Member Blog

Top Tips To Improve Your Credit Rating

Credit scores offer a fast, objective way for lenders to assess your eligibility and credit risk. Lenders combine your credit score with the information in your credit report to assess your risk as a borrower. Your credit rating builds up your financial picture which enables financial institutions to predict your future behaviour based on what you’ve done in the past. For instance, if your score is high, you seem like less of a risk; if your score is low, lenders may not be inclined to let you borrow as you present a risk. It is important to maintain a healthy credit rating as your credit score affects many aspects of life such as, your mortgage, car finance, prospective jobs and your ability to start your own business. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to deter yourself from bad credit…

Setting up payment reminders may seem obvious, but one missed payment to a lender could greatly affect your credit score. Setting up direct debits means that you can make minimum payments on your credit cards without having to think twice.

Check that you are on the electoral roll. Lenders need to be sure you are who you say you are and without assurance of your address and ID it is much harder to get accepted for credit. You can register to vote at any time on info@chatsbrook.co.uk to make contact today.

Read how our consultant helped Matt cut his daily commute down by nearly two hours.

About

Crisp Malting Group Ltd is an independently owned malting company which makes and supplies malt to the world’s leading breweries and distilleries. It operates five sites across the UK and is based in Great Ryburgh, which is at the heart of North Norfolk’s premium malting barley growing area. Crisp dates back to the 1870s and its mission is to produce and supply the best possible quality of malt, and to back that up with the customer service, technical experience and support they need to produce great beer.

Challenge

Following an exciting period of continued growth and development, Crisp was looking to recruit a new Group Head of IT. They were looking for an experienced senior IT professional who could cover all aspects of a complex and busy IT function. The chosen candidate would also be part of Crisp’s senior management team, and therefore they also wanted someone who had the vision and experience to drive IT strategy and commercial development, and with an eye for the usability of systems and the ability to simplify and help the end user. 

Solution 

Crisp appointed Pure to help them source a suitable candidate for the role. Ruben Davis met with the team to find out more about the position, and the organisation itself, to ascertain the essential and desirable criteria and culture fit.

Having been instrumental in establishing Pure’s Technology specialism, Ruben was able to use his local and sector-specific experience to implement a recruitment plan which included identifying and headhunting any potentially suitable candidates. During this process, Ruben found Matt Swain, a graduate in Computer Systems Engineering with 15 years IT career experience. Having seen that Matt also lived locally to Crisp, Ruben approached him about the role.

Matt said: “Ruben was fantastic. He guided me successfully through every aspect of the recruitment process, supporting, advising and helping me both in and out of working hours. This ultimately resulted in Crisp offering me the job and my acceptance.”

Benefit

When Ruben approached Matt, he was living in Swaffham but commuting to Huntingdon every day. However, he was looking for a role which was closer to home and which would enable him to spend more time with his young family. The approach from Pure about the Crisp position was very welcome and it has ultimately cut his daily commute down by nearly two hours.

Matt added: “When the call first came in from Ruben, I initially let it ring as it was a number I didn’t recognise. But I did take the call before my voicemail kicked in and I am very glad I did. At the time I was waiting for an offer from another job. Up to that point I had attended multiple interviews and had a verbal offer, but nothing in writing.

“This new position really made a big difference to my life. My youngest one-year-old son has some challenges and Pure’s efforts on my behalf have ensured I’m now home more with the children. Out of all the recruiters I have worked with, both for myself and the positions I have recruited for, Ruben and Pure have provided the best experience.”

Reviewing staff resources for the year ahead doesn’t have to mean committing to the cost of recruiting full-time employees. Temporary workers can quickly fill any gaps within teams and bring a wealth of other business benefits too

Gemma Pluck, senior recruitment consultant at professional recruitment specialists Pure, explains some of the reasons why employers should consider hiring temps and the options available to bring temporary talent into an organisation.

Whatever you need, our specialist temp recruitment experience puts us in the best position to support you at every stage of the process, so you can gain the following benefits of professional interim support.

Instant, effective support

A temp can usually start a new role within a matter of days and make an immediate difference. Those who thrive in interim positions are likely to be highly self-motivated individuals, they have cultivated the flexibility and adaptability to hit the ground running and to achieve results in the short term.

Increased morale and reduced sickness absence

If the current workflow is unmanageable, recruiting an interim will boost the morale of your full-time workforce by relieving the team from an excessive workload. This can prevent a potential drop in productivity or increase in sickness absence caused by employees feeling snowed under.

Fresh perspectives

Temps and freelancers are likely to have worked across many different organisations, both in the same industry and outside of it. They can bring experience and knowledge of different systems and processes which could spark ideas you may not even have considered.

Specific skill sets 

By bringing in a professional interim to complete a special project you can gain access to strategic skill sets and experience you may not already have within the organisation.

Avoid potentially costly recruitment mistakes

Temporary employees can not only provide an immediate injection of skills and experience, they can also help to buy you time when you are recruiting for a permanent position. Taking on an interim to manage the workload in the short term could help you to avoid recruiting the wrong hire due to time pressures.

Extended interviews

In some instances, employing temps can also lead to meaningful hires in the long run. Taking on an interim allows you to assess their suitability for the role, team fit and skill set, prior to hiring someone on a permanent contract.

At Pure, we have developed a network of highly experienced temps, freelancers and consultants, which we place with organisations on a short-term basis to provide a temporary injections of skills, resources and specialist knowledge. We support organisations with temporary recruitment solutions across all levels and for a variety of different reasons, whether it is covering employees on leave, planning additional support for particularly busy periods or bringing in additional expertise for a specific project.

Temporary workers can be employed on a fixed term basis, where the employee is contracted for a specific time period and is set up on your own payroll system and subject to the terms and conditions of your organisation’s contract. Alternatively, we can support you to employ a temp as an agency worker who is paid on an hourly or daily rate. In this instance, we will manage the temp’s pay on a weekly basis so there is no need for you to have to administer the payroll, and in most instances both the employer or the temp only need to give one week’s notice to terminate the assignment.

If you would like more information about recruiting temporary workers or to discuss any temporary candidates, contact one of our consultants. www.prs.uk.com

The purpose of life insurance is to provide financial protection for your loved should anything happen to you. Despite this, according to leading insurer Legal & General, 50% of UK parents do not have life insurance cover. It is therefore very wise to have a good idea of 7 key factors which may impact the cost of premiums. Saving the good people of Norfolk money…   

Age (the younger you are, the cheaper it is)

As you would expect, age is a hugely influential factor when it comes to the cost of life insurance premiums. Generally speaking, the younger you are when taking out cover, the cheaper the premium. The thought process being, you are statistically less likely to make a claim. A great way to secure the lowest rate is to take out a life policy whilst you are in your 20’s or early 30’s. Unfortunately, many people only think of getting cover in later life, as their circumstances change, (have children, take out a mortgage etc).

Health and lifestyle

The majority of life insurance policies are medically underwritten, (apart from over 50s plans). Insurers factor in things like your BMI, alcohol consumption, if you smoke and whether you exercise regularly when calculating premiums. Insurers simply need to cover their risk, therefore if you are overweight and live an unhealthy lifestyle, you are likely to pay more. In contrast, if you are a healthy weight and exercise regularly, your monthly premiums will be cheaper. If you have a poor medical history, perhaps had a heart attack or a stroke, or currently suffer from a medical condition you would be considered an impaired risk and thus your premiums will be higher. If you are in good health you may wish to carry out a medical exam, to reassure the insurer of your current wellbeing.

Smoking (this includes nicotine replacement products)

Due to the proven link between smoking and serious illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease, smokers statistically live shorter lives. As a result, smokers will pay more for their premiums, as a claim is more likely. In fact, it is not uncommon for smokers to pay as much as twice as much as non-smokers for comparable coverage. Insurers only classify you as a non-smoker after you have given up for 12 months minimum.This includes the use of nicotine replacement products such as e-cigarettes, patches and gum.

The cover amount

Generally speaking, the greater the level of protection, the higher your monthly premiums. Life insurance is all about enabling your loved ones to continue living the life they are accustomed to, even if you are no longer around to provide.The amount of cover you require commonly depends on how many dependents you have and your level of debt. For example, if you have 4 young children and a large mortgage, you will require significant protection in order to cover these expenses. Although it is important to make sure you cover all expenses, being over-protected could unnecessarily inflate your premiums.

Life Insurance Policy type

Which type of life insurance policy you choose will also influence the cost of your premium. For example, whole of life policies, which guarantee a pay out, will be more expensive than term-based premiums, which only pay out if you die during a set period of time. Also, whether you choose a guaranteed or reviewable premium can have an impact on the cost. Guaranteed premiums, as the name suggests, remain fixed throughout the policy term and initially can be more expensive than reviewable premiums. However, reviewable premiums are likely to increase in cost at regular intervals throughout the policy and in the long-term can be more expensive. Also, if you want additional protection, like critical illness cover, you will pay more for your premium. These policies will pay out both if you die, or if you become critically ill and are therefore unable to work.

Length of the policy term

The length of the policy term is also a very influential factor in the cost of your life insurance. Generally, long-term policies are likely to carry more expensive premiums, compared with a shorter policy, simply because statistically you are more likely to make a claim. It is about making sure you have the right length of term to protect your family. For example, you may require a 25-year term to run as long as your mortgage runs, ensuring your family are not burdened with property debt. Or until your children turn 21 and are likely to be financially independent, after university. Too shorter term could leave your family exposed, to longer term, and you may unnecessarily be paying over the odds.

Family medical history

If there is a history of severe hereditary illness in your immediate family, (biological parents or siblings), this is very likely to increase the cost of your premiums. An insurer will ask questions about your family history during the application process. Hereditary illnesses which could affect the cost of your premiums include type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and some cancers. Usually, an insurer will only require information on your family medical history up to a certain age, for example, 60. Thereafter there is a common understanding that certain illnesses are statistically more likely.

There are a various of factors which will impact the cost of your life insurance.

If you want to save on the cost of your premium, you could:

1. Take out a policy while you’re young

2. Shop around or use a broker, to compare multiple quotes

3. Don’t take out more protection than you need

4. Choose an appropriate term length

5. Lose weight, get fit, stop smoking.

What’s more, different insurers employ different underwriting processes, thus costs can vary. The best way to ensure you get the most cost-effective quotes is to shop around yourself or get a broker/comparison site to do the work on your behalf. The most important thing is to have life insurance protection in place.

Pause a moment and think. Social enterprises are no longer charitable endeavours you support out of kindness. They are increasingly commercial ventures, with a profit beyond purpose. In fact research by Social Enterprise UK shows that there are more than 100,000 social enterprises in the UK, between them contributing more than £60bn to the UK economy.

The shift to more socially responsible business is accelerating. Public concern about the behaviour of corporates is increasing. People are not happy that shareholders continue to profit, even at the point of business failure. Even respected operators are being caught out by the dubious accounting of once loved high street brands.

Locally we have some excellent examples of social enterprises large and small. Independence Matters, our County’s largest provider of day care, has shifted from County Council department to a community interest company, investing its profits in those vulnerable people it exists to support. And many of us have enjoyed the excellent food and views to be found at Café Britannia, a vibrant city café that employs men coming to the end of their prison sentence. The Britannia brand is growing across the city, not because they’re a social enterprise, but because they offer fantastic food and service.

But you’re running a business. How can you benefit from this growing social enterprise movement? You want your staff to be motivated, competent and focused on building your venture. Have you or they got time to get involved in the social economy? Do social enterprises deliver what your business needs? Well one, above the rest, stands out as being relevant to nearly every business.

Swarm Apprenticeships CIC is a social enterprise. Founded by Robert Ashton in 2013, Swarm has grown steadily over the past five years, thanks to two rounds of social investment. Swarm has also benefitted from the changing apprenticeship landscape; upskilling people within organisations, across all ages and roles’. You no longer have to be young to be an apprentice.

Pprofits also go back into the educational journey of the learners, as well as the new Futures CIC; set up  to provide the coaching and support many youngsters need to get back on the education and employment ladder. They benefit too from volunteer mentors, often recruited from amongst those going through a Swarm apprenticeship. It’s a good way to see the world outside the bubble of their employment.

So there really is no excuse in 2019 for not doing business with a social enterprise. As a movement it will continue to grow. Why not make this year the year the year you profit by working with a social enterprise?

Our popular 3for2 offer is back!

Order two venetian, vertical, pleated or roller blinds by the end of January and get a 3rd blind for FREE.

We will visit you at your home to take measurements and show you fabric samples, so make sure that you book your appointment in time to get a quote and make an order by the end of the month.

You can book online here: https://www.norwichsunblinds.co.uk/book-a-design-consultation/

or you can phone us on 01603 334047.

This offer applies to domestic blinds. Click the links if you would like more information about each type of blind:

Roller Blinds

Vertical Blinds

Venetian Blinds

Pleated Blinds

The blinds are made in our Attleborough factory and all come with a 5-year guarantee.

We offer a fantastic range of fabrics from independent suppliers. We are very excited to be able to offer you a brand new Disney, Marvel and Star Wars range of fabrics as well as the normal classic styles – look out for more details, or arrange an in-home appointment to view samples.

The Organisation

For more than a century, Larking Gowen LLP has been giving a trusted, reliable and friendly accountancy and advisory service to businesses and private clients across East Anglia.

With eight private practice partnership offices in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, Larking Gowen LLP covers a diverse range of sectors with specialist teams across a number of industry specialisms, as well as in corporate finance, tax, insolvency, business advisory and audit.

“We wanted to get as much feedback as possible so that we could build a case for making any changes needed. However, there is always an issue with getting people to participate in surveys, especially in a professional services firm.”  Amanda Ninham, Human Resources Manager, Larking Gowen

The Challenge

When Larking Gowen participated in Best Employers Eastern Region in 2016, the relatively new HR team was looking for an opportunity to gather information from the 320 employees and to use the findings to begin shaping the HR agenda.

While the confidential Best Employers Eastern Region employee survey provided the opportunity to discover current levels of employee satisfaction, the HR team knew they could be faced with a degree of scepticism from employees who had completed surveys before and not seen any outcomes.

Solution

One of Larking Gowen’s values is “Passion for our People”. Managing Partner Jon Woolston’s key objective is making Larking Gowen an employer of choice and he was a strong advocate of the Best Employers Eastern Region survey to instigate change. His endorsement and the support of the Partners collectively was key in driving participation in the survey.  Amanda added: “We wanted employees to see that the survey had a clear purpose and that it was not just another ‘HR thing’. Jon’s support was essential in engaging staff to take part and it added a visual commitment that changes would be made as a result.”

“When leaders ask people for their honest opinion and explain the reasons for taking part in the survey, they can really help to drive participation. Employees feel they are contributing to a bigger vision and understand why they need to take part.”  Lynn Walters, Executive Director, Pure

Benefits

The findings of the survey were used to shape the HR plan, the whole of which is focused on the value of Passion for our People and designed to help achieve the ambition of being an employer of choice.

Amanda said: “We took all the employee feedback, including about our culture, values and leadership, and looked at how we could bring everything together in one holistic approach which would reinforce our value of ‘passion for our people’. We used the findings to help shape several employee initiatives, including our total wellbeing programme. This has been a great catalyst for delivering results across all elements of workplace culture, by focussing on ensuring our employees are happy, healthy and supported.”

The HR team is continuing to run follow up pulse surveys, aligned to the themes of the Best Employers Eastern Region, to maintain employee interaction and to gather instant feedback on new initiatives. 

Amanda said: “Each month we ask five questions related to a Best Employers Eastern Region survey topic and ask employees to rate their current level of happiness. We publish the results within a week of the survey closing. The Employee Forum meet quarterly with the Board to review the data and agree any actions. This shows our commitment to making Larking Gowen LLP a great place to work and is a transparent way of tracking improvement in our engagement scores. Our people can see the benefits of contributing to the surveys and that in turn encourages participation. Keeping the topics linked to the Best Employer’s key themes will also help us to take part again seamlessly in the future and to have a better chance of winning an award.”

Lynn Walters, Executive Director at Pure, co-founders with eras Ltd of Best Employers Eastern Region, added: “Larking Gowen’s experience of using the Best Employers Eastern Region survey as a starting point to inform strategic planning is a great example of why we developed the initiative. To be able to actively evolve workplace culture, employers first need to understand their current engagement levels and give their employees a voice. It also highlights how support from senior management can make a big difference. When leaders ask people for their honest opinion and explain the reasons for taking part in the survey, they can really help to drive participation. Employees feel they are contributing to a bigger vision and understand why they need to take part.”

www.best-employers.co.uk

ABOUT

PS is a specialist provider of vacant, occupied and site security solutions. Leading the European empty property security services market, it provides a full suite of specialist solutions across the complete property lifecycle. It also offers a wide range of property services for occupied property; from locks and glazing to grounds services and remote site security. Expert teams work in close partnership with customers to understand their needs and design effective solutions.

CHALLENGE

Andrew Viner, Group Head of IT Development at VPS, needed to recruit seven new employees into the technical team based at the Norwich Service Centre at the Broadland Business Park, east of the city. The roles covered a wide range of positions and required a variety of different skills including software development, software testing and management information analysis. The vacancies included four graduate developer posts, aligning with the existing graduate training programme that continues to prove to be successful   Having recognised that the organisation’s approach to recruitment was sometimes abstracted and faced with finding a large quantity of high-calibre candidates for specialist technical positions, Andrew decided to seek expert support.  

SOLUTION

Andrew chose to contact Pure as the two organisations had already successfully worked together to recruit for HR related roles within VPS. Senior Recruitment Consultant Ruben Davis, who has been instrumental in growing Pure’s Technology specialism, visited Andrew to find out more.

Using his experience of recruiting in this field, Ruben was able to work with Andrew to not only recruit for the roles needed but to review VPS’s recruitment procedure, talent attraction and retention policies overall. He was also able to provide advice overcome the challenge of finding people with the right experience.

Ruben explained, “Andrew was really open-minded to our advice and this maximised our chances of securing the right people for the roles. During the process, we were able to work together to enhance the VPS employer brand and ensure the positions were pitched in a way which would attract the high-quality talent we needed to find. We worked together to refine the job specifications to ensure they fitted the calibre of candidates required and so that the applications we received were all a good fit. We also adapted the recruitment process, to help narrow down the shortlist to the very best candidates with the right experience, skills and attitude. We were able to successfully fill all seven roles and the new team members have settled in well.”

BENEFIT

Andrew describes his experience of working with Pure as extremely positive. One of the aspects he most appreciated was the consistent communication and advice he received.

Andrew said: “Pure always provides really good communication throughout the recruitment process and this has helped us to develop a long-term partnership. Because they are extremely knowledgeable of the local and industry market, they have been able to put forward high-quality candidates, especially at the graduate developer level we have been focussing on.”

Ruben added, “We’re always really open and honest in our approach to recruitment and this resulted in us being able to work collaboratively with Andrew. In return, Andrew was really open with us about the future plans for his team, and its projects, so we could talk confidently to potential candidates about the roles and really understand what Andrew was looking for both now and in the future. It was a true partnership approach and that’s exactly the way we like to work.”

The successful partnership has resulted in Pure continuing to support VPS in the recruitment of technology-focussed roles including actively sourcing two more graduate developers and three more system developers.

In today’s competitive recruitment market, businesses are having to work fast when hiring new employees to avoid missing out on the candidate they want.

Fiona Cooper, Senior Recruitment Consultant at Pure, explained: “If there is too long a gap between the applications being submitted, interviews and job offers, there is a real risk that organisations will lose the most highly-sought after candidates to a competitor. Beyond that, taking too long to interview and hire can damage your employer brand, especially if there is no contact or explanation. If candidates feel like they have been left waiting, there is a real risk they will begin to view the company in a negative light. After taking the time to apply and interview, candidates can feel the effort they have put into the process so far isn’t being valued by a potential employer. It is important for employers to use the recruitment process as a reflection of their values and culture and how they look after their staff.”

Here are some top tips to speed up your recruitment process, without compromising on gathering the information needed to make the right hiring decision.

Make use of internal contacts

Share details of any new vacancies with current employees. They are likely to have a network of contacts in similar roles and industry sectors, helping you to find possible candidates faster. It also opens up the potential of in-house candidates, including those considering lateral moves as well as those looking to progress up the career ladder.

Build your own potential talent network

People you have previously interviewed, past employees and contacts made through networking could all be potential candidates. A prior candidate who wasn’t right for that particular role, or an employee who left to gain different experiences could be the perfect fit to join or return to the business in a different position. Keep in touch with top talent through platforms such as LinkedIn and networking events, so you can connect with high-calibre candidates as soon as positions arise.

Streamline your interview processes

Interviewing is the most time-consuming part of recruitment. Look for ways to reduce the steps involved and to keep it as efficient as possible. For example, consider group interviews so you can meet all potential candidates in one day, make use of technology to conduct video interviews rather than trying to get everyone in one place, or be flexible and consider evening or weekend meetings if it means you can see candidates quicker. Conduct any tests, assessments and office tours etc. on the same day as interviews.

Show investment in candidates

Do all you can throughout the recruitment process to make high-calibre candidates want to work for you, rather than any competitors they may also be in touch with. Show your investment in them from the outset, create a positive interview experience and keep them feeling engaged and valued throughout. For more ideas on how to do this, read Kelly Earl’s recent advice piece here.

Stay in regular contact

Share a clear timeline with candidates, stick to it and keep in touch regularly. If a candidate is left waiting they are likely to become frustrated and feel less excited about the role. They could also presume they’ve not been selected for the next stage and accept a different job in the meantime. If you are in a position to make a candidate an offer, do it verbally as soon as possible, rather than waiting for any paperwork to be completed.

How we can help…

Our expert consultants can provide the extra time and resources you may need to keep things moving as quickly as possible. We can approach suitable candidates we’re already in touch with immediately, interview them so you only need to meet with a shortlist of the most suitable people, and spend the time needed to make sure everyone is kept informed throughout. Also, candidates are unlikely to tell a potential employer if they are seeing more than one organisation, but they will tell their recruitment consultant. We are in the position to offer impartial, yet informed advice on what would be the best move for everyone involved, rather than just the first job offer that arises.

Don’t miss out on your perfect candidate, contact us for expert recruitment advice and support.

About Fiona

Fiona Cooper is a Senior Recruitment consultant who joined Pure in 2015. She has gained a wide breadth of experience while working at Pure, moving between different divisions such as HR and Office Support before settling into Finance and Accounting.

Working out of our Ipswich Office, Fiona is now part of our Accountancy team and looks after part and newly Qualified Accountants in the Eastern region.

Reviewing staff resources for the year ahead doesn’t have to mean committing to the cost of recruiting full-time employees. Temporary workers can quickly fill any gaps within teams and bring a wealth of other business benefits too.

Senior recruitment consultant Gemma Pluck explains some of the reasons why employers should consider hiring temps and the options available to bring temporary talent into an organisation.

Whatever you need, our specialist temp recruitment experience puts us in the best position to support you at every stage of the process, so you can gain the following benefits of professional interim support.

INSTANT, EFFECTIVE SUPPORT

A temp can usually start a new role within a matter of days and make an immediate difference. Those who thrive in interim positions are likely to be highly self-motivated individuals, they have cultivated the flexibility and adaptability to hit the ground running and to achieve results in the short term.

INCREASED MORALE AND REDUCED SICKNESS ABSENCE

If the current workflow is unmanageable, recruiting an interim will boost the morale of your full-time workforce by relieving the team from an excessive workload. This can prevent a potential drop in productivity or increase in sickness absence caused by employees feeling snowed under.

FRESH PERSPECTIVES

Temps and freelancers are likely to have worked across many different organisations, both in the same industry and outside of it. They can bring experience and knowledge of different systems and processes which could spark ideas you may not even have considered.

SPECIFIC SKILL SETS  

By bringing in a professional interim to complete a special project you can gain access to strategic skill sets and experience you may not already have within the organisation.

AVOID POTENTIALLY COSTLY RECRUITMENT MISTAKES

Temporary employees can not only provide an immediate injection of skills and experience, they can also help to buy you time when you are recruiting for a permanent position. Taking on an interim to manage the workload in the short term could help you to avoid recruiting the wrong hire due to time pressures.

EXTENDED INTERVIEWS

In some instances, employing temps can also lead to meaningful hires in the long run. Taking on an interim allows you to assess their suitability for the role, team fit and skill set, prior to hiring someone on a permanent contract.

At Pure, we have developed a network of highly experienced temps, freelancers and consultants, which we place with organisations on a short-term basis to provide a temporary injection of skills, resources and specialist knowledge. We support organisations with temporary recruitment solutions across all levels and for a variety of different reasons, whether it is covering employees on leave, planning additional support for particularly busy periods or bringing in additional expertise for a specific project.

Temporary workers can be employed on a fixed term basis, where the employee is contracted for a specific time period and is set up on your own payroll system and subject to the terms and conditions of your organisation’s contract. Alternatively, we can support you to employ a temp as an agency worker who is paid on an hourly or daily rate. In this instance, we will manage the temp’s pay on a weekly basis so there is no need for you to have to administer the payroll, and in most instances, both the employer or the temp only need to give one week’s notice to terminate the assignment.

If you would like more information about recruiting temporary workers or to discuss any temporary candidates, contact one of our consultants:

Cambridge 01223 209888  |  Chelmsford 01245 708808 |  Ipswich 01473 250990  |  Norwich 01603 216450

Through our Women’s Leadership Programme we see first-hand that the businesses most successful in creating diverse senior teams are those open to exploring positive solutions, and research from the ‘Power Part Time List’ shows that job shares are one of the options being adopted.

It revealed that there is now a record number of senior job shares, and this is being attributed to more organisations looking to change from the traditional office hours as a way to attract and keep the very best people.

It’s important to recognise that job shares do require a commitment from everyone involved and won’t be right for all employees or organisations. Our focus is on encouraging organisations to consider and explore all flexible working options as part of their talent recruitment and retention strategies. Here are some of the ways in which job shares might work for your organisation and the benefits to both the business and its employees.

Increased senior team diversity

Job shares enable employers to offer part-time working hours without compromising on providing a full-time level of service, people management and strategic input. It enables employees to meet the demands of challenging, business critical roles, while still working genuinely part time hours. Christina Youell, co-founder of our Women’s Leadership Programme, describes them as talent partnerships. She said: “Through job shares, you find a talent shortage fix, where people can balance work and caregiving. If it’s the same person you need 40 hours a week, and that’s all you’re open to hiring, they’re generally male. Talent partnerships open the door to more women remaining in the talent pipeline.”

Talent attraction

Job shares won’t just appeal to women either. In the current competitive recruitment market, businesses are working harder than ever to enhance their employer brand. Being seen as an organisation which embraces flexible working opportunities, such as job shares, in order to support its employees to achieve a work-life balance, will appeal to people of all ages, genders and backgrounds. 

Talent retention

They can also be an effective way of retaining and progressing talented employees by catering for people’s changing working needs throughout their careers, such as a need for increased flexibility due to a change in personal circumstances. The Job Share Project survey revealed that for 87% of respondents, job sharing had meant the difference between staying with a company or leaving. Unlike going part-time, job shares reduce pressure on employees to try to fit five days of work into less hours. It can also reduce the impact on the engagement of the wider team. They are less likely to feel they are left picking up extra work or lacking in management support.

Increased innovation and engagement

Two people in one role can bounce suggestions of each other and bring different experiences to the table. Senior employees are often faced with challenging situations and as the saying goes, two heads are better than one. Those in the job share are also likely to be more productive and engaged. They can focus on work when they are in the office and not be distracted by trying to juggle personal commitments.

Inspirational case studies

As the Power Part Time List shows, more businesses are adopting job shares and gaining the benefit of full-time expertise and productivity, while offering the flexibility of part-time working. Many of these organisations are proactively sharing their stories of how job shares have worked for them and their employees. This gives businesses more background and informed advice on how it could work in their own company.

Our expert consultants can also advise clients on how job shares and other flexible working practices can best suit their business and support their talent recruitment and retention strategies. Contact us to arrange an informal chat about how we could help.

Zak Agency is a youth marketing agency – focusing on people under 30, also known as the millennial generation. We were contacted by Zak Agency to help the site rank better on Google and other search engines for terms such as youth marketing and creative agencies in London and this is how we approached the campaign.

What is youth marketing?

Youth marketing uses a range of marketing communications to target young people – this includes email, TV, radio, branding, media, advertising, social media, billboards, experiences and more. The tone of youth marketing is typically loud, collaquial, bright and appealing to a younger generation. It is an opportunity for brands to engage with a young, growing generation which is likely to have disposable income for consumer and material goods, and something that can heavily influence their friends and family too.

What we have done for Zak Agency?

Our main objective is to help Zak Agency improve their positions on Google’s search for a variety of target keywords. We started by sitting down with the client and compiling a list of key terms that they wish to target including youth marketing agency, creative agency, millennial agency and more. Our next job is to integrate these keywords naturally into the website through meta-data and content.

Site Clean Up: We start the first month with a full site clean up, ensuring that every page is fully optimised from head-to-toe. Every page needed a quality meta-titles, descriptions, h1 headings and every image needs alt-text so that it can be read effectively by Google. As a very visual website, we had to individually address over 1,100 images on the website.

Links: To build up the site’s domain, we added some high quality links to the homepage and other main pages of the site. This included links from marketing, tech and news sites – showing relevancy in today’s news and also to build up some authority. This is something that will put them in good stead for the long-term future.

Next Steps: Once the site has been cleaned up and has started to rank nicely, we can now look at some new opportunities to capture some traffic and high quality customers. For instance, we aim to propose some useful guides to position the company in the youth, digital space such as:

“How many instagram followers do you need to become an influencer?”

“What is the millennial market worth in the UK?”

“Which social media platforms are most used by young people”

We are delighted with the initialy progress of the campaign, since we have captured a top 5 position for ‘youth marketing agency’ within the first month and look forward to building on this success over the next few months.