Caronavirus Advice For Businesses

How do I find a new job in the current climate?

We have said it before and we will say it again, the last 12/18 months have been tough for everyone. The world in which we live is vastly different to the one we knew before March 2020. People have lost their jobs, businesses have having to close and a lot of those that have remained open, are doing so by the skin of their teeth.

Regardless of if you are looking for a new job out of necessity, or just for the fact that you feel the time is right for you, we can help.

What can you do?

The first job is to sit back and think of all your current skill sets and make sure they are highlighted in your CV, look back at our past blog for hints on this. It may look like you have had a similar job title throughout you career, so you are pigeonholed, but your skills can adapt to many different roles, so shine a light on these.

Where do you want to work?

Have you ever seen a business or heard a friend talk about where they work and thought, “id love to work there!”, well that is now your starting point. Do some research into what that company looks for in an employee and see if it matches your own work ethic and values. If it does check their career page on the website. Even if they’re not listing any vacancies, call us. They may just be a client of ours and companies always want to speak to good people who have a desire to work for them. We may be able to help you open that door and it wont cost you a penny.

Update your CV

This is the 1^st impression a potential future employer will build of you so it has to be sparkling. Talk about what you have been doing during the pandemic, did you work from home? That shows you are adaptable, a quality an employer will love. Have you lost your role due to the changes? We are seeing this a lot so do not feel it’s a negative, unfortunately its just the world we live in right now and employers understand this.

Make sure your CV sells you. Check for errors, repetition, grammar! Get it checked over by a friend or better still send it to us to review. We offer a CV update service for just £25 where you will have a consultation with one of our consultants and we can make the changes for you.

Join professional groups on LinkedIn and get active. Post comments and make yourself visible but stay away from constantly posting that you are looking for work, you don’t want to appear desperate.

interviewing during the covid19 pandemic

Interviewing In The Current Climate

So, lets face it, the last 12 months has meant we have all had to change the way in which we work. Meetings are almost all done on Zoom, contracts are signed electronically, and interviews can now even be conducted from your living room.

We find ourselves in a period of transition right now and more and more of our clients are asking us “what is the right thing to do?”

The way you conduct your interviews today can say a lot about the type of organisation you are, especially in the current climate. Our advice would always be, where you can, give a candidate the option of what method they feel most comfortable with. Is it worth losing the best candidate for the role due to the fact that right now they don’t feel 100% comfortable with stepping into an unknown environment. A lot of our clients are conducting 1^st interviews via Zoom and 2^nd in person.

If you are using the zoom option, then we suggest you consider the following:

Check your internet connection, nothing more frustrating than someone who keeps freezing or saying, “can you hear me?”
Make sure you are somewhere quite where you can fully focus on the candidate.
Come prepared with questions but be open to go with the flow as it’s a strange set up for a lot of candidates.

If you do go down the face-to-face route we suggest you consider the following:

Find a room that can accommodate social distancing.
Open windows to allow fresh air to circulate.
Have the room thoroughly cleaned before the interview and between each candidate
Provide hand sanitiser.
Stay away from offering hand out or stationary and ask the candidate to bring their own

At Slice we can offer interview support so if you need any further advice or guidance please get in touch.

Has Furlough Made You Rethink?

So, as we stand, furlough has been extended until September 2021. How are you using that time? Are you desperate to get back to work or are you thinking of looking for something else? Now is the time to be asking yourself these questions.

Some people have been on furlough of some sorts for over a year now and we know how tough that has been and it has also made people look at their lives differently and what they want from them. If its left you thinking now is the time for change we suggest now is the time to consider updating your CV.

If you have a particular company, role or industry in mind then tailor your CV accordingly. There is no point telling an employer how good you are at sales if you are wanting to step into an operational role.

If you have been on furlough for a long period of time, then tell anyone reading your CV what you have been up to? Some people got 2^nd jobs or even started a small business to keep the money coming in and the brain ticking, if so, shout about it. Showcase the skills you used during this time. It can also show tenacity that you didn’t just take it on the chin and you actively tried to keep yourself busy.

It is always wise to get your CV checked out as this is effectively selling you. This is a service we offer here at Slice if you don’t have anyone to ask in your own network. Make sure it is well presented and get the point across in the correct way.

If you want some more advice on how to put a strong CV together, please email us on rachel@slicesolutions.co.uk.

How Employers Can Help Maintain Staff Wellbeing

Part 2 of Preparing Your Marketing & Recruitment Ready For Life Post Covid-19

Preparing Your marketing & Recruitment Ready For Life Post Covid-19

managing staff at home - recruitment company Sheffield

How To Effectively Manage Your Staff At Home

In these unprecedented circumstances its highly likely your staff are working from home if they are working at all. On the surface this seems like a great idea right? But what happens if it all goes wrong?

The truth is, if you don’t know how to effectively manage your employees while they work from home they could start to:

Feel isolated and detached from the team or business
Slack off
Miss key calls
Drop the ball on even the most basic if tasks

You need to consider a number of key areas to enable you to stand a chance of getting the best out of this situation.

Set out expectations

Chances are unless your business had people that worked from home prior to lockdown, your business will not have had a policy to outline the businesses expectations to home workers. Now is the time to get this done and ask all staff working from home to sign it. It should cover everything from response times in relation to calls and emails to the work they are expected to complete.

Keep In Touch

The key to managing employees that work from home is solid communication. Just because you are not all in the office doesn’t mean you cant have your daily briefing or weekly meeting. Send out email invitations to these calls or Zooms, etc and ask people to block out time in their diary.

If you have a large workforce it may be worth looking at a clocking in and out policy. There are a number of apps or software options you can utilise to help you do this.

The last thing any employer wants is for the staff to feel more isolated than we all essentially are right now and I have seen some really creative ideas of late to stay in touch; Friday winge and wine Zoom being one, where all the staff come together at the end of the day on Friday with a glass of wine to celebrate the completion of another tough week in lockdown.

Now is a testing time for any business and employer. However, those that embrace it could well be paving the way for a new future. Those businesses who said they couldn’t offer flexible or home working historically are now seeing some of the benefits of doing so, and will undoubtedly look at incorporating it into the business when things return to some form of normality. What better way to empower your staff by showing them you trust them enough to allow them to work from home?

If you feel, as a business, that you have been forced into this situation but you can see the benefits, I would suggest you perhaps engage with someone that can help you set this up effectively going forward. We can recommend a few people depending where you are based. We can also help you structure your workforce effectively be it in the office or at home.

Give us a call today for a free, no obligation review and let’s see if we can not only make your recruitment methods more cost effective but also provide better results.

Available Grants & The Dos And Don’ts of Furloughing

Recently our MD, Lisa had a discussion with the very knowledgeable Hayley Koseoglu, Business Consultant and owner of Iekos and Liam Kenealy, Employment Lawyer at Spencer’s Solicitors about the local grants that are currently accessible and the dos and don’ts of the furlough process.

If you have had to furlough your staff or are currently unsure how to access funds then please watch out short discussion or contact us and we can signpost you to the best person to help.

Now more than ever we as a business community need to support each other.