Summer Newsletter

Welcome to our Summer 2015 newsletter. Although the best of it seems to have passed byalready here's hoping we have another heatwave before the end of summer. While we waitwhy not catch up on the latest tech bites, recruitment news and other industry insights from the Asset Resourcing Team------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ContentsClick below to be taken to each section:

What To Wear In Your Office This Summer

Spotlight on the UK Jobs Market

Hey, Business Owner: What Are YOU Doing ToImpress Candidates?

Vox Populi Vox Dei

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What To Wear In Your Office This Summer

First, it’s important to note that this is most certainly NOT a fashion-related article (have you seen what Ben wears on the weekends?) We won’t be giving you advice on this season’s ‘must have’ sandals, nor will we be letting you know about hem-lengths not to be seen dead in. This is about the do’s and don’ts of summer office attire.

As you’ll be all too aware, the British summer is somewhat unpredictable. It can be boiling hot but it can also be gloomy, overcast and wet. At the time of writing and if the Daily Mail are to be believed, we are currently in the midst of the most brutal heatwave in a decade

where living in London is akin to going self-catering for a fortnight on the Sun. To be fair, we’re as near as makes no difference at 35°C, or 100°F in old money, and people are wearing less. That’s fine for the school run or for weekends in the garden, but is it fine for the office?

Of course it depends on the nature of your business. If you’re lawyers, accountants or any other professional services firm and your staff come into work as if they were ready for the beach, they’re sending out the wrong messages to clients. It’s reasonable to expect your staff to dispense jackets and ties when it’s so hot but Bermuda shorts and flip-flops may not be the best compromise.

If you’re a creative business, these rules seem to go out the window. Almost anything goes, all year round so the receptionist rocking gladiator sandals, a Motorhead t-shirt and orange cargo shorts in mid-summer is probably par for the course.

The point we’re trying to make is that every workplace has different rules about summer dress codes. Summer, by its very nature has a more relaxed, easy-going feel and that will always extend to clothing but the general rule of thumb is to dress appropriately for your career. You can dress down without looking like an uncredited extra from an American teensurf movie.

In every office there will always be someone who will try and push the boundaries of what’s acceptable (if you can’t spot who that person is in your office, it’s probably you…) but if you have a dress code policy that’s easy to follow and not too harsh, you will have anoffice full of happy (if slightly warm) employees, and we all know the business benefits of acontented workforce.

In a recent report by Adecco Staffing, the results aren’t surprising at all…!

• 74% of employees believe it’s appropriate for both men and women to dress more casually during the summer months

• Just over three-quarters of women surveyed said strapless tops/dresses were inappropriate (not a shock, but this number goes down to 55% when men were asked the same question)

• Four in five women said miniskirts were a no-go area as opposed to three in five men

• 71% of all employees were in agreement about one thing – flip-flops are for the weekend or the beach, just over 50% said shorts were inappropriate and 31% voiced opposition to open-toed shoes (we don’t know if this was due to odour issuesor the quality of pedicures)

Interestingly, another survey conducted by an employment law firm whospecialise in personnel and HR suggested that a dress down policy increased flirtatious behaviour to the tune of 30% which in turn contributed to the proliferation of complaints and even sexual harassment cases.

If you want to implement a dress code policy, it is naturally wise to

speak to a lawyer but in essence, the fundamentals are relatively self-explanatory:

• Make sure that your policy is industry-appropriate

• Client-facing staff may have to conform to slightly stricter rules than back-office staff

• Balance your business needs with the rights of your workforce

• Ensure your rules are neither discriminatory or arbitrary

• If your staff are expected to abide by a temporary dress code, they need a clear line of communication as to what, when, why etc.

• Enforce the policy consistently and proportionately

As a sort of aside, The Guardian published a (seemingly genuine) list of the best jobs to have during a hot spell and it will come as no huge shock that they are largely ridiculous and classic newspaper ‘filler’ on such a slow news day. They are…

Surfing Instructor • Music Festival Coordinator • Penguin Keeper • Ice Cream Researcher •Flower Fridge Manager • Daily Mail Journalist (we made that last one up – no-one wants tobe a Daily Mail journalist whether it’s boiling hot or freezing cold).

Spotlight on the UK Jobs Market

We haven’t given you an update on the state of the UK jobs market for a while, but since this is the first newsletter post-election, it’s time to fill you in. Ben is a contributor to the monthly Recruitment & Employment Confederation/KPMG-sponsored ‘Report on Jobs’ and the headline facts for the June edition (which gives data for May) are as follows:

• Perm staff placements rose in May but the rate of expansion was at a four-month low

• Temp/contract billings went up in May, as did the rate of growth• Starting salaries increased, although it eased slightly from May’s nine-month high• Hourly pay rates rose but it was the smallest rise since January• Candidate availability for both perm and temp/contract roles has diminished

As was expected, May was a strange month in the recruitment sector, says Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG.‘Board members took time to digest the election result

and work out the ramifications for their business. This pause did not dampen temporary staff placements, and temp billings rose for a twenty-fifth consecutive month.’ He went on to say that while service sector growth (in terms of the appetite for new hires) continues to outpace heavy industry, these stats aren’t rebalancing the economy and are ‘a worrying reminder of the recovery’s reliance on the performance of the white collar service sector.

The balance he refers to is the growing chasm between public sector pay growth (0.2% in Q2 2015) and the pay growth in the private sector (average rises were 2.4% in Q2 2015) and as the new Cameron government maintains its focus on austerity, it’s unlikely that this imbalance will rebalance any time soon. One thing that has slipped under the radar is the fact that the pound rose to a month-high against the dollar as a reaction to the quicker than expected wage growth but many see this as a sign that interest rates could soon rise. David Kern, Chief Economist at the BritishChamber of Commerce said ‘the speed in the rise in earnings will embolden a minority on the Monetary Policy Committee who feel the urge to raise rates, however, until there is firmer evidence of comparable increases in productivity, such a move would be premature.’

While the economy needs rebalancing (or was that unbalancing, or even plain old balancing, we lose track), the official ONS stats on unemployment make for slightly more encouraging reading:

• Unemployment fell by 43,000 between February and April to 1.81m• The unemployment rate is steady at 5.5%, the lowest level since August 2008• Wage rises grew at the fastest rate since August 2011 (inc. bonuses)• The total number of people in work is 31.05m, a rise of 114,000 on the previous 3-

month period• Employment rate for women is at a record high of 68.6%• As is always the case, the largest unemployed demographic is the 16-24 age group

at 16.1% between February and April Justifying these ‘facts’ is naturally very hard to do and interestingly, Anthony Reuben, the BBC Head of Statistics makes a valid point: ‘It's important to remember that these are not precise figures.’ He continues, ‘The headline unemployment number comes from the Labour Force Survey,in which the ONS interviews about 40,000 people every quarter. That's a very big survey, but as with all surveys it means there is a margin of error. In the case of the number of people unemployed, it means they are 95% sure that the estimate they have produced is no more than 78,000 out either way. So when they say their best estimate is of a 43,000 fall in unemployment, they mean that they are 95% sure

that the actual figure is between a fall of 121,000 and a rise of 35,000.’ Clear? Thought not. Still, if there’s anything you need to know about these numbers, Carol Vorderman is available for comment.

Hey, Business Owner: What Are YOU Doing To Impress Candidates?

It may not be George Lucas’s best known work, but The Candidate Strikes Back is taking the recruitment world by storm. Actually, it’s a piece of research published by the Recruitment and Employment Federation (REC) looking at the shifting relationship between candidates and hirers.

It’s fundamentally based on how hirers engage with jobseekers and it turns out, basic mistakes are being made which means they are potentially losing out on the best talent.

The report argues that it’s no longer the domain of the candidate to do all the impressing. In property parlance, it’s a buyers’ market and the best candidates are in a very strong position to be able to pick and choose the jobs they want and the companies they want to work for given the available number of vacancies and the dwindling number of top-notch candidates.

• 34% of employees say the giving of feedback to unsuccessful candidates is the most important improvement employers can make

• Over half of candidates who had a bad experience during the interview process discussed it with friends and family

• 93% of workers who described their last candidate experience as ‘bad’ weren’t asked for feedback from the employer

These bad experiences can’t be put down to‘one of those things’ anymore. REC ChiefExecutive Kevin Green is rightly concerned;‘It’s clear that many businesses are makingmistakes which can have implications for anorganisation’s reputation and ultimately fortheir bottom line.’

He continues; ‘Employers need to wake up tothe fact that jobseekers communicate theirexperiences to others. Businesses arespending huge amounts of money on their branding and reputation, but at the same time they are deaf to the conversations that are happening amongst potential employees via professional networks and social media. Our report found that 80% of candidates were notasked for feedback on the recruitment process - a huge amount of insight that employers are missing out on.’

Wilson Cochrane, CEO of research sponsor BigScreen Group was equally concerned about the lack of feedback from hirers; ‘Negative experiences go beyond the interview process. Candidates are very vocal about their feelings and will share them with family andfriends within social and professional networks, so it’s vital that they are saying good things whether or not they get hired. A strong employer brand can halve the cost per hire and can reduce employee turnover by 30%, which underlines the importance of getting this right.’

Are you engaging with the people you see, whether they’re the right corporate fit or not? If not, you should be…

Vox Populi Vox Dei

The voice of the people is the voice of God and where recruitment is concerned, sometimes it’s worth listening to the people who run the biggest companies in the world…

‘Human Resources isn’t a thing we do; it’s the thing that runs our business’

Steve Wynn, Wynn Las Vegas

‘Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do’

Malcolm Forbes, Forbes

Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?’

Thomas John Watson Sr., IBM

‘I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. Atthe end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.’

Lawrence Bossidy, General Electric

‘I hire brighter people than me and then I get out of their way’

Lee Iacocca, Ford

‘The key for us, number one, has always been hiring very smart people.’

Bill Gates, Microsoft

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