Hiring a new member of staff can sometimes fill the hiring manager with dread, especially if you’re a smaller firm with no HR department to do all the leg work for you.

Here are some tips to help your business bring new employees in as stress free as possible.

Provide a Starter Pack 

Companies often choose to provide new employees with a starter pack, this can include key information about the company, its’ history, ethos and direction but also information on departments and staff members, important phone numbers and emails and schedules of colleagues they will be working with so they can plan ahead as much as possible.

Often, starter packs are provided on the first day but why not get ahead and send this out in the post or by email instead, not only will this give the staff member a chance to actually read it through but it’ll help secure their position and start date with them; making them feel like they are already a part of the company therefore reducing the risk of accepting alternative offers.

Structure, structure, structure

So often we hear from candidates who are looking to leave their current role they’ve only been in for a matter of months because of lack of structure. Make sure you have the contract sent out to the candidate as soon as possible, again this will give them the chance to peruse the contract before their start date but also give them security knowing you’re a company who does things by the book and has proper arrangements in place.

Providing candidates with a copy of your company SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) before their start date will also give them a head start in the company. If you don’t have a formal SOP you could provide them with procedures specifically for duties within their role.

Don’t wait until they’ve started to provide them with a desk, phone, computer and email – get these in place before their first day so there can be no delay to them starting work.

Touch Base

It can be very daunting starting a new role in a company full of people you don’t know. Make sure you connect with the new employee on a regular basis in the first few weeks – give them opportunity to ask questions, bring up any areas of concern or offer further guidance and training.

Speaking of training, if the position has the opportunity to progress you could discuss with the candidate in the first week the potential to take on further skills and training offered by the company. Again, this will prove to the candidate you are serious about their career starting in the company and want to invest in their future.

Hopefully these tips will help you have a smooth hiring process and fill your new employee with confidence and help them to settle in. 

The Recruitment Industry is changing…again – what does it mean for you?

The past two years following the Covid19 Pandemic and Brexit, the UK recruitment industry has been completely turned on its’ head. We have suffered major staff shortages for various reasons resulting in the industry being very candidate led.

But, it seems things are actually changing and whilst this can mean good news for businesses, it can mean the job market is about to get more competitive.

July saw numbers of people being hired in permanent roles was at the slowest rate for 17 months, employers are being more tentative with making permanent placements and refusing to give in to demands of candidates choosing instead to invest in training for existing members of staff.

To help yourself get ahead why not take a look at our previous blogs detailing how to make your CV stand out, improving your covering letter and how to interview well and should you need further advice, what better people to ask than recruiters.

So often we register candidates who are hesitant to consider temporary work.

“There’s no stability with temporary positions”

“I only want to focus on permanent roles”

“I won’t get the proper training!”

These are just some of the phrases we hear on a regular basis here at JR Personnel when in fact temping can be an excellent way to “try before you buy” or to get a foot in the door of a reputable company.

Here's what some of our temporary workers had to say about their temping experience! 

-          “Whenever I find myself between jobs I have turned to JR to help me find temporary work, and they have never disappointed – I was usually working within days of contacting them.”

-          “I was offered a temp role with a local company via JR. After a period of time I was made a permanent member of staff and although I felt sad to be leaving JR, who had always supported me and given me good advice, it was wonderful that the company saw the potential in me to make me permanent.”

-          “Temping is a good way to learn new roles, gain experience and learn different software packages, I would recommend it to anyone. You accrue holiday pay so you don’t have to worry about losing money if you wish to take a break. JR Personnel have the friendliest staff you could wish for.”

-          “After a month out of work, JR called to say there was a role they thought I’d be interested in, initially for one month temping – I said yes and started the next day. Six months later, I’m still here and was taken on permanently 3 months after starting. I was so pleased about being made permanent as I’d settled down happily in the job and didn’t want to leave.”

-          “I started temping with JR following redundancy, I was nervous at first as I’d never temped before but everyone at JR soon put me at ease with everything. I secured a temp role in Leicester and loved the role. They made me feel like a permanent member of staff straight away.”

If you're available immediately and looking for a position which can start right away, why not send your CV in to us today: [email protected]

So you’ve found a new role and have handed your notice in, but your current employer throws a curveball and makes you an offer to stay…this is called a counter offer and in the current candidate-led market are becoming more and more frequent.

Counter offers can be very appealing, for one you already know the role and company inside out, there’s less paperwork and you don’t have to get to know a whole new group of people again. But what about the negatives? Below we will provide you with ten reasons as to why accepting a counter offer is not always the best idea.

1. The Reason You Want to Leave, Will Not Go Away

There could be several reasons you may want to leave your current job. It could be obvious things like work hours or co-workers, or perhaps you just don’t like the job of the company in general. 

This can be a problem when you receive a counter offer where the only thing that changes is the salary. Increased pay will be an attractive option at first, and this compels most people to accept the offer.

This can be an issue three months down the line when you are unhappy again because it was not just the salary you were dissatisfied with. 

If there are multiple reasons you want to change jobs and receive a counteroffer with an increased salary, the best thing to do is to reject it. Odds are, you will experience long term happiness and personal satisfaction at another job that is more suited to you than your current role.

2. Your Loyalty Will Be Questioned

It does not matter how good your relationship is with your employer, if you are receiving a counter-offer as a response to your resignation, your loyalty will be questioned as an employee both then and in the future. Even if the job has room for promotions and professional growth, you probably will not be the first employee they pick at promotion time.

Resigning breaks the initial trust that was once there, and it will hinder future success at the job. So even if the counteroffer is a good deal, you are likely to progress more at a new job where you have not threatened to quit. 

3. You Might Not Be Appreciated as an Employee

If you hand in your resignation and your employer gives you a counteroffer, it may suggest that you were not fully appreciated in the first place as a valuable employee.

The offer is proof that they can offer more money or office space, for instance, and that they were initially holding out on you. 

If it takes you to threaten resignation for the company to treat you better, you might need to evaluate the company’s integrity. 

4. Job Does Not Meet Your Long Term Goals

People will often hand in resignations or look for jobs when their current position does not fit the picture they had for their ideal life or goals. If you accept a counteroffer, you could potentially be denying yourself your dream job. 

When thinking of accepting a job offer or counteroffer, you should make sure that the position meets your long-term goals either now or in the future.

There is no point in investing time and energy into something you do not want to be doing for the rest of your life. So before you accept a counteroffer, think of why you wanted to quit in the first place. Is the job making you happy? 

6. It Will Not Guarantee Job Satisfaction 

People hand in resignations and look for new jobs when they are not satisfied with their current position. A counteroffer may give hope of better working conditions and salary, but statistics show that this is often not the case. 

Around 50% of people who accept counteroffers leave for a new job within 12 months. Just because the offer may seem like a good option, it won’t guarantee job satisfaction down the line. 

7. Employer Doesn’t Know How Long You Will Stay

If you end up accepting a job counteroffer, your employer will always be questioning how long you will stay at the job since you were so willing to quit.

This could result in similar problems, as mentioned above, such as hindering your future success in the position. You are more likely to be viewed as expendable than other employees who have not handed in resignations. 

8. Your Employer Might Not Be Paying You Enough

A lot of counteroffers involve a pay raise, which may seem very tempting to accept if the higher salary if it is the main reason you handed in your resignation.

Before you agree to a counteroffer with a pay raise, it is crucial to question why you have not had a pay raise before. When this happens, it is good to do some research using a salary guide and find out what you should be earning. 

If you were not earning what you should have been before the counteroffer, it might be good to consider leaving the company for another that will appreciate your work. 

9. It May Be a Long Time Before You Get Another Raise 

Think about it if you were leaving your current employer because you felt you were not getting paid enough and they only way to get a raise was to offer your resignation then the odds of you getting a raise in the future are slim.

10. If Times Get Tough You'll Be The First To Go 

If your current employer experiences hard times or if the economy, in general, gets bad they are more likely to hang on to employees that have shown loyalty rather than ones who have been job shopping for another opportunity.

There are so many things to think about when changing roles and if you need any guidance we are here to help.