Covid-19EmployersResponse Guide

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• 27% recruiting less graduates• 23% less apprentices and school

leavers• 31% less interns and placement

students• 60% have moved assessment centres

online• 71% have moved interviews online• 40% of employers concerned that the

cancellation of exams will disrupt their recruitment processes

• 69% have cancelled visits to universities

Changes in hiring due to Covid-19

Work experience and internships

Employer ‘Town Hall’ feedback

• Most Easter placement schemes and some summer placement schemes have

been cancelled.

• Employers are seeking to shorten placements, move them online or to offer

alternative online experiences

• Employers would like more information from apprentice training providers on

how best to manage the crisis.

Work experience and internship options• Offer projects that can be delivered virtually, that

students can work on remotely and present solutions back to the employer.

• Deliver a range of skills-based training activities online. These can be grouped together, and recognition offered for students who complete all activities.

• Connect your interns with a mentor in your organisation. This can provide them with insights into your organisation even if you can’t run a full internship.

• Work with partner universities and academics to deliver online projects or employability skills programmes.

Q. Should financial compensation be paid to students have had their internship cancelled?A. Some employers have paid the notice period stipulated in the employment contract. Seek specific advice from

your HR teams on the legal aspects of your contracts.

Q. Can students be offered a deferred place later in the year or in 2021?A.Some employers have indicated they will run programmes during the Christmas period, others have offered

students work experience during 2021.

Q. What should alternative programmes be called as the student is not gaining work experience or taking part in an internship?

A. Whilst some virtual experiences are real work experience, employers are referring to other new offerings using programme names that reflect a learning experience theme.

Q. How can we recognise the students that we have already selected for internships, even if the internships do not run?A. Some employers are offering students accelerated entrance to next years graduate or internship programme.

Options Q&A

Student hiring 2020

Graduate and apprentice market 2020

Employer ‘Town Hall’ feedback• Many employers have successfully transferred their recruitment and selection

processes online. • Many employers are now using Zoom and similar tools to conduct group activities

online. • ‘Keep warm’ activities such as the sending of newsletters or establishing online

communities. • Students understandably concerned and are seeking reassurance that they still

have a job offer.• Most employers are still hoping to start a new cohort of recruits in September.• Some have revised numbers downwards, others are seeking to maintain flexibility

by delaying the issuing of formal contracts.• Some employers are contingency planning to induct new staff virtually in September• Others plan to delay start dates to later in the year or early next year.

Continue hiringOptions• Increase your use of web-based interviews, either in real

time or via video interview platforms,• Use web tools to deliver modified assessment centre

exercises,• Increase the range of online assessment tools included in

your recruitment processes.

Online group exercises• Many employers are now using Zoom and similar tools to

conduct group activities online.• This requires careful management e.g. two recruiters with

one focused on technical issues and the other on running the group

• The ground rules have to be carefully set and candidates may need encouragement to share video.

• Some are offering a practice call in advance• Most are working with breakout groups of around six

Manging down intakes

• Are there other areas of the business

where candidates can be offered

roles?

• Can you offer candidates due to join

this autumn the option to start in 2021?

• Can you offer an incentive or

compensation to candidates affected?

Common resourcing mistakes

• Your organisation lacks key talent in delivery roles when the economy expands so productivity and output suffer.

• You can’t find the talent in the labour market as all organisations overly trimmed recruitment – it doesn’t exist.

• Even if the talent exists elsewhere, you may have to pay a premium in search fees and salary packages to hire in the open market.

• Hires brought in at a more senior level can lack the knowledge and experience gained by home grown talent.

Financial crash experience1. Identify business areas that no longer needed all the students due

to join in the short term whilst factoring in long-term resource needs2. Review all other recruitment activities in the business for

opportunities to move surplus candidates3. Formulate a plan across all business units affected and secure

leadership agreement that ensured the approach was fully adhered to

4. If only a proportion of hires need to be deferred, determine a ranking system to decide who will be affected – e.g. assessment centre scores or timing of offer

5. Offer deferral compensation – e.g. one payment when the candidate accepts a deferred role and a subsequent payment when joining

6. Create scripts to be used when communicating with students and ensure managers make personal calls to those affected

Communication – 8 top tips

1. Communicate early. Communicate even if you have nothing concrete to say. You can still show your candidates you are aware of their concerns and that you will be back to them.

2. Be honest. If you must give a candidate bad news, explain why the decision has been made. You will be surprised how understanding people are when difficult decisions are explained to them candidly.

3. Don’t over-promise. To make an offer of deferral or compensation and then retract it creates unnecessary confusion and distress. One employer during the dot-com crash initially offered compensation to students who agreed to defer bit didn’t honour the promise – the story made the national press.

4. Use the phone. You will probably need to use a mix of email, post and voice messages to reach students but make every effort to speak to them in person. No matter how well-crafted an email it can be badly interpreted.

Communication – 8 top tips5. Create a script. Give those talking to students a script that

explains your organisation’s decisions and reasoning, any options available to the student and what will happen next. In the flow of a conversation it is easy to omit key points.

6. Use managers. Those with experience of difficult conversations should have the conversations with affected students. Ideally, use a small pool of people so the messages are likely to be shared correctly. This also makes it easier to gather feedback.

7. Think like a student. Put yourself in the place of the student you are communicating with. Remember you are dealing with people who have limited experience of work and no experience of a downturn so will need additional explanations and support.

8. Keep communicating. Once initial decisions and agreements have been made with students, don’t forget to keep communication channels open, particularly if the students have a deferred place or the option to re-enter the selection process at a later stage.

Key principlesThe four key principals for managing your early talent programmes through this crisis are:

1. Treat students fairly whilst making the decisions you need to safeguard your organisations future.

2. Consider moving recruitment processes, internships and induction and development programmes online.

3. Consider the long-term implications of changes that you make to your early talent strategies to address the crisis.

4. Communicate clearly and frequently with the students in your recruitment process and those within your organisation

Graduate vacancies 2000-2018

Additional tools• Employer’s guide to Covid-19• Upcoming webinar and events calendar• Previous webinar recordings including sector updates,

knowledge sessions and survey presentations• ISE Podcast episodes• Industry news updates including our weekly Covid-19 bulletin• Online Covid-19 discussion forum• Online editions of Student Employer magazine

Do all your team have access to ise.org.uk?

Questions

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