Helpful insights from our experts

What recruitment challenges will businesses face in 2023?

If there is one thing we have all learnt over the past three years, it is that the recruitment industry needs to be agile and quick to react as workplaces rapidly change and evolve. Recruitment challenges in 2023 are likely to follow the pattern of recent years. Hiring strategies need to be constantly reviewed, assessed and updated with new insight to ensure they get results. It is something that has meant a rapid period of development internally in many recruitment agencies, and they have become stronger and more efficient for it.

In 2022, recruitment problems were at record levels as three out of four companies struggled to hire staff in the UK, according to the British Chambers of Commerce. The construction sector faced the biggest challenge, followed by the production, manufacturing, and hospitality industries. UK manufacturing companies have already been forced to cut jobs and production because of soaring energy costs.

The corporate world is still recovering from the global pandemic, reeling from the Great Resignation, and adapting to changes in the way we live, such as remote working. Add to that the economic uncertainty, interest rates challenges, changes to visa rules and supply chain issues, and many predict a reduction in hiring in 2023.

But instead of organisations introducing hiring freezes or reducing numbers, it should actually be seen as an opportunity to spot new recruitment trends and have a sharper focus on ensuring the right high-quality candidates are secured for permanent job roles.

Navigating candidate shortages
A key recruiting challenge in 2023 is a shortage in candidates to fill key existing roles in the labour market. This is partly due to a reduction in international travel, meaning a reduced supply of international candidates.

Businesses are already competing for the best staff in the market, so solutions that introduce new staff into the talent pool could be one important development. The opportunity to hire overseas workers through agencies like RE Recruitment introduces a new way to deal with seasonal demand and labour shortages. Whether it’s recruiting a high volume of workers on a seasonal recruitment drive or hiring a senior level executive from overseas specialist seasonal worker schemes are in place to help UK businesses. Schemes such as the UK seasonal poultry worker scheme help businesses to navigate visa regulations and requirements whilst hiring thoroughly vetted and professional staff.

Learn more about the benefits of hiring seasonal workers.

An employee led market
Firms must be encouraged to unlock talent pools by investing in training, adopting flexible working patterns, and expanding the use of apprenticeships. This can be particularly difficult when budgets are being cut, but retaining staff and investing internally can stimulate company growth and minimise the cost of recruitment going forwards.

The challenges for businesses are the options available to candidates as we remain in an employee led market.

An Employee led market is a popular term in the recruitment industry where the market is driven by candidates rather than businesses. This sentiment is explained by year on year growth in new job roles becoming available on the market, exceeding the number of candidates looking for work.

Competition with ‘smart’ recruitment solutions such as AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing field which has the potential to transform many aspects of our lives, and in particular our work life. ITV news recently focused on the popular AI content generation tool, Chat GPT and the issues teachers will face grading work.

For businesses looking to recruit, the use of this AI technology can be used to create job descriptions in seconds vs hours. Whilst this sounds great in principle, the data from the tool can be considered robotic and generic, meaning lots of duplicated content flooding the job boards.

Whilst AI recruitment software can identify talent, screen CVs, reduce bias, and communicate with prospective candidates via chatbots it cannot replace the person to person relationships that can be built by your team during the recruitment process.

Growing your brand during a economic crisis
Workers are increasingly nervous about moving roles when the economy already feels a little unsteady, so more thought is going into career moves than ever before. This might seem like a benefit to businesses who are able to keep staff longer, however your staff need to be motivated to ensure they are not staying for the wrong reasons.

The ‘community’ feeling that workers used to get in offices is now largely obsolete due to increased remote working, meaning that there is often less workplace loyalty.

Employers need to promote the ‘company brand’ internally to create a positive company culture to attract and retain talent. Scheduling staff social events whether remotely or in person are a great way to allow staff to reset and reconnect away from the pressures of work. For larger teams or teams split across locations/countries, having separate events for teams is a guaranteed way to increase staff participation.

Evolving strike regulations
With numerous industries – including postal staff, railway crew and ambulance drivers – already having voted to strike in 2023, there is a lot of change on whether contractor recruitment agencies are legally permitted to supply workers to replace striking staff.

Despite regulations prohibiting agencies from introducing or supplying agency staff during a strike, ministers last year said they would revoke restrictions so that employers could plug staffing gaps with temporary agency workers. It’s an area of rapid change, but undoubtedly a key area for recruitment in 2023.

Prioritising Staff Retention
Organisations have always been acutely aware how essential it is to retain quality talent. Recruiting new employees is essential for a company to grow and to bring fresh talent and ideas through the doors, but it’s also more valuable than ever to recognise the potential in the staff you already have.

For businesses that operate with temporary staff our blog on how to motivate your temporary employees is a great place to start. We cover 10 easy to implement, yet often overlooked, changes you can begin implementing immediately.

For businesses with long term growth goals hiring quality permanent staff who are keen to develop is key. Companies with low rates of employee turnover not only find it easier to grow, but the fact also serves as a great incentive for people considering joining your organisation.

If you’re searching “how to replace retiring employees”, you’ve likely just found yourself with the daunting task of replacing someone that is irreplaceable!

Retiring staff members possess years of knowledge, experience, and contacts, and are relied on by other colleagues to answer any queries because of their extensive industry know-how.

But it’s a situation that businesses are increasingly going to be navigating due to the UK’s ageing workforce. There is currently a record level of older employees, aged 65 years and over, working in the UK. With the Office of National Statistics putting it at 1.5million people older people active at work. Not only does this mean it’s essential for a successful business to have a strategy in place to replace retiring staff with new talent, but it is time businesses used it as an opportunity for learning and growth.

If you’re dealing with a resignation, learn how to handle an employees resignation in our blog.

Involve the retiring worker for knowledge transfer
The first step when looking to fill the role would be to look at the original job specification and interview process. Whilst this will give guidance, it’s important to assess how you see the future of this role and whether you want to broaden their remit and required skill sets.

Although it’s likely you have a solid understanding of their role, ask them about their day-to-day work, the main skills they use, how they see the role progressing, and whether there are any internal members of staff they think would be a good replacement. The success of the replacement could be greatly affected by this feedback. It’s a great recruitment strategy as they will have an in-depth knowledge of the requirements for the role, so incorporate as much of their insight into developing a revised job specification so there is clarity for those interested in applying.

Inviting the retiring employee to participate in the recruitment process and interviews alongside the hiring manager could be an appropriate next step or devising some relevant interview questions at the very least.

Have staff ready to progress
When members of your workforce are nearing retirement age, it’s more important than ever to invest in training and development of promising staff that could progress. It’s great for team morale to feel like career advancement is prioritised and means future recruitment decisions can be made quicker. There is also the huge bonus of not having to spend time onboarding as many external people if there are a steady stream of talent coming up through the business.

It’s important to remember to practice this approach throughout the company structure, as promoting a staff member internally in one area means there will then be a vacancy elsewhere. Also that if each role is filled with internal candidates, you could be missing out on exploring quality external candidates who could bring fresh skills and perspective into the business.

Collaborate on onboarding
Knowledge silos are a real problem in modern workplaces and occur when an employee leaves an organisation and takes their extensive knowledge with them. A period of knowledge transfer and transition, is where the retiring member of staff can share their knowledge with the new candidate.

This is a great solution for training and onboarding and could potentially be rolled out for a number of months if they give advance notice of their retirement date. Business could even offer a phased retirement, where the staff member goes down to part-time hours or even takes on a consultancy role.

Involve an experienced agency to replace your retiring employees
Recruitment agencies are a failsafe way of finding quality permanent employees. Agencies like RE Recruitment will help you find candidates for open vacancies and you will only pay should your vacancy be filled.

As a a recruitment agency we have over 20 years’ experience across a wide number of sectors and have offices across the UK in Cheltenham, Hereford, Telford & Worcester. We have a team of recruitment specialists who are experts at attracting talent and filling roles with quality individuals who fit your company culture.

If you are looking to hire and would like a no obligation call, please submit a staffing requirement and let us know who you are looking to hire.

Handling an employee’s resignation is one of work life’s inevitable yet frustrating realities. When a member of your team decides to leave they also take their knowledge, contacts, skills and experience with them.

A Resignation can impact workloads, staff morale and even cause a domino effect of other people applying for external roles if not managed well. So what can you do to handle your employees’ resignation in the most effective way?

How to react to your employees resignation
It’s important to acknowledge that people come and go, so be gratuitous. Remember that if they are a good employee, you might want to leave the door open for them to stay in touch. They could re-join the company in the future with more skills gathered from other companies and direct competitors.

It’s also important to remember that the employee more than likely has a notice period to work and won’t be leaving the same day. Take note of the employees final date of employment to start the process.

Whilst difficult to accept, an employee resigning is also a learning opportunity to find out exactly why they are leaving. This could be issues with other team members or management, company culture, personal workload or morale.

When should you consider a counter offer?
When one of your employees resigns you will often have the opportunity to offer a counter offer. Counter offers can present an opportunity to not only retain a member of staff, but learn more about their motivations to leave.

This process is an opportunity for the resigning member of staff to reconsider their decision and for you as the hiring manager to decide whether you would like to counter their new offer.

Counter offers are usually made when the departure of an employee will have a significant impact on the business. This could be the cost of replacing someone with their skillset, the down time of recruiting a replacement or even the impact their departure would have on team morale. You should also consider whether the employee is moving to a direct competitor and the impact this can have.

The vast majority of counter offers are usually focused around an increase in salary or a promotion. But before you offer a higher salary, take the time to assess the situation and see if there is a more personal reason for this employee looking to move. For example, an employee could be burnt out and the opportunity to move on and make more money while doing it, was too good to turn down. In this instance you could approach the employee about flexible or remote working, highlighting the advantages of more time at home. Remember, this is a two way process that requires clarity and transparency, ultimately you want to achieve what is best for both parties.

The most common reasons for resigning and areas addressed in a counter offer include:
-An increase in salary

-Lack of opportunities in their current role, and potential career progression

-Negative working environment

-An opportunity to join a more high-profile company, or gain more experience in a particular field

-Better work-life balance

What should you ask in an exit interview?
If you have tried counter offering, or have decided to let your employee leave the business, you will need to conduct a formal exit interview process.

Exit interviews are a great way of finding out how you can improve processes within your business. It can give insight into specific staff and management issues, as well as bigger picture data on staff turnover. The answers likely show where improvements can be made to your processes, which will ultimately help you improve employee retention.

A snapshot into the insightful questions you can ask in an exit interview include:

What prompted you to start looking for a new job, and eventually leave?
This question can throw up a variety of answers and be attributed to both the employees personal and professional life, but start looking for common themes that arise across exit interviews. The secondary question is an opportunity to find out if there was a specific moment that prompted their final decision to resign.

Under what circumstances would you potentially return to the company?
This is an opportunity to hear any issues an employee has had with their role or with the business, but in a constructive way. This will also give you an insight into what they value in a job. They might bring up anything from pay, working hours, company culture and career progression.

Do you feel your contributions were appreciated in your role?
This is an important question because even if the employee was a good performer, it addresses whether they felt valued and appreciated rather than specifically their competency. It also can give an indication of any issues around morale and motivation for the remaining staff.

Do you feel you had the tools and resources to carry out the job to the best of your ability?
You can gather valuable feedback on whether there were blockers or skills gaps within the business which might have impacted the exiting employee. You can review the job role before finding a suitable replacement.

How has your role changed, and do you feel like you had clear goals and support?
People are often wary of showing any sign of not knowing exactly what their priority is or needing more clarity on a project. An exit interview – where they speak freely – is a good time to see whether there is a lack of clarity around the businesses strategic imperatives.

Notifying your other employees
If it’s appropriate, have conversations with your staff members to reassure them of how you plan to fill this vacancy. If people are going to need to take on more work, outline the timeline for finding a replacement – whether that’s a temporary or permanent employee. Show that the wellbeing of staff is a priority, and potentially address any compensation if the increased workload is significant. Employees feeling overwhelmed or overburdened is a huge contributor to staff turnover.

How to handle your employees resignation and source a replacement?
Agencies such as RE Recruitment provide a specialist recruitment service for businesses who need to hire new staff. Most recruitment agencies operate on a no win no fee basis, unless the search is retained. This means using a specialist recruitment agency will only cost you once the job is filled.

Skill shortages can increase the time it takes to find a suitable employee for your business.

Our team already have an extensive database of local talent which makes finding people an easy and efficient process. We have access to an extensive live database of contacts, and access to all the leading job boards.

With over 20 years experience of bringing professionals together, trust our team to help you fill your staff requirement.

How to motivate your temporary employees

Temporary employees can be an efficient and cost-effective asset to any business. Whether it’s covering busy work periods, staff absence, or to fill a sudden vacancy, they offer flexible cover that helps businesses to thrive. But there is also the danger that seasonal workers or temps can feel disengaged and unmotivated if they know they’re only going to be in a role for a limited amount of time. That is why it’s so important to consider the best ways to motivate temporary employees, to ensure employee engagement and that everyone has the best working experience.

1. Include temporary staff in team events
It’s well known that good teamwork improves individual employee performance, so it’s a no-brainer to make sure temporary staff are included in team events. Not only will it boost team morale and engagement, but temporary staff are also more likely to speak favourably about your business if they found it a welcoming and inclusive place to work. It could improve your reputation if ever you need to recruit more temporary staff or an immediate hire as part of your team.

2. Encourage and create new friendships
Creating a friendly team culture can be a challenge, but there are several ways you can do this. Start a buddy scheme at work so that each new temporary worker is assigned a permanent member of staff to check in on them, and ensure you tell temps about any social groups.

Allow temporary staff to spend time together and encourage people to take their breaks at the same time so that conversation and friendships can form.

3. Present the opportunity to learn new skills
Equipping temporary staff with new skills is a win-win situation. The temp will know that learning new skills makes them more employable in the long run so will be motivated to pick up any new knowledge, and the business is able to up-skill people in any areas they have a shortage in.

4. Offer advanced training
Any formal training shows a commitment to the personal and professional development of temporary staff and is a great way to motivate them whilst also reaping the rewards of a fully-trained workforce. There is the further advantage of being able to spot whether anyone excels in a particular area and could be a good permanent fit for your business.

5. Offer career advice with permanent team members
If you think it would be beneficial, ensure that temporary staff know they can approach team members for career advice. This might be particularly useful for people at the start of their career, such as students or recent graduates, or anyone looking for a change in career direction. You can make this a casual arrangement or formalise it with regular check-ins.

6. Offer cash or other incentives
A bonus scheme is a sure-fire way to get staff motivated and engaged. For seasonal employees this could be hitting a performance target, such packing a certain number of orders within a shift and receiving vouchers, cash or free meals in return.

Remember that the goal needs to be a stretch but obtainable, and the incentive needs to be something that the employee will value and want to work towards. This is a great way to motivate seasonal staff who are employed to cover a particularly intense period of year.

7. Keep in contact about future work
Make it clear from the start of a temporary work engagement that you will be keen to keep in contact with people about future work if this pans out well. It’s also encouraging for temporary staff to hear of any permanent members of the business who started as temps, so they see that these temporary positions can turn into permanent roles with potentially a higher salary.

8. Communicate with them regularly
It’s important to remember to treat everyone as an individual, and for team managers to get to know their staff personally. When team managers are communicating with temps, they should greet them by their preferred name and make an effort to make conversation. It goes a long way to making someone feel like a valued member of a team, and it’s these informal conversations that build the foundations for great communication.

9. Highlight good work and reward however suitable
Whilst it’s important to track how people perform against goals and targets, remember some of the ‘softer’ contributions that people can bring to a workforce too. Highlighting good work, such as helping others or sharing knowledge, is a great way to motivate staff and show that you are paying attention to their progress.

10. Show appreciation in a group environment
A simple ‘thank you’ can go a long way, particularly if you are in a group setting. It doesn’t matter whether you chose to gather everyone together or simply send a message or email to the entire team or staff, but showing gratitude and appreciation publicly makes people feel valued and encourages them to maintain or exceed that level of commitment and motivation going forward.

How to hire temporary staff for your business
If you’re a business that relies on hiring seasonal staff at peak times of the year, our guide on how to hire temporary staff is a great place to start. Our temporary recruitment team are also available to help you find the staff you need.

For a discussion about your requirements please contact one of our office branches who will be happy to qualify your requirement and begin finding you staff.

Temporary staff are an important addition to any company’s workforce. Hiring temporary workers can help you meet short-term demands in staffing and cover seasonal peaks such as summer work and Christmas periods. But how do you attract temporary staff that have the right skills and who are reliable and committed? And once you’ve found them, how do you get the best out of them? We’ll show you how in our blog.

How to attract temporary staff

Recruiting for temporary staff should not be too different to recruiting for permanent staff. Be clear about what the job entails, what is expected of the employee and what the package looks like. Here’s are some key strategies to help you attract good temporary staff through your doors:

Give a clear job description
To get the best out of people, you need to be clear about what’s expected of them. This means having a detailed job description outlining the main duties and responsibilities of the role. This should also clearly explain what exactly is on offer – what are the working hours, holiday and sick pay, what is the start and end date and is there any flexibility in that?

Offer a competitive compensation
If you want to attract the best temporary staff you need to be willing to pay for it. This might mean offering a good pay package or including other perks such as bonuses, flexible working options (if applicable), free drinks or lunches, transport incentives, gym memberships and invitations to company socials.

Create opportunities for self-development
The more you invest in your temporary staff the more you’re going to get out of them. Paying for temporary staff to go on training courses shows your staff members that you value them and the additional skills acquired will only benefit your company. Highlight any openings that may arise to develop the role into a full-time post (if that is applicable), and keep staff informed about any career progression opportunities.

What are the advantages of hiring temporary staff

Hiring temporary staff can help to fill an immediate gap in your workforce, but there are other benefits, which we’ve summarised below. You can also discover all the key advantages and disadvantages of hiring temporary staff in our recent blog.

Advantages of hiring temporary staff:
Immediate solution for sudden vacancies
Can meet seasonal demand such as Christmas and summer work
Flexibility to adjust workload to meet changing company requirements
Opportunity to bring new skills to your teams
Chance to evaluate potential staff before hiring permanently
No pressure to commit
Cost-and time-effective if using recruitment agencies that specialise in placing temporary staff

What is the cost of attracting temporary staff?

Hiring temporary staff doesn’t have to be expensive, especially if you use a specialist recruitment agency. To save you money and time searching for temporary employees, RE Recruitment has a dedicated team who specialise in hiring, interviewing and qualifying candidates to match businesses with qualified temporary staff who meet requirements.

If you need to fill seasonal vacancies, hiring seasonal workers from overseas represents good value for money, especially if you outsource your recruitment. Our blog on How to Solve Labour Shortage Problems with the Help of Seasonal Workers offers a detailed look at the benefits seasonal workers can bring to your company at busy times. At RE recruitment, we have a pool of trusted seasonal temporary workers who have worked with us for many years. This means we can provide good temporary workers who we know and who we can match with the right company. And we will take care of all necessary legal paperwork and documentation.

Advertising for students can also be a cost-effective way of hiring temporary workers. Many students come with their own set of skills which could prove useful to your company and most students are keen to learn new skills. If you offer training and development, you could find yourself with a fully-trained up member of staff on your books!

What’s the best way to attract temporary staff?
One of the easiest ways to attract temporary staff to your business is to use a specialist recruitment company who has experience in placing temporary staff. RE Recruitment has a specialist service for finding temporary staff for teams who require an immediate hire or flexibility for busy periods. To find out more about how we can find temporary staff to suit your business needs, speak to one of our specialist advisers.

How do you prepare for a director level interview? When it comes to interviews – especially at a senior level, you can’t afford to miss anything. From detailed preparation, your entrance to the office and your body posture in the interview. And that’s all before you have been asked a question! Here, Hayley Morris, Head of Professional Services, gives us her top 10 tips for preparing for a director level interview.

The importance of director level interviews

As a director, your actions and decisions will significantly impact the organisation. Depending on your area within the organisation, this could be its overall strategy, culture, development, or growth. So, a director level interview is an extremely important event for any organisation, and they need to understand a candidate’s suitability. Not just in terms of skills and experience but also in working methods, leadership style and cultural fit.

10 Tips for preparing for a director level interview
Detailed research
Let’s start with the basics, this may seem obvious, but detailed research is extremely important. Firstly, highlight keywords and requirements in the job description. These will be used for the answer preparation in our second tip. Secondly, all available material online, the company website, LinkedIn, news articles and financial reports. You will need to have good all-around knowledge of its operations, culture, and strategic goals, such as its mission statement, core values, and company history. Thirdly, and this is the one that many people forget – research competitors. Showing an awareness of the competition and the things that others in the industry are doing is key. And lastly, research the people who are going to be on the interview panel. Knowing their career history and achievements will help when you finally meet them.

Prepare a skills bank
Using your CV, pull out your skills and knowledge relevant to the keywords and requirements of the job role. Write out the situations where you have learnt and developed these skills and become an expert in this area. Also, write down examples of where you successfully demonstrated the experience they are looking for and your key achievements and tangible results that you can display and prove. Think back on all the times when you showed strong leadership qualities. For all examples, write a brief description of the situation, what actions you took and the tangible result. If nothing else, even just thinking and writing about them will help keep them fresh in your mind ahead of the interview. That way, they’re not something new or unexpected for you to talk about when you try to use them as examples.

Prepare answers to potential questions
Now that you know the characteristics of your actions consider how you can show those qualities in an interview. Using your detailed research and your skills bank, prepare some answers to anticipated questions. The best way is by telling a story and discussing when you demonstrated the qualities in question. It would help if you prepared answers to questions about the company and the role itself. You’ll want to show that you’ve done your research on each: what does it do? Who are its competitors? How does this position fit into its overall strategy? And remember: if there’s a particular aspect of the business that seems interesting or important—for example, a new product launch or recent acquisition—you should try including it when describing how your experience translates into value for them. Technical skills are important, but so is understanding the business. It would be best if you showed that you know the business strategy and can help implement it.

Prepare some questions of your own
You should also prepare some questions of your own. An excellent way to prepare is to consider what you want to know about the company and the role. You could also ask about the strategy for growth and how they are going about it (or how they want someone with your skillset to contribute). Or consider asking about the team, what strengths and weaknesses they have identified and what improvements they see as being needed.

Think about your failures
This might sound strange, but in reality, no one has ever got it right the first time, every time. Be prepared to talk about some things you may not have done right. You will always be asked about the failures in your career, so make sure you have planned what to say and how to say it. You shouldn’t be trying to point out your flaws, so consider how you can highlight what you learnt from these situations. Think about the things you did to rectify failed initiatives and projects. Or the improvement measures and lessons learnt from these situations.

Practice your responses
With your preparation complete, it’s essential that you practice your responses. Ask someone you trust to give honest and critical feedback on your answers. If there isn’t anyone to help you, then you can use the mirror, audio notes or record a video of yourself. It’s not just your words and tone of voice but also your non-verbal behaviours. So, get feedback on your body language and mannerisms. You want to come across as comfortable and unperturbed, but at the same time, you shouldn’t appear too laid-back.

Your arrival
After preparing for a director level interview, it’s important not to let your hard work go to waste by a poorly executed interview. Plan your journey to ensure an early appearance – fifteen minutes is a good guideline. It’s becoming much more common for organisations hiring for senior positions to ask those who will encounter for their impression of you. So, remember that the “interview” could start as soon as you approach the receptionist. Use the time wisely to gain knowledge about the company, its work culture, work environment and employees by watching what’s happening. You can also chat with those in the reception area; again there is a chance that there are people around to see how you behave.

Your behaviour in the interview
Walk into the interview with a smile and confidence, greet the interviewers and shake their hands firmly. Wait to be asked to be seated before you sit down. Using people’s names a few times at the right opportunity is an excellent way to show that you are giving them importance. Be poised and prompt in your responses, and never over-enthusiastic or over-confident. It’s vital to display open body language, so no crossed arms or legs. Sit straight with your hands on your lap. A little laughter and personality are important to demonstrate your authentic self. And it’s important to maintain eye contact and direct your answer to the person who asked the question.

Make a lasting impression
At the end of the interview, asking if they are happy with how you answered their questions is a good idea. This can give you a second stab at something the panel may have felt you didn’t respond well enough. Also, try and offer any further information on your experience and achievements that you didn’t get the chance to discuss if they are relevant to the role. The end of the interview offers the last opportunity to clinch the job and leave an all-important lasting impression. Without sounding desperate, let the panel know your eagerness to get the job and the opportunity of working in the company.

Follow-up after the interview
As soon as you leave, it’s good practice to make notes – the questions they asked and the answers you gave. If you aren’t successful, these notes can help you prepare for your next interview. Send an email to the hiring manager thanking them for the interview. You can use this to follow up on anything you may have thought of after the interview while making your notes. Reiterate your key strengths and skills now that you have a deeper understanding of the company, the role, and your eagerness for the job.

Conclusion

The director level interview is a chance to demonstrate that you understand the company’s strategy and can play an essential part in helping to implement it. This means displaying good people skills and showing that you have strategic thinking abilities. The interview process will likely include technical questions and questions about your ability to do this work. You need to demonstrate that you are a successful and effective leader that can share your opinion and offer suitable solutions to problems. Whilst showcasing your unique and pioneering vision for the company and your ability to inspire others.

I hope that you have found these tips for preparing for a director level interview useful and if you are looking for your next senior job opportunity, look at our current roles. Or, if you want to make your first move into senior management and want further help and advice, get in touch.

We’re not just any recruitment company. We see ourselves as part of the communities that we work in, and we are always looking for ways to support our communities. We have previously talked about the fact that we place a real focus on employees’ personal development and well-being. And the successes of our people both at work and in their personal lives are important to us. So, when the opportunity to combine both arose, we stepped up! We’re sponsoring Mark Norton, Head of Onsite Services, and the Welsh Hockey Union team at the upcoming World Masters Hockey 2022 World Cup in South Africa.

The tournament starts on 1 October and will see 11 teams from all over the world battle it out. Here we caught up with Mark to find out more about his passion for hockey and the support that RE Recruitment has given him to be able to represent his country on the world stage.

Here we quiz Mark on his love of hockey and the significance of this event.

What team do you represent?
Stroud was the first club where my hockey pastime began almost 33 years ago. A schoolteacher introduced hockey to the school shortly after the success of the GB side at the Olympics in 1988. He also played at Stroud Hockey Club, and after spotting my talent for the sport, he suggested I join them. I played for Stroud for most of my hockey life, but I’ve recently had to make a tough decision to change clubs. Living in Gloucester (and having a son to run around to various sports clubs) made it difficult to travel and get to games on time. So, this season I have joined Gloucester City Hockey Club – which is closer to home.

What position do you play?
Like most players of my age, I’ve played at most positions on the pitch, including Goalkeeper. In my earlier seasons, playing Goalkeeper, I represented Wales U21s (although didn’t get capped that time) – and Gloucestershire County at Senior Level. More recently, I have transitioned to playing on the pitch, which I enjoy more. I believe that the experience of playing in goal has helped me better understand tactics and positional awareness.

Mark Norton Welsh Hockey
How did you get selected for the Welsh Hockey team?
One Friday evening just before Covid appeared in 2020, and after a glass of wine (perhaps it was more than one), I decided to log my interest in trialling for the Wales Masters 045s. It was always my aim to play Hockey for as long as I could. Club hockey is very inclusive, and over the years, I have played alongside great players of all ages. I thought that for my age, I was a reasonable player and could hold my own with some of the younger players! So, with the confidence found in wine, I emailed the key contacts with my interest.

I was contacted with information about the process and asked if I would be interested in playing in the World Cup in South Africa. There were several challenges gathering the squad together. Many players are teachers, and the tournament is scheduled in term time. As well as this, there is the cost. International tournaments in this age category are completely self-funded. So, we must pay for our travel, accommodation and kit. This was a challenge for me, and I had lots of long conversations about how I could afford it. But there was no way I could miss this opportunity. I had the backing of my wife and family, who understood my passion and the size of the opportunity.

Two World Cup cancellations later (due to Covid), in February 2022 – the squad selection process was restarted. I attended trials, this time at the Home Nations tournament playing against England, Scotland and Ireland. I played some of my best hockey, and I got selected! Next up is the World Cup, which has once again been arranged in South Africa, and I’m now able to use my paid flight vouchers (from the 2020 cancelled event) for their intended purpose!

Good Luck message to Mark Norton Head of Onsite Service RE Recruitment

What does hockey mean to you?
At school, I was one of the boys that were in the last few to be selected for various sports. This spurred me on to prove to myself that I could achieve success in sports. When we started playing hockey at school, we were all beginners (due to its new arrival in school PE). I took the chance and tried out for the school team. This sense of determination helped with my confidence. This has definitely helped me progress professionally and specifically working in the challenging recruitment sector.

Working in an environment like recruitment, I value an opportunity to “let off steam”. I find hockey provides the platform for me to do this. Playing a game or training at the weekend helps me return to work on a Monday with a clear head. My family will agree I’m a better person when I have exercised!

Mark Norton Head of Onsite Services RE Recruitment

How has RE Recruitment supported you?
RE Recruitment has been behind my journey all the way. Following the selection process in 2020, they have been encouraging and supportive. Working for a company that provides a great employee value proposition has helped me achieve selection. We close our offices early on Friday, and this gives me a little “me” time. It has allowed me to grab some extra gym sessions and improve my fitness which boosted my chances of selection.

When an opportunity became available to sponsor the team, I presented the idea to the Senior team at RE Recruitment. They were quick to agree to sponsor both the squad and me as we work towards the World Cup and beyond. RE Recruitment has committed to be the Wales O45’s Men’s team shirt sponsor for the next three years. This provides vital funding for us that will support the costs for tournament entries in the future, including the Home Nations Championships, the European Championships, and the next World Cup.

Their support financially means a lot to the team and me personally. Their commitment to me as an employee to develop not just professionally but in a sport that I am passionate about really does set them apart as an employer. They can see the benefits of having employees that are happy both in and out of work.

To find out more about working for RE Recruitment and our fantastic working environment, then please get in touch.

RE Recruitment has been granted a seasonal worker scheme licence for the poultry sector to recruit overseas workers to the UK. The licence allows us to recruit temporary workers under the visa scheme in the poultry industry. We are one of only two agencies nationally to be granted the licence to recruit overseas workers under the Seasonal Worker visa route, a Temporary Visa for poultry.

The Seasonal Worker visa scheme
The Seasonal Worker visa route is a new government initiative. Organisations in the poultry supply chain can recruit overseas workers. The licence has been awarded until 2024 following a competitive tender process. It will enable us to recruit personnel from inside and outside the EU without the need for individuals to be part of the Government’s Settlement Scheme.

This follows the Government announcement in February this year that an additional 1,200 visas would be available over the next four years. With a commitment of 2,000 visas each year until 2024. The Temporary Visa Scheme for poultry was announced in 2021 and designed to ease the seasonal pressures on the poultry industry. Visas will be available for workers arriving from 1 November 2022, and they must leave the UK by 31 December 2022.

The visa scheme will support the poultry industry during its busiest time of the year.
James Gibbs, Managing Director at RE Recruitment, said. “We are delighted that RE Recruitment has been selected to lead the search and recruit overseas temporary workers. This will allow us to support the important British poultry industry during its busiest time of the year. Our specialist team will be working with companies all over the country. Ensuring they are sufficiently staffed with a skilled workforce.”

“…supporting an important British industry during its busiest time of the year.”

Companies looking to recruit temporary workers through the scheme can use RE Recruitment to search for candidates to fill seasonal vacancies. The recruitment process will involve processing and securing temporary visas so that workers can enter the UK to begin employment. Looking to hire seasonal poultry staff through the seasonal worker scheme? Get in touch with the fulfilment team.

Managing all aspects of the visa processing
Mark Norton, Head of Onsite Services, says, “We will manage all aspects of the visa processing so that the companies we are recruiting for can focus on their businesses. And for our candidates, a seamless and straightforward recruitment and contracting process. Without the need for them to be worried about the complexities surrounding visa applications.”

“We will manage all aspects of the visa processing so companies can focus on their businesses.”

For the poultry industry, companies can use the visa to recruit seasonal workers for the role of:

butcher
bird or game dresser
killer or plucker
poulterer
poultry processor
poultry sticker
trusser
food operative
poultry catcher or handler
poultry vaccinator
poultry meat packer
If your company would like to utilise the seasonal worker visa scheme or if you have any other temporary or seasonal vacancies that you want to discuss, please contact the team today.

As part of a series of articles written for the local business publication Business Insider, our Onboarding and Training Manager Lucy Dowie described our talent development strategy. Here at Re Recruitment, we place a real focus on personal development and well-being. And the successes of our people and their personal developments speak for themselves.

RE Recruitment Talent Development Strategy
Growing our Own Talent
We do like to ‘grow our own’ talent. This is most evident when you look at our first-line management team. 95% of these managers started at a trainee level within the business and have grown and evolved to management roles. In a market where the competition for talent is fierce, it has never been more critical for companies to be able to develop their people.

We genuinely place enormous value on the development of every member of staff. We have numerous employees on apprenticeship programmes spanning multiple areas of study. These include Recruitment Consultancy, Accountancy, Business Administration, Compliance and Project Management. Our robust onboarding programme for new starters provides a solid foundation upon which everyone can embark on their career path within the business.

We use a combination of classroom training, webinar, eLearning on-demand content and on-the-job training. This ensures that delivery styles are varied and cater to all learning styles. We also bring in specialist external providers to upskill our consultants in target areas. To ensure that our business is keeping pace with a challenging labour market.

Learning and talent development strategy
The appetite for continued learning and development is reflected in the willingness of many of our management team to get involved with training. Our compliance team members take turns delivering in-depth monthly compliance courses. They ensure we keep abreast of ever-changing employment legislation and government regulations. Representatives from our busy Finance department and social media team also act as Training Champions for these parts of the business. We are always looking to encourage others to participate in sharing their knowledge and experience.

The Department of Education has been bringing in a raft of new educational standards, such as T levels and Flexi-apprenticeships. At RE Recruitment, we have developed our Academy-style training programme for consultants, and we are confident that we will continue to broaden the scope of qualifications and learning on offer to all our employees.

Employee well-being strategy
Earlier this year, after riding out the turbulence of the pandemic, we identified that, in addition to training on job-specific skills, it is essential for employers to take a more holistic approach to employee wellbeing. We have implemented several initiatives where staff are encouraged to participate in activities, such as our weekly online Pilates session or drop-in virtual Mindfulness Workshop on Wellness Wednesday. Here people can discuss techniques to combat stress and anxiety. We also encourage our teams to leave the office for a Walking Meeting. We also boldly moved to close the offices at 1 pm on Fridays. The feedback from this change to working conditions has been well received with no negative impact on productivity. The four-day working week draws ever closer, perhaps!

Expect more from your employer
There is little doubt that learning and development are critical to the growth and success of every business. One of our mission statements is to Expect More. We ask our customers to expect more of the services we can deliver. It seems only fair then that our employees ask to Expect More on their career path with us. So with our leading talent development strategy, we really are a great place to work. If you are interested in starting a career in recruitment, we offer a structured and supported approach to becoming a consultant. Or if you are an experienced recruitment consultant looking for a different kind of employer, then get in touch today.

We have offices in Cheltenham, Hereford, Telford and Worcester and an additional three offices in Bristol, Cardiff and Staffordshire with our sister company Safehands Recruitment.

With the release of the most recent Labour Forces Survey from the ONS, our Chairman Richard East recently gave his opinion on the outlook for the rest of the year. One of the highlights published for the second quarter of 2022 was that the number of vacancies remains greater than the number of people unemployed. This happened for the first time in the first quarter of 2022 and has remained the same for Quarter 2, despite slowing vacancy growth. A real solution to this is outsourcing and temporary worker recruitment, not just in the traditional temp worker role.

Here, Jill Wanklyn, our super experienced Senior Recruitment Consultant, looks at why outsourcing and temporary worker recruitment can play a vital part in any business and its workforce planning.

How a temporary worker might be useful for your business?

Temporary workers are an excellent way for businesses to get the help they need when it’s needed, without having to pay for the extra staff when it’s not. This is especially useful as employers know that there will be peaks and troughs in demand throughout the year, so temporary workers can fill in these gaps where necessary. This gives you the flexibility to respond to fluctuating demand and business cycles.

Temporary employees are preferable in many situations because they are quick and easy to hire. This is important when you need extra support for a short-term project or during peak periods in production. When your demand or activity levels fall, they can also be laid off easily. This makes them ideal for businesses that need a large number of people temporarily. Or companies with only seasonal/part-time work available during off-hours or holidays when other workers may not be available.

Why might outsourcing work for your business?

Temporary workers can be used in all kinds of roles. They are not limited to temporary drivers for holiday covers and busy periods or warehouse operatives and production operatives for peaks in production. Traditionally temporary workers have been used in farming and food production to deal with seasonal demands.

Today we are seeing more companies succeed in using temps for customer service and office support roles, especially during busy periods like Christmas and the summer holiday seasons. If your business hasn’t tried to fill an office-based or customer service vacancy with a temporary worker, now is the time to try a different approach. We also have vast experience placing temporary workers in multiple business areas within large companies.

What are the potential benefits of outsourcing?

Temporary workers can be an excellent way to get a fresh perspective on a problem. They can bring expertise, experience, and innovation – just what your business needs for quick and effective solutions. A fresh pair of (experienced) eyes can often spot things much easier than someone always in the thick of it. They can also bring new ideas, personal experiences, and ways of working that may lead you to take your business in an exciting new direction.

They can help your organisation build a talent pipeline and are often the best way to find new skills. These temporary workers may even lead to a permanent position: ‘try before you buy’! Finding new talent is a challenge for many businesses, especially right now. But temporary workers can help you take care of it. They offer companies an excellent way to try out potential candidates before they become full-time employees. They also provide candidates with valuable experience in the field for those just starting their careers.

Have you thought about the actual cost to your business if you make a ‘bad hire’? It’s more than just the monetary cost of recruitment, training, and loss of productivity. The disruption to your company culture can severely affect your whole team. So, hiring a temp can allow you to confirm a culture fit before investing in training, permanent contracts and benefits.

Why might now be a good time to try outsourcing and temporary worker recruitment?

The current economic outlook isn’t great, and the predictions are that we are heading into a recession. So now more than ever, businesses need to stay agile. Hiring a temporary workforce in all types of roles makes it easier for companies to be responsive and swift to changes in demand. With more and more businesses offering flexible working arrangements, they are also looking to find a more flexible workforce.

Temporary workers have a lot to offer companies in various areas. From productivity boosts and skills development to flexibility, they can make all kinds of work more accessible and successful.

If you’re looking for new ways to improve your business, as leaders in temporary workforce recruitment and management, we’d love to hear from you!

Jill Wanklyn: JillW@reRecruitment.com