Why employers need to be flexible to recruit top talent

By Rob Muddiman, Healthcare Manager at TPP.

The latest figures show that unemployment has dropped to below 1.97 million in the three months to the end of August and although businesses are growing, there is a threat of potential skills shortages. With fewer candidates available and applying for jobs, employers will need to work harder to find staff. The very best candidates are likely to already be happily employed, and are unlikely to be tempted to move unless an attractive salary entices them or the job advertised suits them better in terms of their life stage.

As a not for profit organisation, offering financial rewards is not always possible, so you need to attract staff with a job that suits their lifestyle. This month we give you our top tips on how to attract top talent by offering flexibility.  When writing your job description and person specification consider how you can make this role attractive and what flexibility can be offered and ensure these are advertised in the role from the start.

Life Stage Benefits

Individual benefit plans can appeal to employees, as they can select the benefits that suit their individual needs, tastes and goals at their current stage in life.  For example, childcare vouchers would suit a parent, where as mentoring or vouchers for gym membership may suit people beginning their careers or without commitments.

Other benefits that could be included in life stage benefits include pension, life assurance, private medical insurance, holiday and purchases on items such as laptops/ mobile phones.

CIPD provide more information on flexible benefit schemes here.

Hire and train up

Consider hiring a more junior candidate for the role and train them up. Carry out a job analysis to identify skills and knowledge that are essential before beginning the recruitment process, be realistic with essential and desirable skills.

By offering training, you have the added benefit of being able to employ a more junior candidate at a lower salary and you can mould this person to your organisation, while improving their skills. By offering scope for development, you are more likely to attract an individual that will remain loyal to your organisation and money saved in terms of salary can be invested in on the job and off the job training.

Gov.uk provides further information on hiring and training staff.

Part-time/job share

Consider whether you need someone full-time. If you need someone full-time consider allowing job share applicants. By allowing these you immediately open up your job vacancy to more applicants, such as parents. With job shares you have the added benefit of two people’s ideas and initiatives on your team.

Many part-time workers will also consider travelling further for the right role, as they won’t be travelling everyday, this may be the difference of attracting a great candidate that is the perfect fit for your role.

You can find out more about recruiting part-time workers here.

Flexible working

Flexible working gives people a better work-life balance. Results of our past salary surveys have showed that flexible working is a sought after benefit. Flexible working can include part-time working as mentioned above, but more sought after is flexitime. This gives the freedom for people to work when they want (possibly from home) with core hours when they need to be present.

It is rare to see many jobs advertised with the benefit of flexible working advertised, although are sometimes negotiated at offer stage. This immediately will put some candidates off applying, by advertising this benefit you will have a broader, more diverse applicant pool. This can also help with equal opportunities and diversity for staff that might be unable to work standard hours or full time.

TPP has adopted a flexible working policy to retain our current staff and attract the best new employees in the future. You can find out more about flexible working on the gov.uk website.

Building in flexible working practices and benefits into the job description right from the start of the recruitment process is one of the key ways in which a not for profit organisation can distinguish itself as an employer of choice and compete with larger organisations and the private sector for the very best candidates.

5 tips on choosing between your two best equally qualified candidates

By Rob Hayter, Director at TPP Not for Profit

Imagine you are in that lucky situation that many would like to be in; you don’t have one great candidate for a role, you have two! Sometimes though, having two great candidates can make the decision process even harder. There are many elements to think about, recruitment can be expensive and you don’t want to regret your decision in a few months’ time. This month we give you our top tips on how to ensure you are choosing the best candidate for the job.

Testing

You can test candidate’s skills and experience pretty well in a formal interview, however testing, such as psychometric assessing, can give you a better idea about their personality and cultural fit. This kind of testing typically consists of numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning or situation judgements. There aren’t always right or wrong answers in these tests, for example, situational judgement tests look at the way someone may handle a situation.

Before commencing these tests, ensure you have a good idea about the type of person that will fit in; do you want someone that thinks on their feet and takes action? Or are you looking for someone that seeks advice before making decisions? Are you looking for someone who can work well on their own (maybe home working is an important element to this role) or someone that works well in a team (based in a busy office)? Having these details before your candidates commence the test will make analysing them much easier.

Meeting in a relaxed setting

If the interview process has been very formal or included panel interviews, then invite each candidate for an informal relaxed meeting, maybe even a morning’s visit to the office. Incorporate the team into this; this will give you a good indication how the candidates will work with other members of your team and how they’ll fit in with your culture.

Seeing a candidate in a relaxed setting will also show you more of their personality, which isn’t always easy to determine in a formal interview. By meeting the team, you are getting them on board for whichever candidate you choose and they may even have a favourite too.

Take references

Obviously you would not want to contact the candidate’s current employer; however this does not stop you taking references from previous employers. Ask each candidate for details on their previous employer and contact these, ideally for a verbal reference. This will give you a better idea on the candidates’ cultural fit and personality, than a formal reference form around absence and employment dates.

Look at the future of your team

Hopefully this person will remain with your organisation for the foreseeable future, so it’s a good idea to look at your organisation’s future plans. For example, if your team is going to expand rapidly, someone who has worked in larger teams before may perform better in this environment. If you are going to expand internationally, someone with languages may be beneficial.

Equally, just because an applicant doesn’t have experience working in a particular environment, does not mean they won’t perform well. However if you know what’s likely to happen in the future, you can construct scenario-based questions which will help you assess the candidates’ abilities to cope.

Do you have any other skills gaps in your team that one of these candidates could help fill in? For example, one of them might be a whizz with social media, something you are lacking. Could they help support this until you are ready to recruit for this role?

Ask them directly why you should choose them

One candidate may be more motivated for the role than the other. By asking why you should hire them, you should get an indication about their motivations for their role and a good candidate should be able to ‘sell’ themselves and tell you what skills they feel they would bring.

Finally…

Ensure you have asked the candidate their thoughts on the role, salary package, notice periods etc. You may end up being in a position where one candidate is more likely to accept an offer than the other, or one wants a higher salary than you can realistically offer. These are better sorting out before offer stage.

Ensure you keep both candidates in the loop during this process, especially if it becomes lengthy, or you may end up losing two good candidates. And finally ensure you take the time to give the candidate that is not hired feedback. You can read more about the importance of providing feedback on our blog. 

If you aren’t in the fortunate position to have two candidates to choose from and would like to see a selection of candidates for roles you are recruiting to compare or benchmark against your current shortlist please contact us on 020 7198 6000 or info@tpp.co.uk

Why rejecting a temp CV could be the wrong decision

 
By Rob Muddiman, Manager at TPP Not for Profit

With one in three people having worked in a temporary position and with nearly half the workforce, 41% considering temporary employment according to REC’s latest research, then organisations could be missing out on potentially skilled candidates by dismissing a CV where the applicant has done a lot of temping.

Temporary workers are crucial for most businesses, but when temporary workers start looking for permanent roles, they often aren’t shortlisted. This month we look at reasons why hiring someone that has temped for most of their career could be a good move.

Valuable Skills

Some people believe that temporary workers work in unskilled jobs, but this is not always the case. Some agencies specialise in recruiting for temporary workers with specific skills set, such as accounting/bookkeeping temps. Often they need experience in using particular software, such as Sage and require staff with a very niche skill set and qualifications.

Commitment

Some organisations feel that temporary workers can’t commit to long term roles and are unreliable; however REC’s research shows that there are many reasons why people proactively look for temporary roles.  Reasons include, not requiring the stability of long term work, commitments such as further study and childcare.

Gaps on a CV

Temporary work can result in ‘empty spaces’ in their CV, with periods of unemployment/ gaps where they didn’t have work. Unfortunately even if they are a good skilled temporary worker, they are not guaranteed constant work and it can be difficult looking for the next opportunity until your current contract comes to an end.

Instead of looking at the gaps, look at what experience they gained in their roles. As a result of working at lots of organisations they will have gained valuable experience, working with different people and often working with little training. They will have had experience of working with various systems/ software packages and may also have good ideas about helping your organisation streamline processes as a result.

References and notice periods

You have the opportunity to take up more references than someone that has been in a role for a long time, this can help make a decision as to whether to hire one candidate over another. Most temporary workers will have little notice periods, if any, where you could wait up to 3 months for some candidates  in a permanent role.

Temporary workers are generally proactive people that go out and get results and will be used to tackling tasks and getting on with work with little supervision, which could have huge rewards for your organisation and bring a wealth of valuable skills to your organisation.

If you require advice on shortlisting applicants then please contact TPP on 020 7198 6000 or visit our recruitment advice on our website.


Useful Links
Money crashers - Working for temp agencies
MSN - 6 reasons temp jobs can be awesome

Top 8 Creative Recruitment Adverts

 By Hayley Robinson, Manager at TPP Not for Profit

Finding the right person for your organisation is essential, but it can be difficult to find those candidates that tick all the boxes on your job description and person specification. It can pay to sometimes try more creative ways of finding those candidates, especially passive candidates who are not actively looking for a new role.

This month we look at 8 types of creative recruitment adverts, using examples from the web that caught our eye (although not always for the right reasons!)









1.    Before even applying these organisations tested their skills.

2.    These certainly weren’t proof read!

3.    These are enough to make you feel claustrophobic

4.    Being honest about pay and responsibilities

5.    Adverts for the end of the day or week

6.    We have no clue, any guesses?

7.    A little scary

8.    Finally ones to make you laugh

 


 

  

Are you guilty of hiring clone employees?

By Rob Hayter, Director at TPP Not for Profit.

Imagine if one of your key employees left.  You need to find a replacement, and in a hurry.  It can be tempting to look at your best, more productive employees and think “we need someone just like them”.  After all, they are your top employees, so more of them will be more of a good thing, right?

Well, not necessarily.  We’ve previously written about how important it is for charities to embrace diversity, and this is a classic mistake employers can make.  Recruiting a workforce made up entirely of people like you can ultimately lead to sterility and an end to progress.

Why is it a bad idea?

Having a team who all have a similar background and similar points of view can easily lead to a lack of new ideas.  A little bit of creative tension is great for inspiring people – you need people who can contribute different perspectives, can bounce ideas off of one another and disagree with each other.

Even more than in most organisations, it’s important for charities to maintain a diverse staff.  Although charities now generally have a more diverse workforce than in private sector companies, the third sector as a whole still struggles with the perception that charity employees are all white and middle class.  The sector also has a moral duty to uphold equality and diversity, and a diverse workforce is important to reflect the background of service users.

Why does it happen?

We are all genetically predisposed to like people like us, as we naturally feel that we ‘get’ them and that we can trust them.  Candidates who share interests with their interviewer can chat and make small talk more easily, which makes an interview feel much more comfortable and successful.

This is particularly true with referrals, often a key source for internal recruitment.  Employees tend to know people like them, and the added weight of recommendations means that those candidates have a greater chance of being hired.

What can you do about it?

It is important to note at this point that you don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.  Avoiding hiring clones doesn’t mean you do not want to replicate previous successes within your team.  The key is separating out a candidate’s motivations and ability to handle a role from their personality, background and interests.

The best way to remain objective is to agree the criteria necessary for the role, score candidates against that and make your decision based on those scores.  Behavioural interviewing will help you to stay neutral and focussed on the candidate’s ability to do the job, rather than their personality.  Avoid relying on your gut feeling and consider using psychometric testing to remove even more bias from the interview process.

It’s always a good idea to invite a couple of wild cards to interview.  Even if they don’t work out, it can be rewarding just meeting with them and give you access to new ideas and points of view.

How TPP can help

If you’re struggling to find someone to fit a role, it’s always worth talking to a specialist recruiter like TPP.  We are experts at refining job descriptions and person specifications to make sure only key attributes are included.  We are also a professional third party, so less susceptible to the natural bias that employers feel towards the personality types of their current employees.

Do you encourage your staff to volunteer?

By Jayne Morris, Chief Executive at TPP Not for Profit.

Charities are very good at encouraging private sector companies to give their staff time off to volunteer, but how many have their own policies in place to support their own employees in volunteering?  In this article, we look at the benefits of promoting volunteering to your organisation’s staff and the different ways in which you can support them.


Why encourage your staff to volunteer?

Charities may think that encouraging their own employees to volunteer may simply be taking them away from their desk for no real benefit, but this is far from the truth.

Your employees have chosen to work in the charity sector and obviously want to support good causes.   It is likely that many of them are already involved in some sort of voluntary activity.  By allowing them time to help other organisations, you are both supporting the sector as a whole and showing your employees that you value them and recognise the value of their volunteer work.

Giving a workforce opportunities for volunteering has been proven to improve productivity, morale, and retention.  This is as true for third sector organisations as for those in the private sector.  An occasional change of scene and a bit of variety in a role can make a huge difference in improving someone’s happiness, as well as giving them a new perspective and the opportunity to look at their current role in a new way.

Volunteering is an excellent and extremely cost-effective way for staff to develop new skills and learn from other organisations.  Charities are very good at sharing best practice, but there’s no substitute for being on the ‘shop floor’ of an organisation to learn how they really do things.  Some organisations even include volunteering done in performance reviews and promotion decisions.

Having your own staff volunteering policy in place could help support your argument when going to the private sector to ask for time or funding.  It’s a great way to demonstrate to companies that you truly believe volunteering is valuable.


How can you encourage volunteering?

There are various different ways in which you can approach volunteering in your organisation, depending on the size and make up of its workforce.  When choosing what to put in your volunteering policy, you need to balance the potential benefits of volunteering against any impact of staff being away from their desks.

As a first step, you could take a proportion of your staff out of the office for a short period of time to work on a specific volunteering project.  Many private sector companies approach these opportunities as team-building exercises.  However, these short-term projects can be difficult to organise and don’t always benefit the recipients in the long term.

You could find another organisation to partner with – perhaps a local charity or one with overlapping aims.  You could then ‘swap’ volunteer employees on a regular basis in a mutually beneficial arrangement; both parties learning from one another’s experience.

Probably the most flexible option is to allocate a certain amount of paid leave each year for volunteering.  Each staff member can then choose where, how and when they use their own volunteering leave, and an employee’s support for a charity can be sustained over the long term.

Rather than give paid leave for all volunteering, some organisations choose instead to match employees’ volunteering time.  So for every hour a member of staff volunteers in their own time, they receive a matched hour of paid leave, up to a specified limit.  This requires a bit more commitment on the part of your employees, but can be a less frightening prospect for smaller organisations.

So what next?

Once you have decided which option best suits your organisation, make sure you have a policy in place which is circulated to all employees (you can find an example policy template here).  Whichever option you choose, your employees will certainly be appreciative.  And remember, volunteering must always be optional and must be done for another organisation, not the employee’s own charity, or it is simply extra unpaid work.

TPP give all of our own employees 5 days volunteering leave a year, and many of our staff are trustees or regular volunteers for various charities.  You can find out more about the volunteering that our staff do on our website.


Find your nearest volunteer centre here:
http://www.volunteering.org.uk/where-do-i-start

Are zero hour contracts right for your organisation?

By Penny Antoniou, Social Care Manager at TPP Not for Profit

Recent government announcements to sanction job seekers who refuse zero-hour contracts, have received a mixed response. With recent statistics from the Office for National Statistics revealing that 1.4 million people are on zero hour contracts, which according to the ONS has increased more than threefold since 2010, we take a look at the benefits, drawbacks and alternatives for charities and other not for profit organisations when considering these types of contracts.

The CIPD results showed that 34% of charities compared with 24% of public sector employers and 17% of the private sector employ staff on zero hours contracts.

Why would you use them?

Zero hour contracts are flexible for both employer and employee. For many charities,operating is becoming increasingly unpredictable, due to changes in funding and the way their services operate; such as service users being given their own budget to spend with providers of care. Therefore they don’t have a regular need for staff and these contracts allow them to meet their users’ needs without wasting funds. For employees who don’t need a set number of hours each week, such as students/carers, zero hour contracts give them the flexibility to work when it suits them.

The government have recently been pushing for more flexibility in terms of staff working hours, home working etc, and the charity sector has traditionally offered more flexibility than commercial organisations. Zero hour contracts offer a lot of flexibility for staff and, unless stipulated in the contract,allow employees to work for more than one organisation, enabling them to ensure they still have a regular income. 

What are the disadvantages?

On the flipside, many people need stability and regular income, so they can manage their everyday bills and commitments. Employees on zero hour contracts can also miss out on benefits, such as pensions, especially when employers offer a certain percentile of salary towards pension contributions. 

People on zero hour contracts may not be fully committed to your organisation if they are working for more than one charity and you may still not have staff available when you need them, as they may be working elsewhere. 

It can be difficult to work out holiday pay, holiday accrued, whether the contract still exists between assignments, especially if they work for more than one employer. It is important to therefore ensure their work is tracked by HR and a good relationship is managed between the employee and manager. 

Zero hour contracts can prevent continuity of care, especially in health care settings where care workers get to know the people they care for and their health needs. Zero hour contracts could result in a breakdown of communication or a lack of staff to cover. 

Not for profit organisations need to consider the negative publicity surrounding zero hour contracts. Only last year, organisations such as Turning Point became the target of news stories. Turning Point did respond to this negative press with a statement; however charities should consider the negative impact on donations and to potential donors compared with the savings they make on these contracts.

Points to consider

Before implementing contracts such as these, organisations should think about their aims and ethos and ensure any contract is consistent with this. Give these contracts to the smallest amount of your overall staffing numbers as possible and regularly review how these are working. Where possible, ensure zero hours staff are receiving the same employment rights as staff with part-time or full-time contracts. 

Ensure you both have a copy of the employment contract and if they are managed by a team/line manager, ensure they are aware of their contract and work in-line with their employment status. At all times the contract should be of benefit to you as an employer and to the employee. 

Consider other types of staffing contracts, such as annualised hours. This offers the employee a fixed salary where they work more hours when there is a need and less otherwise. If more hours are required in addition to the fixed hours, you could consider paying overtime.

Temporary or contract staff also offer flexibility without commitment. By working closely with an agency such as TPP, you could have a bank of candidates available at short notice who are actively looking for temporary work.For further information on our temporary services please contact us on 020 7198 6000 or email info@tpp.co.uk.

For further information or advice on zero hour contracts, you may find the following websites useful:

ACAS

CIPD

To follow the latest news on zero hour contracts visit Google news

Our top tips on creating a healthy working environment

By Rob Muddiman, Healthcare Manager at TPP Not for Profit

Our salary surveys indicate that many employees look at other benefits other than salary when moving roles. Everyone wants their staff to be engaged and happy and every organisation can promote a healthy working environment, regardless of financial benefits. Not only does it keep staff healthy, it can improve productivity, morale and reduce absenteeism. Here we give our top tips on creating a healthy working environment for your staff. 

It may be beneficial if you are a large organisation, to conduct a staff survey to find out personal motivations of staff before implementing a plan.


Encourage staff to move

We all know the benefits of exercise and physical activity; it can help increase attention, speed and decrease stress and anxiety.  To encourage staff to get active offer opportunities, such as a cycle scheme, encouraging them to go for walks and have lunch away from their desk. Offering flexible working hours can enable staff to exercise before and after work. It is important to have Team Managers on board when implementing, in order to encourage others to get moving and lead by example.



Support healthy eating

A well-balanced diet helps us to stay healthy and perform well at work.  We are all more likely to change our habits if we are aware of the benefits. Conduct a questionnaire on what staff want and tailor a plan around this. If you offer food or drink in the office, such as through vending machines or a canteen, ensure there are healthy options available at all times, such as water or fruit delivered to the office for people to eat as a healthy alternative.



Promote well-being

Employees want a positive working environment, which promotes their wellbeing and reduces stress. This could include their workload; ensuring they are able to manage the amount of work they have, having a clearly defined role, that they know what they are responsible for and ensuring good relationships between them and their Managers. A good working environment with natural light, appropriate temperatures and good ventilation all help create a good working environment.


Create a clean workspace

Generally people work better when less cluttered, ensure staff have the work space they need, with monitors at the correct height and a supportive comfortable chair. Employees should be able to adjust their own chairs, monitor (brightness/font size). This should be checked when you carry out workstation assessments. Encourage hot desking, can promote de-cluttering of workspaces and bring people together that may not normally work with one another. This can encourage new ideas; ways of working and help people feel more positive.


Quit smoking

For many, smoking is part of routine and habit, such as a smoking break mid-morning. Find out who smokes and who wants to stop through a questionnaire. Holding an event in the office can get people on board and the support from one another can help people to quit. More information can be found on the British Heart Foundation website to help implement a successful campaign.


You could consider a wellbeing day for your organisation, inviting a company in to undertake lifestyle questionnaires with your staff and give advice on nutrition, physical exercise and general wellbeing advice.

Further information and advice for managers on creating a healthy work environment can be found on the following websites:

British Heart Foundation
ACAS
National Institute for Health & Care Excellence 
Chartered Management Institute 

Creating a talent pipeline for your organisation

By Kate Maunder, TPP Consultant

TPP have just produced an infographic on employment in the voluntary sector (click here to see the full infographic). One of the most interesting areas we looked at was at skills shortages in the third sector, particularly in fundraising, marketing and communications, IT, finance and HR.

Charityworks, the UK’s non-profit graduate programme, has also recently released research showing a concerning lack of talent development within the sector. While one in three of the charity leaders surveyed thought talent was the most important ingredient for success, over 80% said their organisation didn’t prioritise it highly enough. Two thirds expected their recruitment budgets to remain static or decrease in 2014.

As we’ve mentioned before, these talent shortages are likely to get worse in the future as competition for the best employees increases. So how can not for profit organisations ensure that new blood is coming in to the sector and ensure there are clear career paths for existing employees to stop people moving out of the sector? Below are some ideas to consider for your organisation.


Employ young people

The budget squeeze of recent years has made non-profits reluctant to hire for entry-level roles, which could potentially be done by volunteers. In fact, only 51% of voluntary sector employers recruited a young person aged under 25 in 2012, compared to 65% of private sector employers. However, this has helped contribute to the talent shortage as it decreases the pool of people to promote and means new blood is not coming in to the sector.

As well as helping create a pool of future charity leaders, there are other key benefits to employing young people. They can bring enthusiasm to an organisation and contribute new and fresh ideas. Entry level employees can also be more easily moulded into the ideas and working practices of their employer, making them valuable advocates and potential future leaders.

To find out more about bringing new people into your organisation, visit Charityworks or Apprenticeships.org.uk.


Identify potential leaders

Promoting from within your organisation is one of the best sources of new managers, as it gives you a new employee already familiar with your working practices and committed to your cause, with a proven track record, but also keeps your best employees interested and motivate with the potential for promotion.

However, creating career paths for employees is not something the third sector does particularly well, and recent cuts in spending on training and development has only made this worse. Four out of five charity Chief Executives come from the private or public sector, showing an obvious lack of leadership potential from within non-profits.

To increase the potential for career advancement for your employees is a three-step process. You need to identify those people within your organisation who have the potential to become future leaders, look at the potential career paths for those individuals and then give them the opportunity to develop the skills required for leadership. Typical leadership capabilities include agility, judgement, cognitive diversity, anticipation and courage.


Embrace flexible working

More than two-thirds (68%) of the voluntary sector workforce are women but there are fewer women in senior management and there is still a substantial gender pay gap. It’s very important that charities do their best to stop these valuable and experienced employees leaving the sector, eg post maternity leave, and help them achieve the work-life balance they require.

One of the most attractive retention incentives to all employees is the ability to work flexibly, and this just becomes more attractive but also harder to achieve higher up the career ladder. 40% of charity employees already work part-time, and the third sector does already offer excellent flexible working opportunities compared to private sector, but there is always room for improvement – our 2012 flexible working survey found 15% of organisations still don’t offer any flexible working options at all.


Look outside the sector

The biggest skill shortages in not for profits occur in those roles, such as fundraising, that do not have a direct equivalent outside the sector. However open they are to commercial candidates, charities are still reluctant to invest in employees who do not have a proven track record, which really narrows the pool of potential new staff in this area.

However, it is easy to concentrate too much on hard skills and experience, that can be learned on the job, at the expense of softer skills and personality traits, that are much harder to acquire. For example, Fundraisers do not necessarily have to have direct experience in fundraising, grant writing, etc, if they are skilled in relationship building, identifying prospects, producing collateral, giving presentations, or "making an ask”.

Commitment to the third sector and the organisation’s particular cause is also something that commercial candidates may find harder to demonstrate. Volunteer or trustee experience, or even a strong network of contacts in the sector, can be used as concrete evidence of commitment. Candidates from outside the sector also often bring in new skills and ideas and increase the diversity of your workforce. However, there are still challenges to overcome when attracting commercial candidates, eg around salaries.

Find out more about what tempts employees to transfer to the third sector.


Work more closely with your recruiter

Recent research has shown that jobseekers believe recruitment companies are the most effective way of finding out about job opportunities, so it’s important to work closely with your recruiter to make sure you don’t miss out on the perfect candidate.

Reputable recruitment consultants like TPP will be able to give you advice on benchmarking salaries and packages, identifying future talent and creating career paths, as well as supplying you with high quality staff to bring in the new skills you require. We work in long-term partnership with our clients and we like to make sure we have a thorough understanding of their working culture and practices. This helps us find candidates who will be able to grow and contribute to the organisation both immediately and in the long term.

As the demand for the best candidates continues to increase, they have more opportunity to pick and choose and longwinded or complicated recruitment processes can really put them off an organisation. At TPP we try to visit all of our clients so that we can assess their working environment in person and really get a feel for the organisation’s culture – this allows us to make really good matches that work on more levels than just the job description or person specification. We also like to keep in regular contact with our clients, so that we can offer candidates feedback on CVs or interviews and ensure they have a positive impression of your organisation.

5 simple ways to reduce your stress in the workplace

By Jayne Morris, Chief Executive at TPP Not for Profit

Work stress can be brought on by a number of reasons, such as increased work demands, deadlines, changes to staff or bullying. This can have a negative impact on your health, and create problems such as not sleeping, lack of concentration or cause unhealthy behaviours, such as drinking in excess. It can also make it difficult to prioritise, juggle demands and can lead to long term absences from work. It is important to therefore tackle and manage your stress as soon as possible for your overall health. 

In this month’s blog we give our top 5 ways to managing your stress in the workplace. 


1.   Speak out

Speak to your Manager when you feel you have too many demands or deadlines approaching. Together work out a plan of tackling your workload before it becomes too much.  By speaking to your peers or colleagues, they may have ideas you had not thought of or may be able to help complete some tasks for you.

Your Manager may be able to make reasonable adjustments to assist you in performing well or suggest ways to organise your workload to help. It is essential to tell your employer if it is putting you or others health at risk, as they have a duty under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure your welfare at work.

If you are stressed over staff/company changes or being bullied, talk to your Manager or an employee you can trust. They can help you understand why changes are happening or deal with a problem, such as bullying, through your HR department.


2.   Build relationships with colleagues and peers

If you are in a senior role within an organisation, it can feel isolating at times; use your network or social media to connect with other peers. People in a similar position can help you obtain ideas and cope more effectively. Be positive and have positive people around you and avoid people that can be draining. Have regular meetings with your colleagues, discussing tasks on your radar. This can help ensure tasks get dealt with promptly before it becomes too late and prevent your workload from becoming too much.


3.    Have breaks

Take breaks at work, away from your desk. A brisk walk can really help clear your head and although may not feel like it, physical exercise can sharpen your focus and lift your mood, making tackling a stressful situation seem less daunting.  Take time to eat throughout the day. Low blood sugar levels can make you feel anxious and irritable. By eating healthy and throughout the day you can keep your energy levels up and stay focussed, to help you tackle your work.

It may feel like you’re wasting time that could be spent working, but you’ll be much more productive, as well as less stressed, when you return to your desk.

Access to work from home, such as through a mobile phone/ laptop, can actually make it more difficult to switch off from work or a problem such as bullying. It can be more tempting to check your emails late at night or at the weekend, giving you no time to clear your mind. Switch your phone off after a certain time and at weekends.

Many organisations offer advice and guidance on a healthy work life balance through employee assistance programmes. Speak to your HR department for advice on this.


4.   Get Organised

It is very easy to say ‘yes’ when asked to do something by your Manager or a colleague, but if you are taking on too much you will end up doing nothing well. Think about your current workload and use a “to do” or task list, prioritising your tasks and how long they will take you to complete. Use this information when assessing whether you have time to take on additional work.

If you have a large task to complete, break it down into smaller tasks. This can make it easier to handle and give a greater sense of achievement as you complete parts of it. If you are find you are getting distracted from a task being in a noisy office, with phones ringing and emails flooding in, put your out of office on and turn your phone on to do not disturb. Switching off from distractions and getting a task completed can really help your workload and reduce stress as a result.  If your workload is still too much after prioritising your to do list then delegate responsibility.

If staff changes are affecting your workload, have a meeting with your team, to work out how to share increased demands and who is best placed to handle tasks. For issues such as bullying, ensure you record when the problem happens and report each instance of it. Having everything in order, will help when speaking to HR.


5.    Think Positively

Stress can feel a lot worse by thinking negatively; you won’t feel motivated or have the energy to tackle the problem. Give yourself a well done for completing tasks, however small and using your network, build relationships with positive people.

If changes in the work place are causing your stress, think about the positive impact this may have on your organisation. People generally don’t like change but certain things are out of your control, such as redundancy by your employer and worrying or stressing about them won’t stop it happening. Instead have plans for ‘what if’ scenarios and try to think about the positive it could have on your work life.


Links for HR/Line Managers

If you are a HR Manager or line Manager, you may find the following links useful in tackling the issue of stress in the workplace. Employers have a legal responsibility to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
 

CIPD – Line management behaviour and stress at work
Health & Safety Executive – Management Standards for work related stress
Employee Assistance Professionals Association


Useful Links on managing your stress

Managing Stress at the top
Help guide – Stress at work
Health & Safety Executive – tackling work related stress

 

 

 

 

An employee onboarding checklist

By Rob Hayter, Director at TPP Not for Profit

Onboarding is the process on inducting a new employee into your organisation and getting them up to speed.  Rather than just leaving them to get on with things, it’s important to make sure that a new member of staff understands your brand and values, the working culture of your organisation and their personal targets and expectations.


A good onboarding process means that a new employee can become productive much more rapidly, helping you to recoup the time and costs involved in recruitment more quickly.

This month’s blog takes the form of a checklist that will help make sure you don’t forget any steps in this important process.  And don’t forget that temps, Trustees and volunteers will need onboarding too!


Before they start

Hold a planning meeting before the new employee starts with key stakeholders, so you can ensure nothing is forgotten and everyone knows which areas of the onboarding process they are responsible for.

Work with your IT team to make sure they have a workstation, email, telecoms, network drives etc set up.

Order business cards.

Make sure key events and meetings are in their diary before they start.

Update your org chart, telephone directories, staff list, seating plans & circulate to all staff.

Make sure the new employee knows when and where to report and who to ask for at reception.

It’s a really good idea to create an induction manual to ensure everything is covered and that the process is consistent for all new members of staff.  This should include your organisation’s background, mission and structure plus staff policies, health & safety information, etc.


On the first day

Book time slots in your diaries for induction, and make sure you go to a meeting room so that you are not interrupted.

Make sure you give your starter a written plan of their objectives and responsibilities.  This is crucial to making sure they know what is expected of them and where to direct their energies.

If there is a probationary period, make sure it is clear what is needed to pass probation.

Have all HR paperwork ready to be completed on day one (or in advance if possible).

Introduce the starter to all their colleagues (or all employees in smaller organisations).

Assign a mentor or buddy at the same level as the new employee to help with day to day issues.

Take them out to lunch with a group of colleagues on their first day.

Run through your organisation’s formal policies, as well as informal conventions like dress code, sickness procedure etc.


In week one


Arrange induction meetings with all teams and back office functions for the new employee, so they have a good understanding of what different areas of the organisation do.

If possible, it’s a really good idea to arrange a welcome meeting with a director or the CEO, so they can personally make the starter feel welcome and explain their vision for the organisation.

Arrange training if needed.

Make sure they have some actual work to do, not just learning.  It’s virtually impossible to take in everything if it’s presented in one unbroken block of information.


Ongoing

Set regular (weekly if possible) meetings to check the progress of the new employee and that all areas of the induction have been covered.

Arrange a formal progress meeting (often a probation review) after three months.  This should have been enough time for an employee to settle in and start producing work of value.

In the unfortunate situation where things are not working out, act promptly.  It’s in everyone’s interest to be told about the situation as soon as possible.  Set a plan for improvement and if that fails, cut ties as soon as possible.


Useful Links

Induction advice from CIPD

Induction & probation forms and templates from HR Bird

Recruitment & induction booklet from Acas

Downloadable probation documents from CIPD