour department by adding twenty new accounts in September 2021. The client wins come as part of a key internal drive to develop new business in the construction, M&E, building services and fit out sectors, to meet growing demand for skilled labour as businesses open their doors for new recruits across the UK. Led by Clive Bateman, Managing Consultant of the Trades & Labour division, the team at Multitask Personnel help tradespeople find suitable employment in temporary, contract and permanent positions, ensuring clients can fill their vacancies quickly and efficiently, with the right people for the job. Clive Bateman, Managing Consultant at Multitask Personnel Clive comments: “We’re really pleased to bring so many new clients on board. It’s a fantastic achievement for our hard working Trades & Labour team, but it’s also a great sign that recruitment, up and down the country, is as active as ever in these specialist sectors. “We’ve taken on a range of job roles for our clients, anything from groundworkers, dryliners and ceiling fixers, through to joiners, electricians, labourers and painters, to support businesses who are actively recruiting in the shopfitting, interior fit out, civils and construction sectors. “As a nationwide recruitment consultancy, we are placing candidates in roles from the north west to the south east, and everywhere in between, so it’s great to see recruitment picking up on a national level as well as regional. “Recruitment can be a daunting task for hiring managers, particularly if they have numerous roles to fill, so it is our job as specialist recruiters to make the process as straight forward as possible by submitting the right people for interview that match the brief. As a proactive agency, we have a large talent pool of candidates who are ready to work meaning roles can be filled in a timely manner.” Multitask Personnel strategically align their recruitment divisions to provide an all round service for businesses that have a mix of blue collar, white collar and support staff. This means employers don’t have to go out to multiple agencies for different types of employee. Read more about Multitask Personnel’s services to employers here.

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Multitask Personnel, the Rotherham based specialist recruitment consultancy, has strengthened its’ Construction desk with the appointment of Mark Taylor as their new Recruitment Associate. Mark, who has a number of years’ experience working in industry in construction and building maintenance, brings an additional ‘client side’ skill set to the team as it continues to grow amid renewed activity across the sector. Working on permanent construction positions, Mark will be responsible for growing the candidate database as he works towards becoming a 360 recruitment consultant. Mark Taylor, Recruitment Associate at Multitask Personnel Mark comments: “I’m delighted to join Multitask Personnel and to develop a career in recruitment. My experience of working within the construction industry gives me additional knowledge of how businesses in the sector operate, which will not only help employers as I know how they operate, but also help candidates as I will be able to identify the key personality traits and skill sets required to work in the industry. “My aim over the next six to twelve months is to become an all-round recruitment consultant by utilising my contacts and understanding of the sector, whilst learning from the experienced recruiters here at Multitask, to repay the faith Claire and the team have put in me. I’m relishing the opportunity.” Claire Lee, Managing Director at Multitask Personnel comments: “Mark joins the construction desk at a key time as the industry starts to experience rapid growth again. We always need to stay ahead of the game in recruitment to ensure we can meet demand and exceed our client’s expectations, and with the forecast of increased growth in the sector we have identified the need to strengthen our team. “Mark brings a new skill set to the team because he has worked on the client side, so whilst the wider team will be able to teach him about recruitment, he can also advise our more experienced recruiters on some of the key traits of the industry. “We’re looking forward to developing our combined knowledge to the benefit of both employers and job seekers and would like to wish Mark a really warm welcome to the team.” Mark Taylor becomes the fifth new recruit to join the Multitask team in 2021, and can be contacted on 01709 820102 or enquiries@multitaskpersonnel.co.uk

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September and October have, traditionally, always been a good time for job hunting. Schools are back, summer holidays are over, and people have had plenty of time to re-consider their current position, especially if they’ve been lazing on a beach somewhere. This year, however, is somewhat different It goes without saying that the Coronavirus has had a major impact on the jobs market. Almost 11.6 million jobs from approx. 1.3m UK employers suspended as many businesses were forced to close or slim down their operation. From the initial national lockdown in March 2020 and the additional localised measures through to the autumn and beyond, staff were transferred on to the government’s job retention scheme (furlough) and, in some cases, even made redundant. Furlough has now come to an end and when combined with the fall out effects of Brexit, and the future uncertainty of the Covid pandemic, there is no denying that the jobs market has changed dramatically in the last 18 months. So, if you’ve recently returned to work and are now considering a new role elsewhere or are someone looking for first time employment, the question is, how is this affecting the current employment situation and how do you identify a job that’s right for you? Demystifying the job specification As the UK economy bounces back, businesses are now looking to recruit staff, either to fill vacancies or to enable them to expand as confidence grows in their sector. According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 77,500 more jobs on offer between April and June 2021 than there were in the same period pre-Covid. This is reflected in the fact that we are now seeing the jobs market starting to open up and businesses re-commence hiring. How do you know what the employer is looking for? As we’ve said in previous blogs, the traditional ‘job for life’ is now a rarity. Anyone who started work in the mid-2000s will probably experience at least 10 different roles before they retire. Also, especially over the last 18 months, there has been a massive expansion of the ‘gig economy’ with its myriad of short term contracts, freelance work and hybrid working. This is something that is likely to be the future way of working as we come to terms with the ‘new normal’. In all cases, the prospective employer will produce a recruitment document that defines what they are looking for and contain all the ingredients needed to perform the job. This document provides a valuable insight into the advertised role and is usually divided into two parts. The job specification and the job description Despite their importance in helping elaborate on the requirements needed to perform the job effectively, we find that many applicants spend little time interpreting their content and researching the job vacancy. First. Let’s explain the difference between the two. Job Description An employer will usually draft a job description first. This will give prospective candidates a feel for both the position and the company as it provides a wealth of information about the vacancy and what is expected from the applicant should they be appointed. If it is an existing position, it will state the (previous) job title – e.g. Gas service engineer. If a newly created role, the job title may be more ambiguous. The remainder of the document will then go into more detail so make sure you read on. Also, with many vacancies now being posted on the internet, you may find job titles are ‘standardised’ thereby allowing them to be picked up by search engines. A detailed job description should enable a prospective candidate to understand what type of person they are looking to attract, but not necessarily why. It will also avoid referencing any negative points – see later. What does a job description contain and why are they relevant to job recruitment? A fully detailed job description outlines the company’s expectations, such as targets, goals, and aspirations. It also helps provide a framework for the recruitment advert by providing a certainty of purpose. This enables candidates to be fully aware of what the job entails and what it involves. The job description, therefore, will cover the responsibilities of the job. If an existing position, this may be a fairly standard response but if it’s a newly created role (say due to expansion or change in trading) it might be more fluid and flexible. A 21st Century job description will also now feature details about the culture of the organisation. Many applicants are (rightly) concerned about their prospective employer’s eco-friendliness, working conditions (hybrid working) and management structure. The job description will also give you a guide to remuneration and rewards. This might be a salary range and will include incentives and ‘perks’ such as social events, bonuses, birthday off etc. This should give candidates a good feel for how financially rewarding the position is. By the time you’ve finished reading the job description, you should know what the job is (title), what it involves and who you report to (responsibilities) and what rewards you will receive for carrying out your duties (remuneration). Job Specification On the other hand, a job specification is a more succinct statement that defines the job criteria. This is almost a tick box exercise where you check off the necessary attributes to apply for the position. This will include qualifications, skills, experience, educational standards etc. In most cases it will also include the required level of competence and / or amount of experience. In addition, some employers will add additional criteria such as those considered necessary and / or desired. These can include physical requirements (heavy lifting / working at heights), professional qualifications, and previous experience (e.g. minimum 5 years on the job experience). These will either be included in the job specification or, more likely, as part of a separate person specification. Applying for a job One of the most important aspects of applying for a new job is interpreting the content of both the job description and job specification. However, it’s also a good idea to dig deeper and discover more about the role before you start the interview process. As we said earlier, a job description will not usually include negative aspects, especially why there is a current vacancy. Is it a new position or replacing a member of staff who has left? A good place for exploring is LinkedIn. This is a goldmine for information, such as company and employee profiles galore, and all with a story to tell. How long do people stay at the company, is the post vacant due to internal promotion or have they moved on, how long were they previously in the job and did they have the experience and / or qualifications you are being asked for? All this information is freely available on social media platforms, and you can delve even deeper if you subscribe to LinkedIn Premium under the job section tab. By doing your research and comparing the content of the job description and job specification with the information gleaned from LinkedIn, you should be able to build up a clear picture of the role and whether you should submit your CV for consideration. For further information on what it takes to identify the best jobs, contact us on 01709 820102 or enquiries@multitaskpersonnel.co.uk

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We believe that because we are an independent recruitment business and are not a large national recruitment provider, we can provide a far more flexible service for our customers, tailoring our services and prices to suit your needs.
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How to recruit yourself out of Covid-19

How can you survive and prosper after lockdown?

In the future, it’s all going to be about employee experience

Volume Recruitment

Your recruitment partner

What else can we do to help employers speed up their return to some sort of normality?

What will be the impact on salaries?

Testimonials

Plumbing & Heating Engineer, District Heating – London

Health & Safety Manager, Environmental – Chesterfield

Operations Director, Building Services – Chesterfield

Area Manager, Council Services – Barnsley

Announcements:

Our Company

Upload CV

Multitask Registration